1、高一英语阅读理解强化训练Day 23高一英语阅读理解强化训练Day 23Passage 1In 1997, Mary gave a present of $ 500, 000 to the University of Southern Mississippi. She wanted to help poor students. It was a very generous thing to do. But her friends and neighbors were surprised. Mary was a good woman. She went to church. She was al
2、ways friendly and helpful. But everyone in her town knew that Mary was not rich. In fact, she was poor. How did a poor 89-year-old woman have so much money? Mary was born in 1908 in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. She had to leave school when she was eight years old to help her family. She took a job wash
3、ing clothes. She earned only a few dollars a day. She washed the clothes by hand. Then she hung the clothes to dry. She did this for nearly 80 years. In the 1960s, she bought an automatic washer and dryer. But she gave them away. She did not think they got the clothes clean enough！At that time, many
4、 people started to buy their own washers and dryers. Mary did not have much work, so she started to iron clothes instead. Mary never married nor had children. Her life was very simple. She went to work and to church. She read her Bible. She had a black-and-white television. But she did not watch it
5、very much. It had only one channel. Mary saved money all her life and eventually had about $ 800, 000. When she was 89, a lawyer helped her make a will. She left the money to the church, her relatives and the university. Mary wanted to help others. She did not think she was a special person. But the
6、n people found out about her present to the university. She received many honors. She even flew in an airplane for the first time！Mary died in 1999. She was a shy and ordinary woman who became famous. 1. Mary gave $ 500, 000 to the University of Southern Mississippi_. A. to surprise her friends and
7、neighborsB. to prove she was a rich womanC. to help the poor studentsD. to show her generosity2. From the passage we can learn that_, A. Mary left school young to help support her familyB. Marys parents asked her to wash clothes for othersC. an automatic washer and dryer were too expensive for herD.
8、 Mary started to iron clothes because she didnt get other skills3. Which of the following tells us Mary lived a very simple life?A. She didnt have much work to do. B. She only had a black-and-white television with one channel. C. She went to the church every day with friends. D. She didnt like other
9、s to buy an automatic washer. . 4. What kind of person is Mary according to the passage?A. Rich and friendly. B. Poor and silly. C. Well-educated and special. D. Hard-working and helpful.Passage 2There are hundreds of types of birthday cake in the world. You are likely to enjoy one during at least o
10、ne of your birthday parties. But have you ever stopped and wondered, “Why am I eating this? What makes this dessert fit to celebrate the day of my birth?”Its because you are as important and beloved as the gods. The ancient Egyptians are thought to have “invented” the celebration of birthdays. They
11、believed when pharaohs (法老) were crowned, they became gods, so their coronation (加冕) day was their “birth” as a god. Ancient Greeks borrowed the tradition, but realized that a dessert would make the celebration more meaningful. So they baked moon-shaped cakes to offer up to the goddess of the moon.
12、They decorated them with lighted candles to make the cakes shine like the moon. It is the reason why we light our birthday cakes on fire. Modern birthday parties are said to get their roots from an 18th century German celebration. On the morning of a childs birthday, he or she would receive a cake w
13、ith lighted candles that added up to the kids age, plus one. This extra candle was called the “light of life, ” representing the hope of another full year lived. And then, torture-because no one could eat the cake until after dinner. The family replaced the candles as they burned out throughout the
14、day. Finally, when the moment came, the birthday child would make a wish, try to blow out all the candles in one breath, and dig in. Since the ingredients (原料) to make cakes were pretty expensive, this birthday custom didnt become popular until the Industrial Revolution. More ingredients were availa
15、ble, which made them cheaper, and bakeries even started selling pre-baked cakes. 1. What is the passage mainly about?A. The origin of birthday cakes. B. The significance of birthday cakes. C. The history of birthday parties. D. The introduction of cake production. 2. Who established the tradition of
16、 celebrating birthdays with cakes according to the passage?A. Germans. B. Pharaohs. C. Ancient Greeks. D. Ancient Egyptians. 3. The underlined word “torture” in Paragraph 6 is closest in meaning to _. A. pleasure B. replacementC. sharing D. suffering4. Why was the birthday cake custom unpopular befo
17、re the Industrial Revolution?A. The transport was inconvenient. B. The ingredients of cakes were expensive. C. The cake could not be eaten before dinner. D. The bakeries would not sell pre-baked cakes. Passage 3Dear Readers, I am disabled with Multiple Sclerosis (多发性硬化病) and decided to start a newsl
18、etter to people like myself that do not have much to do during the day. The newsletter seemed like a good idea, as it will allow me to get my message/chats/moans(呻吟), or whatever you would like to call it, across to as many people as possible. I would love to be able to be in touch with people with
19、disabilities all around the world. My main purpose is to be able to say what I want to as many people as possible. In my newsletter I will be talking about stuff in general, news from my end of the world that could be of interest to other people all over. We can then with your contributions to the n
20、ewsletter help each other with hints (提示) and tips on getting a bit easier. I also plan to have an e-ticle(as in article) once a month focused on one disease or form of disability. I will have interviews with excellent doctors to be able to provide only the facts. To receive this newsletter, send me
21、 an email confirming your email address and I will give out the newsletter weekly. You can be sure that your email address will not be given out, and once you decide that you are tired of my moans and groans (呻吟), you can just send me a message and tell me that you have had enough. I hope we can sta
22、rt something special. My email address: judylouwxsinet. co. za. Regards, Judy Louw1. What is the purpose of the mail? _A. To swap ideas. B. To express opinions. C. To share news. D. To find readers. 2. Paragraph 2 is mainly about _ . A. how the writer got the idea to start the newsletter. B. what wi
23、ll be included in the newsletter. C. why the writer needs readers support and help. D. whether it is proper to start such a newsletter. 3. From the above passage, we can infer that _ . A. the writer is serious about the medical content in the newsletterB. both online and printed newsletters will be
24、given out weeklyC. the writer will confirm email addresses to make sure of safetyD. the newsletter is expected to help find cures for some diseasesPassage 4 Bend over, take a deep breath and drink some water！This is just one of hundreds of tips you might get if you have the hiccups(打嗝). Hiccups are
25、so mysterious. We really dont know why they start and why they stop. Everyone has a favorite cure for a case of the hiccups. Some people think that a good scare is necessary to get well. Others eat a teaspoon of sugar. Still others drink a glass of water with a knife in it. An American man named Jac
26、k OLeary said he once had hiccupped 160 million times over a period of eight years. He tried 60, 000 cures, but none of them worked. Finally he prayed to Saint Jude, the saint of Hopeless cases, and his hiccupping stopped immediately. It took a British plumber(水管工) eight months to cure his hiccups.
27、People from all over the world wrote him letters with suggestions for getting well. He tried them all, but the hiccups continued. Finally, he drank asecretmixture someone had sent him. By that evening his hiccups were gone. Why did these cures work for these two men? No one really knows. But people
28、who have studied many cases of hiccups have an idea. Hiccups usually go away if you believe in the cure. 1. _ might be the best cure for hiccups. A. Special pills B. A spoonful of salt C. Cold water D. A knife2. The plumber spent_ in stopping his hiccups. A. 4 hours B. 2 days C. 8 months D. 8 years3
29、. According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE? _ A. We know why the hiccups start, but we dont know how to stop them. B. Saint Jude is an expert in curing the hiccups. C. The British plumber drank a secret mixture given by an experienced doctor and then became well. D. Some people think
30、 that a good scare is a cure for hiccups. 4. What is the main idea of this passage? _ A. Different ways to stop hiccups B. What makes hiccups happenC. How to get hiccups D. Jack OLearys hiccups. Passage 5You may know the English letters A, B and C. But do you know there are people called ABC? You ma
31、y like eating bananas. But did you know there is a “banana person”? How strange! Are these people from “another earth”? No. They are just Chinese people like you and me. ABC means American-Born Chinese. An ABC is a Chinese, but was born in the United States. Sometimes, people call an ABC a“banana pe
32、rson”. A banana is yellow outside and white inside. So, when a person is a banana, he or she is white insidethinking like a Westerner and yellow outsidelooking like a Chinese. Do you know why? Usually, ABCs know little about China or the Chinese language. Some of them dont speak Chinese. But if ABCs cannot speak Chinese, can we still call them Chinese people? Yes, of course. Th
