It was a party. I was 18 and it was fresher(大一新生) week. I was at the beginning of a course in English Literature and full of enthusiasm for my subject. She was also 18 and enrolled in a course in physics.

“Your major is of no use to society. What will you do with it when you graduate, other than teach? Plus, you’re going to be poor your whole life,” she said. “You have no soul and your degree is boring. I don’t care how much money you’re going to earn. I’d rather be poor and don’t mind being a teacher. If I love my work I’ll have something far more meaningful than a big bank account!” came the reply.

And so it went, back and forth, neither of us giving the other an inch, each of us stubbornly committed to our prejudice. We were both ignorant, but our ignorance was also society’s ignorance. It had always been that way. Scientists mocked(嘲笑) humanists; humanists laughed at scientists. Back in the 1960s, the physicist-turned novelist C. P. Snow labeled the sciences-humanities divide “a problem of ‘the two cultures’” . He said it was bad for society. The modern world needed well-rounded people.

I think I know better now, but it would have helped if we had been encouraged to think a little more outside our science and arts “boxes”.

That’s why I believe it is healthy that China is beginning a debate on whether it’s wise for young people to have to choose which direction their careers – and lives – will take at such an early age. At the moment, in their second year of high school, students must choose either the sciences or the humanities. After making the choice, they focus their energies on passing the appropriate college entrance exam.

But now, people in China are asking: Is this forced, early decision good for young people or society? Young people need time to explore, to discover where their real talents and interests lie. There are more than just a few middle-aged people out there, stuck in jobs they hate because they made the wrong choice at the wrong time.

And from the point of view of society, isn’t it better for students to delay a while before they decide what to study? Scientists can benefit from learning to develop the critical skills associated with the humanities; students in the humanities, surely, only stand to gain by finding out a little more about science and technology, which are so important to the future of a developing country like China.

With any luck, in the future young people fresh to college will be better informed about the possibilities of education than people of my generation.

The author describes what happened at a fresher party to ________.

A. show that he was ready to defend the subject he enjoyed

B. lead up his argument that the sciences-humanities divide is harmful

C. prove that doing something meaningful is better than having a lot of money

D. describe how fierce students of different majors can be when arguing with each other

What was C. P. Snow’s attitude towards the sciences-humanities divide?

A. Indifferent.         B. Uncertain.         C. Positive.          D. Negative.

In the sixth paragraph, an example mentioning middle-aged people is used to show that ________.

A. students should not make decisions too early

B. not all people have a talent for or are interested in the sciences

C. these people did not have the chance to make a choice earlier in life

D. the earlier young people make a decision, the better it will be for them

According to the text, it is safe to say that ________.

A. sciences are more practical in the modern world

B. C. P. Snow was a novelist who became a physicist

C. future generations will be able to get more out of education

D. a command of both the sciences and humanities is important to society

What’s the best title for the article?

A. The sciences or the humanities, which to choose?

B. High school education in China

C. Isn’t it better to delay the choice of the career direction?

D. A better time to decide what to study

完形填空(共20小题,每小题1.5分,满分30分)

阅读下面短文,掌握其大意,然后从1—20题各题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中,选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项。

He was 11 years old and went fishing every chance he got from the dock at his family’s cabin on an island in the middle of a New Hampshire lake. On the day __1__ the bass (鲈鱼) season opened, he and his father were fishing early in the evening, __2__ sunfish with worms. Then he tied on a small lure (鱼饵) and practiced casting. When his pole __3__, he knew something huge was __4_. His father watched __5__ as the boy skilfully worked the fish alongside the dock. Finally, he very carefully lifted the __6__ fish from the water. It was the largest one he had ever seen, __7__ it was a bass. It was 10 P.M.-- two hours before the season opened. The father looked at the fish, then at the boy.

“You’ll have to __8__, son,” he said.

“Dad!” cried the boy.

“There will be other fish,” said his father.

“Not as big as this one,” cried the boy.

__9__ no one had seen them, nor could anyone ever know what time he caught the fish, the boy could __10__ by his father’s firm voice that the decision was __11__. He slowly worked the hook out of the lip of the huge bass and lowered it into _12__. The creature moved its powerful body and __13__. The boy thought that he would never again see such a great fish.

That was 34 years ago. Today, the boy is a successful architect in New York City. And he was __14__. He has never again caught such a magnificent fish as the one he __15__ that night long ago. But he does see __16__ fish again and again every time he comes up against a question of principles. As his father taught him, principles are simple matters of right and wrong. It is only the practice of principles__17__ difficult. Do we __18__ when no one is looking? 

We would if we __19__ to put the fish back when we were young. For we would have learned the truth. The decision to do right lives __20__ in our memory. It is a story we will proudly tell our friends and grandchildren.

1.A.until                      B.when                  C.after                   D.before

2.A.providing              B.catching             C.feeding               D.supplying

3.A.bent over              B.came up             C.turned over         D.broke down

4.A.on the other end    B.on the other hand C.on one hand         D.at the either side

5.A.with anxiety          B.in surprise           C.with admiration   D.for fear

6.A.delighted              B.frustrated            C.frightened           D.exhausted

7.A.and                       B.but                     C.however             D.yet

8.A.bring it home        B.put it aside          C.put it back          D.pick it up

9.A.Even though        B.Now that           C.Ever since          D.In case

10.A.tell                     B.say                     C.speak                  D.talk

11.A.passed                B.changed              C.fixed                   D.refused

12.A.the wide container                               B.the broad sea

       C.the black water                                    D.the small river

13.A.fled                    B.disappeared         C.floated               D.swam

14.A.wrong                 B.right                   C.satisfactory         D.pleased

15.A.landed                 B.saw                    C.cast                    D.threw

16.A.a different           B.many big             C.even bigger          D.the same

17.A.which is              B.it is                    C.that is                 D.this is

18.A.do wrong           B.do right              C.do harm             D.do good

19.A.were taught        B.told                    C.were let              D.ordered

20.A.freshly               B.fresh                 C.clearly                D.strongly

完形填空(共20小题;每小题1分,满分20分)

On the day before the bass(鲈鱼)season opened, he and his father were fishing early in the evening.

  When his pole  1 he knew something huge was on the other end. His father watched with    2  as the boy skillfully worked the fish alongside the dock.  3 , he very cautiously lifted the   4  fish from the water. It was the largest one he had ever seen,   5  it was a bass.

  The boy and his father looked at the handsome fish, gills(鱼鳃)playing back and forth in the moonlight. The father  6 a match and looked at his watch. It was 10 P.M.——two hours    7  the season opened. He looked at the fish, then at the boy. “You’ll have to put it back, son,” he said.

  “Dad!”  8  the boy.

  “There will be other fish,” said his father.

  “Not as big as this one,” cried the boy again.

  He looked around the lake. No other fishermen or boats were anywhere    9  in the moonlight. He looked again at his father.  10  no one had seen them, nor could anyone ever know what time he caught the fish, the boy could  11 from his father’s voice that the decision was not changed. He slowly  12  the hook out of the lip of the huge bass and lowered it into the   13  water. The boy suspected that he would never again see such a great fish.

  That was 34 years ago. Today, the boy is a successful architect in New York City. And he was   14 . He has never again caught such a magnificent fish as the one he caught that night long ago. But he does see that same fish—— again and again——every time he   15  a question of ethics(道德).

For his father taught him, ethics are simple 16 of right and wrong. It is only the  17  of ethics that is difficult. Do we do right when no one is looking?We would if we were taught to put the fish back when we were young. For we would have learned the   18 . The decision to do right lives fresh and fragrant in our   19 . It is a   20  we will proudly tell our friends and grandchildren.

1.                A.broke down     B.bent over       C.turned up     D.turned out

 

2.                A.desire          B.fear            C.admiration D.love

 

3.                A.In the beginning  B.Finally          C.Besides   D.All in all

 

4.                A.delighted       B.frustrated       C.frightened     D.exhausted

 

5.                A.but            B.however        C.and  D.while

 

6.                A.won           B.beat           C.struck    D.picked

 

7.                A.after           B.until           C.when D.before

 

8.                A.yelled          B.shouted         C.said  D.cried

 

9.                A.around         B.front           C.back D.right

 

10.               A.Ever since      B.Even though     C.In case    D.Now that

 

11.               A.say            B.speak          C.talk   D.tell

 

12.               A.worked         B.loosed         C.looked    D.attached

 

13.               A.shallow         B.black           C.low   D.white

 

14.               A.content        B.wrong          C.right  D.pleased

 

15.               A.come up with    B.gets on with     C.meets with D.catches us with

 

16.               A.matters        B.events         C.questions  D.things

 

17.               A.meaning        B.understanding   C.practice   D.point

 

18.               A.fact            B.truth           C.faith  D.incident

 

19.               A.mind          B.heart          C.memory   D.brain

 

20.               A.lesson          B.story           C.concept   D.standard

 

 

Lightning flashed through the darkness over Donald Lubeck’s bedroom skylight. The 80-year-old retired worker was shaken by a blast of thunder. It was 11 p.m. The storm had moved directly over his two-story wood home in the rural town of Belchertown, Massachusetts. Then he heard the smoke alarm beeping. Lubeck padded down the stairs barefoot and opened the door to the basement, and flames exploded out.

Lubeck fled back upstairs to call 911 from his bedroom, but the phone didn’t work. Lubeck realized he was trapped. “I started panicking,” he says.

His daughter and young granddaughters, who lived with him, were away for the night. No one will even know I’m home, he thought. His house was three miles off the main road and so well hidden by pines that Lubeck knew calling for help would be fruitless.

Up a hill about a third of a mile away lived Lubeck’s closest neighbors, Jeremie Wentworth and his wife. Wentworth had been lying down, listening to the radio when it occurred to him that the sound was more like a smoke detector. He jumped out of bed, grabbed a cordless phone and a flashlight, and headed down the hillside toward the noise.

He dialed 911. “Is anyone there?” he called out as he approached the house. Wentworth knew that Lubeck lived in the house.

Then he heard, “Help me! I’m trapped!” coming from the balcony off Lubeck’s bedroom.

“I ran in and yelled,‘Don, where are you?’ Then I had to run outside to catch my breath.”

After one more attempt inside the house, he gave up and circled around back. But there was no way to get to him. “I shined the flashlight into the woods next to an old shed and noticed a ladder,” says Wentworth. He dragged it over to the balcony and pulled Lubeck down just as the second floor of the house collapsed.

Wentworth and Lubeck don’t run into each other regularly, but Lubeck now knows that if he ever needs help, Wentworth will be there.

Lubeck still chokes up when he tells the story. “I was alone,” he says. “Then I heard the most beautiful sound in my life. It was Jeremie.”

1.According to the text, Lubeck___________.

A.stayed calm in the fire                    B.couldn’t find a safe way out

C.lived on the first floor                    D.called for help in the fire

2.How did Wentworth help Lubeck escape?

A.He called 911.

B.He went upstairs and took Lubeck out.

C.He put out the fire.

D.He used a ladder and pulled Lubeck down.

3.Which of the following factors was not mentioned in the text that almost cost Lubeck’s life?

A.He was living in his wood home alone that night.

B.The storm was too heavy and the fire was too fierce.

C.He lived far from the main road and was surrounded by pines.

D.He was too frightened to escape from the danger.

4.What does the text mainly talk about?

A.A near neighbour is better than a distant cousin.

B.A good way to get a narrow escape.

C.God helps those who help themselves.

D.Blood is thicker than water.

 

违法和不良信息举报电话:027-86699610 举报邮箱:58377363@163.com

精英家教网