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　　英语答题卡.doc

　　英语试题.doc

山西大学附中

2015---2016学年高三第一学期（9月）月考

英语试题

考试时间：100分钟 满分：100分

注意：本考试严禁使用手机、电子词典或其它电子存储设备，违者按作弊处理。

第Ⅰ卷（选择题 共100分）

：阅读理解（共15小题；每小题2分，满分30分）阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

A

What’s on Your Pet’s Mind?

In 1977, Irene Pepperberg of Harvard University began studying what was on another creature’s mind by talking to it. Her first experiments began with Alex. Alex was a one-year-old African grey parrot and Irene taught him to produce the sounds of the English language. “I thought if he learned to communicate, I could ask him questions about how he sees the world.”

At the time, most scientists didn’t believe animals had any thoughts. They thought animals were more like robots but didn’t have the ability to think or feel. Of course, if you own a pet you probably disagree. But it is the job of a scientist to prove this and nowadays more scientists accept that animals can think for themselves.

“That’s why I started my studies with Alex,” Irene said, “Some people actually called me crazy for trying this.”

Nowadays, we have more and more evidence that animals have all sorts of mental abilities. Sheep can recognize faces. Chimpanzees (黑猩猩) use a variety of tools and even use weapons to hunt. And Alex the parrot became a very good talker.

Thirty years after the Alex studies began, Irene was still giving him English lessons up until his recent death. For example, if Alex was hungry he could say “want grape”. Alex could count to six and was learning the sounds for seven and eight. “He has to hear the words over and over before he can correctly say them.” Irene said, after pronouncing “seven” for Alex a few times in a row. Alex could also tell the difference between colors, shapes, sizes, and materials (e.g. wood and metal). Before he finally died, Alex managed to say “seven”.

Another famous pet that proved some animals have greater mental skills was a dog called Rico. He appeared on a German TV game show in 2011. Rico knew the names of 200 different toys and easily learned the names of new ones. When Rico became famous, many other dog owners wanted to show how clever their pets were. Another dog called Betsy could understand 300 words.

One theory for dogs’ ability to learn a language is that they have been close companions to humans for many centuries and so their ability to understand us is constantly evolving. While animals can’t do what humans do yet, some scientists believe that examples like Alex and Rico prove that evolution develops intelligence, as well as physical appearance.

1. Irene wanted to find out __________.

A. what a parrot thinks B. why a parrot can speak

C. how parrots make sounds D. if parrots speak English

2. Alex learnt new words by __________.

A. singing them B. reading them C. writing them D. rehearing them

3. The article concludes that ___________.

A. our pets understand what we say

B. dogs may speak to humans one day

C. humans are related to chimpanzees

D. mental ability can evolve in animals

B

As we grow old, we realize that we have so little time to read and there are so many great books that we’ve yet to get around to. Ye re-readers are everywhere around us. For certain fans, re-reading The Lord of the Rings is a conventional practice annually. One friend told me that Jane Austen’s Emma can still surprise him, despite his having read it over 50 times.

New sudden clear understandings can be gained from the process of re-reading. Journalist Rebacca Mead, a long-time Englishwoman in New York, first came across George Eliot’s Middlemarch at 17. Since then, she has read it again every five years. With each re-reading, it has opened up further; in each chapter of her life, it has resonated (引起共鸣) differently. Mead evidenced the large number of ways in which really good books not only stand the test of repeat reads, but also offer fresh gifts each time we crack their spines. These kinds of books grow with us.

Scientists have also recognized the mental health benefits of re-reading. Research conducted with readers in the US found that on our first reading, we are concerned with the “what” and the “why”. Second time round, we’re able to better appreciate the emotions that the plot continues to express. As researcher Cristel Russell of the American University explained, returning to a book “brings new or renewed appreciation of both the great book and its readers.”

It’s true that we often find former selves on the pages of old books (if we’re fond of making notes on the pages). These texts can carry us back to a time and place, and remind us of the kind of person that we were then. We’re changed not only by lived experience but also by read experience – by the books that we’ve discovered since last reading the one in our hand.

More so than the movie director or the musician, the writer calls upon our imaginations, using words to lead us to picture this declaration of love or that unfaithfulness in life. A book is a joint project between writers and readers, and we must pour so much of ourselves into reading that our own life story can become connected with the story in the book.

Perhaps what’s really strange is that we don’t re-read more often. After all, we watch our favourite films again and we wouldn’t think of listening to an album only once. We treasure messy old paintings as objects, yet of all art forms, literature alone is a largely one-time delight. A book, of course, takes up more time, but as Mead confirms, the rewards make it adequately worthwhile.

4. The underlined expression “crack their spines” in Paragraph 2 refers to ________.

A. recite them B. re-read them C. recall them D. retell them

5. It can be learned from the passage that __________.

A. reading benefits people both mentally and physically

B. readers mainly focus on feelings on their first reading

C. we know ourselves better through re-reading experience

D. writers inspire the same imaginations as film directors do

6. The purpose of the passage is to __________.

A. call on different understandings of old books

B. focus on the mental health benefits of reading

C. bring awareness to the significance of re-reading

D. introduce the effective ways of re-reading old books

C

You may have heard of the man who decided to repair the roof of his house. To be safe, he tied a rope around his waist and threw the other end of it over the top of the house. He asked his son to tie it to something secure. The boy fastened the safety rope to the bumper of their car parked in the driveway. It seemed like a good idea at the time. But a little while later, his wife, unaware of the rope securing her husband, she started the car and drove away. Imagine what the result would be.

This story, factual or not, points to a great truth. It is a truth about where we place our security; about those things to which we’ve tied our safety lines. What is your rope tied to? Think about it. What do you depend on to keep you from disaster? Is your rope tied to a good job? Is it tied to a relationship with somebody you rely on? Is it tied to a company or an organization?

Writer Susan Taylor tells of discovering how unreliable some of our safety lines really are. She tells of lying in bed in the early hours of the morning when an earthquake struck. As her house shook, she fell out of bed and managed to go to the doorway, watching in horror as her whole house cracked down around her. Where her bed had once stood, she later discovered nothing but a pile of bricks. She lost everything — every button, every dish, her automobile, every article of clothing. Susan trembled, scared and crying, in the darkness. In the early morning she cried and called out for help.

Thoroughly exhausted, she thought that maybe she should be listening for rescuers instead of crying. So she grew still and listened. In the silence around her, the only sound she heard was the beating of her own heart. It occurred to her then that at least she was still alive and, amazingly enough, unhurt.

She thought about her situation. In the stillness, fear abandoned her and a feeling of indescribable peace and happiness flooded in, the likes of which she had never before known. It was an experience that was to change her life forever.

In the deepest part of her being, Susan realized a remarkable truth. She realized she had nothing to fear. Amazingly, whether or not she was ever rescued , whether she ever made it out alive, she sensed she had nothing to fear.

For the first time in her life she understood that her true security did not depend on those things in which she had placed her trust. It lay deep within. And also for the first time, she knew what it was to be content in all circumstances. She realized that whether she had plenty or hardly enough, somehow she would be all right. She just knew it. She later wrote, “Before the quake I appeared very successful, but my life was out of balance. I wasn’t happy because I had been making money and always wanting more. My home, my job, my clothes, a relationship — I thought they were my security. It took an earthquake and losing everything I owned for me to discover that my security had been with me all along…There’s a power within us that we can depend upon no matter what is happening around us.”

She had tied her rope to the wrong things. It took a disaster for her to understand that those things are not trustworthy. So she let go of the rope and discovered peace. She found that her true security was a power within- dependable and sure.

What is your rope tied to? And what would happen if you found the courage to let go of it?

7. If the story of the man was true, the most probable result would be that___________.

A. the bumper of the car broke up

B. the house was destroyed by the car

C. the wife was scolded by her husband

D. the man was badly injured or even killed

8. Why was Susan crying in the darkness?

A. Because she was afraid of staying