閱讀理解（四）

閱讀下列短文，從每題所給的A、B、C和D四個選項中，選出最佳選項。

A

Look at the map of Spain and point at the center. Youve located the countrys capital and one of Europes most beautiful cities： Madrid. This popular destination is considered a city of contrasts with its abundant historic sites， resting in the shadows of modern skyscrapers.

History

This city of over 3 million people is proud of Western Europes largest royal palace， and some consider it to be Madrids most beautiful building.

Inside the Royal Palace 2，800 rooms are decorated in glory with museum-quality furniture and artworks. Tourists can tour 50 of these large and splendid rooms.

Art

The internationally respected Prado Museum is the largest and most impressive art gallery in Spain. Opened in 1819， it is filled with works of art that feature the worlds most comprehensive collection of Spanish paintings.

Shopping

Madrid has some of Europes best shopping， and potential buyers love to look through the stores looking for bargains. But for 500 years， shoppers have gathered to an extremely large outdoor flea market known as the Rastro where they find everything from antiques to CDs.

Entertainment

No trip to Madrid is complete without seeing a performance of Spains famous art form， flamenco. Every day， flamenco performers sing， dance or play the guitar in small cafes and grand theaters alike.

Food

Madrid has a wide variety of restaurants， but because the Spanish typically eat late at about 9 or 10 pm， its difficult to find good dinner food earlier. If you get hungry before then， the best solution is to try a tapas bar where light snacks are served. Be sure to try the jamon， a kind of dry-cured ham： Spain is famous for it.

1. What do we know about the Royal Palace in Madrid？

A. It has 50 rooms for visit. B. It can hold 2，800 people.

C. It has been visited by 3 million people. D. It is thought to be the largest in Europe.

2. What kind of market is “the Rastro”？

A. For discount. B. For artworks.

C. For selling various goods. D. For selling antiques and CDs.

3. What is a must when traveling in Madrid？

A. Enjoying flamenco. B. Having dinner earlier.

C. Drinking in a tapas bar. D. Visiting Prado Museum.

B

Diane Arbus is known for creating intense black and white photographs of very unusual people. She used a special camera that produced square shaped images. One art expert said Diane Arbus turned photography inside out. Instead of looking at her subjects， she made them look at her.

Diane Arbus was born in 1923 to a wealthy family in New York City. After finishing high school at the age of 18， Diane married Allan Arbus. Mr Arbus worked in the advertising department of her fathers store.

It was Mr Arbus who gave Diane her first camera. Diane soon decided to take a class with the famous photographer Berenice Abbott. The Arbuses eventually started taking photographs of clothing. These images were used as advertisements for Dianes fathers store. After the birth of their daughter， Doon， the Arbuses started a business together. Their purpose was to photograph clothing fashions. Diane Arbus was the stylist. She would prepare the hair and faces of the fashion models who wore the clothing being photographed. Allan Arbus took the pictures.

The couple soon had jobs from important fashion magazines such as Vogue and Harpers Bazaar. Their work was very successful during the 1950s. They became part of a group of artists that were helping to redefine visual culture. They were breaking with past traditions to create a new look for a new decade， the sixties.

But Diane was not satisfied with her secondary role. She wanted a more active part in making photographs. She wanted to explore her own artistic expression and freedom. To do this， she stopped working with her husband. Then she started taking photography classes at the New School in New York City.

Dianes teacher， Lisette Model， influenced her in many ways. She showed Diane how to use a camera like an expert. She also taught Diane to use her art to face her doubts and fears. Miss Model once said that Diane soon started “not listening to me but suddenly listening to herself.”

4. Diane Arbus got her first camera ____ .

A. from a shop B. from her father

C. from her husband D. from the advertising department

5. Why did the Arbuses start a business together？

A. To film clothing fashions. B. To prove themselves.

C. To make their daughter happy. D. To make friends with more people.

6. According to the text， in the 1950s the Arbuses ____ .

A. were in charge of Vogue B. earned more than other artists

C. were recognized as great artists D. achieved only a little

7. What can we learn about Diane from the last two paragraphs？

A. She cared more for freedom. B. She was hard to deal with.

C. She was tired of working with her husband. D. She learned more from Lisette Model.

C

Please take a few seconds and think of your personal biggest goal. Imagine telling someone you meet today what youre going to do. Imagine their congratulations and their high image of you. Doesnt it feel good to say it out loud？ Dont you feel one step closer already？ Well， bad news： you should have kept your mouth shut， because that good feeling will make you less likely to do it.

Any time you have a goal， there is some work that needs to be done to achieve it. Ideally， you would not be satisfied until youd actually done the work. But when you tell someone your goal and he acknowledges it， psychologists have found its called a “social reality”. The mind is kind of tricked into feeling that its already done. And then， because youve felt that satisfaction， youre less motivated to do the actual hard work necessary. This goes against the traditional wisdom that we should tell our friends our goals， right？

In 1982， Peter Gollwitzer， a Professor of Psychology， wrote a whole book about this. And in 2009， he did some new tests that were published. It goes like this： 163 people across four separate tests—everyone wrote down their personal goal. Then half of them announced their commitment to this goal to the room， and half didnt. Then everyone was given 45 minutes of work that would directly lead them towards their goal， but they were told that they could stop at any time. Now those who kept their mouths shut worked the entire 45 minutes on average， and when asked afterwards， said they felt they had a long way to go to achieve their goal. But those who had announced it quit after only 33 minutes on average， and when asked afterwards， said that they felt much closer to achieving their goal.

8. What does “social reality” in Paragraph 2 refer to？

A. Completion of the goal. B. Necessary hard work.

C. Peoples acknowledgement. D. A sense of satisfaction.

9. What does Peter Gollwitzer want to tell us？

A. Writing down the goal is very helpful.

B. Achieving personal goal needs more time.

C. Keeping the goal secret makes people work harder.

D. Making the goal public makes people less satisfied.

10. How did Peter Gollwitzer prove his idea about peoples goal？

A. By giving figures. B. By giving examples.

C. By making a survey. D. By making comparison tests.

11. By telling friends your goal， youll probably____ .

A. be more confident B. not gain satisfaction

C. be less likely to realize it D. be much more motivated

D

Self-driving cars have been backed by the hope that they will save lives by getting involved in fewer crashes with fewer injuries and deaths than human-driven cars. But so far， most comparisons between human drivers and automated vehicles have been unfair.

Crash statistics for human-driven cars are gathered from all sorts of driving situations， and on all types of roads. However， most of the data on self-driving cars safety have been recorded often in good weather and on highways， where the most important tasks are staying in the cars own lane and not getting too close to the vehicle ahead. Automated cars are good at those tasks， but so are humans.

It is true that self-driving cars dont get tired， angry， frustrated or drunk. But neither can they yet react to uncertain situations with the same skill or anticipation of an attentive human driver. Nor do they possess the foresight to avoid potential perils. They largely drive from moment to moment， rather than think ahead to possible events literally down the road.

Indeed， deciding what action to take in an emergency is difficult for humans， but drivers have sacrificed themselves for the greater good of others. An automated systems limited understanding of the world means it will almost never evaluate a situation the same way a human would. And machines cant be programmed in advance to handle every imaginable set of events.

Some people may argue that the promise of simply reducing the number of injuries and deaths is enough to support driverless cars. But experience from aviation （航空） shows that as new automated systems are introduced， there is often an increase in the rate of disasters.

Therefore comparisons between human drivers and automated vehicles have to be performed carefully. To fairly evaluate driverless cars on how well they fulfill their promise of improved safety， its important to ensure the data being presented actually provide a true comparison.

12. What makes the comparison unfair between self-driving and human-driven cars？

A. The former never get tired. B. Statistics are collected differently.

C. Machines can make decisions faster. D. The latter know the world better.

13. What does the underlined word “perils” in Paragraph 3 most probably mean？

A. Dangers. B. Self-driving cars. C. Pedestrians. D. Human-driven cars.

14. What makes self-driving cars beat human-driven cars？

A. Driving steadily. B. Climbing steep slopes.

C. Evaluating the cost of loss. D. Making complex decisions.

15. What is the authors purpose in writing the text？

A. To support human-driven cars.

B. To show his doubt about self-driving cars.

C. To call for exact evaluation of self-driving cars.

D. To stress the importance of reducing car accidents.

閱讀七選五

根據短文內容，從短文后的選項中選出能填入空白處的最佳選項。選項中有兩項為多余選項。

There is one food that takes center stage during autumn—the pumpkin！

16 But we also use it in many foods that are popular during the fall season， like pumpkin bread， pumpkin coffee， pumpkin cookies and pumpkin pie. But perhaps we should try to eat pumpkin all year long， and not just in the fall.

Pumpkins are packed with important nutrients and vitamins. 17

Pumpkin is good for your eyesight.

The nutrient beta-carotene （β胡蘿卜素） and Vitamin A are necessary for maintaining good eyesight. 18 In fact， one nutrition website says that one cup of cooked， mashed pumpkin can give you more than 200 percent of your daily recommended amount of Vitamin A.

19

The National Cancer Institute in the United States says on its website that antioxidants （抗氧化物） may help reduce a persons risk of getting cancer. That is because antioxidants in pumpkins kill something called free radicals in the body. The Institute defines free radicals as “highly reactive chemicals that have the potential to harm cells”.

Pumpkin helps your skin.

Beta-carotene also helps to keep your skin healthy and young-looking. Yet another good reason to eat pumpkin！

Pumpkin may be good for weight loss.

20 Fiber slows down digestion of food. So， when you eat pumpkin you feel full and eat less.

So， if it is available where you live， try to find ways to include pumpkin in your next meal.

A. Pumpkin also has a lot of fiber.

B. Pumpkin is good for your heart.

C. They are the king of vegetables.

D. Pumpkins are a great source of both.

E. Pumpkin may help reduce your risk of getting cancer.

F. Many people use pumpkins as a decoration at Halloween.

G. If cooked in a healthy way， pumpkin is a powerhouse of health benefits.

16. _______ ?17. _______ ?18. _______ ?19. _______ ?20. _______

完形填空

閱讀下面短文，從短文后各題所給的A、B、C和D四個選項中，選出可以填入空白處的最佳選項。

I was woken up at 1 am. My roommate stood at the door with a tall man.

“Please let him in，” she told me. “Hes been 21 out of his apartment.” She had seen him 22 in the snowy night and immediately asked him to 23 at our place. The man was a law student. He was doing his 24 in the library which closed at 11 pm when he 25 he had left his keys in his house.

To tell the truth， I had never had a 26 sleep in my house before. My roommate and I were both 27 than one metre sixty and we had been asked “not to 28 to a man whom you dont know” since we were kids. Not to mention， we were in a 29 city that we had stayed in less than a month. And here we were， soon giving the man my blanket and pillows. He 30 our hospitality （盛情） with unwillingness and as soon as dawn broke he went back to his 31 .

The next day he came to our house 32 ， telling us he owed us a big meal for not letting him be 33 in the cold night. He gave us a beautiful card reading， “Thank you so much. Your actions were so 34 .” He cooked us a wonderful “thank you” dinner 35 which he told us about his life. He told us how he was completely 36 by our concern for others. I learnt a lot that evening. As he told us how he once 37 a homeless man home to have Christmas dinner with his family， a feeling of warmth rose in my 38 .

My roommate taught me a huge lesson： Let go of your 39 ; always leave the door of your 40 open and you can never go wrong.

21. A. driven B. forced C. taken D. locked

22. A. shaking B. walking C. running D. travelling

23. A. sleep B. eat C. wait D. study

24. A. duty B. homework C. speech D. labour

25. A. knew B. saw C. found D. heard

26. A. stranger B. classmate C. student D. roommate

27. A. taller B. better C. less D. smaller

28. A. go B. speak C. listen D. relate

29. A. modern B. new C. big D. faraway

30. A. appreciated B. experienced C. learned D. accepted

31. A. apartment B. school C. shop D. office

32. A. crying B. laughing C. smiling D. shouting

33. A. lost B. hurt C. caught D. frozen

34. A. common B. great C. honest D. hard

35. A. during B. for C. about D. in

36. A. pleased B. touched C. surprised D. puzzled

37. A. called B. left C. turned D. brought

38. A. heart B. body C. mind D. head

39. A. anger B. care C. fear D. shyness

40. A. kindness B. wisdom C. hope D. advantage