【广州市2015年初中毕业生学业考试英语】阅读下列短文，从每题所级的A、B、C和D项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Most of us probably live without vegetables, but a world without chocolate? Now that would be hard! According to chocolate makers it could happen if we don’t act soon.
There are two main causes of the chocolate shortage --- chocolate’s growing popularity and less production of cocoa, the plant from which chocolate is made. With more and more people in India and China loving chocolate, not much can be done about the first cause.
Therefore, the only thing we can do is to increase cocoa production. However, new plant diseases and little rain in Ivory Coast and Ghana, the world’s largest producers, have reduced cocoa production by 40 percent in the past 10 years. What’s worse, many cocoa farmers in Africa and other cocoa-producing countries like Indonesia and Venezuela are changing to easier-to-grow crops such as corn or rubber. This way, the farmers can make more money.
To prevent more farmers from changing, researchers at the newly opened International Cocoa Control Centre, in the UK, are trying to create new cocoa plants that are stronger and faster growing. But first they must make sure the new plants are safe to grow. This takes a long time.
First, each new plant is stored at the Control Centre for six months to make sure it is healthy. It is then planted in the Centre’s fields, studied and tested for another two years. Only after scientists are certain that they’re disease-free, will the plants be sent to farmers in West Africa or wherever else they are needed.
To create new stronger types of cocoa, scientists at the Centre are combining the best parts from different cocoa plants. Though the world is facing a serious chocolate shortage, there is now hope!The first paragraph tells us that______.
| A．chocolate is healthier than vegetables |
| B．the world could soon be without chocolate |
| C．people love vegetables more than chocolate |
| D．it’s not necessary to eat so much chocolate |
In which countries has chocolate become more popular in recent years?
| A．Venezuela and Indonesia. |
| B．Ivory Coast and Ghana. |
| C．Indonesia and China. |
| D．China and India. |
Cocoa farmers are choosing to grow rubber and corn because these crops______.
| A．can make them more money |
| B．need less rain to grow |
| C．can be planted more times each year |
| D．are not damaged by plant diseases |
How long does it take scientists at the Centre to make sure a cocoa plant is safe to grow?
| A．6 months. | B．12 months. | C．24 months. | D．30 months. |
What is one of the purposes of the Cocoa Control Centre?
| A．To introduce cocoa production to more countries. |
| B．To provide more chocolate for British people. |
| C．To produce stronger types of cocoa plants. |
| D．To make sure that cocoa is healthy to eat. |
All the wisdom of the times, all the stories that have delighted mankind for centuries, are easily and cheaply available to all of us in books, but we must know how to make use of this treasure. The unluckiest people in the world are those who have never discovered how satisfying it is to read good books.
I'm very interested in people and finding out something about them. Some of the most amazing people I've met could only be found in a writer's imagination, then in his book, and then, again, in my imagination. I've found in books new friends and new worlds.
Reading is fun, not because the writer is telling you something, but because it makes your mind work. Your own imagination works along with the writer's or even goes beyond his. Your experience, compared with his, brings you to the same or different conclusions (结论), and your ideas develop as you understand his.
Every book stands by itself, like a one-family house, but books in a library are like houses in a city. Although they are separate, in some way they are connected with each other. The same ideas, or related (相关的) ones, appear in different places; the human problems that repeat themselves in life repeat themselves in books, but with different solutions (解决方法) according to different writings at different times. Books influence each other. They connect the past, the present and the future and have their own generations (age groups), like families. Wherever you start reading, you connect yourself with one of the families of ideas, and in the end, you not only find out about the world and the people in it, you find out about yourself, too.
Reading can only be fun if you expect it to be. If you concentrate on (专注于) books somebody tells you "ought" to read, you probably won't have fun. But if you put down a book you don't like and try another till you find one that means something to you, and then relax with it, you will almost certainly have a good time--- and if you become, as a result of reading, better, wiser, kinder, or more gentle, you won't suffer during the process.Which of the following ideas may the writer of this article agree with?
| A．You will never meet amazing people in your life unless you read. |
| B．You think actively instead of getting facts passively (被动地) when reading. |
| C．You will get much delight (欣喜) from any book that you are told to read. |
| D．You can relax yourself by reading because it needs little thinking. |
What can we learn from Paragraph 4?
| A．We can often find something connected with ourselves in books. |
| B．Different writings at different times share the same characteristics. |
| C．The same problems will appear in different books with similar solutions. |
| D．Reading books which are written for your generation is more helpful to you. |
What's the writer's purpose of writing this passage?
| A．To advise us to enjoy ourselves by reading. |
| B．To encourage us to make full use of libraries. |
| C．To encourage us to find out solutions in books. |
| D．To advise us to discuss books with other people. |
Soon computers and other machines will be able to remember you by looking at your eyes! The programme works because everyone's eyes are different. Therefore, in the future you won't have to remember a number when you want to use a machine or take money out of a bank. You'll just have to look at the machine and it will be able to tell who you are.
The eye-recognition programme has already been tested in shops and banks in the USA, Britain, Spain, Italy and Turkey. Soon this technology will take the place of all other ways of finding out who people are.
However, scientists are also working on other systems. Machines will soon be able to know you from the shape of your face or hand or even your smell! We already have machines that can tell who you are from your voice or the mark made by your finger.
Eye-recognition is better than other kinds because your eyes don't change as you get older, and don't get dirty like hands or fingers, and even twins have different eyes. The eye-recognition programme can be up to 94% correct, depending on how good the technology is. However, some other programmes may only be 51% correct at present. In Britain, it was found that 91% of people who had tried it said that they liked the idea of eye-recognition.
In the future your computer will be looking at you in the eye. So smile!Where has the eye-recognition programme already been tested in a few countries?
| A．In shops and banks. | B．In shops and schools. |
| C．In banks and schools. | D．In schools and hospitals. |
We already have machines that can tell who you are from________.
| A．your eyes or your smell |
| B．your voice or the mark by your finger |
| C．your face or your voice |
| D．your face or your hand |
Which of the following doesn't belong to the advantages of the eye-recognition programme?
| A．Your eyes don't change as you get older. |
| B．Eyes don't get dirty like hands or fingers. |
| C．Everyone's eyes are different, even twins have different eyes. |
| D．We can't see anything without eyes. |
If you want to see a thing well, touching can help you to "see" it better.
Your eyes can tell you that a glass ball is round. But by holding it in your hands, you can feel how smooth and cool the ball is. You can feel how heavy the glass ball is. When you learn all these about the ball, you really see it well.
With your skin, you can feel better. For example, your fingers can tell the difference between two different coins in your pocket. You can feel a little drop of water on the back of your hand, too. You can even feel sounds against your skin. Have you ever wanted to know why some people like very loud music? They must like to feel the sounds of music.
All children soon learn what "Don't touch!" means. They hear it often. Yet most of us keep on touching things as we grow up. In shops, we touch things that we might buy. To see something well, we have to touch it. The bottoms of our feet can feel things, too. You know this when you walk on warm sand, cool grass or a hard floor. All feel different under your feet.
Most museums are just for looking. But today some museums have some things to touch. Their signs say, "Do touch!" There you can feel everything on show.
There are ways of learning to see well by feeling. One way is to close your eyes and try to feel everything that is touching your skin. Feel the shoes on your feet, the clothes on your body, the air on your skin.
If you want to see better, reach out and touch. Then you will really see!The underlined word "these" in Paragraph 2 refers to________.
| A．a glass ball is round |
| B．a glass ball is smooth and cool |
| C．a glass ball is smooth, cool and heavy |
| D．a glass ball is round, smooth, cool and heavy |
Which of the following is NOT true?
| A．People don't have to learn to feel. |
| B．Our skin may help us enjoy music. |
| C．By touching things, we can learn more about them. |
| D．We have to touch something in order to see it well. |
________ can be the best title of the passage.
| A．Feeling by Seeing | B．To See or to Feel |
| C．To See Better---Touch | D．Ways of Touching |
Blind imitation (模仿) is self-destruction. To those who do not recognize their unique worth, imitation appears attractive: to those who know their strength, imitation is unacceptable.
In the early stages of skill or character development, imitation is helpful. When I first learned to cook, I used recipes (菜谱) and turned out some tasty dishes. But soon I grew bored. Why follow someone else's way of cooking when I could create my own? Imitating role models is like using training wheels on a child's bicycle; they help you get going, but once you find your own balance, you fly faster and farther without relying on them.
In daily life, imitation can hurt us if we subconsciously (下意识地) hold poor role models. If, as a child, you observed people whose lives were bad, you may have accepted their fear and pain as normal and gone on to follow what they did. If you do not make strong choices for yourself, you will get the results of the weak choices of others.
In the field of entertainment, our culture glorifies celebrities. Those stars look great on screen. But when they step off screen, their personal lives may be disastrous. If you are going to follow someone, focus on their talent, not their bad character or unacceptable behaviors.
Blessed is the person willing to act on their sudden desire to create something unique. Think of the movies, books, teachers, and friends that have affected you most deeply. They touched you because their creations were motivated by inspiration, not desperation. The world is changed not by those who do what has been done before them, but by those who do what has been done inside them. Creative people have an endless resource of ideas. The problem a creator faces is not running out of material; it is what to do with the material knocking at the door of imagination.
Study your role models, accept the gifts they have given, and leave behind what does not server. Then you can say, "I stand on the shoulders of my ancestors" tragedies and stories, and know that they are cheering on. Imitation proves useful when you _____.
| A．know you are unique |
| B．lose the balance of life |
| C．begin to learn something new |
| D．get tired of routine practice |
To avoid the bad result of imitation, we should _____.
| A．forget daily fear and pain |
| B．choose the right example |
| C．ask others for decisions |
| D．stay away from stars |
The trouble a creator faces is _____.
| A．the lack of strong motivation |
| B．the absence of practical ideas |
| C．how to search for more materials |
| D．how to use imagination creatively |
What is the author's purpose in writing this passage?
| A．To highlight the importance of creatively. |
| B．To criticize the characters of role models. |
| C．To compare imitation with creation. |
| D．To explain the meaning of success. |
There are different ways in which people try to deal with the problem of energy. One way is the greater production of common energy sources(能源), such as coal, oil and gas. The trouble with these sources, however, is that they are not renewable.
Another way is energy conservation(节能), which means using energy more efficiently(有效地). In some very cold countries people build special houses to save energy. They place materials between the inside and the outside of the walls of the house to keep the cold out and the warmth in. The house is heated by the lights, the body heat of the people and the other equipment in it.
Finally, renewable energy sources are used even though they are often expensive to develop. One form of these is geothermal energy. In certain parts of the world the temperature of the earth increases thirty degrees centigrade with each kilometre down. At six kilometres, therefore, t rises to nearly two hundred degrees. To get the heat, water is pumped(压;抽)down into the ocks and back up to the surface. Heat from the earth is already used in certain countries.The writer tells about the "special houses" because they __________
| A．show the excellent skills of the builders |
| B．serve as an example of energy conservation |
| C．are heated by different sources of energy |
| D．are warmer than other types of houses |
The underlined words geothermal energy in the third paragraph mean________
| A．renewable source |
| B．underground source |
| C．heat inside the earth |
| D．temperature of the earth |
At a place where the surface temperature is 15℃, how deep do you have to dig so as to get a temperature of 75℃?
| A．One km. | B．Two km. |
| C．Three km. | D．Four km. |