高考英语二轮复习专题训练：阅读理解（22）

阅读理解

A

      In November 1965, New York was blacked out by an electricityfailure．The government officials promised that it would not happenagain．Pessimists（悲观者） were certain that it would occur again withinfive years at the latest．In July 1977, there was a repeatperformance which produced different degrees of disorder throughoutthe city of 8,000,000 people．In 1965, the failure occurred in thecool autumn and at a time of peace and good situation．In 1977, thefailure was much more serious because it came when the number ofpeople out of work was large and the city was suffering from one ofits worst heat waves．

      In 1965 there was little stealing during the darkness, and fewerthan 100 people were caught by the police．In 1977, hundreds ofstores were broken into and stolen．They broke shop windows andhelped themselves to jewellery, clothes or television sets, nearly400 people were sent to the police but far more disappeared intothe darkness of the night．The number of policemen at hand was farfrom enough and they were wisely stopped from using their gunsagainst the mobs（暴徒） that were far more than them and that includedarmed men．

      Hospitals had to treat hundreds of people cut by glass from shopwindows．Banks and most businesses remained closed the next day．Theblackout started at 9:33 p．m．, when lightning hit and knocked outvital cables（关键的电缆）．Many stores were thus caught by surprise．

      The vast majority of New Yorkers, however, tried to help strangers,handed out candles, and tried to get through the dark world withouttraffic lights, refrigerators, water and electrical power．For 24hours, New York realized how helpless it was withoutelectricity．

1．Look at the first paragraph．Who were right, the governmentofficials or the pessimists?

      A．The governmentofficials               B．The pessimists

      C．Both                                 D．Neither．

2．In what way was the blackout of 1977 different from that of1965?

      A．There was much more disorder           B．This time the electricity supply failed．

      C．It was quiteunexpected                   D．It came in the cool autumn．

 

 

3．Why did many persons manage to escape the police?

      A．Because the police could not see them in the darkness．

      B．Many of them carried guns．

      C．There were not enough policemen to catch them all

      D．They were hidden inside big buildings．

4．The 1977 New York electricity failure lasted______．

      A．a wholeweek                                          B．twenty-four hours

      C．threedays                                              D．a whole night．

B

      After giving a talk at a high school, I was asked to pay a visit toa special student．An illness had kept the boy home, but he hadexpressed an interest in meeting me, and it would mean a great dealto him．I agreed．

      During the nine-mile drive to his home, I found out something aboutMatthew．He had muscular dystrophy（肌肉萎缩症）．When he was born, thedoctor told his parents that he would not live to see five, thenthey were told he would not make it to ten．Now he was thirteen．Hewanted to meet me because I was a gold-medal weight lifter, and Iknew about overcoming obstacles and going for my dreams．

      I spent over an hour talking to Matthew．Never once did he complainor ask, “Why me?” He spoke about winning and succeeding andgoing for his dreams．Obviously, he knew what he was talkingabout．He didn’t mention that his classmates had made fun of himbecause he was different．He just talked about his hopes for thefuture, and how one day he wanted to lift weight with me．

      When we finished talking, I went to my briefcase and pulled out thefirst gold medal I won and put it around his neck．I told him he wasmore of a winner and knew more about success and overcomingobstacles than I ever would．He looked at it for a moment, then tookit off and handed it back to me．He said, “You are a champion．Youearned that medal．Someday when I get to the Olympics and win my ownmedal, I will show it to you．”

      Last summer I received a letter from Matthew’s parents telling methat Matthew had passed away．They wanted me to have a letter he hadwritten to me a few days before:

      Dear Rick,

      My mom said I should send you a thank you letter for the pictureyou sent me．I also want to let you know that the doctors tell methat I don’t have long to live anymore．But I still smile as much asI can．

      I told you some day I was going to the Olympics and win a goldmedal．But I know now I will never get to do that．But I know I’m achampion, and God knows that too．When I get to Heaven, God willgive me my medal and when you get there, I will show it toyou．Thank you for loving me ．

Your friend  Matthew．

5．The boy wanted to meet the author because_______．

      A．he was interested in weight lifting

      B．he wanted to get a gold medal

      C．he admired the author very much

      D．he wanted the author to know him

6．The underlined part in the third paragraph probably means“_____”．

      A．Why do you come to see me?

      B．Why do I have to stay at home?

      C．Why does the disease fall on me?

      D．Why not give a gold medal to me?

 

7．We can infer from the passage that_____

      A．Matthew is a determined boy

      B．Rick used to have the same disease

      C．Matthew became a champion finally

      D．Rick regarded Matthew as normal

8．The boy refused the author’s medal because______．

      A．he wanted the picture instead

      B．he would not be pitied by others

      C．he did not know he would die soon

      D．he himself could earn one in the future

C

      People associate colors with different things and feelings．Red, forexample, is the color of fire, heat, blood and life．People say redis an exciting and active color．They associate red with strongfeeling like anger．Red is also used for signs of danger, such asstop signs and fire engines．Orange is the bright, warm color ofleaves in autumn．People say orange is a lively color．They associateorange with  appiness．Yellow is the color ofsunlight．People say it is a cheerful color．They associate yellow,too, with happiness．Green is the cool color of grass inspring．People say it is a refreshing（使人清新的） color．

      In general, people talk about two groups of colors: warm and coolcolors．The warm colors are red, orange and yellow．Where there arewarm colors and a lot of light, people usually want to beactive．Those Who like to be with others like red．The cool colorsare green and blue．Where there are these colors, people are usuallyquiet．

      Some scientists say that time seems to go by more slowly in a roomwith warm colors．They suggest that a warm color is a good one for aliving-room or a restaurant．People who are having a rest or eatingdo not want time to pass quickly．Cool colors are better for someoffices where the people working there want time to passquickly．

9．In the passage the word “associate”means____                              

      A．think                                            B．dream     

      C．connect inmind                            D．imagine            

10．Cool colors are liked by the people working inthe offices becausethey_____．                                                   

      A．want time to go byslowly       

      B．are scientists and enjoy thecolors                                          

      C．often have a rest during the workinghours                                  

     D．want to finish their work as soon as possible and then returnhome                

11．Warm colors are suitable for_______．                                     

      A．offices                              B．a livingroom                                

      C．toilet                                D．people who don’t like to be withothers              

12．The best title for this passage should be“______”                             

      A． The WarmColor                 B． The CoolColor                       

      C． Colors and People’sLife                                          D． Colors and Scientists

D

      Everybody talks about the weather: it’s the most common subject ofconversation, for example, “Isn’t it a nice day?” “Do you think itwill rain?” “ I think it is going to snow．” All these are thecommon ways of starting a conversation．

      Many people think they can tell what the weather is going to belike．But they hardly ever agree with each other．One man may say, “Do you see how cloudy it is in the east? It is going to raintomorrow．” Another man will say, “ Yes, it’s cloudy in the east．Weare going to have a fine day tomorrow．”

      People often look for the weather they want．When a farmer needswater, he looks for something to tell him it is going to rain; hewon’t believe anything else．When friends have a picnic, they are sosure the weather is going to clear up very quickly that they won’tstop eating their lunch while it rains．

      Almost everyone listens to what the weatherman says．But he does notalways tell us what we want, and once in a while he makes amistake．Still, he probably comes closer to being correct thananyone else．

13．When we start a conversation with our friends, weusually______．

      A．ask theirnames                                      B．talk about the weather

      C．say hello tothem                                    D．ask their addresses

14．When we talk about the weather, we usually say______．

      A．“Are youcold?”                                       B．“Are you well?”

      C．“What day istoday?”                              D．“What a fine day!”

15．The weatherman________．

      A．tells us the weather we hope for

      B．never makes a mistake

      C．comes closer to being correct than anyone else

      D．Should be blamed

E

      E-mail can be a powerful new tool in improving communication（交流）between patients and doctors, according to one expert．

      “Using the Internet, doctors can answer more questions from morepatients in a shorter time,” writes Dr Basal Pal, a famous doctorin Manchester, UK．

      According to Pal, nearly 40% of American patients say they usedE-mail to communicate with a doctor in the past．

      He notes, however, that although patients have such interests, onlyup to 2% of doctors in the United States offer E-mail service．

      Using E-mail, doctors can make sure of their advice and postpatient information materials and other resources on theInternet．It’s said that more than 10,000 health-orientedwebsites（网站） already exist now．

      However, some people worry that widespread use of medical E-mailmight set up two kinds of care---one for Internet “haves” and theother for the “have-nots”．

      But Pal points out that “by the year 2003 nearly every library willoffer Internet and E-mail services in the United States”．Thatallows even low-income patients to use such means．Pal also talksabout other possible barriers to the acceptance of medicalE-mail．

      “Doctors may be unwilling to offer E-mail services for fear ofincreasing workload（工作量） and uncertainty about payment（付款） for thetime they spent,” he explained, “and patients may worry that theirmedical information might be read by others．” “But these problemscan all be solved,” he added．

      “E-mail may help us a lot in health care,” Pal concludes．“Patientswant to know more than they can get in normal clinics,” he pointsout, “and they might find communication on the informationsuperhighway（超级公路） less fearful than face-to-face dialogue withtheir doctors．”

16．The article introduces a new way of patient-doctorcommunication_________

      A．by E-mail

      B．by visiting websites

      C．by searching the Internet

      D．by using the computer

17．According to the text, some people worry that _______

      A．it might have to serve both those who have access（访问通道） to theInternet and those whose workload is not too heavy．

      B．it might meet double doubts from the doctors and patients

      C．it might make trouble between those who can use the Internet andthose who can’t

      D．it might make trouble between those who have Internet experienceand those who haven’t

18．All the following points are advantages（优点） of using medicalE-mail except that______

      A．it is more convenient

      B．it is less frightening

      C．it enables patients and doctors to understand each otherbetter

      D．it provides patients more choices of treatment（治疗）

19．What does the underlined word “barrier” mean?

      A．possibility        B．danger            C．block             D．secret

20．Which of the following is true about E-mail in the USA?

      A．Every patient cannot use it．

      B．Only doctors can use it．

      C．Patients needn’t pay for their treatment by using E-mail．

      D．No others can read the information sent by E-mail．

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

41．D 42．A 43．C 44．B 45．C 46．C 47．A．48．B．49．C

50．D．51．B 52．C 53．B．54．D．55．C 56．A 57．B 58．D 59．C 60．A．