1、阅读理解。 Tim Richter and his wife, Linda, had taught for over 30 years near Buffalo, New York-he in computers, she in special education. Teaching means everything to us, Tim would say. In April1998, he learned he would need a heart operation. It was the kind of news that leads to some serious thinking
2、about lifes purpose. Not long after the surgery, Tim saw a brochure describing Imagination Library, a program started by Dolly Parton s foundation (基金会) that mailed a book every month to children from birth to age five in the singers home town of Sevier, Tennessee. “I thought, maybe Linda and I coul
3、d do something like this when we retire, Tim recalls. He placed the brochure on his desk, as a reminder. Five years later, now retired and with that brochure still on the desk, Tim clicked on imagination library .com. The program had been opened up to partners who could take advantage of book and po
4、stage discounts.The quality of the books was of great concern to the Richter. Rather than sign up online, they went to Dolly wood for a look-see. “We didnt want to give the children rubbish,” says Linda. The books-reviewed each year by teachers, literacy specialists and Dolly wood board members-incl
5、uded classics such as Ezra Jack Keatss The Snowy Day and newer books like Anna Dewdneys Llama Llama series. Satisfied, the couple set up the Richter Family Foundation and got to work. Since 2004, they have shipped more than 12,200 books to preschoolers in their in their area. Megan Williams, a mothe
6、r of four, is more than appreciative: “This program introduces us to books Ive never heard of.” The Richter spend about 400 a month sending books to 200 children. “Some people sit there and wait to die,” says Tim. “Others get as busy as they can in the time they have left.”( ) 1.What led Tim to thin
7、k seriously about the meaning of life?A. His health problem. B. His love for teaching.C. The influence of his wife. D. The news from the Web.( ) 2.What did Tim want to do after learning about Imagination Library?A. Give out brochures. B. Do something similar.C. Write books for children D. Retire fro
8、m being a teacher.( ) 3.According to the text, Dolly Parton is .A. a well-known surgeon B. a mother of a four-year-oldC. a singer born in Tennessee D .a computer programmer( ) 4.Why did the Richter go to Dolly wood?A. To avoid signing up online.B. To meet Dolly wood board members.C. To make sure the
9、 books were the newest.D. To see if the books were of good quality.( ) 5.What can we learn from Tims words in the last paragraph?A. He needs more money to help the children.B. He wonders why some people are so busy.C. He tries to save those waiting to die.D. He considers his efforts worthwhile.【文章大意
10、】文章通过介绍Richter夫妇从接触一个名为Imagination Library的项目到成立自己的基金会的历程并找到生活的真正价值【参考答案】1-5、ADCDD完型填空。阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从以下题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。Helen was loved as a friendly lady by all who knew her. She had belonged to the same church for almost all her adult life and was highly _1_. Poor Helen was well into her
11、90s. Since her husband passed away，she moved in with Jennifer, her young granddaughter. However, life is _2_. One night driving home from the store, Jennifer was hit dead by a drunk driver. Once again, Helen was alone.The _3_ of losing those closest to her and the loneliness of being all alone were
12、_4_ she could bear. She changedshe fell into _5_ and hopelessness. Naturally, people around her saw the change. But nobody seemed to know how to _6_ her. Months passed. It was now December, and the holiday season was _7_ to be harder than Helen imagined it would be. She felt like she was _8_， slowly
13、 inside. She wondered if she would see Christmas this year._9_， the second Sunday of December, the Sunday School teacher came to her with a special request. Would she be _10_ enough to help decorate the tree that was in the middle of the childrens classroom? Each child had made a special decoration
14、by hand to _11_ on the tree, and they needed assistance. Helen attempted to _12_ refuse, but the teacher said that the children had requested she be the _13_ that year. It was important to them for some reason, the teacher whispered.The night of the special event, Helen was present and wore the best
15、 smile. The _14_ of the young children was bittersweet, which held memories of her dear Jennifer. For the first time in months, though, you could see her eyes _15_ through tears. She was happy that the children had _16_ her. Most decorations had been placed on the tree _17_ a group of nine children
16、came and sat in front of her. Each of them either had no grandmother any longer, _18_ had never even known theirs. This was a very special celebration and union. In the middle lay a giftwrapped box _19_ for her with a card, reading “Our grandma, with love”Christmas this year wasnt unkind to Helen. N
17、o, it was a new _20_， a brand new start and nine new reasons to her1. Avalued BrewardedCapproved Drespected2. Afunny BchallengingCboring Ddiverse3. Aweakness BcoldnessCsadness Dtiredness4. Aother than Bmore thanCrather than Dless than5. Anervousness BanxietyCdepression Dseparation6. Aacknowledge Bdi
18、stinguishCappreciate Dcomfort7. Adesired BpicturedCaiming Dproving8. Acrying BdyingCmoving Dstruggling9. AGradually BRecentlyCThen DMeanwhile10. Akind BoptimisticCpatient Denthusiastic11. Abase BplaceChide Dset12. Apolitely BpersonallyCseriously Dunwillingly13. Avolunteer BvisitorCteacher Dassistant
19、14. Aview BthoughtCsight Dscenery15. Astaring BshiningClooking Dlighting16. Ahelped BtreatedCinvited Damused17. Awhile BwhenCas Dafter18. Aor BnorCand Dbut19. Aintended BwrittenCsent Dleft20. Aending BprocessCgoal Dbeginning (二)【要点综述】文章讲述了海伦在自己的亲人一个个离自己而去后，感到悲伤、孤独，对生活失去了信心。老师和孩子们在圣诞节时邀请她去帮他们装饰圣诞树，这为
20、她开启了生活的新篇章。1D根据前面的“Helen was loved as a friendly lady by all who knew her.”可知，她应该是受到人们的高度尊敬。故选D项。2A根据上下文的语境可知，此处“life is funny”意思为“世事无常”。3C根据后面的“losing those closest to her and the loneliness of being all alone”可知，失去亲人后是痛苦和悲伤的。故选C项。4B句意：失去亲人的痛苦、孑然一身的孤独令她无法忍受。5C根据后面的hopelessness 可知应该找其同义词。fall into d
21、epression and hopelessness意为“陷入了绝望和无助”。故选C项。6D她周围的人看到她这些变故后，不知道怎么去安慰(comfort)她。故选D项。7Dprove to be “结果是”，符合题意。8B语境为“在孤独、悲伤中，她感觉到自己快要死了”。故选B项。9C按照时间顺序往下叙述，故选C。10Abe kind enough to do sth是固定句式，意为“好心到足以做某事”。11B根据下文的“Most decorations had been placed on the tree”的暗示可知选B项。12A根据后面的but 可知，她本想礼貌地拒绝。故选A项。 13D此
22、处assistant是和上文中的they needed assistance呼应。14Cthe sight of the young children意思为“看到这些小孩子们”。15B根据后面的through tears可知，她眼睛闪烁着泪花。故选B项。16C她很高兴孩子们邀请她来参加圣诞节的庆祝。故选C项。17B圣诞树被装饰好了后，孩子们围坐在她的身旁。when“就在这时”，符合题意。18Aeitheror表示“或者或者”。19Aa box intended for意为“为准备的盒子”。20D根据后面的a brand new start的提示可知答案。阅读下列短文, 从给的四个选项 (A、B
23、、C和D) 中, 选出最佳选项。 (2013重庆，D)Not all bodies of water are so evidently alive as the Atlantic Ocean, an Sshaped body of water covering 33 million square miles. The Atlantic has, in a sense, replaced the Mediterranean as the inland sea of Western civilization. Unlike real inland seas, which seem strangel
24、y still, the Atlantic is rich in oceanic liveliness. It is perhaps not surprising that its vitality has been much written about by ancient poets.“Storm at Sea”， a short poem written around 700, is generally regarded as one of mankinds earliest artistic representations of the Atlantic.When the wind i
25、s from the west All the waves that cannot restTo the east must thunder on Where the bright tree of the sunIs rooted in the oceans breast.As the Atlantic is never dead and dull. Its an ocean that moves impressively and endlessly. It makes all kinds of noiseit is forever thundering, boiling, crashing
26、and whistling.It is easy to imagine the Atlantic trying to draw breathperhaps not so noticeably out in midocean, but where it meets land, its waters bathing up and down a sandy beach. It mimics (模仿) nearly perfectly the steady breathing of a living creature. It is filled with symbiotic existences to
27、o；unimaginable quantities of creatures, little and large alike, mix within its depths in a kind of oceanic harmony, giving to the waters a few of heartbeat, a kind of subocean vitality. And it has a psychology. It has personalities: sometimes peaceful and pleasant, on rare occasions rough and wild;
28、always it is strong and striking.文章大意：本文为说明文，向读者介绍了富有活力的大西洋。13Unlike real inland seas, the Atlantic Ocean is _.Aalways energeticBlacking in livelinessCshaped like a squareDfavored by ancient poets答案：A细节理解题。由文章第一段信息the Atlantic Ocean is rich in oceanic liveliness.可知A项正确。14What is the purpose of using
29、 the poem “Storm at Sea” in the passage?ATo describe the movement of the waves.BTo show the strength of the storm.CTo represent the power of the ocean.DTo prove the vastness of the sea.答案：C细节理解题。由文章第二段信息 “Storm at Sea”，.is generally regarded as one of mankind earliest artistic representations of the
30、 Atlantic.可知C项正确。15What does the underlined word “symbiotic” mean?ALiving together. BGrowing fast.CMoving harmoniously. DBreathing peacefully.答案：A词意猜测题。由该词后面的描述：unimaginable quantities of creatures，little and large alike，mix with its depth in a kind of oceanic harmony，giving to the waters a feeling
31、of heartbeat，a kind of subocean vitality.可知，这些大量的大小不一的海洋生物和谐地生活在一起，故A项正确。16In the last paragraph, the Atlantic is compared to _.Aa beautiful and poetic placeBa flesh and blood personCa wonderful worldDa lovely animal答案：B由文章最后一句话It has personalities：sometimes peaceful and pleasant，on rare occasions r
32、oughly wild；always it is strong and striking.可知，作者在文章最后把大西洋比作了有血有肉的人，故B项正确。阅读下列短文, 从给的四个选项 (A、B、C和D) 中, 选出最佳选项。 (2013重庆，E)It is idely known that any English conversation begins with The Weather. Such a fixation with the weather finds expression in Dr. Johnsons famous comment that “When two English m
33、eet, their first talk is of weather.” Though Johnsons observation is as accurate now as it was over two hundred years ago, most commentators fail to come up with a convincing explanation for this English weatherspeak. Bill Bryson, for example, concludes that, as the English weather is not at all exc
34、iting, the obsession with it can hardly be understood. He argues that “To an outsider, the most striking thing about the English weather is that there is not very much of it.” Simply, the reason is that the unusual and unpredictable weather is almost unknown in the British Isles.Jeremy Paxman, howev
35、er, disagrees with Bryson, arguing that the English interest is by nature attractive. Bryson is wrong, he says, because the English preference for the weather has nothing to do with the natural phenomena. “The interest is less in the phenomena themselves, but in uncertainty.” According to him, the w
36、eather in England is very changeable and uncertain and it attracts the English as well as the outsider.Bryson and Paxman stand for common misconceptions about the weatherspeak among the English. Both commentators, somehow, are missing the point.The English weather conversation is not really about th
37、e weather at all. English weatherspeak is a system of signs, which is developed to help the speakers overcome the natural reserve and actually talk to each other. Everyone knows conversations starting with weatherspeak are not requests for weather data. Rather, they are routine greetings, conversati
38、on starters or the blank “fillers”. In other words, English weatherspeak is a means of social bonding.文章大意：本文为议论文，上来点题：英语对话往往从天气开始。后面具体的介绍几个对此有不同理解的人以及他们的观点。17The author mentions Dr. Johnsons comment to show that _.Amost commentators agree with Dr. Johnson.BDr. Johnson is famous for his weather conv
39、ersationCthe comment was accurate two hundred years agoDEnglish conversations usually start with the weather答案：D文章第一句话提到：众所周知，英语的对话往往从天气开始，然后举例说明，显然举例的目的就是表明英语的对话往往从天气开始，故D项正确。18What does the underlined word “obsession” most probably refer to?AA social trend.BAn emotional state.CA historical concept
40、.DAn unknown phenomenon.答案：B词意猜测题。由语境可知，Bill认为因为英国天气一点也不令人兴奋，因此用它对话时表达出来的_难以理解。兴奋应是与人的情感状态有关，故B项正确。19According to the passage, Jeremy Paxman believes that _.ABill Bryson has little knowledge of the weatherBthere is nothing special about the English weatherCthe English weather attracts people to the
41、British IslesDEnglish people talk about the weather for its uncertainty答案：D细节理解题。由文章第三段信息The interest is less in the phenomena themselves, but in uncertainty.可知D项正确。20What is the authors main purpose of writing the passage?ATo explain what English weatherspeak is about.BTo analyse misconceptions about the English weather.CTo find fault with both Bill Bryson and Jeremy Paxman. DTo convince people that the English weather is changeable.答案：A主旨大意题。文章主要讲述英语对话以天气开始的一些事情，故A项正确。