高考英语阅读理解冲刺全程训练(14)(1)

2014高考英语阅读理解冲刺全程训练（14）及答案阅读理解请认真阅读下列短文，从短文后各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。

AWe know the famous ones—the Thomas Edison and the Alexander Graham Bells —but what about the less famous inventors? What about the people who invented the traffic light and the windshield wiper(雨刮器)？Shouldn’t we know who they are?Joan Mclean thinks so. In fact, Mclean, a professor of physics at Mountain University in Range, feels so strongly about this matter that she’s developed a course on the topic. In addition to learning “who” invented “what”, however, Mclean also likes her students to learn the answers to the “why” and ”how” questions. According to Mclean,” When students learn the answers to these questions, they are better prepared to recognize opportunities for inventing and more motivated to give inventing a try.”So, just what is the story behind the windshield wiper? Well, Mary Anderson came up with the idea in 1902 after a visit to New York City. The day was cold and stormy, but Anderson still wa nted to see the sights, so she jumped aboard a streetcar. Noticing that the driver was struggling to see through the snow covering the windshield, she found herself wondering why there couldn’t be a built-in device for cleaning the window. Still wondering about this when she returned home to Birmingham, Alabama, Anderson started drafting out solutions. One of her ideas, a lever(操作杆)on the inside of a vehicle that would control an arm on the outside, became the first windshield wiper.Today we benefit from countless inventions and innovations，It’s hard to imagine driving without Garrett A Morgan’s traffic light. It’s equally impossible to picture a world without Katherine J. Blodgett’s innovation that makes glass invisible, Can you picture life without clear windows and eyeglasses?( ) 1. By mentioning “traffic light” and “windshield wiper”, the author indicates that countless inventions are .A. beneficial, because their inventors are famousB. beneficial, though their inventors are less famousC. not useful, because their inventors are less famousD. not useful, though their inventors are famous( ) 2. Professor Joan McLean’s course aims to_____.A. add color and variety to students’ campus lifeB. inform students of the windshield wiper’s inventionC. carry out the requirements by Mountain UniversityD. prepare students to try their own invention( ) 3. Tommy Lee’s invention of the unbreakable umbrella was _________.A. not eventually accepted by the umbrella producerB. inspired by the story behind the windshield wiperC. due to his dream of being caught in a rainstormD. not related to Professor Joan McLean’s lectures( ) 4. Which 0f the following can best serve as the title of this passage?A How to Help Students to Sell Their Inventions to Producers?B How to Design a Built-in Device for Cleaning the Window?C Shouldn’t We Know Who Invented the Windshield Wiper?D Shouldn’t We Develop Invention Courses in Universities?A篇第一篇文章是关于生活中离不开小发明，鼓励年轻人要善于把握发明的契机，推动社会的进步。

56.观点态度题，根据第一段but 处：but what about the less famous inventers? What about….windshield wiper? 可以得出结论。

这些人的发明不是很有名，确实非常有用的。

答案为B。

57. 细节题。

根据题干可以定位到原文第二段，However处正是考点出题处，引号当中的内容正是证明了Mclean的观点：when students learn the answers to thesequestions,….prepared to recognize…inventing a try.由此可以看出选项D正是原文的同义替换。

58.细节题。

根据题干中的人物Tommy lee可以定位到原文第三段，引号当中正是他的观点：If I had not heard the story of the windshield wiper’s invention…..i never would have….，可以判断出答案B正确。

59.主旨题。

文章一开头就点出文章主旨：shouldn’t we know who they are?并且用了疑问句加强语气，可见C选项正确。

其他三个选项都相对片面。

Passage Four (Examinations Exert a Pernicious Influence on Education)We might marvel at the progress made in every field of study, but the methods of testing a person’s knowle dge and ability remain as primitive as ever they were. It really is extraordinary that after all these years, educationists have still failed to device anything more efficient and reliab le than examinations. For all the pious claim that examinations text what you know, it is common knowledge that they more often do the exact opposite. They may be a good means of testing memory, or the knack of working rapidly under extreme pressure, but they can tell you nothing about a person’s true ability and aptitude.As anxiety-makers, examinations are second to none. That is because so much depends on them. They are the mark of success of failure in our society. Your whole future may be decided in one fateful day. It doesn’t matter that you weren’t feeling very well, or that your mother died. Little things like that don’t count: the exam goes on. No one can give of his best when he is in mortal terror, or after a sleepless night, yet this is precisely what the examination system expects him to do. The moment a child begins school, he enters a world of vicious competition where success and failure are clear ly defined and measured. Can we wonder at the increasing number of ‘drop-outs’: young people who are written off as utter failures before they have even embarked on a career? Can we be surprised at the suicide rate among students?A good education should, among other things, train you to think for yourself. The examination system does anything but that. What has to be learnt is rigidly laid down by a syllabus, so the student is encouraged to memorize. Examinations do not motivate a student to read widely, but to restrict his reading; they do not enable him to seek more and more knowledge, but induce cramming. They lower the standards of teaching, for they deprive the teacher of all freedoms. Teachers themselves are often judged by examination results and instead of teaching their subjects, they are reduced to training their students in exam techniques which they despise. The most successful candidates are not always the best educated; they are the best trained in the technique of working under duress.The results on which so much depends are often nothing more than a subjective assessment by some anonymous examiner. Examiners are only human. They get tired and hungry; they make mistakes. Yet they have to mark stacks of hastily scrawled scripts in a limited amount of time. They work under the same sort of pressure as the candidates. And their word carries weight. After a judge’s decision you have the right o f appeal, but not after an examiner’s. There must surely be many simpler and more effective ways of assessing a person’s true abilities. Is it cynical to suggest that examinations are merely a profitable business for the institutions that run them? This is what it boils down to in the last analysis. The best comment on the system is this illiterate message recently scrawled on a wall: ‘I were a teenage drop-out and now I are a teenage millionaire.’1.The main idea of this passage is[A] examinations exert a pernicious influence on education.examinations are ineffective.[C] examinations are profitable for institutions.[D] examinations are a burden on students.2.The author’s attitude toward examinations is[A]detest.approval.[C] critical.[D] indifferent.3.The fate of students is decided by[A] education.institutions.[C] examinations.[D] students themselves.4.According to the author, the most important of a good education is[A] to encourage students to read widely.to train students to think on their own.[C] to teach students how to tackle exams.[D] to master his fate.5.Why does the author mention court?[A] Give an example.For comparison.[C] It shows that teachers’ evolutions depend on the results of examinations.[D] It shows the results of court is more effectise.Vocabulary1.pernicious 有害的，恶性的，破坏性的2.knack 窍门，诀窍3.embark 乘船，登记4.write off 勾销，注销。