高一暑假综合测试
本文作者： 21ST
A Every Wednesday, I go to Cantata Adult Life Services, a local retirement community in Brookfield, Illinois, US, with my classmates to do community service. After my very first visit to Cantata, my life changed forever. That may sound a bit dramatic (戏剧性的), but volunteering with the elderly has put a refined lens (精确的镜头) on my views on life. Our visits last about an hour, and we bring 25-30 students every time. We play board games and cards with the residents while we’re there. You can watch all the movies and TV shows you want about “life back then”, but nothing compares to talking to the people who were actually there. Just hearing their stories has touched me in a way I never thought possible. Whether it was talking to 98-year-old “Hurricane Hilda” about her glory (光辉) days as a roller skater or chatting with Lou about the times she danced with a famous actor, I was completely mesmerized by every single memory the residents wanted to share with me. Even the residents who don’t have amazing memories make the experience fulfilling (充实的). I remember visiting Mrs Robinson. She couldn’t recall much about her past, but she told me she’d never forget how kind I was just to listen to her “rambling (漫谈)”. It made me realize that it’s the little things that make life worth living. That’s something I won’t forget anytime soon. If there’s one thing I’ve realized in my three years of visiting Cantata, it’s that presence – just being there – means more than anything to many of the residents. And despite how busy our lives are, there’s always time to make someone’s day. For me, it feels great to be a source of happiness, a smile on a bad day or a listening ear for old memories. And at the end of the day, that’s all that matters. It’s easy to feel like you don’t have anything in common with the elderly – especially when you’re a teenager. But that’s not true at all. I hate to be overly clichéd (陈词滥调的) here, but age really is just a number. As young adults, it’s important for us to realize this sooner rather than later. We can learn a lot from the elderly, and they can often benefit from teenagers too. 1. What do the author and his classmates often do when they visit Cantata? a. play board games and cards with the residents b. do some cleaning for the residents c. listen to the residents talk about their memories d. watch movies and TV shows with the residents A. a, b B. a, c C. b, d D. c, d 2. The underlined word “mesmerized” in Paragraph 5 is closest in meaning to ______. A. fascinated B. annoyed C. encouraged D. confused 3. With the mention of his visit to Mrs Robinson, the author intends to ______. A. show what Mrs Robinson’s life is like at Cantata B. show how he developed a friendship with Mrs Robinson C. show what a difference someone’s presence makes to the residents at Cantata D. give an example showing that most of the residents at Cantata have amazing memories to share 4. What has the author learned from his three years of visiting Cantata? A. It takes great patience to look after the elderly. B. Teenagers have little in common with the elderly. C. It’s important for the elderly to learn from teenagers to keep up with the times. D. It means a lot to keep the elderly company and offer them a listening ear. B There is nothing in the US quite like Black Friday. Before midnight on Thursday, in malls across the US, people start queuing up outside the locked entrances of stores, making longer and longer lines, holding coupons (优惠券), sipping (抿一口) coffee and hot chocolate, rubbing their hands and stamping (跺脚) their feet for warmth, excitedly chatting, and waiting for the clerks (店员) to open the door when the time arrives. Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, which fell on Nov 28 this year, “has become in recent decades a special American holiday”, said the International Business Times. Indeed, up to 147 million Black Friday shoppers were expected to put up with the dark of night and the elbows of other shoppers so that they could bring home some bargains (便宜货), according to the US National Retail Federation. But why does the shopping festival have such a gloomy (阴郁的) name? The name was first used in Philadelphia in the 1970s. The streets and sidewalks of the city became so packed with traffic and crowds on the day after Thanksgiving Day that the local police did not look forward to it. Because of this, they called the day “Black Friday”, said The Huffington Post. However, others believe that Black Friday takes its name from the fact that because of the increase in sales on the day, shops are able for the first time in the year to move out of the “red” – that is, debt – and into the “black”, or profit. Businesses, of course, try to take advantage of this day. A decade ago, retailers (零售商) opened at 5 or 6 am. Now, many of the big stores open at midnight. People really seem to like the whole experience of queuing up before midnight, “for it isn’t just about the bargains”, noted CNN. “For many shoppers, it’s just fun to be part of a large crowd. Those who go to the malls at midnight are driven by the same thing that makes a million people get together in Times Square each New Year’s Eve.” 5. Which of the following statements about Black Friday is TRUE? A. It is a special day in the US on which retailers hand out coupons to customers. B. It is a shopping festival in the US that falls on the second Friday after Thanksgiving. C. It has been a traditional American holiday since the founding of the nation. D. It is an opportunity for Americans to get things they want at a much cheaper price. 6. According to The Huffington Post, the name of “Black Friday” was first used ______. A. in Philadelphia at the beginning of the 20th century in the US B. by American people who expected to bring home bargains after Thanksgiving Day C. by the police to show their displeasure toward heavy traffic caused by shopping crowds D. to refer to the fact that many retailers move out of the red and into the black for the year 7. According to the article, people who queue up for Black Friday ______. A. usually help each other to find good bargains B. have great fun as part of the waiting crowd C. have a lot of complaints about the service of the retail clerks D. have to wait until 5 to 6 am to start shopping 8. What is the article mainly about? A. A general summary of the shopping habits of Americans. B. An introduction to the origin and influences of Black Friday. C. Tips on how to get good bargains on Black Friday. D. People’s mixed feelings toward Black Friday. C Once, two phoenix birds flew over a small village in Hunan province. The village was so beautiful that the birds never wanted to leave. This legend was recited to me during my visit to Fenghuang, adding a mythical (神秘的) touch to this ancient town. Fenghuang is a snapshot of idyllic (田园诗般的) village life in rural China. Set alongside the banks of the Tuojiang River, Fenghuang is full of small, winding (蜿蜒的) alleys and surrounded by lush, green hills. Having traveled directly from the bustling (喧闹的) city of Changsha, Fenghuang was a breath of fresh air. When I visited Fenghuang, it was July. My friend and I excitedly explored, walking along the ancient city wall and crossing the beautiful, old bridges. Despite the crowds of tourists it seemed as if life in this corner of China had not changed for centuries. People were very relaxed. They were never bothered by the hot weather nor by the tourists, walking, eating and playing outdoors. On our first evening we bought spicy, cold noodles from a street vendor and ate on the riverbank as we watched the sun set. We stayed in a small hotel similar to many of the traditional buildings in the village. Our room was built on high stilts (桩子) over the banks of the river. From our window we could hear the rush of the water and the sounds of excited tourists traveling in small boats downstream. Even in modern times, the river continues to be the life of the village. We saw people busy at work catching fish, or ferrying tourists for sightseeing. Young children played in shallow waters and families washed their clothes and utensils (厨具). Although there were many visitors to Fenghuang, we did not spot any other waiguoren during our stay. It felt like we’d found a treasure to know that we had visited somewhere off the beaten track! After two days exploring the village, I could empathize with the legend of the phoenix. I was reluctant (不情愿的) to leave. 9. The author mentions the legend of the phoenix birds in the first paragraph ______. A. to show her deep interest in Chinese culture B. to introduce the topic of her trip to the town of Fenghuang C. to explain how the town of Fenghuang got its name D. to describe the beautiful scenery of the town of Fenghuang 10. Which of the following aspects of the town of Fenghuang are mentioned in the article? a. population b. geography c. architecture d. weather and climate e. food culture f. living habits g. festival activities A. acdeg B. bcdef C. cdefg D. abcde 11. We can infer from the article that the author found her trip to the town of Fenghuang ______. A. boring B. relaxing C. quite an adventure D. a waste of time and money 12. The underlined word “empathize” in the last paragraph probably means ______. A. understand and share the feelings of someone else B. strongly disagree with something C. pay close attention to something D. understand the importance of something D Deija Orozco, a 17-year-old from Fresno, California, is good at hacking (黑客行为). So good, in fact, that she learned how to “jailbreak” cell phones after watching an instructional (教学的) video online. So when the School of Unlimited Learning (SOUL) student was offered one of just a few places in a professional-level computer coding class, she welcomed the chance. Hacking isn’t part of the class. But Orozco and 14 of her classmates are getting top training in HTML code and website design through Geekwise Academy, a coding school in Fresno. Orozco used to struggle in study. But on a sunny afternoon last month, she was all ears – and fingers – during her class at Geekwise. The students were gathered around small laptops, keys clicking as they typed out some codes and designed their websites. Instructor Damon Thomas was at the front, teaching them about tags and links as the teenagers wrote down notes in notebooks. “I plan to go to college right when I finish high school,” Orozco said. It’s something most SOUL students wouldn’t have thought about before enrolling (录取) there. Many come from poor families and have trouble at home, said Principal Mark Wilson. The school’s partnership with Geekwise is helping them follow their dreams. “You begin to believe all of the things you hear about what you can and can’t do,” he said. “Here at Geekwise nobody cares about your background. If you can code, you can code.” For some SOUL students, the class helps them gain a profitable (利润丰厚的) skill. “SOUL has students with no Internet access and no computers at home. So the ability to come in here and touch that technology in general is meaningful,” said Bitwise Industries CEO Jake Soberal. “The ability to do things that can connect them to jobs, opportunities and careers really could be life changing.” Raymond Royas said that because he doesn’t have access to the Internet at home, Geekwise is the only place he gets time with a computer. It has awakened a new passion in him. “I’m not 100 percent sure about my lifetime career,” said the 15-year-old, “but I could definitely see this as a job I’d be interested in.” 13. The author mentions Deija Orozco’s story at the beginning of the article to ______. A. show her impressive hacking skills B. make the reader feel concerned about the security of our cell phones C. introduce the reader to the computer coding class at Geekwise Academy D. describe her life and study at the School of Unlimited Learning 14. According to the article, the mission of Geekwise Academy is to ______. A. improve students’ hacking skills B. help students with learning difficulties C. provide students with professional training in HTML code and website design D. offer students from poor families a chance to improve their computer skills 15. Which of the following statements about the Geekwise Academy is TRUE according to the article? A. Students at Geekwise Academy have to do a lot of coding work at home. B. Most students at Geekwise Academy had ambitious college dreams before they joined the class. C. For some SOUL students, their study at Geekwise Academy makes a big difference to their future lives. D. Candidates for Geekwise Academy have to show great talent in computer coding. 16. How has Geekwise Academy made Raymond Royas feel? A. Embarrassing. B. Passionate. C. Relaxing. D. Boring. E We use robots for tasks like building cars and sorting mail, but could we use them as stand-up comedians (单口相声演员) in the future? One robot called RoboThespian has been trying out some jokes to find out. Researchers from the Cognitive Science Research Group at Queen Mary University of London organized the robot RoboThespian’s performance to test whether it could be as funny as a human, according to IT website CNET. The electronic comedian went on stage for a show with British comedians Andrew O’Neill and Tiernan Douieb, performing the same jokes as Douieb but with a few changes – it was a robot, after all. The robot had some advantages over human comedians, too. “We used computer vision and audio software to notice the response (反应) of each audience member, something a human comedian cannot do,” said Queen Mary PhD candidate Kleomenis Katevas, the robot’s programmer. “The machine used this information to decide who to look at and which gestures (姿势) to use.” The robot also had other advantages over human comedians. Impressions of other people and sounds are very popular ways for performers to get laughs, and according to New Scientist reporter Celeste Biever, the robot can perform recorded sound by simply playing it back. It can also act out programmed pieces from Shakespeare or just about anything else. “Another of the robot’s advantages is more surprising: because I feel less for Robothespian than for the human comics, I feel more relaxed during his performance,” Biever added. And of course, Robothespian is unlikely to feel as nervous as other comedians do, or be affected too badly by an audience member shouting at it. So, the big question: Is the robot comedian funny? Well, perhaps you can judge by reading one of its jokes. For example: “I once dated a MacBook. It didn’t work because she was all ‘i’ this, and ‘i’ that.” It might not seem so funny when you read it, but a joke about a selfish computer might be the comedy of the future. The Queen Mary researchers say they’re most interested in how audiences can be a part of live performances. So in the future, we may be watching robots performing exactly the show we want to see. Do you think it’s time for the robot to write some more jokes? 17. RoboThespian was originally developed to ______. A. find out if robots could understand human jokes B. see if robots could perform in the way human comedians do C. help human comedians perform better on stage D. help human comedians come up with better jokes 18. When RoboThespian gave performances on stage, it ______. A. performed completely different jokes to human comedians B. recorded each audience member’s reaction and acted accordingly C. imitated the audience’s voices to make them laugh D. was affected easily by an audience member shouting at it 19. According to the article, Celeste Biever ______. A. often gets offended by poor jokes from human comedians B. feels more comfortable watching robots performing jokes C. doesn’t think robots are suitable for live comedy performances D. believes the future of comedy lies in robot comedians 20. What is the article mainly about? A. RoboThespian the robot comedian and its advantages. B. A comparison between human comedians and robot comedians. C. How robot technology could help us with our daily tasks in the future. D. Predictions of the comedy of the future and concerns about it. |  |
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