The Town Council decided not to in the financ...

The Town Council decided not to 　　　in the financing of the new swimming pool, but to leave the fund-raising entirely private enterprise.

A. participate　　 B. share

C. play　　 D. produce

高二英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

Ban Fur? Then Why Not Leather?

Much to the displeasure of some local businesses, the City Council in West Hollywood, California, voted without opposition last week to ban the sale of fur products. Should laws be involved in this issue? Is it unfair to ban sales of fur, but not sales of leather and hides (兽皮)?

Animals Do Not Have Rights

By Tibor R. Machan

My view is that animals do not have basic rights. It is a matter of ethics (伦理学) and not of the laws of human societies. If animals had such rights as human beings do, they would have to be held responsible for killing fellow animals in the wild. That way of thinking about animals makes a category mistake. Using animals, including their fur or organs, to improve people's lives is acceptable.

A Small Step Against Cruelty

By Kate Carter

Both fur and leather are the skins of dead animals. Why should we think that the lovable furry ones deserve more of a life than the less pleasing ones? Some say leather is  less cruel because it's a byproduct (副产品) of the meat industry. But this isn't really true. Some cheap leather may be a byproduct of the meat industry, but often it's the other way round. In South Africa, where there is a developing market for ostrich(鸵鸟)farms, the skins account for roughly 80 percent of the slaughtered (宰杀)birds' value, a mere 20 percent of which comes from the meat.

"Who" Are You Wearing?

By Marc Bekoff

West Hollywood's ban is a move in the right direction. However, we must work to ban the sales of leather and hides, too. Furs come from animals who are attacked to become clothing, while some leather and hides come from slaughterhouse(屠宰场) animals. We must remember that when people choose to wear fur, leather and hides, they are wearing formering conscious beings. So it's a matter of who they are wearing, not what they are wearing because these animals must be referred to as who and not what or that.

1.What is the passage mainly about?

A. West Hollywood's ban on fur products.

B. Differences between fur and leather sales.

C. The government's role in protecting animals.

D. The ecological imbalance in West Hollywood.

2.Tibor R. Machan seems to believe that________.

A. laws should be passed to protect animals

B. humans are respornsible for killing animals

C. it is not reasonable to use animals to improve life

D. animals and humans aren't supposed to share equal rights

3.What is Kate Carter's opinion about wearing fur and wearing leather?

A. Both are decided by the meat industry.

B. There is little distinction (区别) between them.

C. Wearing fur is generally more acceptable.

D. Wearing leather is cheaper than wearing fur.

4.What is Marc Bekoff’s attitude towards sales of fur?

A. Sympathetic.       B. Careless.         C. Tolerant.         D. Opposed.

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

The Medical Research Council said it could not _____ use of the new drug without further tests.

A．assist             B．acquire           C．accuse            D．approve

高二英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

Because of the financial crisis this year, the company decided not to _______ dividends (股息) to its shareholders.

A. vary                                  B. distribute                       C. disturb                                      D. contribute

高二英语单项填空简单题查看答案及解析

The summer I was ten, my mother decided to bring us to the world of art. My brother and I were not very excited when we realized what my mother meant. What she meant was not that we could take drawing classes or painting classes but that we would have to spend one afternoon a week with her at the Fine Arts Museum. Before each visit to the museum, she made us read about artists and painting styles(风格). It was almost as bad as being in school. Who wants to spend the summer thinking about artists when you could be with your friends at the swimming pool?

First we had to read about ancient Egyptians(古埃及人) and their strange way of painting faces and then go to look at them at the museum. My 12-year-old brother thought this was so funny, but I was not interested. Later we had to learn about artists in the Middle Ages who painted people wearing strange long clothing. We had to look at pictures of fat babies with wings and curly (鬈曲的) hair and with no clothes on flying around the edges of paintings. I certainly couldn't see what was so great about art.

On our last visit to the museum, something happened when I saw a painting by a woman called Mary. In it, a woman was reading to a child. The colors were soft and gentle, and you could tell by the mother' s expression how happy she was just to be with the child. I couldn't stop looking at this painting ! I wanted to see every painting Mary had ever made! It was really worth looking at so many paintings to find a painter who could interest me so much.

1.The aim of the mother' s plan was to _________.

A. take them to visit the museum　　 B. introduce them to the world of art

C. ask them to read about artists　　 D. show them different painting styles

2.What was the writer' s experience in the museum before the last visit?

A. She came to feel her mother' s love.　　 B. She liked many paintings.

C. She hardly enjoyed herself.　　 D. She could understand the pictures of fat babies.

3.What made the writer go through a change that summer?

A. One of Mary's paintings.　　 B. A strange way of painting.

C. Artists in the Middle Ages.　　 D. Her mother' s instruction.

4.From the text, we can see _________.

A. the importance of curiosity　　 B. the effect of art

C. the value of learning　　 D. the power of family education

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

As these new products are not selling well,the members of the board have decided to_______production.

A. cut up　　 B. cut down to

C. cut back on　　 D. cut off

高二英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

As these new products are not selling well, the members of the board have decided to _________production.

A. cut down　　 B. cut down to

C. cut down on　　 D. cut off

高二英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

This day marks the rising of a new food startup, the first company to be financed entirely by the crowd, and of it every business thus relies on thousands of customers to grow. Lisa, 25, its main founder and CEO, believes it will be a path that will become increasingly popular, and ultimately will produce more thriving（繁荣的）businesses from the scratch.

“In the food industry, no venture capital (VC, 风险投资) will even look at you until you’ve hit a million in sales. As a fresh hand in business, unless you’re independently wealthy, you will likely need to raise some money before then,” Lisa complained. So few businesses approached VC firms at the beginning. It was no exception with her. Thus, she turned to a new financing tool at hand, crowdfunding, to raise money from the crowd who’d like to take a bet on her company.

But for a company, it didn’t make sense to seek investments when all they had was an idea and a few months of consumer testing data. The food market is extremely competitive. No investor would put money behind a totally unproven new super food product founded by a bunch of twenty-somethings. “But we had a story. And crowds love stories.” Lisa said delightedly. So she put together an online crowdfunding campaign, explaining how she began working with this amazingly nutritious plant in the Peace Corps and then started selling it in the U.S. to support the poor in the West Africa.

On the online platform where they were to raise the money, a friend convinced them to change their goal from $20,000 to $50,000. Lisa stayed up all night worrying they wouldn’t hit it. But they reached $24,000 in 24 hours and ended their funding with $53,000. Seeing the number, Lisa said, “Thank you! To my crowd and for your belief!”

1.Why couldn’t Lisa get investments in a traditional way?

A. She lacked confidence in business.

B. Her food company was in poor condition.

C. VC demanded too much in choosing partners.

D. Consumers were not satisfied with her new products.

2.According to the passage, crowdfunding ________.

A. ensures the investors a good return

B. aims to help badly managed companies

C. attracts more people to become investors

D. helps startups deal with money shortages

3.The underlined word “twenty-somethings” refers to ________.

A. twenty impractical ideas　　 B. young people over twenty

C. twenty inexperienced partners　　 D. a company with twenty branches

4.Which of the following best explains Lisa’s success?

A. Great minds think alike.　　 B. Honesty is the best policy.

C. Many hands make light work.　　 D. A friend in need is a friend indeed.

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析

---What makes you decide to buy a new house in the town?　　 ---This town is _______ pollution.

A. far from            B. apart from            C. free from            D. away from

高二英语单项填空中等难度题查看答案及解析

The First Rule of Finance is to live within your means by spending no more than 80% of your take-home pay．If you take home $ 100 per week, spend no more than $80．

But ever look at what people spend their money on? I have relatives and friends deeply in debt, spending $ 12 for every $ 10 they earn instead of the $ 8 you know they should be spending．When I see them, they're proud of their new whatever．"What do you think of my new truck?" asked one from the driver's seat．"Do you like my new shoes?" asked another on high heels．"Check out my new big screen．" said a third while holding the remote in his living room．We've all heard people fishing for compliments on their new toys．

Every one of them was proud of what they'd financed．They seem to have bought it for the purpose of being proud, of showing off, of keeping up with the Joneses．"Look at my new …?"is everybody's favorite phrase, even when the object in question isn't theirs at all and won't be new when they've finally paid for it, if they ever do．

They're proud of being stupid．They think it's cool to drive the financed car, wear the financed shoes, and watch the financed TV, but to smart people, whose opinions are the only ones we should respect, these people look dumb as rocks．

The Joneses, nine times out of 10, are financially stupid．That's why they have all that stuff on borrowed money．Why try to copy them? Worse, why try to impress them? Copy and impress smart people, the ones who own their stuff．If you want to impress smart people, debt is the last way to go about it．Trying to impress a money-smart person by going into debt is like trying to impress Olympic swimming champion Michael Phelps by drowning in a pool．Michael Phelps is impressed by good swimming and a money-smart person by good money management．

1.According to the author, the "new toys" in Paragraph 2 are examples of______.

A. symbol of wealth　　 B. unnecessary purchases

C. impressive stuff　　 D. things available

2.The underlined words "smart people" in Paragraph 4 refer to people ______.

A. having high IQs　　 B. earning enough money

C. creating new ideas　　 D. managing money well

3.The author is trying to ______.

A. advise people to be money-smart

B. persuade people to keep off fashions

C. blame people for copying others

D. criticize people for over consumption

4.According to the author, buying new objects on borrowed money is ________.

A. unwise　　 B. shameful

C. understandable　　 D. impressive

高二英语阅读理解中等难度题查看答案及解析