Edward Sims was born in 1892. He was the fift...

Edward Sims was born in 1892. He was the fifth child and only son of Herbert and Dora Sims. Herbert was a blacksmith(铁匠), and had a thriving trade making horseshoes. He was determined that his first-born son would follow him into the blacksmith. For this reason, Edward had to leave school at the age of 12,and worked with his father.

However, Edward was not cut out to be a blacksmith. Although he has an athletic body, he didn't have strong arms like his father, and he felt dizzy in the heat of the smithy.  When he tried to find alternative employment, he found it difficult because he had never learnt to read or write.

One day, he went for an interview at a solictior’s office. The job was a runner, taking documents from the office to other offices in the city. The solicitor was pleased to see that Edward was physically fit, but when he discovered that the young man couldn't read or write, he decided against employing him. "How can you deliver documents to other offices," he asked, "if you can't read the addresses on them?"

Bitterly disappointed, Edward left the building and went to wait for a tram to take him back to the suburb where his father’s smithy was. Next to the bus stop, a man was selling newspapers from a stand .

"Excuse me, son?" he said. "Would you look after my stand for a moment?"

For the next 20 minutes, Edward sold newspapers, lots of them. When the man came back, he was so delighted with his new assistant's honesty, that he offered him a job. Edward took it immediately.

In the next few months, the two men progressed from working on newspaper stands to selling newspapers, tobacco,confectionery（糖果点心）and other goods in a shop. Then they opened a second shop, and a third. Eventually, they had a chain of 25 shops in three cities.

Edward became very rich, so he employed a tutor to teach him to read and write. The tutor  was amazed at what Edward had achieved. "Imagine what you could do if you’d been able to read and write when you were younger!" he said.

“Yes!” said Edward. “I could have run myself to exhaustion delivering documents for a solicitor!”

1.What would be the best title for the text?

A．Success of illiterate newsboy

B．Local blacksmith becomes famous

C．The thriving trade of the blacksmith

D．Reading and writing-the road to success

2.What can you infer from the underlined expression “not cut out to be” in the second paragraph?

A．Edward Sims did not like being a blacksmith.

B．Edward Sims did not like working with his father.

C．Edward Sims was not strong enough and it made him feel ill.

D．Edward Sims was good at it but wanted to do another job.

3.When Edward applied for the job as a runner for a solicitor, ________.

A．the solicitor turned him down because he wasn’t intelligent enough

B．the solicitor offered him the job because he was so fit

C．the solicitor gave him the job but told him he had to learn to read

D．the solicitor didn’t offer him the job because he couldn’t read

4.Which of the following is NOT ture about Edward Sims?

A．He was such a good salesman that he went on to own 25 newsagent shops with another man.

B．The newspaperman liked him so much he gave him a job.

C．He ran himself into exhaustion delivering papers.

D．He learnt to read and write.

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

My father was born on a farm in Tipperary, Ireland. He was the fourth child out of eight children.

My father was the oldest boy so the majority of the responsibility fell upon his shoulders to complete the farm work. He attended school until the fourth grade; his father pulled him out of school to work on the farm permanently (永久地), though he hated it. Though supposed to inherit the farm, my father had other plans. At sixteen he left home for England.

He left without telling his parents anything. He eventually became very homesick and missed his mother greatly. He came back to Ireland and worked on the farm until he was eighteen. He got tired of the farm and left home for England again. He worked as a construction worker for five years, and then a part-time actor. But he couldn’t get a decent (体面的) job because he was Irish. Many times he would walk into an interview and read a sign saying, “The Irish need not apply.”

He was twenty years old with no family and limited friends in a foreign country that didn’t want him. Once he was able to work again my father decided to save money to move to Australia. He lived in a house with a fellow Irishman, a Swede, an Englishman, and an Austrian for five years becoming a successful salesman. He bought a beach house for himself in Sydney. He then traveled through Europe visiting his family in Ireland.

In 1975 my father came to America as an illegal immigrant (移民). My father with a friend of his drove across the country to Los Angeles with the dream of becoming Hollywood stars. My father lived in his car for the first few months in Los Angeles, and worked as a used car salesman. After two years of living in Los Angeles, he became documented. He met my mother and started a family. My parents have kept the family in Los Angeles, and just three years ago my father became a U.S. citizen.

1.The father dropped out of school mainly because 　　　　 .

A. he often ran away from home

B. he couldn’t get along well with others

C. he often performed badly in his school

D. he had to learn to keep the farm

2.The underlined word “inherit” in the second paragraph means “　　　　 ”.

A. take over B. escape from　　 C. set up D. look through

3.Which of the following can show the track of the father’s struggle？

A. Australia—Europe—America.

B. England—Australia—America.

C. Ireland—America—England.

D. Australia—Sweden—England.

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

A. An Irishman travels abroad

B. How my father got a job in England

C. My father’s escape from his home

D. Experience of my father’s struggle

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

[1] Jean Paul Getty was born in 1892 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. He became a millionaire when he was only 24. His father was wealthy, but he did not help his son. Getty made his millions alone. He made his money from oil. He owned Getty Oil and over 100 other companies. The Fortune magazine once called Getty “the richest man in the world.”

[2]But money _________. He married five times and divorced five times. He had five children but spent little time with them. None of Getty’s children had very happy lives.

[3]Getty loved to make money and loved to save it. In spite of his great wealth, Getty was miser. Every evening, he wrote down every cent he spent that day. He even put pay telephone in the guest’s bedrooms in his house so he could save money on phone bills.

[4] In 1973, kidnappers took his 16-year-old grandson, and demanded a large amount of money for his safe return. Getty’s son asked his father for money to save his child. But Getty refused. The kidnappers were merciless and Getty’s son made repeated requests for help from his father. Finally, Getty agreed to lend the money, but at 4 percent interest.

[5] Getty started a museum at his home Malibu, California. He bought many important and beautiful pieces of art for the museum. When Getty died in 1976, the value of the collection in the museum was $1 billion. He left all his money to the museum. After his death, the museum grew in size. Today it is one of the most important museums in the United States. Getty made a large fortune in his life, but he gave his money to the art world because he wanted people to learn about and love art.

1.What is the main idea of Paragraph 1? (no more than 8 words)

_______________________________________________________________________________

2.Fill in the blank in Paragraph 2 with proper words. (no more than 7 words)

3.Explain the underlined sentence in Paragraph3.

_______________________________________________________________________________

4.What did the kidnappers do to Getty’s family (no more than 10 words)

5.What does the author want to tell us about Getty in the last paragraph? (no more than 10 words)

高二英语其他题中等难度题查看答案及解析

I was born in Korea, and my family came over to America when I was 10. I’m the middle child of three girls, and my parents moved so we would experience a different life. They did it for our education and to give us more of a chance than they had. We moved to Staten Island, and I went to the High School of Performing Arts in New York City. My parents didn’t agree with me when I told them I wanted to be an actress. My father suggested I try premed(医学预科). But after they saw me in plays they were really proud.

I graduated from Boston University and was doing theater in New York when I got cast in a Korean miniseries(电视连续剧). We started shooting the show in New York, and then went to Korea to finish it up. They said I would be there for three weeks, but it ended up being two months. The miniseries took off, and overnight, I became recognizable. It was sort of like Lost. It blew up. Then amazing projects were offered to me. I kept thinking, “ I’ll do one more and then go back to the US.” I ended up staying for seven years.

Some people described me as the Julia Roberts of Korea, which is a bad comparison because she’s the queen of romantic comedy. I became famous in Korea for a dramatic role in a film called Shiri. I played a “La Femme Nikita” type of role. I was the girl with gun—all action．

(   )65. The writer’s parents moved to America so as to _________.

A. offer a good chance to their children.

B. receive a good education in performing

C. seek a good life in America

D. film a Korean miniseries

(   )66. When the writer announced her decision to become an actress, her parents_____.

A. were both in favor of her   B. felt very ashamed of her

C. didn’t agree at first         D. took it for granted

(   )67. What is the second paragraph mainly about?

A. The author’s performing life in America.

B. The difficulties of filming abroad.

C. The popularity of the miniseries Lost.

D. The author’s first performing breakthrough.

(   )68. The writer referred to the Julia Roberts of Korea as a bad comparison to show______.

A. she looked down upon Julia Roberts.

B. she disliked to compare with others

C. she had a different style of performing

D. she was better at dramatic roles than Julia

高二英语阅读理解简单题查看答案及解析

I was born in Korea, and my family came over to America when I was 10. I’m the middle child of three girls, and my parents moved so we would experience a different life. They did it for our education and to give us more of a chance than they had. We moved to Staten Island, and I went to the High School of Performing Arts in New York City. My parents were depressed when I told them I wanted to be an actress. My father suggested I try premed (医学预科). But after they saw me in plays they were really proud.
　　 I graduated from Boston University and was doing theater in New York when I got cast in a Korean miniseries (电视连续剧). We started shooting the show in New York, and then went to Korea to finish it up. They said I would be there for three weeks, but it ended up being two months. The miniseries took off, and overnight, I became recognizable. It was sort of like Lost. It blew up. Then amazing projects were offered to me. I kept thinking, “ I’ll do one more and then go back to the US.” I ended up staying for seven years.

Some people described me as the Julia Roberts of Korea, which is a bad comparison because she’s the queen of romantic comedy. I became famous in Korea for a dramatic role in a film called Shiri. I played a “La Femme Nikita” type of role. I was the girl with the gun—all action．

1. The writer’s parents moved to America so as to _________.

A. offer a good chance to their children.

B. receive a good education in performing

C. seek a successful life in America

D. film a Korean miniseries

2. When the writer announced her decision to become an actress, her parents_____.

A. were both in favor of her　　 B. felt very ashamed of her

C. didn’t agree at first　　　　 D. took it for granted

3. What is the second paragraph mainly about?

A. The author’s performing life in America.

B. The difficulties of filming abroad.

C. The popularity of the miniseries Lost.

D. The author’s first performing breakthrough.

4.The writer referred to the Julia Roberts of Korea as a bad comparison to show______.

A. she looked down upon Julia Roberts.

B. she disliked to be compared with others

C. she had a different style of performing

D. she was better at dramatic roles than Julia

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Einstein was born in 1879 in Germany. As a child, he was slow to learn to talk. As a pupil, he was backward. But when he was fourteen years old, he became clever. He taught himself maths from textbooks. He studied hard because he wanted to be a physicist.

In 1901, Einstein began teaching. In 1902 he continued his studies at the University of Zurich. Several years later, he formulated(系统地阐述)his famous Theory of Relativity(相对论).To most people the law of relativity is difficult to explain. But once Einstein explained it to a group of young students. He said,” When you sit with a good girl for two hours, you think it is only a minute. But when you sit on a hot stove for a minute, you think it's two hours. That is relativity."

After Hitler came into power in Germany, Einstein went to America. In 1940 Einstein became an American citizen. In 1955, Einstein's life ended at the age of seventy-six.

36. When Einstein was a pupil of twelve, he _______.

A. was not quick in learning to talk       B. was poor in his studies

C. studied very hard                   D. hardly lagged behind

37. The law of relativity is_______ .

A. very hard for most people to understand

B. too hard for Einstein himself to explain

C. too hard to explain to anybody except Einstein

D. easy to understand only for the young students

38. Which of the following do you think is true?

A. The Germans owed their scientific progress to Einstein.

B. The Americans owed all their economic development to Einstein.

C. Einstein owed a great deal to the modern world.

D. Einstein made a very great contribution to modern science.

39. The title for this passage should be " _______ ".

A. Theory of Relativity          B. An American Citizen

C. Albert Einstein              D. Einstein's Contribution

高二英语阅读理解简单题查看答案及解析

Larry Bird was born in 1965 in a small town in the Middle Western State of Indiana. He was tall, and good at playing basketball. He attended Indiana State University. Bird led the team into the College Basketball Championship Game.

After completing his college studies, Larry Bird began playing professional basketball for the Boston Celtics. He remained with the Celtics for all his professional career. During those 13 years, Larry Bird was named the Most Valuable Player of the Year three times. He scored more than 21, 000 points, and he played in 13 of the highest scoring games in his team’s history. Once he scored 60 points in just one game.

During his very successful basketball career, Larry Bird suffered a number of injuries. In 1989, he stopped playing because of pain in his feet. He returned in 1990, but the pain in his feet returned too. In the next two years he experienced more medical problems, and he missed many games.

Larry Bird did play on the Dream Team－the first Olympic Team with professional players. However, after winning the gold medal in Barcelona, he announced that he would retire from professional basketball. Larry Bird said he would have liked to play a little longer, but he could not because of his health problems. He also said it was a good time to leave the game. He wanted to be remembered as a winner.

1.The underlined word “scored” in the second paragraph means ________.

A. lost　　　　　 B. made　　　　 C.　 got　　　　　　 D. wrote

2.When he returned to his team in 1990, ________.

A. he still had a lot of medical problems caused by the previous（先前的）injuries

B. he played in all the following games for his team

C. he had recovered from a number of injuries

D. He didn’t play for his team any more

3.Which of the following statements is NOT true?

A. Larry Bird began his career after his graduation from the college.

B. He lost interest in playing basketball after he retired.

C. Though he left the team, he didn’t feel too much regret.

D. He thought it a right decision to leave the team.

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

The son of a piano producer, Elwyn Brooks White was born in Mount Vernon in a wealthy family．And he was raised with the mix of sophistication（富有经验）and common sense that would mark his writing．

After graduation, White spent a year as a newspaper reporter in New York City, then decided to drive across the country with a friend．The trip gave White a lifetime of anecdotes．“When they ran out of money," White's friend, James Thurber, noted, "they played for their supper and their gasoline on an interesting musical instrument that White had made out of some pieces of wire and an old shoe．"

When White returned to New York City in the mid-1920s, he spent a few years bouncing between advertising jobs and unemployment before trying his hand again at writing．Not very seriously, he sent some essays to a new magazine called The New Yorker．Since its founding in 1925, the magazine had struggled to find its niche, and White's work helped put The New Yorker on the map．His essays were funny and sophisticated; they spoke equally to socialites(社会名流）and cab drivers, professors and repairmen．Through his essays, which he wrote for nearly 50 years, White helped give The New Yorker its voice and identity．

In 1945, already a leading literary figure, White switched to his second occupation writing children's books．He moved from New York to a farm in Maine, where he raised chickens and geese． Seeking a way to amuse his nieces and nephews, White started to write stories for them．“Children were always after me to tell them a story and I found I couldn't do it," he said．“ So I had to get it down on paper．”

By the time he died from Alzheimer's disease in 1985, White's essays had appeared in more literary collections in colleges than those of any other writer．Many said his essays matched his personality: sophisticated without being simple, critical without being mean．

1.What do we learn from Paragraph 2?

A. White took the trip to realize his lifelong dream．

B. The trip had a lasting effect on White's personality．

C. The travelling companion found White's music talent．

D. White had many experiences to talk about after the trip．

2.The underlined part "its niche" means something that　　　　　　 ．

A. suits its sponsors' tastes

B. protects its social identity

C. helps to build its own style

D. voices its authors' concern

3.What do we know about White's works?

A. They originally came from the stories told by his nieces．

B. They were intended for people of different social status．

C. They helped The New Yorker find its position on the map．

D. They were chosen by college textbooks when they came out．

高二英语阅读理解简单题查看答案及解析

（2015·浙江）Albert Einstein was born in 1879. As a child, few people guessed that he 　　　 a famous scientist whose theories would change the world.

A. has been　　 B. had been

C. was going to be　　 D. was

高二英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

Ever since he was a little child, Steve Jobs has been interested in electronics and filled with the _______ to become one of the best engineers in this field.

A. advantage            B. ambition

C. aggression            D. adventure

高二英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析