初中英语阅读理解练习题1

Passage 1When Christopher Columbus landed on the then unnamed Costa Rica in 1502, he saw many Indians wearing gold earrings. So he thought the land must be rich in gold. He named the place Costa Rica, which means “rich coast” in Spanish.Though little gold was found, Costa Rica today is indeed rich with coffee and bananas. Coffee is the most important product in Costa Rica and most of it is exported (出口) to other countries like America and West Germany. Bananas are the country’s second most important export.Costa Ricans also grow many other crops such as fruits, corn and beans for their own use. Costa Ricans love colors and their houses are painted in bright colors.Education is very important to the Costa Ricans. Almost every village has a school and education is a must for children between seven and fourteen years of age. Boys and girls go to separate (单独的) schools. Classes begin in March and end in November. The other three months of the year are harvest time and the children have to help their parents to pick coffee beans.1. What’s the main idea of the first paragraph?A. How Columbus found Costa Rica.B. How Costa Rica got its name.C. What the Costa Ricans wore.D. What language the Costa Ricans spoke.2. The Costa Ricans may NOT paint their houses ______.A. pink and redB. grey and blackC. blue and greenD. yellow and orange3. In Costa Rica, boys and girls between seven and fourteen ______.A. must go to schoolB. study in the same schoolC. do not have to go to school at allD. can choose to stop schooling at any time4. From December to February, school children in Costa Rica ______.A. have lessons every dayB. have their examinationsC. help their parents pick coffee beansD. help their parents decorate their houses5. This passage is mainly about ______.A. Christopher ColumbusB. Costa RicaC. some products from Costa RicaD. the education of Costa Rica答案1-5 BBACBPassage 2Christian Eijkman, a Dutch doctor, left the Netherlands for the island of Java. Many people on the island had a disease called beri?鄄beri. He was going there to try and find a cure.At first, Eijkman thought some kind of germ (细菌) caused beri-beri. He raised some chickens. He didn’t eat them, but made experiments on them. The local people were quite surprised at that. One day he noticed that his chickens became sick when they were fed the food most Javanese ate —refined white rice (精炼米). When he fed them with unrefined rice, also known as brown rice, they recovered. Eijkman realized that he had made an important discovery —that some things in food could prevent disease. These things were named vitamins (维生素). The Javanese were not getting enough vitamins because they had actually removed the part that contains vitamins. Later, other diseases were also found to be caused by the lack of vitamins in a person’s food.Today many people know the importance of vitamins and they make sure they have enough vitamins from the food they eat. If they don’t, they can also take vitamin pills.6. The underlined word “cure” in Paragragh 1 probably means ______.A. a medical treatmentB. a kind of vitaminC. a kind of germD. a kind of rice7. Christian Eijkman went to the island of Java to ______.A. spend his holidayB. find ways to grow better cropsC. do some research about the islandD. h8lp the Javanese with their illness8. Why did Christian Eijkman raise some chickens?A. To eat them.B. To carry out his experiments.C. To give the Javanese a surprise.D. To make money by selling them.9. If a person doesn’t get enough vitamins in his diet, he’d better ______.A. eat more riceB. eat more meatC. eat some chickenD. eat vitamin pills10. We can learn from the passage that ______.A. beri-beri was caused by chickensB. the Javanese didn’t like vitaminsC. Christian Eijkman’s experiment was successfulD. the Java nese’s disease was caused by a kind of germ 6-10 ADBDCPassage 3America is a mobile society. Friendships between Americans can be close and real, yet disappear soon if situations change. Neither side feels hurt by this. Both may exchange Christmas greetings for a year or two, perhaps a few letters for a while — then no more. If the same two people meet again by chance, even years later, they pick up the friendship. This can be quite difficult for us Chinese to understand, because friendships between us flower more slowly but then may become lifelong feelings, extending (延伸) sometimes deeply into both families.Americans are ready to receive us foreigners at their homes, share their holidays, and their home life. They will enjoy welcoming us and be pleased if we accept their hospitality (好客) easily.Another difficult point for us Chinese to understand Americans is that although they include us warmly in their personal everyday lives, they don’t show their politeness to us if it requires a great deal of time. This is usually the opposite of the practice in our country where we may be generous with our time. Sometimes, we, as hosts, will appear at airports even in the middle of the night to meet a friend. We may take days off to act as guides to our foreign friends. The Americans, however, express their welcome usually at homes, but truly can not manage the time to do a great deal with a visitor outside their daily routine. They will probably expect us to get ourselves from the airport to our own hotel by bus. And they expect that we will phone them from there. Once we arrive at their homes, the welcome will be full, warm and real. We will find ourselves treated hospitably.For the Americans, it is often considered more friendly to invite a friend to their homes than to go to restaurants, except for purely business matters. So accept their hospitality at home!11. The writer of this passage must be ______.A. an AmericanB. a ChineseC. a professorD. a student12. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?A. Friendships between Americans usually extend deeply into their families.B. Friendships between Americans usually last for all their lives.C. Americans always show their warmth even if they are very busy.D. Americans will continue their friendships again even after a long break.13. From the last two paragraphs we can learn that when we arrive in America to visit an American friend, we will probably be ______.A. warmly welcomed at the airportB. offered a ride to his homeC. treated hospitably at his homeD. treated to dinner in a restaurant14. The underlined words “generous with our time” in Paragraph 3 probably mean ______.A. strict with timeB. serious with timeC. careful with timeD. willing to spend time15. A suitable title for this passage woul d probably be “______”.A. Friendships between ChineseB. Friendships between AmericansC. Americans’ hospitalityD. Americans’ and Chinese’s views of friendships11-15 BDCDDPassage 4The other day I heard a few local musicians talking:“I hate all the terrible pianos in this town. I hate that rubbish they play on the radio. They can’t even understand a bit of music.”“I’m never playing in that club again. Too many drunks and nobody listens to us.”But, one younger musi cian said, “There are a few clubs that book my band a few nights a month, and I’m trying to find other places to play. I’m also looking to book a few summer festivals this year.”I’ve heard that you are the average of the five people whom you spend the most time with, or to put it another way, you are who your friends are.Attitudes are important. Whether they’re positive or negative, they’re rubbing off on you. If you’re around people who complain about lack of work and about other musicians, or blame (责怪) others, and you play the role of victim (受害者), chances are you will start to as well. So it’s time to take a look at the people you call “friends”.This is an easy exercise: Make a list of the people who you hang out with, and simply stop spending time with the negative people on your list. Set a new standard (标准) for yourself and don’t become friends with people who fall below that standard.Keep successful people around you and your own chances for success will be much better. Ask them how they do it. Ask if they will help you get the work you’re looking for, or maybe give you some advice to help you on your career path.16. Which of the following would be the best title for this passage?A. A friend in need is a friend indeedB. How to make friendship last for everC. Y ou are who your friends areD. Friends are the most important in one’s success17. The underlined sentence “they’re rubbing off on you” in Paragraph 6 means ______.A. they’ll push you aheadB. they’ll infl uence youC. they’ll cover your shortcomingsD. they’ll help you achieve your goal18. The musicians’ words at the beginning are written mainly to show ______.A. the musicians’ living conditions are quite poorB. people have poor taste in musicC. people have different attitudes towards the same thingD. young people have greater chances of succeeding19. By taking the exercise mentioned in Paragraph 7, you can ______.A. improve a lot in making more friendsB. come to the right way of making friendsC. develop a better relationship with your friendsD. arrange the time with your friends properly20. The passage is mainly written for ______.A. musiciansB. managersC. negative peopleD. people wanting to succeed16-20 CBCBDPassage 5Norm Pethrick, a 36-year-old man in Australia’s northern city Darwin, was praised on Thursday for jumping onto a crocodile’s back to save his wife Wendy at Litchfield National Park, a popular tourist spot southwest of Darwin, a local newspaper reported.Ms Pethrick was standing on a river bank Wednesday afternoon when the saltwater crocodile lunged (扑), locking its jaws on both her legs as it tried to drag her underwater.Norm Pethrick, who with his wife had been collecting water, immediately went to help her. He jumped onto the back, poked (戳) the eyes of the crocodile and finally got his wife free.Ms Pethrick was later taken to Royal Darwin Hospital for a medical treatment. The doctors said she was suffering eight puncture wounds (伤口) in her right leg, a puncture wound in her left leg and a serious cut to oneof her fingers.“This could have been a fatal and tragic situation,” said the general manager of Royal Darwin Hospital (RDH), Dr Len Notaras, according to a local report.He said Ms P ethrick was saved by her husband’s “quick and diligent actions”.Dr Notaras also said she would remain in hospital for three to four days and have an operation to clean the wounds, which are easy to get infected because of bacteria (细菌) on the teeth of the crocodile.21. This passage is most likely to be found in _____.A. a travel guideB. a newspaperC. a textbookD. a novel22. The crocodile attacked Ms Pethrick when she was ______.A. swimming in the riverB. standing on the river bankC. watching the crocodileD. fishing in the water23. Which of the following statements is TRUE about Ms Pethrick?A. Her eyes were badly poked.B. She had eight wounds altogether.C. One of her fingers also got hurt.D. One of the crocodile’s teeth was found in her leg.24. According to the passage, Norm Pethrick can be described as following EXCEPT ______.A. braveB. diligentC. quickD. humorous25. Which of the following would be the best title for this passage?A. The husband should save the wifeB. A man saves wife’s life from crocodile’s jawsC. A crocodile is not so dangerous as people imagineD. Human beings can beat crocodiles sometimes Key：21-25 BBCDBPassage 6There are many ways to find a job. It can be as easy as walking into a neighborhood store to look at its announcement board. Local stores often have areas where people can put small signs telling what kind of service they need or can provide. Such services include caring for children or cleaning houses.Or, job searchers can look in the newspaper. Local newspapers have employment announcements placed by companies seeking workers.Another popular tool for finding jobs is the Internet. For example, people in four hundred and fifty cities around the world can use the Craigslist Web site to buy objects, meet people or find a job. Craigslist says that it receives two million new job listings each month.Another useful way to find a job is through a college or university. For example, students at the University of Texas in Austin can go to the Career Exploration Center to get help in finding a job. Of course, looking for a job requires knowing what kind of work you want to do. For example, there is a book called “What Color is Y our Parachute (降落伞)?”by Richard Bolles. This book has been helping people choose a career (职业) since it was first published in nineteen seventy.Some experts also help people find jobs. Susan W. Miller owns a company called California Career Services in Los Angeles. She says her company helps people find jobs by first helping them understand their strengths, goals and interests. Then she provides them with methods and resources to help them find the right job.26. What is the passage mainly about?A. Finding a job.B. College students’ part-time jobs.C. Craigslist Web site.D. The relation between study and work.27. By logging on the Craigslist Web site, you can ______.A. sell your old thingsB. do some shopping onlineC. create your own announcement boardD. get useful information about 450 cities28. “What Color is Y our Parachute?” is a book which gives tips to those who want to _____.A. work on the airplaneB. buy a parachuteC. publish a bookD. find a suitable job29. It can be learned from the passage that ______.A. companies often put job information in local shopsB. the Internet is the most popular tool for job hunters in the USAC. Susan W. Miller’s company is helping people choose careersD. California Career Services mainly serves university students30. How many ways of finding a job are mentioned in the passage?A. Three.B. Four.C. Five.D. Six.Key 26-30 ABDCCPassage 7Teaching materials for learning Chinese are provided here. There are sites where you may find interesting instructions suitable for you. Here are some sites to begin your surfing.Y ou may start with these pages from this website — just to get a little taste of it without working too hard.●A Is For LoveFlash cards for learning a few Chinese words●Listening to the sound of ChinesePlay a few words of Chinese on your computer.●A few Chinese wordsEach word is enlarged for easy study.If you are studying Chinese, these tools can help.●Zhongwen siteMore than a dictionary!●Clavis SinicaExcellent program by Professor David Porter. It displays a whole document in Chinese [GB] or [BIG5], and gives individual word’s definition, pronunciation as well as much more infor mation when you click on that word. If you are studying Chinese, this is a very useful tool.●Chinese Character V isual DictionaryIf you like to know more, go to the following sites on the Internet.●The Chinese OutpostPronunciation, Character and Grammer By Mark Andrew Baker. The best. A must-visit site.●Learn Cantonese / Mandarin Online●Internet Based Chinese Teaching and Learning●Rainland Kids discover Chinese —Site is in GermanyIf you want to have a better understanding of China, go to this one.●Wanfang DataAs an affiliate (分支) of Chinese Ministry of Science && Technology, Wanfang Data has been the leading information provider in China since 1950s. With a wide range of database resources and value-added services, Wanfang Data has become a gateway to understanding Chinese culture, medicine, business, science, etc.31. The underlined lines are probably some ______.A. booksB. websitesC. tips for learning ChineseD. dictionaries for learning Chinese32. This passage is most probably from ______.A. a TV programmeB. a teacher’s lectureC. a newspaperD. the Internet33. If you want to know each Chinese character’s definition, pronunciation and much more information, you’d better surf ______.A. Zhongwen siteB. A Is For LoveC. Clavis SinicaD. A few Chinese words34. If you want to know China about its culture, medicine, business, science, you’d better surf ______.A. Learn Mandarin onlineB. Wanfang DataC. Rainland kids discover ChineseD. The Chinese Outpost35. The underlined word “gateway” in the last paragraph probably refers to ______.A. an opening in a wall that can be closed by a gateB. a place through which you can go to another placeC. the space when a door is openD. a means of getting or achieving somethingKey 31-35 BDCBDPassage 8English is the most widely used language in the history of our planet. One in every seven human beings can speak it. More than half of the world’s books and three quarters of inter national mail are in English. Of all languages, English has the largest vocabulary — perhaps as many as two million words.However, let’s face it: English is a crazy language. There is no egg in an eggplant, neither pine nor apple in a pineapple and no ham in a hamburger. Sweet-meats are candy, while sweetbreads, which aren’t sweet, are meat.We take English for granted. But when we explore its paradoxes (探讨它的矛盾), we find that quicksand can work slowly, boxing rings are square, public bathrooms have no baths in them.And why is it that a writer writes, but fingers don’t fing, grocers don’t groce, and hammers don’t ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, shouldn’t the plural of booth be beeth? One goose, two geese — so one moose, two meese?How can a slim chance and a fat chance be the same, while a wise man and a wise guy are opposites? How can overlook and oversee be opposites, while quite a lot and quite a few are alike? How can the weather be hot as hell one day and cold as hell the next?English was invented by people, not computers, and it reflects (反映) the creativity of human beings. That’s why, when stars are out, they are visible (能看见的); but when the lights are out, they are invisible. And why, when I wind up my watch, I start it; but when I wind up this essay, I end it.36. According to the passage ______.A. sweet-meats and sweetbreads are different thingsB. there should be egg in an eggplantC. pineapples are the apples on the pine treeD. boxing rings should be round37. Which of the following is the correct plural?A. Beeth.B. Geese.C. Meese.D. Tooth.38. Which of the following includes two items which have the similar meaning?A. A wise man and a wise guy.B. Overlook and oversee.C. Quite a lot and quite a few.D. Hot as hell and cold as hell.39. The underlined words “wind up” in the last paragraph probably mean “______”.A. blowB. roll upC. get hurtD. finish40. Through the many paradoxes in the English language, the writer wants to show that human beings are ______.A. cleverB. crazyC. lazyD. dull36-40ABCDAPassage 9A friend of mine named Paul received an expensive car from his brother as a Christmas present．On Christmas Eve when Paul came out of his office，a street urchin was walking around the shining car．“Is this your car，Paul？”he asked．Paul answered，“Y es，my brother gave it to me for Christmas.”The boy was surprised．“Y ou mean your brother gave it to you and it didn't cost you nothing？Boy，I wish…”He hesitated．Of course Paul knew what he was going to wish for．He was going to wish he had a brother like that. But what the boy said surprised Paul greatly.“I wish,”the boy went on，“that I could be a brother like that.”Paul looked at the boy in surprise, then he said again, “Would you like to take a ride in my car？”“Oh yes，I'd love that．”After a short ride，the boy turned and with his eyes shining，said，“Paul，would you mind driving in front of my house？”Paul smiled a little．He thought he knew what the boy wanted．He wanted to show his neighbours that he could ride home in a big car. But Paul was wrong again. “Will you stop where those two steps are？”the boy asked．He ran up to the steps. Then in a short while Paul heard him coming back, but he was not coming fast. He was carrying his little crippled brother. He sat him down on the step and pointed to the car.“There she is, Buddy, just like I told you upstairs. His brother gave it to him for Christmas and it didn't cost him a cent. And some day I'm going to give you one just like it…then you can see for yourself all the nice things in the Christmas windows that I've b een trying to tell you about.”Paul got out and lifted the boy to the front seat of his car. The shining-eyed older brother climbed in beside him and the three of them began an unforgettable holiday ride.注：urchin 顽童hesitate 犹豫neighbour 邻居crippled 残疾cent 美分41．The street urchin was very surprised when ________．A．Paul received an expensive car B．Paul told him about the carC．he saw the shining car D．he was walking around the car42．From the story we can see the urchin ________．A．wished to give his brother a car B．wanted Paul’s brother to give him a carC．wished he could have a brother like Paul's D．wished Paul could be a brother like that43．The urchin asked Paul to stop his car in front of his house ________．A．to show his neighbours the big car B．to show he had a rich friendC．to let his brother ride in the car D．to tell his brother about his wish44．We can infer（推断）from the story that ________．A．Paul couldn't understand the urchin B．the urchin had a deep love for his brotherC．the urchin wished to have a rich brother D．the urchin's wish came true in the end45．The best name of the name story is _________．A．A Christmas Present B．A Street Urchin C．A Brother Like That D．An Unforgettable Holiday Ride KEY: 41．B 42．A43．D 44．B 45．CPassage 10Cool”is a word with many meanings．Its old meaning is used to express a temperature that is a little bit cold．As the world has changed，the word has had many different meaning．“Cool”can be used to express feelings of interest in almost anything．When you see a famous car in the street，maybe you will say，“It's cool．”Y ou may think，“He's so cool，”when you see your favourite footballer．We all maximize（扩大）the meaning of“cool”．Y ou can use it instead of many words such as “new”or “surprising”．Here's an interesting story we can use to show the way the word is used．A teacher asked her students to write about the waterfall（瀑布）they had visited．On one student's paper was Just the one sentence，“It's so cool．Maybe he thought it was the best way to show what he saw and felt．But the story also shows a scarcity（缺乏）of words．Without “cool”，some people have no words to show the same meaning．So it is quite important to keep some credibility（可信性）．Can you think of many other words that make your life as colourful as the word “cool”？I can．And I think they are also very cool．46．We know that the word "cool" has had ________.A．only one meaning B．no meanings C．many different meanings D．the same meaning 47．In the passage，the word“express”means“________”.A．see B．show C．know D．feel48．If you are _______ something，you may say，“It’s cool.”A．interested in B．angry about C．afraid of D．unhappy with49．The writer takes an example to show he is ________ the way the word is used．A．pleased with B．strange to C．worried about D．careful with50．In the passage，the writer suggests（暗示）that the word “cool”________．A．can be used instead of many words B．usually means something interestingC．can make your life colourful D．may not be as cool as it seemsKEY: 46．C 47．B 48．A49．C 50．DPassage 11The students were having their chemistry（化学）class. Miss Li was telling the children what water was like. After that, she asked her students, “What's water?”No one spoke for a few minutes．Miss Li asked again，“Why don't you answer my question？Didn't I tell you what water is like？”Just then a boy put up his hand and said，“Miss Li，you told us that water has no colour and no smell．But where to find such kind of water？The water in the river behind my house is always black and it has a bad smell．”Most of the children agreed With him．“I'm sorry，children．”said the teacher，“Our water is getting dirtier and dirtier．That's a problem．51．The students were having their _______ class．A．English B．Chinese C．chemistry D．maths52．Miss Li was telling the children what ______ was like．A．water B．air C．earth D．weather53．A boy said，“The water in the river behind my house is always _______．”A．white B．black C．clean D．clear54．Most of the children _______ the boy．A．agreed with B．wrote to C．heard from D．sent for55．The water in the river has colour and smell because it is getting _______．A．more and more B．less and less C．cleaner and cleaner D．dirtier and dirtierKEY: 51．C 52．A53．B 54．A55．DPassage 12In 1620, about half the USA was covered by forests．Today the forests have almost gone．A lot of good land has gone with them, leaving only sand．China doesn't want to copy the USA's example．We're planting more and more trees．We've built the " Great Green Wall" of trees across northern part of our country．The Great Green Wall is 7,000 kilometres long, and between 400 and 1,700 kilometres wide．It will stop the wind from blowing the earth away．It will stop the sand from moving towards the rich farmland in the south．More "Great Green Walls" are needed．Trees must be grown all over the world．Great Green Walls will make the world better．56．In 1620, about ______ the USA was covered by forests．A．a third B．half C．two thirds D．a fourth57．A lot of good land has gone with ______．A．sand B．water C．wind D．forests58．The Great Green Wall in China is ______ long．A．7,000 kilometers B．1,700 kilometers C．7,000 meters D．400 kilometers59．Trees must be grown in ______.A．China B．the USA C．some countries D．every part of the world60．______ will make the world better．A．The Great Wall B．Tall buildings C．Great Green Walls D．Flowers and grassKEY: 56．B 57．D 58．A59．D 60．C。