Helen Thayer，one of the greatest explorers of...

Helen Thayer，one of the greatest explorers of the 20th century，loves challenges. She says，"I like to see what's on the other side of the hill." She has gone almost everywhere to do that.

In 1988，at the age of 50，she became the first woman to travel alone to the North Pole. She pulled her own sled (雪橇) piled with 160 pounds of supplies，and during her trip no one brought her fresh supplies. Accompanied (陪伴) only by her dog Charlie，she survived cold weather and meetings with polar bears. In fact，Charlie saved her life when one of them attacked her. Near the end of her trip，a forceful wind blew away the majority of her supplies. The last week of the trip，she survived on a handful of nuts and a little water each day.

Helen goes to challenging places not only for adventure，but also for education. Before her Arctic journey，she started a website called Adventure Classroom. On the site，she shares her adventures in order to motivate (激发) students. She explains，"Although kids often see the world in a negative way，without hope for their future，we work to inspire them to set goals，plan for success and never give up..."

Helen grew up in New Zealand. Her parents were athletes and mountain climbers. Following her parents' example，she climbed her first mountain at 9. Later，she climbed the highest mountains in North and South America，the former USSR and New Zealand.

In 1996，she took on another challenge--the Sahara Desert. She and her husband，Bill，walked 2,400 miles across it！In 2001，she and Bill traveled on foot from west to east through the Gobi Desert in Mongolia. They hope to travel in mainland China into Sichuan and Tibet to study pandas this year.

Helen plans to continue taking trips. She'll use her explorations，writing，photography and environmental work to create programs for her Adventure Classroom website. She wants to inspire her students never to stop facing challenges!

1.We learn from Paragraph 2 that ________.

A. Helen Thayer is the first person to reach the North Pole

B. Helen Thayer ate nothing during the last week of her trip

C. Charlie prevented Helen being attacked by polar bears

D. Helen Thayer traveled to the North Pole together with her husband

2.Why does Helen travel to different places worldwide?

A. For education.　　 B. For fun.

C. For money.　　　　　 D. For fame.

3.Which is the best title for the text?

A. The Woman Who Loves Adventure B. A Famous Woman

C. A Woman Mountain Climber　　　　 D. The Owner of Adventure Classroom

4.Which of the following places has Helen not visited yet?

A. The North Pole　　　　　　 B. The Sahara Desert

C. The Gobi Desert　　　　　　 D. Sichuan and Tibet

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

George Bernard Shaw, the greatest and funniest British dramatist of the first half of the 20th century, was born in Dublin, Ireland on July 26th, 1856. His early life was not happy. His father was a

Selfish man who drank too much and could not support his family properly. His mother was a disappointed, unhappy woman who found more pleasure in studying music than in her children. Shaw and his two sisters received little love and attention from their mother while they were young. At the age of ten Shaw entered school. At first he was the best student, but soon he was at or near the bottom of his class.

Although he did not like school, Shaw was a good, bright, curious student. His lifelong interest in everything from music and art to machines and medicine began at school. The interests of this tireless schoolboy were literature and music. He often entertained his classmates with stories he read.

Early at the age of fifteen, he went to work in an office. He did well as an office clerk, but after five years he decided that he wanted to be a writer. He left Ireland and went to London, where he began to write seriously. Seventy-four years later the great dramatist died.

1.What’s the main idea of this passage?

A. It’s a story about George Bernard Shaw　　 B. It refers to George Shaw’s mother.

C. George Bernard Shaw was telling his schooling.　　 D. The remark is connected with all the dramatists in Britain.

2.What does the underlined word “selfish” in the first paragraph mean?

A. Impossible　　 B. Reasonable　　 C. Remarkable　　 D. Irresponsible

3.Shaw grew up____.

A. without his parent’s love　　 B. in the school.

C. with his sisters’ help　　 D. in a hungry family.

4.Shaw’s mother____, so she took an interest in music.

A. had little knowledge　　 B. was disappointed with her husband

C. couldn’t look after her children　　 D. hoped to be an actress.

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

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（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

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

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

The computer is ________ to be one of the greatest inventions of the 20th century.

A. considered　　 B. regarded

C. expected　　 　 D. suggested

高二英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

Edmund Percival Hillary was one of the greatest explorers of the twentieth century. He was born in Auckland, New Zealand, in 1919. He discovered an interest in mountain climbing while he was still in high school and began climbing New Zealand's Southern Alps.

Like his father, Hillary earned his living as a beekeeper. However, he continued to climb mountains. His goal was to climb Mt. Everest, which is the highest mountain in the world. By the early 1950s, several expeditions（探险队）had attempted to reach the summit of Everest, but all had failed. Then, in 1953, Hillary and a Nepalese climber named Tenzing Norgay became the first two people to reach the top of the world.

Hillary's spirit of exploration was not satisfied. He joined an expedition to Antarctica and reached the South Pole in 1958. He also made an expedition up the Ganges River to its source in the Himalayas. Sir Edmund Hillary was a brave adventurer. He went where no man or woman had gone before.

Although Hillary was best known as the young man who climbed to the summit of Mt. Everest in the 1950s, he continued his journeys to far-off places into his senior years. For instance, in his mid-sixties Hillary flew to the North Pole with Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon. Moreover, Hillary authored many books. However, his most lasting gift, perhaps, was the Sir Edmund Hillary Himalayan Trust（信托基金）. It raised millions of dollars and contributed to schools, hospitals and many other public improvements in the Sherpa villages of Nepal. In January 2008, Sir Edmund Hillary died at the age of 88.

Despite being a great adventurer and known for the treasure he left Sir Edmund Hillary always modestly referred to himself as a simple beekeeper from New Zealand.

1.Hillary was interested in ________ when he was in high school.

A. mountain-climbing　　 B. bee-keeping

C. money-raising　　 D. story-writing

2.Hillary became well-known because ________.

A. he reached both the South Pole and the North Pole

B. he was the first to reach the top of Mt. Everest

C. he lived in places where no humans had gone

D. he made a lot of money as a beekeeper

3.We can learn from the passage that Hillary is ________.

A. outgoing and fearless

B. talented and honest

C. determined and caring

D. hardworking and careful

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

The Man of Many Secrets

Harry Houdini was one of the greatest American entertainers in the theater this century．He was a man famous for his escapes—from prison cells，from wooden boxes floating in rivers，from locked tanks full of water．He appeared in theaters all over Europe and America．Crowds came to see the great Houdini and his “magic”tricks．

0f course，his secret was not magic，or supernatural powers．It was simply strength．He had ability to move his toes as well as to move his fingers．He could move his body into almost any position he wanted．

Houdini started working in the entertainment world when he was 17，in 1891．He and his brother Theo performed card tricks in a New York club．They called themselves the Houdini brothers．When Harry married in 1894，he and his wife Bess worked together as magician and assistant，but for a long time they were not successful．Then Harty performed his first prison escape，in Chicago in 1898．Harry persuaded a detective to let him try to escape from the prison，and he invited the local newspaperman to watch．It was the publicity(名声)that came from this that started Harry Houdini’s success．

Harry had fingers trained to escape from handcuffs(手铐)and toes trained to escape from ankle chains，but his biggest secret was how he unlocked the prison doors．Every time he went into the prison cell，Bess gave him a kiss for good luck—and a small skeleton key，which is a key that fits many locks passed quickly from her mouth to his．

Harry used these prison escapes to build his fame．He arranged to escape from the local jail of every town he visited．In the afternoon the people of the town would read about it in their local newspapers．and in the evening every seat in the local theater would be full．What was the result? Worldwide fame，and a name remembered today．

1.According to the passage，Houdini’s success in prison escapes depends on________．

2.According to the passage，how did Houdini get the key which helped him unlock prison door?

3.It can be inferred from the passage that Houdini became famous________．

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Stephen Hawking, ________ “the greatest genius of the late 20th century”, announced that there are really grey holes in the universe.

A. calling            B. to call            C. to be called            D. called

高二英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

Penicillin became the greatest drug of the 20th century, without ______ many people ______ from　　 sickness or even small wounds.

A. it, died        B. which, have died

C. which, would have died    D. it, would have died

高二英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析