（2014届山西太原市高三年级模拟考试（一）英语试卷）Som-优题课

B
Crashing a state dinner at the White House without any invitation apparently takes a security breakdown as well as some kind of courage.
The Washington Post first reported that a couple, Tareq and Michaele Salahi, not on the official guest list, managed to slip into the state dinner at the White House on Nov. 24, 2009. The dinner was held to honor Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. According to the Post, the uninvited guests had stayed in the same place with the Obamas and other important figures.
The U. S. Secret Service learned about the security breach (破坏) on Wednesday only after the couple boasted online about having attended the state dinner. One of the many photos from the dinner posted on her blog shows the couple with the smiling Vice President Joe Biden.
The White House has asked the Secret Service for a full review of what happened. “ The Secret Service is looking into its security procedures after determining that. ” Secret Service spokesman Ed Donovan said. “ An initial (初步的) finding has identified that one of our checkpoints did not follow proper procedures to ensure that the two individuals were on the invited guests list,” Donovan said. But he also said President Obama was never in any danger as well as the others at the dinner, because all the party attenders went through the security screening for weapons as there were more than three hundred people invited. “ But we do not rely on just magnetometers (检测仪) or the level of screenings, ” he added. “ That’s why we have the guards with our protectees at all times ”.
The following are more reactions to this incident:
* One senator thought authorities ought to pursue criminal charges against the couple and such behavior should be strongly discouraged.
* “ There is no need of legal help for the couple, as they just went to a party. They didn’t do anything wrong,” a lawyer expressed his opinion on this eye-catching security breach.
* Evan Botny, a current affair commentator, on Sunday said his concern was about the long-term effect on U.S. security, so it should be regarded more than a laughing matter.
* Meanwhile, a TV executive added that the couple’s attempt might be focused on money, as they
were offering interviews to networks on their experience.
45. The U. S. Secret Service got to know the incident because of _______.
A. the news from the Washington Post
B. the announcement of some important figures
C. the couple’s boasting on the internet
D. the report of the Secret Service spokesman
46. In paragraph 4, the spokesman thinks _______.
A. the security procedures are very efficient
B. such incidents could be very easily avoided
C. the secret service needn’t be improved at all
D. the incident came as a surprise with no harm
47. According to the passage, the couple did so in order to _______.
A. enjoy a state dinner B. take some photos
C. become famous D. visit the White House
48. From the reactions, who believes the Secret Service rather than the couple is to blame?
A. A senatorB. A news commentator
C. A lawyerD. A TV executive

第二部分阅读理解:（共两节, 满分50分）
Ⅲ. 第一节（共20小题; 每小题2分, 满分40分）阅读下列短文, 从每题后面所给的选项
（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卷上将该项涂黑。
A
We may encounter various setbacks (挫折) in our life and these setbacks may never repeat themselves. They appear differently in different periods of life.
Students may have problems in learning, for example, the goal and motivation of learning, the method and attitude of study, and their school performances as well. If they fail to deal with these matters properly, they may have problems in study and even develop psychological problems.
Job-hunting, career choosing, capability and unemployment are matters often leading to
psychological problems of the contemporaries (当代人). How to choose a career, how to make a plan for life and how to keep competence in position and for promotion, etc., these are all factors to bring us worries and anxieties.
Interpersonal relationship leads to one of the major psychological setbacks of the human being. The symptoms show that it is hard to get along with others, lacking necessary skills to communicate with others. These may lead to sad feelings of loneliness, bitterness, short of concerns and cares.
The old often suffer from supersession of the old by the new, stepping down from leading positions, retirement, being isolated and helpless. How to look at these rules of law in life, get used to the change, handle domestic emptiness when children grow up and the bitterness facing death of the beloved, all these have to be dealt with properly, to avoid the development of depression and disease.
Now, it comes to the key — how to handle them.
Keeping a good mood:
Do not make your ambitions too high and never seek for perfection when doing things.
Do not expect too much from others. Otherwise, you will be disappointed if she/he fails to meet your expectation.
When angry, you’d better calm yourself so as to avoid doing something stupid.
Be tolerating and forgiving. Toleration and forgiveness can either smooth your own mood or benefit interpersonal relationship.
When you encounter setbacks you’d better leave it alone and begin to do something you like, for example, go to the theater or take exercise, etc.
You may ease yourself by telling your unhappiness to your good friends, parents, teachers or even making a telephone call to psychological hotlines.
Do something good for others. In this way, you will not only forget your worries but also find your own value and at the same time make friends with others.
To evaluate your ability and role properly, thus you will not develop unnecessary psychological pressure on yourself.
41. The writer is mainly trying to tell us _______.
A. who knows about setbacksB. how to deal with setbacks
C. when we have setbacksD. what causes various setbacks
42. Setbacks may result from the following EXCEPT _______.
A. learning problems at schoolB. weak competence in career
C. poor skills in communicationD. the rules of law in life
43. Guess the right meaning of the underlined word “supersession”.
A. depressionB. replacement
C. lonelinessD. emptiness
44. From the “key” given by the writer, we can infer that _______.
A. anger can be turned into useful power
B. those without ambitions are the happiest
C. psychological problems can be solved by yourself
D. doing something good for others adds to your worries

（D）
As you move around your home, take a good look at the things you have．It’s likely that your living room will have a television set and a video, and your kitchen will have a washing machine and a microwave oven．Your bedroom drawers will be filled with almost three times as many clothes as you need． You almost certainly own a car and possibly a home computer, holiday abroad at least once a year and eat out at least once a week．
Now, perhaps, more than ever before, people are wondering what life is all about, and what it is for．Seeking material success is beginning to trouble large numbers of people around the world．They feel that the long-hour work culture to make more money to buy more things is eating up their lives, leaving them very little time or energy for family or pastimes．Many are turning to other ways of living and downshifting_is one of them．
Six percent of workers in Britain took the decision to downshift last year．One couple who downshifted is Daniel and Liz．They used to work in central London．He was a newspaper reporter and she used to work for an international bank．They would go to work by train every day from their large house in the suburbs （郊区）, leaving their two children with a nanny（保姆）．Most evenings Daniel wouldn’t get home until eight or nine o’clock, and nearly twice a month he would have to fly to New York for meetings．They both earned a large amount of money but began to feel that life was passing them by．
Nowadays, they run a farm in the mountains of Wales．“I always wanted to have a farm here,” says Daniel, “and we took almost a year to make the decision to downshift．It’s taken some getting used to, but it’s been worth it．We have to think twice now about spending money on car repairs and we no longer have any holidays．However, I think it’s made us stronger as a family, and the children are a lot happier．”
Liz, however, is not quite sure．“I used to enjoy my job, even though it was hard work and long hours．I’m not really a country girl, but I suppose I’m gradually getting used to looking after the animals．One thing I do like, though, is being able to see more of my children．My advice for other people wanting to do the same is not to think about it too much or you might not do it at all．”
68．What do the first two paragraphs tell us?
A．People seldom work long hours to make money．
B．People hardly buy more things than necessary．
C．People are sure everything they own is in the right place．
D．People realize more is involved in life than just making money．
69．Daniel agrees that the move to the farm __________．
A．was easy to organize B．has improved family life
C．was extremely expensive D．has been a total success
70．The underlined word "downshifting" in the second paragraph means ________．
A．repairing your car by yourself
B．spending money carefully
C．moving out to the countryside to live a simpler and better life
D．living in a big house in the suburbs and dining out once a week

（C）
Within fifteen years Britain and other nations should be well on with the building of huge industrial complexes for the recycling of waste．The word rubbish could lose its meaning because everything that goes into the dumps would be made into something useful．Even the most dangerous and unpleasant wastes would provide energy if nothing else．
The latest project is to take a city of around half a million inhabitants and discover exactly what raw materials go into it and what go out．The aim is to find out how much of these raw materials could be provided if a plant for recycling waste were built just outside the city．This plant would recycle not only metal such as steel, lead and copper, but also paper and rubber as well．
Another new project is being set up to discover the best ways of sorting and separating the rubbish．When this project is complete, the rubbish will be processed like this: first, it will pass through sharp metal bars which will tear open the plastic bags in which rubbish is usually packed; then it will pass through a powerful fan to separate the lightest elements from the heavy solids; after that grounders and rollers break up everything that can be broken．Finally the rubbish will pass under magnets, which will remove the bits of iron and steel; the rubber and plastic will then be sorted out in the final stage．
The first full scale giant recycling plants are, perhaps, fifteen years away．Indeed, with the growing cost of transporting rubbish to more distant dumps, some big cities will be forced to build their own recycling plants before long．
64．The main purpose of the passage is ____．
A．to show us a future way of recycling wastes
B．to tell the importance of recycling wastes
C．to warn people the danger of some wastes
D．to introduce a new recycling plant
65．What is the main reason for big cities building their own recycling plants?
A．To deal with wastes in a better way．
B．It’s a good way to gain profits．
C．It’s more economical than to dump wastes in some distant places．
D．Energy can be got at a lower price．
66．The first full-scale huge recycling plants ____．
A．have been in existence for 15 years B．takes 15 years to build
C．can’t be built until 15 years later D．will remain functioning for 15 years
67．Which of the following statements is true?
A．The word “rubbish” will soon disappear from dictionaries．
B．Dangerous wastes can be recycled into nothing but energy．
C．To recycle paper and rubber will still be impossible even with the new recycling methods．
D．Big cities will soon have their own recycling plants．

（B）
The U．S．birthrate began to decline in the middle 1950’s, resulting in a smaller college age population starting in the middle 1970’s．Something else happened in the 1970’s: the price of oil increased greatly, driving up the price of almost everything and making Americans aware that their large automobiles used a lot of gasoline．At the same time, foreign car manufacturers had begun to produce small fuel efficient cars in large quantities for the export market．Suddenly, the large, gas guzzling American cars were no longer attractive to American buyers, who began buying foreign cars by the thousands．The American automobile industry went into a recession．Thousands of automotive workers were laid off, as were thousands of people in industries indirectly connected with the auto industry．
People who are laid off tend to keep what money they have for necessities, like food and housing．They do not have the extra money needed to send their children to college．Their children cannot pay their own college costs, because during a recession they cannot find jobs．High unemployment means that more state funds must be used for social service-----unemployment benefits, and to aid dependent children, for example-----than during more prosperous times．It also means, that the states have fewer funds than usual, because people are paying fewer taxes．Institutions of higher education depend on two major sources of income to keep them functioning: tuition from students and funds from the states．At the present time, there are fewer students than in the past and fewer state funds available for higher education．The colleges and universities are in trouble．
60．What is the main idea of this passage?
A．The rising of oil price drove up the price of everything．
B．There were many reasons why higher education was in trouble in the 1970’s．
C．Birthrate began to decline in the USA in 1950’s．
D．High unemployment caused a lot of social problems．
61．American cars were not popular in their domestic markets because they were____．
A．small B．gas consuming
C．fuel efficient D．not attractive
62．The colleges and universities were in trouble because of the following reasons except that ____．
A．they couldn’t get enough income to keep them running
B．young people couldn’t afford the tuition fees
C．keeping them running at the same level would cost much more
D．social services need more state funds because of the recession
63．All of the following statements are true EXCEPT ____．
A．young people couldn’t afford their own tuition in the 1970’s
B．it’s difficult for graduates from colleges to find a job in the 1970’s
C．fewer parents could afford to send their children to college because of the recession in 1970’s
D．Birthrate dropped in the 1970’s because of the recession