高中英语限时阅读

George Gershwin, born in 1998, was one of America’s greatest composers. He published his first song when the was eighteen years old. During the next twenty years he wrote more than five hundred songs.Many of Gershwin’s songs were first written for musical plays performed in theatres in New York City. These plays were a popular form of entertainment in the 1920s and 1930s. Many of his songs have remained popular as ever. Over the years they have been sung and played in every possible way — from jazz to country.In the 1920s there was a debate in the United States about jazz music. Could jazz, some people asked, be considered serious music? In 1924 jazz musician and orchestra leader Paul Whiteman decided to organize a special concert to show that jazz was serious music. Gershwin agreed to compose something for the concert before he realized he had just a few weeks to do it. And in that short time, he composed a piece for piano and orchestra which he called Rhapsody in Blue. Gershwin himself played the piano at the concert. The audience were thrilled when they heard his music. It made him world-famous and showed that jazz music could be both serious and popular.In 1928, Gershwin went to Paris. He applied to study composition (作曲)with the well-known musician Nadia Boulanger, but she rejected him. She was afraid that classical study would ruin his jazz-influenced style. While there, Gershwin wrote An American in Paris. When it was first performed, critics (评论家)were divided over the music. Some called it happy and full of life, to others it was silly and boring. But it quickly became popular in Europe and the United States. It sill remains one of his most famous works.George Gershwin died in 1937, just days after doctors learned he had brain cancer. He was only thirty-nine years old. Newspapers all over the world reported his death on their front pages. People mourned the loss of the man and all the music he might have still written.61. Many of Gershwin’s musical works were ________ .A. written about New YorkersB. Composed for Paul WhitemanC. played mainly in the countrysideD. performed in various ways62. What do we know about the concert organized by Whiteman?A. It attracted more people to theatresB. It proved jazz could be serious musicC. It made Gershwin leader of the orchestraD. It caused a debate among jazz musicians.63. What did Gershwin do during his stay in Paris?A. He created one of his best worksB. He studied with Nadia BoulangerC. He argued with French criticsD. He changed his music style64. What do we learn from the last paragraph?A. Many of Gershwin’s works were lostB. The death of Gershwin was widely reportedC. A concert was held in memory of GershwinD. Brain cancer research started after Ge rshwin’s death.65. Which of the following best describes Gershwin?A. Talented and productiveB. Serious and boringC. popular and unhappyD. Friendly and honest61. D 62. B 63. A 64. B 65. A“Who questions much，shall learn much，and remember much.”—Francis Bacon (1561～1626)It seems obvious now how we acquire knowledge and understanding. To start with，you need questions. Then，to find answers，you observe the world around you and study the facts. After that you consider possible answers and test each to find the right ones. Although today we are more accustomed to typing a few key words into a search engine and waiting for the Internet to spit the answers out for us，modern scientists and thinkers are still solving the world’s problems with this type of analysis—luckily for us.However，in the 17th century when Francis Bacon suggested that this type of thinking was the way to gain knowledge，he was going against the views of the day. At that time，people believed more in religion than in facts，and people like Galileo Galilei, who proved scientific ideas such as “the Earth is not the centre of the universe”，were often punished by the church with no one coming to their defence. The church and many people tended to ignore the facts and were unwilling to challenge what they had always comfortably believed. They preferred to make assumptions about the world based on the experience of others. In fact，when Galilei proved that the Earth was not the centre of the universe，instead of believing him，people chose to believe ancient views put forward by the great philosopher Aristotle (384～322 BC)．This also shows how people didn’t want to search for their own understanding or educate themselves. And this is still often true today. People feel that if someone important and respected says that something is right，then it must be so.But even though Aristotle was a great man who inspired many great scientists and philosophers after him，he was wrong at times. And Galilei too made mistakes. He is now known as the father of astronomy but he believed that the earth moved round the sun in a perfect circle. He was wrong. Therefore our understanding of the world around us is constantly growing and changing. In other words，we learn more every day and none of us can ever sit back a nd say “We know it all.”We need to thank the great men of the past for the wisdom to know that we don’t know it all and probably never will，for that would mean a world without questions. So much of our knowledge and understanding of the world today is due to people like Bacon and Galilei，who were brave enough to step out from the shadows of old thoughts in order to find the kingdom of knowledge that today’s civilization is built upon.These men knew that knowledge and understanding are things to fight for；more vital to a man，and more beneficial to mankind，some might say，than all the money in the world.“All truths are easy to understand once they are discovered；the point is to discover them.”—Galileo Galilei (1564～1642)4．In Bacon and Galileo’s times，people would prefer to ________.A．learn new things by observing the world around themselvesB．acquire knowledge from church or experience of great ancestorsC．seek answers to their puzzles from contemporary scientistsD．explore knowledge out of facts they saw with their own eyes5．In this passage Bacon and Galileo are mentioned as examples for________.A．their great achievements in scienceB．their ambition to doubt great ancestorsC．their revolutionary way of acquiring knowledgeD．their preference to believe in themselves rather than others6．What is the main purpose of the passage?A．To help the readers learn more about great thinkers in history.B．To convince the readers of the importance of thinking and discovering.C．To persuade the readers to thank the great men of the past for their wisdom.D．To encourage the readers to go against the views of their day.7．Which of the following is the process the writer suggests to acquire knowledge?A．asking questions→ searching the Internet→ waiting for results→ finding answersB．acquiring knowledge and understanding→ asking questions→ answering questionsC．observing the world→ asking questions→ studying facts→ finding answers→ considering possibilitiesD．asking questions→observing the world→studying facts→considering possibilities→testing and finding answersBCBDA new study of 8,000 young people in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior shows that although love can make adults live healthily and happily，it is a bad thing for young people．Puppy love（早恋）may bring stress for young people and can lead to depression（忧郁症）．The study shows that girls become more depressed than boys，and younger girls are the worst of all．The possible reason for the connection between love and higher risk of depression for girls is “loss of self”．According to the study，even though boys would say “lose themselves in a romantic relationship”，this “loss of self” is much more likely to lead to depression when it happens to girls．Young girls who have romantic relationships usually like hiding their feelings and opinions．They won’t tell that to their parents．Dr Marianm Kaufman，an expert on young people problems，says 15% to 20% young people will have depression during their growing．Trying romance often causes the depression．She advises kids not to jump into romance too early．During growing up，it is important for young people to build strong friendships and a strong sense of self．She also suggests the parents should encourage their kids to keep close to their friends，attend more interesting school activities and spend enough time with family．Parents should watch for signs of depression—eating or mood changes—and if they see signs from their daughters or sons，they need to give help．The good news is that the connection between romance and depression seems to become weak with age．Love will always make us feel young，but only maturity（成熟）gives us a chance to avoid its bad side effects．82．What’s the main idea of the passage?A．Puppy love may bring young people depression．B．Parents shoul d forbid their children’s love．C．Romance is a two edged sword for adults．D．Romance is good for young people．83．Which of the following is more likely to have depression?A．Young people who have a strong sense of selfishness．B．Young boys whose parents watch for their behavior．C．Young girls who always hide their feelings and opinions．D．Careless parents whose children are deep in love．84．What can be inferred from the passage?A．Lacking love can lead young people to grow up more quickly．B．Early love makes young people keep close to their friends and parents．C．Parents should help their children to be aware of the signs of depression．D．The older a woman is，the less likely she seems to lose herself in romance．85．What’s the author’s attitude tow ards puppy love?A．Confused B．DisapprovingC．Disinterested D．ScaredACDBNineteen-year-old Christopher Paolini has always loved adventure books.In fact，he plotted out his first book，Eragon，when he was just fifteen! Eragon is selling more copies than most of the Harry Potter books.A reporter from Who’s News talked to this young author about his books and how he ended up being one of the best-selling authors of all time!Reporter：____________________Christopher Paolini(CP)：I love fantasy.I love the sense of awe and wonder that you always get at the end of a great book or movie.Eragon was an attempt to express that.When I was about twelve, I read a book called Jeremy Thatcher，Dragon Hatcher.It’s about a young boy who went into a mysterious shop and bought a dragon egg that ends up hatching. It stuck in my head.Eragon was an attempt to see what I could do with the idea myself.Reporter：Where else do you get your ideas?CP：I’m definitely influenced by authors who have a fairly inventive use of languag e，imaginative worlds and a sense of wonder－authors who write about things that other people don’t.Reporter：What was the hardest thing about writing Eragon?CP：Probably the editing because I wasn’t used to it.It was a kind of shock doing it.But also I was having to learn a huge amount about grammar and commas and other things I’d never paid much attention to before.I’d say that editing and writing are pretty much equal in difficulty.My raw writing is a lot more professional now than it ever was before because of everything I learned through the editing process.Reporter：How do you avoid becoming frustrated with the writing process?CP：Write about what you enjoy the most or what touches you the most; otherwise you’ll never be able to survive a book-length project.Reporter：Anything else you’d like to share with our readers?CP：Before I wrote Eragon，I spent an entire month plotting out the entire story so I wasn’t writing blindly.That helps.I really poured my heart and soul into it.It’s not just an adventure st ory：it is about Eragon trying to work out who we are，why we are here and how we can live honorably.1．The reporter’s first question is most likely to be“________”．A．What’s the most interesting thing about Eragon?B．What inspired you to write Eragon?C．How has your writing improved after Eragon?D．How long did it take you to write Eragon?2．What does the underlined word“that”refer to in the third paragraph?A．A story.B．The sense of awe and wonder.C．An idea.D．A great book or movie.3．What does Paolini find as difficult as writing?A．Plotting out the story.B．Grammar and commas.C．The editing process.D．The creative use of language.4．Which of the following BEST indicates Paolini devoted himself completely to writing Eragon?A．“Write about what you enjoy the most or what touches you the most.”B．“Eragon was an attempt to see what I could do with the idea myself.”C．“I spent an entire month plotting out the entire story.”D．“I really poured my heart and soul into it.”BBCDMost Americans enjoy moving from place to place very often. In some states only one house in five has people living in it who have been there for more than five years. One may be born in one city, and go to school in another. He may finish his middle school educa tion in two or three cities and attend a college far across the country. And when he has en-tered business, he may possibly move from job to job. Moving from job to job, or jo-hopping, is a very common practice in the United States.This practice is not good by and large. Yet every chance to change a job offers the worker anopportunity to move up to a higher position and to get better wages. And job-hopping also gives employers—the bosses, the managers the—chance to benefit from the new ideas and skills that different people bring to their firms or factories. Then, most A-mericans love traveling. People often drive their automobiles 120 to 160 kilometers just to have dinner with a friend or even fly to Europe and back just for watching a football match. It is because of this—the fact that Americans are in constant motion and, in this way, it is also easy for you to become friends with Americans. And the friendship can be close and strong for a while, but then disappears as soon as the individuals move away from each other. But if these people should meet again, even years later, they would be delighted to continue the friendship. So don’t be unhappy when you fail to find lifetime friendships or relationships in the United States.1. “Job-hopping” means _______.A. moving from place to placeB. looking for workC. hoping to get a jobD. moving from job to job2. Why do Americans change their jobs so frequently? Because _______.A. they have the habits of movingB. they want a higher position and better wagesC. job-hopping benefits the bossesD. it gives them a good opportunity of traveling3. It is inferred that _______.A. Americans like to make friends but don’t specially attach importance to itB. it’s impossible to find lifetime friendships or relationships in the United State sC. Americans ignore friendships and relationships with othersD. Americans make friends just for fun4. Personally, tbaauthor _______ job-hopping.A. is againstB. thinks well ofC. wants to stopD. doesn’t go along with答：1. D 2. B 3. A 4. BFor thousands of years, we have looked for ways to measure time. Early humans found that the regular movements of the sun, the earth, the moon and the stars made good ways to measure time. The rising and setting of the sun were used to distinguish day from night.But, eventually, people needed to tell time more accurately, or exactly. So, by using the sun's position in the sky, they divided the day into dawn, morning, midday and evening.Then it was noted that the sun cast a changing shadow as it moved across the sky. Time could be told more accurately by setting up a stick and making the positions of the sun's shadow. It was the ancient Greeks（古希腊人）who divided each position of this "sundial(日)" into hours. But the sun doesn't always shine. So far the past 6,000 years, many other ways of keeping time have been tried. Slow-burning candles were divided into hours, and the hourglass was invented. When all the sand in the top of an hourglass has shifted（过滤），to the bottom, an hour has passed.Later, the pendulum(钟摆), with its regular back-and-forth movement of weights, was used to move the hands on a clock pendulums are still used in grandfather clocks.Today, even more accurate clocks are in use, such as battery-operated quartz clocks, digital clocks and clocks run by electrical turning forks（音叉）and tiny atoms（原子）. These atomic clocks are the most accurate clocks ever invented. The exact time can be kept to within one second a century. 49．When something is very exact, it is said to be __________.A．slow B．accurate C．fast D．of poor quality50．Humans in the old days used ________to tell day from night.A．the rising and setting of the sun B．battery-operated quartz clocksC．atomic clocks D．digital clocks51．A sundial works by __________.A．tracking the movement of the stars around the sunB．marking a shadow cast by the moving sunC．burning candle in the sunlightD．watching the stars52．Which of the following was NOT used in the past to measure time? A．An hourglass. B．A sundial. C．Digital clocks. D．A pendulums.BABC。