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题型:阅读理解 题类:常考题 难易度:普通

安徽师范大学附属中学2018-2019学年高二下学期英语期中考试试卷

阅读理解

    Have you ever pressed the pedestrian button at a crosswalk and wondered if it really worked? They're called "placebo(安慰剂)buttons"一buttons that mechanically sound and can be pushed, but provide no functionality.

    In New York City, only about 100 of the 1, 000 crosswalk buttons actually function. Crosswalk signals were generally installed before traffic jam had reached today's levels.

    But while their function was taken over by more advanced systems—such as automated lights or traffic sensors — the physical buttons were often kept, rather than being replaced at further expense. Other cities, such as Boston, Dallas and Seattle, have gone through a similar process, leaving them with their own placebo pedestrian buttons. In London, which has 6, 000 traffic signals, pressing the pedestrian button results in a reliable "Wait" light. But that doesn't necessarily mean that the "green man"— or "pedestrian stage" in traffic signal design profession — will appear any sooner.

    "We do have some crossings where the green light comes on automatically, but we still ask people to press the button because that enables accessible features,'' said Glynn Barton, director of network management at Transport for London.

    These features, such as blind tracks and hearable traffic signals, help people with visual disorder cross the road and only function when the button is pressed. As for the lights, a growing number of them are now combined and become a part of an electronic system that detects traffic and adjusts time frequency accordingly (giving priority to buses if they're running late, for example), which means that pressing the button has no effect.

    According to Langer, a Harvard psychologist, placebo buttons give us the illusion (错觉)of control — and something to do in situations where the alternative would be doing nothing. In the case of pedestrian crossings, they may even make us safer by forcing us to pay attention to our surroundings. "They serve a psychological purpose at the very least," she added.

(1)、Why are the physical buttons still kept in some cities?
A、Because it may cost money to replace them. B、Because they remain as memories of a city. C、Because do have real functions in traffic. D、Because they can result in reliable lights.
(2)、Which of the following word can replace the underline word "features" in Paragraph 4?
A、Functions. B、Uses. C、Equipment. D、Facilities.
(3)、If you pressed a "placebo button" in London, what would happen?
A、All traffic would be affected. B、Some kind of sound might appear. C、Pedestrians came first to cross the road. D、"Green man" were bound to show up earlier.
(4)、What can we know about "placebo buttons" from Langer's words?
A、They can really control traffic. B、They serve little functions. C、They may work mentally. D、They can help the blind.
举一反三
阅读理解

    I was on my school campus the other day, and there was an ice cream truck parked right in front of the main common areas of the school. I had never thought an ice cream truck would circle our campus and come for us, overgrown kids. I was intrigued and wanted to investigate(调查)further.

    I was quite surprised when the man in the truck called out,“ Free ice cream!”

    I questioned him just to make sure of his words, saying," I' m sorry, what did you say?"

    “Free ice cream. You have your choice of these four frozen treats: the rocket pop, the chocolate Eclair, the strawberry shortcake, or the drumstick.”

    After I was certain that the man was just giving away free ice cream, I talked with him for a while. He told me that his dream had always been to travel around giving away ice cream, and that's exactly what he did. And his passion was expressed through using up all his credit cards, sleeping in his truck, and living with his mother in a small flat, so he could continue to follow his dream during hard times .Now, he has sponsorships(赞助)from large companies such as Levi's to do what he loves, and he's gifted 125,000 of his truckload of ice cream treats!

    The man said he wanted to encourage people to do exactly what their hearts tell them to do with their lives. I kept asking him with respect," So your dream was just to drive around and give away ice cream? It seems like a very unusual goal."

    "Yes ,just meeting people and making them smile," he replied.

阅读理解

    Welcome to SummerCamps.com; find and book the very best summer camps. Your children are precious so we offer the highest quality of camps that will meet each child's needs and interests.

    Catalina Sea Camp

    Sea Camp offers three one-week sessions to boys and girls aged 8-13 and two three-week sessions to teens aged 12-17. Our hand-picked instructors create an atmosphere of fun and excitement while leading campers to a host of ocean adventures, marine(海洋的) biology, and social summer camp activities.

    Address: Toyon Way, San Bruno, California 94066

    Phone: 800-645-1423

    Camp Cayuga

    Camp Cayuga is a private summer camp for children aged 6 to 16. The camp is on a 350-acre land in the Pocono Mountains of Northeast Pennsylvania, just outside the village of Honesdale. It's a 3-hour drive from New York City and Philadelphia.

    Address: 321 Niles Pond Road-Suite ISC, Honesdale, Pennsylvania 18431

    Phone: 908-470-1224

    Camp Rockmont

    Camp Rockmont is a Christian summer camp for boys, aged 6-16, in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. Rockmont's duty of developing boys into healthy young men is accomplished through age-appropriate skills, activities, and challenges that help campers to know themselves better.

    Address: 375 Lake Eden Road, Black Mountain, North Carolina 28711

    Phone: 828-686-3885

    Primitive Pursuits Overnight Camps

    Primitive Pursuits Overnight Camps offer week-long Summer Adventure Overnight Camps in New York's Finger Lakes to your children aged 11-15. Campers experience a week of nature-based skills training, inspiring challenges, and fun activities under the guidance of skilled instructors.

    Address: 611 County Rd 13, Van Etten, New York 14889

    Phone: 607-272-2292

阅读理解

    Have you ever lost your car on a parking lot? It happens. You park and go shopping. When you get back, you have no idea where your car is. It can be discouraging.

    You don't need to install (安装) an expensive GPS system to keep track of your car. That's too expensive. You would need to pay a monthly subscription fee just to use it. But is there a way to track your vehicle without spending a fortune? Yes, now there is! A California-based start-up company was able to make this a reality. They created a tiny device (装置)that works with your smartphone, and it could be exactly what you're looking for! It's called TrackR Bravo. It's changing the way we keep track of the important things in our lives.

    Install the free TrackR app on your smartphone, connect the app to your device and you're ready to go! Simply attach TrackR to whatever you want to keep an eye on. The entire process of setting it up only takes 5 minutes or less. You can attach it to your keys, wallet and anything else you don't want to lose. Then use the TrackR app to find where your missing item are in seconds.

    Forget expensive GPS systems or tracking services. Nobody wants to pay expensive monthly subscription fees. We understand how stressful these things can be, and this is the reason why the company created TrackR. This device is your VIP when you need to take care of important things.

    If you forget where you park your car, take out your smartphone and open the TrackR app. Tap on the “lost item” sign on the screen and the app will tell you the exact location. This device is by no means expensive. TrackR only costs $29, a small price to pay for peace of mind. The device is small enough that you can attach it to your pets. Put it on their collar, and you will never lose track of them! Attach it to your key or wallet, and never waste a minute rummaging the whole house for it.

    Since you've been informed about this brilliant invention, now attach it to everything that's important to you.

阅读理解

    In its early history, Chicago had floods frequently, especially in the spring, making the streets so muddy that people, horses, and carts got stuck. An old joke that was popular at the time went something like this:A man is stuck up to his waist in a muddy Chicago street. Asked if he needs help, he replies, "No, thanks. I've got a good horse under me."

    The city planner decided to build an underground drainage (排水) system, but there simply wasn't enough difference between the height of the ground level and the water level. The only two options were to lower the Chicago River or raise the city.

    An engineer named Ellis Chesbrough convinced the city that it had no choice but to build the pipes above ground and then cover them with dirt. This raised the level of the city's streets by as much as 12 feet.

    This of course created a new problem: dirt practically buried the first floors of every building in Chicago. Building owners were faced with a choice: either change the first floors of their buildings into basements, and the second stories into main floors, or hoist the entire buildings to meet the new street level. Small wood-frame buildings could be lifted fairly easily. But what about large, heavy structures like Tremont Hotel, which was a six-story brick building?

    That's where George Pullman came in. He had developed some house-moving skills successfully. To lift a big structure like the Tremont Hotel, Pullman would place thousands of jackscrews (螺旋千斤顶) beneath the building's foundation. One man was assigned to operate each section of roughly 10jackscrews.At Pullman's signal each man tured his jackscrew the same amount at the same time, thereby raising the building slowly and evenly. Astonishingly, the Tremont Hotel stay open during the entire operation, and many of its guests didn't even notice anything was happening.

    Some people like to say that every problem has a solution. But in Chicago's early history, every engineering solution seemed to create a new problem. Now that Chicago's waste water was draining efficiently into the Chicago River, the city's next step was to clean the polluted river.

Choose the one that fits best according to the information given in the passage you have just read.

    Once again DC Comics and Warner Bros. have divided fans and critics over their latest superhero film.

    There had been worrying news about Justice League in the months before its release, with a lot of reshoots of scenes, a new director being brought in to finish the film after original director Zack Snyder's tragic loss of his daughter and, of course, a lot of talk about Ben Affleck's future in the role of Batman.

    Some people are saying that Justice League is another big disappointment, that it could have been incredible and instead fails to really entertain. Others say that Warner Bros. have finally got it right and that the future for the League looks bright.

    My opinion lies somewhere in the middle. The film was by no means a disappointment: it was exciting, funny and a lot of fun to watch. There's something special about watching the heroes from your childhood brought to life on the big screen and maybe that is affecting my opinion.

    However, I will say that a lot of work needs to be done if the producer wants to make a great success. Although the film was good, it was obvious which scenes had been reshot and how the characters had been changed. I also have to mention the several scenes in which the special effects were very badly done; these are the kinds of problems that you don't expect to see in a film with such a big budget.

    Another point to add is that it is good to see the producer making Superman slightly a brighter character and adding some jokes to the plot to keep things fun. But the producer must be careful not to make the mistake that another film producer—here, not mentioning the name—is coming very close to doing: turning all of the films into bright and colorful shows and losing a lot of seriously good stories.

    In the end, Justice League is not a perfect film but it is definitely not a terrible one. A lot of work is still to be done but I hope that DC does not completely lose its darker side.

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