The past ages of man have all been carefully labeled by anthropologists. Descriptions like ‘Palaeolithic Man’, ‘Neolithic Man’, etc., neatly sum up whole periods. When the time comes for anthropologists to turn their attention to the twentieth century, they will surely choose the label ‘Legless Man’. Histories of the time will go something like this: ‘in the twentieth century, people forgot how to use their legs. Men and women moved about in cars, buses and trains from a very early age. There were lifts and escalators in all large buildings to prevent people from walking. This situation was forced upon earth dwellers of that time because of miles each day. But the surprising thing is that they didn’t use their legs even when they went on holiday. They built cable railways, ski-lifts and roads to the top of every huge mountain. All the beauty spots on earth were ruined by the presence of large car parks.’

The future history books might also record that we were deprived of the use of our eyes. In our hurry to get from one place to another, we failed to see anything on the way. Air travel gives you a bird’s-eye view of the world—or even less if the wing of the aircraft happens to get in your way. When you travel by car or train a blurred (=not clear) image of the countryside constantly smears the windows. Car drivers, in particular, are forever obsessed with the urge to go on and on: they never want to stop. Is it the lure (引诱;诱惑) of the great motorways, or what? And as for sea travel, it hardly deserves mention. It is perfectly summed up in the words of the old song: ‘I joined the navy to see the world, and what did I see? I saw the sea.’ The typical twentieth-century traveler is the man who always says ‘I’ve been there. ’You mention the remotest, most evocative (引起记忆的) place-names in the world like El Dorado, Kabul, Irkutsk and someone is bound to say ‘I’ve been there’—meaning, ‘I drove through it at 100 miles an hour on the way to somewhere else.’

When you travel at high speeds, the present means nothing: you live mainly in the future because you spend most of your time looking forward to arriving at some other place. But actual arrival, when it is achieved, is meaningless. You want to move on again. By traveling like this, you suspend all experience; the present ceases to be a reality: you might just as well be dead. The traveler on foot, on the other hand, lives constantly in the present. For him traveling and arriving are one and the same thing: he arrives somewhere with every step he makes. He experiences the present moment with his eyes, his ears and the whole of his body. At the end of his journey he feels a delicious physical weariness. He knows that sound. Satisfying sleep will be his: the just reward of all true travellers.

Anthropologists label nowadays’ men ‘Legless’ because _________.

A. people forget how to use his legs.

B. people prefer cars, buses and trains.

C. lifts and escalators prevent people from walking.

D. there are a lot of transportation devices.

Travelling at high speed means _________.

A. people’s focus on the future       B. a pleasure

C. satisfying drivers’ great thrill      D. a necessity of life

Why does the author say ‘we are deprived of the use of our eyes’?

A. People won’t use their eyes.

B. In traveling at high speeds, eyes become useless.

C. People can’t see anything on his way of travel.

D. People want to sleep during travelling.

What is the purpose of the author in writing this passage?

A. Legs become weaker.

B. Modern means of transportation make the world a small place.

C. There is no need to use eyes.           D. The best way to travel is on foot.

What does ‘a bird’s-eye view’ mean?

A. See view with bird’s eyes.        B. A bird looks at a beautiful view.

C. It is a general view from a high position looking down.

D. A scenic place.

The only way to travel is on foot

The past ages of man have all been carefully labeled(标记)by anthropologists(人类学家). Descriptions like ‘Palaeolithic(旧石器时代) Man’, ‘Neolithic Man’, etc., neatly(干净地;整洁地) sum up whole periods. When the time comes for anthropologists to turn their attention to the twentieth century, they will surely choose the label ‘Legless Man’. Histories of the time will go something like this: ‘in the twentieth century, people forgot how to use their legs. Men and women moved about in cars, buses and trains from a very early age. There were lifts and escalators(自动电梯,自动扶梯)in all large buildings to prevent people from walking. This situation was forced upon earth dwellers(居民) of that time because of miles each day. But the surprising thing is that they didn’t use their legs even when they went on holiday. They built cable railways, ski-lifts and roads to the top of every huge mountain. All the beauty spots on earth were marred (糟蹋)by the presence of large car parks. ’

The future history books might also record that we were deprived(剥夺) of the use of our eyes. In our hurry to get from one place to another, we failed to see anything on the way. Air travel gives you a bird’s-eye view of the world – or even less if the wing of the aircraft happens to get in your way. When you travel by car or train a blurred image of the countryside constantly smears the windows. Car drivers, in particular, are forever obsessed with the urge to go on and on: they never want to stop.

Is it the lure of the great motorways, or what? And as for sea travel, it hardly deserves mention. It is perfectly summed up in the words of the old song: ‘I joined the navy to see the world, and what did I see? I saw the sea.’ The typical twentieth-century traveler is the man who always says ‘I’ve been there. ’ You mention the remotest, most evocative place-names in the world like El Dorado, Kabul, Irkutsk and someone is bound to say ‘I’ve been there’ – meaning, ‘I drove through it at 100 miles an hour on the way to somewhere else. ’

When you travel at high speeds, the present means nothing: you live mainly in the future because you spend most of your time looking forward to arriving at some other place. But actual arrival, when it is achieved, is meaningless. You want to move on again. By traveling like this, you suspend all experience; the present ceases to be a reality: you might just as well be dead. The traveler on foot, on the other hand, lives constantly in the present. For him traveling and arriving are one and the same thing: he arrives somewhere with every step he makes. He experiences the present moment with his eyes, his ears and the whole of his body. At the end of his journey he feels a delicious physical weariness. He knows that sound. Satisfying sleep will be his: the just reward of all true travellers.

1. Anthropologists label nowadays’ men ‘Legless’ because

       A . people forget how to use his legs.            B  people prefer cars, buses and trains.

       C  lifts and escalators prevent people from walking. D  there are a lot of transportation devices.

2. Travelling at high speed means

       A people’s focus on the future.   B a pleasure.

C satisfying drivers’ great thrill.  D a necessity y of life.

3. Why does the author say ‘we are deprived of the use of our eyes’ ?

       A  People won’t use their eyes.     B In traveling at high speed, eyes become useless.

       C  People can’t see anything on his way of travel.   D  People want to sleep during travelling.

4. What is the purpose of the author in writing this passage?

       A Legs become weaker.   B Modern means of transportation make the world a small place.

       C There is no need to use eyes.    D The best way to travel is on foot.

5. What does ‘a bird’s-eye view’ mean?

       A  See view with bird’s eyes.    B  A bird looks at a beautiful view.

C It is a general view from a high position looking down.   D  A scenic place.


Passage one(The only way to travel is on foot)
The past ages of man have all been carefully labeled by anthropologists. Descriptions like ‘ Palaeolithic Man’, ‘Neolithic Man’, etc., neatly sum up whole periods. When the time comes for anthropologists to turn their attention to the twentieth century, they will surely choose the label ‘Legless Man’. Histories of the time will go something like this: ‘in the twentieth century, people forgot how to use their legs. Men and women moved about in cars, buses and trains from a very early age. There were lifts and escalators in all large buildings to prevent people from walking. This situation was forced upon earth dwellers of that time because of miles each day. But the surprising thing is that they didn’t use their legs even when they went on holiday. They built cable railways, ski-lifts and roads to the top of every huge mountain. All the beauty spots on earth were marred by the presence of large car parks. ’
The future history books might also record that we were deprived of the use of our eyes. In our hurry to get from one place to another, we failed to see anything on the way. Air travel gives you a bird’s-eye view of the world – or even less if the wing of the aircraft happens to get in your way. When you travel by car or train a blurred image of the countryside constantly smears the windows. Car drivers, in particular, are forever obsessed with the urge to go on and on: they never want to stop. Is it the lure of the great motorways, or what? And as for sea travel, it hardly deserves mention. It is perfectly summed up in the words of the old song: ‘I joined the navy to see the world, and what did I see? I saw the sea.’ The typical twentieth-century traveler is the man who always says ‘I’ve been there. ’ You mention the remotest, most evocative place-names in the world like El Dorado, Kabul, Irkutsk and someone is bound to say ‘I’ve been there’ – meaning, ‘I drove through it at 100 miles an hour on the way to somewhere else. ’
When you travel at high speeds, the present means nothing: you live mainly in the future because you spend most of your time looking forward to arriving at some other place. But actual arrival, when it is achieved, is meaningless. You want to move on again. By traveling like this, you suspend all experience; the present ceases to be a reality: you might just as well be dead. The traveler on foot, on the other hand, lives constantly in the present. For him traveling and arriving are one and the same thing: he arrives somewhere with every step he makes. He experiences the present moment with his eyes, his ears and the whole of his body. At the end of his journey he feels a delicious physical weariness. He knows that sound. Satisfying sleep will be his: the just reward of all true travellers.
1、Anthorpologists label nowaday’s men ‘Legless’ because
A   people forget how to use his legs.
B   people prefer cars, buses and trains.
C   lifts and escalators prevent people from walking.
D   there are a lot of transportation devices.
2、Travelling at high speed means
A   people’s focus on the future.
B   a pleasure.
C   satisfying drivers’ great thrill.
D   a necessity of life.
3、Why does the author say ‘we are deprived of the use of our eyes’ ?
A   People won’t use their eyes.
B   In traveling at high speed, eyes become useless.
C   People can’t see anything on his way of travel.
D   People want to sleep during travelling.
4、What is the purpose of the author in writing this passage?
A   Legs become weaker.
B   Modern means of transportation make the world a small place.
C   There is no need to use eyes.
D   The best way to travel is on foot.
5. What does ‘a bird’s-eye view’ mean?
A   See view with bird’s eyes.
B   A bird looks at a beautiful view.
C   It is a general view from a high position looking down.
D   A scenic place.

 

Mail was usually carried west on ships that sailed around the bottom of South America and then north to California.That could take several months.  

So, in eighteen fifty-seven, D.C.Lawmakers in Congress(国会) in Washington wanted to make it possible to send mail all the way across the United States by land.Congress offered to help any company that would try to deliver mail overland to the West Coast. A man named John Butterfield accepted this offer. He developed plans for a company that would carry the mail—and passengers, too.

Congress gave John Butterfield six hundred thousand dollars to start his company. In return, he had to promise that the mail would travel from Saint Louis, Missouri, to San Francisco, California, in twenty-five days or less.

It was not possible to travel straight through because of the Rocky Mountains and the deep snow that fell in winter. So the stagecoach(马车) would travel south from Saint Louis to El Paso, Texas, then over to southern California, then north to San Francisco. The distance was about four thousand five hundred kilometers.

Two hundred of these stations were built, each about thirty-two kilometers apart. The workers were to quickly change the horses or mules whenever a stagecoach reached the station. There could be no delay. Each stagecoach was to travel nearly two hundred kilometers a day.

One hundred stagecoaches were built and painted red or dark green. They were the most modern coaches that money could buy. They were designed to hold as many as nine passengers and twelve thousand pieces of mail. The seats inside could be folded down to make beds. Passengers either slept on them or on the bags of mail.

The cost would be one hundred fifty dollars to travel from Saint Louis to San Francisco. If a passenger was not going all the way, the cost was about ten cents a kilometer. The passengers had to buy their own food at the stations. The stagecoach would stop for forty minutes, two times a day.

The company warned passengers about the possible dangers. A poster said: “You will be traveling through Indian country and the safety of your person cannot by granted by anyone but God.”

1.What is the passage mainly about?

         A.Different ways of sending mail in the United States.

         B.The difficulty in sending mails across the USA by land.

         C.The first stagecoaches that carried both passengers and mail.

         D.The history of the first stagecoaches carrying mail to the American West.

2.The reason why Lawmakers wanted to send mail by land was that ________.

         A.mail was usually carried west on ships  

B.it was safer to travel to send mail by land

         C.it would take less time to send mail by land

D.stagecoaches could carry passengers and mail

3.As is described in the passage, the stagecoach ________.

         A.could only stop once a day                

B.was modern with seats ,beds and cooking equipment

         C.was a closed wagon operated only by skillful drivers.

         D.had different horses or mules pulled all the way

4.What can we learn from the passage?

         A.John Buttterfield got thousands of dollars for delivering mail in stagecoaches.

         B.John Buttterfield kept his promise to deliver mail straight to the West Coast.

         C.Passengers might be robbed by Indians when traveling through the West.

         D.Passengers needed to pay one hundred dollars for their journey. 

 

The past ages of man have all been carefully labeled by anthropologists. Descriptions like ‘Palaeolithic Man’, ‘Neolithic Man’, etc., neatly sum up whole periods. When the time comes for anthropologists to turn their attention to the twentieth century, they will surely choose the label ‘Legless Man’. Histories of the time will go something like this: ‘in the twentieth century, people forgot how to use their legs. Men and women moved about in cars, buses and trains from a very early age. There were lifts and escalators in all large buildings to prevent people from walking. This situation was forced upon earth dwellers of that time because of miles each day. But the surprising thing is that they didn’t use their legs even when they went on holiday. They built cable railways, ski-lifts and roads to the top of every huge mountain. All the beauty spots on earth were ruined by the presence of large car parks.’

The future history books might also record that we were deprived of the use of our eyes. In our hurry to get from one place to another, we failed to see anything on the way. Air travel gives you a bird’s-eye view of the world—or even less if the wing of the aircraft happens to get in your way. When you travel by car or train a blurred (=not clear) image of the countryside constantly smears the windows. Car drivers, in particular, are forever obsessed with the urge to go on and on: they never want to stop. Is it the lure (引诱;诱惑) of the great motorways, or what? And as for sea travel, it hardly deserves mention. It is perfectly summed up in the words of the old song: ‘I joined the navy to see the world, and what did I see? I saw the sea.’ The typical twentieth-century traveler is the man who always says ‘I’ve been there. ’You mention the remotest, most evocative (引起记忆的) place-names in the world like El Dorado, Kabul, Irkutsk and someone is bound to say ‘I’ve been there’—meaning, ‘I drove through it at 100 miles an hour on the way to somewhere else.’

When you travel at high speeds, the present means nothing: you live mainly in the future because you spend most of your time looking forward to arriving at some other place. But actual arrival, when it is achieved, is meaningless. You want to move on again. By traveling like this, you suspend all experience; the present ceases to be a reality: you might just as well be dead. The traveler on foot, on the other hand, lives constantly in the present. For him traveling and arriving are one and the same thing: he arrives somewhere with every step he makes. He experiences the present moment with his eyes, his ears and the whole of his body. At the end of his journey he feels a delicious physical weariness. He knows that sound. Satisfying sleep will be his: the just reward of all true travellers.

1. Anthropologists label nowadays’ men ‘Legless’ because _________.

A. people forget how to use his legs.

B. people prefer cars, buses and trains.

C. lifts and escalators prevent people from walking.

D. there are a lot of transportation devices.

2.Travelling at high speed means _________.

A. people’s focus on the future       B. a pleasure

C. satisfying drivers’ great thrill      D. a necessity of life

3.Why does the author say ‘we are deprived of the use of our eyes’?

A. People won’t use their eyes.

B. In traveling at high speeds, eyes become useless.

C. People can’t see anything on his way of travel.

D. People want to sleep during travelling.

4.What is the purpose of the author in writing this passage?

A. Legs become weaker.

B. Modern means of transportation make the world a small place.

C. There is no need to use eyes.                 D. The best way to travel is on foot.

5. What does ‘a bird’s-eye view’ mean?

A. See view with bird’s eyes.               B. A bird looks at a beautiful view.

C. It is a general view from a high position looking down.

D. A scenic place.

 

 

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