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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，从每小题所给的四个选项（A、B、C、D）中选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
A
Arthur Miller(1915-2005) is universally recognized as one of the greatest dramatists of the 20th century. Miller's father had moved to the USA from Austria-Hungary, drawn like so many others by the "Great American Dream". However, he experienced severe financial hardship when his family business was ruined in the Great Depression of the early l930s.
Miller's most famous play, Death of a Salesman, is a powerful attack on the American system. with its aggressive way of doing business and its insistence on money and social status as indicators of worth. In Willy Loman, the hero of the play, we see a man who has got into trouble with this system. Willy is "burnt out" and in the cruel world of business there is no room for sentiment: if he can't do the work, then he is no good to his employer, the Wagner Company, and he must go. Willy is painfully aware of this, and at a loss as to what to do with his lack of success. He refuses to face the fact that he has failed and kills himself in the end.
When it was first staged in 1949, the play was greeted with enthusiastic reviews, and it won the Tony Award for Best Play, the New York Drama Critics’Circle Award, and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It was the first play to win all three of these major awards.
Miller died of heart failure at his home in Roxbury, Connecticut, on the evening of February 10, 2005, the 56th anniversary of the first performance of Death of a Salesmanon Broadway.
56. Why did Arthur Miller's father move to the USA?
A. He suffered from severe hunger in his home country.
B. He was attracted by the "Great American Dream".
C. He hoped to make his son a dramatist.
D. His family business failed.
57. The play Death of a Salesman_________.
A. exposes the cruelty of the American business world
B. discusses the ways to get promoted in a company
C. talks about the business career of Arthur Miller
D. focuses on the skills in doing business
58. What can we learn about Willy Loman?
A. He treats his employer badly.
B. He runs the Wagner Company.
C. He is a victim of the American system.
D. He is regarded as a hero by his colleagues.
59. After it was first staged, Death of a Salesman ________.
A. achieved huge success.
B. won the first Tony Award.
C. was warmly welcomed by salesmen.
D. was severely attacked by dramatists.
60. What is the text mainly about?
A. Arthur Miller and his family.
B. The awards Arthur Miller won.
C. The hardship Arthur Miller experienced.
D. Arthur Miller and his best-known play.
B
Tim Richter and his wife, Linda, had taught for over 30 years near Buffalo, New York--he in computers, she in special education. "Teaching means everything to us," Tim would say. In April 1998, he learned he would need a heart operation. It was the kind of news that leads to some serious thinking about life's purpose.
Not long after the surgery, Tim saw a brochure describing Imagination Library, a program started by Dolly Parton' s foundation (基金会) that mailed a book every month to children from birth to age five in the singer's home town of Sevier, Tennessee. "I thought, maybe Linda and I could do something like this when we retire," Tim recalls. He placed the brochure on his desk, "as a reminder."
Five years later, now retired and with that brochure still on the desk, Tim clicked on imagination library .com. The program had been opened up to partners who could take advantage of book and postage discounts.
The quality of the books was of great concern to the Richters. Rather than sign up online, they went to Dollywood for a look-see. "We didn't want to give the children rubbish," says Linda. The books-reviewed each year by teachers, literacy specialists and Dollywood board members-included classics such as Ezra Jack Keats's The Snowy Day and newer books like Anna Dewdney's Llama Llama series.
Satisfied, the couple set up the Richter Family Foundation and got to work. Since 2004, they have shipped more than 12,200 books to preschoolers in their area. Megan Williams, a mother of four, is more than appreciative: "This program introduces us to books I've never heard of ."
The Richters spend about ＄400 a month sending books to 200 children. "Some people sit there and wait to die," says Tim. "Others get as busy as they can in the time they have left."
61. What led Tim to think seriously about the meaning of life?
A. His health problem B. His love for teaching
C. The influence of his wife D. The news from the Web
62. What did Tim want to do after learning about Imagination Library?
A. Give out brochures. B. Do something similar.
C. Write books for children D. Retire from being a teacher.
63. according to the text, Dollly Parton is _________.
A. a well-known surgeon B. a mother of a four-year-old
C. a singer born in Tennessee D.a computer programmer
64. Why did the Richters go to Dollywood?
A. To avoid signing up online.
B. To meet Dollywood board members.
C. To make sure the books were the newest.
D. To see if the books were of good quality.
65. What can we learn from Tim's words in the last paragraph?
A. He needs more money to help the children.
B. He wonders why some people are so busy.
C. He tries to save those waiting to die.
D. He considers his efforts worthwhile.
