高三英语（阅读理解）练习——社会生活类4.doc

高三英语（阅读理解）练习——社会生活类4
A
Elephants don’t forget-at least, female elephants don’t. Elephant families are matriarchal.
And the social knowledge gained by the oldest females is the key to a family group’s survival, according to a study published in April by Karen McComb, a biologist at Sussex University in England.
Elephants announce their presence by making a deep, long sound, a practice referred to as contact calling .An unfamiliar call may mean that an elephant from outside the family group is nearby. A stranger can cause trouble, interrupting feeding or disturbing the young. So an elephant matriarch signals the family to gather around her; then they all lift their trunks in the air to smell the unfamiliar caller. False alarms can disturb the group and take time and energy away from feeding, so survival may depend in part on getting it right.
Working with Cynthia Moss, who founded the Amboseli Elephant Research Project in Kenya 30 years ago, McComb tested the social knowledge of 21 Amboseli elephant families with matriarchs 27 to 67 years old. She played recordings of contact calls to each family and found that the oldest matriarchs were much better at picking out unfamiliar calls. In fact, a group with a matriarch in her fifties was several thousand times more likely to form into a group upon hearing an unfamiliar contact call than when hearing a familiar call. However, families with younger matriarchs were less than twice as likely to gather together upon hearing an unfamiliar contact call as compared with a familiar call. And they gathered together a lot. Moreover, the social knowledge of older matriarchs translated into favorable results: Families with older matriarchs produced more baby elephants in each female-reproductive year.
This finding shows how difficult it is to protect the oldest members of elephant families. As elephants age, they continue to grow larger, as do their much wanted tusks (象牙) .So the older – and wiser – a matriarch is, the greater the chance she will be killed. About 800,000 elephants have been killed by people in the past 20 years.
1. What does the underlined word “matriarch” mean?
A. An old member of an elephant family. B. A female head of an elephant family.
C. A wise elephant. D. A large elephant.
2. When do elephants form into a group?
A. When they are feeding the young.
B. When they see a familiar elephant.
C. When they are giving birth to baby elephants.
D. When the leading elephant gives out a warning.
3. The research with recordings of contact calls shows .
A. how fast elephants form into groups
B. how important the age of a leading elephant is
C. how frightened elephants are when hearing a strange call
D. how frequently old elephants call other members of the family
4. The older a female elephant is .
A. the stronger she will be B. the poorer memory she will have
C. the more useless her tusks will be D. the more likely she will be killed
5. We can infer from the passage that elephants may .
A. run into other elephant families
B. give wrong warnings to their mothers
C. run away upon hearing a strange sound
D. produce more babies by gathering together more often

B
You are given many opportunities in life to choose to be a victim or a creator. When you choose to be a victim, the world is a cold and difficult place. “They” did things to you which caused all of your pain and suffering. “They” are wrong and bad, and life is terrible as long as “they” are around. Or you may blame yourself for all your problems, thus internalizing(内化) your victimization. The truth is, your life is likely to stay that way as long as you feel a need to blame yourself or others.
        Those who choose to be creators look at life quite differently. They know there are individuals who might like to control their lives, but they don’t let this get in the way. They know they have their weaknesses, yet they don’t blame themselves when they fail. Whatever happens, they have choice in the matter. They believe their dance with each sacred(神圣的) moment of life is a gift and that storms are a natural part of life which can bring the rain needed for emotional and spiritual growth.
        Victims and creators live in the same physical world and deal with many of the same physical realities, yet their experience of life is worlds apart. Victims relish (沉溺) in anger, guilt, and other emotions that cause others—and even themselves—to feel like victims, too. Creators consciously choose love, inspiration, and other qualities which inspire not only themselves, but all around them. Both victims and creators always have choice to determine the direction of their lives.
        In reality, all of us play the victim or the creator at various points in our lives. One person, on losing a job or a special relationship, may feel as if it is the end of the world and sink into terrible suffering for months, years, or even a lifetime. Another with the same experience may choose to first experience the grief, then accept the loss and soon move on to be a powerful creative force in his life.    
In every moment and every circumstance, you can choose to have a fuller, richer life by setting a clear intention to transform the victim within, and by inviting into your life the powerful creator that you are.
1.What does the word “they” in Paragraph 1 probably refer to?
A. People and things around you. B. Opportunities and problems.
C. Creators and their choices. D. Victims and their sufferings.
2.According to Paragraph 2, creators __________.
A. seem willing to experience failures in life B. possess the ability to predict future life
C. handle ups and downs of life wisely D. have potential to create something new
3.What can we learn from Paragraph 3?
A. Creators and victims face quite different things in life.
B. Creators and victims are masters of their lives.
C. Victims can influence more people than creators.
D. Compared with victims, creators are more emotional.
4.The examples mentioned in Paragraph 4 show that __________.
A. strong attachment to (沉浸在）sufferings in life pulls people into victims
B. people need family support to deal with challengers in life
C. it takes creators quite a long time to get rid of their pains
D. one’s experiences determine his attitude toward life
5.What is the author’s purpose in writing this passage?
A. To define victims and creators.
B. To evaluate victims against creators.
C. To explain the relationship between victims and creators.
D. To suggest the transformation from victims to creators.

C
The Pacific island nation of Nauru used to be a beautiful place．Now it is an ecological disaster area．Nauru's heartbreaking story could have one good consequence-other countries might learn from its mistakes．
For thousands of years，Polynesian people lived in the remote island of Nauru，far from western civilization．The first European to arrive was John Fearn in 1798．He was the British captain of the Hunter, a whaling ship．He called the island Pleasant Island．
However, because it was very remote, Nauru had little communication with Europeans at first．The whaling ships and other traders began to visit，bringing guns and alcohol．These elements destroyed the social balance of the twelve family groups on the island．A ten-year civil war started，which reduced the population from 1,400 to 900.
Nauru's real troubles began in 1899 when a British mining company discovered phosphate(磷酸盐)on the island．In fact，it found that the island of Nauru was nearly all phosphate，which was a very important fertilizer for farming．The company began mining the phosphate．
A phosphate mine is not a hole in the ground；it is a strip mine．When a company strip- mines，it removes the to player of soil．Then it takes away the material it wants．Strip mining totally destroys the land．Gradually, the lovely island or Nauru started to look like the moon．
In 1968，Nauru became one of the richest countries in the world．Every year the government received millions and millions of dollars for its phosphate．
Unfortunately, the leaders invested the money unwisely and lost millions of dollars．In addition，they used millions more dollars for personal expenses．Soon people realized that they had a terrible problem—their phosphate was running out．Ninety percent of their island was destroyed and they had nothing．By 2000，Nauru was financially ruined．Experts say that it would take approximately$433，600，000 and more than 20 years to repair the island．This will probably never happen．
1.What might be the author's purpose in writing the text?
A．To seek help for Nauru's problems． B．To tell a heartbreaking story of a war．
C．To show the importance of money D．To give a warning to other countries
2.What was Nauru like before the Europeans came?
A．Peaceful and attractive       B．Modern and open
C．Rich and powerful            D．Greedy and aggressive
3.The ecological disaster in Nauru resulted from
A．soil pollution                           B．phosphate overmining
C．farming activity                         D．whale hunting
4.Which of the following was a cause of Nauru's financial problem?
A．Its phosphate mining cost much money
B．It spent too much repairing the island
C．Its leaders misused the money
D．It lost millions of dollars in the civil war.
5.What can we learn about Nauru from me last paragraph?
A．The leaders will take the experts' words seriously
B．The ecological damage is difficult to repair.
C．The island was abandoned by the Nauruans
D．The phosphate mines were destroyed

D
Ask someone what they have done to help the environment recently and they will almost certainly mention recycling．Recycling in the home is very important of course．However, being forced to recycle often means we already have more material than we need．We are dealing with the results of that over–consumption in the greenest way possible, but it would be far better if we did not need to bring so much material home in the first place．
    The total amount of packaging has increased by 12% between 1999 and 2005．It now makes up a third of a typical household’s waste in the UK．In many supermarkets nowadays food items are packaged twice with plastic and cardboard．
    Too much packaging is doing serious damage to the environment．The UK, for example, is running out of it for burying this unnecessary waste．If such packaging is burnt, it gives off greenhouse gases which go on to cause the greenhouse effect．Recycling helps, but the process itself uses energy．The solution is not to produce such items in the first place．Food waste is a serious problem, too．Too many supermarkets encourage customers to buy more than they need．However, few of them are coming round to the idea that this cannot continue, encouraging customers to reuse their plastic bags, for example．
     But this is not just about supermarkets．It is about all of us．We have learned to associate packaging with quality．We have learned to think that something unpackaged is of poor quality．This is especially true of food．But it is also applied to a wide range of consumer products, which often have far more packaging than necessary．
     There are signs of hope．As more of us recycle, we are beginning to realize just how much unnecessary materials are collected．We need to face the wastefulness of our consumer culture, but we have a mountain to climb．
1.What does the underlined phrase “that over-consumption” refer to?
    A．Using too much packaging．           B．Recycling too many wastes．
    C．Making more products than necessary．  D．Having more material than is needed．
2.The author uses figures in Paragraph 2 to show ___________．
    A．the tendency of cutting household waste     B．the increase of packaging recycling
     C．the rapid growth of supermarkets             D．the fact of packaging overuse
3.According to the text, recycling ___________．
     A．helps control the greenhouse effect        B．means burning packaging for energy
    C．is the solution to gas shortage               D．leads to a waste of land
4.What can be inferred from Paragraph 4?
A．Unpackaged products are of bad quality．
B．Supermarkets care more about packaging．
C．It is improper to judge quality by packaging． 
D．Other products are better packaged than food．
5.What can we learn from the last paragraph?
     A．Fighting wastefulness is difficult．     
  B．Needless material is mostly recycled．
     C．People like collecting recyclable wastes．
D．The author is proud of their consumer culture．

参考答案：
A：BDBDA B：ACBAD C：DABCB D：DDACA