I became a magician by accident. When I was n...

I became a magician by accident. When I was nine years old, I learned how to make a coin disappear. I’d read The Lord of the Rings and gone into the adult section of the library to be buried in fantasy literature but young enough to still hold out hope that you might find a book of real, actual magic in the library. The book I found taught basic techniques, and I tried to practice.

At first the magic wasn’t any good. It was just a trick—a bad trick. I spent hours each day running through the secret moves in front of the mirror. I dropped the coin over and over, a thousand times in a day, and after two weeks my mom got a carpet and placed it under the mirror to muffle (消音) the sound of the coin falling again and again.

One day I made the coin disappear on the playground. We had been playing football and were standing in the field behind the school. A dozen people were watching. I showed the coin to everyone. Then it disappeared. The kids screamed. Everyone went crazy.

A few years later, I staged an underwater escape in the river that flowed through the middle of the campus of the University of Iowa, where I went to school. I stood on a boat in the middle of the river wearing nothing but biking shorts. The sky was dead and gray, and the water was cold at the surface, and colder in the depths below.

Technically, I succeeded. I jumped into the water, sank to the bottom, and escaped from the locks and the chains before swimming to the surface. But it didn’t feel like a success.

1.What do we know about the author?

A. He became a magician in one day.

B. He found wonderful techniques in the library.

C. In order to become a magician he never stopped practising.

D. He looked through every section of the library to search for a useful book.

2.Why did the author’s mother bring a carpet home?

A. To encourage him to clean the house.

B. To make the sounds less noisy than before.

C. To have guests clean their shoes on entering the house.

D. To decrease the number of cleaning the house.

3.How did the author make the kids scream?

A. By playing football with them.　　 B. By making the showing coin disappear.

C. By practising his techniques more frequently.　　 D. By providing hands-on practice.

4.What can be a suitable title for the text?

A. The Magic Trick that Changed My Life　　 B. A Nineteen-year-old Magician

C. What Can Give You a Magic Life?　　 D. A Brief Introduction to a Magician’s Life

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

My friend, Jack, was a taxi driver. We became friends quite by accident. Five years ago, I made a trip to Chicago. The moment I stepped into a cab, I realized it was different. The floor was covered with a rug (小地毯). There were small reproductions of paintings by Van Gogh inside the cab. And the windows were spotless. I told the driver I had never ridden in a more attractive taxi.

“I like to hear my passengers say that,” he replied. “How long have you been decorating your cab?” I asked. “It’s not mine,” he said. “It’s a company cab. I hit upon the idea years ago when I worked as a clean-up man for the taxi company. Each car that came in at the end of the day was like a garbage pit. Cigarette butts and matches covered the floor. Sticky stuff like peanut butter was on the seats or door handles. I thought that if the company and the drivers would give people a car worth keeping clean, they might be more considerate. ”

“As soon as I got my taxi license, I tried out my ideas. I put a lot of extra decorations into the cab they gave me to drive. I got a nice rug and some flowers. When each passenger got out, I checked to make sure that everything was in order for the next fare. After about a month of my bringing in a spotless cab, the boss reserved the same car for me each day. That was when I put up the reproductions of great paintings.”

“I’ve never been disappointed by people in the past ten years—no garbage. Like I say, people appreciate beautiful things. If we planted more flowers and trees in the city and made the buildings more attractive, more people would tend to keep the city clean.”

Later, we became good friends. I was impressed by the taxi-driver, who had hit on a great truth—a sense of beauty comes with the gift of life. Most people don’t have to be instructed about the rarity of beauty. They respond when they find it. And, if they are made to feel a part of it, they will try to add to it.

1.What made the writer surprised when he got into the taxi?

A. The beautiful decoration on the rug.

B. The style of decoration outside the taxi.

C. The masterpieces of well-known painters.

D. The impressive inner environment of the taxi.

2.Jack got the idea of decorating the cab when _______.

A. he got his taxi license

B. the boss reserved the same car for him each day

C. he served as a clean-up man for the taxi company

D. he found the taxi he cleaned was full of cigarette butts

3.What does the story mainly tell us?

A. People can easily make friends when taking a taxi.

B. When people find beauty in life, they will try to add to it.

C. If we plant more flowers and trees, we can keep the city clean.

D. We have to be taught to find beauty and make it more beautiful.

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

When other nine-year-old kids were playing games,she was working at a petrol station.When other teens were studying or going out,she struggled to find a place to sleep on the street.But she overcame these terrible setbacks to win a highly competitive scholarship and gain entry to Harvard University.And her amazing story has inspired a movie,“Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story”,shown in late April.

Liz Murray,a 22-year-old American girl,has been writing a real-life story of willpower and determination.Liz grew up in the shadow of two drug-addicted parents.There was never enough food or warm clothes in the house.Liz was the only member of the family who had a job.Her mother had AIDS and died when Liz was just 15 years old. The effect of that became a turning point in her life.Connecting the environment in which she had grown up with how her mother had died,she decided to do something about it.

Liz went back to school.She threw herself into her studies,never telling her teachers that she was homeless.At night,she lived on the streets.“What drove me to live on had something to do with understanding,by understanding that there was a whole other way o f being.I had only experienced a small part of the society,” she wrote in her book Breaking Night.

She admitted that she used envy to drive herself on.She used the benefits that come easily to others,such as a safe living environment,to encourage herself that “next to nothing could hold me down”.She finished high school in just two years and won a full scholarship to study at Harvard University.But Liz decided to leave her top university a couple of months earlier this year in order to take care of her father,who has also developed AIDS.“I love my parents so much.They are drug addicts.But I never forget that they love me all the time.”

Liz wants moviegoers (who often see films) to come away with the idea that changing your life is “as simple as making a decision”.

1.In which order did the following things happen to Liz?

a.Her mother died of AIDS.

b.She worked at a petrol station.

c.She got admitted into Harvard.

d.The movie about her life was put on.

e.She had trouble finding a place to sleep.

A. b,a,e,c,d　　 B. a,b,c,e,d

C. e,d,b,a,c　　 D. b,e,a,d,c

2.The main idea of the passage is ________.

A. how Liz managed to enter Harvard University

B. what a hard time Liz had in her childhood

C. why Liz loved her parents so much

D. how Liz struggled to change her life

3.What actually made her go towards her goal?

A. Envy and competition.

B. Willpower and determination.

C. Decisions and understanding.

D. Love and respect for her parents.

4.When she wrote “What drove me to live on ...I had only experienced a small part of the society”,she meant that

_______.

A. she had little experience of social life

B. she could hardly understand the society

C. she would do something for her own life

D. she needed to travel more around the world

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

When other nine-year-old kids were playing games, she was working at a petrol station. When other teens were studying or going out, she struggled to find a place to sleep on the street. But she overcame these terrible setbacks to win a highly competitive scholarship and gain entry to Harvard University. And her amazing story has inspired a movie, “Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story” shown in late April.

Liz Murray, a 22-year-old American girl, has been writing a real-life story of willpower and determination. Liz grew up in the shadow of two drug-addicted parents. There was never enough food or warm clothes in the house. Liz was the only member of the family who had a job. Her mother had AIDS and died when Liz was just 15 years old. The effect of that LOSS became a turning point in her life. Connecting the environment in which she had grown up with how her mother had died, she decided to do something about it.

Liz went back to school. She threw herself into her studies, never telling her teachers that she was homeless. At night, she lived on the streets. “What drove me to live on had something to do with understanding, by understanding that there was a whole other way of being. I had only experienced a small part of the society,” she wrote in her book Breaking Night.

She admitted that she used envy to drive herself on. She used the benefits that come easily to others, such as a safe living environment, to encourage herself that “next to nothing could hold me down”. She finished high school in just two years and won a full scholarship to study at Harvard University, but Liz decided to leave her top university a couple of months earlier this year in order to take care of her father, who has also developed AIDS. “I love my parents so much. They are drug addicts. But I never forget that they love me all the time.”

Liz wants moviegoers to come away with the idea that changing your life is “as simple as making a decision”.

1.The main idea of the passage is __________.

A. what a hard time Liz had in her childhood

B. how Liz managed to enter Harvard University

C. how Liz struggled to change her life

D. why Liz loved her parents so much

2.What actually made her go towards her goal?

A. Willpower and determination.            B. Envy and encouragement.

C. Decisions and understanding.            D. Love and respect for her parents.

3.When she wrote “What drove me to live on... I had only experienced a small part of the society”, she meant that ________.

A. she needed to travel more around the world

B. she would do something for her own life

C. she could hardly understand the society

D. she had little experience of social life

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

When other nine-year-old kids were playing games, she was working at a petrol station . When other teens were studying or going out , she struggled to find a place to sleep on the street. But she overcame these terrible setbacks to win a highly competitive scholarship and gain entry to Harvard University . And her amazing story has inspired a movie , “ Homeless to Harvard : The Liz Murray Story” , shown in late April .

Liz Murray , a 22-year-old American girl, has been writing a real-life story of willpower and determination . Liz grew up in the shadow of two drug-addicted parents. There was never enough food or warm clothes in the house . Liz was the only member who had a job . Her mother had AIDS and died when Liz was just 15 years old. The effect of that loss became a turning point in her life. Connecting the environment in which she had grown up with how her mother had died , she decided to do something about it.

Liz went back to school. She threw herself into her studies, never telling her teachers that she was homeless . At night , she lived on the streets. “ What drove me to live on had something to do with understanding , by understanding that there was a whole other way of being . I had only experienced a small part of the society,” she wrote in her book Breaking Night .

She admitted that she used envy to drive herself on . She used the benefits that come easily to others , such as a safe living environment , to encourage herself that “ next to nothing could hold me down”. She finished high school in just two years and won a full scholarship to study at Harvard University . But Liz decided to leave her top university a couple of months earlier this year in order to take care of her father, who has also developed AIDS. “ I love my parents so much . They are drug addicts. But I never forget that they loved me all the time.”

Liz wants moviegoers to come away with the idea that changing your life is “ as simple as making a decision”.

1. The main idea of the passage is __________ .

A. how Liz managed to enter Harvard University

B. What a hard time Liz had in her childhood

C. why Liz loved her parents so much

D. how Liz struggled to change her life

2. In which order did the following things happen to Liz ?

a. Her mother died of AIDS.

b. She worked at a petrol station.

c. She got admission into Harvard University.

d. The movie about her life was put on.

e. She had trouble about finding a place to sleep .

A. b, a , e , c, d　　　 B. a , b , c , e , d

C. e , d, b , a , c　　　 D. b , e , a , d , c

3. What actually made her go towards her goal ?

A. Envy and encouragement.

B. Willpower and determination .

C. Decisions and understanding.

D. Love and respect for her parents.

4. When she wrote “ What drove me to live on … I had only experienced a small part of the society，she meant that __________ .

A. she had little experience of social life.

B. she could hardly understand the society.

C. she would do something for her own life.

D. she needed to travel more around the world.

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

When other nine-year-old kids were playing games, she was working at a petrol station. When other teens were studying or going out, she struggled to find a place to sleep on the street. But she overcame these terrible setbacks to win a highly competitive scholarship（奖学金）and gain entry to Harvard University. And her amazing story has inspired a movie, “Homeless to Harvard: The Liz Murray Story”, shown in late April.

Liz Murray, a 22-year-old American girl, has been writing a real-life story of willpower and determination. Liz grew up in the shadow of two drug-addicted（吸毒）parents. There was never enough food or warm clothes in the house. Liz was the only member of the family who had a job. Her mother had AIDS and died when Liz was just 15 years old. The effect of that loss became a turning point in her life. Connecting the environment in which she had grown up with how her mother had died, she decided to do something about it.

Liz went back to school. She threw herself into her studies, never telling her teachers that she was homeless. At night, she lived on the streets.“What drove me to live on had something to do with understanding, by understanding that there was a whole other way of being. I had only experienced a small part of the society,”she wrote in her book Breaking Night.

She admitted that she used envy to drive herself on. She used the benefits that come easily to others, such as a safe living environment, to encourage herself that “next to nothing could hold me down”. She finished high school in just two years and won a full scholarship to study at Harvard University. But Liz decided to leave her top university a couple of months earlier this year in order to take care of her father, who has also developed AIDS. “I love my parents so much. They are drug addicts. But I never forget that they love me all the time.”

　Liz wants moviegoers to come away with the idea that changing your life is “as simple as making a decision”.

1.In which order did the following things happen to Liz?

　a. Her mother died of AIDS.   　b. She worked at a petrol station.

　c. She got admitted into Harvard.　d. The movie about her life was put on.

　e. She had trouble finding a place to sleep.

2.The main idea of the passage is ________.

3.What actually made her go towards her goal?

4.When she wrote “What drove me to live on...I had only experienced a small part of the society”, she meant that ________.

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Nine-year-old Patches the Dachshund was saved by a 3D-printed skull she received after the removal of an orange-sized tumor (肿瘤).

Patches had a small bump on her head for years. Her owner took her to see vets before ending up in the hands of Dr. Michelle Oblak.

Dr. Oblak had been researching 3D-printing uses for dogs. According to Oblak, a dog in Patches’ situation would need an expensive operation where the animal’s tumor and skull would be removed and then replaced. However, Oblak believed Patches was the ideal candidate to receive it.

Dymeck, Patches’ owner, said that she was hesitant (犹豫的), but the potential to help others convinced her. “They felt she could recover from this,” Dymeck said. “And to be part of research was a big thing for me – if they can learn something from animals to help humans, that’s important.”

The brand new method used to save Patches’ life started with a CT scan of her tumor. Then, Oblak and her team digitally removed the tumor in Patches’ skull. After that, they mapped out what the 3D-printed skull piece would look like and where it would fit on the dog. “There’s little room for error,” Oblak explained. “We’re talking less than two millimeters or else the plate wouldn’t fit.”

After everything was drawn out, Oblak sent the designs over to the 3D-printing company and just two weeks later Patches’ customized skull (定制的头骨) was ready. Then Patches went under the knife. After a four-hour operation, the dog was back to herself. Patches is now cancer-free. She has a scar on her head but it seems like a small price to pay for the life-saving operation.

“Our hope is this is something that could be more widely available on a broad scale,” Oblak said. “It went very well.”

1.What exactly is Patches?

A.A pet. B.A doctor.

C.A servant. D.A patient.

2.What was the problem with Patches?

A.She had a headache. B.Her skull was broken.

C.She suffered from a cancer. D.Her head was covered with scars.

3.Which word can best describe Dymeck？

A.Experienced. B.Responsible.

C.Unselfish. D.Talented.

4.What can we learn about the operation from the passage?

A.A small error happened. B.It cost Oblak a lot of money.

C.It was challenging and demanding. D.A CT scan mapped out the 3D skull piece.

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

A nine-year-old kid was sitting at his desk when suddenly there was a puddle（水潭、泥坑） between his feet and the front of his trousers was wet．He thought his heart was going to stop because he couldn't possibly imagine how this had happened．It had never happened before, and he knew that when the boys found out he would never hear the end of it. When the girls found out, they would never speak to him again as long as he lived．

He prayed this prayer, "Dear God, I need help  now! Five minutes from now I'm dead meat!" He looked up from his prayer and here came the teacher with a look in her eyes that said he had been discovered．As the teacher was walking toward him, a classmate named Susie was carrying a goldfish bowl full of water．Susie tripped （绊倒） in front of the teacher and dumped （倒） the bowl of water in the boy's lap．The boy pretended to be angry, but all the while was saying to himself, "Thank you．Lord!"

Now all of a sudden, instead of being the object of ridicule, the boy was the object of sympathy．The teacher rushed him downstairs and gave him gym shorts to put on while his trousers dried out．All the other children were on their hands and knees cleaning up around his desk．The sympathy was wonderful．But as life would have it, the ridicule that should have been his had been transferred （转移） to someone else+—Susie．She tried to help, but they told her to get out．

When school was over, the boy walked over to Susie and whispered, "You did that on purpose, didn't you?" Susie whispered back, "I wet my trousers once, too!"

1.The underlined sentence in Paragraph 1 means ____.

A．the boys would never play with him

B．the boys would treat him as usual

C, he would hardly hear any praise from the boys

D．he would be laughed at by the．boys endlessly

2.After Susie dumped water in his lap, the boy was in a state of ___      _.

3.What did the other kids do after the incident?

4.Why did Susie dump water in the boy's lap?

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

A nine-year-old kid was sitting at his desk when suddenly there was a puddle （/JC^C）between his feet and the front of his trousers was wet．He thought his heart was going to stop because he couldn't possibly imagine how this had happened．It had never happened before, and he knew that when the boys found out he would never hear the end of jt. When the girls found out, they would never speak to him again as long as he lived．

He prayed this prayer, "Dear God, I need help now! Five minutes from now I'm dead meat!" He looked up from his prayer and here came the teacher with a look in her eyes that said he had been discovered．As the teacher was walking toward him, a classmate named Susie was carrying a goldfish bowl full of water．Susie tripped （绊倒） in front of the teacher and dumped （倒） the bowl of water in the boy's lap．The boy pretended to be angry, but all the while was saying to himself, "Thank you．Lord!"

Now all of a sudden, instead of being the object of ridicule, the boy was the object of sympathy．The teacher rushed him downstairs and gave him gym shorts to put on while his trousers dried out．All the other children were on their hands and knees cleaning up around his desk．The sympathy was wonderful．But as life would have it, the ridicule that should have been his had been transferred （转移） to someone else—Susie．She tried to help, but they told her to get out．

When school was over, the boy walked over to Susie and whispered, "You did that on purpose, didn't you?" Susie whispered back, "I wet my trousers once, too!"

1.The underlined sentence in Paragraph 1 means ____        .

A．the boys would never play with him

B．the boys would treat him as usual

C. he would hardly hear any praise from the boys

D．he would be laughed at by the boys endlessly

2.After Susie dumped water in his lap, the boy was in a state of ___

A．excitement       B．relief          C．anxiety      D．anger

3.What did the other kids do after the incident?

A．They offered him dry clothes．

B．They laughed at the boy rudely,

C．They helped the boy do the cleaning．

D．They urged the boy to get out angrily,

4.Why did Susie dump water in the boy's lap?

A．The boy asked her to do so．

B．She just did it by accident．

C．The teacher tripped her on purpose．

D．She knew the boy's embarrassment．

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Ibrahim became disabled after contracting polio (小儿麻痹症) when he was three years old. At first his parents, like many other parents of disabled children in Niger, did not want to send him to school. They were worried he would be laughed at by his classmates.

Despite his disability, and his parents’ doubts, Ibrahim was determined to go to school. “When I was eight,” Ibrahim says, “other kids of my age were going to school while I stayed at home. I did not like that. So, I pestered (缠着) my parents until they finally let me go to school.”

Ibrahim’s parents sent him to a private school nearby. Although the journey to and from school was a short one, it still wasn’t easy for Ibrahim. He had to use his hands to help him move along, protecting them with plastic slippers. But at least he was getting an education.

However, after only a year in school, Ibrahim’s education was interrupted when his parents separated. His mother did not have the means to continue paying for his tuition.

In 2007, Ibrahim received some money to be fitted with a leg brace (支架), corrective shoes and his first pair of crutches (拐杖). Now that he was more mobile than before, the most important thing for him was to find a way to go back to school.

“I wanted to start school again last October,” Ibrahim says. “After my mother told me she could not afford it, I went to visit some of my relatives for support. And I collected 5,000 francs CFA (US $8) to pay my tuition for half a year. I will find the rest of the money somehow.”

Ibrahim attends a school in which he is the only disabled student. According to his teacher, he is among the top five students in a class of 55.

1.Why did Ibrahim’s parents prefer Ibrahim to stay at home?

2.How did Ibrahim go to school before his parents separated?

3. Ibrahim’s education was interrupted because of his _____.

4.The best title for the passage might be _____.

高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析