四、阅读理解(共15 小题,30分)
阅读下面四篇短文,从各题A、B、C、D 四个选项中选出最佳答案。
I like friends who share my happiness and sorrow,and who possess wings of their own and fly with me. I seek friends whose qualities illuminate(照亮)me and help me to express my love. It is for these people that I reserve the glowing hours, too good not to share.
When I was in the eighth grade, I had a friend. We were shy and “too serious” about our studies when it was becoming fashionable with our classmates to learn acceptable social behaviors. We said little at school, but she would come to my house and we would sit down with pencils and paper, and one of us would say,“Let’s start with a train whistle today.” We would sit quietly together and write poems or stories that grew out of a train whistle. Then we would read them aloud. At the end of that school year, we too, were changing into social creatures and the stories and poems stopped.
When I lived for a time in London, I had a friend. He was in despair(失望) and I was in despair, but our friendship was based on the idea that we would be sorry later if we did not explore this great city because we felt awful at the time. We met every Sunday for five weeks and visited many wonderful places. We walked until our despair disappeared and then we parted. We gave London to each other.
For almost four years I have had a remarkable friend whose imagination illuminates mine. We write long letters to each other in which we often discover our strangest selves. Each of us appears, sometimes in a funny way, in the other’s dreams. She and I agree that, at certain times, we seem to be parts of the same mind. In my most interesting moments, I often think: “Yes, I must tell…” We have never met.
It is such comforting companions I wish to keep. One bright hour with their kind is worth more to me than the lifetime services of a psychologist(心理学家), who will only fill up the healing(愈合的) silence necessary to those darkest moments in which I would rather be my own best friend.
1. In the eighth grade, what did the author do while her classmates started developing proper social behavior?
A. Become serious about her studies. B. Went to her friend’s house regularly.
C. Learned from her claamates at school. D. Wrote poems and stories with her friend.
2. In Paragraph 3, “We gave London to each other” probably means “______”.
A. our exploration of London was a memorable gift to both of us
B. we were unwilling to tear ourselves away from London
C. our unpleasant feelings about London disappeared
D. we parted with each other in London
3. According to Paragraph 4, the author and her friend
A. call each other regularly B. have similar personalities
C. write stories D. sometimes dream about each other
4. In the darkest moments, the author wants to
A. seek professional help B. be left alone
C. stay with her best friend D. break the silence
5. What is a good title for the passage?
A. Unforgettable Experiences B. Remarkable Imagination
C. Lifelong Friendships D. Noble Companions
Children have their own rules in playing games. They seldom need a referee (裁判) and rarely trouble to keep scores. They don’t care much about who win or lose, and it doesn’t seem to worry them if the game is not finished. Yet, they like games that depend a lot on luck, so that their personal abilities cannot be directly compared. They also enjoy games that move in stages, in which each stage, the choosing of leaders, the picking-up of sides, or the determining of which side shall start, is almost a game in itself.
Grown-ups can hardly find children’s games exciting, and they often feel puzzled at why their kids play such simple games again and again. However, it is found that a child plays games for very important reasons. He can be a good player without having to think whether he is a popular person, and he can find himself being a useful partner to someone of whom he is ordinarily afraid. He becomes a leader when it comes to his turn. He can be confident, too,in particular games, that it is his place to give orders, to pretend to be dead, to throw a ball actually at someone, or to kiss someone he has caught.
It appears to us that when children play a game they imagine a situation under their control. Everyone knows the rules, and more importantly, everyone plays according to the rules. Those rules may be childish, but they make sure that every child has a chance to win.To become a leader in a game, the child has to_______.
A.play well |
B.wait for his turn |
C.be confidence in himself |
D.be popular among his playmates |
What do we know about grown-ups?
A.They are not interested in games. |
B.They find children’s games too easy. |
C.They don’t need a reason to play games. |
D.They don’t understand children’s games. |
Why does a child like playing games?
A.Because he can be someone other than himself. |
B.Because he can become popular among friends. |
C.Because he finds he is always lucky in games. |
D.Because he likes the place where he plays a game. |
The writer believes that _________.
A.children should make better rules for their game |
B.children should invite grown-ups to play with them |
C.children’s games can do them a lot of good |
D.children play games without reason |
Each morning Grandpa was up early sitting at the kitchen table, reading his book. His grandson wanted to be just like him and tried to copy him in every way he could.
One day the grandson asked, “Grandpa, I try to read the book just like you, but I don’t understand it, and I forget what I understand as soon as I close the book. What good does reading the book do?”
The grandpa quietly turned from putting coal in the stove and replied, “Take this coal basket down to the river and bring me back a basket of water.”
The boy did as he was told, but all the water leaked out before he got back to the house. The grandpa laughed and said, “You’ll have to move a little faster next time,” and sent him back to the river with the basket to try again.
This time the boy ran faster, but again the basket was empty before he returned. Out of breath, he told his grandpa that it was impossible to carry water in a basket, so he went to get a bucket instead.
The grandpa said, “I don’t want a bucket of water; I want a basket of water. You’re just not trying hard enough.”
The boy again dipped the basket into the river and ran hard, but when he reached his grandpa the basket was empty again. Out of breath, he said, “Grandpa, it’s useless!”
“So, you think it is useless?” the grandpa said, “Look at the basket.”
The boy looked at the basket and for the first time he realized that the basket was different. It had been transformed from a dirty old coal basket and was now clean.
“Grandson, that’s what happens when you read the book. You might not understand or remember everything, but when you read it, you’ll be changed, inside and out.” What puzzled the grandson most was ________.
A.whether it was useful to read books |
B.why he forgot what he read soon |
C.what kind of book he could understand |
D.how he could read books like his grandpa |
Why did Grandpa ask his grandson to fetch a basket of water?
A.To train him to run faster. |
B.To clean the dirty basket in the river. |
C.To punish him for not reading carefully. |
D.To get him to realize the use of reading books. |
What lesson can we learn from the story?
A.The old are always wiser than the young. |
B.It is foolish to carry water with a basket. |
C.Reading books can change a person gradually. |
D.You can’t expect to remember whatever you read. |
The old saying that practice makes perfect seems to make no sense when it comes to schoolwork. Many educators today are looking for evidence to support the case for homework, but are coming up empty-handed.
Mary Jane Cera is the academic administrator for the Kino School, and she maintains a no-homework policy across all grades. The purpose of the policy is to make sure learning remains a joy, not a thing that discourages social time and creative activity.
At the Kino school, Cera says children often choose to take their favorite parts of school home. “A lot of what we see kids doing is practicing music with their friends, and taking experiments home to show their parents,” she says. Surveys of Kino graduates suggest that the early control they are given over their education continues to serve them well into college.
“One of the reasons that we continue to assign much homework is our obsession (着迷) with tests, although we can agree on the importance of kids doing better on tests through proper homework to some degree,”says author Alfie Kohn. In his book The Homework Myth, Kohn points out that no study has ever found a relation between homework and academic achievement and that if kids have no choice in the matter of homework, they’re not really exercising judgment, and are instead losing their sense of self-control.
However, many supporters of homework argue that life is filled with things we don’t like to do, and that homework teaches self-discipline, time management and other non-academic life skills.
Wherever the homework debate goes next, it’s worth taking a moment to examine if we’re doing the right thing about our children’s education. The good news is — it’s never too late to start.Mary Jane Cera believes that ______.
A.learning should develop creativity |
B.homework should be done at home |
C.learning remains to be a difficult task |
D.homework serves as a ticket to success |
According to the surveys, what influences students further study most?
A.Professors’ instructions. |
B.Time management skills. |
C.Early education at home. |
D.Freedom in choosing homework. |
What would Kohn probably agree with?
A.Homework is linked to academic achievement. |
B.Homework can equip students with life skills. |
C.Homework leads to the loss of kids’ creativity. |
D.Homework might improve kids’ grades in exams. |
What is the author’s attitude towards homework?
A.Disapproved. | B.Supportive. |
C.Objective. | D.Uninterested. |
Three key facts about rising sea levels need to be pointed out to the world's politicians and planners: sea-level rise is now unavoidable, it will happen faster than most of us thought, and it will go on for a very long time.
Even greenhouse gas emissions (排放) stopped tomorrow, the oceans will continue to become larger as they get warm. The climate scientists estimate that sea-level rise may be in the range of 1 to 2 meters by 2100, with a small risk of an even greater rise.
For many islands and low-lying regions, even small rises will cause disasters. But for most countries, the problem is what has been built on that land: New York, Sydney and Tokyo, to mention just a few cities. Unless something can be done, great areas of urban network will disappear under the waves. It will take a great engineering effort to protect these cities---an effort that may be beyond economies that have been brought to their knees.
None of this means we should fear, and stop trying to forbid emissions. But together with these efforts, we need to start acting now and we must stop building in danger zones.
Billions of dollars are being spent on constructing homes, offices and roads in vulnerable coastal areas. For instance, the skyscrapers of Shanghai are being built on land that is merely 4 meters above sea level on average, and they are sinking under the weight of the buildings. Therefore, planning for new coastal developments is to go against reality. If we want to build a lasting heritage for our children, we should do so on the plentiful land that is in no danger from the sea. It is one of the effective ways to slow down climate change, and we should be acting on it now.Which of the following about sea-level rise is true?
A.It will be brought under control by 2100. |
B.It will cause few problems to many islands. |
C.It may become worse than we expected. |
D.It may be caused by fast urban development. |
New York, Sydney, and Tokyo are mentioned in this passage to show _______.
A.modern cities are usually built along the coastline |
B.the coastline is very important for modern countries |
C.climate changes have endangered many big cities on land |
D.climate changes have been completely out of control |
What does the underlined word “vulnerable” in the last paragraph means?
A.difficult to build |
B.easy to damage |
C.likely to be protected |
D.impossible to make sure of |
What’s the main purpose of this passage?
A.To explain why sea-level is rising. |
B.To tell us the danger of sea-level rise. |
C.To warn us of greenhouse gas emission. |
D.To discuss the disadvantage of building coastal cities. |
With the passing of Steve Jobs, the tech industry has lost one of its most respected heroes. So where will the industry turn for inspiration, now that Jobs is gone?
New Apple CEO, Tim Cook, will keep the business going, but he is unlikely to inspire the same kind of devotion as Jobs. Facebook owner, Mark Zuckerberg, has star power, but he and his company are still too young and untested. At Google, Larry Page is too awkward, and Eric Schmidt too clever, and a lot of the company’s recent products are unfinished. But there’s one tech leader who just might fill the gap: Amazon’s Jeff Bezos.
Bezos runs his business the same way as Steve Jobs ran his, with a focus on long-term value over short-term profits and a willingness to invest in seemingly unrelated new areas. Steve Jobs converted Apple from personal computers into music with the iPod, and then into cellphones with the iPhone. It worked, and made Apple into the biggest and richest tech company in the world. Jeff Bezos is doing the same thing at Amazon.
In 2006, Amazon noticed it had a lot of spare capacity (容量) in its data centers. So it started renting out some of that capacity to some companies. Now, hundreds of newly-established Internet companies, including big names like Foursquare and Yelp, run their businesses on Amazon Web Services. Somehow, an outline bookseller became the most important provider of “cloud computing”.
In 2007, Amazon introduced its e-reader, the Kindle. The product developed slowly for a couple of years, and then started to take off in 2010 with the third generation. It sells for US$199, which is hundreds of dollars less than Apple’s iPad, but it has similar functions to the iPad. No wonder Amazon has to build millions more than it expected to meet demand.What do Jeff Bezos and Steve Jobs have in common?
A.They seek after short-term profits. |
B.They tend to invest in unrelated areas. |
C.They run their business creatively. |
D.They show interest in personal computers |
The second paragraph is mainly developed by ______.
A.giving examples |
B.making comparisons |
C.following the order of time |
D.analyzing causes and effects |
Why does Amazon have to produce more Kindles?
A.The product Kindle once developed slowly. |
B.Amazon noticed it had a lot of spare capacity. |
C.Kindle has powerful functions and lower price. |
D.Amazon took off with Kindle’s third generation. |
What might be the best title for the passage?
A.Amazon’s Jeff Bezo and his talents |
B.The Unknown Truth about Amazon |
C.Apple and Amazon---Which Is the Legend? |
D.Amazon’s Jeff Bezos---the Next Steve Jobs |