题目内容

American cities are similar to other cities around the world: In every country, cities reflect the values of the culture. American cities are changing, just as American society is changing.

    After World War Ⅱ,  the population of most large American cities decreased; however, the population in many Sun Belt cities increased. Los Angeles and Houston are cities where population shifts( 转移 )to and from the city reflect the changing values of American society. In the late 1940s and early 1950s, city residents (居民) became wealthier. They had more children so they needed more space. They moved out of their apartments in the city to buy their own homes. They bought houses in the suburbs( 郊区 ).

    Now things are changing. The children of the people who left the cities in the 1950s are now adults. Many, unlike their parents, want to live in the cities. They continue to move to Sun Belt cities and older ones of the Northeast and Midwest. Many young professionals are moving back into the city. They prefer the city to the suburbs because their jobs are there; or they just enjoy the excitement and possi-

bilities that the city offer.

   This population shift is bringing problems as well as benefits. Countless poor people must leave their apartments in the city because the owners want to sell the buildings or make apartments for sale instead of for rent. In the 1950s, many poor people did not have enough money to move to the suburbs; now many of these same people do not have enough money to stay in the cities.

   Only a few years ago, people thought that the older American cities were dying. Some city residents now see a bright, new future. Others see only problems and conflicts. One thing is sure: many dying  cities are alive again.

60. What does the author think of cities all over the world?

    A. They are alive.                          B. They are hopeless.

    C. They are similar.                        D. They are different.

61. Why did American city residents want to live in the suburbs after World WarⅡ ?

     A. Because older American cities were dying.

     B. Because they were richer and needed more space.

     C. Because cities contained the worst parts of society.

     D. Because they could hardly afford to live in the city.

62. According to the 4th paragraph, a great many poor people in American cities         

    A. are faced with housing problems           B. are forced to move to the suburbs

    C. want to sell their buildings                D. need more money for daily expenses

63. We can conclude from the text that        

    A. American cities are changing for the worse

    B. people have different views on American cities

    C. many people are now moving from American cities

    D. the population is decreasing in older American cities

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C
Scientists used to explore on the surface of the ocean. Now they are exploring below the surface, too. They want to know about ocean water and the plant and animal life deep in the ocean.
In 1934 the scientist William Beebe dived 3,000 feet below the surface in a hollow steel ball. In 1935 August Piccard dived 10, 330 feet. In 1960 his son Jean dived to a depth of 35,800 feet.
All these early dives were deep. But the divers could not stay down for very long. They had to come back up to the surface after a few seconds. Scientists needed to stay down longer to study life below the surface. Gradually they succeeded. Cousteau, a Frenchman, was able to keep men down to a depth of 36 feet for one month and to a depth of 90 feet for a week.
Now scientists are developing even better equipment. With this new equipment, men can stay below the surface for days or even weeks. In 1962 Cousteau set up a research station 35 feet below the surface. Then in 1964 he set up another station on the ocean floor of the Red Sea. This was the first undersea station to operate without help from the surface.
Many countries are now studying undersea living things. The former Soviet Union had an undersea laboratory in the Crimean Sea. The United States has a laboratory 50 feet down on the ocean floor off the Virgin Islands. In 1970 five men lived there for two weeks. Then a team of five women scientists stayed in the laboratory. Next came other teams of men. All were there to explore the ocean depths and to make plans for the use of its resources. Scientists hope to find enough mineral, vegetable, and animal wealth there to provide food for the entire world.
64. In order to _____, scientists are exploring below the surface of the ocean.
A. know about the ocean water deep in the ocean
B. know about the plant and animal life deep in the ocean
C. stay down longer to study life of the plant and animal below the surface
D. both A and B
65. Who set up the first undersea station?
A. A Frenchman                         B. An American
C. A Russian                              D. The passage made no mention
66. Which of the following is true according to the passage?
A. Nobody can stay below the surface of the ocean.
B. The early divers could not stay below the surface of the ocean for very long.
C. The purpose of setting up the undersea laboratories is to make plans for the use of the resources in the ocean.
D. Up to now only five women scientists have stayed in the undersea laboratory.

August was one of the nastiest months I can remember: torrential rain; a hailstorm or two; cold, bitter winds; and mists. But we are accustomed to such weather in England. Lord Byron used to say that an English summer begins on July 31 and ends on Aug. 1. He called 1816 "the year without a summer." He spent it gazing across Lake Geneva, watching the storms, with 18-year-old Mary Shelley. The lightening flickering across the lake inspired her Frankenstein, the tale of the man-made monster galvanized into life by electricity.

This summer's atrocious weather tempted me to tease a Green whom I know. "Well, what about your weather theory now?" (One of the characteristics of Greens is that they know no history.) He replied: "Yes, this weather is unprecedented. England has never had such an August before. It's global warming, of course." That's the Greens' stock response to anything weather-related. Too much sun? "Global warming." Too little sun? "Global warming." Drought? "Global warming." Floods? "Global warming." Freezing cold? "Global warming."

I wish the great philosopher Sir Karl Popper were alive to denounce the unscientific nature of global warming. He was a student when Albert Einstein's General Theory of Relativity was first published and then successfully tested. Einstein said that for his theory to be valid it would have to pass three tests. "If," Einstein wrote to British scientist Sir Arthur Eddington, "it were proved that this effect does not exist in nature, then the whole theory would have to be abandoned."

The idea that human beings have changed and are changing the basic climate system of the Earth through their industrial activities and burning of fossil fuels--the essence of the Greens' theory of global warming--has not much basis in science. Global warming, like Marxism, is a political theory of actions, demanding compliance with its rules.

Those who buy in to global warming wish to drastically curb human economic and industrial activities, regardless of the consequences for people, especially the poor. If the theory's conclusions are accepted and agreed upon, the destructive results will be felt most severely in those states that adhere to the rule of law and will observe restrictions most faithfully. The global warming activists' target is the U.S. If America is driven to accept crippling restraints on its economy it will rapidly become unable to shoulder its burdens as the world's sole superpower and ultimate defender of human freedoms. We shall all suffer, however, as progress falters and then ceases and living standards decline.

1. The writer of the passage is probably _______.

A.one of the “Greens”

B.an American

C.not quite a believer in Global Warming

D.an environmentalist

2.Which person(s), in the writer’s eyes, is the one he agrees with?  

A.Karl Marx         B.Sir Karl Popper     C.The Greens        D.Mary Shelley

3.Sir Arthur Eddington could be inferred as a ______.

A.politician          B.poet             C.Greenpeacer       D.physicist

4.“denounce”  in the third paragraph can be replaced by ______.

A.announce                             B.pronounce

C.speak out for                           D.speak out against

5. Which of the following is probably a good title for this article?

A.Why Einstein’s Theory Stands the Tests.

B.Which Country the “Greens” Are Attacking?

C.Global Warming? I See Little Point.

D.The Climate in England and beyond.

 

A painting by Chinese artist Qi Baishi set a record for modern art and calligraphy (书法) on the mainland when it sold for 425.5 million yuan at an auction (拍卖) on May 22. The sale was a  milestone (里程碑) in the auction of modern and contemporary artworks.

The price meant its value had risen more than 2,000 per cent in six years . The work , Eagle standing on pine tree with four-character coupleti(对联), measures about 2.6 metres by 1 metre . It was the second highest price paid for an artwork on the mainland . A Song dynasty work by Huang Tingjian was sold for 436.8 million yuan in 2010 . Qi’s painting was finished in 1946 when Qi was 86 , and was his largest work . With a starting price of 88 million yuan , it attracted nearly 50 bids(出价)in half an hour . Shanghai businessman Liu Yiqian said that the work had belonged to him and had cost less than 20 million yuan in 2005 . The auction company said the work was brought back to the mainland after being bought from a private owner in San Francisco six years ago .

China ranked first in global art sales last year , ahead of the United States and Britain . Four Chinese artists were among the top 10 in worldwide sales : Qi Baishi , Zhang Daqian , Xu Beihong and Fu Baoshi . Qi’s works ranked second in sales to Pablo Picasso’s last year . Qi was born into a peasant family in Hunan in 1864 . He taught himself to paint and focused on nature including plants , insects , birds and fish . He is mostly well-known for his paintings of shrimps . In 1953 , he was elected president of the Association of Chinese Artists . He died in Beijing in 1957 .

1.What’s the best title of the text ?

A.Qi Baishi’s Painting Was Discovered .

B.Qi Baishi’s Painting Was Brought Back .

C.Qi Baishi’s Painting Sets an Auction Record .

D.The Value of Qi Baishi’s Paintings Is on the Increase .

2.Whose artwork sold for the highest price on the mainland ?

A.Qi Baishi’s .

B.Huang Tingjian’s .

C.Xu Beihong’s .

D.Zhang Daqian’s .

3.The auction price of Qi’s painting was        million yuan higher than the starting price in the auction .

A.337.5 .

B.348.8 .

C.50 .

D.11.3 .

4.Which of the following is TRUE ?

A.Qi finished the painting when he was young .

B.The painting was once stolen by an American .

C.The owner of this painting Liu Yiqian gained a lot of money .

D.Pablo Picasso’s works ranked second in sales to Qi’s last year .

5. The text is most probably taken from a        .

A.computer book

B.library guide

C.technology magazine

D.newspaper report

 

B

Daban town is famous for girls and windmills(风车), while Loulan is a myth(神话)in the desert. From Daban, we move to another ancient city, Loulan.

Two thousand years ago, beside the beautiful and rich Luobu Lake, there lay Loulan, ancient city on the Silk Road. Businessmen from every country gathered here and there were dancing parties. Everything shows that people in Loulan lived a rich life then.

However, two thousand years later, this rich land suddenly disappeared from the map of China. Then it became an area covered with sand and dead tree trunks.

Loulan was first “discovered” by a Swedish man Sven Hedin in 1900. People from America, Britain, Japan and Sweden, all set foot here. Then in the 1930s, a Chinese named Huang Wenbi came to Loulan for the first time. He visited and studied this area and found many relics that were beautifully and carefully made.

It is recorded that the ancient city of Loulan was the capital of Loulan Kingdom during the Han and Jin dynasties. In the past century many things have been dug out there including Han Dynasty coins, mirrors and many others from Greece and Rome. All these things show that a lot of business between East and West once took place there.

Lying on the northwest of the Lop Nur area, the Loulan Kingdom is now a lifeless area with endless “forests” of mounds(小丘)which aren’t easily seen in other parts of the world. Its mystery (神秘) has been attracting so many people from so many countries.

65. The first person to set foot in Loulan in the 20th century is       .

A. a European                 B. an American

C. an Englishman              D. a Japanese

66. Before Loulan disappeared,          .

A. a lot of business between East and West had taken place there

B. people from America and Japan had set foot there

C. a lifeless area with lots of mounds could easily be seen there

D. Africans had visited the ancient country

67. We can infer from the passage that       .

A. Loulan was destroyed by the terrible weather there

B. wars between dynasties made Loulan disappear

C. foreigners came to Loulan and destroyed it

D. how Loulan disappeared is still unknown to us

68. What makes so many people visit Loulan Kingdom?

A. The beautiful scenery there.

B. Its developed business in the past.

C. Its mysterious stories

D. Those buried treasures there

 

I travel a lot, and I find out different "styles" (风格) of directions every time 1 ask "How can I get to the post office?"

Foreign tourists are often confused (困惑) in Japan because most streets there don't have names in Japan, people use landmarks (地标) in their directions instead of street names. For example, the Japanese will say to travelers, "Go straight down to the corner. Turn left at the big hotel and go past a fruit market. The post office is across from the bus stop."

In the countryside of the American Midwest, there are not usually many landmarks. There are no mountains, so the land is very flat; in many places there are no towns or buildings within miles. Instead of landmarks, people will tell you directions and distances. In Kansas or Iowa, for example, people will say, "Go north two miles. Turn east, and then go another mile."

People in Los Angeles, California, have no idea of distance on the map; they measure distance in time, not miles. "How far away is the post office?" you ask. "Oh," they answer, "it's about five minutes from here." You say, "Yes, but how many miles away is it?" They don't know.

It's true that a person doesn't know the answer to your question sometimes. What happens in such a situation? A New Yorker might say, 'Sorry, I have no idea." But in Yucatan, Mexico, no one answers "I don't know." People in Yucatan believe that "I don't know" is impolite. They usually give an answer, often a wrong one. A tourist can get very, very lost in Yucatan!

1. When a tourist asks the Japanese the way to a certain place they usually _________

A.describe the place carefully

B.show him a map of the place

C.tell him the names of the streets

D.refer to recognizable buildings and places

2.What is the place where people measure distance in time?

A.New York.

B.Los Angeles.

C.Kansas.

D.Iowa

3.People in Yucatan may give a tourist a wrong answer ________

A.in order to save time

B.as a test

C.so as to be polite

D.for fun

4. Which sentence is true according to the text?

A.There is no street names in Japan.

B.There is no landmarks in the countryside of American.

C.People in Yucatan always give wrong answers when asked the way.

D.People in Los Angeles measure distance in time, not miles when asked the way.

5. What can we infer from the text?

A.It's important for travelers to understand cultural differences.

B.It's useful for travelers to know how to ask the way properly.

C.People have similar understandings of politeness.

D.New Yorkers are generally friendly to visitors.

 

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