2018高考英语二轮复习 阅读理解寒假训练7

阅读理解训练（7）

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C、D）中，选出最佳选项并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

A

I used to think of myself as a fairly open person,but my bookshelves told a different story.Apart from a few Indian novels and the Australian and South African book,my literature collection consisted of British and American titles.Worse still,I hardly ever read anything in translation. My reading was limited to stories by English-speaking authors.

So,at the start of2012,I set myself the challenge of trying to read a book from every country in a year to find out what I was missing.As I was unlikely to find publications from nearly200 nations on the shelves of my local bookshop,I decided to ask the planet’s readers for help.I created a blog called A Year of Reading the World and put out an appeal for suggestions of titles that I could read in English.

The response was amazing.Before I knew it,people all over the planet were getting in touch with ideas and offers of help.Some posted me books from their home countries.Others did hours of research on my behalf.In addition,several writers sent me unpublished translations of their novels,giving me a rare opportunity to read works otherwise unavailable to the62%of the British who only speak English.Even so,selecting books was no easy task.With translations making up only around4.5 percent of literary works published in the UK and Ireland,getting English versions(版本)of stories was difficult.

But the effort was worth it.I found I was visiting the mental space of the storytellers.These stories not only opened my mind to the real life in other places,but opened my heart to the way people there might feel.

And that in turn changed my thinking.Through reading the stories shared with me by bookish strangers around the globe,I realised I was not alone,but part of a network that spread all over the planet.

1.Which of the following might be found on the blog A Year of Reading the World?

A.Lists of English version books.

B.Research on English literature.

C.Unfinished novels by British writers.

ments on English literature.

2.Why was it hard for the author to select the right books to read?

A.The author had a busy schedule.

B.The author was only interested in a few topics.

C.The author could only read books written in English.

D.Most books recommended are not available in local bookshops.

3.The author is probably from_________.

A.America

B.the UK

C.Australia

D.Canada

4.Which of the following words can best describe the author’s experience?

A.fast and effortless

B.challenging but rewarding

C.hopeless but beneficial

D.meaningful but fruitless

1---4ACBB

B

My oldest child,Emma,just returned to campus after a long holiday break to finish up her last period of college.These days,friends and family have begun flooding me with one question:What is she going to do after graduation?

The job market is,after all,awfully tough.Just this month the Federal Reserve Bank published a study showing that“recent graduates are increasingly working in low-paid jobs or working part-time.”The bright spot,according to the study,is for students who majored(主修)in STEM —science,technology,engineering and mathematics—areas in which recent graduates“have tended to do relatively well”.

But Emma is a student of the humanities(人文)at a small college.She’s an American Studies major with a focus on the politics and culture of food.For quite a while,I think her field of study is so fashionable right now that I’m not the least bit worried she will find a good job.Yet the more I’ve thought about it,the more I’ve decided to be honest.“I’m not sure what Emma is going to do,”I now say.“But she’s gotten a great education and has really found her interest.—and I know those things will serve her well over the course of her life.”

Nowadays,more and more universities and colleges are being measured by the salaries of their recent graduates.In this climate,encouraging your kid to study the humanities,seems,at best,unwise or,at worst,unconcerned with earning a living.But a college is not a vocational(职业)school. And promoting STEM subjects should not be society’s only answer to helping the next generation grow in a competitive world.