Ever wonder where chocolate chip cookies came...

Ever wonder where chocolate chip cookies came from?Or why we use waffles（华夫饼）as ice cream cones?

Mistakes that Worked,written by Charlotte Foltz Jones,award-winning author of non-fiction books for children, offers forty of these unusual tales,along with many interesting drawings and strange and amazing facts.

The book is divided into six parts: food,medicine,toys,accidental things,names,and I find the book great because if not for the book,I would never have known that something was actually accidentally created.Besides,I like to learn real information;I can't stand books with stories that aren't real.Although this is a non-fiction book and is about inventions,it is not a history of technology book;it's more of an easy reading book.This book would be attractive to both boys and girls,and it could actually be either an adult book or a children’s book.

Published in 1991,the book is a bit old and is showing its age now in 2016.Still,it contains lots of great information,even though some facts are not exact.I love the idea of a mistakes book,and I especially like the format, which allows readers to dip in and out of the book easily.However,the entries are not all equally strong. Additionally, if you don’t live in the US,the book makes little sense,since it is full of American references both historically and in terms of customs.

Anyway,Mistakes that Worked is a reminder that failure is not always the end.It is an enlightening book that encourages us to realize that taking risks and learning to experiment is often the best way to learn,even if we don’t end up creating something new and wonderful.

1.What kind of book is Mistakes that Worked?

A. It's a picture book.　　 B. It's a science book.

C. It's an adult book.　　 D. It's a historical book.

2.What can we infer about the author?

A. He reads too little.

B. He is a slow reader.

C. He is a great reader of non-fiction.

D. He enjoys reading books about inventions.

3.Which of the following does the author especially like about the book?

A. Its facts.　　 B. Its organization.

C. Its entries.　　 D. Its reference.

4.What is the author's opinion on the book?

A. It's a fun read.　　 B. It's a perfect book.

C. It makes little sense.　　 D. It's full of factual mistake

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Have you ever wondered where the chocolate in your favorite candy bar comes from? Choco-

late comes from the cacao tree, which grows in warm, tropical areas of West Africa, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, and South America. And who eats the delicious chocolate made from the cacao grown in these places? The majority of chocolate is consumed in Europe and North America. This probably sounds like a familiar story-developing countries produce inexpensive raw materials that are manufactured and sold as finished goods in developed countries, and generally, that is what happens with chocolate. Large chocolate companies buy cacao beans at a low price and produce cocoa and chocolate products to sell at a relatively high price.

But the familiar story has a new chapter. Beginning in the 1980s, some consumers learned that cacao farmers were living difficult and uncertain lives. The farmers received money for their crops based on world markets, and the market price for cacao was sometimes so low that farmers received less for their crops than the crops had cost to produce. In response, groups of consumers in Europe and the United States developed "fair trade" organizations to guarantee that farmers of cacao, as well as coffee and tea, would receive fair and consistent prices for their crops.

Fair trade organizations benefit farmers by buying cacao beans or other products from them directly at higher-than-market prices and eliminating（消除）“middle men" such as exporters. Fair trade organizations also encourage farming techniques that are not harmful to the environment or to farm workers. for example, growing cacao without chemical pesticides or fertilizers in the shade of rain forest trees.0ne organization, Equal Exchange, helps farmers set up farming cooperatives in which they can share resources and work on projects such as community schools. Another, Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International(FLO),guarantees that products bearing its label meet standards that improve the lives of growers and producers.

The results of fair trade are a better standard of living for some farmers and nicer chocolate bars made with organically produced cocoa that consumers don't feel guilty about buying. And al- though fair trade chocolate is somewhat more expensive than other chocolate and now makes up only 1% of chocolate sold, the fair trade idea is spreading quickly. You may soon see fair trade chocolate right next to the more famous bars in your favorite store.

1.The underlined word“that”in Paragraph l refers to　　　　　　 ．

A. the unfair trade between countries

B. the high price of chocolate products

C. the traditional production of raw materials

D. the major consumption of the finished food

2.The organization Equal Exchange aims to　　　　　　 ．

A. promote chocolate sales

B. offer support to the farmers

C. reduce the cost of growing crops

D. increase the production of chocolate

3.What does the author imply in the last paragraph?

A. There will be more fair trade chocolate ill the future.

B. Fair trade chocolate is not as tasty as other chocolate.

C. Consumers feel guilty about buying fair trade chocolate.

D. There is probably no reason to worry about cacao farmers.

4.The passage mainly talks about　　　　　　　　 ．

A. giving tips on how to undertake fair chocolate trade

B. advising people to join in Fair trade organizations

C. encouraging farmers to adopt organic farming

D. informing people of fair trade chocolate

高三英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析

Did you ever wonder how some of your favorite foods, products or toys came about? Believe it or not, they may have been an accident, or a failure of some other intention．Below, we found three mistakes we're thankful for turned out to be what they are.

.1．Most historians hold that the Chinese invented fireworks in the 9th century when they discovered how to make gunpowder．Story has it that a Chinese cook accidentally mixed together what were then considered common kitchen items and noticed they burnt．When put tightly in a bamboo tube and lit, it blew up．

.2．In May of 1886, a law led John Pemberton, a pharmacist（药剂师）, to rewrite the formula（配方） for "Pemberton's French Wine Coca,” his popular headache treatment．Containing sugar instead of wine as a sweetener, the outcome became something for Coke, which was later mixed with carbonated water．His bookkeeper suggested the name Coca-Cola because he thought the two C’s would look good together, which is how what we call Coca-Cola, a world –wide drink came into being.

.3．During World War II, scientists at the University of Birmingham invented the magnetron—an important heat-producing part of the microwave oven（微波炉）．While working for Raytheon Corporation after the war, the American engineer Percy Spencer was testing the magnetron when a chocolate bar in his pocket melted．He went on to test other foods including popcorn kernels, and found it to be a much more efficient way to cook．In 1947 Raytheon came out with the first restaurant microwave oven, which was six feet tall and weighed 750 lbs．

1.The right time order of the three inventions, according to the passage, should be    _________.

A．fireworks, the microwave and Coca-Cola

B．fireworks ,Coca-Cola and the microwave

C．Coca-Cola , fireworks and the microwave

D．the microwave, Coca-Cola and fireworks

2.Percy Spencer found the microwave efficient in cooking when he was _______.

A．looking for a way to melt his chocolate

B．trying to know how a magnetron could cook

C．working to know how the magnetron works

D．asked to invent a restaurant microwave oven

3.What can we learn from the above invention stories?

A．Experiments make great inventors of our time.

B．Nothing is impossible if one tries each day.

C．Inventors come out of hard work at any time.

D．A small incident may lead to a great invention.

4.What’s the best title for the passage?

A．What great inventions they are!            B．Inventions from Three Countries.

C．Stories of Accidental Inventions.           D．The Human Inventions of time.

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Worried about how many calories you will get in that piece of pizza, chocolate cake or bag of chips? A new iphone application Mealsnap may help. Users just need to take a picture of the meal with the phone, and it will give a calorie read-out almost immediately.

Mealsnap was developed by DailyBurn, a health social network that focuses on helping its users lead healthier lifestyles. It has created several other health and diet-related iphone applications. The applications gives users a quick reply. To do that, it matches the taken picture to a databank containing the calorie information of nearly 500,000 kinds of food. Users then get the range of calories for the meal that is photographed.

We started with something simple — an apple. A couple of minutes later the application replied that it was an apple and between 64 and 96 calories. More impressive was the reply we received after sending a photo of mixed salad bowl. Mealsnap replied that the bowl contained “yellow rice with corn, boiled eggs and beans” and that the food was between 532 and 798 calories.

Mr. Smith, director of DailyBurn, said that usual calorie counting needed a long time, but that the application made it easier to know the calories in food. That’s why it is so popular among those who are trying hard to lose weight.

In addition, Mealsnap can serve as a food diary. No need to write down what they’ve eaten, the photos will be stored. Then users can keep a visual log (记录). Mr. Smith said: “It’s like a food journal, but easier. All you do is to take the picture. The simple act of recording something can cause a psychological change that can help people on their health journey. Knowing the calorie range makes me think more about what I’m eating.

60. 1.The purpose of DailyBurn is to _______.

A．help people have a healthy life

B．make iphone more popular

C．help people find ways to lose weight

D．persuade people to buy iphone products

61. 2. We can know from the passage that Mealsnap is ________.

A．a camera          B．a phone           C．a calculator        D．an application

62. 3.What can be learned from the third paragraph?

A．Mealsnap can also tell what the food is.

B．Mealsnap is only useful for simple things.

C．The result of Mealsnap isn’t always right.

D．Mealsnap needs a long time to show the calorie range.

63. 4.Which would be the best title for the passage?

A．Mealsnap iphones work as a health signal

B．Mealsnap iphones offer you a health signal

C．Mealsnap iphones — the best-selling phones

D．Mealsnap iphones count your calories

高三英语阅读理解简单题查看答案及解析

Most episodes（情况）of absent- mindedness- forgetting where you left something or wondering why you just entered a room-are caused by a simple lack of attention, says Schacter．"You're supposed to remember something, but you haven't encoded （译成密码）it deeply."

Encoding, Schacter explains, is a special way of paying attention to an event that has a major impact（影响）on recalling it later．Failure to encode properly can create annoying situations．If you put your mobile phone in a pocket, for example, and don't pay attention to what you did because you're involved in a conversation, you'll probably forget that the phone is in the jacket now hanging in your wardrobe（衣柜）．"Your memory itself isn't failing you,"says Schacter."Rather, you didn't give your memory system the information it needed."

Lack of interest can also lead to absent-mindedness."A man who can recite sports statistics from 30 years ago,"says Zelinski,"may not remember to drop a letter in the mailbox."Women have slightly better memories than men, possibly because they pay more attention to their environment, and memory depends on just that．

"Visual cues can help prevent absent -mindedness",says Schacter."But be sure the cue is clear and available,"he cautions．If you want to remember to take a medication（药物）with lunch, put the pill bottle on the kitchen table-don't leave it in the medicine chest and write yourself a note that you keep in a pocket．

Another common episode of absent-mindedness: walking into a room and wondering why you're there．Most likely, you were thinking about something else．"Everyone does this from time to time,"says Zelinski．The best thing to do is to return to where you were before entering the room, and you'll likely remember．

1.We can learn from the passage that encoding ________．

A．slows down the process of losing our memories

B．helps us understand our memory system better

C．gets us to recall something from our memories

D．helps us to find out the mobile phone in the pocket

2.Why do women have better memories than men?

A．They seldom use their mobile phones．

B．They are more nervous about the environment．

C．They are more interested in what's happening around them．

D．They usually take some special medicine to improve memories．

3.The sentence underlined in Paragraph 4 means that ___________．

A．a note in the pocket will easily get lost

B．putting something in sight can be a good reminder

C．taking medicine can get rid of absent-mindedness

D．people of absent-mindedness must take medicine with them

4.What is the passage mainly about?

A．The causes of absent-mindedness．

B．The environment and memory．

C．A way of encoding and recalling．

D．The process of gradual memory loss．

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Most episodes of absent-minded-forgetting where you left something or wondering why you just entered a room—are caused by a simple lack of attention, says Schacter. “You’re supposed to remember something, but you haven’t encoded it deeply.”

Encoding, Schacter explains, is a special way of paying attention to an event that has a major impact on recalling it later. Failure to encode properly can create annoying situation. If you put your mobile phone in a pocket, for example, and don’t pay attention to what you did because you’re involved in a conversation, you’ll probably forget that the phone is in the jacket now hanging in your wardrobe(衣柜). “Your memory itself isn’t failing you,” says Schacter, “Rather, you didn’t give your memory system the information it needed.”

Lack of interest can also lead to absent-mindedness. “A man who recite sports statistics from 30 years ago,” says Zelinski, “may not remember to drop a letter in the mailbox.” Women have slightly better memories than men, possibly because they are more interested in what’s happening around them, and memory relies on just that.

Visual cues(提示) can help prevent absent-mindedness, says Schacter. “But be sure the cue is clear and available,” he cautions. If you want to remember to take a medication with lunch, put the bill bottle on the kitchen table—don’t leave it in the medicine chest and write yourself a note that you keep in a pocket.

Another common episode of absent-mindedness: walking into a room and wondering why you’re there. Most likely, you were thinking about something else. “Everyone does this from time to time,” says Zelinski. The best thing to do is to return to where you were before entering the room, and you’ll likely remember.

1.What does the underlined word “episode” in Paragraph 1 probably mean?

A. Experiences.　　 B. Experiments.　　 C. Expressions.　　 D. Feelings.

2.According to the passage, women have better memories than men probably because ________.

A. they have a wider range of interests

B. they always put things where they were

C. they pay more attention to their environment

D. they prefer to write notes to tell them what they should do

3.What can help prevent absent-mindedness according to Schacter?

A. Writing notes.　　 B. Taking some medicine.

C. Putting something in sight.　　 D. Returning to where you were.

4.What is the best title for the text?

A. A Way of Recalling　　 B. The Importance of Encoding

C. Cures for Absent-mindedness　　 D. Causes of Absent-mindedness

高三英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析

We all enjoy the colors of autumn leaves. Did you ever wonder how and why a fall leaf changes color? Where do the yellows and oranges come from? To answer those questions, we first have to understand what leaves are and what they do.

Leaves are nature's food factories. Plants take water from the ground through their roots. They take a gas called carbon dioxide from the air. Plants use sunlight to turn water and carbon dioxide into glucose, which is a kind of sugar. Plants use glucose as food for energy and as a building block for growing. The way plants turn water and carbon dioxide into sugar is called photosynthesis, which means " putting together with light. " A chemical called chlorophyll helps make photosynthesis happen. Chlorophyll is what gives plants their green color.

As summer ends and autumn comes, the days get shorter and shorter. This is how the trees "know" to begin getting ready for winter.

During winter, there is not enough light or water for photosynthesis. The trees will rest, and live off the food they stored during summer. They begin to shut down their food-making factories. The green chlorophyll disappears from the leaves. As the bright green fades away, we begin to see yellow and orange colors. Small a-mounts of these colors have been in the leaves all along. Covered up by the green chlorophyll, we just can't see them in summer.

The bright reds and purples we see in leaves are made mostly in the fall. In some trees, like maples, glucose is trapped in the leaves after photosynthesis stops. Sunlight and the cool nights of autumn cause the leaves turn this glucose into a red color. The brown color of trees like oaks is made from wastes left in the leaves.

It is the combination of all these things that make the beautiful colors we enjoy in the fall.

1.The writer asked two questions in the beginning in order to        .

A. persuade readers to believe something

B. introduce the topic of the passage

C. get the readers excited

D. offer something to think over

2. Which of the following is True according to the passage?

A. Trees don't change colours with seasons.

B. Trees can still perform photosynthesis well in winter.

C. Trees have colours like yellow and orange even in summer.

D. Trees don't need food in winter.

3.Photosynthesis is a way that ___________________________.

A. plants change water and carbon dioxide into sugar

B. plants turn water and carbon dioxide into sugar with the help of sunlight

C. plants use glucose as food for energy and growing

D. chlorophyll is a great help

4. Which is the best title for this passage?

A. Colorful trees in autumn            B. Mysteries of tree colors

C. Do you enjoy tree colors?           D. Wonderful colors in autumn

高三英语阅读理解简单题查看答案及解析

Today I received a sweet letter from Brianna, one of my “cookies”. It was wonderful to hear 1.____________her. You see 2._________ I taught kindergarten, I called all 3.___________ sweet children “cookies”. Brianna said that every day she would walk into kindergarten and see a smile 4.__________ my face. I named them “cookies” because I always feel that children can bring great happiness and5.__________ (excite) to my life. I still feel that all children are the 6.___________ (great) joy I could ever have.

So far I 7.____________ (adopt) and taught children for over 35 years. All my children were 8._________ are now a great joy of my life. 9.__________(hope), I feel much fortunate to be able to use my life’s talent to teach children and have fun 10.___________(do) it every day. I am able to spread my wings and help my “cookies” to spread their wings.

高三英语其他题中等难度题查看答案及解析

Our usual walk is to or from the subway, ______ is how we get to work．

A．which            B．where            C．as               D．that

高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

Do you ever wonder how some things came about? For instance, who figured out that there was something worth eating inside a banana peel? Or how astonishing do you have to be to discover that an artichoke has edible parts? Well, we may not know how either of those foods was discovered, but we do know how potato chips were invented.

Potato chips originated in New England as one man’s variation on the French-fried potatoes, and their production was the result not of a sudden inspiration of cooking invention but of a fit of annoyance.

It was the summer of 1853 and Commodore Vanderbilt, a wealthy railroad magnate, was vacationing at a hotel named Moon Lake Lodge in New York. On the restaurant menu were French-fried potatoes, prepared in the thick-cut French style that was popularized in France in the 1700s and enjoyed by Thomas Jefferson as ambassador to that country.

At dinner one night, Vanderbilt complained that his French-fried potatoes were cut too thick and sent them back to the kitchen. Offended by his snobby guest, chef George Crum decided he would give Mr. Vanderbilt exactly what he asked for! He decided to annoy the guest by producing French fries too thin and crisp. The chef angrily gathered up some potatoes and sliced them paper-thin. He threw the slices into hot oil to fry, drained and salted them and then personally served the new dish to Mr. Vanderbilt.

Surprised to see the chef in the dining room, the other diners fell into silence and everyone held their breath, waiting for Vanderbilt’s reaction.

Vanderbilt immediately popped a crisp potato slice into his mouth and the loud “Crunch” broke the silence. He continued to crunch away, delighted with his new dish. The plan backfired. Vanderbilt was interested in the browned, paper-thin potatoes. Clapping a surprised Chef Crum on the back, Vanderbilt praised him on the impressive potatoes. And other diners requested Crum’s potato chips, which began to appear on the menu as “Saratoga Chips”, a house specialty. Soon they were packaged and sold, first locally, then throughout the New England area. Crum eventually opened his own restaurant, featuring chips. At that time, potatoes were peeled and sliced by hand. It was the invention of the mechanical potato peeler in the 1920s that paved the way for potato chips to rise quickly from a small specialty item to a top-selling snack food.

1..

The author wrote the first paragraph to ________.

A. tell us how potato chips were invented

B. introduce the topic dealt with in the passage

C. give examples of how some things came about

D. explain why we do know how those foods were discovered

2..

. According to the passage, chef George Crum ________.

A. invented potato chips by accident

B. opened his own restaurant, featuring potatoes

C. served the new dish to Mr. Vanderbilt in private

D. helped promote potato chips to a top-selling snack

3..

. The production of potato chips was the result of ________.

A. Mr. Vanderbilt’s praise for the new dish

B. Thomas Jefferson’s appreciation of the French Fries

C. George Crum’s anger at Mr. Vanderbilt

D. the invention of the mechanical potato peeler

4..

The underlined word “backfired” in the 6^th paragraph probably means ________.

A. developed in a successful way         B. made a big difference

C. happened in a particular way          D. had an opposite result

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析