The word “death” is a word many Chinese friends tell me I should not say aloud. They advise me to avoid the word because only speaking of it may bring ill fortune. I deeply believe, however, that to know how to live, we must also know how to die. The problem is how we talk about death.
Like everyone in Taiwan this week, I have had “Tomb Sweeping Day”. I am proud to be part of a people whose culture sends millions of families to cemeteries on this special day to share memories and endless love.
Today, eight days after the death of Pope John Paul II, millions of people of all backgrounds still grieve(悲痛) his passing away. He was a deeply human person who knew how to laugh and show emotions, a writer with a gift for words a leader who appealed to us by the sheer light of his love for life.
On the same day and only hours before the Holy Father left us, a friend of mine named Veronica McBride died of cancer in a small Wisconsin city. My friend Veronica was 52 years old. She was an attractive, humorous young woman who, as the saying goes, “never married”. She published several humor books with her mother, Mary McBride. She enjoyed traveling, and for years sent Christmas card photos of herself standing beside monuments or odd animals. She fought cancer for five years. She joked about her treatment keeping her pretty because it kept her thin, and told me she didn’t mind losing her hair because of chemo therapy. “I get to wear nice wigs!”
The last time I saw Veronica was when I visited her family on a sunny day in August in 2003. When she burst into the front door later and saw me in the living room, she ignored me completely in her hurry to hug her newest baby nephew, leaving me shaking my head in laughter at her.
As we look to the significance of the Holy Father and his life, surely we must also keep our eyes open to see the wonder and goodness in ordinary people who show us how to live and how to die.
【小題1】The purpose of the article is ___________.
| A．to memorize his friend Veronica |
| B．to talk about the significance of life and death |
| C．to teach us how to face life and death |
| D．to compare his friend and the Holy Father Pope John Paul II |
| A．a medical treatment | B．a kind of cancer |
| C．a kind of medicine | D．the newest machine |
| A．Because they are both the persons he admires. |
| B．Because they have a lot in common. |
| C．Because he wants to show that ordinary people can be great as well. |
| D．Because he wants to memorize them both. |
| A．brave | B．sportive | C．humorous | D．energetic |
科目：高中英語 來源：2010—2011學年度湖北省咸寧市高二上學期期末統考英語卷 題型：閱讀理解
When someone says, “Well, I guess I'll have to go to face the music,” it doesn’t mean he is planning to go to a concert. It is something far less pleasant, like being called in your boss to explain why you did this and did that, and why you did not do this or that. Terrible music, indeed, but it has to be faced. At some time or another, every one of us has had to “face the music”, especially as children. We can remember father’s angry voice: “I want to talk to you!” And only because we did not obey him. What an unpleasant business it was!
The phrase “face the music” is known to every American, old and young. It is at least one hundred years old. Where did the expression come from?
The first explanation came from the American novelist James Fenimore Cooper. He said, in 1851, that expression was first used by actors while waiting in the wings (舞臺的兩側) to go on stage. After they got their clue(暗示) to go on , they often said, “It’s time to go to face the music. ” And that is exactly what they did face the orchestra (樂隊) which was just below the stage.
An actor might be frightened or nervous as he moved on to the stage in front of the audience(觀眾) that might be friendly, or perhaps unfriendly, especially if he forgot his lines. But he had to go out. If he did not, there would be no play. So “face the music” came to mean: having to go through something, no matter how unpleasant the experience might be, because you knew you had no choice.
【小題1】The expression “face the music” means ______.
A． plan to go to a concert |
| B．get one’s clue to do something |
| C．have to go through something far less pleasant |
| D．disobey what one's father says |
| A．children | B．novelists | C．actors | D．audience |
| A．老板 | B．同事 | C．角色 | D．臺詞 |
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科目：高中英語 來源：廣東省2011屆高三開學初模擬考試試題（十一）（英語） 題型：閱讀理解
Ⅱ 閱讀(共兩節，滿分50分)
第一節：閱讀理解（共20小題；每小題2分，滿分40分）
閱讀下列短文，從每題所給的A、B、C和D項中，選出最佳選項，并在答題卡上將該項涂黑。
Parents have to do much less for their children today than they used to do，and home has become much less of a workshop. Clothes can be bought ready made; washing can go to the laundry; food can be bought; cooked，canned or preserved; bread is baked and delivered by the baker; milk arrives on the doorstep; meats can be had at the restaurant，the work’s canteen，and the school dining-room.
It is unusual now for father to pursue his trade or other employment at home，and his children rarely，if ever，see him at his place of work. Boys are therefore seldom trained to follow their father’s occupation，and in many towns they have a fairly wide choice of employment and so do girls. The young wage-earner often earns good money，and soon acquires a feeling of economic independence. In textile areas it has long been customary for mothers to go out to work，but this practice has become so widespread that the working mother is now a not unusual factor in a child’s home life，the number of married women in employment having more than doubled in the last twenty-five years. With mother earning and his older children drawing substantial wages father is seldom the dominant figure that he still was at the beginning of the century. When mother works, economic advantages accrue，but children lose something of great value if mother’s employment prevents her from being home to greet them when they return from school.
26. The writer mentions home as workshop because______.
A. fathers often pursue employment at home
B. parents had to make food and necessity themselves for their daily-life
C. many families produce goods at home for sale
D. both fathers and mothers and mothers in most families are workers
27. The writer says that home has become much less of a workshop. He means______.
A. in the past, home was more like a workshop
B. home is much more of a workshop now
C. home-workshops are becoming fewer and fewer
D. home was less like a workshop in the past
28. The word“accrue”in the sentence“When mother...accrue，”is closest in meaning to
__________________.
A. change B. dwindle C. double D. increase
29. The chief reason that boys are seldom trained to follow their father’s occupation is ___________________.
A. that children nowadays rarely see their fathers at their place of work
B. that fathers do not like to pursue employment at home any more
C. that there is a wide choice of employment for children
D. that children also like to have jobs outside
30. What makes father no longer the only dominant person in a family?
A. With their earning，mother and children do not need to depend on father for their life.
B. There are many choice of employment for mothers and children.
C. Father does much less for his children today than he used to.
D. The number of married women in employment has increased greatly now.
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科目：高中英語 來源：2011屆安徽省合肥八中高三第二次月考英語卷 題型：閱讀理解
If you look up the word “create” in the dictionary , you will find it means “to bring into being, to cause to exist something each of us does daily”．
We are creative whenever we look at or think about something in a new way First, this includes an awareness of our surroundings．It means using all of our senses to become aware of our world．This may be as simple as being aware of color and texture（質地）,as well as taste, when we plan a meal．Above all, it is the ability to notice things that others might miss．
A second part of creativity is an ability to see relationships among things．If we believe the expression,“There is nothing new under the sun, the creativity is remaking or recombining（重組） the old in new ways．”For example, we might do this by finding a more effective way to study or a better way to arrange our furniture, or we might make a new combination of camera lenses and filters to create an unusual photograph．
A third part of creativity is the courage and drive to make use of our new ideas, to ask for them to achieve some new results．To think up a new idea is one thing; to put the idea to work is another．
These three parts of creativity are included in all the great works of geniuses, but they are also included in many of our day-to-day activities．
【小題1】Which of the following activities is NOT a creative one according to the passage?
| A．To prepare for a meal． |
B．To arrange the  furniture in a special way． |
| C．To buy some books from a bookstore． |
| D．To“write”a letter with the computer． |
| A．a new thing can only be created at the basis of earlier things |
| B．a new thing is only a tale |
| C．we can seldom create new things |
| D．we can hardly see really new things in the world |
| A．It’s more difficut to create a new thought than to use it in practice． |
| B．To find a new thought will clearly lead to the production of a new thing． |
| C．A man with an excellent ability of practice can easily become an inventor． |
| D．One may come up with a new thought, but can not put it into practice． |
| A．How to Develop One’s Creativity |
| B．What Is Creativity |
| C．The Importance of Creativity |
| D．Creativity, a Not Faraway Thing |
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科目：高中英語 來源：遼寧省開原高中2009-2010學年度高一第二學期第一次月考英語試題 題型：閱讀理解
B
Supermarkets are trying out new computers that make shopping carts more intelligent（具備智能的）. They will help shoppers find paper cups or toilet soap, and keep a record of the bill.
The touch-screen devices（觸摸屏裝置）are on show at the Food Marketing Institute’s exhibition here this week. “These devices are able to create value and get you around the store quicker,” said Michael Alexander, manager of Springboard Retail Networks Inc., which makes a smart cart computer called the Concierge.
Canadian stores will test the Concierge in July. A similar device, IBM’s “Shopping Buddy”, has recently been test-marketed at Stop & Shop stores in Massachusetts.
Neither device tells you how many fat grams or calories are in your cart, but they will flash you with items on sale. The idea is to make it easier for people to buy, not to have second thoughts that maybe you should put something back on the shelf.
“The whole model is driven by advertisers’ need to get in front of shoppers,” said Alexander. “They’re not watching 30-second TV ads anymore.”
People can use a home computer to make their shopping lists. Once at the store, a shopper can use a preferred customer card to start a system（系統）that will organize the trip around the store. If you’re looking for toothpicks, you type in the word or pick it from a list, and a map will appear on the screen showing where you are and where you can find them.
The device also keeps a record of what you buy. When you’re finished, the device figures out your bill. Then you go to the checker or place your card into a self-checkout stand and pay.
The new computerized shopping assistants don’t come cheap. The Buddy devices will cost the average store about $ 160,000, and the Concierge will cost stores about $ 500 for each device.
59. The underlined word “They”（paragraph 1）refers to ______.
A. supermarkets B. shop assistants C. shopping carts D. shop managers
60. Which of the following is the correct order of shopping with computerized shopping carts?
a. Start the system. b. Make a shopping list.
c. Find the things you want. d. Go to a self-checkout stand.
A. abdc B. bacd C. acbd D. bcad
61. We can learn from the last paragraph that ______.
A. intelligent shopping carts cost a large sum of money
B. the Concierge is cheaper than the Buddy devices
C. shop assistants with computer knowledge are well paid
D. average stores prefer the Concierge to the Buddy devices
62. What might be the most suitable title for the text?
A. New age for supermarkets.
B. Concierge and Shopping Buddy.
C. New computers make shopping carts smarter.
D. Touch-screen devices make shopping enjoyable.
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科目：高中英語 來源：2012屆福建省廈門六中高三12月月考英語試卷 題型：閱讀理解
There are over one million superstitions(迷信), and most people believe at least one or two of them.
Many people are superstitious about numbers. They think that there are lucky numbers and unlucky numbers.
The number 13 is often considered unlucky. In some parts of the world, buildings have no 13th floor and streets have no houses with the number 13. In Japan, "4" is considered unlucky because in Japanese the word "four" is pronounced the same as the word "death" .
Japanese never give gifts of four knives, four napkins, or four of anything.
What are the lucky numbers? Seven is a lucky number in many places, and "8" is considered a lucky number in Japan and China. In China, businesses often open on August 8, and many couples register to get married at eight past eight on August 8.
Superstitions about numbers are so widespread that some people--called numerologist--make a living by giving advice about numbers.
In 1937, when the Toyoda family of Japan wanted to form a car company, they asked a numerologist if "Toyoda" would be a good name for the company. The numerologist said it would not be. He explained that "Toyota" would be a better name for the company. The family took his advice. As a result, millions of people drive "Toyota" and not "Toyoda" .
There are many other kinds of superstitions. There are superstitions about eating, sleeping, sneezing and itching(抓癢). There are superstitions about animals and holidays and horseshoes.
There are even superstitions about superstitions. Those superstitions will tell people how to reverse bad luck.
When the Japanese bump heads, they immediately bump heads again. According to a Japanese superstition, the first-bump means their parents will die, but the second bump "erases" the first bump
To reverse bad luck in general, people turn around three times, turn their pockets inside out, or put their hats on backwards.
In the United States, baseball players sometimes wear their caps backwards when their team is losing. It looks silly, but the baseball players do not mind if it helps them win the game.
【小題1】It can be inferred that superstitions about numbers are .
| A．popular neither in Japan nor in China |
| B．popular only in Japan and in China |
| C．popular both in Japan and in China |
| D．causing great troubles both in Japan and in China |
| A．change to bad luck | B．cause to go in the opposite direction |
| C．change for the worse | D．exchange |
| A．he is mad | B．he is happy | C．he is superstitious | D．he is very sad |
| A．persuading us to believe superstitions |
| B．showing us some facts of superstitions |
| C．showing us the magic power of number |
| D．showing us a numerologist |
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