The pencil is a very simple object． However， it took hundreds of people over centuries to make it what it's like today．
The story of the pencil starts with graphite（ 石墨）． People cut it into small sticks and use them to write or draw． Around 1560， an Italian couple named Simoni and Lyndiana Bemacotti added wood holders to the graphite sticks． However， since the graphite is too soft， the pencils were easy to break．In 1795， in France， Nicolas﹣Jaoques Conte worked out a method of mixing graphite powders with clay（黏土）． In this way， people made strong pencil core（铅笔芯）， To this day， the method is still used in making pencils．
It was Henry David Thoreau who came up with the grading scale（分级量表） for different hardnesses of pencils． It was graded one through four， and grade two is the proper hardness for general use． The softer the pencil is， the more graphite it has in it， and the darker the line is． The harder the pencil is， the more clay it has， and the lighter the line is． Nowadays， pencils marked 2B are usually used in exams to mark answers． Pencils marked HB are usually used in daily writing．People usually use pencils of different hardness and blackness to draw different parts of a picture．
When pencils were handmade， they were made round． Then an American Joseph Dixon developed machines to make pencils． Later people found out itwas easier and less wasteful to make a pencil which has six sides．
There is a pencil for everyone and every pencil has a story． The Blackwing 602 is famous for being used by a lot of writers， And then， you have the Dixon pencil company． It's what people think of when they think of a pencil and what they most probably will buy when their children are about to write．
In my opinion， there's nothing that can be done to make the pencil better than it is．
根据短文内容选择最佳选项．
（1）Who improved the hardness of pencils？
| A． |
Joseph Dixon． |
| B． |
Nicolas﹣Jacques |
| C． |
Henry David Thoreau． |
| D． |
Simoni and Lyndiana Bemacotti． |
（2）What can we lean about pencils？
| A． |
Pencils of great hardness are less useful． |
| B． |
Their hardness and blackness decide their uses． |
| C． |
Round pencils were first made by machines． |
| D． |
Pencils with six sides are comfortable to use． |
（3）What does Paragraph5 tell us？
| A． |
Pencils are the best writing tool． |
| B． |
There are many kinds of pencils． |
| C． |
The Blackwing 602 is very expensive． |
| D． |
Dixon pencils are popular with people |
（4）What does the underlined word"it " mean in Paragraph 4？
| A． |
The grading scale． |
| B． |
The story of the pencil． |
| C． |
To make the pencil round． |
| D． |
To make a pencil which has six sides． |
（5）What's the text mainly about？
| A． |
The development of pencils． |
| B． |
The main inventors of pencils． |
| C． |
What pencils are made out of． |
| D． |
Why pencils are widely used． |
【2014年内蒙古呼和浩特市中考】
The police find most criminals (罪犯) because somebody tells them who the criminals are. They find other criminals by using science and their computers. When there is a bank robbery (抢劫), the police first look through their computers for the names of the bank robbers that they know about. Then they go and talk to any of these robbers who are not in prison (监狱). They ask them where they were when the robbery happened. If any of these people cannot give a good answer, the police will often use science to find out if one of them is the robber.
Many criminals leave something of themselves at the places of the crimes like a fingerprint or a hair. Or they take something away on their shoes or clothes, like dirt or animal hair. If they leave behind some of their blood or their hair or a piece of skin, it will have their DNA inside it.
Everyone’s DNA is different and their fingerprints are also different. So, if a criminal cuts himself during a robbery or leaves his hair, or even a small piece of skin, scientists can find out what his DNA is. The police can then ask the person they think is the robber to give them his hair or some blood and see if it has the same DNA. Many criminals are in prison today because of this kind of evidences .
根据上文内容判断正 ( T ) 误( F )Usually the police find criminals because they use their computer.
The police do not usually ask criminals who are in prison about a crime because these criminals could not have done it.
The most useful evidences that criminals leave at the places of their crimes are things with their DNA in them.
Many criminals usually take something away only on their shoes after the crimes.
The story is about a bank robbery.
【2014年四川省内江市中考】
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳答案，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
While we are still children ,most of us live at home with our parents, more or less peacefully . But as we become teenagers , things change ,and we begin to grow apart from our parents . This means we are almost ready to leave the house where we grew up and make a new home of our own .
All humans must do this ,but they don’t all do it in the same way . If ,for instance ,you belong to a primitive tribe (原始部落) ，then as you grew up ,you’d learn the skills you needed as an adult---how to catch fish ,how to keep the house and look after children . You would be ready to marry in your early teens and you would build a house and live near your family in the village.
This seems a very old way of life , but it is what humans have been used to through hundreds of years. And it is what we are still used to in the 21st century ,for man hasn’t changed in the short time since he became civilized(文明的). But could you leave home and look after yourself during the teen years ? Most people would not do very well . Why ? Because although man hasn’t changed very much , the society he lives in has changed greatly ,which means that we have to learn more and more before we are ready to leave our parents’ shelter( 居所 ) and live alone .
However ,sometimes it is very frustrating to live at parents’ home . Parents can be very upset about late nights ,criticizing friends and always saying that we are noisy and dirty . But we still need our emotional (情感的) shelter till we finish our studies , and that is why we usually stay in our parents’ home until we feel grown up enough to deal with living alone .When does the relationship with parents start changing ?
| A．When we are children. | B．When we become teenagers. |
| C．When we are alone. | D．When we get married. |
For most teenagers of the 21st century ,making a new home of their own may be ________.
| A．difficult | B．unimportant |
| C．impossible | D．quite easy |
Why must we know more to be able to live alone ?
| A．Because we are becoming less talented. |
| B．Because our society has changed a lot. |
| C．Because not enough is taught in our schools. |
| D．Because man has never really been civilized. |
From the passage ,we know living at parents’ home when we become teenagers _______.
| A．is always pleasant |
| B．must be very exciting |
| C．makes us feel lonely |
| D．may be annoying |
【2014年湖南省娄底市中考】
阅读理解 阅读下面A、B两篇材料并根据材料内容做后面的题目，从各题所给的A、B、C3个选项中选出能回答所提问题或完成所给句子的最佳答案。（共10小题，计20分）
（A）
Today sending text messages(短信) through mobile phone(手机) is a part of our lives. According to a survey(调查), a third of the U.S. children send more than 100 text messages a day. Sending text messages is becoming more and more popular among young people in China, too. Children prefer text messages to communicate(交流) with friends no matter(不论) where they are, even under the noses of parents and teachers. It seems that some children are “addicted(上瘾)” to sending text messages. In fact, sending too many text messages is bad for their lives, health and study. However, it isn’t all bad. It helps to improve our lives in some ways. Today many children greet(问候) each other on holidays by sending text messages instead of writing paper cards. During the last Spring Festival, more than 15 billion(十亿) text messages were sent in China. “Sending text messages helps save my pocket money,” said Wang Cheng, a friend of mine, “and it saves paper, too.” Many parents send their kids text messages instead of giving orders by mouth. It sounds more friendly. And children can accept them easily.
Sending ______ is a part of our lives today.
A. magazines B. text messages C. cards______ young people like sending text messages, too.
A. Chinese B. English C. IndianWhy is sending too many text messages bad for study?
A. Because it costs much time.
B. Because it costs much money.
C. Because it makes the parents angry.Today many children greet each other on holidays by______.
A. visiting
B. writing paper cards
C. sending text messagesSending text messages can ______.
A. make us study well
B. save money and paper
C. make children clever
【2014年福建省龙岩市中考】
阅读下面材料，从每题所给的三个选项（A、B和C）中，选出最佳选项。
There is a sign at a Korean university asking tourists not to step into the grass to take photos. The sign is not written in Korean or English; it is written in Chinese.
These signs, and signs in other countries warning Chinese tourists about their behavior, have shamed many Chinese who worry about the image of the country.
Over 70 million Chinese tourists made overseas trips last year and spent $102 billion, more than the $84 billion spent by American and German tourists. For many Chinese tourists, it was their first trip abroad and they didn’t know about foreign ways. And some of these tourists took their bad habits from China with them.
Wang Yang, a Chinese deputy prime minister(国务院副总理), said, “They(the tourists) speak loudly in public, carve words or numbers on tourist attractions, cross the road when the traffic lights are still red and spit anywhere. It damages(毁坏) the image of the Chinese people and has a very bad influence.”
Before you travel to a foreign country, it’s important to learn some things about the country and its culture. You are guests in the country and it’s important to respect(尊重) your hosts. As more and more Chinese visit foreign countries, their behavior will certainly change and those shameful signs will, hopefully, disappear.The sign at a Korean university is written in ______.
A. Chinese B. English C. KoreanHow do many Chinese feel about the signs?
A. Proud.
B. Interested.
C. Shameful.The underlined word “image” probably means “______” in Chinese.
A. 形象 B. 热情 C. 财富The passage is written to ______.
A. order the Korean university to clean up signs with Chinese words
B. advise the overseas Chinese tourists to change their behavior
C. ask Chinese people not to spend too much money traveling abroadWhat would be the best title for the passage?
A. Signs Shame Overseas Chinese Tourists
B. Foreign Culture Makes Bad Influence
C. Foreign Countries Attract Chinese Tourists
【2014年湖北省荆州市中考】
先阅读短文，然后根据短文内容从文后每小题的四个选项中，选出一个能完成所给句子或回答所提问题的最佳答案。
A boy called Mario had many friends, and he was proud of it. Whoever he met, he would like to show off(炫耀) how popular he was at school.
One day, his grandpa said to him, “Mario, I know that you don’t have as many friends as you think. Many of them are not true to you.”
Mario thought maybe his grandpa was right. However, he wasn’t sure how he could test whether his schoolmates were real friends or not, so he asked his grandpa. The old man answered, “I have just exactly what you need. It’s in my room. Wait a minute.” The old man left, soon returning as if(好像) carrying something in his hand, but Mario could see nothing there.
“Take it. It’s a very special chair. Because it’s invisible, it will be hard for you to sit on it. However, if you manage to sit on it, you can use the chair’s magic power（力量） to tell who your real friends are.”
Mario took the strange invisible chair to school. At break time he asked everyone to form a circle, and he put himself in the middle, with his chair.
“Nobody move. You’re about to see something amazing，” said Mario. Then he tried sitting on the chair. Having difficulty seeing it, he missed and fell to the ground. Everyone had a pretty good laugh. “Wait, wait,” said Mario, making another try. But again he missed the seat.
Mario didn’t give up. He kept trying to sit on the magic chair. Finally, he did it. This time he felt himself in mid-air.
Then he experienced the magic that his grandpa had been talking about. Looking around, Mario saw George, Lucas and Diana holding him up, so he wouldn’t fall. But some schoolmates whom he had regarded as friends had done nothing but made fun of him. Mario was quite thankful to his grandpa, who helped him test who his true friends were.Mario’s grandpa gave him a special chair to _____.
| A．sit on in the school |
| B．be his birthday present |
| C．test who his true friends are |
| D．play games with his friends at school |
What does the underlined word “invisible” mean in Chinese in the passage?
| A．感激的 | B．有帮助的 |
| C．神奇的 | D．看不见的 |
Mario succeeded in sitting on his chair finally because_____.
| A．his friends taught him |
| B．he had tried many times |
| C．his friends held him |
| D．the chair had magic power |
Which would be the best title（标题）for this story?
| A．A Magic Chair | B．A Kind Grandpa |
| C．Mario’s True Friends | D．How to Test Friends |