Unlikely though it seems, the potato promoted economic development by underpinning（支持）the industrial revolution in England in the 19th century. It provided a cheap source of calories and was easy to grow, so it liberated workers from the land. Potatoes became popular in the north of England, as people there specialized in animal farming and home industry, while farmers in the south concentrated on wheat production. By a happy accident, the concentrated industrial activity in the areas and a potato-driven population boom provided enough worker for the new factories. Friedrich Engels even declared that the potato was equal of iron for its “historically revolutionary role”.
The potato promoted free trade by contributing to the end of Britain’s Corn Laws, which restricted imports of grain into the United Kingdom in order to protect domestic wheat producers. Landowners supported the laws, since cheap imported grain would reduce their income, but industrialists were against the them because imports would drive down the cost of food, allowing people to spend more on produced goods. Eventually it was not the arguments against the Corn Laws that led to their end-and more’s the pity. It was the tragedy of the Irish potato famine of 1845, in which 1 million Irish lost their lives when the potato crop on which they lived died. The need to import grain to relieve the situation in Ireland forced the government to change its position.
This paved the way for free trade in other areas, which became British policy. As the duke of Wellington complained at the time, “Rotten potatoes have done it all.”
The UN has declared 2008 the International Year of the Potato. It hopes that greater awareness of the goodness of potatoes will contribute to helping to reduce poverty, improve food security and promote economic development.
1．The potato became popular in the north of England partly because________
A．it was easy to grow and of low calories
B．farmers concentrated on wheat production
C．Engels said that it was equal of iron
D．people there specialized in animal farming and home industry
2．Which of the following information can be inferred from the passage?
A．The industrial revolution in England began in the North
B．The potato did promote economic development.
C．The Irish potato famine was a direct cause to end the Corn Laws.
D．There was constant argument against the Corn Laws
3．The underlined word This in the 3rd paragraph refer to __________
A．the Irish potato famine
B．the rotten potatoes
C．the argument against the Corn Laws
D．the government’s change of its position due to the Irish Potato Famine
4．The UN declared 2008 the International Year of the Potato in the hope that_________
A．more people in the world will like potatoes
B．the Irish Potato Famine will be remembered
C．the world knows the potato contributes to solving an international issue poverty
D．the whole world start to grow more potatoes to promote economic development
科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
Ero Carrera is watching the computer screen in a lab in California as he tracks a new computer virus slowly circling the globe, targeting cell phones. Working from the US office of the Finnish computer 21 firm, Carrera knows this virus could be the start of something big and 22 . He’s one of a couple of hundred “virus hunters” worldwide who guard computers and cell phones from 23 . That’s the job for these unlikely action heroes of the Internet age, where quick and curious minds are more important than strong 24 .
Carrera works with Tzvetan Chaliavski to form the two-man team in California. Like that of other employees in the anti-virus companies in the world, their work is at the battle front of providing 25 from the damaging of computer virus, worms and Trojans. They break down software to discover a new virus and crack its code. Then they 26 and ship out a software update to customers. Roughly 300 new samples of viruses await the pair on a(n) 27 day.
Carrera has created a mathematical formula(公式), to 28 easily the software structure of viruses. With it, he is better able to compare the many variants(变种) and families of malware(恶意软件). To his 29 , Chaliavski, it doesn’t even matter why someone would create a virus. All that 30 is the hunt.
21. A. advertising B. commercial C. printing D. security
22. A. admiring B. exciting C. inviting D. threatening
23. A. attack B. bombing C. competition D. struggle
24. A. heads B. feelings C. muscles D. spirits
25. A. access B. contact C. measures D. protection
26. A. copy B. create C. delete D. download
27. A. average B. original C. previous D. special
28. A. get off B. make out C. pick up D. take in
29. A. assistant B. manager C. partner D. secretary
30. A. ignores B. matters C. overlooks D. rejects
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
Australia – The vote for euthanasia (安乐死) was finally taken at 3:45 this morning. After six months’ argument and final 16 hours’ hot debates. Australia’s Northern Territory became the first legal authority in the world to allow doctors to take the lives of incurably ill patients who wish to die. The bill was passed by the vote of 15 to 10. Almost immediately world flashed on the Internet and was picked up, half a world away, by John Hofsess, the director of the Right to Die Society of Canada. He sent it on through the group’s on – line service, Death NET. Hofsess says, “We posted it all day long, because this isn’t just something that happened in Australia. It’s world history.”
The full import may take a while to understand. The NT Rights of the Terminally Ill law has left physicians and citizens trying to deal with its moral and practical implications. Some have breathed sighs of relief; but others, including churches, right to life groups and the Australian Medical Association, bitterly attacked the bill and the haste of its passage. But the tide is unlikely to turn back. In Australia--where an aging population, life-extending technology and changing community attitudes have all played their part—other states are going to consider making a similar law to for euthanasia. In the U. S. and Canada, where the right to die movement is gathering strength, observers are waiting for the dominoes (多米诺骨牌) to start failing.
Under the new Northern Territory law, an adult patient can request death--probably by a deadly injection or pill--to put an end to suffering. The patient must be diagnosed as incurably ill by two doctors. After a "cooling off" period of seven days, the patient can sign a certificate of request. After 48 hours the wish for death can be met. For Lloyd Nickson, a 54-year-old Darwin resident suffering from lung cancer, the NT Rights of Terminally Ill law means he can get on with living without the haunting fear of his suffering: a terrifying deat from his breathing condition. "I' m not afraid of dying from a spiritual point of view, but what I was afraid of washow I'd go, because I've watched people die in the hospital fighting for oxygen and clawing at their masks," he says.
According to the text, which of the following statements is TURE?
A．Australia now us the only country in the world to pass the law of euthanasia.
B．All people in Australia don’t have the same positive attitude to euthanasia.
C．Many patients will ask their doctors for euthanasia because they are afraid of death.
D．According to the law, if a patient requests death, his or her wish will be met after 48 hours.
The underlined sentence in Para 2, “observes are waiting for the dominoes to start falling.” means that observes are waiting to see .
A．the result of the game of dominoes.
B．that people’s attitude to euthanasia will be changed.
C．that the bill about euthanasia in Australia will come to an end.
D．the similar bills will be passed in other countries.
Australia was the first country to pass the bill of euthanasia, but not USA or Canada. Which one is NOT the reason?
A．In Australia, the technology of extending life is advanced.
B．In Australia, it is easy to deal with the moral and practical meaning.
C．In Australia, old people take up great part in the population of the whole country.
D．Australians gradually realize suffering from a terrible disease is worse than immediate death.
It can be inferred from the text that .
A．when Lloyd Nickson dies, he will face his death with calm characteristic of euthanasia.
B．physicians and citizens in Australia share the same view on euthanasia.
C．other countries are going to consider making a similar law to deal with euthanasia.
D．under the bill, patients requesting death are sure to be injected by deadly medicine.
What’s the author’s attitude to euthanasia?
A．Negative B．Critical C．Positive D．Doubtful
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
阅读下面短文, 掌握其大意, 然后从1—10各题所给的从A、B、C和D四个选项中, 选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项。
Ero Carrera is watching the computer screen in a lab in California as he tracks a new computer virus slowly circling the globe, targeting cell phones. Working from the US office of the Finnish computer 1 firm, Carrera knows this virus could be the start of something big and 2 . He’s one of a couple of hundred “virus hunters” worldwide who guard computers and cell phones from 3 . That’s the job for these unlikely action heroes of the Internet age, where quick and curious minds are more important than strong 4 .
Carrera works with Tzvetan Chaliavski to form the two-man team in California. Like that of other employees in the anti-virus companies in the world, their work is at the battle front of providing 5 from the damaging of computer virus, worms and Trojans. They break down software to discover a new virus and crack its code. Then they 6 and ship out a software update to customers. Roughly 300 new samples of viruses await the pair on a(n) 7 day.
Carrera has created a mathematical formula(公式), to 8 easily the software structure of viruses. With it, he is better able to compare the many variants(变种) and families of malware(恶意软件). To his 9 , Chaliavski, it doesn’t even matter why someone would create a virus. All that 10 is the hunt.
A. advertising B. commercial C. printing D. security
A. admiring B. exciting C. inviting D. threatening
A. attack B. bombing C. competition D. struggle
A. heads B. feelings C. muscles D. spirits
A. access B. contact C. measures D. protection
A. copy B. create C. delete D. download
A. average B. original C. previous D. special
A. get off B. make out C. pick up D. take in
A. assistant B. manager C. partner D. secretary
A. ignores B. matters C. overlooks D. rejects
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科目：高中英语 来源：2012-2013学年黑龙江齐齐哈尔实验中学高三三模英语试卷（解析版） 题型：阅读理解
Still waiting for little green men to make contact? Don't hold your breath.
A leading astronomer has concluded there probably aren't any aliens out there – meaning we are absolutely alone in the universe.
Even though there may be tens of thousands of other distant planets similar in size to Earth, the conditions on them are likely to be too hard to support life-forms such as ET.
Dr Howard Smith, a senior astrophysicist at Harvard University, believes there is very little hope of discovering aliens and, even if we did, it would be almost impossible to make contact.
So far astronomers have discovered a total of 500 planets in distant solar systems – known as extrasolar systems – although they believe billions of others exist.
But Dr Smith points out that many of these planets are either too close to the sun or too far away, meaning their surface temperatures are so bad that they could not support life. Others have unusual orbits which cause vast temperature variations, making it impossible for water to exist – the most important thing for life.
Dr Smith said, "We have found that most other planets and solar systems are wildly different from our own. It means it is highly unlikely there are any planets with intelligent life close enough for us to make contact." But his suggestions contradict other leading scientists who have claimed aliens almost certainly exist.
Only last month Professor Stephen Hawking said the fact that there are billions of galaxies out there made it reasonable to think there were other life-forms in the universe.
Researchers from the University of London have recently suggested that aliens could be living on as many as 40,000 other planets. But Dr Smith said: "Any hope of contact has to be limited to a relatively tiny space around the Earth, reaching maybe 1,250 light years out from our planet, where aliens might be able to pick up our signals or send us their own. But communicating would still take decades or centuries."
1.By saying ＂don’t hold your breath＂, the author advised the reader not to _____.
A．keep silent B．give up C．expect so D．be afraid
2.Dr Smith concludes there probably aren’t any aliens because other planets _____.
A．are too far away from the earth
B．are different from the Earth in size
C．don’t have rich natural resources
D．don’t have a suitable living environment
3.Researchers from the University of London are mentioned to show that ______.
A．they have better explanations about aliens
B．aliens certainly exist on many planets
C．they disagree with Dr Smith’s suggestion
D．aliens can pick up signals from the earth
4.What’s the main idea of the text?
A．There must be other life forms in the universe.
B．We can communicate with aliens in decades.
C．The chances of finding aliens are slight.
D．Many other planets are quite different from the Earth.
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科目：高中英语 来源：2011-2012学年广东省高三上学期10月月考英语试题 题型：书面表达
读写任务Many people believe that in the future computers will be used in lots of everyday activities. It is thought that we won’t go shopping because many goods are available on the Internet.There will be no more books because all books will be available from electronic libraries.The Internet will be used to book holidays, rent films and order food. Most telephone calls will be made over the Internet as well. Some people are excited about these new developments.Others, however, do not think that computers will replace our present ways of shopping and communicating.
Is Internet shopping as much fun as traditional shopping ? Many people say it is not. It is fun to go into shops and look at the goods in person. It is also unlikely that many people will want to read large texts on their computers because paper books will possibly be more user- friendly. Maybe, computers won’t change these habits.
【写作内容】
1．以约30个词概括材料中心内容。
2．以约120个词表达如下要点：
（1）描述你周围的同学对网上购物的不同看法。
（2）你喜欢传统的购物方式还是网上购物？
（3）结合自己的生活体验说明你喜欢的理由。
【写作要求】
1．作文中可使用自己的亲身经历或虚构的故事，也可以参照阅读材料的内容但不得直接引用原文中的句子。
2. 作文中不能出现自己的真实姓名和学校名称。
【评分标准】
概括准确，语言规范，内容合适，篇章连贯。
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