第三部分:阅读理解(共20小题; 每小题2分, 满分40分)
Everyone likes to feel that he or she is special.
Unfortunately, many of us grow up believing that we’re not special at all. We wish that we could be better at sports or more attractive. We wish we had nicer clothes or more money. Like the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, or the Cowardly Lion from The Wizard of Oz (《绿野仙踪》), we believe we’re not good enough just as we are. In the movie, the Scarecrow wishes that he had a brain. The Tin Man wishes he had a heart, and the Lion wants courage. In the end, each of them realizes that he already has what he needs.
Most parents want us to be the best we can be. They sometimes try to encourage us to do better by comparing us to others. They mean well, but the message we often get is that we’re not good enough. We begin to believe that the only way we can be special is by being better than someone else, but we are often disappointed. There will always be someone out there who is better than we are at something. There are plenty of people around who may not be as smart as we are but who are better at sports. Or they may not be as good-looking, but they have more money. It is impossible for us to be better than everyone else all the time.
Like the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion, we all want what we believe will make us better people. What we don’t realize is that often we already have inside us the very things that we seek. Parents sometimes forget to tell us that we are special, that we are good enough just as we are. Maybe no one told them that when they were growing up, or maybe they just forgot. Either way, it’s up to us to remind them from time to time that each of us, in our own way, is special. What we are ... is enough.
56. This passage is most likely written by a ______.
A. teenager B. parent C. teacher D. coach
57. According to the author, it seems improper for parents to ______.
A. compare their children with others now and then
B. give no pressure to their children
C. remind their children frequently they are special
D. praise their children too much
58. By discussing the characters in The Wizard of Oz, the author mainly wants to show ______.
A. we are not good enough just as we are
B. we already have inside us what we want
C. it is impossible for us to be better than others
D. there is always someone who is better than us
59. What does the author of this passage believe?
A. Not everyone can be special.
B. Smart people are more special than others.
C. The richer you are, the better you are.
D. We are all good enough just the way we are.
Jack Andraka from Maryland won the grand prize at the 2012 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. It is the largest high school science competition in the world. The Maryland teenager is the youngest winner of the $75,000 prize. He was chosen from among 1,500 students in 70 countries.Jack Andraka invented a test for pancreatic cancer (胰腺癌). He started to learn it after losing a close family friend to the disease. “I went on the Internet and I found that 85%of all pancreatic cancers are found late, when someone has less than 2% chance of survival(生存), ” he says, “and I was thinking,’ That’s not right. We should be able to do something.’” He found that early discovery is important to increasing the chances of surviving the disease.
The Maryland teenager asked to work in a laboratory at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and was allowed. There he developed a simple paper test, which can recognize the disease in a single drop of blood. His test has proved correct 90% of the time. It also is 100 times more sensitive(敏感的)than other tests. “It costs 3 cents per test, and then it takes only 5 minutes to run,” he said.
Jack’s success wouldn’t have been possible without Anirban Maitra, a professor at Johns Hopkins. He was the only person among the 200 researchers Jack wrote to who showed interest in his project. “I was very surprised that this was a 15-year-old who was writing this. I wanted to meet this clever young man and see what he wanted to talk about and so I called him over for an interview(会面). ”
Jack worked in Professor Maitra’s laboratory, completing his project in 7 months. The government has given the Maryland teenager patent rights(专利权)to the pancreatic cancer test. He is now talking with companies about developing the test into a simple product.
Whatever happens, the professor believes Jack Andraka’s name is one we will be hearing again over the next 10 to 20 years. What made Jack Andraka research pancreatic cancer?
A.A high school task. | B.A professor’s encouragement. |
C.Losing a friend. | D.Doubts about the present test. |
Jack Andraka’s research on pancreatic cancer __________.
A.proved to be very successful |
B.was 100 times cheaper than other tests |
C.gave patients a 90% chance of survival |
D.was finished at the high school of Maryland |
We can infer(推断)from the text that Jack Andraka __________.
A.left a deep impression on Professor Maitra |
B.was thought highly of by companies |
C.got support from others easily |
D.wasn’t afraid of failure |
The underlined sentence in the last paragraph suggested Jack Andraka will __________.
A.become rich |
B.make contributions(贡献)continually |
C.get a good job |
D.make products to treat cancer |
What’s the best title for the text?
A.Intel International Science and Engineering Fair |
B.Jack Andraka’s Fights Against Cancer |
C.Research on Pancreatic Cancer |
D.Teenager Cancer Researcher |
Many blind people use guide dogs to help them get safely from place to place and to warn them of danger. But what can blind people do if they are allergic(过敏的)to dogs or just don’t like them? For some people, the answer is provided by the Guide
Horse Foundation.
Janet and Don Burleson founded the organization in 1999. They began training miniature horses to help guide blind people. Miniature horses look just like regular horses, only much smaller. They are generally less than 34 inches tall.
Cuddles was the foundation’s first guide horse in full service(服务). She became 45-year-old Dan Shaw’s helper. Shaw has an eye disease and his sight is very poor. One night, while filling out a form to get a guide dog, Shaw heard a news story on TV about people training horses to guide the blind. Shaw loves horses and wanted a guide animal that would live a long time. He applied(申请), and a year later, Cuddles and Shaw began training as a team.
On a trip to New York, Cuddles helped Shaw safely tour Times Square, a very busy part of the city at night. The next day, Cuddles calmly rode the elevator with Shaw to the crowded top of the Empire State Building, a famous tall building. Cuddles even guided Shaw on the boat ride to the Statue of Liberty(自由女神像), and traveled on the subway system.
Shaw says that he is very lucky to have Cuddles. He believes that Cuddles has changed his life for the better by giving him the chance to do things himself and making him feel much more confident about himself.The Guide Horse Foundation __________.
A.was set up by one person |
B.has different kinds of horses |
C.trains horses to guide blind people |
D.has a history of several hundred years |
According to the text, miniature horses __________.
A.live a shorter life than guide dogs |
B.are much smaller than regular horses |
C.are more friendly to people than dogs |
D.are different from regular horses in many ways |
We know from the text that Dan Shaw __________.
A.became blind at age 45 |
B.has a great love for horses |
C.heard about guide horses from a friend |
D.got a guide horse as soon as he applied |
Cuddles changed Dan Shaw’s life by __________.
A.making him famous |
B.helping to calm him |
C.giving him confidence |
D.helping him start an organization |
The text is written to tell us that __________.
A.special animals can help people do seemingly impossible things |
B.blind people are brave to face many challenges |
C.horses are better than dogs as guide animals |
D.New York City is a magical city |
Every day, 15-year-old Martha wrote on the Internet about the meal she ate at school. She also took pictures of the food. However, Martha was very honest about the food. She did not just describe the food. She judged the taste and health of the food.
Martha also began to use her blog(博客)for an important reason. She began to raise(筹集)money for the organization Mary’s Meals in the East African country of Malawi. It provides food for children in schools for free. Martha encouraged her readers to send money to Mary’s Meals to help build a kitchen.
But then, Martha began to have a problem. Many people read her blog. She became big news. The news stories showed that the food at Martha’s school was not always healthy. And that made some people angry. So the school officials decided to stop Martha’s blog. They said that she could not take her camera to school.
But an amazing thing happened. Many people began sending messages of support across the Internet. Martha’s story was even bigger than before. Now the officials had to change their minds. A few days later, Martha was again writing her blog. But more than that, people had sent a lot of money for the Malawi school children. Martha had hoped to raise about 10,000 dollars. But the total reached 100,000 dollars and still kept on growing!
Martha’s blog also helped to improve meals at her school. One day she wrote: As we waited for dinner we were told that we are allowed to eat as much fruit and bread as we want.
No one knows what will happen to Martha’s blog in future. But already this little girl has helped to change the eating experience of many children just by sharing on the Internet pictures of her school meals. Martha wrote about her school meals on her blog to __________.
A.invite students to judge the food |
B.show the terrible taste of the food |
C.express her opinion about the food |
D.ask the school to improve the food |
The organization Mary’s Meals __________.
A.was set up by Martha |
B.provides free school meals |
C.is an international organization |
D.helps poor families build kitchens |
Why did the school officials want to prevent Martha writing her blog?
A.It had a bad influence on her study. |
B.Some people were upset by its content(内容). |
C.Taking pictures needs a lot of time. |
D.Many other students started to copy her. |
According to the text, Martha __________.
A.got a lot of support around the world |
B.helped improve children’s eating habits |
C.raised $10,000 for the Malawi school children |
D.has no idea what to write on her blog in future |
What’s the best title for the text?
A.School Meals | B.Mary’s Meals |
C.Power of the Internet | D.Martha Shares Her Food |
At East China University of Science and Technology, students will get a coupon(优惠券)if they eat up their food. Students can collect coupons and exchange them for small gifts, such as books, magazines, mobile phone covers and hand warmers.
“It’s been such a surprise,” said Liang Zhaoyun, 19, a student at the university in Shanghai. “It has given us one more motivation to finish our food.”
The measure (措施) is part of a national “eat-up” campaign(行动) which is organized by students to deal with food waste on campuses(校园).
Why only on campuses, you might ask? Because according to a report by Xinhna News Agency, students waste twice as much food as the national average(平均).
The campaign on campus food waste is receiving attention across the country.
“The aim of the campaign is not only to encourage students to finish their food. We hope it can also encourage students to choose a more environment-friendly and healthy lifestyle,” said Tao Siliang, secretary of the Youth League Committee at Shanghai University.
But some school food is poorly prepared, so students do not like to finish it all. Some schools have taken notice of this and they are taking measures to improve it.
“I’m glad that we’ve reduced food waste since the ‘eat-up’ campaign began. But if we call on students to waste less food, we should also improve the service and food standard on campuses.” said Tao.From Paragraph l, we know that the students will get a coupon __________.
A.when they eat school food | B.after they exchange gifts |
C.if they collect the waste | D.if they finish all their food |
The underlined word “motivation” in Paragraph 2 means __________ in Chinese.
A.动力 | B.机会 | C.试验 | D.条件 |
The “eat-up” campaign is carried out on campuses because __________.
A.students get a good education |
B.schools offer small gifts |
C.students waste too much food |
D.school food is more delicious |
The purpose of the campaign is mainly to __________.
A.improve the school food standard |
B.encourage a greener and healthier lifestyle |
C.receive attention from the society |
D.further improve the service in universities |
The best title for this passage may be __________.
A.Enjoy Your Food! | B.Reduce Waste on Campus |
C.Meals in Universities. | D.“Eat-up” Campaign on Campus |
Smaller than your fist, your healthy heart just goes on and on. It will beat more than 60 times a minute for 70 years or more. That’s something that most of us take for granted. But it’s an amazing fact.
60 times a minute for 60 minutes is 3,600 times. What physical thing can most of us do 3,600 times in one hour? Blink? Maybe. Tap our fingers on the desk? No. Jump up and down? Certainly not! But our heart keeps beating, hour after hour. Every day, it pumps almost 2,000 gallons of blood through our blood vessels(血管). It takes you about five years to drink 2,000 gallons of water.
And, unlike your knees or your back, your heart does all this work without ever complaining(抱怨)! You never know that it’s even there. Your heart is such a reliable “silent partner” that people forget to care for it. For many, the first indication(迹象)that their heart isn’t working properly is a serious heart illness! Over 650,000 Americans die of some kind of heart disease every year. Cancer kills 560,000, stroke kills 143,000, and accidents kill 118,000 Americans annually.
Like accidental deaths, many heart disease-related deaths can be avoided if people simply follow the advice of the experts. Unfortunately, most people seem to listen to a little voice in their head that says, “It won’t happen to me. ” So these people keep on smoking and drinking. They continue to eat too much meat. And their only “exercise” is getting off the sofa to get something out of the fridge. Please follow the following steps to keep your heart healthy. The text is most probably taken from a (an) __________.
A.art book | B.science fiction |
C.healthy magazine | D.psychology book |
Which of the following physical activities can keep going on and on?
A.Blink. | B.Jump. | C.Finger tap. | D.Heart beat. |
According to the numbers mentioned in paragraph 3, we can know __________.
A.Accidents can be the biggest “killer” in America every year. |
B.In America, heart disease causes the highest death rate annually. |
C.Cancer causes more threat than any other diseases for Americans. |
D.Recently, nobody died of stroke or heart disease in America. |
What do we know about our healthy hearts?
A.our healthy hearts work with many complains as our knees. |
B.our healthy hearts can pump 3,600 gallons of blood everyday. |
C.our healthy hearts are smaller than our fists. |
D.our healthy hearts can beat 60 times in one hour. |
What do you think the next paragraph is about?
A.Some tips for keeping a healthy heart. |
B.Some suggestions for avoiding accidental deaths. |
C.Some reasons for doing regular exercise. |
D.Some exercise for keeping a healthy lifestyle. |