议论文阅读模拟训练(51979)-高三英语阅读(360)-21英语网

A

Lately, I’ve been feeling that technology is dividing us as much as uniting us. Yes, it can make the far feel near. But it can also make the near feel far.

I realized this after a cab ride from Charles de Gaulle Airport to my hotel in Paris. The driver and I were together for an hour, but between the two of us, we had been doing six different things. He was driving, talking on his cell phone, and watching a video on a screen in the dashboard. I was riding, working on my laptop, and playing my iPod. There was one thing we never did: Talk to each other.

I love connectivity, but I’m finding this age of interruption overwhelming. I’m not alone. A month ago, I was trying to find a friend in Jerusalem. I kept calling his cell phone and getting no answer. I eventually found him at home. “What’s wrong with your cell phone?” I asked. “It was stolen,” he said, adding that he didn't replace it because it was constantly breaking his concentration. “Since then, the first thing I do every morning is thank the thief and wish him a long life.”

1. How many problems did the writer mention that technology brings to modern life?

A. 1 B. 2

C. 3 D. 4

2. Why did the writer present the example of his cab ride?

A. To tell readers it was boring from the airport to his hotel.

B. To explain why he and the driver didn’t talk to each other.

C. To prove how technology separates people from each other.

D. To show that he hated to be interrupted while working on the journey.

3. What’s the correct understanding of “I’m not alone”.

A. I don’t feel lonely since I have friends even far away in Jerusalem.

B. The technology helps me to communicate with my friend far away.

C. Others are also annoyed by the interruption brought by the technology.

D. Others, just like me, also enjoy being tightly connected with friends by technology.

4. Why did the writer’s friend say he thanked the thief every morning?

A. In fact he wanted to show his anger towards the thief who stole his cell phone.

B. Because he was so kind that he couldn’t hate anyone including the thief.

C. He found he was free from the constant interruption with the cell phone gone.

D. Because he didn’t want to be connected with others around by cell phone.

B

My college roommate and I decided to decorate (装饰) our dormitory bedroom. We thought that colored lights would be perfect. But having none, we painted all of our light bulbs red. When we switched the lights back on, the room shone with a dark and strange blood-red color.

I learned a couple of things about painted light bulbs that semester. I learned, first, that one can’t study by that kind of lighting. Another thing is that paint burns. Smoke from our lamps and lights sent us outside gasping for breath.

Red bulbs may be nice to look at, but they don’t cast much light. We string colored lights as decoration. They are designed to call attention to themselves, but never to light a room. We might say, “Aren’t they pretty?” Or we may say, “I see flashing colored lights behind my car!” But we do not use them to illuminate (照亮)an area.

Clear lights, on the other hand, show off all that is nearby. We may aim a light at a wall and say, “What a lovely painting!” Or we might switch on the lights in our home and comment, “What a dirty bedroom.” Clear lights illuminate the world around them.

I wonder if people are like lights, too. Some seem to be colored lights and draw attention to themselves. Others, the clear lights, seem to shine on the people around them. We may say of one, “Isn’t she smart? She always surprises me with her brilliance.” And of another we might say, “I always feel better when he is around. He seems to know me. And he believes in me.”

It is as if one shines so brilliantly that the room is filled with a bright, colorful, light. But the other shines on those nearby, clearly illuminating their goodness. If I am to be a light in this world, I think I’ll lose the paint. Clear lights are best.

1. After the writer and his roommate painted their light bulbs red, ______.

A. he found the bulbs were not much of a decoration

B. the effect they got proved to be just as they had expected

C. they couldn’t even stay in their dorm when the bulbs were on

D. the dark red bulbs provided them with good relaxation while studying

2. According to the text, the writer seems to think that ______.

A. what looks pretty cannot be useful

B. we should treat people differently

C. smart people often draw attention to themselves

D. just like colored and clear lights, people are different

3. The writer wants to be a “clear light”, because he ____.

A. thinks he is a person who always makes others feel better

B. would love to help people see the goodness in themselves

C. hates others to shower attention on him

D. realizes only looking good is no use

C

If we bought only things we needed, there would be enough for everybody. What do we need? What you need depends on how old you are and your way of life. Rearrange the list of things you can buy and put the things you think we most need at the top of the list.

Coat

Designer jeans

Water

CD player

Dental check up

Restaurant meal

Telephone

Jewelry

Food

Shampoo

MP3 player

Beer

Toothpaste

Bar of chocolate

Cushion covers

If we don’t need to buy so much, we don’t need to work so much. We can take part-time jobs or reduce our working day from eight hours to six hours. Some people are leaving very well paid jobs to live a healthier life in the countryside or a more exciting life abroad. Parents can spend more time with their children and the unemployed are given more opportunities to work.

If we start to respect saving the earth more than spending money, we will become ‘conservers’ (保护者). When we are conservers, we try to choose environmentally friendly products that last a long time. We may find growing our own vegetables or making our own clothes more rewarding than buying them.

Next time you go shopping, think about what you really need to buy. Don’t deprive (剥夺) yourself of things you like, but decide what you should buy before you go out, so that you won’t be influenced by advertisements or promotions. If it is more expensive to buy goods that don’t have much packaging and things that are more durable, buy less. If you can choose to work less, decide which things you would like to make, do or grow yourself. Even though you have less money, your life will become richer.

(This article is written by Julie Bray provided by British Council)

1. From the passage, we can see the author suggests us consumers ________.

A. find out more about a product instead of buying blindly

B. consider what we really need before going shopping

C. avoid regret at not buying enough

D. find a real bargain

2. The writer will agree with you if you buy products that are __________.

A. beautifully packaged B. extremely cheap

C. usable for a long time D. fashionable now

3. According to the passage, if we don’t need to buy so much, the benefits will include __________.

a. we will have more time enjoying life

b. the employment rate will increase

c. we will get better paid jobs

d. we as consumers will have more choices of what to buy

A. abc B. abd

C. ab D. ad

4. This passage is mainly written to _____.

A. persuade people to buy less and buy environmentally friendly products

B. put forward some questions so that you can become a smart buyer

C. introduce some good ways to make a wiser choice when shopping

D. criticize the consumer society in which people buy too much

D

I once had a community newspaper I called the “Suburban” and in one particular issue in 1983 I had two hairdressers — who happened to be right across the street from each other — advertise exactly the same perm (电烫发) special with the same quarter-page advertisement size. They also paid the same price for their advertisements.

The first hairdresser was Unisex Scissors who had been 10 years at the same location and had an advertising budget (预算) that allowed them to buy one quarter-page advertisement every three months or so.

The other hairdresser was called Singleton’s — just two years in business before they opened up their new location in the suburb of Charleswood, right across the street from Unisex Scissors. They had been there for a month before advertising in my newspaper.

During Singleton’s two years in Winnipeg, they had advertised a lot on TV, radio and newspapers, especially when they were first introducing themselves to Winnipeggers. By the time they opened their Charleswood location they already had at least eight locations compared to Unisex Scissors’ one location.

The results from both advertisements were real eye-openers for me. Both advertisements were equally good, so the only thing different was their previous advertising.

Unisex Scissors got 13 coupons (预约券) back from their advertisement and they were thrilled with the results. The 13 perm sales not only paid for the advertisement but gave them more profit than usual since one or two people using the coupons were brand new customers.

Singleton’s got 413 coupons back and they were only mildly pleased with the results!

Of course, I published Singleton’s results in my newspaper as an example of the results you could receive by advertising in the paper. It was only years later I realised that Singleton’s did not get their 413 coupons returned from my paper alone. That advertisement just stood very, very high on the shoulders of EVERY OTHER Singleton’s advertisement read or seen by every one of my readers. Singleton’s had done an excellent job marketing their concept and now were reaping such huge rewards.

Every $100 spent on advertising returned a MINIMUM $5,000 profit to the Singleton’s corporation. Unisex Scissors — although very happy with the results — got $100 or so expense paid profit from their $100 investment, after being a neighbourhood hairdresser for TEN YEARS!

Was Singleton’s a better hairdresser than Unisex Scissors? NO! They just made people BELIEVE they were better. (In fact, I found out years later that the “Special Singleton’s Way of Cutting Hair” was the SAME training EVERY hairdresser gets. Singleton’s just made it “appear” as if it were only available to Singleton’s-trained hairdressers.)

1. From the passage, we know that the two hairdressers mentioned in the story ______.

A. advertised different products in the newspaper

B. both opened up their Charleswood locations in 1983

C. were both quite satisfied with the results from their advertisements

D. paid the same price for their advertisements in the same newspaper

2. We can infer from the passage that ______.

A. of the two hairdressers, Unisex Scissors was more successful in advertising their products

B. compared to Unisex Scissors, Singleton’s knew more advertising strategies

C. the two hairdressers went to the newspaper the “Suburban” together to advertise

D. Singleton trained its hairdresser much better than Unisex Scissors did

3. Singleton’s got more profit back from the advertisement in my newspaper _______.

A. because they opened up their location much earlier in Charleswood

B. because they advertised in the same newspaper from time to time

C. because they had advertised quite a lot on TV, radio and other newspapers

D. because they did better in designing their advertisement than Unisex Scissors

4. By saying “The results … were real eye-openers for me.” in the fifth paragraph, the writer means that ______.

A. from the two ads he knew that you need to advertise your business’ products rather than concept

B. he was rather surprised at the different results of the equally good advertisements

C. it was surprising that they paid the same price for their advertisements in his newspaper

D. he learned a lot about how to design persuasive ads from the wording of the two ads

E

The simple tale of town and country mouse (taken from Aesop’s famous stories) shows that what may be a good place to live for one person, may not be good for another.

A modern version of this tale might look like this: Maria lives in a big city surrounded by the speed and convenience of urban life. She works in an office with 1,000 other employees, and travels to and from there on a crowded metro (地铁). Her home is a flat overlooking a busy city street, which is always alive with the sound of traffic and people passing by. After work she meets with friends in a bar or restaurant before going on to a disco or nightclub. Weekends are spent in the shopping mall with its numerous shops, multi-screen cinemas, fast food outlets and entertainment complexes. Alex, however, lives in a small village in the countryside. He cycles to work down country lanes every morning; the sound of tractors, birds and animals in his ears. In the evening, he relaxes at home in front of the fire with a good book to read. At weekends, he goes for long walks in the fields with his dog.

Unfortunately, life is not as simple as stories make it. A lot of today’s ‘town mice’ such as Maria would be happy to live in the country. Many modern cities have very large populations and can be crowded, dirty and dangerous places to live. More than half the world’s population now lives in cities. In much of Europe and North America this can be as high as 80 percent of a country’s population.

The 18th century marked the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, the depopulation of the countryside and the move to towns. The towns became places of mass employment in factories and offices. Today, many town dwellers (居民) wish to reverse (颠倒) this trend and return to a slower pace of life like Alex, our modern ‘country mouse’. Yet, a modern country existence is not without its problems: poor transport, a lack of access to hospitals and education, and a scarcity of services such as large shops, banks and entertainment.

The debate between town and country is meaningless these days, as so many people live in towns, and very few people are actually able to choose where they live; this is decided by their work or birth. The Internet and other mass media have linked country areas to the world, providing access to information — even to remote areas. If people are to be persuaded to stay in the countryside, other benefits of the city need to be available (employment, health care and education). On the other hand, the introduction of city parks and forests, and traffic-free zones, has helped in bringing a little of the countryside to the city streets.

(This article is written by Julie Bray provided by British Council)

1. Why did the writer give the example of the modern version of town and country mouse?

A. To prove that what may be a good place to live for one person may not be suitable for another.

B. To show that people living in town long for life in the countryside and vice versa (反之亦然).

C. To describe what city life and country life look like in stories so as to put forward their problems in real life.

D. To point out the difference between the classical Aesop’s fable and its modern version.

2. What dose the underlined word “scarcity” probably mean?

A. fear B. need

C. problem D. shortage

3. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

A. Town life is obviously better than the country life for most people.

B. Most people are living in cities in developed western countries.

C. People first moved from the countryside to towns in the 18th century.

D. The Internet has solved the problems for people moving to the countryside.

4. What can we infer from the reading passage?

A. Both country life and urban life should be improved to provide people with better living conditions.

B. People from the countryside find it hard to adjust to the fast-paced life in the big cities.

C. Most city dwellers have decided to give up town life and move to live in the countryside.

D. Nowadays people have enough freedom to choose wherever to live and work.