中考英语专项突破复习《提高阅读》专练.doc

2013届中考英语专项突破复习提高阅读专练2012西城 cof the many kinds of vegetables grown all over the world, which remains the favorite of both the young and old? the potato, of course. perhaps you know them as “taters”, “spuds”, or “idahoes”. but its no matter, a potato by any other name is still a potatothe worlds most widely grown vegetable. as a matter of fact, if you are a normal potato eater, you will eat at least a hundred pounds of them each year.thats only a tiny part of the total grown every year, however. worldwide, the potato harvest (收获) every year is over six billion bags, with each bag having a hundred pounds of spuds, some of them as large as four pounds each. in the united states, farmers fill about four hundred million bags a year. that may seem like a lot of taters, but it leaves us in third place among world potato growers. farmers in poland (波兰) dig up just over 800 million bags a year, while the russians lead the world with nearly 1.5 billion bags.people eat potatoes in many ways baked (烘烤), mashed (捣成糊状), and roasted, to name just three. however, in the united states most potatoes are eaten in the form of french fries. one fast-food chain alone sells more than $1 billion worth of fries each year. no wonder, then, that the company pays close attention to the way its fries are prepared.before any fry makes it to the people who eat at this popular restaurant, it must pass many separate tests. fail any one and the french fry is thrown away. to start with, only a certain kind of idaho potato is used to make fries. they have less water than other kinds. once cut into “shoestring” shapes, the potatoes are partly fried in secret oils, sprayed (喷洒) with liquid sugar to brown them, steam dried at high heat, and then quickly frozen for shipment to each restaurant.before shipping, though, every shoestring is measured (测量). forty percent of the fries must be between two and three inches long. another forty percent has to be over three inches. what about the twenty percent that is left? well, a few short fries in a bag are okay, it seems.so, now that you realize the huge size and value of the potato crop, you can understand why most people agree that this part of the food industry is no “small potatoes.”53. according to the passage, which country has the largest harvest of potatoes？a. america.b. russia.c. poland.d. france.54. what can be known about americans and french fries?a. americans like to eat french fries at home.b. americans care about french fries size and shape. c. americans eat french fries less than mashed potatoes.d. americans prefer potatoes to be cooked in this way.55. what is the main idea of this passage?a. potatoes are known by many names.b. the way of making french fries is interesting.c. the potato is an important vegetable in america.d. the various names of potatoes have a long history. d what does the word “patent (专利权) ” mean to you? does it interest you? if it does, stop and think a moment about some of the commonplace things that you use every day: the telephone, radio, television, and the thousands of other things that enrich our lives today, were once only ideas in the minds of men. if it had not been possible to patent their ideas, so as to protect them from being copied, these inventions might never have been fully developed to serve human beings.if there were no patent protection there would be little encouragement to invent, for once the secrets of an invention became known, those who did not experience the inventors risks and expenses(花费) might well fill the market with their copies of his product and steal much of the benefit (益处) of his efforts.the most basic values in the u. s. patent system came from england. during the rule of queen elizabeth i in england, the growing technology was furthered by the giving of exclusive privileges (独家特权) to people who had invented new processes (程序) or toolsa step that did much to encourage creativity. later, an important value was added: society had everything to gain and nothing to lose by giving exclusive privileges to an inventor, because a patent for an invention was given for something new that society never had before.george washington signed the first patent law on april 10, 1790, and less than four months later, the first patent was given to a man named samuel hopkins for a chemical process, an improved method in soap making. in 1936, the patent office became a separate department and it has grown into an organization of over 2,500 people who every week deal with more than 1,600 patent applications, and of those, give more than 1,000. a patent may be given for any new and useful process, machine, or planning method. the patent system has also helped to improve the pay of the american worker to an unexpected level; he can produce and earn more by using computers or adding machines, two important patented inventions. patented inventions also help keep prices down by encouraging competition. our patent laws, like the constitution from which they grew, have stood the test of time. they have encouraged creative processes, brought great benefits to society as a whole, and enabled american technology to outstrip that of the rest of the modern world. 56. from the passage, what can we learn about inventors? a. they make a lot of money.b. they fight against copiers.c. they have a lot of experience.d. they put effort into inventions.57. why were inventors given exclusive privileges?a. because their inventions made leaders happy.b. because their creativity is very important.c. because their inventions could enlarge society.d. because they were the smartest people in society.58. according to the passage, the patent system is good for america because _.a. it helps more workers get jobsb. it provides a first-class servicec. it produces less expensive thingsd. it helps inventors find markets59. what is the meaning of “outstrip” in the last paragraph?a. be better thanb. catch up withc. make better use ofd. cost more than2012通州 cthe note read, “call margaret at 555-6167.” as a car instructor (教员), i often got calls from people to repair their cars. i dialed. a voice answered, “i have something to tell you.” “all right,” i answered, looking at the clock. i only had a few minutes before i went back to class. “yesterday i was driving when my car started acting up (出故障). it was late at night. i was so afraid to stop the car to the side of the rode, but finally my car just broke down. i sat there wondering what to do.” i really needed to get back to class. “would you like me to look at your car?” i asked. “let me finish. suddenly, two young men came. i didnt know what they were going to do. i was so scared.” “they asked me what happened and said they might be able to get the car running again. i sat in the car hoping that these men werent doing something bad. a few minutes later, they started the car. it started right up! they told me the car would be fine but that i should get it checked out.” “and youd like me to look at it, right?” i asked. “no,” the woman went on. “i was so thankful. i offered them money, but they wouldnt take it. then they told me they were former (以前的) students of yours.” “what?” i asked in surprise. “who were they?” “they didnt tell me. they just gave me your name and the schools name and made me call to thank you. i hope you know how thankful i am.” i didnt know what to say. i always tried to teach students to be honest and other things about life use what you know to help others. my students helped someone because of what i had taught them in my classroom. i had just got the greatest reward a teacher could ever get. 50. why did margaret want the instructor to call her?a. because she wanted the instructor to repair her car.b. because she wanted to be the instructors student.c. because the instructor had helped her to repair her car.d. because the instructors students had helped her.51. the passage does not mention the instructor taught students to _. a. be honestb. repair carsc. help others d. thank teachers52. we can infer that the author was _.a. pleasant for what his students had doneb. proud of his students driving skillc. unhappy for being late for classd. glad that margarets car had been well2012顺义 ca desert is a very dry land where there is hardly any rain. in the day, it can be so hot that you could fry an egg on the ground. but during the night it is sometimes so cold that water would turn into ice.many desserts are covered in sand. but some have mountains, rocks, or lakes that have dried up in the heat. the great american dessert has cliffs (悬崖) that have been made into amazing and beautiful shapes by the wind. the sahara desert in africa is mostly sand. the australian desert has red sand.sometimes it does not rain for a whole year in the desert. but there is water deep under the ground and some plants have roots that go very deep to find it. other plants have roots that spread out a long way so they can suck up the rain as soon as it falls.one desert plant is the cactus, which has long, spreading roots.the cactus stores water inside its hard skin. this skin protects it from heat and cold.camels are a bit like cactus plants! they store water, tooinside their bodies. they have special fur which protects them from the sun during the day and keeps them warm at night. some other animals live in deserts, too. they have to be very good at seeing and hearing because most of them only come out at night. this is why many desert animals have extra big eyes or ears.a desert fox has bigger ears than a normal fox. a gerbil (沙鼠)has huge eye, so that it can see at night. it stays cool in the day by staying underground, like most desert animals.some people live in the desert but they always make their homes near an oasis. an oasis is where water comes from an underground river. near an oasis, people can grow lots of plants and keep animals.life is hard in the desert, for people, animals and plants. but desert people like to live there.53.a desert is very dry because_.a. it is sandy b. there is so little rain c. the wind is strong d. there is no water deep under the ground54. what does the underlined phrase “suck up” mean_?a. 围堵 b. 讨好 c. 释放 d. 吸收55.which of the following is true?a. all the deserts are covered in sand. b. camels have special fur to store water.c. people in the desert usually fry eggs on the ground.d. desert people like to live in the desert though life is hard. dnapoga is a 12-year-old girl in ghana (加纳), africa. it is hard for her family to get clean water. every morning, she leaves home at half past five to get clean water for her family in a village far away. it takes her six hours to get enough clean water for daily cooking and drinking. she has no time to go to school or to play with her friends. millions of people in the world are like napoga. they cant get enough clean water to keep healthy. earth day is april 22. but on all other days, we must also remember it. the water we use is the most important natural resource on the earth.water covers 70% of the earths surface. but most of that is sea water. we cant use it for very many things. fresh water covers only 1% of the earths surface. you probably feel lucky that your life isnt as hard as napogas. but that doesnt mean you dont have to worry about water. we all face serious water problems. one of them is water pollution. all kinds of things from cars, factories, farms and homes make our rivers, lakes, and oceans dirty. polluted water is very bad for people to drink. and dirty water is bad for fish, too. now, 34% of all kinds of fish are dying out. how do cars and factories make our water dirty? first, they pollute the air. then, when it rains, the rain water comes down and makes our drinking water dirty. dirty rain, called acid rain (酸雨), is also bad for plants, animals and buildings. scientists say that in 30 years, more than half of the people in the world wont have enough clean water. we have to learn how to save more water for ourselves and our children. here is some advice for saving water:turn off the water while you brush your teeth. you can save as much as 450 liters each month. leaky taps (漏水的龙头) waste a lot of water. fix them right away! you can easily cut your 10-minute showers in halfand youll be just as clean. when you wash dishes, dont let the water run. only wash clothes when you have a lot to wash. if your washing machine isnt full, youre wasting water!56. every morning napoga went to get clean water _. a. without going to school b. before she went to school c. after she finished school d. after she played with her friends 57. on the earth, _. a. there is 71% of fresh waterb. we dont need to worry about waterc. there is very little water for our livingd. sea water is widely used than fresh water58. acid rain _. a. is only bad for living things b. can be produced in factoriesc. doesnt do harm to people, but its bad for plants, animals and buildingsd. doesnt just do harm to human beings but to animals, plants and buildings59. whats the main idea of the passage?a. its time to take care of the water we use. b. water is the most important natural resource on the earth. c. something must be done to prevent water form being polluted.d. clean water means much to human beings and living things around us. 2012平谷 c people could only see for about 50 metres in parts of borneo yesterday and singapore recorded its highest pollution for nearly 10 years as forest fires in indonesia sent smoke across the sea to the rest of south-east asia. face masks have been given to hundreds of thousands of people in malaysia, and in many places children stayed in their houses behind closed doors rather than walk through the smoke to go to school. traffic stopped because people could not see out of their car window, boats stayed in the harbour and some airports refused to let aircraft land. in singapore, the air quality is measured every day. a measurement over 100 is considered unhealthy and at that level people who go outside will have problems breathing. yesterday, the reading was 128 and hundreds of people went to hospitals to try to get medical help. 500 fires were counted on satellite images yesterday. if there are many more fires, they could cause serious health problems for people living in the area. many of the fires are caused by people setting fire to their fields when they have harvested their crops. some are caused by people lighting fires to cook on. but most of the fires are caused by winds which blew the flames from one forest to another. the smoke from the fires is then blown across the sea to other countries and, if there is no wind or heavy rain to get rid of the smoke there, it stays in the air. if it is so bad that the sun cannot shine through, people cannot see very far and many people become ill. the smoke clouds yesterday reminded many people of the haze that covered large areas of south-east asia in 1997 causing many people to become ill and costing countries billions of dollars. i was living in singapore at the time and i remember it well. i remember that i could not see the next apartment block for the haze, that i walked to the office and could hardly breathe and that i coughed and coughed for weeks afterwards. so did many of my friends and family and hundreds of thousands of people in malaysia. let us hope that the rains come and the winds blow the smoke away. let us also hope that people do not light any more fires. 53. which of the following is not true according to the passage?a. the author was living in singapore in 1997. b. the fires were caused by people setting fire to the grass in the forest. c. lots of malaysians had to stay at home because of the heavy smoke outside.d. some airports were closed because of the smoke and the airplanes couldnt land.54. why did the people go to hospitals in singapore? a. because there was less smoke there. b. because they could get face masks there.c. because they tried to get medical help there.d. because a measurement over 100 is considered unhealthy.55what does the underlined word “images” mean? a. public opinions b. ideas in mind c. picutures d. papers56. what can be the title of the text? a. without fires, without smoke. b. smoke settles over south-east asia. c. smoke causes many people to cough. d. better staying home when smoke comes. d “it hurts me more than you,” and “this is for your own good.” my mother used to say so years ago when i had to learn latin, clean my room, stay home and do homework. that was before we entered the permissive period in education in which we decided it was all right not to push our children to achieve their best in school. the schools and the educators made it easy on us. they taught that it was all right to be parents who take a let-alone policy (不干预政策), we stopped making our children do homework. we gave them computers, turned on the television, left the teaching to the teachers and went on vacation. now teachers, faced with children who have been developing at their own pace for the past 15 years, are realizing weve made a terrible mistake. one such teacher is sharon klompus who says of her students“so passive”- and wonders what happened. nothing was demanded of them, she believes. televison, says klompus, contributes to childrens passivity. “were talking about a generation kids whove never been hurt or hungry. they have