It is generally accepted that Beijing Opera appeared after 1790 when the famous four Anhui opera groups came to Beijing． Its music and singing come from Xipi and Erhuang in Anhui and Hubei． Its clothes are all beautiful and artistic． Different actors wear different kinds of costumes． It is the highest expression of the Chinese culture． Beijing Opera is full of famous stories， beautiful facial paintings， and wonderful fighting． This kind of opera is very popular with Chinese people． And now more and more young people like it． Many children learned to sing Beijing Opera when they were very young．
Stories in Beijing Opera are very interesting． Some of them are from the history books， but most are from the literature （文学）and famous novels． The people in the story usually have some disagreements． They become angry and unhappy． They are sad and lonely． Sometimes they are nervous and worried， and then they find a way to make peace． The stories usually end with happiness and people are all happy in the end．
（1）Beijing Opera appeared ．
| A． |
before the famous four Anhui opera groups came to Beijing |
| B． |
after the famous four Anhui opera groups came to Beijing |
| C． |
before 1790 |
| D． |
in 1790 |
（2）The music and singing of Beijing Opera come from ．
| A． |
popular music in Hong Kong |
B． |
|
| C． |
Western music in the U． |
D． | |
| E． |
country music in the U．S． |
F． |
|
| G． |
Xipi and Erhuang in Anhui and Hubei |
H． |
|
（3）Some of the stories in Beijing Opera are from ．
| A． |
history books |
| B． |
newspapers |
| C． |
magazines |
| D． |
e﹣books |
（4）When you watch Beijing Opera， you can enjoy many things EXCEPT ．
| A． |
music and singing |
| B． |
facial paintings |
| C． |
wonderful fighting |
| D． |
famous novels |
（5）The people in the stories of Beijing Opera usually have endings．
| A． |
unhappy |
| B． |
bad |
| C． |
sad |
| D． |
good |
【江西省2015年中等学校招生考试英语试题卷】请阅读下面短文，根据短文内容从每小题 所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中选出最佳选项，并在答题卷上将该项涂黑。（每小题2分）
Today there are many fires than in the past. Over 100,000 wildfires burn each year in America. Russia has 20,000 to 35,000 wildfires every year. Australia has on average 60,000 each year. These fires destroy（损害）huge areas of forests and burn hundreds of homes.
Many experts believe there are several reasons for this sudden increase in fires. The first reason is climate（气候）change. Recent weather has been warmer and drier. This leads to dangerous fire conditions. When lightening strikes（发生雷电），dry grass easily catches fire. Hot winds add to the problem. The wind spreads a fire quickly. In 2010, Russia had the hottest and driest summer in a century. In just one month, 500 fires destroyed over 2,000 homes. Some people lost their lives.
Traditional fire-fighting practices are another reason for the increase in fires. In America, firefighters used to quickly put out every fire. They didn’t allow the grass and trees to burn. As a result, today many forests have thicker vegetation（植被）.Thicker vegetation means more fuel（燃料）for fires. Also, without fires from time to time, forests become overcrowded and unhealthy. Some trees are dead. The dead wood then easily catches fire. So surprisingly, America has many more fires today partly because of its past fire-fighting practices.
Scientists now understand that a fire can be a natural part of a healthy forest. As a result, countries like Australia allow more fires to burn naturally. Sometimes, fire fighters even start fires to get rid of（去除）dead wood. Of course, they carefully control the fires. The fire thins out old trees. This allows sunlight to reach the ground. As a result, fires help new trees to grow. Therefore, if a fire is not a serious threat（威胁）to people, firefighters may let it burn naturally.Why did Russia have so many fires in one month in 2010?
| A．Because lightening spread the fire. |
| B．Because there was much fuel for fires. |
| C．Because there were not enough firefighters. |
| D．Because it was unusually hot, dry and windy. |
What happens because of the traditional fire-fighting practices in the USA?
| A．There are fewer wildfires. |
| B．Trees and grass become thicker. |
| C．The weather becomes warmer and drier. |
| D．Sunlight reaches the ground to help forests. |
What is the main idea of Paragraph 4?
| A．Fires are serious threats to human beings. |
| B．Australian firefighters don’t put out fires. |
| C．Fires can play an important role I forests. |
| D．It’s difficult for firefighters to control the fires. |
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
A. Not all the fires in the forests must be put out.
B. People’s carelessness leads to dangerous fires.
C. Australia allows all the fires to burn naturally.
D. There are more fires in Russia than in the USA.
【湖南省益阳市2015年中考英语试题】阅读下面两篇材料，从每题所给A、B、C三个选项中选出最佳答案。
Mobile phone has become a problem for middle schools. Some middle schools in Australia have banned (禁止) students from carrying mobile phones during school hours.
Mobile phone use among children has become a problem for schools. Several children have got mobile phones from parents and friends as Christmas gifts, and more students will want them.
Lucy Bluett, an expert, said mobile phone use was a distraction (分心的事) to students during school hours. Teachers were also saying that sometimes students might use phone messages to cheat during exams.
She said some schools had tried to ban mobile phones. Some parents felt unhappy because they couldn’t call up their children.
Many teachers said students should not have mobile phones at school, but if there was a good reason, they could leave their phones at school office.
Many people say that they understand why parents would want their children to have phones, but they think schools should let the students know when they can use their mobile phones.Some middle schools in Australia have banned students from carrying mobile phones ______.
A．when they are at home
B．when they are free
C．when they are at schoolWe know from the passage that some children get mobile phones from .
A．the makers and sellers
B．the passers-by and strangers
C．their parents and friendsWhat does the underlined word “cheat” mean in the passage?
A．Behave dishonestly.
B．Behave honestly.
C．Behave correctly.Some parents felt unhappy because they couldn’t ______ during school hours.
A．use their mobile phones
B．call up their children
C．help the teachers with their workThe passage tells us that ______.
A．students shouldn’t have mobile phones at school except for some special reasons
B．many people can’t understand why parents would want their children to have phones
C．all parents felt unhappy because they couldn’t use their phones at school
【湖南省益阳市2015年中考英语试题】根据短文内容，判断下列句子的正（T）误（F）
Miss Kate taught physics in a New York school. Last month she was explaining to one of her classes about sound, and she decided to test them to see how well they had understood her explanation. She said to them, “Now, I have a brother in Los Angeles. If I was calling him on the phone, and at the same time you were 80 meters away, and were listening to me from across
the street, which of you would hear what I said earlier, my brother or you and for what reason?”
A boy at once answered, “ Your brother, Miss Kate, because electricity travels faster than sound waves(声波).
“That’s very good.” Miss Kate said, but then Jenny said, “I don’t agree. Your brother would hear you earlier because it is 11 o’clock here, it’s only eight o’clock in Los Angeles.”Miss Kate was a physics teacher.
All her students understood her lesson.
The boy’s answer was not correct.
The boy’s answer was just what Kate wanted her students to know.
Jenny thought the boy’s reason was wrong because she found Los Angeles Time was three hours earlier than New York Time.
【湖南省长沙市2015年中考英语试题】阅读表达 阅读下面的短文，然后根据短文内容回答问题。
难度：★★
My father used to work in the city and seldom stayed at home. But he would come back help to harvest(收割) rice every year.
One autumn, he promised to help our neighbor, who lost his arms in a traffic accident in 1999, to harvest his rice. After Father harvested our town, his little rice picker broke. What’s worse, he had to return to work the next day because his partner was ill in hospital. It meant that Father wouldn’t be back in a few days. It now seemed impossible to help out the neighbor.
Father told us that be wouldn’t let the neighbor’s rice rot( 糜烂) in the field. He decided to harvest it by hand without a machine. “If tonight’s weather is clear, I think I can do it.” added my father. In fact, he was rather tired after a day’s harvest work.
After dinner, Father had a short rest and made his way to the field. A full moon was glowing (发光) in the sky and the weather was cold but clear. He spent the whole night keeping his word.
I would never forget the image(画面)：Father was cutting rice in the light of the harvest moon. Behind him, row after row of rice stocks(秸秆) stood at attention, showing respect for a man who kept his word.Did Father always stay with the family?
What happened to the neighbor in 1999?
Why was Father required to return to work?
How did Father help the neighbor harvest rice in the field?
How long did Father spend in harvesting the neighbor’s rice?
【贵州省安顺市2015年中考英语试题】阅读理解，根据短文内容选择正确答案。
①Have you ever wondered what goes through your mind when you choose where to sit in a new classroom? Or in a waiting room full of strangers? Or on a bus? Researchers have found out some interesting facts.
②Girls sit by girls and boys sit by boys. Adults sit together and young people choose another young person to sit near. But it goes further than this. We even choose to sit near someone who looks like us. People with glasses are more likely to sit near other people with glasses. People with long hair sit closer to other people with long hair.
③We seem to believe that people with similar habits or hobbies will share similar experiences and we are more likely to be accepted by people like ourselves， or even， we think we may be safer with people who look like us. Sometimes that’s true but it’s a pity if we always stay with the same people， the same group. The danger in always staying in our comfort zone (舒适区)is that we just recycle the same opinions， the same tastes and the same ideas. We lose the chance to learn something new， find out interesting things， hear funny stories and discover differences.
④When we always stay with the same people， how can we break down the barriers which prevent us from getting to know people with different ideas? And how can we avoid the ignorance(无知)? If you want to live in a society that opens to changes， new things and different opinions， be the cat among the pigeons(鸽子).
⑤Move out of your comfort zone. Go and sit next to someone different. And don’t just sit there in silence. Say hello. Ask a question. Start a conversation. That’s how we make friends. That’s how we learn about people. That’s how we open our minds to new ideas. That’s how we live an exciting life. From the passage， we know that people prefer sitting by someone who .
| A．is like themselves | B．has a sense of humor |
| C．is open-minded | D．lives an exciting life |
People like staying in their comfort zone because they may .
| A．remain comfortable and special |
| B．find out more interesting things |
| C．be accepted easily and feel safe |
| D．discover differences among themselves |
The sentence “Unsurprisingly， we prefer to sit closer to people like ourselves.” should be
put at the beginning of __________.
| A．Paragraph 1 | B．Paragraph 2 | C．Paragraph 3 | D．Paragraph 4 |
What does the underlined word“barriers” mean in Paragraph 4?
| A．联系 | B．隔阂 | C．纽带 | D．熟悉 |
What is the purpose of the passage?
| A．To tell us not to talk with strangers. |
| B．To introduce ways to learn about the world. |
| C．To explain how people communicate with foreigners. |
| D．To encourage us to get along with different people. |