YOUR mom might cook a bowl of noodles for you on your birthday. But in the US, a mom makes a cupcake for her children on their birthday.
Cupcakes are small, round cakes topped with frosting (糖霜). It has been an American tradition that moms bring cupcakes to the classroom to celebrate their child’s birthday.
But recently some doctors have called for this to be banned. They believe cupcakes contribute to child obesity.
Despite their good intentions, however, some people believe that experts are interfering (妨碍) with American culture. The cupcake is seen as American as apple pie — only prettier.
According to Marion Nestle, a professor of nutrition at New York University, the cupcake is the most democratic (民主的) of desserts. As they are small enough for one person, you don’t have to share your cupcake with anyone — it’s all yours. They are also all the same size, so there can’t be any cries of “she got the bigger piece!”
Each bite can taste different depending on how much icing you have. It is a lesson in self-determination. Some people eat only a little of the frosting every time, others have it all in just one bite.
In recent years, eating a cupcake has become as trendy as having a cup of Starbucks coffee.
Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton jokingly promised on a talk show that if she was elected president, she would give everyone a cupcake on her birthday.
Ruth Reichl, editor-in-chief of Gourmet magazine, explains that the rise of the cupcake is very much about going back to American national identity in food, which is all about comfort. “People want to think about when they and their country were innocent,” she said.
【小题1】 According to the passage, it has been an American tradition that ___________.
A. a party for children on their birthday |
B. A mom cooks a bowl of noodles for her children on their birthday |
C. A mom makes a cupcake for her children on their birthday and brings it to the classroom |
D. parents go travelling with their children on their birthday |
A. Because they themselves don’t like cupcakes. |
B. Because they think cupcakes are not so delicious. |
C. Because they believe cupcakes will cause cries of “She got the bigger piece”. |
D. Because they believe cupcakes are one of the causes to make children become fat. |
A. The cupcake is more democratic than any other deserts in the US. |
B. The cupcake is too small to share with others. |
C. The sizes of cupcakes are the same so it’s equal to everyone. |
D. Cupcakes will lead to child obesity so they should be banned. |
A. popular | B. gentle | C. delicious | D. different |
A. To arouse the readers’ attention. |
B. To show that cupcakes are becoming a popular to show kindness and comfort. |
C. To make a comparison between them. |
D. To give readers a general idea of cupcakes. |
科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:阅读理解
The expression “Go for it!” is a way of encouraging someone to try something.
“Go for it!” means you should not worry about failure or be too careful. You should take a chance, be brave, and act firmly.
“Go for it!” gets name from football. Not football as it is played in most countries such as England, Egypt or Japan, but the kind of football played in the United States and Canada.
One of the most exciting times in football comes when a team has failed, after three attempts, to move the ball forward ten yards. The team must make a critical decision.[来源:学+科+网Z+X+X+K]
The conservative choice is to kick the ball and accept temporary defeat in order to gain a good position for your team the next time it gets the ball. The more exciting choice, however, is to try a fourth and final time to gain the remaining yards needed.
In the nineteen eighties, people began using this expression in many kinds of situations to encourage someone to act bravely.
There is no guarantee(保证) that the action you “Go for it!” will succeed. But that is the chance you take when you decide to go for it. You put your fears behind. You choose courage over safety. You hold your breath and go for it.
【小题1】The expression “Go for it!” comes from______.
A.English football | B.Egyptian football |
C.Japanese football | D.American football |
A.safety | B.action |
C.result | D.situation |
A.We decide to avoid trouble or danger for the future. |
B.We try to improve our English for better education. |
C.We need to make a quick decision at the last moment. |
D.We have to make a choice between success and failure. |
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科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:阅读理解
The candidate who is longing for election to the highest office in the United States must be native-born American citizen who is at least 35 years old and who has lived in the United States for at least 14 years. The election course is complicated, and the road to the Oval Office is long.
Potential candidates must present papers stating their intention to seek their party’s recommendation; delegates(代表) then choose from among those running some months later at the national conferences. Before that, however, each state holds a primary election that determines how the state’s voters want the party’s delegates to vote. Methods of choosing the delegates vary from state to state. At the conferences, there are speeches and often heated discussions. It may take several rounds of voting before delegates can agree on a candidate. On the final day of the meeting, the presidential candidate announces his or her choice for vice president.
Election Day, by law, is the Tuesday that follows the first Monday in November. On this day, registered voters may cast their votes for president, vice president, and candidates for other federal state, and local offices. The popular vote, however, does not determine who will be president. The president is chosen by a vote of the Electoral College, a group of 538 citizens from the 50 states and the District of Columbia who are chosen to cast votes for the president and vice president.
The rules for choosing electors, as with the delegates, vary. Each state also decides whether its electoral votes must reflect the popular vote. The number of electors in each state is determined by the number of representatives and senators that a state sends to Congress and, therefore, may change every 10 years, depending on the results of the United States census (人口普查). The winner must get at least 270 of the electoral votes when the Electoral College meets in December of the election year. The election results are not official, however, until the following January, when Congress meets in a joint conference to count the electoral votes.
At the end of the road to the Oval Office is the swearing-in ceremony, at which the new or reelected president takes the oath of office on January 20.
【小题1】Which of the following is not a requirement for candidates for the presidency of the USA?
A.Minimum age of thirty-five years old. |
B.Native of the United States of America. |
C.Bottom residency of fourteen years in the State |
D.Previous experience in an elective office. |
A.The Various Ways of Presidential Election in the USA |
B.The Qualifications for Being the President of the USA |
C.The Process of the Election for the President of the USA |
D.The Rules for Choosing Presidential Candidates in the USA |
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科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:阅读理解
It is hard to imagine that such a small country,the size of Indiana with the population of Alaska,tucked in the Himalaya Mountains,accessible only by two airplanes,is the “Happiest Country’’ in the world and has one of the fastest growing GDP’S in the world.This country is Bhutan,“Land of the Thunder Dragon”,which is located in South Asia and is encompassed by India,China,and Nepal.
Bhutan is the last standing Buddhist Kingdom in the World and,until recently,has preserved much of their culture since the l7th century by avoiding globalization and staying isolated from the world.Internet,television,and western dress were banned from the country up until ten years ago.Over the past ten years globalization has begun to change in Bhutan,but things remain perfectly balanced.
Bhutan is the only country in the world that has a ‘GNH’,which refers to “Gross National Happiness.’’The process of measuring GNH began when Bhutan opened up to globalization.It measures people’s quality of life,and makes sure that “material and spiritual development happen together.”Bhutan has done an amazing job of finding this balance.Bhutan has continually been ranked as the happiest country in all of Asia,and the eighth Happiest Country in the world according to Business Week.In 2007,Bhutan had the second fastest growing GDP in the world,at the same time as maintaining their environment and cultural identity.
In 2008,in Bhutan’s first democratic election,28-year-old Jigme Khesar Namgyel Wang Chuck was elected president of Bhutan.He promises to “maintain a stance (立场)of protection against the worst aspects of globalization,maintaining the ‘Gross National Happiness’.”But Jigme himself is no stranger to globalization.He attended high school at Phillips Academy and university at Wheaton College and then graduated from Oxford.
【小题1】The underlined word “encompassed’’ in the first paragraph most probably means __________ .
A.covered | B.surrounded |
C.separated | D.guarded |
A.Because it changes its policy and begins to open up. |
B.Because it uses “GNH” to measure its achievement. |
C.Because it stresses both material and spiritual development. |
D.Because it has the second fastest growing GDP in the world. |
A.The election in Bhutan is far from satisfactory. |
B.Globalization has influenced Bhutan’s religion. |
C.Jigme’s educational background will cause distrust. |
D.People in Bhutan will continue living a happy life. |
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科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:阅读理解
In 1935, the clarinetist and bandleader Benny Goodman, aged just twenty?six, left New York with his fourteen?piece “swing” band and, traveling in a ragtag group of cars, headed for the huge Palomar Ballroom in Los Angeles. It was not an easy trip. ?There were half a dozen dismal, sparsely attended one?nighters and three weeks at a dance hall in Denver, where the band was forced to play waltzes, tangos, and novelty numbers. On the opening night at the Palomar, the band played ballad numbers in the first set, and there was little response from the dancers. Then one of the musicians said, if they were going to bomb again they might well do it in style. So Goodman called for his hot, often uptempo arrangements, many of them by the ingenious black bandleader and arranger Fletcher Henderson, and the kids stopped dancing, clustered around the bandstand, and began roaring. ?Before the weeks at the Palomar were over, it was clear that Goodman had suddenly made jazz—still a suspect and largely subliminal American folk music, despite the brilliant inventions during the previous decade of Jelly Roll Morton and others—into a popular music.
Goodman?s surprising ways continued. In 1936, he shook up the white entertainment establishment by hiring two black musicians—the elegant pianist Teddy Wilson and the plunging vibraphonist Lione Hampton. (To be sure, Wilson and Hampton did not play in the band; instead, they appeared with Goodman and the drummer Gene Krupa during intermissions.) A year later, when the band went into the Paramount Theater in New York for three weeks, legions of kids appeared, and a screaming, dancing riot nearly took place. ?It was the first great American show frenzy, and it prepared the way for the Sinatra frenzy of 1947, and for all the Beatles frenzies, and for all the mindless rock?borne frenzies of the Seventies and Eighties.
Then, on the night of January 16, 1938, Goodman, challenging the long?hairs, took his band into a sold?out Carnegie Hall. The big band played a dozen numbers, the trio two numbers, and the quartet five numbers. ?Despite the immediate rumblings from Olin Downes, the Times?s classical music critic (“The playing last night, if noise, speed and beat, all old devices, are heat, was “hot” as it could be, but nothing came of it all, and in the long run it was decidedly monotonous”), Goodman?s concert moved jazz even further up the American popular register. [412 words]
【小题1】 This passage is mainly
A a general review of Jazz music.
B a biography of Benny Goodman.
C about the origin of American folk music.
D about how jazz became popular in America.
【小题2】 Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?
A The band?s first music show in Los Angles was an immediate success.
B Goodman is considered the father of Jazz music.
C Benny Goodman was unknown to public when he left New York.
D The band scheduled to play waltzes, tangos and novelty numbers at a dance hall in Denver.
【小题3】 It could be inferred from the passage that
A Jazz is a style of music native to America.
B Classic music had become outdated at Goodman?s time.
C Morton and Goodman were contemporaries.
D Goodman was the first bandleader who hired Black musicians in 1930s.
【小题4】 The phrase “shake up” (Line 1,Paragraph 2) in the context probably means
A to give a very unpleasant shock.
B to make changes to an organization.
B to get rid of a problem.
D to point out, designate.
【小题5】 Towards Goodman?s music show frenzy, Olin Downes, the classical music critic has
A approving attitude. B satirizing attitude.
C regretting mind. D exaggerated tone.
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科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:阅读理解
People use their mouths for many things.They eat,talk,shout and sing.They smile and they kiss.In the English language,there are many expressions using the word “mouth”.
For example,if you say bad things about a person,the person might protest(抗议) and say “Do not bad mouth me.” Sometimes,people say something to a friend or family member that they later regret because it hurts that person.Or they tell the person something they were not supposed to tell.The speaker might say,“I really put my foot in my mouth this time.” If this should happen,the speaker might feel down in the mouth.In other words,he might feel sad for saying the wrong thing.
Another situation is when someone falsely claims another person said something.The other person might protest,“I did not say that.Do not put words in my mouth.”
Some people have lots of money because they were born into a very rich family.There is an expression for this,too.You might say such a person,“was born with a silver spoon in his mouth.” This rich person is the opposite of a person who lives from hand to mouth.This person is very poor and only has enough money for the most important things in life,like food.
Parents might sometimes keep a child off sweet food as a form of punishment for saying bad things.For example,if a child says things she should not say to her parents,she might be described as a mouthy child.The parents might even tell the child to stop mouthing off.
But enough of all this talk.I have been running my mouth long enough.
【小题1】What will the person say if he feels sorry for what he has said?
A.Do not bad mouth me. |
B.Stop mouthing off. |
C.Do not put words in my mouth. |
D.I really put my foot in my mouth this time. |
A.he is badlyoff | B.he is hardworking |
C.he has lots of money | D.he has enough to eat |
A.I have run a long way |
B.I have talked too much |
C.I have learned a lot |
D.I have been a mouthy person |
A.Expressions about the word “mouth”. |
B.Functions of the organ “mouth”. |
C.Opinions about “mouthy people”. |
D.Meanings of the word “mouth”. |
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科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:阅读理解
It is hardly surprising that clothing manufacturers(生产商) follow certain uniform standards for various features(特征) of clothes. What seems strange, however, is that the standard adopted for women is the opposite of the one for men. Take a look at the way your clothes button. Men's clothes tend to button from the right, and women's from the left. Considering most of the world's population----men and women----are right-handed, the men's standard would appear to make more sense for women. So why do women's clothes button from the left? History really seems to matter here. Buttons first appeared only on the clothes of the rich in the 17th century, when rich women were dressed by servants. For the mostly right-handed servants, having women's shirts button from the left would be easier. On the other hand, having men's shirts button from the right made sense, too. Most men dressed themselves, and a sword drawn from the left with the right hand would be less likely to get caught in the shirt. Today women are seldom dressed by servants, but buttoning from the left is still the standard for them. Is it interesting? Actually, a standard, once set, resists change. At a time when all women's shirts buttoned from the left, it would have been risky for any single manufacturer to offer women's shirts that buttoned from the right. After all, women had grown so used to shirts which buttoned from the left and would have to develop new habits and skills to switch. Besides, some women might have found it socially awkward to appear in public wearing shirts that buttoned from the right, since anyone who noticed that would believe they were wearing men's shirts.
【小题1】 What is surprising about the standard of the clothing industry?
A.It has been followed by the industry for over 400 years. |
B.It is different for men's clothing and women's. |
C.It woks better with men than with women. |
D.It fails to consider right-handed people. |
A.They tended to wear clothes without buttons. |
B.They were interested in the historical matters. |
C.They were mostly dressed by servants. |
D.They drew their swords from the left. |
A.adopting men's style is improper for women |
B.manufacturers should follow standards |
C.modern women dress themselves |
D.customs are hard to change |
A.analyzing causes |
B.making comparisons |
C.examining differences |
D.following the time order |
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科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:阅读理解
During the 1800s, African Americans worked long days in the fields of the American South.To ease their labor, they sang "field hollers" that they had brought from Africa.One person sang a line.Then a group of workers repeated it.The songs' words told of the hardships that people suffered.African Americans sang "shout spirituals", or joyous religious songs.They clapped their hands and stomped their feet to the music.
After the Civil War, the music changed dramatically.African American music, from ballads to church music, took new forms.It also adapted dance music, called "jump-ups".which had great rhythm. Banjos became popular.A blues singer usually played a call and response with the banjo.By the early 1900s, the guitar had replaced the banjo as the main blues instrument.
Northern Mississippi - called the Delta - was the center of the blues tradition.By the 1920s, the Delta had many clubs, so-called juke joints.African Americans listened and danced to music in these clubs.Some of the greatest blues men and women performed there.
Blues have a soulful sound that is easy to recognize.The musical notes are often "bent".That is, they are changed slightly to give a song more strength.Whatever their origin, these bent notes most often define the blues.
Lyrics are the words of a song.Blues lyrics describe everyday life.The lyrics, often about relationships between men and women, are often very intense and personal.They tell about sorrow and overwork.They tell about finding or losing love, having money or being broke, being happy or sad and lonely.The lyrics may use humor to describe life's trials and joys.They almost always use the rhythms of everyday speech.A typical blues stanza, or group of lyrics, has three lines.The second line repeats the first line.The third line has different words.
By the 1940s, large numbers of African Americans had left the Delta and moved north to work. Many settled in Chicago.There, a new kind of "electric", or "Chicago" blues began.Many of its themes were the same, but these blues had "wailing" electric guitars and harmonicas.The music had a steady, strong drumbeat.The loud, driving Chicago blues was excellent dance music.Chicago blues led to the birth of a new music style-rock and roll.
【小题1】The "field holler" is a kind of music that came from ___.
A.the American South. | B.Africa. |
C.Chicago. | D.Asia. |
A.used banjos. | B.were sung in church. |
C.included call and response singing. | D.expressed sadness. |
A.three lines. | B.a harmonica. |
C.a driving beat. | D.four lines. |
A.would have widespread without the juke joints of the Mississippi. |
B.served as a form of communication and self-expression. |
C.was successful only in the American South. |
D.there were only greatest blues man performed in these clubs. |
A.the South was too hot in summer. |
B.they liked the Chicago blues. |
C.there were more jobs there. |
D.they wanted to create a new music style. |
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科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:阅读理解
According to sociologists(社会学家),every modern industrial society has some form of social stratification(阶层).Class,power and status are important in deciding people’s rank in society.
Class means a person’s economic position in society.A commonly used classification is lower class,middle class and upper class.While sociologists disagree on how these terms should be exactly defined,they do describe societies like the United States quite well.One study shows that 53% of Americans belong to the lower class,46% the middle class,and 1% the upper class.Interestingly,a surgeon earning $500,000 a year and a bus driver earning $50,000 a year both regard themselves as the middle class!
Power refers to the amount of control a person has over other people.Obviously,people in positions of great power (such as governors) exercise(行使)big power,but people who take orders from others have less power.Power and class do not always go hand in hand,however.For example,the governor of a state has great power,but he or she may not belong to a corresponding (相应的)economic class.Generally,however,there is a relationship between power and class.To our knowledge,there aren’t too many people who aren’t millionaires in the U.S.Senate!
Status is the honor or respect attached to a person’s position in society.It can also be affected by power and class,but not necessarily so.For example,a university professor may have a high status but not belong to a high social class or have a lot of power over others.
【小题1】What can we learn about“the middle class”from Paragraph 2?
A.People earning $50,000 a year belong to the middle class. |
B.Nearly half Americans belong to the middle class. |
C.People generally consider bus drivers as the middle class. |
D.Sociologists have a clear definition of the middle class. |
A.power and class do not always correspond with each other |
B.status refers to a person’s economic position in society |
C.people with high status have a lot of control over others |
D.class is less important in deciding a person’s social rank |
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