第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D中，选出选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
A 来源：www.examda.com
Now let’s talk about my sister. She is not very young. She is "no spring of chicken". She will work any job for "chicken feed", a small amount of money. She is easily frightened. For example, she is too "chicken livered" to walk down a dark street alone at night. Often she will "chicken out". She will not go out alone at night.
My sister was "an ugly duckling". She looked strange when she was a child. But she grew up to be a beautiful woman. Sometimes she thinks too much about having something in the future before she really has it. She "counts her chickens before they are hatched". Sometimes "her chickens come home to roost". That means her actions or words cause trouble for her. However my sister does not worry about what people say about her. Criticism falls off her like “water off a duck’s back”.
Politicians(政治家) are sometimes considered "lame ducks" after losing an election. They have little time left in office and no much power. Congress holds a "lame duck" session after an election. Important laws are not passed during this period
The underlined too “chicken livered” in the first paragraph means ______.
A. too readyB. not brave enoughC. brave enoughD. too strange
This passage is mainly talking about ______.
A. my sister is like a chickenB. some expressions about chickens
C. birds, ducks and my sisterD. some expressions about birds such as ducks and chickens
If the pay from a job is a little low, it is called “______”.
A. no spring of chickenB. an ugly ducklingC. water off a duck’s backD. chicken feed
B
O. Henry was the name used by William Sidney Porter. He was born in Greensboro, North Carolina in 1862. His mother died when he was three years old. He left school at the age of fifteen to work in his uncle's drug store. He moved to Texas five years later. He lived in the city of Austin where he got married, worked in a local bank and owned a weekly newspaper.
William Sidney Porter had bad luck in Texas. His wife became sick, their baby died and his newspaper failed. Then he was accused of stealing money from the bank where he worked. He fled to Honduras, but returned to be with his sick wife. She died in 1897. Porter was sentenced to prison.
That is where he started to write. His first story was published in a national magazine in 1898. After being released from prison in 1901, Porter went to New York City. He published more stories, all under the name O. Henry. No one really knows where he got that name.
O. Henry's first book was a short story collection called "Cabbages and Kings". It was published in 1904. O. Henry published thirteen other collections of short stories. He wrote six hundred stories during his life.
Porter tried to forget his past, but could not. He did not have any good friends. He began to drink too much alcohol. A second marriage failed. He died of tuberculosis(结核病) in New York City. He was forty-eight years old.
The stories by O. Henry are well known for their surprise endings. One of his stories takes place during the Christmas season. It is called "The Gift of the Magi" (MAY-jie). It tells how a poor young husband and wife express their love for each other at Christmas.
O. Henry was put into prison because _____.
A. he wrote to many storiesB. he was said to have stolen things in a shop
C. he was thought to have stolen money from the bank
D. he came back to see his sick wife
The underlined word “released” in the third paragraph means ______.
A. led toB. put intoC. sent toD. set free
We can know from the passage that ______.
A. O. Henry didn’t like his first wife at all.B. O. Henry loved his second wife very much.
C. He wrote so quickly that he could complete about one story a week.
D. He died in 1912.
Which of the following is not true?
A. His mother died when he was very young.B. His stories have surprise endings.
C. O. Henry was famous for his short stories.D. He managed to forget his past.