When I was young, I left a high-school-teachi...

When I was young, I left a high-school-teaching job to go graduate school again. In one of my first classes, I studied the poetry of Thomas Eliot. I felt hopeless when my high school Webster’s Dictionary tuned silent each time I tried to look up words like “estaminet” or “juvescence”. I needed a new book the Oxford English Dictionary, whose price was $300.

On a cold night, my husband and I set out for a bookstore in Atlanta. I breathlessly asked the clerk for my book, which was kept far behind the counter, paid quickly so that I would have no time to imagine people’s thoughts that I was mad, and rushed back to our truck, carrying the great weight of Oxford English Dictionary.

Don’t get me wrong: I never turn down a trip to the library, but I know that there is something mysterious and spiritual ---to own your own good books, and to spend your earthly money on a piece of heavenly art to pass it down to future generations.

I have been the recipient of many of these passed-down books. My father worked as a plumber, who was often busy repairing things like water pipes. He never made the extravagant (奢侈的) purchases as I did, but I remember his going to the Aspen Used Book store on the weekends. He would take hundreds of used books and trade them for wonderful sets of classics. He would also go in there and come out with how-to books about fixing the leaks. He would neatly arrange the classics in our basement where I, at the age of nine or ten, would spend all summer there reading Greek and Roman myths.

One day, I’ll have to leave my library, but I’m pleased to know that my children will have all my books about Southern literature and modern poetry. They might say, “Look, Mama surely loved Flannery O’Connor.” Or “I wonder why she had three copies of T.S. Eliot: Collected Poems?”

1.Why did the author feel hopeless about her high school dictionary?

A. It was out of date and of no use.

B. It failed to cover enough words.

C. It often gave wrong explanations.

D. It couldn’t offer the exact meaning.

2.What can be inferred from Paragraph 2?

A. The Oxford English Dictionary was very popular.

B. The author felt it an adventure to buy the dictionary.

C. The author regretted buying the dictionary at first.

D. Few people would buy the Oxford English Dictionary.

3.What do we know about the author’s father?

A. He was inspired to read books by his daughter.

B. He loved books despite not being well educated.

C. He improved his professional skills through books.

D. He spent lots of his salary buying wonderful book.

4.Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?

A. Books at all costs

B. Father’s special bookstore

C. The Oxford English Dictionary

D. Studying the poetry of T.S. Eliot

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

When young, I loved going on trail（小路） runs. It was my favorite way to escape stress. So, when I was back in my hometown after a tough first year of my Ph. D. program, I thought a trail run was just what I needed. But instead of helping me relax, the run did just the opposite.

After I moved to the city for college, where my runs were on flat concrete paths instead of winding dirt trails, I used a GPS watch. When I went on trail runs again in the country, it constantly reminded me of the fact that I wasn’t keeping up with my usual pace. I turned my watch off, thinking that would allow me to enjoy my surroundings and find the peace I expected, but I worried I was underperforming. “Why can’ t I let go and just enjoy myself?” I wondered. But after some introspection（反省）, I realized why I was struggling—both on trail runs and in graduate school.

Going into my Ph. D. , I had thought that my solid undergraduate track record would set me up for instant success. To my surprise, I was wrong. I lacked confidence in my research abilities which I thought stopped me performing well and I constantly felt my progress was too slow. Other students’ self-confidence and their excellent results made me feel insecure. Finally, one day I broke down in tears in my adviser’ s office.

Then came my visit home: I was having trouble because I hadn’ t properly adjusted my expectations to the differences between an urban run and a trail run.

A Ph. D. is like a trail run: Sometimes you can run fast. Sometimes you might find yourself climbing up a steep, winding trail at a snail’ s pace. And that’ s OK. Barriers are unavoidable, and success looks and feels different on a challenging trail than it does on a smooth, flat path. Sometimes it’ s best to take a deep breath and do your best to meet the challenge.

1.How did the author feel when he was on trail runs again?

A.Relaxed. B.Tired.

C.Anxious. D.Happy.

2.What resulted in the author’ s poor performance in Ph. D

A.His lack of confidence. B.His lack of hard work.

C.His poor research abilities. D.His poor track record.

3.What does the author want to show in the last paragraph?

A.His desire for success. B.His confidence of trail runs.

C.His expectations in his study. D.His realization after the trail run.

4.What does the author want to tell us?

A.Failure is the mother of success.

B.Working out regularly is beneficial.

C.It’ s important to make necessary adjustments.

D.It’ s vital to turn to others for help.

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Mrs Young was eighty. Her husband died when she was fifty – three and he left her an old car he had had for six years. She learned to drive and loved very much. She liked driving very fast, and was proud of the fact that she had never been caught for a driving offence(违章).

Then one day she nearly lost her record(纪录). A police car followed her, and the policeman in it saw her pass a red light without stopping and she was taken before a judge. The man looked at her and said that she was too old to drive a car, and the reason why she had not stopped at the red light was most probably that her eyes had become weak with old age, so that she had simply not seen it.

When the judge had finished what he was saying, Mrs Young opened her handbag she was carrying and took out her sewing. Without saying a word, she chose a needle(针) with a very small eye(针眼), and threaded it at her first try.

When she had finished it, she took the thread out of the needle again and handed both the needle and the thread to the judge, saying, “Now it’s your turn. I suppose you drive a car, and that your eyesight is good.”

The judge took the needle and tried to thread it. After trying six times, he had still not done it. At last he had to set the old woman free and her record remained unbroken.

1.Mrs Young’s car was 　　　　　　 years old.

A. 16　　　 B. 33　　　 C. 40　　 D. 53

2.As 　　　　 , she was taken before the judge.

A. Mrs Young’s car was too old

B. Mrs Young hadn’t made way for the police car

C. Mrs Young was rude to the policemen

D. Mrs Young hadn’t stopped at the red light

3.Mrs Young threaded before the judge in order to 　　　　 .

A. prove that her eyesight was still good

B. get the man into trouble

C. do some sewing

D. wait for the man’s judgement

4.The judge set Mrs free because 　　　　　　 .

A. she was very old　　　　　 　　　　 B. she could thread

C. he thought her sight good　　　　 D. he admired her

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Once there was a young woman who didn’t like her job. Everyday when she came home from work, she told her husband how terrible her day had been, how tiring the work and how unreasonable her boss. “Leave that job,” her husband told her.

“Oh, I will,” she said. “But not yet. I have too many friends there for me to leave.” And so she remained unhappy at work until the years became decades and her children had children. “Leave that job,” her grandchildren told her. “Oh, I will,” she said. “But not yet. There are only seven more years until I reach thirty years of service and can retire. So I can’t just yet.”

I know this woman. And her story reminds me of an old dog half asleep on the porch of a general store, moaning and groaning in the sun. “Why is your dog acting that way?” a customer asked the store owner. “Oh,” answered the man. “He’s lying on a nail.” “Well, why doesn’t he move?” “Because it’s not hurting him bad enough.”

That’s true for people, too. We convince ourselves the pain is not bad enough to leave the workplace we know. But we’re wrong. Prolonged work pain is continuing. Some work pain damages our self-esteem, kills our passion or destroys our dreams.

Wilbur Wright once commented, “We could hardly wait to get up in the morning. I know that exhilarating feeling of being so passionate about something I was working on that I couldn’t wait to get back to work. And people who are winning at working know that kind of passion, too.”

They get excited about work. They offer their unique gifts and talents eagerly. And when things don’t change as they sometimes will, they refuse to let environment hijack(劫持) their self-esteem, passion or dreams.

1.The woman complained to her husband every day because________.

2.From the second paragraph we can know that the woman________.

3.The underlined word “Prolonged” (in Paragraph 4) means________.

4.People who are getting along well with their work ________.

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

______ when he was young, he would have a good job now.

A. had he worked   B. did he work  C. if he worked  D. if he has worked

高二英语单项填空简单题查看答案及解析

At 18, many American young people go off on their own. They go away to college or find full-time jobs, and they often rent their own apartments. Some get married and start families. This independence(独立性) is learned from childhood.

From an early age, American children learn responsibility（责任感）. Children as young as 2 begin to put away their toys and dress themselves. At 3, many children do simple chores like setting the table.

Using money wisely is also taught early. As soon as a child understands the value of money, he or she receives a weekly allowance. This is used for things the child wants, like toys or treats. The child can spend or save it, usually with little guidance（指导） from parents. If the child wants money besides his or her allowance, it must be made by doing extra chores.

Children are taught early in life to think for themselves. They are allowed to make some decisions—and make mistakes. Failure（失败）often teaches more than success.

1.Many American young people begin to live on themselves __________.

A. at eighteen years old　　　　　 B. from childhood

C. after they get married　　　　 D. from an early age

2.An American child learns to __________ at the age of 2.

A. find a full-time job

B. rent an apartment

C. put on his or her own clothes

D. do lots of chores

3.The word “allowance”（in paragraph 3）means __________ in Chinese.

A. 零花钱　　 B. 奖品　　　　 C. 财产　　　 D. 礼物

4.A child can get some more money by __________.

A. understanding the value of money

B. helping the rich

C. reading many books

D. doing extra chores

5.The passage is mainly about __________.

A. the guidance from parents

B. the value of money

C. the independence of American children

D. failure and success of American children

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

When Boris left school, he could not find a job. He tried hard and he wrote letters to many companies until he could not afford to buy any more stamps. Boris began to lose his confidence, then depressed. Still he went on trying and still he failed. He began to think that he had no future at all.

“Why don’t you start your own business?” one of his uncles told him. “The world is a money-locker. You’d better find a way of opening it.”

“But what can I do?”

“Get out and have a look round.” advised his uncle. “See what people want; then give it to them, and they will pay for it.”

Boris began to cycle around the town and found a suitable piece of waste ground in the end. Then he set up his business as a cycle repairer. He worked hard, made friends with his customers and gradually managed to win his good fame. A few months later, he found that he had more work than he could deal with by himself. He found a number of empty shops but they were all no good: in the wrong position, too expensive or with some other problems. But at long last, he managed to find an empty shop in a new place where there were plenty of customers but no competition.

Boris and his assistant taught themselves how to repair motor-cycles. Slowly but surely the profits increased and the business developed. At last, Boris had managed lo open the money-locker and found bank notes and gold coins inside.

1.What’s the best title for the passage?

A. No Education, No Future.

B. The World Is a Money-locker.

C. Good Fame Is the Key to Success.

D. Difficulty of Starting a Small Business.

2.Which of the following best describes Boris’s job hunting experience?

A. Boring.　　 B. Surprising.

C. Encouraging.　　 D. Disappointing.

3.Boris started his career by ________.

A. repairing cycles　　 B. buying empty shops

C. cycling around the town　　 D. developing a waste ground

4.Boris finally chose an empty shop in a place because ________.

A. it was not so expensive

B. he had a lot of old customers there

C. there were good opportunities there

D. he could make good use of his skills there

高二英语阅读理解简单题查看答案及解析

单词拼写

1.The young man decided to find a ___________（临时的）job to support his family.

2.When I walked past him, he stood there, ___________（假装）not to see me.

3.The medical team c___________of over 20 people was sent to that poor area.

4.My mother was satisfied with the coat p___________（购买）from the Internet.

5.Seeing the long snake, the little girl was too t___________to walk any farther.

高二英语单词拼写中等难度题查看答案及解析

　　 ______ , it was difficult for the stubborn young man to seek a perfect job.

A. After graduating from university

B. After he graduated from university

C. Having graduated from university

D. Since he graduated from university

高二英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

---Cathy, when can I expect you to return to work?

---I’ll go back to my job once I’ve     who’s going to look after the kids during the day.

高二英语单项填空简单题查看答案及解析