阅读理解Irina，now 46，never imagined she’d one day make a living as a balloon artist.The daughter of an engineer and a teacher，she won top academic awards in high school，went on to medical school and became an emergency room physician in a small city.
“I loved the science of medicine，” she says today，“but being a doctor was very hard.I saw things people don’t normally see—women giving birth in the street，people getting drunk and killing someone.” Medications were scarce，making it very difficult to treat those in need.When Irina was 33，a girlfriend showed her a magazine photo of an American named Wes Patterson.They began exchanging letters，and married that December.Irina took a public relations job.Then，a few years ago，she watched a man at a party twist a skinny balloon into the shape of a dog.Kismet!
Irina soon purchased a tiny pump and a supply of balloons and began practicing on the sidewalks.Observers challenged her to create all kinds of figures.Now，Irina says，“There’s nothing I can’t make.”
Many years ago，Irina’s husband developed a serious disease which now keeps him homebound.“But he is a very wonderful man，” Irina says.Thanks to her new career，she is able to support them both，performing about five events weekly and earning as much as
$2,000 per appearance.
“Irina’s a wonder，” says Marlene Berg，chief development officer for the Florida Heart Research Institute.“She turned the evening into magic.” “My whole life has become magic，” Irina says，“and it’s all come from a balloon.”
1．What’s Irina’s job now?
A．An emergency room physician. B．A researcher.
C．A public relations worker.D．An artist.
解析： 根据文章第一段第一句“Irina，now 46，never imagined she’d one day make a living as a balloon artist”可知，Irina目前的工作是“气球艺术家”。
答案： D
2．We can conclude from the underlined word “kismet” that________.
A．Irina was lucky enough to meet the man
B．The party was organized well by the man
C．Kismet was the name of the man’s dog
D．The shape of a dog is easy to make into
解析： 上一句提到Irina曾经从事过公共关系工作，碰到这位气球艺人是她的人生转折点，从此她声名鹊起，从而可以推断，画线词是说她很幸运。
答案： A
3．Which of the following statements about Irina is NOT true?
A．Her father and mother both received good education.
B．She studied very well when she was in high school.
C．Her husband gave up his job in order to support her.
D．She’s been busy and popular among people around.
解析： 文中只提到她的丈夫因患重病而不得不呆在家里，未提到他是为了支持妻子而放弃工作。根据第一段第二句可判断A、B两项正确；根据倒数第二段末句可知她每周大约要演出5次，因此会很忙碌，再结合最后一段的内容可知她很受欢迎，所以D项也是正确的。
答案： C
4．All the following words below can be used to describe Irina except________.
A．Proud
B．Hardworking
C．Honest
D．Clever
解析： 根据第三段末句可判断她很“自豪”，根据第一句可知她很“刻苦”；她现在几乎可以用气球做成各种形状的东西，由此可推断她很“聪明”。
答案： C
5．The main purpose of this passage is________.
A．to introduce Irina and her wonderful work
B．to encourage people to work at the balloon
C．to tell readers to change their jobs if necessary
D．to remind us of the importance of medicine
解析： 通读全文可知，本文主要介绍了Irina及她的出色的工作。
答案： A资阳市模拟
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。SmartWR PENS is your No. 1 source for promotional pens, advertising pens, and logo (商标) pens. We have been in business since 1976, so you can be confident that you’re dealing with a trusted name in the industry.
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39. What do we know about SmartWR PENS?
A. It has a history of over 30 years.
B. It has built up a large pen market.
C. It has its name printed on each pen.
D. It charges a low price for extra service.
40. What is mainly discussed in Paragraph 3?
A. The different types of the products.
B. The high quality of the products.
C. The quick service of SmartWR PENS.
D. The trade shows of SmartWR PENS.
41. What can we learn about SmartWR PENS from Paragraph 4?
A. They are designed in 16 styles.
B. They come in 48 different colours.
C. Their material is less harmful to the earth.
D. Their price is much lower in the pen market.
42. The main purpose of the passage is to ______.
A. persuade people to order the products
B. explain the process of making logo pens
C. show people how to choose different pens
D. introduce the different services of SmartWR PENS
【参考答案】39—40、AC 41—42、CA
【四川省资阳市模拟
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。Dear David,
I’m glad you would like to share your feelings with me. It’s hardly surprising that your feelings of not being “grown up” have come on strongly at this point in your life, just before you’re about to become a father. You are asking: will I make a good father? How will I cope? Should I have brought another little person into the world? Can I provide for it? Heeelp! I think nearly every sensitive about-to-be-parent must have these occasional feelings of self-doubt and inadequacy (不适 before the birth and it would be most unusual if you didn’t share them.
It’s difficult, honestly, to feel grown-up unless you have something less grown-up to relate to. A hen-pecked (惧内的) boss may feel like a seven-year-old when he’s at home. But as he walks through the office door, and knows he’s going to be surrounded by staff looking to him for advice, he grows into a fully mature man. And I think it’s a mistake to imagine that we all feel, as we age, a kind of progression of states, from the baby to the adult. Most people feel, on Tuesday, about three years old, and on a Wednesday, around 80. I remember feeling very grown-up at eight, a time when I was weighed down with responsibility. These days, much older, I can, in the company of people I feel at ease with, feel like a young girl.
There’s a common remark that “all men are little boys”, but it’s not true. It’s more true that men often behave like little boys. But nearly all people, at some moments in their lives, are capable of great maturity.
Once your baby arrives, you’ll soon feel less childlike, or rather, less often. When your child tries to put its fingers into the electric plug, the adult in you will rise up to prevent it. You’ll see you have very little in common with a needy child, particularly if it’s looking to you for comfort and support.
Comfort yourself, David, with two truths. One is that your friends laugh when they talk about this subject because they, like you, feel frightened. And remember that people who haven’t grown up don’t go around talking about the fact that they don’t feel grown-up.
Hope my advice will be helpful and good luck to you and your little one.
Sincerely Yours,
Miss Advice
43. According to the passage, Miss Advice thinks David’s self-doubt ______.
A. valuable
B. natural
C. unusual
D. bearable
44. From Paragraph 2, we can learn that people’s sense of maturity ______.
A. will increase with age
B. is obviously seen at home
C. changes with different situations
D. becomes stronger with familiar people
45. Miss Advice holds that ______.
A. all men behave like little boys
B. people tend to laugh at the subject
C. men with a baby feel more grown-up
D. people enjoy talking about their immaturity
46. Miss Advice wrote the letter to ______.
A. teach people how to grow up
B. offer suggestions to a future father
C. encourage people to be responsible
D. solve problems of the less grown-up
【参考答案】43—45、BCC
46、B
阅读理解。
Almost every machine with moving parts has wheels, yet no one knows exactly when the first wheel was invented or what it was used for.We do know，however，that they existed over 5，500 years ago in ancient Asia.
The oldest known transport wheel was discovered in 2002 in Slovenia.It is over 5，100 years old.Evidence suggests that wheels for transport didn't become popular for a while, though.This could be because animals did a perfectly good job of carrying farming tools and humans around.
But it could also be because of a difficult situation.While wheels need to roll on smooth surfaces, roads with smooth surfaces weren't going to be constructed until there was plenty of demand for them.Eventually，road surfaces did become smoother, but this difficult situation appeared again a few centuries later.There had been no important changes in wheel and vehicle design before the arrival of modern road design.
In the mid－1700s，a Frenchman came up with a new design of road—a base layer (层)of large stones covered with
a thin layer of smaller stones.A Scotsman improved on this design in the 1820s and a strong，lasting road surface became a reality.At around the same time，metal hubs(the central part of a wheel) came into being，followed by the pneumatic tyre(充气轮胎) in 1846. Alloy wheels were invented in 1967, sixty years after the appearance of tarmacked roads(柏油路)．As wheel design took off, vehicles got faster and faster.
64．What might explain why transport wheels didn't become popular for some time?
A．Few knew how to use transport wheels.
B．Humans carried farming tools just as well.
C．Animals were a good means of transport.
D．The existence of transport wheels was not known.
65．What do we know about road design from the passage?
A．It was easier than wheel design.
B．It improved after big changes in vehicle design.
C．It was promoted by fast－moving vehicles.
D．It provided conditions for wheel design to develop.
66．How is the last paragraph mainly developed?
A．By giving examples.
B．By making comparisons.
C．By following time order.
D．By making classifications.
67．What is the passage mainly about?
A．The beginning of road design.
B．The development of transport wheels.
C．The history of public transport.
D．The invention of fast－moving vehicles.
【要点综述】 本文介绍轮子的演进历史。
64．C 细节理解题。第二段最后一句说明wheels长期未能流行的缘由：动物长期以来充当交通工具。
65．D 推理判断题。短文最后一段说明路况的改良促进了车轮业的巨大发展。
66．C 篇章结构题。该段看似举例，但这些例子均是按时间由远及近而叙述的。
67．B 主旨大意题。该文主要介绍wheels由一般的发明物到广泛运用于交通的历史演进过程。
C6 [2017·重庆卷] ----D
Not all bodies of water are so evidently alive as the Atlantic Ocean, an S－shaped body of water covering 33 million square miles.The Atlantic has, in a sense, replaced the Mediterranean as the inland sea of Western civilization.Unlike real inland seas, which seem strangely still, the Atlantic is rich in oceanic liveliness.It is perhaps not surprising that its vitality has been much written about by ancient poets.
“Storm at Sea”， a short poem written around 700, is generally regarded as one of mankind's earliest artistic representations of the Atlantic.
When the wind is from the west
All the waves that cannot rest
To the east must thunder on
Where the bright tree of the sun
Is rooted in the ocean's breast.
As the poem suggests, the Atlantic is never dead and dull.It is an ocean that moves, impressively and endlessly.It makes all kinds of noise—it is forever thundering，boiling, crashing，and whistling.
It is easy to imagine the Atlantic trying to draw breath—perhaps not so noticeably out in mid－ocean，but where it meets land, its waters bathing up and down a sandy beach.It mimics(模仿)nearly perfectly the steady breathing of a living creature.It is filled with symbiotic existences，too; unimaginable quantities of creatures，little and large alike，mix within its depths in a kind of oceanic harmony, giving to the waters a feeling of heartbeat, a kind of sub－ocean vitality.And it has a psychology.It has personalities: sometimes peaceful and pleasant, on rare occasions rough and wild; always it is strong and striking.
68．Unlike real inland seas, the Atlantic Ocean is ________．
A．always energetic
B．lacking in liveliness
C．shaped like a square
D．favored by ancient poets
69．What is the purpose of using the poem “Storm at Sea” in the passage?
A．To describe the movement of the waves.
B．To show the strength of the storm.
C．To represent the power of the ocean.
D．To prove the vastness of the sea.
70．What does the underlined word “symbiotic” mean?
A．Living together.
B．Growing fast.
C．Moving harmoniously.
D．Breathing peacefully.
71．In the last paragraph, the Atlantic is compared to ________．
A．a beautiful and poetic place
B．a flesh and blood person
C．a wonderful world
D．a lovely animal
【要点综述】 该文既是对地理知识的陈列，也是对文学作品的铺陈。大西洋的壮美和静态的内海迥然不同，大西洋好比是一个富有生命力且有血有肉的人。
68．A 细节理解和逻辑推理题。inland seas比较平静，而大西洋充满生命律动的浩瀚与同为西方文化摇篮的地中海形成鲜明的对比。
69．C 写作方法题。该诗句描写大西洋的壮美：当西风信然而至时，大西洋的波浪开始涌动，以雷霆万钧之势，凸显大西洋的磅礴气势。
70．A 词义推断题。作者先把大西洋比作生命的律动，然后又把她的其他禀赋铺陈于后，因此该词此处应该指“共生共存”。
71．B 写作方法题。该文通过诗词和拟人化的描写把大西洋比作有血有肉的人。