河南省周口市扶沟县高级中学2014-2015学年高二上学期开学考试

英语试题

第I卷

第二部分： 阅读理解 （共两节， 满分40分）

A

Read a lot, I mean a lot! You have to increase your ability for reading. Many students are in the habit of reading only when their exams are approaching while some others read only what they are taught or things that must be read because it is in their curriculum. But listen to me now, I am telling you from my own experience that it is a very bad habit and it is not enough to improve your intelligence.

You have to learn and get ready to become versatile in your reading. The fact that you are studying medicine in school does not mean that you should not know one or two things on politics.

Many people have complained to me that they find it hard to read stuffs like novels but I just shake my head in pity for them because it is obvious they have failed to realize the truth in that wise saying by Margaret Fuller that “today a READER, tomorrow a LEADER!”

When you read, you get to “see” so many places and it will be as if you have visited those places in real life. This is because reading will improve your imagination and creativity and understanding. You also get experience from learning about how people dealt with their various problems thereby saving you from going through the pains and difficulties they must have gone through!

Reading will also help you in improving your vocabulary because you will certainly start coming across so many new words which you will try as much as possible to get accustomed to with the help of the dictionary! The good thing about increasing your vocabulary is that it will also improve your thinking ability. After all, we think in words and the more words you know, the easier it will become for you to express yourself or your thoughts.

And when you read, make sure you read so wide because the more you read, the more you know and the more you know the more intelligent you can become.

21. According to the author, what should students do in terms of reading?A. They needn’ t read unless the exams come.B. They should read books about intelligence.C. They must read about politics when their major is medicine.D. They should read as wide as possible.

22. The underlined word “versatile” in Paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to _____.A. interested B. many-sided C. content D. confident

23. What is the best title for the passage?A. Increase your ability for reading B. Read wide and improve your vocabularyC. Reading improves your intelligence D. Reading makes you a leader tomorrow

24. What is the benefit of knowing more words?A. You will get used to referring to the dictionary when meeting with new words.B. You will have less difficulty expressing your opinions.C. Vocabulary will improve your creativity.D. You can pass your exams with ease.

B

Every day we are adding more and more vacation ideas, destinations, tours, and articles. As you explore our website，you will find there is an ever-growing collection of things that will help make your vacation easier and more affordable．

We change our featured destinations very frequently so be sure to keep coming back to see what new ideas we have for your family vacation．We feature a different state，park, and city destination on the front page of the website．These change frequently, so be sure to sign up for our newsletter so you can be sure to keep up with all the new information．

Another great feature we are offering is Guest Articles．These may come from a travel professional，author, parent or child about their travel ideas or offers．These informative articles are great to read and are perfect for discovering valuable tips and tricks for the travel less stressful．Plus，in many articles you will discover some hidden gems(珍品)that you probably miss if you did not know about them．

One of the best things about our website is our ability to get you discounted Tours and Attraction Passes to the places you want to go most．This is a fantastic way to plan ahead and have your tours and passes paid for and pick them up before you leave your home．Now that is a helpful way to go．These programs can save you over 50％of what you could expect to pay when you arrive．And，we are adding new tours and programs every week．Be sure to check it out．

You can be sure we are working hard for you so that you can relax on your vacation. Let us do all the leg work for you so you can simply enjoy your family vacation!

25. Which of the following shows the organization of the text?(P=Paragraph)

26．What does the writer want to do by writing this text?

A．To give people tips on family vacations B．To offer travelers featured destinations．

C．To attract readers to surf a tourist website D．To introduce hidden gems for traveling．

27．What can we learn from Guest Articles?

A．steps to sign up for the family vacation website．

B．Tips on keeping up with new travel information．

C．Tips and tricks for a comfortable trip.

D．Tricks for enjoying a free family vacation．

28．Which isn’t the benefit that the website brings to us?

A．We can get discounted Tours and Attraction Passes

B．We can get some information of new tours and programs

C．We can have our Passes in hand when starting off．

D．We can enjoy a family vacation with leg work．

C

Pilling a cat can be a 'terrible” experience. Cats don’t want something pushed down their throats, and they’ll fight with all their strength to prevent it. In fact, it’s amazing how powerful their small bodies can be.

The easiest way of pilling a cat is to press the pill into powder. Then mix the powder with a small amount of wet food. If your cat usually eats dry food, she will probably view the wet food as a treat and eat it up.

If your cat won’t eat the wet food that contains the pill or if she is too ill to eat, you can get a “pill gun”. There are some basic instructions. Getting your cat’s mouth to open is going to be the most difficult part. First, be sure the pill is in a handy place. Then you can put your cat on a bookshelf with her bottom in a corner or you can put her on your lap firmly tied. Have your cat facing to the right if you’re right-handed. With your left hand, hold your cat at the cheekbones, putting your palm (手掌) at the top of her head. Keeping your finger off the trigger (扳机), with your right hand, insert the pill gun until the pill is positioned over the tongue and open throat. Be sure to give your cat a treat directly after giving the pill.

If you don’t feel comfortable using a pill gun, you can try giving the pill by hand. Push your cat’s head backwards just far enough so that her nose is pointing towards the ceiling. At this point, most cats will slightly open their mouths. With the little finger or ring finger of the hand holding the pill, open the bottom jaw a little more. You may need to hold her top jaw with your other hand while doing this. Aim straight and lightly throw the pill or drop it. Most cats will then swallow the pill.

29. Pilling a cat can be a terrible experience because cats ______.

A. are amazingly powerful and dangerous B. may fight with all their strength against pills

C. refuse something pressed down their throats D. are difficult to treat once they’ve got ill

30. Which of the following statements is true according to the second paragraph?

A. Wet food with medicine is usually a treat to cats.

B. Cats used to dry food must reject wet food.

C. The easiest pilling is to press the pill into powder.

D. Cats are most likely interested in something new.

31. Using a “pill gun”, you had better hold your cat ______ if you’re left-handed.

A. facing to the right B. with your right hand

C. at the head D. on your lap firmly

32. A cat probably opens its mouth naturally when ______.

A. its nose is straight upwards B. it is touched by fingers

C. its head is turning around D. it is served with its favorite pills

D

What will power your house in the future？Nuclear，wind，or solar power？According to scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the US，it might be leaves — but artificial (人造的) ones.

Natural leaves are able to change sunlight and water into energy. It is known as photosynthesis (光合作用)．Now researchers have found a way to imitate this seemingly simple process.

The artificial leaf developed by Daniel Nocera and his colleagues at MIT can be seen as a special silicon chip with catalysts (催化剂)．Similar to natural leaves，it can split water into hydrogen and oxygen when put into a bucket of water. The hydrogen and oxygen gases are then stored in a fuel cell，which uses those two materials to produce electricity，located either on top of a house or beside the house.

Though the leaf is only about the shape of a poker card，scientists claimed that it is promising to be an inexpensive source of electricity in developing countries. “One can imagine villages in India and Africa not long from now purchasing an affordable basic power system based on this technology,” said Nocera at a conference of the American Chemical Society.

The artificial leaf is not a new idea. The first artificial leaf was invented in 1997 but was too expensive and unstable for practical use. The new leaf，by contrast，is made of cheap materials，easy to use and highly stable. In laboratory studies，Nocera showed that an artificial leaf prototype (原型) could operate continuously for at least 45 hours without a drop in activity.

The wonderful improvements come from Nocera's recent discovery of several powerful，new and inexpensive catalysts. These catalysts make the energy transformati