When my brother and I were young, my mom would take us on Transportation Days.
It goes like this: You can't take any means of transportation more than once. We would start from home, walking two blocks to the rail station. We'd take the train into the city center, then a bus, switching to the train, then maybe a taxi. We always considered taking a horse carriage in the historic district, but we didn't like the way the horses were treated, so we never did. At the end of the day, we took the subway to our closest station, where Mom's friend was waiting to give us a ride home—our first car ride of the day.
The good thing about Transportation Days is not only that Mom taught us how to get around. She was born to be multimodal (多方式的). She understood that depending on cars only was a failure of imagination and, above all, a failure of confidence—the product of a childhood not spent exploring subway tunnels.
Once you learn the route map and step with certainty over the gap between the train and the platform, nothing is frightening anymore. New cities are just lightrail lines to be explored. And your personal car, if you have one, becomes just one more tool in the toolbox—and often an inadequate one, limiting both your mobility and your wallet.
On Transportation Days, we might stop for lunch on Chestrut Street or buy a new book or toy, but the transportation was the point. First, it was exciting enough to watch the world speed by from the train window. As I got older, my mom helped me unlock the mysteries that would otherwise have paralyzed my first attempts to do it myself: How do I know where to get off? How do I know how much it costs? How do I know when I need tickets, and where to get them? What track, what line, which direction, where's the stop, and will I get wet when we go under the river?
I'm writing this right now on an airplane, a means we didn't try on our Transportation Days and, we now know, the dirtiest and most polluting of them all. My flight routed me through Philadelphia. My multimodal mom met me for dinner in the airport. She took a train to meet me.
【小题1】 According to the writer, what was the greatest benefit of her Transportation Days?
| A．Building confidence in herself. |
| B．Reducing her use of private cars. |
| C．Developing her sense of direction. |
| D．Giving her knowledge about vehicles. |
| A．displayed | B．justified | C．ignored | D．ruined |
| A．Airplane. | B．Subway. | C．Train. | D．Car. |
【小题1】A
【小题2】D
【小题3】A
解析试题分析：本文介绍了作者对于人的价值观的看法，人生的价值体现在给与我们有关的、我们所爱的人留下最美好，最珍贵的回忆。
【小题1】 推理题：根据文章的第三段和第四段中的句子a failure of confidence—the product of a childhood not spent exploring subway tunnels和…, nothing is frightening anymore. 从而得出结论--- Building confidence in herself。选A
【小题2】词义猜测题：通过对上下文的理解，可知这里需要解释为ruined。选D。
【小题3】推理题：根据最后一段的句子：the dirtiest and most polluting of them all，可知作者对于飞机是这种交通工具并不喜欢。选A。
考点：考查故事类短文阅读
阅读快车系列答案科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
One reaction to all the concern about tropical deforestation（毁林） is a blank stare that asks the question, "Since I don't live there, what does it have to do with me?"
The answer is that your way of life, wherever you live in the world, is tied to the tropics in many ways. If you live in a house, wash your hair, eat fruits and vegetables, drink soda, or drive a car, you can be certain that you are affected by the loss of tropical forests.
Biologically, we are losing the richest regions on earth when, each minute, a piece of tropical forest, the size of ten city blocks, disappears. As many as five million species of plants, animals, and insects (40 to 50 percent of all living things) live there, and are being lost faster than they can be found and described. Their loss is immeasurable.
Take rubber for example. For many uses, only natural rubber from trees will do. Synthetics are not good enough. Today over half the world's commercial rubber is produced in Malaysia and Indonesia, while the Amazon's rubber industry produces much of the world's four million tons. And rubber is an important material in making gloves, balloons, footwear and many sporting goods. Thousands of other tropical plants are valuable for their industrial use.
Many scientists strongly believe that deforestation contributes to the greenhouse effect -- or heating of the earth from increased carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. As we destroy forests, we lose their ability to change carbon dioxide into oxygen.
Carbon dioxide levels could double within the next half-century, warming the earth by as much as 4.5 degrees. The result? A partial melt-down of polar ice caps, raising sea levels as much as 24 feet; even 15 feet could threaten anyone living within 35 miles of the coast. Unbelievable? Maybe. But scientists warn that by the time we realise the severe effects of tropical deforestation, it will be 20 years too late.
Can tropical deforestation affect our everyday lives? Now, you should have got the answer.
【小题1】The underlined word "synthetics" probably means_________.
| A．natural rubber | B．tropical materials |
| C．man-made material | D．commercial rubber |
| A．The forests are losing their function in turning carbon dioxide into oxygen. |
| B．Many of our daily uses are related to the tropical forests. |
| C．Tropical plants can be used to make industrial products. |
| D．High carbon dioxide levels will make the earth warmer. |
| A．puzzling | B．cold | C．supporting | D．opposed |
| A．Tropical Forests | B．The Value of Tropical Forests |
| C．Tropical Forests and Our Life | D．The Greenhouse Effects |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
Everyone has heard of the San Andreas fault （断层）, which constantly threatens California and the West Coast with earthquakes. But how many people know about the equally serious New Madrid fault in Missouri?
Between December of 1811 and February of 1812, three major earthquakes occurred, all centered around the town of New Madrid, Missouri, on the Mississippi River. Property damage was severe. Buildings in the area were almost destroyed. Whole forests fell at once, and huge cracks opened in the ground, releasing some strong smell chemicals.
The Mississippi River itself completely changed character, developing sudden rapids and whirlpools (激流和漩涡). Several times it changed its course, and once, according to some observers, it actually appeared to run backwards. Few people were killed in the New Marid earthquakes, probably simply because few people lived in the area in 1811; but the severity of the earthquakes are shown by the fact that the shock waves rang bells in church towers in Charleston, South Carolina, on the coast. Buildings shook in New York City, and clocks were stopped in Washington, D.C.
Scientists now know that America's two major faults are essentially different. The San Andreas is a horizontal boundary between two major land masses that are slowly moving in opposite directions. California earthquakes result when the two masses make a sudden move.
The New Madrid fault, on the other hand, is a vertical fault; at some points, possibly hundreds of millions of years ago, rock was pushed up toward the surface, probably by volcanoes under the surface. Suddenly, the volcanoes cooled and the rock collapsed, leaving huge cracks. Even now, the rock continues to settle downwards, and sudden sinking motions cause earthquakes in the region. The fault itself, a large crack in this layer of rock, with dozens of other cracks that split off from it, extends from northeast Arkansas through Missouri and into southern Illinois.
Scientists who have studied the New Madrid fault say there have been numerous smaller quakes in the area since 1811; these smaller quakes indicate that larger ones are probably coming, but the scientists say they have no method of predicting when a large earthquake will occur.
【小题1】This passage is mainly about ___________.
| A．current scientific knowledge about faults |
| B．the San Andreas and the New Madrid faults |
| C．the causes of faults |
| D．the New Madrid fault in Missouri |
| A．a vertical fault |
| B．a horizontal fault |
| C．a more serious fault than the San Andreas fault |
| D．responsible for forming the Mississippi River |
| A．horizontal faults are more dangerous than vertical faults |
| B．Vertical faults are more dangerous than horizontal faults |
| C．The volcanoes that caused the New Madrid fault are still alive |
| D．A lot of people would die if the 1811 New Madrid earthquakes happened today |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
It’s you and I who are to blame for the state of the earth. No question about it. It’s our life-style that is threatening life on Earth, so we must make the changes. The good news is that many of those changes are really quite simple, even enjoyable, but for every careful step we take as individuals, we must press government and industry to take a big step on our benefit. And we must start now. Tomorrow’s too late.
My aim this year is to persuade as many of my friends and colleagues as possible to choose the train, and leave their cars behind too. My gardens have been pesticide(杀虫剂)–free zones for years and I enjoy seeing more wildlife on my doorstep as a result; I’ve tried to reduce my contribution to water pollution too, by using environment-friendly, phosphate(磷)–free washing powder , and by no longer thinking of the toilet as a suitable waste-disposal(处理) point .
I ran after a young lady through town recently to give her back the piece of paper she had carelessly thrown away. She disappeared into a shop, and when I followed her inside and made my presentation, she was doubly embarrassed--she worked there, and the boss gave her a ticking–off too. I’ve started asking fellow drivers at gas stations why they aren’t using unleaded (无铅的) petrol . These are small things, but we have to start somewhere, and every little does help.
【小题1】We can learn from the first paragraph that____________.
| A．you and I are responsible for looking after the environment |
| B．the government and industry are responsible for looking after the environment |
| C．the government is responsible for looking after the environment |
| D．both A and B |
| A．taking the train instead of a car |
| B．avoiding the use of pesticides |
| C．throwing away the old cars |
| D．running after those who throw articles carelessly |
| A．to find out where she worked |
| B．to give her back the piece of paper she had lost |
| C．to ask her to pay him for picking up the piece of paper. |
| D．to tell her not to throw away pieces of paper carelessly |
| A．persuade his friends to take the train |
| B．try to advise us all to protect our environment |
| C．make clear who is responsible for the environment |
| D．inform us of the good news |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
Everyone likes living in a clean and comfortable environment. If the envionment(环境) are bad, it will affect（影响）our body, and make us not feel well. Sometimes we may be terribly ill. At that time we don’t want to work, and we have to stay in bed and rest at home. So the envrionment is very important to us.
It’s germs that makes us ill. There are germs everywhere, They are very small and you can’t find them with your own eyes, but you can see them with a microscope（显微镜）They are very small and there may be hundreds of them on a very small thing, Germs can always be found in dirty water. When we look at dirty water under the microscope, we shall see them in it. Germs can also be found in air and dust（灰尘）. If you cut your finger, some of the dust from the floor may go into it, and you will have much pain in it. Sometimes the germs will go into all of your boby, and you will have pain everywhere.
To keep us healthy, we should try to our best to make our environment become cleaner and tidier. This needs us to act together.
【小题1】The writer tell us that________.
| A．we like working when we are ill |
| B．germs can’t live in the water. |
| C．we can’t feel ill if the environment is bad. |
| D．we feel well when the environment is good. |
| A．very small things that you can’t see with your eyes. |
| B．the things that don’t effect people. |
| C．the things that you can find with your eyes. |
| D．the things that are very big. |
| A．on the small thing | B．in air and dust |
| C．only in dirty water | D．everywhere |
| A．I will feel nothing. | B．I won’t mind. |
| C．I will feel tense. | D．I will feel painful. |
| A．environment doesn’t affect our life |
| B．we don’t need to improve our environment |
| C．germs may make us ill |
| D．if the environment is better, germs will be more. |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
Half of the world’s population is affected by Asian monsoons（季风）, but monsoons are difficult to predict. American researchers have put together a 700-year record of the rainy seasons, which is expected to provide guidance for experts making weather predictions.
Every year, damp air masses，known as monsoon，produce large amounts of rainfall in India, East Asia, Northern Australia and East Africa. All this wet air is pulled in by a high pressure area over the Indian Ocean and a low pressure area to the south.
According to Edward Cook , a weather expert at Columbia University in New York., the complex nature of the climate systems across Asia makes monsoons hard to predict. In addition, climate records for the area are too recent and not detailed enough to be of much use. Therefore, he and a team of researchers spent more than fifteen years traveling across Asia, looking for trees old enough to provide long-term records. They measured the rings, or circles, inside thousands of ancient trees in more than 300 places.
Rainfall has a direct link to the growth and width of rings on some kinds of trees. The researchers developed a document they are calling a Monsoon Asia Drought Atlas. It shows the effect of monsoons over seven centuries, beginning in the 1300s.
Professor Cook says the tree-ring records show periods of wet and dry weather. “If the monsoon basically fails or is a very weak one, the trees affected by monsoons at that location might put on a very narrow ring. But if the monsoon is very strong, the trees affected by that monsoon might put on a wide ring for that year. So, the wide and narrow ring widths of the chronology that we developed in Asia provide us with a measure of monsoon variability.” With all this information, researchers say they can begin to improve computer climate models for predicting the behavior of monsoons.
“There has been widespread famine and starvation and human dying in the past in large droughts. And on the other hand, if the monsoon is particularly heavy, it can cause extensive flooding.” said Eugene Wahl, a scientist with America’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “So, to get a sense of what the regional moisture patterns have been, dryness and wetness over such a long period of time in great detail, I would call it a kind of victory for climate science.”
【小题1】What’s the passage mainly about？
| A．The effects of Asian monsoons. |
| B．The necessity of weather forecast. |
| C．The achievements of Edward cook. |
| D．A breakthrough in monsoon prediction. |
| A．it is hard to keep long-term climate records. |
| B．they are formed under complex climate systems. |
| C．they influence many nations. |
| D．there is heavy rainfall in Asia. |
| A．Long and detailed climate records can offer useful information for monsoon research. |
| B．The Monsoon Asia Drought Atlas has a monsoon record for about 1,300 years. |
| C．The trees affected by monsoon grow fast if the monsoon is weak. |
| D．The rainfall might be low although the monsoon is strong in monsoon-affected areas. |
| A．determine the regional climate. |
| B．have a great influence on the regional climate. |
| C．offer people information about the regional climate. |
| D．reflect all kinds of regional climate information. |
| A．Matter-of –fact | B．Pessimistic | C．Humorous | D．Friendly. |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
Passage 1
The information Highway is the road that links computer users to a large number of on-line services; the Web, e-mail, and software, to mention just a few. Not long ago, the information Highway was a new road, with not many users. Now, everyone seems to want to take a drive, with over 30 million families connected worldwide. Not surprisingly, this well-traveled highway is starting to look like a well-traveled highway. Traffic jams can cause many serious problems, forcing the system to close down for repair. Naturally, accidents will happen on such a crowed road, and usually victims are some files, gone forever. Then, of course, there’s Mr. Cool, with his new broad-band connection, who speeds down the highway faster than most of us can go. But don’t trick yourself; he pays for that speeding.
Passage 2
Want to know more about global warming and how you can help prevent it? Doctor Herman Friedman, who is considered a leading expert on the subject, will speak at Grayson Hall next Friday. Friedman studied environmental science at three well-known universities around the world before becoming a professor in the subject. He has also traveled around the world observing environmental concerns. The gradual bleaching (变白) of the Grate Barrier Reef, which came into the public eye in 2002, in his latest interest. Signed copies of his colorful book, which was published just last month, will be on sale after his talk.
【小题1】The Information Highway________.
| A．appeals to a large number of users |
| B．is crowded with car drivers |
| C．offers just a few on-line services] |
| D．is free from traffic accidents |
| A．By storing fewer files. |
| B．By repair the system. |
| C．By using a broad-band connection. |
| D．By buying a better computer. |
| A．There will be a book show at Grayson Hall |
| B．Friedman is now studying the Great Barrier Reef. |
| C．Friedman is a leading expert on computer science. |
| D．There will be a talk on global warming this week. |
| A．An ad for a new book. |
| B．A poster about a lecture. |
| C．A note to a doctor in a university. |
| D．An introduction to a professor. |
| A．Doctor Herman Friedman is a famous expert on environmental science. |
| B．A new book has been published recently by Doctor Herman Friedman. |
| C．The colorful new book, signed by him, will be sold before the talk. |
| D．Doctor Herman Friedman has studied the changes of the Grate Barrier Reef. |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
Scientists say they now have proof to support the old-fashioned advice that it's best to sleep on a problem. They say sleep strengthens the memory and helps the brain organize the masses of information we receive each day.
Lead researcher Bob Stickgold at the Harvard Medical School said, "Sleep helps us draw rules from our experiences. It's like knowing the difference between dogs and cats even if it's hard to explain."
The US research team studied how well students remembered connections between words and symbols (象征) , reports New Scientist. They compared how the students performed if they had had a sleep between seeing the words and having the test, and if they had not slept. They found that people were better able to remember lists of related words after a night's sleep than after the same time spent awake during the day. They also found it easier to remember themes (主题) that the words had in common. But they forgot around one in four more themes if they had been awake. Prof. John Groeger, of Surrey University's Sleep Research Centre, said, "People have been trying for years to find out what the purpose of sleep is, as we know that only certain parts of it have a restorative (有助恢复的) value. " "We form and store huge numbers of experiences in the head every day, and sleep seems to be the way the brain deals with it all."
【小题1】The phrase" to sleep on a problem" in Paragraph 1 most likely means to______.
| A．pay full attention to a problem | B．wait until later for a decision |
| C．sleep to forget a problem | D．have difficulty sleeping |
| A．put together words of similar meanings |
| B．remember words and their meanings |
| C．show their knowledge of words |
| D．make up lists of related words |
| A．Themes learned right before the test |
| B．Rules from personal experience |
| C．Words learnt before a good sleep |
| D．Ideas stored together in the brain |
| A．It shows sleep may help us manage information |
| B．It helps find out the common themes of word |
| C．It tells us that more sleep can improve health |
| D．It proves the value of old-fashioned advice |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
In an ideal world, people would not test medicines on animals. Such experiments are stressful and sometimes painful for animals, and expensive and time–consuming for people. Yet animal experimentation is still needed to help bridge vast gaps in medical knowledge. That is why there are some 50 to 100 million animals used in research around the world each year.
Europe, on the whole, has the world’s most restrictive laws on animal experiments. Even so, its scientists use some 12 million animals a year, most of them mice and rats, for medical research. Official statistics show that just 1.1 million animals are used in research in America each year. But that is misleading. The American authorities do not think mice and rats are worth counting and, as these are the most common laboratory animals, the true figure is much higher. Japan and China have even less comprehensive data than America.
Now Europe is reforming the rules governing animal experiments by restricting the number of animals used in labs. Alternatives to animal testing, such as using human tissue or computer models, are now strongly recommended. In addition, sharing all research results freely should help to reduce the number of animals for scientific use. At present, scientists often share only the results of successful experiments. If their findings do not fit the hypothesis being tested, the work never sees the light of day. This practice means wasting time, money, and animals’ lives in endlessly repeating the failed experiments.
Animal experimentation has taught humanity a great deal and saved countless lives. It needs to continue, even if that means animals sometimes suffer. Europe’s new measures should eventually both reduce the number of animals used in experiments and improve the way in which scientific research is conducted.
【小题1】What is the main idea of this passage?
| A．The success of animal experiments should be ensured. |
| B．A ban on the use of animals in the lab should be enforced. |
| C．Greater efforts need to be taken to reduce the number of lab animals. |
| D．Scientists should be required to share their research results with each other. |
| A．America uses only about 1.1 million lab animals per year. |
| B．Europe does not use mice and rats as lab animals at all. |
| C．Britain does not use as many lab animals as China does. |
| D．Japan has less comprehensive data on the number of lab animals used each year. |
| A．Statistical studies. |
| B．Computer models. |
| C．DNA planted in animals. |
| D．Tissue from dead animals. |
| A．They are not revealed to the public. |
| B．They are made into teaching materials. |
| C．They are collected for future publication. |
| D．They are not removed from the research topic list. |
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