沪教版牛津高二阅读分层练习六

高三英语阅读分层练习（六）

（A）

Who buy the presents? How much should we spend? Questions about money like these ___1___ during the holidays, and they can turn this wonderful season into the most ___2___ time of the year.

The ___3___ cause of holiday stress is money issues, according to a recent poll by the American Psychological Association (APA). The survey found that 61 percent of Americans ___4___ lack of money as the top cause of family tensions, holiday blues and depression.

“People believe that they can go out and buy gifts because it’s the holidays, ___5___they can’t afford to do so,” says Dorothy Cantor, a noted psychologist and former APA president. “Not only is it stressful to feel that you have to buy everyone an expensive gift, but you will also be stressed for the rest of the year trying to pay your ___6___. You can show love and caring by giving something that you know is meaningful and ___7___ that doesn’t have to cost a lot.”

While managing money issues during the holiday season can be a ___8___, financial experts agree that you can ___9___ pressure by planning ahead, exhibiting patience and managing expectations to make the holiday season enjoyable and worry-free.

For starters, make an agreement with family members to discuss holiday spending and finances before you make any ___10___. The goal here is to learn one another’s thoughts and feelings about priorities and wishes. Be realistic, decide together on a budget and only use cash, rather than using credit cards. Avoid getting ___11___ unreasonable expectations. It makes no ___12___ to buy gifts you can not afford and put additional financial and emotional stress on yourself and your family that will cause problems long after the holidays are over.

Other ways to ___13___ the burden of money-related holiday blues include an understanding that everyone faces money problems at one time or another. It’s important to keep your ___14___ situation in perspective, to learn from experience and then to proceed with your life.

And lastly, make focusing on financial solutions a part of your New Year’s resolution. It’s the perfect time to take a __15___ approach by doing some soul-searching, forgiving yourself, letting go of the past and dealing with your financial problems in a businesslike manner each day.

1. A. break upB. pop upC. put out D. wipe out

2. A. ridiculousB. inconvenientC. stressfulD. mysterious

3. A. immediateB. social C. hidden D. leading

4. A. listed B. feltC. resistedD. charged

5. A. as if B. even ifC. as long asD. if only

6. A. price B. lifeC. rates D. bills

7. A. resistantB. random C. personalD profitable

8. A. successB. reminder C. pleasureD. challenge

9. A. polish B. postpone C. minimizeD. preserve

10. A. excuses

11. A. caught up in

12. A. efforts

13. A. ease

14. A. inadequate

15. A. reverse C. statements D. inquiries C. put up in D. made up for C. desire D. sense C. launch D. transfer C. internal D. private C. grand D. positive

(B)

The two-week vacation at the end of summer school ended

yesterday. Kevin had gone nowhere during his vacation. He had the

money, but he hated to travel alone. He used to take vacations with

Gary, his youngest brother, but they had a big argument at the end of

their last vacation. Each of them had spent the last three years waiting

for the other to apologize.

Kevin did not feel good about being on non-speaking terms with

his favorite brother. But he was not going to ask for forgiveness when, in his mind, this whole misunderstanding was his brother’s fault.

So Kevin’s summer vacation was spent in his own “back yard.” As usual, he had planned to clean up his apartment. As usual, two weeks later his apartment looked just as it had two weeks before.

He did do one thing new and different during his vacation. There was a new coffee shop on Foothill Street. It served 25 varieties of delicious coffee at reasonable prices, and the staff was genuinely friendly. The shop was air-conditioned at a slightly chilly temperature. About eight small round tables were inside. Outside were four bigger tables. Each had four white metal chairs around it, and several big umbrellas provided shade. Even on hot afternoons, there was usually a pleasant breeze.

Kevin visited the coffee shop four times during his vacation. He always sat at a table outside by himself and read the free daily paper. Each day he was there, he read most of the newspaper articles while he enjoyed two cups of coffee.

Between articles, he took breaks by watching the nearby traffic and pedestrians. The coffee shop was next to a huge parking lot. The lot was for customers of a grocery store, movie rental store, pharmacy, bank, and restaurant. Kevin considered his outdoor seat the perfect place for one of his favorite activities—people watching.

The coffee shop, with its excellent location and coffee, had helped make his vacation a pleasant one. But he knew in his heart, had his brother been there to join him just one day, his vacation would have been a perfect one.

16. Why didn’t Kevin go anywhere during his vacation？

A. Because he was short of money. B. Because he didn’t like traveling.

C. Because he had no company. D. Because he had to clean up his apartment.

17. What did Kevin do in his vacation?

A. He cleaned up his apartment. B. He had a big argument with Gary.

C. He worked in a parking lot. D. He stayed at home most of the time.

18. Which of the following is NOT mentioned about the coffee house?

2 B. purchases B. ended up with B. revenge B. resign B. financial B. tender

A. It served delicious coffee of different flavors.

B. It had an effective air-conditioning system.

C. It was often crowded with local customers.

D. It provided free newspapers for customers.

A. Book dealers B. University students C. Publishers D. Campus staff

20. The underlined word “” can best be replaced by ________.

A. latest B. adapted C. new D. faulty

21. Bookie’s will not buy back your used textbook if _______.

A. the cover of the book is missing

B. there are markings and notes on the pages

C. you have lost the sales receipt

D. you miss the last day for return

22. Which of the following is NOT TRUE according to the passage?

A. Bookie’s is a place for students to buy their course textbooks.

B. Student cards are needed to get a discount for the textbooks.

C. Books bought in bookie’s can be returned within ten working days.

D. Books bought back are processed by the staff and sold to students.

(D)

Traditional surgical procedures require surgeons to make large incisions(伤口) in a patient’s body in order to gain access to the internal organs. It was once common for heart surgeons, who perform highly specialized and complex procedures, to make long incisions in a patient’s chest and then split the breastbone to reach the heart. Patients who undergo surgery are often at the risk of infection, as bacteria can infect the cut in the skin. In addition, there is often a lengthy recovery period.

A surgical technique known as “keyhole surgery” has become more common in recent years. In general, the surgeon will make a couple of small incisions around the area where the operation is going to be performed. Tubes are pushed into the holes, and a tiny camera, which is called an endoscope, is put into the body. The camera is attached to a large monitor screen that is positioned so that the doctor can see it while he performs the operation. In addition to the camera, doctors also push their tiny surgical instruments through the tubes. The awkward part of keyhole surgery is that it is counterintuitive; that is to say, if a surgeon wants to move the tool to the left, he or she must push it to the right.

Other advancements in technology are also being used today in the OR (operation room). A new machine called the “da Vinci Surgical System” has been tested in hospitals in the U.S.. Unlike keyhole surgery, the da Vinci’s robot’s moving parts are designed to imitate the natural hand and wrist movement of a surgeon, thus providing better control and sensitivity. The system is controlled by a surgeon from a console(控制台). Sitting at a console a few feet from the patient, the surgeon can perform an operation by holding and moving highly sensitive pads that enable him or her to control the instruments. The area of the body on which the surgeon is working is enlarged on a screen, which is attached to the console. This gives surgeons a realistic three-dimensional view of the area — similar to what they would see during a traditional surgical procedure.

Although the da Vinci Surgical System is undergoing some trials for some procedures, it has been welcomed as revolutionary by many surgeons. Patients with serious illnesses must still undergo major surgery, but the smaller incisions and less invasive procedures typically mean that a shorter recovery time is needed. In some cases, the patient’s stay in the hospital has been cut in half when the da Vinci Surgical System was used. On the downside, some operations have taken up to fifty minutes longer because surgeons are inexperienced at using the new technology. As surgeons become more familiar with the machines, the time needed for surgical procedures is likely to decrease.

23. What can be learned about the traditional surgery according to the passage?

A. The cost of the traditional surgery is very high.

B. It often leaves a large wound in a person’s body.

C. Long incisions are made in a patient’s chest.

D. The incision is often infected after the operation.

24. Which of the following is one DISADVANTAGE of keyhole surgery?

A. It requires the use of long, thin tools and a tiny camera.

B. The doctor can not view the inside of the patient’s body clearly.

C. The direction in which a doctor moves the surgical tools is reversed.

D. An endoscope has to be inserted into the patient’s body in advance.

25. The da Vinci Surgical System differs from keyhole surgery in that _______.

A. requires that a surgeon make more small incisions on a patient

B. reduces the amount of time it takes to perform a surgical procedure

C. allows the surgeon to use the surgical instruments more sensitively

D. eliminates the need for surgeons to make large incisions on patients

26. The passage mainly tells the reader ________.

A. the challenges brought about by new technology

B. the benefits and drawbacks of the da Vinci Surgical System

C. the reflections on the development in medical science

D. the application of new technologies in modern surgery

(E)

This was no ordinary class. The students who came together were all science or engineering professors at Cornell University. They had interrupted their research to accept an invitation to take part in an unusual experiment: “an interesting week of poetry”. This class was part of a study to answer the questions: Why is science difficult for many non-science students?

The students in the poetry class listened to lectures and took notes. They had reading tasks and had to write three short papers. All students noticed one thing—the importance of spoken words. In science and engineering classes, the instructors put tables and drawings on the blackboard. But in this poetry class, the instructors just talked. They didn’t write anything on the board.

The scientists and engineers noticed one similarity between science and poetry. In both subjects, students need to find layers of meaning. Some layers are simple, clear, and on the surface; other layers are deeper and more difficult. This search for different levels 5

of meaning doesn’t happen much in undergraduate science classes, but it is important later, in graduate school. And it is always important in humanities(人文科学).

Both the poetry instructors and their students learned something about teaching from this experience. One poetry instructor, for example, now sees the importance of using informational charts as he teaches. Most of the scientists agreed on several points. First, humanities classes might help science students to see patterns and decide which information is important. Second, the poetry class was fun. One engineer decided, “We need to change the way we teach engineering to make it an enjoyable experience for students.” But perhaps the most important result of the experience was this: All of the professors began to think about how they teach and how they can teach better.

（Note： Answer the questions or complete the statements in NO MORE THAN

TWELVE WORDS.）

27. Why was this class very unusual?

28. The experiment was designed to help teachers find out ________.

29. The poetry class was different from science and engineering classes in that __________.

30. What influence did the experiment had on those professors?

(F)

Michael Fish may soon be replaced as a weather forecaster by something truly fishier---the shark(鲨鱼).

Research by a British biology student suggests that sharks could be used to predict storms. Lauren Smith, 24, is close to completing her study on shark’s ability to sense pressure.

If her studies prove the theory, scientists may be able to monitor the behaviour of sharks to predict bad weather.

Miss Smith had previously studied the behaviour of lemon sharks in the Bahamas.

She then used their close relatives, lesser spotted dogfish, for further research at Aberdeen University.

Her work---thought to be the first of its kind to test the pressure theory ---- resulted from the observation that juvenile (幼年的) blacktip sharks off Florida moved into deeper water ahead of a violent storm in 2001.

Miss Smith said: “I’ve always been crazy about traveling and diving and this led me to an interest in sharks.”

“I was delighted to have been able to research in the area for my degree. I know there’s so much more we need to understand ---- but it certainly opens the way to more research.”

It has been discovered that a shark senses pressure using hair cells in its balance system.

At the Bimini Shark Lab in the Bahamas, Miss Smith fixed hi-tech sensors to sharks to record pressure and temperature, while also tracking them using GPS (Global Positioning System) technology.

In Aberdeen, she was able to study the effects of tide and temperature changes on dogfish----none of which were harmed. She also used a special lab which can mimic(模拟) oceanic pressure changes caused by weather fronts.

She is due to complete her study and graduate later this year. She says she will be looking for a job which will give her the chance to enrich her experience of shark research.

31. The passage is most probably taken from _____.

A. a short-story collection B. a popular science magazine

C. a research paper D. a personal diary

32. What do we learn from the first four paragraphs of the passage?

A. Sharks may be used to predict bad weather.

B. Sharks’ behaviour can be controlled.

C. Michael Fish is not qualified for his job.

D. Lauren Smith will become a weather forecaster.

33. Lauren Smith conducted her research by _______.

A. removing hair cells from a shark’s balance system

B. measuring the air pressure of weather fronts

C. recording sharks’ body temperature

D. monitoring sharks’ reaction to weather changes

34. What is the passage mainly about?

A. A popular way of forecasting weather.

B. A new research effort in predicting storms.

C. Biologists’ interest in the secrets of sharks.

D. Lauren Smith’s devotion to scientific research.

(G)

Some nations think they must have more and more babies, more and more people, if they are to remain strong and free.

Actually, this is not so. Very often in history, small nations have conquered large ones. It’s not so much the size of the army as its organization and the technical level of its weapons. Thus, Greece took over Persia in the 300s B.C. , Great Britain took over India in the 1700s, even though Persia and India had far bigger population than Greece and Great Britain.

If a nation wishes to avoid being dominated by its neighbors, its best chance is to raise its standard of living and its level of technology. such a point that it is sunk in misery and poverty. In fact, the worst way in which a nation can try to avoid being dominated by its neighbor is to increase its population to the point of misery and poverty. If every nation tries to compete with its neighbors by raising its population, then the whole world will be sunk in misery and poverty. The nations will become weak in a disaster that will leave nothing behind that is worth dominating. No one will have gained anything. Everyone will have lost everything. Once all this is understood, and people generally agree that population growth must not be allowed to continue, they must also come to understand how that growth can be stopped. Population grows because more people are being born than are dying. There are two ways, then, in which the growth can be stopped. You can increase the number of people who die until it matches the number of people who are being born. Or else you can decrease the number of people who are born until it matches the number of people who are dying.

The first method—increasing the death rate—is the usual way in which population is controlled in all species of living things other than ourselves, but we don’t want that, for disaster lies that way. The intelligent way is to reduce the birth rate. But how can the birth rate be reduced?

35. In paragraph 3, the word “This” refers to ______.

A. avoidance of poverty

B. growth of population

C. improvement of life and technology

D. enhancement of living standard and competition

36. It can be inferred from the passage that if a country had fewer people, ______.

A. it could still remain strong B. it would be defeated by a strong neighbour

C. its standard of living could be high D. its people would live misery

37. What might the author be further discussing after the passage?

A. Needs to balance population. B. Problems involved in birth control.

C. Methods of decreasing population. D. Opposition from some nations.

38. The passage mainly focuses on ______.