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
When Charles Strattion was five, he stopped growing. His mother took him to see the famous showman, P.T.Barnum, who thought a small person would be the perfect addition to his show. He hired Charles’ parents along with him, and they traveled around the world together.
He gave the two-foot-tall Charles a new name, general Tom Thumb. He taught Tom how to sing, dance, act, and tell jokes. When he felt Tom was ready to perform on stage, he made up ads. To stir up great interest, he said that Tom was eleven years old and had come from England.
During the show, Tom fought battles pretendedly with tall people. He also danced upon a wooden plate held by a person who was eight feet tall.
Tom’s act was very popular and brought in a lot of money. By the time Tom was an adult, he had grown very rich. He had become a billionaire at the age of twenty-five.
Fortunately for Tom, Mr. Barnum added more little people to his show, and Tom became lucky in love as well. One of the little people was Lavinia Warren, a school teacher. Tom was able to win her love, and they married.
The ceremony and reception were the talk of the town. They were attended by many rich and famous people and by about two thousand guests. Crowds filled the streets of New York to have a look at their tiny wedding carriage. The couple even met with President Abraham Lincoln on their honeymoon, just before going to live in Tom’s house in Connecticut.
Their wedding, which took place during the Civil War, provided a welcome escape from the sad problems of war. Not willing to let this bit of sunshine fade, communities throughout the country sponsored（主持）“Tom Thumb”weddings. In these weddings, small boys and girls, all dressed up, went through marriage ceremony for fun.
56．What does the author think about Tom Thumb’s wedding?
A．People gave it too much of their attention.
B．It helped people cheer up in a dark time.
C．It was funny and ridiculous.
D．Tom and Lavinia were stupid.
57．Which of the following is the best clue（线索）to the fact that Tom was smart?
A．He became a billionaire at twenty-five.
B．He learned how to sing, dance, and act at a very young age.
C．He met with President Lincoln during his honeymoon.
D．He married a school teacher.
58．It was very funny when Tom danced on a wooden plate held by a person who was eight feet tall because .
A．the wooden plate would make it sound as if Tom were tap dancing.
B．it made Tom feel taller.
C．the eight-foot-tall man was the only tall person Tom trusted
D．the difference between them would make Tom look even smaller
59．What is the main idea of the last paragraph?
A．Weddings always make people feel full of sunshine.
B．People are always disappointed during wartime.
C．Entertainment can serve an important purpose.
D．People should be married when they are small children.
B
CBC is a famous air company which has over twenty planes carrying passengers and goods, flying about 12 fixed lines all over the world. Its service is very good but some passengers are still not satisfied with it and that is why in 2004 and 2005 the company received letters of complaints from consumers or passengers who pointed out over a dozen kinds of problems which are divided in groups in the following table. Those about passengers’ things carried by the plane are Baggage problems. Customers service refers to service work which passengers are not satisfied with. Over sales of seats about the fact that more seats are sold and as a result the plane is too crowded to be safe. Refund problems appear when passengers fail to receive the money paid back to them because of what they have lost. Fares are problems about the price of tickets.
Consumer Complaints Received By the CBC
Category
2004
2005
Flight problems
20.2％
22.1%
Baggage
18.3％
21.8%
Customer service
3.1％
11.3%
Over sales of seats
10.5％
11.8%
Refund problems
10.1％
8.1%
Fares
6.4％
6.0%
Reservation & Ticketing
5.8%
5.6%
Tours
3.3%
2.3%
Smoking
3.2%
2.9%
Advertising
1.2%
1.01%
Credit
1.0%
0.8%
Special passengers
0.9%
0.9%
Others
6.0%
5.3%
Total Number of Complaints
2,988
1,792
60. From the passage, we can learn that ________.
A. all the customers are not satisfied with CBC
B. customers can only buy tickets with ready money
C. sometimes CBC sells more tickets than its plane’s fixed seats
D. CBC has more than twenty planes to all the capital cities of the world
61. By about what percent did the total number of complaints decrease from 2004 to 2005?
A. 40% B. 60% C. 75% D. 100%
62. If the circle graphs below show total consumer complaints for 2004, which graph shows a dark part that is about Flight problems and Refund problems together?
A B C D
63. Which of the following can be inferred from the above table?
a. In 2004 and 2005, complaints about Flight problem, Baggage, and Customer service together took about 50 percent of all consumer complaints received by the CBC Company.
b. The number of special passengers complaints stayed the same from 2004 to 2005.
c. From 2004 to 2005, the number of Flight problem complaints increased by more than 2%.
A. only a B. only b C. a and b D. a and c