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13

　　倒数第八周星期

　　A

　　Short and shy, Ben Saunders was the last kid in his class picked for any sports team. “Football, tennis Cricket—anything with a round ball, I was useless,” he says now with a laugh. But back then he was the object of jokes in school gym classes in England’s rural Devonshire.

　　It was a mountain bike he received for his 15th birthday that changed him. At first the teen went biking alone in a nearby forest. Then he began to cycle along with a runner friend. Gradually, Saunders set his mind building up his body, increasing his speed, strength and endurance. At age 18, he ran his first marathon.

　　The following year, he met John Ridgway, who became famous in the 1960s for rowing an open boat across the Atlantic Ocean. Saunders was hired as an instructor at Ridgway’s school of Adventure in Scotland, where he learned about the older man’s cold-water exploits(成就).Intrigued, Saunders read all he could about Arctic explorers and North Pole expeditions, then decided that this would be his future.

　　Journeys to the Pole aren’t the usual holidays for British country boys, and many people dismissed his dream as fantasy. “John Ridgway was one of the few who didn’t say, ‘You are completely crazy,’” Saunders says.

　　In 2001, after becoming a skilled skier, Saunders started his first long-distance expedition toward the North Pole. He suffered frostbite, had a closer encounter(遭遇) with a polar bear and pushed his body to the limit.

　　Saunders has since become the youngest person to ski alone to the North Pole, and he’s skied more of the Arctic by himself than any other Briton. His old playmates would not believe the transformation.

　　This October, Saunders, 27, heads south to explore from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole and back, an 1800-mile journey that has never been completed on skis.

　　1. The turning point in Saunders’life came when _____

　　A. he started to play ball games

　　B. he got a mountain bike at age 15

　　C. he ran his first marathon at age 18

　　D. he started to receive Ridgway’s training

　　2. We can learn from the text that Ridgway _______.

　　A. dismissed Saunders’ dream as fantasy

　　B. built up his body together with Saunders

　　C. hired Saunders for his cold-water experience

　　D. won his fame for his voyage across the Atlantic

　　3. What do we know about Saunders?

　　A. He once worked at a school in Scotland.

　　B. He followed Ridgway to explore the North Pole.

　　C. He was chosen for the school sports team as a kid.

　　D. He was the first Briton to ski alone to the North Pole.

　　4. The underlined word “Intrigued” in the third paragraph probably means_____.

　　A. Excited

　　B. Convinced

　　C. Delighted

　　D. Fascinated

　　5. It can be inferred that Saunders’ journey to the North Pole ______.

　　A. was accompanied by his old playmates

　　B. set a record in the North Pole expedition

　　C. was supported by other Arctic explorers

　　D. made him well-known in the 1960s

　　B

　　The “Bystander Apathy （漠不关心）Effect” was first studied by researchers in New York after neighbours ignored—and in some cases turned up the volume on their TVs—the cries of a woman as she was murdered (over a half-hour period). With regard to helping those in difficulty generally, they found that:

　　(1) women are helped more than men;

　　(2) men help more than women;

　　(3) attractive women are helped more than unattractive women.

　　Other factors relate to the number of people in the area, whether the person is thought to be in trouble through their own fault, and whether a person sees himself as being able to help.

　　According to Adrian Furnham, Professor of University College, London, there are three reasons why we tend to stand by doing nothing:

　　(1) “Shifting of responsibility”一the more people there are, the less likely help is to be given. Each person excuses himself by thinking someone else will help, so that the more “other people’ there are, the greater the total shifting of responsibility.

　　(2) “'Fear of making a mistake'’一situations are often not clear. People think that those involved in an accident may know each other or it may be a joke, so a fear of embarrassment makes them keep themselves to themselves.

　　(3) “Fear of the consequences if attention is turned on you and the person is violent.”

　　Laurie Taylor, Professor of Sociology at London University, says: “In the experiments I’ve seen on intervention(介入), much depends on the neighborhood or setting. There is a silence on public transport which is hard to break. We are embarrassed to draw attention to something that is happening, while in a football match, people get involved, and a fight would easily follow. ”

　　Psychotherapist Alan Dupuy identifies the importance of the individual: “The British as a whole have some difficulty intervening, but there are exceptional individuals in every group who are prepared to intervene, regardless of their own safety: These would be people with a strong moral code or religious ideals.”

　　6. Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?

　　A. Pretty women are more likely to be helped.

　　B. People on a bus are more likely to stop a crime.

　　C. Religious people are more likely to look on.

　　D. Criminals are more likely to harm women.

　　7. Which factor is NOT related with intervention according to the passage?

　　A. Sex.

　　B. Nationality.

　　C. Profession.

　　D. Setting.

　　8. Which phenomenon can be described as the “Bystander Apathy Effect”?

　　A. When one is in trouble, people think it’s his own fault.

　　B. In a football match, people get involved in a fight.

　　C. Seeing a murder, people feel sorry that it should have happened.

　　D. On hearing a cry for help, people keep themselves to themselves.

　　9. The author wrote this article ______.

　　A. to explain why bystanders behave as they do

　　B. to urge people to stand out when in need

　　C. to criticize the selfishness of bystanders

　　D. to analyze the weakness of human nature

　　C

　　10. This passage is mostly about _______.

　　A. what nonverbal communication is

　　B. human conversation

　　C. the life of Edward T. Hall

　　D. human behavioral use of space

　　11. Edward T. Hall identified ________.

　　A. interactions between strangers

　　B. angry people

　　C. four zones of personal space

　　D. the Industrial Revolution

　　12. If you and a close friend began talking when you were eight feet apart, you would probably soon ______.

　　A. move closer together

　　B. move farther apart

　　C. begin talking more softly

　　D. ask another friend to join the conversation

　　13. The third paragraph provides ________.

　　A. a historical perspective on personal space

　　B. an economic reason for person space

　　C. an overview of Edward T. Hall’s field of study

　　D. a definition of personal space

　　14. The word dynamics means ______.

　　A. difficulties

　　B. forces or influences that cause change

　　C. largeness

　　D. explosions so large that they are beyond belief

　　D

　　I tried not to be biased, but I had my doubts about hiring Stevie. His social worker assured me that he would be a good, reliable busboy. But I had never had a mentally handicapped employee. He was short, a little fat with the smooth facial features and thick-tongued speech of Down’s Syndrome(唐氏综合症). I thought most of my customers would be uncomfortable around Stevie so I closely watched him for the first few weeks.

　　I shouldn't have worried. After the first week, Stevie had my staff wrapped around his fat little finger, and within a month my regular truck customers had adopted him as their official truck stop mascot(吉祥物). After that, I really didn't care what the rest of the customers thought of him. He was like a 21-year-old in blue jeans and Nikes, eager to laugh and eager to please, but fierce in his attention to his duties. Every salt and pepper shaker was exactly in its place, not a coffee spill was visible when Stevie got done with the table. Our only problem was persuading him to wait to clean a table until after the customers were finished.

　　Over time, we learned that he lived with his mother, a widow who was disabled after repeated surgeries for cancer. Money was tight, and what I paid him was probably the difference between them being able to live together and Stevie being sent to a group home.

　　That's why the restaurant was a gloomy place that morning last August, the first morning in three years that Stevie missed work. He was at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester getting a heart surgery. His social worker said that people with Down’s Syndrome often have heart problems at an early age so this wasn't unexpected, and there was a good chance he would come through the surgery in good shape and be back at work in a few months.

　　A ripple of excitement ran through the staff later that morning when word came that he was out of surgery, in recovery, and doing fine. Frannie, the head waitress, did a little dance when she heard the good news. Belle Ringer, one of our regular trucker customers, stared at her and asked, "OK, Frannie, what was that all about?"

　　"We just got word that Stevie is out of surgery and going to be okay."

　　"I was wondering where he was. I had a new joke to tell him. What was the surgery about?"

　　Frannie quickly told Belle Ringer and the other two drivers about Stevie's surgery, then sighed: "Yeah, I'm glad he is going to be OK," she said. "But I don't know how he and his Mom are going to handle all the bills. From what I hear, they're barely getting by as it is." Belle Ringer nodded thoughtfully, and Frannie hurried off to wait on the rest of her tables.

　　After the morning rush, Frannie walked into my office. She had a couple of paper napkins in her hand and a funny look on her face.

　　"What's up?" I asked.

　　"I cleared off that table where Belle Ringer and his friends were sitting after they left, and I found this was folded and put under a coffee cup."

　　She handed the napkin to me, and three $20 bills fell onto my desk when I opened it. On the outside, in big, bold letters, was printed "Something For Stevie".

　　That was three months ago. Today is Thanksgiving, the first day Stevie is supposed to be back to work. His social worker said he had been counting the days until the doctor said he could work. I arranged to have his mother bring him to work, met them in the parking lot and invited them both to celebrate his day back.

　　I led them toward a large corner booth. I could feel and hear the rest of the staff following behind as we marched through the dining room. We stopped in front of the big table. Its surface was covered with coffee cups, and dinner plates, all sitting slightly bent on dozens of folded paper napkins.

　　"First thing you have to do, Stevie, is clean up this mess," I said.

　　Stevie looked at me, and then at his mother, then pulled out one of the napkins. It had "Something for Stevie" printed on the outside. As he picked it up, two $10 bills fell onto the table. Stevie stared at the money, then at all the napkins peeking from beneath the tableware, each with his name printed on it.

　　I turned to his mother. "There's more than $10,000 in cash and checks on that table, all from truckers and trucking companies that heard about your problems. "Happy Thanksgiving !"

　　Well, it got really noisy about that time, with everybody hollering and shouting, and there were a few tears, as well. But you know what's funny?

　　While everybody else was busy shaking hands and hugging each other, Stevie, with a big, big smile on his face, was busy clearing all the cups and dishes from the table.

　　15. Why did the author have doubts about hiring Stevie?

　　A. Stevie was not that reliable.

　　B. Stevie was mentally disabled.

　　C. Stevie was too short and fat.

　　D. Stevie was bad-tempered.

　　16. According to the story, which of the following sentences is true?

　　A. Stevie made customers uncomfortable.

　　B. Stevie couldn’t fix his attention on his work.

　　C. Stevie often spilled coffee out of cups.

　　D. Stevie usually cleaned the table too early.

　　17. By saying the underlined sentence in Para. 3, the author meant that the money she paid Stevie ________.

　　A. could help Stevie out of the money trouble.

　　B. couldn’t thoroughly solve Stevie’s problem.

　　C. could make a great difference to Stevie’s life.

　　D. couldn’t send Stevie to a group home.

　　18. Why did Frannie sigh after she got word that Stevie would be OK ?

　　A. She was worried that the owner would fire Stevie.

　　B. She was worried about Stevie’s health.

　　C. She was worried about Stevie’s finance problem.

　　D. She was worried that no one would help Stevie.

　　19. Why did the author ask Stevie to clean up the mess on the table after he returned?

　　A. It was Stevie’s duty to clean the table.

　　B. The table was so dirty that it needed cleaning.

　　C. Stevie would find the money that was given to him.

　　D. She wanted to congratulate Stevie on his coming back.

　　20. Stevie was popular among the staff and customers in the restaurant because of ______.

　　A. his special appearance.

　　B. his hard work and optimism.

　　C. his funny speeches and actions.

　　D. his kind-hearted behaviours.

　　参考答案

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　　11-20CAABBDBCCB