Question

The Town of Pressure and the Town of Pleasure were neighbors but had nothing in common. Residents built walls to      influence from the other town.

In Pressure,      struggled to be the very best. When women gave birth, they would      to have the baby with the loudest cry. There was violent competition in every aspect of life. Because     was the index (指数) of success, people were     busy making money, with     for relaxation. Some young people couldn’t bear the intensity and resorted to drink or drugs to escape.

_  , over in Pleasure, the motto was “As long as you like it, do it.” People grew up without      and     do anything they liked. Children played computer games day and night. At school, teachers didn’t _   whether students showed up or not. Workers might sit around the office      sipping coffee and doing nothing.      the lack of regulations, nobody worried about losing their jobs. It was      that mattered. No one had the      thought of moving forward, either for themselves or for the town. The computers they used were      models from Pressure.

Some of the young were addicted to      because of the meaninglessness of their lives. Then, people in the two towns began asking themselves, “What is     for?” But, just before life in the two towns completely     , there came a saint – Mr. Reason. He went from door to door, talking with people and giving advice. People in Pressure learnt to be      with what they had, while people in Pleasure began to make plans. They     the walls between them and built a road to connect the two. The towns’ people came to realize the truth—there is no space between Pressure and Pleasure if they don’t go to extremes.

1.A. connect                        B. keep                                 C. keep out                         D. prevent

2.A. everyone           B. anyone                    C. nobody                   D. somebody

3.A. have                     B. like                                    C. compete                          D. try

4.A. health                           B. joy                                     C. children                           D. wealth

5.A. seldom                          B. always                    C. hardly                               D. sometimes

6.A. much time          B. no reason                        C. many reasons                  D. no time

7.A. Meanwhile                  B. At the same time            C. Therefore                        D. Virtually

8.A. pleasure                       B. pressure                         C. work                                 D. happiness

9.A. must                     B. need                                 C. could                               D. dared

10.A. know                           B. find                                   C. recognize                         D. care

11.A. in the morning B. in the evening                 C. all day long            D. in the afternoon

12.A. Thanks to                  B. Regardless of                  C. Owe to                    D. According to

13.A. money                        B. time                                  C. pleasure                          D. pressure

14.A. strongest          B. slightest                           C. most                                  D. smallest

15.A. the old             B. the new                            C. the best                            D. the same

16.A. books                          B. work                                 C. money                              D. drugs

17.A. pressure           B. life                                    C. pleasure                           D. money

18.A. improved                   B. failed                               C. succeeded                       D. lived

19.A. content            B. surprised                         C. patient                              D. angry

20.A. built                            B. put down                         C. pulled down                   D. set up

Answer

1.D

2.A

3.C

4.D

5.B

6.D

7.A

8.B

9.C

10.D

11.C

12.A

13.C

14.B

15.A

16.D

17.B

18.B

19.A

20.C

【解析】

试题分析：从前有两个仅一墙之隔的压力小镇和快乐小镇，两个小镇的人们彼此不相往来。在压力小镇人们时刻处于竞争的压力下；而在快乐小镇人们都不思进取，碌碌无为。这两种截然不同的生活都导致了很多问题，终于有一天两个小镇的人们意识到了如果不走极端的话，压力和快乐是不分开的。

1.D动词辨析。A连接； B保持；C. 把。。。挡在外面；D. 阻止。从情理可知建墙的目的是为了阻挡人们相互影响，所以答案选D。

2.A 不定代词辨析。A.每个人；B. 任何人；C. 没有人；D. 某个人。根据文章内容可知压力小镇上的人们在生活的方方面面都在竞争，任何人都不例外，所以答案选A。

3.C动词辨析。 A. 有；B. 喜欢；C.竞争；D.尝试。根据下文There was violent competition in every aspect of life可知人们都彼此攀比竞争，所以答案选C。

4.D名词辨析。 A. 健康；B.高兴；C.孩子们；D. 财富。从下文people were busy making money 可知人们都忙着挣钱，由此推断在小镇上判断是否成功的标准是财富的多少，所以D选项正确。

5.B 副词辨析。A. 很少；B. 总是；C.几乎不；D. 有时。根据上文的讲述可知人们为了成功，为了多挣钱总是忙忙碌碌的，所以判断B选项正确。

6.D 名词辨析。A. 很多时间；B. 没有理由；C. 很多理由；D. 没有时间。由上文内容可知人们都忙着挣钱，由此推断没有娱乐的时间，故D选项正确。

7.A副词辨析。A.对比之下；与此同时；B. 同时；C. 因此；D. 简直，几乎。根据上下文可知此段讲述快乐小镇和压力小镇截然不同的情况，所以选A、句意：对比之下，在快乐小镇上，人们的座右铭就是“做吧，只要你喜欢。”

8.B名词辨析。A. 乐趣；B. 压力；C. 工作；D. 幸福。从下文的叙述可知在快乐小镇上，人们随心所欲，想做什么就做什么，由此推断人们都没有压力，所以选B。

9.C情态动词辨析。 A. 必须；B. 需要；C. 能够；D. 敢。根据语境可知人们在快乐小镇上可以随意做喜欢做的事情，换句话说，人们能够做想做的任何事情，所以答案选C。

10.D动词辨析。 A.知道；B. 发现；C.认出；D. 在意。由上下文内容可以判断在快乐小镇上人们没有责任心和上进心，所以对教师来说他们也不在意学生是否来学校，故答案选D。

11.C 短语辨析。A. 在上午； B. 在晚上；C.整天；D. 在下午。根据上文内容Children played computer games day and night.可知孩子们整天玩游戏，由此推测成年人们也是每天都喝咖啡，无所事事。所以答案选C。

12.A短语辨析。 A.多亏了；B. 不管，不顾；C.由于；D.根据。由下文nobody worried about losing their jobs可以判断没有规章制度是人们不担心失业的原因，所以答案选A。

13.C名词辨析。A. 钱；B. 时间；C. 乐趣，快乐；D. 压力。根据上下文可知在快乐小镇最重要的事情就是快乐，所以C选项正确。

14.B形容词辨析。A.最强壮的；B轻微的；C.最多的；D. 最小的。根据文章的讲述可知在快乐小镇上人们终日无所事事，不思进取，根本就不考虑进步，由此可知B为正确选项。

15.A形容词辨析。A. 旧的；B. 新的；C.最好的；D.同样的。根据上文内容可知快乐小镇上的人们不思进取，所以他们用的东西都是落后的，而压力小镇上的人们都在竞争，竞争会促进社会进步，由此推断快乐小镇上的人们使用的是压力小镇上淘汰的旧电脑。所以A选项正确。

16.D名词辨析。A. 书；B.工作；C. 钱；D. 毒品。根据文章内容可知快乐小镇上的人们生活的空虚无聊，年轻人就要寻求刺激，由此推测他们开始吸毒，所以D选项正确。

17.B名词辨析。 A.压力；B生活；C.乐趣；D. 钱。根据上下文可知此处说的是两个小镇上的人们生活出现了问题，他们对自己的生活目的提出了质疑，由此推断B选项正确。

18.B动词辨析。A. 提高，改善；B.失败；C. 成功；D. 生活。由上文的叙述可知快乐小镇上的人们因为空虚而吸毒，而压力小镇上的人们为了放松也酗酒吸毒，由此可知他们的生活都是失败的，所以B选项正确。

19.A 形容词辨析。A.满意的；B. 惊讶的；C.耐心的；D.生气的。根据情理可知Mr Reason建议压力小镇上的人们不要总和别人攀比，要学会知足。所以A选项正确。

20.C动词辨析。A. 建造；B. 放下；C. 拆毁；D. 建立。根据下文built a road to connect the two可知人们拆掉了两个小镇之间的那堵墙，所以答案选C。

考点：考查故事类短文。