题目内容

I used to think of myself as a fairly open person, but my bookshelves told a different story. Apart from a few Indian novels and the Australian and South African book, my literature collection consisted of British and American titles. Worse still, I hardly ever read anything in translation. My reading was limited to stories by English-speaking authors.
So, at the start of 2012, I set myself the challenge of trying to read a book from every country in a year to find out what I was missing. As I was unlikely to find publications from nearly 200 nations on the shelves of my local bookshop, I decided to ask the planet’s readers for help. I created a blog called A Year of Reading the World and put out an appeal for suggestions of titles that I could read in English.
The response was amazing. Before I knew it, people all over the planet were getting in touch with ideas and offers of help. Some posted me books from their home countries. Others did hours of research on my behalf. In addition, several writers sent me unpublished translations of their novels, giving me a rare opportunity to read works otherwise unavailable to the 62% of the British who only speak English. Even so, selecting books was no easy task. With translations making up only around 4.5 percent of literary works published in the UK and Ireland, getting English versions (版本)of stories was difficult.
But the effort was worth it. I found I was visiting the mental space of the storytellers. These stories not only opened my mind to the real life in other places, but opened my heart to the way people there might feel.
And that in turn changed my thinking. Through reading the stories shared with me by bookish strangers around the globe, I realised I was not alone, but part of a network that spread all over the planet. 
【小题1】Which of the following might be found on the blog A Year of Reading the World?

A．Lists of English version books.
B．Research on English literature.
C．Unfinished novels by British writers.
D．Comments on English literature.
【小题2】Why was it hard for the author to select the right books to read?
A．The author had a busy schedule.
B．The author was only interested in a few topics.
C．The author could only read books written in English.
D．Most books recommended are not available in local bookshops.
【小题3】The author is probably from_________.
A．America B．the UK C．Australia D．Canada
【小题4】Which of the following words can best describe the author’s experience?
A．fast and effortless B．challenging but rewarding
C．hopeless but beneficial D．meaningful but fruitless


【小题1】A
【小题2】C
【小题3】B
【小题4】B

解析试题分析：文章介绍自己很难挑选出适当的书是因为作者只能阅读英文的书籍，因此创立了博客A Year of Reading the World 为了找到英文版本的书，得到了全世界人们的帮助，虽然有点困难，作者觉得还是有回报的。
【小题1】细节题：从文章第二段的句子：I created a blog called A Year of Reading the World and put out an appeal for suggestions of titles that I could read in English.可知在博客A Year of Reading the World 可以发现英文版本的书，选A
【小题2】细节题：从文章第一段的句子：Worse still, I hardly ever read anything in translation. My reading was limited to stories by English-speaking authors.可知作者很难挑选出适当的书读是因为作者只能阅读英文的书籍，选C
【小题3】推理题：从文章第三段的句子：giving me a rare opportunity to read works otherwise unavailable to the 62% of the British who only speak English.可以推断出作者是来自英国的，选B
【小题4】推理题：从文章第三段的句子：Even so, selecting books was no easy task. With translations making up only around 4.5 percent of literary works published in the UK and Ireland, getting English versions (版本)of stories was difficult.和第四段的句子：But the effort was worth it.可知作者的经历是有挑战的但是是有回报的。选B
考点：考查文化类短文

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Almost anywhere in the world, you can probably see graffiti (涂鸦画). Although it’s usually more common in big cities, it can be found in almost any community, big or small.
The problem with graffiti art is the question of whether it’s really art. This isn’t always an easy question to answer, simply because there are so many different types of graffiti. While some simply consists of collections of letters, known as tags, with little artistic value, such examples are easy to find, especially on larger spaces such as walls.
If it weren’t for the fact that most graffiti is placed on private property without permission, it might be more commonly recognized as a legal form of art. Most graffiti, however, annoys the property owner, who is more likely to paint over it or remove it than accept it as art.
Many ways of removing graffiti have been developed, such as paints that dissolve graffiti paint, or make it easy to remove. Community groups and government departments often organize graffiti-removal teams.
It hardly makes sense to encourage artists to deface (丑化) private or public property; but perhaps there are ways to work with them rather than just oppose them. Graffiti artists can, for example, create murals (壁画) for property owners, and get paid for them.
Maybe we need to start at a very basic level, and find a way to encourage the creation of graffiti art on paper or canvas rather than on walls. After all, who would remember Monet or Picasso if they’d created their masterpieces on walls, only to have them painted over the next day? Finding a solution to such a complex problem is never going to be easy, but with more and more graffiti art being recognized in galleries around the world, we do need to try.
【小题1】What would be the best title for this passage?

A．How to Be a Good Graffiti Artist.
B．Stop Removing Graffiti!
C．Do You Like Graffiti?
D．Is Graffiti Art?
【小题2】The reason why people remove graffiti is that it ______.
A．makes buildings ugly B．has no artistic value at all
C．robs private property D．takes up too much space
【小题3】In Paragraph 4, the underlined word "dissolve" is closest in meaning to ______.
A．change B．flow C．remove D．freeze
【小题4】The example of Monet and Picasso are mentioned in the passage to indicate that ______.
A．they are world-famous artists
B．they are good at graffiti
C．walls are right places to keep their masterpieces
D．their works, if painted on the wall, might not be kept long
【小题5】The writer’s attitude toward graffiti is that graffiti ______.
A．should be removed by more countries
B．should be saved on larger spaces
C．should be created only on paper or canvas
D．may be accepted as art

Development of a widely accepted chronology for the arrival of humans has been equally difficult, and it was only with the development of optically stimulated luminescence dating that a human presence in Australia was confirmed at 53,000 to 60,000 years ago. Older dates for a human presence in Australia have now been shown to be erroneous .
The importance of Australia as a separate natural laboratory in which to test extinction theories lies in the fact that humans arrived there much earlier than they arrived in the other continental areas (the Americas and northern Eurasia) that experienced substantial megafaunal extinction. What Miller et al. have shown is that the extinction of Genyornis occurred simultaneously across southeastern Australia (indeed probably right across the continent) about 50,000 years ago. This is very close to the presently accepted time of arrival of humans in Australia. It was also a period of modest climate change, well before the dramatic climatic fluctuations of the terminal Pleistocene. The data of Miller et al., therefore, support those who see human hunting rather than climate as causing the extinction of the megafauna.
Genyornis was a ponderous bird, around 80 to 100 kg in weight, about twice as heavy as the living emu and cassowary. It was an inhabitant of Australia?s inland plains and some coastal regions, but its legs were relatively short and thick, suggestion that it was a slower runner than the emu. Proponents of human?caused extinction suggest that it is just such characteristics that made the megafauna vulnerable to human hunting.
A new school of thought has recently established itself in the extinction debate. It advocates the idea that a combination of human impact and climate change was responsible for the extinction of the world?s megafauna. The new Genyornis data also weaken that argument, for the following reason. Fifty thousand years ago, Australia was experiencing mild cooling; 11,000 to 12,000 years ago, the Americas were experiencing rapid warming. These disparate climatic conditions, all coincident with megafaunal extinction, suggest that whatever was happening with climate, it was bad for the big animals. Under these conditions, the hybrid model becomes indistinguishable from the human?caused extinction model for the influence of climate becomes extremely weak, and only the arrival of humans is important in predicting extinction.
【小题1】 The last word “megafauna” in Paragraph 2 most probably means
A  birds.  B  plants.
C  big animals.  D  small animals.
【小题2】 Genyornis was vulnerable to human hunting because it was
A  a delicacy.  B  very weak.
C  very small in size.  D  clumsy.
【小题3】  How many models have been put forward for the extinction of Genyoris?
A  One.  B  Two.
C  Three.  D  Four.
【小题4】 That Australia experienced mild cooling and the Americas rapid warming suggests that
A  the climatic conditions were unfit for Genyornis to live.
B  Genyornis were highly adaptable to different climatic conditions.
C  The two climatic conditions were both bad for Genyornis.
D  The climatic conditions had nothing to do with the extinction of Genyoris.
【小题5】 The selection is mainly about
A  the debate over the time of the human presence in Australia.
B  the relationship between the human presence and magafaunal extinction.
C  the relationship between human activities and climatic changes.
D  the debate over factors causing megafaunal extinction.

It is not often realized that women held a high place in southern European societies in the 10th and 11th centuries. As a wife, the woman was protected by the setting up of a dowry (嫁妆). Admittedly, the purpose of this was to protect her against the risk of desertion, but in reality its function in the social and family life of the time was much more important. The dowry was the wife’s right to receive a tenth of all her husband’s property. The wife had the right to with hold consent, in all transactions the husband would make, and more than just a right; the documents show that she enjoyed a real power of decision, equal to that of her husband. In no case do the documents indicate any degree of difference in the legal status of husband and wife.
The wife shared in the management of her husband’s personal property, but the opposite was not always true. Women seemed perfectly prepared to defend their own inheritance against husbands who tried to exceed their rights, and on occasion they showed a fine fighting spirit. A case in point is that of Maria Vivas. Having agreed with her husband Miro to sell a field she had inherited, for the needs of the household, she insisted on compensation. None being offered, she succeeded in dragging her husband to the scribe to have a contract duly drawn up assigning her a piece of land from Miro’s personal inheritance. The unfortunate husband was obliged to agree, as the contract says, “for the sake of peace.” Either through the dowry or through being hot-tempered, the wife knew how to win herself, with the context of the family, a powerful economic position.
【小题1】 Originally, the purpose of a dowry is to_________.
A give a woman the right to receive all her husband’s property
B help a woman to enjoy a higher position in the family
C protect a woman against the risk of desertion
D both A and C
【小题2】 According to the passage, the legal status of the wife in marriage was__________.
A higher than that of a single woman
B higher than that of her husband
C lower than that of her husband
D the same as that of her husband
【小题3】  Why does the author give us the example of Maria Vivas?
A To show that the wife shared in the management of her husband?s personal property.
B To show that the wife can defend her own inheritance.
C To prove that women have powerful position.
D To illustrate how women win her property.
【小题4】 The compensation Maria Vivas got for the field is____________.
A some of the land Miro had inherited
B a tenth of Miro’s land
C money for household expenses
D money form Miro’s inheritance
【小题5】The author’s attitude towards Maria Vivas is_____________.
A sympathetic     B disapproval      C indifferent      D objective

Beer and fried chicken — Thanks to a South Korean drama currently on air, Man From the Stars, this new mix-and-match junk food trend has become popular among young audiences, despite its unhealthy nature. Indeed, South Korean TV dramas, or K-drama for short, have been a major force in the South Korean pop-culture wave that has captured the hearts of young Chinese audiences. According to iQiyi, a video website that features Man From the Stars, by Feb 15, the number of views for the TV drama hit 370 million in China.
“It is interesting to explore what elements of those dramas appeal to audiences. It’s obviously more than just pretty faces,” says Yan Feng, a professor of Chinese literature at Fudan University. Reflected by audiences, culture critics and insiders of the industry, youth fantasy, creative storylines, cultural proximity, and well-organized production all add up to K-drama’s success, along with, of course, those handsome and cute faces dressed in the latest fashion trends.
“Everyone fancies a perfect partner, handsome or beautiful,” says Zhou Ying, a professor at Chongqing Technology and Business University. “The South Korean TV industry is feeding this need.” After Lee Min-ho appeared on CCTV’s annual Spring Festival gala, he became the most famous South Korean in China. Only weeks later, Kim Soo-hyun, lead actor in Man From the Stars, swept the country. Apart from pretty faces, fashion is another highlight of the series. Each time actors from the series wear a new set of outfits, similar clothes experience a sales boom online, according to Xiao Yi, a Taobao store owner.
As is known, with love triangles, incurable diseases, and Cinderella tales, storylines in South Korean dramas may seem a bit commonplace. While The Man From the Stars challenges this by putting aliens and time travel into these existing stories, Peng Sanyuan, a screenwriter, says a focus on detail is a key factor in the success of these dramas. “In order to accurately target audiences and find emotional reflections with them, more and more female writers are working in the industry,” says Peng about her experience of exchanging ideas with South Korean colleagues. According the experts, South Korean writers somehow make sense of these plots, no matter how unlikely it seems.
【小题1】Why has beer and fried chicken become so popular among Chinese young people at present?

A．Because the food tastes very great.
B．Because they want to change the trend.
C．Because the food is good for their health.
D．Because they are deeply affected by the Korean TV drama.
【小题2】What’s the meaning of the underlined word “proximity” in paragraph 2?
A．similarity B．difference C．conflict D．curiosity
【小题3】According to the whole passage, how many elements can lead to the appeal of Korean dramas?
A．Two B．Four C．Six D．Seven
【小题4】After reading the third paragraph, which of the following is right?
A．Lee Min-ho is the lead actor in Man From the Stars.
B．Kim Soo-hyun appeared on CCTV’s annual Spring Festival gala
C．The similar clothes worn by the Korean actors become very hot online.
D．Everyone has a perfect partner, who is handsome or beautiful.
【小题5】What makes Man From the Stars different from other K-dramas according to the last paragraph?
A．Female writers B．Creative stories C．Pretty faces D．Fashionable clothes

Inland waters may be grouped into two general classes: standing waters and flowing waters. As is often the case, the boundary between these two classes is not sharp and clear. A pond is an example of standing water. But most ponds are fed by springs or brooks and most have an outlet. Thus some current of changing water flows through them. On the other hand, a river is an example of flowing water. In some places, however, a river may have such a slow current that it is very difficult to detect.
Standing inland waters differ in size, in age, and in many abiotic environmental characteristics. They range in size from roadside puddles to the Caspian Sea. Puddles may last for only a few days or weeks; ponds, for a few hundred to a thousand years. In general, lakes are older, though the waters of some tropical “lakes” disappear completely during each dry season. Standing waters vary from very shallow to very deep, from clear to muddy, from fresh to salty.
In flowing waters we roughly distinguish between brooks, creeks, and rivers. The size and age of flowing waters are unimportant. Speed of flow, clearness, oxygen content, and other chemical characteristics are used by scientists in studying flowing-water ecosystems.
【小题1】According to the passage, which of the following characteristics of flowing waters is unimportant?

A．Clarity.B．Size.C．Speed of flow.D．Oxygen content.
【小题2】The word “abiotic” in paragraph 2 can best be replaced by ______.
A．nonlivingB．livingC．coastalD．inland
【小题3】Which of the following statements is true?
A．Usually the water in a river flows into a pond.
B．Scientists only study flowing-water ecosystems.
C．Usually ponds last much longer than puddles.
D．The Caspian Sea is considered as an example of flowing water.
【小题4】From this passage we may know that the distinction between standing waters and flowing waters ______.
A．depends on how people name the waters
B．is clear
C．depends on the seasons
D．is hard to make
【小题5】This passage mainly tells us that ______.
A．there are two major classes of inland waters
B．lakes and rivers are flowing waters
C．age and size of flowing waters are important
D．ponds and brooks are standing waters

Three­quarters of a million tourists flock to the white beaches every year, but this booming industry has come at a price. Poisonous smoke rising from open fires, rubbish made up of plastic bottles, packets...it's_a_far_cry_from the white sands, clear waters and palm trees that we associate with the Maldives(马尔代夫), the paradise island holiday destination set in the Indian Ocean.
Of its 200 inhabited islands, which are spread across an area of 35,000 square miles, 99 are good resorts(度假胜地). So many tourists come every year, more than double the local population. Of these tourists, over 100,000 travel from the UK. The capital, Malé， is four times more densely populated than London. Given these facts, it's hardly surprising that the Maldives has a waste disposal problem.
Years ago, when the tourists left, the government had to deal with a stream of rubbish. Their solution was to turn one of the islands into a dumping ground. Four miles west of Malé is the country's dumping ground, Thilafushi. What you are seeing here is a view of the Maldives on which no honeymooners will ever clap eyes. Each visitor produces 3.5 kg of waste per day. The country dumps more than 330 tons of rubbish on the island every day.
Now, since many waste boats, fed up with waiting seven hours or more, directly offload their goods into the sea, the government of the Maldives has banned the dumping of waste on the island. So, the waste boats ship the rubbish to India instead.
【小题1】What is the main cause of the waste disposal problem?

A．The big local population.
B．Too many waste boats.
C．The large number of tourists.
D．Open fires on the islands.
【小题2】The underlined part can probably be replaced by “________”．
A．it's quite similar to B．it's a long distance from
C．it's a loud shout fromD．it's totally different from
【小题3】What can we learn from the text?
A．It is much more crowded in Malé than in London.
B．Another island will be used as a dumping ground.
C．No honeymooners are willing to visit the Maldives.
D．Waste on islands will be offloaded directly into the sea.
【小题4】What's the author's purpose in writing the text?
A．To attract more tourists to the Maldives.
B．To state the waste disposal problem in the Maldives.
C．To call on us to protect the environment.
D．To explain the causes of pollution in the Maldives.

Do you like shopping? Or does the thought of wandering round the shops fill you with terror? For some of us，shopping is an enjoyable way of spending our spare time and our money. For me．it's something I would rather avoid．Thank goodness for the Internet! It's more convenient to buy CDs，electrical items，even food，from the comfort of your sofa．But that’s not the only reason：price is an important factor．We can buy goods and services cheaper online. But sometimes the problem is knowing what to buy．This has led to a type of shopping called “showrooming”．
Showrooming is something I've done．I will go to a shop to see，touch and try out products but then go home and buy them online at a knock—down price．I'm not alone in doing this．Research by a company called Foolproof，found 24％of people showroomed while Christmas shopping in 2013．
Amy Cashman，Head of Technology at TNS UK，says the reasons for this new shopping habit are that“people are lacking time，lacking money and they want security about the products they are buying．”She explains that consumers are not only shopping online at home but they are using the Internet in store or on their smartphones to shop around．
But does this mean technology will kill shops? Certainly shops will change．They will have to offer more competitive prices or encourage people to buy more by giving in—store discounts or free girls．
We mustn’t forget that buying in a shop means you can get expert advice from the sales assistant and you can get good aftercare．It’s good to speak to a real human rather than look at a faceless computer screen but at least by showrooming，you get the best of both worlds!
【小题1】The two questions in Paragraph l are raised to       

A．introduce the topic B．give two examples
C．compare different opinions D．get answers from readers
【小题2】What does showrooming mean in the text?
A．Trying in shops and buying online．
B．Showing products in a room．
C．Buying something in a store．
D．Shopping on the Internet．
【小题3】According to Amy Cashman，which is not the reason for showrooming?
A．The lack of time． B．The comfort of the sofa．
C．The shortness of money． D．The security of the product．
【小题4】What can be inferred from Paragraph 4 ?
A．Online shops will disappear．
B．Free gifts will surely promote sales．
C．Shops need necessary changes．
D．Shops will be replaced by online shops．
【小题5】The author's attitude towards showrooming is         
A．critical B．neutral C．supportive D．casual

It is one of the most annoying words in the English language and it seems there is no escaping it. The word “huh?” is in worldwide use, a study found.
Researchers discovered that languages spoken in countries from Ghana and Laos to Iceland and Italy all include “huh?”, or something that sounds very like it. They said that while the study may sound silly, the word is an absolutely necessary part of speech. Without it and similar words, it would be impossible to show that we haven’t heard or understood what had been said and this would lead to constant misunderstandings.
But while other words used in the same context, such as “sorry” or “what”, vary widely across languages, “huh?” remains unchanged.
The Dutch researchers carefully studied ten languages from around the world, including Siwu, which is spoken in Ghana, and an Australian Aboriginal language, as well as Italian, Spanish, Dutch and Mandarin Chinese.
They analysed tapes of recorded conversations for words that sounded like “huh?” and were used to request that whatever had just been said be repeated. All contained a version of “huh?”. The word was also found in another 21 languages. While there were subtle differences in each country, all sounded basically the same.
This is surprising because normally unrelated languages will use very different words to describe the same thing. For instance, the Japanese for “dog” is “inu”, while the French is “chien”. It is thought that languages around the world have developed their own version of “huh?” because the sound is quick and simple to form, as well as being easily understood.
The researchers, said that it might seem unimportant to carry out scientific research into a word like “huh?” but in fact this little word is an essential tool in human communication. They also have an answer for those who claim that “huh?” isn’t a word. They say that it qualifies because of the small differences in its pronunciation in different languages. It also can be considered a word because it’s something we learn to say, rather than a grunt or cry that we are born knowing how to make.
【小题1】 According to researchers, the word “huh?” is very important in speech because of ________.

A．its stable meaning in language development
B．its important function in communication
C．its simple and easy sound and spelling
D．its popularity in every language
【小题2】What is the natural response if you hear the lady you’re speaking to say “huh?”?
A．You should ask her to repeat what she says before that.
B．You should apologize to her for speaking in a low voice.
C．You should invite her to share her different views politely.
D．You should try to repeat what you’ve just said in a clearer way.
【小题3】The main method used in the research of “huh?” was ________.
A．interviewing language experts in universities
B．talking with people from ten different countries
C．analyzing the recorded conversations in different languages
D．comparing different words with the same meaning in different languages
【小题4】According to researchers, “huh?” should be considered a word rather than a sound because ________.
A．it is listed in most dictionaries
B．it is something humans learn to say
C．there is a clear and consistent spelling of the word
D．there is a big difference in the way it pronounces in different languages
【小题5】What is the purpose of the passage?
A．To inform readers about research on the worldwide used word “huh?”.
B．To argue that “huh?” is the most important word in every language.
C．To entertain readers by relating similar idioms in different languages.
D．To instruct readers of the differences of “huh?” in different languages.

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