Urban legends are stories that are told and believed in many places.Too many places,in fact.It simply isn’t credible that the same unlikely events take place in so many different towns.For some reason,though,that particular set of events appeals to the imagination and the tale spreads.
A very common North American urban legend concerns a mad man in the woods.A dangerous mad man has escaped from a hospital for the mentally ill.At some point in his life he has lost a hand and it has been replaced by a hook.A boy and a girl are out dating,sitting in a car.They hear on the radio that the area is dangerous,so they drive off.When they arrive home they find a bloodstained hook hanging on the door handle of the car door next to the girl.
Missing kidney(肾)stories are fairly common.Of course,the details are variable.It might be a woman waking up in a strange hotel in Bangkok,or a man finding himself in a cold bath in Toronto.or a young man with faint memories of wild disco party,but they all find a flesh wound,and discover that one of their kidneys has been removed and,probably, sold.
The back seat killer has plenty of drama.A woman gets into her Car late at night.Another Car follows her, speeding,flashing lights and really frightening her.She gets home and keeps on pressing the horn.Her husband runs out.The chasing car stops.The husband demands to know why the driver has been frightening his wife.He says he saw a strange man get into the back of the car as the wife got in,and then hide.They go and look,and there is a dangerous mad man...
1.What is the writer’s attitude towards “urban legends”?
A.Curious. | B.Disgusted. | C.Frightened. | D.Doubtful. |
2.What can be inferred from the hook hanging on the Car door?
A.The mad man left it there as a warning. |
B.The mad man narrowly escaped being injured in a car accident. |
C.The mad man had just been about to attack the girl. |
D.The boy had meant to frighten the girl with it. |
3.What do we know about the three people mentioned in the third paragraph?
A.They had their kidney removed when they were unconscious. |
B.They sold their kidneys for profit. |
C.They were suffering loss of memories. |
D.They had been wounded before the accident. |
4.Why does the woman driver keep on pressing the horn?
A.To warn the other driver not to follow her. |
B.To give herself enough courage to face the danger. |
C.To made her husband aware of something urgent. |
D.To inform her family of her safe return. |
5.How should we describe the second driver in the 4th paragraph?
A.Crazy. | B.Dangerous. | C.Brave. | D.Helpful. |
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题
Urban legends are stories that are told and believed in many places.Too many places,in fact.It simply isn’t credible that the same unlikely events take place in so many different towns.For some reason,though,that particular set of events appeals to the imagination and the tale spreads.
A very common North American urban legend concerns a mad man in the woods.A dangerous mad man has escaped from a hospital for the mentally ill.At some point in his life he has lost a hand and it has been replaced by a hook.A boy and a girl are out dating,sitting in a car.They hear on the radio that the area is dangerous,so they drive off.When they arrive home they find a bloodstained hook hanging on the door handle of the car door next to the girl.
Missing kidney(肾)stories are fairly common.Of course,the details are variable.It might be a woman waking up in a strange hotel in Bangkok,or a man finding himself in a cold bath in Toronto.or a young man with faint memories of wild disco party,but they all find a flesh wound,and discover that one of their kidneys has been removed and,probably, sold.
The back seat killer has plenty of drama.A woman gets into her Car late at night.Another Car follows her, speeding,flashing lights and really frightening her.She gets home and keeps on pressing the horn.Her husband runs out.The chasing car stops.The husband demands to know why the driver has been frightening his wife.He says he saw a strange man get into the back of the car as the wife got in,and then hide.They go and look,and there is a dangerous mad man...
1.What is the writer’s attitude towards “urban legends”?
A.Curious. | B.Disgusted. | C.Frightened. | D.Doubtful. |
2.What can be inferred from the hook hanging on the Car door?
A.The mad man left it there as a warning. |
B.The mad man narrowly escaped being injured in a car accident. |
C.The mad man had just been about to attack the girl. |
D.The boy had meant to frighten the girl with it. |
3.What do we know about the three people mentioned in the third paragraph?
A.They had their kidney removed when they were unconscious. |
B.They sold their kidneys for profit. |
C.They were suffering loss of memories. |
D.They had been wounded before the accident. |
4.Why does the woman driver keep on pressing the horn?
A.To warn the other driver not to follow her. |
B.To give herself enough courage to face the danger. |
C.To made her husband aware of something urgent. |
D.To inform her family of her safe return. |
5.How should we describe the second driver in the 4th paragraph?
A.Crazy. | B.Dangerous. | C.Brave. | D.Helpful. |
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
……
This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that's on my mind tonight’s about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She is a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election, except for one thing: Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.
She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn't vote for two reasons, because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.
And tonight, I think about all that she's seen throughout her century in America: the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can't, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.
At a time when women's voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can.
When there was despair in the Dust Bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs, a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.
When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.
She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that "we shall overcome." Yes we can.
A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination. And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change. Yes we can.
America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there’s so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves, if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?
(From Obama’s victory speech, 2008 )
56. What can be inferred from the passage?
A. Ann Nixon Cooper was once a slave. B. Ann Nixon Cooper is a black woman.
C. Ann Nixon Cooper knows Obama and his family very well.
D. Ann Nixon Cooper contributed much to the changes of America.
57. What does the underlined part“cast her ballot”in the first paragraph probably mean?
A. expressed her happiness B. worked for Obama
C. voted in the election D. celebrated the victory
58. What message does this part of Obama’s speech mainly send?
A. Ann Nixon Cooper has experienced the best time and the darkest hours of America in the last century.
B. America has undergone great development in the last century and is looking forward to more great changes.
C. Ann Nixon Cooper has witnessed the development and democracy of America.
D. This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations.
高三英语阅读理解简单题查看答案及解析
You are about to hear a strange but true story. Legend has it that, Harry Houdini, the master magician, once claimed that he could break out of any jail cell in the world. All he had to do was walk into that jail cell with his street clothes on. 'I will be out of there in one hour. No problem!' He said. A very old jail down South heard about Houdini's claims and they accepted the challenge. On the day of the event, many people gathered outside. Very confidently, Houdini walked into the jail and into the cell and they shut the metal door behind him.
The first thing Houdini did was to take off his coat. Then, very strangely, he took off his belt. Secretly hidden in Houdini's belt, was a ten-inch piece of steel; very tough and very flexible and Houdini started working.
In about 30 minutes, that confident expression Houdini had when he walked in disappeared. In one hour, he was bathed in sweat. And at the end of two hours, Houdini in defeat, collapsed against the door, which then opened. It opened because you see, that door had never been locked. But that's not entirely true is it? That door was locked. It was firmly and thoroughly locked in Houdini's mind, which meant it was locked as if the best locksmith in the world had put his lock on it.
The mind is powerful. How many doors in your life do you think are locked but aren't? how many times have you been stuck in the mental prison of over thinking something that really had a simple solution. There is an ancient African proverb that says when there is no enemy within, the enemy outside can do us no harm.
Your mind is the most powerful force you will ever face. It will tell you lies. It will tell you can't do that. You're not meant for that. You're not good enough for that. You can't go on anymore. You don't have the energy. You must thank it for its opinion and carry on. Because as Houdini showed us the only locked doors that exist are in your own mind. The doors in reality are open and all you have to do is walk through.
1.Why couldn't Harry Houdini open the door within two hours?
A.Because he didn't open the door with his mind.
B.Because the door was locked by the best locksmith.
C.Because he had thought the door was locked.
D.Because he overestimated his own ability to open the door.
2.Which of the following story shows the "locked door," in our mind?
A.Bring the painted dragon to life by putting in the pupils of its eyes.
B.One tends to stand still and refuse to make progress.
C.The donkey has exhausted its skills against the tiger.
D.Lock the stable door after the horse has been stolen.
3.We can conclude from the passage EXCEPT ?
A.The biggest enemy in your life is in fact the enemy in your mind.
B.If you walk through the door in mind, your potential will be unlimited.
C.Unless you defeat the enemy outside, you will not defeat your enemy inside.
D.Life is really simple, but we insist on making it rigid and complicated.
高三英语阅读理解简单题查看答案及解析
Many editors have a rule that they will not even read stories that are not formatted and presented as requested in their Submission(投稿)Guidelines.Even if this policy is not stated,it affects their decision-making.There are a few reasonable reasons.
A good editor likes to read all stories for the first time in the same format(格式)as the publication standard.A consistent format between manuscripts(手稿)removes distractions like unusual presentation and puts each manuscript on the same starting level,with the focus on content.
Leading publications get thousands of submissions a year.Editor time is extremely valuable.Most editors enjoy finding gems among the manuscripts,but they really dislike reformatting(don't you prefer eating an elegant meal to washing dishes?).When an editor sees he will have to spend an extra half hour of precious time in reformatting,he subconsciously marks that submission down compared to other submissions of equal quality.
Publications need to have consistency in formatting for all their published stories: letterform,type size,spacing, paragraph structure etc.This keeps the reader’s focus on the words and not their structure.Since editors don't have a choice to just accept a weirdly(古怪的)formatted story as it is,they are forced to either reformat or decline the submission.
Publications use different software and other tools in their operations.Editors know what makes their system go smoothly.Many invisible software formatting structures between types of documents create disasters.
Editors are not pedantic(迂腐的).Their job is to find great material and expose those works to appreciative readers.Differently formatted manuscripts steal time away from that responsibility,which is bad for everyone.Editors love nothing more than finishing a read and thinking “Wow.A great story-AND it's cut and paste!"
1.What does the underlined word "gems" refer to in the third paragraph?
A. Precious Jewels. B. Creative formats.
C. Great stories. D. Amazing characters.
2.What kind of manuscript is most likely to be refused?
A. One with no special structures.
B. One with a general letterform.
C. One with attractive plots.
D. One with a weird format.
3.What does the passage mainly talk about?
A. How the editors usually work.
B. Why publications need consistent format.
C. Why the manuscript's format can influence the editor's decision.
D. The ways on how to format manuscripts.
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Stories are shared in many ways. They are described in books and magazines. They are read around the campfire at night. They are randomly distributed from stand-alone booths. But what else?
To revive (复兴)literature in the era of fast news and smartphone addiction, Short Edition, a French publisher of short-form literature, has set up more than 30 story dispensers (分发机)in the USA in the past years to deliver fiction at the push of a button at restaurants, universities and government offices.
Francis Ford Coppola, the film director and winemaker, liked the idea so much that he invested in the company and placed a dispenser at his Cafe Zoetrope in San Francisco. Last month public libraries in some other cities announced they would be setting them up, too. There is one on the campus at Penn State. A few can be found in downtown West Palm Beach, Fla. And Short Edition plans to announce more, including at the Los Angeles International Airport.
“Everything old is new again," said Andrew Nurkin, the director of the Free Library of Philadelphia, which is one of the libraries that set up the dispensers. “We want people to be easily exposed to literature. We want to advance literacy among children and inspire their creativity.
Here's how a dispenser works: It has three buttons on top indicating choices for stories that can be read in one minute, three minutes or five minutes. When a button is pushed, a short story is printed. The stories are free. They are chosen from a computer category of more than 100,000 original submissions by writers whose works have been evaluated by Short Edition's judges, and transmitted over a mobile network. Offerings can be tailored to specific interests, like children's fiction or romance. Short Edition gets stories for its category by holding writing contests.
Short Edition set up its first booth in 2016 and has 150 machines worldwide. “The idea is to make people happy," said Kristan Leroy, director of Short Edition, “There is too much unhappiness today. ”
1.What do we know about the stories sent by dispensers?
A.They are expensive.
B.They are short in form.
C.They can be read on smartphones.
D.They are mainly taken from magazine literature.
2.Where can you find the popularity of story dispensers in America?
A.In paragraph 3.
B.In paragraph 4.
C.In paragraph 5.
D.In paragraph 6.
3.Which is the main purpose of setting up the dispensers according to Andrew Nurkin?
A.To get rid of people's smartphone addiction.
B.To reduce the financial stress of libraries.
C.To make people have access to literature.
D.To advertise the network literature.
4.What is the best title for the text?
A.Online Reading: a Virtual Tour
B.Short Edition, a French Publisher
C.Everything Old Will Be Popular Again
D.Taste of Literature, at the Push of a Button
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
Many teenagers feel that the most important people in their lives are their friends. They believe that their family members, especially their parents, don’t know them as well as their friends do. In large families, it is often for brothers and sisters to fight with each other and then they can only go to their friends for advice. It is very important for teenagers to have one good friend or many friends. Even when they are not with their friends, they usually spend a lot of time talking among themselves on the phone. This communication is very important in children’s growing up, because friends can discuss something difficult to say to their family members.
However, parents often try to choose their children’s friends for them. Some parents may even stop their children from meeting their good friends. The question of “choice” is an interesting one. Have you ever thought of the following questions?
Who choose your friends?
Do you choose your friends or your friends choose you?
Have you got a good friend your parents don’t like?
1. Many teenagers think their _______ know them better than their parents do.
A.friends | B. teachers | C.brothers and sisters | D. classmates |
2.When teenagers stay alone, the usual way of communication is to _________.
A.go to their friends | B.talk with their parents |
C.have a discussion with their family | D.talk with their friends on the phone |
3. Which of the following sentences is TRUE?
A.Parents should like everything their children enjoy. |
B.In all families, children can choose everything they like. |
C.Parents should try their best to understand their children better. |
D.Teenagers can only go to their friends for help. |
4. The main idea of this passage is that ___________.
A.Teenagers need friends |
B.Friends can give good advice |
C.Parents often choose their children’s friends for them |
D.Good friends can communicate with each other |
高三英语阅读理解简单题查看答案及解析
It is believed that some of animals think a great deal. Many of them are like children in their sports. Some birds are very lively in their sports; and the same is true with some insects. The ants, hardworking as they are, have their times for play. They run races; they wrestle; and sometimes they have mock fights together. Very busy must be their thoughts while engaged in these sports.
Animals think much while building their houses. The bird searches for what it can use in building its nest, and in doing this it thinks. The beavers think as they build their dams and their houses. They think in getting their materials, and also in arranging them, and in plastering them together with mud. Some spiders build houses which could scarcely have been made except by some thinking creature.
As animals think, they learn. Some learn more than others. The parrot learns to talk, though in some other respects it is quite stupid. The mocking bird learns to imitate a great many different sounds. The shepherd dog does not know as much about most things as some other dogs, and yet he understands very well how to take care of sheep.
Though animals think and learn, they do not make any real improvement in their ways of doing things, as men do. Each kind of bird has its own way of building a nest, and it is always the same way. They have no new fashions, and learn none from each other.
It is plain that, while animals learn about things by their senses as we do, they do not think nearly as much about what they learn, and this is the reason why they do not improve more rapidly. Even the wisest of them, as the elephant and the dog, do not think very much about what they see and hear. Nor is this all. There are some things that we understand, but about which animals know nothing. They have no knowledge of anything that happens outside of their own observation. Their minds are so much unlike ours that they do not know the difference between right and wrong.
1.Why does the author mention that some birds and insects are very lively in their sports?
A. To illustrate that some animals probably think in the sports.
B. To tell us that some birds and insects are more lively than others.
C. To show us that ants are the cleverest insects in the animal kingdom.
D. To attract readers by introducing some interesting facts about animals.
2.“Animals think much while building their houses” because ________.
A. they have to communicate with each other in getting their material
B. they have to calculate something to arrange all the material
C. no animals have a must to build a “house” except some thinking creatures
D. it is unimaginable to build “houses” without thinking work involved
3.The underlined word "plain" in Paragraph 5 can be replaced by ______.
A. flat B. clear
C. vital D. reasonable
4.The author will probably agree that ________.
A. animals can’t think as a matter of fact
B. animals can’t really learn to do something
C. animals can think and learn but limitedly
D. each kind of animal has their own language
高三英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析
_______ today’s educators are using more and more technology in their teaching , many believe basic handwriting skills are still necessary for students to be successful---both in school and in life.
A. As B. Since C. While D. If
高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
I can’t believe that there are _____ many poor people in ____ a rich country.
A.such; such B.so ; such C.so; so D.such; so
高三英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
I can’t believe that there are _____ many poor people in ____ a rich country.
A. such; such B. so ; such C. so; so D. such; so
高三英语单项填空简单题查看答案及解析