For most city people, the elevator is an unremarkable machine that inspires none of the enthusiasm or interest that Americans afford trains, jets, and even bicycles. Dr. Christopher Wilk is a member of a small group of elevator experts who consider this a misunderstanding. Without the elevator, they point out, there could be no downtown skyscrapers or tall buildings, and city life as we know it would be impossible. In that sense, they argue, the elevator’s role in American history has been no less significant than that of cars. In fact, according to Wilk, the car and the elevator have been locked in a “secret war” for over a century, with cars making it possible for people to spread horizontally(水平地), and elevators pushing them toward life in close groups of towering vertical (垂直的) columns.
If we tend to ignore the significance of elevators, it might be because riding in them tends to be such a brief, boring, and even awkward experience one that can involve unexpectedly meeting people with whom we have nothing in common, and an unpleasant awareness of the fact that we’re hanging from a cable in a long passage.
In a new book, Lifted, German journalist and cultural studies professor Andreas Bernard directed all his attention to this experience, studying the origins of elevator and its relationship to humankind and finding that riding in an elevator has never been a totally comfortable experience. “After 150 years, we are still not used to it, ”Bernard said. “We still have not exactly learned to cope with the mixture of closeness and displeasure.” That mixture, according to Bernard, sets the elevator ride apart from just about every other situation we find ourselves in as we go about our lives.
Today, as the world’s urban population explodes, and cities become more crowded, taller, and more crowded, America’s total number of elevators—900,000 at last count, according to Elevator World magazine’s “2012 Vertical Transportation Industry”—are a force that’s becoming more important than ever. And for the people who really, really love them, it seems like high time that we looked seriously at just what kind of force they are.
1.What does the underlined word “this” in Paragraph 1refer to?
A. The particular interests of experts.
B. The general view of elevators.
C. The desire for a remarkable machine.
D. The enthusiasm for transport vehicles.
2.The author’s purpose in mentioning cars is .
A. to emphasize the importance of elevators
B. to contrast their functions with elevators
C. to reveal their secret war against elevators
D. to explain people’s preference for elevators
3.According to Prof. Bernard, what has made the elevator ride different from other life experiences?
A. Vertical direction.
B. Little physical space.
C. Lack of excitement.
D. Uncomfortable conditions.
4.The author urges readers to consider
A. the exact number of elevator lovers
B. the serious future situation of elevators
C. the relationship between cars and elevators
D. the role of elevators in city development
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题
For most city people, the elevator is an unremarkable machine that inspires none of the enthusiasm or interest that Americans afford trains, jets, and even bicycles. Dr. Christopher Wilk is a member of a small group of elevator experts who consider this a misunderstanding. Without the elevator, they point out, there could be no downtown skyscrapers or tall buildings, and city life as we know it would be impossible. In that sense, they argue, the elevator’s role in American history has been no less significant than that of cars. In fact, according to Wilk, the car and the elevator have been locked in a “secret war” for over a century, with cars making it possible for people to spread horizontally(水平地), and elevators pushing them toward life in close groups of towering vertical (垂直的) columns.
If we tend to ignore the significance of elevators, it might be because riding in them tends to be such a brief, boring, and even awkward experience one that can involve unexpectedly meeting people with whom we have nothing in common, and an unpleasant awareness of the fact that we’re hanging from a cable in a long passage.
In a new book, Lifted, German journalist and cultural studies professor Andreas Bernard directed all his attention to this experience, studying the origins of elevator and its relationship to humankind and finding that riding in an elevator has never been a totally comfortable experience. “After 150 years, we are still not used to it, ”Bernard said. “We still have not exactly learned to cope with the mixture of closeness and displeasure.” That mixture, according to Bernard, sets the elevator ride apart from just about every other situation we find ourselves in as we go about our lives.
Today, as the world’s urban population explodes, and cities become more crowded, taller, and more crowded, America’s total number of elevators—900,000 at last count, according to Elevator World magazine’s “2012 Vertical Transportation Industry”—are a force that’s becoming more important than ever. And for the people who really, really love them, it seems like high time that we looked seriously at just what kind of force they are.
1.What does the underlined word “this” in Paragraph 1refer to?
A. The particular interests of experts.
B. The general view of elevators.
C. The desire for a remarkable machine.
D. The enthusiasm for transport vehicles.
2.The author’s purpose in mentioning cars is .
A. to emphasize the importance of elevators
B. to contrast their functions with elevators
C. to reveal their secret war against elevators
D. to explain people’s preference for elevators
3.According to Prof. Bernard, what has made the elevator ride different from other life experiences?
A. Vertical direction.
B. Little physical space.
C. Lack of excitement.
D. Uncomfortable conditions.
4.The author urges readers to consider
A. the exact number of elevator lovers
B. the serious future situation of elevators
C. the relationship between cars and elevators
D. the role of elevators in city development
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Most people know that awkward feeling when you step into an elevator(电梯) with other people and try not to make eye contact.
But new research suggests it may be down to a subconscious(潜意识的)power struggle being played out as you make your way up or down.
A study found that people decide where they stand based on a micro social grading, established within seconds of entering the lift.
Rebekah Rousi, a Ph.D. student in Cognitive Science, conducted a study of elevator behavior in two of the tallest office buildings in Adelaide, Australia.
As part of her research, she took a total of 30 lift rides in the two buildings, and discovered there was an established order to where people tended stand.
In a blog, she writes that more senior men seemed to direct themselves towards the back of the elevator cabins.
She said: 'In front of them were younger men, and in front of them were women of all ages.'
She also noticed there was a difference in where people directed their stare half way through the ride.
Men watched the monitors(监控器), looked in the side mirrors (in one building) to see themselves, and in the door mirrors (of the other building) to also watch others.
'Women would watch the monitors and avoid eye contact with other users (unless in conversation) and the mirrors,' she writes.
The student concluded it could be that people who are shyer stand toward the front, where they can't see other passengers, whereas brave people stand in the back, where they have a view of everyone else.
1.According to Rebekah Rousi, senior men intend to stand ______ of the elevator cabins.
A. in the front B. in the middle
C. near the side mirrors D. at the back
2.The underlined word “ them ” in paragraph 7 refers to ______.
A. senior men B. younger women
C. younger men D. Women
3.Why do women choose to stand in the front?
A. Because they are too shy to make eye contact with others.
B. Because they can have a view of everyone else.
C. Because they want to show their power.
D. Because they want to watch the monitors.
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Most people know that awkward feeling when you step into an elevator with other people and try not to make eye contact.
But new research suggests it may be down to a subconscious(潜意识的)power struggle being played out as you make your way up or down.
A study found that people decide where they stand based on a micro social grading, established within seconds of entering the lift.
Rebekah Rousi, a Ph.D. student in cognitive science, conducted an study of elevator behaviour in two of the tallest office buildings in Adelaide, Australia.
As part of her research, she took a total of 30 lift rides in the two buildings, and discovered there was an established order to where people tended stand.
In a blog, she writes that more senior men seemed to direct themselves towards the back of the elevator cabins.
She said: 'In front of them were younger men, and in front of them were women of all ages.'
She also noticed there was a difference in where people directed their stare half way through the ride.
Men watched the monitors(监控器), looked in the side mirrors (in one building) to see themselves, and in the door mirrors (of the other building) to also watch others.
'Women would watch the monitors and avoid eye contact with other users (unless in conversation) and the mirrors,' she writes.
The student concluded it could be that people who are shyer stand toward the front, where they can't see other passengers, whereas brave people stand in the back, where they have a view of everyone else.
1.According to Rebekah Rousi, senior men intend to stand ______ of the elevator cabins.
A. in the front B. in the middle
C. near the side mirrors D. at the back
2. The underlined word “ them ” in paragraph 7 refers to ______.
A. senior men B. younger women
C. younger men D. Women
3.Why do women choose to stand in the front?
A. Because they are too shy to make eye contact with others.
B. Because they can have a view of everyone else.
C. Because they want to show their power.
D. Because they want to watch the monitors.
高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
It is a surprise for me to see that these old-fashioned machines are still ________ in the big city.
A.in order B.in use C.in danger D.in difficulty
高二英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
Reading poems is not exactly an everyday activity for most people. In fact, many people never read a poem once they get out of high school.
It is worth reminding ourselves that this has not always been the case in America. In the nineteenth century, a usual American activity was to sit around the fireplace in the evening and read poems aloud. It is true that there was no television at the time, nor movie theatres, nor World Wide Web, to provide diversion. However, poems were a source of pleasure, of self-education, of connection to other people or to the world beyond one’s own community. Reading them was a social act as well as an individual one, and perhaps even more social than individual. Writing poems to share with friends and relations was, like reading poems by the fireside, another way in which poetry had a place in everyday life.
How did things change? Why are most Americans no longer comfortable with poetry, and why do most people today think that a poem has nothing to tell them and they can do well without poems?
There are, I believe, three culprits (肇事者): poets, teachers and we ourselves. Of these, the least important is the third: the world surrounding the poem has betrayed (背叛) us more than we have betrayed the poem. Early in the twentieth century, poetry in English headed into directions hostile (不利的) to the reading of poetry. Readers decided that poems were not for the fireside or the easy chair at night, that they belonged where other difficult-to-read things belonged.
Poets failed the readers, so did the teachers. They want their students to know something about the craft (技巧) of a poem, and they want their students to see that poems mean something. Yet what usually occurs when teachers push these concerns on their high school students is that young people decide poems are unpleasant crossword puzzles.
1. Reading poems is thought to be a social act in the nineteenth century because _______.
A. it built a link among people B. it helped unite a community
C. it was a source of self-education D. it was a source of pleasure
2.The underlined word “diversion” in Paragraph 2 most probably means _______.
A. diversity B. change C. amusements D. happiness
3.In the last paragraph, the writer questions _______.
A. the difficulty in studying poems
B. the way poems are taught in school
C. students’ wrong ideas about poetry
D. the techniques used in writing poems
4.According to the passage, what is the main cause of the great gap between readers and poetry?
A. Poems have become difficult to understand.
B. Students are poorly educated in high school.
C. TV and the Internet are more attractive than poetry.
D. Students are becoming less interested in poetry.
高二英语阅读理解简单题查看答案及解析
As nobody here knows what is wrong with the machine, we must send for an engineer to ____ the problem.
A.handle B.raise C.face D.present
高二英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
As nobody here knows what is wrong with the machine, we must send for an engineer to ______ the problem.
A. handle B. raise C. face D. present
高二英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
As nobody here knows what is wrong with the machine, we must send for an engineer to _______ the problem.
A. handle B. raise C. face D. present
高二英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
As nobody here knows what is wrong with the machine, we must send for an engineer to ________ the problem.
A.handle B.raise C.face D.present
高二英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
As nobody here knows what is wrong with the machine, we must send for an engineer to _________ the problem.
A. handle B. raise
C. face D. present
高二英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析