高考英语阅读理解核心笔记(学生)

高考英语阅读理解核心笔记

“阅读理解不是考你看完文章之后答出五道题，而是通过五道题看你能否读懂这篇文章！”

阅读理解的主要题型

一、主旨大意

（一）常见的提问方式：

(1) The best title/headline for this passage is _______.

(2) The passage (or the first paragraph) is mainly about ________.

(3) What is the main idea/topic/purpose/subject of the passage?

(4) Which of the following titles best summarizes the main idea of the passage?

(5) The passage chiefly discusses/deals with ________.

(6) Which of the following best states the theme of the passage?

(7) What topic is treated in the passage?

(8) The passage makes clear that ________.

(9) Which of the following best sum up the passage?

（二）怎样挖掘文章主旨

1、依照中心词确定主题。

2、抓住主题句来确定主题

（1）识别主题句与细节

① raises some farm animals.

② has 30 cows, about 300 hens and he keeps some pigs as well.

(2)主题句的定位（分析文章结构）

①开门见山，点出主题（主题句出现在开头）

②详细论证，总结陈词（主题句出现在结尾）

③引题过渡，引出主题（主题句出现在中间）

（三）技巧及注意事项

（1）无论它出现在题目当中哪个位置，都建议作为最后一道题去做，因为做完其它题目以后会对主旨的理解有帮助。

（2）主旨在文章中间时，遇到文章前后段意思转折，要提高警惕。

（3）首段出现疑问句时，对该问题的解答就是文章主旨。

（4）正确选项不出现细节信息，不含过分肯定和绝对意义的词，覆盖面不能过大也不能过小。

二、细节理解

（一）常见的提问方式：

(1) Which of the following is NOT included/ mentioned in the passage?

(2) Which of the following (sentences /statements) is NOT true?

(3) According to the passage, all of the following are true except/but _____.

(4) Choose the right order of the events given in the passage.

(5) Which of the following maps/diagrams gives the right position of…?

(6) Which of the drawings below gives an idea of what …is like?

（二）常见的细节理解题型及解题方法：

1）排序题。

方法：“首尾定位法”（找出第一个动作和最后的一个动作，缩小选择范围）

2）图形辨认题

方法：“按文索图法”（找出描绘图形的句段，进行文图对照）

3）数字换算题

方法：“列表推算法”（找出与题干相关的数据列表或推算）

4）表格理解题

方法：“文表分析法”（把题干、选项与表格对照分析）

5）应用广告类事实信息题

方法：“题干定位法”（直接阅读题干，在文中找答案，不必阅读全文）

（三）技巧及注意事项

（1）命题者往往通过改变或去掉特定的修饰语（all, every, always, never, completely, altogether 等），使信息范围，程度,色彩发生细微变化，从而导致考生误选。（扩缩范围干扰法）

（2）注意顺藤摸瓜，在文章中找到句子，通常不可能与阅读材料完全一样，而是换用不同的表达方式。(词义转换+语义转换)

三、推理判断

（一）常见的提问方式：

(1) We can know from the passage that ______.

(2) We can infer from the (first/last) passage that ______.

(3) The passage implies that ________.

(4) The passage suggests that _________.

(5) It can be concluded from the passage that _______.

(6) The underlined sentence indicates that _______.

(7) From the passage we can draw the conclusion that ______.

（二）怎样做出推理判断

此题型是阅读理解中较难的题型，属于深层次理解题。在试卷中数量不断增多，有时会达到阅读理解试题的一半左右。它要求考生根据上下文的内在联系，充分挖掘文章的深层次内涵。做这类题时要注意：在解答推理性问题时，应清楚所要解答的问题是针对某个细节进行推断，还是针对主题思想、作者的意图进行推断。

针对细节的推断可运用scanning方法，迅速在阅读材料中确定推理依据的位置或范围，然后再进行推理判断。针对主题思想作推断时，其解题的主要依据是文章的主题思想，然后再分析句子之间的逻辑关系，区分观点与例证(opinion and fact)、原因与结果(cause and effect)、主观点与次观点(main idea and supporting idea)。

（三）技巧及注意事项

(1)正确选项并非对原文的简单复述，而是作者在文章中没有提到的，没有明说的，或者可能发生的事实，勿把直接表达当作间接推理。

(2)注意文章中含义深刻或结构复杂的句子，考生对作者表达的意思能不能一下子看懂，也是命题点所在。

四、作者意图（态度）

（一）这种题型常见的提问方式：

(1) The author seems to be in favor of / against ______.

(2) The author’s purpose of writing this passage is _______.

(3) The author may probably agree with/ support _______.

(4) What’s the author’s attitude /viewpoint towards _______?

(5) How does the author feel about ________?

(6) The author implies that _______. The author gives the impression that ________.

(8) In the author’s opinion, ________.

(9) The tone of the author may be _______.

(二) 怎样揣摩作者的意图或态度

要吃透文章，就要搜索文章的关键字眼和关键句子，要熟悉各种文体，尤其要把握作者的语气，是严肃或轻松，幽默或讽刺，平和或激动，乐观或悲观等等。此外，还要注意文章中一些细节性的用词，如however, even though, but 等连接词往往和作者的态度有关。

表示褒义的有：乐观的optimistic；赞美的praising;自信的confident;赞成的favorable;积极的positive;认真的serious;负责的 responsible, dutiful,令人信服的 convincing。

表示贬义的有：讽刺的ironic;厌恶的disgusted;否定的/反对的negative;怀疑的suspicious;沮丧的depressed;痛苦的bitter;悲观的pessimistic；不负责的irresponsible；无法预料的unforeseeable。

表示中性的：中立的neutral；冷淡的 indifferent；主观的subjective;客观的objective;不动感情的impassive

另一种方法是靠文章的结构特点来判断，如果一篇文章的结尾部分是并列的疑问，则作者是一种客观的态度，如果结尾部分是有问有答的形式，则作者的态度是主观的态度。如果一篇文章的结尾部分使用数据表明了一个趋势向不好的方面发展，则作者是悲观的态度。反之，作者是乐观的态度。

（三）技巧及注意事项

(1)不要把自己的态度揉入其中,也要区分作者的态度和作者引用别人的态度

(2)当作者的态度没有明确提出时,要学会根据作者使用词语的褒贬性去判断.

五、猜测词义

（一）常见的提问方式：

(1) The word “…”in the passage means______.

(2) The word “…” could be best replaced by _____.

(3) Which of the following is nearest/closest in meaning to _______.

(4) The word “…” probably refers to ______.

(5) According to the passage, the word “…” is known as ______.

（二）技巧及注意事项

（1）切记：无论这个词多超纲，根据上下文都能得出其意思；无论这个词多熟悉，都要通过上下文得出其

在特定场合的意思。

（2）正确选项通常不是熟词的常规含义

（三）解题常用方法

Ⅰ针对性的解释

针对性解释是作者为了更好的表达思想，在文章中对一些重要的概念、难懂的术语或高深的词汇等所做的通俗化的解释。这些解释提供的信息明确具体，所使用的语言通俗易懂，利用它们来猜测词义就非常简单。

1.根据定义（definition）猜测词义

如果生词有一个句子（定语从句或是同位语<同位语前常有 or, similarly, that is to say, in other words, namely, or other, say, . 等>或是同位语从句）或段落来定义,或使用破折号，冒号，分号后的内容和引号括号中的内容加以解释和定义，那么理解这个句子或段落本身就是推断词义。定义常用的谓语动词多为：be, mean, deal with, be considered, to be, be called, define, represent, refer to, signify 等。

例you know what a “territory” is ? A territory is an area that an animal ,usually the male, claims as its own.（2005年湖北卷）

[分析]由定义可推知，这里territory指的是：“_______”。

2.根据举例猜测词义。恰当的举例能够提供猜测生词的重要线索。

例3. The consequences of epochal events such as wars and great scientific discovers are not confined to a small geographical area as they were in the past.

[分析]根据such as 后面列举的一系列例子，我们应该能推断出句中的epochal是指“_______”。

Ⅱ 内在逻辑关系

1.根据对比、比较关系猜测词义

表示对比关系的词汇和短语主要有：unlike, not, but, however, despite, in spite of, in contrast 等。句子结构：while 引导的并列句。

表示比较关系的词和短语主要有：similarly, like, just as, also, as well as 等。

2.根据因果关系猜测词义

例that since you are my superior , it would be presumptuous of me to tell you what to do .”

（2005年上海卷）

The word “presumptuous” in the middle of the passage is closest in meaning to .

A．full of respect B. confident and rude

C．lacking in experience D．too shy and quiet

3.根据说明、并列、同义近义、反义等关系猜测词义

例Shakespeare said. “The web of our life is of a mingled yarn（纱线），good and ill

together.” （2005年江苏卷）

The underlined word “mingled” in the last paragraph most probably means .

A．simple B．mixed C．sad D．happy

Ⅲ 构词法

在猜测词义过程中，我们还可以依靠构词法方面的知识，从生词本身猜测词义。中学英语中常见的前缀和后缀有：super-（超），inter-（在…之间），mini-（极），micro-（极微小的），re-（再，反复），sub-（底下），co-（共同），post-（后），pre-（前），trans-（转换），mis-（误），

un/in/im/dis/ir/il/non-（不，非），anti-（反，防），-able（能…的），-hood（状态，时期），-ish （如……的，有点儿），-proof（防……的），-some（易于…），-wards（向），-less（不，无）

1.根据前缀猜测词义

例 you have any strong opinion on co-educational or single-sex schools? （2005年江西卷）

根据词根educational （教育的），结合前缀co-（共同，一起），我们便可以猜出co-educational的意思是：“男女同校教育的”意思。

2.根据后缀猜测词义

例10. It's a quiet, comfortable hotel overlooking (俯瞰) the bay in an

uncommercialized Cornish fishing village on England's most southerly point．（2005年广东卷）后缀 -ise/ize意思是“使成为…；使…化”，结合词根commercial（商业的），不难猜出

uncommercialized 的意思是：“未被商业化的”。

3.根据复合词的各部分猜测词义

例 tool design is important in the prevention of overuse injuries. Well–designed tools and equipment will require less force to operate them and prevent awkward（别扭的）hand positions.

（2005年北京卷）

Well-designed 或许是个生词，但我们分析该词的结构后，就能推测出其含义。它由well （好，优秀）和design （设计）两部分组成，合在一起便是“设计精巧的”意思。

六、阅读理解中长难句的理解

（1）找准主干，关键是主句的主谓结构，方法是先将句子的修饰成分（名词性从句、定语从句、状语从句和非谓语动词）去掉，露出主句的真面貌，然后再分析修饰部分和主句的关系。另外在一个长句中可能会出现若干个从句，如果把整个的长句从头到尾理解透，势必很难。如果把各个从句剔出来单独理解，再把大意拼凑起来，构成整个长句的意思，就可降低长句的理解难度。

（2）理清逻辑和思路。一些长句其实就是一个由主句和若干个从句组成的一个多层次的主从复合句，因而一定要搞清主句和从句之间的逻辑关系。只要把逻辑关系搞清楚了，把主句的意思和从句的意思按逻辑意义进行理解，则长难句就好对付了。平时要注意积累表示各种逻辑关系的连词和短语，常见的有，表目的： so that, for the purpose that, in order that 等；表结果：so…that, such…that, that…, as a result, therefore, thus等；表条件：if, on condition that, unless等；表原因：because, since, as等。

（3）把握关键词。如果对一个长难句子一点感觉也没有,下下之策就是别把长、难句当句子看，只要能大体理解句中的关键词，也可以大体猜出了这个句子的意思。

高考英语阅读理解专题讲座专练卷

主旨大意题

例1 【2008 江西卷阅读A篇】

When hollowed out and used as a drinking-cup, the unicorn’s horn was said to have the power to o ffer protection against person. It was believed that nobody could be harmed-by drinking the contents of a unicorn’s horn. Right up until the French Revolution in 1789, the French court was said to have used cups made of “unicorn”

horn in order to protect the king. In addition, the horn was said to have medicinal value, so much so that it could be sold for more than ten times the price of the same weight of gold. What, then, was “unicorn” horn? We know at

times the rhino(犀牛) was confused with this legendary creature. A drinking-cup supposedly made of “unicorn” horn was discovered to be made of the horn of a rhino.

58. The last paragraph is mainly about ____.

A. the properties of the unicorn horn

B. the users of the unicorn horn

C. the price of the unicorn horn

D. the comparison between the unicorn horn and the rhino horn

例2 【2008 福建卷阅读E篇】

A new study has found no evidence that sunscreen, commonly used to reduce the risk of skin cancer, actually increase the risk. from the University of Iowa based their findings on a review of 18 earlier studies that looked at the association between sunscreen use and melanoma (黑素瘤). They said that they found flaws in studies that had reported associations between sunscreen use and higher risk of melanoma

Most health experts believe that by protecting the skin from the harmful effects of the sun, sunscreen helps prevent skin cancer, which is increasing in incidence (发生率) faster than any other cancer in the United States.

But questions has been raised about sunscreen and whether it may has opposite effect, perhaps by allowing people to remain exposed to the sun longer without burning.

The researchers said that among the problems with some earlier studies is that they often failed to take into account that those people most at risk for skin cancer--- people with fair skin and freckles (雀斑), for example--- are more likely to use sunscreen. As a result, it may appear that sunscreen users get cancer more often.

The studies, which generally relied on volunteers to recall their sunscreen use, were also unable to prove how well the products had been applied, said the new study.

75. Which of the following can be the title for this passage?

A. Sunscreen to Prevent Skin Cancer

B. Sunscreen to Increase Skin Cancer

C. Skin Cancer Caused by Sunscreen

D. Skin Cancer Caused by Freckles

细节理解题

例1 【2008 重庆卷阅读D篇】

Seeing a volcano erupt (喷发) is a wonderful experience, and you can really feel the beat by climbing to the summit(山顶) of Pacaya for a close-up view. There are guided tours every day up this highly active volcano from Antigua. Giving travelers a chance to see Mother Nature at her most powerful.

Pacaya is an easy drive from Antigua, a beautiful city with many colorful houses along its old streets that are turned into art-works during its Holy Week festival. No matter when you come to Antigua, you won’t miss the Pacaya-tour companies.

But climbing Pacaya is no easy job: it is 2560 metres high, and reaching the summit takes two to three hours of seemingly one-step-forward and two-step-back movements. As you climb, you hear the dull sounds of eruptions high above. Steaming. Hot remains from recent eruptions begin to line the path as you near the active summit;

the McKenney Cone(火山锥). Just as though you were going to walk over to the edge of the cone, the road turns to the left and up to the relative safety of the old, inactive summit.

Many tours are timed so that you arrive at the cone of the volcano in plenty of time for sunset and the full contrast between the erupting red lava(熔岩) and the darkening sky. On a good day the view from the summit is extremely exciting. The active mouth boils, sending red lava over its sides, and once in a while shoots hot streams up to 100 metres into the air. There is a strong bad smell in the air even if you take care to be upwind of the cone. As evening turns deeper into the night. the burning lava quietly falls down tae side of the volcano. For you, too, it is time to get down .

69. Antigua is a city .

A. where people can enjoy cultural festivals

B. where the daring Pacaya tour starts

C. that gives a close-up view of Paraya

D. that is famous for its tour companies

70. Climbing to the McKenney Cone, people will .

A. walk directly to the active summit

B. hear the continuous loud noise from above

C. make greater efforts than to other summits

D. see a path lined with remains of earlier eruptions

71. Many tours are timed for people to .

A. get down the mountain in time when night falls

B. avoid the smell from the upwind direction of the cone

C. enjoy the fantastic eruption against the darkening sky

D. appreciate the scenery of the 2560-metre-high mountain

例2 【2008 山东卷阅读B篇】

Federal regulators Wednesday approved a plan to create a nationwide emergence alert (警报) system using text messages delivered to cell phones.

Text messages have exploded in popularity in recent years, particularly among young people. The wireless industry's trade association, CTIA, estimates（估计） more than 48 billion text messages are sent each month. The plan comes from the Warning Alert and Response Network Act, a 2006 federal law that requires improvements to the nation's emergency alert system. The act tasked the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) with coming up with new ways to alert the public about emergencies.

"The ability to deliver accurate and timely warnings and alerts through cell phones and other mobile services is an important next step in our efforts to help ensure that the American public has the information they need to take action to protect themselves and their families before, and during, disasters and other emergencies," FCC Chairman Kevin Martin said following approval of the plan.

Participation in the alert system by carriers –telecommunications companies is voluntary, but it has received solid support from the wireless industry.

The program would be optional for cell phone users. They also may not be charged for receiving alerts.

There would be three different types of messages, according to the rules.

The first would be a national alert from the president, likely involving a terrorist attack or natural disaster. The second would involve "approaching threats," which could include natural disasters like hurricanes or storms or even university shootings. The third would be reserved for child abduction (绑架) emergencies, or so-called Amber Alerts.

The service could be in place by 2010.

62. The improvement to the present system is in the charge of ____.

A. CTIA

B. the Warning Alert and Response Network

C. FCC

D. federal regulators

63. The carriers’ participation in the system is determi ned by _____.

A. the US federal government

B. mobile phone users

C. the carriers themselves

D. the law of the United States

64. Which of the following is true of cell phone users?

A. They must accept the alert service.

B. They may enjoy the alert service for free.

C. They must send the alerts to others

D. They may choose the types of messages

65. An alert message will NOT be sent if _____.

A. a child loses his way.

B. a university shooting happens

C. a natural disaster happens

D. a terrorist attack occurs

推理判断题

例1【2008 陕西卷阅读E篇】

Did you know that women’s brains are smaller than men’s? The average women’s brain weighs 10% less than men’s. Since research has shown that the bigger the brain, the cleverer the animal, men must be more

intelligent(聪明的) than women. Right? Wrong. Men and women always score similarly on intelligence tests, despite the difference in brain size. Why? After years of study, researchers have concluded that it’s what’s inside that matters, not just the size of the brain. The brain consists of “grey matter” and“white matter”. While men have more of the latter, the amount of “thinking” brain is almost exactly the same in both sexes.

It has been suggested that smaller brain appears to work faster, perhaps because the two sides of the brain are better connected in women. This means that little girls tend to learn to speak earlier, and that women can understand sorts of information from different sources at the same time. When it comes to talking to the boss on the phone, cooking dinner and kee ping an eye on the baby all at the same time, it’s women who come out on top every time.

There are other important differences between two sexes. As white matter is the key to spatial(空间的) tasks, men know better where things are in relation to other things. “A great footballer always knows where he is in relation to the other players, and he knows where to go,” says one researcher. That may explain one of life’s great mysteries: why men refuse to ask for directions … and women often need to!

The differences begin when fetuses(胎儿) are about mine weeks old, which can be seen in the action of children ad young as one. A boy would try to climb a barrier (障碍物) before him or push it down while a girl would attract help from others. These brain differences also explain the fact that more men take up jobs that require good spatial skills, while more women speech skills. It may all go back to our ancestors(祖先) ,among whom women needed speech skills to take care of their babies and men needed spatial skills to hunt, according to one research.

If all this disappoints you, it shouldn’t. “The brain changes throughout our lives according to what we do with it.” says a biologist.

57. Which of the following is true according to the first paragraph?

A. Women’s brain is 10% less than men’s

B. Grey matter plays the same role as white matter.

C. Grey matter controls thinking in the brain.

D. Both sexes have the same amount of white matter.

58. What can we infer from the second and third paragraphs?

A. Women prefer doing many things at a time.

B. Men do better dealing with one job at a time.

C. Women do not need to tell directions.

D. Men have weaker spatial abilities.

59. Which of the following do you agree with according to the fourth paragraph?

A. Young boys may be stronger than young girls.

B. More women take up jobs requiring speech skills

C. Women may have stronger feelings than men.

D. Our ancestors needed more spatial skills.

例2 【2008 山东卷阅读D篇】

Melissa Poe was 9 years old when she began a campaign for a cleaner environment by writing a letter to the then President Bush. Through her own efforts, her letter was reproduced on over 250 donated billboards across the country.

The response to her request for help was so huge that Poe established Kids For A Cleaner Environment (Kids in 1989. There are now 300,000 members of Kids FACE worldwide and is the world's largest youth environmental organization.

Poe has also asked the National Park Service to carry out a "Children's Forest" project in every national park. In 1992, she was invited as one of only six children in the world to speak at the Earth Summit in Brazil as part of the Voices of the Future Program. In 1993, she was given a Caring Award for her efforts by the Caring Institute.

Since the organization started, Kids members have distributed and planted over 1 million trees! Ongoing tree-planting projects include Kid's Yards – the creation of backyard wildlife habitats (栖息地) and now Kids is involved in the exciting Earth Odyssey, which is a great way to start helping.

"Starting the club turned out to be a way to help people get involved with the environment. Club members started doing things like recycling, picking up litter and planting trees as well as inviting other kids to join their club."

"We try to tell kids that it's not OK to be lazy," she explains. "You need to start being a responsible, environmentally friendly person now, right away, before you become a resource-sucking adult."

73. What can we learn about Poe?

A. She was awarded a prize in Brazil.

B. She donated billboard across the country.

C. She got positive responses for her efforts

D. She joined the National Park Service.

75. Which of the following can be inferred from the text?

A. Adults are resource-sucking people

B. Poe sought help from a youth organization

C. Kids members are from the .

D. Kids are urged to save natural resources.

作者意图、态度题

例1 【2008 四川卷阅读E篇】

At a certain time in our lives we consider every place as the possible sites(地点) for a house. I have thus searched the country within a dozen miles of where I live. In imagination I have bought all the farms, one after another, and I knew their prices.

The nearest thing that I came to actual ownership was when I bought the Hollowell place. But before the owner completed the sale with me, his wife changed her mind and wished to keep it, and he offered me additional dollars to return the farm to him. However, I let him keep the additional dollars and sold him the farm for just what I gave for it.

The real attractiong of the Hollowell farm to me were its position, being about two miles from the village, half a

mile from the nearest neighbor, bounded(相邻) on one side by the river, and separated from the highway by a wide field. The poor condition fo the house and fences showed that it hadn’t been used for some time. I remembered from my earliest trip up the river that the house used to be hidden behind a forest area, and I was in a hurry to buy it before the owner finished getting out some rocks, cutting down the apples trees, and clearing away some young trees which had grown up in the fields. I wanted to buy it before he made any more of his improvements. But it turned out as I have said.

I was not really troubled by the loss. I had always had a garden, but I don’t thing I was ready for a large farm. I believe that as long as possible it is better to live free and uncommitted (无牵挂的). It makes but little difference whether you own a farm or not.

55. What does the author believe as important in life?

A. To own a farm

B. To satisfy his needs

C. To be free from worries

D. To live in the countryside

例2 【2008 淅江卷阅读D篇】

a while, my neighborhood was taken ever by an army of joggers(慢跑者). They were there all the time: early

morning, noon, and evening. There were little old ladies in gray sweats, young couples in Adidas shoes, middle-aged men with red faces. “Come on!” My frien d Alex encouraged me to join him as he jogged by my house every evening. “You’ll feel great.”

Well, I had nothing against feeling great and if Alex could jog every day, anyone could. So I took up jogging seriously and gave it a good two months of my life, and not a day more. Based on my experience, jogging is the most overvalued form of exercise around, and judging from the number of the people who left our neighborhood jogging army. I’m not alone in my opinion.

First of all, jogging is very hard on the body. Your legs and feet a real pounding（追击）ruining down a road for two or three miles. I developed foot, leg, and back problems. Then I read about a nationally famous jogger who died of a heart attack while jogging, and I had something else to worry about. J ogging doesn’t kill hundreds of people, but if you have any physical weaknesses, jogging will surely bring them out, as they did with me.

Secondly, I got no enjoyment out of jogging. Putting one foot in front of the other for forty-five minutes isn’t my id ea of fun. Jogging is also a lonely pastime. Some joggers say, “I love being out there with just my thoughts”

Well, my thoughts began to bore me, and most of them were on how much my legs hurt.

And how could I enjoy something that brought me pain? And that wasn’t just the first week: it was practically every day for two months. I never got past the pain level, and pain isn’t fun. What a cruel way to do it! So many other exercises, including walking, lead to almost the same results painlessly, so why jog?

I don’t jog any more, and I don’t think I ever will. I’m walking two miles three times a week at a fast pace, and that

feels good. I bicycle to work when the weather is good. I’m getting exercise, and I’m enjoying it at the same time.

I could never say the s ame for jogging, and I’ve found a lot of better ways to stay in shape.

54. What was the writer’s attitude towards jogging in the beginning?

A. He felt it was worth a try.

B. He was very fond of it.

C. He was strongly against it.

D. He thought it must be painful.

【Practice】

The Golden Egg

“I don’t want to write a story about girls! I don’t know anything about girls,” Louiss May Alcott told her publisher, . But she was desperate for money. She seemed to be the only one in her family who could make any money. Niles had asked her to write about something she knew, instead of the romantic adventure stories she had beed writing. “So I plod away,” Alcott wrote, “though I don’t enjoy this sort of thing.” It was 1867, and the horrible Civil War was over. Now Alcott could turn her energy to making money.

Alcott wrote a simple story of life in her family, their pillow fights on Saturday night and the amateur(业余的) plays they performed. “Our experiences may prove interesting, though I doubt it.” (“Good joke,” she wrote years later.) Her book described her days growing up with four sisters in a family that had no money. She sketched a loving mother who took time to be interested in each child, and she told of the death of a beloved sister. She portrayed her family and friends in her book Little women. Finally, in July of 1868, she finished writing. With a sigh and a headache, she sent off all 102 handwritten pages of her book.

Niles thought the book was dull, and so did Alcott. But when she received her copies of the book, Alcott thought it seemed better than expected. “Not a bit sensational,” she wrote, “but simple and true. We really lived most of it.” Niles asked some girls to read Little Women, and they loved it. If the girls liked it, Alcott was satisfied.

In three months, all the copies of Little Women had sold. It was already time to print more books! Niles thought he could sell three or four hundred more copies. “An honest publisher and a lucky author made a dull book into a golden e gg for an ugly ducking,” Alcott wrote in 1885. Later, with a great sigh of relief, she was able to write, “Paid off all the debts! Now I feel that I could die in peace. If my head holds out, I’ll do all I once hoped to do.”

2. In which order did the following happen?

A. a, b, e, d, c

B. d, c, a, b, e

C. c, b, e, d, a

D. d, c, e, b, a

a. Alcott began writing Little Women.

b. Niles asked Alcott to write about girls.

c. Alcott wrote romantic adventure stories.

d. Alcott performed plays with her s isters. Niles was not pleased with Alcott’s work.

3. When she handed her first writing in, she was .

A. sure of her success

B. happy about her work

C. unsatisfied with the work

D. unpleased with the publisher

4. Alcott took up writing as a job due largely to .

A. love

B. poverty

C. interest

D. encouragement

5. We learn from the story that, after Little Women sold out, .

A. Alcott wrote another book

B. some girls started to read the book

C. Alcott paid off all her bills

D. Niles published hundreds of books girls liked

The United States government wants to know what the public thinks about its findings on the safety of cloned animals.

The Food and Drug Administration says meat and milk from clones of adult cattle, pigs and goats are safe to eat. An official called them "as safe to eat as the food we eat every day." And when those clones reproduce sexually （有性繁殖）, the agency says, their offspring（后代） are safe to eat as well. But research on cloned sheep is limited. So the proposes that sheep clones not be used for human food.

The United States this year could become the first country to approve the sale of foods from cloned animals. First, however, the public will have ninety days to comment on three proposed documents. On December 28th the released a long report, called a draft risk assessment, along with two policy documents.

The agency says it must receive comments by April second. The seemed ready to act several years ago, but an advisory committee called for more research. For now, the government will continue to ask producers to honor a request that they not sell foods from cloned animals.

Clones are still rare. They cost a lot and are difficult to produce. The says most food from cloning is expected to come not from clones themselves, but from their sexually reproduced offspring. It says clones are expected to be used mostly as breeding animals to spread good qualities.

Public opinion studies show most Americans do not like the idea of food from cloned animals. But this research also shows the public knows little about cloning.

Cloning differs from genetic engineering. A cell taken from a so-called donor animals is grown into an embryo （胚胎）in the laboratory. Next, the embryo is placed into the uterus（子宫）of a female animal. If the process is successful, the pregnancy reaches full term and a genetic copy of the donor animal is born.

6. From the passage we know that .

A. foods from cloned animals are popular in America

B. cloned adult animals are safe to eat except sheep.

C. cloned animals will be easy to produce

D. most foods from cloning is expected to take place of other foods

7. The main purpose of the text is to .

A. tell a interesting story

B. give some advice on foods

C. give a report

D. compare different opinions

8. Who believe that foods from cloning are safe to eat?

A. Most Americans

B. An advisory committee

C. Critics

D. The

9.It can be inferred from the last paragraph that .

A. cloning has much in common with genetic

B. not every cell taken from a donor animal can grow into a genetic copy

C. the donor animal should be a female one

D. cloned animals grow faster than normal ones

Everyone becomes a little more forgetful as they get older, but men's minds decline more than women's, according to the results of a worldwide survey.

Certain differences seem to be inherent in male and female brains: Men are better at maintaining and dealing with mental images (useful in mathematical reasoning and spatial skills), while women tend to excel (擅长) at recalling information from their brain's files (helpful with language skills and remembering the locations of objects).

Many studies have looked for a connection between sex and the amount of mental decline (衰退) people experience as they age, but the results have been mixed.

Some studies found more age-related decline in men than in women, while others saw the opposite or even no relationship at all between sex and mental decline. Those results could be improper because the studies involved older people, and women live longer than men: The men tested are the survivors, "so they're the ones that may not have shown such cognitive decline," said study team leader Elizabeth of the University of Warwick in England.

People surveyed completed four tasks that tested sex-related cognitive skills: matching an object to its rotated form, matching lines shown from the same angle, typing as many words in a particular category (范畴) as possible in the given time, . "object usually colored gray", and recalling the location of objects in a line drawing. The first two were tasks at which men usually excel; the latter are typically dominated by women.

Within each age group studied, men and women performed better in their separate categories on average. And though performance declined with age for both genders, women showed obviously less decline than men overall.

1. The underlined word in the second paragraph means_________.

A. natural

B. great

C. obvious

D. absolute

2. According to the passage, which of the following can Not be typed into the same category?

A. cloud

B. sheep

C. trees

D. goose

3. Which of the following statements is true according the article?

A. Men do better than women when it comes to learning English.

B. Women stand out at remembering people’s names.

C. Men excel at typing as many words in a particular category as possible in the given time.

D. Women excel at dealing mathematic problems.

4. One important factor that affects the correctness of the results is that _________.

A. the old men tested may not have shown such cognitive decline

B. people surveyed are all old

C. people taking part in this test came from all over the world

D. women live longer than men

5. The author aims to tell us that __________.

A. women’s minds perform better than men’s

B. men’s minds decline more with age

C. everyone becomes a little more forgetful as they get older

D. a survey on human’s mind decline was done recently