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Arthur Miller was born on October 17th, 1915 and died on February 10th, 2005.Over the course of seven decades(十年) of literature career(文学生涯), Arthur Miller created some of the most memorable stage plays(舞台剧) in American Literature. He is the author of DeathofaSalesmanandTheCrucible. Born and raised in Manhattan, Miller went through the best and the worst of American society.
Arthur Miller's childhood：His father was a productive shopkeeper and clothing manufacturer(制造商) until the Great Depression(大萧条时期) dried up nearly all business opportunities.Yet, despite being faced with poverty, Miller made the best of his childhood. He was a very active young man, in love with such sports as football and baseball. When he wasn't playing outside, he enjoyed reading adventure stories. He was also kept busy by his many boyhood jobs. He often worked alongside his father. During other times in his life, he delivered bakery goods and worked as a clerk in a car parts warehouse.
College life: In 1934, Miller left the east coast to attend the University of Michigan. He was accepted into their school of journalism. His experiences during the Depression made him skeptical (怀疑的) about religion. Politically, he began leaning towards the "Left”.And since the theater was the cutting edge way for socioeconomic liberals (自由主义者) to express their views, he decided to enter the Hopwood Drama competition. His first play, NoVillain, received an award from the university.It was an impressive beginning for the young playwright; he had never studied plays or playwriting, and he had written his play in just five days!
Miller's later years: In 1987, his autobiography was published. Many of his later plays dealt with personal experience. In particular, his final play, FinishingthePicture mirrors the last days of his marriage to Marilyn Monroe.In 2005, Arthur Miller passed away at the age of 89.
1.What can we know about Arthur Miller from Paragraph 2?
A．He was born into a poor family.
B．His father wasn't good at business.
C．He couldn't adjust himself to poverty.
D．He had to do lots of jobs to make a living.
2.Arthur Miller began to write plays ________.
A．when he was in college
B．when he was a small boy
C．because his father encouraged him to do so
D．because it was one of his school assignments(作业)
3.We can infer from Paragraph 3 that ________.
A．the University of Michigan is on the east coast of the USA
B．Miller's university education made him doubt religion
C．Miller learned playwriting all by himself
D．socioeconomic liberals were probably not politically "left”
4.Which of the following plays tells the story of Arthur Miller and Marilyn Monroe?
A．Death of a Salesman.
B．The Crucible.
C．No Villain.
D．Finishing the Picture.
5.The passage is intended to________.
A．introduce Arthur Miller's plays
B．tell us about Arthur Miller's childhood
C．explain how Arthur Miller started to write plays
D．give us a brief introduction to Arthur Miller's life
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
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Bill Gates was born on October 28th, 1955. He and his two sisters grew up in Seattle. Their father, William H. Gates II, was a Seattle lawyer. Mary Gates, their late mother, was a school teacher.
Gates attended public elementary school before moving on to the private Lakeside School in North Seattle. It was at Lakeside that Gates began his career in personal computer soft ware, programming computers at age 13.In 1973, Gates entered Harvard University as a freshman, where he lived down the hall from Steve Ballmer, who is now Microsoft's president. While at Harvard, Gates developed a version (版本) of the programming language BASIC for the first microcomputer---the MITS Astair. In his junior year, Gates dropped out of Harvard to devote his energies full-time to Microsoft, a company he had started in 1975 with his boyhood friend Paul Allen. Guided by a belief that the personal computer would be a valuable tool on every office desk-top and in every home, they began developing software for personal computers.
Gates' foresight has led to the success of Microsoft and the software industry. He plays an important role in the technical development of new products. Much of his time is devoted to meeting with customers and staying in touch with Microsoft employees around the world through e-mail.
In the dozen years since Microsoft went public, Gates has donated more than $ 800 million to charities, including $ 200 million to the Gates Library Foundation to help libraries in North America make use of new technologies and the Information Age.
1.Where did Bill Gates begin his career in personal computer software?
A．At public elementary school. B．At the private Lakeside School.
C．At Harvard University. D．At Microsoft Company.
2.Why did he drop out of Harvard?
A．To change school. B．To spend all his energies to Microsoft.
C．To find a full-time job. D．To earn money.
3.How does Gates spend much of his time?
A．Meeting with people.
B．Travelling around the world.
C．E-mailing some friends.
D．Meeting with customers and e-mailing Microsoft employees.
4.What does the underlined word “donated” in the last paragraph mean?
A．gave. B．earned. C．made. D．received.
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
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Arthur Miller (1915-2005) is universally recognized as one of the greatest dramatists of the 20th century. Miller's father had moved to the USA from Austria Hungary, drawn like so many others by the "Great American Dream". However, he experienced severe financial hardship when his family business was ruined in the Great Depression of the early 1930s.
Miller's most famous play, Death of a Salesman, is a powerful attack on the American sy
stem, with its aggressive way of doing business and its insistence（坚持，强调） on money and social status as indicators of worth. In Willy Loman, the hero of the play, we see a man who has got into trouble with this system. Willy is "burnt out" and in the cruel world of business there is no room for sentiment（感伤）: if he can't do the work, then he is no good to his employer, the Wagner Company, and he must go. Willy is painfully aware of this, and at a loss as to what to do with his lack of success. He refuses to face the fact that he has failed and kills himself in the end.When it was first staged in 1949, the play was greeted with enthusiastic reviews, and it won the Tony Award for Best Play, the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award, and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It was the first play to win all three of these major awards.
Miller died of heart failure at his home in Roxbury, Connecticut, on the evening of February 10, 2005, the 56th anniversary of the first performance of Death of a Salesman on Broadway.
1.Why did Arthur Miller's father move to the USA?
A. He suffered from severe hunger in his home country.
B. He was attracted by the "Great American Dream"
C. He hoped to make his son a dramatist.
D. His family business failed.
2.The play Death of a Salesman________.
A. exposes the cruelty of the American business world
B. discusses the ways to get promoted in a company
C. talks about the business career of Arthur Miller
D. focuses on the skills in doing business
3. What can we learn about Willy Loman?
A. He treats his employer badly.
B. He runs the Wagner Company
C. He is a victim of the American system.
D. He is regarded as a hero by his colleagues.
4.What is the text mainly about?
A. Arthur Miller and his family
B. The awards Arthur Miller won
C. The hardship Arthur Miller experienced
D. Arthur Miller and his best-known play
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
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Arthur Miller (1915—2005) is universally recognized as one of the greatest dramatists of the 20th century. Miller's father had moved to the USA from Austria Hungary, drawn like so many others by the “Great American Dream”. However, he experienced severe financial hardship when his family business was ruined in the Great Depression of the early 1930s.
Miller's most famous play, Death of a Salesman, is a powerful attack on the American system, with its aggressive way of doing business and its insistence on money and social status as indicators of worth. In Willy Loman, the hero of the play, we see a man who has got into trouble with this system. Willy is “burnt out” and in the cruel world of business there is no room for sentiment: if he can't do the work, then he is no good to his employer, the Wagner Company, and he must go. Willy is painfully aware of this, and at a loss as to what to do with his lack of success. He refuses to face the fact that he has failed and kills himself in the end.
When it was first staged in 1949, the play was greeted with enthusiastic reviews, and it won the Tony Award for Best Play, the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award, and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It was the first play to win all three of these major awards.
Miller died of heart failure at his home in Roxbury, Connecticut, on the evening of February 10, 2005, the 56th anniversary of the first performance of Death of a Salesman on Broadway.
1.Why did Arthur Miller's father move to the USA?
A. He suffered from severe hunger in his home country.
B. He was attracted by the “Great American Dream.”
C. He hoped to make his son a dramatist.
D. His family business failed
2.The play Death of a Salesman________.
A. exposes the cruelty of the American business world
B. discusses the ways to get promoted in a company
C. talks about the business career of Arthur Miller
D. focuses on the skills in doing business
3.After it was first staged, Death of a Salesman________.
A. achieved huge success
B. won the first Tony Award
C. was warmly welcomed by salesmen
D. was severely attacked by dramatists
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
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Arthur Miller （1915-2005） is universally recognized as one of the greatest dramatists of the 20th century. Miller’s father had moved to the USA from Austria Hungary, attracted like so many others by the “Great American Dream”. However, he experienced severe financial hardship when his family business was ruined in the Great Depression of the early l930s.
Miller’s most famous play, Death of a Salesman, is a powerful attack on the American system, with its aggressive way of doing business and its insistence on money and social status as symbol of worth. In Willy Loman, the hero of the play, we see a man who has got into trouble with this system. Willy is “burnt out” and in the cruel world of business there is no room for sympathy: if he can't do the work, then he is no good to his employer, the Wagner Company, and he must go. Willy is painfully aware of this, and at a loss as to what to do with his lack of success. He refuses to face the fact that he has failed and kills himself in the end.
When it was first staged in 1949, the play was greeted with enthusiastic reviews, and it won the Tony Award for Best Play, the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award, and the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It was the first play to win all three of these major awards.
Miller died of heart failure at his home in Roxbury, Connecticut, on the evening of February 10, 2005, the 56th anniversary of the first performance of Death of a Salesman on Broadway.
1.Why did Arthur Miller’s father move to the USA?
A．He suffered from severe hunger in his home country.
B．He was attracted by the “Great American Dream”.
C．He hoped to make his son a dramatist.
D．His family business failed.
2.The play Death of a Salesman _______________.
A．exposes the cruelty of the American business world
B．discusses the ways to get promoted in a company
C．talks about the business career of Arthur Miller
D．focuses on the skills in doing business
3.What can we learn about Willy Loman?
A．He treats his employer badly.
B． He runs the Wagner Company.
C．He is a victim of the American system.
D．He is regarded as a hero by his colleagues.
4.After it was first staged, Death of a Salesman __________.
A．achieved huge success
B．won the first Tony Award
C．was warmly welcomed by salesmen
D．was severely attacked by dramatists
高二英语阅读理解极难题查看答案及解析
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阅读下列短文, 从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中, 选出最佳选项。
Arthur Miller(1915-2005) is universally recognized as one of the greatest dramatists of the 20th century. Miller’s father had moved to the USA from Austria-Hungary, drawn like so many others by the “ Great American Dream”. However, he experienced severe financial hardship when his family business was ruined in the Great Depression (大萧条时期) of the early 1930s.
Miller’s most famous play, Death of a Salesman, is a powerful attack on the American system, with its aggressive way of doing business and its insistence on money and social status as indicators (标志) of worth. In Willy Loman, the hero of the play, we see a man who has got into trouble with his system, Willy is “burnt out” and in the cruel world of business there is no room for sentiment (情绪): if he can’t do the work, then he is no good to his employer, the Wagner Company, and he must go. Willy is painfully aware of this, and at a loss as to what to do with his lack of success. He refuses to face the fact that he has failed and kills himself in the end.
When it was first staged in 1949, the play was greeted with enthusiastic reviews, and it won the Tony Award for Best Play, the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award, and the Pulitzer Prize for drama. It was the first play to win all the three of these major awards.
Miller died of heart failure at his home in Roxbury, Connecticut, on the evening of February 10, 2005, the 56th anniversary of the first performance of Death of a Salesman on Broadway.
1.Why did Arthur Miller’s father move to the USA?
A. He suffered from severe hunger in his home country.
B. He was attracted by the “Great American Dream”.
C. He hoped to make his son a dramatist.
D. His family business failed.
2.The play Death of a Salesman _____.
A. exposes the cruelty of the American business world
B. discusses the ways to get promoted in a country
C. talks about the business career of Arthur Miller
D. focuses on the skills in doing business
3.What can we learn about Willy Loman?
A. He treats his employer badly.
B. He runs the Wagner Company.
C. He is a victim of the American system.
D. He is regarded as a hero by his colleagues.
4.After it was first staged, Death of a Salesman _____.
A. achieved huge success
B. won the first Tony Award
C. was warmly welcomed by salesmen
D. was severely attacked by dramatists
5. What is the text mainly about?
A. Arthur Miller and his family.
B. The awards Arthur Miller won.
C. Arthur Miller and his best-known play.
D. The hardship Arthur Miller experienced.
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
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Orville Wright was born on August 19, 1871 in Dayton, Ohio, USA and died on January 30, 1948. Together with his brother, Wilbur, he was the first airplane builder. The brothers created the first controlled, powered and heavier-than-air human flight.
His parents were Milton Wright and Susan Catherine Koerner and besides the two famous brothers they had five children. One day after a trip his father brought as a gift a small helicopter. The kids loved it and as they played daily with it after a while it broke. The brothers managed to create a new one. Wright even let go his plans of attending Yale. He spent his time helping his ill mother and reading in his father’s library.
In 1884 the family decided to move to Dayton and they remained there until the 1870’s. A printing press was built by the two and Wilbur was an editor. In 1892 they started being fascinated by the aeronautical （航空的） events of that time. Then they started to create an airplane and Wilbur was considered the head of the team. They were the inventors of “three axis-control”, which permitted the pilot to steer the aircraft’s balance.
In 1900 they had their first attempts to make a functional glider（滑翔机）— of course it didn’t have a pilot. After three years they thought of introducing an engine to the glider. At first, their patent(专利) application was refused in 1903, but after one year it was accepted.
Orville’s first flight lasted 12 seconds and had 36.5 meters. He was responsible with the public shows near Washington in the United States. On September 9, 1908 his flight was 62 minutes and 15 seconds long and the success was huge.
1.What might make Wright brothers interested in the plane?
A. The pleasant trip. B. Catherine’s education.
C. The political events. D. Their father’s gift.
2.Wright didn’t go to Yale probably because ________.
A. he had to create a plane
B. he didn’t have enough money
C. he would like to learn by himself
D. his mother asked him to stay at home
3.The underlined word “steer” (in Paragraph 3) probably means ________.
A. keep B. drive C. learn D. enjoy
4.This passage tells us about ________.
A. the plane’s history B. Milton and his children
C. Orville Wright’s life D. the development of science
高二英语阅读理解简单题查看答案及解析
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Arthur Miller(1915-2005) is universally recognized as one of the greatest dramatists（剧作家） of the 20th century. Miller’s father had moved to the USA from Austria-Hungary, drawn like so many others by the “Great American Dream”. However, he experienced severe financial hardship when his family business was ruined in the Great Depression (大萧条时期) of the early 1930s.
Miller’s most famous play, Death of a Salesman, is a powerful attack on the American system, with its aggressive way of doing business and its insistence on money and social status as indicators (标志) of worth. In Willy Loman, the hero of the play, we see a man who has got into trouble with his system, Willy is “burnt out” and in the cruel world of business there is no room for sentiment (情绪): if he can’t do the work, then he is no good to his employer, the Wagner Company, and he must go. Willy is painfully aware of this, and at a loss as to what to do with his lack of success. He refuses to face the fact that he has failed and kills himself in the end.
When it was first staged in 1949, the play was greeted with enthusiastic reviews, and it won the Tony Award for Best Play, the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award, and the Pulitzer Prize for drama. It was the first play to win all the three of these major awards.
Miller died of heart failure at his home in Roxbury, Connecticut, on the evening of February 10, 2005, the 56th anniversary of the first performance of Death of a Salesman on Broadway.
1.Why did Arthur Miller’s father move to the USA?
A. His family business failed.
B. He hoped to make his son a dramatist.
C. He was attracted by the “Great American Dream”.
D. He suffered from severe hunger in his home country.
2.What do we learn about Willy Loman in the play Death of a Salesman?
A. He is regarded as a hero by his colleagues.
B. He is a victim of the American system.
C. He runs the Wagner Company.
D. He treats his employer badly.
3.After it was first staged, Death of a Salesman _____.
A. achieved huge success
B. won the first Tony Award
C. was warmly welcomed by salesmen
D. was severely attacked by dramatists
4.What is the text mainly about?
A. Arthur Miller and his family.
B. The awards Arthur Miller won.
C. Arthur Miller and his best-known play.
D. The hardship Arthur Miller experienced.
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
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Oumuamua,an object through space that was discovered on October 19th, has already made history.The speed at which it is moving relative to the sun means that it cannot be native to the solar system. Its official name is thus II/2017 UI, with the “I” standing for “interstellar(星际)”—the first time this name has ever been used.
That is exciting.Some scientists, though, entertain an even more exciting possibility: what if Oumuamua is not an asteroid(小行星),as most think, but an alien(外星的)spacecraft? Asteroids come in ll sorts of shapes and sizes, but Oumuamua seems particularly different.As best as astronomers can tell, it is cigarlike,being roughly 180 meters long but only about 30 meters wide.That makes it longer than anything known of in the solar system.Such a shape would be a sensible choice for a spaceship,since it would minimize the scouring(冲刷)effect of interstellar dust.
With that in mind the Breakthrough Listen project, an organization aimed at hunting for alien life, plans to turn the world’s biggest radio telescope,the Green Bank instrument in Virginia,towards Oumuamua to see if it can hear anything interesting.Oumuamua is currently about twice as far from Earth as Earth is from the sun. At that range,the telescope should be sensitive enough to pick up a transmitter about as powerful as a mobile phone after just a few seconds—worthy of observations.
Will it find anything? Almost certainly not.Oumuamua has the same reddish color as many as asteroids,so probably has a similar composition.And, if it really is a spaceship, it is strange that signs of its artificial origin have not been seen already.It could, in theory, be a derelict(遗弃星球). But in that case the telescope is unlikely to hear anything. By far the most likely option is that it is exactly what it seems to be: a huge space rock, one that has come to the solar system from the vast space between the stars.
1.What makes some scientists think Oumuamua is possibly an alien spacecraft?
A. Its size. B. Its color.
C. Its shape. D. Its speed.
2.What does the underlined word“that”in the third paragraph probably mean?
A. The research into the solar system.
B. The purpose of hunting for alien life.
C. The effect of interstellar dust on Oumuamua.
D. The possibility of Oumuamua being a spaceship.
3.What is Oumuamua most likely to be according to the author?
A. An asteroid. B. A space rock.
C. Interstellar dust. D. An alien spacecraft.
4.It can be inferred from the last paragraph that__________.
A. Oumuamua will return to where it’s from soon
B. Oumuamua’s real identity remains to be found out
C. astronomers have not seen signs of Oumuamua’s artificial origin
D. the Green Bank telescope has already heard something from Oumuamua
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
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(1) Mr. Brown (the motorist)
At about 9:20 p.m. on October 14th, I was driving along Market Road in the direction of Midwick. I wanted to go to Sturham to collect my wife, who had been visiting some friends. I prepared to turn into Sturham Road, which was on my right. In the distance, I saw the lights of a car moving towards me but it was a long way from me. I put out my hand to show that I was going to turn right. Then I started to turn slowly towards Sturham Road. Suddenly there was a loud noise on the passenger's (near) side of the car. I stopped the car and got out. A motorcycle had hit my car. The motorcyclist had been thrown over the car. He was injured, so I ran to a shop to phone for help.
(2) Mr. Smith (the injured motorcyclist)
On the evening of October 14th, I was going home along Market Road towards Newtown. I was riding my motorcycle. I was going slowly because some of the streetlights were out and the road was wet and slippery. Just before Sturham Road, a car suddenly drove right across my path. The driver did not flash his lights to give a warning. I could not turn in time, so I hit the side of the car. When I woke up, I was lying in a hospital in Market Road.
(3) Mr. Lee (another motorcyclist)
At about 9:10 p.m. on October 14th, I left my home in Midwick. Ten minutes later I was riding my motorcycle along Market Road. I was going to Newtown. There was a motorcycle about 40 metres in front of me. It was not going very quickly. The man on it was riding near the curb (路边) but I was near the center of the road. The motorcyclist in front of me tried to turn to his right but there was no time. He hit the car and was injured. There was no car going along in front of us or put by the road.
48．Which of these statements about the accident is probably correct?
A．Mr. Brown wrongly supposed that the lights of the two motorcycles were those of a car.
B．The lights of the car moving towards Mr. Brown made him unable to see.
C．Mr. Brown knocked down a motorcyclist on purpose.
D．The accident was caused by the carelessness of the first motorcyclist.
49．It seems probable from the statements that Mr. Brown__________.
A．gave no signal to show that he was turning right
B．did not give any signal until he was actually turning
C．failed to give a proper signal at that time
D．flashed his light to show that he was going to turn
50．We would expect to find that Mr. Brown's car was damaged on its________ side.
A．front B．left C．right D．driver's
高二英语阅读理解简单题查看答案及解析
Gates attended public elementary school before moving on to the private Lakeside School in North Seattle. It was at Lakeside that Gates began his career in personal computer soft ware, programming computers at age 13.
stem, with its aggressive way of doing business and its insistence（坚持，强调） on money and social status as indicators of worth. In Willy Loman, the hero of the play, we see a man who has got into trouble with this system. Willy is "burnt out" and in the cruel world of business there is no room for sentiment（感伤）: if he can't do the work, then he is no good to his employer, the Wagner Company, and he must go. Willy is painfully aware of this, and at a loss as to what to do with his lack of success. He refuses to face the fact that he has failed and kills himself in the end.