高二暑假综合测试(111893)-高二英语阅读(642)-21英语网

A

I was given an interesting assignment in my Spanish class. We were asked to think of an invention, use Spanish to describe it, and then present it to the class. My partner and I were very passionate (热情的) about it.

After discussion, we decided our invention was a pen that would write whatever its writer was thinking. We named it the “Powerful Pen of Thought”.

The next day, the class had to do a timed piece of writing about the detailed (详尽的) features of our invention. My partner and I both knew what it would do: The writer would basically move his or her arm and the pen would write a good essay. But we started to think of more ideas. How about helping people to remember helpful things when they were doing their homework? Students would love this idea! Also, the pen would use advanced algorithms (算法) to make the word choice better and the diction (措辞) clearer. Then how would the pen know what to write? It would have advanced sensors (传感器) along the grip (笔杆) that could read the user’s mind.

When we were finished writing, we both agreed that our invention was the best in the class. Soon came the time for our presentation. Two groups would present their projects in Spanish, and the class would vote who had the better invention.

As we got ready to present, I almost felt sorry for the group that went against us. However, things didn’t go as we had thought they would.

After our presentation, the class began to ask us questions.

“Would your pen be allowed in exams?” someone asked.

“Uh, yes, don’t see why not,” I replied.

“That’s not very fair,” she responded.

“How exactly would it be different from all the other pens?” another student asked.

“It would be as intelligent as a computer ... It could read your mind and write the things you think,” I answered.

“That’s not creepy (惊悚的) at all ... ” he muttered (嘀咕).

In the end, the class liked the other group’s invention better. They invented a car that didn’t need to run on fuel. People’s minds are so hard to predict.

By Richard Nai

1. When he first received his assignment in his Spanish class, the author ______.

A. was already confident of beating the rival team

B. decided to finish the task alone

C. was very excited about the topic

D. found it tough and boring

2. Which of the following is a feature of the invention the author’s team came up with?

A. It could enable people to write essays without moving their arms.

B. It could help students to do better in their homework.

C. It could tell whether the user was lying or not.

D. It could provide quick answers to advanced algorithm problems.

3. We can infer from the article that ______.

A. the pen invented by the author’s team could soon be put on sale

B. the author believes cars running without fuel is a stupid idea

C. the author was satisfied with his group’s invention but a little disappointed with the result

D. the author believes that in the future, pens could be as intelligent as computers

B

A trip across the Pacific will guarantee you a different experience with a tipping (给小费) culture you’ve never come across in China.

In the US, giving a little extra money to service workers on top of your bill is a common practice.

Though US national law requires (要求) that businesses pay workers at least $7.25 (45 yuan) per hour, employees receiving tips – often waiters and waitresses – are the exceptions (例外). They usually only receive at least $2.13 an hour, and tips make up the difference. As The Wall Street Journal put it: “The American system of tipping holds the promise of great rewards for waiting staff.”

So how should you tip if you are in the US?

Normally you pay tips as a percentage of the bill. Offering an extra 15 percent of the bill to the waiter or waitress in a restaurant and to the delivery man or woman is customary (惯例的) and expected. You can offer more for great service and less for poor service.

Yet there is an exception. For take-out food, you don’t have to provide tips, though some people say that filling an order still requires work and time that deserve (应得) a little extra – but maybe a little less.

Tips are not expected at fast food restaurants, pizza parlors (披萨店), cafés or ice cream shops either, though a tip jar might be right by the cash register (收银机). Don’t feel obligated to throw some money in, but also remember that it doesn’t hurt. Those workers do not rely on tips.

Other service workers also receive tips. For taxi drivers, 15 percent is the norm (标准), more if they help with your bags. Hairdressers often receive about 15 percent of the bill. The same goes for spa therapists (理疗师) and tour guides.

Today, you can even pay tips on a credit card. When receiving a copy of the bill to sign, you are free to fill in how much you’d like to tip.

Though thinking about when to tip and how much you should tip causes a big headache for many Chinese people, it’s important to bear in mind that as long as you show respect and use your reasoning, things will be just fine.

By Chris Higgins

4. What is the article mainly about?

A. How tipping culture started in the US.

B. How to give tips properly in the US.

C. New ways to give tips in the US.

D. The different attitudes that Chinese people and Americans have toward tipping.

5. Which of the following is said to be against the norm of tipping in the US?

A. Paying waiters and waitresses less than $7.25 per hour.

B. Ignoring the tip jar at fast food restaurants, cafés, or ice cream shops.

C. Tipping taxi drivers less than 15% because of poor service.

D. Refusing to give tips to your tour guide.

6. The underlined word “obligated” in Para-graph 7 probably means ______.

A. being forced to do something

B. being grateful for something

C. being surprised at something

D. being embarrassed about something

7. According to the author, Chinese consumers ______.

A. don’t necessarily have to follow the tipping rules in the US

B. should use their credit cards to give tips

C. must argue about the amount of tip they have to pay

D. should take it easy and give the correct tips for different occasions

C

In the Social Media Age, teenagers are sharing more information about themselves on social media sites than ever before.

According to a Common Sense Media research study, more than eight in ten teenagers have visited a social networking site, and three out of four teenagers now have a profile (账号) on a social networking site.

However, while social media sites can improve teenagers’ communication abilities, experts say that social networking could be harmful to healthy teenage self-esteem (自尊).

Health educator and motivational (激励的) speaker Scott Fried began working with teenagers 22 years ago. He recently developed a new lecture, Broken-Heartedness and Intimacy in the Age of Social Media, to discuss with teenagers the differences between their personalities online and their true selves.

“The definition (定义) of growing up is bringing together many different parts of your personality,” Fried said. “As you grow, they turn into one whole personality. Now, you have a personality at school, at home, and online. The goal of being a teenager is to bring together all those different parts that are shown online in a complete way.”

Fried uses the phrase “compare and despair (绝望)” to describe the bad effects of social media on teenage self-esteem.

“If you compare yourself to someone else, you’re usually going to end up despairing,” Fried said. “One of the problems with social media is that we throw our best selves out there, or what we like to think of as our best self.”

Psychologist Nadine De Giordany says that teenagers who already have low self-esteem can easily get depressed (抑郁) and give others their low self-esteem. De Giordany says social media is causing more and more depression. He adds that parents should educate their children early on about social media.

“Teenagers can use a whole lot of resources that affect the way they deal with peer pressure,” De Giordany said. “As the child is growing up, monitor what it is that they have access to. There is an age that it (social media) is appropriate (合适的) for and there is an age that it isn’t appropriate for.”

8. According to the study by Common Sense Media research, ______.

A. social media sites are very helpful in improving people’s communication skills

B. human society is about to enter the Social Media Age

C. the majority of today’s teenagers have access to social net-working sites

D. teenagers would rather share secrets with online friends than with their parents

9. Which of the following statements would Scott Fried agree with?

A. Social networking is good for the development of teenage self-esteem.

B. Teenagers should hide their true personalities online.

C. Teenagers have to learn to live with different kinds of personalities.

D. People often set impractical standards for themselves on social networking sites.

10. What is Nadine De Giordany’s advice to parents on how to deal with teenagers’ social networking problems?

A. Parents should check their children for the signs of depression every now and then.

B. Parents should talk to their children about the proper ways to use social media as early as possible.

C. Parents should stop their children from using social networking sites frequently.

D. Parents should teach their children to make good use of social media to deal with peer pressure.

D

At home, ordering food from a menu is a normal, everyday routine. I don’t even give it a second thought. In China, it’s a whole other story! Here, ordering is a fun game of trial and error, and the adventure begins before the food is even served!

Many restaurants in central Beijing advertise (宣传) “English language menus”, but the translations can just add to the confusion (困惑). Although accompanying pictures can be a helpful relief (宽慰), the translations often make the whole experience even more amusing. During my first few weeks in China I tried some delicious dishes with bizarre (古怪的) names. As an experiment, my friends and I would order things like “students addicted to chicken gristle (软骨)” and “red burned lion head”. It was always fun to see what landed on our table. Eventually we learned that “lion head” was actually pork, and “students” are “addicted” to diced (切碎的) chicken with green pepper.

Recently, I stumbled across (偶然发现) a busy restaurant down a narrow side street in a Beijing hutong. It was lunchtime and the small room was packed with people sitting on small stools (凳子) slurping (啧啧吃) noodles. I was hungry and cold, and the steaming bowls looked irresistible (难以抗拒的)! I sat myself down and called out for a “caidan!” In response, the waitress pointed to a wall at the back of the restaurant. The wall was full of Chinese characters describing numerous dishes. There was only one sentence in English: “crossing over the bridge noodles”.

I had never heard of the dish and had no idea what it would taste like. I took a gamble and ordered one bowl of “crossing over the bridge noodles”. A few minutes later the waitress carried over a heavy bowl full of broth (汤) and I quickly dug in. It was the best bowl of noodles I had ever tasted! I have been back again and again and each time I point at the one English sentence – “crossing over the bridge noodles”. I always enter a restaurant in China feeling excited and a little nervous. Who knows what the next ordering adventure will reveal?

By Siobhan Rooney

11. The article is mainly about ______.

A. the author’s favorite Chinese dishes

B. the fun the author had ordering food in China

C. a comparison between Western food and Chinese food

D. the correct way to translate the names of Chinese dishes into English

12. According to the article, the author finds the English-language menus in many of Beijing’s restaurants ______.

A. confusing but amusing

B. easy to understand

C. boring and annoying

D. accurate and helpful

13. The underlined word “gamble” probably means ______.

A. prediction B. warning C. suggestion D. risk

14. How does the author develop the article?

A. Through examples.

B. With comparisons.

C. By analyzing causes and effects.

D. By following the order of time.

E

Do you believe that things are connected for no scientific reason at all? For example, do you avoid saying the word “four” to avoid bad luck? If so, you have a superstition (迷信). And you’re not alone – all kinds of people have them.

For example, Portugal’s soccer superstar Cristiano Ronaldo always steps onto the pitch (球场) with his right foot first, according to The Telegraph. And sports players are not alone in having superstitions. A visitor once asked the Nobel Prize winning scientist Niels Bohr whether he really believed that the horseshoe he’d hung at his country home was lucky. “Of course not,” the Danish physicist (物理学家) said. “But I understand it’s lucky whether you believe in it or not.”

One recent study found that even scientists at MIT and other top US schools tended to look for a meaning in natural events, similar to the connection between stepping on the pitch and playing soccer well, according to The Atlantic. When the researchers gave the scientists little time to answer questions, they were twice as likely to agree with statements such as “Trees produce oxygen so that animals can breathe” than they were when they had more time to think about their reply.

It seems that fear can make people think differently in this way, too. In a British study, students imagined meeting a “witch” (女巫) who said she would cast (施魔法) an evil spell on them. About half said a scientist should not be worried about the spell. Yet each of them said that, personally, they wouldn’t let the “witch” do it to them.

So why are so many of us superstitious? Well, it seems to be our way of dealing with the unknown. “Many people quite simply just want to believe,” Brian Cronk, a professor of psychology at Missouri Western State University, said in a 2008 interview. “The human brain is always trying to work out why things happen, and when the reason is not clear, we tend to make up some pretty bizarre (古怪的) explanations.”

And these explanations aren’t completely unhelpful. In fact, superstitions can sometimes work and bring real luck, according to psychologists at the University of Cologne in Germany in the May 2010 issue of the journal Psychological Science. They found that believing in something can improve performance on a task like an exam.

So, what about you? What superstitions do you follow to keep you safe and successful?

By Paul Creasy

15. The author mentions avoiding saying the word “four” in the opening paragraph to ______.

A. show how foolish it is to believe in superstitions

B. introduce the readers to the topic of superstitions

C. discuss the scientific reasons behind superstitions

D. prove that it is reasonable to be superstitious

16. How many superstitious practices are mentioned in the article?

A. 2. B. 3. C. 4. D. 5.

17. We can conclude from the study on scientists at MIT and other top US schools that ______.

A. most superstitions grow out of fear

B. scientists studying natural events are more likely to be superstitious

C. there is hardly any connection between stepping on the pitch and soccer performance

D. even top scientists could arrive at false conclusions when they had little time to think about their reply

18. What is the author’s attitude toward superstition?

A. Supportive B. Neutral C. Critical D. Uninterested

19. What is the main idea of the article?

A. How to get away from superstitions.

B. How some common superstitions came into being.

C. Why superstitions are common.

D. How superstitions influence our daily lives.