Do you like shopping? For shopaholics in the UK, the place to head to used to be the “high street”. It was the place where you could find familiar fashion brands and essential everyday items in the centre of a town. But change in our shopping habits has taken its toll on the British high street.
News about shops losing money and shutting is now common. Some city-centre department stores have closed and even long-established retailers (零售商) have reported profit slumps. According to a recent survey, a record 2,481 shops disappeared from UK high streets last year — up by 40 percent.
As the BBC’s Emma Simpson writes, things have become a lot harder for traditional retailers in recent years. They have faced rising costs from wages, business rates and the requirement to introduce Europe’s new data law. But the biggest threat has come from online shopping. She says “Consumers now spend one in every five pounds online — and if businesses are seeing 20 percent fewer sales on the shop floor, as well as their fixed costs rising, then profit margins will be squeezed.”
While some of us like to window shop — browsing for things to buy, only to purchase them online at a discount — the fact is that, overall, shoppers are making fewer visits to high streets. Eventually, town centres could become like ghost towns. If people aren’t out and about shopping, they won't use other services, like cafes, restaurants and cinemas, which leads to job losses. The high street has also suffered from the arrival of big shopping malls, which offer a retail experience under one roof, with free parking, away from the bad weather!
Meanwhile, back on the high street, some shops still exist. Analysts have said it's those that have moved away from traditional retailing that are surviving. These include beauty salons, nail bars and independent coffee shops — but are these kinds of shops enough to keep the British high street open for business?
1.What do we know about “high street” according to the passage?
A.It sold only fashionable daily items.
B.It has changed people’s shopping habits.
C.It was a big shopping mall in downtown Britain.
D.It was the destination for people who love shopping in the UK.
2.Which is closest in meaning to the underlined word “slumps”?
A.Sharp fall. B.Steady rise.
C.Slow increase. D.Slight loss.
3.What’s the hardest part for traditional shop owners to run their shops?
A.The rising costs from wages.
B.The boom of window shopping.
C.The popularity of shopping online,
D.The introduction of Europe’s new data law.
4.What change is taking place in the British high street at present?
A.Discounts are offered to attract more consumers.
B.Parking is free of charge in time of bad weather.
C.Better service is provided to satisfy the customers.
D.Some conventional retailer turn to other businesses.
高三英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析
My sister and I were taught at a very early age to write thank-you letters for birthday and Christmas gifts. We carefully copied addresses from our mom’s address book into our own pretty little books, and a new box of stationery(信箋,信封)was always among my gifts under the tree. We wrote our letters on December 26 at the latest every year. It was an important tradition in our home, and it has turned me into an avid(热情)thank-you-letter writer as an adult.
I still send a great deal of personal mail, and I am extremely interested in all of the trappings of letter writing: unique stamps, beautiful stationery, fountain pens(自来水笔). I feel a mad rush of satisfaction sticking a stamp on a carefully penned thank-you letter and sending it off in the mail.
Several years ago, I even sent my mom a thank-you letter to thank her for teaching me to count my blessings on paper. Sending letters of thanks out into the world has made me more grateful for the love, support and kindness I receive daily.
My father died when I was twenty-seven. Even then, I found comfort in writing letters of thanks for the gifts of words I received. At a time when all I wanted to do was retreat(退缩)into my own sadness, the act of giving thanks forced me to stay connected to the world and to the lives of the living.
And while it may seem unimportant, my belief in well-written thank-you letters has protected my popularity. Since real thank-you letters are extremely few and far between, my social graces(风度)are considered as a charming difference from other people, and my friends and family always seem truly moved by my efforts.
1.What can we learn about the author’s family?
A.Her family liked to collect stationery.
B.Her family had a thank-you-letter writing tradition.
C.She often copied addresses for her mother.
D.They wrote thank-you letters on Dec 26.
2.How did the author feel when writing thank-you letters?
A.Satisfied. B.Tired. C.Excited. D.Bored.
3.What can we infer from the fourth paragraph?
A.The author felt happy to receive gifts from others.
B.The author’s father died when she was very young.
C.Writing thank-you letters made the author lead an active life.
D.Writing thank-you letters forced the author to talk with others.
4.What does the author intend to tell us?
A.Expressing thanks can protect what we have.
B.Receiving thank-you letters is truly moving.
C.Writing thank-you letters is difficult work.
D.Being grateful can help gain the respect.
高三英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析
An epidemic is the occurrence of a disease which affects a very large number of people living in an area and which spreads quickly to other people. Like infectious diseases, ideas in the academic world are spreadable. But why some travel far and wide while equally good ones remain in relative insignificance has been a mystery. Now a team of computer scientists has used an epidemiological model to imitate how ideas move from one academic institution to another. The model showed that ideas originating at famous institutions caused bigger “epidemics” than equally good ideas from less well-known places, explains Allison Morgan, a computer scientist at the University of Colorado Boulder and lead author of the new study. “This implies that where an idea is born shapes how far it spreads, holding the quality of the idea constant.” says senior author Aaron Clauset, also at Boulder.
Not only is this unfair --- “it reveals a big weakness in how we’re doing science,” says Simon DeDeo, a professor of social and decision sciences at Carnegie Mellon University, who was not involved in the study. There are many highly trained people with good ideas who do not end up at top institutions. “They are producing good ideas, and we know those ideas are getting lost,” DeDeo says. “Our science, our scholarship, is not as good because of this.”
The Colorado researchers analyzed an existing data set of computer science department hires in North America, as well as a database of publications by these hires. First they looked at how five big ideas in computer science spread to new institutions. They found that hiring a new member accounted for a little more than a third of the time --- and in 81 percent of those cases, transfers took place from higher- to lower-status universities. Then the team imitated the broadcasting of ideas using an infectious disease model and found that the size of an idea “epidemic” (as measured by the number of institutions that published studies on an idea after it originated) depended on the status of the originating institution. The findings were published online last October in EPJ Data Science.
The researchers’ model suggests that there “may be a number of quite good ideas that originate in the middle of the pack, in terms of universities,” Clauset says. DeDeo agrees. There is a lot of good work coming out of less famous places, he says: “You can learn a huge amount from it, and you can learn things that other people don’t know because they’re not even paying attention.”
1.The underlined word “this” in paragraph 2 refers to the fact that _________.
A.good ideas from less important institutions lack influence.
B.the quality of the original ideas tends to be not easy to maintain.
C.scholars in insignificant institutions consider their ideas valueless.
D.the time when good ideas were born decides how far they may spread.
2.The case of some hires in paragraph 3 is used to indicate _________.
A.why the originating institutions transfer their new findings.
B.the way the movements of some new ideas happen and their effects.
C.how they carry the ideas from lower - to higher - status institutions.
D.the statistics the epidemological model provides for the researchers.
3.Researchers such as Clauset are very much concerned about _________.
A.losing quite a number of great and creative thoughts.
B.missing the opportunities of getting more well-known.
C.misusing the epidemiological model in scientific research areas.
D.having difficulty in finding more proper science department hires.
4.Which of the following might be the best title of the passage?
A.Infectious Diseases. B.Original Ideas.
C.Epidemiological Model. D.Idea Epidemic.
高三英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析
Connie Monroe clicks a button, flicks her wrist and watches as her neighborhood floods. The shorelines are first to go. Then, the baseball fields at Fleming Park. By the time seawater reaches the senior center, it has flooded streets and over a dozen brick homes. Monroe moves her head up and down, side to side, taking in the simulated (仿真的) view. This is what could happen to Turner Station, a historic African American community southeast of Baltimore, as sea levels rise.
Climate change presents many challenges to coastal communities and to those trying to prepare for its impacts, but one of the most basic is also one of the most vexing: How do you show people and convince them of a possible future?
Communicating the realness and immediacy of the climate threat is hugely important to climate researchers and those aiming to lessen its causes. But it's also the most important to communities faced with coming changes that are already unavoidable. These projects need public support and input. That's why Monroe and other residents (居民) are being directed to sit in metal chairs, put on virtual reality headsets and watch their homes flood.
Turner Station, a community which gets flooded easily, is trying to prepare. It has partnered with the Port of Baltimore, a few nonprofits and a local landscape architecture firm to adopt a range of tools and ways to communicate climate change to the public, because every person is different and every place is different.
The virtual reality program is only the most recent, and perhaps the most effective step. Virtual reality is an immersive experience that can trick the human brain into thinking it's real. But tricking people is not the goal of the sea level rise simulation being used at Turner Station, says Juiano Calil, one of the program's developers. ''The goal, '' he says, ''is to start a conversation and help folks visualize the impacts of climate change and the solutions, and also discuss the trade-offs between them. ''
1.Who is Monroe?
A.A coastal community citizen. B.A climate researcher.
C.An architect. D.AVR program developer.
2.What does the underlined word ''vexing'' mean in paragraph 2?
A.Bothersome. B.Dramatic.
C.Original. D.Convincing.
3.Why is VR technology employed here?
A.It can cut down the risks of climate change.
B.It can show severe results of climate change.
C.It can introduce technology to the residents.
D.It can predict the climate change accurately.
4.What is the purpose of the program?
A.To trick more people to believe.
B.To win the residents’cooperation.
C.To advocate the application of VR.
D.To inform the residents of the solutions.
高三英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析
On my fourth day in a self-driving car, I finally felt comfortable enough to let it stop itself. Before then, Id allowed the car- a Volvo S90 sedan to control the direction, with my hands still on the wheel, and to adjust speed in traffic. By Day 4, I was ready to make a jump into the future.
With the car traveling on a busy road, I activated the driverless mode. Soon, a traffic light turned red. For a split second, I prepared to get on the brakes. There was no need. The cameras and computers in the Volvo recognized the traffic conditions and smoothly began applying the brake.
If you're anything like most people, you're familiar with this anxiety. Almost 80 percent of Americans fear traveling in a self-driving car, a recent survey found.
Researchers at the University of Chicago have conducted some clever experiments studying the phenomenon. They asked participants to complete tasks and compared their performance with a computer system's. After the computer made a mistake, people were unwilling to use it again. After the people made mistakes, their self-confidence wouldn't change. It didn't matter that the human beings made more mistakes than the computer. So it is with driving. More than 37,000 Americans died in crashes last year, most from human error. The death count from cars goes beyond that from guns. So if you are shocked and angry by guns and want things to change, you should feel the same about car crashes.
Technology creates an opportunity to save lives. Computers don't get drunk or distracted by text messages, and they don't have blind spots. Just look at commercial airlines: Automation has helped all but get rid of deadly crashes among American air carriers. The last one happened in 2009.
The technology for self-driving cars still isn't good enough. But it is improving rapidly. Within a few years, many cars will have advanced crash-avoidance systems and driving will be revolutionized sooner than many people now understand.
1.How does the author introduce the topic?
A.By offering a piece of news. B.By describing an experience.
C.By giving background information. D.By introducing a latest car.
2.What can we know from the fourth paragraph?
A.The participants lost self-confidence after making mistakes.
B.The participants would ignore the mistakes made by the computer.
C.Car crashes is no less shocking than gun incidents.
D.The death count from cars is the same as that from guns.
3.The author mentioned commercial airlines___________.
A.to advertise for the commercial airlines. B.to assess the security of driverless cars.
C.to find fault with computers. D.to prove the advantage of technology.
4.What's the author's attitude towards self-driving cars?
A.Favorable. B.Indifferent.
C.Skeptical. D.Concerned.
高三英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析
Beekeeper Pablo Alvarez sits near his hives (蜂箱) and points up into a cloudless, blue Chilean sky. This season, Alvarez says, there is much less bee traffic than usual. Spring rains once led to fields of flowers in Casablanca, a town on the Chilean Pacific coast. Now, there is just dry earth. He says he lost half of his hives by early spring. “At the end of winter, bees need flowers to grow and make honey,” he told Reuters reporters. No flowers means no food, he added.
His story is common among beekeepers across much of central Chile. A severe, years-long lack of rain is making life difficult for honey bees. Concern over how the changing environment has affected bees has reached the highest levels of government in Chile. The country has already provided large amounts of money for farmers suffering from the drought. In August, it said it would include the “costs” of climate change in future agency budgets.
"We all know the importance that bees have in agricultural production," Agriculture Minister Antonio Walker recently told reporters. Honey bees pollinate (授粉) many of Chile’s major export crops, including blueberries, apples and cherries.
Already, agriculture officials have ordered a state of emergency in more than 100 farm communities throughout central Chile. Though dry periods are normal from time to time, officials say climate change has made the current dry period longer and more severe. Rainfall in September in Santiago was down nearly 80 percent compared to the historical average.
Alvarez has begun taking care of an organic bee yard filled with native, drought-resistant plants. Yet even as he describes those efforts, the horn of a water truck sounds. His well has run dry. Now he must pay for water, too.
1.It can be inferred from the passage that .
A.100 farm communities are now in an urgent situation in Chile
B.the government has provided beekeepers with agency budgets
C.beekeepers can use the water for free if their wells have run dry
D.the decreasing number of bees will affect the agricultural production
2.Which best describes the writer’s tone in the passage?
A.Disapproving. B.Enthusiastic.
C.Concerned. D.Doubtful.
3.What can be a suitable title for the text?
A.Years-long Drought Threatens Honey Bees in Chile
B.Climate Change Makes the Dry Period More Severe
C.The Decrease in Number of Beekeepers Has Drawn Attention
D.The Drought Calls for the Government to Take Immediate Action
高三英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析
As a winner of the NSLI-Y Scholarship in high school, and then the Critical Language Scholarship in college, I lived in China for two summers with host families, studying Chinese for nine hours a day. Tack on to that the approximately 2,000 classroom hours I spent learning Chinese as an undergraduate, and it seems fair to say that a small fortune of resources has been invested in my Chinese ability.
Yet even with so much practice, I am not still achieving fluency, and it's unclear whether I’ll use my language skills regularly in my career. This leads me to reflect: What is it that drives me to drill tones and memorize characters?
Many people are quick to point out the value of language skills in an increasingly competitive workforce. However, language is about much more than just the ability to communicate. Foreign language study is tied to increased levels of empathy (同理心),enhanced cognitive development, and more creative insight on the human condition. Increasingly, research shows that these benefits also apply to those with exposure to multiple languages, and not just those who achieve fluency.
A beneficial future for the US and China will be built upon understanding, respect and recognition. Language exchange can provide cultural insight and strengthen the common ground we stand on.
It is not the economic potential of my language skills that leads me to persist. Studying Chinese is the most modest way I can think of to approach China, a nation with over 5 ,000 years of complex history. From this point, I have experienced the beauty, hospitality of China. And my experience of studying Chinese has helped me form a sense of curiosity and a commitment to understanding and respect-and that's a start.
1.What do we know about the author?
A.He has worked hard at learning Chinese.
B.He has won many scholarships in China.
C.He began to learn Chinese in high school.
D.He has enjoyed his life living in China.
2.What does the author think of the language learning?
A.It just needs to drill tones and remember words.
B.It needs the experience of living with a host family.
C.It can promote learners' mental development.
D.It is only used for effective communication.
3.What can we infer from Paragraph 4?
A.The US and China will certainly have a bright future.
B.The US and China always respect and recognize each other.
C.Language exchange can help the US and China understand better.
D.The US and China start to share the same cultural insight.
4.Why does the author stick to learning Chinese?
A.To get some economic profits. B.To show off his language talent.
C.To achieve the language fluency. D.To have a close look at China.
高三英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析
As a teen myself, I’ve seen first-hand the pleasing effects of poetry. Not too long ago, I went on stage to read my poetry at writing workshop, thinking anxiously to myself: Would the audience understand me? More than being nervous about the quality of my poem, I felt anxious about what my voice would sound like. At the time, I was 14, and still suffering from a speech disorder (语言障碍) that had affected me since began talking. As I stood, I experienced a sudden appreciation for the blinding lights. I couldn’t see everyone’s face! That made things much easier. I opened my book and began to read.
After the writing workshop, I gained the confidence to read my own work aloud. I learned that writing wasn’t about pronunciation, but about style and the author’s voice. This lesson helped me grow on endless occasions in my life, convincing me that poetry can have an astonishing influence when taught to teens.
One organization that I am part of, WriteGirl, through monthly creative writing workshops, gives girls the skills they need for a brighter future. Although WriteGirl doesn’t only focus on poetry, the organization still uses poetry to teach, inspire and empower girls all across Los Angeles. While the high school graduation rate in Los Angeles is only 80 percent, every year 100 percent of WriteGirl teens not only graduate from high school, but go to college.
But are these advantages becoming needless with the fast development of technology being placed in young hands?
It seems the answer is quite the opposite—technology has opened whole new world for young poets and writers. On KidBlog, young students can post their poems as a blog post on which others can leave their opinions. The Internet makes it easier for viewers to read poetry. Many people are discovering or rediscovering that poetry is fun and creates many opportunities for self-expression.
As I stepped up to read my writing at the workshop, I learned that poetry is about having a voice, and the courage to use it. With this courage, we free ourselves and become able to influence others.
1.How did the workshop influence the author?
A.It aided her in making a long speech.
B.It contributed to her personal growth.
C.It improved her communication skills.
D.It made her begin to take speech disorder seriously.
2.What can we learn about WriteGirl?
A.It is beneficial to girls’ studies.
B.It brings out girls’ poetic skills.
C.It encourages girls to teach poetry.
D.It helps girls become famous writers.
3.Which of the following may the author agree with?
A.Poetry is old-fashioned in modern times.
B.Technology makes creating poetry easier.
C.Technology serves as a useful tool for poetry.
D.The Internet slows down the development of poetry.
4.What is the best title of the text?
A.How poetry gave me a voice
B.Why teens don’t read poetry
C.Approaches to learning poetry
D.Influence of technology on poetry
高三英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析
It turned out there were a lot of things I had yet to learn about life,or at least life on the Princeton campus in the early 1980s.After I spent several energizing weeks as a summer student,surrounded by a few dozen other kids who seemed both accessible and familiar to me,the fall semester officially began, opening the floodgates to the student population at large.I moved my belongings into a new dorm room,a one-room triple in Pyne Hall,and then watched through my third-floor window as several thousand mostly white students poured onto campus,carting stereos and duvet sets and lots of clothes.Some kids arrived in limos(豪华轿车)One girl brought two limos to accommodate all her stuff.
Princeton was extremely white and very male.There was no avoiding the facts . Men on campus outnumbered women almost two to one Black students made up less than 9 percent of my freshman class.It during the orientation program we’d begun to feel some ownership of the space,we were now glaring anomaly(异类)-poppy seeds in a bowl of rice.While Whitney Young had been somewhat diverse,I’d never been part of a predominantly white community before.I’d never stood out in a crowd or a classroom because of the color of my skin.It was jarring and uncomfortable,at least at first,like being dropped into a strange new terrarium,a habitat that hadn’t been built for me.
As with anything,though,you learn to adapt.Some of the adjustment was easy-a relief almost.For one thing,nobody seemed much concerned about crime.Students left their rooms unlocked,their bikes casually kickstanded outside buildings,their gold earrings unattended on the sink in the dorm bathrooms.Their trust in the world seemed infinite,their forward progress in it entirely assured.For me,it was something to get used to. I’d spent years quietly guarding my possessions on the bus ride to and from Whitney Young.Walking home to Euclid Avenue in the evenings,I carried my house key placed between two fingers and pointed outward,in case I needed it to defend myself.
At Princeton,it seemed the only thing I needed to be careful about was my studies.Everything otherwise was designed to accommodate our well-being as students.The dining halls served five different kinds of breakfast.There were enormous spreading oak trees to sit under and open lawns where we could throw Frisbees to relieve our stress.The main library was like an old-world cathedral,with high ceilings and glossy hardwood tables where we could lay out our textbooks and study in silence.We were protected,cocooned,catered to.A lot of kids,I was coming to realize,had never in their lifetimes known anything different.
Attached to all of this was a new vocabulary, one needed to master.What was a precept?What was a reading period?Nobody had explained to me the meaning of”extra-long”bedsheets on the school packing list. which meant that I bought myself too-short bedsheets and would thus spend my freshman year sleeping with my feet resting on the exposed plastic of the dorm mattress.There was an especially distinct learning curve when it came to understanding sports.I’d been raised on the bedrock of football,basketball,and baseball,but it turned out that East Coast prep schoolers did more.Lacrosse was a hing.Field hockey was a thing.Squash,even,was a thing.For a kid from the South Side,it could be a little dizzying.”You row crew?”What does that even mean?
1.What do we know about Princeton students in the early 1980s?
A.The university took pride in a great diversity of students.
B.The number of the boy students was about twice that of the girls.
C.White students lived a simple life on campus.
D.Black students accounted for less than 9 percent of the total students at Princeton.
2.In Para 3,the author thinks”Some of the adjustment was easy-a relief almost”,because
A.no white student was worried about crime on campus
B.it was easy for her to adapt to the new environment
C.she didn’t have to be alert to possible dangers any longer
D.everybody relieved her of her inferiority
3.What is Paragraph 4 mainly about?
A.Princeton was a wonderful place where students’ needs were greatly satisfied.
B.Princeton students have opportunities to take part in various activities.
C.Students at Princeton worked hard and were under considerable pressure.
D.A lot of students at Princeton were accustomed to this kind of life except the author.
4.What does the underlined sentence mean in Paragraph?
A.The author knew nothing about the sports mentioned in this paragraph
B.The author had difficulty understanding the words used by white students.
C.The author needed to enlarge her vocabulary in order to get a better grade.
D.The author had a lot to learn about the new university life.
5.How did the author feel when starting the fall semester at Princeton?
A.Defensive and cautious. B.Unbearable and rebellious.
C.Isolated and shy. D.Awkward and confused.
6.What type of writing is this text?
A.A fiction. B.A news report. C.An autobiography. D.A critical essay.
高三英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析
When you are stuck on a problem, sometimes it is best to stop thinking about it consciously. Research has shown that taking a break or a nap can help the brain create pathways to a solution. Now a new study expands on the effect of this so-called incubation by using sound cues to focus the sleeping mind on a targeted problem.
When humans sleep, parts of the brain replay certain memories, strengthening and transforming them. About a decade ago researchers developed a technique, called targeted memory reactivation(TMR), aimed at further reinforcing selected memories: when a sound becomes associated with a memory and is later played during sleep, that memory gets reactivated In a recently published study, scientists tested whether revisiting the memory of a puzzle during sleep might also improve problem-solving.
About 60 participants visited the laboratory before and after a night of sleep. In an evening session, they attempted spatial, verbal and conceptual puzzles, with a distinct music clip repeating in the background for each, until they had worked on six puzzles they could not solve. Overnight they wore special electronic uniforms to detect slow-wave sleep, which may be important for memory consolidation, and a device played the sounds assigned to three of the six unsolved puzzles. The next day, back at the lab, the participants attempted the six puzzles again. The subjects solved 32 percent of the sound-prompted puzzles versus 21 percent of the untargeted puzzles, a boost of more than 50 percent
''The researchers very bravely went for quite complex tasks that involved a lot of complex processing, and remarkably they found these really strong effects in all of their tasks, '' says Penny Lewis, a psychologist Cardiff University, who was not involved in the research. ''These are supercool results. Now we need to go out and try to understand them by firstly copying them and secondly trying to work out the component processes that are actually being influenced.''
Beyond providing new evidence that humans restructure memories while sleeping, the research may have practical implications. ''In a futuristic world, maybe TMR could help us use sleep to work on our problems'', says lead author Kristin Sanders, who was a graduate student at Northwestern University during the study Sleep-monitoring technology is increasingly accessible, and even without gadgets, future solvers can focus on important problems before bed.
Still, sleep is not magic. People need to do their homework and load their heads with the puzzle pieces involved. ''I'm not going to solve cancer with this technique, '' Sanders says, ''because I don't know anything about cancer research. ''
1.Which of the following has the closest meaning to the underlined word ''incubation'' in Para 1?
A.The pathway to a solution.
B.The period of taking a break.
C.Being stuck on a problem.
D.Targeted memory reactivation.
2.The following statements about the recently published study are true EXCEPT that_________
A.scientists wanted to prove that sound cues helped solve problems
B.the device played the sounds to all the unsolved puzzles
C.the participants went to the laboratory twice during the experiment
D.the participants tried to solve different types of puzzles
3.What of the following is true according to the passage?
A.Penny intends to adopt two steps to understand the strong effects of the tasks.
B.Penny, who was very pleased about the result, was a lead scientist in the research concerned.
C.Sanders hopes he will solve cancer with TMR although he knows nothing about the disease.
D.Sanders predicts TMR could help solve the problem by exposing solvers to distinct sounds.
高三英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析