湖北省2012高考英语二轮复习专题训练：阅读理解（79）

用心 爱心 专心1 湖北省湖北省 20122012 高考英语二轮复习专题训练 阅读理解 高考英语二轮复习专题训练 阅读理解 7979 阅读下列短文 从每篇短文后所给各题的四个选项 A B C 和 D 中 选出最佳选项 A A The wedding between Prince Wiliam and Kate Middleton on April 29 has focused the world s camera lenses 镜头 on the UK In Britain there is a constant debate about the relevance 相关性 of the royal family to modern British society However Windsor the family name of the British Royal Family and Middleton have been seen to represent a more modern forward looking nation Nigel Baker the British ambassador to Bolivia believes that the royal wedding is about modern Britain The estimated 2 billion spectators across the world will see that Britain is one of the most culturally and ethnically diverse nations in the world home to 270 nationalities speaking 300 different languages founded on tolerance and respect for difference wrote Baker on his blog According to Baker the wedding could help viewers to see why Britain is one of the most dynamic and creative countries in the world The television on which most people watched the event was invented by John Logie Baird a Briton and the World Wide Web that broadcast the event to millions more was invented by another Briton Tim Berners Lee The guests who attended the wedding ceremony gave more than a few clues as to the nature of modern Britain David and Victoria Beckham represent Britain s obsession 着迷 with football and celebrity Leaders from different religious backgrounds supported Baker s comments on the multicultural nature of modern British society Before the wedding David Elliott arts director of the British Council China agreed that the wedding would be a showcase for modern Britain I think and hope that it modern British influence would be values like openness multiculturalism creativity sense of humor and the traditional British sense of fair play he said Furthermore events such as the Olympics in London in 2012 may also increase people s sense of Britishness According to a poll published in Daily Telegraph more than a third of people in the UK admitted they felt very British when watching the Olympics 1 What is the point of the article A To introduce Prince William s wedding arrangements in detail B To comment on the significance of the royal wedding C To question the relevance of the royal family in modern British society D To explain why the royal wedding is linked with the 2012 Olympics 2 What can be concluded from the article A Some say that the royal wedding is a reflection on modern Britain B Some think the royal wedding shows Britain s multiculturalism and sense of fair play 用心 爱心 专心2 C About 2 billion people across the world will see the wedding ceremony online D Britons are obsessed with football due to the influence of David Beckham 3 Why is the inventor of the World Wide Web mentioned A To inform readers about some well known British inventors B To point to the importance of the World Wide Web for the wedding C In support of the idea that Britain is a nation of creative and original people D To encourage people to watch the wedding on the Internet 4 According to the article both the 2012 Olympics and the royal wedding A have increased the British sense of national identity B have promoted traditional British values C represent a more modern Britain D have encouraged the interest of Britons in Football B B With large and small keyboards everywhere neither children nor adults need to write much of anything by hand That s a big problem Study after study suggests that handwriting is important for brain development helping kids get fine motor skills and learn to express and create ideas Yet the time devoted to teaching penmanship in most schools has shrunk to just one hour a week Is it time to give up handwriting Have a look at the link between the brain and penmanship and you may get the answer A test among students in grades 2 4 and 6 found that they not only wrote faster by hand than by keyboard but also created more ideas when composing essays with handwriting And other research shows that the finger movements required to write by hand activate brain areas involved with thought language and short term memory A recent Indiana University study had one group of children practice writing letters by hand while a second group just looked at those letters Then both groups of kids entered a functional MRI 核磁共振 that scanned their brains as the researchers showed them the same letters Researchers found that the brain activity in the first group was far more advanced and adult like Handwriting also affects other people s way they think of adults and children Several studies have shown that the same average essay will score much higher if written with good penmanship and much lower if written out in poor handwriting These studies have also found that people judge the quality of a person s ideas based on his or her handwriting And the consequences are real On standardized tests with handwritten sections like the SAT all essay that is considered hard to recognize gets a big zero Studies show that this isn t only an English language phenomenon Chinese and Japanese youths are suffering from character amnesia They can t remember how to write characters thanks to computers and text messaging Some experts fear that Chinese writing and reading are so closely linked in the brain that China s reading ability as a nation could suffer 用心 爱心 专心3 5 What does the Indiana University study imply A Children should practice writing letters B Handwriting can increase brain activity C It s good for children to enter a functional MRI D Letters should often be shown to children 6 What does the 4th paragraph mainly talk about A Handwriting affects both adults and children B Handwriting helps a person write better essays C SAT should be done with good handwriting D Good handwriting makes a person seem smarter 7 Which of the following statements is TRUE A Essays written with keyboards will get lower scores B The quality of your ideas depends on your handwriting C Chinese and Japanese youths don t know how to write D Less handwriting may affect China s reading ability 8 The passage tries to tell us that A keyboards are more popular than handwriting B we shouldn t judge people by their handwriting C handwriting is of great importance D it s time to give up using keyboards C C There were red faces at one of Britain s biggest banks recently They had accepted a telephone order to buy 100 000 worth of shares from a 15 year old schoolboy they thought he was 21 The shares fell in value and the schoolboy was unable to pay up The bank lost 20 000 on the deal which it cannot get back because for one thing the young boy does not have the money for another being under 18 he is not legally liable for his debts If the shares had risen in value by the same amount that they fell he would have pocketed 20 000 profit It certainly is better than delivering the morning newspaper In another case a boy of 14 found in his grandmother s house a suitcase full of foreign banknotes But they were now not used in their country of origin or anywhere else This young boy headed straight to the nearest bank with his pockets filled with notes The cashiers did not realize the country in question had reduced the value of its currency by 90 They exchanged the notes at their face value at the current exchange rate In three days before he was found out he took 200 000 from nine different banks Amazingly he had already spent more than half of this before the police caught up with him Because he is also under 18 the banks have kissed goodbye to a lot of money and several cashiers have lost their jobs Should we admire these youngsters for being enterprising and showing initiative or condemn them for their dishonesty Maybe they had managed for years with tiny amounts of pocket money that they got from tight fisted parents Maybe they had done Saturday jobs for peanuts It is hardly surprising given the 用心 爱心 专心4 expensive things that young people want to buy such as fashionable running shoes and computer games if they sometimes think up more imaginative ways of making money than delivering newspapers These youngsters saw the chance to make a lot of money and took it Another recent story which should give us food for thought is the case of the man who paid his six year old daughter 300 a week pocket money He then charged her for the food she ate a few coins for her piggy bank 存钱灌 She will soon learn the value of money he said There s no such thing as a free lunch Everything has to be paid for and the sooner she learns that the better At the other extreme there are fond parents who provide free bed and board for their grown up children While even the most hard hearted parents might hesitate to throw their children out on the streets we all know of people in their twenties who still shamelessly live off their parents Surely there comes a time when everyone has to leave the parental nest look after themselves and pay their own way in life But when is it 9 Recently one of Britain s biggest banks A bought a lot of shares for a customer and brought him a great loss B lost money as its young customer had no money to pay his debts C lost much money because the shares they bought fell in value D received a telephone order to buy shares for a 21 year old boy 10 The author s attitude to the example of the two boys who cheated the banks is A objectiveB subjectiveC questioningD negative 11 The man paid his daughter 300 a week pocket money and then required her to pay for her living expenses because A he wanted her to know making money was not easy B he wanted to save money for her future education C he thought it useful for family members to bear life hardships together D he wanted her to learn the value of money 12 It can be concluded from the passage that the author believes that A children should leave the parental nest as soon as possible B grown up children should live on their own C children should be taught not to cheat others D parents should give more pocket money to their children D D A few years ago I was on a bicycle trip when I got off my bike for a rest I sat down on the grass A few seconds later I was covered in ants They were swarming all over me so I got up and brushed them off It was a strange experience but I soon forgot about it A couple of years later I was living in Jordan I had just moved into a modern flat and was unpacking plates when I saw something move out of the corner of my eye I looked over at the kitchen drawer and there was a cockroach 蟑螂 crawling out of it I screamed Then I grabbed a can of insecticide and sprayed 用心 爱心 专心5 it on the cockroach He ran under the nearby bathroom door It took me three days before I found the courage to open the bathroom door to see if he was still alive He wasn t Why did I react so violently to one lone insect when a closer encounter with hundreds of ants hardly affected me The answer is easy because cockroaches are creepy 令人毛骨悚然的 crawlies and ants aren t Creepy crawlies are those little bugs which cause feelings such as anxiety they make your skin crawl Did you know that some people feel such a fear of bugs that it becomes a phobia 恐惧症 Psychologists have offered many explanations Some say we associate them with dirt and disease Or that these are life forms that are so alien to us that we find them disgusting for their dissimilarity Insects however don t follow our rules they just do what they want and invade our space Unfortunately although insects and bugs have been a successful animal species up to now many of them like many other species nowadays are under threat of dying out Entomologists warn that this could upset entire ecosystems and lead to all kinds of disastrous consequences So my advice to you is the next time you feel the urge to stamp on splatter or spray a creepy crawly give a thought to the planet and stop 13 Why did the author mention the ants in the beginning A Because the experience with the ants presents a sharp contrast to that with the cockroach later B Because the author wants to show her preference to the ants and her dislike for the cockroaches C Because both ants and cockroaches are creepy crawlies that the author dislikes D Because meeting the ants is an unusual experience that the author can hardly forget 14 The underlined word insecticide in Paragraph 2 probably means A a kind of fruit juice B a kitchen knife C liquid for killing insectsD cleanser 洗涤剂 for the bathroom 15 How does the author feel about bugs like cockroaches A The author doesn t mind the contact with those harmless small creatures B The author prefers cockroaches to ants and feels guilty for killing one C They invade our space and become a threat to humans D They still deserve a place for keeping the balance of the nature 16 Which of the following statements about bugs is NOT true according to the passage A Some people may be frightened so much by bugs that it leads to a psychological barrier to some degree B The earth will have a better and cleaner environment if more creepy crawlies are killed C Many bugs are in danger of dying out so we should not kill them due to fear 用心 爱心 专心6 or disgust D Some bugs are extremely unpleasant that some people have a strong wish to destroy them E E Dreaming is believing claim researchers of a new study who found that dreams have an effect on people s behavior judgment and they might contain important hidden truths as well Psychologists explanations of the meaning of dreams vary widely But our findings show that people believe their dreams provide meaningful insight into themselves and their world said a lead author of the study Carey Morewedge an assistant professor at Carnegie Mellon University In six different studies researchers surveyed nearly 1 100 people about their dreams One of the studies focused on general beliefs about dreams and involved 149 university students All students were asked to rate different theories about dreams The experts found that a surprising majority of the participants supported the theory about dreams revealing 揭示 the hidden truths about themselves and the rest of the world In a second experiment they surveyed 182 people at a Boston train station and asked them to imagine one out of four possible situation that could have occurred the night before a scheduled airline trip Most of the participants said that dreaming of a plane crash would be more likely to affect their travel plans than would just thinking about a crash or being warned by the government of a terrorism risk They said a dreamed crash would influence their travel plans just as much as learning about a real crash on their planned route would Another experiment involved 270 men and women from across the United States In a short online survey they were asked to recall one of the dreams they had seen about any person they knew The findings showed that people were more likely to remember and describe pleasant dreams about a person they liked rather than a person they disliked Meanwhile in most cases they tended to consider an unpleasant dream as more meaningful if it was about a