In business, there’s a speed difference: It’s the difference between how important a firm’s leaders say speed is to their competitive(競爭的) strategy(策略) and how fast the company actually moves.The difference is important regardless of industry and company size. Companies fearful of losing their competitive advantage spend much time and money looking for ways to pick up the speed.
In our study of 343 businesses, the companies that chose to go, go, go to try to gain an edge ended up with lower sales and operating incomes than those that paused at key moments to make sure they were on the right track.What's more, the firms that “slowed down to speed up” improved their top and bottom lines, averaging 40% higher sales and 52% higher operating incomes over a three-year period.
How did they disobey the laws of business physics, taking more time than competitors yet performing better? They thought differently about what “slower” and “faster” mean.Firms sometimes fail to understand the difference between operational speed (moving quickly) and strategic speed (reducing the time it takes to deliver value)．Simply increasing the speed of production, for example, may be one way to try to reduce the speed difference.But that often leads to reduced value over time, in the form of lower-quality products and services.
In our study, higher-performing companies with strategic speed always made changes when necessary. They became more open to ideas and discussion.They encouraged new ways of thinking.And they allowed time to look back and learn.By contrast (相比而言), performance suffered at firms that moved fast all the time, paid too much attention to improving efficiency, stuck to tested methods, didn't develop team spirit among their employees, and had little time thinking
about changes.
Strategic speed serves as a kind of leadership.Teams that regularly take time to get things right, rather than plough ahead full bore, are more successful in meeting their business goals.That kind of strategy must come from the top.
小題1:What does the underlined part “gain an edge” in Paragraph 2 mean?
A．Increase the speed. 　　　B．Reach the limit.
C．Get an advantage.D．Set a goal.
小題2:The underlined part “the laws of business physics” in Paragraph 3 means ________.
A．spending more time and performing worse
B．spending more time and performing better
C．spending less time and performing worse
D．spending less time and performing better
小題3:What can we learn from the text?
A．How fast a firm moves depends on how big it is.
B．How competitive a firm is depends on what it produces.
C．Firms guided by strategic speed take time to make necessary changes.
D．Firms guided by operational speed take time to develop necessary team spirit.
小題4:Which could be the best title for the text?
A．Improve quality? Serve better.B．Deliver value? Plough ahead.
C．Reduce time? Move faster.D．Need speed? Slow down.

小題1:C
小題2:D
小題3:C
小題4:D

試題分析：這是一篇議論文，主要講述在商場上的競爭策略；有些公司減緩速度以更好地發(fā)展，花費的時間多卻獲得更好收效。
小題1:詞義理解題。原句是go to try to gain an edge ended up with lower sales and operating incomes，所以gain an edge的意思是與收入降低相反，即獲得優(yōu)勢。所以選C
小題2:推斷題。根據(jù)第三段開頭的 disobey the laws of business physics，可以推斷出laws of business physics強調(diào)快速高成果，與那些以慢速獲勝的公司不同，在短時間內(nèi)做得更好，所以選D
小題3:主旨大意題。文章主要議論了策略性減速的優(yōu)點，而且根據(jù)最后一段Teams that regularly take time to get things right可以看出公司改變需要時間，所以選C
小題4:標題選擇題。根據(jù)文章的大意可以確認標題應(yīng)當與slow和speed有關(guān)，所以D是更恰當?shù)臉祟}。
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科目：高中英語 來源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

You probably hear it all the time — people telling you to “l(fā)earn English”. But does this mean children in English-speaking countries don’t need to bother learning a new language? Not at all. In fact, an even larger number of young people will soon be taught foreign languages, thanks to the mental advantages of bilingualism.
Psychologists once thought that growing up bilingual might lead to verbal delays－a late or absent development of talking. But US magazine Scientific American has revealed that this is not true, and reported that children who speak more than one language “show greater mental flexibility, a superior grasp of abstract concepts and a better working memory.” As the New York Times put it, “being bilingual, it turns out, makes you smarter.”
In Europe, learning foreign languages is increasingly popular. A European report shows that from 2005-2010, the percentage of European students learning a foreign language rose from 67.5 percent to 79.2 percent. Most European kids start learning another language at age 6. In Belgium, it starts at 3. New reforms being introduced in the UK will mean all children could be taught a foreign language, such as Mandarin or Greek, from the age of 7. The most popular foreign language for European kids was English, followed by German and French.
In comparison, Americans don’t give a fig for learning foreign languages. Compared to 50 percent of European adults who are bilingual, only 9 percent of adults in the US are fluent in more than one language, according to a 2011 report. American students are often not exposed to a second language until high school.
However, recent statistics show demand is growing in the US for people to become more bilingual. According to a USA Today chart released in July, 21 percent of US children speak another language at home. A number of institutions in the country are also pushing foreign languages in schools. Three school districts in Delaware will launch Chinese and Spanish programs next year. More people are learning Chinese, French and Spanish.
小題1:Psychologist used to believe that children who grow up bilingual ________.
A．a(chǎn)re more flexible mentally
B．a(chǎn)re slow in the development of talking
C．have a poorer working memory
D．a(chǎn)re smarter in understanding abstract concept
小題2:It can be inferred from the passage that ________.
A．Americans are more interested in learning another language than Europeans
B．British kids began to learn foreign languages at the earliest age
C．21% of US children study a foreign language in the school
D．not all schools in America are teaching foreign languages
小題3:What does the underlined phrase “give a fig for” in Paragraph 4 mean?
A．a(chǎn)ttach importance to
B．have talent for
C．invest money in
D．have demand for
小題4:Which are the most popular foreign languages in the US?
A．Mandarin and Greek.
B．English, German and French.
C．Chinese, French and Spanish.
D．Chinese, German and Greek.
小題5:What is the main idea of this passage?
A. Chinese is becoming more popular in western countries.
B. The benefits and advantages of growing up bilingual.
C. Western worlds are paying more attention to learning foreign languages.
D. The differences between bilingual education in Europe and USA.

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科目：高中英語 來源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

WHEN there are some strangers in front of us, which of them will we trust?
According to a new study in the online PloS One (《公共科學圖書館·綜合》), people make their decisions to trust others largely based on their faces. Your appearance can do a lot for you, especially if you are in the financial industry. The more trustworthy you look, the more likely people will buy what you’re selling.
Researchers from Britain’s University of Warwick Business School, University College London, and Dartmouth College, US, did a number of experiments.
The research team used computer software to make 40 faces, from the least to the most trustworthy-looking.
The study said that the difference between a trustworthy face and one that isn’t as trustworthy comes from features that look slightly angry or slightly happy, even when the face is at rest. However, a slightly happy face is more likely to be trusted.
Researchers gave participants some money and asked them which face they trusted to invest the money for them. Then researchers gave some good and bad information about the people with these faces, and asked the participants again whom they trusted.
The results showed that even if they got different information, the participants didn’t change their choices. They were still more likely to invest their money with the more trustworthy-looking faces.
Chris Olivola, one of the study’s authors, said in the University of Warwick’s press release: “It seems we are still willing to go with our own instincts (本能) about whether we think someone looks like we can trust them. The temptation (誘惑) to judge strangers by their faces is hard to resist.”
小題1:Which of the following can be a proper title for this passage?
A．What kind of face do you trust?
B．Who did the experiments?
C．Why do you trust him or her?
D．Why did they do the experiments?
小題2:According to the study, which of the following faces is most likely to be trusted?
A．A sad face.B．A smiling face.C．A crying face.D．An angry face.
小題3:Which of the following about the experiment is TRUE?
A．The trustworthy faces were given good information.
B．Researchers took photos of the 40 people’s faces in college.
C．Most participants gave their money to the trustworthy-looking faces.
D．Participants liked to choose the faces with good information.
小題4:What did the researchers learn from their experiment?
A．People can’t refuse temptations.
B．People always do things with their instincts.
C．People often judge strangers by their faces.
D．People don’t trust strangers with sad faces.

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科目：高中英語 來源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

The British aren’t having as many children as they used to , One reason is that people are having children much older than before, meaning they have fewer year in which they can have them,  After years at university ,they need a few years of work experience before they can get the job they want, They might then get married, but it’s incredibly expensive to buy a house in the UK.
The above explains why young British people now don’t move out of their parents’ home until they are around 30 years old on average, It’s only after this age that many young people start thinking about having a child , However , it is quite expensive to bring up a child in the UK, Both parents need to work just to pay for their child during the day, Paying for this childcare is always expensive, What’s more ,financial crisis and unemployment are making things even harder for families, With so much pressure on families, is it any surprise that the divorce rate is so high?
So what is Britain doing to try and save the British family ? The government is trying to make it cheaper to have children , For example ,there are increasing government subsidies for nursery schools, so that parents do not need to bay so much for child care.
The government is also trying to reduce the number of hours British parents have to work to earn enough money to pay their bills, If parents didn’t have to work so many hours, they’d have moue time to spend with their children and wouldn’t need to spend so much on childcare, On average, a Briton works 49 hours a week ,which is the most in Europe, The state is now considering introducing laws to encourage companies to improve their employees’ work –life balance, Let’s hope they’re not too late to save the British family , Otherwise, the British will always be too tired ,and won’t have enough time and money, to have children.
小題1:Young British people live in their parents’ home until around 30 because       
A．They are allowed to get married at 30
B．they can’t allowed to get married at 30
C．they can’t afford a house of their own until then
D．they enjoy family life with their parents
小題2:The British are now having fewer children than before for all the following reasons EXCEPT that       
A．they have fewer years to have children
B．they live much shorter lives than before
C．it is more expensive to bring up a child
D．people are losing their jobs because of the recent financial crisis
小題3:The underlined word “subsidies” in Paragraph 5 means       
A．food paid by the government
B．school buildings for poor students
C．free transportation
D．money from the government to benefit the public
小題4:It can be inferred from the text that       
A．with long work hours, it is hard for British parents to balance life and work
B．more and more families in Britain are breaking up because they are having fewer children
C．a(chǎn)mong Europeans, British people work hardest and earn the least
D．childcare takes up too much energy and time for the British
小題5:To make it cheaper to have children , the British government is         
A．bringing down prices
B．raising the salaries of parents
C．reducing family income tax
D．increasing subsidies for families and nursery schools

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科目：高中英語 來源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

The evidence for harmony may not be obvious in some families. But it seems that four out of five young people now get on with their parents, which is the opposite of the popularly-held image of unhappy teenagers locked in their room after endless family quarrels.
An important new study into teenage attitudes surprisingly shows that their family life is more harmonious than it has ever been in the past. “We were surprised by just how positive today’s young people seem to be about their families,” said one member of the research team. “They’re expected to be rebellious （叛逆的） and selfish but actually they have other things on their minds; they want a car and material goods, and they worry about whether school is serving them well. There’s more negotiation and discussion between parents and children, and children expect to take part in the family decision-making process. They don’t want to rock the boat.”
So it seems that this generation of parents is much more likely than parents of 30 years ago to treat their children as friends. “My parents are happy to discuss things with me and willing to listen to me,” says 17-year-old Daniel Lazall, “I always tell them when I’m going out clubbing. As long as they know what I’m doing, they’re fine with it.” Susan Crome, who is now 21, agrees. “Looking back on the last 10 years, there was a lot of what you could call negotiation. For example, as long as I’d done all my homework, I could go out on a Saturday night. But I think my grandparents were a lot stricter with my parents than that.”
Maybe this positive view of family life should not be unexpected. It is possible that the idea of teenage rebellion is not rooted in real facts. A researcher comments, “Our surprise that teenagers say they get along well with their parents comes because of a brief period in our social history when teenagers were regarded as different beings. But that idea of rebelling and breaking away from their parents really only happened during that one time in the 1960s when everyone rebelled. The normal situation throughout history has been a smooth change from helping out with the family business to taking it over.”
小題1:What is the popularly- held image of teenagers?
A．They worry about their school life.
B．They live in harmony with their parents.
C．They have to be locked in to avoid making troubles.
D．They quarrel a lot with their parents.
小題2:The study shows that teenagers don’t want to ______.
A．share family responsibilityB．cause trouble in their families
C．go boating with their familyD．make family decisions
小題3:Compared with parents of 30 years ago, today’s parents______．
A．go to clubs more often with their children
B．a(chǎn)re much stricter with their children
C．care less about their children’s life
D．give their children more freedom
小題4:According to the author, teenage rebellion _______．
A．may be a false beliefB．is common nowadays
C．is based on real factsD．resulted from changes in families
小題5:What is the passage mainly about?
A．Negotiation in family.B．Education in family.
C．Harmony in family.D．Teenage trouble in family.

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科目：高中英語 來源：不詳 題型：完形填空

A person’s home is as much a reflection of his personality as the clothes he wears, the food he eats and the friends with whom he spends his time. Depending on personality, most have in mind a(n) “______ home”. But in general, and especially for the student or new wage earners, there are practical ______ of cash and location on achieving that idea.
Cash ______, in fact, often means that the only way of ______ when you leave school is to stay at home for a while until things ______ financially. There are obvious ______of living at home—personal laundry is usually ______ done along with the family wash; meals are provided and there will be a well-established circle of friends to ______. And there is ______ the responsibility for paying bills, rates, etc.
On the other hand, ______ depends on how a family gets on. Do your parents like your friends? You may love your family—______do you like them? Are you prepared to be ______ when your parents ask where you are going in the evening and what time you expect to be back? If you find that you cannot strike a(n) ______, and that you finally have the money to leave, how do you ______ finding somewhere else to live?
If you plan to stay in your home area, the possibilities are ______well-known to you already. Friends and the local paper are always ______. If you are going to work in a ______ area, again there are the papers—and the accommodation agencies, ______ these should be approached with ______. Agencies are allowed to charge a fee, usually the ______ of the first week’s rent, if you take accommodation they have found for you.
小題1:
A．idealB．perfectC．imaginativeD．satisfactory
小題2:
A．demeritsB．weaknessesC．insufficienciesD．restrictions
小題3:
A．cutB．shortC．lackingD．drain
小題4:
A．getting withB．getting along withC．getting byD．getting back
小題5:
A．improveB．proceedC．developD．enhance
小題6:
A．concernsB．issuesC．problemsD．merits
小題7:
A．stillB．a(chǎn)lwaysC．habituallyD．consequently
小題8:
A．call throughB．call overC．call onD．call out
小題9:
A．scarcelyB．lessC．littleD．sometimes
小題10:
A．littleB．muchC．a(chǎn)dequateD．enough
小題11:
A．neverthelessB．whileC．howeverD．or
小題12:
A．moderateB．hostileC．indifferentD．lenient
小題13:
A．a(chǎn)greementB．consensusC．compromiseD．deal
小題14:
A．continueB．commenceC．commendD．confirm
小題15:
A．seldomB．lessC．a(chǎn)bsolutelyD．likely
小題16:
A．a(chǎn)vailableB．a(chǎn)naccessto informationC．valuableD．a(chǎn)ccessible
小題17:
A．time-honoredB．similarC．humidD．conversant
小題18:
A．thoughB．whileC．sinceD．a(chǎn)s
小題19:
A．passionB．prudenceC．carelessnessD．concern
小題20:
A．sameB．equivalentC．equalD．similarity

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科目：高中英語 來源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

It may be one of Britain’s most successful exports – Miss World. This 53-year-old event took place in China last week and attracted over 120 women worldwide with knockout looks in a mad struggle for the crown.
Traditional values have long kept the Chinese, especially women, from displaying beauty. But Chinese people have now changed their attitude toward beauty contest, although some men will still be shouting that the winner is no more beautiful than his wife or his former girl friend or even his mother in a sour tone. But such men are not shouting for the right reason. The question to be asked is : Why isn’t there a Mr. World Beauty Contest?
And a further question to be asked is: Does taking part in a beauty contest show a woman’s  courage, wisdom and liberation or rather the opposite – a forced choice and a revolting act made under conditions of long-term discrimination?
Organizers of such beauty contests claim that the contestants are judged on qualities other than just their physical appearance. But still no answer is given to why there isn’t a Mr. Beauty or a Mr. World Contest? Or at least, why isn’t that kind of contest popular? Why is it that only women’s “qualities” need to be recognized but not men’s?
Think about who is always standing beside a fancy car on show? Is it a boy or a girl? And this is how “qualities” are judged: if the girl looks good, there is little reason why the car beside her is not of high quality.
The beauty contests go on year after year, with winners enjoying fame which quickly disappears. While such events go on and on, what never changes is the routine practice that in every fancy car show, a girl stands beside a fancy car. What never changes is the need to hold a women’s conference every year to appeal for the promotion of respect for and improvement of women. What never changes is the fate of women as a class. So let’s put more time and resources into trying to change all this rather than holding beauty contests.
小題1:Miss World Beauty Contest in Britain has a history of ______.
A．120 yearsB．a(chǎn)bout half a century
C．100 yearsD．a(chǎn)bout half a year
小題2:Which of the following is TRUE to the passage?
A．Miss World Beauty Contest first began in China.
B．Women were not allowed to show their beauty in China.
C．120 women took part in Beauty Contest last week.
D．Miss World was 54 years old.
小題3: According to the writer,        .
A．Chinese women are not allowed to display beauty
B．the winner of Miss World is not as beautiful as his wife
C．some men are not shouting for the right person
D．people can accept a beauty contest in China now
小題4:From the passage we can know the writer thinks that _____________.
A．contestants’ qualities are more important than their physical appearance
B．a(chǎn) Mr. World Contest should be held instead of a Miss World Contest
C．a(chǎn) boy should stand by a fancy car
D．women’s social status is still low
小題5:The best title for this passage is ____________.
A．What about a Mr. World Contest?
B．History of Miss World Contest.
C．Quality or Appearance?
D．A Boy Standing beside a Fancy Car.

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科目：高中英語 來源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

“Now I just don’t believe that.” Surely all of us, at some point, have watched a movie and thought: It’s simply badly researched, or, the makers must think we’re fools.
If movies were completely scientifically accurate, they’d probably be as interesting as a Physics 101 lecture. In real life, there are no explosions in space, gas usually doesn’t explode from a lit cigarette, and Bruce Willis / Jackie Chan / Will Smith would most likely be in a coma(昏迷) after getting kicked in the head.
Recently, the British newspaper The Daily Telegraph ran a humorous piece on unconvincing tech moments from some top movies. Let’s see what they are all about.
Telegraph writer Tom Chivers’ first example is from the end-of-the-world movie Independence Day, in which a character comes up with a virus capable of destroying Windows, the computer system the alien(外星人的) spacecraft uses. “It’s a good thing they didn’t have Norton antivirus,” jokes Chivers.
It’s just one case of a movie that takes a lot of license with its science. Another one Chivers mentions is from Star Wars, where glowing beams of light traveling through space look very impressive. The problem is that in space there are no air particles(顆粒) for the light to reflect off. In reality, they’d not be seen, which wouldn’t look so cool on the big screen.
Chivers’ second piece of Star Wars nonsense is the sound the fighters make in the movies: “ the bellow(咆哮) of an elephant mixed with a car driving on a wet road”. But sound needs a medium to travel through, like air. In space, there wouldn’t actually be any sound at all.
Few people would deny that the mind-bending Matrix films make for great viewing, but for Chivers, the science in the movies is a little silly.
And finally: as Chivers points out, DAN is not replaceable. But this bit of elementary genetics passed the makers of the 2002 Bond film Die another Day by. In the film the villain(壞人) has “gene therapy” to change his appearance and his DNA, which is completely impossible.
小題1:What does the text mainly deal with?
A．Plots of some famous movies.B．Characters in space movies.
C．Popularity of space movies.D．Mistakes made in some movies.
小題2:From the first two paragraphs we can know that some movie makers ____.
A．went against general knowledge of science
B．didn’t pay attention to the viewers’ real demand
C．overestimated viewers’ appreciation of movies.
D．didn’t try their best to improve the quality of the movies.
小題3:What does the underlined word “they” in Paragraph 3 refer to?
A．The newspapers. B．Unconvincing tech moments
C．Some top movies.D．Heroes in the movies.
小題4:We can learn from Paragraph 7 that ____.
A．most people like Matrix films
B．the truth of Matrix films remains in doubt
C．few people think Matrix films silly
D．Chivers thinks science is unacceptable

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科目：高中英語 來源：不詳 題型：完形填空

閱讀下面短文，掌握其大意，從每題所給的A、B、C、D四個選項中，選出最佳選項，并在答題卡上將該項涂黑。
Beware of those who use the truth to cheat. When someone tells you something that is  36   , but leaves out important information that should be     37  , he can create a false impression.
For example, someone might say, “I just    38    a hundred dollars on the lottery. It was great. I took that dollar ticket back to the store and     39   it for one hundred dollars!”
This guy’s a winner,    40  ? Maybe, maybe not. We then discover that he bought two hundred     41    , and only one was a winner. He’s really a big     42   !
He didn’t say anything that was    43   , but he deliberately left out some important  44  . That’s called a half-truth. Half-truths are not technically     45  , but they are just as not   46    .
Untrustworthy candidates in     47    campaigns often use this strategy. Let’s say that during Governor Smith’s last term, her state lost one million jobs and   48   three million jobs. Then she    49    another term. One of her opponents runs an advertisement   50  , “During Governor Smith’s term, the state lost one million jobs!” That’s true.    51   , an honest statement would have been, “During Governor Smith’s term, the state had a net gain of   52   million jobs.”
Advertisers will sometimes use half-truths. It’s    53   the law to make false claims so they try to mislead you with the    54   . An advertisement might boast (吹噓), “Nine out of ten doctors recommend Yucky Pills to cure nose pimples.” It     55   to mention that they only asked ten doctors and nine of them work for the Yucky Corporation.
This kind of cheat happens too often. It’s a sad fact of life: Lies are lies, and sometimes the truth can lie as well.
小題1:
A．false B．trueC．interestingD．boring
小題2:
A．includedB．containedC．involvedD．referred
小題3:
A．lostB．foundC．donatedD．won
小題4:
A．swappedB．tookC．turnedD．made
小題5:
A．rightB．wellC．reallyD．though
小題6:
A．booksB．papersC．tickets D．balls
小題7:
A．winnerB．loserC．fighterD．thinker
小題8:
A．trueB．realC．doubtfulD．false
小題9:
A．detailsB．information C．mistakesD．errors
小題10:
A．storiesB．truthC．factsD．lies
小題11:
A．pleasantB．excitingC．honestD．clever
小題12:
A．politicalB．commercialC．personalD．public
小題13:
A．stoppedB．foundC．a(chǎn)voidedD．gained
小題14:
A．seeks B．getsC．a(chǎn)chievesD．searches
小題15:
A．writingB．readingC．saying D．speaking
小題16:
A．OtherwiseB．However C．In factD．This way
小題17:
A．oneB．two C．threeD．four
小題18:
A．forB．toC．a(chǎn)gainst D．in
小題19:
A．wordsB．factsC．dataD．truth
小題20:
A．fails B．triesC．managesD．plans

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