高考英语阅读专项训练1

高考阅读专项训练（1） Title and Main Idea

归纳概括中心主旨的题目是高考必考题目，考查考生通过阅读理解,总结归纳，找出文章中心意思的能力。

要做好这类题考生必须区分主要信息和次要信息；既看到树木, 更看到森林；要跳出一词

一句，而俯瞰全文；要通读全文，通篇理解。

找出主题句(topic sentence) 是一个有用的方法。

中心意思(main idea)通常是一个完整的句子，它应能全面准确地概括文章的中心主旨；最

佳题目(the best title)可以是一个短语词组，它除能概括文章的中心主旨外，还有吸引读者，

引发阅读兴趣的任务。

除常见的提问以外，这种题型的提问方式还有：

The main point of the passage is ...

The passage deals mainly with ...

The passage is about ...

What does the passage mainly discuss?

What is the author's main purpose ?

Paragraph 1

What are the tallest plants in the world? Many people would say that giant redwood trees of California. Actually, the tallest plants are in the oceans. These are seaweeds that grow almost seven hundred feet tall. Compared to this height, the giant redwoods are pygmies of only four hundred feet. To get some idea of these heights, consider the Statue of Liberty. This huge figure rises only three hundred feet.

1. The passage can be entitled __________.

A. Redwoods in California

B. The Statue of Liberty

C. Seaweed

D. The Tallest Plants

Paragraph 2

We think of a flood or an earthquake as a natural disaster. To many of nature' s animals, however, the greatest disaster is the coming of large numbers of humans. When settlers came from the East to America' s great western plains, they killed millions of bison, poisoned the prairie dogs, and shot the coyotes. All this upset the area's balance of nature. For the animals, it was worse than

a flood or earthquake.

2. Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

A. Nature Balance Itself

B. Floods and Earthquakes

C. American Settlers

D. Humans--a Disaster to Nature

Paragraph 3

At this time the state of South Carolina was having hard times. Year after year the soil had been planted to the same crop. It was farmed by uneducated and careless slaves, and the planters knew little about soil conservation. Because the soil was beginning to wear out, crops were smaller. The younger people were not satisfied to raise cotton on the poor soil of the old South. Many of them moved westward and started cotton plantations (种植园) in Alabama and Mississippi. What was more, so much cotton had been shipped to factories in England and New England that they had as much cotton as they could use. This brought the price of cotton down. More and more slaves were needed to work on the new and large plantations, and higher and

higher prices were demanded for them. Planters found their expenses rising and their incomes

from the sale of cotton reduced. Hard times had come to South Carolina.

3. The subject of this passage is __________.

A. economic (经济的) difficulties of South Carolina

B. that the planters knew nothing about farming

C. that the soil in South Carolina was not good

D. the causes of hard times in South Carolina

4. Which of the following sentences can summarize (概括) the main idea of the passage?

A. Hard times had come to South Carolina.

B. Planters found their expenses rising and their incomes from the sale of cotton reduced.

C. The soil was farmed by uneducated and careless slaves.

D. More and more slaves were needed to work on the new and large plantations.

Paragraph 4

When a piece of paper burns, it is completely changed. The ash that is left behind does not look

like the original piece of paper. When dull-red rust appears on a piece of tinware (锡制品), it is

quite different from the gleaming tin. The tarnish that forms on silverware is a new substance

unlike the silver itself. Animal tissue (组织) is unlike the vegetable substance from which it is

made. A change in which the original substance is turned into a different substance is called a

chemical change.

5. The author writes this passage to tell us _________.

A. how paper burns

B. that dull-red on tinware is unlike tin itself

C. that animal tissue is different from plant's

D. what a chemical change is

Paragraph 5

One of the most important weapons used during the Second World War was not a weapon used

against people, but rather a drug used against disease. The wartime use of penicillin saved

thousands of lives. In the First World War, for example, pneumonia was responsible for eighteen

percent of all the deaths in the United States army. In the Second World War, the rate went down

to less than one percent. In addition, penicillin was instrumental in keeping wounds from getting

infected and in helping to speed the healing process of those wounds that did become infected.

6. which of the following would be the best title for the passage?

A. A Dangerous Weapon

B. Guns in the Second World War

C. A Terrible Pneumonia

D. An Important Drug

Paragraph 6

300

Mr. Brown, a shopkeeper, was going to count the day' s cash takings. There was more than ￡in notes. He was about to put them in a bag. He heard a sound.

A door at the back of the room was opening. A voice shouted "Don't shout. Don't look round.

I have a gun." Mr. Brown stood still. The voice went on, "Drop that bag and the notes. Go and

stand in the corner beside the safe. Keep quite still. Remember, I have a gun."

Mr. Brown was frightened. He obeyed all the robber' s orders. The robber picked up the notes

and was about to go out by the door at the back of the room.

It was a quarter past six. John Taylor arrived outside that very same back door. He raised his

hand and was about to knock. At that very moment the robber opened the door. He was frightened

to see John there. He lost his head. He became panic-stricken. He tried to push his way past John.

But John was suspicious. He blocked the robber' s way. There was a fight.

Mr. Brown heard the fight. He forgot his fear, turned round and rushed from his corner. He

threw both his arms round the robber. This pinned the robber' s arms to his sides so he could not use his gun. At the same moment John struck the robber hard in the stomach and knocked all the breath out of his body. The robber fell to the ground in a pile. He still held the notes but his gun

fell on the floor and John quickly picked it up. All was now over. Soon the police arrived.

7. The main idea of this passage is _________.

A. a robber robbed a shop

B. Mr. Brown and Mr. Taylor fought against a robber

C. None but the brave can win victory

D. John Taylor was a brave man

Paragraph 7

Sometimes people call each other "scared-cat", but have you ever thought about this expression? When a cat is frightened, its heart starts beating faster, its muscles get tense, and there are changes in the chemicals in its bloodstream. Although the cat doesn't realize this, its body is getting ready for action. If the danger continues, the animal will do one of two things. It will

defend itself, or it will run away as fast as it can.

Something like this also happens to people. When we are excited, angry, scared, or aroused by other emotions (feelings), our bodies go through many physical changes. Our hearts beat faster, and our muscles get tense. All of these changes make us more alert and ready to react. We, too, get ready to defend ourselves or run.

Human beings, however, have a problem that animals never face. If we give way to our feelings and let them take over, we can get into trouble. Have you ever said something in anger—or hit somebody—and regretted it later? Have you ever shouted at a teacher, told somebody you were lonely, or said you were in love, and then wished later you had kept your mouth shut? It isn't always wise to express your feelings freely.

Does this mean that it's smarter always to hide our feelings? No! If you keep feelings of anger, sadness, and bitterness hidden away or bottled up inside, your body stays tense. Physical illness can develop, and you can feel churned up inside. It can actually be bad for your health. (It

isn't good to keep pleasant feelings inside either; all feelings need to be expressed.) Feeling that you keep all bottled up inside, don't just go away. It's as if bought some bananas and stuck them in a cupboard. You might not be able to see them, but before long you'd smell them, if you opened the cupboard, chances are you'd see little fruit flies hovering all over them. They'd be rotten.

You can try to treat emotions as if they were bananas in the cupboard. You can hide them and you can pretend they don't exist, but they'll still be around. And at last you'll have to deal with them, just like those bananas.

8. The best title for this article is __________.

A. Emotions Affect Our Bodies

B. What Happens to A Frightened Cat

C. What Happens to An Excited Person

D. Feelings That People Have

9. The author wrote this article in order to __________.

A. tell us that it isn't good to keep feelings inside

B. give us some advice on how to express our feelings

C. make us face the problem that we have to deal with feelings

D. make us know that it isn't always wise to express our feelings freely

Paragraph 8

It is possible to do many simple tricks with numbers. Here is one trick. It has several separate steps.

First, write down your house number. For example, if your address is 73 Lemon Street, you

would write down 73. After you write down your house address, next double it. Then add five to

this doubled number. For example, if your address was 73 and you doubled it, you would get 146. Then, if you added five, you'd get 151. Then multiply this number by 50. In our example here, you'll get 7550. The next step is to add your age to this total. For example, if you're 26 years old, you should add 26 to this total. In our example here, the result would be 7576. After that you have to add the number of days in a year, which is 365. In our example here, 365 added to 7576 is 7941.

The final step is this: Subtract 615 from the number that you have. Take away 615 from the total, In our example, 7941 minus 615 is 7326.

The result here - 7326 - is the trick. The first part of the number is the address and the last part of the number is the age of the person. That is, 73 is the address that we started with, and 26 is the age that we used.

10. The best title of the passage is __________.

A. The number tricks

B. A trick with numbers

C. An interesting problem

D. How to work out a difficult trick

Paragraph 9

Many cities around the world today are heavily polluted. Careless methods of production and lack of consumer demand for environment (环境) friendly products have contributed to the pollution problem. One result is that millions of tons of glass, paper, plastic, and metal containers are produced, and these are difficult to get rid of.

However, today, more and more consumers are choosing "green" and demanding that the products they buy should be safe for the environment. Before they buy a product, they ask questions like these: "Will this shampoo damage the environment?" "Can this metal container be reused or can it only be used once?"

A recent study showed that two out of five adults now consider the environmental safety of a product before they buy it. This means that companies must now change the way they make and sell their products to make sure that they are "green," that is, friendly to the environment.

Only a few years ago, it was impossible to find green products in supermarkets, but now there are hundreds. Some supermarket products carry labels (标签) to show that the product is green. Some companies have made the manufacturing (生产) of clean and safe products their main selling point and emphasize it in their advertising.

The concern for a safer and cleaner environment is making companies rethink how they do business. No longer will the public accept the old attitude of "Buy it, use it, throw it away, and forget it." The public pressure is on, and gradually business is cleaning up its act.

11. It becomes clear from the text that the driving force (动力) behind green products is

__________.

A. public caring for the environment

B. companies' desire for bigger sales

C. new ways of doing business

D. rapid growth of supermarkets

12. What would be the best title for the text?

A. Business and People

B. Business Goes Green

C. Shopping Habits Are Changing

D. Supermarkets and Green Products

13. The underlined word "it" in the fourth paragraph refers to __________.

A. a selling point

B. the company name

C. a great demand for health foods

D. the manufacturing of green products

高考阅读理解题专项训练步步高

A

Moscow, Russia (Space news)... "The,computer is a better chess player, " insisted Viktor Prozorov, the loser. "It seemed as if it were laughing after every good move, I know I should have beaten it for the sake of mankind(为人类着想), but I just couldn't win," he announced and shook his head sadly.

Prozorov's disappointment was shared by sereral grand masters who were present, some of whom were so upet that they shouted at the machine. Many chess players said that this meant the end of chess championships(锦标赛) around the world, since the fun had been taken out of the game.

The computer walked or rather, rolled-away with 5,000 dollars in prize money and limited its remarks to a set of noises and lights.

1. Which of the following best gives the main idea of this newspaper article?

A. 5,000 dollars goes to a computer!

B. New invention:a laughing computer!

C. World's best chess player beaten!

D. Computer defeats man in chess!

(二) (MET92) A

Shu Pulong has helped at least l000 people bitted(咬) by snakes. "It was seeing people with snake bites(伤口) that led me to this career" he said.

In l963, after his army service, Shu entered a medical school and later became a doctor

of Chinese medicine. As part of his studies he had to work in the mountains. There he often heard

of people who had their arms and legs cut off after a snake bite in order to save their lives.

"I was greatly upset by the story of an old farmer I met. It was a very hot afternoon. The old man was pulling grass in his fields when he felt a pain in his left hand. He at once realized he had been bitten by a poisonous snake. In no time wrapped a cloth tightly around his arm to stop

the poison spreading to his heart. Rushing home he shouted 'bring me the knife!' Minutes later the man lost his arm forever."

"The sad story touched me so much that I decided to devote myself to helping people bitten by snakes," Shu said.

1. The best headline (标题) fot this newspaper article is ______.

A. Astonishing Medicine

B. Farmer Loses Arm

C. Dangerous Bites

D. Snake Doctor

B

Sam and Joe were astronauts. There was once a very dangerous trip and the more experienced astronauts knew there was only a small chance of coming back alive(活着). Sam and Joe, however, thought, it would be exciting though a little dangerous. "We're the best men for the job," they said to the boss. "There may be problems, but we can find the answers. " "They're the

last people I'd trust," thought the boss. "But all the other astronauts have refused to go."

Once they were in space, Joe had to go outside to make some repairs. When the repairs were done, he tried to get back inside the spaceship. But the door was locked. He knocked but

there was no answer. He knocked again, louder this time, and again, no answer came. Then he hit the door as hard as he could and finally a voice said, "Who's there?" "It's me ! Who else could it be?" shouted Joe. Sam let him in all right but you can imagine that Joe never asked to go on a trip with Sam again!

5. The writer tells this stoty to______.

A. show the dangrous side of the astronauts' life

B. show the funny side of the astronauts' life

C. make people laugh

D. make people think（三）（MET93） A

On the evening of June 21, 1992, a tall man with brown hair and blue eyes entered the beautiful hall of the Bell Tower Hotel in Xi'an with his bicycle. The hotel worker received him and telephoned the manager,for they had never seen a bicycle in the hotel hall before though they lived in "the kingdom of bicycles".

Robert Friedlander, an American, arrived in Xi'an on his bicycle trip across Asia which started last December in New Delia, India．

When he was 11, he read the book Marco Polo and made up his mind to visit the Silk Road. Now after 44 years, he was on the Silk Road in Xi'an and his early dreams were coming true.

Robert Friedlander's next destinations (目的地) were Lanzhou, Dunhuang, Urumqi, etc. He will complete his trip in Pakistan.

1. The best headline(标题) for this newspaper article would be______.

A. The Kingdom Of Bicycles.

B. A Beautiful Hotel in Xi'an

C. Marco Polo and the Silk Road

D. An American Achieving his Aims.

B

Kleptomania is an illness of the mind that gives a person the deisre to steal. Such a person is not really a thief. They are sick and cannot help themselves. All small children act naturally and as they grow up they normally learn to control their actions. People with kleptomania for certain medical reasons have failed to develop control over their desire to take things that do not belong to them. With medical help they may become normal citizens again. The things that a kleptomaniac steals are seldom of great value. They often give away what they have stolen or collect objects without using them.

1. What is the topic of the text?

A. Young thieves.

B. An unusual illness.

C. Reasons for stealing.

D. A normal child's actions.

C

Do you always understand the directions on a bottle of medicine? Do you know what is meant by "Take only as directed"? Read the following directions and see if you understand them.

"To reduce pain, take two tablets(药片)with water,followed by one tablet every eight hours, as required. For night time and early morning relief(缓解疼痛)take two tablets at bedtime. Do not take more than six tablets in twenty-four hours.

For childen six to twelve years old, give half the amount(量). For children under six years old, ask your doctor's advice.

Reduce the amount if you suffer from restlessness or sleeplessness after taking the medicine.

5. This text is most probably taken from a______.

A. textbook

B. newsreel

C. doctor's notebook

D. bottle of medicine

D

I had just gone to bed after a very hard day when the phone rang. It was an eccentric(怪

癖的)farmer. I had never met him before although I had often heard people talk about him. He

sounded quite nervous and he had been talking for a minute or so before I understood anything.

Even then all I could make out was that someone called Milly had had a very bad accident. I

hadn't the slightest idea who she was but I obviously had to go.

It had been snowing heavily that day and I didn't know the way. I had been driving for at

least an hour when I finally found his place. He was standing there, waiting for me. It seemed

wife !" he said. I could see

Milly had died. "She meant more to me than anyone… even my own

that he had been crying. I thought something terrible had taken place, a possible scandal(丑闻). I

was even more shocked when he told me he had put her in the barn (厩). "I wouldn't leave her out

in the cold!" he said.

Milly had clearly been a secret lover of his. I was about to tell him he could not expect

me to cover anything up when he opened the barn door. He lifted his candle and I saw a dark

figure on the ground. "She was such a good cow! I wouldn't let anyone but a doctor touch her!" he

said, and burst into tears again.

5. The person who told the story is probably a______.

A. farmer

B. policeman

C. country doctor

D. newspaper reporter

D

There are different ways in which people try to deal with the problem of energy. One

way is the greater production of common energy sources, such as coal, oil and gas. The trouble

with these sources, however, is that they are not renewable.

Another way is energy conservation, which means using energy more efficiently. In

some cold countries people build special houses to save energy. They place materials between the

inside and the outside of the walls of the house to keep the cold out and the warmth in. The house

is heated by the lights, the body heat of the people and the other equipment in it.

Finally, renewable energy sources are used even though they are often expensive to

develop. One form of these is getothermal energy. In certain parts of the world the temperature

of the earth increases thirty degrees centigrade with each kilometre down. At six kilometres,

therefore, it rises to nearly two hundred degrees. To get the heat, water is pumped (压；抽) down

into the rocks and back up to the surface. Heat from the earth is already used in certain countries.

1. How many ways of dealing with the energy problem are discussed in the text?

A. Two.

B. Three

C. Four.

D. Five.

(五) (NMET95)

A

Fat on human beings is distributed(分布)in different ways. Some fat people have a large

stomach and no waistline---which makes them look round, rather like apples. Others are fatter

below the waist, which makes them appear pear-shaped(梨形的).

There are two types of fat: external fat (fat under the skin) and internal fat (fat inside the

body wall). Doctors, who have been examining the relationship between health and fatness, have

found that the‘pears’have less internal fat, but the‘apples’have more internal fat than externa This seems to be what causes the health problems.

The best treatment for fatness is to reduce the internal fat. But unfortunately it seems

that dieting (节食) simply makes an appleshaped person into a smaller apple and a pear-shaped

person into a smaller pear. At the moment there is no known way of reducing the internal rather than external fat.

1. The text is mainly about______.

A.fatness and health

B.ways to lose weight

C.people's figures

D.distribution of fat

C

The idea of fighting a noise by making more noise sounds strange, but that's exactly what motor engineers are doing in Germany and some other countries.

Carmakers' research and development laboratories have already proved that mixing in more noise with the help of loudspeakers can reduce the unwanted noise.

Physicists have known about the technique for a long time. Sound is made up of pressure waves in the air. If two sound waves of the same frequency (频率) mix so that the highest point of one wave happens at the same time with the lowest point of the other wave, the result is

no sound. Therefore, by producing a perfect copy of the noise and delaying it by half a wave cycle(周期), we can kill the unwanted noise. Using this technique many carmakers are racing to develop noise-killing systems both inside and outside the cars.

Another good thing about the use of noise-killing systems is that it saves the need for a silencer, which not only reduces the weight of a car, but also makes the motor burn less oil and work better.

Some engineers believe that the noise-killing system will be used in most cars in l996.

But the carmakers haven't decided if they will put it into production because it would add several hundred dollars to the cost of their cars.

1. Which of the following gives a general idea of how the noise-killing system works?

A.By producing pressure waves going in the opposite direction.

B.By mising high frequency sound waves with low frequency sound waves.

C.By making copies of the unwanted sound waves and letting them out a little later.

D.By mixing new sound waves with the noise and sending them out together.

E During the summer holidays there will be a revised (修改过的) schedule(时刻表)of services for the students. Changes for dining-room and library service hours and for bus schedules will be posted on the wall outside of the dining-hall. Weekly film and concert schedules, which are being arranged (安排) will be posted each Wednesday outside of the student club.

In the summer holidays, buses going to the town center will leave the main hall every hour on the half hour during the day. The dining-room will serve three meals a day from 7:00 am.

to 7:00 pm. during the week and two meals from noon to 7:00 pm. on weekends. The library will continue its usual hours during the week, but have shorter hours on Saturday and Sundays. The weekend hours are from noon to 5:00 pm.

All students who want to use the library borrowing services must have a new summer card. This announcement will also appear in the next week's student newspaper.

1. The main purpose of this announcement is to______.

A.tell stedents of important schedule changes

B.tell students of new bus and library services

C.show the excellent services for students

D.ask students to renew their library cards