（届江苏省扬州中学高三4月阶段测试英语试卷）
Is the ‘Go to College’ Message Overdone?
Even in a weak job market, the old college try isn’t the answer for everyone. A briefing paper from the Brookings Institution warns that “we may have overdone the message” on college, senior fellow Isabel Sawhill said.
“We’ve been telling students and their families for years that college is the only way to succeed in the economy and of course there’s a lot of truth to that,” Ms. Sawhill said. “On average it does pay off… But if you load up on a whole lot of student debt and then you don’t graduate, that is a very bad situation.”
One comment that people often repeat among the years of slow job growth has been the value of education for landing a job and advancing in a career. April’s national unemployment rate stood at 7.5%, according to the Labor Department. The unemployment rate for high-school graduates over 25 years old who hadn’t attended college was 7.4%, compared with 3.9% for those with a bachelor’s degree or more education. The difference is even bigger among those aged 16-24. The jobless rate for those with only a high school diploma in that age group is about 20%. At the same time, recent research by Canadian economists cautions that a college degree is no guarantee of promising employment.
Ms. Sawhill pointed out that among the aspects that affect the value of a college education is the field of one’s major: Students in engineering or other sciences end up earning more than ones who major in the arts or education. The cost of tuition and the availability of financial aid are other considerations, with public institutions generally a better financial bargain than private ones.
She suggested two avenues for improving the situation: increasing vocational(职业的)-technical training programs and taking a page from Europe’s focus on early education rather than post-secondary learning. “The European countries put a little more attention to getting people prepared in the primary grades,” she said. “Then they have a higher bar for whoever goes to college—but once you get into college, you’re more likely to be highly subsidized(资助).”
She also is a supporter of technical training—to teach students how to be plumbers, welders and computer programmers—because “employers are desperate” for workers with these skills.People usually think that _____.
| A．the cost of technical schooling is a problem |
| B．one will not succeed without a college degree |
| C．technical skills are most important for landing a job |
| D．there is an increased competition in getting into a college |
What does the underlined part “taking a page from” mean?
| A．Hearing from. | B．Changing from. |
| C．Differing from. | D．Learning from. |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．Public institutions charge more for education. |
| B．European universities are stricter with students. |
| C．Students with certain skills are in great demand. |
| D．Canadian students prefer to major in engineering. |
Ms. Sawhill may probably agree that _____.
| A．too much stress has been put on the value of college degrees |
| B．technical training is more important than college education |
| C．a college degree will ensure promising employment |
| D．it’s easier for art students to find favorite jobs |
第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题；每小题2分。满分40分）
Speak, speak, speak!
Practise speaking as often as you can. Speaking to yourself is good practice.
Try recording yourself whenever you can.
Compare your pronunciation with the master version（原版）to see how you can do better and have another go. If you do this several times, you will find that each time is better than last.
Why not learn with someone else?
It helps if you can learn with someone else. If you can persuade a friend or family member to study with you, it will make you keep working.
Don't get stuck by a word you don't know.
Practise improving ways of getting your meaning across when speaking spontaneously（本能地），even if you don't know the exact words or phrases. Think of things you might want to say whenever you have spare time. Use facial expressions, hand movements, anything to make yourself understood.
Language learning is also about intuition（直觉）．
Guesswork is an important way to learn a new language. When listening to recorded material, you aren't expected to understand everything first time round. If you play the same piece several times, you will most probably understand something new each time.
Build up your vocabulary.
A wide vocabulary is the key to successful language learning but don’t try to learn too much at once. It’s best to study frequently, for short periods of time. Take at most six or seven items of vocabulary and learn them. Put them into sentences to fix them in your mind, and then come back to them later.
And above all, have fun!
56. What’s the purpose of this passage?
A. To tell us the importance of practicing speaking as often as we can.
B. To tell us a few tips to help us learn a new language well.
C. To tell us that guesswork is an important way to learn a new language.
D. To tell us that a wide vocabulary is the key to successful language learning.
57. What’s the meaning of the underlined phrase in the first part?
A. Have another try or attempt. B. Move away from a place to another.
C. Enter a certain state or condition. D. Follow or take a certain course.
58. To learn English well, we shouldn’t _______ according to the passage.
A. practice speaking as often as possible
B. study frequently, for short periods of time to build up our vocabulary
C. try to understand everything and stop when we meet a new word
D. try to persuade a friend or family member to study with us
59. According to the passage, to learn a new language well, the most important thing is ______.
A. speaking as much as possible B. having fun
C. a wide vocabulary D. guesswork
[1] Look at the center circles of Diagram A and Diagram B. Which of the centre circles looks larger?
[2] Take a first look and you probably think that the centre circle in Diagram A is smaller than that in Diagram B. In fact, they are exactly the same size.
[3]Then look at the picture on the right.What do you see? A vase? Or two faces? Does the picture change quickly from one to the other again and again? Maybe or maybe not, but you can see them at the same time.
[4]“What’s happening? Is something wrong with my eyes?” You may wonder at what you see. Don’t worry. Here is how it goes:
[5]When we look at things, our eyes send messages to our brains and then our brains interpret (解释) the information. However, sometimes our brains interpret the received information in a wrong way. It seems that our eyes are playing a joke on us. This often happens and we call it “Visual illusion(幻觉)”.
[6] Movie makers often make use of illusions. They make the objects around actors much smaller or bigger than usual. This makes us believe that the actors are much larger or smaller than they usually are. The movies Jurassic Park and Honey J shrunk the kids just make use of illusions.
66. In which column of a magazine can you read the above text?
A. Culture. B. Science. C. Humour. D. Education.
67. The centre circle in Diagram A looks smaller than that in Diagram B, That’s because____.
A. something is wrong with our eyes
B. the two circles are not of the same size
C. our brains interpret the information wrongly
D. pictures change quickly from one to the other
68. In the picture on the right, it seems that Line AB is shorter than lane
CD, but in fact lane AB is as long as Line CD. Which paragraph
can explain what has happened to our eyes?
A. The second one. B. The third one.
C. The fifth one. D. The sixth one.
69. What’s the right order according to the text?
a. We look at things with our eyes.
b. Our brains interpret the messages.
c. Our brains tell us what we have seen.
d. Our eyes send messages to our brains.
A. a-d-b-cB c-a-b-d C a-c-d-b D. b-e-a-d
70. Movie makers make use of visual illusions to .
A. help the actors look better B. make the actors much braver
C. help the actors become stronger D. make the actors seem different in size
Accidents happen almost daily. Some accidents are minor and some are serious but others may be fatal. We read about such accidents nearly every day in the newspapers. It is wrong for people to think that accidents occur only on the roads or highways, or even at worksites. Home accidents are just as common. Because very few home accidents are reported, people tend to think that there are few accidents which happen in homes.
There have been many cases where people fall to their deaths from high-rise flats. Children often fall from staircases while coming down the stairs. Old people may slip on wet or slippery floors if they are not careful.
Nowadays there are a lot of modern electrical appliances such as rice-cookers, electric irons, and kettles which make life easy for the modern housewives. These appliances can kill if they are not used in the proper way.
Gas stoves used for cooking are also dangerous if they are not properly handled. They may cause burns or, in more serious cases, they may even cause fires.
But all such accidents can be prevented if we are careful and obey simple rules of safety. For example, it is unwise for people to try repairing their own electrical appliances if they do not know how. It is safer for them to get their faulty appliances repaired by a qualified electrician.
61. Accidents take place_______.
A. mostly in homes B. mostly on roads and highways
C. mostly on worksites and factories D. almost everywhere
62. People think accidents happen only on the roads or highways because ______.
A. there are more road accidents
B. many home accidents are not reported in newspapers
C. home accidents are not serious
D. such accidents happen nearly every day
63. Which of the following accidents may NOT happen in homes?
A. People may fall to deaths from high buildings.
B. People may be knocked down by cars on the roads.
C. Gas stoves may caused burns or even fires.
D. People may get a shock from an electrical appliance
64. Which of the following is true about the modern electrical appliances?
A. They help modern housewives a lot.
B. They are very dangerous and should not be used.
C. They are usually safe unless they are used carefully.
D. They are not dangerous even if they are used carelessly.
65. People are advised________.
A. to avoid using electrical appliances
B. to repair their own faulty electrical appliances
C. not to repair their own faulty electrical appliances
D. not to throw away their faulty electrical appliances
第三部分：阅读理解(共15小题；每小题2分，满分30分)
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项中(A、B、C和 D)中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Many Chinese students who have learnt English for more than ten years are still unable to speak English very well when they meet a foreigner. They seem to have mastered the basic language structure (结构), but a conversation in English will make them feel uneasy. They are afraid that other people might find out their mistakes.
It’s uncommon that many students who are bad speakers of English can write English perfectly. This proves that they are unable to organize their idea in English. The center of the problem is that they lack practice and confidence.
Why should you be afraid? Do you fear those foreigners with whom you are speaking? Don’t be shy. They will not laugh at you just for a little mistake you make. The best way to get rid of trouble is to learn to speak by speaking more. I am sure that constant practice will help you succeed.
56. What’s the best topic for the passage?
A. How to Speak to Foreigners
B. How to Study English Well
C. How to Organize the Idea in English
D. Practise Speaking English All the Time
57. Many Chinese students can write English very well, but they cannot speak English fluently because ______.
A. they seldom meet foreigners
B. they seldom practise speaking English
C. they had no chance to speak English
D. they think it’s enough to master the basic language structure only
58. So many Chinese students are afraid to speak to foreigners because______.
A. they are afraid they can’t understand foreigners
B. they don’t think their English is poor
C. they worry about making mistakes in their speaking
D. they didn’t like speaking to foreigners
59. According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?
A. We can speak English fluently by doing more speaking.
B. If you can write English perfectly, you are able to organize your idea in English.
C. If you can write good English composition, you can speak English very well.
D. Many Chinese students can’t speak English fluently because they are afraid of making mistakes.
60. In the last paragraph, the expression “get rid of” means _______.
A. throw away B. free oneself from
C. give up D. do with
When several different people look at the same person, it is not unusual for each of them to see different things; when you alone observe one behavior or one person at two different times, you may see different things. The following are but some of the factors that lead to these varying perceptions:
Each person’s perceptions of others are formed by his or her own cultural condition, education, and personal experience.
Sometimes perceptions differ because of what we choose to observe and how we deal with what we’ve observed. It is not necessarily true that person’s perception is based on observations of a particular person. Your observations may be totally controlled by some. Your observations may be totally controlled by what others have told you about this person; or you may focus primarily on the situation or role relationship. Most people do not use the same yardstick to measure their parents, their friends, and strangers.
Sometimes we see only what we want to see ,what may be observed to others because of our own needs, desires, or temporary emotional states. This is a process known as selective perception. Selective perception is obviously more difficult when contradictory information is particularly obvious, but it can be done. We can ignore the stimulus—“He’s basically a good boy, so what I saw was not shoplifting.” We can reduce the importance of the contradictory information—“All kids get into mischief(顽皮). Taking a book from the bookstore isn’t such a big deal.” We can change the meaning of the contradictory information—“It wasn’t shoplifting because he was going to pay for it later.”...
68.While observing a particular person, .
A. one is likely to take all aspects into consideration
B .one pays more attention to his or her advantages
C. children often differ from gown-ups in perception
D. one tends to choose certain clues to look for
69. Observation of the same person by two people at the same time may differ because .
A. their yardsticks are not the same
B. either of them may be slow to catch information
C. the time for observations is not long enough
D. each of them uses different language to express his or her impressions
70.The underlined word “ignore” in Paragraph 4 means to_____________.
A. understand something B.try to do something
C. pay no attention to something D. know something better