山西省太原双语中学高考英语-专题阅读理解强化训练集(三十五).doc

山西省太原双语中学2012届高考英语专题精选阅读理解强化训练集（三十五）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A.B.C. D）中，选出最佳选项。
A
The booking notes of the play “the Age of Innocence”:
Price: $10
BOOKING
There are four easy ways to book seats for performance:
------ in person
The Box Office is open Monday to Saturday, 10 a. m. -8 p. m.
------ by telephone
Ring 01324976 to reserve your tickets or to pay by credit card（Visa, MasterCard and Amex accepted）
------ by post
Simply complete the booking form and return it to Global Theatre Box Office.
------ on line
Complete the on-line booking form at www. Satanfiedtheatre. com
DISCOUNTS:
Saver: $2 off any seat booked any time in advance for performances from Monday to Thursday. Savers are available for children up to 16 years old, over 60s and full-time students.
Supersaver: half-price seats are available for people with disabilities and one companion. It is advisable to book in advance. There is a maximum of eight wheelchair spaces available and one wheelchair space will be held until an hour before the show.
Standby: best available seats are on sale for $6 from one hour before the performance for people eligible（suitable）for Saver and Supersaver discounts and thirty minutes before for all other customers.
Group Bookings: there is a ten percent discount for parties of twelve or more.
School: school parties of ten or more can book $6 standby tickets in advance and will get every tenth ticket free.
Please note: we are unable to exchange tickets or refund money unless a performance is cancelled due to unforeseen circumstances.
1. If you want to book a ticket, you CANNOT ________.
A. use the Internet.
B. ring the booking number and pay for the tickets by credit card.
C. go to the Box Office on Sundays.
D. complete a booking form and post it to the Box Office.
2. According to the notes, who can get $2 off?
A. A 20-year-old full-time college student.
B. A 55-year-old woman.
C. An 18-year-old teenager.
D. The people who book the tickets on Fridays.
3. If you make a group booking for a group of 14 adults, how much should you pay?
A. $120 B. $126 C. $140 D. $150
4. From the passage we can know all the following information except that ________.
A. There are only 8 wheelchair spaces in the theatre.
B. The audience can’t refund money if the performance is on show.
C. A group of 12 persons can get 10 percent discount.
D. A school party of 15 students should pay $90 for the standby tickets.
5. What kind of tickets are the cheapest?
A. The standby tickets.
B. The standby tickets for school parties of ten or more.
C. The tickets for Saver discount.
D. The tickets for group booking.
B
From the health point of view we are living in an amazing age. We are free from many of the most dangerous diseases. A large number of once deadly illnesses can now be cured by modern medicine. It is almost certain that one day medicines will be found for the most stubborn remaining diseases. The expectation of life has increased greatly. But though the possibility of living a long and happy life is greater than ever before, every day we witness the unbelievable killing of men, women and children on the roads. Man vs the motor-car. It is a never-ending battle which man is losing. Thousands of people the world over are killed or horribly killed each year and we are quietly sitting back and letting it happen.
It has been rightly said that when a man is sitting behind a steering wheel (方向盘), his car becomes the extension of his personality. There is no doubt that the motor-car often brings out a man’s very worst qualities．People who are normally quiet and pleasant may become unrecognizable when they are behind a steering-wheel. They say, they are ill-mannered and aggressive, willful as two-year-olds and completely selfish．All their hidden angers and disappointments seem to be brought to the surface by the act of driving.
The surprising thing is that society smiles so gently on the motorist and seems to forgive his behavior. Everything is done for his convenience. Cities are allowed to become almost uninhabitable because of heavy traffic; towns are made ugly by huge car parks; the countryside is ruined by road networks; and the deaths become nothing more than a number every year, to be easily forgotten.
It is high time a world rule was created to reduce this senseless waste of human life. With regard to driving, the laws of some countries are unbelievably lax (不严格) and even the strictest are not strict enough. A rule which was universally accepted could only have an obviously beneficial effect on the accident rate．Here are a few examples of some of the things that might be done. The driving test should be standardized and made far more difficult than it is; all the drivers should be made to take a test every three years or so; the age at which young people are allowed to drive any vehicle should be raised to at least 21; all vehicles should be put through strict tests for safety each year. Even the smallest amount of alcohol in the blood can damage a person's driving ability. Present drinking and driving laws (where they exist) should be made much stricter. Speed limits should be required on all roads. Governments should lay down safety specifications for car factories, as has been done in the USA. All advertising stressing power and performance should be banned. These measures may not sound good enough. But surely nothing should be considered as too severe if it results in reducing the number of deaths. After all, the world is for human beings, not motor-cars.
6. What is the main idea of this passage?
A. Traffic accidents are mainly caused by motorists.
B. Thousands of people the world over are killed each year.
C. Only stricter traffic laws can prevent accidents.
D. The laws of some countries about driving are too lax.
7. What does the author think of society toward motorists?
A. Society laughs at the motorists. B. Society forgives their rude driving.
C. Victims of accidents are nothing. D. Huge car parks are built in the cities and towns.
8. What does the author mean by saying “his car becomes the extension of his personality” in Para. 2 ?
A. Driving can represent his manners. B. Driving can show the other part of his personality.
C. Driving can bring out his character. D. Driving can show his hidden qualities.
9. Which of the followings is NOT mentioned as a way against traffic accidents?
A. Test drivers every three years. B. Stricter driving tests.
C. Build more highways. D. Raise age limit and lay down safety specifications.
10. The author’s attitude towards the present traffic situation is ________.
A. unsatisfied B. positive C. appealing D. unclear
C
SAN FRANCISCO —— Rising sea levels from climate change could wash away some of California’s most iconic beaches by the end of the century, along with hundreds of millions of dollars in property, according to a new study. 
“If beaches disappear, shrink and erode（受到侵蚀）, we are going to have less tourism,” said Phillip King, an associate professor of economics at San Francisco State University. “We took the best available science, and it’s possible the (estimated) costs are still too low.”
Economists at the university spent two years projecting economic losses from climate change at San Francisco’s Ocean Beach and the communities of Carpinteria, Malibu, Venice and Torrey Pines State Reserve near San Diego. 
Based on forecasts calling for sea levels to rise between 1 and 2 meters by the year 2100, the researchers invented models predicting which properties, infrastructure (基础设施), wildlife habitats and open spaces will be flooded or eroded, and the value of those losses. 
They also surveyed existing reports to determine how costly it would be to protect or replace those coastal resources. 
Venice Beach stands to be the hardest hit of the five shorelines studied, with a 2-meter rise in sea level over the next 90 years resulting in $96 million in losses, according to the report. A 1-meter increase over the same period would cause $31.6 million in losses there. 
A more comprehensive 2009 study by the Pacific Institute, an environmental think tank, concluded that nearly 500,000 people and $100 billion worth of property along California’s entire coast were at risk of severe flooding from rising sea levels this century unless new safeguards were put in place. 
The San Francisco State University researchers said their findings could guide policymakers when they consider future shorefront development. (Reuters) 
11. What will a 1-meter rise in sea level over the next 90 years result in?
A. 1/2 as much loss as a 2-meter rise in sea level causes at Ocean Beach.
B. 1/2 as much loss as a 2-meter rise in sea level causes at Malibu Beach.
C. 1/3 as much loss as a 2-meter rise in sea level causes at California’s Beach.
D. 1/3 as much loss as a 2-meter rise in sea level causes at Venice Beach.
12. What does the underlined word “shrink” in Para. 2 mean?
A. become smaller B. lose itself
C. wear away D. get destroyed
13. What can we learn from the passage?
A. People and property along California’s entire coast are to be severely flooded this century.
B. Venice Beach will remain standing there in spite of the rising sea level in the future.
C. The article mainly tells us that the rising seas could wash out California beaches.
D. The rise of sea levels can be completely controlled and won’t affect tourism.
14. What’s the tone of the writer?
A. Optimistic B. Matter-of-fact C. Doubtful D. Pessimistic
D
I was puzzled! Why was this old woman making such a fuss about an old copse which was of no use to anybody? She had written letters to the local paper, even to a national, protesting about a projected by-pass to her village, and, looking at a map, the route was nowhere near where she lived and it wasn’t as if the area was attractive. I was more than puzzled, I was curious.
The enquiry into the route of the new by-pass to the village was due to take place shortly, and I wanted to know what it was that motivated her. So it was that I found myself knocking on a cottage door, being received by Mary Smith and then being taken for a walk to the woods.
“I’ve always loved this place,” she said, “it has a lot of memories for me, and for others. We all used it. They called it ‘Lovers lane’. It’s not much of a lane, and it doesn’t go anywhere important, but that’s why we all came here. To be away from people, to be by ourselves. ” she added.
It was indeed pleasant that day and the songs of many birds could be heard. Squirrels watched from the branches, quite bold in their movements, obviously few people passed this way and they had nothing to fear. I could imagine the noise of vehicles passing through these peaceful woods when the by-pass was built, so I felt that she probably had something there but as I hold strong opinions about the needs of the community over-riding the opinions of private individuals, I said nothing. The village was quite a dangerous place because of the traffic especially for old people and children, their safety was more important to me than an old woman’s strange ideas.
“Take this tree,” she said pausing after a short while. “To you it is just that, a tree. Not unlike many others here.” She gently touched the bark, “Look here, under this branch, what can you see?”
“It looks as if someone has done a bit of carving with a knife.” I said after a cursory inspection.
“Yes, that’s what it is!” she said softly.
She went on, “He had a penknife with a spike for getting stones from a horse's hoof, and I helped him to carve them. We were very much in love, but he was going away, and could not tell me what he was involved in the army. I had guessed of course. It was the last evening we ever spent together, because he went away the next day, back to his Unit.”
Mary Smith was quiet for a while, then she sobbed. “His mother showed me the telegram. ‘Sergeant R Holmes …Killed in action in the invasion of France.’…”
“I had hoped that you and Robin would one day get married.” she said, “He was my only child, and I would have loved to be a Granny, they would have been such lovely babies’- she was like that! ”
“Two years later she too was dead. ‘Pneumonia (肺炎), following a chill on the chest’ was what the doctor said, but I think it was an old fashioned broken heart. A child would have helped both of us.”
There was a further pause. Mary Smith gently caressed the wounded tree, just as she would have caressed him. “And now they want to take our tree away from me.” Another quiet sob, then she turned to me. “I was young and pretty then, I could have had anybody, I wasn’t always the old woman you see here now. I had everything I wanted in life, a lovely man, health and a future to look forward to.”
She paused again and looked around. The breeze gently moved through the leaves with a sighing sound. “There were others, of course, but no one can match my Robin!” she said strongly. “And now I have nothing - except the memories this tree holds. If only I could get my hands on that awful man who writes in the paper about the value of the road they are going to build where we are standing now, I would tell him. Has he never loved, has he never lived, does he not know anything about memories? We were not the only ones, you know, I still meet some who came here as Robin and I did. Yes, I would tell him!”
I turned away, sick at heart.
15. The main purpose of this passage is to ________.
A. draw attention to the damage that wars cause
B. persuade people to give up private interest
C. arouse the awareness of being environmentally friendly
D. introduce a touching but sad love story
16. Which of the following words can best describe Mary Smith?
A. Selfish. B. Faithful. C. Changeable. D. Stubborn.
17. The underlined sentence “I felt that she probably had something there” means ________.
A. I thought there might be something hidden in the woods by Mary Smith
B. I guessed there might be a story related with Mary Smith
C. I thought there might be some reason for Mary Smith’s protest
D. I guessed there might be a secret purpose of Mary Smith.
18. What was probably the carving on the wounded tree?
A. The date when Robin Holmes would leave for army.
B. Their wish that this place and tree would last long.
C. Their names and a heart with a sign of arrow through it.
D. Their protest against the war which tore them apart.
19. In Mary’s opinion, which of the following might have caused Robin’s mother’s death?
A. Pneumonia B. A chill on the chest C. A heart attack D. Severe sorrow
20. The “tree” probably stands for ________.
A. her romance B. her determination C. her sadn