高考英语阅读理解强化训练Day 27

高考英语阅读理解强化训练Day 27Passage 1Still seeking a destination for your weekend break? There are some places which are probably a mere walk away from your college.King's Art CentreA day at the Centre could mean a visit to an exhibition of the work of one of the most interesting contemporary artists on show anywhere. This weekend sees the opening of an exhibition of four local artists.You could attend a class teaching you how to ‘learn from the masters’ or get more creative with paint—free of charge.The Centre also runs two life drawing classes for which there is a small fee.The Botanic GardenThe Garden has over 8,000 plant species; it holds the research and teaching collection of living plants for Cambridge University.The multi-branched Torch Aloe here is impressive. The African plant produces red flowers above blue-green leaves, and is not one to miss.Get to the display house to see Dionaea muscipula, a plant more commonly known as the Venus Flytrap that feeds on insects and other small animals.The Garden is also a place for wildlife-enthusiasts. Look for grass snakes in the lake. A snake called ‘Hissing Sid’ is regularly seen lying in the heat of the warm sun.Byron's PoolMany stories surround Lord Byron's time as a student of Cambridge University. Arriving in 1805, he wrote a letter complaining that is was a place of “mess and drunkenness”. However, it seems as though Byron did manage to pass the time pleasantly enough. I'm not just talking about the pet bear he kept in his rooms. He spent a great deal of time walking in the village.It is also said that on occasion Byron swam naked by moonlight in the lake, which is now known as Byron's Pool. A couple of miles past Grantchester in the south Cambridgeshire countryside, the pool is surrounded by beautiful circular paths aroundthe fields. The cries of invisible birds make the trip a lovely experience and on the way home you can drop into the village for afternoon tea. If you don't trust me, then perhaps you'll take it from Virginia Woolf—over a century after Byron, she reportedly took a trip to swim in the same pool.1. As mentioned in the passage, there is a small charge for ______.A. attending the masters' classB. working with local artistsC. learning life drawingD. seeing an exhibition2. “Torch Aloe” and “Venus Flytrap” are ______.A. common insectsB. impressive plantsC. rarely-seen snakesD. wildlife-enthusiasts3. We can infer from the passage that Byron seemed ______.A. to fear pet bearsB. to like walkingC. to be a heavy drinkerD. to finish university in 18054. In the passage Byron's Pool is described as a lake ______.A. surrounded by fieldsB. owned by Lord ByronC. located in GrantchesterD. discovered by Virginia Woolf5. What is the passage mainly about?A. Some places for weekend break.B. A way to become creative in art.C. The colourful life in the countryside.D. Unknown stories of Cambridge University.Passage 2Everyone fancies a bargain; if it is free, everyone loves it even more! Those who do not believe in a free lunch can now eat their words because it is possible to get things for free in Singapore without any conditions attached. Let me introduce you to some tips on where and how to gain some free presents, all without even touching your wallet.FoodGo search for food festivals and fairs. These food sellers usually put out a lotof small samples for all to try. Famous ones include the Singapore Food Festival held annually in the month of July at various locations including the Takashimaya Square and Plaza Singapura.HaircutsThere are well-known hair salons every month that require hair models for apprentices (学徒) to exercise their skills or for their hair stylists (发型师) to experiment with new styles. Unbelievable as it might sound, most people come out of this experience satisfied and addicted to more of such deals.Free InternetMost hotels offer free WIFI. There are also many cafes in Singapore that offer free wireless surfing. However, order a coffee to avoid unfriendly stares from the staff. Popular spots include the McDonald's, Starbucks and Cafe Galilee outlets throughout our island.Free City TourIf you are a traveler in Singapore, the Singapore Tourism Board has arranged for you to enjoy a free two-hour city tour that offers you a choice to enjoy a Sentosa Island tour or a small-boat experience.Living and traveling in Singapore is expensive, but sometimes all it takes is a closer look at all the little sheltered comers of this island to appreciate the occasional treasures that are given to those who seek.1. Which of the following best explains the underlined part "all without even touching your wallet"?A. Free of charge.B. Free of worry.C. Free of pain.D. Free of tax.2. From which way does free "Haircuts" benefit hair salons?A. Advertising their products.B. Attracting more customers.C. Developing their staff's skills.D. Building their reputation.3. In which part of a magazine can we read this text?A. HealthB. EconomyC. EducationD. TravelPassage 3Risk is something we face daily. However, some people are obviously more willing to take risks than others.Biologists appear to have discovered a physical reason that explains why some people are risk-takers. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter, a chemical that spreads signals between nerve cells. It is linked to the brains reward system and is the chemical that makes us feel good, and scientists believe it to be linked to risk-taking. Our nerve cells have dopamine receptors(接收器) which control the amount of dopamine that each cell receives. But not all receptors may be active. When a person has few active receptors to control the amount of dopamine that is received, a cell can become flooded resulting in an extreme feeling of happiness.Researchers at Vanderbilt University and Albert Einstein College of Medicine asked 34 men and women to complete a questionnaire about their risk taking to assess whether they seek new opportunities or are cautious in life. The results of the research were consistent with similar studies carried out with rats, and had the same outcome. It concluded that people who are risk-takers have fewer dopamine receptors than people who are not. This suggests that the rush of pleasure a risk taker receives when a cell becomes flooded with dopamine can become addictive for some people. They therefore pursue new and exciting activities in order to try to repeat this feeling, and as a result their concern for risk becomes considerably reduced.Dopamine gives us a biological reason for risk-taking, but scientists believe there may be psychological reasons too. Sensation-seeking is a personality characteristic that describes the desire to find activities that bring us pleasure. In 1964, psychologist Marvin Zuckerman created the sensation-seeking scale. His 40-item questionnaire, still used today, was given to people who were active in seeking new activities, and to peoplewho were more satisfied with a quiet life. While risk-taking is not a characteristic in itself, it is very much associated with sensation-seeking, as a high sensation-seeker does not evaluate risk in the same way that a low sensation-seeker does. A desire to achieve pleasure means that there is a greater willingness to take more risks.There are both biological and psychological explanations as to why some people may choose to take more risks than others. However, none of these explanations are definitive.1. If a person has fewer active dopamine receptors, .A. he is less likely to feel happyB. he is more willing to take risksC. he will eventually become dopamine-addictiveD. he is poorer at controlling the amount of dopamine2. The underlined phrase "consistent with" is closest to "" in meaning.A. contrary toB. in agreement withC. at the cost ofD. persistent in3. What can be concluded from paragraph 4?A. The longing for pleasure may lead to risk taking.B. A willingness to take more risks can be cultivated.C. The sensation-seeking scale can help to evaluate risk.D. High sensation-seekers are more common than low ones.4. This passage mainly talks about.A. when we learn to take risksB. how risk-taking benefits usC. what makes risk-takersD. why we should take risksPassage 4Ray Tokuda, a 54-year-old Japanese American, is proud of the title his school has given him. He is a Shifu, a Chinese word literally meaning a master, mentor or senior practioner of martial arts.Tokuda has reason to be proud. He has been involved with Chinese martial arts for almost four decades. After learning them at the martial arts school in New Mexico State, today he is among the most experienced kung fu teachers of the school.Practicing martial arts two to three hours and helping students improve their skills have become Tokuda’s daily routine. He expects to practice and teach martial arts for the rest of his life. “I’m still learning. It’s worth more than a lifetime to learn Chinese martial arts,” he said. “Once I started, I just couldn’t stop. I think it’s also the magic of Chinese culture. ”Tokuda was sent to the martial arts school when he was 10. He still remembers how unwilling he was when starting out. “My father had always wanted to learn Chinese martial arts but never got the chance, so he put his kid in,” he said. “I was so afraid at that time because I thought kung fu was all about fighting. ”But things changed after he learned that martial arts were more than punching and kicking.“One of the things martial arts teach me is overcoming adversity,” Tokuda said. “As a little kid, my first lesson was like, oh, look, this is a thing that I can get through by diligence, perseverance(毅力) and dedication, and that was priceless for my life. ”Learning Chinese martial arts opened a gateway for him to better understand Chinese culture because he could hear a lot of ancient Chinese kung fu-related stories. “It is like in America, where we hear stories about knights in shining armor and King Arthur and noble deeds done,” he said. “I feel martial arts preserve something of ancient China that can’t be found in books. They are sort of an oral history. ”Tokuda has also been invited to various events in his home state to showcase traditional Chinese culture, including the dragon dance and lion dance, which he also learnt at the martial arts school. Because of this, he is now considered a cultural envoy(使者) in the eyes of the public.1. Tokuda didn’t want to learn kung fu because he had thought it was ________.A. practicalB. magicalC. violentD. difficult2. From the passage, what can we learn about Tokuda?A. He learnt martial arts from his father.B. He is the founder of the kung fu school.C. He learnt from martial arts how to deal with difficulties.D. He is the most experienced kung fu teacher of his state.3. Which of the following words can best describe Tokuda?A. Modest and friendly.B. Devoted and persevering.C. Talented and humorous.D. Motivated and considerate.Passage 5For the last month, a married couple has been interacting with a robot -called an Avatar that's controlled by their daughter hundreds of miles away. Made by ANA Holing, Inc. , it looks like a vacuum cleaner with an iPad attached. But the screen displays the daughter's face as they chat, and its wheels let her walk slowly about the house as though she's really there."Virtual travel" is nothing new, of course. Storytellers, travel writers and artists have been stimulating the senses of armchair tourists for centuries. It's only in recent decades that frequent, safe travel has become available to the non-wealthy.Yet even as the world's middle classes climb out of the armchair and into economy-class seats, there are signs of a post-travel society appearing. Concerns about the environment make people lose interest in carbon-intensive (碳排放量很高的) airlines. And the aging of societies is both slowing down the growth of physical travel and creating demand for alternative ways to experience the world. For the travel industry, virtual reality offers a tantalizing (诱人的) response to these trends.Of course, far-out (前卫的) technologies encourage profits. ANA doesn't plan to start selling Avatars until next year. By one estimate, the global market for this kind of technology will be worth only about 300 million by 2023. By contrast, ANA'straditional travel business brought in more than 19 billion last year.But although the business case for virtual vacations is still weak, the market for technologies that bridge physical distances between families and coworkers seems likely to only expand. ANA's robots may not replace its airplanes any time soon, but they'll almost certainly be a part of travel's high-tech future.1. What purpose does the first paragraph serve in the passage?A. To show a picture of our future life.B. To describe the daily life of a couple.C. To attract readers' attention to the topicD. To add background information of the topic.2. What is the third paragraph mainly about?A. Humans tend to live much longer than before.B. People are becoming more worried about the environmentC. Virtual travel might cater for people's desire to see the world.D. The profits of carbon-intensive airlines are possibly declining.3. ANA is not planning to start selling Avatars soon probably because .A. it is still skeptical about their potentialB. they still need to be further tested outC. traditional travel business is taking offD. their commercial profits may not be satisfying4. The author believes the global market for virtual travel is .A. promisingB. ambiguousC. depressingD. challenging参考答案Passage 11. C 细节理解题。