甘泉外国语中学高二期中英语试卷.doc

甘泉中学2015学年第二学期高二年级期中考试
英语试卷
第I卷（共113分）
I. Listening Comprehension 30’
Section A
Directions: In Section A, you will hear ten short conversations between two speakers. At the end of each conversation, a question will be asked about what was said. The conversation and the questions will be spoken only once. After you hear a conversation and the question about it, read the four possible answers on your paper, and decide which one is the best answer to the question you have heard.
1. A. At the bus station. B. At the airport.
C. At the post office. D. At the bank.
2. A. Librarian and reader. B. Teacher and student.
C. Boss and secretary. D. Shop-assistant and customer.
3. A. It is quite interesting. B. It's time-consuming.
C. It isn't worth seeing. D. It is very expensive.
4. A. To complain about her heater. B. To go over for the heater.
C. To get some electric power. D. To have her heater repaired.
5. A. To postpone his schedule. B. To book in another hotel.
C. To stay in the spare room. D. To reserve a room in advance.
6. A. Accident victims. B. Rescue work.
C. Plane crashes. D. Crash survivors.
7. A. He has some trouble with his computer. B. He isn't getting along well with the staff.
C. He hasn't registered for a proper course. D. He can't apply the theory to his program.
8. A. She went out of the way to meet the man. B. She was pleased to talk with the man.
C. She took the man where he wanted to go. D. She missed the chance to help the man.
9. A. Smith will keep the surprise party a secret. B. Lucy hasn't got any promise from Smith.
C. They shouldn't have told Lucy about the party. D. There's no secret between Smith and Lucy.
10. A. Volunteers have to connect the community.
B. The man has no time to do voluntary work.
C. Voluntary work requires devotion of time.
D. Many people have signed up for voluntary work.

Section B
Directions: In Section B, you will hear two short passages, and you will be asked three questions on each of the passage. The passages will be read twice, but the questions will be spoken only once. When you hear a question, read the four possible answers on your paper and decide which one would be the best answer to the question you have heard.
Questions 11 through 13 are based on the following passage.
11. A. Nick lost the book Ivan borrowed from the library.
B. The book Ivan borrowed from Nick was missing.
C. Nick and Ivan had conflicts in Ms. Salmon's class.
D. Ivan was asked to return the book before finishing it.
12. A. She asked Nick and Ivan to solve the problem by themselves.
B. She gave Nick and Ivan the solution to their problem immediately.
C. She asked students in social studies class to help solve the problem.
D. She persuaded Ivan to pay for the book that Nick lent to him.
13. A. A good way to resolve conflicts is to turn to your best friends.
B. Nick and Ivan were unsatisfied with the solution to their problem.
C. Signing an agreement helped to solve Nick and Ivan's problem.
D. Social studies class can equip students with skills to resolve conflicts.
Questions 14 through 16 are based on the following news.
14. A. She wanted to have a garden similar to their neighbor's.
B. Her husband would like to have a beautiful backyard.
C. She was going to make the rented house her own home.
D. The community required them to keep the backyard lovely.
15. A. By getting involved in doing voluntary work.
B. By picking up mails for their neighbors.
C. By keeping an eye on their neighbors' children.
D. By planting trees along the street with others.
16. A. Her husband volunteered to work in the neighborhood.
B. They took on new responsibilities for their neighbors.
C. She was planning to plant a new garden in the backyard.
D. She enjoyed the relationship they built with the community.

Section C
Directions: In Section C, you will hear two longer conversations. The conversations will be read twice. After you hear each conversation, you are required to fill in the numbered blanks with the information you have heard. Write your answers on your answer sheet.

Blanks 17 through 20 are based on the following conversation.
Memo about Students' Essay Writing
Name: Mary
Essay topic: the ____17 industry
Strengths: ____18 well with statistics;
interested in computer modeling
Problems: lack of ____19 information;
poor at ____20 .

Complete the form. Write ONE WORD for each answer.

Blanks 21 through 24 are based on the following conversation.

Why couldn't the tourists go out into the
ocean as planned?
Because of ____2l in the area.
What are the tourists likely to find in the
water near the mouth of the bay?
____22
When can the tourists take a comfortable
bath in the bubbling hot water?

Before ____23_____
How long will the trip last?
____24____

Complete the form. Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.

II. Grammar and Vocabulary
Section A 17’
Directions: After reading the passages below, fill in the blanks to make the passages coherent and grammatically correct. For the blanks with a given word, fill in each blank with the proper form of the given word; for the other blanks, use one word that best fits each blank.
( A )
Health Is a Laughing Matter
If you think back to an occasion when something made you laugh out loud, you’ll probably find your lips starting to twitch (抽动) again and that same positive feeling invading your body. 25 you may not realize, though, is that this good for you. Both smiling and laughing have a beneficial effect on your health. Laughter, the physical sign which indicates you are enjoying your life, is one of 26 (cheap) beauty treatments. It reduces stress, nourishes the spirit and is a natural antidepressant.
Laughing produces a chemical effect in the body. 27 makes the body produce biochemical substances such as serotonin (止清素) and adrenaline (肾上腺素). These boost the immune system (免疫系统), activating the cells and stimulating their division.
There is also a physical effect. A full-blown laugh-out-loud session mobilizes and strengthens over 400 muscles; it gets the heart and abdomen (腹部) working. Laughing out loud also aids digestion, reduces fatty acids, decreases pain and benefits breathing. When you laugh, your blood becomes 28 (charge) with electomagentic (电磁的) energy, 29 can improve circulation.
Laughing 30 you cry, in addition, could improve your ability 31 (see) clearly and make you see colors more vividly. But a good laugh clears not just the eyes but the ears and nose, too.
Actually, the health benefits of laughter 32 (recognize). There is even a World Laughter Organization, based in Spain. Mari Cruz Garcia, the president and a laughter therapy expert, says, “Laughter develops imagination and creativity, reduces anxiety, and produces a facial massage (按摩). Five minutes of laughter acts as a pain reliever; laughing 100 times is equivalent to 33 (do) ten minutes of aerobic exercise, and 20 seconds of laughter is equivalent to a three-minute workout at the gym!”
( B )
It’s another Oscar season. This year, Leonardo Dicaprio, Brie Larson and many other lucky winners accepted their Oscars and thanked the Academy of Motion Picture Arts (美国电影艺术与科学学会), their families and colleagues. So, 34 linguistic(语言的) terms, what makes an acceptance speech succeed where others fail?
To explore this, let’s take a look at a few thank-yous from the best actresses, some from the mid-twentieth century and some from recent years.
The first is English actress Vivien Leigh (费雯丽), 35 (receive) the Academy Award for Gone with the Wind in 1940. “Ladies and gentlemen,” she said, “please forgive me if my words are inadequate in thanking you for your very great kindness. If I were to mention all those who have shown me such wonderful generosity, I should have to entertain you with a speech as long as Gone with the Wind itself.” Leigh begins with a humble apology 36 (emphasize) the depth of her appreciation. It’s 37 words-fail-me approach.
British- American actress Olivia de Havillland received her first Oscar in 1947, going on a bit to explain her pride in the award. “Since I value highly the profession which 38 (instruct) me, rewarded me and permitted my share of the world’s work, it will understand and forgive me, I know, for the very great pride I feel in receiving this award,” she said.
In the 21st century, the language has changed, but we find the same strategies：pride, humor and some references to childhood. Kate Winslet, for example, 39 (mention) her youthful dreams 40 receiving her Academy Award for The Reader （《生死朗读》）in 2009. “I’d be lying if I haven’t made a version of this speech before. I think I was probably eight years old and staring into the bathroom mirror and this would have been a shampoo bottle. Well, it’s not a shampoo bottle now!” she said in a humorous tone.
These are just a sample. If we were to look at the full range of acceptance speeches, who knows what we 41 find. After all, in order not to make for a pretty boring ceremony, successful acceptance speeches are often indirect and they often go beyond a simple “thank you.”
Section B 10’
Directions: Complete the following passage by using the words in the box. Each word can only be used once. Note that there is one word more than you need.
A. long-lasting B. strengthened C. regardless D. equivalent E. surveyed

F. indicate G. approachable H. shared I. added J. maintain K. genuine
Networking Isn’t a Numbers Game
Whether you have 5,000 friends on Facebook or 50, chances are at least some of them are not really your friends. The majority of them cannot develop a 42 friendship with you.
And it doesn’t 43 , of course, some of your friends are robots. According to a newly published University of Oxford study, the average Facebook user may have just four “close” friends to depend on in times of crisis. The number was found to be almost 44 across all age groups, in both men and women, 45 of how many friends they could boast online.
To carry out the study, Oxford psychology professor Robin Dunbar 46 two large, separate groups of adults across the U.K. The first group had 2,000 men and women between ages 18 and 65 who “made regular use of social media,” while the second included 1,375 “adults who worked full time” and were not necessarily social media users.
Both groups were asked a series of questions about their online and offline behavior, as well as the size of their social networks in both spaces. When asked how many 47 friends they had on Facebook, they offered an average answer of 41.4. When asked, however, how many Facebook friends they could depend on during an emotional or social crisis, those people said the number was 4.1. Around 13.6, they 48 , would express sympathy.
“So, in the end, all we have is time,” said Professor Dunbar. “Your brain can only take so much friendship. Your emotions can only be 49 with a few people. Facebook is, indeed, a time-sink（耗费时间的东西）, not a glorious new syncing （同步）of souls.”
But Dunbar did offer a solution as to how to 50 true friendships. “Friendships, in particular, have a natural decay rate in the absence of contact, and social media may well function to slow down the rate. However, that alone may not be enough to prevent friendships from eventually dying if they are not occasionally 51 by face-to-face interaction,” he said.
So, maybe we ought to make more calls and pay more visits to the people we love----there aren’t that many, after all.

III. Reading Comprehension
Section A 15’
Directions: For each blank in the following passage there are four words or phrases marked A, B, C and D. Fill in each blank with the word or phrase that best fits the context.
Napping for a while at daytime is a very smart and healthy move. The Mayo Clinic says naps 52 relaxation, better mood and alertness, and a sharper working 53 . A 2008 British study found that compared to getting more nighttime sleep, a mid-day nap was the best way to 54 the mid-afternoon sleepiness.
According to the Harvard Health Letter, several studies have shown that people 55 new information better when they take a nap shortly after learning it. And, most 56 , a 2015 study of nearly 24,000 Greek adults in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that people who napped 57 had a 37 percent reduced risk of dying from heart disease compared to people who didn’t nap.
Of course, napping isn’t 58 for everyone. If you’re suffering from inability to sleep, naps that are too long or taken too late in the day can 59 with your ability to fall or stay asleep at night.
But for most, naps can make you feel sharper and happier. Naps provide different benefits
60 on how long they are. A 20-minute nap will boost alertness and concentration; a 90-minute snooze (小睡) can 61 creativity.
According to , you 62 a natural dip in body temperature between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. A short nap at this time can boost alertness for several hours and, for most people, shouldn’t 63 being able to fall asleep at night.
Pick a dark, cozy place that’s not too warm or too chilly. P 64 napping on the couch instead of in bed, so you’re less 65 to snooze for too long.
Surprisingly, the best place to take a nap may be a hammock (吊床) if you have one. A Swiss study 66 last year found that people fell asleep faster and had deeper sleep when they napped in a hammock than in a bed. That same rocking motion that puts babies to sleep works wonders for grown-ups, too.
52. A. relieve B. promote C. operate D. support
53. A. feeling B. frame C. sense D. mind
54. A. cope with B. put aside C. talk about D. carry upon
55. A. remark B. consider C. remember D. concern
56. A. reportedly B. unbelievably C. constantly D. frankly
57. A. regularly B. enormously C. heavily D. strongly
58. A. exact B. correct C. right D. accurate
59. A. connect B. deal C. compete D. interfere
60. A. focusing B. depending C. relying D. basing
61. A. enlarge B. engage C. enhance D. enroll
62. A. explore B. experience C. exercise D. implement
63. A. produce B. handle C. affect D. urge
64. A. postpones B. discourages C. acknowledges D. recommends
65. A. obliged B. tempted C. adopted D. attracted
66. A. pronounced B. published C. discovered D. cultivated
Section B 33’
Directions: Read the following three passages. Each passage is followed by several ques