Below are descriptions of six famous states in the U. S.California is a state lo

题型：不详难度：来源：

Below are descriptions of six famous states in the U. S.
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is the most populous U.S. state and was admitted as the 31st state on September 9, 1850.California"s diverse geography ranges from the Pacific Coast in the west, to the Sierra Nevada mountains in the east. Earthquakes are a common occurrence due to the state"s location along the Pacific Ring of Fire: about 37,000 are recorded annually. The California Gold Rush happened in San Francisco and there is also a famous Silicon Valley. Hollywood exists in Los Angeles, making it the center of entertainment. “The Golden State” has long been a popular designation for California and was made the official State Nickname in 1968.
Florida is a state in the southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. Miami is the largest metropolitan area in the southeastern United States.The climate varies from subtropical in the north to tropical in the south. Its economy relies mainly on tourism, agriculture, and transportation. Florida is also known for its amusement parks, the production of oranges, and the Kennedy Space Center. Florida has attracted many writers such as Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, Ernest Hemingway and Tennessee Williams, and continues to attract celebrities and athletes. It is internationally known for golf, tennis, auto racing, and water sports.
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It became the 45th state admitted to the Union on January 4, 1896. Utah is the most religiously homogeneous state in the Union. Approximately 63% of Utahans are reported to be members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or LDS, which greatly influences Utah culture and daily life. The state is a center of transportation, education, information technology and research, government services, mining, and a major tourist destination for outdoor recreation.
Texas is the second most populous and the second-largest of the 50 states in the United States of America. Houston is the largest city in Texas and the fourth-largest in the United States. Texas is nicknamed the Lone Star State to signify Texas as a former independent republic and as a reminder of the state"s struggle for independence from Mexico. The "Lone Star" can be found on the Texas state flag and on the Texas state seal today. The term "six flags over Texas" came from the several nations that had ruled over the territory. In 1845 it joined the United States as the 28th state. One Texas industry that thrived after the Civil War was cattle. Due to its long history as a center of the industry, Texas is associated with the image of the cowboy.
Virginia, is a U.S. state located in the South Atlantic region of the United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there. It is unique in how it treats cities and counties equally, manages local roads, and prohibits its governors from serving consecutive terms. Virginia"s economy has many sectors: agriculture in the Shenandoah Valley; federal agencies in Northern Virginia, including the headquarters of the Department of Defense and CIA; and military facilities in Hampton Roads, the site of the region"s main seaport. Virginia"s public schools and many colleges and universities have contributed to growing media and technology sectors. As a result, computer chips have become the state"s leading export.
Kentucky, is a state located in the east south-central region of the United States. In 1792 it became the 15th state to join the Union. Kentucky is known as the "Bluegrass State", a nickname based on the bluegrass found in many of its pastures because of the fertile soil. It is a land with diverse environments and abundant resources, including the world"s longest cave system, Mammoth Cave National Park, the greatest length of navigable waterways and streams in the contiguous United States, and the two largest man-made lakes east of the Mississippi River.Kentucky is also home to the highest per capita number of deer and turkey in the United States.
小题1: Which state is called the “golden state” and why?

A．California, because of the gold rush.

B．Texas, because of the stars there.

C．Virginia, because of a famous mother there.

D．Kentucky, because of the famous “KFC” there.

小题2:The famous writer of “The Old Man and the Sea” once lived in____.

A．Virginia

B．Texas

C．California

D．Florida

小题3: How is the correct time order for different states to join the U.S.?

A．California – Utah—Texas – Kentucky

B．Kentucky–Texas – California – Utah

C．Kentucky–California – Texas —Utah

D．California –Kentucky—Texas –Utah

小题4: Which of the following match is WRONG?

A．Cowboys in Texas.

B．Utah and religions.

C．Hollywood in Virginia.

D．Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

答案

小题1:A
小题2:D
小题3:B
小题4:C

解析

试题分析：本文抽取6个美国比较有名的州，从各个侧面详细介绍了他们的地理位置，农业经济以及它们各自的历史。
小题1:细节理解题。加州因为“淘金热”被称为“黄金州”，其他选项皆有误。故选A。
小题2:细节理解题。《老人与海》的作者是海明威，从文章第二段倒数第二句中得知，他曾经生活在D，故选D。
小题3:细节理解题。从各段不同处找到California是第31个州, Utah是第45个州, Texas是第28个州, Kentucky是第15个州,故答案为B。
小题4:细节理解题。好莱坞在加州的洛杉矶，故有误。故选C。
点评：细节事实理解题主要考查考生对文章中某一些特定细节或文章的重要实事的理解能力。它一般包括直接理解题和语义理解题两种。直接理解题的答案与原文直接挂钩，从阅读材料中可以找到。这种题难度低，只要学生读懂文章，就能得分，属于低层次题。而语义理解题须将题目信息与原文相关信息进行语义上的转换才能得出结论。这类题目要求考生能理解原文中某个短语或句子的含义，从而找到与答案意思相同的词语和句子。

举一反三

Hilton Shanghai, the city"s first international hotel, has been recognized as a top business hotel in Shanghai for its convenient location and outstanding facilities for more than 20 years.
However, the hotel"s newly appointed general manager Gerd Knaust says it is the people that make the hotel successful.
More than 380 employees have been working with the hotel for more than 15 years. Some of them have personal relationships with customers.
""It"s a people-relation business,"" Knaust says. ""They really tell me about the stories in the last 15 years. It"s something very nice to listen to. It"s also a lasting memory for the guests.""
In fact, over the years, some of the guests have stayed in the hotel 200 or even 300 times.
Knaust, who has been working in the hospitality industry for more than 30 years, started his career as a chef in Germany. During his early 30s, Knaust already moved to the top in the culinary (烹调的) field as director of kitchen of Hyatt Regency Cologne in Germany.
After holding several general manager positions in Mandarin Oriental hotels, Knaust joined Hilton International as the general manager to open the Conrad and Doubletree by Hilton at Haitang Bay, Sanya in 2010.
When he was appointed as the general manager of Hilton Shanghai in November, he not only was heavily involved in recruitment, sales and marketing strategies but also he worked closely with the food and beverage team to develop the hotel"s restaurant concepts and menus.
""I believe that we should offer quality and healthy food."" he says.
Knaust believes that a hotel must value the customers" comments on Ctrip, Trip Advisor and other platforms, etc.
""It keeps us more on guard to be 100 percent professional,"" he says.
小题1:Why do business travelers choose Hilton Shanghai?

A．Because of its location, facilities and good service.

B．Because it is in Shanghai.

C．Because its general manager is excellent.

D．Because some customers are the staff’s relatives.

小题2:From the passage we know ______ .

A．Hilton Shanghai is the first international hotel in China

B．Gerd Knaust thinks that the staff is the most important in making the hotel successful

C．Gerd Knaust has worked in Hilton Shanghai for more than 20 years

D．most of the employees in Hilton Shanghai have personal relationships with customers

小题3:Knaust joined Hilton International as the general manager to ______.

A．start his career as chef

B．be involved in recruitment

C．open the Conrad and Doubletree

D．develop the hotel’s restaurant concepts and menus

小题4:Trip Advisor in the last paragraph but one is likely to be______.

A．a person who can give you some advice about trip

B．a place where you can have a good trip

C．an organization which can give you some advice

D．a website where travelers can leave their advice

小题5:What is the passage mainly about?

A．First international hotel in Shanghai.	B．How to manage a hotel well.
C．Knaust"s management idea.	D．Knaust"s life story.

题型：不详难度：| 查看答案

What do you do if you don’t get into your first choice of university? That’s the dilemma that faces thousands of British students every year.
Many candidates turn to Clearing, the service that helps find university places for students at the last moment. If they don’t have the marks to get into their first choice of institution, Clearing tells them about places available at other universities, though they might have to read another subject.
But this year has seen a record number of people applying to university. This, combined with the weak economy, an uncertain job market and budget cuts at universities, means that there"s been even more of a scramble for places than usual. Some sources say six students have applied for each remaining undergraduate university place.
The British university admissions service, UCAS, says up to a quarter of this year’s university applicants --- almost 190,000 people --- still don’t have a place on a degree course. That’s a rise of over 46,000 students from last year.
Faced with these figures, some British students might be thinking of an interesting alternative: studying abroad. The University of Nottingham, for example，is offering places at its campuses in Ningbo, near Shanghai, and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Students here can gain University of Nottingham degrees in business, accounting, engineering and English. Similarly, the University of Bolton says it has ‘unlimited’ places at its campus in the United Arab Emirates.
Given the problems getting into university, the UK’s Higher Education Minister, David Willetts, encourages students who haven"t made the grade to consider alternatives to university, such as apprenticeships and studying at home.
"There are a range of options available," he says. "People are able to reapply. They should think how they can spend their year adding that bit to their CV, which would help their application --- getting practical work experience or extra skills --- anything that strengthens their chances next year."
But some experts say that rising university costs, poor long-term job prospects, and a drop in graduate recruitment mean it’s the worst time to be a university student in the UK.
小题1:When the author says this year “there’s been more of a scramble for places” (Para. 3), he means_________________.

A．more people have applied to university

B．there is more competition between the candidates

C．there are more services that help find university places

D．more places are available

小题2:According to UCAS, there are about ____university applicants this year.

A．190,000

B．46, 000

C．236, 000

D．760, 000

小题3:David Willetts encourages students faced with the lack of places on a degree course _____.

A．to consider apprenticeships and studying at home

B．to study at campus outside the UK

C．to reapply next year

D．not to go to university in the UK

小题4:Which of the following is NOT the reason that may make this year the worst time to enter university?

A．It costs more to study at university.

B．Long-term job prospects are worse.

C．Universities offer places in other countries.

D．There are fewer chances to do graduate study.

小题5:According to the passage, what can students do if they don’t get into their first choice of university?

A．They can go to work in Clearing.

B．They can get practical work experience or skills and reapply next year.

C．They can spend the year writing a better CV.

D．They do graduate study at home.

题型：不详难度：| 查看答案

At a psychology conference in England years ago, a woman said to me: “I’ll knock you up in the morning.” I was taken aback by her strange suggestion, but it occurred to me that I might not have understood what she really meant. As it turned out, what she had meant was, “I’ll knock on your door in the morning so that we can meet for breakfast to discuss the panel we’re on.”
This example of the difference in the meaning of “knock you up” in British and American English shows the complicated situations that can result from cultural misunderstandings. A cultural misunderstanding occurs when something — a word, gesture, object, social context, or almost anything you can think of — has a different meaning in two cultures. Sometimes the misunderstandings get resolved, sometimes they lead nowhere, and sometimes they can become the starting point of something much more extreme, from love to war.
Race is one area where cultural misunderstandings are common. We Americans tend to assume that racial categories are biological rather than social, so it may not occur to us that people from other cultures have a different set of racial concepts and classify themselves and us differently. Some African Americans complain that certain immigrants from other countries, such as Haiti or Jamaica, “act as if they aren’t black.” The cultural misunderstanding is that, in the immigrants’ countries of origin, they would never describe themselves as “black”. This doesn’t mean that they think they are white. It just means that their cultures have more categories, like marabou or grimaud in Haiti, or fair or brown in Jamaica, than are used in the United States. Meanwhile, white people in America, unaware of this cultural diversity, sometimes refer to all darker-skinned people as “black” without realizing that an issue exists.
Resolving cultural misunderstandings can clear the air or even lead to laughter. Sometimes, though, when it comes to race, unidentified cultural misunderstandings can create tension, unhappiness and distrust.
小题1:The main purpose of the first paragraph is to .

A．show that language misunderstandings would cause big problems

B．show the differences between British and American English

C．explain in general what cultural misunderstandings are

D．introduce the idea of cultural misunderstandings with a story

小题2:The underlined word “resolved” probably means .

A．complicated

B．settled

C．accepted

D．noticed

小题3:We can learn from the passage that cultural misunderstandings .

A．mostly come from body language

B．are the most serious social problem in the US

C．can cause negative feelings among people

D．can be cleared up with laughter

小题4:What is the author’s opinion about cultural misunderstandings?

A．There’s no need to notice racial differences.

B．Haitians prefer to be described as fair or brown.

C．Cultural misunderstandings based on racial categories may be difficult to spot.

D．Americans are especially likely to misunderstand people from other cultures.

题型：不详难度：| 查看答案

The expression “Go for it!” is a way of encouraging someone to try something.
“Go for it!” means you should not worry about failure or be too careful. You should take a chance, be brave, and act firmly.
“Go for it!” gets name from football. Not football as it is played in most countries such as England, Egypt or Japan, but the kind of football played in the United States and Canada.
One of the most exciting times in football comes when a team has failed, after three attempts, to move the ball forward ten yards. The team must make a critical decision.
The conservative choice is to kick the ball and accept temporary defeat in order to gain a good position for your team the next time it gets the ball. The more exciting choice, however, is to try a fourth and final time to gain the remaining yards needed.
In the nineteen eighties, people began using this expression in many kinds of situations to encourage someone to act bravely.
There is no guarantee(保证) that the action you “Go for it!” will succeed. But that is the chance you take when you decide to go for it. You put your fears behind. You choose courage over safety. You hold your breath and go for it.
小题1:The expression “Go for it!” comes from______.

A．English football

B．Egyptian football

C．Japanese football

D．American football

小题2:According to the passage, when we decide to go for it, we only consider______.

A．safety

B．action

C．result

D．situation

小题3:In which of the following situations should we use the expression nowadays?

A．We decide to avoid trouble or danger for the future.

B．We try to improve our English for better education.

C．We need to make a quick decision at the last moment.

D．We have to make a choice between success and failure.

题型：不详难度：| 查看答案

A blog can be a very effective way of spreading the words about yourself, and your other writing. It can unshroud your knowledge, and create an ongoing relationship with your readers. A good blog is more than just a marketing tool; it’s also an expression of your personality.
An obvious starting point is to post samples of your work that not only show off your skills and writing ability but also leave people wanting more. Post selections from the most exciting parts of your stories but end them just as the action reaches its peak. If you write nonfiction (写实文学), show people what they could achieve, and give them a few steps to get them started.
Give tips, information and advice about the subjects you cover. For example, something about struggling with difficulty and many other issues like this. Your writing tips can also be included, as well as interesting, strange or funny things you discovered during your research. Whenever you contact an expert, ask if he or she has any interesting stories you could use. You may also give background information about your stories and the locations.
Give details of coming posts on your blog, so people can watch out for you, or come and meet you. Personal news will help people feel better connected to you. Include photos of objects and locations in your writing, famous people you meet, the views from your window, and your favorite things—with a note about where they came from and what they mean to you. Look out for things that will help your readers get to know you better, know the subject better, or anything else you think they might find useful, inspiring or entertaining.
If you only occasionally post things on your blog, people have a tendency to forget you. As a writer you shouldn’t ever run out of interesting materials to fill your blog with—and your readers will love you for it.
小题1:Which is the best title for the text?

A．What to Blog about	B．How to Start a Blog
C．Why to Launch a Blog	D．How to Make Website Attractive

小题2:The underlined word “unshroud” in the first paragraph means ________.

A．hold out	B．turn up
C．show off	D．put down

小题3:You’d better blog about ________.

A．the difficulties of your position to readers

B．the entertaining stories you have

C．advice about your readers’ subjects

D．masterpieces from famous writers

小题4:What does the author suggest for keeping a blog?

A．Posting things on your blog once in a while.

B．Adding new stories to it every day.

C．Filling it with attractive things frequently.

D．Loving it as your life.

题型：不详难度：| 查看答案