阅读理解

阅读下列四篇短文,从每小题后所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中,选出最佳选项,并在答题卡上将该选项涂黑。

They wear the latest fashions with the most up-to-date accessories(配饰). Yet these are not girls in their teens or twenties but women in their sixties and seventies. A generation which would once only wear old-fashioned clothes is now favouring the same high street looks worn by those half their age.

Professor Julia Twigg, a social policy expert, said, “Women over 75 are now shopping for clothes more frequently than they did when they were young in the 1960s. In the 1960s buying a coat for a woman was a serious matter. It was an expensive item that they would purchase only every three or four years — now you can pick one up at the supermarket whenever you wish to. Fashion is a lot cheaper and people get tired of things more quickly. ”

Professor Twigg analyzed family expending(支出)data and found that while the percentage of spending on clothes and shoes by women had stayed around the same—and 5 or 6 per cent of spending—the amount of clothes bought had risen sharply.

The professor said, “Clothes are now 70 percent cheaper than they were in the 1960s because of the huge expansion of production in the Far East. In the 1960s Leeds was the heart of the British fashion industry and that was where most of the clothes came from, but now almost all of our clothes are sourced elsewhere. Everyone is buying more clothes but in general we are not spending more money on them.”

Fashion designer Angela Barnard, who runs her own fashion business in London, said older women were much more affected by celebrity(名流) style than in previous years .

She said, “When people see stars such as Judi Dench and Helen Mirren looking attractive and fashionable in their sixties, they want to follow them. Older women are much more aware of celebrities. There’s also the boom in TV programmes showing people how they can change their look, and many of my older customers do yoga to stay in shape well in their fifties. When I started my business a few years ago, my older customers tended to be very rich, but now they are what I would call ordinary women. My own mother is 61 and she wears the latest fashions in a way she would never have done ten years ago.”

1.Professor Twigg found that, compared with the 1960s, _______.

A. the price of clothes has generally fallen by 70%

B. the spending on clothes has increased by 5% or 6%

C. people spend 30% less than they did on clothes

D. the amount of clothes bought has risen by 5% or 6%

2.What can we learn about old women in terms of fashion?

A. They are often ignored by fashion designers.

B. They are now more easily influenced by stars.

C. They are regarded as pioneers in the latest fashion.

D. They are more interested in clothes because of their old age.

3. It can be concluded that old women tend to wear the latest fashions today mainly because .

A. they get tired of things more quickly

B. TV shows teach them how to change their look

C. they are in much better shape now

D. clothes are much cheaper than before

4.Which is the best possible title of the passage?

A. Age Is No Barrier for Fashion Fans

B. The More Fashionable, the Less Expensive

C. Unexpected Changes in Fashion

D. Boom of the British Fashion Industry

(Q = Question; A = Answer)

Situation I

Q: If someone sits right next to me in an empty movie theater, is it rude to move?

A: Maybe, but nobody will fault you for it. Chances are that the close sitter doesn’t realize he disturbs you, so he may miss your annoyance. You undoubtedly aren’t the first person he’s met who needs enough room. Forgive his bad judgment, move quietly and enjoy the show.

Situation II

Q: If I use the bathroom at a store, do I need to buy something?

A: Consider frequency and urgency. Is this a one-time thing or an emergency? If so, you don’t have to buy anything, but it would be kind if you did. However, if you regularly use the bathroom at this place, then you are a customer, and you should act like one.

Situation III

Q: If someone is talking loudly on the bus, is there a nice way to ask him to keep it down?

A: No. Try other means: 1) Stare at him until he gets aware of it and quiets down. 2) Lift your finger in a silence motion(动作) and smile. 3) Put on earphones and ignore him.

Situation IV

Q: If I remember my friend’s birthday a day late, should I apologize or just wish her a happy birthday like nothing happened?

A: This is the reason why the word belated was invented. “Happy belated birthday!” is short for: “Well, I know I forgot, but then I remembered. Forgive me and happy birthday.”

Situation V

Q: Can I lie about seeing a text because I was loo busy or lazy to respond to it?

A: Don’t lie. Receiving a text does not mean you need to respond(回复) to it. Why waste a perfectly good lie when the truth will serve? “Yes,” you can say if ever asked, “I saw it.” No explanation is needed as to why you don’t respond.

1.How will you quiet someone down in a public place?

A. By talking to him directly.

B. By pointing angrily at him.

C. By looking purposefully at him.

D. By making fun of him continuously.

2.The underlined word “belated” in Situation IV probably means ________.

A. delayed B. returned C. predicted D. regretted

3.You will get annoyed in a theater when ________.

A. a person is too rude to you

B. a person sits too close to you

C. a person is too active

D. a person talks too loudly

4.What is the passage mainly about?

A. Different ways to change others’ manners.

B. Good manners to talk to people.

C. Proper manners to offer help to others.

D. Modern ways to mind your manners.

If Confucius(孔子) were alive today and could celebrate his September 28 birthday with a big cake, there would be a lot of candles. He’d need a fan or a strong wind to help him put them out.

While many people in China remember Confucius on his special day, few people in the United States will give him a passing thought. It’s nothing personal. Most Americans don’t even remember the birthdays of their own national heroes.

But that doesn’t mean that Americans don’t care about Confucius. In many ways he has become a bridge that foreigners must cross if they want to reach a deeper understanding of China.

In the past two decades, the Chinese studies programs have gained huge popularity in Western universities. More recently, the Chinese government has set up Confucius Institutes in more than 80 countries. These schools teach both Chinese language and culture. The main courses of Chinese culture usually include Chinese art, history and philosophy(哲学). Some social scientists suggest that Westerners should take advantage of the ancient Chinese wisdom to make up the drawbacks of Western philosophy. Students in the United States, at the same time, are racing to learn Chinese. So they will be ready for life in a world where China is an equal power with the United States. Businessmen who hope to make money in China are reading books about Confucius to understand their Chinese customers.

So the old thinker’s ideas are still alive and well.

Today China attracts the West more than ever, and it will need more to introduce Confucius and Chinese culture to the West.

As for the old thinker, he will not be forgotten by people in the West, even if his birthday is.

1.The opening paragraph is mainly intended to _______.

A. attract the readers’ interest in the subject

B. provide some key facts about Confucius

C. show great respect for the ancient thinker

D. prove the popularity of modern birthday celebrations

2.We can learn from Paragraph 4 that American students _______.

A. take an active part in Chinese competitions

B. try to get high scores in Chinese exams

C. fight for a chance to learn Chinese

D. have a great passion in studying Chinese

3.What is the best title for this passage?

A. Forgotten Wisdom in America.

B. Huge Fans of the Chinese Language.

C. Old Thinker with a Big Future.

D. Chinese Culture for Westerners.

4.The passage is likely to appear in ______.

A.a biography B. a history paper

C. a newspaper D. a philosophy textbook

Speed-reading is a necessary skill in the Internet age. We skim over articles, e-mails and We Chat to try to grasp key words and the essential meaning of a certain text. Surrounded with information from our electronic devices, it would be impossible to cope if we read word by word, line by line. But a new trend calls on people to unplug and enjoy reading slowly, listing benefits beyond the intelligent stimulation.

A recent story from The Wall Street Journal reported on a book club in Wellington, New Zealand, where members meet in a cafe and turn off their smart phones. They sink into comfortable chairs and read in silence for an hour. Unlike traditional book clubs, the point of the slow reading club isn't exchanging ideas about a certain book, but to get away from electronic devices and read in a quiet, relaxed environment. According to the Journal, the Wellington book club is just one example of a movement started by book lovers who miss the old-fashioned way of reading before the Internet and smart phones.

Slow readers, such as The Atlantic's Maura Kelly, say a regular reading habit sharpens the mind, improves concentration, reduces stress levels and deepens the ability to sympathize(共鸣,同感). Another study published last year in Science showed that reading novels helps people understand other's mental states and beliefs, a fundamental skill in building relationships. Yet technology has made us less attentive readers. Screens have changed our reading patterns from the straight and information left-to-right sequence to a wild skimming and skipping pattern as we hunt for important words and information. Reading text punctuated(加标点符号)with links leads to weaker comprehension than reading plain text. The Internet may have made us stupider, says Patrick Kingsley from The Guardian. Because of the Internet, he says, we have become very good at collecting a wide range of interesting news, but we are also gradually forgetting how to sit back, reflect, and relate all these facts to each other.

Slow reading means a return to an uninterrupted, straight pattern, in a quiet environment free of distractions. Aim for 30 minutes a day, advises Kelly from The Atlantic. “You can squeeze in that half hour pretty easily if only during your free moments, you pick up a meaningful work of literature,” Kelly said. “Reach for your e-reader, if you like.Kindles make books like War and Peace less heavy, not less substantive, and also ensure you'll never lose your place.”

1. According to Patrick Kingsley, people are stupider partly because of_____________.

A. the straight, left-to-right screen

B. the lack of reflection

C. wide range of interesting news

D. a non-stop reading pattern

2.According to the passage, slow reading___________.

A. contributes to understanding among people

B. promotes the current technology advances

C. provides people with a quiet environment

D. cures the memory loss of elderly people

3.What's the best title for the passage?

A. Benefit of Reading Clubs

B. Reading of the Internet Age

C. Return of Slow Reading

D. Influence of Speed Reading

As we grow old, we realize that we have so little time to read and there are so many great books that we’ve yet to get around to. Yet re-readers are everywhere around us. For certain fans, re-reading The Lord of the Rings is a conventional practice annually. One friend told me that Jane Austen’s Emma can still surprise him, despite his having read it over 50 times.

New sudden clear understandings can be gained from the process of re-reading. Journalist Rebacca Mead, a long-time Englishwoman in New York, first came across George Eliot’s Middlemarch at 17. Since then, she has read it again every five years. With each re-reading, it has opened up further; in each chapter of her life, it has resonated (引起共鸣) differently. Mead evidenced the large number of ways in which really good books not only stand the test of repeat reads, but also offer fresh gifts each time we crack their spines. These kinds of books grow with us.

Scientists have also recognized the mental health benefits of re-reading. Research conducted with readers in the US found that on our first reading, we are concerned with the “what” and the “why”. Second time round, we’re able to better appreciate the emotions that the plot continues to express. As researcher Cristel Russell of the American University explained, returning to a book “brings new or renewed appreciation of both the great book and its readers.”

It’s true that we often find former selves on the pages of old books (if we’re fond of making notes on the pages). These texts can carry us back to a time and place, and remind us of the kind of person that we were then. We’re changed not only by lived experience but also by read experience – by the books that we’ve discovered since last reading the one in our hand.

More so than the movie director or the musician, the writer calls upon our imaginations, using words to lead us to picture this declaration of love or that unfaithfulness in life. A book is a joint project between writers and readers, and we must pour so much of ourselves into reading that our own life story can become connected with the story in the book.

Perhaps what’s really strange is that we don’t re-read more often. After all, we watch our favorite films again and we wouldn’t think of listening to an album only once. We treasure messy old paintings as objects, yet of all art forms, literature alone is a largely one-time delight. A book, of course, takes up more time, but as Mead confirms, the rewards make it adequately worthwhile.

1.The two books are mentioned in Paragraph 1 mainly to __________.

A. attract the attention of readers

B. introduce the topic of the passage

C. provide some background information

D. show the similarity between re-readers

2. The underlined expression “crack their spines” in Paragraph 2 refers to ________.

A. recite them B. re-read them

C. recall them D. retell them

3. The purpose of the passage is to __________.

A. call on different understandings of old books

B. focus on the mental health benefits of reading

C. bring awareness to the significance of re-reading

D. introduce the effective ways of re-reading old books

4.It can be learned from the passage that __________.

A. reading benefits people both mentally and physically

B. readers mainly focus on feelings on their first reading

C. we know ourselves better through re-reading experience

D. writers inspire the same imaginations as film directors do

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