2018-2019学年高中英语(人教版)选修七Unit 5 Traveling abroad reading课时作业(4)

Unit 5 Traveling abroad reading课时作业第一节阅读理解It was hot! I had the doors of the truck tied upon with a piece of rope so the air could rush through.You can’t see the elevator (谷仓) till you get past our place. There’s only one in Gotham, but it stands up like a monument.“I feel I’m going for sure, Dad.”“You bet you’re going,” Dad answered. “The war spoiled college for me, all but one year. Nothing’s going to spoil it for you. Might as well drive way in.”So I drove the truck inside the high shelter of the elevator.“Hi!” I called out to Bailey. He’s the one who runs the elevator. Mr. Mathews was with him, who is the inspector from the Milling Company. Dad leaned against the wall of the office, talking to them about the heat. It seemed a long time to me before he said.“Well, I thought I might as well sell. It isn’t going much higher.”“No, it won’t,” Bailey said. “Mathews and I were just saying.”“I doubt it,” Mr. Mathews said kind of carefully.“This girl’s going to college on that wheat money, so I guess I’ll take it now,” Dad said. “It’s up to you, Bailey, to keep the price of wheat up so she can stay there.”I sat down on the running board of the truck while the men were talking, because it was cooler. Then I felt Mr. Mathews looking at me and that made me hot again. I had on my oldest pair of jeans rolled up almost to my knees and a white polo shirt that was maybe a little tight. I snapped my fingers at Bailey’s big tiger cat so he’d look at her instead of me. The cat yawned and stretched and came over to me.Dad was talking. He loves to talk, and I suppose it’s hard on him that Mom says so little. Dad isn’t a rancher (农场主) naturally. He’d be happier, I think, if he had done something else.“No, sir, most folks are changing over to winter wheat, but I’m going to stick to raising both. Of course you take more of a risk in planting spring wheat. Winter wheatyou plant in the fall and you don’t have to worry so much about wetness, but my wife’s the one that holds out for planting some spring too.”I’ve heard all that so many times before.But I liked hearing him say “my wife” that way, as though he was proud of Mom’s judgment. The people in Gotham, Dad too sometimes, act as though Mom weren’t quite...quite equal to Dad. It hurt me. I stood idly reading the notices posted there. There was an advertisement of Karmont wheat that Dad says was developed especially for me because it has Russian and American parents, too—from Kharkov and Montana. He calls me Karmont, sometimes, to tease me.“Ellen, you go ahead. I’m going to stay and have a game with them,” Dad said.“Okay. I’ll leave the truck for you. I’ll walk back,” I told him.I stepped out of the shadow of the elevator and the sun seemed to wrap around me and press down on my bare head. I like it.In two weeks, I thought, I’ll be far away from here—and I’d never been more than three hundred miles before. I looked at the tin sheds (锡棚) below the elevator where they store salt, oil and feed and thought how I used to slide down them. I felt as separated from Gotham as though I didn’t even know it. I was so excited that I could have run in spite of the hot day. Then I discovered something funny: My hands were ice-cold. I pushed them down into the tight pockets of my jeans. I had known I was going and yet, with deciding to sell the wheat today, I could feel it more.1.Which of the following descriptions about Dad is true?A.The war cost him the chance to be admitted to college.B.He sold his wheat at a high price with the help of Mathews.C.He meant to send Ellen to college on the selling of the wheat.D.He is a talkative man and born rancher in the Gotham.2.Ellen felt hot again when Mr. Mathews looked at her because .A.it was quite a hot dayB.she felt embarrassed about her clothingC.she was playing with the tiger catD.she was listening to the men talking3.It can be inferred from the text that .A.Mom had the final say in the familyB.Dad developed Karmont wheat for EllenC.Mom in Gotham had low social statusD.Ellen’s Dad was Russian and Mom was American4.From the last paragraph we can conclude that .A.Ellen was excited about separation from Gotham.B.Ellen had never left her hometown Gotham before.C.Ellen was not quite familiar with Gotham.D.Ellen had many happy memories in Gotham.5.What does the underlined “it” (last paragraph) refer to?A.ice-cold of handsB.selling the wheatC.going to collegeD.the hot day6.The “wheat” in the text symbolizes .A.hope and loveB.hardship and survivalC.harvest and fortuneD.freedom and strength答案1.C2.B3.C4.D5.A6.CBThe most eye-catching part of the government’s recent air-quality strategy is to ban sales of new petrol and diesel cars by 2040. The reason behind the government’s strategy is poor air quality, which is thought to be linked to about 40,000 premature deaths a year.Client Earth, the campaign group leading the call for reform, has described the ban as “not enough”. It emphasizes that clean air zones and s ustainable transport infrastructures both work, and can be implemented more quickly. Even so, some argue that the target is too soon. The motor industry, however, does not argue that the cars won’t be ready in time. This is unsurprising, given that Tesla a lready has anall-electric model, most manufacturers have at least one hybrid (混合动力汽车) on sale.The voices of disagreement offer three main arguments: electric vehicles don’t reduce greenhouse gas emissions; we don’t have enough power available; and there are not enough essential materials like lithium (锂) which support most new electric vehicle battery technologies.The first two arguments are closely related. The problem is not the absolute amount of electric vehicles on the road but when we charge them. The issue is “peak demand”. We design our electricity infrastructure systems to ensure these peaks are covered. Peak demand in the UK is between 5pm and 7pm in winter. This is usually when electricity is at its most “dirty”, as this is when we need almost all of our generating(发电) capacity, including the old coal plants, diesel back-up generation and gas. Without managed charging, drivers plugging the car in on return from work face using diesel engines and coal-derived power to charge vehicles. Hardly a win for air quality or climate change.The last problem, material availability, is trickier. Lithium and the rare earth metals used in electric vehicles present problems. It’s not only a question of whether there are enough of these materials, but also their toxicity, convenience of recycling and their geopolitical availability of their supply chains. Much like the issue of peak demand, without strong policy and behavioural and technical advances, we could easily see the rise of global conflict and exploitation around the critical materials for electric mobility.While a ban on petrol and diesel car sales in 2040 is easily achievable, what really matters is how well the above issues are dealt with. Electric cars do nothing for traffic jams.Their power source needs careful management, and their supply chains may be no less problematic than those of petrochemical fuels. Conversely, they can reduce air pollution and help meet climate change commitments. Like many technical solutions they need strong regulation around them. We should improve our dialogue on electric mobility, seeking clear government policy on energy market integration and strong standards on material sustainability.7.The underlined word “implemented” in Paragraph 2 is closest in meaningto .A.abolishedB.conductedC.replacedD.updated8.What can we infer from the calm reaction from the motor industry?A.All manufacturers have already had at least one electric car on sale.B.The motor industry plans to focus on sustainable transport infrastructures.C.The motor industry has already adjusted its products to reduce air pollution.D.The recent air-quality strategy is unrealistic and impossible to follow.9.According to the author, the best time to get your car charged is .A.when “peak demand” endsB.directly after returning from workC.when other people doD.right before moving to work10.Which of the following best expresses the meaning of the underlined part in Paragraph 6?A.Careful management is likely to address the problems with both types of cars.B.It seems that currently petrol and diesel cars are more problematic than electriccars.C.Petrol and diesel cars and electric vehicles seem to face the same problemsnowadays.D.Currently electric vehicles seem to face more problems than petrol and dieselcars do.答案7.B8.C9.A10.DCGiven how valuable intelligence and automation (自动化)are, we will continue to improve our technology if we are at all able to. At a certain point, we will build machines that are smarter than we are. Once we have machines that are smarter than we are, they will begin to improve themselves. And then we risk what the mathematician IJ Good called an “intelligence explosion”. The process could get out of control.。