阅读 Part A

材料题：根据下面资料，回答26-30题。

The political career of Cicero, a great Roman statesman and the most well-known speech-mak-er of his time, was a remarkable one. At the time, high political offices in Rome, though techni-cally achieved by winning elections, were almost exclusively controlled by a group of wealthy no-ble families that had held them for many generations. Cicero′ s family, though noble, was not one of them, nor did it have great wealth. But Cicero had a great deal of political ambition; at a very young age he chose as his basic belief the same one Achilles was said to have had: to always be the best and overtop the rest. Lacking the advantages of a proper family origin, there were essentially only two career options open to him. One was a military career, since military success was thought to result from exceptional personal qualities and could lead to popularity and therefore political op-portunity as was the case much later for American presidents Ulysses S. Grant and Dwight D. Eisen-hower. Cicero, however, was no soldier. He hated war, and served in the military only very brief-ly as a young man.

Instead, Cicero chose a career in the law. To prepare for this career, he studied law, rhetoric,and philosophy. When he felt he was ready, he began taking part in legal cases. A career in the law could lead to political success for several reasons, all of which are still relevant today. First, a lawyer would gain a great deal of experience in making speeches. Second, he could also gain ex-posure and popularity from cases. Finally, a successful lawyer would build up a network of politi-cal connections, which is important now but was even more important in.Cicero′ s time, when po-litical competition was not conducted along party lines or on the basis of doctrine, but instead was based on loose, shifting networks of personal friendships and commitments. Cicero proved to be an excellent speech-maker and lawyer, and an outstanding politician. He was elected to each of the principal Roman offices on his first try and at the earliest age at which he was legally allowed to run for them.

26[单选题] To win an important office in Cicero’s time，a candidate should__________．

A.be born of a wealthy family

B.possess political experience

C.launch a national campaign

D.convince the general public

27[单选题] Cicero came from a family with__________．

A.great wealth

B.remarkable fame

C.political ambition

D.noble background

28[单选题] Unlike Cicero，Ulysses Grant attained his political position due to__________．

A.his strong beliefs

B.his personal relations

C.his military achievements

D.his powerful speeches

29[单选题] A Roman politician’s career prospects were strongly influenced by__________.

A.their party’s support

B.their social connections

C.their political doctrine

D.their public popularity

30[单选题] Cicero was elected to the principal offices when__________．

A.he got support from his friends

B.he began his career as a lawyer

C.he was committed to social services

D.he was just old enough to run for them

材料题

根据下面资料，回答31-35题。

One of the key challenges in urban architecture over the next 50 years will be figuring out how to squeeze vast numbers of additional people into urban areas that are already extremely crowded.

London, for example, will somehow have to deal with a projected 100,000 extra inhabitants every year until 2016. The current plan of building new "satellite towns" of the city causes a lot of prob-lems-but architecture think tanks are working on ambitious solutions that go vertical instead of horizontal in search of space.

In terms of population density, London is one of the least crowded major cities in the world--four times fewer people per square kilometer than Paris, for example, six times fewer than New York and eight times fewer than Cairo. But the fact remains that the city′ s population is growing at a rapid rate, and horizontal expansion into the surrounding areas is eating up increasingly important agricultural land, as well as worsening all the transport problems that come with urban growth.

Popular Architecture would propose a radically different solution. The proposal is to go up-wards, with vertical towers of considerable size, each representing an entire new town by the time it′ s completed. Each tower would be 1500 meters high. Beyond mere accommodation, each tower would function as an entire town unit, with its own schools, hospitals, parks and gardens, sports facilities, business areas and community spaces. The population density of such a tower could help lower the individual energy requirements of each inhabitant, reducing the ecological impact of the population as a whole.

The village towers are considered as hollow tubes, with large holes to allow light and air through the entire construction. Occasional floor discs spread throughout the height of the building will give inhabitants large central areas in the middle of the tube to use as gathering spaces.

While the building itself is unlikely ever to be seriously considered for construction-imagine the number of elevators it would need，let alone the safety implications of open areas at such heights and with such wind exposure--the concept can serve as a conversation—starter for urban planners looking to face the challenges of the current and coming centuries.

31[单选题] One key challenging task for urban architects in future is to__________．

A.build new satellite towns

B.work out ambitious plans

C.design less crowded cities

D.accommodate more inhabitants

32[单选题] Which of the following cities has the largest population density?

A.Cairo．

B.Paris．

C.London．

D.New York．

33[单选题] Horizontal expansion not only wastes land，but makes it hard for London to__________．

A.handle its safety problems

B.resolve its transport issues

C.control its population growth

D.measure its population density

34[单选题] The vertical tower would represent an entire new town in itself because__________．

A.it is energy-saving

B.it is cost-effective

C.it is self-sufficient

D.it is comfort．oriented