III. 阅读理解（共两节，满分40分）
第一节 阅读理解（共15小题；每小题2分，满分30分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C和D项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
It’s hard to believe that before 1985, people in Britain didn’t use mobile phones. That was the year when the first mobile phone company began operation in the UK, although in other parts of Europe mobiles had been used for several years.
Early mobiles were much larger than they are today. Some of them weighed about 5 kg and the owners had to pay several thousand pounds for them. By the beginning of the 1990s, companies in the UK had updated their mobile phones so they were more like the mobiles used all over Europe. Those phones weighed about 500g, and the batteries lasted longer，whereas before they had lasted for only one hour’s talk-time.
Nowadays, some of our mobiles weigh as little as 50g and have a talk-time of up to five hours and a battery life of up to 10 days. About 80% of UK adults now own a mobile phone, and there are now almost 50 million mobile phone users in the UK.
Nobody had ever expected mobile phones to become so popular. One huge surprise was the increase in the use of text messages. Twenty years ago, people didn’t hear of “texting”. Now, over one billion text messages are sent every month in the UK. People are also using their mobile phones as music centers, as personal organizers and to surf the Internet.
Mobile phones are developing all the time and people are predicting that soon nobody will want to leave his house without one in his pocket. Mobile phones will no longer be just useful, but necessary for people in the UK.
41. What is the main idea of the passage?
A. Mobile phones in the UK are getting smaller and lighter.
B. Mobile phones in the UK have more functions now.
C. Mobile phones in the UK are developing very slowly.
D. The history development of mobile phones in the UK.
42. Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
A. Mobile phones in the UK appeared earlier than in other parts of Europe.
B. In the UK some early mobile phones were about 100 times as heavy as those today.
C. In the UK more than twelve billion text messages are sent every year.
D. The British use mobiles to enjoy music, organize personal lives and surf the Internet.
43. When was the first mobile phone company started in the UK?
A. In 1985. B. Before 1985. C. In 1990. D. In 1970.
44. Which word can replace the underlined “whereas” in the second paragraph?
A. when B. while C. just D. till
45. What does the last paragraph mainly tell us?
A. Mobile phones will be predicting daily life in the UK.
B. Mobile phones will be more popular in the UK.
C. Mobile phones will be necessary for people in the UK.
D. Mobile phones will develop quickly.
