Priscilla Ouchida’s “energy-efficient” house turned out to be a horrible dream. When she and her engineer husband married a few years ago, they built a $100,000 three-bedroom home in California. Tightly sealed to prevent air leaks, the house was equipped with small double-paned (雙層玻璃的) windows and several other energy-saving features. Problems began as soon as the couple moved in, however. Priscilla’s eyes burned. Her throat was constantly dry. She suffered from headaches and could hardly sleep. It was as though she had suddenly developed a strange illness.
Experts finally traced the cause of her illness. The level of formaldehyde (甲醛) gas in her kitchen was twice the maximum allowed by federal standards for chemical workers. The source of the gas? Her new kitchen cabinets and wall-to-wall carpeting.
The Ouchidas are victims of indoor air pollution, which is net given sufficient attention partly because of the nation’s drive to save energy. The problem itself isn’t new. “The indoor environment was dirty long before energy conservation came along,” says Moschandreas a pollution scientist at Geomet Technologies in Maryland. “Energy conservation has tended to accentuate the situation in some cases.”
The problem appears to be more troublesome in newly constructed homes rather than old ones. Back in the days when energy was cheap, home builders didn’t worry much about unsealed cracks. Because of such leaks, the air in an average home was replaced by fresh outdoor air about once an hour. As a result, the pollutants produced in most households seldom build up to dangerous levels.
1. It can be learned from the passage that the Ouchidas’ house __________
A. is well worth the money spent on its construction
B. is almost faultless from the point of energy conservation
C. failed to meet energy conservation standards
D. was designed and constructed in a scientific way
2. What made the Ouchidas’ new house a horrible dream?
A. Lack of fresh air.                                  B. Poor quality of building materials.
C. Gas leak in the kitchen.                          D. The newly painted walls.
3. The underlined word “accentuate” in the third paragraph most probably means ___________.
A. control        B. worsen               C. relieve               D. improve
4. This passage is most probably taken from an article entitled “_________”.
A. Energy Conservation                             B. Houses Building Crisis
C. Air Pollution Indoors                             D. Traps in Building Construction

小題1:B
小題2:A
小題3:B
小題4:C
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科目:高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源:不詳 題型:閱讀理解


Space is a dangerous place, not only because of meteors (流星 ) but also because of rays from the sun and other stars. The atmosphere again acts as our protective blanket on earth. Light gets through, and this is essential for plants to make the food which we eat. Heat, too, makes our environment endurable(可忍受的). Various kinds of rays come through the air from outer space, but enormous quantities of radiation(輻射) from the sun are screened off. As soon as men leave the atmosphere they are exposed to this radiation but their spacesuits or the walls of their spacecraft, if they are inside, do prevent a lot of radiation damage.
Radiation is the greatest known danger to explorers in space. The unit of radiation is called "rem". Scientists have reason to think that a man can put up with far more radiation than 0.1 rem without being damaged; the figure of 60 rems has been agreed on. The trouble is that it is extremely difficult to be sure about radiation damage - a person may feel perfectly well, but the cells of his or her sex organs may be damaged, and this will no be discovered until the birth of abnormal children or even grandchildren.
Missions of the Apollo flights have had to cross belts of high amount of rems. So far, no dangerous amounts of radiation have been reported, but the Apollo missions have been quite short. We simply do not know yet how men are going to get on when they spend weeks and months outside the protection of the atmosphere, working in a space laboratory. Drugs might help to decrease the damage done by radiation, but no really effective ones have been found so far.
1. According to the first paragraph, the atmosphere is essential to man in that ____.
A. it protects him against the harmful rays from space
B. it provides sufficient light for plant growth
C. it supplies the heat necessary for human survival
D. it screens off the falling meteors
2. We know from the passage that ____.
A. exposure to even tiny amounts of radiation is deadly
B. the effect of exposure to radiation is slow in coming
C. radiation is avoidable in space exploration
D. astronauts in spacesuits needn't worry about radiation damage
3. The harm radiation has done to the Apollo crew members ____
A. is significant            B. seems overestimated
C. is enormous             D. remains unknown
4. It can be inferred from the passage that ____.
A. the Apollo mission was very successful
B. protection from space radiation is no easy job
C. astronauts will have deformed children or grandchildren
D. radiation is not a threat to well-protected space explorers
45. The best title for this passage would be ____.
A. The Atmosphere and Our Environment   B. Research on Radiation
C. Effects of Space Radiation             D. Importance of Protection Against Radiation

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科目:高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源:不詳 題型:閱讀理解

The huge explosion at Krakatau was the result of two different factors. One was that the volcano had not broken out for some time and so at the very center of the volcano there was an huge plug of lava, this acted like a cork(塞子) in a bottle, stopping the pressure below from being released(釋放). The second factor was that ocean water entered the very centre of the volcano as the explosions became more violent. This caused superheated steam to build up enormous pressure and this was finally released in the largest explosion of all on August 27, 1883. The sudden release of the pressure sent huge amounts of ash, rock and dust into the sky. Some of the ash rose 80km into the air and traveled around the Earth causing brightly coloured sunsets for several years.
Krakatau almost disappeared; for many years after this explosion, it remained very quiet. However, there was still activity going on under the sea and on 25 January, 1925, a small volcanic cone appeared above the surface of the water. This new volcano was named Anak Kmkatau, or Child of Krakatau. Over the following years, the size of the island grew larger, by 1959, the island was 300 metres above the surface of the sea. The volcanic activity has continued and the latest eruptions were in 1995.
There is no doubt Krakatar will continue to grow and there is also strong evidence that at some point in the future there will be another violent explosion. Krakatau is in a part of the world where the surface of the Earth is unstable and is always moving and cracking. If, in the future, another “cork” becomes fixed in the centre of the volcano, the pressure will build up. A series of a smaller explosions will allow sea-water into the centre of the volcano and once again the result will a terribly destructive explosion.
66. The latest eruptions were in_______.
A.1925           B. 1959           C. 1995          D. 1983
67. The pressure under the volcano can not be released because _______
the plug looks like a cork in a bottle
the volcano hasn’t broken out for some time
the center of the volcano is blocked(堵塞) by lava
the temperature of the steam is not high enough.
68. We can infer from the article that Krakatau volcano________
A. has broken out three times               B. never dies but continues to be active
C. will kill many people again in the future    D. is always moving and growing above sea.
69. All of the following results are caused by the explosion at Krakatau EXCEPT that_____
A. ash, rock and dust was thrown high into the air
B. others small volcanoes were soon produced.
C. The island of Kratau was destroyed
D. People saw beautiful sunsets for some years
70. The article is mainly about________
A. the cause of the Krakatau volcano      B. the danger of the Krakatau volcano
C. the history of the Krakatau volcano     D. the future of the Krakatau volcano

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科目:高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源:不詳 題型:閱讀理解


第二部分:閱讀理解(共20小題;每小題2.5分,滿分50分)
閱讀下列短文,從每題所給的A、B、C、D四個(gè)選項(xiàng)中,選出最佳選項(xiàng)。
Proper arrangement of classroom space is important to encouraging interaction. Most of us have noticed how important physical setting is to efficiency and comfort in our work. College classroom space should be designed to encourage the activity of critical thinking.
We have entered the 21st century, but step into almost any college classroom and you step back in time at least a hundred years. Desks are normally in straight rows, so students can clearly see the teacher but not all their classmates. The message behind such an arrangement is obvious. Everything of importance comes from the teacher.
With a little imagination and effort, unless desks are fixed to the floor, the teacher can correct this situation and create space that encourage interchange among students. In small or standard-size classes, chairs, desks, and tables can be arranged in a variety of ways. The primary goal should be for everyone to be able to see everyone else. Large classes, particularly those held in lecture halls, unfortunately, allow much less flexibility.
Arrangement of the classroom should also make it easy to divide students into small groups for discussion or problem-solving exercises. Small classes with movable desks and tables present no problem. Even in large lecture halls, it is possible for students to turn around and form groups of four to six. Breaking a class into small groups provides more opportunities for students to interact with each other, think out loud, and see how other students’ thinking processes operate all essential elements in developing new modes of critical thinking.
In courses that regularly use a small group format, students might be asked to stay in the same small groups throughout the course. A colleague of mine, John, allows students to move around during the first two weeks, until they find a group they are comfortable with. John then asks them to stay in the same seat, with the same group, from that time on. This not only creates a comfortable setting for interaction but helps him learn students’ names and faces.
1. The primary purpose of desk rearrangement is _______.
A. for the teacher to divide students into small groups.
B. to make it possible for students to interact with each other.
C. for the teacher to find out how students think.
D. to give students more opportunities to practice speaking.
2. The expression “step back in time at least a hundred years” in Paragraph 2 is intended to convey the idea that _______.
A. there is not much change in educational idea over the past hundred years
B. critical thinking was encouraged even a century ago
C. college classrooms often remind people of their college life
D. a hundred years ago, desk arrangement in a classroom was quite different
3. The greatest advantage in allowing each student to find his own group might be that________
A. learning is made comfortable in this way
B. the teacher can easily remember students’ names and faces
C. the teacher saves the trouble in doing that
D. brighter students can help slower ones.
4. It is implied in the passage that ______.
A. students are allowed to changed groups throughout the course in John’s class
B. classroom interaction between students is essential to the teachers
C. a comfortable environment leads to higher working efficiency
D. new kinds of desks and chairs should be made
5. The author mentioned John in the last paragraph in order to ________
A. create a comfortable setting for interaction
B. introduce an approach of learning students’ names and faces easily
C. give an example that students stay in the same seat throughout the course.
D. describe a good seat-arrangement mode in courses with small group format.

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科目:高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源:不詳 題型:閱讀理解

The Red Panda isn’t much bigger than an average size house cat. At first you may think it’s a bear because of its name. They’re actually a member of the raccoon(浣熊) family which you can tell if you look at their appearance. The Red Panda has a long bushy tail that is useful in two ways. It helps them stay balanced when they are high up in the trees and it keeps them warm in cold weather. Their fur is thick and reddish brown, which may be why they’re known as the fire fox.
The Red Panda can be found in forested mountains. They’re originally from the forested mountain in the Himalayas in India, Nepal and Southern China. Bamboo is the most important part of their diet. They only eat the young leaves and shoots (嫩芽) of a bamboo plant. Red Pandas have a very low metabolic(新陳代謝的) rate in order to deal with their low energy diet and cool environmental temperatures.
They’re very shy and gentle and don’t hang around the wild too much during the day. If they feel endangered, they’ll stand on their back legs and make a hissing(嘶嘶) sound. Red Pandas are good climbers and spend most of their time living mainly in trees. Their claws are very strong and help them hold onto the branches. They sleep in an unusual way by curling up tightly and wrapping their tails around their heads while sitting on a branch. Sometimes they’ll sleep with their head beneath their chest and behind their back feet. This is the same position as an American raccoon sleeps.
小題1:You can tell that the Red Panda is a member of the raccoon family from ____.
A.its nameB.its appearanceC.its dietD.its living place
小題2:Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A.The Red Panda can only be found in India, Nepal and Southern China.
B.The Red Panda’s tail can help it stay balanced when it is high up in the trees.
C.The Red Panda eats the whole of the bamboo.
D.The Red Panda has high metabolic rate when the temperature is low.
小題3:What will Red Pandas do when they are in trouble?
A.They will hang around the wild during the day.
B.They will climb into the trees.
C.They will wrap their tails around their heads.
D.They will stand on their back legs and make a hissing sound.
小題4:The Red Panda holds onto the branches with its ____.
A.tailB.furC.back legsD.claws

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科目:高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源:不詳 題型:閱讀理解

Education is required and free for every child in the United States. Most children start school by the age of six. They attend eight years of elementary school and four years of high school (or secondary school ).The money for free public schools comes from taxes, and each state is responsible for its own educational system .State legislatures (立法機(jī)關(guān)) set the educational requirements but leave the management of the schools in the hands of the local communities .Most states require their children to go to school until a certain age. This age varies from 16 to 18 years according to the laws of the individual state. The Federal government contributes funds to the states for additional schools and schools services.
After graduation from high school, a student can start his higher education in two –year college, a four-year college, a university or a specialized professional school----either public or private. Most colleges admit students on the basis of their high-school records. The cost of a college education is expensive in private universities, but it is much less in those supported by states and cities. Many students receive scholarships from the schools, the government, or private foundations and organizations. More than 50 percent of the college students work to help pay their college expenses.
Only 2 percent of the population of the country cannot read and write.
56、Where does the money for public schools come from ?
A. From the Federal government.       B. From the state legislatures.
C. From taxes.                      D. From the parents of the school children.
57、What is the educational system in the United States based on ?
A.  The Federal government                   B. Individual school
C.  Individual state                           D. Local communities
58、What percentage of the population is illiterate (文盲?
A. 50                B. 2               C. 4                    D. 6
59、How are college expenses of most students paid ?
A.      They won earnings from part-time work .
B.      Scholarship from the schools, the government or private foundations.
C.      Taxes .
D.  Both A and B.

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科目:高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源:不詳 題型:閱讀理解


第三部分:閱讀理解(共20小題;每小題2分,滿分40分)
Machines in the home have a short history. Sewing machines, washing machines and tumble dries are common enough today, but a hundred years ago few people could even imagine such things. However, inventors have designed and built a wide range of household machines since then. In most cases the inventor tried to patent(申請(qǐng)專(zhuān)利)his machine, to stop anyone copying it. Then he tried to produce a lot of them. If the machine became popular, the inventor could make a lot of money.
In 1790 the first sewing machine was patented. The inventor was an Englishman called Thomas Saint. There was nothing to match his machine for forty years, and then someone built a similar device. He was a Frenchman, Bartelemy Thimonier. Neither of these early machines worked very well, however, it wasn’t until 1846 that an inventor came up with a really efficient sewing machine. He was an American, Elias Howe and his machine was good enough to beat five skilled sewing women. He didn’t make much money from it, however. The first commercially successful sewing machine was patented by Isaac Singer five years later.
Today, we take washing machines for granted, but there was none before 1869. The revolving drum(旋轉(zhuǎn)桶)of that first machine set a pattern for the future, but it was crude by today’s standards. The drum was turned by hand, and needed a lot of effort. Eight years passed before someone produced an electric washing machine. The world had to wait even longer for a machine to dry clothes. The first spin-drier was another American invention, patented in 1924; but it was 20 years before such machines were widely used.
It was yet another American, called Bissell, who introduced the carpet sweeper. He patented the original machine back in 1876. It didn’t pick up dirt very well, but it was quicker than a dustpan and brush. Thirty-six years later, even the carpet sweeper was old-fashioned: modern homes now have a vacuum cleaner(吸塵器)with an electric motor to suck the dust.
1. Whose sewing machine could do far more than the work that was done by five skilled sewing women?
A. Thomas Saint’s.                               B. Bartelemy Thimonier’s.
C. Elias Howe’s.                                         D. Isaac Singer’s.  
2. According to the article, modern inventors __________ .
A. follow the pattern of the first revolving drum but improve it much
B. only imitate the first washing machine
C. power the first ever-made washing machine by electricity
D. have to wait for the first spin-drier for a long time
3. The underlined word “crude” in the sentence “but it was crude by today’s standards”
probably means __________ .  
A. useless       B. ugly-looking     C. rough       D. not skillfully made
4 The article mainly tells us about __________ .
A. the great inventors in the world
B. the important inventions in the world
C. the short history of household machines
D. the importance of the machines used in the home

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科目:高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源:不詳 題型:閱讀理解



We’ve used the wind as an energy source for a long time.
The Babylonians and Chinese were using wind power to
pump water for irrigating crops 4,000 years ago, and sailing
boats were around long before that.Wind power was used in the
Middle Ages, in Europe, to grind(磨碎) corn, which is where
the term “windmill” comes from.
We can use the energy in the wind by building a tall tower, with a large propellor(螺旋槳) on the top.The wind blows the propellor round, which turns a generator to produce electricity.We tend to build many of these towers together, to make a “wind farm” and produce more electricity.The more towers, the more wind, and the larger the propellors, the more electricity we can make.It's only worth building wind farms in places that have strong, steady winds, although boats and caravans(大篷車(chē))increasingly have small wind generators to help keep their batteries charged.
The best places for wind farms are in coastal areas, at the tops of rounded hills, open plains and gaps in mountains — places where the wind is strong and reliable.Some are offshore.To be worthwhile, you need an average wind speed of around 25 km/h.Most wind farms in the UK are in Cornwall or Wales.Isolated places such as farms may have their own wind generators.In California, several “wind farms” supply electricity to homes around Los Angeles.
The propellors are large, to obtain energy from the largest possible volume of air.The blades can be angled to cope with varying wind speeds.Some designs use vertical turbines (垂直渦輪機(jī)), which don’t need to be turned to face the wind.The towers are tall, to get the propellors as high as possible, up to where the wind is stronger.This means that the land beneath can still be used for farming.
1.The first paragraph aims to introduce to us _______.
A.the function of wind power           B.the source of wind power
C.the nations using wind power        D.the history of using wind power
2.The best places for building the wind farm are places where _______.
A.boats and caravans can often be seen     B.isolated farms don’t have enough electricity
C.there are less human activities         D.the wind is strong and reliable
3.We can infer from the passage that _______.
A.wind farms will not take up too much farming land
B.wind farms need no fuel because wind is free
C.the blades can be angled to turn to face the wind wherever it comes from
D.the higher and larger the towers are, the stronger the wind is
4.What can be a suitable title for the passage?
A.Where to build a wind farm.     B.ABC of the using of wind energy.
C.How to make best use of wind.    D.Wind energy is the best energy.

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科目:高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源:不詳 題型:閱讀理解

.
Some schools that are not year-round often have summer programs. In many cases, students take summer classes to repeat a subject they failed. This way they get a second chance to succeed. But schools also offer summer classes to students who want to be free of a required class during the next school year.
Generally, students in these classes want to take fewer subjects during the year because they are involved in a lot of activities. They might be involved in sports or music programs. Or both – and more.
These summer school students do the same amount of work as if they took the class during the school year. But they do it in a much shorter time, one or two months. They say it makes for a lot of reading and homework and not much time for anything else. Some education experts are worried about high school students who take summer school because of pressure to attend a top university.
The New York Times recently reported about summer classes at one of the best high schools in the United States. New Trier High School is in Winnetka, Illinois. Almost six hundred students are in school this summer. Only twenty are repeating classes that they failed. The others are in difficult courses like physics and history.
The students say taking classes like these in the summer means that they can take even more difficult classes next year. They say this shows not only that they are serious about their studies but that they have experienced the most difficult high school program.
Another place with a lot of students in summer school is Palo Alto, California. The Mercury News reported that about twenty percent of the students in the city schools are in class this summer. That is more than two thousand teenagers.
A third are in classes they failed before. The others are taking subjects they do not have time for during the normal school year.
But they are not taking subjects like physics and history. The students in Palo Alto are in classes like creative writing, film studies, literature and cooking.
63. This passage mainly talks about ______.
A. summer classes in American schools
B. why American schools offer summer classes
C. the advantages of American summer school
D. experts’ anxiety(擔(dān)憂)about American summer school
64. Which of the following is NOT the reason for the students’ attending summer classes in America?
A.Repeating a subject.           
B.Completing a required subject ahead of time.
C.Improving their physical quality    
D.Learning some special skills
65. What’s the biggest difference between the summer classes in New Trier High School and in Palo Alto?
A.There are more students attending classes that they failed before in Palo Alto.
B.Some students in Palo Alto learn some special skills instead of taking physics and history.
C.Some students in Palo Alto take some subjects so that they can join in sports or music programs later.
D.The students’ attitude towards studies in Palo Alto is worse than that in New Trier High School.
66. What can we infer from the passage?
A.American students in schools don’t have any pressure to attend top universities.
B.Summer school students don’t do the same amount of work as they do during the school year.
C. American students attend summer schools in order to relax themselves very much.
D. American students in high schools face great pressure to attend top universities.

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