C
David Rees runs a truly distinctive bus iness. He charges customers $15 to sharpen their pencils to perfections, using a variety of tools.
I know w hat you’re thinking — is this a joke? The 39-year-old gets asked that question a lot. To clarify everything, he even created a special sec tion on his w ebsite telling everyone he’s actually providing a real service.
You can supply your ow n pencil or you can have Rees sharpen one of his ow n favorite 2 B pencils. After that, he mails it to you in a display tube w ith the shavings in a separat e bag, and an authentic certificate w hich just happens to mention the pencil is so sharp as to be a dangerous object.
To achieve the desired result, the master sharpener uses all kinds of tools, including general sandpapers, pocket knives and even a s pecial $450 sharpening machine. “It depends on w hat the customer w ants to use his/her pencil for,” he says. “That determines the most appropriate pencil-sharpening technique. Some customers buy pencils as inspiration al symbols w hile others buy them because of their special memories of classic 2B pencils.
$15 to have a pencil sharpened is a bit exp ensive though, right? You’re not the only one w ho feels that w ay, and David’s unique business has really ang ered lots of people, w ho talk of inequality in Amer ica, saying it is so insane for the w ealthy to pay $15 to sharpen a pencil. But others w ill say, “This is just our urge to put an end to the w elfare state because new ideas arise along w ith the business.”
David adm its his trade is sort of unusual. But there ar e those w ho actually value h is service, as proven by the over 500 orders he has gotten.
28. How could David make money by sharpening pencils?
A. He invented new tools for the job.
B. He promoted his skill on his w ebsite. C. He saved lots of time for other people.
D. He provided quality service to his customers. 29. From his w ords, w e can infer that David Bees . A. know s all kinds of pencil users B. provides personalized services C. values ideas behind the pencils D. alw ays w rite w ith pencils
30. What does the underlined w ord “insane” (in Paragraph 5) mean? A. Deliberate. B. Rew arding. C. Unreasonable. D. Irresponsible. 31. What seems to be the author ’s attitude to David Bees’ trade? A. It’s a fancy service. B. It has a good reputation. C. It’s aw fully expensive. D. It w astes time and money.
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D
German artist HA Schult is an unusual artist w ho uses trash ( 废旧物) to make sculptures. “We are liv ing in the time of garbage,” says Schult. “I created a thousand sculptures of garbage. They are a mirror of ourselves.” Here, Schult w as talking about his 1,000 trash sculptures in the form of humans. He first exhibited them in 1996 in the w estern German state of North Rhine-Westphalia.
“They are social sculptures,” he explains. “They are not only sculptures for the eyes. They are sculptures to spread the idea that w e live in a time of garbage.” So far, Schult’s social sculptures have been on show in Paris, in Moscow ’s Red Square, on the Great Wall of China, and in the desert next to the Giza Pyramids near Cairo.
HA Schult’s w ork is unforgettable. Although h is w ork has had a big inf luence on the art w orld, Schult remains modest about his creations , “Artists have to learn every time. We are not important. All that counts is the time in w hich w e are living.”
Trash art has been around for years. But it seems that only the popular artists are regarded as true artists w hen w orking w ith trash. Why can’t common people be considered artists w hen they use the same things and change them into some form of personal art? Maybe it’s because w e all have our ow n preset ideas of w hat art is and isn’t, or w ho artists are or should be.
You can be an artist like Schult if you try. Look at used metal cans. What might be done w ith them? Imagine them in any number of new uses, or imagine them simp ly as an art form. What about boxes or clothing? Box es can usually serve as new storage containers and houses for pets. And clothing? Imagine taking old clothes and turning them into hats or hanging organizers. 32. What do w e know about Schult’s sculptures?
A. They served as garbage containers. B. They reflected environmental issues.
C. They w ere first show n in Paris, France. D. They w ere to raise economic aw areness.
33. HA Schult’s artistic w orks also get the message across that an artist must . A. be socially responsible B. be as modest as possible C. make garbage recyclable D. take diverse artistic forms 34. According to the last tw o paragraphs, the author probably agrees that .
A. it takes talent to be a trash artist B. preset ideas are important to artists C. trash art can’t be seen as a real art form D. average people can also make trash artists
35. Which of the follow ing is the best title for the text? A. Could You Be a Trash Artist? B. What Are Social Sculptures? C. Do You Know About Trash Art? D. How Can We Deal w ith Used Cans?
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第二节（共5小题；每 小题2分，满分10 分） 根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空
白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。
Competitors w ho w ear red w in more than those that are dressed in any other color, according to a study in Germany.
36 Experts believe that red could make individuals and teams feel more confident as w ell as being perceived by others as more aggressive.
37 On the other hand, the results could suggest that the success of those teams has given those that w ear the red color more confidence.
The study, by German sports psychologists at the University of Munster, w as reported in New Scientist magazine. They show ed video recording of taekw ondo matches to 42 experienced referees. One fighter w ore blue and the other w ore red. They then show ed them the same recordings but digitally manipu lated the clothing to exchange the colors. 38 If one competitor is strong and the other is w eak, it w on’t change the outcome of the fight,” said Norbert Hagemann, w ho led the study. “ 39 ”
In 2004 scientists at Durham Un iversity also look ed at how color influenced sporting competitiveness. They analyzed O lympic contest sports such as boxing, taekw ondo, and freestyle w restling and found that nearly 55% of w hich w ere w on by the competitor in red.
“ 40 ” said Robert Burton, one of the researchers. A. It is the color of fire and is often associated w ith ener gy, danger, strength, pow er, and determination. B. The fighters w earing red w ere given an average of 13 percent more points than w hen they w ore blue.
C. The study show s that football shirts from w orldw ide teams such as Arsenal, Liverpoo l, sell successfully.
D. It is reasonable that w earing red makes indiv iduals feel more confident, although this hasn’t yet been tested.
E. Researchers found that those w ho w ear red tops, jackets or clothing score 10 percent more in any competition than if they w ere in another color.
F. The findings could explain w hy Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal have been so successful. G. But the closer the levels, the easier it is for the color to tip the scale.
第三部分 英语知识运用（共三节，满分 45 分）
第一节 完形填空（共20小题；每小题1.5分；满分30分）
阅读下面短文，从 A、B、C、 D 四个选项中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项，并在答题 卡上相应番号处将该 项涂黑。
I had been staring at the w hite w alls of the video game store for about tw o hours since lunch. It w as a very 41 day. I glanced at the table in front of the store, and my heart 42 . It w as the donation tab le for the victims of Typhoon Yolanda and even though I had donated w hat I could, I 43 felt sad w henever I saw the people on the TV suffering.
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I w as broken out of my thoughts w hen the doors got open. Customers, 44 ! It w as a small gir l w ith her mother. I 45 her mom. I got to know her w hen she w as selling clothes she 46 herself at the market. The daughter just had a 47 and her mom finally had 48 money to buy a PS3 and some games.
The girl skipped to my counter. She 49 her backpack and pulled out a console (操纵板). Her mom handed me the games.
“Can I 50 this?”
“Sure sw eetie.”
I 51 the console and the games, and nothing w as opened. According to our
52 , I returned the 53 to the girl. And she ran off as 54 as her litt le feet could take her. The mom explained, “She w ants to sell her birthday 55 , so she can donate to the 56 .”
She w as 57 to give up her favorite games and gave to those 58 . That’s real generosity out there.
59 I w as w atching her talking to the girl at the donation tab le, I w as reminded that even though there are a lot of 60 people in the w orld, there are still those people just like that little girl.
41. A. good 42. A. beat 43. A. almost 44. A. firstly 45. A. served 46. A. w ore 47. A. date 48. A. enough 49. A. carried 50. A. sell 51. A. opened 52. A. plan 53. A. money 54. A. long 55. A. card 56. A. victims 57. A. grateful 58. A. ordinary 59. A. Since 60. A. selfish
B. cold B. ached B. also B. eventually B. found B. made B. job B. little B. opened B. change B. checked B. decision B. backpack B. fast B. cake B. w orkers B. w illing B. unfortunate B. Until B. lucky
C. w arm C. ran C. still C. quickly C. recognized C. w ashed C. birthday C. easy C. sold C. return C. held C. discussion C. games C. high C. surprise C. charities C. unhappy C. disabled C. While C. special
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D. slow D. shook D. never D. excitedly D. told D. bought D. disease D. big D. left D. donate D. looked D. regulation D. receipt D. far D. gift D. typhoons D. afraid D. injured D. Although D. kind
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