绝密★启用前

临江一中2013-2014学年度下学期期中考试

高二英语题

考试时间：120分钟；总分150 分

注意事项：

1．考生务必在答题前在答题卡上填写好自己的姓名、班级、考号等信息

2．请将答案正确填写在答题卡上

第I卷（选择题）

将答案填写到答题卡上

一、听力

（共5小题；每小题1.5分，满分7.5分）

听下面5段对话。每段对话后有一个小题，从题中所给的A.B.C三个选项中选出最佳选项，并标在试卷的相应位置。听完每段对话后，你将有10秒钟的时间来回答有关小题和阅读下一小题。每段对话仅读一遍。

Where was the man when the woman called him?

A. At home. B. In the company. C. On the road.

What does the woman suggest the man do?

Put the bike aside.

Ask for others’ instruction.

Follow the instructions.

How did the man earn pocket-money as a child?

By car. B. By bus. C. By bike.

How will the man go to the beach?

By car. B. By bus. C. By bike.

What would the woman prefer to do?

Stay at home.

Go to the concert.

Go dancing.

（共15题；每小题1.5分，满分22.5分）

听下面5段对话或独白。每段对话或独白后有几个小题，从题中所给的A.B.C.三个选项中选出最佳选项，并标在试卷的相应位置。听每段对话或独白前，你将有时间阅读各个小题，每小题五秒钟；听完后，各个小题将给出5秒钟的作答时间。每段对话或独白读两遍。

听第6段材料，回答第6至8题。

What is the woman interested in?

News. B.Sports. C.Entertainment.

What is the woman looking for now?

A good job. B. A good school. C. Some famous stars.

听第7材料，回答第8至9题。

How did the man go to work three years ago?

By car. B. By train. C. By bus.

Why did the man move out of New York?

He changed his job. B. New York is too crowded.

He becomes the manager of a company.

听第8段材料，回答第10至12题。

What does the woman ask the man to do?

Go to the lecture.

Have dinner with her family.

Go to the bank together.

How long will the lecture last?

Two hours. B. Three hours.

Two and a half hours.

Where is the woman’s house?

Next to the bank. B. Behind the bank.

Right at the second crossing.

听第9段材料，回答第13至16题

How long did the man wait for the woman?

Nearly two hours. B. More than two hours.

Almost an hour.

What did the woman first do on her way home?

Met her former classmate. B. Went shopping.

Attended a French lecture.

For what did Norman go to France?

To go sight-seeing. B.To learn French.

On business.

Which of the following is mentioned in the dialogue?

Norman did a good job.

Norman traveled a lot in France.

The woman speaks good French.

听第10段材料，回答第17至20题。

How high is the Eiffel Tower?

A. 1,500 meters. B. 1,930 meters. C. 1,050 meters.

What is the tower made of?

Copper. B. Iron. C. Stone.

How can visitors get to the top of the tower?

Taking elevators. B. Taking stairs. C. Taking ladders

What can visitors enjoy on the top of the tower?

A. Landmarks . B. Beautiful views. C. souvenirs.

阅读理解

第一节

A

For many students in the UK today, deciding whether or not to go to university can be as much about affordability as it is about ambition and aspiration.

In the past, students in the UK could apply to a university or college. They were sure that even if they came from a low income family, their tuition fees and some of their living (or maintenance) costs would be covered by a local authority grant(拨款). A university education was, in a financial sense, open to all and the number of students attending university grew yearly.

Sadly, it seems, those days are long gone. The turning point came in 1998, when the Labour Government introduced tuition fees of ￡1,000 a year and, instead of giving students a maintenance grant, asked them to cover their own living expenses with a repayable student loan. Only students on the lowest incomes were entitled to a grant.

The flood gates had been opened. As time passed, the ceiling on tuition fees rose, and although applicants from Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales still qualified for varying levels of subsidy(补贴), by 2009/10 students in England often found themselves facing tuition fees over￡3,000 a year.

In 2011 the Government announced that, from 2012, universities could charge fees of up to ￡9,000 a year. Although the Government sweetened the pill by stating that postgraduates did not have to begin repaying their student loans until they were earning more than ￡21,000 a year, the news created over-dissatisfaction. Many students argued that it was unfair that students should have to begin their work life loaded with huge debt, while others complained that the changes would bring back a class divide to university education. These views were reflected in the number of students applying for a university place, which by January 2012 fell by more than 22,000. The Universities Minister, David Willetts, stood by the decision to increase tuition fees, saying that they would not “put universities’ finance on a bearable footing” and that they would accelerate “a stronger focus on high quality teaching.”

21．From the first paragraph, we can infer that _____ in attending university.

A. affordability plays more important roles than ambition and aspiration

B. ambition and aspiration are more important than affordability

C. affordability is as important as ambition and aspiration

D. ambition and aspiration make a greater difference

2．We can put the sentence “But the biggest change was still to come” at the beginning of Paragraph _____.

A. 2 B. 3 C. 4 D. 5

23．The underlined part “sweetened the pill” in the last paragraph possibly means_____.

A. made a sweet pill B. made the change appear good

C. increased the pill D. reduced the pill

24．The writer _____ the change about university education fees.

A. is in favor of B. is opposed to

C. takes no notice of D. is neither for nor against

B

Italy is one country where beauty is prized more than any other virtue. That is, except in the small town of Piobbico, the self-declared World Capital of Ugly People. The road sign at the edge of the town even warns visitors that they are entering the ugly zone. People who consider themselves ugly have been gathering in Piobbico since the 1960s. That’s when Ugly Club president Telesforo Lacobelli established a dating agency for women who believed they were too ugly to attract husbands. Lacobelli believes that he is ugly himself because he has a short nose in a country where long or large noses have always been considered beautiful.

People from around the world travel to Piobbico to tell their sad stories of ugliness. During the annual Festival of the Ugly, which occurs on the first Sunday of every September, hundreds of people gather in Piobbico’s town square to elect the president of the Ugly Club. Lacobelli wins the election every year. The Ugly Club has over 20, 000 members. They carry ID cards that grade their ugliness from bearable to extreme. A prize is awarded to Ugly Club members who qualify as extremely ugly.

The Ugly Club president insists that ugliness is a virtue. Since beautiful people get a lot of attention for their beauty alone, they have to work hard to prove their other virtues. Ugly people, on the other hand, are genuine and do not have to prove anything to anybody, according to Lacobelli.

Lacobelli is a spokesperson for ugly people everywhere. He believes that the uglier one is, the better life can be. Though the club enjoys making fun of beauty, especially beauty contests, Lacobelli has a serious side as well. He believes that too many people suffer from financial and emotional pressures because they don’t meet society’s standards of beauty. The fact that beautiful people are more successful in the workforce is a problem that Lacobelli has attempted to bring forward to the Italian public and government.

25．Piobbico is rather special in that .

A. it is a very small town B. it is home to ugly people

C. it receives no visitors D. it is the capital of Italy

26．Why is Lacobelli elected the president of the Ugly Club every year?

A. Because he is the ugliest person in the whole world.

B. Because his ugliness is always graded as bearable.

C. Because he is a spokesperson for ugly people everywhere.

D. Because he has won the members’ trust and admiration.

27．Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A. Ugly people are most respected in Italy.

B. The Festival of the Ugly is held every two years.

C. Ugly people are unfairly treated in society.

D. The uglier one is, the better life he or she lives.

28．Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?

A. The Ugly Capital of the World

B. The Ugliest Person of the World

C. Festival of the Ugly

D. Beauty Contests Should be Banned

C

Brenda Bongos was a happy, artistic girl. She had one big dream—to play the drums in a band. But one big problem lay in her way. To be good enough to play in a band, Brenda had to practice a lot, but she lived next-door to a lot of old people. Many of them are sick. She knew that the sound of beating drums would really get on their nerves. So, she had tried playing in the strangest places: a basement, a kitchen, and even in a shower. But there was always someone it would annoy.

One day, while watching a science documentary on TV, she heard that sound cannot travel in space, because there's no air. At that moment, Brenda Bongos decided to become a sort of musical astronaut.

With the help of a lot of time, books and work, Brenda built a space bubble. This was a big glass ball connected to a machine which sucked out all the air inside. All that would be left inside was a drum kit（成套设备） and a chair. Brenda got into the space suit she had made, entered the bubble, turned on the machine, and played those drums like a wild child.

It wasn't long before Brenda Bongos came very famous. Many people came to see her play in her space bubble. Shortly afterwards she came out of the bubble and started giving concerts. Her fame spread so much that the government suggested that she be part of a unique space journey. Finally, Brenda was a real musical astronaut, and had gone far beyond her first ambition of playing drums in a band.

Years later, when asked how she had achi