题目内容

December 21, 2012 marks the completion of the 5,125 year Great Cycle of the Ancient Maya Long Count Calendar.

Rather than being an end－point, this cycle that is closing is naturally I followed by the start of a new cycle. What this new cycle has in store for humanity is a mystery that has yet to unfold...

The recent 2012 movie serves to alert a targeted 140 million people, in case they too haven't already heard the news. Unfortunately, however, the movie does a disservice because it distorts the message of this ancient prophecy (预言) by associating it with fear and destruction, as described by the movie's global disaster scenario (场景), rather than the themes of transformation and renewal the prophecy is actually based on.

In other words, the global scenario of the 2012 movie is not based on any facts. As Emmerich clarifies，“We only used the fact that the Mayan calendar ends. That gave us the year.” Emmerich said after checking out the range of 2012 books on Amazon, he realized, “...there are so many (theories) that, in a way, you can just create your own.” He shares that “2012” was tacked on as a title to his disaster movie because it is something “people believe” and it made the movie seem more “real.”

Interestingly, Emmerich's underlying motivation for the movie seems to be genuine concern about the course we are all on as modern society. As he states, “I hope we are not ruining our planet. I really believe that, if we keep going and doing what we are doing, we will not be leaving the planet how it should be, for our kids. That has been going on for generations. It just very sad to see and read the news, every day, and see what these people are fighting over. It's like they don't understand that the clock is ticking.”

6. According to the Ancient Maya Long Count Calendar, December 21,2012 is the day on which ________.

A. the world will end with many disasters

B. the old age will end and a new one will begin

C. there will be a world flood

D. the world can survive many disasters

7. Which of the following is TRUE about the movie 2012?

A. It is intended to explore what is in store in the new cycle.

B. It tells us about the Ancient Maya Long Count Calendar as it is.

C. It is just based on the director's ideas.

D. It describes the ancient prophecy vividly.

8. What Emmerich says suggests that ________.

A. he is quite concerned about the present situation on the earth

B. he is regretful that people have misunderstood his movie

C. he himself believes what is described in the movie

D. he just wants to attract viewers by the disaster scenario

9. By this passage, the author intends to ________.

A. tell us about what the movie 2012 is all about

B. help the director to promote his film

C. tell us what we should learn from the movie 2012

D. explain whether we can trust the ancient prophecy

10. The underlined word “distort” in the third paragraph probably means ________.

A. change something in a wrong way

B. convey the original meaning

C. describe something clearly

D. give more proof to something

6. 解析：选B。细节理解题。从文章前两段可知，根据玛雅古日历，2012年12月21日，仅仅是一个轮回的结束，另一个轮回的开始。

7. 解析：选C。细节理解题。从文章第四段可知，电影导演仅仅是根据自己对玛雅日历的理解来执导的电影，并没有事实依据。

8. 解析：选A。推理判断题。从文章最后一段可知，电影导演的话说明了他对当前现状的担忧和对地球的保护意识。

9. 解析：选C。推理判断题。综合分析文章信息，电影《2012》并没有反映现实，但其中描述的灾难场景对我们也有一定的启示，我们应该好好保护地球，文章最后一段第一句反映了本文的写作目的。

10. 解析：选A。词义猜测题。综合全文可知：电影并没有真实反映古玛雅日历，而是扭曲了其中的信息。故可推测出，distort意为“扭曲；曲解”。

练习册系列答案

Russia won the host right of the 2018 World Cup England lost it on December 2．

A.
before
B.
or
C.
while
D.
even if

Once in a blue moon there is one on New Year's Eve. Revelers ringing in 2010 will be treated to a so-called blue moon. According to popular definition, a blue moon is the second full moon in a month. But don't 1 it to be blue - the name has nothing to 2 the color of our closest celestial（天体） neighbor.

A full moon 3 on December 2. It will appear again on Thursday in time for the New Year's countdown.

"If you're in Times Square, you'll see the 4 moon right above you. It's going to be that brilliant," said Jack Horkheimer, director emeritus of the Miami Space Transit Planetarium and host of a weekly astronomy TV show.

The New Year's Eve blue moon will be 5 in the United States, Canada, Europe, South America and Africa. For partygoers in Australia and Asia, the full moon does not show up 6 New Year's Day, making January a blue moon month for them.

However, the Eastern Hemisphere can celebrate with a partial lunar eclipse（月蚀） on New Year's Eve when 7 of the moon enters the Earth's shadow. The 8 will not be visible in the Americas.

A full moon occurs 9 29.5 days, and most years have 12. 10 , an extra full moon in a month - a blue moon - occurs every 2.5 years. The 11 time there was a lunar double take was in May 2007. New Year's Eve blue moons are rarer, occurring every 19 years. The last time was in 1990; the next one won't 12 again until 2028.

Blue moons have no astronomical 13 , said Greg Laughlin, an astronomer at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

"`Blue moon' is just a 14 in the same sense as a `hunter's moon' or a `harvest moon,'" Laughlin said in an e-mail.

The popular definition of blue moon 15 after a writer for Sky & Telescope magazine in 1946 misunderstood the Maine Farmer's Calendar and marked a blue moon as the second full moon in a month. In fact, the calendar 16 a blue moon as the third full moon in a season with four full moons, not the usual three.

Though Sky & Telescope corrected the 17 decades later, the definition caught on. For purists（语言纯正癖者）, however, this New Year's Eve full moon doesn't even qualify as a 18 moon. It's just the first full moon of the winter season.

In a tongue-in-cheek essay 19 on the magazine's Web site this week, senior contributing editor Kelly Beatty wrote: "If skies are clear when I'm 20 celebrating, I'll take a peek（眯着眼睛看） at that brilliant orb（天体） as it rises over the Boston skyline to see if it's an icy shade of blue. Or maybe I'll just howl."

( ) 1. A. wish B. wait C. hope D. expect

( ) 2. A. deal with B. do with C. develop with D. form into

( ) 3. A. occurred B. came C. ran D. went

( ) 4. A. full B. half C. bright D. part

( ) 5. A. out of sight B. visible C. big D. clear

( ) 6. A. until B. when C. before D. since

( ) 7. A. part B. all C. any D. none

( ) 8. A. moon B. eclipse C. sun D. shadow

( ) 9. A. each B. every C. either D. all

( ) 10. A. On the whole B. Generally speaking C. On average D. In addition

( ) 11. A. last B. next C. other D. another

( ) 12. A. go B. see C. come D. look

( ) 13. A. point B. evident C. theory D. significance

( ) 14. A. name B. object C. phenomenon D. tradition

( ) 15. A. created B. came about C. made D. copied

( ) 16. A. named B. called C. introduced D. defined

( ) 17. A. error B. name C. reality D. number

( ) 18. A. blue B. red C. yellow D. grey

( ) 19. A. published B. posted C. printed D. written

( ) 20. A. in B. out C. away D. on

A full moon 3 on December 2. It will appear again on Thursday in time for the New Year's countdown.

However, the Eastern Hemisphere can celebrate with a partial lunar eclipse（月蚀） on New Year's Eve when 7 of the moon enters the Earth's shadow. The 8 will not be visible in the Americas.

Blue moons have no astronomical 13 , said Greg Laughlin, an astronomer at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

"`Blue moon' is just a 14 in the same sense as a `hunter's moon' or a `harvest moon,'" Laughlin said in an e-mail.

( ) 1. A. wish B. wait C. hope D. expect

( ) 2. A. deal with B. do with C. develop with D. form into

( ) 3. A. occurred B. came C. ran D. went

( ) 4. A. full B. half C. bright D. part

( ) 5. A. out of sight B. visible C. big D. clear

( ) 6. A. until B. when C. before D. since

( ) 7. A. part B. all C. any D. none

( ) 8. A. moon B. eclipse C. sun D. shadow

( ) 9. A. each B. every C. either D. all

( ) 10. A. On the whole B. Generally speaking C. On average D. In addition

( ) 11. A. last B. next C. other D. another

( ) 12. A. go B. see C. come D. look

( ) 13. A. point B. evident C. theory D. significance

( ) 14. A. name B. object C. phenomenon D. tradition

( ) 15. A. created B. came about C. made D. copied

( ) 16. A. named B. called C. introduced D. defined

( ) 17. A. error B. name C. reality D. number

( ) 18. A. blue B. red C. yellow D. grey

( ) 19. A. published B. posted C. printed D. written

( ) 20. A. in B. out C. away D. on

NEW YORK— Picking a Christmas tree takes most people a few minutes, or a couple of hours if they head for the woods. Dave Murbach needs 11 months.

Almost every day of every year, Murbach’s thoughts turn to vision of a perfectly shaped evergreen tree that will take everyone's breath away.

Murbach is the man responsible for finding the towering tree that makes more attractive Manhattan’s Rockefeller Center each Christmas season.

“I'm always looking for a tree,” the center's chief gardener says. “I look for it even when I go to the beach in the summer. It' s like a homework assignment hanging over your head.”

And if he gets it wrong, there's nothing hiding it.

“Every day it's up, 400,000 people go by, and 2.5 million people watch the lighting celebration on television,”he says.

This year’s tree, a 74-foot Nomy spruce (云杉) from Richfield, Ohio, flown to New York on the world's largest cargo plane, was lighted on December 2.

The arrival of the tree leads in the Christmas season in New York — a tradition dating back to 1931, when the workers building Rockefeller Center put up a small tree with ornaments (装饰品).

The search for the next year's tree starts soon after the old tree is chopped up for wood chips and horse-jumping logs.

Murbach has three standards: The tree must be at least 65 feet high, at least 35 feet across and leaves dense (密集的) enough not to see through.

That's not as simple as it sounds. Though forests are full of evergreens, few get enough sunlight or space to fill out. And branches in snow regions often break under the weight, making trees unbalanced.

Back at the office, he sorts through hundreds of letters from people offering their trees, many addressed simply to “Mr. Christmas Tree Man.”

Though there was occasional anxiety attack and sleepless night, Murbach knows the effect the tree has on people: “It's for bringing people together, attempting to bring together people you love. That's what I hope it sets off.” But Murbach says he's always too worn out to celebrate Christmas.

51． Which is the correct order of the events in the passage?

a. Murbach’s thoughts turn to a perfectly shaped tree.

b. 2.5 million people watch the Christmas tree.

c. The tree is flown to New York.

d. It was lighted on December 2.

e. The tree is chopped up.

f. Murbach searches for the tree.

A. a, b, c, d, e, f B. c, d, b, f, e, a

C. c, d, e, b, a, f D. a, f, c, d, b, e

52． Murbach spends a lot of time that are exhibited in Manhattan’s Rockefeller Center each Christmas season.

A. taking care of Christmas trees

B. deciding on the perfect evergreens

C. sorting the letters from people

D. deciding the TV programs

53． Why does Murbach take his job seriously?

A. Because he wants everyone to be happy with his choice.

B. Because he hopes to make everybody unable to breathe.

C. Because he enjoys showing off.

D. Because he wishes to attract people's attention to himself.

54． According to Murbach' s standard of trees, the best tree must_______ .

A. be evergreen

B. have lots of space between their branches

C. be tall enough not to see through

D. be equally balanced

55． What kind of person do you think Murbach is?

A. A person always ignoring his family.

B. A person full of love.

C. A person devoted to his work.

D. A person with great anxiety.