2014—2015学年度第一学期期中考试高三英语试题（A）

第I卷

第一部分：单项选择 （每题1分，共10分）

1. In big cities, cleaning workers get ______ by the hour.

A. paying B. to pay C. paid D. pay

2. The settlement is home to nearly 1,000 people, many of left their village homes for a better life in the city.

A．whom B．which C．them D．those

3. The experiment shows that proper amounts of exercise, if regularly, can improve our health.

A．being carried out B．carrying out C．carried out D．to carry out

4. I want to be liked and loved for I am inside.

A. who B. where C. what D. how

5. First impressions are the most lasting. After all, you never get ____ second chance to make first impression.

A. a; the B. the; the C. a; a D. the; a

6. We were caught in _____bad weather that we had to remain in the camp for another two days ?

A. so?????? B. too? C. such ??? D. very

7. With new technology, pictures of underwater valleys can be taken color.

A. by B. for C. with D. in

8. It ___ the first time in a year and a half that we had seen a film together as a family.

A. is B. was C. has been D. will be

9. From their _______ on the top of the TV Tower, visitors can have a better view of the city.

A. stage B. position C. condition D. situation

10. The how to book can be of help to wants to do the job.

A. who B. whomever C. no matter who D. whoever

第二部分：阅读理解 （每题2分，共50分）

第一节 （共20小题; 每小题2分，满分40分）

A

Topping the class academically was certainly an advantage. Studying was a breeze for Nigel. The reward was certainly incomparable to the little effort that he had to put it. It began when he was selected to help the teachers in the computer laboratories.

The peak of his school career came not when he topped the school but when he was selected for the nationwide competition. Unlike everyone else, Nigel wanted to join the contest because he liked playing with the Lego sets and making something out of them. Nigel spent the next two months rebuilding the robot. It was during the time that Nigel found out about the prizes for the competition as well as another competitor, Alicia, from a neighboring school. His early intentions were forgotten. Getting the thousand-dollar prize was more important than anything else. Nigel decided to befriend Alicia. Unaware of his intentions, she told him all about the robot that she had been building for the competition. He even helped her to put the finishing branches to her robot. He was glad with the way things had progressed. His robot looked even better than Alicia’s and it was able to become a ball with its arms, something Alicia had failed to do.

On the day of the competition, he says Alicia. Everything dawned on her the minute she saw him among the competition. She stared at him, puzzled at first, then angry and finally a look of helplessness came over her.

The flashbulbs of the camera exploded in Nigel’s try. The robot bird performed actions so unique and different that the specialist judgments were the same. Nigel was so personal with himself that he did not even notice the girl standing a few feet away from him. Without her, he would never win the competition.

11. What reward did Nigel receive for doing well in his school work?

A. He was offered a part-time job B. He was honored with a scholarship

C. He helped his teacher construct a robot D. He helped in the computer laboratories

12. Nigel’s original intention of joining the contest was to ___

A. be the top student of the school B. being great honor to his school

C. constructs a robot with the Lego sets D. wins the thousand-dollar prize

13. Why did Nigel help Alicia finish her robot?

A. He tried to make friends with her B. He was fond of building robots

C. He intended to help her D. He didn’t want her to suspect him

14. What is the author’s attitude towards Nigel’s actions?

A. He is mildly critical B. He is strongly critical

C. He is in favor of them D. His attitude is not clear

B

Andrew Ritchie, inventor of the Brompton folding bicycle, once said that the perfect portable bike would be “like a magic carpet…You could fold it up and put it into your pocket or handbag”. Then he paused: “But you’ll always be limited by the size of the wheels. And so far no one has invented a folding wheel.”

It was a rare — indeed unique — occasion when I was able to put Ritchie right. A 19th-century inventor, William Henry James Grout, did in fact design a folding wheel. His bike, predictably named the Grout Portable, had a frame that split into two and a larger wheel that could be separated into four pieces. All the bits fitted into Grout’s Wonderful Bag, a leather case.

Grout’s aim: to solve the problems of carrying a bike on a train. Now doesn’t that sound familiar? Grout intended to find a way of making a bike small enough for train travel: his bike was a huge beast. And importantly, the design of early bicycles gave him an advantage: in Grout’s day, tyres were solid, which made the business of splitting a wheel into four separate parts relatively simple. You couldn’t do the same with a wheel fitted with a one-piece inflated（充气的）tyre.

So, in a 21st-century context, is the idea of the folding wheel dead? It is not. A British design engineer, Duncan Fitzsimons, has developed a wheel that can be squashed into something like a slender ellipse（椭圆）. Throughout, the tyre remains inflated.

Will the young Fitzsimons’s folding wheel make it into production? I haven’t the foggiest idea. But his inventiveness shows two things. First, people have been saying for more than a century that bike design has reached its limit, except for gradual advances. It’s as silly a concept now as it was 100 years ago: there’s plenty still to go for. Second, it is in the field of folding bikes that we are seeing the most interesting inventions. You can buy a folding bike for less than ￡1,000 that can be knocked down so small that it can be carried on a plane — minus wheels, of course — as hand baggage.

Folding wheels would make all manner of things possible. Have we yet got the magic carpet of Andrew Ritchie’s imagination? No. But it’s progress.

15. We can infer from Paragraph 1 that the Brompton folding bike .

A. was portable B. had a folding wheel

C. could be put in a pocket D. looked like a magic carpet

16. We can learn from the text that the wheels of the Grout Portable .

A. were difficult to separate B. could be split into 6 pieces

C. were fitted with solid tyres D. were hard to carry on a train

17. We can learn from the text that Fitzsimons’s invention .

A. kept the tyre as a whole piece B. was made into production soon

C. left little room for improvement D. changed our views on bag design

18. Which of the following would be the best title for the text?

A. Three folding bike inventors B. The making of a folding bike

C. Progress in folding bike design D. Ways of separating a bike wheel

C

Too much TV-watching can harm children’s ability to learn and even reduce their chances of getting a college degree, new studies suggest in the latest effort to examine the effects of television on children.

One of the studies looked at nearly 400 northern California third-graders. Those with TVs in their bedrooms scored about eight points lower on math and language arts tests than children without bedroom TVs.

A second study, looking at nearly 1000 grown-ups in New Zealand, found lower education levels among 26-year –olds who had watched lots of TV during childhood. But the results don’t prove that TV is the cause and don't ride out that already poorly motivated youngsters (年轻人）may watch lots of TV.

Their study measured the TV habits of 26-year-olds between ages 5 and 15. These with college degrees had watched an average of less than two hours of TV per week night during childhood, compared with an average of more than 2 1/2 hours for those who had no education beyond high school

In the California study, children with TVs in their rooms but no computer at home scored the lowest while those with no bedroom TV but who had home computers scored the highest

While this study does not prove that bedroom TV sets caused the lower scores, it adds to accumulating firmness that children shouldn't have TVs in their bedrooms

19. According to the Califomia study, the low-scoring group might __________.

A. have watched a lot of TV B. not be interested in math

C. be unable to go to college D. have had computers in their bedrooms

20. What is the researchers' understanding of the New Zealand study results?

A. Poorly motivated 26-year-olds watch more TV.

B. Habits of TV watching reduce learning interest

C. TV watching leads to lower education levels of the 15-year-olds.

D. The connection between TV and education levels is difficult to explain

21. What can we learn from the last two paragraphs?

A. More time should be spent on computers.

B. Children should be forbidden from watching TV.

C. TV sets shouldn't be allowed in children's bedrooms,

D. Further studies on high-achieving students should be done

22. What would be the best title for this text?

A. Computers or Television B. Effects of Television on Children

C. Studies on TV and College Education D. Television and Children's Learning Habits

D

One sixth of undergraduates (本科生) in Beijing this year have registered at a driving school. The students, mostly from majors such as business management or international trade, will finish their driving courses