山西省太原双语中学高考英语-专题阅读理解强化训练集(十八).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（十八）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项。
A
News (March 6, 2008) that Microsoft was making a $44.6 billion bid to buy Yahoo was greeted with heated discussion by many Internet users on Friday. Here are some responses:
Mark Galeassi of Kansas City, Missouri
This is the best move for both parties. Yahoo has the ideas and Microsoft has the money to finally market these ideas correctly. Microsoft and Yahoo are a perfect fit and the deal will be good for consumers.
Scott G. of New Jersey
I was a Yahoo user for years along with Hotmail from Microsoft. Then Google came along: Google Earth, Google Toolbar and Gmail. Google is so innovative (创新的) with everything they do. Yahoo and Microsoft... same old story... I don’t think the merger(合并) will do anything for either company except improve the Yahoo shareholders’ bank accounts.
Michael Glosser of Estero, Florida
Right now, Yahoo offers a lot of features and tools at no cost for all different levels of Internet users. Microsoft seeks nothing but profit. Undoubtedly, they’ll do nothing other than find ways to start removing Yahoo’s formerly non-priced features. Microsoft’s greed will ruin the great thing that Yahoo currently is.
Toni Suarez of Hacienda Heights, California
Perhaps it would bring better high technology innovations to e-mail and help in researching and developing a better Internet!
Antonio Simmons of Parkville, Maryland
Microsoft purchasing Yahoo would be nothing more than an attempt from Microsoft to further impose upon the users their poor-quality software and obtain more wealth for the company. In my opinion, they will never be able to compete with Google because Yahoo and Microsoft’s current search engines are too inferior (差的) to compete. Even if combined, they still lack.
1. Who is in favor of the merger of Microsoft and Yahoo?
A. Antonio Simmons. B. Michael Grosser. C. Scott G. D. Mark Galeassi.
2. In the opinion of Scott G.___________.
A. the merger will contribute to Microsoft
B. Yahoo and Microsoft are lacking in innovation
C. Google is getting short of management experience
D. the merger will allow Microsoft to overtake Google
3. Michael Grosser is afraid that ______ .
A. the merger will cost Yahoo’s free features
B. the merger will lead to Microsoft’s monopoly (垄断) of the market
C. the increased competition will force Google out of the game
D. Internet users will have to buy Microsoft’s costly software
4. What is Antonio Simmons’ attitude towards Google?
A. Doubtful. B. Disapproval. C. Positive. D. Negative

B
In department stores and closets all over the world, they are waiting. Their outward appearance seems rather appealing because they have a variety of styles, patterns, materials, and colors. But they are eventually the biggest deception（欺骗）that exists in the fashion industry today. What are they? They are high heels（高跟鞋）—a woman’s worst enemy (whether she knows it or not). Fashion has led women to believe that they are more beautiful or fashionable for wearing heels, but in reality, heels cause troubles. Women should fight the high heel industry by refusing to use or buy them in order to save the world from unnecessary physical and psychological suffering.
To be fair, it must be noted that there is a positive side to high heels. First, heels are excellent for aerating （给……通气）lawns（草坪）. Anyone who has ever worn heels on grass knows what I am talking about. A simple trip around the yard in a pair of those babies gets rid of all the need to call for a lawn care expert, and provides the perfect-sized holes to give any lawn oxygen without all the dirt lying around. Second, heels are quite useful for defending against oncoming enemies by threatening them with a pair of these sharp, deadly fashion items.
Regardless of such practical uses for heels, the fact remains that wearing high heels is harmful to one’s physical health. Talk to any podiatrist（足病医生）, and you will hear that most of their business comes from high-heel-wearing women. High heels are known to cause problems such as misshapen feet and torn toenails. The risk of serious back problems and twisted or broken ankles is three times higher for a high heel wearer than for a flat shoe wearer. Women wearing heels may get a heel caught in a narrow sidewalk gap and be thrown to the ground and possibly break a nose, back, or neck. And of course, after wearing heels for a day, any woman knows she can look forward to a night of pain as she tries to comfort her aching feet.
5. Despite the disadvantages of high heels, women are still crazy about them because of ________.
A. the different uses of high heels B. their purpose to show off their wealth
C. the rich variety of high heel styles D. their wish to improve their appearance
6. Why does the writer use the underlined expression “those babies” (Paragraph 2) to refer to high
heels?
A. To show their small size. B. To show their colorful appearance.
C. To show women’s love for them. D. To show they are strong.
7. The writer’s chief argument against high heels is that they ________.
A. are a threat to lawns B. are harmful to women’s health
C. will not always make women beautiful D. are not useful as a weapon of defense
8. It can be inferred from the passage that women should ________.
A. see through the very nature of fashion B. refuse to buy the products of the fashion industry
C. go to a podiatrist regularly for advice D. avoid following fashion too closely

C
A person named Bernard Jackson today is a free man, but he has many bitter memories. He spent five years in prison after a jury (陪审团) wrongly convicted (判处……有罪) him of raping two women. At Jackson’s trial, although two witnesses testified that Jackson was with them in another location at the time of the crime, he was convicted anyway. Why? The jury believed the testimony (证词) of the two victims, who positively identified Jackson as the man who had attacked them. The court eventually freed Jackson after the police found the real criminal.
Many factors influence the accuracy of eyewitness testimony. For instance, witnesses sometimes see photographs of several suspects before they try to identify the person they saw in a group of people. They can become confused by seeing many photographs of similar faces. The number of people in the group, and whether it is a person or a photograph, may also affect a witness’s decision. People sometimes have difficulty identifying people of other races. The questions the police ask witnesses also have an effect on them.
Many people believe that police officers are more reliable than ordinary people. Psychologists decided to test this idea, and they discovered that it is not true. Two psychologists showed a film of crimes to both police officers and civilians. The psychologists found no difference between the police and the civilians in correctly remembering the details of the crimes.
Despite all the possibilities for inaccuracy, courts cannot omit eyewitness testimony from a trial. American courts depend almost completely on eyewitness testimony to resolve (决定) court cases. Sometimes it is the only evidence to a crime, such as rape. Furthermore, eyewitness testimony is often correct. Although people do sometimes make mistakes, and convict innocent people, more importantly, eyewitness testimony has rightly convicted a larger number of guilty people.
American courts depend on the ability of the twelve jurors, and not the judges, to determine the accuracy of the witness’s testimony. It is their responsibility to decide if a certain witness could actually see, hear and remember what happened.
9. Bernard Jackson was found guilty and sentenced 5 years’ prison because _______
A. the victims insisted that he was the attacker
B. he admitted the crime of raping two women
C. the police discovered evidence leading to his guilt
D. the eyewitness proved the victims’ testimony
10. An inaccurate eyewitness testimony may lead to _____________
A. the misunderstanding of the case B. the disbelief in the court
C. the disrespect for the eyewitness D. the conviction of an innocent person
11. Eyewitness testimony is important because_________________
A. it can be relied on to detect criminal in all cases
B. it is sometimes the only way to resolve court cases
C. it is sometimes the only clue for police investigation
D. it is more reliable than physical evidence to a crime
12. According to the text, we can infer that________
A. eyewitness testimony is valuable, though sometimes incorrect
B. police identification is more reliable than that of the ordinary people
C. crime victims often fail to give positive identification of the suspect
D. the jury relies on the judge than the eyewitness for a decision

A D BA
D
Work your brain!
Between 2 and 3 pounds of wonder，it controls everything we say，do or think，who we are and what we care about. The way we walk or laugh or figure out things. What we like and the talents we possess. How we see and talk and run and jump and process our food.
The brain uses 20 percent of our body's oxygen and 20 percent of its blood. Somewhere within its protein，fat, 100,000 miles of blood vessels and 100 billion nerve cells，it helps us remember where we put our gym shoes. Change our temperature so we don't die because of the heat or cold. Speed us up or slow us down. Help us choose between orange juice or orange­flavored drinks.
Its intricacies(复杂性)are stunning，far beyond anything most of us can imagine. To keep this work of art as polished(有光泽的) as possible we need to eat right，exercise and keep mentally stimulated(刺激)．
Good nutrition helps brain cells communicate with each other. Exercise stimulates a hormone(荷尔蒙)in our brain that improves memory. Mental stimulation keeps you sharp even as you age.
“It's very important that we tell people to be physically active and mentally active，” said neurologist Malcolm Stewart.
“People cannot stop aging，but you're able to reduce the damage；you're able to keep the function up.”
Following are Dr.Stewart's advice for improving brain health：
Nutrition
Avoid fast food. Follow the old adage(格言，谚语)：For breakfast，eat like a king；for lunch，like a queen；for supper，like a beggar.
Exercise
Do a combination of stretching aerobic and muscle­strengthening every day.
Mental games
Try to have a sense of hope about the future. Do puzzles. Listen to music. Reach out to others to make their lives better.
13. The purpose of the author in writing this passage is to ______.
A. inform us how the brain works
B. give us advice on how to keep the brain healthy
C. tell us that the brain plays an important role in our lives
D. show how special the brain is to us
14 The word “stunning” in Paragraph 5 means ______.
A. interesting 　 B. strange C. significant　 D. amazing
15 According to the text，more exercise ______.
A. keeps our mind sharp 　　

B. helps improve our memory
C. gives our brain a rest 　　
D. is good for brain cells communicating with each other
16 In order to keep brain healthy，we should avoid ______.
A. eating a good lunch B. doing puzzles
C. eating a large supper D. taking aerobic exercise

E
Today, there’s hardly an aspect of our life that isn’t being upended by the tons of information available on the hundreds of millions of sites crowding the Internet, not to mention its ability to keep us in constant touch with each other via electronic mail. “If the automobile and aerospace technology had exploded at the same pace as computer and information technology,” says Microsoft, “a new car would cost about $ 2 and go 600 miles on a small quantity of gas. And you could buy a Boeing 747 for the cost of a pizza.”
Probably the biggest payoff, however, is the billions of dollars the Internet is saving companies in producing goods and serving for the needs of their customers. Nothing like it has been seen since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, when power-driven machines began producing more in a day than men could turn out in nearly a year. “We view the growth of the Internet and e-commerce as a global trend,” says Merrill Lynch, “along the lines of printing press, the telephone, the computer, and electricity.”
You would be hard pressed to name something that isn’t available on the Internet. Consider: books, health care, movie tickets, construction materials, baby clothes, stocks, cattle feed, music, electronics, antiques, tools, real estate, toys, autographs of famous people, wine and airline tickets. And even after you’ve moved on to your final resting place, there’s no reason those you love can’t keep in touch. A company called FinalT offers a place for you to store “afterlife e-mails” you can send to Heaven with the help of a “guardian angel”.
Kids today are so computer literate that it in fact ensures the United States will remain the unchallenged leader in cyberspace for the foreseeable(能预测的) future. Nearly all children in families with incomes of more than $75,000 a year have home computers, according to a study by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. Youngsters from ages 2 to 17 at all income levels have computers, with 52% of those connected to the Internet. Most kids use computers to play games (some for 30 hours or more a week), and many teenage girls think nothing of rushing home from school to have e-mail chats with friends they have just left.
What’s clear is that, whether we like it or not, the Internet is an ever growing part of our lives and there is no turning back. “The Internet is just 20% invented,” says cyber pioneer Jake Winebaum. “The last 80% is happening now.”
17. What can we learn from the Microsoft’s remark?
A. Today’s cars and airplanes are extremely overpriced.
B. Information technology is developing at an amazing speed.
C. Information technology has reached the point where improvement is difficult.
D. There’s more competition in information technology industry than in car industry.
18. The author gives the example of FinalT to make the point that____.
A. there are some genius ideas on the Internet
B. almost anything is available on the Internet
C. people can find good bargains on the Internet
D. some websites provide novel services to increase hits
19. Which sentence has the phrase that possesses the same meaning as the one underlined in the fifth paragraph?
A. Some can tell you that he has changed their lives, while others think nothing of him.
B. Think nothing of it. It was my pleasure.
C. He thinks nothing of staying up all night in the Café bar.
D. He thinks nothing of the pain in his back for the moment.
20. What is the message the author intends to convey?
A. The Internet is going to get firm hold of our lives some day.
B. The Internet is goin