British men are abandoning（抛弃，放弃）their stiff ...

British men are abandoning（抛弃，放弃）their stiff upper lips but still do not wear their hearts on their sleeves like Americans, a new survey showed. When it comes to strong emotion, the once serious British are now happy to shed tears quite openly.

“Thirty percent of all British males have cried in the last month. That is a very high figure,” said Peter Marsh, director of the Social Issues Research Center which took the emotional temperature of Britain. “Only two percent said they could not remember when they last cried,” the head of the independent research group said.

Long gone is the “No Tears — We’re British” time when emotion was considered distinctly bad form. “In our survey of 2,000 people, very few people in their forties of fifties had seen their father cry. Now it is twice as many,” he told reporters. “Seventy-seven percent of men considered crying in public increasingly acceptable.” Almost half the British men opened the floodgates over a sad movie, book or TV program. Self-pity got 17 percent crying. Nine percent cried at weddings.

From the days of Empire, the British have always considered themselves models of reserve（含蓄缄默）, laughing at “excitable foreigners” who show no self-control.

Marsh argued the divide was still there: “We have probably not caught up with the Americans or the Italians when it comes to the actual display of emotions.

“But we are clearly changing. What we take as typical British reserve has significantly faded”

Women’s battle for equal rights has certainly had an effect — both in the workplace and at home. “Men in their twenties or thirties are interacting（相互影响）with women on equal terms much more than a generation ago. They have to relate to the opposite sex. Women become more man-like and men become more female. That transfers into the work place too,” Marsh said.

1.The underlined phrase wear their hearts on their sleeves means ________.

A. wear their sleeves properly　　 B. express their feeling openly

C. put their heart into their work　　 D. have a heart-to-heart discussion

2.The British used to think crying in public ________.

A. natural　　 B. sensible

C. unacceptable　　 D. important

3.British men cried most ________.

A. over a sad film　　 B. over self-pity

C. at wedding　　 D. at graduation

高一英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

British men are encouraged to cry

There are certain things British men like to believe about themselves. The first is that one day they will again win the World Cup. They also believe they do not cry.

Over the centuries, Britons are believed to have a "stiff upper lip". But is this true?

Yes, it is. A recent study arranged by Kleenex on how the British express their emotions (感情) shows that 95 percent of them still contain their emotions.

Moreover, while 72 percent think this is unhealthy, 19 percent can't remember the last time they "let it out". As a result, Kleenex is carrying out the "Let It Out" campaign (运动) that encourages the British to grab a tissue and have a good cry.

These days, however, the male Briton's attitude toward crying is changing. Though the majority still struggles to open up emotionally, a 2004 study by Oxford's Social Issues Research Center found that 77 percent of British men considered crying in public increasingly acceptable. Half of London males admitted crying in front of their mothers.  Scotsmen are the least emotional, although they are the most likely to cry at weddings.

Peter Marsh, director of the center, said: "Crying can now indicate sensitivity rather than weakness. Like with David Beckham, crying because you're dropping off your boy at nursery isn't seen as weak."

Winston Churchill was said to be a frequent crier, shedding tears at seeing a survivor in an air raid shelter, and when he saw his wife after a long absence.

Psychologists(心理学家) say that while society has accepted that men can cry, there are limits. Ronald Bracey, a consulting psychologist, said: "If a man began to cry when he was having stitches(缝针) in hospital, he would be considered as a wimp (软弱的人). Men still need to be seen as strong when it comes to physical pain."

1.What does the passage mainly deal with?

A. Impression of British men.

B. British men's dream of the World Cup.

C. Advice on how to control emotions.

D. Different attitudes British men have towards crying.

2.Which of the following concerning the British men is NOT true according to the passage?

A. They are supposed to easily control emotions over the centuries.

B. They are confident that they will again get successful in the World Cup.

C. About 50% of British men admitted crying before their mothers.

D. Nowadays, the male Briton's attitude toward crying is changing.

3.The word "contain" in paragraph 3 means ______.

A. store      B. hold back      C. include      D. stir up（激发）

4.What does the author think of the British men's crying?

A. They should cry if hurt.

B. They should keep firm not to cry to show they are not wimps.

C. They should be brave in face of physical pain and cry if necessary when facing other problems.

D. They should "let it out" whatever problems they meet with.

高一英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Parent fans, both dads and mums, are shaming British football with their bad behaviour. Hundreds of junior soccer matches had to be abandoned last season because parent fans were swearing or even fighting on the touchline. At schools and clubs across the UK, hundreds of more matches also had to be called off for the same reason.

Reports tell of abuse at referees（裁判）, players and coaches and fight breaking out on the touchline.

Enough is enough    Peter Wright, a keen referee of junior soccer, finally hung up his boots last season. He decided to walk away for good. He said “Every week I have had to take abuse and I’ve had enough of it.”

“Parents’ behaviour is reducing many school teachers, referees, coaches and volunteers to despair.”

The kids are suffering    Jim Peter, a referee, said, “We are getting desperate and the kids are suffering.” He described the way spectators（观众）behave as abysmal and getting worse year by year. The big question is why so many parents shame their children in this way. Aggressive Behavior Contracts may have to be introduced to stop the violence and abuse. If not, the game will suffer.

Sign up to good conduct    Last season players and parents were made to sign a new good behavior contract. “If a parent breaks the contract, I take his or her child off the pitch and get him or her to explain why I have done so to the child,” said Marc Nash, Wallsend’s assistant leader.

“The next step is to ban both the parent and the child, but happily, so far this has not been necessary.”

1.A number of junior soccer matches were abandoned last season because ________.

2.Who’s an assistant leader in the passage?

3.The underlined word “abysmal” in the passage means ________.

高一英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

The British are known for their sense of humor. However, it is often difficult for foreigners to understand their jokes. The main point to remember is that the British often use understatement.

Understatement means saying less than you think or feel. For example, if someone gets very wet in a shower of rain, he might say, “It’s a little damp (潮湿的) outside.” Or, if someone is very impolite and shouts at another person, someone else might say, “She isn’t exactly friendly.” Understatement is often used in unpleasant situation or to make another person look silly. Understatement plays an important part in British humor.

Another key to understanding British humor is that the British like to make fun of themselves as well as others. They often laugh about the silly and unpleasant things that happen to our everyday life when someone accidentally falls over in the street. They also like to make jokes about people from different classes of society. They like to make jokes about their accents, the way they dress and the way they behave. What’s more, the British love to watch comedies (喜剧) about people who do not know how to behave in society. The comedies series Mr. Bean is a good example of this kind of humor.

Mr. Bean is the character created by British actor Rowan Atkinson in 1990. Mr. Bean doesn’t talk often, and instead he uses his body movement and facial expressions to make people laugh. Perhaps what makes Mr. Bean so funny is that he does things that adults in the real world cannot do. Mr. Bean is popular in many countries around the world because you do not have to speak English to understand the humor. Because of this, many people have become familiar with the British sense of humor.

1.Why is it difficult for foreigners to understand British jokes?

A. The British often enlarge the fact.

B. British jokes are connected with many different cultures.

C. British jokes are not as funny as jokes in other countries.

D. The British try to make out that something is less important than it is.

2.The author explains understatement by _______.

A. describing a process B. making comparisons

C. following time order D. using examples

3.Mr. Bean makes laugh by ______.

A. using his body movement and facial expressions

B. making jokes about others’ accent

C. copying how others behave

D. telling funny stories

4.What can be the best title for the text?

A. British Humor in Comedy B. Humor in Different Cultures

C. Understanding British Humor D. Developing Your Sense of Humor

高一英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

The British are known for their sense of humour. However, it is often difficult for foreigners to understand their jokes. The main point to remember is that the British often use understatement.

Understatement means saying less than you think or feel. For example, if someone gets very wet in a shower of rain, he might say, "It's a little damp(潮湿的)outside.”Or, if someone is very impolite and shouts at another person, someone else might say, "She isn't exactly friendly." Understatement is often used in unpleasant situation or to make another person look silly. Understatement plays an important part in British humour.

Another key to understanding British humour is that the British like to make fun of themselves as well as others. They often laugh about the silly and unpleasant things that happen to our everyday life when someone accidentally falls over in the street. They also like to make jokes about people from different classes of society. They like to make jokes about their accents, the way they dress and the way they behave. What's more, the British love to watch comedies about people who do not know how to behave in society. The comedy series Mr. Bean is a good example of this kind of humour. Mr. Bean is the character created by British actor Rowan Atkinson in 1990.

Mr. Bean doesn't talk often, and instead he uses his body movements and facial expressions to make people laugh. Perhaps what makes Mr. Bean so funny is that he does things that adults in the real world cannot do. Mr. Bean is popular in many countries around the world because you do not have to speak English to understand the humour. Because of this, many people have become familiar with the British sense of humour.

1.Why is it difficult for foreigners to understand British jokes?

A. The British often enlarge the fact.

B. British jokes are connected with many different cultures.

C. The British try to make out that something is less important than it is.

D. British jokes are not as funny as jokes in other countries.

2.The author explains understatement by__________.

A. using examples B. making comparisons

C. following time order D. describing a process

3.Mr. Bean makes people laugh by__________.

A. telling funny stories B. making jokes about others' accents

C. copying how others behave D. using his body movements and facial expressions

4.What can be the best title for the text?

A. British Humour in Comedy B. Humour in Different Cultures

C. Developing Your Sense of Humour D. Understanding British Humour

高一英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析

Boys’ schools are the perfect place to teach young men to express their emotions and involve them in activities such as art, dance and music．

Far from the traditional image of a culture of aggressive masculinity(男子气概)，the absence of girls gives boys the chance to develop without pressure to be consistent to a stereotype(传统观念)，a US study says．

Boys at single-sex schools were said to be more likely to get involved in cultural and artistic activities that helped develop their abilities to express their emotions，rather than feeling they had to obey the“boy code”of hiding their emotions to be a “real man”．

The findings of the study are against the received wisdom that boys do better when taught alongside girls．

Tony Little，headmaster of Eton，warned that boys were being ignored by the British education system because it had become too focused on girls．He criticized teachers for failing to recognize that boys are actually more emotional than girls．

The research argued that boys often perform badly in mixed schools because they become discouraged when their female peers do better earlier in speaking and reading skills．

But in single-sex schools teachers can adjust lessons to boys’ learning style，letting them move around the classroom and getting them to compete in teams to prevent boredom，wrote the study’s author, Abigail James of the University of Virginia．

Teachers could encourage boys to enjoy reading and writing with “boy-focused” approaches such as themes and characters that appeal to them．Because boys generally have sharper vision，learn best through touch, and are physically more active，they need to be given “hands-on”lessons where they are allowed to walk around．“Boys in mixed schools view classical music as feminine(女性的)and prefer the modem type in which violence and sexism are major themes.” James wrote．

Single-sex education also made it less likely that boys would feel they had to give in to a stereotype that men should be “masterful and in charge” in relationships．“In mixed schools boys feel pressed to act like men before they understand themselves well enough to know what that means.” the study reported.

1.The author believes that a single-sex school would 　　 ．

A.force boys to hide their emotions to be “real men”

B.help to form masculine aggressiveness in boys

C.encourage boys to express their emotions more freely

D.naturally place emphasis on the traditional image of a man to boys

2.It is commonly believed that in a mixed school boys 　　 ．

A.perform ly better　　　　　　　　　　　　 B.grow up more healthily

C.behave more responsibly　　　　　　　　 D.receive a better education

3.What does Tony Little say about the British education system?

A.It fails more boys than girls academically．

B.It focuses more on mixed school education．

C.It fails to give boys the attention they need．

D.It places more pressure on boys than on girls．

4.According to Abigail James，one of the advantages of single-sex schools is 　　 ．

A. teaching can be designed to promote boys’ team spirit

B.boys can focus on their lessons without being absent-minded

C.boys can choose to learn whatever they are interested in

D. teaching can be adapted to suit the characteristics of boys

高一英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析

Most British telephone cards are just plain green, but card collecting is becoming a popular hobby in Britain and collectors even have their own magazine, International Telephone Cards. One reason for their interests is that cards from around the world come in a wide variety of different and often very attractive design, There are 100,000 different cards in Japan alone, and there you can put your own design onto a bank card simply by using a photograph or a business card.

The first telephone cards, produced in 1976, were Italian. Five years later, the first British card appeared, and now you can buy cards in more than a hundred countries. People usually start collecting cards because they are attractive, small and light, and they do not need much space. It is also a cheap hobby for beginners, although for some people it becomes a serious business. In Paris, for example, there is a market where you can buy only telephone cards, and some French cards cost up to 4,000 pounds. The first Japanese card has a value of about 28,000 pounds. Most people only see cards with prices like these in their collectors’ magazine.

1.The passage is mainly about __________.

A. the history of phone cards.

B. phone card collecting as a hobby

C. reasons for phone card collecting

D. the great variety of phone cards

2.When did people in Britain begin to use phone card?

A. In 1971.   B. In 1975   C.  In 1976.  D. In 1981.

3.The main reason for most people to collect phone cards is that _________.

A. they find the cards beautiful and easy to keep

B. they like to have something from different countries

C. they want to make money with cards

D. they think the cards are convenient to use

4.The writer mentions a market in Paris in order to show that __________.

A. card collecting is popular among young people

B. French and Japanese cards are the most valuable

C. People can make money out of card collecting

D. Card collectors’ magazines are very useful

高一英语阅读理解困难题查看答案及解析

Most British telephone cards are just plain green, but card collecting is becoming a popular hobby in Britain and collectors even have their own magazine, International Telephone Cards. One reason for their interest is that cards from around the world come in a wide variety of different and often very attractive designs. There are 100, 000 different cards in Japan alone, and there you can put your own design onto a blank card simply by using a photograph or a business card.

　The first telephone cards, produced in 1976, were Italian. Five years later the first British card appeared, and now you can buy cards in more than a hundred countries. People usually start collecting cards because they are attractive, small and light , and they do not need much space. It is also a cheap hobby for beginners, although for some people it becomes a serious business. In Paris, for example, there is a market where you can buy only telephone cards, and some French cards cost up to 4, 000 pounds. The first Japanese card has a value of about 28, 000 pounds. Most people only see cards with prices like these in their collectors magazine.

1.The text is mainly about ________ .

2.When did people in Britain begin to use phone cards?

3.The main reason for most people to collect phone cards is that ________ .

4.The writer mentions a market in Paris in order to show that ________

高一英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

Most British telephone cards are just plain green, but card collecting is becoming a popular hobby in Britain and collectors even have their own magazine, International Telephone Cards. One reason for their interests is that cards from around the world come in a wide variety of different and often very attractive design, There are 100, 000 different cards in Japan alone, and there you can put your own design onto a bank card simply by using a photograph or a business card.

The first telephone cards, produced in 1976, were Italian. Five years later the first British card appeared, and now you can buy cards in more than a hundred countries. People usually start collecting cards because they are attractive, small and light, and they do not need much space. It is also a cheap hobby for beginners, although for some people it becomes a serious business. In Paris, for example, there is a market where you can buy only telephone cards, and some French cards cost up to 4,000 pounds. The first Japanese card has a value of about 28,000 pounds. Most people only see cards with prices like these in their collectors’ magazine.

1.The passage is mainly about __________.

A. the history of phone cards.   B. phone card collecting as a hobby

C. reasons for phone card collecting   D. the great variety of phone cards

2. When did people in Britain begin to use phone card?

A. In 1971.   B. In 1975   C.  In 1976.  D. In 1981.

3. The main reason for most people to collect phone cards is that _________.

A. they find the cards beautiful and easy to keep

B. they like to have something from different countries

C. they want to make money with cards

D. they think the cards are convenient to use

4. The writer mentions a market in Paris in order to show that __________.

A. card collecting is popular among young people

B. French and Japanese cards are the most valuable

C. People can make money out of card collecting

D. Card collectors’ magazines are very useful

高一英语阅读理解简单题查看答案及解析

Women are friendly. But men are more competitive. Why? Researchers have found it's all down to the hormone oxytocin (荷尔蒙催生素). Although known as the love hormone, it affects the sexes differently.

“Women tend to be social in their behavior. They often share with others. But men tend to be competitive. They are trying to improve their social status,” said Professor Ryan.

Generally, people believe that the hormone oxytocin is let out in our body in various social situations and our body creates a large amount of it during positive social interactions (互动) such as falling in love or giving birth.

But in a former experiment Professor Ryan found that the hormone is also let out in our body during negative social interactions such as envy.

Further researches showed that in men the hormone oxytocin improves the ability to recognize competitive relationships, but in women it raises the ability to recognize friendship.

Professor Ryan’s recent experiment used 62 men and women aged 20 to 37.

Half of the participants（参与者）received oxytocin. The other half received placebo (安慰剂).

After a week, the two groups switched with participants. They went through the same procedure with the other material.

Following each treatment, they were shown some video pictures with different social interactions. Then they were asked to analyze the relationships by answering some questions. The questions were about telling friendship from competition. And their answers should be based on gestures, body language and facial expressions.

The results indicated that, after treatment with oxytocin, men’s ability to correctly recognize competitive relationships improved, but in women it was the ability to correctly recognize friendship that got better.

Professor Ryan thus concluded: “Our experiment proves that the hormone oxytocin can raise people’s abilities to better distinguish many kinds of social interactions. And the behavior differences between men and women are caused by biological factors (因素) that are mainly hormonal.”

1.What causes men and women to behave differently according to the text?

A. Placebo.　　　 　　 　 B. Oxytocin.

C. The gesture.　　　　 D. The social status.

2.What can we learn from Professor Ryan's former experiment?

A. Oxytocin affects our behavior in a different way.

B. Our body lets out oxytocin when we are deep in love.

C. Our body produces oxytocin when we feel unhappy about others’ success.

D. Oxytocin improves our abilities to understand people's behavior differences.

3.Why did Professor Ryan conduct the recent experiment?

A. To test the effect of oxytocin on the ability to recognize social interactions.

B. To know the differences between friendship and competition.

C. To know people’s different abilities to answer questions.

D. To test people’s understanding of body language.

4.The underlined word “distinguish” has the closest meaning to ______.

A.accept　　　 B.discover　　　　 C.differ　　　　 D.explore

5.The author develops the text by______.

A. explaining people’s behaviors

B. describing his own experiences

C. distinguishing sexual differences

D. discussing research experiments

高一英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析