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题型:阅读理解 题类:常考题 难易度:普通

四川省成都市棠湖中学2018-2019学年高二上学期开学考试英语试题

阅读理解

    Around this time a few years ago, it was common to see videos of friends on social media having a bucket of icy water thrown on them. Known as the “ice bucket challenge”, it was created as a way to raise money for the medical condition ALS. But now, there's a new challenge and this time, no water is involved.

    What is it? Well, think of a fruit that you'd never normally sink your teeth into. Perhaps you've got it: a lemon. While we enjoy using lemons to add flavor to dishes, very few of us would actually eat one as we'd eat an apple or an orange.

    But the horrible taste is the precise reason why the “lemon face challenge” is taking off. Participants bite into a lemon, taking a selfie as they do it before posting the photo online. The fun is all about expression people make as all that citric acid (柠檬酸) hits their taste buds (味蕾). Every expression seems to say, “This is worse than freezing water.”

    The serious side to this trend is the good cause it's all in aid of. The challenge aims to raise awareness of a rare brain cancer that affects young children. It was started by Aubregh Nicholas, an 11-year-old US kid. She was diagnosed with this rare brain cancer herself in September 2017, but has since raised almost $50000 to cover her medical expenses thanks to the challenge.

    If a challenge is going to raise publicity and contributions from people, it has to be something interesting and original. That way the ice bucket challenge took off in 2014 and it explains why so many people are now sharing their lemon faces. There are a lot of stories about the downside of social media these days. The charity challenges, however, show how online culture can unite the world and bring help to the people who most need it.

(1)、Why is the icy bucket challenge mentioned m the article.
A、to show how charity gained its popularity online. B、to introduce a similar challenge that raises money for charity. C、to attract people's attention to a rare disease. D、to prove its popularity around the world.
(2)、Compared with the pre-Internet charity, what is the advantage of online charity?
A、It raises more money than ever before. B、It is started by the people who suffer rare diseases. C、It brings people together easily and quickly. D、It causes little doubt among people.
(3)、What does the underlined phrase “take off' in the last paragraph mean?
A、go away suddenly B、become successful and popular C、remove your clothes D、take a break
(4)、What is the author's attitude towards online charity?
A、positive B、indifferent C、negative D、ambiguous
举一反三
阅读理解

    Doctors say anger can be an extremely harmful emotion, unless you learn how to deal with it. They warn that angry feeling can lead to heart disease, stomach problems, headaches, emotional problems and possibly cancer.

    Anger is a normal emotion that we all feel from time to time. Some people express anger openly in a calm, reasonable way. Others burst with anger, losing control of themselves. But still other people control their anger. They cannot or will not express it.

    For years many doctors thought that controlling one's anger was more dangerous to a person's health than expressing it. They said that when a person is angry, the brain lets out the same hormones that are produced during tense situations. They speed the heart rate, raise blood pressure, and narrow the blood vessels. In general, the person feels excited and ready to act.

    Doctors said that controlling these feelings only makes the feelings continue. And this can lead to many medical problems. Doctors thought a person could prevent these problems by letting the anger out by expressing it freely. But recently some doctors held a different view. They said that people who express anger too often and violently did become, in fact, more and not less angry. They said this, too, can cause medical problems.

    Some doctors say that both controlling and expressing anger can be dangerous. They believe that those who express anger strongly may be more likely to develop heart disease, and they believe that those who keep their anger inside may face a greater danger of high blood pressure.

    Doctors say the solution is learning how to deal with anger. They say the first step is to admit that you are angry and to recognize the real cause of the anger, then decide if the cause is serious enough to get angry about. If it is, they say, “Do not express your anger while angry. Wait until your anger has cooled down and you are able to express yourself calmly and reasonably.”

阅读理解

    People always think men are more skilled than women in driving. Nowadays women appear to have a positive image of themselves as safer drivers than men.

    In a survey done by insurer MetLife, 51% of women said they drive more safely. The evidence is on their side: Men are 3.4 times more likely than women to get a ticket for careless driving and 3.1 times as likely to be punished for drunk driving. “Women are on average less aggressive and more law abiding(手法的) drivers, which leads to fewer accidents,” the report says. However, not all male drivers share the same opinion. Of the men surveyed by MetLife, 39% claimed male drivers were safer. The findings did back them up on one point: automotive knowledge. The report showed that more men are familiar with current safety equipment such as electronic stability control, which helps prevent rollover accidents.

    Auto safety unavoidably matters to money. Insurance companies focus on what classes of drivers have the lowest dollar amounts of claims, and for now, that mainly includes women. In general, women pay about 9% less for auto insurance than men. A study by the website Insweb also showed that auto insurance rates are lower for women in most states. Among individual states, women get the greatest advantage in Wyoming(where they pay 20% less), South Dakota and Washington, D.C., where their insurance costs are 16% lower.

    “More than 11,9000 male drivers died in U.S. traffic accident in 2009, compared with just under 4,900 women drivers,” according to the study. “Based on miles traveled, men died at a rate of 2.5 deaths per 100 million miles traveled, vs. 1.7 deaths for women.”

阅读理解

    Compassion(同情)is a desire within us to help others. With effort, we can translate compassion into action. An experience last weekend showed me this is true. I work part-time in supermarket across from a building for the elderly. These old people are our main customers, and it's not hard to lose patience over their slowness. But last Sunday, one aged gentleman appeared to teach me a valuable lesson. This untidy man walked up to my register(收款机)with a box of biscuits. He said he was out of cash, had just moved into his room, and had nothing in his cupboards. He asked if we could let him have the food on trust. He promised to repay me the next day.

    I couldn't help staring at him. I wondered what kind of person he had been ten or twenty years before, and what he would be like if fortune had gone his way. I had a hurt in my heart for this kind of human soul, all alone in the world. I told him that I was sorry, but store rules didn't allow me to do so. I felt stupid and unkind saying this, but I valued my job.

    Just then, another man, standing behind the first, spoke up. If anything, he looked more pitiable, “Charge it to me,” was all he said.

    What I had been feeling was pity. Pity is soft and safe and easy. Compassion, on the other hand, is caring in action. I thanked the second man but told him that was not allowed either. Then I reached into my pocket and paid for the biscuits myself. I reached into my pocket because these two men had reached into my heart and taught me compassion.

阅读短文,从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中,选出最佳选项。

    It's a white Christmas in the United States today, with snow falling from Seattle to Maine.

    •Northeast

    Biting winds with snow swept the Northeast.

    Earlier, up to 15 inches of snow fell during a snow storm in Maine, while up to one foot fell in New Hampshire. Winds reached 76 mph on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, while up to 61 mph winds tore through Long Island, New York. Falling snow collected on the runways at Boston's Logan International Airport, causing temporary flight delays.

    The wind was so severe in Pennsylvania and New Jersey that the annual (重演) of George Washington and his soldiers' crossing the Delaware River was canceled, the Washington Crossing Historic Park told ABC News.

    •Midwest

    Heavy lake effect snow fell in western Michigan.

    The National Weather Service has issued a wind-chill warning and advisory (公告) from Montana to Michigan. Bitter cold air in the Midwest produced wind chills Monday morning as low as minus 48 degrees in North Dakota and minus 47 in northern Minnesota.

    As this bitter cold made its way east overnight, it was expected to move over relatively mild Great Lakes, producing intense lake-effect snow bands capabie of producing 2 to 4 inches of snow in an hour.

    •West Coast

    That storm system moved overnight through the Rockies, bringing more snow and the threat of avalanches (雪崩). The National Weather Service has issued an avalanche warning for the Wasatch Range Mountains outside Salt Lake City.

阅读理解

Young Americans Are Less Wealthy Than Their Parents

    The cost of living in the United States is going up, notes writer Alissa Quartz. As is reported in New York Post, Quartz points to "the costs of housing, education and health care in particular." At the same time, a new study, the report of which is called "The Fading American Dream" found that half of Americans born in the 1980s are falling behind their parents economically.

    These findings show that many younger adults are experiencing "downward mobility." In other words, they are not doing as well economically as their parents were at the same age. The idea of downward mobility is especially troubling for Americans, writes Robert Samuelson in The Washington Post. He says most U.S. citizens believe that, over time, the amount of money they earn will rise and life will get easier.

    Alissa Quartz wrote a book about the financial difficulties of Americans. In the book, Quartz tells about teachers who are struggling to pay for regular costs. One high school teacher drives for ride sharing service Uber at night to earn more money. He corrects students' papers between riders.

    A college professor turned to government assistance to feed her child and pay for a doctor. Quartz says even lawyers increasingly cannot earn an income that enables them to meet their needs. The problem of decreasing incomes in their field is made worse by debt they may have from law school. Quartz and the economists who studied these issues say many things have led to lower incomes and downward mobility. The economic recession(衰退) of 2007 to 2009 is partly to blame, they say. Modern technology also plays a part. Quartz says robots threaten to reduce the earnings of health care workers, reporters, and people who work at supermarkets, drug stores and tax preparation services. In The Washington Post, Robert Samuelson noted that poor schools, a weak housing industry and too many government rules are also to blame.

    With all these things, and more, partly responsible, what is the solution? These experts say the answer is complex. But all point to one issue that needs to be examined: economic inequality. Quartz writes that while America is one of the richest countries in the world, it also has one of the biggest divides between the wealthy and the poor.

    The researchers in "The Fading American Dream" study make a similar observation. They say raising GDP will not significantly improve the economic situation of most Americans. A higher GDP may help only those who are already doing well. Instead, the economists say, the United States could try to repeat something Americans born in the 1940s experienced. As those children grew up, they almost all benefited from a better economy.

阅读理解

    The Internet has completely changed the workplace over the past three decades. Artificial Intelligence is now all set to do the same, and businesses that don't take advantage of the technology risk being left behind.

    Global tech giants (巨头) like Amazon have been leading the change, and businesses of all sizes are now using the technology for employing and managing their staff.

    Among them is L'Oreal. With about a million applicants for roughly 15,000 new positions each year, the company is using AI to hire.

    “We really wanted to save time and focus more on quality, diversity and candidate experience. And AI solutions were the best way to go faster on these challenges, said Eva Azoulay, global vice-president of L'Oreal's Human Resources Department.

    The company uses Mya, a chatbot, to save employers' time during the first stage of the process. It handles routine questions from candidates, and checks details such as availability and visa requirements. Should candidates make it to the next round, they'll run into Seedlink, an AI software that scores applicants based on their answers to open-ended interview questions. These scores don't replace human judgment, said Azoulay, but they do pick out candidates who might not seem like obvious choices.

    Early results have been promising. For one internship program, where 12,000 people apply for about 80 spots, employers claim they saved 200 hours of time while hiring the most diverse group to date.

    Other businesses have gone beyond employment and are using AI to help manage employees. Some UK firms have started using Isaak, a system designed by the London-based company StatusToday, to track how many hours staff spend online and the number of emails they receive. London real estate agent JBrown has been using this system since March. CEO James Brown said it helps the firm understand employees' habits and prevent them from overworking. "It enables us to solve bottleneck problems and relieve overburdened employees," he said.

    Despite these examples of good practice, there is still a long way for AI to reach its full potential (潜力), and the technology comes with risks. Another AI danger could be its impact on jobs through automation (自动化). McKinsey predicts AI could add $13 trillion to the global economy by 2030, with early adopters doubling their cash flow over that period. But the demand for repetitive (重复的) or digitally-unskilled jobs could drop by around 10%, the consulting firm said in a 2018 report.

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