山西省2017高考英语二轮复习专题训练：阅读理解（37）
阅读下面短文，从短文后所给各题的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项。
A
Singing are the pupils of the remote Beau-Roc primary school in Haiti. One of them plays a guitar made from an empty oil tin. Their headmistress, Emile Jean-Noel, is one of the few women school principals in the country.
Over 70 % of Haitian population live below the poverty line with inadequate food, water, schools, or housing. To reduce the hunger that prevents learning and to encourage parents to send their children to school, meals are provided by the World Food Programme.
“We are so cut off we have many difficulties,” comments Emile, adding that finding chalk, school books and other materials is practically impossible. Emile tries to encourage those around her to make use of all available resources. Her efforts are bearing fruit. One of her successes was convincing local women to contribute to their children’s schooling and increase their own income by selling embroidery(刺绣) and other handicrafts.
Recent political instability has meant that the country has not invested in education for ten years. Enrolment(入学) is a mere 44 per cent and a little less than a half of those entering primary school finish it. Less than a third of these go on to secondary school. In rural areas it is not rare to find 17- and 18 year-olds in primary school. Beau-Roc has only 4 teachers for 260 pupils. Emile works constantly to improve her pupils’ environment. Under her direction, a local worker is now constructing a storehouse for the food delivered regularly by the World Food Programme.
Not only is Emile’s salary too little, but she receives it irregularly. For her, transport is a real headache. She lives five kilometers away and has to take a privately-owned bus, costing more than she can afford.
“The decision to be a rural teacher in Haiti should not be taken lightly”, Emile comments. “With all the sacrifices and risks it requires, only those who are really cut out for teaching should do it.” Nevertheless, Emile loves her job. “I always feel at home with the children and, the parents understand what I’m doing.”
1. What theme is presented in this passage?
A. Devotion to education.
B. Poverty and hardship.
C. Politics and children
D. Love and beauty
2. Which of the following is extremely difficult for Beau-Roc primary school?
A. Teaching the women how to make embroidery and other handicrafts.
B. Persuading local women to care about their children’s education.
C. Encouraging those around her to use those available resources.
D. Finding chalk, school books and other materials.
3.
In the last paragraph, “those who are really cut out for teaching” are those who are ________.
A. dismissed from teaching
B. unfamiliar with teaching
C. qualified for teaching
D. cautious about teaching
B
Labor force is defined as being the total number of people who are available to work and earn income. This definition includes everyone who is employed or seeking paid employment, so it includes employers and the self-employed. Labor is one of the country's resources which can be combined with other resources to produce the goods and services wanted by the community.
Although the size of the workforce depends a great deal on the size of the total population, there are several other influences which also affect it. The age distribution (分布) of the total population has a very marked effect on the available workforce. If the population has a high proportion of very young people or of those too old to work, then the available workforce would be lower than if there were a balanced spread age distribution. If the population naturally grows rapidly, the number of births greatly exceeds (超出) the number of deaths then as a total population increases proportion of the workforce declines.
Sometimes a population is described as aging which means that the birth rate is either falling or growing very slowly, and as people retire from the workforce there are insufficient numbers of young people entering it to replace those who are leaving it. In that situation the population is top-heavy with older people. So the percentage of the population in the workforce declines when there is either a rapid increase in births or a falling birth rate.
The age distribution of the population has several important effects on the economy. If the population is aging and there is an increase in the number of people retiring without a corresponding increase in the number entering the workforce, this raises the problem of the ability of the economy to provide a reasonable level of social services to the retired group. If the aged are to be cared for in special homes, finance must be available for that purpose. If the size of the workforce is small relative to the total population, then the government tax revenue (税收) is relatively low and either the government has less money available to it or the workforce members have to be taxed more heavily.
4．In the passage “labor force” is defined as ___________.
A．people who are available to work and earn income
B．self-employed people only
C．people who are looking for an employment
D．employers who create job opportunities
．The conclusion which can be drawn from the second paragraph is that___________.
A．a natural growth of population leads to a balanced workforce
B．a large population does not necessarily mean a higher proportion of workforce
C．the larger the population, the higher the proportion of the workforce
D．the workforce will be lower, if the population has a balanced age distribution，
．When a population is said to be aging，___________.
A．there are more people retiring than those entering the workforce
B．the birth rate must be growing
C．there should be an oversupply of workforce
D．There are more people entering the workforce than those retiring
C
(1) Mr. Brown (the motorist)
At about 9:20 p.m. on October 14th, I was driving along Market Road in the direction of Midwick. I wanted to go to Sturham to collect my wife, who had been visiting some friends. I prepared to turn into Sturham Road, which was on my right. In the distance, I saw the lights of a car moving towards me but it was along way from me. I put out my hand to show that I was going to turn right. Then I started to turn slowly towards Sturham Road. Suddenly there was a loud noise on the passenger’s (near) side of the car. I stopped the car and got out. A motorcycle had hit my car. The motorcyclist had been thrown over the car. He was injured, so I ran to a shop to phone for help.
(2)
Mt. Smith (the injured motorcyclist)
On the evening of October 14th, I was going home along Market Road towards Newtown. I was riding my motorcycle. I was going slowly because some of the streetlights were out and road was wet and slippery. Just before Sturham road, a car suddenly drove right across my path. The driver did not flash his lights to give a warning. I could not turn in time, so I hit the side of the car. When I woke up, I was lying in a hospital in Market Road.
(3) Mr. Lee (another motorcyclist)
At about 9:10 p.m. on October 14th, I left my home in Midwick. Ten minutes later I was riding my motorcycle along Market Road. I was going to Newton. There was a motorcycle about 40 meters in front of me. It was not going very quickly. The man on it was riding near the curb (路边) but I was near the center of the road. The motorcyclist in front of me tried to turn to his right but there was no time. He hit the car and was injured. There was no car going along in front of us o put by the road.
7. Which of these pictures exactly shows the scene of the accident?
X= the place where the motorcycle hit the car;
N=Newtown;M= Midwick;
S=Sturham
(Note that cars and motorcycles always keep to the left in England.)
8. Which of these statements about the accident is probably correct?
A. Mr. Brown wrongly supposed that the lights of the two motorcycles were those of a car.
B. the lights of the car moving towards Mr. Brown made him unable to see.
C. Mr. Brown knocked down a motorcyclist on purpose.
D. The accident was caused by the carelessness of the first motorcyclist.
9. It seems probable from the statements that Mr. Brown ______ .
A. gave no signal to show that he was turning right
B. did not five any signal until he was actually turning
C. failed to give a proper signal at that time
D. flashed his light to show that he was going to turn
10. We would expect to find that Mr. Brown’s car was damaged on its ______ side.
A. front
B. left
C. right
D. driver’s
D
As any homemaker who has tried to keep order at the dinner table knows, there is far more to a family meal than food. Sociologist Michael Lewis has been studying 50 families to find out just how much more.
Lewis and his co-workers carried out their study by videotaping the families while they ate ordinary meals in their own homes. They found that parents with small families talk actively with each other and their children. But as the number of children gets larger, conversation gives way to the parents’ efforts to control the loud noise they make. That can have an important effect on the children. “In general the more question-asking the parents do, the higher the children’s IQ scores,” Lewis says. “And the more children there are, the less question-asking there is.”
The study also provides an explanation for why middle children often seem to have a harder time in life than their siblings(兄弟姐妹). Lewis found that in families with three or four children, dinner conversation is likely to center on the oldest child, who has the most to talk about, and the youngest, who needs the most attention. “Middle children are invisible.” Says Lewis. “When you see someone get up from the table and walk around during dinner, chances are it’s the middle child.” There is, however, one thing that stops all conversation and prevents anyone from having attention: “When the TV is on,” Lewis says, “dinner is a non-event.”
11. The writer’s purpose in writing the text is to ______ .
A. show the relationship between parents and children
B. teach parents ways to keep order at the dinner table
C. report on the findings of a study
D. give information about family problems
12. By saying “Middle children are invisible” in paragraph 3, Lewis means that middle children ______ .
A. have to help their parents to serve dinner
B. get the least attention from the family
C. are often kept away from the dinner table
D. find it hard to keep up with other children
13. Parents with large families ask fewer questions at dinner because ______ .
A. they are busy serving food to their children
B. they are busy keeping order at the dinner table
C. they have to pay more attention to younger children
D. they are tired out having prepared food for the whole family
14. Lewis research provides an answer to the question ______ .
A. Why TV is important in family
B. why parents should keep good order
C. why children in small families seem to be quiet
D. why middle children seem to have more difficulties in life
15. Which of the following statements would the writer agree to?
A. It is important to have the right food for children.
B. It is a good idea to have the TV on during dinner.
C. Parents should talk to each of their children frequently.
D. Elder children should help the younger ones at dinner.
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