The First of May is a Bank Holiday—the first public holiday of the year in England. Most people consider it a special day, the beginning of summer, a day when the light lasts long into the evening, and when we can look for warm weather. We don't always get it. We feel disappointed, but not surprised if there are cold winds and frosts at night in May. Winter should be over. Most people know that in the past, when farming occupied almost everyone, the changing seasons were of great importance. In that older time there was every reason to celebrate May Day. Customs of those celebrations remain.?
Of these customs, the best known is the choosing of a May Queen and the dancing round Maypole. Even these customs are little more than memories now—but in the last century it was quite common in villages and small towns, and even in schools and colleges, for a pretty and popular girl to be chosen Queen of the May. It was a great honour to be chosen. For a day she wore a light and flowery dress, carried garlands（花环）, and was ceremonially crowned with flowers. She presided over a procession, as a rule with a number of attendants, and over the Maypole dancing and all kinds of entertainment. The Maypole was slender（苗条的） tree trunk, cut off its branches, with beautiful ribbons fastened to the top. The dancing was designed in such a way that the dancer's movements move the ribbons into a pattern. This, as you can imagine, required skill from the dancer, and was not achieved without practice.
It's the Celtic people who celebrated the First of May as a spring festival. Their celebration seems to have had little to do with taking pleasure in early, beautiful flowers and in warmer weather! They called it Beltane—the fire of the god Bel. They lit fires, in the expectation that their blaze would help the sun in its struggle to regain its strength. They drove their cattle between banks of flame in the expectation that the terrified beasts would be purified and protected from disease. A tree, which must have been blackened with smoke, stood in the middle of the fires, and is thought to have been the origin of the Maypole. Their priests（牧师） made sacrifices to the goods in the hope of good harvests and sufficient store of food for the winter. There was dancing certainly, but it was noisy and cheerful, since its purpose was not to weave a pattern of colored ribbons, but to drive out evil spirits from the earth and to arouse those kind spirits.?
57. The main purpose of the passage is to show ________.?
A. the reason why they celebrate May Day
B. the start and customs of May Day
C. the way they celebrate May Day
D. the choosing of a May Queen during May Day
58. According to the passage, which sentence is NOT true??
A. In the old days they celebrated May Day for the changing of the seasons.?
B. In England summer begins at the first of May.?
C. The custom of the choosing of a May Queen still exists in the present May Day celebration.?D. The Celtic people celebrated the first of May as a spring festival.??
59. From the surrounding words and sentences we know that the word “presided” means ____.
A. 管理 B. 越过 C. 指挥 D. 主持?
60. The best title for this passage is ________.?
A. The First of May B. The Beginning of Summer
C. May Queen D. The Holiday of the Year?
阅读快车系列答案科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
When I met him, I had a lot of anger inside of me．I’ve lived my whole life in Spanish Harlem, but in my neighborhood, there are shoot-ups all the time．I know kids who have been shot or beaten up．I have friends who ended up in prison．I could have ended up that way, too, but Mr．Clark wouldn’t let that happen．
Mr．Clark worked long hours, making sure I did my work．My grades rose．In fact, the scores of our whole class rose．One day, he took our class to see The Phantom of the Opera, and it was the first time some kids had ever been out of Harlem．Before the show, he treated us to dinner at a restaurant and taught us not to talk with our mouths full．We did not want to let him down．
Mr．Clark was selected as Disney’s 2000 Teacher of the Year．He said he would draw three names out of a hat; those students would go with him to Los Angeles to get the award．But when the time came to draw names, Mr．Clark said, “You’re all going．”
On graduation day, there were a lot of tears．We didn’t want his class to end．In 2001, he moved to Atlanta, but he always kept in touch．He started giving lectures about education, and wrote a bestselling book based on his classroom rules, The Essential 55．In 2003,
Mr．Clark took some of us on a trip to South Africa to deliver school supplies and visit the orphanages（孤儿院）．It was the most amazing experience of my life．It’s now my dream to one day start a group of women’s clubs, helping people from all backgrounds．
36．Without Mr．Clark, the writer ．
A．might have been put into prison B．might not have won the prize
C．might have joined a women’s club D．might not have moved to Atlanta
37．The Essential 55 is ．
A．a show B．a speech
C．a classroom rule D．a book
38．How many students’ names were finally drawn out of a hat by Mr．Clark?
A．None B．Three C．Fifty-five． D．All．
39．What can we learn in the short reading?
A．It was in Harlem that we saw The Phantom of the Opera for the first time．
B．Mr．Clark taught us not to talk with our mouths full, and we did．
C．Mr．Clark was selected as Disney’s 2000 Teacher of the Year in Los Angeles．
D．In 2003, Mr．Clark moved to Atlanta, and he always kept in touch with us．
40．In the passage, the writer intends to tell us that ．
A．Mr．Clark went to South Africa because he liked travelling
B．Mr．Clark helped to set up a group of women’s clubs
C．a good teacher can help raise his or her students’ scores
D．a good teacher has a good influence on his or her students
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
Every year mobile phones develop. Imagining what they will look like and be able to do in 2020 is really a challenge. To help, experts have outlined three major mobile trends that they believe will have become reality by then.
Our phones will be so smart in 10 years’ time that they’ll know everything about our situation and warn us when something needs our attention. This is the top prediction of both Nokia and Google. They predict that our cars and home appliances will be able to communicate with our mobile. For example, fridges will tell your mobile to tell you to pick up milk on the way back from work. While driving, your mobile will suggest that you take a different route because there’s a road accident up ahead.
The second trend is in gesture-based controls. People who know the iPhone’s touch-sensitive screen are already familiar with the technology. It translates hand movements into actions on-screen. But gestural communications will make the phone more convenient to use and may completely replace touchpads. According to industry insiders, the most immediate step forward in gestural technology will be in voice recognition. It’s believed voice recognition technology will speed up communications. It is quicker to speak than type. Eventually, phone screens will disappear.
The third major development will change our understanding of a mobile phone. From a single phone, the mobile will be developed into multi-part devices. It is opposite to the current trend in which mobile phones are combining the functions of cameras, music players and game consoles. The prediction is based on the idea that the world will become more wireless and all these—cameras, music players and game consoles—will be wirelessly connected. Mobile phones won’t need to contain these devices because users will be able to control them wirelessly through their phones.
The first paragraph serves as .
A. a lead-in B. a conclusion C. a summary D. a supporting fact
Which of the following is most likely to be the appearance of a mobile phone in 2020?
 |
A. drive cars for us
B. be controlled by the users’ voices
C. be controlled by home appliances
D. be very big together with separated multiple parts
The text mainly tells us .
A. three major trends of mobile phones
B. what mobile phones will look like in 2020
C. the future mobile phones are gesture-based
D. some new functions of the present mobile phones
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
What’s your idea of a good time? What about dancing in a rainy field with one hundred and fifty thousand other people while a famous rock band plays on a stage so far away that the performers look like ants?
It may sound strange but that is what many hundreds of thousands of young people in the UK do every summer． Why? Because summer is the time for outdoor music festivals．
Held on a farm, the Glastonbury Festival is the most well-known and popular festival in the UK． It began in 1970 and the first festival was attended by one thousand five hundred people each paying an admission price of ￡1 — the ticket included free milk from the farm．
Since then the Glastonbury Festival has gone from strength to strength — in 2004 one hundred and fifty thousand fans attended, paying ￡112 each for a ticket to the three-day event． Tickets for the event sold out within three hours． Performers
included superstars, such as Paul McCartney and James Brown, as well as new talent, like Franz Ferdinand and Joss Stone．
Although many summer festivals are run on a profit —making basis, Glastonbury is a charity event, donating millions of pounds to local and international charities．
Glastonbury is not unique in using live music to raise money to fight global poverty （贫穷）． In July of this year, the Live 8 concerts were held simultaneously （同时） in London, Paris, Rome and Berlin． Superstars such as Madonna, Sir Elton John and Stevie Wonder performed in order to highlight （强调） international poverty and debt．
What does the author mean by saying “the Glastonbury Festival has gone from strength to strength”?
A． The festival has achieved growing success．
B． Great efforts have been made to hold the festival．
C． The festival has brought in a large amount of money．
D． There have been thousands of fans attending the festival．
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A． The Glastonbury Festival is run on a profit-making basis．
B． Tickets for the 2004 Glastonbury Festival were in great demand despite the high price．
C． Both James Brown and Joss Stone were born in poor families．
D． In the 1970 Glastonbury Festival, one could have lunch on the farm for free．
We can learn from the last paragraph that _____．
A． the Glastonbury Festival is not so popular as the Live 8 concerts
B． the Live 8 concerts are held every year in London
C． London, Paris, Rome and Berlin are famous for outdoor music festivals
D． some superstars are concerned about global poverty
What is the best title for the passage?
A． How to have a good time B． Charity events around the world
C． The Glastonbury Festival D． Superstars’ performances in charity events
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
TYPING
This course is for those who want to learn to type, as well as those who want to improve their typing. The course is not common. You are tested in the first class and begin practicing at one of eight different skill levels. This allows you to learn at your own speed. Each program lasts 20 hours. Bring your own paper.
Course fee: $ 125 Materials: $25
Two hours each evening for two weeks. New classes begin every two weeks.
This course is taught by a number of qualified business education teachers who have successfully taught typing courses before.
UNDERSTANDING COMPUTERS
This twelve-hour course is for people who do not know very much about computers, but who need to learn about them. You will learn what computers are, what they can and can’t do and how to use them.
Course fee: $75 Equipment fee: $ 10
Jan. 4, 7, 11, 14, 18, Wed. & Sat. 9—11:30 a.m.
Joseph Saunders is Professor of Computer Science at New Urban University. He has over twenty years of experience in the computer field.
STOP SMOKING
Do you want to stop smoking? Have you already tried to stop and failed? Now is the time to stop smoking using the latest methods. You can stop smoking, and this twelve-hour course will help you do it.
Course fee: $30
Jan. 2, 9, 16, 23 Mon. 2—5 p. m.
Dr John Good is a practicing psychologist who had helped hundreds of people stop smoking.
If you choose the UNDERSTANDING COMPUTERS course, you will have classes _______.
A. from Monday to Sunday B. from Monday to Friday
C. on Wednesday and Saturday D. on Saturday and Sunday
Mr. Black works every morning and evening, but he wants to take part in one of the three courses. The most probable course he will attend is ______.
A. typing B. understanding computers
C. stop smoking D. any of the courses
If you want to learn computer and at the same time you want to improve your typing, you will pay _______.
A. $ 75 B. $ 15 C. $ 115 D. $ 235
The typical difference of “Typing” from the other two is that ______.
A. people with different skill levels may learn at different speeds
B. you will take a test after the course
C. you will pay the fee before practicing
D. you will pay less money
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科目：高中英语 来源： 题型：阅读理解
As the pace of life continues to increase, we are fast losing the art of relaxation. Once you are in the habit of rushing through life, being on the go from morning till night, it is hard to slow down. But relaxation is essential for a healthy mind and body.
Stress is a natural part of everyday life and there is no way to avoid it. In fact, it is not the bad thing it is often supposed to be. A certain amount of stress is vital to provide motivation and give purpose to life. It is only when the stress gets out of control that it can lead to poor performance and ill health.
The amount of stress a person can withstand depends very much on the individual. Some people are not afraid of stress, and such characters are obviously prime material for managerial responsibilities, others lose heart at the first sign of unusual difficulties. When exposed to stress, in whatever form, we react both chemically and physically. In fact we make choice between "flight or fight" and in more primitive days the choices made the difference between life or death. The crises we meet today are unlikely to be so extreme, but however little the stress, it involves the same response. It is when such a reaction lasts long, through continued exposure to stress, that health becomes endangered. Since we can't remove stress from our lives (it would be unwise to do so even if we could), we need to find ways to deal with it.
People are finding less and less time for relaxing themselves because _____.
A. they regard working as their greatest enjoyment
B. they believe that work is superior to relaxation
C. they are traveling fast all the time
D. they are becoming busier with their work than ever before
According to the author, the most important character for a good manager is his _____.
A. strong will to hold out stress
B. knowing the art of relaxation
C. high sense of responsibility
D. having control over performance
Which of the following statements is TRUE, according to the passage?
A. We can find quite a few ways to avoid stress.
B. Stress is always harmful to people's health
C. It's easy to change the habit of keeping oneself busy with work.
D. Different people can bear different amount of stress.
In the last sentence of the passage, “do so” refers to _____.
A. "expose ourselves to stress"
B. "find ways to deal with stress"
C. "remove stress from our lives"
D. "establish links between diseases and stress"
According to the author, the right attitude toward stress is _____.
A. to avoid it
B. to try to cope with it
C. to regard it as a vital motivation
D. to find some relaxation
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