题目内容
Our sense of hearing is one of the most important means of knowing what is going on around us. We are warned of danger by sounds. The sounds of music please us. Sound has a waste product, too, in the form of noise. Noise has been called unwanted sound. Noise is growing and it may get much worse before it gets any better.
Scientists, for several years, have been studying how noise affects people and animals and are alarmed by what they have learned.
Peace and quiet are becoming harder to find. Noise pollution is no joke. It is a threat that should be looked at carefully.
Sound is measured in units called decibels （分贝）. At a level of 140 decibels people feel pain in their ears.
Trucks, buses, motorcycles, airplanes, boats, and factories all make noise. This noise bothers not only our ears, but our minds and bodies as well.
There is a saying about "it is so noisy that you can't hear yourself think". Doctors who study noise believe that we must be able to hear ourselves think most of the time. If we don't, we may have headaches, other aches and pains, or even mental problems. Noise adds even more tension to a society which already faces too much stress.
49．The sense of hearing _______.
A．makes people feel angry
B．makes people want to dance
C．helps people to know what is happening around them
D．is something harmful to people
50．When sound is turned into noise, _______.
A．people become ill B．it makes people forget the past
C．people don't know how to deal with it D．it becomes a kind of pollution
51．Why does the passage say " Peace and quiet are becoming harder to find " ?
A．Sounds of over 140 decibels are common these days.
B．There are always wars going on in the world.
C．The world is making more and more noise.
D．All kinds of machines make noises.
52．Which of the following statements is TRUE?
A．Scientists are warning people noise can be harmful.
B．It's possible for man to get rid of all noises.
C．Sounds under 140 decibels are not considered to be noise.
D．Society has become more lively because there is noise now.
49-52 CDCA
【解析】略
Do you want to live with a strong sense of peacefulness, happiness, goodness, and self-respect? The collection of happiness actions broadly categorized(把…归类) as "honor" help you create this life of good feelings.
Here's an example to show how honorable actions create happiness.
Say a store clerk fails to charge us for an item. If we keep silent, and profit from the clerk's mistake, we would drive home with a sense of sneaky(卑鄙的) excitement. Later we might tell our family or friends about our good fortune. On the other hand, if we tell the clerk about the uncharged item, the clerk would be grateful and thank us for our honesty. We would leave the store with a quiet sense of honor that we might never share with another soul.
Then, what is it to do with our sense of happiness?
In the first case, where we don't tell the clerk, a couple of things would happen. Deep down inside we would know ourselves as a type of thief. In the process, we would lose some peace of mind and self-respect. We would also demonstrate(演示) that we cannot be trusted, since we advertise our dishonor by telling our family and friends. We damage our own reputations by telling others. In contrast, bringing the error to the clerk's attention causes different things to happen. Immediately the clerk knows us to be honorable. Upon leaving the store, we feel honorable and our self-respect is increased. Whenever we take honorable action we gain the deep internal rewards of goodness and a sense of nobility(高尚).
There is a beautiful positive cycle that is created by living a life of honorable actions. Honorable thoughts lead to honorable actions. Honorable actions lead us to a happier existence. And it's easy to think and act honorably again when we're happy. While the positive cycle can be difficult to start, once it's started, it's easy to continue. Keeping on doing good deeds brings us peace of mind, which is important for our happiness.
【小题1】According to the passage, the positive action in the example contributes to our_______.
| A．self-respect | B．financial rewards | C．advertising ability | D．friendly relationship |
| A．lying | B．stealing | C．cheating | D．advertising |
| A．telling the truth to the clerk | B．offering advice to the clerk |
| C．asking the clerk to be more attentive | D．reminding the clerk of the charged item |
| A．We'll be very excited. | B．We'll feel unfortunate. |
| C．We'll have a sense of honor. | D．We'll feel sorry for the clerk. |
| A．How to Live Truthfully | B．Importance of Peacefulness |
| C．Ways of Gaining Self-respect | D．Happiness through Honorable Actions |
阅读下面短文，根据所读内容在表格中的空白处填入恰当的单词。
注意：每个空格只填一个单词。
There are two basic ways to see growth: one as a product；the other as a process. People have generally viewed personal growth as an external（外在的）result or a product that can easily be identified and measured. The worker who gets a promotion，the student whose grades improve，the foreigner who learns a new language—these are examples of people who have measurable results to show for their efforts.
By contrast（对照），the process of personal growth is much more difficult to determine，since by definition it is a journey and not the specific signposts or landmarks along the way.The process is not the road itself，but the attitudes，feelings people have，and their caution or courage，as they meet with new experiences and unexpected difficulties.In this process，the journey never really ends;there are always new ways to experience the world，new ideas to try，new challenges to accept.
In order to grow，to travel new roads，people need to have a willingness to take risks，to face the unknown，and to accept the possibility that they may “fail” at first. How we see ourselves as we try a new way of being is necessary for our ability to grow. Do we see ourselves as quick and curious？If so，then we tend to take more chances and to be more open to unfamiliar experiences. Do we think we're shy and indecisive？Then our sense of fear can cause us to hesitate，to move slowly，and not to take a step until we know the ground is safe. Do we think we are slow to adapt to change or that we're not smart enough to deal with a new challenge？Then we are likely to take a more passive role or not try at all.
These feelings of insecurity and self-doubt are both unavoidable and necessary if we are to change and grow. If we protect ourselves too much，then we stop growing. We become trapped inside a shell of our own making.
|
Two basic ways to see growth |
1. |
Examples |
|
Product |
Easily identified and measured |
●The worker 2. a promotion ●The students making 3. in grades ●The foreigner learning a new language |
|
Process |
●4. to determine ● Never really ends |
●People's attitudes，feelings and their caution or courage，as they are 5. with new experiences and difficulties beyond 6. . ●Being 7. to take risks，to face the unknown，and to accept possible 8. |
|
9. |
●Too much self 10. can prevent us from growing. |
Although April did not bring us the rains we all hoped for, and although the Central Valley doesn’t generally experience the sound and lightning that can go with those rains, it’s still important for parents to be able to answer the youthful questions about thunder and lightning.
The reason these two wonders of nature are so difficult for many adults to explain to children is that they are not very well understood by adults themselves. For example, did you know that the lightning we see flashing down to the earth from a cloud is actually flashing up to a cloud from the earth? Our eyes trick us into thinking we see a downward motion when it’s actually the other way around. But then, if we believed only what we think and we see, we’d still insist that the sun rises in the morning and sets at night.
Most lightning flashes take place inside a cloud, and only a relative few can be seen jumping between two clouds or between earth and a cloud. But, with about 2,000 thunderstorms taking place above the earth every minute of the day and night, there’s enough activity to produce about 100 lightning strikes on earth every second.
Parents can use thunder and lightning to help their children learn more about the world around them. When children understand that the light of the lightning flashing reaches their eyes almost at the same moment, but the sound of the thunder takes about 5 seconds to travel just one mile, they can begin to time the interval (间隔) between the flash and the crash to learn how lose they were to the actual spark (闪光).
1.According to the author, in the area of the Central Valley____.
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A．rains usually come without thunder and lightning. |
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B．it is usually dry in April |
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C．children pay no attention to the two natural wonders. |
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D．parents are not interested in thunder and lightning. |
2.We believe that lightning is a downward motion because_______.
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A．we were taught so by our parents from our childhood. |
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B．we are taken in by our sense of vision. |
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C．it is a common natural sight. |
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D．it is a truth proved by science. |
3.What is TRUE about lightning according to the passage?
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A．Only a small number of lightning flashes occur on earth. |
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B．Lightning flashes usually jump from one cloud to another. |
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C．Lightning travels 5 times faster than thunder. |
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D．There are far more lightning strikes occurring on earth than we can imagine. |
4.The underlined word “activity” is most closely related to the word (s) _____.
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A．cloud |
B．lightning strikes |
C．lightning flashes |
D．thunderstorms |
5.It can be concluded from the passage that _______.
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A．we should not believe what we see or hear. |
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B．things moving downward are more noticeable. |
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C．people sometimes may have wrong ideas about ordinary phenomena. |
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D．adults are not as good as children in observing certain natural phenomena. |