阅读理解。 Education is an expensive part of American life. Its size is matched b
题型：四川省月考题难度：来源：
| 阅读理解。 |
Education is an expensive part of American life. Its size is matched by its variety. Differences in
American schools compared with those found in the majority of other countries lie in the fact that
education here has long been intended for everyone. Schools are expected to meet the needs of every
child, regardless of ability, and also the needs of society itself. This means that public schools offer more
than academic subjects. It surprises many people when they come here to find high schools offering such
courses as typing, sewing, radio repair, computer programming or driver training, along with traditional
academic subjects such as mathematics, history, and languages. Students choose their courses
depending on their interests, future goals, and level of ability. The basic goal of American education is to
develop every child to the utmost of his or her own possibilities, and to give each one a sense of
community.
Schools have traditionally played an important role in creating national unity and "Americanizing" the
millions of immigrants who have poured into this country from many different backgrounds and origins.
Schools still play a large role in the community, especially in the small towns.
The teaching may seem unfamiliar to many, not only because it is informal, but also because there is
not much emphasis on learning facts. Instead, Americans try to teach their children to think for themselves and to develop their own intellectual and creative abilities. Students spend much time learning how to use
materials, libraries, statistics, and computers. Americans believe that if children are taught to reason well
and to research well, they will be able to find whatever facts they need throughout the rest of their lives.
Knowing how to solve problems is considered more important than the accumulation (积累) of facts.
This is America"s answer to the searching question that thoughtful parents all over the world are asking
themselves in the fast-moving time, "How can one prepare today"s child for a tomorrow that one can
neither predict nor understand?" |
| 1. The underlined words "reason well" probably means _____ |
A. persuade firmly
B. list the reasons clearly
C. think logically
D. conclude immediately |
| 2. It is implied in the passage that _____. |
A. all high-school students take the same courses
B. every student must take practical ability training courses
C. every public school offers the same academic subjects
D. the subjects every student takes may vary |
| 3. American schools place great emphasis on the learners" _____. |
A. knowledge
B. accumulation of facts
C. creativity
D. ability to work with hands |
| 4. What makes American education different from others"? |
A. The large number of schools.
B. The variety of the courses.
C. Its consideration for immigrants.
D. The basic goal of the education. |
答案
| 1-4: CDCD |
举一反三
| 阅读理解。 |
In meditation (冥想), people sit quietly and focus their attention on their breath. As they breathe in and
out, they attend to their feelings. As thoughts go through their minds, they let them go. Breathe. Let go.
Breathe. Let go.
According to a recent study at the Insight Meditation Society in Barre, Massachusetts. three months
of training in this kind of meditation causes a marked change in how the brain allocates (分配) attention.
It appears that the ability to let go thoughts that come into mind frees the brain to attend to more rapidly
changing things and events in the outside world. Expert mediators are better than other people at catching
such fast—changing stimuli (刺激), like facial expressions.
The study provides evidence for changes in the workings of the brain with mental training. People can
learn and improve abilities of all sorts with practice, everything from driving to playing the piano. The
study has shown that meditation is good for the brain. It appears to reduce pressure and promote a
sense of well-being.
In an experiment, 17 volunteers with no meditation experience in the experimental group spent three
months meditating 10 to 12 hours a day. A control group also with no meditation experience meditated
for 20 minutes a day over the same period. Both groups were then given the tests with two numbers in a
group of letters. As both group looked for the numbers, their brain activity was recorded.
Everyone could catch the first number. But the brain recordings showed that the less experienced
mediators tended to grasp the first number and hang onto it, so they missed the second number. Those
with more experience gave less attention to the first number, as if letting it go, which led to an increased
ability to grasp the second number. This shows that attention can change with practice.
Just ask Daniel Levision, who meditated for three months as part of the study. "I am a much better
listener," he said. "I do not get lost in my own personal reaction to what people are saying." |
| 1. The underlined word "them" in Paragraph 1 refers to _____ . |
A. feelings
B. minds
C. people
D. thoughts |
| 2. Meditations manage their daily tasks better because they _____ . |
A. are given less pressure
B. allocate their attention better
C. have more stimuli for life
D. practice them more frequently |
| 3. In the experiment, volunteers doing meditation for longer hours _____. |
A. were more likely to catch both of the members.
B. were used to memorizing numbers in groups.
C. usually ignored the first number observed.
D. paid more attention to numbers than to letters. |
| 4. The study proves that _____ . |
A. meditation improves one"s health
B. brain activity can be recorded
C. human attention can be trained
D. mediators have a good sense of hearing |
阅读理解。
根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项，选项中有两项
为多余选项。 |
Studying abroad
1._____ Semester, summer, and year-long programs allow you to attend school, take intensive
language courses, or perform community service in another country. Read on to learn more about study
abroad programs.
Why Study Abroad? Besides the excitement of travel, one reason to study abroad is that you will
experience new customs, holidays, foods, art, music, and politics firsthand. "Obviously, I learned the
language and am now fluent. 2._____ " says Andrew, who studied in Poitiers, France.
3._____ Christina studied in Caracas, Venezuela, a city of 10 million people and a huge change from
her hometown of 35,000! Christina says she learned how to better stand up for herself and her beliefs
and to express herself in another language. What could make you more confident than that?
Living away from home can also help you adjust in the transition to college and adulthood. Matthew
says he returned from studying in Australia with confidence, social skills, and a genuine interest in
international affairs that really set him apart from his peers. " 4._____ "
And speaking of college, improving your language skills might help you get into choice colleges and
even land future jobs. Colleges and employers know that studying abroad provides leadership skills in a
world that is increasingly globally interconnected.
5._____ You"re not likely to suffer from disappointment, depression or general boredom while
you"re studying in a different learning environment. |
A. Most of all, it"s fun!
B. Finally, it is really a thrill to experience a different culture.
C. Another reason for studying abroad is that you"ll gain self-confidence.
D. But the most important is that you can visit so many world-famous attractions.
E. But perhaps more important was how much I learned about cultures, people, and myself.
F. After having gone abroad in high school, I found the transition to college to be a piece of cake.
G. Join a study abroad program, where high school and college students live with a host family in
a foreign country. |
| 阅读理解。 |
The best way to come first is to go last. An analysis of almost 50 years of competitions—including
Eurovision Song Contests and world skating championships—has found that contestants are more likely
to win if they are among the last to appear before the judges.
The study by an American university appears to provide scientific proof that the best man, or woman,
does not always win.
It found that, on average, the last competitor to appear in the Eurovision Song Contest was more than
twice as likely to win as the one who went on first.
The first rounds of figure-skating championships, for which the running order is selected at random,
showed more dramatic results. The final skater had a 14 percent chance of victory, making him or her
more than four times as likely to win as the first skater.
The study showed a gradual worsening of chances for competitors who appeared earlier in the
running order. A contestant who appears first in a contest is two percent less likely to win than one who
appears second. A contestant who appears second is two percent less likely to win than one who
appears third, and so on.
The findings are published in the March issue of Acta Psychologica, a scientific journal.
Robert Hardman, a senior lecturer in psychology at London Metropolitan University who specializes
in the science of decision-making, said that the results were interesting. He suggested that the effect was
caused by the limitations of the human memory.
"When people make comparisons, they aren"t really able to make a lot of fine-grade discrimination.
When contestants appear at the beginning of a contest, judges have little to compare them to and are
perhaps wary (谨慎的) of the scores they give," he said.
"Later on, when judges are able to compare the contestants to those that have gone before, they
might give more extreme marks because they feel more confident about their judgments." |
| 1. Robert Hardman"s words mainly tell about his _____. |
A. own achievement in the research
B. explanation for the findings
C. suggestion to solve the problem
D. comments on the findings |
2. The first skater in the first round of figure skating championships had about a ____ percent
chance of winning. |
A. two
B. three
C. four
D. five |
| 3. According to the study, the best competitor does not always win possibly because he/she _____ . |
A. fails to show his/her very best
B. is mistakenly put in the running order
C. meets with unfair judges
D. appears too early before the judges |
| 4. Judging from the context, the underlined word "worsening" in the 5th paragraph should mean _____ . |
A. decrease in number
B. increase in degree
C. reduction in possibility
D. rising in quantity |
| 5. What may be a problem with the judges according to the article? |
A. They can"t remember things well enough.
B. They believe the first is seldom the best.
C. They don"t really know what is good.
D. They show favor towards the contestants they like. |
| 阅读理解。 |
Meals at the family dinner table could be the key to preventing a generation of teenage girls from
developing eating disorders (紊乱).
New research shows girls who regularly have family meals are much less likely to adopt extreme
weight-control behaviors such as vomiting, and using diet pills.
The research, published in the international journal Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent
Medicine, surveyed students aged 13 to 17 in 2003 and followed them up five years later. Regular
family meals were found to have a protective effect regardless of the age, weight, socioeconomic status,
dieting habit or relationship with the family.
Belinda Dalton, director of the eating disorder clinic The Oak House, said eating with family helped
"normalize" young people"s relationship with food.
"When teens are feeling that they are not managing, they turn to something that they can control and
food is something available and accessible for them to control. Clearly, if they are sitting with their family
on a regular basis, then their family can be more in control of their eating," Ms Dalton said.
"It"s about young people feeling connected within their family, and that builds self-esteem and a sense
of worth and works very actively against someone developing an eating disorder.
An eating disorder expert, Kirsty Greenwood, said meal times were often difficult for sufferers. "It"s
typical that they feel very ashamed of their eating habits and often won"t eat with other people. Perhaps
it"s because they haven"t experienced the important of the family meal while growing up," she said.
The study found eating regular family meals made no difference to the future eating habits of boys. |
| 1. The author writes this passage with the purpose of _______. |
A. stressing the necessity of family meals for the teenage girls
B. showing the results of a research
C. providing some suggestions on family dinner
D. presenting the difference in eating habits between boys and girls |
| 2. Which of following is NOT a benefit of regular family meals? |
A. They decrease the trend towards extreme weight control behaviors
B. They can help girls to have a better relationship with food
C. They can help girls to work against the development of an eating disorder.
D. They provide girls with the chance of getting control of food. |
| 3. What does the underlined "that" in Paragraph 6 refer to? |
A. Young people
B. Having a good relationship with the family
C. Feeling connected with the family
D. Self-esteem and a sense of worth |
| 4. We can infer from the text that ______. |
A. Ms Dalton advises parents to get children under full control
B. Kirsty Greenwood suggests that the time for meals be fixed
C. the effect of regular family meals on boys differs from that on girls
D. experience is more important than indirect knowledge |
| 阅读理解。 |
With the Tesla Roadster and other plugin (插入式) electric vehicles hitting the road, demand is
growing for accessible refueling points to recharge them. Carbon Day Automotive,a Chicagobased
company,has now demonstrated a solarpowered recharging point,known as the Solar PlugIn Station,
which lets motorists easily charge their cars using electricity that has been produced without any
environmental damage.
The Solar PlugIn Station has gone on show in Chicago as part of the city"s bid to host the 2016
Olympic Games. According to Carbon Day Automotive,the Solar PlugIn Station on show in Chicago
is part of the vital infrastructure (基础设施) required for electric vehicles in Chicago and was the focus
of a recent visit by the International Olympic Committee.
These solarpowered electricity points will be used daily to fuel the city"s electric vehicles with power
from the sun. By producing the electricity from pollutionfree solar cell,the CO2 emissions are reduced to
zero.
"Solar energy and electric vehicles are a partnership that is one more step to reducing our dependence
on foreign oil," says Richard Lowenthal,CEO of Coulomb Technologies. Coulomb Technologies recently
developed the components (部件) required for individual recharging stations,marketed as ChargePoint
Networked Charging Stations. Carbon Day Automotive is the Midwest distributor for the ChargePoint
stations.
The Solar PlugIn Station consists of giant solar panels (电池板) that shade the tiny ChargePoint
Networked Charging Station. The solar panel is connected to an underground battery pack,ready for
everyday refueling.
"Without these stations it would be like driving around in a traditional car without the availability of
gas stations," says Scott Emalfarb,CEO at Carbon Day."The day of true plugin electric vehicles will be
here sooner than most people realize and the world needs to be ready to accommodate them." |
| 1. The Solar PlugIn Station is used as part of the bid to host the Olympics mainly because ______. |
A. it"s environmentally friendly
B. it makes up for the lack of electricity
C. it"s a new idea and attracts people"s attention
D. it brings convenience to electric vehicle users |
| 2. The passage implies that when the Solar PlugIn Station becomes popular,________. |
A. more visitors will come to Chicago
B. more space for electric vehicles will be needed
C. the citizens of Chicago will be able to go to work faster
D. the cost of electric vehicles will be lower than traditional cars |
| 3. What would be the best title for the passage? |
A. Chicago Will Soon Be Full of Electric Vehicles
B. Chicago Calls on People to Buy Electric Vehicles
C. Chicago Fights for Its Bid to Host the 2016 Olympics
D. Chicago Shows Its Solarpowered Recharging Stations |
最新试题
热门考点