It’s the place where smart people make smart ...

It’s the place where smart people make smart machines work even smarter. It’s also in the heart of sunny California, a great place to start a family and raise kids. What could be better?

But something is happening to their children. Up until the age of two they develop normally. But then everything seems to go backwards. The children become locked into their own small world, unable to communicate at all.

They call it the “curse(诅咒) of Silicon Valley,” but the medical name for the condi­tion is autism. It used to be thought that autism was a kind of mental illness. Now doctors are sure that it is a neurological disease passed down genetically. It seems that the people leading the communications revolution are having children who cannot commu­nicate at all.

But even the parents have trouble communicating. Asperger’s Syndrome(综合症) is a mild version of autism（自闭症）. People who have it are highly intelligent and often brilliant with num­bers or system but have no social skill. This very combination of symptoms makes Asperger’s sufferers into perfect computer professionals.

The Asperger’s sufferer has always been a well—known figure in popular culture. He or she was the abnormal but devoted scholar or the strange uncle or auntie who never married. But the high numbers of such people in Silicon Valley mean that they can meet others who understand them and share their interests. And while they might not be per­sonally attractive, they can earn truly attractive amounts of money. They can get married and have kids. Unfortunately, many of the children of two Asperger’s parents seem to be developing serious autism.

There is little anyone can do. It takes hours of work just to make autistic child realize that anyone else exists. And there is no cure in sight. Some argue that no cure should be found. “It may be that autistics are essentially different from normal people, but that these differences make them invaluable for the evolution（进化）of the human race,” says Dr. Kirk Whilhelmsen of the University of California. “To get rid of the genes for autism could be extremely bad.”

It seems that the children of Silicon Valley are paying the price of genius.

1.What can we learn about autism according to the passage?

A. They do not care about the presence of others.

B. People with autism can’t find people sharing their interests.

C. It is believed to be a kind of mental illness that can be cured.

D. They are a burden for the society.

2.Why do people call autism “curse of Silicon Valley”？

A. Because autistic people live in Silicon Valley.

B. Because people with autism will be driven out of Silicon Valley.

C. Because many people working in Silicon Valley have autism children.

D. Because people with autism are not personally attractive and not liked by others.

3.What can we know about Asperger’s Syndrome according to the passage?

A. Asperger’s sufferers never get married and have children.

B. Asperger’s sufferers are perfect computer professionals.

C. Asperger’s sufferers are ashamed of themselves and locked into their own world.

D. Asperger’s sufferers can be beneficial to society if they are cured.

4.What does Dr Kirk Whilhelmsen think of autism?

A. It is not completely a bad thing.

B. It is harmful to society.

C. It is a punishment to those working in Silicon Valley.

D. People with autism should never marry.

高一英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

This is the front page of the Simple English Wikipedia. Wikipedias are places where people work together to write encyclopedias(百科) in different languages. We use simple English words and grammar here. The Simple English Wikipedia is for everyone! That includes children and adults who are learning English.

There are 59,298 articles on the Simple English Wikipedia. All of the pages are free to use. They have all been published under both the Creative Commons Attribution / Share-Alike Licence 3.0 and the GNU Free Documentation Licence. You can help here! You may change these pages and make the new pages. Read the help pages and other good pages to learn how to write pages here. If you need help, you may ask questions at Simple talk.

When writing articles here:

Use easy words and shorter sentences. This lets people who know little English read them.

Write good pages. The best encyclopedia pages have useful, well written information.

Use the pages to learn and teach. These pages can help people learn English. You can also use them to make a new Wikipedia to help other people.

Simple does not mean little. Writing in Simple English means that simple words are used. It does not mean readers want simple information. Articles do not have to be short to be simple; expand articles, include a lot of information, but use basic vocabulary.

Be bold! Your article does not have to be perfect, because other editors will fix it and make it better. And most importantly, do not be afraid to start and make articles better yourself.

1.          Wikipedia is a website for people to____.

2.          From the second paragraph, we know that_____.

3.          If you want to write articles for the Simple English Wikipedia, you should____.

4.          According to the text, we know that Simple talk is to_____.

5.          From the text we can learn that____.

高一英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

As smart devices continue to fill people’s daily life, the debate over their place in the classroom has grown increasingly. Now, a study conducted at the United States Military Academy just might put an end to it.

In a recent investigation, researchers found that students who were permitted to use laptops or tablets in the classroom performed worse than those who did not- and those with higher initial GPAs（平均成绩）were most heavily affected.

While some argue that laptops aid students in notetaking and comprehension, many say that they couldn’t pay attention to the lessons. To get to the bottom of the issue, researchers investigated the effect of laptops and tablets on student performance in a course at a school.

In the study, the class was then divided into two “treatment groups”. The first treatment group was permitted to use laptops and tablets for purposes relating to their lesson. If the student was obviously distracted, professors could stop them from using the device. In the second group, students could only use tablets, making the screen easily visible to the professors. When it came time for final exam scores, the researchers found that using a laptop or tablet in the classroom had caused a drop of roughly one- fifth of a standard. The results for the two treatment groups were nearly the same, they say.

And, the negative effects were seen most heavily in male students. The estimated effects of the two treatment groups are nearly same, suggesting that even allowing students to use computer devices in a manner that is controlled by the professor can have harmful effects on classroom performance.

The researchers say that both unrestricted and restricted use may affect students in a number of ways. It could lead to distractions, in which students are checking social media or even doing homework for another class, and it may reduce students’ abilities to effectively take notes.

1.The underlined word “it” in the first paragraph may refer to 　　　　 .

A. the device

B. the debate

C. the classroom

D. the study

2.Who suffered from the use of smart devices most in the study?

A. The male students with higher GPAs.

B. The students with poor academic performance.

C. The students who could use laptops or tablets freely.

D. The male students who could use laptops or tablets under control.

3.What caused the drop of the students’ scores?

A. The comprehension.

B. The note-taking

C. The distraction

D. The bad teaching

高一英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

More new machines will be bought to __________ the old ones.

A．replace with                           B．take place

C．make place for                         D．take the place of

高一英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

In China， most people ride bikes to school，or to work，or to places where they want to go．So China is called “kingdom of bicycles”．

But Americans are a people on the wheel．Wherever you go， you will see cars．There are so many cars that there is a traffic jam here and there．Now， more and more Americans would not consider it a healthy way of life．In fact， many Americans are strongly against the advancement of the wheel．We should encourage people to use less cars to save our environment and the energy．

Everyone wants to reduce pollution．But the pollution problem is very serious．People drive cars and the waste gas from them causes air pollution．On the other hand， the need for energy increases every day， and some sources of energy are running out． Oil will last for no more than 40 years， while coal could last another 300 years．The way we’re heading is towards a world where people are going to go cold and hungry．Now in China many rich men live away from downtown．On holidays they go to some big cities and places of interest．Most of them use their own cars．But China is a country with a population of over 1．3 billion．So， if you have enough money in the future，what will you do?

1.According to the passage， most Chinese people go to school or work by_________．

A．bike        B．bus          C．train           D．plane

2.In America， you will see _________ everywhere．

A. bikes       B. cars          C. oil              D. coal

3.The waste gas from cars causes_________．

A．air pollution            B．traffic jams

C．waste of money         D．energy problems

4.The end of the last paragraph suggests that_________．

A．Americans should give up their cars

B．the energy should be saved around the world

C．Chinese shouldn’t become a people on the wheel

D．rich Chinese shouldn’t use their own cars in China

高一英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Make sure that the machine is kept where it is not ____ to children.

A. possible      B. common          C. accessible                D. Useful

高一英语单项填空简单题查看答案及解析

If you live in a place where most people speak the language you are learning, you may use the language for several hours each day. So it may become part of your “inner speech.” In other words, you start thinking in that language. Your mind stops trying to translate things from your native language into the second language. But most of the English learners live in places where English is not the main language. This may be true for you. You may not have many chances to practice English. You may even be self-taught.

Thinking in English really helps! It is not very difficult, but it does need practice. Here we will share some mental exercises. A good first step is to think in words. Look around you. What do you see? In your head, try to name each object in your surroundings. Charles Thomas has taught English for over 10 years. He tells his students to name the things that they see around them, wherever they are.

Another exercise Thomas suggest is describing in your mind objects you don’t know the words for. An example would be if you couldn’t think of the word “garage”. Thomas says, “If you’re looking at your house and you see your garage, but you can’t think of the name in English. You can say, ‘The place inside where I put my car’ or you can say, ‘It’s next to my house. I keep things there.’”

The next exercise is thinking in simple sentences. For example, if you are sitting in a park, you can tell yourself things like, “It’s such a beautiful day” and “People are playing sports with their friends.” You can also describe your daily activities. Thomas asks his students to describe their day using the simple present verb form. So, they would think to themselves things like, “I put on my shirt” and “He drives the bus.”

How much time should you spend on these exercises? Thomas says you do a little every day. “When you make things a habit, then it just pops up into your mind without thinking and then, before you know it, really, you’re thinking in English.”

1.When a second language becomes part of your “inner speech”, ________.

A.most people around you speak the language

B.you start thinking in the language

C.you translate things from your native language into it

D.you learn the language by yourself

2.“The place inside where I put my car” is an example for ________

A.naming objects in your surroundings

B.thinking in simple sentences

C.describing objects you don’t know the words for

D.describing your daily activities

3.Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

A.Spend your time on exercises

B.Teach yourself a second language

C.Train your brain to think in English

D.Practice English wherever you are

高一英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Blogs (博客) are the place where young people go to show their hearts, to express their anger, sorrow or disappointment, and even to gossip (说别人的闲话).

Many people enjoy the freedom in blogging. Some, however, find that putting one’s life online can have a price. The blogs of some students in America were stopped by the government for some time because they posted threatening words to their teachers on their blogs.

A recent study finds that nearly a fifth of teens who surf the Internet have their own blogs. And 38 % of teens say they read other people’s blogs. By comparison, about a tenth of adults have their own blogs and a quarter say they read other people’s online magazines.

With the development of the Internet, more and more people will be attracted by blogging.

In another study, 79% of teens agree that people at their age aren’t careful enough when giving out information about themselves online. Besides, careless blogging can also influence blog readers. When you are angry or unhappy, your blog is the first place you turn to. The words you post then may not be rational which you may regret later. To minimize (使减到最小) the negative influence, change the safety setting and make such posts “personal” so that only you can read them.

As long as you are careful with what you post, blogging is a great means of staying in touch with friends and displaying one’s creative works.

1. Blogs are the place where people __________.

A. go online to have a chat

B. go online to enjoy freedom

C. exchange their views online

D. go online to express themselves freely

2. The fact that some American students’ blogs were stopped is used to show that __________.

A. people should not put their life online

B. American students are limited in blogging

C. anyone who gets on the Web has his blog

D. people should be careful with what they write

3. The underlined word “rational” in the fifth paragraph probably means __________.

A. strange                              B. perfect

C. helpful                                  D. reasonable

4. The passage is mainly about __________.

A. the use people make of blogs

B. the number of people who have blogs

C. advantages and disadvantages of blogs

D. the author’s suggestions about blogging

高一英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Located on the waters of Lake Superior, Rabbit Island is a remote place where few people live. While this tiny island may not look big from up above, it’s a piece of undeveloped nature, the perfect place for artists from all fields to come and inspire their creativity.

It was that vision that made New Yorker Rob Gorski purchase the island on Craigslist in 2010. He wanted to protect the island’s natural state. But Gorski had more than preserving nature in mind. He saw an opportunity to create a place where artists, musicians, writers, dancers and other creative types could reconnect with nature while learning about environmental protection and sustainability (可持续性).

Shortly after that, Gorski worked with friend and artist Andrew Ranville and created the Rabbit Island Foundation. The organization’s main goal is to host artist living programs during the summer while also teaching and supporting environmental protection, sustainability and serving “as a platform for science, art, preservation and recreation for the generations.” In keeping with the belief that the island should remain largely untouched, the artists follow a “leave no trace” policy. Small solar panels (板) are used to produce electricity, and buildings are simple and modest. There’s also the added benefit that there are no modern distractions (分心的事情) for the artists — no Internet, no television.

What sets Rabbit Island apart from other arts programs is the fluidity (流动性) of the programs. Artists are encouraged to experience being on their own and listen to what nature is trying to tell them. Ranville hopes the artists have a better understanding and appreciation for nature, just as he does with his art.

1.Which words can best describe Rabbit Island?

A.Beautiful and interesting.

B.Big but peaceful.

C.Remote and undeveloped.

D.Small but mysterious.

2.Apart from preserving nature, another reason why Rob Gorski purchased Rabbit Island is that __________.

A.he was preparing to make an investment

B.he hoped to leave the property to his grandchildren

C.he wanted to create a place for artists to connect with nature

D.he planned to provide a place for people to spend their holidays

3.Which of the following are features of living on Rabbit Island?

a. They use solar panels to produce electricity.

b. Buildings there are simple and modest.

c. The house foundations are solid and permanent.

d. There is no Internet or television.

A.abc. B.abd.

C.acd. D.bcd.

4.What is special about Rabbit Island compared with other arts programs?

A.It is mainly to help poor artists.

B.Its location isn’t that convenient.

C.Artists are taught how to develop other islands.

D.Artists are encouraged to experience nature on their own.

高一英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Guilin is the most beautiful place _____people all over the world want to visit.

A．where            B．which            C．what             D．that

高一英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析