题目
题型：安徽省模拟题难度：来源：
For centuries, owls have been feared and seen as signs of evil or death.But they are also seen as
symbols of intelligence. The bird"s ability to see well in the night means that it is closely associated with
Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom, She is frequently described as an owl perched (栖息) on her
head.
So humanized owls are often used to indicate that someone is intelligent and educated - a pair of
eyeglasses or a mortarboard, the square, flat cap worn by college graduates. According to an article in
The Guardian, owls are among the most popular birds in British culture. You see them in Harry Potter
series, delivering letters and parcels. They are also the stars of Legend of the Guardians, a 3D animated
film that cam out on September 24, 2010.
Mark Cocker, a columnist (专栏作家) with the paper, notes that many TV dramas use owls. Why?
The answer, according to Cocker, is that owls belong to nighttime. It"s a time of mystery. Owls fly in
silence, kill small animals for food and scream with a terrible voice. These facts made people associate
the birds with the dark and dangerous.
Cocker believes that it is this "slight tremble of danger" that means the bird is often found on T-shirts
and bags. "Of all widespread British birds, they are still the species we hear most, but see the least,"
writes Cocker. "The owl reminds us as we lie in our beds that in the darkness…is a life and a beating
heart that we can never quite know."
B. they are connected with Athena
C. they are able to deliver letters and parcels
D. they remind us what college graduates wear
B. British people are familiar with them
C. they create a feeling of mystery and danger
D. they awake the desire to take risks
B. Harry Potter
C. Legend of the Guardians
D. Athena
B. To analyze why owls are so common in British culture.
C. To tell readers not to be afraid of owls.
D. To recommend some movies related to owls.
答案
核心考点
试题【 The owls (猫头鹰) were not what they seem, or so many people seem to think ...】；主要考察你对题材分类等知识点的理解。[详细]
举一反三
bringing about relaxation, free time and friends. Students who wish to spend their break doing
something productive and rewarding, however, may choose to participate in the Altemative Break
Program. It places college students in communities both at home and abroad.
The Program allows students to take part in various projects dealing with issues such as
literacy (识字 ) , homelessness and the environment. It includes helping kids with their lessons,
raising money for families in need and collecting data for environmental research.
The hope is that, by getting themselves involved in different environments, students will have the
opportunity to learn about members of communities and broaden their view. In turn, they will
incorporate (融合) their experiences and lessons learned into their own communities. In a word ,
the Program aims to encourage students to be active citizens and engage themselves in making a
difference in society.
In the spring of 2006, about 36, 000 students in the USA participated in the Altemative Break
Program.
Samantha Giacobozzi, now director of the Program, has been on five alternative break trips herself,
including trips to New Orleans, India and Dominican Republic. "I was a student who went on alternative
break trips and had my life totally transformed by that experience , " she said. " Every year , we meet
many students who have attended the Program. You can see changes in their life that are connected
with their altemative break experiences. "
The Program began in 1991. Today , it has become increasingly popular with college students
in the United States.
( No more than 10 words)
___________________________________________________________________
2. What is the aim of the Program? ( No more than 15 words)
____________________________________________________________________
3. What is the meaning of the underlined word "transformed" in
Paragraph 5? (1 word)
_____________________________________________________________________
4. What is Samantha"s attitude toward the Program? ( No more than
10 words)
______________________________________________________________________
5. If you take part in the Program,which project are you interested
in? And why? ( No more than 25 words)
_______________________________________________________________________
creatures, especially human beings, have their features, but everything about the little sea cucumber
seems unusual. What else can be said about an unusual animal that eats mud, feeds almost continuously
day andnight but can live without eating for long periods, and can be poisonous but is considered
eatable?
For some fifty million years in spite of all its strange features, the sea cucumber has lived on its diet of
mud. It is adaptable enough to live attached to rocks by its tube feet, under rocks in shallow Water, or
on the surface of mud flats. Common in cool water on both Atlantic and Pacific shores, it has the ability
to suck up mud or sand and digest whatever nutrients are present.
Sea cucumbers come in a variety of colors, black to reddish-brown to sand-color and nearly white.
One form even has vivid purple feelers. Usually the creature are cucumber-shaped — where their name
comes from - and because they live in rocks, this shape, combined with flexibility, enables them to press
into crevices (缝隙) where they are safe from animal eater and ocean currents.
Although they have greedy desire for food, eating day and night, sea cucumbers have the ability to
become still and live at a low metabolic (新陈代谢) rate — feeding s little or not at all for long periods,
so that the living things in the ocean that provide their food have chance to increase by a large amount.
If it were not for this natural ability, they would swallow all the food available in a short time and would
probably starve themselves out of existence.
But the most impressive thing about the sea cucumber is the way it defends itself. Its major enemies
are fish and crabs. When attacked, it forces all its organs in its body out into water. It also removes
attached structures such as feelers. The sea cucumber will get rid of its organs and grow itself again if it
is attacked or even touched; it will do the same if the surrounding water temperature is too high or if the
water becomes too polluted.
B. It helps them to digest their food.
C. it helps them to protect themselves from danger.
D. it makes it easier for them to move through the mud.
B. the food sources of sea cucumbers
C. the eating habits of sea cucumbers
D. the danger to sea cucumbers" existence
B. They are very sensitive to the surroundings.
C. They require group cooperation.
D. They are almost useless.
B. The Sources of Sea Cucumbers
C. The Similarity of Sea
D. The Strange Creature — Sea Cucumbers
in the developing world. Women"s education may be an unusual field for economists (经济学家), but
increasing women"s contribution to development is actually as much an economic as a social issue. And
economics, with its focus on encouragement, provides all explanation for why so many girls fail to receive
an education.
Parents in low-income countries don"t invest willingly in their daughters because they do not expect
them to make an economic contribution to the family: girls grow up only to marry into somebody else"s
family and bear children. Girls are thus seen as less valuable than boys and usually have to stay at home
to do housework while their brothers are sent to school.
An educated mother, on the other hand, has greater earning abilities outside the home and faces an
entirely different set of choices. She is likely to have fewer but healthier children and can insist on
developing all her children, ensuring that her daughters are given a fair chance. The education of her
daughters then makes it much more likely that the next generation of girls, as well as of boys, will be
educated and healthy.
Few will argue that educating women has great social benefits. But it has huge economic advantages
as well. Most obviously, there is the direct effect of education on the wages of female workers. Wages
rise by 10 to 20 percent for each additional year of schooling. Such big returns are impressive by the
standard of other available investments, but they are just the beginning. Educating women also has a
significant influence on health practices, including family planning.
| Topic | The significance of female 1. ____ in developing countries |
| Viewpoint | Educating girls 2. __ __ a family more than any other investment. |
| 3. __ __ in different families | ◆ Girls are of less 4. _ _ than boys. ◆ Girls and boys should have 5. __ __ chances. ◆ 6. ___ _ should be for all children. |
| practice in low -income countries | ◆ Parents are 7.__ to invest in daughters. ◆ Girls are 8. __ __ to stay at home to do" housework. |
| Significance | Educating girls 9. __ __ to .social benefits, economic advantages and health practices, including family planning. |
| 10. ____ | Educating girls in developing countries is important and rewarding. |
| 阅读理解。 | |
| Salvation Army Angel Program Angel Tree collects gifts for children and families in need. Participate by selecting an angel from any Angel Tree at all Cyprus Credit Union location or any Utah Macy"s Department store. Shop for your angel, then return your new, unwrapped gift to the same Angel Tree. Gifts must be returned before December 14. For more information, call (801) 988-5678 in the Salt Lake area,(801) 374 -2588 in the Provo area. Utah Association for People with Intellectual Disabilities Holiday Gift Box Program The program serves primarily low-income adults with intellectual disabilities who don"t qualify for other programs because of age limits, said Joyce Whalen, the association"s board president. To donate, visit the association at 1326 S.2100 East from 9am to about 5:30 pm to choose an ornament(装饰物) that provides information about an individual who will benefit from the program. Shop for new items and return them by December 14. Donations of generic items, such as towels, socks and hygiene products also accepted, as are monetary donations. For more information, call 801-440-1674. Utah Foster Care Foundation"s Giving Tree Program The program seeks new gifts and cash donations to fulfill the holiday wishes of more than 1,000 children in state-licensed foster homes." Many of the children in care have been removed from their biological homes because of neglect or abuse," said Nikki Mackay, the foundation"s director. " Christmas can be a difficult time for them." To learn how to support the program, call 877-505-5437. Utah State Hospital Forgotten Patient Program The program provides Christmas gifts for hundreds of patients with mental illness. In the history of the program--which may go back as far as 60 years, organizer Shawna Peterson said, "we"ve never had a forgotten patient." And she doesn"t want this year to change that. To support the program, contact Peterson at 801-344-6088. | |
| 1.After you buy an angel, you should ________. | |
| A..post it to where you bought B. open its package to examine it C. send it to families in need for yourself D. bring it back in its original form | |
| 2.If you want to help adults with intellectual disabilities, you should call_____. | |
| A. 801-440-1674 B.801-988-5678 C. 877-505-5437 D. 801-344-6088 | |
| 3.The underlined phrases "biological homes" in the third program refers to ______. | |
| A..homes where they are just brought up B.homes where their natural parents live C.homes where they learn biology D.homes where are related to bacteria | |
| 4.From the last program, we can infer that ______. | |
| A..the patients often forgot to come to the hospital B.the patients are often forgotten to be looked after C.the patients are being taken good care of D.the patients had a poor memory in the hospital | |
| 阅读理解。 | |
| Recently, scientists have developed a wireless brainmachine interface that help restore communication to people who can no longer speak by reading brainwaves using electrodes (电极) stuck on their heads. Unfortunately, these have proved very slow, at roughly one word typed per minute, making normal conversations and social interactions virtually impossible. Scientist Frank Guenther and his colleagues reveal a brainmachine interface that uses electrodes implanted directly into the brain for research into real time speech. "It should soon be possible for extremely paralysed individuals who are incapable of speaking to produce speech through a laptop computer, " said Guenther. The scientists worked with a 26-year- old male volunteer who experience near-total paralysis due to a stroke he suffered when he was 16. They implanted an electrode that had two wires into a part of the brain that help plan and execute movements related to speech. The electrode recorded brain signals when the volunteer attempted to talk and the wires spread them across the scalp(头皮)to help drive a speech synthesizer (合成器). The delay between brain activity and sound output was just 50 milliseconds on average, roughly the same with regular speech. "He was quite excited, particularly on the first few days we used the system, as he got used to its properties, " Guenther recalled." I am sure the work proceeds slowly from his perspective, as it does from ours. Nonetheless, he was very excited about getting real-time audio feedback of his intended speech and happy to work very hard with us throughout the experiments." "The current system uses data from just two wires. Within a year it will be possible to implant a system with 16 times as many." Guenther said." This will allow us to tap into neurons(神经元),which in the end means better control over a synthesizer and thus better speech." | |
| 1.In the study of Guenther, electrodes are _______. | |
| A..fixed on the heads B. put into the heads C. tied to the heads D. separated from the heads | |
| 2.The underlined word "them" in Paragraph 4 refers to _______. | |
| A..movements B. wires C. brain signals D. Scientists | |
| 3. What might be the best title for the passage? | |
| A. Wireless Device Are Used to Read Words in the Brain. B. New Equipment Helps you read others" mind. C. Virtual tongue can make you speak fluently. D. It is no secret what you are thinking in mind. |