Grant Wood’s American Gothic caused a stir （轟動）in 1930 when it was exhibited for the first time at the Art Institute of Chicago and awarded a prize of 300 dollars. Newspapers across the country carried the story, and the painting of a farmer and a younger woman posed before a white house brought the artist instant fame.
In 1930, Grant Wood, an American painter with European training, noticed a small white house built in the small southern Iowa town of Eldon. Wood was so fascinated by it that he decided to paint the house along with the kind of people he thought should live in that house. In the painting, the farmer is modeled on his dentist. Dr. Byron McKeeby. His younger sister Nan served as a model for the woman （imagined to be the farmer’s wife or daughter）. Wood wanted to give a description of the traditional roles of men and women as the man is holding a pitchfork symbolizing hard labor. Each element was painted separately; the models sat separately and never stood in front of the house. The Gothic style of the house inspired the painting’s title.
American Gothic remains one of the most famous paintings in the history of American art. The painting has become part of American popular culture. Some believe that Wood used it to satirize（諷刺） the narrow-mindedness that has been said to characterize Midwestern culture. The painting may also be read as a praise of the moral virtue or rural America or even as a mixture of praise and satire. American Gothic is one of the few images to reach the status of cultural symbol, along with Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa.
【小題1】Which of the following is true about American Gothic?
| A．It won a prize of ￡ 300. |
| B．The two characters in it posed before the White House. |
| C．It was the first painting by Grant Wood. |
| D．It was on show at the Art Institute of Chicago in 1930. |
| A．the southern town of Eldon | B．the Midwest of the United States |
| C．a(chǎn) European country | D．the city of Chicago |
| A．to describe traditional roles of men and women |
| B．to praise the moral virtue of rural America |
| C．to make his dentist and his sister famous |
| D．to carry the story across the country |
| A．the name of a small town | B．the man and the woman |
| C．the Gothic style of the house | D．the pitchfork symbolizing hard labor |
【小題1】D
【小題2】B
【小題3】A
【小題4】C
解析試題分析：文章介紹Grant Wood所畫的American Gothic，描述圖畫里面的內(nèi)容和內(nèi)涵，以及這幅畫的藝術(shù)價值。
【小題1】細(xì)節(jié)題：從第一段的句子：Grant Wood’s American Gothic caused a stir （轟動）in 1930 when it was exhibited for the first time at the Art Institute of Chicago and awarded a prize of 300 dollars. 可知美式哥特在1930年在紫芝加哥的藝術(shù)研究所被展出，選D
【小題2】細(xì)節(jié)題：從第二段的句子：In 1930, Grant Wood, an American painter with European training, noticed a small white house built in the small southern Iowa town of Eldon. 和第三段的句子：Some believe that Wood used it to satirize（諷刺） the narrow-mindedness that has been said to characterize Midwestern culture.可知Iowa 是位于美國中西部。選B
【小題3】細(xì)節(jié)題：從第二段的句子：Wood wanted to give a description of the traditional roles of men and women as the man is holding a pitchfork symbolizing hard labor. 可知Wood使用兩個模特是想描繪出傳統(tǒng)的男人和女人的角色，選A
【小題4】細(xì)節(jié)題：從第二段的句子：The Gothic style of the house inspired the painting’s title.可知這幅畫的名字是受哥特式房子的啟發(fā)，選C
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閱讀快車系列答案科目：高中英語 來源： 題型：閱讀理解
In 1935, the clarinetist and bandleader Benny Goodman, aged just twenty?six, left New York with his fourteen?piece “swing” band and, traveling in a ragtag group of cars, headed for the huge Palomar Ballroom in Los Angeles. It was not an easy trip. ?There were half a dozen dismal, sparsely attended one?nighters and three weeks at a dance hall in Denver, where the band was forced to play waltzes, tangos, and novelty numbers. On the opening night at the Palomar, the band played ballad numbers in the first set, and there was little response from the dancers. Then one of the musicians said, if they were going to bomb again they might well do it in style. So Goodman called for his hot, often uptempo arrangements, many of them by the ingenious black bandleader and arranger Fletcher Henderson, and the kids stopped dancing, clustered around the bandstand, and began roaring. ?Before the weeks at the Palomar were over, it was clear that Goodman had suddenly made jazz—still a suspect and largely subliminal American folk music, despite the brilliant inventions during the previous decade of Jelly Roll Morton and others—into a popular music.
Goodman?s surprising ways continued. In 1936, he shook up the white entertainment establishment by hiring two black musicians—the elegant pianist Teddy Wilson and the plunging vibraphonist Lione Hampton. (To be sure, Wilson and Hampton did not play in the band; instead, they appeared with Goodman and the drummer Gene Krupa during intermissions.) A year later, when the band went into the Paramount Theater in New York for three weeks, legions of kids appeared, and a screaming, dancing riot nearly took place. ?It was the first great American show frenzy, and it prepared the way for the Sinatra frenzy of 1947, and for all the Beatles frenzies, and for all the mindless rock?borne frenzies of the Seventies and Eighties.
Then, on the night of January 16, 1938, Goodman, challenging the long?hairs, took his band into a sold?out Carnegie Hall. The big band played a dozen numbers, the trio two numbers, and the quartet five numbers. ?Despite the immediate rumblings from Olin Downes, the Times?s classical music critic (“The playing last night, if noise, speed and beat, all old devices, are heat, was “hot” as it could be, but nothing came of it all, and in the long run it was decidedly monotonous”), Goodman?s concert moved jazz even further up the American popular register. ［412 words］
【小題1】 This passage is mainly
A a general review of Jazz music.
B a biography of Benny Goodman.
C about the origin of American folk music.
D about how jazz became popular in America.
【小題2】 Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?
A The band?s first music show in Los Angles was an immediate success.
B Goodman is considered the father of Jazz music.
C Benny Goodman was unknown to public when he left New York.
D The band scheduled to play waltzes, tangos and novelty numbers at a dance hall in Denver.
【小題3】 It could be inferred from the passage that
A Jazz is a style of music native to America.
B Classic music had become outdated at Goodman?s time.
C Morton and Goodman were contemporaries.
D Goodman was the first bandleader who hired Black musicians in 1930s.
【小題4】 The phrase “shake up” (Line 1,Paragraph 2) in the context probably means
A to give a very unpleasant shock.
B to make changes to an organization.
B to get rid of a problem.
D to point out, designate.
【小題5】 Towards Goodman?s music show frenzy, Olin Downes, the classical music critic has
A approving attitude. B satirizing attitude.
C regretting mind. D exaggerated tone.
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科目：高中英語 來源： 題型：閱讀理解
It's slimbudget time in Las Vegas
Las Vegas? It's where halfprice flights are wide open and where reservations are easily booked on a moment's notice. Tourism is down, so rooms are plentiful, as well as inexpensive.
Getting there: The best way to get there from McCarran Airport is to exit the baggage claim through Door 11 and check in at any number of shuttle booths. Shuttle vans that run between the airport and the Las Vegas Strip cost $6 for a oneway trip.
Leaving Las Vegas：Many Vegas vacationers are eager to get there and slow to leave. So take the “redeye” back home. Most redeye flights leave around midnight, leaving you with an extra night of gaming, and fun without added expense of a higher hotel charge. You can sleep the whole way home.
Romantic getaway: Las Vegas is no longer all about gaming. The artwork at the Bellagio Gallery of Fine Art is certainly comparable to that at the Louvre. Speaking of Paris, take a trip up the Eiffel Tower at ParisLas Vegas. The Eiffel Tower Experience costs just $10($7 for kids) and is unquestionably worth the price of admission. For an intimate evening, don't hesitate to book reservations at the Eiffel Tower Restaurant. Get an impressive nighttime view of the Fountains at Bellagio by asking for seating alongside the floortoceiling windows. This is truly a oneofakind finedining experience. Details：www.parislasvegas.com.
Be sure to wear comfortable shoes：Casinos(娛樂場) can appear very close together, but actually may not be. Know the tram systems that run up and down the Strip. Most tram lines are free.
Shows：Purchase show tickets at one of the many “Half Priced Show” booths on the Strip. You can experience a unique show each night of your stay. Need a look at what's playing when you'll be there? Visit www.booklasvegasshows.com.
Buffets：In Vegas you can take anything to the next level—including eating. Seven casinos on the Strip have teamed up to bring you an amazing deal：seven buffets—breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner—all for just $44.99 within a 24hour period. Details：www.harrahs.com/total/lasvegas/buffetofbuffets.
【小題1】What is the author's purpose of writing the passage?
| A．To introduce the present situation of Las Vegas. |
| B．To attract readers to travel to Las Vegas. |
| C．To tell readers how to go to Las Vegas. |
| D．To show his own travel experience. |
| A．visit www.parislasvegas.com |
| B．visit www.booklasvegasshows.com |
| C．visit www.harrahs.com/total/lasvegas/buffetofbuffets |
| D．visit www.newyorknewyork.com/attractions/ |
| A．$10 | B．$20 |
| C．$27 | D．$34 |
| A．Las Vegas is famous as a gaming city |
| B．eating in Las Vegas is very expensive |
| C．a(chǎn)ll the redeye flights leave around midnight |
| D．a(chǎn) round trip in Las Vegas costs $6 |
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科目：高中英語 來源： 題型：閱讀理解
In a society such as the United States or Canada, which has many national, religious and cultural differences, people highly value individualism--the differences among people. Teachers place a lot of importance on the qualities that make each student special. The educational systems in these countries show these values. Students do not memorize all possible basic knowledge. Instead, they work individually and find answers by themselves.There is often discussion in the classroom. At an early age, students learn to form their own ideas and opinions.
In most Asia societies, by contrast, the people have the same language, history and culture. Perhaps for this reason, the educational system in much of the orient reflects society’s belief in group goals and purposes rather than individualism. Children in China, Japan and Korea often work together and help one another on assignments.
There are advantages and disadvantages of both systems of education. For example, one advantage of the system in Japan is that students there learn much more about math, physics, biology and chemistry than American students by the end of high school. They also study more hours each day and more days each year than North Americans do. The system is difficult, but it prepares students for a society that values discipline and self-control. There is, however, a disadvantage. Memorization is an important learning method in Japanese schools, yet many students say that after an exam, they forget much of the information that they have memorized.
The advantage of the educational system in North America, on the other hand, is that students learn to think for themselves. The system prepares them for a society that values creative ideas. There is, however, a disadvantage. When students graduate from school, they haven’t memorized as many basic rules and facts as students in other countries have.
【小題1】The writer’s purpose of writing this passage is .
| A．to share his idea with others in a new way |
| B．to introduce two different systems of education through contrast |
| C．to criticize the society that values memorization |
| D．to prepare students for society |
| A．The system of education in the West is more creative than that in the East |
| B．Japanese students learn much more about science than American students. |
| C．Canadian students are more individual than Korean students. |
| D．Students in North America are not so friendly as those in Asia. |
| A．Asian students are more likely to do better in teamwork than American students |
| B．Chinese students are more hard-working in their studies than Mexican students |
| C．the Western educational system is much better than the Eastern educational system. |
| D．the Eastern educational system is as difficult as the Western educational system. |
| A．Advantages and Disadvantages of Educational System. |
| B．The Value of Individualism. |
| C．Educational System-an Obvious Difference between the East and the West. |
| D．Memorization-an Important Learning Method. |
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科目：高中英語 來源： 題型：閱讀理解
People often say that money talks. They mean that a person with a lot of money can say how he or she wants things done. But it is not easy to earn enough money to gain this kind of power. Ask anyone in a business, they will tell you that it is a jungle out there. The expression probably began because the jungle is filled with wild animals and unknown dangers that threaten people. Sometimes people in business feel competing businesses are as dangerous as wild animals. And they feel that unknown dangers in the business world frighten the survival of their business.
People in business have to be careful, if they are to survive the jungle out there. They must not be led into making bogus investments. Bogus means something that it is not real. Nobody is sure how the word got started. But it began to appear in a American newspapers in 1800s. A newspaper in Boston Massachusetts said the word came from a criminal whose name was Bogazy. The newspaper said Bogazy wrote checks to people, although he did not have enough money in the bank. After he wrote the checks, he would flee from town. So people who were paid with his checks received nothing. The newspaper said Americans shortened and changed to the criminal's name Bogazy to bogus.
People try to earn money also must be aware of being ripped off. A person who is ripped off has had something stolen or at least has been treated very unfairly. A writer for the magazine American Speech said he first saw the expression used in 1971. It was on a sign that a student carried during a protest demonstration at a university. The message on the sign was that the student felt ripped off or cheated. Perhaps the best way to prevent getting ripped off in business is to not try to get rich quickly.
To be successful, a person in business works hard and tries to get down to brass tacks. This expression means to get to the bottom or most important part of something. For example, a salesman may talk and talk about his product without saying the price. You get down to brass tacks when you say it sounds good but how much does it cost？
Word expert Charles Funk thinks the expression comes from sailors on ships. They clean the bottom of a boat. When they have removed all the dirt, they are down to the brass tacks, the copper pieces that hold the boat together. So if we get down to brass tacks, we can prevent rip-offs and bogus ways of earning money in that jungle out there. And some good luck will help too.
【小題1】This passage is mainly written to________.
| A．explain several expressions related to money |
| B．tell us some skills of learning English words |
| C．tell us the secret of how to do business |
| D．tell us the power of money |
| A．doing business is as exciting as living in a jungle |
| B．businessmen are as dangerous as animals in a jungle |
| C．doing business is as difficult as living in a jungle |
| D．businessmen are as careful as people living in a jungle |
| A．real | B．beautiful | C．good | D．new |
| A．The name of a very successful businessman. |
| B．The name of a criminal who cheated others. |
| C．The name of a famous newspaper in Boston. |
| D．The name of a check written by a criminal. |
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科目：高中英語 來源： 題型：閱讀理解
According to sociologists(社會學(xué)家)，every modern industrial society has some form of social stratification(階層)．Class，power and status are important in deciding people’s rank in society.
Class means a person’s economic position in society.A commonly used classification is lower class，middle class and upper class.While sociologists disagree on how these terms should be exactly defined，they do describe societies like the United States quite well.One study shows that 53% of Americans belong to the lower class,46% the middle class，and 1% the upper class.Interestingly，a surgeon earning $500,000 a year and a bus driver earning $50,000 a year both regard themselves as the middle class!
Power refers to the amount of control a person has over other people.Obviously，people in positions of great power (such as governors) exercise(行使)big power，but people who take orders from others have less power.Power and class do not always go hand in hand，however.For example，the governor of a state has great power，but he or she may not belong to a corresponding (相應(yīng)的)economic class.Generally，however，there is a relationship between power and class.To our knowledge，there aren’t too many people who aren’t millionaires in the U．S.Senate!
Status is the honor or respect attached to a person’s position in society.It can also be affected by power and class，but not necessarily so.For example，a university professor may have a high status but not belong to a high social class or have a lot of power over others.
【小題1】What can we learn about“the middle class”from Paragraph 2?
| A．People earning $50,000 a year belong to the middle class. |
| B．Nearly half Americans belong to the middle class. |
| C．People generally consider bus drivers as the middle class. |
| D．Sociologists have a clear definition of the middle class. |
| A．power and class do not always correspond with each other |
| B．status refers to a person’s economic position in society |
| C．people with high status have a lot of control over others |
| D．class is less important in deciding a person’s social rank |
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科目：高中英語 來源： 題型：閱讀理解
Each year on February 2nd, there is special festival called Groundhog Day (土撥鼠日 )' forecasting event in Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania. When it comes, people from around the world, including 5,000 in the small town today, watch this tongue-twisting(發(fā)音饒舌的) small town for a sign from one groundhog that supposedly predicts when that years' spring will arrive.
If it's a cloudy day outside when the groundhog pops from its cave, then spring will arrive early that year. However, if it is sunny outside, the groundhog will supposedly be scared by its own shadow, hiding underground for six more weeks of cold weather.
Of course, Punxsutawney Phil's prediction is no more able to guarantee the extended forecast than your local weatherman. ABC News reports that an analysis by the National Climate Data Center found that Phil's predictions are more often wrong than right.
Philis is also found to have made some unpleasant predictions. Ever since 1887, he has predicted 99 extended winters and just 16 early springs .Nine of the years' predictions were unavailable, according to ABC.
The holiday began as a German tradition in 18th century and became even more of a cultural phenomenon after the 1993 film Groundhog Day starring Bill Murray.
Punxsutawney Phil has become a celebrity in his own right. Each year, the fatter animal with long teeth is watched by millions as he emerges from a cave in the town he is named after. Phil has become so beloved by the town that he actually lives in the local library with his “wife" Phyllis.
Taking inspiration from the hard state of Bill Murray’s character in the classic film, Yahoo contributor Owen Rust says Groundhog Day is a good time to reflect on one’s routines.
【小題1】The underlined word “pops” means “ ”.
| A．escapes | B．a(chǎn)ppears | C．increases | D．hides |
| A．some of the predictions were unavailable |
| B．Phil wants to do that for fun |
| C．Phil likes to make unpleasant predictions |
| D．he has predicted more late springs |
| A．By an accident. |
| B．From people's life improving. |
| C．By his own attractive force |
| D．From much money raised by the town. |
| A．The National Climate Data Center |
| B．A German tradition |
| C．A tongue-twisting small town |
| D．Groundhog Day weather forecasting |
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科目：高中英語 來源： 題型：閱讀理解
In the eighteenth century one of the first modern economists, Adam Smith, thought that “ the whole annual produce of the land and labour of every country” provided revenue to “three different orders of people: those who live by rent, those who live by wages, and those who live by profit”. Each successive stage of the industrial revolution, however, made the social structure more complicated.?
Many intermediate groups grew up during the nineteenth century between the upper middle class and the working class. There were small-scale industrialists as well as large ones, small shopkeepers and tradesmen, officials and salaried employees, skilled and unskilled workers, and professional men such as doctors and teachers. Farmers and peasants continued in all countries as independent groups.?
During the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries the possession of wealth inevitably affected a person’s social position. Intelligent industrialists with initiative made fortunes by their wits which lifted them into an economic group far higher than that of their working-class parents. But they lacked social training of the upper class, who despised them as the “new rich.”?
They often sent their sons and daughters to special schools to acquire social training. Here their children, mixed with the children of the upper classes, were accepted by them, and very often found marriage partners from among them. In the same way, a thrifty, hardworking labourer, though not clever himself, might save for his son enough to pay for an extended secondary school education in the hope that he would move in a “white-collar” occupation, carrying with it a higher salary and a move up in the social scale.?
In the twentieth century the increased taxation of higher incomes, the growth of the social services, and the wider development of educational opportunity have considerably altered the social outlook. The upper classes no longer are the sole, or even the main possessors of wealth, power and education, though inherited social position still carries considerable prestige.
【小題1】What criterion did Adam Smith seem to go by in his classification of social groups?
| A．The amount of wealth | B．The amount of money |
| C．The social status | D．The way of getting money |
| A．Officials and employees. | B．Peasants and farmers. |
| C．Doctors and teachers. | D．Tradesmen and landlords. |
| A．They were still the upper class people. |
| B．They were owners of large factories. |
| C．They were intelligent industrialists. |
| D．They were skilled workers who made their fortune. |
| A．They saved a lot of money for their children to receive higher education. |
| B．They tried to find marriage partners from the children of the upper class. |
| C．They made greater fortunes by their wits. |
| D．They worked even harder to acquire social training. |
| A．increased income and decreased taxation |
| B．taxation, social services and educational opportunities |
| C．education, the increase of income and industrial development |
| D．the decrease of the upper class population |
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科目：高中英語 來源： 題型：閱讀理解
I was brought up in the British, stiff upper lip style. Strong feelings aren’t something you display in public. So, you can imagine that I was unprepared for the outpouring of public grief(悲傷) at a Chinese funeral.
My funeral.editorial team leader died recently after a short illness. He was 31. The news was so unexpected that it left us all shocked and upset. A female colleague burst into tears and cried piteously at her desk. Somehow we got through the day's work. The next day was the funeral.
Our big boss stepped forward to deliver a eulogy and was soon in tears. She carried on, in Chinese of course, but at the end said in English: "There will be no more deadlines for you in heaven." Next came a long-term colleague who also dissolved in tears but carried on with her speech despite being almost overcome by emotion. Then a close friend of the dead man paid tribute(哀悼), weeping openly as he spoke. Sorrow is spreading. Me and women were now sobbing uncontrollably. Finally, the man's mother, supported between two women, addressed her son in his coffin. At one point, the mother almost collapsed and had to be held up. We were invited to step forward to each lay a white rose on the casket. Our dead colleague looked as if he was taking a nap. At the end of the service I walked away from the funeral parlor stunned at the outpouring of emotion.
In the UK, families grieve privately and then try to hold it together and not break down at a funeral. Here in China it would seem that grieving is a public affair. It strikes me that it is more cathartic to cry your eyes out than try to keep it bottled up for fear of embarrassment, which is what many of us do in the West.
Afterwards, a Chinese colleague told me that the lamenting at the funeral had been restrained(克制) by Chinese standards. In some rural areas, she said, people used to be paid to mourn noisily. This struck me like something out of novel by Charles Dickens. But we have all seen on TV scenes of grief-stricken people in Gaza and the West Bank, in Afghanistan, Iraq and the relatives of victims of terrorist bombings around the world. Chinese grief is no different. I realized that it's the reserved British way of mourning that is out of step with the rest of the world.
It was our newspaper's production day. We were bussed back to the office to resume work. No more deadlines for our former colleague, but we had to pull together to put the newspaper to print. The boss invited the team to go out for dinner after work. We relaxed, smiled, joked. There was no mention of the funeral or our poor colleague. Enough sorrow had been shed already. We needed a break.
【小題1】The underlined words “stiff upper lip style” in Paragraph 1 mean “________”.
| A．cold-blooded | B．warm-hearted |
| C．light-hearted | D．self-controlled |
| A．five individuals made speeches |
| B．the boss’s speech was best thought of |
| C．the writer was astonished by the scene |
| D．everyone was crying out loudly |
| A．a(chǎn)re not willing to be sad for the dead |
| B．cry their eyes out at the public funeral |
| C．prefer to control their sadness in public |
| D．have better way to express sadness |
| A．Chinese express their sadness quite unlike other peoples |
| B．the English might cry noisily for the dead in Dickens’ time |
| C．victims of terrorist bombings should be greatly honored |
| D．English funeral culture is more civilized than the others |
| A．a(chǎn)n editor’s death | B．bad funeral customs |
| C．cultural differences | D．western ways of grief |
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