Thousands of years ago, birthdays were considered special days. On birthdays, the bad spirits were able to harm you and change your life. It was believed that the only way to solve the problem was to have your friends and family around you, so that good wishes and presents would keep the bad spirits away. Also, noisemakers were thought to be used at parties as a way of scaring away the evil spirits.
The custom of lighting candles was created by people believing that the gods lived in the sky. By lighting candles and torches, they were sending a signal or prayer to the gods, so they could be answered. Blowing out the candles and making a wish were thought to be another way of sending a signal or a message.
This is how the way we celebrate our birthdays came about. But different cultures celebrate in different ways.
The birthday story in the Bible（圣经） that we know best is about the birth of the Christ in Bethlehem（地名：伯利恒）. For nearly 2000 years since that day, the Christian world has been honoring this birth. The day many Englishmen celebrate is, of course, Christmas. There are other references to birthday parties. King Pharaoh celebrated his birthday by making a feast for his court followers. That was over 4000 years ago. The story of King Herod tells that on his birthday he made a supper for his lords, high captains and other special friends in Galilee (地名：加利利).
1. According to the passage, good wishes and presents given by one’s friends and family on his birthday can _____________________.
A. cheer him up B. prove that he’s a popular person
C. bring him a big fortune D. push bad spirits away
2. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
A. The custom of lighting candles originated with the gods.
B. The gods celebrate their birthdays by lighting candles.
C. People send messages to the gods by lighting or blowing out the candles.
D. The gods will help people realize their dreams on their birthdays.
3. The two ancient kings’ ways of celebrating their birthdays show__________________.
A. how great the two kings were
B. how different cultures celebrate in different ways
C. the two kings’ excellent cooking skills
D. that their court followers were awarded the special honors
4. The passage is mainly about __________________.
A. the functions of the noises made on birthdays.
B. how to scare away the bad spirits on birthdays
C. the origin of a famous day Christmas
D. how birthdays came about
科目：高中英语 来源：2011-2012学年安徽省蚌埠铁路中学高一下学期期中考试英语试卷（带解析） 题型：阅读理解
You might think that “global warming” means nothing more than a rise in the world’s temperature But rising sea levels caused by it have resulted in the first evacuation（撤离）of an island nation—the citizens of Tuvalu will have to leave their homeland.
During the 20th century , sea level rose 8—12 inches. As a result ,Tuvalu has experienced lowland flooding of salt water which has polluted the country’s drinking water.
Paani Laupepa , a Tuvaluan government official ,reported to the Earth Policy Institute that the nation suffered an unusually high number of fierce storms in the past ten years .Many scientists connect higher surface water temperatures resulting from global warming to greater and more damaging storms.
Laupepa expressed dissatisfaction with the United States for refusing to sign the Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement calling for industrialized nations to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions（导致温室效应的气体排放）,which are a main cause of global warming . “By refusing to sign the agreement ,the US has effectively taken away the freedom of future generations of Tuvaluans to live where their forefathers have lived for thousands of years,” Laupepa told the BBC.
Tuvalu has asked Australia and New Zealand to allow the gradual move of its people to both countries .
Tuvalu is not the only country that is vulnerable （易受影响的）to rising sea levels .Maumoon Gayoon ,president of the Maldives ,told the United Nations that global warming has made his country of 311,000 an “endangered nation”.
【小题1】The text is mainly about .
| A．rapid changes in earth’s temperature |
| B．bad effects of global warming |
| C．moving of a country to a new place |
| D．reasons for lowland flooding |
| A．greenhouse gas emissions in industrialized nations |
| B．higher surface water temperatures of the sea |
| C．continuous global warming |
| D．rising sea levels |
| A．agree to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions |
| B．sign an agreement with Tuvalu |
| C．allow Tuvaluans to move to the US |
| D．believe the problems facing Tuvalu were real |
| A．Australia | B．New Zealand | C．the Maldives | D．the United States |
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科目：高中英语 来源：2011届湖北省武汉市武昌区高三上学期元月调研测试英语卷 题型：阅读理解
Scientists who try to predict earthquakes have gotten some new helpers recently—animals.
That’s right, animals. Scientists have begun to understand what farmers have known for thousands of years. Animals often seem to know in advance that an earthquake is coming, and they show their fear by acting in strange ways. Before a Chinese quake in 1975, snakes awoke from their winter sleep early only to freeze to death in the cold air. Cows broke their halters (缰绳) and tried to escape. Chickens refused to enter their cage. All of this unusual behavior, as well as physical changes in the earth, warned Chinese scientists of the coming quake. They moved people away from the danger zone and saved thousands of lives.
One task for scientists today is to learn exactly which types of animal behavior predict quakes. It’s not an easy job. First of all not every animal reacts to the danger of an earthquake. Just before a California quake in 1977, for example, an Arabian horse became very nervous and tried to break out of his enclosure. The Australian horse next to him, however, remained perfectly calm. It’s also difficult at times to tell the difference between normal animal restlessness and “earthquake nerves”. A zoo keeper once called earthquake researchers to say that his cougar had been acting strangely. It turned out that the cat had an upset stomach.
A second task for scientists is to find out exactly what kind of warnings the animals receive. They know that animals sense far more of the world than humans do. Many animals can see, hear, and smell things that people do not even notice. Some can sense tiny changes in air pressure, gravity, or the magnetism of Earth. This extra sense probably helps animals predict quakes.
A good example of this occurred with a group of dogs. They were shut in an area that was being shaken by a series of tiny earthquakes. (Several small quakes often come before or after a large one.) Before each quake a low booming sound was heard. Each boom caused the dogs to bark wildly. Then the dogs began to bark during a silent period. A scientist who was recording quakes looked at his machine. It was acting as though there were a loud noise too. The scientist realized that the dogs had reacted to a booming noise. They also sensed the tiny quake that followed it. The machine recorded both, though humans felt and heard nothing.
In this case there was a machine to monitor what the dogs were sensing. Many times, however, our machines record nothing extraordinary, even though animals know a quake is coming. The animals might be sensing something we measure but do not recognize as a warning. Discovering what animals sense, and learning how they know it is a danger signal, is a job for future scientists.
【小题1】Through the passage the writer hopes to explore __________.
| A．why animals send a danger signal before an earthquake |
| B．how animals know when an earthquake is coming |
| C．why animals not men have good sense of danger |
| D．how much animals know about an earthquake |
| A．chickens refused to go out of their cage |
| B．snakes were frozen to death in their caves |
| C．snakes awoke from their winter sleep earlier |
| D．cows broke their halters and escaped from their sheds |
| A．An Arabian horse tried to escape from his enclosure. |
| B．A cougar had an upset stomach unexpectedly. |
| C．An Australian horse was perfectly calm. |
| D．A cat acted very strangely in a zoo. |
| A．find out that the machine could record unusual happenings |
| B．compare the reactions of animals and those of humans |
| C．prove that animals could sense more than humans |
| D．find out what exact warnings animals sent |
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科目：高中英语 来源：2011届江苏省姜堰市第二中学高三上学期学情调查（三）英语卷 题型：阅读理解
In the decade（十年）of the 1970s, the United Nations organized several important meetings on the human environment to study a very serious problem．We humans are destroying the world around us．We must learn to protect them, or life will be very bad for our children and grandchildren．
There are several major aspects to this problem．
Population
Most problems of the environment come from population growth．In 1700 there were 635 million people in the world; in 1900 there were 1．6 billion; in 1950, 2．5 billion; and in 1980, 4．4 billion．In the year 2010 there will be 7．3 billion．More people need more water, more food, more wood, and more petroleum．
Distribution
Scientists say there is enough water in the world for everyone, but some countries have a lot of water and some have only a little．Some areas get all rain during one season．The rest of the year is dry．
Petroleum
We are using up the world’s petroleum．We use it in our cars and to heat our buildings in winter．Farmers use petrochemicals to make the soil rich．They use them to kill insects on those plants．These chemicals go into rivers and lakes and kill the fish there．Thousands of people also die from these chemicals every year．Chemicals also go into the air and pollute it．Winds carry this polluted air to other countries and other countries．
Poverty
Poor farmers use the same land over and over．The land needs a rest so it will be better next year．However, the farmer must have food every year．Poor people cut down trees for firewood．In some areas when the trees are gone, the land becomes desert．However, people need wood to cook their food now．Poor people cannot save the environment for the future．
We now have the information and the ability to solve these huge problems．However, this is not a problem for one country or one area of the world．It is a problem for all humans．The people and the nation of the world must work together to protect the world’s resources．No one controls the future, but we all help make it．
【小题1】According to the passage, our world is being destroyed mainly because ______．
| A．pollution is getting worse and worse |
| B．population are increasing greatly |
| C．we humans are using up all of our natural resources |
| D．distribution is not reasonable． |
| A．having things in the right place at the right time． |
| B．cutting down forests and selling them to other countries． |
| C．building water systems to carry water to farms． |
| D．conserving our natural resources |
| A．The World Being Destroyed |
| B．A Serious Problem We Should Pay Attention to |
| C．Aspects That Destroyed Our World |
| D．Conserving the World’s Natural Resources |
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科目：高中英语 来源：全国通用2010年高三备考英语“好题速递”系列（13） 题型：阅读理解
二、阅读理解
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C和D项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Not many years ago, a wealthy and rather strange old man named Johnson lived alone in a village in the south of England. He had made a lot of money in trading with foreign countries. When he was 75, he gave £12,000 to the village school to buy land and equipment for a children’s playground.
As a result of his kindness, many people came to visit him. Among them was a newspaperman. During their talk, Johnson remarked that he was 75 and expected to live to be 100, and the newspaperman asked him how he managed to be healthy at 75. Johnson had a sense of humor. He liked whisky and drank some each day. “I have an injection(注射)in my neck each evening”, he told the newspaperman, thinking of his evening glass of whisky.
The newspaperman did not understand what Johnson meant. In his newspaper he reported that Johnson was 75 and had a daily injection in his neck. Within a week Johnson received thousands of letters from all over Britain, asking him for the secret of his daily injection.
11．Johnson became a rich man through _____.
A．doing business B．making whisky C．cheating D．buying and selling land
12．The gift of money to the school suggests that Johnson ____.
A．had no children B．was a strange man
C．was very warm-hearted and fond of children D．wanted people to know how rich he was
13．Many people wrote to Johnson probably to find out ____.
A．what kind of whisky he drank
B．how to live alone
C．how to become wealthy
D．in which part of the neck he had an injection each day
14．When Johnson said he had an injection in his neck each evening, he really meant that ____
A．he liked drinking a glass of whisky in the evening
B．he needed an injection in the neck
C．a daily injecting in the evening would make him sleep well
D．there was something wrong with his neck
15．From the passage we can infer that Johnson would be very ____ after he read those people’s letters.
A．miserable B．glad C．surprised D．said
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科目：高中英语 来源：2010年山东聊城三中高一下学期期末考试英语卷 题型：阅读理解
Attending a university is an important part of a person’s life. Today, many people go to a university to study and train for a future job in subjects like law, medicine, or education. But the university is not a modern invention. It has a history that is over a thousand years old.
The world’s oldest university, Al-Azhar, is in Cairo, Egypt. It was first built as a mosque in A.D. 972. A few years later, learners and teachers began meeting in the mosque in “tutoring circles”. They read and talked about the subject of law. Around 988, leaders in the city of Cairo decided to create a school for higher learning and the University of Al-Azhar was founded.
At Al-Azhar, there were many university ‘firsts.’ Courses were created. The earliest ones taught at Al-Azhar were in law and religion. In a course, students read and studied with the teacher, but there was also free discussion. Often, students and teachers talked about a topic, and there was no ‘right’ answer. Finally, scholars from around the world came to Al-Azhar to teach and do research. At the university, people studied the past, but it was also a place for sharing new ideas.
Over a thousand years later, Al-Azhar is still an important university in the world. Its library contains more than 250,000 of the world’s oldest and most valuable books. Today, many of the world’s most important universities such as Oxford and Harvard still follow the traditions started at Al-Azhar.
【小题1】What’s this passage mainly about?
| A．The history of the world’s oldest university. |
| B．The importance of attending a university. |
| C．The relationship between university and future job. |
| D．The invention of a modern university. |
| A．a hundrend | B．hundreds of | C．a thousand | D．thousands of |
| A．Oxford | B．Cambridge | C．Harvard | D．Al-Azhar |
| A．How many books are in the Al-Azhar’s library. |
| B．How valuable the Al-Azhar’s books are. |
| C．Why Oxford and Harvard still follow Al-Azhar’s pattern. |
| D．How Al-Azhar still holds an important role in the world. |
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