A
During the period from 1660 through 1800, Great Britain became the world's leader. Language itself became submitted to rules during this period. This need to fix the English language is best illustrated (描述) in the making of The Dictionary of the English Language by Samuel Johnson. Guides to the English language had been in existence before Johnson began his project in 1746. These, however, were often little more than lists of hard words. When definitions of common words were supplied, they were often unhelpful. For example, a “horse” was defined in an early dictionary as “a beast well known”．
Johnson changed all that, but the task was not an easy one. Renting a house at 17 Gough Square, Johnson began working in the worst of conditions. Supported only by his publisher, Johnson worked on the Dictionary with five assistants. Compared to the French Academy's dictionary, which took forty workers fiftyfive years to complete (1639—1694), Johnson's dictionary was completed by very few people very quickly.
Balanced on a chair with only three legs, Johnson sat against a wall in a room filled with books. Johnson would read widely from these books, mark passages illustrating the use of a particular word, and give the books to his assistants so that they could copy the passages on slips of paper. These slips were then stuck to eighty large notebooks under the key words that Johnson had selected. Fixing the word by this method, Johnson could record a word's usage and its definition.
How many passages were used? According to Johnson's modern biographer Walter Jackson Bate, the original total number could have been over 240,000. How many words were defined by the lexicographer? Over 40,000 words appeared in two large books in April of 1755. Did Johnson fully understand the huge task he was undertaking when he began? As he told his contemporary biographer James Boswell, “I knew very well what I was undertaking—and very well how to do it—and have done it very well.”
本文是一篇记叙文。文章介绍了Samuel Johnson和他的助手为修正早期的英语词典花费了大量的精力，但也高效且高质量地完成了新词典的编纂工作。
1．What is the problem of early English dictionaries?
A．They only offer simple pictures.
B．They list just a few foreign words.
C．They simply give some translations.
D．They add no more than some big words.
答案：D
解析：细节理解题。根据第一段中的These, however, were often little more than lists of hard words.可知，词典中往往都是一些生僻的单词。故D项正确。
2．What does the underlined word “lexicographer” in Paragraph 4 refer to?
A．A publisher. B．A biographer.
C．A maker of dictionaries. D．An assistant.
答案：C
解析：词义猜测题。根据最后一段第二句According to Johnson's modern biographer Walter Jackson Bate, the original total number could have been over 240,000.及画线词所在句可知，根据Johnson的传记的作者Walter Jackson Bate所言，词典的最初页码超过了240 000张。到底有多少单词由这些词典编纂者定义呢？由此可推知，lexicographer意为“词典编纂者”。故C项正确。
3．What can we infer about Samuel Johnson from the text?
A．He standardized English.
B．He cared about authority a lot.
C．He gained much financial support.
D．He complained of working conditions.
答案：A
解析：推理判断题。根据第一段中的This need to fix the English language is best illustrated (描述) in the making of The Dictionary of the English Language by Samuel Johnson.可知，Samuel Johnson的词典最能说明修正英语语言的必要性。根据最后一段最后两句知，他深知自己从事的这项任务的重要性，而且也知道如何去做，并且做得很出色。由此可推知，Samuel Johnson使英语更加标准化。故A项正确。
4．What is the purpose of this passage?
A．To discuss the problems of dictionaries.
B．To encourage people to work on a project.
C．To persuade people to buy the new dictionary.
D．To introduce how Johnson completed his dictionary.
答案：D
解析：目的意图题。通读全文可知，本文主要介绍了Samuel Johnson和助手如何编纂了词典。故D项正确。
B
Although the idea of “zero emission and sustainable (可持续的) development” was promoted worldwide, most cities are at a loss what to do or even some have objected to it. But in Liuzhou, a city in southern China, attitudes could not be more different.
The Liuzhou Municipality Urban Planning Bureau has signed up Italian architect Stefano Boeri, the father of the forest city movement, to build a selfcontained community for up to 30,000 people. He is the goto man for such projects thanks to the success of his “vertical forests”， two residential (住宅的) towers. Completed in 2014, they remove up to 17.5 tons of soot (煤烟) from the air each year, and a year later one of them was named Best Tall Building Worldwide.
The Liuzhou project is a much more ambitious undertaking, however. Its homes, hospitals, hotels, schools and offices will be built on a 340acre site in what Boeri calls the first attempt to create an “urban environment that is really trying to find a balance with nature”. Its 100 species of plant life are expected to absorb almost 10,000 tons of carbon dioxide and 57 tons of pollutants per year, while at the same time producing 900 tons of lifegiving oxygen.
Although the architects haven't published the cost of the forest city, the Milan towers cost only five percent more than traditional skyscrapers.
The construction of his forest city at Liuzhou is set to begin in 2020, and there is still a great deal of planning and research required before a projected completion date can be set. However, Boeri remains optimistic about the project and has confidence in the soundness of his vision：“I really think that bringing forests into the city is a way to deal with global warming.”
本文是一篇说明文。为了改善环境，响应“可持续发展”的号召，柳州市聘用了著名建造设计师Stefano Boeri，计划在2020开始设计低碳环保的城市小区。
5．What's Liuzhou's attitude towards the sustainable development?
A．Approving. B．Cautious.
C．Unfavorable. D．Doubtful.
答案：A
解析：推理判断题。根据第一段可知，尽管很多城市对“零排放和可持续发展”理念不知所措甚至有些城市反对这个理念，但是柳州市的态度与它们大为不同；结合下文介绍的柳州市引进“城市森林”的小区设计可推知，对于可持续发展，柳州市的态度是赞同的，故A项正确。
6．Why is Stefano Boeri employed for the Liuzhou project?
A．He volunteered to do the project.
B．He is a famous architect in the world.
C．He is the father of the forest recovery.
D．He has gained experience in similar projects.
答案：D
解析：细节理解题。根据第二段第二句“He is the goto man...two residential (住宅的) towers”可知，由于设计“垂直森林”的成功，柳州市邀请Stefano Boeri设计类似的项目，故D项正确。
7．What does the underlined word “they” refer to?
A．The architects. B．The two towers.
C．Forests in the city. D．The residents of the city.
答案：B
解析：代词指代题。根据上文可知，Boeri成功设计了“垂直森林”，两个住宅塔楼；结合划线词所在的句子可知，这两座住宅塔楼2014年完工，每年最多可消除17.5吨煤烟，其中一座被评为全球最佳高层建筑。由此可推知they指代上文中的“two residential (住宅的) towers”，故B项正确。
8．What's the purpose of Liuzhou project?
A．To provide more jobs.
B．To bring forest into city.
C．To solve house shortage.
D．To improve the environment.
答案：D
解析：推理判断题。根据第三段尾句可知，柳州的这种城市设计项目中，有100种植物预计每年吸收近10 000吨二氧化碳和57吨污染物，同时产生900吨氧气。结合本文最后一句可知，Boeri认为把森林引入城市是应对全球变暖的一种方式。据此可推知，柳州的城市项目旨在改善环境，故D项正确。
