1、2014高考英语阅读理解限时训练精品题(2)及答案阅读理解课堂练学案(11)Passage Eight (The Improving Economic Situation In Greece) Greece, economically, is in the black. With very little to export other than such farm products as tobacco, cotton and fruit, the country earns enough from invisible earnings to pay for its needed, growi
2、ng imports. From the sending out of things the Greeks, earn only $285 million; from tourism, shipping and the remittances of Greeks abroad, the country takes in an additional #375 million and this washes out the almost $400 million by which imports exceed exports. It has a balanced budget. Although
3、more than one drachma out of four goes for defense, the government ended a recent year with a slight surplus - $66 million. Greece has a decent reserve of almost a third of a billion dollars in gold and foreign exchange. It has a government not dependent on coalescing incompatible parties to obtain
4、parliamentary majorities. In thus summarizing a few happy highlights, I dont mean to minimize the vast extent of Greeces problems. It is the poorest country by a wide margin in Free Europe, and poverty is widespread. At best an annual income of $60 to $70 is the lot of many a peasant, and substantia
5、l unemployment plagues the countryside, cities, and towns of Greece. There are few natural resources on which to build any substantial industrial base. Some years ago I wrote here: “Greek statesmanship will have to create an atmosphere in which home and foreign savings will willingly seek investment
6、 opportunities in the back ward economy of Greece. So far, most American and other foreign attempt have bogged down in the Greek governments red tape and shrewdness about small points.” Great strides have been made. As far back as 1956, expanding tourism seemed a logical way to bring needed foreign
7、currencies and additional jobs to Greece. At that time I talked with the Hilton Hotel people, who had been examining hotel possibilities, and to the Greek government division responsible for this area of the economy. They were hopelessly deadlocked in almost total differences of opinion and outlook.
8、 Today most of the incredibly varied, beautiful, historical sights of Greece have new, if in many cases modest, tourist facilities. Tourism itself has jumped from approximately $31 million to over $90 million. There is both a magnificent new Hilton Hotel in Athens and a completely modernized, greatl
9、y expanded Grande Bretagne, as well as other first-rate new hotels. And the advent of jets has made Athens as accessible as Paris or Rome without the sky-high prices of traffic-choked streets of either.1.The title below that best expresses the ideas of this passage isA Greek income and expenditures.
10、The improving economic situation in Greece.C The value of tourism.D Military expenditures.2.Many peasants earn less thanA $60 a week.$2 a week.C $1 a day.D $10 a month.3.The Greek Government spendsA more than 25%of its budget on military terms.More than its collects.C A third of a billion dollars in
11、 gold.D Less than 25% of its budget on military terms.4.According to the passage, Greece hasA a dictatorship.a monarchy.C a single majority party.D too much red tape.5.Greece imports annually goods and materialsA totaling almost $700 million.that balance exports.C that are paid by tourists.D costing
12、 $66 million.Vocabulary1.remittance 汇款(额)2.wash out 洗掉,取消、告吹、冲掉、筋疲力尽3.drachma 古希腊银币 德拉克马(现代希腊货币单位)4.lot 份额5.incompatible 水火不相容的,不能共存的6.coalesce (政党)联合,愈合,接合7.highlight 光线最强处,最重要部分,最精彩场面8.margin (成本和售价的)差额,空白,边缘9.bog down 陷于困境,使停顿10.red tape 官样文章,烦琐和拖拉的公务程序11.shrewdness 清明,机灵12.deadlock 僵局,僵持;使陷于僵局难句
13、译注1. Greece, economically is in the black.【参考译文】希腊经济上说是赢利/富裕的2. With very little export other than such farm products as tobacco, cotton and fruit, the country earns enough from invisible earnings to pay its needed, growing imports.【参考译文】除了农产品,如烟草、棉花和水果之外,希腊没有什么出口货,但它从“无形的收益”中挣不少,足够致富所需的一切日益增长的进口货。3
14、. This washes out almost $400 million by which imports exceed exports.【参考译文】这笔钱冲掉了进口超过出口近4亿美元的差额。4. So far most American and other foreign attempts have bogged down in the Greek governments red tape and shrewdness about small points.【参考译文】到目前为止由于希腊政府那种繁琐而又拖拉的公务程序和对小事的精明,大多数美国和其他国家的尝试的工作都陷入困境。5. They
15、 were hopelessly deadlocked in almost total differences of opinion and outlook.【参考译文】他们绝望地陷于意见和观点完全分歧的僵局之中。6. And the advent of jets has made Athens as accessible as Paris and Rome without the sky-high prices of traffic chocked streets of either.【参考译文】喷气式飞机的发展使雅典和巴黎、罗马一样很容易到达,却没有那两个城市的交通堵塞的接到的高昂代价。写
16、作方法与文章大意 这是一篇以过去和现在对比的手法,论述了希腊经济,主要是旅游业的发展。过去,希腊以无形资产赢得之利润,来消除赤字,还可稍有节余。但贫穷、事业情况严重,政府办事拖拉、繁琐也影响国外的投资,虽然早在1956年就准备扩展旅游业,但意见分歧。现在,情况大变,就旅游一项年收入由3100万增至9000万美元。答案详解1. B 希腊经济形式的改善。文章围绕这一中心而写。文章一开始就提出希腊出口除了农产品之外,没有什么东西,而无形资产如旅游、运输和国外的汇款等可挣得37500万美元。两项加在一起来抵消入超赤字近4亿美元,稍有结余。第三段指出,希腊是自由欧洲最穷的国家,许多农民年收入为6070美
17、元。失业现象席卷城市乡镇,建立工业基地的自然资源极少。政府的繁琐事务程序,关注琐事等情况使美国和其他国家试图展开工作陷于停滞状态。第四段开始指出1956年起开拓旅游业,不过意见还是分歧。第五断提出今天惊人的变化,美丽的历史古城呈现新貌,就旅游一项收入由3100万增至9000万美元。旅馆面貌大变。A.希腊的收支。C.旅游的价值。D.军事费用。2. B少于2美元一星期。文章第三段第三句:最佳情况,年收入为6070美元使大多数农民的份额。所以B项最接近年收入。A.60美元一星期。C.一天一美元。D.一个月10美元。3. A 百分之25以上用于军事。第二段:虽然四个德拉克马中有一个用于国防,政府最终还
18、稍有结余6600万美元。B.比收入的还多。C.十亿金子中的三分之一。D.少于百分之25。4. C单一大党。第二段:希腊的政府不依靠水火不相容的政党之间的合作来取得一会的多数席位,这说明是单一大党。A.独裁、专政。B.君主政体。D.太多的繁琐程序。5. A总计几乎在7亿美元左右。第一段中提到希腊出口商品价值28500万美元,而进口超出出口4亿美元。两者相加为6亿2千5百万美元,相当于几乎在7亿美元左右。B.和出口平衡。C.由旅游者支付。D.花费6600万美元。阅读理解-CMost Americans get what money they have from their work; that i
19、s, they earn an income from wages or salaries. The richest Americans, however, get most of their money from what they own their stocks, bonds, real estate, and other forms of property, or wealth. Although there are few accurate statistics to go by, wealth in American society appears to be concentrat
20、ed in very few hands. More than 20 percent of everything that can be privately owned is held by less than one percent of the adult population and more than 75 percent of all wealth is owned by 20 percent of American adults. The plain fact is that most Americans have no wealth at all aside from their
21、 homes, automobiles, and a small amount of savings. Income in the United States is not as highly concentrated as wealth. In 1917 the richest 10 percent of American families received 26.1 percent of all income, while the poorest 10 percent received 17 percent, mainly from Social Security and other go
22、vernment payments. The most striking aspect of income distribution is that it has not changed significantly since the end of World War II. Although economic growth has roughly doubled real disposable (可自由使用的) family income (the money left after taxes and adjusted for inflation) over the last generat
23、ion, the size of the shares given to the rich and the poor is about the same. By any measure economic inequality is great in the United States. The reality behind these statistics is that a large number of Americans are poor. In 1918, 14 percent of the population was living below the federal governm
24、ents poverty line, which at that time was an annual income of $ 9 287 for a nonfarm family of two adults and two children. In other words, about one out of seven Americans over 31 million people was officially considered unable to buy the basic necessities of food, clothes, and shelter. The suggeste
25、d poverty line in 1981 would have been an income of about $11, 200 for a family of four. By this relative definition, about 20 percent of the population or more than 45 million Americans are poor. 11What does the majority of the Americans have in terms of wealth? ATheir income and savings. BTheir ho
26、use, cars and small amounts of savings. CEverything they own in their homes. DActually, they have no wealth at all.12What is the percentage of wealth that is in the hands of most Americans? ALess than 25%. BMore than 25%. CMore than 75%. DLess than 20%. 13Why is economic inequality still great in th
27、e US in spite of the economic growth? ABecause the economic growth has widened the gap of the family income between the rich and the poor. BBecause income in the US is still concentrated in the hands of the richest 10% of American families.CBecause the proportion of income received by the rich and t
28、he poor remains almost the same as in 1917. DBecause some Americans made great fortunes during the Second World War. 14What can we learn from comparison of the two poverty lines in the last paragraph? A. The poverty line of 1918 is more favorable to the poor than that of 1981. B. The 1981 line didnt
29、 leave much to the poor. C. There were more Americans who were officially poor by the 1918 line. D. There were more Americans who were officially poor by the 1981 line. 15From the last two sentences we can see that 1981 governments poverty line _. Awas of no good for the poor Bwas officially approve
30、d Cwas not helpful to the poor Dwas not put into operation then 【参考答案】1115、BACDD DFaced with a tough job market, fresh graduates are dreaming of running their own businesses insteadBut a recent survey has showed that such ambitions lack the required support and remain just thatdreamsThe Shanghai Mun
31、icipal Employment Promotion Center poll of 1,276 graduates in several universities and colleges in the city, released last Friday, showed 5978 percent of respondents considered the possibility of setting up a company or at least a small store But they just stop at the thinking stage, it statedRespon
32、dents put the top reasons for not going it alone down to a shortage of investment and a lack of business opportunityThey also listed lack of business experience and social networks, the need tor advanced study and objections from family members as factors that stood in their wayMore than 90 percent
33、of the interviewees said they would rather take up a job after graduating and then consider starting their own business two or three years down the roadGuo Bing, a senior student in Shanghai International Studies University majoring in English, decided he wanted to be his own boss last yearBut he is
34、 looking for a job first If I fail to find a satisfying job, I would like to establish a company in exhibition services, Guo saidThe Shanghai native has some relatives working in a local printing plantWith their help, Guo hopes to produce exhibition brochures(小册子) at a relatively low priceHe is also
35、 confident that his English language skills can help him do well in the industry Social networking is an important factor leading to business success, Guo said Guo said that the shortage of graduate jobs is the main reason driving more university students to set up a business right after their gradu
36、ationJiang said the university sets up a business guide learn made of government officials and professionalsThey regularly give training courses to students who show an interest in having their own businessThe parents of university graduates are more willing to help their children start up alone, th
37、e survey showedOnce you win the support of your family, you have won half the battle, Guo added16Which of the following can be the best title?AA Tough Job Market BGraduates Dream of Being BossCThe Ambitious Fresh Graduates D, The Story ot Guo Bing17Which of the following does NOT stop fresh graduate
38、s realizing their dreams of being bosses?AThe lack of business opportunity and investmentBThe shortage of business experience.CLess skilled English languageDTheir family members objections18In the view of Guo Bing, what is the key factor -that makes fresh graduates dream of being boss soon after gra
39、duation?ATheir family dont support themBTheir social networking is not goodCThere are not enough graduate jobs DThey want to achieve greater success19All the following statements are true about Guo Bing EXCEPT _AHe has started his own business with the help of his relativesBEnglish is his major in t
40、he universityCHe is trying to find a job which can satisfies himDHe is a Shanghai native20Who is this article mostly intended for?AThe parents whose child goes to university soon.BThose who will graduate from universityCThose who want to be bossesDThe officials who work in the government【参考答案】1620、BCCAB