Threequarters of a million tourists flock to the white beaches every year, but this booming industry has come at a price. Poisonous smoke rising from open fires, rubbish made up of plastic bottles, packets...it's_a_far_cry_from the white sands, clear waters and palm trees that we associate with the Maldives(马尔代夫), the paradise island holiday destination set in the Indian Ocean.
Of its 200 inhabited islands, which are spread across an area of 35,000 square miles, 99 are good resorts(度假胜地). So many tourists come every year, more than double the local population. Of these tourists, over 100,000 travel from the UK. The capital, Malé, is four times more densely populated than London. Given these facts, it's hardly surprising that the Maldives has a waste disposal problem.
Years ago, when the tourists left, the government had to deal with a stream of rubbish. Their solution was to turn one of the islands into a dumping ground. Four miles west of Malé is the country's dumping ground, Thilafushi. What you are seeing here is a view of the Maldives on which no honeymooners will ever clap eyes. Each visitor produces 3.5 kg of waste per day. The country dumps more than 330 tons of rubbish on the island every day.
Now, since many waste boats, fed up with waiting seven hours or more, directly offload their goods into the sea, the government of the Maldives has banned the dumping of waste on the island. So, the waste boats ship the rubbish to India instead.
【小题1】What is the main cause of the waste disposal problem?
A.The big local population. |
B.Too many waste boats. |
C.The large number of tourists. |
D.Open fires on the islands. |
A.it's quite similar to | B.it's a long distance from |
C.it's a loud shout from | D.it's totally different from |
A.It is much more crowded in Malé than in London. |
B.Another island will be used as a dumping ground. |
C.No honeymooners are willing to visit the Maldives. |
D.Waste on islands will be offloaded directly into the sea. |
A.To attract more tourists to the Maldives. |
B.To state the waste disposal problem in the Maldives. |
C.To call on us to protect the environment. |
D.To explain the causes of pollution in the Maldives. |
科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:阅读理解
Country music is one of the most popular kinds of music in the United States today because it is about simple but strong human feelings and events-love, sadness, good times, and bad times. It tells real-life, stories and sounds the way people really talk. As life becomes more complicated(复杂), it is good to hear music about ordinary people.
Country music, sometimes called country-western, comes from two kinds of music. One is the traditional music of the people in the Appalachian Mountains in the eastern Unite States. The other is traditional cowboy music from the west. The singers usually play guitars, and in the 1920s they started using electric guitars. At first city people said country music was low class. It was popular mostly in the South. But during World War II, thousands of Southerners went to the Northeast and Midwest to work in the factories. They took their music with them. Soldiers from the rest of the country went to army camps(军营)in the South. They learned country music. Slowly it became popular all over the country.
Today country music is also popular everywhere in the United States and Canada—in small towns and in New York City, among black and white, and among educated and uneducated people. About 1, 200 radio stations broadcast country music twenty-four hours a day. English stars sing it in British English, and people in other countries sing it in their own languages. The music that started with cowboys and poor southerners is now popular all over the world.
【小题1】It can be learned from the passage that country music comes from .
A.the Northeast and Midwest |
B.factories and army camps in the South |
C.real-life stories in small towns |
D.the Appalachian Mountains and the West |
A.the north | B. the south | C.the Midwest | D.the Northeast |
A.they wanted to take music with them |
B.they wanted to make other people like country music |
C.they wanted to work in the factories there |
D.they wanted to make country music popular |
A.city people said it was low class |
B.people could sing it in many different languages |
C.it started with cowboys and poor Southerners |
D.it is loved by different kinds of people in the world |
A.Country music is about human feelings and events. |
B.Country music is sung by stars all in English. |
C.Country music is popular among city people today. |
D.City people didn’t like country music at first. |
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科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:阅读理解
Arts and culture is lived and breathed in every corner of Canada.Due to a racial and immigrant population,the variety and richness of art and sports is very evident.
Since World War Ⅱ,Canada has produced an impressive amount of writing.From novels to poetry,the selection is wide.Native writers are also becoming better known across Canada in recent years.
Musicians are reaching a higher level of recognition in the world music scene.Everything from country to pop,classical to heavy rock can be found across Canada and across the globe performed by Canadian artists.
The National Film Board,a film crew in Canada,is the primary producer of movies in Canada.However,many Hollywood studios are turning to Canada as a source for locations and as an alternative to the more expensive US.Many wellknown actors,directors,screen writers and movies come from Canada and often scoop awards for their work.
French art was the first to appear in Canada along the St Lawrence in and around Quebec.Since then the volume of art and artists has increased.Canadian photography as well as painting by Canadians is not wellknown outside of Canada but recognition is increasing.
Sport is a major part of today’s society in Canada.Hockey is the most popular spectator sport with more participants taking part in curling.American style football and baseball are also very popular and all of these sports are played across Canada.
【小题1】What would be the best title for the passage?
A.Brief Introduction to Canada |
B.Canadian Arts,Culture and Sports |
C.Canadian Artists |
D.Canadian Arts and Culture Are World Famous |
A.a long history | B.a large area |
C.a large population | D.a variety of immigrants |
A.Native writers and screen writers. |
B.Photographers and actors. |
C.Painters and writers. |
D.Musicians,actors and directors. |
A.Canadian arts have been much influenced by French people. |
B.Canadian people love sports very much. |
C.There are many big filmmaking companies in Canada. |
D.Canadian arts and artists are becoming better known. |
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科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:阅读理解
I used to think of myself as a fairly open person, but my bookshelves told a different story. Apart from a few Indian novels and the Australian and South African book, my literature collection consisted of British and American titles. Worse still, I hardly ever read anything in translation. My reading was limited to stories by English-speaking authors.
So, at the start of 2012, I set myself the challenge of trying to read a book from every country in a year to find out what I was missing. As I was unlikely to find publications from nearly 200 nations on the shelves of my local bookshop, I decided to ask the planet’s readers for help. I created a blog called A Year of Reading the World and put out an appeal for suggestions of titles that I could read in English.
The response was amazing. Before I knew it, people all over the planet were getting in touch with ideas and offers of help. Some posted me books from their home countries. Others did hours of research on my behalf. In addition, several writers sent me unpublished translations of their novels, giving me a rare opportunity to read works otherwise unavailable to the 62% of the British who only speak English. Even so, selecting books was no easy task. With translations making up only around 4.5 percent of literary works published in the UK and Ireland, getting English versions (版本)of stories was difficult.
But the effort was worth it. I found I was visiting the mental space of the storytellers. These stories not only opened my mind to the real life in other places, but opened my heart to the way people there might feel.
And that in turn changed my thinking. Through reading the stories shared with me by bookish strangers around the globe, I realised I was not alone, but part of a network that spread all over the planet.
【小题1】Which of the following might be found on the blog A Year of Reading the World?
A.Lists of English version books. |
B.Research on English literature. |
C.Unfinished novels by British writers. |
D.Comments on English literature. |
A.The author had a busy schedule. |
B.The author was only interested in a few topics. |
C.The author could only read books written in English. |
D.Most books recommended are not available in local bookshops. |
A.America | B.the UK | C.Australia | D.Canada |
A.fast and effortless | B.challenging but rewarding |
C.hopeless but beneficial | D.meaningful but fruitless |
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科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:阅读理解
English is the most widely used language in the history of our planet. One in every seven human beings can speak it. More than half of the world’s books and three quarters of international mail are in English. Of all languages, English has the largest vocabulary — perhaps as many as two million words.
However, let’s face it: English is a crazy language. There is no egg in an eggplant, neither pine nor apple in a pineapple and no ham in a hamburger. Sweet-meats are candy, while sweetbreads, which aren’t sweet, are meat. We take English for granted. But when we explore its paradoxes (探讨它的矛盾), we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square, public bathrooms have no baths in them. And why is it that a writer writes, but fingers don’t fing, grocers don’t groce, and hammers don’t ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, shouldn’t the plural of booth be beeth? One goose, two geese — so one moose, two meese?
How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? How can overlook and oversee be opposites, while quite a lot and quite a few are alike? How can the weather be hot as hell one day and cold as hell the next?
English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects the creativity of human beings. That’s why, when stars are out, they are visible ; but when the lights are out, they are invisible. And why, when I wind up my watch, I start it; but when I wind up this essay, I end it.
【小题1】According to the passage ______.
A.sweet-meats and sweetbreads are different things |
B.there should be egg in an eggplant |
C.pineapples are the apples on the pine tree |
D.boxing rings should be round |
A.Beeth. | B.Geese. | C.Meese. | D.Tooth. |
A.A wise man and a wise guy. |
B.Overlook and oversee. |
C.Quite a lot and quite a few. |
D.Hot as hell and cold as hell |
A.clever | B.crazy | C.lazy | D.dull |
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科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:阅读理解
Not all bodies of water are so evidently alive as the Atlantic Ocean, an S-shaped body of water covering 33 million square miles. The Atlantic Ocean, in a sense, replaced the Mediterranean as the inland sea of Western civilization. Unlike real inland seas, which seem strangely still, the Atlantic Ocean is rich in oceanic liveliness all the time. It is perhaps not surprising that its vitality has been much written about by ancient poets.
“Storm at Sea”, a short poem written around 700, is generally regarded as one of mankind’s earliest artistic representations of the Atlantic Ocean.
When the wind is from the west
All the waves that cannot rest
To the east must thunder on
Where the bright tree of the sun
Is rooted in the ocean’s breast.
As the poem suggests, the Atlantic Ocean is never dead and dull. It is an ocean that moves, impressively and endlessly. It makes all kinds of noise---it is forever thundering, boiling, crashing and whistling.
It is easy to imagine the Atlantic Ocean trying to draw breath----perhaps not so noticeably out in mid-ocean, but where it meets land, its waters bathing up and down a sandy beach. It imitates nearly perfectly the steady breathing of a living creature. It is filled with co-living existences, too: unimaginable quantities of creatures, little and large alike, mix within its depths in a kind of oceanic harmony, giving to the waters a feeling of heartbeat, a kind of sub-ocean vitality. And it has a psychology. It has personalities: sometimes peaceful and pleasant, on rare occasions rough and wild; always it is strong and striking.
【小题1】Unlike real inland seas, the Atlantic Ocean is __________.
A.always energetic | B.lacking in liveliness |
C.shaped like a square | D.favored by ancient poets. |
A.describing the movement of the waves |
B.showing the strength of the storm |
C.presenting the power of the ocean |
D.proving the vastness of the sea |
A.a beautiful and poetic place | B.a person of blood and flesh |
C.a world of interest and wonder | D.a lovely animal |
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科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:阅读理解
NO matter which tourist destination you visit, chances are you’ll see Lonely Planet guidebooks in the hands of travelers.
Lonely Planet is one of the world’s largest travel guide brands, publishing more than 500 different guides in eight languages. This year marks the company’s 40th anniversary. The popular brand also produces television shows, websites and podcasts, all dedicated to travel.
Some people praise Lonely Planet books because they make traveling easy and affordable. They save you time and keep you from missing the very best things in a place. And of course, their reviews of hostels, hotels and restaurants, in addition to ticket information about your destination, are useful.
This can be great if you’re a nervous traveler, or if you haven’t traveled by yourself before. If you’re in a country where you don’t speak the language, sometimes there’s nothing better than getting into a taxi and opening up a guidebook. You simply point to a map, directing the taxi driver to a hostel that’s cheap and clean, with friendly staff and cold beer.
But others criticize Lonely Planet and other travel guide publishers. They say guidebooks take the fun and spontaneity(自发性)out of traveling, and that part of the enjoyment of travel comes from the fact that anything can happen. They also lament(哀叹)that if you follow a guidebook, you’ll end up doing the same things and having the same experiences as everyone else. You might end up seeing the same group of people over and over, because everyone is reading the same book and following the same trail.
Another criticism of travel guides is that they have an overly(过度的)large influence on local communities. For example, some locals dedicate their lives solely(仅仅)to behaving in ways that attract tourists. They fake a traditional lifestyle, wear traditional clothes and live in traditional houses just to attract tourists’ dollars.
【小题1】The Lonely Planet guidebook can bring you the following advantages EXCEPT that .
A.it can help you to save time and money when traveling |
B.you will not miss the best things without having to make choices |
C.it provides a lot of useful information about your destination |
D.you can easily find a nice place to stay in a strange city |
A.Someone who always takes a taxi when traveling. |
B.A tourist who likes to repeat others’ experiences. |
C.A person who’s nervous touring an unfamiliar place. |
D.A native traveler who is traveling alone. |
A.the guidebook is not as useful as most travelers expect |
B.travelers using it will be bored with meeting the same people on their journey |
C.travelers using it may not get the chance to have unexpected adventures |
D.local people keep their old lifestyle under the guidebook’s influence |
A.mistake | B.learn | C.pretend | D.create |
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科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:阅读理解
Did you know that the first documented use of OMG(oh my god)was in 1917, or that LOL was once a common term meaning little old ladies in 1960? That's what the world learned when OMG, LOL, and FYI (for your information) were added to the Oxford English Dictionary last week. This dictionary is considered by many to be the reference book that defines the English language.
Words added to the Oxford English Dictionary are truly considered new members of the language. People invent new words all the time, but only a few become popular enough to get defined in dictionaries.
Typed online or in text messages, LOL, FYI, and OMG are initialisms,_which can be said aloud letter by letter, like LOL, which now stands for Laugh Out Loud.Faster to type than the full phrases, initialisms like these have been used online since the 1990s. But these three online terms are now spoken outside the Internet too, making them different from other online lingo( 行话). Dictionary editors decided the words are used so commonly that they had to be defined this year.
Another important addition to the dictionary this year was ?, as in “I ? NY.” This is the first graphic (图形的 ) symbol ever defined in the Oxford English Dictionary.The editors added ? as a verb under the definition of “heart”, meaning “to love”.
Some slang words — informal language used more commonly in speech than in writing — were also added, like wassup, a shortened way to say “What's up”. Even words that have been in use for many years like biker and happy camper were finally added to the dictionary.
The Oxford English Dictionary now defines more than 600,000 words.That adds up to more than 21,730 pages! Guinness World Records calls it the longest dictionary in the world.The Oxford English Dictionary is known for recording words of all kinds—popular, outdated, and even foreign words used by English speakers throughout the language's long history.
【小题1】The text is mainly about that ________.
A.expressions like LOL and FYI have been added to the Oxford English Dictionary |
B.English words change their meaning as time goes by |
C.English language is becoming more and more difficult to learn |
D.the Oxford English Dictionary breaks the Guinness World Record |
A.Some online terms are added to it. |
B.A graphic symbol is first introduced into it. |
C.Some slang words are collected in it. |
D.Some old words are left out. |
A.Words having foreign origins. |
B.Words made from the first letters of several words in a phrase. |
C.Uncommon words frequently appearing on the Internet. |
D.Official words used in formal documents with capital letters. |
A.spread widely across the Internet |
B.used commonly by the dictionary editors |
C.used commonly in either spoken or written language |
D.a short word |
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科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:阅读理解
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 building, 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 (易受损害的). 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 (图腾)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 1008 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.
【小题1】The best title for the passage would be_________________
A.Uses of Flags | B.Power of the National Flag |
C.Type of Flags | D.Development of the National Flag |
A.they could tell wind direction |
B.they could bring good luck to fighters |
C.they were believed to stand for natural forces. |
D.they were handed down by the ancestors |
A.He knows when it was sent to Europe. |
B.He believes it was made in Egypt. |
C.He doubts where it started |
D.He thinks it came from China. |
A.The second ancestor of the national flag. |
B.The role of China in the spread of the national flag. |
C.The use of modern flags in Europe. |
D.The importance of modern flags. |
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