阅读理解.doc

高三英语专项练习
第一部分　阅读理解（共15小题；每小题2分，满分30分）
A
Buck lived at a big house called Judge Miller's place in the sunny valley of Santa Clara. The house was far away from the road, hidden by trees. The path to the house ran through large trees and grassy areas. The back area of the house was even larger. There were big stables for horses, servants' house, and even some fruit trees. There was also a swimming pool that Judge Miller's boys often visited to cool off from the afternoon heat.
It was over this huge area that Buck ruled. He was born here and had already lived here for four years.
True, there were other dogs, but they did not count, often coming and going, or barely going outside of the house. Buck was not a house dog, or a racing dog. He joined the boys in their swimming and went hunting with them. Often he looked after the Judge's two daughters, Mollie and Alice, when they went out for nightly walks. On winter nights, he would lie at the Judge's feet beside a warm fire. He also carried the Judge's grandsons on his back, guarding their every footstep. He totally ignored the other dogs, especially Toots and Ysabel, two small foreign-looking dogs that only stayed inside. Yes, Buck was King and he ruled over all the land and creatures of Judge Miller's place.
  His father, Elmo, was a huge dog, and he had been Judge Miller's constant companion. Buck wasn't as large. His mother, Sleep, was a smaller type of dog from Scotland, so his weight was only one hundred and forty pounds. Nevertheless, his weight gave him an air like a king, and he had developed a lot of pride in himself, much like a country gentleman does with a life of respect and good living. Luckily, he did not grow lazy and become a house dog; rather, his love of hunting and outdoor fun hardened his muscles and stopped him from becoming fat. Such was the manner of Buck in the fall of 1897, when the Klondike strike dragged men from over the world to the frozen North. But newspaper and the way of the world were unknown to Buck.
( ) 1. What made Buck king of Judge Miller's place in the sunny valley of Santa Clara?
A. That he was born here and had already lived here for four years.
B. That his weight gave him an air like a king.
C. That he played an important role in the life of the Millers.
D. That he was a distinguished dog, native to this land and valuable to man.
( ) 2. The writer mentioned Buck’s parents to _____________.
A. show he was not as huge as his father, but bigger than his mother
B. prove he was superior to other dogs by nature
C. introduce the most important people related to Buck
D. tell the readers he resembled his father in size
( ) 3. It can be inferred from the passage that ____________.
A. Buck loved hunting and outdoor fun, which hardened his muscles
B. Buck ignored Toots and Ysabel, because they only stayed inside
C. Buck’s life of respect and good living was to come to an end
D. Buck enjoyed the life staying with the Millers and other dogs
( ) 4. Which words can be used to describe Buck?
A. Tough and cold-hearted. B. Respectable but self-centred.
C. Aggressive and loyal. D. Plain but proud.

B

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C
Nothing says love like a dozen long-stemmed roses on Valentines Day. More than a million roses will be sold during this festival for lovers, the biggest day of the year for the nation’s rose industry. It’s going to remain the most popular flower because love never goes out of style.
Yes, a rose is a rose. But selling them is no longer a beautiful experience for traditional flower shops. Supermarkets now offer convenience to the busy and discount rose shops help those hopelessly in love save money. Roses Only is a good example of a discount rose retailer that was transformed from a traditional shop to answer the challenge.
Inside this store on Sixth Avenue near 40th Street, contemporary white furniture and wall-to-wall mirrors give it an expensive look. Customers move about freely among the counters, looking eagerly at the roses in more than 50 colors from shelf to shelf. Some customers say it’s the high quality of the roses that attracts them there. “I spent $20 but the flowers looked like I paid 60 or 70 dollars,” says one customer.
Studies show more people are buying roses in ones, twos and threes these days. In fact, more than half of all roses are sold in bunches of fewer than a dozen. But Roses Only’s low prices encourage people to spend. Even on Valentine’s Day, when the price of a dozen roses and delivery can soar as high as $150, 12 of Roses Only’s most expensive flowers sell for just $35. The company’s key to success is to hold prices down by controlling every link in the rose chain. It grows its own roses in the sunshine of the Andes Mountain. In addition, the company also sells other items such as balloons and stuffed animals.
While discount rose retailers are witnessing their business bloom， U.S. rose growers are not able to compete with the fierce foreign competition. More than 57% of roses sold in the USA are grown in other countries. The biggest foreign producers are Colombia and Ecuador, which accounted for almost 90% of the total imported last year. The trend has hurt domestic rose growers such as Johnson Flowers of California, considered to be this country’s leading producer.
Now, instead of fighting overseas rivals, the Johnsons are trying to work with them. “We have a few big distribution centers where we sell some imported roses,” Johnson says. “We may also widen our business to include the service area and be a representative for overseas flower producers.”
As a result of severe competition, those in the rose business long for the good old days, whereas ordinary people benefit from the low price.
( ) 8．After reading the passage, we learn all of the following EXCEPT______.
A．selling roses is no longer as easy for traditional flower shops as it was
B．almost 90% of roses sold in US were imported from Colombia and Ecuador last year
C．US rose growers are faced with intense foreign competition
D．the Johnsons are trying to co-operate with foreign competitors instead of fighting them
( ) 9．Which word can be used to replace “bloom” in the fifth paragraph?
A．success B．fighting
C．difficulty D．situation
( ) 10．This passage is organized in the pattern of ______________.
A. time and events B. comparison and contrast
C. importance and effectiveness D. definition and classification
 ( ) 11. Which is the best title for the passage?
A. Rose retailers’ strategy B. Challenges for rose growers
C. Wars of the Roses D. Roses blossom for consumers

D
The need to feed a growing population is putting much pressure on the world’s supply of water. With 97% of the world’s water too salty to be drunk or used in agriculture, the worldwide supply of water needs careful management, especially in agriculture. Although the idea of a water shortage seems strange to someone fortunate enough to live in a high rainfall country, many of the world’s agricultural industries experience constant water shortages.
Although dams can be built to store water for agricultural use in dry areas and dry seasons, the costs of water redistribution are very high. Not only is there the cost of the engineering itself, but there is also an environmental cost to be considered. Where valleys are flooded to create dams, houses are lost and wildlife homes destroyed. Besides, water may flow easily through pipes to fields, but it cannot be transported from one side of the world to the other. Each country must therefore rely on the management of its own water to supply its farming requirements.
This is particularly troubling to countries with agricultural industries in areas dependent on irrigation. In Texas, farmers’ overuse of irrigation water resulted in a 25% reduction of the water stores. In the Central Valley area of south eastern USA, a huge water engineering project provided water for farming in dry villages, but much of the water use has been poorly managed.
Saudi Arabia’s attempts to grow wheat in desert areas have seen the pumping of huge quantities of irrigation water from underground reserves. Because there is no rainfall in these areas, such reserves can only decrease, and it is believed that fifty years of pumping will see them run dry.
( ) 12. From the first two paragraphs we learn that _______.
A. much of the word’s water is available for use
B. people in high rainfall countries feel lucky
C. the costs of water redistribution should be considered
D. water can be easily carried through pipes across the world
( ) 13. Which of the following is true?
A. The water stores in Texas have been reduced by 75%.
B. Most industries in the world suffer from water shortage.
C. The underground water in Saudi Arabia might run out in 50 years.
D. water can be easily carried through pipes across the world.
( ) 14. What is most likely to be discussed in the paragraph that follows?
A. Steps to improving water use management.
B. Ways to reduce the costs of building dams.
C. Measures to deal with worldwide water shortages.
D. Approaches to handling the pressure on water supply.
( ) 15. The text is mainly about ___________________.
A. water supply and increasing population
B. water use management and agriculture
C. water redistribution and wildlife protection
D. water shortages and environmental protection

D
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