Passage1
体裁 | 话题 | 词数 | 难度 | 建议时间 |
说明文 | 巧克力公司的发展 | 221 | ★★☆☆☆ | 5分钟 |
Given that many people’s moods (情绪)are regulated by the chemical action of chocolate, it was probably only a matter of time before somebody made the chocolate shop similar to a drug store of Chinese medicine. Looking like a setting from the film Charlie & the Chocolate Factory, Singapore’s Chocolate Research Facility (CRF) has over 100 varieties of chocolates. its founder is Chris Lee who grew up at his parents’ corner store with one hand almost always in the jar of sweets.
If the CRF seems to be a smart idea, that’s because Lee is not merely a seasoned salesperson but also head of a marketing department that has business relations with big names such as Levi’s and Sony. That idea surely results in the imagination at work when it comes to making different flavored(味道)chocolates.
The CRF’s produce is ＂green＂. made within the country and divided into 10 lines, with the Alcohol Series being the most popular. The Exotic Series一with Sichuan pepper, red bean (豆).cheese and other flavors一also does well and is fun to taste. And for chocolate snobs，who think that they have a better knowledge of chocolate than others, the Connoisseur Series uses cocoa beans from Togo, Cuba, Venezuela , and Ghana, among others.
【题文1】 What is good about chocolate?
A. It serves as a suitable gift.学.科.网Z.X.X .B. It works as an effective medicine.
C. It helps improve the state of mind. D. It strengthens business relations.
【题文2】 Why is Chris Lee able to develop his idea of the CRF?
A. He knows the importance of research.
B. He learns form shops of similar types.
C. He has the support of many big names
D. He has a lot of marketing experience.
【题文3】 Which line of the CRF produce sells best?
A. The Connoisseur Series. B. The Exotic Series.
C. The Alcohol Series. D. The Sichuan Series.
Passage 4（2016届江西省九校高三下学期联考）
体裁 | 话题 | 词数 | 难度 | 建议时间 |
说明文 | 狗的祖先 | 325 | ★★★☆☆ | 8分钟 |
Where do dogs come from?
Gray wolves are their ancestors. Scientists are pretty consistent about that. And researchers have suggested that dogs’ origins can date back to Europe, the Near East, Siberia and South China. Central Asia is the newest and best candidate, according to a large study of dogs from around the world.
Laura M. Shannon and Adam R. Boyko at Cornell University, and an international group of other scientists, studied not only purebred(纯种的) dogs, but also street or village dogs.
Dr. Shannon analyzed three different kinds of DNA, Dr. Boyko said, the first time this has been done for such a large and diverse group of dogs from 38 countries. And that led them to Central Asia as the place of origin for dogs in much the same way that genetic studies have located the origin of modern humans in East Africa.
The analysis, Dr. Boyko said, pointed to Central Asia, as the place where ＂all the dogs alive today＂ come from. The data did not allow precise dating of the origin, he said, but showed it occurred at least 15,000 years ago.
Greger Larson of Oxford University, who is leading a large international effort to analyze ancient DNA from fossilized bones, said he was impressed by the study. ＂It’s really great to see not just the number of street dogs, but also the geographic breadth and the number of remote locations where the dogs were sampled,＂ he said in an email. He also praised the sampling of different kinds of DNA and the analytic methods.
Dr. Larson, who was not involved with the study, said he thought the Central Asia finding required further testing. He said he suspected that the origins of modern dogs were ＂extremely messy＂ and that no amount of sampling of living populations will be definitive. He said a combination of studies of modern and ancient DNA is necessary.
1.According to the research on a large number of dogs, we can know____________.
A. dogs mainly lived in Europe and the Far East
B. dogs would like to live in Central Asia
C. dogs’ ancestors come from gray wolves
D. the Near East has many gray wolves
2.What can we infer from what Dr. Boyko said?
A. There are three different kinds of DNA in dogs.
B. This is the second time they have done so many dogs.
C. They only do research on village dogs from many countries.
D. Modern humans are from East Africa while dogs come from Central Asia.
3.Greger Larson got a very deep impression of his study because he____________.
A. found the study based on many different dogs and the sample dogs’ remote locations
B. saw the number of street dogs from fossilized bones
C. watched the geographic breadth of the sampled dogs
D. praised his teammates for their hard work on the dogs
4.Who wasn’t engaged in the study of dogs’ origins?
A. Laura M. Shannon B. Adam R. Boyko
C. Shannon and Boyko D. Greger Larson
Passage 3（2017届江西省上高二中高三考）
体裁 | 话题 | 词数 | 难度 | 正确率 |
说明文 | Jake Beckman呼吁出版商应对读者负责 | 361 | ★★★☆☆ |
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The Internet is full of headlines that grab your attention with buzzwords (流行词). But often when we click through, we find the content hardly delivers and it wastes our time. We close the page, feeling we’ve been cheated. These types of headlines are called ＂click bait＂.
A headline on Businesslnsider.com reads: ＂This phrase will make you seem more polite＂. First, when you click through, you find another headline: ＂Four words to seem more polite.＂ Then, on reading the article, you find it’s actually an essay about sympathy. And what are the four words? They’re ＂Wow, that sounds hard.＂ On some video websites, you might encounter headlines such as ＂Here’s what happens when six puppies visited a campus＂. Turns out it’s just some uninteresting dog footage (镜头).
Nowadays, with the popularity of social media, many news outlets tweet (推送) click bait links to their stories. These tweets take advantage of the curiosity gap or attempt to draw the reader into a story using a question in the headline. These click bait headlines are so annoying that someone is attempting to save people time by exposing news outlet click bait through social media. The Twitter account @SavedYouAClick, run by Jake Beckman, is one such example.
Beckman’s method is to grab tweets linking to a story and retweet them with a click-saving comment. For example, CNET tweeted ＂So iOS 8 appears to be jailbreakable but...＂, with a link to its coverage of Apple’s product announcements. Beckman retweeted it with this comment attached: ＂... it hasn’t been jailbroken yet.＂
Since founding the account, Beckman’s Twitter experiment has brought him more than 131,000 followers. Beckman said that @SavedYouAClick is…＂just my way of trying to help the Internet be less terrible.＂ Asked about his goal, he said, ＂I’d love to see publishers think about the experience of their readers first. I think there’s an enormous opportunity for publishers to provide readers with informative updates that include links so you can click through and read more.
1.The article on Businesslnsider.com turns out to be___________.
A. useful suggestions on politeness
B.an essay about another topic
C.an article hard to understand
D. a link to a video website
2.Why are readers often cheated by tricky headlines?
A. Social media has become more popular.
B. Readers have questions to be solved.
C. Such headlines are fairly attractive.
D. There’re always stories behind them.
3.Beckman attached his comment to CNET’s tweet to __________.
A. criticize CNET B. save readers’ time
C. advertise apple’s new product D. tell readers something about iOS 8
4.In the last paragraph, Beckman appeals that _________.
A. publishers be more responsible for the link
B. readers think about their needs before reading
C. publishers provide more information for readers
D. people work together to make the Internet less terrible
Passage 2(2017届河南豫南九校高三下期质量考评)
体裁 | 话题 | 词数 | 难度 | 正确率 |
应用文 | 狗什么时候第一次成为＂人类最好的朋友＂和＂世界上最喜爱的宠物 | 334 | ★★★☆☆ |
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Have you ever wondered when dogs first became ＂man’s best friend＂ and the world’s favourite pet? If you have then you’re not alone. When and where dogs first began living side-side with humans are questions that have stirred hot debate among scientists. There are a few hard facts that all agree on. These include that dogs were once wolves and they were the first animal to be domesticated(驯养) by humans. They came into lives some 15000 years ago, before the dawn of agriculture.
Beyond that, there is little agreement. The earliest bones found that are unquestionable dogs and not wolves date from 14,000 years ago. However, 30,000-year-old skulls have been discovered in France and Belgium that are not pure wolf and some scientists think could be dogs.
With such puzzling evidence, many scientists are now turning to DNA to find out when and where dogs were first domesticated. In one research project, tens of thousands of blood samples have been taken from street dogs around the world. The plan is to compare them with those of wolves. It’s even possible to analyse DNA from ancient bones. Tiny pieces of the 30,000-year-old skulls mentioned earlier are currently being studied, and another DNA study has already shown that ancient dogs preserved in the Alaskan ice-fields evolved from Asian wolves, not American ones.
Indeed, the ancient DNA may turn out to be more informative than the DNA of living dogs. Because dogs have accompanied humans around the world for thousands of years, their current distribution may tell us very little of their origins. This is why different groups of scientists believe that dogs variously originated in eastern Asia, Mongolia, Siberia, Europe or Africa.
But why were the animals domesticated in the first place? The most recent theory is that dogs domesticated themselves, initially living in and around our ancient villages to eat any food thrown out. Today, this is a way of life still shared by three -quarters of a billion unowned dogs worldwide.
1.Which is the only statement generally agreed on by scientists studying dogs?
A. They originally were used as farm animal
B. They evolved from wolves found in Europe
C. They helped the development of agriculture
D. They were the first animal to be kept as pets
2.Why does the writer first mention the 30,000-year-old animals skulls?
A. To show that dogs were much larger in the past
B. To prove that dogs developed from Asian wolves
C. To suggest that dogs may have evolved much earlier
D. To argue that dogs were first kept in France and Belgium
3.How did scientists determine the origins of the ancient dogs found in Alaska?
A. By examine the animals’ DNA
B. By analyzing the age of their bones
C. By studying the shape of their skulls
D. By comparing them with modern dogs
4.Why did dogs start living with humans?
A. Because they were attracted by food
B. Because they were trapped by humans
C. Because they couldn’t survive in the wild
D. Because they were trained to protect villages
Passage1（2017届山西运城市高三模拟考试）
体裁 | 话题 | 词数 | 难度 | 正确率 |
应用文 | 一次旅行的详细安排 | 268 | ★★☆☆☆ |
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One Day Fly-Fly Rock Art Tour
Operator: Adventure North Australia Destination: Cooktown Departing: Cairns
Prices(AUD): Adults: $ 549.00 Child: $ 390.00
Family(2 adults and 2 children): $ 1,669.00
Tour Description
A truly unique experience, voted as one of Australia’s Must-Do-Experiences. Treat yourself to an amazing day out with Aboriginal Elder Willie Gordon.
Depart Cairns Domestic Airport for the Skytrain Flight to Cooktown. Flight departs Cairns at 6:45 a.m.
Enjoy a 45-minute flight with wonderful views from Cairns to Cooktown as you fly along the coast between the World Heritage rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef. On arrival in Cooktown you’ll be met by Willie Gordon, the traditional storyteller of the Nugal-warra trible.
Willie Gordon takes guests to his ancestral rock art sites, set high in the hills above Hope Vale, outside Cooktown. Here he shares the stories behind the art. He’ll explain how the paintings speak of the most basic and important quality of life and the knowledge of his people.
The tour takes you through an impressive view of six rock art sites, including an ancestral Birth Cave and the Reconciliation Cave. It includes a 30-minute bush walk on generally easy terrian(地形). (PS: Covered closed-on shoes must be worn.)
Return to Cooktown at 1:15 p.m. where Willie will take you to the Nature Power House Museum, Cooktown’s Visitor Information Centre. Lunch is included at the Verhandah Cafe.
The rest of the afternoon is free to explore historical Cooktown before your transfer to Cooktown airport and return flight to Cairns. Flight arrives at Cairns Domestic Airport at 6:40 p.m. Own arrangements on arrival in Cairns.
1.Tourists will go to_________ after viewing the rock art.
A. the World Heritage Rain-forest
B. the Great Barrier Reef
C. the Nature Power House Museum
D. the Reconciliation Cave
2. From the passage, we know that Willie Gordon______.
A. acts as the guide of the tour.
B. is the owner of the Verhandah Cafe.
C. works in the Nature Power House Museum.
D. is the manager of Adventure North Australia.
3.Which of the following statements is NOT TRUE according to the text?
A. Tourists arrive in Cooktown by air
B. The whole tour lasts about twelve hours.
C. Tourists can visit historical Cooktown free of charge in the afternoon.
D.A couple taking the tour with their three children will pay at least $2,059.
4.The tour is designed to let the tourists__________.
A. learn about the custom
B. involve themselves in rock music
C. experience the local lifestyle
D. enjoy the ancient art
Passage4（2016·天津，B）
体裁 | 话题 | 词数 | 难度 | 建议时间 |
记叙文 | 父与子 | 405 | ★★★☆☆ | 9分钟 |
Every man wants his son to be somewhat of a clone, not in features but in footsteps. As he grows you also age, and your ambitions become more unachievable. You begin to realize that your boy, in your footsteps, could probably accomplish what you hoped for. But footsteps can be muddied and they can go off in different directions.
My son Jody has hated school since day one in kindergarten. Science projects waited until the last moment. Book reports weren’t written until the final threat.
I’ve been a newspaperman all my adult life. My daughter is a university graduate working toward her master’s degree in English. But Jody? When he entered the tenth grade he became a ＂vo-tech＂ student(技校学生). They’re called ＂motorheads＂ by the rest of the student body.
When a secretary in my office first called him ＂motorhead＂, I was shocked. ＂Hey, he’s a good kid,＂ I wanted to say. ＂And smart, really.＂
I learned later that motorheads are, indeed, different. They usually have dirty hands and wear dirty work clothes. And they don’t often make school honor rolls(光荣榜).
But being the parent of a motorhead is itself an experience in education. We who labor in clean shirts in offices don’t have the abilities that motorheads have. I began to learn this when I had my car crashed. The cost to repair it was estimated at $800. ＂Hey, I can fix it,＂ said Jody. I doubted it , but let him go ahead, for I had nothing to lose.
My son ,with other motorheads, fixed the car. They got parts(零件）from ajunkyard, non-toasting toaster have been fixed. Neighbours and co-workers trust their car repair to him.
Since that first repair job, a broken air-conditioner, a non-functioning washer and a non-toasting toaster have been fixed. Neighbors and co-workers trust their car repairs to him.
These kids are happiest when doing repairs. They joke and laugh and are living in their own relaxed world. And their minds are bright despite their dirty hands and clothes.
I have learned a lot from my motorhead: publishers need printers, engineers need mechanics, and architects need builders. Most important, I have learned that fathers don’t need clones in footsteps or anywhere else.
My son may never make the school honor roll. But he made mine.
【题文1】What used to be the author’s hope for his son?
A.To avoid becoming his clone.
B.To resemble him in appearance.
C.To develop in a different direction.
D.To reach the author’s unachieved goals.
【题文2】 What can we learn about the author’s children?
A.His daughter does better in school.
B.His daughter has got a master’s degree.
C.His son tried hard to finish homework.
D.His son couldn’t write his book reports.
【题文3】The author let his son repair the car because he believed that_______.
A . His son had the ability to fix it.
B. it would save him much time.
C. it wouldn’t cause him any more loss
D. other motorheads would come to help.
【题文4】 In the author’s eyes, motorheads are _______.
A. tidy and hardworking B. cheerful and smart
C. lazy but bright D. relaxed but rude
【题文5】What did the author realize in the end?
A. It is unwise to expect your child to follow your path.
B. It is important for one to make the honor roll.
C. Architects play a more important role than builders.
D. Motorheads have greater ability than office workers.
