兰州第一中学2014-2015学年高一上学期期末考试英语试题

本试卷满分100分，考试时间100分钟。交卷时只交答题卡。

第一部分 阅读理解（共两节，满分30分）

第一节（共10小题；每小题2分，满分20分）

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C、D)中，选出最佳选项。

A

Most people buy a lot of gifts just before Christmas. But some people think we buy too much. They have started a special day called Buy Nothing Day. They don’t want anyone to go shopping that day.

Buy Nothing Day is November 29. It’s 25 days before Christmas. It’s after Thanksgiving and often the first day of Christmas shopping. At this time, we see ads in newspapers and on TV telling us to “buy, buy, buy!”

The idea for Buy Nothing Day started in Vancouver, British Columbia. Now people all over the world celebrate Buy Nothing Day. In California, parents and children get together to read stories, sing songs, and paint pictures. The children talk about why they don’t need a lot of toys. This year, in Manchester, England, people dressed up to tell people that we buy too much.

In Albuquerque, New Mexico, high school students wanted to tell other students about Buy Nothing Day. They organized a spaghetti dinner to give people information about Buy Nothing Day. They asked restaurants in the neighborhood to donate the food. They made posters and talked to other students about it. The dinner was a big success, and many students agreed not to buy anything on November 29. The students at high school liked the idea of this new tradition. Next year, they want to have another dinner to tell more people about Buy Nothing Day!

1. Which of the following is NOT the day for people to celebrate Buy Nothing Day?

A. The first day after Christmas. B. 25 days before Christmas.

C. After Thanksgiving. D.November 29

2. When do people usually do shopping?

A. Before Thanksgiving. B. On Christmas.

C. Anytime. D. Before Christmas.

3. How do people celebrate Buy Nothing Day?

A. In California, parents and children get together to play games.

B. In England, people celebrated by performing plays.

C. They bought nothing and made the others decide not to.

D. In Mexico, high school students dressed up.

B

The iPhone, the iPad each of Apple’s products sounds cool and has become a fad(一时的风尚). Apple has cleverly taken advantage of the power of the letter “i” –-- and many other brands are following suit. The BBC’s iPlayer --- which allows Web users to watch TV programs on the Internet ---used the title in 2008. A lovely bear --- popular in the US and UK --- that plays music and video is called “iTeddy”. A slimmed-down version(简装本) of London’s Independent newspaper was started last week under the name “i”.

In general, single-letter prefixes(前缀) have been popular since the 1990s, when terms such as e-mail and e-commerce(电子商务) first came into use.

Most “i” products are targeted at （针对）young people and considering the major readers of Independent’s “i”, it’s no surprise that they’ve selected this fashionable name.

But it’s hard to see what’s so special about the letter “i”. Why not use “a”, “b”, or “c” instead? According to Tony Thorne, head of the Language Center at King’s College, London, “i” works because its meaning has become ambiguous. When Apple uses “i”, no one knows whether it means Internet, information, individual or interactive, Thorne told BBC Magazines. “Even when Apple created the iPod, it seems it didn’t have one clear definition（定义）,” he says.

“However, thanks to Apple, the term is now connected with portability (轻便) .”adds Thorne.

Clearly the letter “i” also agrees with the idea that the Western World is centered on the individual. Each person believes they have their own needs, and we love personalized products for this reason.

Along with “Google” and “blog”, readers of BBC Magazines voted “i” as one of the top 20 words that have come to define the last decade(十年).

But as history shows, people grow tired of fads. From the 1900s to 1990s, products with “2000” in their names became fashionable as the year was connected with all things advanced and modern. However, as we entered the new century, the fashion disappeared.

4. People use iPlayer to __________.

A. listen to music B. make a call C. watch TV programs online D.read newspapers

5. We can infer that the Independent’s “i” is designed for _________.

A. young readers B. old readers C. fashionable women D. engineers

6. The underlined word “ambiguous” means “__________”.

A. popular B. uncertain C. clear D. unique

7. Nowadays, the “i” term often reminds people of the products which are __________.

A. portable B. environmentally friendly C. advanced D. recyclable

8. The writer suggests that __________.

A. “i” products are often of high quality B. iTeddy is alive bear

C. the letter “b” replaces letter “i” to name the products

D. the popularity of “i” products may not last long

C

Next Stop Planet Mars

Fly me to the moon? That’s not far enough. On September 14,2011, NASA released designs for a super rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS). This time the final destination will be Mars.

The SLS is a huge, liquid – fuelled rocket. If it is fully developed, it will be the most powerful rocket ever built. Its lift capability will be much bigger than that of the space shuttle of Saturn 5, the rocket that sent the Apollo missions to the moon.

NASA is planning to launch its first unmanned test flight in 2017. It is hoped that the first crew will fly in 2021 and astronauts will make it to a nearby asteroid (小行星) in 2025. NASA hopes to send the rocket and astronauts to Mars from the asteroid by the 2030s, according to the Associated Press (AP).

NASA used liquid rockets to send Apollo, Gemini and Mercury into space, but later changed to solid rockets boosters (助推火箭) because they were cheaper. Tragically, however, a booster flaw (缺陷) caused the space shuttle Challenger to crash in 1986. The new project plans to return to liquid fuel.

According to AP, the rockets will at first be able to carry 77 to 110 tons of payload (净载重量). Eventually they will be able to carry 143 tons into space, maybe even as many as 165 tons, NASA officials said. By comparison, the Saturn 5 booster could lift 130 tons and the space shuttle just 27 tons.

However, unlike reusable shuttles, these powerful rockets are mostly one use only. New ones have to be built for every launch. This will be very costly.

NASA estimates that it will cost about $3 billion (19 billion yuan) per year, or $ 18 billion until the first test flight in 2017. NASA hopes to make money by allowing private companies to send astronauts to the International Space Station like giant taxi services, so that the program can be “sustainable”.

“This is perhaps the biggest thing for space exploration in decades,” said Senator Bill Nelson, a former astronaut. “The goal is to fly humans safely beyond low – Earth orbit (轨道) and deep into outer space where we cannot only survive, but one day also live environmentally friendly”

9. According to NASA’s schedule, it will take years to fully complete the SLS program.

A. about 6 B. about 10 C. less than 14 D. more than 19

10. It can be inferred from the passage that .

A. the SLS program is planning to make reusable rockets

B. the goal of the SLS program is to enable humans to live on the moon

C. the US government may not have provided enough money for the SLS program

D. NASA will use SLS as a space taxi between the Earth and Mars.

第二节 (共5 小题，每小题2 分，满分10分)

根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。

People around the world used their computers to buy goods，communicate with others，listen to music，see pictures and learn about different places and ideas．In 2006，more people around the world used new ways to communicate and connect with each other through the Internet．

11 Blog is a short way of saying Web log．Through these personal websites，people can share their experiences，ideas and opinions with anyone on the Internet．

People of all ages have their own blogs．For young people，they are a way to show their writings and other forms of self-expression．

12 These sites include “MySpace”，used mainly by teenagers and young adults． MySpace is an online community that lets people share message and pictures with an increasing number of friends． 13

YouTube is another Internet site that became more popular this year．This website lets anyone create，share and watch short videos．People can watch almost anything on YouTube：news，sports and entertainment events． 14 These include videos of people singing or dancing，or animals doing funny things．Three young men created YouTube almost two years ago as a personal video sharing service．They recently sold it to Google for more than one half billion dollars．

Games and entertainment also became a larger part of the Internet this year．One Internet social site is called Second Life． 15 They get married，build homes，operate businesses，buy and sell goods，work，play and attend school．

A. The blog is one form of communication that enjoys growing popularity．

B. People of all ages use computers to express themselves．

C. It is an online world in which computer users create a new self and live a different life．

D. Many Websites offer free services to create personal Web pages and fill them with writing site on the web.

E. There are music videos，and videos made by people in their own homes．

F. More and more people are buying computers because of the lower price．

G. It is the most popular social networking site on the web．

第二部分 英语知识及应用 （共三节，满分45分）

第一节 完形填空（共20小题，每小题1分，满分20分），

阅读下面的短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项，并填在答题卡上。

I take the train to work every morning from a train station near my house. I can get to the station quite 16 because there is a short cut(捷径)to the station. But in the summer, it can get quite smelly because of all the 17 . So I always try to 18 through i