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The digital revolution is both launching us into a no-handwriting future, and also sending us backwards in time to when the spoken words ruled. But that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
“I don’t think kids should be assessed on their ability to master cursive(草书). It’s not something that they are going to use much in their lives as they grow older. It’s not something most of us adults use in our lives today. ” Anne Trubek, an author, suggests that schools offer handwriting or cursive as an elective or art class in the future.
“Focus on how to teach kids to express their ideas, how to organize their thoughts, how to make arguments” she says. “The forming of the letters are less important. And there are certainly many ways to individualize what you write beyond the way you’ve circled the ‘I’ or crossed your ‘T’.”
“This myth that handwriting is just a motor skill (运动技能) is just plain wrong,” Virginia Berninger said. “We use motor parts of our brain, motor planning, motor control, but what’s very critical is a region of our brain where the visual and language come together and actually become letters and written words.”
“A lot of people are very stubborn about the importance of handwriting, but at the same time will admit they never write themselves,” Trubek says.
Trubek suggests, however, that handwriting keeps some value – for now. “ For us today, in the 21st century America, handwriting represents something individual and unique about a person. It doesn’t always mean that in previous times in history, and it won’t always mean that in the future, but right now for us we relate our sense of self to our handwriting. ”
1.How does Trubek feel about the handwriting?
A. It’s useless. B. It’s only an art.
C. It’s less important. D. It’s meaningful.
2.Virginia Berninger’s attitude to the use of handwriting is ______.
A. indifferent B. doubtful
C. favorable D. disapproving
3.What do we know from the last paragraph?
A. Handwriting still keeps some value today.
B. Handwriting represents previous times in history.
C. Handwriting reflects the past and the future.
D. The computer makes handwriting out of date.
4.What is the author’s purpose in writing the text?
A. To show people’s worry about future.
B. To discuss the importance of handwriting.
C. To introduce something about handwriting.
D. To encourage people to practice handwriting.
高二英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析
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The Digital Revolution, also known as the Third Industrial Revolution, is the shift from mechanical and analogue electronic technology to digital electronics which began anywhere from the late 1950s to the late 1970s. Central to this revolution is the mass production and widespread use of digital logic circuits, and its derived technologies. These technological innovations have transformed traditional production and business techniques.
1980s
In developed nations, computers achieved ubiquity during the 1980s as they made their way into schools, homes, business, and industry. Automated teller machines, industrial robots, CGI in film and television, electronic music, bulletin board systems, and video games all fueled what became the zeitgeist of the 1980s. Millions of people purchased home computers, making household names of early personal computer manufacturers such as Apple, Commodore, and Tandy. To this day the Commodore 64 is often cited as the best selling computer of all time, having sold 17 million units (by some accounts) between 1982 and 1994.
1990s
The first public digital HDTV broadcast was of the 1990 World Cup that June; it was played in 10 theaters in Spain and Italy. However HDTV did not become a standard until the mid-2000s outside Japan.
The World Wide Web became publicly accessible in 1991, which had been available only to government and universities. In 1993 Marc Andreessen and Eric Bina introduced Mosaic, the first web browser capable of displaying inline images and the basis for later browsers such as Netscape Navigator and Internet Explorer. Stanford Federal Credit Union was the first financial institution to offer online internet banking services to all of its members in October 1994.
2000s
Cell phones became as ubiquitous as computers by the early 2000s, with movie theaters beginning to show ads telling people to silence their phones. They also became much more advanced than phones of the 1990s, most of which only took calls or at most allowed for the playing of simple games.
2010s
By 2012, over 2 billion people used the Internet, twice the number using it in 2007. Cloud computing had entered the mainstream by the early 2010s. By 2015, tablet computers and smart phones were expected to exceed personal computers in Internet usage. By 2016, half of the world's population was connected.
1.According to the passage, which one of the following statements is true?
A. The digital revolution only focuses on the mass production.
B. The World Wide Web became available to government and universities in 1991.
C. Phones of the 1990s merely made calls.
D. The number of people using the Internet in 2007 is approximately 1 billion.
2.What does the underlined word in Paragraph Two refer to?
A. Wide existence. B. Abrupt disappearance.
C. Quick movement. D. Abundant amount.
3.How does the writer develop the whole passage?
A. By presenting times. B. By making comparisons.
C. By listing data. D. By drawing conclusions.
4.What is the best title for this passage?
A. The Traditional Production B. The Digital Revolution
C. The Connected Population D. The World Wide Web
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
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___1___ is known to us all is that China has launched Shenzhou VII spaceship, ___2___ made the country’s first spacewalk successful.
A. That;what B. What; which
C. It; which D. As ;that
高二英语单项填空困难题查看答案及解析
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In the history of Chinese revolution, Taierzhuang Battle was a ________ battle in which both sides suffered heavy losses.
A. strong B. fierce C. hot D. peaceful
高二英语单项填空简单题查看答案及解析
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Both humans and animals have enemies. It is easy for us to know the difference between our friends and our enemies. But can other animals do the same? Elephants can! They can use their sense of vision and smell to tell the difference between people who mean a threat and those who do not. In Kenya, researchers find that elephants react differently to clothing worn by men of the Maasai and Kamba ethnic groups. Young Maasai men hunt animals and thus mean a threat to elephants; Kamba men are mainly farmers and are not a danger to elephants.
In an experiment conducted by animal scientists, elephants were first presented with clean clothing or clothing that had been worn for five days by either a Maasai or a Kamba man. When the elephants noticed the smell of clothing worn by a Maasai man, they moved away from the smell faster and took longer to relax than when they noticed the smells of either clean clothing or clothing worn by a Kamba man.
Clothing color also plays a role. In the same study, when the elephants saw red clothing not worn before, they reacted angrily, as red is typically worn by Maasai men. Rather than running away as they did with the smell, the elephants acted angrily toward the red clothing.
The researchers believe that the elephants’ emotional reactions are due to their different senses of smell and sight. Smelling a possible danger means that a threat is nearby and the best thing to do is run away and hide. Seeing a potential threat without its smell means that risk is low. Therefore, instead of showing fear and running away, the elephants express their anger and become aggressive.
1.The author wrote the text in order to tell us that elephants are _____.
A. dangerous B. friendly C. clever D. naughty
2.How did the elephants react to smells in the study?
A. They attacked a man with the smell of new clothing.
B. They needed time to relax when smelling something unfamiliar.
C. They became anxious when they smelled Kamba-scented clothing.
D. They were frightened and ran away when they smelled their enemies.
3.What can be inferred about the elephants’ behavior from this text?
A. Elephants can tell enemies from friends.
B. Elephants have a sharper sense of smell than sight.
C. Elephants are more intelligent than other animals.
D. Elephants tend to attack rather than escape when in danger.
4.In which section of a magazine will the text be most probably found?
A. Business. B. Fashion. C. Nature. D. News.
高二英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析
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Humans have launched themselves into the outer space. They’ve landed on the moon. They’ve built habitable space stations that orbit the Earth. The next giant leap for mankind is to reach another planet – specifically, Mars.
The problem is that it’s no easy task. The planet is 586 times further away from the Earth than the moon, and it’ll take around 180 to 220 days to reach Mars, depending on where each planet is in its orbit. Such long periods in space have suggested many potential health problems, including hormonal changes, skin conditions, and muscle and bone deterioration (损耗).
Here’s where some furry friends come in. A wide range of animals have been in space, from fruit flies and spiders to cats, and dogs. Such experiments began as far back as the late 1940s in first tests to see if living things could withstand the extreme g-force (重力) of a rocket launch.
Mice continue to play a very important part in space experiments, mainly because the animals make excellent test subjects. They’re small, which makes them inexpensive and easy to care for. In addition, their size and short life span make it possible to do the equivalent of several human years of tests in a much shorter time. Finally, because mice are mammals, they share many common characteristics with humans in terms of genetics, biology and behavior.
Astromice have hit the headlines recently, as a team of scientists led by Betty Nusgens, professor of biology at the University of Liege in Belgium, found that the mice suffered a 15 percent thinning of their skin after 91 days aboard the International Space Station (ISS).
This experiment was part of a wider NASA mission (任务) called the Mice Drawer System (MDS). The Italian Space Agency developed the facility, which allows six mice to be housed, monitored, and automatically fed and watered aboard the ISS, among which three survived during the mission.
The mice have participated in 20 separate experiments, to study such effects as osteoporosis (骨质疏松症), anemia (贫血) and heart health.
Results for the 20 experiments are coming in gradually. But it’s clear that mice continue to play an important role in the ongoing quest to conquer the final frontier.
1.We can infer from Paragraphs 2-3 that ______.
A. Mars is the farthest planet away from Earth discovered so far
B. animals that have been sent into space have mostly survived
C. it was in the late 1940s that animals were first sent to the ISS
D. the journey to Mars could put humans’ health at risk
2.The underlined word “withstand” in Para.3 means _________.
A.set up B. come across
C. work out D. hold up
3.According to Betty Nusgens and her team, the mice aboard the ISS ______.
A. all survived for the duration(期间) of the mission
B. suffered the loss of part of their skin
C. were fed and watered by the astronauts
D. participated in 20 experiments that made great breakthroughs
4. The main purpose of the article is to _____.
A. analyze how mice could pave the way to Mars
B. report on the results of the Mice Drawer System
C. describe the role mice play in scientific research
D. change people’s traditional attitudes toward mice
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
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Since people first launched rockets into space in the 1950s, we have been leaving behind all sorts of things. Some of them, like the camera, were lost by astronauts while they did work outside their spacecraft. But much of the space junk is made up of little pieces of things that were once bigger objects, until they struck each other and broke apart.
Some things we send into space fall back toward Earth and burn up in the atmosphere. But larger pieces sometimes survive the extreme heat and hit the ground or the ocean at great speeds. So there is always concern that something may fall from the sky and do some harm.
But space junk falling on roofs is not the biggest worry. Scientists are concerned about the “Kessler” problem. Imagine what happens when an empty rocket strikes another while orbiting the earth. Two big things become many smaller things. They then hit other things. The pieces get smaller and smaller until they form a cloud of junk that blocks the path of future space vehicles.
Marco Castronuovo, an Italian Space Agency researcher, says launching a satellite into space that would get very close to some of the larger pieces of space junk. The satellite would connect a small rocket to the useless object. When the rocket explodes, it pushes the junk into a lower and slower orbit, nearer the Earth. After a time, the junk burns up in the atmosphere. Mr.Castronuovo has proposed using a number of small satellites with robotic arms. One arm would catch the space junk, and another arm would connect the rocket. He imagines that each satellite could jump from one large piece of junk to another. He thinks this method could destroy about ten large objects each year.
Scientists have been concerned about space junk for many years. Right now, the costs of the cleanup have been too great. Mr.Castronuovo says his system could be put in place for a much more reasonable amount of money. So what can be done to clean up the space around our planet?
1.We can learn from the text that much of the space junk ________.
A. was left by the astronauts on purpose
B. is mainly made up of broken spaceship
C. is usually made of small pieces of things
D. burns up before it reaches the atmosphere
2.Now scientists are most worried that space junk will ________.
A. harm the future space vehicles
B. do some harm to the atmosphere
C. fall on people's house roofs
D. destroy the habitat of wildlife
3.It implies in the last but one paragraph that ________.
A. clearing up the space will actually cost little
B. small rockets also do harm to the atmosphere
C. only robots can clear up the space completely
D. it is still difficult for us to clear up the space
4.What is the text mainly about?
A. Space junk threatens earth's orbital environment.
B. Scientists use different methods to clear up space junk.
C. Spacecrafts will meet with a lot of space junk in the future.
D. Marco comes up with many methods to deal with space junk.
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
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BEIJING—Beijing is to spend up to us $ 20 billion to change the Chinese capital into a 21st century one for the 2008 Olympics.
The government manages to host the 2008 games. The general aim is for Beijing to have the same environmental standards as Paris, London or Washington by 2008.
Hundreds of millions of dollars will be spent to pipe natural gas to the city’s home, taking away dirty coal burning gradually while 60,000 buses will be changed to liquefied(液化的)gas.
The money also will be used for relocating(重新部署) the polluting factories and building green belts. By 2008 around 90 percent of Beijing’s waste will be treated, compared to only 40 percent at present.
Olympic officials have already announced that around 50 large projects are being dealt with to improve traffic congestion(拥堵) and cut down pollution. They include construction of Beijing’s first light railway, a 40.5-kilometer line which is expected to be completed in 2006.
Beijing, besides, plans to build an 82.25-kilometer-long subway to add to the existing 53 kilometers. Nine major roads will be rebuilt or widened.
Beijing also plans to build a 70-meter-wide green belt along the waterways to protect water quality as well as increase the green areas.
1.The government will pipe natural gas to the city’s home in order to_________.
A．solve the problem of being short of fuel
B．reduce the pollution of our capital
C．bring down the cost of daily life
D．keep up with the development of modern society
2.From the last three paragraphs we know the fact that _________.
A．lengthening the existing 53-kilometer subway is among the 50 large projects
B．a 40.5-kilometre line will be added to Beijing’s first light railway
C．the length of the subway will be up to 135.25 kilometers in 2006
D．a 70-meter-wide green belt will supply us with enough water
3.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A．The environment of London is better than Toronto.
B．In the first paragraph “a 21st century one” refers to a modern and advanced capital.
C．Beijing is badly polluted mainly by coal burning
D．Liquefied gas is more expensive than petrol.
4.This news report mainly talks about ___________.
A．how Beijing is becoming a 21st century city
B．how many projects are being dealt with to improve traffic of Beijing
C．how Beijing is being built into a first class Olympic host city
D．the use of the 20 billion US dollars
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
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China Daily gave us a vivid ________ of the successful ___________of Chang’er II.
A．account; launch B．explanation; start
C．description; send D．imagination; boost
高二英语单项填空困难题查看答案及解析
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Charles Dickens’ novel A Tale of Two Cities is set in the years before and during the French Revolution (1789 - 1799). During its course, French revolutionaries brought down the empire and established a republic of free and equal citizens.
In reading the work, one sees that Dickens distorted some details of the French Revolution. At the beginning, Dickens notes that, in 1775, France was busy spending money. This mention of France’s spending touches briefly on what is perhaps the major cause of the French Revolution. Before the revolution, the government often borrowed money because it spent more than it raised in taxes. The increased spending and borrowing made many people’s blood boil, yet Dickens focused instead on the nobility’s oppression and exploitation of the working class, including peasants, as the causes of the revolution.
The Marquis, one of the book’s characters, ill-treats and kills many people. Thus, he represents the nobles who mistreat the lower classes. One reviewer criticized this picture as an unfair representation of French society in the mid-1700s. The reviewer pointed out that the government would have punished nobles who mistreated or murdered. Nobles may have been guilty of other evils, however, such as not feeding the starving masses after bad weather ruined crops in 1789.
Dickens’ account of the storming of the Bastille fails to mention that the gang that stormed the prison was looking for bullets and bombs to use in defense against a possible attack by the king’s troops. Dickens does include some accurate details, however, such as the crowd’s finding only seven prisoners and freeing them and the pack’s executing (处决) the prison administrator and sticking his head on a post. The scene that the women knit (编织) as they watch the executions may seem to be an odd detail, but actually many women did knit stockings for the war effort as they watched the killing machine at work.
Dickens’ descriptions of the steady stream of sentenced people into prison and the carts taking them to their deaths give readers some idea of the frequency with which officials jailed and executed people during the Rule of Terror, which lasted about a year. During the Terror, the government jailed about 250 thousand people, tried (审判) and killed about 17 thousand, and executed about 12 thousand without a trial. Those executed included people who opposed the revolution, people who offended the revolutionaries, and even some revolutionaries. About 15 percent were members of the ministry or nobility.
1.What does the word “distorted” in Paragraph 2 most probably mean?
A.Discussed. B.Revealed.
C.Provided. D.Twisted.
2.Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?
A.A wild crowd rushed into the Bastille to fight with the royal soldiers.
B.The nobles’ mistreating and killing people is the main cause of the revolution.
C.About thirty thousand people lost their lives in the course of the Rule of Terror.
D.Women were forced to work for the war supplies while watching people killed.
3.What can be inferred from the passage?
A.Dickens was once among the revolutionaries storming the Bastille.
B.There was an extreme disorder and horror during the revolution.
C.Nobles of those days in France were loaded with heavy social responsibilities.
D.Classic literary works may serve as history textbooks to a great degree.
4.Which of the following might be the best title of the passage?
A.The Collapse of the French Empire
B.Unknown Facts during the Rule of Terror
C.Dickens’ Description of the French Revolution
D.A Critical View on A Tale of Two Cities
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析