There seems never to have been a civilization without toys, but when and how they developed is unknown. They probably came about just to give children something to do.
In the ancient world, as is today, most boys played with some kinds of toys and most girls with another. In societies where social roles are rigidly(严格地) determined, boys pattern their play after the activities of their fathers and girls are being prepared, even in play, to step into the roles and responsibilities of the adult world.
What is remarkable about the history of toys is not so much how they changed over the centuries but how much they have remained the same. The changes have been mostly in terms of craftsmanship, mechanics, and technology. It is the universality(普遍性) of toys with regard to their development in all parts of the world and their persistence to the present that is amazing. In Egypt, America, China, Japan and among the Arctic people, generally the same kinds of toys appeared. Differences depended on local customs and way of life because toys imitate their surrounding. Nearly every civilization had dolls, little weapons, toy soldiers, tiny animals and vehicles.
Because toys can be generally regarded as a kind of art form, they have not been subject to technological leaps that characterize(具有…的特征) inventions for adult use. The progress from the wheel to the cart to the automobile is a direct line of ways up. The progress from a rattle(拨浪鼓) used by a baby in 3,000 BC to one used by an infant today, however, is not characterized by inventiveness. Each rattle is the product of the artistic tastes of the time and subject to the limitations of available materials.
【小题1】 The reason why the toys most boys play with are different from those that girls play with is that______.
| A．boys like to play with their fathers while girl with their mothers |
| B．they like challenging activities |
| C．most boys would like to follow their fathers' professions |
| D．their social roles are rigidly determined |
| A．the basic characteristics of toys are the same all over the world |
| B．technological advances have greatly improved the durability of toys |
| C．the exploration of the universe has led to the creation of new kinds of toys |
| D．the improvement of craftsmanship in making toys depends on the efforts of universities |
| A．reflect the pace of social progress |
| B．changes a lot as time goes by |
| C．are not characterized by technological progress |
| D．also appeal greatly to adults |
| A．it often takes a long time to introduce new technology into toy-making |
| B．even the simplest toys can reflect the progress of technology |
| C．even a simple toy can mirror the artistic tastes of the time |
| D．in toy-making there is a continuity in the use of materials |
【小题1】D
【小题2】A
【小题3】C
【小题4】C
解析试题分析:
【小题1】D细节题。根据第二段In societies where social roles are rigidly(严格地) determined, boys pattern their play after the activities of their fathers and girls are being prepared, even in play, to step into the roles and responsibilities of the adult world.可知，孩子们的社会角色被严格确定，故不同性别的孩子玩不同的玩具。故选D。
【小题2】A细节题。根据文章第三段What is remarkable about the history of toys is not so much how they changed over the centuries but how much they have remained the same.和It is the universality(普遍性) of toys with regard to their development in all parts of the world and their persistence to the present that is amazing.可知玩具的基本的特征变化不大。故选A。
【小题3】C细节题。由文章最后一段Because toys can be generally regarded as a kind of art form, they have not been subject to technological leaps that characterize inventions for adult use.可知玩具作为一种艺术形式，不因科技变化而变化。故选C。
【小题4】C作者意图题。根据文章最后一段Each rattle is the product of the artistic tastes of the time and subject to the limitations of available materials. 可知，玩具是一个时期艺术风格的产物，同时还受可用材料的限制，能够反射出一个时代的艺术风格。故选C。
考点：考查说明类短文阅读。
科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：完型填空
Americans value competition. They believe that competition out the best in any individual. They claim that it challenges or even each person to produce the very best that is humanly possible. , the foreign visitor will see competition encouraged in the American home and in the American classroom, at the youngest age levels. You may find the placed on competition confusing, especially if you come from a society that promotes cooperation competition among individuals. But Americans teaching in the Third World countries find the lack of competition in a classroom situation equally . They soon learn that what they had thought to be one of the universal human qualities only a particularly American or Western value.
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
Is the “Go to College” Message Overdone?
Even in a weak job market, the old college try isn’t the answer for everyone. A briefing paper from the Brookings Institution warns that “we may have overdone the message” on college, senior fellow Isabel Sawhill said.
“We’ve been telling students and their families for years that college is the only way to succeed in the economy and of course there’s a lot of truth to that,” Ms. Sawhill said. “On average it does pay off… But if you load up on a whole lot of student debt and then you don’t graduate, that is a very bad situation.”
One comment that people often repeat among the years of slow job growth has been the value of education for landing a job and advancing in a career. April’s national unemployment rate stood at 7.5%, according to the Labor Department. The unemployment rate for high-school graduates over 25 years old who hadn’t attended college was 7.4%, compared with 3.9% for those with a bachelor’s degree or more education. The difference is even bigger among those aged 16—24. The jobless rate for those with only a high school diploma in that age group is about 20%. At the same time, recent research by Canadian economists warns that a college degree is no guarantee of promising employment.
Ms. Sawhill pointed out that among the aspects that affect the value of a college education is the field of one’s major: Students in engineering or other sciences end up earning more than ones who major in the arts or education. The cost of tuition (学费) and the availability of financial aid are other considerations, with public institutions generally a better financial bargain than private ones.
She suggested two ways to improve the situation: increasing vocational (职业的)-technical training programs and taking a page from Europe’s focus on early education rather than post-secondary learning. “The European countries put a little more attention to getting people prepared in the primary grades,” she said. “Then they have a higher bar for whoever goes to college—but once you get into college, you’re more likely to be highly subsidized (资助).”
She also is a supporter of technical training—to teach students how to be plumbers, welders and computer programmers—because “employers are desperate” for workers with these skills.
【小题1】People usually think that .
| A．the cost of technical schooling is a problem |
| B．technical skills are most important for finding a job |
| C．one will not succeed without a college degree |
| D．there is an increased competition in getting into a college |
| A．Learning from. | B．Changing from. |
| C．Differing from. | D．Hearing from. |
| A．Public institutions charge more for education. |
| B．European universities are stricter with students. |
| C．Canadian students prefer to major in engineering. |
| D．Students with certain skills are in great demand. |
| A．technical training is more important than college education |
| B．too much stress has been put on the value of college degrees |
| C．a college degree will ensure promising employment |
| D．it’s easier for art students to find favorite jobs |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
The iPhone, the iPad, each of Apple’s products sounds cool and has become a fashion. Apple has cleverly taken advantage of the power of the letter “i” — and many other brands are following suit. The BBC’s iPlayer — which allows Web users to watch TV programs on the Internet — adopted the title in 2008. A lovely bear — popular in the US and UK — that plays music and video is called “iTeddy”. A slimmed-down version of London’s Independent newspaper was launched last week under the name “i”.
In general, single-letter prefixes have been popular since the 1990s, when terms such as e-mail and e-commerce first came into use.
Most “i” products are targeted at young people and considering the major readers of Independent’s “i”, it’s no surprise that they’ve selected this fashionable name.
But it’s hard to see what’s so special about the letter “i”. Why not use “a”, “b”, or “c” instead? According to Tony Thorne, head of the Language Center at King’s College, London, “i” works because its meaning has become ambiguous. When Apple uses “i”, no one knows whether it means Internet, information, individual or interactive, Thorne told BBC Magazines. “Even when Apple created the iPod, it seems it didn’t have one clear definition,” he says.
“However, thanks to Apple, the term is now associated with portability (轻便) .”adds Thorne.
Clearly the letter “i” also agrees with the idea that the Western World is centered on the individual. Each person believes they have their own needs, and we love personalized products for this reason.
Along with “Google” and “blog”, readers of BBC Magazines voted “i” as one of the top 20 words that have come to define the last decade.
But as history shows, people grow tired of fads(一时的狂热). From the 1900s to 1990s, products with “2000” in their names became fashionable as the year was associated with all things advanced and modern. However, as we entered the new century, the trend eventually disappeared.
【小题1】People use iPlayer to ______.
| A．listen to music |
| B．make a call |
| C．watch TV programs online |
| D．play computer games |
| A．fashionable women | B．young readers |
| C．old readers | D．engineers |
| A．environmentally friendly | B．advanced |
| C．recyclable | D．portable |
| A．the popularity of “i” products may not last long |
| B．“i” products are often of high quality |
| C．iTeddy is a live bear popular in the US and UK |
| D．the letter “b” replaces letter “i” to name the products |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
A study by St． Louis University has found that a lovable dog named Sparky and a robotic dog AIBO, were about equally effective at reducing the loneliness of nursing home residents． The study confirmed previous findings that dogs have a good effect on nursing home residents（居民）．
Dr． Andrew Smith led the Stanford University team出at built a home-assistance robot． "If humans can feel an emotional tie with robots, some day they could be not just our assistants, but also our companions," he said．
To test whether residents responded better to Sparky, a trained dog, or the Sony-made robotic dog, researchers divided 38 nursing home residents into three groups at three long-term care centers in St, Louis.
One group had weekly 30-minute one-on-one visits with Sparky; another group had similar visits with AIBO; a control group had no contact with either dog．The groups' respective levels of loneliness were tested by having them answer a number of questions at the beginning and near the end of the visits．
After two months, both groups that had contact with the dogs were less lonely and more attached． Most of the elderly regarded Sparky, a 9-year-old dog, as an audience for their life stories, said investigator Marian Banks.
"He listened attentively, wagged his tail, and allowed them to pet him," said Banks, who adopted and trained Sparky after finding him in a street behind her home seven years ago．
Those who were together with AIBO took a little longer to warm to the robotic creature．Over time, however, they grew comfortable with him, and petted and talked to him． He would respond by wagging his tail, vocalizing（发出声音）, and blinking his lights．
"AIBO is charming once you start to interact with him," said the study's author, Dr． William Banks, " He's an attractive sort of guy． He gives a feeling: of being personal, not just a robot． "
【小题1】Before the new study, it was known that ．
| A．dogs could help get rid of old people's loneliness |
| B．robots could build close connection with humans |
| C．robots were more effective at reducing people's loneliness |
| D．dogs and robots were equally effective at reducing loneliness |
| A．accepted it immediately |
| B．found it easy to interact with it |
| C．were not quite comfortable with it |
| D．were confused by its behavior |
| A． robots are actually attractive sorts of guys |
| B．robots could make a good companion of the old. |
| C．it's easy for people to become close with robots |
| D． the elderly will have a robot assistant in no time |
| A．Robots Serve People Better Than Thought |
| B．No More Lonely Old Age with Emotional Robots |
| C．Dogs equipped with robots to Help the Elderly |
| D．Robots and Dogs Can Equally Cheer up the Elderly |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
We walked in so quietly that the nurse at the desk didn't even lift her eyes from the book. Mum pointed at a big chair by the door and I knew she wanted me to sit down. While I watched mouth open in surprise, Mum took off her hat and coat and gave them to me to hold. She walked quietly to the small room by the lift and took out a wet mop. She pushed the mop past the desk and as the nurse looked up, Mum nodded and said, "Very dirty floors."
"Yes, I'm glad they've finally decided to clean them, "the nurse answered. She looked at Mum strangely and said, "But aren't you working late?"
Mum just pushed harder, each swipe(拖一下)of the mop taking her farther and farther down the hall. I watched until she was out of sight and the nurse had turned back to writing in the big book.
After a long time Mum came back. Her eyes were shining. She quickly put the mop back and took my hand. As we turned to go out of the door, Mum bowed politely to the nurse and said, "Thank you."
Outside, Mum told me, "Dagmar is fine. No fever. "
"You saw her, Mum?"
"Of course I told her about the hospital rules, and she will not expect us until tomorrow. Dad will stop worrying as well. It's a fine hospital. But such floors! A mop is no good. You need a brush."
【小题1】When she took a mop from the small room what Mum really wanted to do was .
| A．to clean the floor | B．to please the nurse |
| C．to see a patient | D．to surprise the story-teller |
| A．nurse | B．visitor |
| C．patient | D．cleaner |
| A．the story-teller's sister | B．Mum's friend |
| C．the story-teller's classmate | D．Dad's boss |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
A strong imagination does children a lot of good. The following are 5 benefits of encouraging children’s imagination.
【小题1】 As children play different roles, they explore relationships between family members, friends and co-workers and learn more about them. For example, playing a doctor, they imagine how doctors care for their patients; playing house, they learn more about how parents feel about their children.
Build self-confidence. Young children have very little control over their lives. Imagining oneself as a builder of tall buildings or a superhero defending the planet is giving power to a child. 【小题2】
Help intellectual（智力的）growth. 【小题3】 Children who can see a king’s castle in a mound（堆）of sand are learning to think in an abstract（抽象的）way. This skill is important in school.
【小题4】 Kids who play with their friends do a lot of talking. This helps increase their vocabulary, improve sentence structure and communication skills.
Work out fears. 【小题5】 When children role-play about the big, bad monster under the bed, they gain a sense of control over him and he doesn’t seem so big or so bad.
| A．Develop social skills. |
| B．Practice language skills. |
| C．Be willing to share. |
| D．It helps them develop confidence in their abilities. |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
First Lady Michelle Obama is a big fan of volunteering. Volunteering means working for free to help someone else. Mrs. Obama says volunteering is very important. “It should be part of everyone’s life,” she says.
Many teens agree. They say that helping others feels great and makes a difference. These days, more teens volunteer than work for pay. Teens clean up parks, walk dogs at animal shelters, visit the elderly and more.
Some cities ---- including Seattle, Chicago, and Washington, D.C. ----require high school students to volunteer. Students must volunteer in order to graduate. The student volunteers learn new skills and help their communities.
Many parents are in favor of the idea ---- they say volunteering helps teens build job skills. But most teens don’t want to be forced to volunteer. They say they are busy. And they say volunteering is only fun if it’s a choice.
Read both sides of the debate and decide.
YES
Volunteering can help teens get into college or get a job.
Many cities and towns need help. Volunteers can help keep important programs going.
Not all teens will volunteer if it isn’t required. Schools should require students to do all they can to get ready for adult life.
NO
Most teens are already very busy with classes, homework, jobs and sports. Forcing them to do more isn’t fair.
It should be up to each person. Helping out doesn’t feel as good if you have to do it.
Finding a volunteer job isn’t always easy. Students shouldn’t be kept from graduating because of something they can’t control.
【小题1】The writer mentions Michelle Obama in order to___________.
| A．show she enjoys volunteering | B．explain what volunteering is |
| C．tell what she does for the US | D．introduce the topic of the text |
| A．finding a volunteer job is quite easy |
| B．volunteering is a must for high school students |
| C．more people would rather work for pay |
| D．college students have to volunteer before graduation |
| A．Should students be required to volunteer? |
| B．Is volunteering good for students? |
| C．What is the best time to volunteer? |
| D．Which volunteer jobs should students do? |
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
Most mornings, the line begins to form at dawn: scores of silent women with babies on their backs, buckets balanced on their heads, and in each hand a brightblue plastic jug. On good days, they will wait less than an hour before a water tanker goes across the dirt path that serves as a road in Kesum Purbahari, a slum on the southern edge of New Delhi. On bad days, when there is no electricity for the pumps, the tankers don't come at all. “That water kills people，” a young mother named Shoba said one recent Saturday morning, pointing to a row of pails filled with thick, caramel (焦糖)colored liquid. “Whoever drinks it will die.” The water was from a pipe shared by thousands of people in the poor neibourhood. Women often use it to wash clothes and bathe their children, but nobody is desperate enough to drink it.
There is no standard for how much water a person needs each day, but experts usually put the minimum at fifty litres. The government of India promises (but rarely provides) forty. Most people drink two or three litres—less than it takes to wash a toilet. The rest is typically used for cooking and bathing. Americans consume between four hundred and six hundred litres of water each day, more than any other people on earth. Most Europeans use less than half that. The women of Kesum Purbahari each hoped to drag away a hundred litres that day—two or three buckets' worth. Shoba has a husband and five children, and that much water doesn't go far in a family of seven, particularly when the temperature reaches a hundred and ten degrees before noon. She often makes up the difference with bottled water, which costs more than water delivered any other way. Sometimes she just buys milk; it's cheaper. Like the poorest people everywhere, the people of New Delhi's slums spend a far greater percentage of their incomes on water than anyone lucky enough to live in a house connected to a system of pipes.
【小题1】The underlined word “slum” most likely means________.
| A．a village |
| B．a small town |
| C．an area of a town with badlybuilt, overcrowded buildings |
| D．the part of a town that lacks water badly |
| A．the weather is bad |
| B．there is no electricity |
| C．there is no water |
| D．people don't want the dirty water |
| A．a hundred | B．four hundred |
| C．forty | D．fifty |
| A．A hundred litres of water a day is enough for Shoba's family. |
| B．Americans uses the largest amount of water each day. |
| C．In Kesum Purbahari milk is cheaper than bottled water. |
| D．Shoba has a family of seven people. |
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