英语高考阅读理解练习和答案.doc

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高考英语阅读理解专项练习（及答案）
（一）
It is not always easy to understand inventions and new developments in science. To understand fiber optics（光纤）, however, you can try an experiment.
Put a drop or two of mile into the glass of water. Turn off the lights. Shine the light from your flashlight（手电筒） through the top of the glass at an angle（角度） of about 45 degrees. Put a piece of white paper against the glass when the beam（光束）of light is shining. Move the paper so you can see where the beam is coming out of the glass. You should see a spot of light. Some of the light has passed through the water and through the glass. You see it on the paper. You also see another beam going down into the glass. It is being reflected down into the glass.
Next move the flashlight so that the beam is coming straighter down (30 degrees) into the water. You will see the same phenomenon: some of the light is reflected back into the glass. And some escapes out. Now move the beam of light from the flashlight slowly up until you cannot see any light escaping. This point is called the “point of total internal reflection.” The word internal means “inside.” All the light is staying inside the glass. There is no beam showing a bright spot on the white paper. All the light energy is inside the glass.
The glass of milky water is like a strand（线）of glass. A fiber optic tube is a bundle of long thin strands of glass, really many tubes. However, the principle（原理） is the same: at a certain angle, all the light energy that goes into the glass fiber comes out the other end.
Light is energy. Sound is energy. Radio waves and electricity are both energy. They can all be changed into light, and as light they can all travel along a glass fiber. Light travels at the rate of 186,000 miles per second. Therefore, a message can travel that fast in a glass fiber. This is the principle, or law of nature, that makes fiber optics work.

1． Which figure shows the last step of the experiment?

2． The purpose of the experiment is to tell us .
A．how fast light travels
B．how fiber optics works
C．how light travels in a glass of water
D．how fiber optics helps mankind
3． In the experiment, makes the biggest difference.
A．the angel at which to shine the light from the flashlight
B．the amount of water in the glass of milk
C．the number of drops of milk to pour into the glass of water
D．the size of the hole through which to shine light from the flashlight
4． The last step is to prove .
A．no beam is shown on the white paper B．no light can be noticed inside the glass
C．no reflection can be seen D．no energy is wasted
5． Which of the following can be the best title?
A．Experiment of Light Travel B．Principles of Fiber Optics
C．Communication on Fiber Optics D．Theory of Light Travel
（二）
The young man arrived on the Massachusetts beach early carrying a radio, a shovel, and a strange set of tools: a brick layer’s trowel, a palette knife, spatulas, spoons, and a spray bottle.
He walked down near the water—the tide was out—put down the radio and tuned it to soft rock. Then he shoveled wet sand into a pile nearly four feet high and as many feet across. Then he created a rectangular（长方形的）shape.
After that, he set to work with palette knife, spatulas, and spoons. He shaped a graceful tower, topped walls, fashioned beautiful bay windows, and carved out big front gate.
The man knew his sand. He smoothly finished some surfaces and embroidered（雕刻）artistic designs on others. As the shapes began to dry, he gently kept them slightly wet with water from the spray bottle, in case they might break in the wind.
All this took hours. People gathered. At last he stood back, obviously satisfied with a castle worthy of the Austrian countryside or Disneyland.
Then he gathered his tools and radio and moved them up to drier sand. He had known for a while what many in the rapt（全神贯注的） crowd still overlooked: the tide was coming in. Not only had he practiced his art with confidence and style, he had done so against a powerful, immutable（不可抗拒的）deadline.
As the crowd looked on, water began to lap at the base of the castle. In minutes it was surrounded. Then the rising flood began to eat into the base, walls fell, the tower fell, and finally the gate’s arch fell. More minutes passed, and small waves erased bay windows and battlements—soon no more than a small part was left.
Many in the crowd looked terribly sad; some voiced fears and discouragement. But the sculptor（雕塑家） remained calm. He had, after all, had a wonderful day, making beauty out of nothing, and watching it return to nothing as time and tide moved on.
6． In this selection, why did the sculptor start early in the day?
A．He knew the tide was out on this particular morning.
B．It gave time for the crowd to gather.
C．He needed the sun to help dry the sand.
D．It was easier to begin with only a few people around.
7． Which of the following best shows that the sculptor was an expert?
A．He attracted a large crowd. B．He created beautiful details.
C．He was able to finish his work. D．He showed satisfaction on his face.
8． In this selection, what does the incoming tide signal?
A．It is time to begin working. B．It is the busiest time of the day.
C．It is the end of a day’s work. D．It is time for lookers-on to leave.
9． How did the lookers-on react when the tide began to come in?
A．They tried to save the sand castle. B．They were disappointed to see the art ruined.
C．They were nervous about their own belongings. D．They helped the artist finish the castle.
10．The reader can tell that the sculptor’s reward for his work is .
A．payment for his work B．attention from the crowd
C．fame as an artist D．personal satisfaction
（三）
Getting into the City
From John F. Kennedy International Airport
Queens:[phone]
Distance to midtown:15 miles
Time to midtown:50-60 minutes
Hours of operation:24
Traveler’s Aid:[phone]
MTA-
New York City Transit Authority
130 Livingston St., Brooklyn 11201;[phone], www.mta.info. Buses from the airport connect with subway stops in Queens and Brooklyn:a free shuttle goes from JFK terminals to the A line; the Q3 bus goes to the F line; and the B15 goes to the 3 line. Also, the Q10, operated by Green Bus Lines(718 995-4700), connects to the E,F, J, and Z lines. Bus/ subway fare is ＄1.5, paid in exact change, with a token, or with a MetroCard.
Reader card#67.Ad on p.43.
New York Airport Service
(718)875—8200, . Operates bus shuttle every 20—30 minutes to NYC’s Penn Station, Port Authority, and Grand Central Terminal(＄13) and to Manhattan hotels between 33rd and 57th Sts. (＄15). Reader card #230. Ad on p.25.
SuperShuttle
52—15 11th St., Long Island City, Queens 11101;(212)209—7000,(800)258—3826, . Door—to—door transportation, 24 hours, 365 days. Look for the blue van. Reader card #123. Ad on p.39.
11．If you want to know more about the MetroCard, you can .
A．visit .
B．telephone (212)209—7000 or (800) 258—3826
C．read the ad on page 43 of the book
D．visit
12．What do you know about New York City subway lines from the reading?
A．They supply door to door transportation.
B．They are directly connected with the airport.
C．They run 24 hours, 365 days, marked with colors.
D．They are marked with either numbers or letters.
13．Suppose you want to get to a Manhattan hotel in 23rd Street from the airport, you’d better .
A．take a bus shuttle B．take a bus by Green Bus Line
C．take SuperShuttle D．take a subway
（四）
During times of trouble, Franklin Delano Roosevelt spoke from a small room without a fireplace in the White House basement to millions of Americans. In his calm and conversational manner, he reassured（使……恢复信心）the nation in the depths of the Great Depression（大萧条）and through a World War.
Saul Bellow described his own experience of listening to President Roosevelt, hold the nation together, using only a radio and the power of his personality.
“I can recall walking eastward on the Chicago Midway… drivers had pulled over, parking bumper to bumper, and turned on their radios to hear Roosevelt. They had rolled down the windows and opened the car doors. Everywhere the same voice, its odd Eastern accent, which in anyone else would have angered Midwesterners. You could follow without missing a single word as you walked by. You felt joined to these unknown drivers, men and women…”
The nation needed the assurance of those Fireside Chats, the first of which was delivered on March 12, 1933. Between a quarter and a third of the work force was unemployed. Every bank in America had been closed for at least eight days. It’s hard for us to imagine. It was the hardest time of the Great Depression.
The “Fireside” was symbolic（象征性的）; most of the chats came from a small room in the White House basement. Frances Perkins, Roosevelt’s Secretary of Labor, described the change that would come over him just before the broadcasts: “His face would smile and light up as though he were actually sitting on the front porch(门廊) or in the parlor with them. People felt this, and came to respect and love him.”
In that first radio visit, Roosevelt began by explaining how the banking system worked: “When you put money in a bank, the bank does not place the money into a safe—deposit vault（金库房）. It invests your money in many different forms of credit—bonds, mortgages.” He went on to announce that the banks would reopen the next day.

14．The main purpose of the article is to .
A．give examples of the power of radio broadcasting
B．make people examine their attitudes toward money
C．suggest that Roosevelt was America’s greatest president
D．show how Roosevelt reassured Americans during hard times
15．According to the article, the Fireside Chats raised the hopes of Americans because President Roosevelt .
A．spoke to them in a friendly and confident tone
B．explained to them how to invest their money
C．was open about his own fears for the country
D．used humor to draw their attention away from their problems
16．The name “Fireside Chats” was probably intended to .
A．demand listeners to protect resources
B．encourage spirited discussion among listeners
C．request people to desire for hope and reassurance
D．persuade Americans to talk with their families
17．Saul Bellow’s description of his own experience of listening to President Roosevelt shows .
A．how popular and encouraging Roosevelt’s Fireside Chats were
B．how easily Roosevelt’s Fireside Chats could be understood
C．what great interest general public took in national affairs
D．what a hard life Americans had in Great Depression
（五）
ILWAUKEE,Feb.17 The Democratic presidential nomination（民主党总统提名）battle turned into a two—man contest on Tuesday as Senator John Kerry narrowly defeated Senator John Edwards in the Wisconsin primary（初选）. Howard Dean suffered a sad third-place showing that Democrats said would effectively end his campaign（选举活动）.
The finish by Mr. Edwards surprised Democrats here, as well as those in the Kerry and Edwards camps, who had been looking for Mr. Kerry to post another decisive victory in Wisconsin, based on his performance so far this year.
And it set the stage for what Mr. Edwards said he had long wanted after trying to break through what was once a crowded field: a clean two-way race with Mr. Kerry, played out over a relatively long period, until the next big primary day, March 2.
“The people of Wisconsin spoke loudly and clearly tonight,” Mr. Edwards said in a joyful speech to supporters. “They want a debate. They want this campaign to continue.”
Mr. Kerry, who stepped out to give his victory speech as Mr. Edwards was speaking, knocking him off live television, made no mention of the thin margin（差数）.
Dr. Dean, the former governor of Vermont, said even before the polls closed that he would continue his campaign no matter what the outcome in Wisconsin, a state he once said he had to win.
“We are not done,” he said in his speech on Tuesday.
But leading Democrats said that in light of his latest disappointing loss, they saw little hope for his continuing as a serious candidate（候选人）. And While Mr. Kerry and Mr. Edwards turned their attention to March 2, when there will be 10 contests, Dr. Dean prepared to head back to his home in Burlington to determine where to take his campaign from here.
18．The result of the Wisconsin primary also surprised Kerry’s supporters because .
A．he only so narrowly defeated the second
B．they didn’t expect such a decisive victory
C．they never thought the battle became such a two—man contest so quickly
D．he didn’t win in the Wisconsin primary, which was unexpected

19．The phrase “a clean two—way race” (in para. 3) here means .
A．a motor race on two different ways but in the same direction
B．a race of two cars running on clean ways in different directions
C．a competition of two persons in the presidential nomination battle
D．a two—person competition where the winner is easy to decide
20．When the Wisconsin primary ended, .
A．Howard Dean would end his campaign
B．John Edwards felt greater progress was made
C．John Kerry felt proud of another success
D．Democrats would easily determine their candidate for the next president
（六）
Some of Beijing Zoo’s animals are suffering menu changes because of the bird flu spread in Asia .
Gone are the lions’ and tigers’ delightful “live” chicken dinners . In their menu , instead , are raw beef and mutton . While the lions and tigers go chickenless , the zoo’s birds are also receiving some special and uncomfortable treatment these days . The peacocks in Badaling Safari Animal World , who used to be featured in the park and could walk around showing off their beautiful feathers , now are forced to stay in cages .
And turkeys at the Beijing Zoo—believed to be most likely to suffer from the bird flu virus —have been moved out of their old home to places separate from visitors . In most cases , display areas with birds have been closed for health reasons .
Yet a good thing about the present situation is that the living conditions of the zoo’s birds are being improved , with keepers keeping the display areas cleaner and not as crowded as before . Almost all zoos have done more frequent cleaning and disinfection for bird cages —measures to prevent infection .
In this special period , pigeons（鸽子）are frowned upon . In Beijing , many homing pigeon lovers use balconies （阳台）to build cages for birds . Most neighbours are fed up with these cages since th