题目内容
Surtsey Was born in 1963. Scientists saw the birth of this island. It began at 7.30 a.m. on 14th November. A fishing boat was near Iceland. The boat moved under the captain's (船长) feet.He noticed a strange smell. He saw some black smoke. A volcano was breaking out. Red-hot rocks, fire and smoke were rushing up from the bottom of the sea. The island grew quickly. It was 10 meters high the next day and 60 meters high on 18th November. Scientists flew there to watch it. It was exciting. Smoke and fire were still rushing up. Pieces of red-hot rock were flying into the air and falling into the sea. The sea was boiling and there was a strange light in the sky. Surtsey grew and grew. Then it stopped in June 1967. It was 175 metres high and 2 kilometres long. And life was already coming to Surtsey. Plants grew. Birds came Some scientists built a house. They want to learn about this young island. A new island is like a new world.
【小题1】 Surtsey is_______.
| A．an island not far from Iceland | B．a new volcano |
| C．a fishing boat | D．a place in Iceland |
| A．to stop the birth of the island | B．to save the fishing boat |
| C．to learn about the island | D．to build a house |
| A．Before the volcano broke out |
| B．As soon as the volcano broke out. |
| C．About four days after the volcano broke out |
| D．After the volcano stopped rushing up. |
| A．A New Island | B．The Birth of an Island |
| C．A New World | D．Scientists Discovered Surtsey |
解析
Women consistently lie on social networking sites such as Facebook or Twitter to make their lives appear more exciting, a survey has found. The survey was asked to carried out by Pencourage, a new anonymous（匿名的）"diary-style" social media website.
Researchers found that at least one in four women exaggerated or twisted what they are doing on social media once a month. The survey of 2000 women found they mostly pretended to be out on the town, when in fact they are home alone, and beautify about an exotic holiday or their job.
The most common reasons for women to write " fibs" included worrying their lives would seem “ boring", jealousy at seeing other people's more exciting posts and wanting to impress their friends and acquaintances.
Psychologists suggested that as people attempt to stay connected on social media, they can in fact be left more isolated. They also said that the more we try to make our lives seem perfect, the less perfect we feel. According to the OnePoll survey, one third of women surveyed admitted to dishonesty on social media sites such as Facebook and Twitter at some stage. Almost one in four admitted to lying or exaggerating about key aspects of their life online between one and three times a month while almost one in 10 said they lied more than once a week. Nearly 30 percent of women lied about "doing something when I am home alone", almost a quarter overstated their alcohol consumption while one in five were not truthful about their holiday activities or their jobs. Almost one in five women even lied about their "relationship status".
"We work very hard presenting ourselves to the world online, pretending and attempting to be happy all the time which is exhausting and ultimately unfulfilling," said Dr Michael Sinclair, a leading British consultant psychologist. "Leaving out the less desirable imperfections of our lives from the conversations with our 'friends online leads to less opportunity to feel empathized(有同感的)with, resulting in a greater sense of disconnection from others. "
【小题1】According to the passage, women tend to lie on social networking sites because .
| A．they have little fun in their daily lives |
| B．they are not satisfied with their present life |
| C．they want to entertain their friends and acquaintances |
| D．they don't want to go out and communicate with others |
| A．lies. | B．posts. | C．diaries. | D．impressions. |
eventually .
| A．feel better about their life | B．become a regular liar in the future |
| C．get more isolated in life | D．drink more alcohol in their daily life |
| A．we don't have to feel empathized with our "friends" online |
| B．we cannot get satisfaction by lying on social networking sites |
| C．it is worthwhile to work hard presenting ourselves to the world online |
| D．the imperfections of our lives result in a sense of disconnection from others |
Before Alaska became part of the U.S., it had been owned by Russia. Trading posts and small settlements were scattered along the coast. The rest of land was left unexplored. The Russians were mainly interested in the wealth of furs from the vast herds of seals they found there.
By the mid-1800’s, most of the seal herds had been wiped out, and Russia no longer wanted to keep Alaska. William Seward, Secretary of State for President Johnson, believed the United States should buy Alaska from Russia. President Johnson wasn’t so sure it was a wise way to spend U.S. money, but he agreed to let Seward discuss it with the Russians. Acting quickly, Seward made a deal. On March 30, 1867, he signed an agreement for the U.S. to pay seven million dollars for the land.
Many people thought it was a foolish waste of America’s money. They called the deal “Seward’s folly”. Then gold was discovered in Alaska and public opinion changed quickly.
Seward did not live to see the true value of Alaska. He died in 1872, five years after making the purchase (购买). Each year, Alaska’s natural resources(资源) have brought in many times the $7,000,000 paid for it. Natural gas, coal, oil, lumber, seafood and other minerals, besides the gold first found, have made it a valuable addition to the United States. In 1959, Alaska became the 49th state of the United States.
【小题1】The Russians wanted to sell Alaska because ______.
| A．they thought it wasn’t a good place |
| B．they thought it didn’t belong to Russia |
| C．they couldn’t find enough seals there |
| D．they wanted to earn more money from the U.S. |
| A．it was a successful deal | B．it had its true value |
| C．he wasted U.S. money | D．he was clever |
| A．Gas. | B．Coal. | C．Oil. | D．Gold. |
| A．37 states | B．48 states | C．49 states | D．50 states |
| A．Alaska, a beautiful place | B．Alaska with natural resources |
| C．Alaska, the 49th state of the U.S. | D．Alaska, home to seals |
Say you are a 17th century construction worker who’s worked hard to build a splendid tower for the dead wife of your emperor.
Now say that the emperor orders your fingertips cut off so you can never build another one. Yes, this story is about the Taj Mahal, one of the most famous buildings in the world. And the tale behind the construction is just as impressive (令人赞叹的) as the building itself.
First, there’s the emperor of northern India, Shah Jehan, also called the King of the World. In 1612, Shah Jehan married Mumtaz Mahal. Mad in love, they had 14 children over the next 20 years. But then sadness came. As Mumtaz was about to give birth to child number 14, she said she heard her unborn baby cry out. It was a sign of death. And as Mumtaz lay dying, she asked Jehan to build a lasting memorial (纪念物) to celebrate their love.
The heartbroken Jehan ordered his wife’s dying wish carried out, and more than 20,000 workers worked nearly 22 years to complete the construction. In 1653, Jehan placed Mumtaz’s remains under the center of the building.
Later, son number five, Aurangzeb, murdered his brothers and took over the power from his aging father. Jehan lived the rest of his days, eight years, imprisoned not far from the Taj Mahal. Jehan was only allowed to climb onto the top of his prison to see the timeless treasure from a distance. But never again would he be allowed to visit it until he was buried next to his wife.
Today 25,000 people visit the Taj Mahal each day. Though the reason for building the tower was a strange and sad story, people who see its breath-taking beauty are reminded of the happiness that inspired its construction.
【小题1】The first two paragraphs were written mainly to show that ______.
| A．the Taj Mahal is an unusual historic building |
| B．India has some of the most famous buildings in the world |
| C．ancient Indian emperors were cruel |
| D．construction workers led a hard life in ancient India |
| A．a memorial building | B．a tourist attraction |
| C．a prison | D．a gift to Mumtaz |
| A．1626 | B．1653 | C．1632 | D．1634 |
| A．the happiness Jehan felt on completing the Taj Mahal |
| B．the pleasure tourists experience when visiting the Taj Mahal |
| C．the married happiness of the emperor and his wife |
| D．the great pleasure Jehan once found in exercising his power |
Ireland has had a very difficult history. The problems started in the 16th century when English rulers tried to conquer(征服) Ireland. For hundreds of years, the Irish people fought against the English. Finally, in 1921, the British government was forced to give independence to the south of Ireland. The result is that today there are two “Irelands”. Northern Ireland, in the north, is part of the united kingdom. The Republic of Ireland, in the south, is an independent country.
In the 1840s the main crop, potatoes, was affected by disease and about 750,000 people died of hunger. This, and a shortage (短缺) of work , forced many people to leave Ireland and live in the USA, the UK, Australia and Canada. As a result of these problems, the population fell from 8.2 million in 1841 to 6.6 million in 1851.
For many years, the majority of Irish people earned their living as farmers. Today, many people still work on the land but more and more people are moving to the cities to work in factories and offices. Life in the cities is very different from life in the countryside, where things move at a quieter and slower pace.
The Irish are famous for being warm-hearted and friendly. Oscar Wilde, a famous Irish writer, once said that the Irish were “the greatest talkers since the Greeks”. Since independence, Ireland has revived(复兴) its own culture of music, language, literature and singing. Different areas have different styles of old Irish song which are sung without instruments. Other kinds of Irish music use many different instruments such as the violin, whistles, etc.
【小题1】What does the author tell us in paragraph 1?
| A．How the Irish fought against the English. |
| B．How Ireland gained independence. |
| C．How English rulers tried to conquer Ireland. |
| D．How two “Irelands” came into being. |
| A．food shortages in the 1840s led to a decline in population |
| B．people are moving to the cities for lack of work in the countryside |
| C．it is harder to make a living as a farmer than as a factory worker |
| D．different kinds of old Irish songs are all sung with instruments |
| A．the Irish character |
| B．Irish culture |
| C．Irish musical instruments |
| D．a famous Irish writer |
| A．Life in Ireland |
| B．A Very Difficult History |
| C．Ireland, Past and Present |
| D．The Independence of Ireland |