第一次月考英语试题【新课标Ⅰ版】

第一部分 阅读理解（共两节，满分60分）

第一节 (共15小题；每小题3分，满分45分)

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中,选出最佳选项。并在答题卡上将该选项涂黑．

A

My brother-in-law opened the bottom drawer of my sister's bureau(衣橱) and picked out a wonderful skirt. "Jan bought this the first time we went to New York, at least 8 or 9 years ago. She never wore it. She was saving it for a special occasion.” Well, I guess this is the occasion.

He took the skirt from me and put it on the bed. His hands touched the soft material for a moment, then he shut the drawer and turned to me, "Don't ever save anything for a special occasion. Every day you're alive is a special occasion."

I'm still thinking about his words, and they've changed my attitude to life. I'm spending more time with my family and friends and less time in committee meetings. Whenever possible, life should be a pattern of experience to enjoy, not suffer. I'm trying to recognize these moments now and treasure them.

"Someday" and "one of these days" are being lost from my vocabulary. If it's worth seeing or hearing or doing, I want to see and hear and do it now. I' m not sure what my sister would have done if she had known she wouldn't have tomorrow .

I think she would have called family members and a few close friends. She might have called a few former friends to apologize and mend her fences for past things. I like to think she would have gone out for a Chinese dinner, her favorite food.

If I knew that my hours were limited ,those little things left undone would make me angry. Angry because I put off seeing good friends whom I was going to get in touch with some day. Angry and sorry because I didn't tell my husband and daughter often enough how much I truly love them.

I'm trying very hard not to put off, hold back, or save anything that would add laughter to our lives. And every morning when I open my eyes, I tell myself that every day, every minute, every breath truly, is... a gift from God.

1. The best title for the passage would be______.

A. Every day is A Gift B. My Poor Sister

C. Value Friendship Every Day D. Every day is An Important Occasion

2. Jan bought the wonderful skirt but didn't wear it because______.

A. she wanted to wear it on special occasions

B. she kept it as a special gift for someone else

C. she saved it until she grew older

D. she wanted to keep it as a sweet memory

3. Which of the following is not the writer’s attitude to life?

A. spending more time staying with family

B. attending social activities as often as possible

C. enjoying life and valuing every day

D. trying to get along well with friends

4.Which of the following can best explain the expression underlined “mend her fences for past things” in Paragraph 5?

A. try to be friendly again with someone

B. break her word

C. give up her point of view

D. keep her promise

B

There are many superstitions(迷信) in Britain, but one of the most widely-held is that it is unlucky to walk under a ladder - even if it means stepping off the pavement into a busy street!

①Walking under a ladder

If you must walk under a ladder you can avoid bad luck by crossing your fingers and keeping them crossed until you’ve seen a dog. Alternatively, you must lick your finger and make a cross on the toe of your shoe, and not look again at the shoe until the mark has dried.

② Umbrella

Another common superstition is that it is unlucky to open an umbrella in the house - it will either bring misfortune to the person that opened it or to the household. The superstition could date from the old time when its purpose was to act as a sunshade. If opened indoors, it might be considered to be an attack on the sun. Anyone opening an umbrella indoors in fine weather is unpopular, as it inevitably brings rain!

③ Number 13

The number 13 is said to be unlucky for some, and when the 13th day of the month falls on a Friday, anyone wishing to avoid an inauspicious event had better stay indoors.

④ Seven years bad luck

The worst misfortune that can befall you is caused by breaking a mirror, as it brings seven years of bad luck! The superstition is supposed to have originated in ancient times, when mirrors were considered to be tools of the gods.

⑤ Black cat

In the UK, Black cats are generally considered lucky in the UK, even though they are connected with witchcraft(巫术). You are said to be lucky if a black cat crosses your path.

5. Which experience is considered to be lucky according to the passage?

A. Walking under a ladder B. opening an umbrella in the house

C. breaking a mirror D. a black cat crossing your path.

6. Which of the followings is RIGHT in U.K according to the passage?

A. Opening an umbrella in the rain is not acceptable or unpopular

B. Black cats are generally considered unlucky because they have something to with witchcraft.

C. Bad luck brought by walking under a ladder cannot be avoided using certain ways

D. If you are to open a clothes store on May 13 in Britain, you had better change the date.

7. Which two superstitions are related to history?

A. ①② B.②④ C ④⑤ D. ③④

8. It can be inferred from the passage that_________.

A. breaking a mirror will cause bad luck because it shows your disrespect (不敬) for the God.

B. crossing your fingers and keeping them crossed can help avoid bad luck brought by walking under a ladder

C. number 13 is always unlucky in any situation

D. opening indoors it might be considered to be an attack on the sun.

C

Reading poems is not exactly an everyday activity for most people. In fact, many people never read a poem once they get out of high school.

It is worth reminding ourselves that this has not always been the case in America. In the nineteenth century, a usual American activity was to sit around the fireside in the evening and read poems aloud. It is true that there was no television at the time, nor movie theaters, nor World Wide Web, to provide diversion. However, poems were a source of pleasure, of self-education, of connection to other people or to the world beyond one’s own community. Reading them was a social act as well as an individual one, and perhaps even more social than individual. Writing poems to share with friends and relations was, like reading poems by the fireside, another way in which poetry has a place in everyday life.

How did things change? Why are most Americans no longer comfortable with poetry, and why do most people today think that a poem has nothing to tell them and that they can do well without poems?

There are, I believe, three culprits(肇事者)：poets, teachers, and we ourselves. Of these, the least important is the third: the world surrounding the poem has betrayed us more than we have betrayed the poem. Early in the twentieth century, poetry in English headed into directions unfavorable to the reading of poetry. Readers decided that poems were not for the fireside or the easy chair at night, that they belonged where other difficult-to-read things belonged.

Poets failed the reader, so did teachers. They want their students to know something about the skills of a poem, they want their students to see that poems mean something. Yet what usually occurs when teachers push these concerns on their high school students is that young people decide poems are unpleasant crossword puzzles.

9. Reading poems is thought to be a social act in the nineteenth century because ______________.

A. it built a link among people B. it helped unite a community

C. it was a source of self-education D. it was a source of pleasure

10. The underlined word “diversion”(in Paragraph 2) most probably means “_________”.

A. concentration B. change C. amusements D. stories

11. According to the passage, what is the main cause of the great gap between readers and poetry?

A. Students are becoming less interested in poetry.

B. Students are poorly educated in high school.

C. TV and the Internet are more attractive than poetry.

D. Poems have become difficult to understand.

12. In the last paragraph, the writer questions ____________.

A. the difficulty in studying poems B. the way poems are taught in school

C. students’ wrong ideas about poetry D. the techniques used in writing poems

D

How can a creature weighing over 5 tons and normally taking 150 kilograms of food and 120 liters of water per day survive in a desert environment?

In the southwest African country of Namibia, and the Sahara lands of Mali further north, the desert elephant does just that.

Although not regarded as a separate species from the African elephant, the desert cousin differs in many ways. Their bodies are smaller, to absorb less heat, and their feet are larger for easier walking across sandy surfaces, They are taller, to reach higher branches. They have shorter tusks（象牙）, and most importantly, longer trunks to dig for water in riverbeds.

Desert elephants can travel over 70 kilometers in search for feeding grounds and waterholes, and have a larger group of families. They drink only every 3 –4 days, and can store water in a “bag” at the back of their throat, which is only used when badly needed. Desert elephants are careful feeders – they seldom root up trees and break fewer branches, and thus maintain what little food sources are available. Young elephants may even eat the dung（粪便）of the female leader of a group when facing food shortage.

During drought they are unlikely to give birth to their young but with good rains the birthrate will increase greatly. Desert elephants have sand baths, sometimes adding their own urine（尿液）to make them muddy!

As we continue to overheat our weak planet, it can only be hoped that other animal species will adapt as extraordinarily well to change as the desert elephant.

13．The underlined part in Paragraph 2 means “ ”.

A．remains in the African countries

B．drinks 120 liters of water a day

C．manages to live in desert areas

D．eats 150 kilograms of food daily

14．Desert elephants are called careful feeders because they _________.

A．rarely ruin trees

B．drink onl