四川省仁寿县城北教学点2020届高三英语阅读理解限时训练（46）

高三英语阅读理解限时训练（46）AOne evening I went out and left my 17-year-old son in charge of his 8-year-old brother and 4-year-old sister. On this occasion, the chore (烦人的事) was made less troublesome by the presence of his girlfriend. I left with complete confidence that the older children would do a wonderful job of babysitting the younger children and the younger children would do a wonderful job of accompanying the older ones. Later, I discovered that complete confidence was the last thing I should have left home with.I had decided to return home earlier than planned so that my son and his girlfriend could go out. I called home with this happy news. But instead of hearing his cheerful, thankful voice on the other end of the line, all I heard was the sound of a telephone ringing.It was, I should point out, after 10 p.m., when the two younger children should have been in bed, and when the two older children should have been answering the phone. “Ill give him a lesson,” I said. I decided they must be outside. Why they might be outside at 10:30 on a wintry night I had no idea, but it was the only explanation I could come up with.Finally, in desperation, I called his girlfriends house. After what seemed like countless rings, his girlfriend answered. “Yes,” she said brightly, “Hes right here.”He came on the phone. I was not my usual calm, rational self. After all, one of the rules of survival (生存) for modern parents is that you cant trust modern teenagers. “Where are the children?” I said. He said they were with him. They had done nothing wrong. My son had taken the younger children over to his girlfriends house just for ice cream and cake. This was too wholesome (有益的) to be believed. Well, it turns out that I shouldnt have believed it. It was only part of the truth.The following Saturday evening we were at my parents home, celebrating my birthday. My oldest son gave me the childrens gifts. Mounted and framed (给装框) were a series of lovely color photographs of my children, dressed in their best clothes, and wearing their most wonderful expressions. They are pictures to treasure a lifetime, all taken by the father of my sons girlfriend.That was the most precious gift of all.41. The author went out and left her eldest son in charge of the younger children because _.A. she knew that his girlfriend was a good baby-sitterB. she could not find a baby-sitter on that winter nightC. the older children and the younger ones would get along wellD. she believed he was old enough to take care of the younger ones42. Shortly after the author left home one evening, she discovered that _.A. she should have taken the children along with herB. she shouldnt have completely trusted her sonC. her son had left home with his girlfriendD. her son had brought his girlfriend home43. The underlined sentence in paragraph 5 implies that the children not only enjoyed ice-cream but also _.A. had a birthday partyB. framed some photographsC. had their pictures taken D. showed off their best clothes44. Which of the following possible titles best expresses the main idea of this text?A. A Precious Birthday Gift B. Modern TeenagersC. Mother and ChildrenD. An Evening OutBCan an iPhone really make you happier? A new study says “Yes”. According to a survey of 35,000 people around the world, access to (进入) communications technology is a major factor in increasing happiness.We all need a few basic things in order to be happy: access to clean water and food, a home, health care, and relationships. But once the necessities are met, what do people most desire? The answer is access to communication devices (设备), according to the survey by BCS, the Chartered Institute for IT.Most people in the study gave similar answers, but the potential (潜在的) happiness increase that technology could bring about was particularly great in women and in people with low incomes or levels of education even in developing countries.While farmers in the African countryside arent likely to pick up the latest shiny toys from Apple, even a simple cell phone can serve as a valuable happiness-increasing tool, allowing the development of social networks beyond the community.“Whether young or old, were all social beings, we all have a need for communication,” researcher Paul Flatters told BBC News.In rural (乡村) communities, access to communications technology such as cell phones and computers is limited, but expanding, thanks to groups like One Laptop Per Child, which supplies children in developing countries with basic laptops that allow them to research school projects and connect with others all over the world. Other groups, like the UK s Computer Aid, are helping rural villagers get wired with the help of portable cyber cafes (便携式网吧) that allow locals to log online to send emails and perform work-related research.And back home, it seems from the results that small IT devices like the iPhone really can increase your happiness provided you use it to talk with and send messages, photos, and videos to friends and family to help strengthen your social networks, rather than simply play Angry Birds.45. How does an iPhone make one happier, according to the study?A. By giving one a higher income.B. By letting one keep in touch with others.C. By giving one chances to surf the Internet.D. By letting one enjoy movies or take photos.46. What does the study show us?A. How many people are using iPhones.B. What communication tools people like to use.C. What people need besides the basic necessities.D. What is the life of people in developing countries like.47. The underlined words “Angry Birds” in the last paragraph most probably refer to “_”.A. birds that are angryB. an e-gameC. naughty childrenD. a computer48. The author wrote the text to tell us that _.A. communications technology can increase happinessB. the iPhone is the best cell phone in the worldC. playing with an iPhone is a waste of timeD. people in developed countries are happierCIf you were to come up with a list of organizations whose failures had done the most damage to the American economy (经济) in recent years, you would probably have to start with the Wall Street firms that brought us the financial crisis (金融危机). From there, you might move on to the automakers in Detroit.But I would suggest that the list should also include a less obvious nominee (被提名者): public education.At its top level, the American system of higher education may be the best in the world. Yet in terms of its main task turning teenagers into educated college graduates much of the system is failing.The United States does a good job enrolling (招生) teenagers in college, but only half of the students who enroll end up with a bachelors degree.So finding out the causes of the college dropout crisis in the worlds largest economy matters greatly, and a new book called “Crossing the Finish Line” tries to do precisely that. Its authors are economists William Bowen and Michael McPherson, and a doctoral candidate Matthew Chingos. The first problem they discover is something they call under-matching. It refers to students who choose not to attend the best college they can get into. They instead go to a less selective one, perhaps one that is closer to home or less expensive. About half of the low-income students with a grade-point average of at least 3.5 in high school and an SAT score of at least 1,200 do not attend the best college they could have. “I was really astonished by the degree to which well-qualified students from poor families under-matched,” said Mr. Bowen.In fact, well-off students attend the colleges that do the best job of producing graduates. Meanwhile, lower-income students even when they are better qualified often go to colleges that excel (擅长) in producing drop-outs. “Its really a waste,” Mr. Bowen said, “and a big problem for the country.” As the authors point out, the only way to lift the college graduation rate greatly is to lift it among poor and working-class students. Instead, it appears to have fallen.What can be done? Money is clearly part of the answer.49. According to this text, which of the following would people first think of as a factor causing damage to the American economy?A. The government.B. Public education.C. The Detroit automakers.D. The Wall Street firms.50. What is a big problem with American higher education?A. Many college students stay away from classes.B. It is hard to enroll enough students into college.C. Many colleges are experiencing low rate of graduation.D. It is hard for many colleges to get financial aid from the government.51. Why do some students under-match?A. Because they are not sure about future.B. Because they have financial problem.C. Because they cant get guidance.D. Because they lack confidence.52. The text is mainly about _.A. Americas financial crisis, its cause and influenceB. relationship between American education and its economyC. low rate of American college graduation, its cause and its influenceD. problems with American secondary education and possible solutionsDA new study has found that it may be possible to train people to be more intelligent (聪明的), increasing the brainpower they had at birth.Until now, it has been widely supposed that the kind of mental ability that allows us to solve new problems without having any relevant (相关的) former experience what psychologists (心理学家) call fluid intelligence is innate and cannot be taught (though people can raise their grades on tests of it by practicing).But in the new study, researchers describe a method for improving this skill，along with experiments to prove it works.The key, researchers found, was carefully structured training in working memory the kind that allows memorization of a telephone number just long enough to dial it. This type of memory is closely related to fluid intelligence, so the researchers reasoned that improving it might lead to improvements in fluid intelligence.First they measured fluid intelligence of volunteers using standard tests. Then they trained each in a complicated memory task the childs card game, in which they had to recall a card they saw and heard. During the course, they needed to ignore irrelevant items, monitor ongoing performance, manage two tasks at the same time and connect related items to one another in space and time.The four groups experienced a half-hour of training daily for 8, 12, 17 and 19 days, separately. To make sure they were not just improving their test-taking skills, the researchers compared them with control groups that took the tests without the training.The results, published Monday in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences，were striking. Improvement in the trained groups was a lot greater. Moreover，the longer they trained, the higher their scores were. All performers, from the weakest to the strongest，showed great improvement.“Our results show you can increase your intelligence with proper training.” said Dr Jaeggi, a co-author of the paper. “No one knows how long the gains will last after training stops,” he added, “and the experiments design did not allow the researchers to determine whether more training would continue to produce further gains.”53. The researchers thought the key to improving the intelligence was _.A. memorizing telephone numbersB. improving working memoryC. training in attentionD. recalling a card54. Which of the following training ways help increase intelligence?a. ignoring irrelevant itemsc. making connectionsb. monitoring ongoing performanced. working in groupsA. a, b, d. B. b, c, d. C. a, c, d.D. a, b, c.55. When the experiment was conducted, the researchers _.A. trained the four groups for the same period of timeB. trained the four groups at different time of the dayC. compared the four groups with control groupsD. trained the four groups together56. By writing the article, the writer wants to _.A. inform the readers of a new studyB. call on people to be trained to increase intelligenceC. tell people the improved intelligence will last foreverD. say the more one is trained, the more ones born intelligence improvesEI dont ever want to talk about being a woman scientist again. There was a time in my life when people asked constantly for stories about what its like to work in a field dominated (主导) by men. I was never very good at telling those stories because truthfully I never found them interesting. What I do find interesting is the origin of the universe, the shape of space-time and the nature of black holes.At 19, when I began studying astrophysics (天体物理学), it did not bother me in the least to be the only woman in the classroom. But while earning my Ph.D. at MIT and then as post-doctor doing space research, the issue started to bother me. My every achievement jobs, research papers, awards was viewed through the lens of gender (性别) politics. So were my failures. Sometimes, when I was pushed into an argument on left brain versus (相对于) right brain, or nature versus nurture (培育), I would immediately fight fiercely on my behalf and all womankind.Then one day a few years ago, out of my mouth came a sentence that would from then on become my reply to any and all attacks: I dont talk about that anymore. It took me 10 years to get back the confidence I had at 19 and to realize that I didnt want to deal with gender issues. Why should curing sexism be yet another terrible burden on every female scientist? After all, I dont study sociology or political theory.Today I research and teach at Barnard, a womens college in New York City. Recently, someone asked me how many of the 45 students in my class were women. You cannot imagine my satisfaction at being able to answer: 45. I know some of my students worry how they will manage their scientific research and a desir