Life is full of unexpected surprises. Paul was 71 years old and came from England. He liked using a 3D printer to make models.
One day, while Paul was searching for something online, he saw a red car on a website. It was his father’s favorite car made in the 1950s. He felt so shocked!
The car brought Paul back to the “good old days”. When he was a child, his dad always drove him around London. He sat in the back seat of the red car excitedly. When he went abroad to work, this car took him away from home to say goodbye to his father. To his surprise, many years later, the car showed up online!
Paul decided to buy the car. With his son’s help, he bought it. It was a really difficult job to repair the car because it was old and broken. But Paul didn’t give up. He spent a long time repairing it. After he tried many times, he finally made the car as good as it used to be with the 3D printer. Paul drove it here and there.
Paul said driving the old car reminded him of his father. The car was seen as a connection between his father and him. It was a treasure for him from the past.
根据短文内容，回答下列问题。
（1）How old was Paul?
_________________________________
（2）Where did Paul see his father’s favorite car?
_________________________________
（3）When did Paul’s dad always drive him around London?
_________________________________
（4）Why was it a difficult job to repair the car?
_________________________________
（5）What was the connection between Paul and his father?
_________________________________
【山东省临沂市2015年中考英语试题】阅读理解
(一) 阅读短文，完成31— 45小题。（共15小题，计15分）
A
Have you seen some machines that eat used plastic bottles and give some coins to the users(用户) ?
Recently , such machines have appeared at universities in Chongqing . They can turn rubbish into treasure and encourage the public to recycle rubbish. The machine is as large as a fridge. Users put an empty bottle in the machine, It is identified(识别) by a small camera. Then it is put into a built-in bin. The users can get some coins. They can also give away the money.
When the machine is filled with bottles . it will tell the company’s(公司) head office. Nearby stations will send workers to have bottles collected . packed and send to the company.
The bottle recycling machines could greatly encourage the public to recycle rubbish and save natural resources(资源) .Now the machine only eats plastic bottles. At sometime in the future it will also cover others. Such as glass bottles .to turn more rubbish into treasure and make full use of the natural resources
People can also see similar machines in Shanghai. In the future, more such machines will appear at some large stations. Bus stops, neighborhoods and schools.
根据短文内容，判断下列句子正误。正确的用“A”表示，不正确的用“B”表示。The bottle recycling machine eats plastic bottles and give some money to the users(用户) ?
When the machine is full , some workers will be sent to collect the bottles .
So far , the bottle recycling machine has been able to accept glass bottles .
There is no bottle recycling machine in Shanghai now.
The passage encourages the public to protect the environment by using the bottle recycling machines
【江西省南昌市2015年中考英语试题】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）
B
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 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.
【江苏省淮安市2015年中考英语试题】 阅读理解（共15小题；AB两篇每小题2分，C篇每小题1分，满分25分）
C
Monarch butterflies from eastern Canada make the most amazing journey in the insect world. Each year, this butterfly travels about 3000miles to its winter home in central Mexico(墨西哥). How can it fly so far? And why does it make this long and dangerous trip? Scientists still don’t have an answer.
For many years, people in Mexico wondered where the orange-and-black butterflies came from every winter. Then, in 1937, a scientist started to follow and study the butterflies. For the next 20 years, he discovered that one butterfly started its journey in Canada. Four months later, it arrived in Mexico.
The length of the butterflies find their way back to the same place? Another amazing thing is that the butterflies always return to the same area in central Mexico.
How do the butterflies find their way back to the same place? This is an interesting question because only every fourth generation(代)makes the trip south. In other words, the butterfly that travels to Mexico this year is the great-great-grandchild of the butterfly that traveled there last year.
Each year, four generations of a Monarch butterfly family are born. Each generation of the family has a very different life. The first generation is born in the south in late April. It slowly moves north, reproduces(繁衍), and then dies. On the trip north,two more generations are born, reproduce, and die. Each of these generations of butterflies is born. This generation has a much longer life. It lives for about eight months. This generation of butterflies makes the amazing journey back to the winter home of its great-great-grandparents. The butterflies spend the winter there, and in the spring they reproduce and then die. Their offspring will be the first generation of the next circle of life.
Today, people are still studying the Monarch butterfly. But they are not clear about everything.The best title of the passage can be ________.
| A．Family of Monarch butterflies |
| B．Mystery of Monarch butterflies |
| C．Monarch butterflies’ birthplace |
| D．Monarch butterflies’ winter home |
It took the scientist ______ to find out that monarch butterflies came from Canada.
| A．20 years | B．four months |
| C．five weeks | D．eight months |
We know that the _____ generation of Monarch butterflies travel back to central Mexico.
| A．first | B．second |
| C．third | D．fourth |
The underlined word “offspring” in the passage is closest in meaning to______.
| A．seasons | B．butterflies |
| C．children | D．parents |
Which statement is true according to the text?
| A．Monarch butterflies spend winter in eastern Canada. |
| B．The four generations have the same length of life. |
| C．Some generations die on the way north to Canada. |
| D．Scientists are clear about everything of the butterflies |
【河南省2015年中考英语试题】阅读理解（20小题，每小题2分，共40分）
阅读下面四篇语言材料，然后按文后要求做题。
B
There is little doubt that house cat first developed naturally from ancient wild cats. The cleverest relative is the America wild cat which still lives in Africa today. This is understandable because the first house cats came from Africa.
Cats first started to live around people in Egypt about 6,000~7,000 years ago. From Egypt, cats started to move around the world. This is about the same time that Egyptians began storing grain(谷物）in buildings. Scientists used to believe that people tamed cats to catch mice and protect the grain. However, cats don’t like to be told what to do! Now, scientists believed that cats followed the mice and learned to accept people. Finally, some of the cats began to grow comfortable around people, these were smaller cats that needed protection. As these cats and people got used to each other, then they moved in together. Around 5,000 years ago, cats started to live with people.
Soon cats were in Greece, then the Middle East and China. They moved along Egyptian business roads keeping away mice and keeping people around them. After the Romans came to Egypt, they also accepted the cats and brought them to Europe. These cat likely bred(繁殖） with other cats to form the many kinds of house cats we have today.
Cats are relatively recent house animals. House cats still have a lot in common with their wild relatives. Cats sleep a lot to save energy just like wild cats. They will often get food at night as well. House cats are generally peaceful and friendly, but be careful! If a cat feels it is in danger, it will fight back—just like a wild cat.
根据材料内容选择最佳答案。Where did the first house cats come from?
| A．Asia. | B．Africa. |
| C．Europe. | D．America. |
When did cats start to live with people?
| A．About 4,000 years ago. |
| B．About 5,000 years ago. |
| C．About 6,000 years ago. |
| D．About 7,000 years ago. |
According to the text, which of the following is TRUE?
| A．Cats started to move around the world from China. |
| B．Cats get food at night to save energy like wild cats. |
| C．Cats have a little in common with their wild cats. |
| D．Cats were accepted and brought to Europe by Romans. |
What does the underlined word “tamed” mean in Chinese?
| A．驱散 | B．捕捉 | C．驯化 | D．引进 |
What does the text mainly talk about?
| A．The development of house cats. |
| B．Different cats in different countries. |
| C．The relationship between cats and people. |
| D．The differences between house cats and wild cats. |
【福建省漳州市2015年中考英语试题】阅读理解(A、B、C、E篇：每小题2分，D篇：每小题1分．计45分)
A、B、C篇：根据所提供的内容，从四个选项中选择最佳答案。
C
Are you a happy person most of the time? Or do you easily get angry sometimes? Everyone has a different temperament (脾气). It is usually be1ieved that both genes (基因) and environment may affect people's temperaments in different ways. But now scientists have found that the season of birth also plays a role.
Scientists from Budapest, Hungary, studied 400 university students. In the study, the students needed to finish a questionnaire (问卷). The purpose of it was to find out which of four kinds of temperaments they most had. From the questionnaire, scientists found that the students always answered something like "My mood often changes for no reason" and "I love to deal with new projects, even if it is risky". These answers were then matched with their birthdays.
They discovered that people born in summer easily change between sad and happy moods compared to people born in winter. Those who always feel positive are mostly born in spring and summer.
The study also found that those born in autumn less probably had a mood of depression which may easily drive them to cry, while those born in winter were not easier to be angry.
Scientists said that this was probably because the seasons had an influence on certain chemicals in the human body. And the chemicals are important to control people's moods even in adult life.
____________________________________________________________________________
"It seems that when you are born may increase or decrease your chance of developing certain mood disorders (紊乱)," lead scientist Xenia Gonda told The Telegraph.What probably can't affect people's temperaments according to Paragraph 1?
A Genes. B. Ages.
C. Seasons.D. Environment.What does the under1ined word " depression " most probably mean?. l
| A．Sadness. | B．Happiness. |
| C．Surprise. | D．Excitement. |
Which of the following sentences is NOT true from the passage? l
A People born in summer change their moods more easily.
B.The season of birth has an influence on humans' moods.
C. There were 400 middle school students taking part in the study.
D The answers to the questionnaire were matched with their birthdays .What will the writer most Probably write about on _____________ ?
| A．How many kinds of moods thee are. |
| B．What can change the human body most. |
| C．How the certain chemicals affect the moods. |
| D．Whether the students will continue their study. |
What's the best title of this passage?
| A．Seasons and Moods | B．The Influence of Genes |
| C．Moods and Health | D．The Importance of Birthplaces |