Doomed beauties such as Cleopatra and Manilyn Monroe were far from alone in their misery. Very attractive people tend to form partnerships that are less stable and satisfying than those enjoyed by plain Janes.

According to research by Dr John Blaine of the University of Southern California, relationships between people whose professions largely depend on their appearances, such as models or actors, tend to end much faster than those between lawyers, doctors or students.

Blaine said the beautiful felt different from childhood. They are treated as special, which may create both arrogance and insecurity. All too often, beauty can be used as an alternative to education. Often they are pushed out of their class or town, told to go off and make their fortune in Hollywood or London and, when the majority fail, they have few talents to make a living.

Blaine added that beautiful people score poorly on the “big five” — the key factors American experts consider when helping distressed couples. These are neuroticism （神經(jīng)質(zhì)）, including anger andanxiety; extroversion （性格外向）; openness to new experiences; agreeableness; and conscientiousness （責(zé)任感）, or sticking by agreements they have made. Attractive people often see no reason to try to change until their looks start to fade.

Krista Sutherland, of the University of California Los Angeles, said partnerships that appeared to be perfect from the outside, such as the former “dream teams” of Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise or Hugh Grant and Elizabeth Hurley, where backgrounds and aspirations are often shared, did not necessarily lead to happiness.

1．What does the underlined sentence “Doomed beauties such as Cleopatra and Manilyn Monroe were far from alone in their misery.” mean?

A．Beautiful women always felt lonely.

B．Beautiful women were always alone.

C．Many beautiful women didn’t end up with a happy life.

D．Beautiful women always lived a happy life. 

2．The underlined phrase “plain Janes” in the passage refers to ________.

A．ordinary-looking women                            B．women called Jane

C．common people                                          D．a(chǎn)ttractive women        

3．We can infer in the passage that ________.

A．Hugh Grant and Elizabeth Hurley were a couple

B．Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise were very satisfied with their life

C．When they fail in Hollywood, the beautiful have little trouble in making a living

D．The marriage of the beautiful often last long

4．Which of the following is the best title?

A．Five key factors affecting the partnership.            B．Beauties are doomed to fail in love.

C．Beauties or common?                                         D．The beautiful are different.

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科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源：2012屆湖北省黃石二中高三適應(yīng)性考試英語(yǔ)試卷（帶解析） 題型：閱讀理解

Sailing Through History
A group of 1,309 passengers boarded the MS Balmoral on Sunday, in Southampton, England, on a voyage to retrace the path of the Titanic. The Titanic was the biggest ship in the world when it sailed on its ill-fated maiden voyage in 1912. Of the 2,227 passengers and crew aboard, more than 1,500 died. The ship, which was headed to New York City, carried the rich and famous on its first voyage. It also carried immigrants, who were seeking a better life in America.
Relatives of people who sailed on the Titanic, historians, authors and people fascinated by the story of the unsinkable ship, are on the Balmoral. They want to remember the doomed ship and those who died on her first and last voyage. The historic liner had set sail on April 10, 1912, from Southampton. Late at night on April 14, she hit an iceberg. In the early morning hours of April 15, the Titanic sank.
The Balmoral is following Titanic’s original route from Southampton. First, the modern-day cruise liner docked in the port of Cherbourg, France, where the Titanic had picked up more passengers. On Monday afternoon, the Balmoral stops in Cobh, Ireland, the Titanic’s last port of call before sailing to New York.
Balmoral will then cruise the North Atlantic Ocean to the location where Titanic hit an iceberg that ripped the ship’s hull(外殼). On Sunday, April 15, at 2:20 a.m.—the time the Titanic went down—passengers and crew will hold a memorial service. The next two days will be spent in Halifax, Canada, where many victims of the sinking are buried. Then, the Balmoral will reach its final destination in New York City, where Titanic was supposed to dock—but never did.
Until today, several teams of divers have explored the site. They have recovered some items such as dishes and silverware and put them on public display. And more trips are planned to the wreckage in the future. The Titanic and its passengers and crew have been remembered in books, movies and TV programs. But there’s a much more important contribution that Titanic gave us. After she sank, lawmakers and shipbuilders made ships safer. It took a terrible tragedy to make ship travel safer for all.
【小題1】How many passengers in Titanic survived at last?

A．More than 1500. B．About 1309.C．About 1000.D．Less than 750.
【小題2】How many countries does the Balmoral reach before sailing to New York?
A．Two. B．Three. C．Four. D．five.
【小題3】The Balmoral will stay in Canada just __________.
A．in memory of the dead passengers in the Balmoral
B．in memory of the survivors in Titanic
C．in memory of the dead passengers in Titanic
D．in memory of the survivors in the Balmoral
【小題4】What might be the most important contribution of sunken Titanic?
A．Its site attracts more exploring teams.
B．It makes the later ships more secure.
C．Some of its items are on public display.
D．More trips are planned to its wreckage.

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科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源：東北三省四市2010屆高三第二次聯(lián)合考試 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)
閱讀下列短文，從每題所給的四個(gè)選項(xiàng)(A、B、C和D)中選出最佳選項(xiàng)，并在答題卡上將其涂黑．
A
It was close to dusk．We came to a large，bowl-shaped nest in which we saw the gray head of a very small sea turtle popping out about half an inch out of the sand．Then we heard a rustling in the bushes behind us．A flesh-eating bird came near．
Our young guide wanted us to be quiet and watch the bird moving towards the young turtle’s
head．
The bird got closer and closer to the opening and began pecking at the young turtle’s head, trying to pull it out of the sands．
The young life was in danger．We were worried about it．One of us asked the guide，“Aren’t
you going to do something?”
He put his finger to his lips and said，“This is the way nature works．”
But we didn’t agree with him and spoke with one voice asking him to do something．So he had to go and pull the young turtle out of his hole and put it on its way towards the sea．
What happened next，however，caught everyone by surprise Soon after the young turtle was set free，lots of baby turtles—having received a wrong signal that it was safe—went out of the nest and began moving towards the sea．
Our foolishness became clear．Not only had the baby turtles come out under the mistaken impression that it was safe to do so，but their mad dash was taking place too early．The still-clear
light of dusk allowed no hiding from meat—eating birds．Within a short period of time，dozens of
baby turtles had been eaten by those birds．Our young guide quickly took a baseball cap and filled it with baby turtles．Walking into the water．he set them free．Then he wildly waved his hat to frighten off those birds．
When it was over，the joyful cries of dozens of well—fed birds rifled the air．Two of the birds stood silently on the beach hoping to catch a final，struggling baby turtle．All that could be heard was the sound of the waves beating against the sands．
Heads down，we walked slowly along the beach in the dusk．
56．At first, the guide would not help the young turtle out of the nest because____．
A．he wouldn’t mind others’business
B．he thought the young turtle liked to dash into the sea
C．he wanted the young turtles to take their own course
D．he thought the young turtle should have come out earlier
57．In fact，the first baby turtle worked as_______．
A．a(chǎn) clever spy to attract the birds outside B．one to get information outside the nest
C．a(chǎn) leader to come out first                        D．a(chǎn) brave guard to fight against the birds
58．From the last sentence of the passage, we know that _______．
A．they were sad because the young turtles were foolish
B．they felt very tired with the still—clear light shining
C．they came to know that their rush to help did more harm than good
D．they regretted not killing the meat—eating birds
59．According to the passage，which of the following statements may be true?
A．The young turtles were doomed (注定) to be eaten by those birds．
B．All the young turtles are eaten by dozens of birds．
C．The young turtles shouldn’t come out of their nest before it was dark．
D．The young turtles gathered to frighten off the birds．

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科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源：2012-2013學(xué)年黑龍江哈爾濱市高三第五次月考英語(yǔ)試卷（解析版） 題型：閱讀理解

My husband and son took a New York-to-Milwaukee flight that was supposed to leave Friday at 11:29 am. The flight boarded after 4 pm and didn’t leave the gate until 4:40, and half an hour later the pilot announced it would be another hour until takeoff. At that point a Jewish family, worried about violating the Sabbath （安息日）, asked to get off. Going back to the gate cost the plane its place in line for takeoff, and the flight was eventually cancelled. Was the airline right to grant that request?

M. W, Norwalk, CONN.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Situations like that can bring out the worst in people. But despite the increasing resentment（怨恨） of a plane full of people, the pilot tried to do the right thing. He went out of his way to satisfy one family’s urgent need. He should not have done so.

Passengers bought tickets in the belief that the airline’s primary goal was to get them to their destination as close to the schedule as possible. Once they got on the plane and the doors are locked, it’s not correct to announce that the rules have changed and that a personal (as opposed to medical) emergency —no matter how urgent — might take precedence（優(yōu)先）.

That would be just as true if turning back to the gate had merely cost a few minutes rather than doomed the flight entirely, since on a plane, even a slight delay can spread outward, from the people in the cabin to those meeting them to the passengers waiting to board the plane for the next leg of its journey and so on. It would also be true if the personal emergency were not religious — if someone suddenly realized she’d made a professional mistake that might cost her millions, and she had to race back to the office to fix it.

If a religious practice does nothing to harm others, then airlines should make a reasonable effort to accommodate it. Though that family has every right to observe the Sabbath, it has no right to enlist an airplane full of captive bystanders to help them do so. By boarding a flight on a Friday afternoon, the family knowingly risked running into trouble. The risk was theirs alone to bear.

1.M. W. wrote the letter to ask whether ______.

A．Any religious passenger has the right to ask the pilot to take off

B．The airline has the right to cancel the flight without any reason

C．A flight should meet any passenger’s need despite others’ benefit

D．A plane which has left the gate should give up taking off

2.What do we know from the reply letter?

A．The pilot did the right thing in spite of the fierce resentment.

B．The plane should turn back if anyone aboard is seriously ill.

C．Anybody who has boarded has no chance to get off the plane.

D．Any flight shouldn’t change its schedule no matter what has happened.

3.What does the underlined part in Paragraph 4 mean?

A．Turning back to the gate usually takes a plane quite a long time.

B．Nobody should take precedence to require the plane to turn back to the gate.

C．Even if it had taken a few minutes it was not right to turn back to the gate.

D．It was OK if turning back to the gate hadn’t caused the flight to be cancelled.

4.The author of the reply letter thinks that _________.

A．It’s right for the plane to turn back to the gate to save a passenger’s treasure

B．The Jewish family should give up observing the Sabbath after boarding

C．The biggest problem of turning back is to bring trouble to the pilot

D．The Jewish family had better avoid boarding on Friday afternoon

 

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科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源：2013屆福建省四地六校高二下學(xué)期第三次月考英語(yǔ)試卷（解析版） 題型：閱讀理解

Scientist Says ‘No’ to Human Cloning

“I’ve never met a human worth cloning,” says cloning expert Mark Westhusin from his lab at Texas A&M University. “It’s a stupid endeavor.”

That’s an interesting choice of adjective, coming from a man who has spent millions of dollars trying to clone a 13-year-old dog named Missy. So far, he and his team have not succeeded, though they have cloned two cows and a cat.

They just might succeed in cloning Missy soon — or perhaps not for another five years.

Westhusin's experience with cloning animals leaves him upset by all this talk of human cloning. In three years of work on the Missy project, using hundreds upon hundreds of dog's eggs, the A&M team has produced only a dozen or so embryos carrying Missy's DNA. None have survived the transfer to a surrogate（代孕的）mother. The wastage of eggs and the many spontaneously aborted(流產(chǎn)，發(fā)育不全) fetuses（胎）may be acceptable when you're dealing with cats or bulls, he argues, but not with humans. “Cloning is incredibly inefficient, and also dangerous,” he says.

Even so, dog cloning is a commercial opportunity, with a nice research payoff. Ever since Dolly the sheep was cloned in 1997, Westhusin's phone has been ringing with people calling in hopes of duplicating their cats and dogs, cattle and horses. “A lot of people want to clone pets, especially if the price is right,” says Westhusin. Cost is no obstacle for Missy's mysterious billionaire owner; he's put up $3.7 million so far to fund A&M's research.

Contrary to some media reports, Missy is not dead. The owner wants a twin to carry on Missy's fine qualities after she does die. The prototype（原型；雛形）is, by all accounts, athletic, good-natured and supersmart. Missy's master does not expect an exact copy of her. He knows her clone may not have her temperament（氣質(zhì)、性情）. In a statement of purpose, Missy's owner and the A&M team say they are “both looking forward to studying the ways that her clones differ from Missy.”

Besides cloning a great dog, the project may contribute insight into the old question of nature vs. nurture. It could also lead to the cloning of special rescue dogs and many endangered animals.

However, Westhusin is cautious about his work. He knows that even if he gets a dog pregnant, the offspring, should they survive, will face the problems shown at birth by other cloned animals: abnormalities like immature lungs and heart and weight problems~ “Why would you ever want to clone humans,” Westhusin asks, “when we're not even close to getting it worked out in animals yet?”

1.By “stupid endeavor”, Westhusin means to say that ________.

A．human cloning is a foolish undertaking

B．a(chǎn)nimal cloning is absolutely impractical

C．human cloning should be done selectively

D．a(chǎn)nimal cloning is not worth the effort at all

2.What does the first paragraph tell us about Westhusin's dog cloning project?

A．Its success is already in sight.

B．It is progressing smoothly.

C．It is doomed to utter failure.

D．Its outcome remains uncertain.

3.By cloning Missy, Mark Westhusin hopes to ________.

A．study the possibility of cloning humans

B．search for ways to modify its temperament

C．find out the differences between Missy and its clones

D．examine the reproductive system of the dog species

4.We learn from the passage that animal clones are likely to have ________.

A．a(chǎn) bad temper

B．defective（有缺陷的、有毛病的）organs

C．immune deficiency

D．a(chǎn)n abnormal shape

 

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科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源：2010-2011學(xué)年江西省高三上學(xué)期第一次月考英語(yǔ)卷 題型：閱讀理解

For many in the United States,Arab-Americans are an invisible part of the population．Though Arab-Americans as a community have made great contributions to American society in fields from literature to politics to medicine,many Americans know very little about Americans of Arab backgrounds．

Arab history in the United States goes back to the late 1800’s when large numbers of Arab immigrants first began making their journey to a land known simply as“Amreeka”．

Historians generally describe Arab immigration to America in two waves．The first wave took place between 1860 and 1924．The first wave consisted of Lebanese and Syrian,and some Egyptian immigrants．These new immigrants,who were mostly Christian,came to America in search of better opportunities．Even the doomed Titanic,which set sail for America in 1912,had close to a hundred Arab passengers aboard．The majority of Arab-Americans today are descendents of the first wave of immigrants;they are the third or more generation Americans．

The second wave of immigrants followed after World War Ⅱ,caused by political unrest in the Middle East．This second wave of immigrants consists of mainly Arab Muslims（穆斯林）and continues to this day．

Arab-Americans make up 3 million of the population in the United States,according to demographers．And quite different from popular belief,64 percent of them are American-born．Eighty-two percent of Arab-Americans are US citizens．

Arab-Americans are beyond the national average in both education and income．Education is important among Arab-Americans;82 percent have high school diplomas,36 percent have bachelor’s degrees or higher,and 15 percent have graduate degrees．The-median（中位數(shù)的） average income among Arab-Americans is $39 580,which is higher than the US average．

1. What would be the best title for the text?

A．Arabs in America．

B．The Two Arab Immigration Waves to America．

C．Arab-Americans,Contributions to America．

D．Arab-Americans,Education and Income．

2.The first wave of immigrants took place because______．

A．a(chǎn)ll Arabs were Christian at that time

B．Arabs wanted to hunt for a better development

C．the Second World War broke out

D．Arabs wanted to gain higher income

3.The writer of this passage mentioned Titanic______．

A．to tell us that taking ship at that time was dangerous

B．because Titanic became a well-known disaster

C．to show us there were many Arabs flocking into America at that time

D．to inform us that Arabs are brave enough

4.From the last paragraph we can infer that______．

A．Arab-Americans are much more clever than native Americans

B．Arab-Americans are hard-working people

C．the higher education you receive,the higher income you will get in America

D．Arab-Americans play the most important role in the American average in both education and income

 

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