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1.（2011•安徽卷）D Ireland has had a very difficult history. The problems started in the 16th century when English rulers tried to conquer(征服) Ireland. For hundreds of years, the Irish people fought against the English. Finally, in 1921, the British government was forced to give independence to the south of Ireland. The result is that today there are two “Irelands”. Northern Ireland, in the north, is part of the united kingdom. The Republic of Ireland, in the south, is an independent country. In the 1840s the main crop, potatoes, was affected by disease and about 750,000 people died of hunger. This, and a shortage (短缺) of work , forced many people to leave Ireland and live in the USA, the UK, Australia and Canada. As a result of these problems, the population fell from 8.2 million in 1841 to 6.6 million in 1851. For many years, the majority of Irish people earned their living as farmers. Today, many people still work on the land but more and more people are moving to the cities to work in factories and offices. Life in the cities is very different from life in the countryside, where things move at a quieter and slower pace. The Irish are famous for being warm-hearted and friendly. Oscar Wilde, a famous Irish writer, once said that the Irish were “the greatest talkers since the Greeks”. Since independence, Ireland has revived(复兴) its own culture of music, language, literature and singing. Different areas have different styles of old Irish song which are sung without instruments. Other kinds of Irish music use many different instruments such as the violin, whistles, etc. 【文章大意】本文从地理状况、人口发展、经济情况以及社会生活等方面介绍了爱尔兰共和国，让我们对这个美丽的国家有更进一步的了解。
68. What does the author tell us in paragraph 1? A. How the Irish fought against the English. B. How Ireland gained independence. C. How English rulers tried to conquer Ireland. D. How two “Irelands” came into being. 【解析】选D。主旨大意题。通读第一段可知，本段介绍了爱尔兰共和国(The Republic of Ireland)及北爱尔兰(Northern Ireland)的由来，故D项正确。 69. We learn from the text that in Ireland . A. food shortages in the 1840s led to a decline in population B. people are moving to the cities for lack of work in the countryside C. it is harder to make a living as a farmer than as a factory worker D. different kinds of old Irish songs are all sung with instruments 【解析】选A。细节理解题。通读第二段可知，十九世纪四十年代，由于主要农作物土豆受病害影响及本国工作机会缺乏，大量爱尔兰人移往其它国家，使爱尔兰人口下降，故A项正确。B项中人们移往城市并非是由于农村缺少工作机会；文章中并没有对比城市和乡村生活的难易；D项错误在于all，并非全部的爱尔兰歌谣都使用乐器。 70. The last paragraph is mainly about . A. the Irish character B. Irish culture C. Irish musical instruments D. a famous Irish writer 【解析】选B。主旨大意题。文章末段从爱尔兰民族习性、音乐、语言及文学等方面介绍了爱尔兰民族文化，故B项正确。A、C、D各项虽都提及，但都是细节。 71. What can be the best title for the text? A. Life in Ireland B. A Very Difficult History C. Ireland, Past and Present D. The Independence of Ireland 【解析】选C。文章标题题。通读全文可知，本文从地理状况、人口发展、经济情况以及社会生活等方面介绍了爱尔兰共和国的过去及现在，故C项最为全面。
2.（2011•辽宁卷）C Many people believe Henry Ford invented the automobile (汽车). But Henry Ford did not start to build his first car until 1896. That was eleven years after two Germans developed the world's first automobile. Many people believe Henry Ford invented the production line that moved a car's parts to the worker, instead of making the worker move to the parts. That is not true, either. Many factory owners used methods of this kind before Ford. What Henry Ford did was to use other people's ideas and make them better. And he made the whole factory a moving production line. In the early days of the automobile, almost every ear maker raced his cars. It was the best way of gaining public notice. Henry Ford decided to build a racing car. Ford's most famous race was his first one. It was also the last race in which he drove the car himself. The race was in 1901, at a field near Detroit. All of the most famous cars had entered, but only two were left: the Winton and Ford's. The Winton was famous for its speed. Most people thought the race was over before it began. The Winton took an early lead. But halfway through the race, it began to lose power. Ford started to gain. And near the end of the race, he took the lead. Ford won the race and defeated the Winton. His name appeared in newspapers and he became well-known all over the United States. Within weeks of the race, Henry Ford formed a new automobile company. In the 1903, a doctor in Detroit bought the first car from the company. That sale was the beginning of Henry Ford's dream. Ford said: I will build a motor car for the great mass of people. It will be large enough for the family, but small enough for one person to operate and care for. It will be built of the best materials. It will be built by the best men to be employed. And it will be built with the simplest plans that modem engineering can produce. It will be so low in price that no man making good money will be unable to own one. The Model T was a car of that kind. It only cost $850. It was a simple machine that drivers could depend on. Doctors bought the Model T. So did farmers. Even criminals，They considered it the fastest and surest form of transportation. Americans loved the Model T. They wrote stories and songs about it. Thousands of Model T's were built in the first few years. 63. What do we know about Henry Ford from Paragraph 1? A. He made good use of ideas from others. &nbs
