Can you remember a morning when you’ve woken up to the ring of your alarm clock and wished you could stay in bed? You haven’t slept well, your hair is a mess. Worse, you can’t stop yawning. Yawning is universal to humans and many animals. Cats, dogs and fish yawn just like humans do! Yawning is an involuntary(无意识的,不自觉的) action during which you open your mouth and breathe deeply. The average duration of a yawn is about 6 seconds.
The purpose and cause of yawning are still a mystery. Scientists are not sure what causes a yawn. People yawn when they are tired or bored, but they also yawn when they aren’t. There are many ideas explaining why we yawn.
One idea is that yawning is a way for the body to become more alert by taking in more oxygen. A yawn increases the heart rate, forces carbon dioxide out of the lungs and blood stream, and brings oxygen to the brain. But one study showed that volunteers given a lot of oxygen did not yawn any less than before, while those given a lot of carbon dioxide did not yawn more.
Another idea is that early humans used yawning as a form of communication. If one decided it was time to sleep, they would tell the others by yawning and they would do it in return to show they agreed.
A third explanation comes from psychology professor Gordon Gallup of University at Albany in New York. He said that as people yawn, they cool off their brains. “Brains are like computers.” he said. “They only operate efficiently and effectively when they’re cool. Many things connected to yawning, like being tired, make the brain hot, and yawning can reduce the heat.”
Scientists have sent people into space, and created terrible nuclear weapons, but there are lots of seemingly simple things, such as why we yawn, or hiccup(打嗝), that they can’t figure out. Next time you are in class in the morning, let out a big yawn and watch to see how many of your classmates yawn in response!
1.What’s the purpose of the description of how bad you may feel when you’re woken up in the morning?
A.To explain why humans yawn. |
B.To explain how humans start yawning. |
C.To lead into the topic of yawning. |
D.To complain about being woken up by the clock. |
2.Which is not among the possible reasons for yawning mentioned in the passage?
A.A way to show that you feel hot. |
B.A way to get rid of carbon dioxide. |
C.A way to cool off your brain. |
D.A way to communicate. |
3.In which situation are you likely to yawn?
A.When you feel frustrated. |
B.The weather is hot. |
C.Someone else yawns near you. |
D.When you breathe in a lot of carbon dioxide. |
4.What can we learn from the passage?
A.The real reason why humans and most animals yawn. |
B.Hiccups are an involuntary human action similar to yawns. |
C.The more an action can be studied, the easier it is to research. |
D.Finding out why humans yawn should be easier than sending people into space. |
高二英语阅读理解困难题
Can you remember a morning when you’ve woken up to the ring of your alarm clock and wished you could stay in bed? You haven’t slept well, your hair is a mess. Worse, you can’t stop yawning. Yawning is universal to humans and many animals. Cats, dogs and fish yawn just like humans do! Yawning is an involuntary(无意识的,不自觉的) action during which you open your mouth and breathe deeply. The average duration of a yawn is about 6 seconds.
The purpose and cause of yawning are still a mystery. Scientists are not sure what causes a yawn. People yawn when they are tired or bored, but they also yawn when they aren’t. There are many ideas explaining why we yawn.
One idea is that yawning is a way for the body to become more alert by taking in more oxygen. A yawn increases the heart rate, forces carbon dioxide out of the lungs and blood stream, and brings oxygen to the brain. But one study showed that volunteers given a lot of oxygen did not yawn any less than before, while those given a lot of carbon dioxide did not yawn more.
Another idea is that early humans used yawning as a form of communication. If one decided it was time to sleep, they would tell the others by yawning and they would do it in return to show they agreed.
A third explanation comes from psychology professor Gordon Gallup of University at Albany in New York. He said that as people yawn, they cool off their brains. “Brains are like computers.” he said. “They only operate efficiently and effectively when they’re cool. Many things connected to yawning, like being tired, make the brain hot, and yawning can reduce the heat.”
Scientists have sent people into space, and created terrible nuclear weapons, but there are lots of seemingly simple things, such as why we yawn, or hiccup(打嗝), that they can’t figure out. Next time you are in class in the morning, let out a big yawn and watch to see how many of your classmates yawn in response!
1.What’s the purpose of the description of how bad you may feel when you’re woken up in the morning?
A.To explain why humans yawn. |
B.To explain how humans start yawning. |
C.To lead into the topic of yawning. |
D.To complain about being woken up by the clock. |
2.Which is not among the possible reasons for yawning mentioned in the passage?
A.A way to show that you feel hot. |
B.A way to get rid of carbon dioxide. |
C.A way to cool off your brain. |
D.A way to communicate. |
3.In which situation are you likely to yawn?
A.When you feel frustrated. |
B.The weather is hot. |
C.Someone else yawns near you. |
D.When you breathe in a lot of carbon dioxide. |
4.What can we learn from the passage?
A.The real reason why humans and most animals yawn. |
B.Hiccups are an involuntary human action similar to yawns. |
C.The more an action can be studied, the easier it is to research. |
D.Finding out why humans yawn should be easier than sending people into space. |
高二英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析
When you are little, it’s not hard to believe you can change the world. I remember my enthusiasm when, at the age of 12, I addressed(向……演讲) the people at the Rio Earth Summit. “ I am only a child,” I told them.” Yet I know that if all the money spent on war was spent on ending poverty and finding environmental answers, what a wonderful place this world would be. At school you teach us not to fight with others, to work things out, to respect others, to clean up our mess, not to hurt other creatures, to share, not to be greedy. Then why do you go out and do the things you tell us not to do. You grown-ups say you love us, but I challenge you, please, to make your actions reflect your words.”
I spoke for six minutes and received a standing ovation. Some of the people even cried. I thought that maybe I had reached some of them, that my speech might actually spur(刺激)action. Now, ten years from Rio, after I’ve sat through many more conferences, I’m not sure what has been achieved. My confidence in the people in power and in the power of an individual’s voice to reach them has been deeply shaken.
When I was little, the world was simple. But as a young adult, I’m learning that as we have to make choices—educa-tion, career, lifestyle—life gets more and more complicated. We are beginning to feel pressure to produce and be successful. We are taught that economic growth is progress, but we aren’t taught how to seek a happy, healthy way of living. And we are learning that what we wanted for the future when we were 12 was idealistic and naive(天真的).
Today I’m no longer a child, but I’m worried about what kind of environment my children will grow up in. I know change is possible, because I am changing, still figuring out what I think. I am still deciding how to live my life. The challenges are great, but if we accept individual responsibility and make choices, we will rise to the challenges, and we will become part of the positive tide of the change. I hope this goal will be met through our common efforts. Thank you all.
1.The purpose of what the speaker said at the age of 12 was to________.
A.end poverty and make schools beautiful
B.find environmental answers and show off
C.focus people’s attention on some social problems
D.find a wonderful place and clean it up
2.What does the underlined word “ovation”in the second paragraph refer to?
A.A long period of laughing. B.A cold and unfriendly welcome.
C.An expression used for greeting.
D.Great applause or cheering.
3.The information in the text is presented mainly through________.
A.question and answer B.a personal lecture
C.cause and effect D.listing steps in a process
4.Which of the following best describes the speaker?
A.He is an experienced educator.
B.He is an impolite man.
C.He is a man of great worries.
D.He is a man of social responsibility.
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
You’re finishing up your history homework when your cell phone rings. You’ve got 30 minutes to reach head-quarters, get your equipment packed and receive your task. There’s a lost hiker in the mountains near the edge of town. Your task: find the missing person; provide emergency medical treatment, if necessary; and be prepared to operate 48 hours on your own with only the supplies you carry.
Sounds like some kind of film’s plot? Not if you’re a member of the Arapahoe teen rescue patrol in the suburbs of Denver. About 25 teen guys and girls are active members of this search, rescue and emergency organization, and they know firsthand that you don’t have to be an adult to save lives.
These 9th-through-12th graders are the real deal when it comes to emergency services. In fact, they’re the only teen-commanded patrol in the nation. Sure they have adult advisers to turn to if necessary, but in the field it’s a teen patrol officer calling the shots — sometimes even giving direction to adults.
Members are trained in rock-high-angle,swift-water and avalanche rescue (雪崩施行营救), winter and alpine operation , wilderness life support and emergency care, among other skills. They also regularly ride along with the local fire and police departments, providing support such as security details and evidence searching.
When asked what qualities make a good patrol member, founder and president Stan Bush named good physical conditioning and an interest in helping people. “We put in lots and lots of hours helping people in trouble,” he says. “So if a person is not really interested in doing that kind of thing, he won’t last as a member.”
1.In the first paragraph, the author describes ______.
A. a plot in some kind of film B. a teen patrol member’s life
C. an emergency rescue D. a lost hiker in trouble
2.Which of the following is NOT true about the Arapahoe teen rescue patrol?
A. They are trained to have many special skills.
B. They also work with local firemen and policemen.
C. They turn to adults for help sometimes.
D. They think they can save lives only when growing up.
3.If you want to become a good rescue patrol member, you must ______.
A. be strong and interested in offering help
B. be a 9th-through-12th grader
C. finish your history homework first
D. spend many hours helping people first
4.What would be the best title for the passage?
A. What qualities make a good patrol member?
B. The Arapahoe teen rescue patrol
C. How to become a rescue patrol member
D. Skills a rescue patrol member needs
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
If you ______ any problems when you arrive at the airport, give me a ring.
A. come up with B. set about
C. run into D. put aside
高二英语单项填空简单题查看答案及解析
Have you ever thought about what determines the way we are when we grow up? Remember the TV program Seven Up? It started following the lives of a group of children in 1973. We first meet them as wide-eyed seven-year-olds and catch up with them at seven-year intervals: nervous 14-year-olds, serious 21-year-olds and then grown-ups.
Some of the stories are inspiring, others sad, but what is interesting in almost all the cases is the way in which the children’s early hopes and dreams are shown in their future lives. For example, at seven, Tony is a lively child who says he wants to become a sportsman or a taxi driver. When he grows up, he goes on to do both. How about Niki? She says, “I would like to find out about the moon.” And she goes on to become a space scientist. As a child, soft-spoken Bruce says he wants to help “poor children” and ends up teaching in India.
But if the lives of all the children had followed this pattern, the program would be far less interesting than it actually was. It was the children whose childhood did not prepare them for what was to come that made the program so interesting. Where did their ideas come from about what they wanted to do when they grew up? Are children influenced by what their parents do, by what they see on television or by what their teachers say? How great is the effect of a single important event? Many film directors, including Steven Spielberg, say that an early visit to the cinema was the turning point in their lives. Dr. Margaret McAllister, who has done a lot of research in this area, thinks that the major factors are parents, friends and their wider society.
1.What does the text mainly discuss?
A. New ways to make a TV program interesting.
B. The importance of TV programs to children.
C. Different ways to make childhood dreams come true.
D. The influence of childhood experience on future lives.
2. What does the underlined word “influenced” mean in the last paragraph?
A. Impressed. B. Improved. C. Affected. D. Attracted.
3. What are the examples in Paragraph 2 meant to show?
A. Many people’s childhood hopes are related to their future jobs.
B. There are many poor children in India who need help.
C. Children have different dreams about their future.
D. A lot of people are very sad in their childhood.
4.Spielberg’s story is meant to show that _______.
A. going to a movie at an early age helps a child learn about society
B. a single childhood event may decide what one does as a grown-up
C. parents and friends can help a child grow up properly
D. films have more influence on a child than teachers do
高二英语阅读理解简单题查看答案及解析
---Do you still remember when we went to Chong qing?
----I can’t remember now but_____ sometime last summer?
A.could it be B.might it be C.must it have been D.could it have been
高二英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
Do you know what your child is going to do when the school bell rings at the end of the day? More than 14 million students leave school every afternoon and have nowhere to go, since they do not have access to(使用) affordable afterschool opportunities. According to the National Youth Violence Prevention Resource Center (NYVPRC), 90% of the Americans think all youths should have access to afterschool programs(课外活动项目), but twothirds of parents say they have trouble finding programs locally. The bad news is that the situation may be getting worse.
Afterschool hours are the peak time for juvenile crimes and risky behaviors, including alcohol(酒精) and drug(药物) use. NYVPRC states that children who do not spend any time in afterschool activities are 49 percent more likely to use drugs and 37 percent more likely to become a teen parent. Kids are also at the highest risk of becoming a victim of violence after school, particularly between the hours of 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. The highest amount of juvenile crime occurs between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m., when most children are dismissed from school(放学).
The NYVPRC defines afterschool programs as safe and structured activities that offer children opportunities to learn new skills. The skills students learn can range from technology and math to reading and art. Some programs also offer opportunities for internship (实习), community service, or mentoring. These programs have been shown to improve academic achievement, as well as relieve the stresses(减压) on working families. A report by the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S Department of Justice shows that students in afterschool programs have fewer behavioral problems and more selfconfidence, and can handle conflicts better than students who are not involved with these programs. In addition, according to the Harvard Family Research Project, afterschool programs help students from low income families overcome the inequities (不公平) they face in the school system.
1.Which of the following is TRUE according to the first paragraph?
A.Most parents don't believe in afterschool programs.
B.Students are not willing to attend afterschool programs.
C.It's difficult for parents to find afterschool programs for their kids.
D.Parents don't care about where their children go after school.
2.The underlined word “juvenile” in Paragraph 2 has a similar meaning to “________”.
A.student B.teenager C.adult D.campus
3.We learn from the second paragraph that________.
A.the teachers should watch over kids after school
B.children are dismissed from school too late
C.afterschool hours are a risky time for children
D.children should go home immediately school is over
4.The author of the passage probably________.
A.fully supports afterschool programs
B.doubts the effects of afterschool programs
C.believes structured activities are useless for children
D.thinks students today are too stressed
5.What is the theme of the passage?
A.Prevention of juvenile crimes.
B.Risks kids face after school.
C.A research report on the stresses of the students.
D.The benefits of afterschool programs.
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
When you are ________ in a book or simply trying to rest, the phone always seems to be ringing, ________ whatever peace you might have.
A. absorbed; destroying B. absorbing; destroyed
C. lost; damaging D. losing; damaged
高二英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
When your child wakes up in the morning, he should know that his daily ____ includes going to school, lunch and homework.
A. routine B. destination C. requirement D. conservation
高二英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
It’s 5:00 in the morning when the alarm rings in my ears. I roll out of bed and walk blindly through the dark into the bathroom. I turn on the light and put on my glasses. The house is still as I walk downstairs while my husband and three kids sleep peacefully. Usually I go for a long run, but today I choose my favorite exercise DVD, Insanity.(疯狂60天健身) Sweat pours down my face and into my eyes. My heart races as I face my body to finish each movement. As I near the end of the exercise, I feel extremely tired, but a smile is on my face. It’s not a smile because the DVD is over, but a smile of success from pushing my body to its extreme limit.
Some people enjoy shopping, smoking , food, work, or even chocolate. But I need exercise to get through each day. Some shake heads when they see me run through the town. Others get hurt when I refuse to try just one bite of their grandmother’s chocolate cake. They raise their eyebrows, surprised by my “no thank you,” or by my choice to have a salad. Over the years , I have learned it’s okay to just say “no.” I shouldn’t feel sorry for refusing food that I don’t want to eat.
So what drives me to roll out of bed at 5:00 a.m.? What gives me the reason to just say no to ice cream? Commitment. A commitment to change my life with a way that reduces daily anxiety, increases self –confidence and energy, extends life and above all improves my body shape. This is the point where a smile appears on my face as I look at myself in the mirror or try on my favorite pair of jeans that now fit just right. It’s through commitment and sweat that I can make a difference within myself inside and out.
1.Why is there a smile on the author’s face in the morning?
A. Because she sees her family sleeping peacefully.
B. Because she feels a sense of achievement.
C. Because she enjoys the interesting DVD.
D. Because she finishes her favorite exercise.
2.What does the underlined word “commitment” in the last paragraph mean?
A. Good health. B. A strong power.
C. Firm belief. D. A regular habit.
3.What can we learn about the author from the text?
A. She acts in a strange way.
B. She wants to look different from others.
C. She has difficulty getting along with others.
D. She aims to develop a good body shape.
高二英语短文简单题查看答案及解析