They once seemed more at home on the busy streets of Asia like Delhi, Calcutta and Bangkok but cycle powered rickshaws (人力车) can now be seen taking people across town in many European cities. Many people believe that rickshaws are a good way of experiencing a city close-up, while also cutting down on traffic jams and pollution. In Berlin, one of the first cities to introduce this new model of transport, more than 200 bike-taxis go along at 15km per hour, past many tourist attractions and city parks.
“It is completely environmentally friendly; we have new models with an engine to help the driver up the hills but they use renewable energy.” said a spokesman for VELOTAXI, the leading rickshaw company which has carried a quarter of a million people this year.
While the city still has 7,000 motor-taxis, rickshaw company officials say their taxis’ green ideas, speed and safety make them more than just a tourist attraction. While now increasingly out of fashion in Delhi, Berlin people have eagerly accepted the new fleet since their launch in 1997.
“It’s better than a taxi, better than a bus, better than the train,” said ULF Lehman, 36, as he leapt out of a rickshaw near the world famous Brandenburg gate. “It feels so free.”
“This is something out of the ordinary, you feel you are on holiday in Bangkok instead of Berlin,” said another traveler.
In Amsterdam, driver Peter Jancso said people like to be driven around in his bright yellow rickshaw and pretend to be a queen in a golden carriage. “I like my passengers to feel important,” he said as he dropped off another passenger. Another visitor noted how cheap it was compared with a normal taxi.
Although increasingly popular in Europe, it is the opposite in India, where hand-pulled rickshaws are considered inhuman and a symbol of India’s backward past.
Nearly 500 bike-rickshaws are running in London and are not required to pay the city’s road tax but things may change as other taxi drivers complain of unfair treatment.
【小题1】Where are rickshaws becoming more popular?
A.Delhi, Berlin, Paris. | B.Berlin, Amsterdam, London. |
C.Athens, London, Berlin. | D.Amsterdam, Bangkok, Delhi. |
A.They have been banned because they are inefficient. |
B.They are a reminder of a bad period in India’s history. |
C.The streets of India are too crowded for them to move through easily. |
D.Indians now prefer to travel by car because they are richer. |
A.The passenger didn’t like taking a rickshaw as it reminded him of Bangkok. |
B.The passenger was impressed when taking a rickshaw and considered it unusual. |
C.The passenger enjoyed being on holiday in Berlin more than in Bangkok. |
D.The passenger disapproved of rickshaws because they were not original to |
A.He thinks they will reduce pollution |
B.He believes they will be of no use. |
C.He gives no personal opinion. |
D.He thinks they are old-fashioned. |
【小题1】B
【小题2】B
【小题3】B
【小题4】C
解析试题分析:文章介绍了人力三轮车在欧洲流行起来了,使用了一些数据和游客和三轮车夫的话分析了为什么三轮车会这么受欢迎的原因,也分析了原来流行的地方印度现在为什么人们不怎么做人力三轮车的原因。
【小题1】细节题:从文章的第一段,倒数第三段和最后一段分别提到人力三轮车在Berlin, Amsterdam, London 很受欢迎,选B
【小题2】细节题:从文章的倒数第二段, it is the opposite in India, where hand-pulled rickshaws are considered inhuman and a symbol of India’s backward past.可知在印度人力三轮车会使人们想起以前的屈辱的历史,选B
【小题3】句意理解题:理解这句话关键是out of the ordinary,说明乘坐人力三轮车是不寻常的,选B
【小题4】作者态度题:作者使用了一些数据和游客和三轮车夫的话,没有给出自己的观点,可知是客观的,选C
考点:考查社会现象类短文
科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:阅读理解
One thing the tour books don’t tell you about London is that 2,000 of its residents are foxes. They ran away from the city about centuries ago after developers and pollution moved in. But now that the environment is cleaner, the foxes have come home, one of the many wild animals that have moved into urban areas around the world.
“The number and variety of wild animals in urban areas is increasing,” says Gomer Jones, president of the National Institute for Urban Wildlife, in Columbia, Maryland. A survey of the wildlife in New York’s Central Park last year tallied the species of mammals, including muskrats, shrews and flying squirrels. A similar survey conducted in the 1890s counted only five species. One of the country’s largest populations of raccoons (浣熊) now lives in Washington D.C., and moose (驼鹿) are regularly seen wandering into Maine towns. Peregrine falcons(游隼) dive from the window ledges of buildings in the largest U.S. cities to prey on (捕食) pigeons.
Several changes have brought wild animals to the cities. Foremost is that air and water quality in many cities has improved as a result of the 1970s pollution-control efforts. Meanwhile, rural areas have been built up, leaving many animals on the edges of suburbs. In addition, urban wildlife refuges (避难处) have been created. The Greater London Council last year spent£750,000 to buy land and build 10 permanent wildlife refuges in the city. Over 1,000 volunteers have donated money and cleared rubble from derelict lots. One evening last year a fox was seen on Westminster Bridge looking up at Big Ben.
For peregrine falcons, cities are actually safer than rural cliff dwellings (悬崖栖息地). By 1970 the birds had died out east of the Mississippi because the DDT had made their eggs too thin to support life. That year, scientist Tom Cade of Cornell University began raising the birds for release in cities, for cities afforded abundant food.
Cities can attract wild animals without turning them harmful. The trick is to create habitats where they can be self-sufficient but still be seen and appreciated. Such habitats can even be functional. In San Francisco, the local government is testing different kinds of rainwater control basins to see not only which ones retain (保持) the cleanest water but which will attract the most birds.
【小题1】The first paragraph suggests that ________.
A.environment is crucial(关键的)for wildlife |
B.tour books are not always a reliable source of information |
C.London is a city of fox |
D.foxes are highly adaptable to environment |
A.Food is plentiful in the cities. |
B.Wildlife is appreciated in the cities. |
C.Wildlife refuges have been built in the cities |
D.Air and water quality has improved in the cities |
A.distinguished | B.described | C.counted | D.concluded |
A.Londoners are putting more and more wild animals into their zoos. |
B.Londoners are happy to see wild animals return to their city |
C.Londoners are trying to move wild animals back to the countryside |
D.Londoners have welcomed the wild birds, but found foxes a problem |
A.Wildlife returning to large cities |
B.Foxes returning to London |
C.Wild animals living in zoos |
D.A survey of wildlife in New York |
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科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:阅读理解
A new study suggests that sad music might actually arouse positive emotions. The finding helps to explain why people enjoy listening to sad music, say Ai Kawakami and her colleagues from Tokyo University of the Arts and the RIKEN Brain Science Institute, Japan. Ai Kawakami and her colleagues asked 44 volunteers, including both musicians and nonspecialists, to listen to two pieces of sad music and one piece of happy music. Each participant was required to use a set of keywords to rate both their perception(观念) of the music and their own emotional state.
The sad pieces of music included Glinka’s La Separation in F minor and Blumenfeld’s Etude Sur Mer in G minor. The happy music piece was Granados’s Allegro de Concierto in G major. To control the “happy” effect of major key, they also played the minor key(小调) pieces in major key, and vise versa.
The researchers explained that sad music aroused contradictory emotions because the participants of the study tended to feel sad to be more tragic and less romantic than they felt themselves while listening to it.
“ In general, sad music causes sadness in listeners, and sadness is regarded as an unpleasant emotion. If sad music actually arouses only unpleasant emotion, we would not listen to it,” the researchers wrote in the study.
“Music that is believed as sad actually causes romantic emotion as well as sad emotion.And people, regardless of their musical training, experience this ambivalent(矛盾的) emotion to listen to the sad music,” added the researchers.
Also, unlike sadness in daily life, sadness experienced through art actually feels pleasant, possibly because the latter does not cause an actual threat to our safety. This could help people to deal with their negative emotions in daily life, concluded the authors.
“Emotion experienced by music has no direct danger or harm unlike the emotion experienced in everyday life. Therefore, we can even enjoy unpleasant emotion such as sadness. If we suffer from unpleasant emotion aroused through daily life, sad music might be helpful to alleviate negative emotion,” they added.
【小题1】 People enjoy listening to sad music because _______.
A.sad music may help arouse positive emotions |
B.sad music can make people relax |
C.Sad music has a positive effect on people’s health |
D.many experts recommend people to listen to sad music |
A.sad music only causes sadness in listeners |
B.Only musicians were invited to take part in the survey |
C.The volunteers were asked to listen to three pieces of music in all |
D.Granados’s Allegro de Concierto in G major can cause positive emotions |
A.add | B.strengthen | C.cause | D.reduce |
A.People should listen to sad music. |
B.Happy music can make people sad. |
C.Sad music may actually cause positive emotions. |
D.Sad music is really bad to people. |
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科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:阅读理解
In some urban centers, workaholism is so common that people do not consider it unusual.They accept the lifestyle as normal.Government workers in Washington D.C., for example, frequently work sixty to seventy hours a week.They do this because they have to; they do it because they want to.
Workaholism can be a serious problem.Because true workaholics would rather work than do anything else, they probably don't know
how to relax; that is, they might not enjoy movies, sports, or other
types of entertainment.Most of all, they hate to sit and do nothing.The lives of workaholics are usually stressful, and this tension and worry can cause health problems such as heart attacks or stomach ulcers.In addition, typical workaholics don't pay much attention to their
families.They spend little time with their children, and their marriages may end in divorce.
Is workaholism always dangerous? Perhaps not.There are, certainly, people who work well under stress.Some studies show that many workaholics have great energy and interest in life.Their work is so pleasurable that they are actually very happy.For most workaholics, work and entertainment are the same thing.Their jobs provide them with a challenge; this keeps them busy and creative.
Why do workaholics enjoy their jobs so much? There are several advantages to work.It provides people with paychecks, and this is important.But it offers more than financial security It provides people with self-confidence; they have a feeling of satisfaction when they have produced a challenging piece of work and are able to say," I made that." Psychologists claim that work gives people an identity; by working, they get a sense of self and individualism.In addition, most jobs provide people with a socially acceptable way to meet others.
【小题1】A workaholic is a person who____.
A.tends to work long hours |
B.behaves in a strange way |
C.has to do many social jobs |
D.holds high social positions |
A.Being late. |
B.Being lazy. |
C.Being hopeless. |
D.Being unhealthy. |
A.live a hard life |
B.regard work as something enjoyable |
C.like to be under stress |
D.are good at both work and entertainment |
A.a; b; d; e | B.b; c; e; f | C.a; c; d; f | D.b; c; d; f |
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科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:阅读理解
How can you build more word-of-mouth advertising (口碑广告)? In other words, why would your customers want to talk to their friends about their experience of doing business with you?
When you perform your service or deliver your product competently (出色地), you are just doing what the customer expects. In order to increase the number of the customers who want to share their good experience with their friends, you must make your service impressive, going beyond what is expected.
Recently my daughter Dawn and I had lunch with my team members at the Campbell House. The food and service were truly excellent. My daughter asked for her leftovers (剩菜) to be packed. They were returned to her in aluminum foil (铝箔) shaped like a swan(天鹅). Guess what she talked about when she got home? How much more do you think it cost the Campbell House to produce that “Wow!” experience? Answer —not a cent!
Disneyland should be an inspiration to us all in providing a “Wow!” experience. What do people talk to their friends about when they come home? “You should have seen how clean that park was! With all of the people there, it’s unbelievable! There’s not even a gum wrapper on the ground!” Walt Disney understood that cleanliness is marketing.
【小题1】According to the passage, customers would like to share their good experience with their friends if ______.
A.what they need is provided on time |
B.the price of the service is low enough |
C.the service is better than they expected |
D.the after-sale service is good enough |
A.Disappointed and angry. | B.Excited and crazy. |
C.Worried and unhappy. | D.Surprised and pleased. |
A.it is always possible to satisfy all of the customers |
B.sometimes it is easy to provide a good experience |
C.most customers are easy to do business with |
D.the service should be as cheap as possible |
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科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:阅读理解
The British aren’t having as many children as they used to , One reason is that people are having children much older than before, meaning they have fewer year in which they can have them, After years at university ,they need a few years of work experience before they can get the job they want, They might then get married, but it’s incredibly expensive to buy a house in the UK.
The above explains why young British people now don’t move out of their parents’ home until they are around 30 years old on average, It’s only after this age that many young people start thinking about having a child , However , it is quite expensive to bring up a child in the UK, Both parents need to work just to pay for their child during the day, Paying for this childcare is always expensive, What’s more ,financial crisis and unemployment are making things even harder for families, With so much pressure on families, is it any surprise that the divorce rate is so high?
So what is Britain doing to try and save the British family ? The government is trying to make it cheaper to have children , For example ,there are increasing government subsidies for nursery schools, so that parents do not need to bay so much for child care.
The government is also trying to reduce the number of hours British parents have to work to earn enough money to pay their bills, If parents didn’t have to work so many hours, they’d have moue time to spend with their children and wouldn’t need to spend so much on childcare, On average, a Briton works 49 hours a week ,which is the most in Europe, The state is now considering introducing laws to encourage companies to improve their employees’ work –life balance, Let’s hope they’re not too late to save the British family , Otherwise, the British will always be too tired ,and won’t have enough time and money, to have children.
【小题1】Young British people live in their parents’ home until around 30 because
A.They are allowed to get married at 30 |
B.they can’t allowed to get married at 30 |
C.they can’t afford a house of their own until then |
D.they enjoy family life with their parents |
A.they have fewer years to have children |
B.they live much shorter lives than before |
C.it is more expensive to bring up a child |
D.people are losing their jobs because of the recent financial crisis |
A.food paid by the government |
B.school buildings for poor students |
C.free transportation |
D.money from the government to benefit the public |
A.with long work hours, it is hard for British parents to balance life and work |
B.more and more families in Britain are breaking up because they are having fewer children |
C.among Europeans, British people work hardest and earn the least |
D.childcare takes up too much energy and time for the British |
A.bringing down prices |
B.raising the salaries of parents |
C.reducing family income tax |
D.increasing subsidies for families and nursery schools |
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科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:阅读理解
The world is filled with smart, talented, educated and gifted people. We meet them every day. A few days ago, my car was not running well. I pulled it into a garage and the young mechanic had it fixed in just a few minutes. He knew what was wrong by simply listening to the engine. I was amazed. The sad truth is, great talent is not enough.
I am shocked at how little talented people earn. I heard the other day that less than 5 percent of American earn more than $100,000 a year. A business consultant (顾问) who specializes in the medical trade was telling me how many doctors, dentists and people like them struggle financially. All this time, I thought that when those students studying medicine graduated, the dollars would pour in. It was this business consultant who gave me the phrase “They are one skill away from great wealth.” When I ask the classes I teach “How many of you can cook a better hamburger than McDonald’s ?”, almost all the students raise their hands. I then ask, “So if most of you can cook a better hamburger, how come McDonald’s makes more money than you?” The answer is obvious---McDonald’s is excellent at business systems. The reason why so many talented people are poor is that they focus on building a better hamburger and know little or nothing about business systems. The world is filled with talented poor people. All too often, they’re poor or struggle financially or earn less than they are capable of , not because of what they know but because of what they do not know.
【小题1】The example mentioned in the first paragraph is to show ______.
A.how little talented people earn |
B.the world is filled with talented people |
C.he is not good at repairing cars |
D.the mechanic is good at repairing cars |
A.about 0.15 million | B.about 1.5 million |
C.about 15 million | D.about 150 million |
A.all talented people are not rich |
B.a person with a talent is sure to become rich |
C.a talented person is poor just because he knows too much |
D.many talented people earn little because of something they don’t know |
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科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:阅读理解
Someday a stranger will read your e-mail without your permission or scan the Website you’ve visited,Or perhaps someone will casually glance through your credit card purchases or cell phone bills to find out your shopping preferences or calling habits.
In fact, it’s likely some of these things have already happened to you. Who would watch you without your permission? It might be a spouse, a girl friend, a marketing company, a boss, a cop or a criminal. Whoever it is, they will see you in a way you never intended to be seen --- the 21st century equivalent of being caught naked.
Psychologists tell us boundaries are healthy, that it's important to reveal yourself to friends, family and lovers in stages, at appropriate times.But few boundaries remain. The digital bread crumbs (碎屑) you leave everywhere make it easy for strangers to reconstruct who you are, where you are and what you like. In some cases, a simple Google search can reveal what you think. Like it or not, increasingly we live in a world where you simply cannot keep a secret.
The key question is: Does that matter?
For many Americans, the answer apparently is “no.”
When opinion polls ask Americans about privacy, most say they are concerned about losing it. A survey found an overwhelming pessimism about privacy, with 60 percent of respondents saying they feel their privacy is “slipping away, and that bothers me.”
But people say one thing and do another. Only a tiny fraction of Americans change any behaviors in an effort to preserve their privacy. Few people turn down a discount at tollbooths (收费站) to avoid using the EZ-Pass system that can track automobile movements. And few turn down supermarket loyalty cards. Privacy economist Alessandro Acauisti has run a series of tests that reveal people will surrender personal information like Social Security numbers just to get their hands on a pitiful 50-cents-off coupon (优惠卷).
But privacy does matter - at least sometimes. It’s like health: When you have it, you don’t notice it. Only when it’s gone do you wish you’d done more to protect it.
【小题1】What does the author mean by saying “the 21st century equivalent of being caught naked” (Lines 3-4, Para. 2)?
A.People's personal information is easily accessed without their knowledge. |
B.In the 21st century people try every means to look into others’ secrets. |
C.People tend to be more frank with each other in the information age. |
D.Criminals are easily caught on the spot with advanced technology. |
A.Friends should open their hearts to each other. |
B.Friends should always be faithful to each other. |
C.There should be a distance even between friends. |
D.There should be fewer disputes between friends. |
A.Modern society has finally evolved into an open society. |
B.People leave traces around when using modern technology. |
C.There are always people who are curious about others’ affairs. |
D.Many search engines profit by revealing people’s identities. |
A.They change behaviors that might disclose their identity. |
B.They use various loyalty cards for business transactions. |
C.They rely most and more on electronic devices. |
D.They talk a lot but hardly do anything about it. |
A.people will make every effort to keep it |
B.its importance is rarely understood |
C.it is something that can easily be lost |
D.people don’t cherish it until they lose it |
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科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:阅读理解
Mother’s Day is a holiday for mothers. It is celebrated(庆祝)in the United States, England, India and some other countries. In a short time, it becomes widely celebrated. Mother’s day falls on the second Sunday in May. On that day, many people send gifts(礼物)of love to their mothers.
Those whose mothers are still living often wear a pink or red rose or carnation(康乃馨), while those whose mothers are dead wear a white one.
The idea of a day for mothers was first given by Miss Anna Jarvis of Philadelphia. As a result of her hard work, the celebration of the first American Mother’s Day was held in Philadelphia(费城) on May 10, 1908. Soon the holiday became popular all over the country and around the world.
In China, people do the same on the day for mothers. And, in some cities, people sometimes ask a song to be broadcast(广播) for his or her mother only. This might cost a little money for some of them, but, as it is said, “Love is invaluable.”
On May 8, 1999, just the day before the Mother’s Day that year, a Chinese mother was killed in criminal bombing(罪恶轰炸). Her name is Shao Yanhuan, a heroic mother. All the Chinese will remember her forever.
【小题1】 Mother’s Day .
A.is a holiday for mothers |
B.is celebrated in the United Stated only |
C.falls on May 10 every year |
D.was given by Miss Anna Jarvis |
A.May 7. | B.May 8. | C.May 9. | D.May 10 |
A.send some flowers to their mothers. |
B.wear a pink or red rose or carnation |
C.wear a white flower |
D.send gifts of love to their mothers |
A.美好的 | B.无价的 | C.永恒的 | D.无私的 |
A.Shao Yunhuan is a heroic mother. |
B.A Chinese mother is the same as an American mother. |
C.The bombing cannot get away with the crime (难逃罪责). |
D.All of the above |
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