In its early history, Chicago had floods frequently, especially in the spring, making the streets so muddy that people, horses, and carts got stuck. An old joke that was popular at the time went something like this: A man is stuck up to his waist in a muddy Chicago street. Asked if he needs help, he replies, “No, thanks. I've got a good horse under me.”
The city planner decided to build an underground drainage (排水) system, but there simply wasn't enough difference between the height of the ground level and the water level. The only two options were to lower the Chicago River or raise the city.
An engineer named Ellis Chesbrough convinced me the city that it had no choice but to build the pipes above ground and then cover them with dirt. This raised the level of the city's streets by as much as 12 feet.
This of course created a new problem: dirt practically buried the first floors of every building in Chicago. Building owners were faced with a choice: either change the first floors of their buildings into basements, and the second stories into main floors, or hoist the entire buildings to meet the new street level. Small wood-frame buildings could be lifted fairly easily. But what about large, heavy structures like Tremont Hotel, which was a six-story brick building?
That's where George Pullman came in. He had developed some house-moving skills successfully. To lift a big structure like the Tremont Hotel, Pullman would place thousands of jackscrews (螺旋千斤顶) beneath the building's foundation. One man was assigned to operate each section of roughly 10 jackscrews. At Pullman's signal each man turned his jackscrew the same amount at the same time, thereby raising the building slowly and evenly. Astonishingly, the Tremont Hotel stay open during the entire operation, and many of its guests didn't even notice anything was happening. Some people like to say that every problem has a solution. But in Chicago's early history, every engineering solution seemed to create a new problem. Now that Chicago's waste water was draining efficiently into the Chicago River, the city's next step was to clean the polluted river.
1.The author mentions the joke to show ______.
A. horses were fairly useful in Chicago
B. Chicago's streets were extremely muddy
C. Chicago was very dangerous in the spring
D. the Chicago people were particularly humorous
2.The city planners were convinced by Ellis Chesbrough to_______.
A. get rid of the street dirt B. lower the Chicago River
C. fight against heavy floods D. build the pipes above ground
3.The underlined word “hoist”in Paragraph 4 means “_______”.
A. change B. lift
C. repair D. decorate
4.What can we conclude about the moving operation of the Tremont Hotel?
A. It went on smoothly as intended.
B. It interrupted the business of the hotel.
C. It involved Pullman turning ten jackscrews.
D. It separated the building from its foundation.
5.The passage is mainly about the early Chicago's ______.
A. popular life styles and their influences
B. environmental disasters and their causes
C. engineering problems and their solutions
D. successful businessmen and their achievements
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题
In its early history, Chicago had floods frequently, especially in the spring, making the streets so muddy that people, horses, and carts got stuck. An old joke that was popular at the time went something like this: A man is stuck up to his waist in a muddy Chicago street. Asked if he needs help, he replies, “No, thanks. I've got a good horse under me.”
The city planner decided to build an underground drainage (排水) system, but there simply wasn't enough difference between the height of the ground level and the water level. The only two options were to lower the Chicago River or raise the city.
An engineer named Ellis Chesbrough convinced me the city that it had no choice but to build the pipes above ground and then cover them with dirt. This raised the level of the city's streets by as much as 12 feet.
This of course created a new problem: dirt practically buried the first floors of every building in Chicago. Building owners were faced with a choice: either change the first floors of their buildings into basements, and the second stories into main floors, or hoist the entire buildings to meet the new street level. Small wood-frame buildings could be lifted fairly easily. But what about large, heavy structures like Tremont Hotel, which was a six-story brick building?
That's where George Pullman came in. He had developed some house-moving skills successfully. To lift a big structure like the Tremont Hotel, Pullman would place thousands of jackscrews (螺旋千斤顶) beneath the building's foundation. One man was assigned to operate each section of roughly 10 jackscrews. At Pullman's signal each man turned his jackscrew the same amount at the same time, thereby raising the building slowly and evenly. Astonishingly, the Tremont Hotel stay open during the entire operation, and many of its guests didn't even notice anything was happening. Some people like to say that every problem has a solution. But in Chicago's early history, every engineering solution seemed to create a new problem. Now that Chicago's waste water was draining efficiently into the Chicago River, the city's next step was to clean the polluted river.
1.The author mentions the joke to show ______.
A. horses were fairly useful in Chicago
B. Chicago's streets were extremely muddy
C. Chicago was very dangerous in the spring
D. the Chicago people were particularly humorous
2.The city planners were convinced by Ellis Chesbrough to_______.
A. get rid of the street dirt B. lower the Chicago River
C. fight against heavy floods D. build the pipes above ground
3.The underlined word “hoist”in Paragraph 4 means “_______”.
A. change B. lift
C. repair D. decorate
4.What can we conclude about the moving operation of the Tremont Hotel?
A. It went on smoothly as intended.
B. It interrupted the business of the hotel.
C. It involved Pullman turning ten jackscrews.
D. It separated the building from its foundation.
5.The passage is mainly about the early Chicago's ______.
A. popular life styles and their influences
B. environmental disasters and their causes
C. engineering problems and their solutions
D. successful businessmen and their achievements
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
In its early history, Chicago had floods frequently, especially in the spring, making the streets so muddy that people, horses, and carts got stuck. An old joke that was popular at the time went something like this: A man is stuck up to his waist in a muddy Chicago street. Asked if he needs help, he replies, "No, thanks. I've got a good horse under me."
The city planner decided to build an underground drainage (排水) system, but there simply wasn't enough difference between the height of the ground level and the water level. The only two options were to lower the Chicago River or raise the city.
An engineer named Ellis Chesbrough convinced the city that it had no choice but to build the pipes above ground and then cover them with dirt. This raised the level of the city's streets by as much as 12 feet.
This of course created a new problem: dirt practically buried the first floors of every building in Chicago. Building owners were faced with a choice: either change the first floors of their buildings into basements, and the second stories into main floors, or hoist the entire buildings to meet the new street level. Small wood-frame buildings could be lifted fairly easily. But what about large, heavy structures like Tremont Hotel, which was a six-story brick building?
That's where George Pullman came in. He had developed some house-moving skills successfully. To lift a big structure like the Tremont Hotel, Pullman would place thousands of jackscrews (螺旋千斤顶) beneath the building's foundation. One man was assigned to operate each section of roughly 10 jackscrews. At Pullman's sign each man turned his jackscrew the same amount at the same time, thereby raising the building slowly and evenly. Astonishingly, the Tremont Hotel stay open during the entire operation, and many of its guests didn't even notice anything was happening. Some people like to say that every problem has a solution. But in Chicago's early history, every engineering solution seemed to create a new problem. Now that Chicago's waste water was draining efficiently into the Chicago River, the city's next step was to clean the polluted river.
1.The author mentions the joke to show ________.
A. horses were fairly useful in Chicago
B. Chicago's streets were extremely muddy
C. Chicago was very dangerous in the spring
D. the Chicago people were particularly humorous
2.The city planners were convinced by Ellis Chesbrough to ________.
A. get rid of the street dirt
B. lower the Chicago River
C. fight against heavy floods
D. build the pipes above ground
3.What can we conclude about the moving operation of the Tremont Hotel?
A. It went on smoothly as intended.
B. It interrupted the business of the hotel.
C. It involved Pullman turning ten jackscrews.
D. It separated the building from its foundation.
4.The passage is mainly about the early Chicago's ________.
A. popular life styles and their influences
B. environmental disasters and their causes
C. engineering problems and their solutions
D. successful businessmen and their achievements
高三英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析
B
In its early history, Chicago had floods frequently, especially in the spring, making the streets so muddy that people, horses, and carts got stuck. An old joke that was popular at the time went something like this: A man is stuck up to his waist in a muddy Chicago street. Asked if he needs help, he replies, "No, thanks. I've got a good horse under me."
The city planner decided to build an underground drainage (排水) system, but there simply wasn't enough difference between the height of the ground level and the water level. The only two options were to lower the Chicago River or raise the city.
An engineer named Ellis Chesbrough convinced me the city that it had no choice but to build the pipes above ground and then cover them with dirt. This raised the level of the city's streets by as much as 12 feet.
This of course created a new problem: dirt practically buried the first floors of every building in Chicago. Building owners were faced with a choice: either change the first floors of their buildings into basements, and the second stories into main floors, or hoist the entire buildings to meet the new street level. Small wood-frame buildings could be lifted fairly easily. But what about large, heavy structures like Tremont Hotel, which was a six-story brick building?
That's where George Pullman came in. He had developed some house-moving skills successfully. To lift a big structure like the Tremont Hotel, Pullman would place thousands of jackscrews (螺旋千斤顶) beneath the building's foundation. One man was assigned to operate each section of roughly 10 jackscrews. At Pullman's signal each man turned his jackscrew the same amount at the same time, thereby raising the building slowly and evenly. Astonishingly, the Tremont Hotel stay open during the entire operation, and many of its guests didn't even notice anything was happening. Some people like to say that every problem has a solution. But in Chicago's early history, every engineering solution seemed to create a new problem. Now that Chicago's waste water was draining efficiently into the Chicago River, the city's next step was to clean the polluted river.
1.The author mentions the joke to show ______.
A. horses were fairly useful in Chicago
B. Chicago's streets were extremely muddy
C. Chicago was very dangerous in the spring
D. the Chicago people were particularly humorous
2.The city planners were convinced by Ellis Chesbrough to_______.
A. get rid of the street dirt
B. lower the Chicago River
C. fight against heavy floods
D. build the pipes above ground
3.The underlined word "hoist" in Paragraph 4 means "_______".
A. change B. lift
C. repair D. decorate
4.What can we conclude about the moving operation of the Tremont Hotel?
A. It went on smoothly as intended.
B. It interrupted the business of the hotel.
C. It involved Pullman turning ten jackscrews.
D. It separated the building from its foundation.
5.The passage is mainly about the early Chicago's ______.
A. popular life styles and their influences
B. environmental disasters and their causes
C. engineering problems and their solutions
D. successful businessmen and their achievements
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析
One Sunday morning in August I went to local music festival. I left it early because I had an appointment 1.(late) that day. My friends walked me to the bus stop and waited with me 2. the bus arrived. I got on the bus and found a seat near the back, and then I noticed a man 3.(sit) at the front. He 4.(pretend) that a tiger toy was real and giving it a voice. He must be 5.(mental) disabled.
Behind him were other people to 6. he was trying to talk, but after some minutes 7. walked away and sat near me, looking annoyed.
I didn’t want to be laughed at for talking to him but I didn’t like leaving him 8. his own either.
After a while I rose from my seat and walked to the front of the bus. I sat next to the man and introduced myself. We had 9. amazing conversation. He got off the bus before me and I felt very happy the rest of the way home.
I’m glad I made a choice. It made 10. of us feel good.
高三英语语法填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
When I settled in Chicago,my new city seemed so big and unfriendly. Then I had a 26 problem and had to go to hospital for a 27 examination.
It seemed a small 28 compared to the one I was about to face ,but things started to go 29 right from the beginning , Not having a car or30 the city, I was depending on a couple of buses to get me from A to B. 31 I’d left myself plenty of time, soon it was 32 I was going to be late, as I had mistakenly boarded a bus that was taking me in the 33 direction.
I 34 the bus and stood on the pavement not knowing what to do. I looked into the eyes of a 35 , who was trying to get past me. 36 , instead of moving on ,she stopped to ask if I was 37 . After I explained my 38 to her, she pointed to a bus stop across the street , where a bus would take me back into the city to my 39 . Sitting there waiting, I felt40 that someone had been willing to help .41 , hearing a horn (喇叭) nearby, I looked up to see a car with my new friend 42 at me to get in, She had returned to offer me a 43 to the hospital.
Such unexpected 44 from a passer-by was a lovely gift to receive. As I climbed out of the car at the hospital and turned to thank her, she smiled and told me not to lose45 , for all things are possible.
1.A. physical B. traveling C. social D. housing
2.A. scientific B. final C. previous D. thorough
3.A. chance B. challenge C. success D. error
4.A. wrong B. easy C. fast D. ahead
5.A. leaving B. visiting C. knowing D. appreciating
6.A. Although B. Since C. Unless D. Once
7.A. strange B. necessary C. obvious D. important
8.A. same B. right C. general D. opposite
9.A. looked at B. waited for C. got off D. ran into
10.A. driver B. friend C. stranger D. gentleman
11.A. Especially B. Surprisingly C. Probably D. Normally
12.A. nervous B. excited C. OK D. dangerous
13.A. idea B. motivation C. excuse D. situation
14.A. appointment B. apartment C. direction D. station
15.A. afraid B. grateful C. certain D. disappointed
16.A. Thus B. Then C. Perhaps D. Surely
17.A. staring B. laughing C. waving D. shouting
18.A. lift B. suggestion C. bike D. guidebook
19.A. results B. news C. kindness D. appearance
20.A. power B. faith C. touch D. support
高三英语完型填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
When I settled in Chicago, my new city seemed so big and unfriendly. Then I had a problem and had to go to hospital for a examination.
It seemed a small compared to the one I was about to face ,but things started to go right from the beginning.Not having a car or the city, I was depending on a couple of buses to get me from A to B. I’d left myself plenty of time, soon it was I was going to be late, as I had mistakenly boarded a bus that was taking me in the direction.
I the bus and stood on the pavement not knowing what to do. I looked into the eyes of a , who was trying to get past me , instead of moving on,she stopped to ask if I was . After I explained my to her, she pointed to a bus stop across the street, where a bus would take me back into the city to my . Sitting there waiting, I felt that someone had been willing to help. , hearing a horn (喇叭) nearby, I looked up to see a car with my new friend at me to get in. She had returned to offer me a to the hospital.
Such unexpected from a passer-by was a lovely gift to receive. As I climbed out of the car at the hospital and turned to thank her, she smiled and told me not to lose , for all things are possible.
1.A. physical B. traveling C. social D. housing
2.A. scientific B. final C. previous D. thorough
3.A. chance B. challenge C. success D. error
4.A. wrong B. easy C. fast D. ahead
5.A. leaving B. visiting C. knowing D. appreciating
6.A. Although B. Since C. Unless D. Once
7.A. strange B. necessary C. obvious D. important
8.A. same B. right C. general D. opposite
9.A. looked at B. waited for C. got off D. ran into
10.A. driver B. friend C. stranger D. gentleman
11.A. Especially B. Surprisingly C. Probably D. Normally
12.A. nervous B. excited C. OK D. dangerous
13.A. idea B. motivation C. excuse D. situation
14.A. appointment B. apartment C. direction D. station
15.A. afraid B. grateful C. certain D. disappointed
16.A. Thus B. Then C. Perhaps D. Surely
17.A. staring B. laughing C. waving D. shouting
18.A. lift B. suggestion C. bike D. guidebook
19.A. results B. news C. kindness D. appearance
20.A. power B. faith C. touch D. support
高三英语完型填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
When I settled in Chicago,my new city seemed so big and unfriendly.Then I had a ____ problem and had to go to hospital for a ___ examination.
It seemed a small ____ compared to the one I was about to face,but things started to go ____ right from the beginning.Not having a car or ____ the city,I was depending on a couple of buses to get me from A to B.___ I'd left myself plenty of time,soon it was ___ I was going to be late,as I had mistakenly boarded a bus that was taking me in the ____ direction.
I ___ the bus and stood on the pavement not knowing what to do.I looked into the eyes of a ____,who was trying to get past me.____,instead of moving on,she stopped to ask if I was ____.After I explained my ____ to her,she pointed to a bus stop across the street,where a bus would take me back into the city to my ____.Sitting there waiting,I felt ____ that someone had been willing to help.____,hearing a horn(喇叭)nearby,I looked up to see a car with my new friend ____ at me to get in.She had returned to offer me a ___ to the hospital.
Such unexpected ____ from a passerby was a lovely gift to receive.As I climbed out of the car at the hospital and turned to thank her,she smiled and told me not to lose ____,for all things are possible.
1.A.physical B.traveling C.social D.housing
2.A.scientific B.final C.previous D.thorough
3.A.chance B.challenge C.success D.error
4.A.wrong B.easy C.fast D.ahead
5.A.leaving B.visiting C.knowing D.appreciating
6.A.Although B.Since C. Unless D.Once
7.A.strange B.necessary C.obvious D.important
8.A.same B.right C.general D. opposite
9.A.looked at B.waited for C.got off D.ran into
10.A.driver B.friend C.stranger D.gentleman
11.A.Especially B.Surprisingly
C.Probably D.Normally
12.A.nervous B.excited C.OK D.dangerous
13.A.idea B.motivation
C.excuse D.situation
14.A.appointment B.apartment
C.direction D.station
15.A.afraid B.grateful
C.certain D.disappointed
16.A.Thus B.Then C.Perhaps D.Surely
17.A.staring B.laughing C.waving D.shouting
18.A.lift B.suggestion C.bike D.guidebook
19.A.power B.faith C.touch D.support
20.A.results B.news C.kindness D.appearance
高三英语完型填空中等难度题查看答案及解析
Before she was crowned (加冕) Miss Amazing National in Chicago, US, Vanessa Cleary had never thought of herself as a beauty pageant (选美) competitor.
Yet the way in which Vanessa told the story of her birth mother’s struggle to help her with her disabilities and the positive impact her adoption had on her life helped her win over the judges last month. After the pageant, in which she took top honors in the junior teen division, the 15- year-old girl said she’s looking forward to telling her friends about her experience so they can join in as well. “I want everyone to have the experience I had,” Vanessa said. “It was really fun and I really enjoyed it.”
Miss Amazing is a pageant for girls with learning disabilities. In the ten years since it began, 1700 girls with disabilities have benefited from it. The pageant is designed to help the girls who participate to build sisterhoods, develop life skills, and increase visibility for those in the disabled community.
The main event of the pageant is the stage performance, in which participants get to showcase a talent of their choice. When Vanessa’s mother first heard about Miss Amazing, she thought the pageant would be a great opportunity for Vanessa to showcase her skill for public speaking. Vanessa wants to be a teacher to teach other students who have disabilities like her.
Vanessa’s vision and hearing is impaired, and she has a disability that makes reading difficult for her. Despite this, she is very active and loves public speaking. For Vanessa, it wasn’t about winning the pageant. It was about the opportunity for her to participate and feel supported.
1.Who is Vanessa Cleary? (within 15 words)
2.What’s the aim of the pageant? (within 20 words).
3.What’s the meaning of the underlined word “impaired”? (within 5 words)
4.What is Vanessa’s talent show in the pageant? (within 5 words)
5.What do you think is the most important for Vanessa to win this year’s Miss Amazing pageant?(within 15 words)
高三英语阅读表达中等难度题查看答案及解析
The history of English Coins
English coins have developed and changed over time. In the early 1600s' coins were made using the hammer struck method. Hammered coins or cast coins where the primary way coins were made and thus limited the number of coins that may be placed into circulation (流通). Hammered coins were made as far back as the first millennium BC with continued in use until the 1500s to the 1700s. English coins underwent a change in about 1663.
Hammered English coins were made using a blank quantity of metal that was the required weight and placing it between two dies. A die is a mold (模子) that allows the metal to get cut to a certain size and shape.The metal die contained an image that when hammered without delay would mold the image on each side of the coin. The unit was customarily place on a log or other firm surface which was known as a pile. One person held the die while a second person struck it.
There were several issues with this kind of coin making. For one thing, it was extremely slow and work in depth. Comparatively few coins might be made and placed into circulation. A second problem was that hammered coins had many irregularities. When several coins were placed together in a container and shaken about they were damaged as well. That is why older English coins might have chips(缺口) and rough edges.
During the 17th century hammered coins were replaced with milled (轧有花边的) coins. While France was the first country to start producing coins that were made entirely by machine, Britain wasn't far behind. Britain, in fact, began to manufacture coins on a trial basis in the mid1500s, but it wasn't until the end of 1662 that English coins were made completely by machine.
The screw press (螺旋压力机) was the first machine to produce coins as an alternative to hammered coins. Leonardo da Vinci was the person who invented the screw press in the 15th century. It was powered by a water mill. Early on efforts were made to protect the coins by edging. You'll see that Englishmade coins have milled edges.
Milled English coins were much more standard in size and shape as well. The speed at which milled coins could be created allowed the coin circulation to grow and a greater number of coin types to be developed.
English coins were used in this country during the royally period. Hammered coins were produced and used up through the end of the 18th century and were given out across the colonies. English coins went through quite a lot of changes as can be seen in old coins that have been started in the US over time.
__1.__of English coins Time & Major Events
Hammered
coins ◆The hammer struck method used to make coins has a history dating back to the first millennium BC.
◆At least two people are needed to carry out the work, with one _2.__the die and the other striking it.
◆__3._:
◆The number of coins made and placed into circulation this way was _4.__.
◆Older English coins were quite __5._,with many having chips and rough edges.
◆Such coins were placed into circulation across the colonies and __6._ in use through the end of the 18th century.
Milled coins During
the 15th
century ◆Leonardo da Vinci _7.__the screw press, the 1st machine to produce coins.
In the
mid1500s Britain __8._manufacturing coins.
In the
17th
century ◆France became the first country to start producing coins made entirely by machine,_9.__ by Britain, whose machinemade coins were featured by milled edges, but were more regular in size and shape.
◆The coin circulation began to grow.
◆Milled coins appeared as a(n) __10._ to hammered coins.
高三英语其他题中等难度题查看答案及解析
A few years ago a group of salesmen went to a meeting in Chicago. They had assured their wives that they would be home in plenty of time for Friday night’s dinner. In their rush, with tickets, one of these salesmen happened to kick over a table which held a display of baskets of apples. Apples flew everywhere. Without stopping or looking back, they all managed to reach the plane in time for their boarding.
All but one stopped, took a deep breath and experienced a twinge(刺痛)of sorrow for the girl whose apple stand had been overturned. He told his friends to go on without him, waved goodbye, and told one of them to call his wife when they arrived and explain his taking a later flight. Then he returned to where the apple stand had been overturned. He was glad he did.
The 16-year-old girl was totally blind! She was softly crying, tears running down her face. The salesman knelt on the floor with her, gathered up the apples, put them into the baskets, and helped set the display up once more. As he did this, he noticed that many of them had become damaged; then he set them aside in another basket. When he had finished, he pulled out his wallet and said to the girl, “Here, please take the $20 for the damage we did.” He continued, “I’m sorry for what we did and hope we didn’t spoil your day too badly.”
She nodded with her tears. As the salesman started to walk away, the blind girl called out to him, “Mr. ...”. He stopped, and turned back. She continued, “Thank you very much”.
1.These salesmen were hurrying because they ________.
A.had to attend an important meeting |
B.wanted to have plenty of time at home |
C.almost missed reaching the airplane |
D.hoped to have Friday night’s party |
2.Which of the following is the correct order of what the salesman did?
a. He made an apology to the blind girl.
b. He told his friends to go on without him.
c. He experienced a twinge of sorrow.
d. He returned to the fallen apple stand.
e. He paid the girl $20 for the damage.
A.c-e-b-d-a | B.c-b-d-e-a |
C.d-b-c-a-e | D.d-c-b-e-a |
3.Which of the following can describe the salesman?
A.Popular and friendly. | B.Good and humorous. |
C.Honest and generous. | D.Kind and considerate. |
4.Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
A.A Man’s Kind Action |
B.Picking up the Fallen Apples |
C.A Blind Girl’s Bad Luck |
D.A Blind Girl Who Sold Apples |
高三英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析