It is probably the strangest sport anyone has ever invented. And at first sight, it looks like the easiest. Competitors have to do two things. The first is to stand still. The second is to place their hands anywhere on the body of a car, and keep it there.
This is where things start getting difficult. Lots of people are doing the same thing. And the winner of the “handathon” contest is the person who can carry on doing it for the longest time. That person gets to own the car.
It still seems to be an easy thing to do. At the beginning it is. Anyone can stand still. But when the contest has been going for four or five days, standing still seems like the most difficult job in the world. And keeping the hand in place over this time becomes an act of serious attention. After a few days, the hand seems to belong to someone else—someone who wants to go home and get some sleep.
Competitors are allowed to take a five-minute break every hour to eat, drink or do whatever else is necessary. No one is allowed to lean on the car for support. Winners need to be able to show great powers of attention. They also need to be able to develop special skills.
Maybe the popularity of the handathon is due to the fact that it is not necessary to be a trained athlete to enter. Entrants in the Longview handathon certainly don't seem to do much preparation. Most say they will prepare by “getting lots of sleep”. Others say they will “eat healthy food” or “pray for success”. The whole event gives ordinary people the chance to do something interesting and win something in the end.
Handathons are competitions, but there is little rivalry（敌对）between competitors. They help each other out and keep each other's spirits up. People who drop out early return with food, drink and encouragement.
1.The reason why the sport is called “handathon” is that competitors ________.
A. cover a long distance B. keep hands in place for long
C. wave hands as long as possible D. do the same thing as in a marathon
2.What ability is likely to be needed most in a handathon?
A. Standing without any support. B. Not leaning on the car.
C. Eating and drinking in five minutes. D. Having strong powers of attention.
3.What is the writer’s opinion about handathon?
A. It is not as easy as it looks at first.
B. It is the easiest of all sports.
C. It can purify people’s spirits.
D. It is not good competing in a handathon.
4.Which of the following about handathon is not right?
A. The person who takes part in it should stand still.
B. The person who takes part in it has to place his hands anywhere on the body of a car, and keep it there.
C. The person who takes part in it can have a break during the course of the competition.
D. Handathons are competitions where competitors seldom encourage each other.
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题
It is probably the strangest sport anyone has ever invented. And at first sight, it looks like the easiest. Competitors have to do two things. The first is to stand still. The second is to place their hands anywhere on the body of a car, and keep it there.
This is where things start getting difficult. Lots of people are doing the same thing. And the winner of the “handathon” contest is the person who can carry on doing it for the longest time. That person gets to own the car.
It still seems to be an easy thing to do. At the beginning it is. Anyone can stand still. But when the contest has been going for four or five days, standing still seems like the most difficult job in the world. And keeping the hand in place over this time becomes an act of serious attention. After a few days, the hand seems to belong to someone else—someone who wants to go home and get some sleep.
Competitors are allowed to take a five-minute break every hour to eat, drink or do whatever else is necessary. No one is allowed to lean on the car for support. Winners need to be able to show great powers of attention. They also need to be able to develop special skills.
Maybe the popularity of the handathon is due to the fact that it is not necessary to be a trained athlete to enter. Entrants in the Longview handathon certainly don't seem to do much preparation. Most say they will prepare by “getting lots of sleep”. Others say they will “eat healthy food” or “pray for success”. The whole event gives ordinary people the chance to do something interesting and win something in the end.
Handathons are competitions, but there is little rivalry（敌对）between competitors. They help each other out and keep each other's spirits up. People who drop out early return with food, drink and encouragement.
1.The reason why the sport is called “handathon” is that competitors ________.
A. cover a long distance B. keep hands in place for long
C. wave hands as long as possible D. do the same thing as in a marathon
2.What ability is likely to be needed most in a handathon?
A. Standing without any support. B. Not leaning on the car.
C. Eating and drinking in five minutes. D. Having strong powers of attention.
3.What is the writer’s opinion about handathon?
A. It is not as easy as it looks at first.
B. It is the easiest of all sports.
C. It can purify people’s spirits.
D. It is not good competing in a handathon.
4.Which of the following about handathon is not right?
A. The person who takes part in it should stand still.
B. The person who takes part in it has to place his hands anywhere on the body of a car, and keep it there.
C. The person who takes part in it can have a break during the course of the competition.
D. Handathons are competitions where competitors seldom encourage each other.
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Failure is probably the most exhausting experience a person ever has.There is nothing more tiring than not succeeding.
We experience this tiredness in two ways: as start-up fatigue(疲惫) and performance fatigue.In the former case, we keep putting off a task because it has either too boring or too difficult.And the longer we delay it,the more tired we feel.
Such start-up fatigue is very real,even if not actually physical,not something in our muscles and bones.The solution is obvious though perhaps not easy to apply: always handle the most difficult job first.
Years ago,I was asked to write 102 essays on the great ideas of some famous authors.Applying my own rule,I determined to write them in alphabetical(按字母顺序),never letting myself leave out a tough idea.And I always started the day's work with the difficult task of essay-writing.Experience proved that the rule works.
Performance fatigue is more difficult to handle.Though willing to get started,we cannot seem to do the job right. Its difficulties appear so great that,however hard we work,we fail again and again.In such a situation,I work as hard as I can-then let the unconscious take over.
When planning Encyclopaedia Britannica (《大英百科全书》),I had to create a table of contents based on the topics of its articles.Nothing like this had ever been done before,and day after day I kept coming up with solutions, but none of them worked.My fatigue became almost unbearable.
One day,mentally exhausted,I wrote down all the reasons why this problem could not be solved.I tried to convince myself that the trouble was with the problem itself,not with me.Relived,I sat back in an easy chair and fell asleep.
An hour later,I woke up suddenly with the solution clearly in mind.In the weeks that followed,the solution which had come up in my unconscious mind provided correct at every step.Though I worked as hard as before,I felt no fatigue.Success was now as exciting as failure had been depressing.
Human beings,I believe must try to succeed.Success,then,means never feeling tired.
1.What does the author recommend doing to prevent start-up fatigue?
A. Writing essays in strict order. B. Building up physical strength.
C. Leaving out the toughest ideas. D. Dealing with the hardest task first.
2.On what occasion does a person probably suffer from performance fatigue?
A. Before starting a difficult task. B. When all the solutions fail.
C. If the job is rather boring. D. After finding a way out.
3.What could be the best title for the passage?
A. Success Is Built upon Failure B. How to Handle Performance Fatigue
C. Getting over Fatigue: A Way to Success D. Fatigue: An Early Sign of Health Problems
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Failure is probably the most exhausting experience a person ever has. There is nothing more tiring than not succeeding.
We experience this tiredness in two ways: as start-up fatigue (疲惫) and performance fatigue. In the former case, we keep putting off a task because it has either too boring or too difficult. And the longer we delay it, the more tired we feel.
Such start-up fatigue is very real, even if not actually physical, not something in our muscles and bones. The solution is obvious though perhaps not easy to apply: always handle the most difficult job first.
Years ago, I was asked to write 102 essays on the great ideas of some famous authors. Applying my own rule, I determined to write them in alphabetical order, never letting myself leave out a tough idea. And I always started the day’s work with the difficult task of essay-writing. Experience proved that the rule works.
Performance fatigue is more difficult to handle. Though willing to get started, we cannot seem to do the job right. Its difficulties appear so great that, however hard we work, we fail again and again. In such a situation, I work as hard as I can—then let the unconscious take over.
When planning Encyclopedia Britannica( 《大英百科全书》), I had to create a table of contents based on the topics of its articles. Nothing like this had ever been done before, and day after day I kept coming up with solutions, but none of them worked. My fatigue became almost unbearable.
One day, mentally exhausted, I wrote down all the reasons why this problem could not be solved. I tried to convince myself that the trouble was with the problem itself, not with me. Relived, I sat back in an easy chair and fell asleep.
An hour later, I woke up suddenly with the solution clearly in mind. In the weeks that followed, the solution which had come up in my unconscious mind proved correct at every step. Though I worked as hard as before, I felt no fatigue. Success was now as exciting as failure had been depressing.
Human beings, I believe, must try to succeed. Success, then, means never feeling tired.
1.People with start-up fatigue are most likely to .
A.work hard
B.delay tasks
C.seek help
D.accept failure
2.On what occasion does a person probably suffer from performance fatigue?
A.Before starting a difficult task.
B.After finding a way out.
C.If the job is rather boring.
D.When all the solutions fail.
3.According to the author, the unconscious mind may help us .
A.find the right solution
B.get some nice sleep
C.gain complete relief
D.ignore mental problems
4.What could be the best title for the passage?
A.Success Is Built upon Failure
B.How to Handle Performance Fatigue
C.Getting over Fatigue: A Way to Success
D.Fatigue: An Early Sign of Health Problems
高二英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析
Failure is probably the most exhausting experience a person ever has. There is nothing more tiring than not succeeding.
We experience this tiredness in two ways: as start-up fatigue (疲惫) and performance fatigue. In the former case, we keep putting off a task because it has either too boring or too difficult. And the longer we delay it, the more tired we feel.
Such start-up fatigue is very real, even if not actually physical, not something in our muscles and bones. The solution is obvious though perhaps not easy to apply: always handle the most difficult job first.
Years ago, I was asked to write 102 essays on the great ideas of some famous authors. Applying my own rule, I determined to write them in alphabetical order, never letting myself leave out a tough idea. And I always started the day’s work with the difficult task of essay-writing. Experience proved that the rule works.
Performance fatigue is more difficult to handle. Though willing to get started, we cannot seem to do the job right. Its difficulties appear so great that, however hard we work, we fail again and again. In such a situation, I work as hard as I can—then let the unconscious take over.
When planning Encyclopedia Britannica( 《大英百科全书》), I had to create a table of contents based on the topics of its articles. Nothing like this had ever been done before, and day after day I kept coming up with solutions, but none of them worked. My fatigue became almost unbearable.
One day, mentally exhausted, I wrote down all the reasons why this problem could not be solved. I tried to convince myself that the trouble was with the problem itself, not with me. Relived, I sat back in an easy chair and fell asleep.
An hour later, I woke up suddenly with the solution clearly in mind. In the weeks that followed, the solution which had come up in my unconscious mind proved correct at every step. Though I worked as hard as before, I felt no fatigue. Success was now as exciting as failure had been depressing.
Human beings, I believe, must try to succeed. Success, then, means never feeling tired.
1.People with start-up fatigue are most likely to .
A. work hard
B. delay tasks
C. seek help
D. accept failure
2.On what occasion does a person probably suffer from performance fatigue?
A. Before starting a difficult task.
B. After finding a way out.
C. If the job is rather boring.
D. When all the solutions fail.
3.According to the author, the unconscious mind may help us .
A. find the right solution
B. get some nice sleep
C. gain complete relief
D. ignore mental problems
4.What could be the best title for the passage?
A. Success Is Built upon Failure
B. How to Handle Performance Fatigue
C. Getting over Fatigue: A Way to Success
D. Fatigue: An Early Sign of Health Problems
高二英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析
Have you ever hated anyone? Well, probably you don’t really hate them. But you do get angry the moment you think of them. If you don’t get out of the anger, it may turn into bitterness(积怨).
Bitterness can come about when we can’t forgive someone who has hurt us or made us angry. Someone might say or do something that hurts us. But we keep it deep inside instead of working through the anger. Before long, a bitter feeling begins to grow. The bitterness shows when we constantly criticize the one who hurt us. We may think we are hurting that person, but we are really only hurting ourselves.
Bitterness is a harmful emotion that affects the whole body. It can lead to serious health problems such as high blood pressure. Bitterness can stop us from concentrating on important things. Instead, we waste time thinking about how we have been hurt.
Finally, holding on to bitterness can hurt our relationships with friends and family members. No one enjoys being around an angry, negative person for very long.
Author Chuck Swindoll once said, “ Life is 10% what happens to us and 90% how we respond to it.” That means when someone hurts you, your response is more important than what happened. You can choose to let go of hurt. You can also choose to hold on to hurt, which results in bitterness.
If you see bitterness in your life, here are some ways to deal with it.
Stop making excuses for it.
You may feel you have a fight to be angry. You may even secretly enjoy making the other person look sad. But in the end, bitterness hurts you much more than the other person.
Forgive and forget it.
The best thing you can do is to forgive and forget. You probably can’t totally put the act out of your mind. But you can decide to forgive the other person. Let it go and move on. You’ll enjoy better health and peace of mind.
1.If we don’t release anger, _____ .
A．We will always be criticized and hurt
B．We will not blame others for any reason
C．A bitter feeling will develop in our mind
D．We will not be particular about what others do
2.The main idea of Paragraph 3 is _____.
A．The relationships hurt by bitterness.
B．The illness caused by bitterness
C．The reaction of an angry person
D．The negative effects of bitterness
3.The author advises us to do the following EXCEPT_____.
A．to hold on to bitterness inside us
B．to forgive the one who hurts you
C．to stop making excuses for the bitterness
D．to forget others’ rude behavior
4.By forgiving others, we are able to _____.
A．prevent bad things from happening
B．be friends with the person who hurts us
C．forget the bitter experience completely
D．enjoy good health and a peaceful mind
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Anyone who has ever played the game of Tetris (俄罗斯方块) knows the game’s surreal ability to spill into real life. After you shut off the game, you still see those Tetris blocks falling in your mind. You're grocery shopping and find yourself thinking about rearranging items on grocery shelves. Your mind continues to play the game, even when you're physically not.
Robert Stickgold, a Harvard professor, noticed something similar after a day hiking a mountain. That night, he dreamt he was still going through the motions of mountain hiking. Curious about this, he tried something: he got a group of college students of various skill levels to play Tetris and let them sleep in the Harvard sleep lab.
Over 60% of the students, including those who suffered from amnesia (健忘症), reported dreams of images of Tetris pieces falling, rotating (旋转), and fitting together. Interestingly, half the Tetris expert students reported such Tetris dreams, while 75% of the beginners did.
A study found that playing Tetris can grow your brain and make it more efficient. Adolescent girls played the game for an average of 1.5 hours a week over three months. The cerebral cortex (大脑皮层) of the girls grew thicker, while brain activity in other areas decreased. Richard Haier, who had found that there was a "Tetris learning effect", in which the brain consumed less energy as mastery of the game rose, concluded, "The brain is learning which areas not to use."
Haier's study showed that as the girls practiced playing the game, nerve cells made connections, communicating through synapses (a synapse is a connection between two nerve cells). When you learn something, you change those connections. Every time you reactivate(激活) a circuit, synaptic efficiency increases, and connections become more durable and easier to reactivate. Stickgold says sleep plays a role in this memory process.
So to sum up, whenever you do specific tasks over and over again, they take up less of your brain power over time. And that’s pretty amazing.
1.What does the underlined part ‘surreal ability’ in the first paragraph mean?
A. The game can help people arrange things in life.
B. The game can be applied to many aspects of life.
C. There are great similarities between the game and things in life.
D. The mind continues to play the game when we are doing other things.
2.What can we learn from Stickgold’s study?
A. More than half of the students dreamed of images of Tetris.
B. Students having bad memories didn’t dream of the game.
C. The Tetris expert students were more likely to dream of the game than the beginners.
D. More than half of the Tetris expert students didn’t dream of the game.
3.Playing Tetris for a long time can help ________.
①grow one’s brain
②one’s brain function efficiently
③arrange things tidily in life
④improve the adaptability of one’s brain
A. ①②③ B. ①②④
C. ②③④ D. ①③④
4.The purpose of the passage is to ________.
A. encourage people to play Tetris
B. warn people to focus while doing things
C. warn people not to play games before sleep
D. tell people they will improve at something if they keep doing it
高二英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析
B
Have you ever been to the beautiful country of Holland and its capital Amsterdam? Anyone who has traveled to Amsterdam would probably agree on one thing: Amsterdam’s story is a tale of two cities—one during the day and a completely different one at night.
During the day, the largest city in Holland sits quietly on the Amstel River. You can rent a bicycle, visit the Van Gogh or Anne Frank museum, or take a water taxi. But when the sun goes down, the partying begins. In the big clubs and in coffee shops, tourists gather to hang out, talk politics and smoke.
Several areas of the city clearly show the two worlds that rule Amsterdam. And they’re all within a short taxi ride of each other. For example, Dam Square attracts daytime sightseers to its festivals, open markets, concerts and other events. Several beautiful and very popular hotels can be found there. And there’s the Royal Palace and the Magna Plaza shopping mall.
But at night party-seekers come to the square. Hip hop or funk music is heard there. So if you come, be ready to dance. The clubs don’t close down until 4 am.
And while you’re there, check out the various inexpensive ways to tour the city. Don’t worry about getting lost. Although Dutch is the official language, most people in Amsterdam speak English and are happy to help you with directions. And you’ll notice that half the people in the streets are on bicycles they rent.
Amsterdam also has a well-planned canal system. For about 10 dollars, you can use the canal bus or a water taxi to cruise (巡游) the "Venice of the North".
The city has a historic past. One impressive place to visit is the Anne Frank House on Nine Streets. It was there that the young Jewish girl wrote her famous diary during World War II. Visitors can view Anne’s original diary and climb behind the bookcase to the room where she and her family hid from the Nazis for two years.
59. The following means of transport are available to visitors in Amsterdam EXCEPT __________.
A. a carriage. B. a bicycle. C. a canal bus. D. a water taxi.
60. When getting lost, a visitor can ask natives for directions in .
A. only Dutch B. Dutch or English C. only English D. Spanish and English
61. What can you learn about by visiting the Anne Frank House?
A. The happy experience of a girl survivor. B. The glorious past of Amsterdam.
C. The hard life of the Jewish in World WarⅡ. D. The hobbies of the Dutch.
62. The passage is intended to .
A. call up people’s memories of World WarⅡ
B. tell readers what A Tale of Two Cities is about
C. instruct visitors what to do and see in Holland
D. offer readers some information about Amsterdam
高二英语阅读理解简单题查看答案及解析
Since the early 1980s, sponsorship （赞助）has become a major part of sport. But how effective is it?
There were some big changes to football shirts in the early 1980s. Instead of shirts telling you the name of the team, they gave you the name of a company. At times, it wasn't clear if the team playing was Manchester United or Sharp Electronics. However, fans soon got used to the new look shirts until they changed again: first to Vodafone, then to American Insurance Company AIG, and then to American re-insurance company Aon. It's hard to keep track sometimes.
So, why has sports sponsorship become so popular? Both sides see clear advantages. Most large companies are keen to link their brand to a well-known sporting personality because they believe raising their image in this way will increase sales. And the large sums they offer to do so is a big incentive （激励）for the other side. There's a lot of money involved in sports sponsorship, and many predict that the sums will be rising over the coming years.
But problems can arise. For example, what happens if they sponsor an unsuccessful player or team? Will they look stupid at the end of the season if their team has lost? And what happens if they sponsor a team or player who gets into trouble? DeutscheTelekom was one of the major sponsors of the famous cyclist Lance Armstrong but found it in an awkward situation when he failed drugs tests. As a result of this scandal（丑闻），many companies have moved away from sponsoring cyclists. Instead many now choose to sponsor events rather than the people. Of course, it doesn't matter which team wins because the audiences will see lots of company ads and logos everywhere and the companies know that they will win.
But the really important question is, does sponsorship work? Will you buy their products after the game just because you've seen their ads and logos? There's clearly more research to be done.
1.What's one of the effects of sports sponsorship on the football fans?
A.They can buy cheaper football shirts.
B.They recognize the teams more easily.
C.They welcome the changes of sponsorship.
D.They are confused about the names on the shirts.
2.According to the passage, we can know that .
A.Sponsorship is often a win-win situation.
B.Many sports teams actually dislike sponsorship.
C.The money on sports sponsorship will decrease.
D.Sports sponsorship certainly promotes a company's sales.
3.Why do many companies sponsor events instead of players now?
A.To better spread their brands.
B.To cut the cost of sponsorship.
C.To attract more people's attention.
D.To avoid unexpected troubles of the players .
高二英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析
The Internet is a growing new world that has been developing ever since it was created many years ago. The only reason Internet sales are not taxed (征税) is because we did not know the Internet would be used to sell products when it was created. Internet sales are no different than going into the store to buy the exact same product except for the fact that Internet sales are not taxed.
When buying online, people cannot see and touch the product the same way they could in a store. To fix this, customers are going into the store to see the product. Then if they like the product, they buy it online to save money on the sales tax. This is a form of tax evasion (逃税) if you ask me!
Everyone has to pay the tax in the store so they should have to pay taxes online as well. Also, the added money brought in through Internet taxing could help the government to fund (为……拨款) certain policies and other things that they could not do without the added funds. This could go toward the country’s schools or other things necessary for society to function well. These funds could be extremely beneficial because of the recession (经济衰退) that the country is in at this point. Internet taxing is a way to increase those funds and in turn improve the quality of life for all who live in that country.
In conclusion, there are many more positives than negatives in the argument over taxing Internet sales. I do understand that I may have to pay more if I want to buy something online, but the funds stay within my society and help my country. The added cost may hurt me at first but in the end, the funds will help me and others in our country.
1.The text mainly discusses _____.
A.whether it is a good way to buy things online.
B.whether Internet sales should be taxed.
C.why people love to buy things online.
D.why Internet sales are not taxed.
2.Internet sales are not taxed because _____.
A.selling online was unexpected. B.they are different from store sales.
C.people don’t know how to tax them. D.many people are against taxing them.
3.What can we learn from Paragraph 2?
A.Online shoppers find it difficult to buy satisfactory goods.
B.Customers get better products at a lower price online.
C.Problems related to online shopping are hard to fix.
D.Online shoppers probably try to avoid paying tax.
4.According to the author, taxing Internet sales _____.
A.is good for all people. B.can help the country out of the recession.
C.can help improve the quality of products. D.is beneficial to the development of Internet.
高二英语阅读理解简单题查看答案及解析
What is Christmas all about? Has it ever crossed your mind? Are we teaching our children the true meaning of Christmas? Do they know that a single gift of kindness can touch an endless number of hearts forever?
We met a little girl seven years ago during one of my daughter’s occasional hospital stays. Her name was Beth and she was my daughter’s roommate for a week. My daughter had an incurable kidney disease. Beth was a very happy girl, despite the fact that she had cancer. I was amazed at her will and determination to never give up, however sick her treatment made her. She was always concerned about my daughter and the other children with cancer.
My daughter’s hospital treatment was completed in a week and we were waiting for her final discharge orders when Beth appeared. She said “I want you to have this. I know you need a new kidney, so keep this angel pin with you till you get better. She will watch over you and make you smile. My friend, John, gave it to me to watch over me. When you get your new kidney and smile, you can give this angel to someone that needs her, too”. My daughter thanked her and the girls exchanged hugs and big smiles. Later that year, Beth passed away.
We kept that angel for six more years. My daughter had gone beyond what medical journals had studied and expected from her disease. Finally, a kidney became available and she received a transplant.
Now she felt it was time to give it to someone who needed to be watched over until he or she could smile again. She gave it to an elderly man trying to recover from a heart problem.
How many families and hearts this angel has touched, no one knows for sure. But all that it took was a single gift of kindness. So in this Christmas season, create a tradition with your children or maybe someone you love. Give them a gift that keeps on giving. It’s a gift from your heart. After all, isn’t that Christmas is all about?
1.Why did Beth give an angel pin to the author’s daughter? (No more than 8 words )(2 marks)
________________________________________________________________________
2.How does a single gift of kindness affect people? (No more than 6 words ) (2 marks)
________________________________________________________________________
3.What did the girl impress the author with? (No more than 8 words )(3 marks)
________________________________________________________________________
4.How do you understand “the true meaning of Christmas” in the passage? (No more than 8 words ) (3 marks)
________________________________________________________________________
高二英语其他题中等难度题查看答案及解析