高二年级英语期中考试卷

高二年级英语期中考试卷

第I卷

阅读理解（共30分）

A

The Master of Suspense

One of England’s greatest movie directors was a man by the name of Alfred Hitchcock, born in 1899. He made many famous black and white movies that were scary and full of suspense, hence his nickname as the “Master of Suspense”. His most famous films include The Birds and Psycho. Most of his films were murder mysteries, with clever dialogues, interesting plots and talented actors and actresses. He was also a revolutionary filmmaker and introduced many new techniques to the movie-making industry. Hitchcock had a roundish belly and a big nose, which made his profile very recognizable. He was not an actor but he loved to make cameo appearances in his own films.

Hitchcock was an unusual man. For example, he produced frightening movies about mysterious murders, and yet once he said his own greatest fear was the fear of small children!

Hitchcock also had a very clever imagination, which is especially clear in his movie The Birds. In this terrifying movie, a town is attacked by a tremendous flock of black birds. The birds are angry and break into people’s homes to take revenge.

This man’s great imagination is also reflected in Psycho, which is one of the most famous British movies of all time. In Psycho, a young man claims to run a small motel with his elderly mother. But it turns out that the mother is fictional; she exists only in the young man’s head. At night, he dresses up like his mother and sits near the window for people to see. But after midnigh t he breaks into his guests’ bedrooms and murders them.

In Hitchcock’s time and era, murder mysteries were not gruesome, like many of today’s horror films with lots of blood and gore. They thrilled audiences with their focus on intrigue and suspense.

1. Which of the following is NOT true about Hitchcock’s movies?

A.They are black and white movies.

B. They have clever dialogues and interesting plots.

C. They have talented actors and actresses.

D. They were all murder mysteries.

2. Why was Hitchcock an unusual man in the writer’s opinion?

A. His movies are horrible movies.

B. He was a large man with a big nose.

C. His mysterious movies scared children the most.

D. He produced frightening movies, but he thought small children frightened him the most.

3. What does the phrase “make cameo appearances” in the first paragraph most probably mean?

A.Play in a funny way.

B. Play an unimportant part.

C. Make a short appearance.

D. Appear with a camera.

4. How many films directed by the name of Alfred Hitchcock are mentioned in the passage?

A. Two.

B. Three.

C. One.

D. Four.

5. About Alfred Hitchcock, which is NOT mentioned in the passage?

A. His contribution.

B. His weakness.

C. His nickname.

D. His career.

B

Early in 2003 China was faced with a new illness which was very dangerous. It was easy to fall ill with it because it was spread through water. It was highly infectious so that dirty plates in restaurants, dirty toilets or food that was not clean passed on the disease. When people were infected they could spread the disease, by coughing or sneezing. The problem was that this illness looked at first as if it was flu or pneumonia. The patients had a high temperature, headaches and often developed a dry cough and pneumonia. Many of them died. The problem was that doctors and nurses caring for the patients were also at great risk of the disease. When they touched the patients, kissed or hugged them, came close to them or touched items already used by the patients they were at risk. So, many of them did not go home until the outbreak was over.

Dr Zhong Nanshan was very concerned about this new illness. He felt that it was not enough to control the illness. If it was to be treated properly then the researchers had to find the cause of the illness. He worked very hard and refused to hide the facts. He spoke of outbreaks spreading all over China. He insisted that time and effort be given to overcome this illness. On the 12th April 2003, he was successful in finding the cause of SARS. Having found that he knew it would be easier to get rid of the illness.