I was on vacation, and in my mind, vacation d...

I was on vacation, and in my mind, vacation does not mean setting my hotel room alarm clock for 6 am. But when you’re in Aruba and hoping to reserve a beachside palapa（简陋草棚）, that’s exactly what you do.

Tourists begin lining up at the crack of dawn to secure these umbrella-like wood structures that are covered with dried and woven palm leaves. They then place towels on chairs and call them theirs for the day, whether they remain there or not. I knew nothing of this beach code of ethics on my first day in Aruba. I saw an empty chair covered with a towel and took it. It was a big mistake.

For many visitors, a week bathing in the sun is the only activity they wish to pursue. It sounded good to my girlfriend, Barbara, and me after Boston’s awful winter. Six more inches of snow was predicted on the day we left. The sun, the sand, and the beach seemed just about right.

Aruba’s slogan is “One Happy Island”, and it doesn’t take long to understand why. Aruba is said to be on “island time”. Translation: No one is in a rush to do anything. When in Aruba, you go with the flow, however slow and lazy that might be.

Cooling trade winds, white sandy beaches, turquoise（蓝绿色）waters, and dazzling sunsets are all good reasons to visit. But this 20-mile island offers more than lazy days walking on the beach. There is amazing night life, casinos, golf, scuba diving（水肺潜水）, fine dining, shopping, and a great national park.

But our first day was spent as you’d expect, swimming in the sea and enjoying cool drinks. Our drink of choice quickly became the Coco Loco. It’s as refreshing as it sounds.

1.Tourists get up at 6 am because they _____.

A. want to see the sunrise early

B. need to check out early

C. want to have fun longer

D. need to reserve a beachside palapa

2.What does the underlined part in Paragraph 2 refer to ?

A. Using whatever chair you like.

B. Waiting in a long line for a palapa.

C. Taking up a chair by placing a towel on it.

D. Covering a palapa with woven palm leaves.

3.Paragraph 4 shows life in Aruba is very _____.

A. relaxing 　　 B. expensive

C. frightening　　 D. disappointing

4.What did the author do on his first day there ?

A. He went shopping.

B. He swam in the sea.

C. He went scuba diving.

D. He visited a national park.

高二英语阅读理解简单题查看答案及解析

Alexandra Scott was born to Liz and Jay Scott in Manchester, Connecticut on January 18, 1996, the second of four children. Shortly before her first birthday, Alex was diagnosed with neuroblastoma, a type of childhood cancer.

On her first birthday, the doctors informed Alex’s parents that if she beat her cancer it was doubtful that she would ever walk again. Just two weeks later, Alex slightly moved her leg at her parents’ request to kick. This was the first indication that she would turn out to be a courageous and confident child with big dreams and big accomplishments.

By her second birthday, Alex was able to stand up with leg braces（支架）. She worked hard to gain strength and to learn how to walk. She appeared to be overcoming the difficul-ties, until the shocking discovery within the next year that her tumors （肿瘤）had started growing again. In the year 2000, the day after her fourth birthday, Alex received a stem cell transplant（干细胞移植）and informed her mother, “When I get out of the hospital I want to have a lemonade stand. ” She said she wanted to give the money to doctors to allow them to help other kids, like they helped me. True to her word, she held her first lemonade stand later that year with the help of her older brother and raised an amazing $ 2,000 for her hospital.

People from all over the world, moved by her story, held their own lemonade stands and donated the earnings to Alex and her cause. In August of 2004, Alex passed away at the age of 8, knowing that, with the help of others, she had raised more than $ 1 million to help find a cure for the disease that took her life. Alex’s family—including brothers Patrick, Eddie, and Joey—and supporters around the world are committed to continuing her inspiring cause through Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation.

1.It can be learned from the text that Alex .

A. couldn’t walk until she was four

C. held her first lemonade stand in 2001

B. was the only daughter of the Scotts

D. was born with cancer

2.Why was Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation founded?

A. To promote her lemonade.

C. To attract public attention to her disease.

B. To set up a children’s hospital.

D. To collect money to help children with cancer.

3.What did the public do to support Alex and her cause?

A. They helped her sell lemonade.

C. They donated money to her foundation.

B. They provided free stands for her.

D. They donated stem cells for her operation.

4.Which of the following can best describe Alex?

A.Stubborn. B. Determined. C. Innocent. D. Energetic.

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

One year my children came home from school asking where we were going on your summer vacation. It seemed that all the other kids were______ where they were spending the summer. I couldn’t ______to take them anywhere but I didn’t want to tell them that so I just said, “It’s a surprise!” They were_______ That bought me a little more　 ________.

I called several amusement ______to see if there was a half-price event during the summer but no such _____ . I tried everything, with no success, so I called some of the other moms to find that most were in the same______that I was. We decided to ______something fun for our kids to do. We had a meeting, all five of us, and_____ what is now called a “playcation”.

One mother was a　 _____ , so on Mondays the kids would all go to her house. They would play games using plants and ______. They also planted vegetables and_______them grow over the summer.

Another mother had Bible_______on Tuesdays. She asked some questions about Bible. The kid who answered　 ______got a penny, which they all turned in at the end to buy their goodie bags(礼品袋).

At our house on Wednesdays, I made an outdoor ______training with my spare tires. The kids also walked a balance beam and raced through large cardboard boxes taped together.

On　 _____they had arts and crafts across the street. Fridays were______by a wonderful single dad with a metal detector(金属探测器)who took everyone out treasure_____ .

The summer was a big ______ . Okay, it wasn’t Disney World,_______the kids didn’t miss anything. My son actually asked me, “Can we do this again next year?”

1.A. rejecting　　 B. discussing　　 C. learning　　 D. reporting

2.A. sacrifice　　 B. offer　　 C. select　　 D. afford

3.A. disappointed　　 B. satisfied　　 C. shocked　　 D. delighted

4.A. time　　 B. money　　 C. confidence　　 D. patience

5.A. schools　　 B. shops　　 C. parks　　 D. libraries

6.A. hope　　 B. luck　　 C. attitude　　 D. hobby

7.A. situation　　 B. gap　　 C. direction　　 D. process

8.A. come up with　　 B. face up to　　 C. look forward to　　 D. step away from

9.A. discovered　　 B. enjoyed　　 C. created　　 D. controlled

10.A. teacher　　 B. doctor　　 C. gardener　　 D. grocer

11.A. books　　 B. vegetables　　 C. sweets　　 D. toys

12.A. guessed　　 B. watched　　 C. affected　　 D. felt

13.A. debates　　 B. readings　　 C. explanations　　 D. contests

14.A. easily　　 B. patiently　　 C. correctly　　 D. hurriedly

15.A. computer　　 B. obstacle　　 C. painting　　 D. speech

16.A. Thursdays　　 B. Saturdays　　 C. Sundays　　 D. Mondays

17.A. hosted　　 B. forced　　 C. avoided　　 D. forbidden

18.A. hiding　　 B. making　　 C. hunting　　 D. donating

19.A. failure　　 B. challenge　　 C. business　　 D. success

20.A. and　　 B. so　　 C. or　　 D. but

高二英语完形填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

–I’d like to be on my own for a while. Do you mind?

--________. Go ahead.

A. Not in the least　　　 B. No way

C. Yes, of course　　　　　 D. I’m afraid so

高二英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

—I’d like to be on my own for a while. Do you mind?　 —________. Go ahead.

A. Not in the least　　　　 B. No way

C. Yes, of course　　　　　　 D. I’m afraid so

高二英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

I feel tired and was in no ______ to listen to the lesson, and my attention began to ______.

A.mind; wander B.mood; wander C.interest; switch D.feeling; set

高二英语单项填空困难题查看答案及解析

I went on line to check if my pay was in my bank account（账户）. To my amazement I discovered that not only had I been paid, but a company I’d never worked for had also paid me! I know I would have been beside myself (情绪失控) if my own salary was not in my account, so I tried to get the money back to the right person. Easier said than done.

The bank couldn’t help as it “wasn’t a bank problem.” The human-resource department at the company that paid me was unable to help as I didn’t have enough details. I rang the bank again. Thankfully I had a sympathetic call operator who gave me a name, so I again rang the company “Daniel” worked for.

I expected the bank would contact me to arrange to take the money from my account and repay Daniel. I heard nothing for a month and the money remained in my account when Daniel called, explaining he’d tried to get back his money but had been unsuccessful as neither the bank nor his company felt it was their error. He had rung to ask if I could speak to the bank, but after chatting for a few minutes we realized we could probably fix this problem ourselves.

We decided I would take the money from my account and he would pick it up from me. Due to my busy job I was unable to meet Daniel personally but he left me a lovely bottle of wine in exchange for what was rightfully his. I never had any intention of keeping Daniel’s pay but red tape（繁琐手续）made it difficult to do the right thing. It all came down to two people being able to do what a huge bank and a large company couldn’t do — admit a mistake has occurred and fix it.

1.What was the attitude of the author towards the extra money in his bank account?

2. How was the problem solved in the end?

3.From the passage we can infer that _________.

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

__________ a part-time job at the weekend does not necessarily mean not working on weekdays.

A. To take　　 B. To be taking

C. Taking　　 D. Having taken

高二英语单项填空简单题查看答案及解析

When my first wartime Christmas came, I was in basic training in New Jersey and not sure if I could make it home for the holidays. Only on the afternoon of December 23 was the list of men who would have three-day holidays posted. I was one of the lucky soldiers. It was Christmas eve when I arrived home, and a light snow had fallen. Mother opened the front door. I could see beyond her, into the corner of the living room where the tree had always stood. There were lights, all colors, and ornaments (装饰物) shining against the green of a pine. “Where did it come from?” I asked.

“I asked the Gates boy to cut it,” my mother said. “I wouldn’t have had one just for myself, such a rush！He just brought it in this afternoon…” The pine reached to the proper height, almost to the ceiling, and the tree top crystal star was in its place. A few green branches reached about a little awkwardly at the side, I thought, and there was a bit of bare trunk showing in the middle. But the tree filled the room with warm light and the whole house with the pleasant smell of Christmas. “It’s not like the one you used to find,” my mother went on. “Yours were always in good shape. I suppose the Gates boy didn’t know where to look for a good one. But I couldn’t be fussy (挑剔的)．”

“Don’t worry,” I told her. “It’s perfect.” It wasn’t, of course, but at the moment I realized something for the first time: all Christmas trees are perfect．

1.From the passage, we can infer that ______．

2.When the writer got home, ______．

3.From this passage，we can conclude that ______．

4.“All Christmas trees are perfect”，because they can remind you of ______．

5.The best title for this passage would be “______”．

高二英语阅读理解简单题查看答案及解析

Nothing is as precious as one's freedom. Dreams, aspirations and ideals mean nothing if one does not have the freedom to pursue them.

A lot has been done in the name of freedom. A lot has been said and written about freedom. In the past six months, the world witnessed Tunisian uprising, Egyptian revolution and Libyan civil war. Thousands of people fought for freedom; hundreds of people lost their lives (for freedom); people are craving for freedom. But, what exactly is freedom? We are fighting for it, we are ready to die for it, we are craving for it, but, can we really define it?

Albert Camus thinks freedom is a chance to be better. Abraham Lincoln calls it best hope of Earth. Epictetus says it's the right to live as we wish. For Moshe Dayan it's oxygen for soul. According to Urban Dictionary it's everything. And going by Oxford Dictionaries, it's power of self determination attributed to the will.

Everyone has different views about freedom. But somehow I am still not convinced because we can't really be fighting for a chance or hope. And the concept of everything is full of uncertainties. I don't think we are fighting for power of self-determination either. And as for the right to live as we wish, if we have the right to fight, then, how can we be denied the right to live as per our wish?

But the question still remains unanswered, what is freedom?

For me, freedom has a deeper and greater meaning. I think freedom is much more than just a right. It's a responsibility of doing what you think is good, not only for you but even for society. It is a state when one realizes their duties and starts respecting others' freedom.

Freedom is when we realize that we can do absolutely anything except force another person to follow us in our madness or our desire for life. Freedom is when we are no longer slaves to our desires, society, its expectations, luxury or slaves to a life we did not choose.

Freedom is when we have the courage to speak out what we know is true, do what we feel is right, and fight for what we think is unfair. One shouldn't really fight for freedom; rather, they should try to achieve it.

1.How many famous people’s definitions of freedom are mentioned in the passage?

A. 4　　 B. 5　　　 C. 6　　　 D. 7

2.Paragraph 3 mainly tells us that _____________.

A. Everyone longs for freedom

B. Everyone is fighting for freedom

C. People have different views about freedom

D. Famous people have a deeper understanding of freedom

3.Which of the following will the author agree with?

A. Freedom is a chance to live better.

B. Freedom is our best hope in the world.

C. Freedom is the right to live as we wish.

D. Freedom is a responsibility of doing what is good.

4.What is the author’s purpose of writing the passage?

A. To show different views about freedom.

B. To express his understanding of freedom.

C. To encourage us to pursue our dreams and aspirations.

D. To argue against some famous people’s understanding of freedom.

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析