2016年浙江省杭州市外国语学校高考英语（阅读理解提分训练）每日一练43

　　每日一练4

　　倒数第二周星期

　　A

　　Even when you’re extremely busy, you aren’t using your time with 100% efficiency. There are gaps in everyone’s schedule where they aren’t doing anything important. Even if your schedule has no gaps, there is probably lots of time where you aren’t working as fast or as effectively as you possibly could.

　　Why aren’t you completely efficient? It’s because time isn’t the limiting factor. If it were the limiting factor, people could work non-stop without breaks or any unproductive distractions. Instead, people, even those who are highly productive, need to take breaks, occasionally procrastinate(拖延) and slow down on tasks throughout the day.

　　The real and most important limiting factor for productivity is your energy levels to pay attention. Energy levels limit your productivity because when you’re tired, you can have ample time and still not get everything done. Your attention ability is also limited, because even if there are a million things that need to be done, you can only focus on one or two at a time.

　　You might not be able to insert another 4-5 hours into your schedule without making some sacrifices. But even extremely busy people can add an hour or two into their schedule without cancelling anything. The reason it’s hard to “find time” isn’t a lack of time. It’s because you don’t have enough energy left to focus on something else that needs to fit into your day.

　　I first suspected time wasn’t the real problem during an extremely busy period in my life over a year ago. I was insanely busy, but at that time I still exercised regularly. I had daily to-do lists with over twenty items, and I still found time to exercise. However, after a few weeks off, due to illness, I stopped exercising. I was not busy by any standards, in fact, my schedule was incredibly light. Despite this free time, I found it hard to find time to exercise. It seemed to get pushed later and later into my schedule until it was gone. How can I explain this odd experience? I believe you have known it.

　　41. If someone can’t work with 100% efficiency, the most important limiting factor is ________.

　　A．a schedule without gaps

　　B．breaks and distractions

　　C． the limited time

　　D．the limited energy

　　42. According to paragraph 4, everyone, including the extremely busy people, can ___________.

　　A．work without any rest

　　B．focus on many things at a time

　　C．find some more time in a day

　　D．do some exercise regularly

　　43. After a few weeks off, what was the change of the writer’s life?

　　A．He had a longer daily to-do lists with over twenty items.

　　B．He stopped doing exercise because of the lack of energy.

　　C．He found it hard to find time to exercise because he was busier.

　　D．He pushed most of the things later and later in his schedule.

　　44. The writer gives the example of himself in the last paragraph in order to ___________.

　　A．prove what the real limiting factor is

　　B．show us how busily he needs to work

　　C．explain how important a healthy body is

　　D．tell us what an odd experience he has

　　45. What is the best title of the passage?

　　A．Are You Really Lacking in Time?

　　B．How Can You Work Efficiently?

　　C．What Makes Your Energy Limited?

　　D．When Should You Do Exercise?

　　B

　　As the queen prepares to celebrate her Diamond Jubilee, one of her closest relatives and oldest friends has been allowed to give a deep description of the family life of the royals. There have been hundreds of other books declaring to offer a quick look behind the Palace doors, but this is the first written by someone who is closely related to the royal family and has shared their lives----not only throughout the Queen’s reign but also through that of her father, King George VI.

　　The Final Curtsey was written by Her Majesty’s cousin and childhood playmate, the Honorable Margaret Rhodes. It tells in detail the story of Mrs. Rhodes’s relationship with the royal family over eight decades. The book, showed with delightfully informal and never-before-seen pictures, has been written with the full knowledge of the Queen, who has read and approved parts of it.

　　Mrs. Rhodes lives on the royal farm in Windsor Great Park, in a house given to her by the Queen in 1980. She tells how it was offered out of the blue one day when she and the Queen---whose 60 years on the throne next year will be marked with many national famous people---were out riding. She suddenly turned around and said, “ Could you bear to live in the suburb?” Therefore Mrs. Rhodes is now still living here.

　　Born in 1925, the youngest daughter of the 16th Lord Elphinstone and his wife Mary, the Honorable Margaret Rhodes has led an extraordinary life. She was the childhood playmate of her cousin, the Queen; she was a wartime MI6 spy; she was a lady-in-waiting to her aunt, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother, from 1991 until the latter’s death in 2002. At the Queen’s 80th birthday in April 2006, Margaret gave an interview to the BBC in which she proved that, in her own opinion and despite several false reports, the Queen would not abdicate(退位). Now, at the age of 86, she has written a charming autobiography that paints a first-time close portrait of the private world of the royal family.

　　Elsewhere in the book she reveals how the Queen Mother was a fan of the TV shows Two Fat Ladies and Dad’s Army. Perhaps more surprisingly, she was also a fan of the poet Edith Sitwell and the Poet Laureate Ted Hughes, who was a regular and favoured guest.

　　Life at Birkhall, the Queen Mother’s home of the edge of the Balmoral Estate, is described along with sometimes noisy dinners. Mrs. Rhodes recalls: “At the end of the meal, Queen Elizabeth would start a series of toasts. As well as ‘Hooray for…’ with glasses held high, there was even more of ‘ Down with…’ with glasses almost disappearing beneath the table.”

　　46. Compared with other books about the royal family, what is the biggest advantage of The Final Curtsey?

　　A. It predicts whether the Queen will leave the Palace.

　　B. Its author is the Queen’s cousin who knows her well.

　　C. Its author presents readers a really different Queen.

　　D. It discloses when the Queen will retire to work on the farm.

　　47. From the third paragraph we know Mrs. Rhodes ________.

　　A. had to obey the Queen’s order to live a happy life.

　　B. knows well that the Queen is very kind.

　　C. didn’t expect that she would have a chance to live on the farm.

　　D. didn’t want to disappoint the Queen before other famous people.

　　48. Which of the following statements about Mrs. Rhodes is NOT right?

　　A. She once worked as a maid in the Palace to serve the Queen.

　　B. She became the playmate of the Queen at a young age.

　　C. She once worked as a spy during the war when young.

　　D. She believes that the Queen will not give up her power.

　　49. What makes Mrs. Rhodes write The Final Curtsey?

　　A. She wishes to earn enough money to buy the royal farm.

　　B. She hopes to prove her relationship with the Queen is good.

　　C. She wants to remind the Queen of remembering the Queen Mother.

　　D. She wants to present her life and the world of the royal family in a private but real way.

　　C

　　　It was a cold night in December. Two beggars were sitting on a busy street corner in the downtown section of the city. The cold wind made them huddle together for heat and comfort. They watched helplessly as scores of people walked by, some ignoring them on purpose and others too caught up in their own cares to even notice their existence. Every so often, a kind-hearted woman or a small child would drop a few coins in the hats which lay in front of them on the icy sidewalk. Some people, feeling particularly generous, would even pull out a bill or two from their wallets and drop them into the beggars' hats and then continued their walking.

　　 Today was not a bad day for begging. The men were able to collect enough for a decent meal at the coffee shop down the street and a few candles to light up their shelter in the alley behind the train station. As the crowd began to die down, they started to pack up their bundles and head for their evening shelter.

　　 Just as they were getting ready to leave the street corner, they noticed a man walking toward them. He was obviously a wealthy man--they could tell that from the finely tailored business suit he was wearing and the gold watch chain that adorned(装饰) his left pocket.

　　 The first beggar looked at the second and whispered with excitement, "He's coming our way!"

　　 The two tried not to look directly at the man as he stepped closer to them, but they couldn't help gazing up with anticipation as he reached into his pocket and took something out.

　　 "Thunk" was the only sound they heard as what looked like a piece of hard candy, wrapped doubly in tissue paper hit each of their waiting hats. The rich man turned and continued on his way, not making a backward glance.

　　 "How insulting!" said the first beggar, as soon as the rich man was out of sight.

　　"He could have easily left us a few coins or a spare bill, but he played a joke on us with a piece of rock candy."

　　 He looked at the wrapped offering with disgust. "Who does he think we are--children? There's no way we can even eat this--we have no teeth."

　　 The beggar picked up the object with the very tips of his fingers and threw it into the gutter. He watched as it floated a few yards in the stream of muddy water and disappeared into the drain at the end of the street. Then, he gathered up his things and walked away.

　　 The second beggar looked down at the morsel in his hat, then at his departing friend. His first impulse was to toss the donation in the trash can under the street light. But his second thought made him change his mind.

　　"I haven't had anything like this for ages," he thought. "I can't chew it, but I can suck on it for a while, and the sugary juices will stay in my mouth for a long time. How nice of that man to offer me something so sweet."

　　 He opened the paper eagerly, then paused as his hands touched the white tissue paper inside. "Maybe I should save it for another time," he thought. "It won't spoil, and I could eat it later when I'm really hungry."

　　 The beggar paused for a moment, then he said aloud, "He wanted me to have it anyway. I might as well enjoy it now."

　　 With that, he unfolded the white tissue paper, but to his surprise, there was no hard rock candy inside. Instead, into his fingers fell a shiny white pearl worth thousands of dollars. 

　　50. The first paragraph serves as a(n) ________.

　　A. explanation

　　B. introduction

　　C. comment

　　D. background

　　51. The two beggars started to leave the street corner when ________.

　　A. darkness fell

　　B. they felt too cold

　　C. few people passed by

　　D. the wind began to blow hard

　　52. The two beggars thought the man was rich from _______.

　　A. his way of walking

　　B. his appearance

　　C. the jewellery he wore

　　D. the shiny shoes

　　53. What did the first beggar think of the rich man?

　　A. He was too mean

　　B. He was very kind and warm-hearted

　　D. He treated them as children D. He looked down upon the poor.

　　54. The underlined words “ the morsel in his hat” probably refer to ________.

　　A. the food the second beggar left over

　　B. the coins the second beggar collected

　　C. the rock candy the rich man gave the second beggar

　　D. the donation from the rich man

　　55. What can we learn from the story?

　　A. He that can have patience can have what he will

　　B. Patience is the best remedy for every trouble.

　　C. He who laughs last laughs best

　　D. Every dog has its day.

　　D

　　From bankers to factory staff, employees in the West face a cold prospect of losing their jobs as a global recession(衰退) starts to bite. For colleagues in the East, the pain is more likely to come through a pay cut.

　　Human resource experts say cultural differences explain why Asian companies try harder to preserve jobs in difficult times, which will prevent unemployment and may help Asian economies survive at a time of slowing exports. The East Asian attitude may also make it easier for companies to recover quickly from the economic downturn since they will not need to rehire or train new staff, but build up a more loyal and devoted group.

　　“In the Confucian mindset, the right thing to do is to share the burden, which is the sense of collective(集体的) responsibility. While in the West, it’s more about individual survival,” said Michael Benoliel, associate professor of organizational behavior at Singapore Management University (SMU).

　　In contrast, local Western companies from General Motors to Goldman Sachs plan to lay off workers by the thousand, but at the Asian units of Western multinationals or western units of Asian groups, job cuts will probably be less severe.

　　Japan’s jobless rate was 4 percent in September, up from 3.8 percent in January, while Hong Kong’s was flat at 3.4 percent. But US unemployment is expected to have jumped to 6.3 percent last month from below 5 percent in January.

　　Experts say that while there are noticeable differences in labor practices in East and West, the gap will narrow as more firms become more multinational and competition forces firms to adopt the best practices of rivals from abroad.

　　56. The underlined word “prospect” in the first paragraph most probably means _________.

　　A．weather

　　B．scene

　　C．future

　　D．place

　　57. Compared with job cuts, pay cuts can bring the following benefits EXCEPT that _________.

　　A．it’s helpful to the economy recovery

　　B．it costs the company less money to survive

　　C．it will keep the experienced and skilled workers

　　D．it can form a team working harder and more loyally

　　58. According to Michael Benoliel, the Confucian mindset focuses on _________.

　　A．human rights

　　B．sharing responsibility

　　C．personal profits

　　D．individual survival

　　59. In which company can we infer the job cuts will be probably the most severe?

　　A．A local American group.

　　B．A small Japanese company.

　　C．A German branch of a Korean multinational.

　　D．A Hong Kong’s unit of a French company.

　　60. The passage mainly tells us ________.

　　A．the difficulties all the companies around the world will meet with today

　　B．the cultural differences between Eastern and Western world at present

　　C．the ways to cut down the cost of the companies in economic downturn

　　D．the different labor solutions of Asian and Western in global recession