专题01 阅读理解（第08期）-2022届新高考名校英语好题速递分项汇编

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专题01 阅读理解（第08期）-2022届新高考名校英语好题速递分项汇编
阅读理解【八省市（湖北省，广东省等）2021-2022学年高三上学期第一次联考】
Gold Fame Citrus
by Claire Vaye Watkins（$ 5.99）
With the flight of its characters through a landscape destroyed by climate crisis, this novel does not indicate much hopefulness for the future. Within it is a series of situations and consequences made more severe in a future California short of water. Across the desert. we follow Watkins' characters through a place so transformed that it needs its own field guide of animals newly adapted for strange survival.
The Ministry for the Future
by Kim Stanley Robinson（$ 18.1）
The Ministry for the Future is a masterpiece of the imagination, using fictional eyewitness accounts to tell the story of how climate will affect us all. Its setting is not a deserted world, but a future that is almost upon us. This extraordinary novel from the visionary science fiction writer will change the way you think about the climate crisis.
Breathing Fire
by Jaim Lowe（$ 27）
The front lines of the fight against climate change are peopled with those society has forgotten. Up to 30 percent of the firefighters battling wildfires in California each year are prisoners performing backbreaking labor while earning a 40th of what a civilian makes. This book follows six female prisoner firefighters and their worried families, looking into the human cost of environmental crisis.
Something Under the Sun
by Alexandra Kleeman（$ 28）
In Alexandra Kleeman's new novel, a novelist new to Los Angeles teams up with a former child actor to investigate a conspiracy（阴谋）. But this is L. A．, where wildfires burn all year long and the rich store water while the poor suffer from the consequence of climate crisis. Human weakness is pushing the city toward a disaster.
21．Which category does Breathing Fire fall into?
A．Science fiction. B．Play. C．Non-fiction. D．Biography.
22．What is Alexandra Kleeman?
A．A novelist. B．An actor. C．A firefighter. D．A minister.
23．What do the listed books have in common?
A．They are on sale. B．They show concern over climate.
C．They are intended for teenagers. D．They are set in California.
What could driving a race car and pointing a camera at the Milky Way have in common? More than you might imagine. Race car driver Bubba Wallace and photographer Batak Tefreshi journeyed together to remote Gooseberry Mesa for an adventure aimed at capturing the night sky.
Gooseberry Mesa, far from population centers, is protected from the nighttime light pollution making it perfect for star photographers. Nature night environments such as this are rare.
Camping, hiking, and shooting stars in mountainous Mesa highlight the similarity between photography and racing. Bubba notes, “Once you fire up the engine there’s no turning back-I know I’ll be in that scat for more than three hours.” Batak agrees, “I have the same feeling as soon as I touch the wheel of my camera-I’m ready to continue through the entire night.” For Bubba, developing patience allowed him to mature as a driver and is equally essential to his photography.
Seizing the moment is crucial too. “Every minute things are changing-the Earth’s shadow, the moonlight, the rise of stars, ” Batak explains. “If you lose the moment, it’s gone forever.” Bubba finds the physical and mental demands of racing as crucial when travelling in Utah’s rugged landscapes under freezing temperatures.
Think incoming clouds, wind, or mist will ruin your chance at a perfect shot? According to Batak. “With wide-angle nightscapes every unexpected weather condition can be an opportunity. Our photos show oranges and blues around the moon you wouldn’t see under a clear sky.”
The team discovered shared interests that go beyond photography. “We’re both passionate about bringing cultures together and using our work to break down boundaries,”says Batak. “The night sky has a unifying power. The sky connects the whole world under one umbrella.”
24．Why did Bubba and Batak choose Gooseberry Mesa?
A．It has a small population. B．It has ideal weather conditions.
C．It is free from light pollution. D．It has a magnificent landscape.
25．Which is required in both car racing and photography?
A．Willpower. B．Teamwork. C．Bravery. D．Creativity.
26．What does Batak think of unexpected weather as a photographer?
A．Annoying. B．Disastrous. C．Favorable. D．Challenging.
27．Which may be a message behind the team’s photography work?
A．Appreciating the night sky. B．Connecting various cultures.
C．Removing racial boundaries. D．Protecting the environment.
In gardens across Britain the grass has stopped growing, which is not drought-stricken. In fact, it is greener and cleaner than ever before. That is because the lawns(草坪)are actually artificial substitutes.
Britons are fascinated by lawns. Country estates(庄园)have long competed to have the most perfectly cut and polished grassland. “What you’re saying in big loud capital letters, is ‘I’m so terribly wealthy’” says Fiona Davison of the RHS(皇家园林协会). With the coming of grass-cutting machines in 1830, the middle classes joined the fun.
But now Britons have fallen in love with artificial grass. Evergreens UK, which sells the stuff, says it has seen a 120% rise in sales since 2015. Artificial grass is popular with families who have children or dogs and don’t want mud dragged through their houses. It has another charm factor, too—people now see gardens as “outside rooms”—pairing carpets of artificial grass with delicately decorated seating and hot containers.
Not everyone is a fan. Artificial grass contains microplastics that ruin soil and risk flooding. A study finds carthworms gain 14% less body weight when operating under rubber, a form of artificial grass, which might not be a problem for its fans, as wormholes are regular disgusting things, but it disappoints green types. Ms Davison says a group of wildlife-loving gardeners is blooming, many having caught the bug during COVID-19 lockdowns. For example, a landscape designer says they like things less neat and try “to capture that wild clement”. These cco-gardeners are influenced by rewilding projects and are more likely to be environmentalists.
While three written documents signed by many people have tried to stop artificial grass spreading, the government says regulating what people do in their backyards is wrong. The RHS is concerned about artificial grass, but prefers persuasion to laws. “We say ‘Let a hundred flowers bloom’,” says Ms Davison.
28．What can be inferred from Davison’s remark in paragraph 2?
A．She is very rich. B．The gardening competition is fierce.
C．Operating a cutting machine is fun. D．High-quality grassland is greatly valued.
29．What possibly contributes to the popularity of artificial grass?
A．Advertising campaigns. B．Gardens’ new function.
C．Messy grasslands. D．Ill-mannered children and dogs.
30．What does the underlined word “bug” mean in the fourth paragraph?
A．Interest. B．Earthworm. C．Flower. D．Virus.
31．Which of the following is a suitable title of the text?
A．The barrier of British grassland
B．The appeal of grassland for Britons
C．The fight to define the great British garden
D．The competition to become the best grassland
When asked what his father did for a living, Mike explained to his kindergarten teacher that “he steals things, but it’s OK, because he gets paid to do it. ”
He isn’t wrong. His father is a hacker(黑客), who is proud of his job, just like doctors are proud of the work they do. Thanks to security researchers’ hacking practices, leaks in a new version of the most common Wi-Fi code standard(WPA3)were found before criminals could use them to break into home and business networks. In another case, criminals found an unknown weakness in Google’s Android operating systems before security researchers did, giving the bad guys full control of more than a dozen phone models.
However, finding Mike’s father’s personalized plates for his car with the word ‘HACKING’, an employee of the Texas Department of Motor Vehicles quickly took them away, claiming that a license plate displaying “HACKING” publicized criminal activity. While this reaction really isn’t the fault of the well-intentioned employee, it’s a sign of how a deeply rooted misrepresentation of his profession has created a fixed wrong image. It seems that the way that hackers are described in Hollywood has contributed to the word ‘hacker’ paralleling ‘criminal’, where hackers are often referred to as figures in dark rooms engaged in illegal activity while tapping at keyboards.
But actually, hacking is just an activity. What separates any activity from a crime is, very often, permission. People are free to drive, but they do not have permission to drive 150 miles per hour, which is a criminal offense. Since a driver is just a driver, why must a hacker be a criminal? Someone who engages in the illegal use of hacking should not be called a ‘bad hacker’ but a ‘cybercriminal’. Contrary to popular belief, most hackers like Mike’s father undoubtedly play an important role in keeping companies and people safe.
32．What did Mike’s son think of Mike’s job?
A．Admirable. B．Amazing. C．Acceptable. D．Annoying.
33．What does the second paragraph mainly talk about concerning the hackers’ job?
A．Its weakness. B．Its importance. C．Its variety D．Its security.
34．Why does the writer mention ‘Hollywood’ in paragraph 3?
A．To entertain the renders. B．To question the employee’s claim.
C．To clarify the concept of hacking. D．To trace the wrong image of hackers.
35．What message does the author really want to convey in the text?
A．Hacking mostly counts. B．Hacking is actually a crime.
C．Hacking is popular with people. D．Hacking needs licenses.
阅读理解【广东省茂名市五校联盟2021-2022学年高三上学期第二次联考】
Four most beautiful villages in Italy
Alberobello
Set in the area of Puglia, close to the coastal town of Bari, this village is famous for its beautiful trulli, which are conical roof structures made without any mortar. The large amount of trulli makes Alberobello truly unique. You can even stay in one of these houses when visiting the village.
Menaggio
Set in the province of Como, right on the western shore of Lake Como, the area is frequently visited for its Menaggio and Cadenabbia Golf Club founded in 1907. This beautiful village still keeps its old attractiveness, with beautiful surroundings that could be enjoyed from one of the many waterfront balconies.
Matera
Matera is in the area of Basilicata. Known as the city of stones, Matera is one of the most ancient and unique towns in the world, having some of the earliest examples of houses carved in the rock. It’s more a village than a town though, and there are churches in the caves found here. In the surrounding Apulia area, you can also find other medieval churches like the Matera Cathedral or the San Pietro Caveoso.
Portofino
The harbor village of Portofino, set in the province of Genoa, offers access to several cozy beaches nearby, which is why this medieval village has been transformed into a pretty vacation site. Having anything from old landmarks to designer stores, this village is the perfect place to enjoy the finest things in life. You could also visit an underwater statue of Christ.
1．What is Alberobello noted for?
A．Trulli. B．Cozy beaches.
C．Houses carved in the rock. D．Medieval churches.
2．What is the main attraction of Menaggio?
A．Lake Como. B．Golf Club.
C．Waterfront balconies. D．An underwater statue of Christ.
3．Where is the city of stones?
A．In Puglia. B．In Como. C．In Basilicata. D．In Genoa.
My interest in conquering the Seven Summits first began after I climbed Kilimanjaro in 1999. Back then at the age of 18, I never saw climbing all the Seven Summits as a realistic goal, but I certainly thought it would be fun to try to do some of the easier ones.
Four years later, I got a new job and I found myself considering Mt. Elbrus. What inspired me about this trip was not necessarily Mt. Elbrus itself, but that the Caucasus region had several tiny countries that I could easily backpack in a single trip. To me, Elbrus would simply be an added bonus. Since the climb would only take a week, it left me with plenty of exploring time for other countries. In the summer of 2006, I was able to get the time I needed off and had a successful climb of Mt. Elbrus.
A year later in 2007, I noticed that I began to think about Cerro Aconcagua a lot, and even dream about it. My desire to try another one of the Seven Summits began to get so strong that I worried I might start losing sleep at night. Finally I talked to my boss Tom who was surprisingly supportive and helped give me the time off I would need for Aconcagua.
In February 2008, I had a successful experience and climbed the second highest of the Seven Summits. I somehow devoted myself to training several days a week, and took climbing courses. In June 2009, I climbed what I once thought was impossible, Denali, the second hardest of the Seven Summits. In 2011, I continued towards my dream by reaching the top of Oceania after conquering Carstensz Pyramid. At this point, there is no doubt that I am able to climb Mt. Vinson Massif so my only unknown is Mt. Everest. I’d like to try Vinson Massif next.
4．When did the author climb Kilimanjaro successfully?
A．In 1999. B．In 2003. C．In 2006. D．In 2007.
5．Which mountain is the second highest of the Seven Summits?
A．Kilimanjaro. B．Mt. Elbrus. C．Cerro Aconcagua. D．Denali.
6．Which of the following can best describe the author?
A．Devoted and humorous. B．Talented and clever.
C．Stubborn and demanding. D．Brave and successful.
7．What does the author want to tell us?
A．The early bird catches the worm.
B．Difficult the first time, easy the second.
C．Nothing is impossible to a determined heart.
D．Preparedness ensures success, unpreparedness spells failure.
"Hello!" You type into the chat box. There's a slight feeling of excitement flowing through your fingers, and you can't wait for a reply. You think, "There's probably nothing more exciting than this."
With communication from all corners of the world possible at the ease of your fingers, we are now witness to an advanced form of the hand shake and physical conversations: online friendships.
Alarmingly, according to Internet Safety 101, almost half of young adult users have received upsetting messages, with 92 percent posting their own real names and identification online and 58 percent thinking it doesn't cause concern. And though some parents may be biting their fingernails in fear right now, more than half of the youth have admitted to making their friends online and a good majority regularly text them.
Though the statistics are daunting, we hope, we haven't scared you off! Researchers actually found that pursuing online friendships could be beneficial. Penn State University reported that this was especially the case for those with social anxiety, as they might form a stronger comfort bond with their peers through the screen rather than a face-to-face meeting.
Additionally, online interaction may increase your self-confidence. In our current situation of isolation, perhaps that perfect connection from the safety of our homes is all it takes to make things just a little more bearable.
In the end, it all depends on you. Whether or not your search for a friend bears fruit lies in your approach, and though I'm not a great relationship master, I have some tips that will aid you in your exploration for the "BFF" of your dreams.
8．What can we infer from the third paragraph?
A．The youth often meet online friends in reality.
B．Most Internet users like texting to their online friends.
C．Many parents like biting fingernails when worried.
D．Most young adults lack awareness of Internet safety.
9．Which can replace the underlined word "daunting" in Paragraph 4?
A．Disappointing. B．Misleading. C．Frightening. D．Dissatisfying.
10．What's the author's attitude to making friends on the Internet?
A．Objective. B．Supportive. C．Negative. D．Unclear.
11．What do you think the text will talk about next?
A．How to get on well with online friends. B．How to find online best friends.
C．How to keep in touch with online friends. D．How to benefit from dream online friends.
An innovative agriculture startup plans to open an indoor vertical farm in Compton to help bring fresh produce to the California city.
Plenty, the company behind the project, said it will condense(压缩) 700 acres of farmland into a 95,000 square foot warehouse in Los Angeles County, where food-bearing plants will grow vertically and in abundance. The Compton site will be the company’s second and largest vertical farm. Plenty opened its first vertical farm in San Francisco in 2018, and keeps a research and development farm in Laramie, Wyoming.
By building farms vertically, Plenty said it is able to grow healthy, quality produce without harming the environment. The unique layout will also make it possible to establish farms in urban areas, where land resources are limited and food insecurity is widespread.
Plenty uses a range of technologies to realize its goal of more productive and Earth-friendly farming — including vertical plant towers, LED lighting and robots to plant, feed and harvest crops. “The farms are able to grow plants faster, with greater nutritional density(密度), and without the help of pesticides,” the company said. To create them, the company said it does not clear lands or pollute grounds, and only uses a small part of the water that traditional farming requires.
“It’s good for the environment,” said Shireen Santosham, Plenty’s head of strategic initiatives. “Eighty to ninety percent of water used around the world is for agriculture. Because we grow our plants using precise nutrient recipes, we can use a very small amount of water.”
Traditional farms are usually only able to harvest crops a few times a year. But because Plenty’s farms are free of limitations like seasonal and weather changes, harmful pests and natural disasters, they can produce food all year long.
The company said it also prioritizes health and cleanliness. Its crops are grown in clean environments, where staff dress in full personal protective equipment and robots do much of the picking. The first time produce is touched by bare hands is when a consumer opens a food package at home. Plenty said it’s all part of its mission “to improve the lives of Plants, People and our Planet.”
12．Where did Plenty open its first vertical farm?
A．In California. B．In Los Angeles. C．In Laramie. D．In San Francisco.
13．What can we know about the company Plenty?
A．It is similar to traditional farms.
B．Its farms are influenced by weather.
C．It uses less water to grow crops year-round.
D．It kills harmful pests with the help of pesticides.
14．What can we infer from the last paragraph?
A．Plenty’s produce are safe to eat.
B．Robots do all of the picking on the farm.
C．Plenty’s produce are popular with consumers.
D．The produce is delivered directly to consumers’ home.
15．What’s the best title for the text?
A．The Necessity of Developing Vertical Agriculture
B．How to Grow Healthy and Fresh Produce in Urban Cities
C．A Vertical Farm Aims to Bring Fresh Produce to Compton
D．Plenty's Task Is to Improve the Lives of Plants and People
阅读理解【广东省普通高中2021-2022学年高三上学期12月联合质量测评】
Pick up something you can’t put down
The Unequal Twins
Sylva Kanderal
www.xlibris.com
Hardback I Paperback I E-book
$28.99 I $16.99 II $3.99
What if the twins Ava and Zoe, who could hardly be distinguished from each other visually and who could not have been more different in character, had to go through a hell of envy, jealousy, and malice?
Where does that trail lead to? To a total loss of their connection, or are they finding the lost path to each other again?
Quotes from the Quiver
Dante P. Galiber, MD, FACC
www. authorhouse. com
Hardback I Paperback I E-book
$43.99 I $22.99 I $3.99
Inspired by time, space, and human interaction, this collection offers a series of original and thought-provoking ideas and quotations designed to uplift and enlighten.
Johnny Catching Fire
Aaron Allen
www. xlibris.com
Hardback I Paperback I E-book
$22.99 I $16.99 I $3.99
God gave Johnny the strength of Samson. Now, he must decide whether to use his power for good or to get even with those who bullied him.
Ting Ting, the Girl Who Saved China
Ryan O’connor
www. xlibris. com
Hardback I Paperback I E-book
$22.99 I $16.99 I $3.99
Ting Ting, the Girl Who Saved China provides insight into China’s biggest holiday, gives a sense of its culture, and shows that girls are just as strong and brave as boys are.
How to Help Yourself to Be Who You Want to Be
A Simple Guide for Those Who Are Ready to Take Charge and Redirect Their Lives
Pam Grewall
www. iuniverse. com
Hardback I Paperback I E-book
$23.99 I $13.99 I $3.99
This self-improvement book offers a simple manual to help one recognize their strengths and weaknesses and to understand how to make their own destiny.
1．If you are a fairy tales lover, you would prefer the works of________.
A．Pam Grewall
B．Ryan O’connor
C．Dante P. Galiber, MD, FACC
D．Aaron Allen
2．Which book would you recommend to someone interested in Chinese culture?
A．Johnny Catching Fire
B．How to Help Yourself to Be Who You Want to Be
C．Ting Ting, the Girl Who Saved China
D．The Unequal Twins
3．What can we learn from the information?
A．One can buy 3 books in hardback with $60.
B．The Unequal Twins will impress the readers with the true love between the twins.
C．Quotes from the Quiver is intended to improve readers’ social interaction skills.
D．How to Help Yourself to Be Who You Want to Be will be a good choice for those who are at a loss in their lives.
My nephew Sam was the only child of the family. His parents proudly showed him off; his aunts and uncles tried to be the first to hold him. But later things changed.
Due to the need of my job, my family lived with Sam’s family for a short time. By this time, my daughter Sophie was almost 3, and was a remarkably intelligent little girl. She could sing children’s songs and recite little poems. Sophie’s aunts and uncles were fascinated by her sweetness. Sam, who was seven, had to tolerate this new little human, but wasn’t quick to give away his high position.
Sophie’s third birthday was about to be celebrated, and the family had gathered presents. We were all busy getting the party ready when we heard the sharp cry from Sophie. Instantly, a half dozen adults moved as one and found Sophie sitting on the ground crying. She might have fallen off the seat of her well-decorated chair. We picked her up, comforted her and dried her tears. Finally, she settled like a queen on the royal throne of the birthday girl.
Nine years later, we went camping. Around the campfire, Sam spoke. He spoke of the agony he had been feeling for almost a decade. With a deep sigh, he shared his secret. During Sophie’s 3-year-old birthday, a fire of jealousy came from the proud and depressive guy when his position had been taken away by Sophie. He had waited for his moment. And then it came as Sophie was going to sit on her birthday chair. How he delighted in hearing the sound of his competitor hitting on the floor and crying. Sam really apologized then; his voice was soft and sincere.
Though Sam was seven, he was old enough to feel jealous of his cousin and played his hoax.
As he grew older, he realized his mistake, and eventually apologized and laid his burden down.
4．How did Sam feel about Sophie at first?
A．He had a hatred of her.
B．He was afraid of her.
C．He took no notice of her.
D．He envied her cleverness.
5．What made Sophie cry on her birthday in the author’s family’s opinion?
A．Her being startled by Sam.
B．Her hitting on the seat.
C．Her having a fight with Sam.
D．Her falling down from the chair.
6．What was Sam’s secret about?
A．He was responsible for Sophie’s cry.
B．He laughed at Sophie’s stupidity.
C．He took up Sophie’s position.
D．He broke Sophie’s chair.
7．Which words can best describe Sam after he shared his secret?
A．Upset and painful.
B．Quiet and peaceful.
C．Gentle and regretful.
D．Ashamed and relaxed.
The word hobby has an interesting history, and so does the concept of the hobby itself. Cultural attitudes have changed greatly about which ones are worth pursuing, and indeed whether having a hobby is desirable at all.
It is probably safe to say that when hobby was first used in the 15th century, most people didn’t have one, as it referred to a particular kind of horse. A hobby was a small horse that could “amble”(漫步), a particularly smooth, quick gait(步态)that was prized for long rides over terrible roads. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word is a shortened form of Hobbin, the name for a cart-horse, like Rover for a dog.
The hobby also had a part in medieval folk celebrations. Mummers and Morris dancers often included a person or two dressed up in horse costume, or pretending to ride a wooden stick with a horse’s head. Such hobbyhorses made popular children’s toys, too. Since hobbyhorses were the toys of young children and mime actors, “riding one’s hobby-horse” or being “on one’s hobby” became an idiom for wildly pursuing an idea or activity that looks silly to others.
Hobbies were considered slightly embarrassing, though mostly harmless, through the 18th century. In the 19th century, they grew more socially acceptable as middle-class leisure time increased. It became de rigueur for both men and women to pursue activities that would have seemed strange or shallow a century before.
In the early 20th century, according to historian Steven Gelber, hobbies “got rid of the old stigma of eccentricity(古怪的旧污名)” and came to be seen as a way to fill life with meaning and dignity. With a hobby, people could choose their own goals and progress toward them.
8．What determines whether having a hobby is desirable?
A．History B．Concept C．Cultural attitudes D．Pursuits
9．What can we learn from the word hobby?
A．Hobby was referred to a horse in 19th century.
B．“Riding one’s hobby-horse” is a positive expression to describe a person’s enthusiasm about his pursuit.
C．Hobbies were totally socially acceptable in the 18th century.
D．Hobbies became desirable in the early 20th century.
10．What does the underlined part mean in paragraph 4?
A．Necessary B．Unsuitable C．Illegal D．Changeable
11．Which is the best title of the passage?
A．A new concept of the word “hobby”
B．An evolution of the meaning of the word “hobby”
C．A trend of narrowing the meaning of the word “hobby”
D．A new way of the application of the word “hobby”
In the past, video conference technology was mainly used for just a few elements of business meetings or hangouts with friends and family. Now, video conference tools are essential for our productivity, learning and social interaction. We use them not only for fun, but mainly as a meaningful part of our work.
However, once we start to join endless video calls for a few hours each day, we become very tired. This term is called “zoom fatigue”, and it’s related to overusing virtual communication platforms.
There are some advantages of using video conferencing tools. Without them, it might be impossible for us to work from home. But what we haven’t expected is a price that we need to pay for that sort of convenience.
When we are having a face-to-face conversation with others, everything seems pretty natural. While speaking, you look into the eyes, sometimes slightly moving your stare onto something else. You know when to stop talking and when to speak up. Even if you’re in a conference room with 10 people, you don’t have a terrible feeling of being observed all the time. You notice that people mostly look at the person who is speaking, and then they move their attention onto someone else. But when you use a teleconferencing tool, things are different. Being physically on camera makes you very aware of being watched all the time, because you don’t know who is looking at you. You just see many faces on your screen.
Marissa Shuffler from Clemson University once said, “When you’re on a video conference, you know everybody’s looking at you; you are on stage, so there comes the social pressure—a feeling like you need to perform. Being performative is stressful.”
Moreover, there is another interesting tendency as far as video calls are concerned. Who are you looking at most of the time? The answer is yourself. For most people, it’s hard not to look at their own face if they can see it on the screen. We are likely to make sure that our head is at the right angle and that our shirt isn’t creased.
12．What is the so-called “zoom fatigue”?
A．The fast pace of our modern life.
B．Boredom caused by too many video calls.
C．The wide spread of video technology
D．Burnout associated with overusing online platforms
13．What can video calls bring us when compared with face-to-face conversations?
A．Higher cost.
B．More stress.
C．More free time.
D．Better performance.
14．Why do we look at ourselves most of the time on the screen?
A．To be well-behaved. B．To get some comfort.
C．To grow self-confidence. D．To attract others’ attention.
15．What is the text mainly about?
A．The popularity of video calls.
B．People’s attitude towards video calls.
C．Some unforeseen effects of video calls.
D．Changes in people’s way of communication。
阅读理解【河北省保定市2021-2022学年高三上学期期末】
There are books that have climbed up the ladder of the bookshelf this month. Let’s have a look.
No Looking Back by Shivani Gupta
Twenty-two-year-old Shivani had thrown a party one evening and awoke the next morning in hospital. Despite paralyzed (瘫痪) and wheelchair-bound, Shivani refused to give up. She wouldn’t let her inability to walk keep her from achieving her ambitions. This book is an inspiring tale about surviving the challenges of disability.
Courage Beyond Compare by Sanjay Sharma
The 10 sportsmen in the book are champions in diverse disciplines like athletics, swimming and badminton. They overcame physical limitations to reach the top of their chosen fields. Powerful and inspiring, these stories are heart-warming reminders that a strong mind and great determination almost always overcome the limitations of the human body.
Face to Face by Ved Mehta
Blind since the age of four, the author led a lonely childhood in India until he was accepted to the Arkansas School for the blind. The school changed his life. He got degrees at Oxford and Harvard and a successful writing career. This is the author’s autobiography touching upon his childhood, blindness and remaking himself.
This Star Won’t Go Out by Esther Earl
Diagnosed with cancer at the age of 12, Esther Earl was a very bright and talented, but very normal teenager. She lived a hope-filled and generous life as her physical condition declined. This autobiography collects her journals, fiction and letters. The photographs and essays offered by her friends also help to tell her story.
1．Which book is about some athletes’ stories?
A．No Looking Back. B．Face to Face.
C．Courage Beyond Compare. D．This Star Won’t Go Out.
2．What is special about This Star Won’t Go Out?
A．It is about a patient’s experience.
B．Some of its material is from her friends.
C．It mentions its author’s childhood life.
D．Its author had a successful writing career.
3．What do the four books have in common?
A．The authors are disabled.
B．The readers are mainly children.
C．They are stories about the authors.
D．They talk about some inspiring tales.
Two teens from Mount Juliet, Tennessee, went viral (走红) when they put their lives on line to save a 3-year-old girl.
One night, Dalaurence Holland, 15, and Zech Krinjnic, 13, were sitting and talking on Zech’s porch. It was pretty late, and the sky was dark. There were no adults or parents around, so the teens were just chatting and enjoying the fresh air. At about 10:15 pm, they were surprised to see a figure emerging from the bushes below. At first, they thought it was a fox or some other kind of animal. But they didn’t want anything to end up dead.
Dropping their conversation, the two rushed towards the animal hoping to save it. But when they got closer, they realized it wasn’t an animal — it was a 3-year-old girl heading straight for a busy highway. The boys hadn’t realized it was a little girl at first but now, time stood still. The little girl was all alone and there wasn’t an adult in sight. But what was even worse, they soon realized, there was a truck coming directly her way.
Both teens raced for the little girl, but Dalaurence got there first. There was no hesitation in either of their actions as they put their lives on the line. Dalaurence raced into the road, reaching the little girl just seconds before she would have been hit by the rushing truck. Luckily for the little girl, he snatched her out of the way just in time.
Thanks to Dalaurence and Zech’s heroic actions, the little girl’s life was saved. It’s unclear why the girl was on the road by herself. As for Dalaurence and Zech, the two boys received a flood of praises when their story went viral online. Later, Mount Juliet officials even gave them a key to the city in honor of their good deed. Thank goodness the brave teens were in the right place, at the right time.
4．What were the two boys doing when they saw a figure?
A．Having a conversation.
B．Running on the porch.
C．Waiting for adults to come.
D．Chatting about catching a fox.
5．What can we know from paragraph 3?
A．An animal was running after the little girl.
B．The girl stood still when the boys saw her.
C．The girl was in a dangerous situation.
D．A truck was coming directly the boys’way.
6．Which of the following can best describe the two boys?
A．Clever and generous.
B．Brave and responsive.
C．Devoted and enthusiastic.
D．Creative and humorous.
7．What may be the best title for the text?
A．Two boys were given a key to their city
B．Little girls needed looking after well
C．A little girl went viral on a busy highway
D．Two teenagers risked their lives to save a girl
Researchers have found multilingualism (多语言能力) is good for economy. Countries which actively encourage the development of different languages gain a range of rewards, from more successful exports to a more creative workforce.
“Language matters on a larger national level and at the level of smaller companies,” said Hogan-Brun, a researcher in language study. Switzerland, for example, owes 10% of its GDP to its multilingual background. The country has four national languages. Britain, on the other hand, is thought to lose about 3.5% of its GDP every year since 95% of its population speaks English, which is the primary language of the country.
What Hogan-Brun said is reasonable. Languages partly can help build trade relations. A study of small and medium-sized companies in Sweden and Germany found that those that invested more in languages were able to export more goods. German companies that invested heavily in multilingual staff added 10 export countries to their markets. Companies that invested less said they missed out on business deals.
Researchers have also long stressed the individual benefits of speaking more than one language. Several studies show that languages help promote earning power. According to a Canadian study, women and men who can speak several languages earn 3.6% and 6.6% more than their English-only colleagues respectively. The twist: This is true even if they don’t use their second language for work. “It seems that you don’t have to actually speak a second language on the job to receive the financial rewards,” said an economics professor. He thought that this was because knowing a second language was seen as a sign of power. Beyond these immediate economic rewards, languages can help a country’s workforce in long-term ways. Multilingualism has been shown to delay memory loss. It has also been associated with a better ability to concentrate and process information.
8．What can multilingual countries expect?
A．Large numbers of imported goods.
B．Productive workers with great creativity.
C．New chances of developing education.
D．Powerful comprehensive national power.
9．Why does the author want to show by listing the statistics in paragraph 2?
A．European countries are rich.
B．Language research is important.
C．The number of English speakers is increasing.
D．Multilingualism can promote national economic growth.
10．What does the author intend to do in paragraph 3?
A．Add some forecast information.
B．Introduce a new topic for discussion.
C．Support Hogan-Brun’s viewpoint.
D．Give some advice to small companies.
11．What can we learn from the text?
A．Women learn more languages than men.
B．Good native language is a sign of power.
C．Being multilingual benefits brain health.
D．Canadians prefer using their second language.
Fossils discovered in Liaoning province have challenged the theory that the Archaeopteryx is the earliest known bird.
Research of the fossils led by Pascal Godefroit and his team from the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences revealed that the dinosaur bird Aurornis xui, like the Archaeopteryx, existed nearly 150 million years ago. Godefroit told British-based Daily Mail, “The evolutionary development shows that dinosaur birds were already diversified in northern China during the Middle-Late Jurassic.”
The study, published in the journal Nature, showed that Aurornis xui was 50 cm in length and had tiny teeth used for hunting and defense, similar to other dinosaurs. Godefroit said the results support a “single origin of powered flight”, which suggests that all dinosaurs that became birds took flight around the same time, and eventually lost hunting and defensive features, like teeth, during adaptation.
Hu Dongyu, a professor at Shenyang Normal University, pointed out that fossils of some dinosaurs show that the legs initially had long feathers, which suggests they assisted wings in flight. “But the long feathers on the legs degenerated as the wings became strong enough. This is not the first time that fossil evidence has showed the evolution path from dinosaurs to birds,” said Hu. “The initial question was whether these dinosaur birds existed before the Archaeopteryx, but as we dig deeper into them, the age became irrelevant. And now the bone of contention is whether all these dinosaur birds are dinosaurs or birds.”
One fossil, found in Liaoning in 2009 and studied by scientists led by Xu Xing from the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, showed that the earliest dinosaur bird was Anchiornis huxleyi, a flying dinosaur that lived 160 million years ago. Another fossil studied by Xu and his colleagues, also believed to be a dinosaur bird, was named Xiaotingia zhengi. “Aurornis xui, Anchiornis huxleyi and Xiaotingia zhengi are similar dinosaur bird fossils,” Hu added. “The earlier research suggested that all dinosaur birds were dinosaurs, not birds. However, recent research suggests the opposite. So there is a long way to go to draw a conclusion.”
12．What is the topic of the text?
A．The origin of birds. B．The adaptability of birds.
C．The time when dinosaurs appeared. D．The reason why dinosaurs died out.
13．In what way was Aurornis xui similar to other dinosaurs?
A．The speed of its flight. B．The force of its defense.
C．The length of its feathers. D．The feature of its teeth.
14．What does the underlined part “the bone of contention” in paragraph 4 mean?
A．The bones of birds. B．The focus of debate.
C．The similarity of theories. D．The conclusion of research.
15．What does Hu think of dinosaur birds?
A．They were dinosaurs. B．They need further study.
C．They could fly like birds. D．They existed before the Archaeopteryx.
阅读理解【河北省张家口市2021-2022学年高三上学期期末】
Channel One News
ChannelOne.com is by far the most comprehensive and informative site for teens. Not only does it keep them up with the latest world news, but it offers homework help, fun quizzes, music videos and movie reviews. Channel One News also covers sports and includes a section where teens can write their own blogs,
Teens Health
This great website covers anything to do with teens’ health. It approaches teen health in a non-clinical way concerning physical, mental and emotional well-being. The “body” section discusses skin and body art, and the “mind” section deals with depression and families among other issues. Diets and recipes are offered as well as discussions about school, jobs and alcohol.
Driving Rules Network
Getting ready to drive a car is usually on the minds of teens. Driving Rules Network is a good place to start. It is part of the Online Study Guide for Student Drivers, which is an interactive site with practice questions and quizzes. Driving Rules Network covers driving laws including state by state laws and study guides. Teens can be well prepared when taking the drivers’ test or applying for their learner’s permit by making use of this site.
Science News
Science News is designed as a science news site for young teens though the information they provide is interesting enough for anyone. Articles covering space, fossils, physics, weather, environment and many other things are offered. It’s a great place for science project ideas. Also on hand are brain teasers, inventing puzzles and science fiction composition exercises.
1．Which website can teenagers turn to if they have difficulty in doing their homework?
A．Channel One News. B．Teens Health.
C．Driving Rules Network. D．Science News.
2．What can users do on Teens Health?
A．Write a blog. B．Consult a doctor.
C．Discuss about school. D．Learn some driving laws.
3．What do the four websites have in common?
A．They provide puzzles.
B．They are for teenagers.
C．They concern teens’ safety.
D．They benefit teens’ physical health.
I kept it in a special box and pulled it out when my brother was to arrive with his wife for New Year. I carried it to the dining room and unfolded the white tablecloth. Its colorful embroidery (刺绣) popped to life. The signatures of all the family and friends who’d ever shared a New Year meal at our table were hand-embroidered on top.
I’d started my embroidery New Year tradition 20 years before, since I wanted something that was uniquely ours — something we could look forward to.
The first time I laid out the clean white cloth and asked the kids to sign it, my family looked at me as if I were crazy. Write on the tablecloth we hoped to protect from jam and tea? Yes! And these days, I have grandkids to carry on the tradition. Each year I used a different color embroidery thread, so we could relive the highlights of particular gatherings. I saw my grandkids’ signatures go from scribbles (潦草的字) to print. We added drawings for milestones, such as a baby’s handprint.
The doorbell rang, and I ran to let in my brother, Tom, and his wife. They’d traveled from North Carolina for their first New Year with us. After greetings and hugs, I led them into the dining room. Tom looked wide-eyed at the tablecloth he had seen only in pictures. He gently touched our mom’s signature, and I put my hand on his, “I’m thankful to have started this while she was alive.”
More than something to look forward to, our tradition holds memories to look back on. Everyone we love is at our table when we sit down for New Year.
4．When does the author usually use the special tablecloth?
A．On her brother’s visit. B．In New Year celebrations.
C．On her grandkids’ birthdays. D．In some traditional holidays.
5．How did the author’s family feel when first asked to sign on the tablecloth?
A．Delighted. B．Discouraged. C．Unbelievable. D．Annoyed.
6．What can be inferred about Tom from Paragraph 4?
A．He was grateful to his mother.
B．He missed the author very much,
C．He would start a new tradition soon.
D．He had never signed on the tablecloth before.
7．Which of the following is a suitable title for the text?
A．The Importance of Family Ties
B．The Long-lasting New Year Memory
C．Special Family Tradition Holds Memory
D．Grandma’s New Year Present
Like many Californians, Ryan Honary, 12, has a personal experience with wildfires. As a student at Pegasus School in Huntington, he was with his father at an Arizona tennis tournament when he saw wildfires raging across his home state on TV. “The hills that were burning looked just like the hills behind my house,” Ryan recalls. “I called my mom and asked if she was okay.” Once he knew that she was, he asked his dad why wildfires got out of control so often. “We’re planning to send people to Mars but we can’t detect wildfires,” Ryan says.
That’s when Ryan decided to create a way to detect wildfires early. He linked together a series of Raspberry Pi computers. Some of these tiny units were fitted to detect smoke, fire and humidity (湿度). Their sensors sent data wirelessly to another Raspberry Pi. This slightly bigger computer served as a mini meteorolbgical station (气象站).
Ryan brought his entire system to a park and tested it by holding the fire from a lighter in front of each sensor. When these sensed a fire, they informed the mini station. It then alerted an app that Ryan built for his phone. While creating that app, Ryan talked with Mohammed Kachuee, who is a graduate student at the University of California, Los Angeles. Kachuee helped Ryan use machine learning to train his app with data from the large 2018 Camp Fire. The app took lessons from how this fire had traveled over time. Using those data, the app “learned” to predict how fire at future events might spread.
Someday, Ryan hopes his sensors might be deployed throughout his state. “Five of the worst fires in California just happened in the last three months,” he notes. “So it’s pretty obvious that global warming and climate change are just making the fire problems worse.”
8．What drove Ryan to come up with the idea?
A．His eagerness for success.
B．His lessons about wildfires.
C．His desire to detect wildfires.
D．His loss of home because of a fire.
9．What is the bigger Raspberry Pi used for?
A．Detecting fires.
B．Receiving data.
C．Increasing air humidity.
D．Controlling the smaller ones.
10．How did Kachuee help Ryan?
A．He tested the system.
B．He created a phone app for Ryan.
C．He helped with the improvement of Ryan’s app.
D．He taught Ryan some lessons about wildfires.
11．What does the underlined word “deployed” in Paragraph 4 probably mean?
A．Applied. B．Designed. C．Replaced. D．Simplified.
Dyslexia (阅读障碍) is a common reading disorder. It refers to a language-processing problem in which the brain tends to confuse the order of numbers, letters and other images. Past research showed that crowded text was especially difficult for people with dyslexia to read. So researchers at Anglia Ruskin University wanted to see how much help an increase in the spacing between letters would provide.
Steven Stagg and his team found 59 students between 11 and 15 years old. The kids came from schools in three cities in England. 32 had dyslexia; 27 did not. While the researchers recorded them, each student read two passages out loud. One passage was printed in its original format. In the other, the spacing between the letters was increased by 2.5 points. That extra space equals about 0. 88 millimeters. The recording allowed the scientists to measure someone’s reading speed and count any errors, such as skipped
People with dyslexia often employ aids to help them read, such as colored overlays (透明膜). So the researchers offered those colored plastic sheets to the students here. Readers place the plastic on top of the text and then read through it.
Those colored overlays didn’t help either group of kids. But the extra spacing did. Kids with dyslexia read the wider-spaced text 13 percent faster than the text with original spacing. These kids also made fewer mistakes. Students without dyslexia read faster, too, although only by 5 percent. Stagg studies how the mind processed language. He wasn’t surprised that the colored overlays weren’t helpful. Stagg has dyslexia and says colored overlays never helped him much, either. What was unexpected to the scientist was that wider-spaced letters helped even kids without dyslexia.
This is very good news. It means teachers and publishers can print material with extra spacing between letters knowing it will help everyone. Readers with dyslexia won’t feel singled out by having to use special reading materials. It’s a simple fix, too. Certain text-writing and document— processing software, such as Microsoft Word, can easily add extra spacing between letters. Web designers can add space to the text on their pages, too,
12．What were the students asked to do in the research?
A．Read two passages out.
B．Record their reading speed.
C．Distinguish the letter space.
D．Avoid errors in reading activity.
13．What surprised Steven Stagg about the study?
A．The uselessness of the overlays.
B．The negative effects of dyslexia.
C．The help of wider letter space to kids.
D．The reading speed of kids with dyslexia.
14．Why does the author mention “Microsoft Word” in the last paragraph?
A．To draw a comparison. B．To clarify a concept.
C．To make a summary. D．To provide an example.
15．What is the author’s attitude to the finding of the research?
A．Disapproval. B．Favorable. C．Doubtful. D．Unclear.
阅读理解【江苏省百校大联考2021-2022学年高三上学期第二次考试】
On many travelers’ lists of things to do before they die, you’ll find “See the northern lights” written down. Rightfully so these lights are one of nature’s most jaw-dropping views.
In Sweden, the northern lights usually appear from late March or early April. Your best chance of catching a glimpse of them is on cold winter nights when the sky is clear, dark with little to no moonlight, and cloudless You need to be away from city lights and go to the countryside. For those willing to brave the cold on winter nights, here are some of the best locations.
Abisko National Park
Abisko Natinal Park is a main location. The scientifically confirmed “blue hole” a piece of sky over the Tornetrask lake that usually remains clear despite cloudy weather nearby gives Abisko its own microclimate (局部地区气候), which is suitable for catching the lights.
Jukkasjarvi
The village of Jukkasjarvi only has about 550 people. But don’t let the small population size fool you: Jukkasjarvi owns the world’s first ice hotel and is one of the best places to view the northern lights. The ice hotel organizes guided tours for guests to the Esrange Space Center. There you can eat at a camp outside and see the Arctic winter sky for aurora borealis (北极光). Or why not try to get closer to the northern lights and watch them through an aeroplane window? The ice hotel arranges flights for the amazing northern lights experience.
Gallivare
You can drive a snowmobile to the mountain top in Gallivare for a private light show, of head a few kilometers to nearby villages to watch those lights shining across the dark winter sky. But remember if you do get the chance to see the northern lights in person, never whistle to them. According to ancient Sumi fairy, it brings you bad luck.
1．When are you likely to best enjoy the northern lights in Swede?
A．On cold winter nights with clear sky and a little moonlight.
B．On chilly winter nights in the rural area without moonlight or cloud.
C．On freezing winter nights in the city center with few lights and little could.
D．On winter nights when the sky is dark with little moonlight and no cloud.
2．What do you know about Jukkasjarvi?
A．It has up to 550 people.
B．It owns the world’s first hotel.
C．It is among the best places to view the northern lights.
D．You can eat at a camp inside and see the aurora borealis.
3．Where can the text be found?
A．A science report. B．An art magazine.
C．A travel guide. D．A history book.
China in Context, the first annual festival founded in Britain celebrating writers and writings from and about China, returned to London’s China town here in March. The annual event brings together Chinese writers, translators, language experts and readers from across the world to explore the extensive range of China’s history and culture through writings. Co-organized by Cypress Books and China Exchange, the event features talks from famous Chinese authors including Su Tong and Lu Nei and Chinese American writer Yan Geling, as well as a book fair, various hands-on workshops, and cultural activities.
In its second year, the festival focused on the theme of “translating China”. Ru Jing, from Cypress Books, said the theme was chosen because quality translated books are an important way to help people understand China. “Translating China is not only about translating the books but also the Chinese culture and other aspects of China,” she said, adding that it is high time they should organize such an event as more and more Chinese writers and books are known across the world.“I am studying Chinese but the grammar is really complicated and I have a lot of problems with it,” said Martin Parrott, a retired teacher, who thanked this event for offering people access to so many Chinese books and other sources here. “The more often this kind of event is held, the more people will come. I think you can do really good publicity in Britain, in places where people are studying the Chinese language and doing business with China, as nowadays many people in Britain want to know more about China,” he said.
According to the organizer China Exchange, the festival lasted over two weeks, and some of its popular workshops and talks had been fully booked.
4．What do you know about the festival?
A．It is founded in Britain every two years.
B．All the works in the festival are not written by Chinese.
C．It gathers Chinese writers, translators, language experts and poets in the world.
D．It deals with an extensive range of China’s history and geography through writings.
5．Why did the festival choose “translating China” as its theme in its second year according to the second paragraph?
A．Because it is a great way for people to know Chinese festivals.
B．Because it focuses mainly on translating the Chinese books.
C．Because more and more Chinese writers and books are recognized across the world.
D．Because many people in Britain know little about China.
6．From Martin Parrott’s words, we can learn that ________.
A．he has difficulty studying the grammar
B．the more events are held, the more people will come
C．people in Britain are studying Chinese to do business with China
D．he thinks highly of the event
7．What is purpose of writing the article?
A．To show the advantages of the festival.
B．To make the festival better known to the world.
C．To introduce a Chinese literature festival.
D．To encourage more Chinese festivals to be held.
A hundred days out from the opening ceremony, Beijing, which previously hosted the Summer Paralympics in 2008, is to stage another Games with even higher standards of inclusiveness, accessibility and equality when the Winter Paralympics open on March 4.
Preparatory work for the 10-day Paralympics has shifted from facility readiness to operational tests. After hosting a series of international test events, organizers are now busy fine tuning （微调） operational details and services to offer Paralympians better experiences based on feedback from the trials.
The aquatics center, nicknamed the “water cube", has been repurposed into an “ice cube” for curling after the completion of an innovative project to fill the pool with removable steel structures topped with sheets of ice.
The transformed venue （地 点） withstood intensive tests on the stability of the ice surface, delicate control of temperature and humidity, accessibility and COVID-19 protocols （协议） during the wheelchair curling event to make sure it was up to international standards, the team operating the venue said.
“The test event went quite successfully and shed light on the improvements that we need to make in the next step," said Yang Qiyong, general manager of the venue. World Curling Federation president Kate Caithness heaped praise on the venue's readiness after an inspection visit for the test event last month.
With preparations for the Paralympics gaining momentum as they enter the final stretch, Chinese organizers and sports promoters have set their sights on maximizing the event's impact on leveling the playing field so that more disabled sports lovers get involved in exercise on ice and snow, while raising awareness of the need for equal access to training facilities, especially in winter sports, beyond 2022.
8．What do you know about the preparatory work?
A．The construction work is under way.
B．The facility has been in place waiting to be tested.
C．The construction work is completed and the facility is ready for use.
D．The facility has passed the operational test.
9．What does the underlined word “withstood" in paragraph 4 probably mean?
A．Receive. B．Withdraw.
C．Expect. D．Stand.
10．What did Yang Qiyong think of the test event?
A．It sheds light on the efforts they have made.
B．It makes them aware of the improvements they will make.
C．It is as successful as expected.
D．It goes on smoothly without any need to improve.
11．What is the best title of the passage?
A．2022 Winter Paralympics, facilities in place
B．2022 Winter Paralympics ready to be held
C．2022 Winter Paralympics, preparatory work under way
D．2022 Winter Paralympics, test work finished
People who rise early feel happier and more satisfied with life overall, compared to night owls. The good news for stroppy （易怒的） teenagers is that most people become earlier risers as they age, and this change is also associated with greater feelings of happiness.
Experts at the University of Toronto carried out a study. They asked more than 700 people about their preferred time of day and how healthy and happy they generally feel. They then compared the responses of the group of younger adults aged 17 to 38 with older people aged 59 to 79. Only about seven per cent of young adults were morning larks, while by age 60 most people preferred to be up with the dawn. Just seven percent of the oldest people in the study described themselves as night owls. The researchers found that older adults reported greater positive emotion than younger adults, and older adults were more likely to be morning type people than younger adults. The “morningness" was associated with greater happiness emotions in both age groups.
Morning types also tended to report that they felt healthier than the late risers. The researchers said that this apparent health benefit could come from the extra sleep they would enjoy, as their seeping schedule would fit with society's expectations of rising early for work. This extra sleep could not only make them alert, but may also boost their immune system.
“An evening person may go through their week feeling unhappy because they have to get up earlier than they would like to.” But Ms Biss said there was hope for night owls as it was possible for them to turn themselves into morning people.“One way to do it is to increase your natural light exposure early in the morning, and to wake up earlier and go to bed earlier," she said. “It's easiest if you have a consistent schedule, to make sure you are waking up at the same time every day."
12．How did the author get the result of the study?"
A．By listing statistics. B．By offer examples.
C．By doing an experiment. D．By making comparisons.
13．Why did the morning larks feel healthier than night owls according to the report?
A．Because the extra sleep would make them excited.
B．Because their seep time fit with society's expectations of rising early for work.
C．Because they didn't need enough seep to keep them alert.
D．Because the extra sleep improved their immune system.
14．Which of the following way may help night owls become morning people?
A．Exposing them to more light in the morning.
B．Getting up early and stay up late.
C．Having a healthy and consistent schedule.
D．Making friends with earlier risers.
15．What message does the author seem to convey in the text:
A．Morning people tend to be happier than night owls.
B．It is advisable to get up early.
C．We should avoid getting up late.
D．It is a bad idea to be night owls.
阅读理解【山东省高中名校2021-2022学年高三上学期12月大联考】
Food festivals are a common occurrence in the UK and take place in all sorts of places and at all sorts of times. Whatever your taste, there’s a food festival to match — no matter how specialized.
1. Meatopia
This three-day, London-based festival takes place at the end of August and is a meat lover’s paradise. In addition to a range of legally sourced meat products, from juicy burgers to tender steaks, attendees can listen to live music, watch butchery demonstrations, and attend informal meat-based workshops.
2. The National Honey Show
If you have a sweet tooth, then it could be that the National Honey Show, which started in 1921 and is the largest event of its kind, is the place for you to be. This three-day event attracts many local entries who showcase their sweet golden honey, some of which is sold globally.
3. The Orange Sauce Festival
Have you heard about a festival that is devoted only to orange sauce? Held in Cumbria, this sweet, fragrant festival has been running for 3 years. What attracts people most is a competition to find the best homemade orange sauce. There are thousands of participants from over 30 different countries across the globe, bringing their local snacks to share here.
4. The Ginger and Spice Festival
If you’d prefer something with a little more kick to it, then you could attend The Ginger (姜) and Spice Festival held in Market Drayton. Unlike other food festivals, it celebrates its town’s historic connection to Robert Clive, who returned from India with ginger. Because of this, they specialize in baking gingerbread, but also sell a range of traditional spices from mild to hot.
1．What do Meatopia and the National Honey Show have in common?
A．They are of the same duration.
B．Both of them hold workshops.
C．Both of them originated from London.
D．Both of them have a long history.
2．If you are interested in foreign food, which festival do you like best?
A．The Meatopia. B．The Ginger and Spice Festival.
C．The National Honey Show. D．The Orange Sauce Festival.
3．What is special about the Ginger and Spice Festival ?
A．It has something to do with a historic figure.
B．The ginger used in the festival is from India.
C．It sells spicy food.
D．The food is cooked by Robert Clive.
Some people say that dogs are man’s best friend, loyal and loveable. In fact, they can be more than just a pet as certain breeds are excellent working dogs too. We know about the amazing help guide dogs give to blind people and, more recently, a new role has been found for the animals—working as therapy dogs in universities.
Research by Washington State University in the US, has found spending time with a dog can help stressed students. Patricia Pendry from the university told the BBC that a study of 300 undergraduates had found weekly hour-long sessions with dogs brought to the university by professional handlers had made stressed students at high risk of academic failure or dropping out “feel relaxed and accepted”. The dogs helped them to concentrate, learn and remember information.
The BBC’s education correspondent Sean Coughlan writes that around 1,000 campuses in the US already use therapy pets and it’s becoming more common in the UK. Fiona Suthers, head of clinical skills at the university, is in charge of the program. She says that five dogs have been introduced to her school after a strict assessment to ensure they had the right temper. But she adds “it’s hard to describe the impact of just having a dog lying down in the corner of a class.”
Student Union education officer Chloe Hutchinson told the BBC that “a lot of students have dogs at home and might be a bit homesick, especially around exam time when it is stressful and they just want their home comforts.” So if you’re a student who’s been working like a dog, but you still feel like you haven’t a dog’s chance in passing your exams, maybe introducing a four-legged friend into your life might be the help you need.
4．What benefit of dogs is not mentioned in the passage?
A．They can be human’s companions. B．They can help students overcome mental illness.
C．They can help the blind. D．They can promote stressed students’ concentration.
5．What’s Fiona Suther’s attitude towards introducing dogs into a class?
A．Unwilling B．Tolerant C．Positive D．Unsure
6．What does the underlined sentence mean?
A．You have no advantage over other students. B．You have difficulty in passing the exams.
C．You don’t have a chance to have a dog. D．your dog doesn’t help you pass exams.
7．Where can you read this passage?
A．In a popular magazine. B．In an education journal.
C．In a medicine advertisement. D．In a local guide book.
Choosing what to wear can be a tricky problem, especially if you’re a fashion victim. Trying to keep up with the latest styles involves regular visits to the shops and sometimes wasting money on expensive designer clothes. But when the fashion changes, these clothes are forgotten in the back of cupboards gathering dust, or just get thrown away.
There are many stores that now offer cheap “fast fashion”—low-price items that imitate the styles of more expensive designer brands. Environmentalists are angered by the amount of energy involved in making these clothes and that many of them are made from non-recyclable materials. This means that items go into landfill or are just incinerated, which is responsible for 20% of the world’s waste water, and 10% of carbon emissions.
This is something the fashion industry is becoming more aware of and has led to a new crop of biomaterials that replace wasteful textiles like cotton and leather. Examples include Piñatex, a leather-like substance made from deserted pineapple leaves. It’s been used in collections by Hugo Boss and H&M. And there’s mycelium, the root structure of mushroom that’s being used to create food, packaging and textiles.
Cotton is a very resource-intense crop to grow. Eleanor Lawrie says “about 15,000 liters of water are required to make one pair of jeans.” So, buying organic cotton is a better choice. And there is also Tencel, also known as Lyocell, a natural product that’s now growing in popularity.
“But creating sustainable textiles is only part of the battle. Buying second hand and buying fewer clothes are the obvious environmentally friendly choices.” said Dr. Richard from Leeds School of Design “I don’t think you should consider buying any item of clothing unless you commit to 30 years.”
8．Which of the following statements is correct?
A．Most people are not good at choosing what to wear.
B．The fashion industry tricks people into buying fashionable clothes.
C．Environmentalists are angry about buying fashionable clothes.
D．The cheap fast fashion industry should be to blame.
9．Which word can replace the underlined word in paragraph 2?
A．Donated. B．Recycled. C．Burnt. D．Stored.
10．What clothes is an environmentalist most likely to buy?
A．Clothes made of cotton. B．Clothes made of mushroom.
C．Clothes made of leather D．Clothes made of Tencel.
11．What can we learn from Dr. Richard Blackburn’s word?
A．Clothes made of cotton will benefit the environment.
B．Don’t buy new clothes unless you make full use of the existing ones.
C．Second-hand clothes can be unhealthy for wearers.
D．Sustainable textiles will solve the environmental problems.
Some countries build palaces or temples as monuments to their greatness. Singapore builds hawker centers. Put casually on a plate or banana leaf are the dishes such as Indian roti prata and Singapore laksa which are mixed with what is from Malaysia.
And since one can eat one’s fill in a hawker center at a reasonable price, it is no surprise that eight in ten Singaporeans visit such places at least once a week, according to a survey conducted by the National Environment Agency in 2018. Singapore is so proud of its street food that it hopes UNESCO will include it in its catalogue of humanity’s most precious arts.
The UN’s heritage inspectors had better hurry. The average age of the chefs is 60, so sustaining the hawker trade in the long run is hard. When old chefs pass away, many take their recipes with them, says K.F. Seetoh. Only Singaporean citizens can work in hawker centers managed by the government. But young Singaporeans have little appetite for working in piping-hot stalls for long hours and little pay.
The few young Singaporeans willing to put up with such conditions often live hand-to-mouth. When Yu Ting Gay and Alex Ho opened their Italian-Japanese fusion stall in 2017, they hoped to earn $1,474 a month each. Most of the time they made half that. “Our pockets were quite tight,” says Ms. Yu.
Older hawkers have an unfair advantage. Many of those pay discounted rents: $200 a month on average. They still account for 55% of the 5,500 stalls rented by the government. But a report published by the Ministry of Trade in 2015 found that even though younger hawkers have an average 15% higher operating costs, they do not pass them on to their customers, which is discouraged by the government too.
12．What can we know from the first two paragraphs?
A．The hawker centers were built together with palaces and monuments.
B．Singapore’s street food has already been included in UNESCO’s category.
C．80% of the Singaporeans visit hawker centers every day.
D．The street food in Singapore shows the combination of different cultures.
13．What can we know about the Singapore’s street food now?
A．Most of the experienced chefs give their recipes to the young hawkers.
B．The street food in Singapore will have a promising future.
C．The young generation are unwilling to take over the job.
D．The foreigners are not allowed to work in hawker centers.
14．Which of the following statements is true?
A．It is easier for older hawkers to run their business.
B．The government encourages hawkers to raise food price.
C．The young hawkers charge more money for the higher costs.
D．The young hawkers lead a comfortable life in Singapore
15．What’s the best title of the passage?
A．A young idler, an old beggar. B．Strive things will succeed.
C．Out with the new. D．The pupil surpasses the master.
阅读理解【山东省济宁市2021-2022学年高三上学期期末】
Employers today tend to hire students who truly made the most of their time on campus. Getting involved in an extracurricular club could be one of your highlights.
Media & Publication Club
It focuses on publishing a campus newspaper, creating a website, or writing ads. The skill sets required to successfully create media today are incredibly varied. You may have a passion for the written word or love graphic design. Whatever the case, you are likely to find your place within the club.
Academic Club
This club is among the most popular on campus, which can be a great benefit to a degree-seeker, because they allow you to connect with other students in the same major and often even to network with professionals from industries in which you plan to seek employment after graduation.
Community Service Club
If you are eager to make a difference to the world, the club focusing on serving others might be the perfect match for you. This club is intended for children, seniors, underserved populations, animals, the environment, and so on. If you have a desire to help, the opportunity to serve likely exists on your campus.
Sports & Recreation Club
If you are passionate about the sport you’re pursuing, it does not matter if you aren’t playing at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) level. Club sports are usually not regulated by the rules of the NCAA, but you have chances to travel to other colleges in order to compete. The level of competition is generally not quite as intense, which makes club sports an extremely popular option if you’re just looking to play for fun.
1．Which club offers a chance to work with your potential colleagues?
A．Media & Publication Group. B．Academic Club.
C．Community Service Club. D．Sports & Recreation Club.
2．What do we know about the Sports & Recreation Club?
A．It must follow the NCAA rules.
B．It can hold interschool competitions.
C．It offers intense training from time to time.
D．It only admits members with NCAA levels.
3．Who is the text targeted at?
A．Employers. B．Professors.
C．Undergraduates. D．Children.
Rene Compean was no stranger to Angeles National Forest. He’d hiked the park near his home in Southern California numerous times. But after taking a new path last April, he was lost.
As the day faded into dusk, his concern turned to fear. The terrain (地带) was remote and rough. With only a liter of water and less than ten percent battery remaining on his cell phone, Compean was unprepared for anything more than the two-hour journey he’d planned. Compean climbed to a spot, where he found only one bar of signal. “SOS. My phone is going to die. Pm lost,” he texted a friend, attaching a photo showing where he was. The shot showed his legs hanging over a steep rock.
Sixty miles away in Ventura County, Ben Kuo was working at home when he read a tweet from the Los Angeles County Safety Department. They had spent the previous night unsuccessfully looking for Compean, so they released the photo to the public, hoping someone might know the location.
Kuo works in the tech industry, and he has an unusual hobby —looking for where photos are taken. When he saw the blurry (模糊的) image, he pulled up a satellite map on his laptop. He narrowed his search to the surrounding area where Compean’s car was parked and spotted an area that looked like the terrain in the image. When he cross-referred the original photo with 3-D images of the area from Google Earth, the locations matched!
Soon, a search-and-rescue team helicopter was in the air, flying above Compean. After spending 27 hours alone in the wilderness, Compean cried, “I’m safe!” John Gibert, a member of the search-and-rescue team, says, “Compean’s story probably would have ended very differently had a total stranger with strong satellite skills and a sharp eye for detail not taken action.”
4．What added to Compean’s fear?
A．Taking a completely new route. B．Being unfamiliar with the park.
C．Being far away from destination. D．Lacking preparations for emergency.
5．What played a crucial role in locating Compean?
A．The released photo. B．Kuo’s expertise in rescuing.
C．The successful image matching. D．The rescue team’s efforts.
6．What does John Gibert think of Compean’s being rescued?
A．Lucky. B．Expected. C．Fruitless. D．Smooth.
7．What’s the best title of the text?
A．A Mountain Hiker B．A Screen Saver
C．A Blurry Image D．A Helicopter Rescue
A new study shows that increases in extreme winter weather in parts of the US are linked to quickened warming of the Arctic (北极).
Over the past four decades, warming in the Arctic has been far more definite than that in the rest of the world and has caused a rapid decrease of summer sea ice. Heating in the Arctic has ultimately disturbed the circular pattern of winds known as the polar vortex (旋涡). As a result, it got stretched out of shape and slid southward off the pole. Scientists believe this vortex stretching process led to the deadly Texas cold wave in February this year.

“The polar vortex over the Arctic usually locks in cold air at the poles and does not easily move south. The stronger the winds, the more the air inside is kept, and the colder it gets,” explained lead researcher Dr. Judah Cohen, who’s a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). “Melting (融化) ice in the Arctic and rising temperatures can disturb the Arctic vortex, making cold air no longer locked in the Arctic? but move some farther south.”
The researchers say that their findings are based on both observations and modelling and they show a physical link between climate change in the Arctic, the stretching of the polar vortex and the impacts on ground.
The researchers believe their work could improve predictions about the beginning of extreme cold winter events. The research team also believes that their findings will help people understand that global warming is complex and perhaps let go of the idea that colder winters mean climate change isn’t happening. “In the past, these cold extremes over the US and Russia have been used to justify not reducing carbon, but there’s no longer any excuse to not start reducing emissions (排放) right away,’’ said Dr. Cohen.
8．What is paragraph 2 mainly about?
A．The efforts made by scientists. B．The definition of polar vortex.
C．The decrease of summer sea ice. D．The formation of Texas cold wave.
9．What is the function of polar vortex?
A．Making the wind stronger. B．Helping cold air move freely.
C．Speeding up the melting of ice. D．Keeping cold air from escaping.
10．What can be inferred from the last paragraph?
A．Global warming is just alarmist.
B．Weather-gone-wild pattern is a fantasy.
C．Reducing emissions is a pressing matter.
D．Weather forecast has never been a perfect science.
11．In which column of a website can the text probably be found?
A．Environment. B．Travel. C．Education. D．Life.
There’s a child-like joy that comes with ordering something online — whether it be clothes or kitchen facilities. We sit refreshing the postal service to see when our items will arrive, and we become overly excited, hopeful and anxious.
Ryan Howes, a clinical psychologist from Pasadena California, has interpreted this phenomenon as “anticipatory pleasure”. “A lot of people believe that placing that order and waiting for it does feel good. This is why people look forward to dinner reservations, hair appointments and yes, receiving packages,” he says.
But it’s not the purchase itself that brings about this happiness. Experts say there’s something about the anticipation of waiting that is exciting for those in need of change in their lives. “It can be helpful to anticipate good things in the future, ’’says Ryan Howes. “Waiting for a parcel can serve as a temporary distraction (分心) from the dullness of your life because it gives you something new to wake up to and get excited about.”
However, anticipatory pleasure isn’t always a good thing. While waiting, many are worried about their items arriving on time, appearing broken, or simply not living up to expectations. Even when our package finally arrives, you’ll find that initial excitement has probably waned. Howes cautions that comfort shopping is only a temporary fix. It’s just a distraction from bigger problems, but it hasn’t done anything to change the bigger problems. It only helps you escape from them temporarily.
“Many people often seek external solutions, such as luxury purchases or alcohol, as a way of feeling better quickly. However, a healthier long-term curing mechanism is to look inward and appreciate your life with gratitude. Real pleasure comes from taking action rather than wait passively.” Howes says.
So the next time you feel the urge to order and track something online, chew over it.
12．What’s the purpose of paragraph 1?
A．To inform a trend. B．To state an opinion.
C．To describe a phenomenon. D．To issue a warning.
13．What does the underlined word “waned” in paragraph 4 probably mean?
A．Faded. B．Strengthened. C．Returned. D．Emerged.
14．What’s Howeses attitude to anticipatory pleasure?
A．Objective. B．Supportive. C．Doubtful. D．Unclear.
15．What is Howeses suggestion to readers?
A．Shopping online at will.
B．Seeking external stimulation.
C．Escaping from life occasionally.
D．Pursuing inner satisfaction actively.
阅读理解【浙江省镇海中学2021-2022学年高三上学期12月考】
Elena Yi dreamed of pursuing piano performance in college, never minding that her fingers could barely reach the length of an octave (八度音阶). Unable to fully play many works by Romantic-era composers including Beethoven and Brahms, she tried anyway— and in her determination to spend hours practicing a Chopin concerto, wound up injuring herself.
The efforts of Professor Carol Leone from the Southern Methodist University (SMU) are changing all that: twenty years ago, the school became the first major university in the U.S. to introduce smaller keyboards into its music program, leveling the playing field for Yi and other piano majors.
Yi, 21, tried one of the smaller keyboards, “I remember being really excited, because my hands could actually reach and play all the right notes,” she said.
For decades, few questioned the size of the traditional piano. For those with small hand spans (掌距), it’s difficult to properly play many works of Beethoven and Brahms. Those who attempt to play them either get used to skipping notes or risk injury with repeated play. Leone is familiar with such challenges. Born into a family of musicians, she favored classical music and pursued piano despite her small hand span, and earned a degree as a doctor in musical arts.
The idea of smaller keyboards first met resistance from some traditionalists. Leone also said that when she raised the issue with one Viennese professor, he told her there were already too many pianists anyway.
Though such resistance is fading, there are some very traditional people who think of piano as a competitive thing. Leone said, “This is art, not sport. It’s about making as much beautiful art as possible, and we should give everybody the opportunity to do that.”
1．Why did Elena Yi find it hard to play a Chopin concerto so well?
A．Her fingers got injured.
B．It was time-consuming.
C．Her hand spans were small.
D．The traditional piano was out of tune.
2．What is paragraph 4 intended to do?
A．Summarize the previous paragraphs.
B．Add some background information.
C．Introduce a new topic for discussion.
D．Provide some advice for pianists.
3．What is the Viennese professor’s attitude towards smaller keyboards?
A．Disapproving. B．Objective. C．Unclear. D．Positive.
Litterati is an app that people can use to upload information about litter they collect outside, such as its appearance, material, location, and brand. Shared online, this information contributes to building a global database of “litter maps”, which can influence policy and packaging design.
“Society’s failure to solve the litter problem is not from a lack of trying. There have been public service announcements, and coastal cleanups. But I believe two components are missing from the discussion — community and data,” said Jeff Kirschner, the developer of Litterati app.
Uploading pictures to an app shows users that they are not the only ones picking up litter from public places and that others are invested in cleaning the planet, too. And the data accumulates rapidly, telling a story that helps people understand who picked up what, where, and when. In this way, people are encouraged to do more.
In San Francisco, the Litterati app was able to identify and map more than 5,000 pieces of litter in order to determine how much was caused by cigarettes specifically. Using this information, the city successfully challenged a lawsuit by tobacco companies and doubled an existing cigarette sales tax, bringing in US $4 million annual revenue (税收).
By joining forces with others using the same platform, individuals are able to take their anti-litter activism to another level. The power of combined data leads to more Extended Producer Responsibility, which is precisely what we want and advocate here — producers are forced to be responsible for dealing with their own products once consumers no longer find them useful and are incentivized to create more environmentally friendly packaging or better policies as a result of that new responsibility.
Litterati takes a refreshingly non-judgmental approach. It shows a positive we-can-do-it attitude. Just as Jeff Kirschner said, “Our goal isn’t to shame. It’s to provide transparency to the problem. We provide access to data and share insights with cities, citizens and businesses, guiding us all to identify the root cause of the problem, and make informed decisions of how to clean the planet.”
4．Why are tobacco companies mentioned?
A．To show the influence of Litterati.
B．To describe the details ofthe map.
C．To warn people ofthe harm of cigarettes.
D．To prove the large consumption oftobacco.
5．What does the underlined word “incentivized” in paragraph 5 most probably mean?
A．allowed. B．appointed. C．inspired. D．believed.
6．Which of the following is the best title for the text?
A．Litter Maps: Make litter-picking a Fun Way
B．Litterati App: Guide People Where to Collect Litter
C．Litterati: Transparent Data for a Cleaner World
D．Litterati Campaign: Everyone Counts in Litter Picking
“While animals can’t pick out precise numbers, they can understand that more is more. Interestingly, we know now that numerical（数值的）competence is present on almost every branch of the animal tree of life,” says Andreas Nieder, a neurobiologist from the University of Tuebingen. “Different groups of animals obviously developed this trait（特点）independently from others and that strongly indicates that it has to be of adaptive value.”
Honeybees, for instance, can remember the number of landmarks they pass when searching for food in order to find their way back to the hive. The last common ancestor between honeybees and primates lived about 600 million years ago. But still, they evolved numerical competence that, in many respects, is comparable to vertebrate（脊椎动物的）numerical competence. Also, for example, male frogs sing “advertisement” calls to attract females. The females, listening for the complexity of their calls, choose the male that sings the most calls.
Wolves are more likely to hunt successfully if they have the right number of wolves in their pack for the size of their prey（猎物）: With prey like deer, only around six to eight wolves are needed, while hunting wild ox requires a pack of nine to thirteen. Their prey also uses this concept to protect themselves from predators — deer tend to live in large herds to reduce the chance of any individual becoming prey. So obviously they are assessing the number of individuals in their groups for their everyday life situations.
Despite these many examples of numerical competence in animals, this subject has not gotten many first-hand studies. “Many of these behavioral findings in the wild have usually been collected as by-products or accidental findings of other research questions,” says Nieder. He argues that more research needs to be done to fully understand the numerical competence.
7．The phenomenon of animals having their own numerical competence shows that .
A．all groups of animals are related in some ways
B．numerical competence must have a survival benefit
C．the intelligence of animals varies with different environments
D．animals’ numerical competence is determined by their adaptability
8．What role does numerical competence play in wolves’ hunting?
A．It helps them form hunting groups.
B．It gives them more options to hunt.
C．It makes them discover more prey.
D．It offers them new skills to hunt.
9．How does the author mainly develop this text?
A．By listing figures. B．By asking questions.
C．By giving examples. D．By making comparisons.
10．From which is the text probably taken?
A．A biology textbook. B．A health magazine.
C．A travel brochure. D．A research paper.
阅读理解【重庆巴蜀中学2021-2022学年高三上学期适应性月考卷（五）】
Most dog owners know that feeding chocolate to their furry friend is a big no-no. Well, one animal hospital in Alabama believes that “no dog should go to heaven without tasting chocolate.”
Smiths Station Animal Hospital posted a photo to their Facebook page of a jar of Hershey Kisses with the words “Goodbye Kisses” painted on the side. There was also a note from one of the hospital’s doctors that read, “This jar is reserved for our euthanasia (安乐死) appointments...because no dog should go to heaven without tasting chocolate.”
“We try to provide as much comfort as possible during a terribly difficult and emotional time. My staff has always kept little snacks and candy bars around specifically for those appointments,” Dr. Nicole Namie, told WRBL. “Typically, these are treats that I wouldn’t recommend giving to my patients, but in their final moments, I think it’s important to offer them something special.”
“We always give them something to make them feel good and to enjoy the last few minutes,” Jennifer Williams, practice manager at Smiths Station Animal Hospital told Newsweek. She said given that the hospital is in a small community, the staff and doctors become attached to the pets and when it comes time to say goodbye it’s heartbreaking for everyone.
The response to the post has been overwhelming, she said, and the best part has been having people from around the world share their own stories. “It has really turned into a really sweet post,” Williams said. “There is no hate speech on it. Everyone is just showing compassion for each other.” The post has since been shared over 113,000 times on Facebook and made its way to TikTok and Reddit feeds too.
1．What do the underlined words “Hershey Kisses” refer to in Paragraph 2?
A．Sweet kisses. B．Effective medicine.
C．Heartwarming photos. D．Tasty chocolate.
2．Why do the doctors feed chocolate to dogs?
A．It is good for dogs’ health. B．It serves as dogs’ last treat.
C．It keeps dogs free from physical pain. D．It is a recommended drug for euthanasia.
3．What type of writing is this text?
A．A news story. B．A lab report.
C．A research review. D．A service ad.
There’s a significant reason behind the four standard colors found on passports, but there are some unusual shades, too. Take a closer look at that small, rectangular booklet in your hand. Depending on where you’re from, its color could tell you a lot about the country you call home.
“Although there are no strict international guidelines for passport colors, the shades are by no means random. Countries typically choose colors that can best show their culture, politics, or faith.” Claire Burrows of De La Rue, a British passport-making company, told the Economist.
For example, Islamic countries often use green passport covers because the color is important in their religion. Member countries of ECOWAS(the Economic Community of West African States) cover their passports with various shades of green, too. Members of the European Union, on the other hand, use burgundy-colored passports, as do countries who would like to join the EU, such as Turkey.
The United States tends to march to the beat of its own drum, and its passport’s color is no different. While the country shifted between pale brown, green, and a variety of reds into the latter half of the 20th century, it finally settled on blue in 1976. As for the shade? It matches the blue on the American flag, according to the Economist. Citizens of many Caribbean and South American countries, including Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay, also carry blue passports.
But why all of the dark shades? According to Bill Waldron of Holliston, a Tennessee-based passport-printing firm, darker colors are preferred because they can hide dirt, provide a nice contrast with the country crest, and appear more official.
4．What is the principle of a country’s choosing colors of passports?
A．Picking a popular color at random. B．Considering the likes of its people.
C．Matching the image of the country. D．Following the international guidelines.
5．What can we learn from Paragraph 3?
A．Turkey tries to seek a sense of belonging to the EU.
B．Member countries of ECOWAS are religious countries.
C．Green receives great popularity among Asian countries.
D．Members of the EU issue passports with a unique color.
6．What does the underlined phrase “march to the beat of its own drum” in Paragraph 4 mean?
A．To follow the trend of the times. B．To behave in an individual manner.
C．To act differently to draw attention. D．To display its strengths on purpose.
7．What could be the best title of the text?
A．Why Your Passport Is in Dark Shades
B．What Your Passport Color Really Means
C．What Your Passport Can Tell about You
D．Why Your Passport Is Connected with Colors
Does the amount of education you’ve completed impact the money you earn during your working years? The short answer is yes. Study after study shows that the more education, the higher your salary. But there’s more to the story. Let’s take a deeper look into how education affects income, job security, benefits, and retirement.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics recently published data about education levels and income. Unsurprisingly, individuals without a high school diploma earn the lowest annual salary (about $31,000), and have the greatest risk of being unemployed. But if they went on to obtain their high school diploma, they’d have the potential to earn close to $8,000 more per year.
What comes as a surprise is that having completed some college course work is better than having no college credits at all. With some college but no degree, one can increase his annual earnings by $5,000 over having a high school diploma alone, and see his job security increase a bit. But the biggest jump in annual salary potential, as expected, comes when someone goes from having a high school diploma to earning a bachelor’s degree, which is about a $26,000 increase annually.
There are several other benefits to obtaining a college degree. The Lumina Foundation reports that employees with bachelor’s degrees are 47% more likely to get health insurance coverage. Also, CBS News finds that those with bachelor’s degrees are more likely to work past the typical retirement age and retire later.
Those who work past age 65 have more opportunity to save for retirement, and increase their eventual Social Security benefits. In addition, working past the typical retirement age keeps them intellectually challenged, engaged with the world and connected to friends and coworkers.
The bottom line is that education does have an impact on your potential earnings. But that’s just one part of the story. More education may also lead to increased job security, better access to health care, increased security in retirement, and even a more fulfilling life.
8．What is the average yearly income of people with bachelor’s degrees?
A．About $70,000. B．About $65,000.
C．About $44,000. D．About $39,000.
9．Which level of education is an unexpected salary booster?
A．No high school diploma. B．A high school diploma.
C．Some college but no degree. D．A bachelor’s degree.
10．In what way can late retirement benefit us?
A．We’ll live a more fulfilling life. B．We’ll reduce our living expenses.
C．We’ll enjoy increased job security. D．We’ll invest our savings more wisely.
11．What is the author’s purpose in writing the text?
A．To stress the benefits of secure jobs.
B．To promote awareness of income gaps.
C．To illustrate the importance of education.
D．To introduce the impacts of school systems.
A new study combining linguistic, genetic and archaeological evidence has traced the origins of the family of languages including modern Japanese, Korean, Turkish and Mongolian and the people who speak them to millet (粟) farmers who inhabited a region in northeastern China about 9,000 years ago．
The findings detailed on Wednesday document a shared genetic ancestry for the hundreds of millions of people who speak what the researchers call Transeurasian languages across an area stretching more than 8,000 kilometers.
The findings illustrate how humankind’s embrace of agriculture following the Ice Age powered the movements of some of the world’s major language families. Millet was an important early crop as hunter-gatherers transitioned to an agricultural lifestyle.
There are 98 Transeurasian languages. This language family’s beginnings were traced to millet farmers in the Liao River valley, an area including parts of the Chinese provinces of Liaoning and Jilin and the region of Inner Mongolia. As these farmers moved across northeastern Asia, the descendant languages spread north and west into Siberia and east into Korea and over the sea to Japan over thousands of years.
The research stressed the complex beginnings for modern populations and cultures.
“Accepting that the roots of one’s language, culture or people lie beyond the present national boundaries is a kind of surrender of identity, which some people are not yet prepared to make,” said comparative linguist Martine Robbeets, lead author of the study published in the journal Nature.
“Powerful nations such as Japan, Korea and China are often pictured as representing one language, one culture and one genetic profile. But a truth is that all languages, cultures and humans, including those in Asia, are mixed,” Robbeets added.
The origins of modem Chinese languages arose independently, though in a similar fashion, with millet also involved. While the ancestors of the Transeurasian languages grew millet in the Liao River valley, the originators of the Sino-Tibetan language family farmed millet at roughly the same time in China’s Yellow River region, paving the way for a separate language expansion.
12．What is the new study mainly about?
A．The migration routes of millet farmers.
B．The ancient origins of a large language family.
C．The different ancestries of Transeurasian speakers.
D．The shared features of some neighboring languages.
13．What fueled the spread of Transeurasian languages?
A．The transition of power. B．The diversity of lifestyles.
C．The interaction of cultures. D．The adoption of farming.
14．According to Robbeets, who may feel uncomfortable about the new findings?
A．Those from agricultural countries.
B．Those who deny their cultural identity.
C．Those with a strong sense of nationalism.
D．Those who are afraid to cross boundaries.
15．What is the main function of the last paragraph?
A．To draw a conclusion.
B．To present likely consequences.
C．To highlight the theme.
D．To offer additional information.