2016高考英语二轮阅读理解八十集之连载训练（63）
人物故事类
阅读下列四篇短文，从每小题后所给的A,B,C或D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。
I needed to buy a digital camera, one that was simply good at taking good snaps(快照), maybe occasionally for magazines. Being the cautious type, I fancied a reliable brand. So I went on the net, spent 15 minutes reading product reviews on good websites, wrote down the names of three top recommendations and headed for my nearest big friendly camera store. There in the cupboard was one of the cameras on my list. And it was on special offer. Oh joy. I pointed at it and asked an assistant, “Can I have one of those?” He looked perturbed (不安). “Do you want to try it first?” he said. It didn’t quite sound like a question. “Do I need to? “ I replied. “There’s nothing wrong with it? “ This made him look a bit insulted and I started to feel bad. “No, no, But you should try it,” he said encouragingly. “Compare it with the others.”
I looked across at the others: shelves of similar cameras placed along the wall, offering a wide range of slightly different prices and discounts, with each company selling a range of models based around the same basic box. With so many models to choose from, it seemed that I would have to spend hours weighing X against Y, always trying to take Z and possibly R into account at the same time. But when I had finished, I would still have only the same two certainties that I had entered the store with: first, soon after I carried my new camera out of the shop, it would be worth half what I paid for it; and second, my wonderful camera would very quickly be replaced by a new model.
But something in the human soul whispers that you can beat these traps by making the right choice, the clever choice, the wise choice. In the end, I agreed to try the model I had chosen. The assistant seemed a sincere man. So I let him take out my chosen camera from the cupboard, show how it took excellent pictures of my fellow shoppers. . . and when he started to introduce the special features, I interrupted to ask whether I needed to buy a carry-case and a memory card as well.
Why do we think that new options (选择) still offer us anything new? Perhaps it is because they offer an opportunity to avoid facing the foot that our real choices in this culture are far more limited than we would like to imagine.
1. The shop assistant insisted that the writer should .
A. try the camera to see if there was anything wrong with it
B. compare the camera he had chosen with the others
C. get more information about different companies
D. trust him and stop asking questions
2. What does the writer mean by“it would be worth half what I paid for it” (Paragraph 2)?
A. He should get a 50% discount.
B. The price of the camera was unreasonably high.
C. The quality of the camera was not good.
D. The camera would soon fall in value.
3. The writer decided to try the model he had chosen because he .
A. knew very little about it
B. didn’t trust the shop assistant
C. wanted to make sure the one he chose would be the best
D. had a special interest in taking pictures of his fellow shoppers
4. It can be inferred from the passage that in the writer’s opinion, .
A. people waste too much money on cameras
B. cameras have become an important part of our daily life
C. we don’t actually need so many choices when buying a product
D. famous companies care more about profit than quality
【参考答案】1—4、 BDCC
人物故事类
阅读下列四篇短文，从每小题后所给的A,B,C或D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。
Rae Armantrout, who has been a poetry professor at the University of California San Diego(UCSD)for two decades, has won the 2010 Pulitzer Prize in the poetry category for her most recent book, “Versed”.
"I’m delighted and amazed at how much media recognition that the Pulitzer brings, as compared to even the National Book Critics Award, which I was also surprised and delighted to win,” said Armantrout.
"For a long time, my writing has been just below the media radar, and to have this kind of attention, suddenly, with my 10th book, is really surprising.”
Armantrout, a native Californian, received her bachelor’s degree at UC Berkeley, where she studied with noted poet Denise Levertov, and her master’s in creative writing from San Francisco State University. She is a founding member of Language Poets, a group in American poetry that analyzes the way language is used and raises questions to make the reader think.
In March, she won the National Book Critics Award for“Versed.”
"This book has gotten more attention,” Armantrout said, “but I don’t feel as if it’s better.”
The first half of“Versed” focuses on the dark forces taking hold of the United States as it fought the war against Iraq. The second half looks at the dark forces casting a shadow over her own life after Armantrout was diagnosed with cancer in 2006.
Armantrout was shocked to learn she had won the Pulitzer but many of her colleagues were not. “Rae Armantrout is a unique voice in American poetry,” said Seth Lerer, head of Arts and Humanities at UCSD.
"Versed,” published by the Wesleyan University Press, did appear in a larger printing than her earlier works, which is about 2, 700 copies. The new edition is scheduled to appear in May.
1. According to Rae Armantrout, .
A. her 10th book is much better
B. her winning the Pulitzer is unexpected
C. the media is surprised at her works
D. she likes being recognized by her readers
2. Which of the following is true of Rae Armantrout?
A. She published a poetry textbook.
B. She used to teach Denise Levertov.
C. She started a poets’ group with others.
D. She taught creative writing at UC Berkeley.
3. What can we learn about“Versed” ?
A. It consists of three parts.
B. It is mainly about the American army.
C. It is a book published two decades ago.
D. It partly concerns the poet’s own life.
4. Rae Armantrout’s colleagues think that she .
A. should write moreB. has a sweet voice
C. deserves the prize D. is a strange professor
5. What can we learn from the text?
A. About 2, 700 copies of“Versed” will be printed.
B. Cancer made Armantrout stop writing.
C. Armantrout got her degrees at UCSD.
D. “Versed” has been awarded twice.
【参考答案】1--5 、BCDCD
人物故事类
阅读下列四篇短文，从每小题后所给的A,B,C或D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。
The teacher who did the most to encourage me was, as it happens, my aunt. She was Myrtle C. Manigault, the wife of my mother’s brother Bill. She taught me in second grade at all-black Sumner School in Camden, New Jersey.
During my childhood and youth, Aunt Myrtle encouraged me to develop every aspect of my potential, without regard for what was considered practical or possible for black females. I liked to sing; she listened to my voice and pronounced it good. I couldn’t dance; she taught me the basic dancing steps. She took me to the theatre—not just children’s theatre but adult comedies and dramas—and her faith that I could appreciate adult plays was not disappointed.
My aunt also took down books from her extensive library and shared them with me. I had books at home, but they were all serious classics. Even as a child I had a strong liking for humour, all I’ll never forget the joy of discovering Don Marquis’s Archy & Mehitabel through her.
Most important, perhaps, Aunt Myrtle provided my first opportunity to write for publication. A writer herself for one of the black newspapers, she suggested my name to the editor as a “youth columnist”. My column, begun when I was fourteen, was supposed to cover teenage social activities—and it did—but it also gave me the freedom to write on many other subjects as well as the habit of gathering material, the discipline of meeting deadlines, and, after graduation from college six years later, a solid collection of published material that carried my name and was my passport to a series of writing jobs.
Today Aunt Myrtle is still an enthusiastic supporter of her “favourite niece”. Like a diamond, she has reflected a bright, multifaceted (多面的) image of possibilities to every pupil who has crossed her path.
1. Which of the following did Aunt Myrtle do to the author during her childhood and youth?
A. She lent her some serious classics.
B. She cultivated her taste for music.
C. She discovered her talent for dancing.
D. She introduced her to adult plays.
2. What does Archy & Mehitabel in Paragraph 3 probably refer to?
A. A book of great fun. B. A writer of high fame.
C. A serious masterpiece. D. A heartbreaking play.
3. Aunt Myrtle recommended the author to a newspaper editor mainly to .
A. develop her capabilities for writing
B. give her a chance to collect material
C. involve her in teenage social activities
D. offer her a series of writing jobs
4. We can conclude from the passage that Aunt Myrtle was a teacher who .
A. trained pupils to be diligent and well-disciplined
B. gave pupils confidence in exploiting their potential
C. emphasized what was practical or possible for pupils
D. helped pupils overcome difficulties in learning
【参考答案】1--4 、DAAB