Food serves as a form of communication in two fundamental ways. Sharing bread or other foods is a common human tradition that can promote unity and trust. Food can also have a specific meaning, and play a significant role in a family or culture's celebrations or traditions. The foods we eat-and when and how we eat them-are often unique to a particular culture or may even differ between rural (农村的) and urban areas within one country.
Sharing bread, whether during a special occasion (时刻) or at the family dinner table, is a common symbol of togetherness. Many cultures also celebrate birthdays and marriages with cakes that are cut and shared among the guests. Early forms of cake were simply a kind of bread, so this tradition hits its roots in the custom of sharing bread.
Food also plays an important role in many New Year celebrations. In the southern United States, pieces of corn bread represent blocks of gold for prosperity (兴旺) in the New Year. In Greece, people share a special cake called vasilopita. A coin is put into the cake, which signifies (预示) success in the New Year for the person who receives it.
Many cultures have ceremonies to celebrate the birth of a child, and food can play a significant role. In China, when a baby is one month old, families name and welcome their child in a celebration that includes giving red-colored eggs to guests. In many cultures, round foods such as grapes, bread, and moon cakes are eaten at welcome celebrations to represent family unity.
Nutrition is necessary for life, so it is not surprising that food is such an important part of different cultures around the world.
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According to the passage, sharing bread.
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| 2． |
What does the coin in vasilopita signify for its receiver in the New Year?
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| 3． |
The author explains the role of food in celebrations by.
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| 4． |
What is the passage mainly about?
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（2014届北京市东城区普通校高三3月联考英语试卷）
Driving a car is not just handling controls and judging speed and distance. It requires you to predict what other road users will do and get ready to react to something unexpected. When alcohol is consumed, it enters your bloodstream and acts as a depressant (抑制药), damaging eyesight, judgment and co-ordination(协调), slowing down reaction time and greatly increasing the risk of accidents. Even below the drink driving link, driving will be affected.
Alcohol may take a few minutes to be absorbed into the bloodstream and start action on the brain. Absorption rate is increased when drinking on an empty stomach or when consuming drinks mixed with fruit juice. To get rid of alcohol from the body is a very slow process and it is not possible to speed it up with any measures like taking a shower or having a cup of tea or coffee.
The present Road Traffic Ordinance states clearly that the limit of alcohol concentration is: ● 50 milligrams of alcohol per 100ml of blood; or
● 22 micrograms of alcohol per 100ml of breath; or
● 67 milligrams of alcohol per 100ml of urine (尿液).
Drivers who cause traffic accidents, or who commit a moving traffic offence or are being suspected of drink driving will be tested.
Any drive found drinking beyond the limit will be charged. The driver declared guilty may be fined a maximum of HK $25,000 and be sentenced to up to 3 years in prison and punished for 10 driving-offence points; or temporarily banned from driving.
The same punishment applies to failing to provide specimens (样本) far breath, blood or urine tests without good excuse.
Drink driving is a criminal offence. Be a responsible driver, think before you drink. For the safety of yourself and other road users, never drive after consuming alcohol.The first paragraph is mainly about ________.
| A．the introduction of driving skills |
| B．the damage of drinking to your body |
| C．the effect of drinking on driving |
| D．the process of alcohol being absorbed |
The underlined word “it” in the second paragraph refers to “________”.
| A．alcohol | B．absorption | C．blood | D．process |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．Drinking below the drink driving limit has no effect on driving. |
| B．Alcohol is taken in more quickly when drunk with fruit juice. |
| C．Having a cup of tea helps to get rid of alcohol from the body. |
| D．50 milligrams of alcohol per 100ml of breath is below the drink limit. |
A drive suspected of drink driving ________.
| A．should provide specimens for testing |
| B．will be forbidden to drive for 3years |
| C．will be punished for 10 driving-offence points |
| D．should pay a maximum fine of HK $25,000 |
（届福建省泉州市高三质检英语试卷）
For many centuries，countless scholars have asked the question：What is beauty? As designers update the latest fashions and artists create their masterpieces, what is considered beautiful changes at an alarming pace.
Fifty years ago，the full-figured Marilyn Monroe was a symbol of the American aesthetic(美学的)value；today，many Hollywood actresses different in appearance from Marilyn’s have taken her place. However，aesthetic values not only differ from generation to generation，but do so along cultural lines as well. Often, what is considered disgusting to one civilization is just the aesthetic appeal in another. Thus it is difficult to give an absolute definition(定义)of beauty.
As fundamental(基础的)physicists，my colleagues and I like to believe that we are involved in a search for a beauty that affects definition. The beauty that we search for is not what is set up through the work of people and subject to the tastes, but rather what has been laid down by nature Physics allows its students to look past outer appearances，into a deeper beauty. As a human being，I am attracted by the visual appeal of a wave crashing on the beach. As a physicist, however I am able to see the deeper beauty of the physical laws that govern such a phenomenon.
In truth，since Albert Einstein put forward the idea that there might be one main physical theory that governs the universe，aesthetics have become a driving force in modern physics. Einstein and other later physicists have discovered that：Nature, as its most fundamental level，is beautifully constructed. The extraordinary simplicity of the laws that govern the universe is really breathtaking . As Einstein said, it would seem more likely that we should find ourselves living in a“chaotic(无秩序曲)world，in no way graspable through thinking”. Yet we are now closer than ever to a full understanding of the universe’s beautiful clockwork. As new discoveries and technologies allow us to examine the physical world on deeper and deeper levels，we find that the beauty itself becomes much deeper.The reference to“Marilyn Monroe”in Paragraph 2 mainly serves to___________.
| A．provide an example of today’s beauty standards |
| B．show there is no fixed definition of aesthetics |
| C．compare traditions of the East to the West |
| D．discuss her abilities as an actress |
When appreciating a wave crashing on the beach，a physicist sees the beauty of________.
| A．the visual attraction | B．the powerful sounds |
| C．the physical laws behind | D．the lovely creatures |
Why are Albert Einstein’s words mentioned in Paragraph 3?
| A．To detail the functions of physical laws. |
| B．To highlight the range of Einstein’s influence. |
| C．To show that Einstein doubted the beauty of physics. |
| D．To stress the very simplicity of the laws of the universe. |
The passage is mainly to___________.
| A．present a special way of seeing beauty |
| B．emphasize the influence of physics |
| C．discuss the awareness of cross-culture |
| D．argue the traditional ideas on value |
（届湖北省武穴中学高三4月摸底考试英语试卷）
Who is your role model? Normally the answer to this question would be anyone around you who you find truly inspiring. It could also be someone like J. K. Rowling or Martin Luther King. Jr. , who have proven to be strong and intelligent people.
However, in today’s world, stars are regarded as role models along with the heroes listed above, despite their intentions or actions. Teens attempt to imitate their actions for two major reasons. Firstly, to be fashionable and accepted by popular culture, and secondly because stars’ actions are so well documented by the media that it seems to grab our attention and turns it to following stars’ lives. Much of the reports about stars is shocking and exhibits bad morals or lifestyles that aren’t right for teenagers. In addition, almost everything stars do is described beyond truth to make a shocking story by taking it to the next level.
However, teens must take responsibility for their actions. We can’t always blame stars for influencing us. Only you have control over yourself and only you choose to do something. Our bodies and actions are in the hands of no one else.
Now, who ever said stars are role models? Whether they choose to be or not, stars set examples as soon as they step into the spotlight. With reporters following and recording every move they make, it is impossible not to be watched and then be imitated. These people influence teens whether or not they want to. Why should someone who doesn’t want to be setting an example set one? So，should we look up to them or to people who are true and good role models? It’s our responsibility as teens to know right from wrong, and it’s time for us to take responsibility for our actions. In doing so，we will lean toward those inspiring people that want to be setting an example, and follow in their steps to be like them. According to the first paragraph, _______ can usually be role models.
| A．political leaders |
| B．wealthy writers |
| C．people inspiring others |
| D．people with great intelligence |
What are the major reasons for the teens to imitate stars?
| A．Interest in stars’ life and expectation of getting rich. |
| B．Motivation for being fashionable and inspiration from popular examples. |
| C．Intentions to gain acceptance and encouragement from stars’ lifestyle. |
| D．Desires to be stylish and great influence from the mass media. |
The author writes the passage mainly to advise the teenagers to _______.
| A．have a control over their own bodies and actions |
| B．be responsible for their own choices and behaviors |
| C．follow fashionable stars’ steps to be more popular |
| D．choose right role models according to different reports |
It can be inferred from the passage that _______.
| A．stars have the responsibility for teenagers’ actions |
| B．not all famous stars choose to influence teenagers |
| C．teenagers choose those inspiring people as their role models |
| D．stars set examples immediately they stepped into the spotlight |
（届江苏省淮州中学高三3月份模拟英语试卷）
Beauty has always been regarded as something praiseworthy. Almost everyone thinks attractive people are happier and healthier, have better marriages and have more respectable jobs. Personal advisors give them better advice for finding jobs. Even judges are softer on attractive defendants. But in the executive (主管的) circle, beauty can become a liability.
While attractiveness is a positive factor for a man on his way up the executive ladder, it is harmful to a woman.
Handsome male executives were considered having more honesty than plainer men; effort and ability were thought to lead to their success.
Attractive female executives were considered to have less honesty than unattractive ones; their success was connected not with ability but with factors such as luck.
All unattractive women executives were thought to have more honesty and to be more capable than the attractive female executives. Interestingly, though, the rise of the unattractive overnight successes was connected more to personal relationships and less to ability than that of the attractive overnight successes.
Why are attractive women not thought to be able? An attractive woman is considered to be more feminine (女性的，娇柔的) and has an advantage in traditionally female jobs, but an attractive woman in a traditionally manly position appears to lack the “manly” qualifies required.
This is true even in politics, “When the only clue is how he or she looks, people treat men and women differently,” says Anne Bowman, who recently published a study on the effects of attractiveness on political candidates (候选人). She asked 125 undergraduate students to rank two groups of photographs, one of men and one of women, in order of attractiveness. The students were told the photographs were of candidates for political offices. They were asked to rank them again, in the order they would vote for them.
The results showed that attractive males completely defeated unattractive men, but the women who had ranked most attractive unchangeably received the fewest votes.The underlined word in the first paragraph “liability” most probably means________.
| A．trust | B．trouble | C．disadvantage | D．benefit |
Bowman's experiment shows that when it comes to politics, attractiveness________.
| A．is more of a disadvantage than an advantage to women |
| B．turns out to be a disadvantage to men |
| C．has more effects on men than on women |
| D．has nothing to do with one’s work |
It can be inferred from the passage that people's views on beauty are often__________.
| A．objective | B．supportive | C．old-fashioned | D．subjective |
The author writes this passage to_________.
| A．give advice to job-seekers who are attractive |
| B．discuss the disadvantages of being attractive |
| C．emphasize the impact of appearance on both sexes |
| D．make women pay more attention to their appearance |
（2014届江苏省淮州中学高三3月份模拟英语试卷）
The United Nations climate talks in Doha, Qatar, continued into their second week, Wednesday, as delegates from nearly 200 countries struggle to craft a replacement for the Kyoto Protocol, the global agreement on climate change that expires at the end of this month.
The negotiations are deadlocked （陷入僵局）over demands by poorer nations for financial help in coping with climate change.
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon called on delegates at the United Nations Conference on Climate Change to speed up their work on an agreement to address a warming planet.
“Let us be under no illusion（幻想）, this is a crisis, a threat to us all, our economies, our security and the well-being of our children and those who will come after," he said. "No one is immune to climate change, rich or poor.”
Delegates from nearly 200 countries --- rich and poor --- are in Doha to extend the Kyoto Protocol, the 1997 global climate change agreement that expires （到期）at the end of this month, and to begin to forge a new agreement to replace it.
Two issues block the way forward. Developing countries are demanding that industrialized nations fulfill their pledges(保证)under Kyoto to reduce their climate-changing industrial emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, and to put new, larger emission curbs on the table.
The developing nations, led by China, are also insisting that rich nations provide more aid to poorer countries to help them cope with the effects of climate change, including rising sea levels and more violent storms.
In Doha Wednesday, Tim Gore, a climate change policy advisor for Oxfam International, a confederation of groups working on social justice issues, applauded efforts by England, Germany and Sweden to increase their climate aid and expects other nations to follow.
“Those announcements are truly welcome. And they shine a spotlight on those that have remained silent: the U.S., Canada, Japan, even Australia," Gore said. "But we need to be very clear as well that those types of announcements made in press conferences can be no substitute for clear commitments in the text that poor countries have come here to negotiate.”What’s the main idea of the passage?
| A．China plays an important role in The United Nations climate talks in Doha, Qatar. |
| B．The United Nations climate talks in Doha, Qatar, continued into their second week, Wednesday. |
| C．Developing countries want rich nations to pay for climate change. |
| D．Ban Ki-moon called on delegates at the United Nations Conference on Climate Change to speed up their work on an agreement to address a warming planet. |
What did United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said in Paragraph 4 mean?
| A．Climate change will do harm to all the countries in the world. |
| B．There is no hope to deal with the problem. |
| C．Illusion（幻想）is a crisis, a threat to us all. |
| D．Ban Ki-moon called on delegates to cope with a warming planet. |
What does the underlined word in Paragraph Five forge mean?
| A．put aside | B．deal with | C．call off | D．work out |
Which of the following is Not true?
| A．Climate change includes rising sea levels and more violent storms. |
| B．All the industrialized nations will carry out their promises under Kyoto to reduce their climate-changing industrial emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases, and to put new, larger emission curbs on the table. |
| C．Tim Gore thought highly of the efforts by England, Germany and Sweden to increase their climate aid and expects other nations to follow. |
| D．The U.S., Canada, Japan, even Australia didn’t make announcements to be responsible for the climate changes. |