九年级英语阅读A篇专项练习

Los Angeles Redondo Beach houseM2ATK designed this unique container house for an artist. It’sfully equipped with heating and cooling, a kitchen and bathroom. On1. Compared to traditional houses, container houses are _________.A. easier to maintainC. more comfortable to live in2. What can be learned about Amsterdam’s Keetwonen complex?For centuries across the world, moms have been homemakers while dads have been breadwinners (负担家计的人). However, a recent report shows a milestone (里程碑) change in the social roles of mothers and fathers.The new findings, from the US government’s Current Population Survey, show more women in the workplace and fewer stay-at-home mothers in the country.For the first time, American women have passed men in getting college degrees since more women than men went to college in the 1980s, according to the survey. Among adults aged 25 and older, 10.6 million US women have master’s degrees or higher, compared to 10.5 million men. When it comes to finishing college, about 20.1 million American women have bachelor’s degrees. The number for men is nearly 18.7 million. The gap of more than 1.4 million has remained steady in recent years. American women first passed men in bachelor’s degrees in 1996.Women’s educational achievements are giving them greater chances for a wider choice of jobs. This is contributing to a change in traditional gender roles at home and work.The new “Mr. Moms” include Todd Krater, 38, of Lakemoor, Illinois. He has been a stay-at-home dad for the past seven years to his three sons after his wife, who earned a master’s business degree, began to succeed in her career as a software expert.Krater said he found it difficult adjusting at first and got little support from other mothers at school events. In his blog, “A Man among Mommies”, Krater encourages other fathers to take a larger role in child care and says he now feels happy to see more dads at the park, library and school.“What was once an uncommon sight of a dad with the kids during the day is becoming more and more common,” said Krater. “But many still feel the pressure of gender roles and feel if they don’t make money they are somehow less of a man.”Jeremy Adam Smith, author of the 2009 book The Daddy Shift, believes that more stay-at-home dads will appear.“In the long term, the numbers of Mr. Moms are just going to keep going up,” Smith said.1. Why are there more and more working women according to the article?A. Men are more willing to stay at home to care for kids.B. Better education provides opportunities for women to find better jobs.C. Women are gradually expected to be breadwinners.D. Men are no longer earning a higher salary than women.2. In Krater’s opinion, what stops men from staying at home?A. The prospect of being laughed at by people.B. The sense of losing position at home.C. The embarrassment of being with moms.D. The feeling of being less of a man.3. Which of the following statements is WRONG?A. It may be difficult for men to be a home father at first.B. American women didn’t pass men in bachelor’s degrees until 1996.C. It is uncommon to see fathers with their children during the day.D. The gap between men and women has been decreasing in recent years.4. What is the main point of the article?A. To encourage mothers to work and fathers to stay at home.B. To analyze the causes of a heated social problem.C. To argue the case for mothers earning a higher salary.D. To report on a change in the roles of fathers and mothers.The murder took place around ten p.m. on June 10. Thirty-two people watched Kitty being killed right beneath their windows. She was their neighbor. Yet, none of the 32 neighbours helped her. Not even one called the police. Was this inhuman cruelty? Was it lack of feeling for one’s fellow man?“Not so,” say scientists Dr. Darley and Dr. Fatane. They’ve found the reasons why people don’t act. According to them, a person has to go through two steps before he can help. First, he has to notice there is an emergency.　Suppose you see a middle-aged man fall onto the ground. Is he having a heart attack, or some other physical trouble? Or is he simply about to sleep off a drunk? So it’s not always easy to tell if you are faced with a dangerous situation.Second and more important, the person faced with such cases must feel himself responsible. He must feel that he must help.The researchers found that a lot of cases depend on how many people are around. They asked college students to come in to be “tested”. Some came individually, some with one or two others, and some in large groups. When they came in, either personally, in pairs, or in groups, a lady went into the next room. Soon the students heard a scream, the noise something falling and a cry for help. All of this had been pre-recorded on a tape-recorder.Eight out of ten of the students taking the test only himself acted to help. Of the students in pairs, only two out of ten helped. Of the students in groups, none helped. In other words, in a group, Americans often fail to act. They feel that others will act. They, themselves, needn’t. They do not feel any direct responsibility.1. Why didn’t thirty-two people act to help Kitty according to the passage? Because they ______.A. were afraid to be killedB. were cruel in their heartsC. thought others would helpD. didn’t notice the dangerous situation2. Which of the following is an emergency?A. Someone is running quickly in the street.B. Someone is having a heart attack.C. Someone is having trouble with his case.D. Someone is sleeping off a drunk.3. According to Dr. Darley and Dr. Fatane, when a person notices an emergency, he must ______before he acts to help.A. feel himself responsibleB. look for the policeC. hear a cry for helpD. be with a group4. The result of the tests shows that ______.A. the more people there are together, the more people will act to helpB. college students would be more likely to help than ordinary AmericansC. the more people there are together, the fewer people will act to helpD. the tested students acted to help for recording their actions on a tape-recorder5. Americans don’t ______ in groups.A. notice an emergencyB. like to be testedC. depend on each otherD. feel direct responsibilityScience fiction paints a future where robots playan important part in everyday life. A technology firmis trying to make that future a reality today with anaffordable robot called Artibo. Artibo is small. Itsbrain, or Al block, is a cube (立方体) that fits in yourhand. That block connects to a motor block and twosilicon wheels. Assembled, it’s about four inches tall.Artibo is much more than just a robot that youprogram to move around. Artibo’s designers want it toprovide companionship and be a resource for learningcoding. With its camera, microphone and connection toa cloud-based Al, it can respond to voice commands or function like a walkie-talkie (对讲机). It talks like a chatbot and can tell bedtime stories. It can even help you learn other languages!Artibo isn’t quite ready for stores yet, though. It’s part of a crowdfunding project. Crowdfunding is a program where you put a request online to a crowd of people. Supporters can then pay large or small amounts to help you finish a project. Artibo will first be available to people who have paid to help bring it into production.Using computer code to program your own toys is nothing new. LEGO first released a robot kit in 1998. Since then, programmable robots have become one of the best-selling units in the LEGO product line. Programming robots might sound comparable to rocket science, but anyone can program one using nothing more than a tablet or a smartphone and code blocks.Code blocks allow you to program simple or complex commands by assembling visual blocks of code on the canvas (画布) of a computer screen. Just drag and drop a variety of code blocks from a programming menu, link them together, and watch how your robot responds. In Artibo’s case coding doesn’t stop there. Unlike other similar programmable toys, Artibo will also allow you to write your own code. So as your familiarity with coding increases, you won’t lose interest in Artibo.1. According to the passage, the purpose of developing Artibo is ______.A. helping people learn anything they want and providing companionshipB. providing a robot that can move, accompany and help people learn codingC. chatting with people, telling bedtime stories and supplying languagesD. helping people raise money on line and creating programmable robots2. What can be concluded from the passage?A. Programming robots is not really complicated.B. Programming robots is advanced like a rocket.C. Programming robots can be used in smartphones.D. Programming robots used in toys is not new at all.3. The passage implies that ______.A. People can programme various orders even without code blocksB. Anyone can control Artibo freely unlike other programming toysC. The more familiar you’re with coding, the more you’ll like ArtiboD. Artibo is popular in the world especially among young people。