When Joan gave birth to the first boy in her family in three generations, she and her husband were overjoyed. So were her parents. Joan expected her elder sister, Sally, to be just as delighted as them. Joan had always admired Sally--the beauty and the star of the family--and felt happy about her achievements.
But since the baby's arrival, the sisters have become distant. Joan feels hurt for Sally seems completely uninterested in her baby. Sally, who has no children, claims that her younger sister "acts as if no one ever had a baby before."
Neither Sally nor Joan understands that the real cause of the current coldness is that their family roles have suddenly changed to the opposite. Finally Joan seems to be better than her elder sister--and Sally doesn't like it! Their distance may be temporary, but it shows that childhood competition don't fade easily as ages grow. It can remain powerful in relationships throughout life.
In a study of the University of Cincinnati, 65 men and women between ages 25 and 93 were asked how they felt about their brothers and sisters. Nearly 75 percent admitted having hidden competitive feelings. In a few cases, these emotions were so strong as to have affected their entire lives.
Many adult brothers and sisters are close, supportive--yet still tend to compete. Two brothers I know turn into killers when on opposite sides of a tennis net. Off the court, they are the best of friends. My own younger sister can't wait to tell me when I've put on weight. However, she's a terrible cook and that pleases me; I tease her when she comes to dinner. Happily, despite these small failings, we have been an important resource for each other.
In between the very competitive and the generally supportive children lie those who say that no friendship should survive. Some brothers and sisters stay at arm's length, but never give up competition completely. Why do these puzzling, unproductive, often painful relationships continue to exist?
【小題1】When Joan's son was born, Sally       .

A．felt very happy B．felt not delighted C．moved away D．a(chǎn)dmired her a lot
【小題2】What happens to children's desire to compete with their brothers and sisters?
A．It sometimes will disappear when they grow up.
B．It will never disappear throughout life.
C．It will improve their relationships when they grow up.
D．It will never harm their relationships when they grow up.
【小題3】Why does the author's sister often tell her when she's put on weight?
A．Because she wants the author to go on a diet.
B．Because she wants the author to stop calling her a bad cook.
C．Because she wants to make fun of the author's weight.
D．Because she wants to be honest with the author.
【小題4】The underlined sentence means that although some brothers and sisters       .
A．live near each other, they still have competitions
B．live away from each other, they stop their competitions
C．live together, they often think of ending their competitions
D．live within a big family, they often try to end their competitions


【小題1】B
【小題2】B
【小題3】C
【小題4】A

解析試題分析：文章主要講述的是兄弟姐妹之間存在的相互競爭的現(xiàn)象。兄弟姐妹之間的相互競爭現(xiàn)象不會輕易消除，甚至還會伴隨他們一生。
【小題1】根據(jù)第二段“But since the baby's arrival, the sisters have become distant. Joan feels hurt for Sally seems completely uninterested in her baby.”可知，Sally對新生兒的到來不敢興趣，她不是很開心，故選B。
【小題2】根據(jù)第三段“...but it shows that childhood competition don't fade easily as ages grow. It can remain powerful in relationships throughout life.”可知，童年時期兄弟姐妹間的競爭不會輕易消退，甚至?xí)殡S終生。故選B。
【小題3】根據(jù)第五段“Many adult brothers and sisters are close, supportive--yet still tend to compete... My own younger sister can't wait to tell me when I've put on weight.”可知，許多成年后的兄弟姐妹間，依然存在競爭，作者體重增加時，她妹妹就會拿她的體重開玩笑，故選C。
【小題4】劃線部分Some brothers and sisters stay at arm's length, but never give up competition completely.的意思是“一些離得很近的兄弟姐妹，也不可能完全消除競爭。”與A項意思相符，故選A。
考點：家庭類短文閱讀

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科目：高中英語 來源： 題型：閱讀理解

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【小題1】What did the father do after he had heard his daughter’s complaint?                   

A．He told her not to pay any attention to what her“enemy” had said.
B．He criticized (批評) her and told her to overcome her shortcomings.
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【小題2】What does “Week by week her list grew” mean?                                   
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D．Week by week, my shortcomings grew more serious.
【小題3】Why did her father listen to her quietly?                                          
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【小題4】Which do you think would be the best title for this passage?               
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科目：高中英語 來源： 題型：閱讀理解

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【小題1】The author left Jerry’s restaurant because he___________.

A．wanted to start business on his own
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A．Because he left the back door open.
B．Because he opened the safe too slowly.
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D．Because he didn’t open the safe in time.
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B．optimistic even when things were at their worst
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科目：高中英語 來源： 題型：閱讀理解

Home to me means a sense of familiarity and nostalgia(懷舊)．It’s fun to come home.It looks the same.It smells the same.You’ll realize what’s changed is you.Home is where we can remember pain，love，and some other experiences：We parted here；My parents met here；I won three championships here.
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Sometimes when I feel lost，I lie down and shut my eyes，and I go home.I know it’s where I’ll find my family，my dogs，and my belongings.I purposely leave the window open at night because I know I’ll be blamed by Mom.But I don’t mind，because I want to hear her say my name，which reminds me I’m home.
【小題1】Why does the author call her parents’ bed her “safe zone”(Paragraph 3)?

A．It is her favorite place to play.
B．Her needs can be satisfied there.
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A．The old furniture is still in the author’s first bedroom.
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D．Many people of the author’s age can still find their first physical homes.
【小題3】Sometimes when she feels lost，the author will________.
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Some people think that success is only for those with talent or those who grow up in the right family，and others believe that success mostly comes down to luck.I'm not going to say luck，talent，and circumstances don't come into play because they do.Some people are born into the right family while others are born with great intelligence，and that's just the reality of how life is.
However，to succeed in life，one first needs to set a goal and then gradually make it more practical.And，in addition to that，in order to get really good at something，one needs to spend at least 10,000 hours studying and practising.To become great at certain things，it'll require even more time，time that most people won't put in.
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This is a big reason why many successful people advise you to do something you love. If you don't enjoy what you do，it is going to feel like unbearable pain and will likely make you quit well before you ever become good at it.
This is a big reason why many successful people advise you to do something you love. If you don't enjoy what you do，it is going to feel like unbearable pain and will likely make you quit well before you ever become good at it.
When you see people exhibiting some great skills or having achieved great success，you know that they have put in a huge part of their life to get there at a huge cost.It's sometimes easy to think they got lucky or they were born with some rare talent，but thinking that way does you no good，and there's a huge chance that you're wrong anyway.
Whatever you do，if you want to become great at it, you need to work day in and day out，almost to the point of addiction，and over a long period of time.If you're not willing to put in the time and work，don't expect to receive any rewards.Consistent, hard work won't guarantee you the level of success you may want, but it will guarantee that you will become really good at whatever it is you put all that work into.
【小題1】Paragraph 1 mainly talks about ________.

A．the reasons for success
B．the meaning of success
C．the standards of success
D．the importance of success
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B．one tends to enjoy his work
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D．it takes a lot of time to succeed
【小題3】What can we infer from Paragraph 4?
A．Successful people like to show their great skills.
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C．People need to achieve success at the cost of life.
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A．Having a goal is vital to success.
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科目：高中英語 來源： 題型：閱讀理解

The United States economy has dipped into economic recession (經(jīng)濟(jì)衰退). This caused discomfort and hardship in every level of society; but for many of the nation’s poor, discomfort and hardship turned into misery (苦難).
An increase in homelessness is probably the worst result of a nation’s financial disaster. About 3 million Americans were homeless because of a lack of affordable housing. Experts suggest that a family should spend no more than 30 percent of its income on housing. In fact, in some families housing costs make up 50 percent or more. An unexpected event, such as losing work or illness, can quickly push a family into homelessness.
An article in Time magazine tells a story of one such family. A young couple and their three children rented a two-bedroom apartment for about $350 a month. They could hardly go on with the husband’s $920-a-month take-home pay; so when their rent was raised to $500 a month, they could no longer make ends meet.
Another woman was found dead on a street in Washington D.C., the capital, and she died at a bus-stop across the street from the US Department of Housing and Urban Development.
People become homeless for different reasons. Some may not be able to pay for housing, because they have lost their job and cannot find another place they can afford. Others have mental diseases, or are addicted to drugs or alcohol, many of whom do not live with their family. And what’s more, there are not enough centers for shelter as the government doesn’t pay enough attention to this social problem. 
People are making efforts to solve the problem. However, it will not be easy, because it is a personal and economical problem as well as a social problem.
【小題1】The passage is mainly about __________ in the US.

A．ways of solving economic problems
B．homeless people being taken good care of
C．different reasons for economic recession
D．economic recession leading to social problems
【小題2】In the passage the author supported his view by __________.
A．presenting specific figuresB．giving examples
C．explaining in detailsD．discussing different opinions
【小題3】 One main result that economic recession has led to is __________
A．a(chǎn)n increase of living costsB．more and more deaths
C．a(chǎn)n increase of homeless peopleD．less centers for poor people
【小題4】How many reasons why people become homeless are listed in the passage?
A．2.B．3.C．4.D．5.

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