试题

试题 试卷

logo

题型:阅读理解 题类:常考题 难易度:普通

广东省揭阳普宁市2019-2020学年高一上学期英语期末考试试卷

阅读理解

    Now, more than ever before, people are wondering what life is all about, and what it is for. Seeking material success is beginning to trouble large numbers of people around the world. They feel that the long-hours work culture to make more money to buy more things is eating up their lives, leaving them very little time or energy for family or pastimes. Many are turning to other ways of living and downshifting is one of them.

    Six percent of workers in Britain took the decision to downshift last year. One couple who downshifted is Daniel and Liz. They used to work in central London. He was a newspaper reporter and she used to work for an international bank. They would go to work by train every day from their large house in the suburbs, leaving their two children with a nanny(保姆). Most evenings Daniel wouldn't get home until eight or nine o'clock, and nearly twice a month he would have to fly to New York for meetings

    They both earned a large amount of money but began to feel that life was passing them by.

    Nowadays, they run a farm in the mountains of Wales, I always wanted to have a farm here, says Daniel, "and we took almost a year to make the decision to downshift. It's taken some getting used to, but it's been worth it. We have to think twice now about spending money in car repairs and we no longer have any holidays. However, I think it's made us stronger as a family, and the children are a lot happier."

    Liz, however, is not quite sure. "I used to enjoy my job, even though it was hard work and long hours. I'm not really a country girl, but I suppose I'm gradually getting used to looking after the animals. One thing I do like, though, is being able to see more of my children. My advice for other people wanting to do the same is not to think about it too much or you might not do it at all."

(1)、The underlined word "downshifting" in the first paragraph means     .
A、repairing your car by yourself B、spending money carefully C、moving out to the countryside to live a simpler and better life D、living in a big house in the suburbs and dining out once a week
(2)、When Daniel was a reporter, he         .
A、lived in central London B、disliked his job C、missed his children D、was well paid
(3)、Daniel and Liz both agree that the move to the farm
A、was easy to organize B、has improved family life C、was extremely expensive D、have been a total success
举一反三
阅读理解

    Mosquitoes have an extraordinary ability to find humans far away and fly straight to their skin. Mosquitoes can do more than cause an itchy (发痒的)wound. Some mosquitoes spread several serious diseases, including Dengue, yellow fever and malaria.

    Over one million people worldwide die from these diseases each year. New research now shows how mosquitoes choose who to bite.

    Mosquitoes need blood to survive. They are attracted to human skin and breath. They smell the carbon dioxide gas, which all mammals breathe out. This gas is the main way for mosquitoes to know that a warm-blooded creature is nearby.

    But mosquitoes also use their eyes and sense of touch. Michael Dickinson is a professor at the California Institute of Technology. His research shows how these small insects, with even smaller brains, use three senses to find a blood meal.

    Michael Dickinson's team used plumes—a material that rises into the air of carbon dioxide gas into a wind tunnel (隧道). They then used cameras to record the mosquitoes. The insects followed the plume.

    Then, the scientists placed dark objects on the lighter colored floor and walls of the tunnel. Mr. Dickinson said, at first, the mosquitoes showed no interest in the objects at all. “What was quite surprising is that the mosquitoes fly back and forth for hours. These are hungry females and they completely ignore the objects on the floor and wall of the tunnel. But the moment they get a hit of CO₂, they change their behavior quite obviously and now would become attracted to these little visual blobs (斑点).”

    This suggested to the researchers that a mosquito's sense of smell is more important in the search for food. Once mosquitoes catch a smell of a human or animal, they also follow visual signals.

阅读理解

    Breakdancing is set to make its debut(首次亮相) as an Olympic sport at Paris2024, Tony Estanguet, head of the Paris organizing committee, said on February 21". Skateboarding, sport climbing and surfing which have already been added to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, have been invited to return in Paris.

    Estanguet said the choices responded to a need to make the Olympics "more urban" and “more artistic". "We have chosen to present the International Olympic Committee (IOC) with the four sports because they are creative, appealing to youth and completely in line with our vision. They reflect perfectly Paris 2024's identity.”

    Breakdancing is an example of a sport "which can be played anywhere and anytime in urban and other environments." It appeared at the 2018 Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires in the form of head-to-head "battles". In competitive breakdancing, "breakers face off in "battles" against each other, either as individuals or teams. Breakdancers use- a mix of physical and artistic skills combining elements from gymnastics or acrobatics(杂技).

    The IOC had announced that the number of competitors at Paris 2024 would be restricted to 10,500, which limited the opportunity to add sports. But the organizers said the inclusion would not necessitate the construction of permanent facilities and would involve just 248 competitors, including 32 breakdancers. The surfing events are likely to be held in established surf center such as Biarritz or Lacanau in southwest France.

    The inclusion still needs to be rubberstamped by the IOC, which is expected to decide on which sports to add in Paris after next year's Tokyo Games.

阅读理解

    D. Mike Miles hadn't had a stable job in years. He bounced around from temporary agency to temporary agency, never sure when his last day would be. Sometimes, he lost a job with less than a day's notice. This was not due to a poor work ethic (职业道德) - from arriving early to staying late, Miles said he did everything he could to leave good impressions on employers in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in the US. But because Miles had a criminal record, he was always cut loose when it was time to let staff go.

    "It was like walking on eggshells. You just never knew when you'd be gone," he said.

    After his release from prison in 2007, Miles struggled to find stability – both mentally and financially. During this time, he lived in his mother's house and she helped him raise his daughter. When his mom passed away two years later, Miles said he became more determined than ever to create a healthy environment for his family.

    "I'm all she has, and she's all I have," he said. "I had to build a whole new relationship with my daughter, while building a whole new life for myself."

    It wasn't until October 2015, nearly a decade after he got out of prison, that a cousin told Miles about a food company that hires people who have difficulty finding jobs.

    Hoping this would clear up what felt like a thick cloud of uncertainty over his future, Miles submitted an application. He got an interview and soon after that, began his new job. His work involves everything from food production to maintenance (保存), not to mention it pays a livable wage of $15 an hour. He said it's the best job he's ever had.

    Miles' story is rare in Lancaster, where the poverty rate is around 30 percent – about double the national average. This figure annoyed Charlie Crystle, the co-founder and CEO of the company that gave Miles his job.

    Crystle said he wanted to inspire other companies and entrepreneurs (企业家) to rethink their current practices and ignite(引发)conversations about minimum wage and employment opportunities for everyone, including ex-offenders (有犯罪前科的人).

    Beyond providing employment and livable wages, the company also helps employees deal with the many challenges of reentry into society. This means anything from helping them find housing and health benefits to changing their schedules.

    Miles is now saving for a house. "It doesn't have to be a big house," he said. "I just want to be stable."

阅读理解

    Regardless of how far we'd like to believe gender(性别)equality in the workplace has come, there's still a yawning gap between male and female leaders in the professional world. A 2018 statistic shows that women nowadays hold just 5.8 percent of CEOs positions at S&P 500 companies, according to Catalyst.

    While it's not a huge shock that women are somewhat underrepresented in leadership positions, what is surprising though, is the fact that females may actually be better suited to lead in almost every area, at least according to new findings from the BI Norwegian Business School.

    In their research, Professor Oyvind L. Martinsen and Professor Lars Glas surveyed (调查) 2,900 managers with a special focus on personality types. The results were clear: Women scored higher than men in four of the five major leadership-centric categories.

    While some people believe that men inherently make better leaders — probably because they picture a leader with a commanding voice, which is more typical of men than women — this piece of research suggests that women are better at methodical management and goal-setting, openness, sociability and supportiveness, as well as ability to communicate clearly.

    There was one area in which men scored higher than women, though, and that was on emotional stability and ability to face job-related pressure and stress. The results suggest that women are more sensitive to the effects of high-pressure or highly emotional situations.

    Obviously, it's important to consider individual (个人的) differences. Anyone, regardless of gender, may be an inspiring leader and a competent boss. But next time you're hiring for a management position, you just might want to give the resumes (简历) from female candidates a harder look.

阅读理解

Jack Horner is co-author of the book How to Build a Dinosaur. However, he is most famous for his role as consultant(顾问) on all four Jurassic Park films, including the new film Jurassic World.

The original film Jurassic Park tells the story of a theme park where dinosaurs live. In that movie, scientists used DNA collected by ancient mosquitoes that had been trapped in amber shortly after they drank dinosaur blood. The scientists used this dinosaur DNA to create baby dinosaurs. The scientists in Jurassic Park created various types of dinosaurs, but in the real world there is one big problem with the story. It turns out that DNA could not possibly survive the 65 million years since the death of the dinosaurs.

The new movie creates the Indominus Rex. This idea of creating a hybrid species is something Horner has explored before. In 2011, he gave a speech in which he discussed producing a dinosaur by working with the genes of a bird. Modern birds are the closest living relative of dinosaurs.

The concept of using the genes of different animals to create new animals is called transgenic science. And this type of science has already produced some interesting results — goats that produce spider silk in their milk, cows that produce proteins for medicines that can treat diseases, and a pig that produces less-polluting waste thanks to a bit of mouse DNA. However, none of these examples are close to the dinosaurs in Jurassic World. And for a good reason — genetics is a very complex science. Producing a new species is not as simple as just exchanging a few genes around.

In the end, Jurassic World is all about fun.

返回首页

试题篮