Early one morning, more than a hundred years ago, an American inventor called Elias Howe finally fell asleep. He had been working all night on the design of a sewing machine but he had run into a very difficult problem. It seemed impossible to get the thread to run smoothly around the needle.
Despite his exhaustion, Howe slept badly. He tossed(辗转) and turned. Then he had a nightmare
He dreamt that he had been caught by terrible savages whose king wanted to kill him and eat him unless he could build a perfect sewing machine. When he tried to do so, Howe ran into the same problem as before. The thread kept getting caught around the needle. The king flew into the cage and ordered his soldiers to kill Howe. They came up towards him with their spears raised. But suddenly the inventor noticed something. There was a hole in the tip of each spear. The inventor awoke from the dream, realizing that he had just found the answer to the problem.
Instead of trying to get the thread to run around the needle, he should make a small hole in the center of the needle and have the thread run through it.
This was the simple idea that finally made Howe design and build the first really practical sewing machine. Thomas Edison, the inventor of the electric light, said his best ideas came into him in dreams. So did the great physicist Albert Einstein.
To appreciate the value of dreams, you have to understand what happens when you are asleep. Even then, a part of your mind is still working. This unconscious(无意识的), but still active part
digests your experiences and goes to work on the problems you have had during the day.
However, the unconscious part expresses itself through its own logic and its own language.. It uses strange images which the conscious part may not understand at first. This is why dreams are sometimes called “secret messages to ourselves”.
【小题1】Which of the following was the main problem for Elias Howe to design a sewing machine?
A.Deciding the kind of thread to use for the machine. |
B.Making the thread run smoothly around the needle. |
C.Designing a needle which would not easily break. |
D.Finding the proper place to put the needle. |
A.Making a small hole in the needle. |
B.Tossing and turning the needle. |
C.Finding out a better kind of thread. |
D.Having the thread running around the needle. |
A.much more hard-working than other inventors |
B.the first person who solved problems while sleeping |
C.the first person at the time who knew the value of dreams |
D.the first person to design a sewing machine that really worked |
A.he also tried to invent a sewing machine |
B.he was one of Howe’s best friends |
C.he also had difficulty in falling asleep |
D.he got some of his ideas from dreams |
【小题1】B
【小题2】A
【小题3】D
【小题4】D
解析试题分析:文章介绍Elias Howe 在发明洗衣机的时候,遇到的一个问题是线不能顺畅的绕着转,在梦里他想到一个主意,解决了这个问题。
【小题1】细节题:从第一段的句子:but he had run into a very difficult problem. It seemed impossible to get the thread to run smoothly around the needle. 可知Elias Howe 在发明洗衣机的时候,遇到的一个问题是线不能顺畅的绕着转,选B
【小题2】细节题:从第四段的句子:Instead of trying to get the thread to run around the needle, he should make a small hole in the center of the needle and have the thread run through it.可知解决这个问题的办法是在针上弄一个洞,选A
【小题3】细节题:从第五段的句子:This was the simple idea that finally made Howe design and build the first really practical sewing machine. 可知Elias Howe是第一个发明实用的洗衣机的人,选D
【小题4】细节题:从第五段的句子:Thomas Edison, the inventor of the electric light, said his best ideas came into him in dreams.可知文章提到爱迪生是因为他的很多想法也是在梦里面出现的,选D
考点:考查人物传记类短文
科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:阅读理解
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 tram, 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 closet 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 light-rail 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 Chestnut 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】Which was forbidden by Mom on Transportation Days?
A.Having a car ride. |
B.Taking the train twice. |
C.Buying more than one toy. |
D.Touring the historic district. |
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.Tram. |
D.Car. |
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科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:阅读理解
I suddenly heard an elephant crying as though frightened. Looking down,I immediately recognized that something was wrong,and ran down to the edge of the near bank. There I saw Ma Shwe with her threemonthold calf struggling in the fast-rising water,and it was a lifeanddeath struggle. Her calf was floating(漂浮) and screaming with fear.Ma Shwe was as near to the far bank as she could get,holding her whole body against the rushing water,and keeping the calf pressed against her huge body.Every now and then the rushing water would sweep the calf away.
There was a sudden rise in the water and the calf was washed clean over the mother's body and was gone. Ma Shwe turned quickly to reach it and pressed the calf with her head and trunk (象鼻) against the rocky bank. Then with a huge effort,she picked it up in her trunk and tried until she was able to place it on a narrow shelf of rock.
Just at this moment,she fell back into the river. If she were carried down,it would be certain death. I knew,as well as she did,that there was one spot (地点) where she could get up the bank,but it was on the other side from where she had put her calf.
While I was wondering what I could do next,I heard the sound of a mother's love. Ma Shwe had crossed the river and got up the bank and was making her way back as fast as she could,roaring (吼叫) all the time,but to her calf it was music.
【小题1】The moment the author got down to the river bank he saw .
A.the calf was about to fall into the river |
B.Ma Shwe was placing the calf on the rock |
C.the calf was washed away by the rising water |
D.Ma Shwe was holding the calf against the rushing water |
A.By putting it on a safe spot. | B.By pressing it against her body. |
C.By taking it away with her. | D.By carrying it on her back. |
A.It was a great comfort. | B.It was a sign of danger. |
C.It was a call for help. | D.It was a musical note. |
A.A Mother's Love | B.A Brave Act |
C.A Deadly River | D.A Matter of Life and Death |
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I spend a lot of time backpacking and hiking the outdoors and there are two pieces of equipment that are with me on each trip: an Adventure Medical Kits Weekender and an Adventure Medical Kits Suture Syringe Kit. Both proved very helpful on my most recent adventures to the Wrangell in Alaska.
On that day, we were “blessed” with rain, making our water crossing on the Dixie Pass very difficult. Our party of 12 had almost reached our destination when I slipped, severely gashing(划伤) my knee open in the process. While I could not see the wound at first because of the rain pants I was wearing, I knew it was severe.
Blood was running freely and I made those standing nearby aware of the damage. They quickly came over to assist, pulled my pack off and removed the Weekender First Aid Kit and Suture Kit from it. Fortunately, one of my partners is a doctor called William, who has often performed this type of work in the operating room, not out in the wild.
I seriously think he was more nervous about all this than me! I, of course, was more than happy that I did not have to stitch(缝合) myself up. As a marine, I’ve had to do it before. Fortunately, the sky had cleared up about two hours before, so we had great sunlight to work with. The doctor worked quickly with the assistance of another fellow camper acting as a nurse and placed seven stitches into my knee once the wound had been cleaned up.
Later that evening we used a syringe(注射器) we set aside loaded with Iodine(抗炎药) to clean the wound and then bandaged it again. The doctor was very impressed with the kits contents!
I’ve already ordered another Suture Syringe Kit. I have to say the kits are worth their weight in gold! Thanks for the contents in the kits!
【小题1】What does the underlined word “it” in paragraph 2 probably refer to?
A.the wound | B.the rain | C.the kit | D.the knee |
A.Because William didn’t know how to use the kits. |
B.Because the author didn’t trust William. |
C.Because the author hurt himself severely. |
D.Because William had no experience of doing it in the wild. |
A.useless | B.extremely useful | C.troublesome | D.not essential |
A.How first aid kits saved a backpacker in Alaska. |
B.How a doctor did the operation in the wild. |
C.How the author with 12 fellow campers hike the outdoors. |
D.How the author hurt himself. |
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科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:阅读理解
Something roared like thunder. The earth shook a little and we heard the rat-a-tat-tat of gunfire. "Father!" Hassan cried. We sprung to our feet and raced out of the living room.
"Father! What's that sound? Hassan screamed, his hands outstretched toward Ali. Ali wrapped his arms around us. A white light flashed and lit the sky in silver. It flashed again and was followed by rapid sharp sounds of gunfire. "They're hunting ducks." Ali said in a hoarse voice. "They hunt ducks at night, you know." Don't be afraid.
A siren(汽笛) went off in the distance. Somewhere glass broke and someone shouted. I heard people on the street, jolted from sleep and probably still in their pajamas, with ruffled hair and puffy eyes. Hassan was crying. Ali pulled him close, clutched him with tenderness.
We stayed huddled that way until the early hours of the morning. The shootings and explosions had lasted less than an hour, but they had frightened us badly, because none of us had ever heard gunshots in the streets. They were foreign sounds to us then. The generation of Afghan children whose ears would know nothing but the sounds of bombs and gunfire was not yet born. Huddled together in the dining room and waiting for the sun to rise, none of us had any notion that a way of life had ended. The end came when Russian tanks were rolling into the very same streets where Hassan and I played, bringing the death of the Afghanistan I knew and marking the start of a still ongoing era of bloodletting.
Just before sunrise, Baba's car peeled into the driveway. His door slammed shut and his running footsteps pounded the stairs. Then he appeared in the doorway and I saw something on his face. Something I didn't recognize right away because I'd never seen it before: fear. "Amir! Hassan!" He cried as he ran to us, opening his arms wide. "They blocked all the roads and the telephone didn't work. I was so worried!"
We let him wrap us in his arms and, for a brief moment, I was glad about whatever had happened that night.
【小题1】Who is the author of the passage?
A.Hassan | B.Ali | C.Baba | D.Amir |
A.told the children the truth |
B.tried to calm the children |
C.played a joke on the children |
D.cheered the children up |
A.there were thunderstorms that night |
B.Afghan children were used to the war |
C.that night was the end of people’s peaceful life |
D.people on the street shouted and broke the windows |
A.the author was glad to see his father come home safe |
B.there was a chance that a world in peace was to come |
C.what happened that night seemed nothing to the author |
D.Baba’s arms gave the author temporary comfort and joy |
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科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:阅读理解
One Sunday morning, when I was driving along a road, I saw something I couldn’t believe. A little girl, who was less than two years old, was pushing her stroller (婴儿车) across the road. The traffic was not heavy that morning.
I stopped my car at once and ran toward her. This little girl knew enough to run from a stranger. I tried to catch her in order that I could get her out of the road.
Suddenly her father came running down a hill across the road from where I had parked my car. He ran right to her and caught her up, saying “bad girl” to her. I picked up the stroller and gave it to him. The father grabbed the stroller and walked toward where he came from without a word.
I went back and sat in my car for a few minutes with my son. My hands were shaking and tears were about to run out of my eyes. “Do you feel cold, Mom?” asked my son. I just shook my head.
After this happened, I thought about how thankful I am. Even though the father didn’t say “Thank you”, I feel that I did something good. Doing something for someone else is pleasing, even when it’s only a matter of being in the right place at the right time.
I didn’t really “save” her, but I feel like it was important that I happened to be there. It is sad that I was the only one who stopped. It really made me a little disappointed that no one else stopped to help.
【小题1】 The little girl ran away from the author because _____.
A.she wanted to look for her father |
B.she wanted to stay on the road |
C.she needed to catch her stroller |
D.she didn’t know the author at all |
A.there weren’t many cars on the road |
B.the girl feared to go across the road |
C.the girl had lost her way |
D.she was driving to work in a hurry |
A.The author shared her experience with her son. |
B.The author felt sad that no one else helped the girl. |
C.The girl’s father didn’t like the girl at all. |
D.The girl’s father had wanted to thank the author. |
A.Because the weather was very cold at that time. |
B.Because she failed to be understood by the girl’s father. |
C.Because she was not feeling well. |
D.Because she was too excited to keep calm. |
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科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:阅读理解
Norm Pethrick, a 36-year-old man in Australia’s northern city Darwin, was praised on Thursday for jumping onto a crocodile’s back to save his wife Wendy at Litchfield National Park, a popular tourist spot southwest of Darwin, a local newspaper reported.
Ms Pethrick was standing on a river bank Wednesday afternoon when the saltwater crocodile lunged (扑), locking its jaws (颌)on both her legs as it tried to drag her underwater.
Norm Pethrick, who with his wife had been collecting water, immediately went to help her. He jumped onto the back, poked (戳) the eyes of the crocodile and finally got his wife free.
Ms Pethrick was later taken to Royal Darwin Hospital for a medical treatment. The doctors said she was suffering eight puncture wounds (伤口) in her right leg, a puncture(穿刺) wound in her left leg and a serious cut to one of her fingers.
“This could have been a fatal and tragic situation,” said the general manager of Royal Darwin Hospital (RDH), Dr Len Notaras, according to a local report.
He said Ms Pethrick was saved by her husband’s “quick and diligent actions”.
Dr Notaras also said she would remain in hospital for three to four days and have an operation to clean the wounds, which are easy to get infected because of bacteria (细菌) on the teeth of the crocodile.
【小题1】 This passage is most likely to be found in _____.
A.a travel guide | B.a newspaper | C.a textbook | D.a novel |
A.swimming in the river |
B.standing on the river bank |
C.watching the crocodile |
D.fishing in the water |
A.Her eyes were badly poked. |
B.She had eight wounds altogether. |
C.One of her fingers also got hurt. |
D.One of the crocodile’s teeth was found in her leg. |
A.brave | B.diligent | C.quick | D.humorous |
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科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:阅读理解
Once there was an old man in a town. He always forgot a lot of things. So his wife always had to say to him, “Don’t forget this!”
One day he went on a long trip alone. Before he left home, his wife said, “Now you have all these things. They are what you need for your trip. Take care of your things during the trip.” He went to the station, bought a ticket and got on the train with it.
About half an hour later, the conductor began to see the tickets. He came to the old man and said, “Will you please show me your ticket?” The old man looked for his ticket in all his pockets, but he could not find it. He was very worried. “I can’t find my ticket. I really bought a ticket before I got on the train.” said the old man.
“I believe you bought a ticket. All right, you don’t have to buy another one,” said the conductor kindly. “But how can I know where I’m going? I can’t remember my station!” the old man said sadly.
【小题1】The old man in the story was very ______.
A.kind | B.poor | C.forgetful | D.sad |
A.The old man forgot to buy it. |
B.The old man could not remember where it was. |
C.The old man showed it to the conductor. |
D.The old man’s wife took the ticket away. |
A.after | B.before | C.as | D.when |
A.didn’t believe | B.laughed at | C.believed | D.felt sorry for |
A.he had to buy another ticket. |
B.he lost all the things his wife gave him. |
C.he did not know where he was. |
D.he did not know where he should get off. |
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科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:阅读理解
I made a pledge(发誓) to myself on the way down to the vacation beach cottage. For two weeks I would try to be a loving husband and father.
The idea had come to me as I listened to a talk on my car radio. The speaker was quoting a Biblical (圣经的) passage about husbands being thoughtful of their wives. Then he went on to say, “Love is an act of will. A person can choose to love.” To myself, I had to admit that I had been a selfish husband. Well, for two weeks that would change.
And it did. Right from the moment I kissed Evelyn at the door and said, “That new yellow sweater looks great on you.”
“Oh, Tom, you noticed,” she said, surprised and pleased. Maybe a little puzzled.
After the long drive, I wanted to sit and read. Evelyn suggested a walk on the beach. I started to refuse, but then I thought, “Evelyn’s been alone here with kids all week and now she wants to be alone with me.” We walked on the beach while the children flew the kites.
So it went. Two weeks of not calling the Wall Street firm where I am a director; a visit to the shell museum though I usually hate museums. Relaxed and happy, that’s how the whole vacation passed. I made a new pledge to keep on remembering to choose love.
There was one thing that went wrong with my experiment, however. Evelyn and I still laugh about it today. On the last night at our cottage, preparing for bed, Evelyn stared at me with the saddest expression. “What’s the matter?” I asked her.
“Tom, ” she said in a voice filled with sadness, “do you know something I don’t?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well…..that checkup(体检) I had several weeks ago….. our doctor ….. did he tell you something about me? Tom, you’ve been so good to me….. am I dying ?”
It took a moment for it all to sink in. Then I burst out laughing.
“No, honey,” I said, wrapping her in my arms. “You’re not dying; I’m just start to live.”
【小题1】The writer thought he was a _______ husband in the past.
A.lovely | B.loyal | C.strict | D.selfish |
A.with his family | B.with Evelyn | C.alone | D.with his children |
A.he praised her sweater, which puzzled her |
B.she insisted on visiting a museum, which he hated |
C.he knew something about her illness but didn’t tell her |
D.he was so good to her that she thought she must be dying |
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