.
In the 19th century, Americans from the eastern states moved out west to settle in the rich new lands along the Pacific Coast. The most difficult part of their trip was crossing “the Great American Desert” in the western part of the United States by horse and wagon.
The western desert can be very dangerous. There is little water and there are few trees. But the desert also has scenery of great beauty. Tall towers of red and yellow stone rise sharply from the flat, sandy valley floor. The scene has been photographed many times and appears in movies and on TV.
In Arizona, man-made dams across the Colorado River have made two large lakes in the middle of the dry desert country. At Lake Powell, the red stone arch of Rainbow Bridge rises high above the blue lake.
There are few roads. Many areas of Lake Powell’s shore can only be reached by boat or on foot. But hikers in this empty desert land sometimes find very old native American pictures, painted on the rocks.
In Death Valley, California, the summer temperature rises to 130°F—165°F. There is less than inches of rain each year. Death Valley is the lowest place in America---925 meters below sea level. In the 1800s, many travelers died when they tried to cross this waterless valley in the terrible heat.
Although the desert is dry and seems empty, there is plenty of life if you look closely. Snakes and rats have learned how to live in the desert heat. They live underground and come out at night, when it is cool. Plants such as cacti need very little water. When it does rain in the desert (sometimes only once or twice a year), plants grow quickly, and flowers open in a single day. For a short time, the desert is covered with brilliant (very bright) colors.
67．In the 19th century, Americans moved from east to west because they            .
A．enjoyed the trip                     B．wanted to make their home there
C．wanted to find new grassland there      D．had no water to drink
68．From this passage. we can conclude that         .
A．the western desert is a good place for people to live in
B．there is little water but there are many trees in the desert
C．the desert is dangerous but it is full of beauty
D．till now, people know little about the desert
69．In the 1800s, many travelers died in Death Valley because of            .
A．illness             B．high temperature
C．cold weather           D．poisonous water
70．In the desert, animals will die           .
A．if they move about                 B．if they can’t make holes underground
C．if they come out at night            D．if they drink much water
練習(xí)冊(cè)系列答案
相關(guān)習(xí)題

科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解


C
Why are so many coin banks shaped like pigs? Why not dogs or cats or elephants?
Coin banks weren't always made to look like pigs. In fact, the name "piggy bank" may have come from a kind of clay and not from the animal at all.
The history of the piggy bank goes back to the Middle ages. At that time in Western Europe, metals were expensive, so a cheap orange clay known as pygg was used for everyday items such as dishes and jars. In fact something made from pygg clay was often just called a pygg. The first piggy bank may well have been a pygg in which a person put a few extra pennies to buy a treat on market day.
People have always had a hobby of saving pennies, and using a pygg as a coin bank became common practice. Potters (陶工) began making jars specially for saving coins, and eventually these jars took a pig-like shape. Modeling a bank to look like a pig may have been influenced by the name of the clay. The earliest Roman coin bank ever found was decorated with a pig. Because it was considered as a valuable farm animal in many countries, the pig was an appropriate symbol of wealth and prosperity.
These early clay banks were fragile and easily broken. As time passed, mining became less expensive. Iron, copper, and silver gradually replaced pygg clay in the production of household items. Although pygg clay lost its popularity, the habit of saving pennies did not. Today piggy 'banks are made of every material imaginable.
The familiar saying "A penny saved is a penny earned" is as old as the clearly piggy banks. Marry a child received his or her first coin bank accompanied by this wise advice. The modern-day piggy bank may have changed in sine, shape, and spelling, but it saves our pennies just as well as the first pygg did countries ago.
64. In the Middle ages, people used pygg to make dishes because ________.
A. it was precious                             B. it stood for wealth
C. it had a beautiful color                           D. it was cheaper than other materials
65. What do we know about the pygg bank?
A. Its name might come from an animal.                   B. The first pygg bank looked like a pig.
C. It was designed for children at the beginning.         D. The early piggy banks were easily damaged.
66. Why did pygg day lose its popularity?
A. Other cheap and solid materials appeared.    B. It was inconvenient to carry it to the market.
C. It couldn't be made into other shapes.          D. People had run out of this kind of material.
67. In the last paragraph, the author intends to tell us ________.
A. piggy banks nowadays are not practical          B. piggy banks still play a part in our daily lives
C. piggy banks today are mainly made of iron
D. most children don' t have the habit of saving money

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

The flag, the most common symbol of a nation in the modern world, is also one of the most ancient. With a clear symbolic meaning, the flag in the traditional form is still used today to mark buildings, ships and other vehicles related to a country.
The national flag as we know it today is in no way a primitive artifact. It is, rather, the product of thousands of years’ development. Historians believe that it had two major ancestors, of which the earlier served to show wind direction.
Early human beings used very fragile houses and boats. Often strong winds would tear roofs from houses or cause high waves that endangered travelers. People’s food supplies were similarly vulnerable. Even after they had learned how to plant grains, they still needed help from nature to ensure good harvests. Therefore they feared and depended on the power of the wind, which could bring warmth from one direction and cold from another.
Using a simple piece of cloth tied to the top of a post to tell the direction of the wind was more dependable than earlier methods, such as watching the rising of smoke from a fire. The connection of the flag with heavenly power was therefore reasonable. Early human societies began to fix long pieces of cloth to the tops of totems (圖騰) before carrying them into battle. They believed that the power of the wind would be added to the good wishes of the gods and ancestors represented by the totems themselves.
These flags developed very slowly into modern flags. The first known flag of a nation or a ruler was unmarked: The king of China around 1,000 B.C. was known to have a white flag carried ahead of him. This practice might have been learned from Egyptians even further in the past, but it was from China that it spread over trade routes through India, then across Arab lands, and finally to Europe, where it met up with the other ancestor of the national flag.
小題1: The underlined word “ vulnerable” in paragraph 3 means _______.
A．easy to damage　　B．likely to be protected
C．impossible to make sure of　　D．difficult to find
小題2:The earliest flags were connected with heavenly power because they _______.
A．could tell wind direction　　B．could bring good luck to fighters
C．were believed to stand for natural forcesD．were handed down by the ancestors
小題3:What does the author know of the first national flag?
A．He knows when it was sent to Europe.B．He doubts where it started.
C．He thinks it came from China.　　D．He believes it was made in Egypt.
小題4:What will the author most probably talk about next?
A．The role of China in the spread of the national flag.
B．The importance of modern flags.
C．The use of modern flags in Europe.
D．The second ancestor of the national flag.

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

Shundagarh is a village on India's east-facing coast.It is a village of simple mud and grass houses built on the beach just above the waterline.The Khadra Hills rise immediately behind the village,to a height of one hundred and fifty meters.A simple,good-hearted old man,whose name was Jalpur,farmed two small fields on the very edge of these hills.From his fields he could see the fishing boats that travelled up and down the coast.He could see the children playing on the sands;their mothers washing clothes on the flat stones where the Shiva River flowed into the sea;and their fathers landing the latest catch or repairing nets and telling stories that had no end.
All Jalpur owned in the world were the clothes he wore day in and day out,the miserable hut(小屋) that he slept in at night,a few tools and cooking pots—and his fields.The corn that he grew was all that made life possible.If the weather was kind and the harvest was good,Jalpur could live happily enough—not well,but happily.When the sun was fierce,and there was little or no rain,then he came close to the line between life and death.
Last year the weather had been so kind,and the harvest promised to be so good,that Jalpur had been wondering whether he could sell all that he had and live with his son farther up the coast.He had been thinking about doing this for some years.It was his dearest wish to spend his last days with his son and his wife.But he would go only if he could give;he would not go if it meant taking food out of the mouths of his grandchildren.He would rather die hungry than do this.
On the day when Jalpur decided that he would harvest his corn,sell it,and move up the coast,he looked out to sea and saw a huge wave,several kilometers out,advancing on the coast and on the village of Shundagarh.Within ten minutes everyone in Shundagarh would be drowned.Jalpur would have shouted,but the people were too far away to hear.He would have run down the hill,but he was too old to run.He was prepared to do anything to save the people of Shundagarh,so he did the only thing that he could do: he set fire to his corn.In a matter of seconds the flames were rising high and smoke was rising higher.Within a minute the people of Shundagarh were racing up the hill to see what had happened.There,in the middle of his blackened cornfield,they found Jalpur;and there they buried him.
On his grave,they wrote the words: Here lies Jalpur,a man who gave,living: a man who died,giving.
小題1:Which of the following could Jalpur NOT see from his Fields?
A．Mothers washing clothes.
B．Fathers taking their corn to market.
C．Fishing boats traveling on the sea.
D．Children playing on the sands.
小題2:Why didn't Jalpur live well?
A．He didn't work hard.
B．He had too many children to feed.
C．He only depended on good weather and harvest for survival.
D．The villagers kept taking his corn.
小題3:Jalpur's dearest wish was to _________.
A．move away from his son
B．take a vacation up the coast
C．make a great deal of money in order to live an easy life
D．spend his last days with his son and his wife
小題4:What did Jalpur do when he saw the huge wave?
A．He set his corn on fire so the people of Shundagarh would leave the beach.
B．He screamed loudly to get the villagers' attention.
C．He ran down the hill to tell the people.
D．He stood still,not knowing what to do.

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

Some people in Manchester, Britain, will soon be paying for goods and services with so-called “smart” credit cards. These cards are more secure than the traditional magnetic-strip version and can be used to travel on buses, check bank accounts and do shopping.
The Manchester project is one of the biggest smart card schemes in the world. Every time people use the cards on a bus or train, the fare is deducted (reduced) from the value of the card. When they have no credit left, the cards can be recharged at a local shop.
A smart card looks just like a normal plastic card but it has a silicon chip in it. It is possible for the same silicon chip to perform a number of different functions, so one plastic card in your pocket could do a large number of different jobs. The card has much more memory space than a magnetic-strip card, so many more things can be recorded on it.There are two types of smart cards. One is the contact card which is used in the same way as a magnetic-strip card.
Information is transferred by running the card through a narrow opening in an electronic reader. In the slot, electronic probes make contact with the magnetic-strip or silicon ship and read the information. The other type is the contactless smart card where the electronic reader communicates with the card by short-range radio waves. This makes the card quicker and more convenient to use because it does not have to leave your wallet.  It is also more reliable as it is not easily influenced by scratches or dirt. However, the biggest advantage that smart cards have over magnetic-strip cards is that they are more secure. They are much more difficult to make than conventional cards and they have to be made by specially trained manufacturers. In addition, they have a large number of extra security features on them and if a smart card gets lost or stolen a quick phone-call to the distributor ensures that its individual number is made invalid and unreadable. This can be done more quickly than with a magnetic-strip card.
小題1:A smart credit card can do many kinds of jobs because ____ .
A．it is smartB．it is a plastic card
C．it has a silicon chip in itD．it can be recharged
小題2:“ The cards can be recharged” means that ____ .
A．the card can be put into a new charge of electricity
B．the cards can be changed into new ones
C．the cards can be put to use again
D．the cards can be recycled
小題3:What are the advantages of smart credit cards over traditional ones?
A．they can store more informationB．they are more secure
C．they are more convenient to useD．a(chǎn)ll of the above
小題4:Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
A．Contactless cards are more convenient to use than contact ones
B．Smart cards are more expensive to manufacturer
C．By means of long-range radio waves contactless cards can communicate with the electronic reader
D．A smart credit card and a normal plastic card are the same thing

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

CANYOUIMAGINEHOWHARDITWOULDBETOREADSENTENCESLIKETHIS? The ancient Greeks wrote this way. The lack of punctuation marks(標(biāo)點(diǎn)符號(hào)) probably didn’t bother good readers, though. As they read, they just put pauses where they fit best. Also at this time, sentences switched directions. A sentence read from left to right. The next one read right to left, and then left to right again, etc.
The ancient Romans sometimes punctuated like this: They·put·a·point·between·each·word·in·a·sentence. The word punctuation actually comes from this idea and the Latin word punctum, which means a prick(刺).
When the 5th century arrived, there were just two punctuation marks: spaces and points. The space separated words and while the points showed pauses in reading. Then in the 13th century, a printer named Aldus Manutius tried to standardize punctuation. He always used a period for a complete stop at the end of a sentence. He used a slash (/) to indicate a short pause. Over time, that slash was shortened and curled, and it became the modern comma.
Since that time, other marks have enlarged the punctuation family. The exclamation mark comes form the Latin word xt. It was originally formed by putting an upper-case(大寫字母) I on the lower-case xt. The Latin word xt means “exclamation of joy.” The question mark originally started out as the Latin word question, meaning question. Eventually, scholars put it at the end of a sentence to show a question. Over time, it became a symbol formed by putting a lower-case q on an o.
Punctuation is still changing today. New marks are coming into existence, and old punctuation marks are used in new ways. Take for example, the “interrobang.” This 1962 invention combines the question mark and exclamation mark for times when writers want both. For example, “She did what?” or “How much did you pay for that dress?” Obviously, the interrobang is not widely used or recognized – yet. But its invention shows that English is not yet finished with its punctuation.
小題1:Which of the following is a comma?
A．, B．:C． ;D．!
小題2:What’s the first paragraph mainly about?
A．The history of punctuation.
B．The introduction of punctuation.
C．The very beginning of punctuation.
D．The ancient Greek way of writing without punctuation.
小題3:Please put the following events in the order they happened.
a. The exclamation mark and question mark came into the punctuation family.
b. Comma came into existence.
c. Romans put a dot between words to separate words.
d. A period was used to end a sentence.
e. The “interrobang” was invented.
A．cbdaeB．dcbaeC．dbceaD．cdbae
小題4:What is the most possible situation for “She did what?”?
A．You are told she gave her baby boy a good beat.
B．You are wondering what she did to save the poor boy.
C．You want to know what she did for a living after fleeing to a foreign country.
D．You demand someone else tell you what in the world happened to her.
小題5: According to the article, we learn ________.
A．punctuation didn’t come into being until the 5th century.
B．no one can really tell what new marks we may have in the future.
C．the invention of “interrobang” is a failure since it is not widely used.
D．both the exclamation mark and the question mark come from Greek words.

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解


The first bullet "train designed and manufactured in China with a speed of 300 kilometers per hour roiled off the production line on Saturday morning. The train was the latest model in the country' s China Railway High-speed (CRH) Series. This marks that China has joined a leading world club after Japan, France and Germany to become the fourth country capable of turning out such high speed trains. Previously, China' s fastest selfdeveloped trains ran at a service speed of up to 250 km per hour.
Those trains, which presented to public on April 18, served the Beijing-Harbin, Beijing-Shanghai and Beijing-Guangzhou routes. The new streamlined train was made of aluminum alloy(鋁合金). The train body was the lightest of its kind in the world; Such a design was for the sake of energy economization. The train' s power was 12.7 kilowatts, lower than other high-speed trains, which was normally about 15 kilowatts.
The new train, which features a bar in the dining car and double-faced LCD TV screens in the first-class cars, was equipped with shock absorbers between carriages. As the train is running at a high speed, the shock absorbers are used to reduce shocking force and rocking of the train body. A train with eight carriages could seat about 600 passengers. They were expected to run on the 115-km Beijing-Tianjin route starting from August before the Beijing Olympic Games. It would reduce the journey time from the current 80 minutes to around 30 minutes.
77. From the 1st paragraph we learn that_______.
A. The latest model of CRH Series ran at a service speed of up to 250 km per hour
B. China became the fourth country in the world able to produce bullet trains
C. The first self-developed bullet train roiled off the production line at a speed of 300 km per hour
D. China has joined a leading world club consisting of Japan ; France and Germany
78. The new bullet train_______.
A. has been put into use in China                    B. has double-faced LCD TV sets in first carriage
C. is slower than high-speed trains                  D. is made of the lightest material in the world
79. "It" in the last paragraph refers to_______.
A. a train with eight carriages                    B. the speed of 115 km per hour
C. the Ministry of Railways                       D. the use of the new train
80. What is mainly talked about in this passage.'?
A. The bullet trains designed and made in China have been put into operation.
B. The bullet trains serve many of the main routes between big cities in China.
C. The new bullet trains are equipped with some advanced facilities.
D. The new bullet trains are expected to run for the Beijing Olympic Games.

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解


Terry Herbert, 55, of Staffordshire, the UK, has used a metal detector (探測(cè)器)for the past 18 years to look for treasure. He’d never found anything especially valuable. But on July 5, he made a very important discovery, which also changed the way the British look at history. In a field near his home, Herbert found a huge number of ancient artifacts. The finding was announced on September 24.
Archaeologists(考古學(xué)家) are surprised by the size of the discovery. There are more than 1,300 pieces. The discovery is much bigger than any other from the Anglo-saxon era(盎格魯撒克遜時(shí)代)，said Roger Bland of the British Museum. Bland said some experts think treasures of this kind must have belonged to a king but they couldn’t be certain.
The artifacts are thought to date from between AD 675 and AD 725, a time that is sometimes called the Dark Ages. The time was marked by frequent fighting. The gold in the collection weighs 5 kilograms. It suggests that England at the time was richer than historians thought.
Why were the gold and silver treasures buried? Archaeologists believe it could have been to hide them from enemies, a common practice at the time.
The findings could become one of Britain’s top archaeological finds. So far, experts have looked at 1,345 pieces and there are still more to come. It may take a year to look at the whole finding.
Herbert found the treasure while he was searching in a friend’s field over five days in July. He said his discovery was more fun than winning the lottery. “This is what treasure hunters dream of, finding stuff like this. The great amount there is just unbelievable,” he said.
1、Terry Herbert used a metal detector to search for treasure because     .
A、he had researched the area and was sure there was treasure there.
B、he was very interested in British history.
C、he wanted to be an archeologist
D、he enjoyed searching for treasure
2、Herbert’s discovery is very important because     .
A、the treasure he found belongs to an ancient English king.
B、the treasure has changed people’s understanding of early English history.
C、the treasure is proving a big help to the British economy.
D、it is the find that many British treasure hunters have been hoping for years.
3、On the basis of the article, which of the following is TRUE?
A、It might take three years for scientists to look through all of the treasure.
B、Ancient English people buried treasure in the fields for future use.
C、At the time England was a more violent and religious land than historians thought.
D、Herbert prefers the fun of treasure hunting over the money he will earn for his discovery.
4、Which of the following headlines best sums up the article?
A、British treasure hunter makes big find.        B、Scientists find out about the dark ages.
C、How to find treasures using a metal detector.  D、Archeologists win big lottery prize.

查看答案和解析>>

科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解


第二部分：閱讀理解（第一節(jié)20小題；第二節(jié)共5小題；每小題2分，滿分50分）
第一節(jié)：閱讀下列短文，從每題所給的四個(gè)選項(xiàng)（A、B、C和D）中，選出最佳選項(xiàng)。
A
In 1921, Lewis Lawes became the warden （監(jiān)獄長(zhǎng)） at Sing Sing Prison of New York State．No prison was tougher than Sing Sing during that time．But when Warden Lawes retired some 20 years later, that prison had become a humanitarian institution．Those who studied the system said credit for the change belonged to Lawes．But when he was asked about the transformation, here’s what he said, “I owe it all to my wonderful wife, Catherine, who is buried outside the prison walls．”
Catherine Lawes was a young mother with three small children when her husband became the warden．Everybody warned her from the beginning that she should never set foot inside the prison walls, but that didn’t stop Catherine!
When the first prison basketball game was held, she went into the gym with her three beautiful kids and she sat in the stands with the inmates．Her attitude was: “My husband and I are going to take care of these men and I believe they will take care of me! I don’t have to worry!” She insisted on getting acquainted with them and their records．She discovered one convicted murderer was blind so she paid him a visit．Holding his hand in hers she said, “Do you read Braille?” “What’s Braille?” he asked．Then she taught him how to read．Later, Catherine found a deaf-mute in prison．She went to school to learn how to use sign language．
Many said that Catherine Lawes was the body of Jesus that came alive again in Sing Sing from 1921to 1937．Then, she was killed in a car accident．The next morning Lewis Lawes didn’t come to work, so the acting warden took his place．It seemed almost instantly that the prison knew something was wrong．The following day, her body was resting in a casket in her home, three-quarters of a mile from the prison．As the acting warden took his early morning walk, he was shocked to see a large crowd of the toughest, hardest-looking criminals gathered like a herd of animals at the main gate．He came closer and noted tears of grief and sadness．He knew how much they loved Catherine．He turned and faced the men．
“All right, men, you can go．Just be sure and check in tonight!” Then he opened the gate and a parade of criminals walked, without a guard, the three-quarters of a mile to stand in line to pay their final respects to Catherine Lawes．And every one of them checked back in．Every one!
41．Catherine was not afraid of getting inside the prison walls because she believed ______．
A．one good turn deserves another      B．no pains, no gains
C．a(chǎn) new broom sweeps clean         D．virtue never grows old
42．The underlined word in paragraph three most probably refers to ______．
A．basketball players           B．prison guards
C．prisoners                 D．family of the prisoners
43．What made every one of the criminals check back in?
A．The acting warden’s requirement    B．The strict rules of the prison
C．Their respect for Catherine        D．The force of the guards
44．What is the best title of the passage?
A．A Tough Prison                            B．A Woman Bringing Changes
C．A warden Caring for Prisoners         D．A Great Wife

查看答案和解析>>

同步練習(xí)冊(cè)答案