人物传记类中考英语阅读理解

人物传记类中考英语阅读理解

叶邑镇中学九年级英语组姚胜兰

A

You may never heard of Ladislao Biro, but you have certainly heard of the pen he invented—the ballpoint pen（圆珠笔）, or biro. Before Biro invented his pen, people wrote with fountain pens. The ink sometimes went out. In the 1930s, Biro was a magazine editor in Budapest in Hungary. He noticed that the inks which the magaz ine’s printers used dried very quickly. Biro wondered if quick—drying inks could be used in pens. He came up with the idea of a tube（管子）of ink with a free—moving ball on the end. As a person wrote, the ball collected ink from the tube and rolled it on to the paper. The pen would be cheap and could be thrown away when the ink was used up.

Biro began to work on his invention but he soon left Europe for Buenos Aires in Argentina, a country in South America, because of the Second World War. Biro and his brother George, who was a chemist, began to improve the pen. In the early 1940s, Biro began to produce his new pen, the biro. In 1944, he sold his invention to another company, which began to produce the pen for Britain and America.

Biro was pleased that his pen was popular, but he did not get much from his invention. The biro was later sold to the French company, Bic, which now sells twelve million pens a day. Biro sank into obscurity in South America. His name, however, has become famous around the world.

根据材料内容选择最佳答案，并将其标号填入题前括号内。

( ) 46. Biro is the name of ____________.

A. a chemist

B. a fountain pen

C. a company

D. a ballpoint pen

( ) 47. According to the passage, Biro’s new pen was first produced in _____________.

A. Hungary

B. France

C. Argentina

D. Britain and America

( ) 48. Which of the following can be filled in the box to show how Biro invented his new pen?

came up with an idea → worked on his invention → ? → produced his pen

A. improved his pen

B. sold his invention

C. worked as an editor

D. left for South America

( ) 49. The underlined part “sank into obscurity”is the closest in meaning to “__________”.

A. was very popular

B. lost a lot of money

C. lost interest in business

D. was unknown to many people ( ) 50. What does the passage mainly tell us about Biro?

A. He was a popular writer.

B. He was an important inventor.

C. He was a famous magazine editor.

D. He was a successful businessman.

参考答案46—50 DCADB

B

Zheng He, the Columbus of the East, was a Ming dynasty explorer whom the Chinese people are proud of.

He was born in 1371 and, 11 years later, was caught by the army of a rich young man called Zhu Di and made to work for him. Over time the rich man saw that Zheng He was very clever and strong and they became close friends. In 1403 Zhu Di was made the King of China and he asked Zheng He to join his new government.

The King wanted to learn more about the world and show other countries his power. He ordered many new ships to be built and made Zheng He their leader. Between 1405 and 1433, Zheng He led seven sea trips to different parts of the world. He certainly traveled to India, Africa and the Middle East. A few people think his ships may have even reached South America and Australia.

Each trip lasted between two and four years and it is believed he sailed more than

50 000 km during the years of his travels. With 28 000 men and over 300 ships, such as boats for food, water and even soldiers' horses, Zheng He led a fleet (舰队) whose size would not be equaled by Europeans for over 500 years!

On these trips he brought with him many Chinese goods like silk and medicine to give to foreign kings or to sell for local goods. He returned from each trip with boats filled with expensive things such as gold and jewellery, foreign guests and strange animals like a giraffe.

It is a pity that we may never learn everything about Zheng He's travels. After he died in 1433, the new king, who believed these trips were unlucky and too