(2013·高考江西卷，A)The light from the campfire brightened the darkness，but it could not prevent the damp cold of Dennis’s Swamp (沼泽地) creeping into their bones.It was a strange place.Martin and Tom wished that they had not accepted Jack’s dare.They liked camping，but not near this swamp.
“So，”Martin asked as they sat watching the hot coals.“How did this place get its name? ”
“Are you sure you want to hear it ? It’s a scary story，”warned Jack.
“Of course！”cried out Tom.“If there were anything to be scared of，you wouldn’t have chosen this place！”
“Ok，but don’t say I didn’t warn you，” said Jack，and he began his tale.
“Way back in time，a man called Dennis tried to start a farm here.He built that cottage over there to live in.In those days，the area looked quite different—it was covered with tall trees and the swamp was a crystalclear river.After three hard years，Dennis had cleared several fields and planted crops.He was so proud of his success that he refused to listen to advice.
“‘You are clearing too much land，’warned one old man.‘The land is a living thing.It will hit back at you if you abuse it.’”
“‘Silly fool，’said Dennis to himself.‘If I clear more land，I can grow more crops.I’ll become wealthier.He’s just jealous！’”
“Dennis continued to chop down trees.Small animals that relied on them for food and shelter were destroyed.He was so eager to expand his farm that he did not notice the river flowing slowly towards his door.He did not notice salt seeping to the surface of the land.He did not notice swamp plants choking all the native plants.”
“What happened？”Martin asked.It was growing colder.He trembled，twisting his body closer to the fire.
“The land hit back—just as the old man warned，”Jack shrugged.“Dennis disappeared.Old folks around here believe that swamp plants moved up from the river and dragged him underwater.His body was never found.”
“What a stupid story，”laughed Tom.“Plants can’t...”Before he had finished speaking，he screamed and fainted(晕倒)．The other two boys jumped up with fright，staring at Tom.Suddenly，they burst out laughing.Some green swamp ivy (常春藤) had covered Tom’s face.It was a while before Tom could appreciate the joke.
1.The underlined word “dare”in Paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to________.
A．courage B．assistance
C．instruction D．challenge
2.Why did Jack tell Tom and Martin the story?
A．To frighten them.
B．To satisfy their curiosity.
C．To warn them of the danger of the place.
D．To persuade them to camp in the swamp.
3.Why did Dennis ignore the warning of the old man?
A．The old man envied him.
B．The old man was foolish
C．He was too busy to listen to others.
D．He was greedy for more crops.
4.Why did Tom scream and faint?
A．He saw Dennis’s shadow.
B．He was scared by a plant.
C.His friends played a joke on him.
D．The weather became extremely cold.
5.What lesson can we learn from the story of Dennis?
A．Grasp all，lose all.
B．No sweat，no sweet.
C．It is no use crying over spilt milk.
D．He who makes no mistakes makes nothing.
(2013·高考四川卷，E)Fear may be felt in the heart as well as in the head，according to a study that has found a link between the cycles of a beating heart and the chance of someone feeling fear.
Tests on healthy volunteers found that they were more likely to feel a sense of fear at the moment when their hearts are contracting(收缩) and pumping blood around their bodies，compared with the point when the heartbeat is relaxed.Scientists say the results suggest that the heart is able to influence how the brain responds to a fearful event，depending on which point it is at in its regular cycle of contraction and relaxation.
Sarah Garfinkel at the Brighton and Sussex Medical School said：“Our study shows for the first time that the way in which we deal with fear is different depending on when we see fearful pictures in relation to our heart.”
The study tested 20 healthy volunteers on their reactions to fear as they were shown pictures of fearful faces.Dr Garfinkel said，“The study showed that fearful faces are better noticed when the heart is pumping than when it is relaxed.Thus our hearts can also affect what we see and what we don’t see－and guide whether we see fear.”
To further understand this relationship，the scientists also used a brain scanner(扫描仪) to show how the brain influences the way the heart changes a person’s feeling of fear.
“We have found an important mechanism by which the heart and brain ‘speak’to each other to change our feelings and reduce fear，”Dr Garfinkel said.
“We hope that by increasing our understanding about how fear is dealt with and ways that it could be reduced，we may be able to develop more successful treatments for anxiety disorders，and also for those who may be suffering from serious stress disorder.”
1.What is the finding of the study?
A．One’s heart affects how he feels fear.
B．Fear is a result of one’s relaxed heartbeat.
C．Fear has something to do with one’s health.
D．One’s fast heartbeats are likely to cause fear.
2.The study was carried out by analyzing________.
A．volunteers’ heartbeats when they saw terrible pictures
B．the time volunteers saw fearful pictures and their health conditions
C．volunteers’ reactions to horrible pictures and data from their brain scans
D．different pictures shown to volunteers and their heartbrain communication
3.Which of the following is closest in meaning to“mechanism” in Paragraph 6?
A．Order. B．System.
C．Machine. D．Treatment.
4.This study may contribute to________.
A．treating anxiety and stress better
B．explaining the cycle of fear and anxiety
C．finding the key to the heartbrain communication
D．understanding different fears in our hearts and heads
(2013·高考四川卷，B)On a sunny day last August，Tim heard some shouting.Looking out to the sea carefully，he saw a couple of kids in a rowboat were being pulled out to sea.
Two 12yearold boys，Christian and Jack，rowed out a boat to search for a football.Once they’d rowed beyond the calm waters，a beach umbrella tied to the boat caught the wind and pulled the boat into open water.The pair panicked and tried to row back to shore.But they were no match for it and the boat was out of control.
Tim knew it would soon be swallowed by the waves.
“Everything went quiet in my head，”Tim recalls(回忆)．“I was trying to figure out how to swim to the boys in a straight line.”
Tim took off his clothes and jumped into the water.Every 500 yards or so，he raised his head to judge his progress.“At one point，I considered turning back，” he says.“I wondered if I was putting my life at risk.”After 30 minutes of struggling，he was close enough to yell to the boys，“Take down the umbrella！”
Christian made much effort to take down the umbrella.Then Tim was able to catch up and climb aboard the boat.He took over rowing，but the waves were almost too strong for him.
“Let’s aim for the pier(码头)，”Jack said.Tim turned the boat toward it.Soon afterward，waves crashed over the boat，and it began to sink.“Can you guys swim？”he cried.“A little bit，”the boys said.
Once they were in the water，Tim decided it would be safer and faster for him to pull the boys toward the pier.Christian and Jack were wearing life jackets and floated on their backs.Tim swam toward land as water washed over the boys’faces.
“Are we almost there？”they asked again and again.“Yes，”Tim told them each time.
After 30 minutes，they reached the pier.
1.Why did the two boys go to the sea?
A．To go boat rowing.
B．To get back their football.
C．To swim in the open water.
D．To test the umbrella as a sail.
2.What does “it” in Paragraph 2 refer to?
A．The beach. B．The water.
C．The boat. D．The wind.
3.Why did Tim raise his head regularly?
A．To take in enough fresh air.
B．To consider turning back or not.
C．To check his distance from the boys.
D．To ask the boys to take down the umbrella.
4.How did the two boys finally reach the pier?
A．They were dragged to the pier by Tim.
B．They swam to the pier all by themselves.
C．They were washed to the pier by the waves.
D．They were carried to the pier by Tim on his back.
(2013·高考湖北卷，B)Mothers and daughters go through so much－yet when was the last time a mother and daughter sat down to write a book together about it all? Perri Klass and her mother，Sheila Solomon Klass，both gifted professional writers，prove to be ideal cowriters as they examine their decades of motherhood，daughterhood，and the wonderful ways their lives have overlapped (重叠)．
Perri notes with amazement how closely her own life has mirrored her mother’s：both have fulltime careers；both have published books，articles，and stories；each has three children；they both love to read.They also love to travel－in fact，they often take trips together.But in truth，the harder they look at their lives，the more they acknowledge their big differences in circumstance and basic nature.
A child of the Depression (大萧条)，Sheila was raised in Brooklyn by parents who considered education a luxury for girls.Starting with her college education，she has fought for everything she’s ever accomplished.Perri，on the other hand，grew up privileged in the New Jersey suburbs of the 1960s and 1970s.For Sheila，wasting time or money is a crime，and luxury is unthinkable while Perri enjoys the occasional small luxury，but has not been successful at trying to persuade her mother into enjoying even the tiniest thing she likes.
Each writing in her own unmistakable voice，Perri and Sheila take turns exploring the joys and pains，the love and bitterness，the minor troubles and lasting respect that have always bonded them together.Sheila describes the adventure of giving birth to Perri in a tiny town in Trinidad where her husband was doing research fieldwork.Perri admits that she can’t sort out all the mess in the households，even though she knows it drives her mother crazy.Together they compare thoughts on bringing up children and working，admit longhidden sorrows，and enjoy precious memories.
Looking deep into the lives they have lived separately and together，Perri and Sheila tell their motherdaughter story with honesty，humor，enthusiasm，and admiration for each other.A written account in two voices，Every Mother Is a Daughter is a duet (二重奏) that produces a deep，strong sound with the experiences that all mothers and daughters will recognize.
1.Why does Perri think that her own life has mirrored her mother’s?
A．They both have gone through difficult times.
B．They have strong emotional ties with each other.
C．They have the same joys and pains，and love and bitterness.
D．They both have experiences as daughter，mother and writer.
2.The word “luxury” in Paragraph 3 means________.
A．something rare but not pleasant
B．something that cannot be imagined
C．something expensive but not necessary
D．something that can only be enjoyed by boys
3.What is Paragraph 4 mainly about?
A．The content of the book.
B．The purpose of the book.
C．The influence of the book.
D．The writing style of the book.
4.How are women’s lives explored in this book?
A．In a musical form.
B．Through field research.
C．With unique writing skills.
D．From different points of view.
(2013·高考广东卷，D)While Jennifer was at home taking an online exam for her business law class，a monitor(监控器)a few hundred miles away was watching her every move.
Using a web camera equipped in Jennifer’s Los Angeles apartment，the monitor in Phoenix tracked how frequently her eyes moved from the computer screen and listened for the secret sounds of a possible helper in the room.Her Internet access was locked－remotely－to prevent Internet searches，and her typing style was analyzed to make sure she was who she said she was：Did she enter her student number at the same speed as she had in the past? Or was she slowing down?
In the battle against cheating，this is the cutting_edge and a key to encourage honesty in the booming field of online education.The technology gives trust to the entire system，to the institution and to online education in general.Only with solid measures against cheating，experts say，can Internet universities show that their exams and diplomas are valid—that students haven’t just searched the Internet to get the right answers.
Although online classes have existed for more than a decade，the concern over cheating has become sharper in the last year with the growth of“open online courses.”Private colleges，public universities and corporations are jumping into the online education field.spending millions of dollars to attract potential students，while also taking steps to help guarantee honesty at a distance.
Aside from the web cameras，a number of other hightech methods are becoming increasingly popular.Among them are programs that check students’ identities using personal information，such as the telephone numbers they once used.
Other programs can produce unique exams by drawing on a large list of questions and can recognize possible cheaters by analyzing whether difficult test questions are answered at the same speed as easy ones.As in many university classes，term papers are scanned against some large Internet data banks for cheating.
1.Why was Jennifer watched in an online exam?
A．To correct her typing mistakes.
B．To find her secrets in the room.
C．To prevent her from slowing down.
D．To keep her from dishonest behaviors.
2.The underlined expression cutting edge in Paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to________.
A．advanced technique
B．sharpening tool
C．effective rule
D．dividing line
3.For Internet universities，exams and diplomas will be valid if________.
A．they can attract potential students
B．they can defeat academic cheating
C．they offer students online help
D．they offer many online courses
4.Some programs can find out possible cheaters by________.
A．checking the question answering speed
B．producing a large number of questions
C．scanning the Internet test questions
D．giving difficult test questions
5.Which of the following is the best title of this passage?
A．The Advantages of Online Exams
B．The Hightech Methods in Online Courses
C．The Fight against Cheating in Online Education
D．The War against the Booming of Online Education
(2013·高考福建卷，A)When I was 12，all I wanted was a signet (图章) ring.They were the “in” thing and it seemed every girl except me had one.On my 13th birthday，my Mum gave me a signet ring with my initials(姓名首字母) carved into it.I was in heaven.
What made it even more special was that it was about the only thing that wasn’t being “replaced”．We’d been burnt out in fires that swept through our area earlier that year and had lost everything—so most of the “new” stuff (东西) we got was really just to replace what we’d lost.But not my ring.My ring was new.
Then，only one month later，I lost it.I took it off before bed and it was missing in the morning.I was sad and searched everywhere for it.But it seemed to have disappeared.Eventually，I gave up and stopped looking for it.And two years later，we sold the house and moved away.
Years passed，and a couple of moves later，I was visiting my parents’ when Mum told me that she had something for me.It wasn’t my birthday，nor was it Easter or Christmas or any other giftgiving occasion.Mum noticed my questioning look.“You’ll recognize this one，”she said，smiling.
Then she handed me a small ring box.I took it from her and opened it to find my beautiful signet ring inside.
The family who had bought our house 13 years earlier had recently decided to do some redecorations，which included replacing the carpets.When they pulled the carpet up in my old bedroom，they found the ring.As it had my initials carved into it，they realized who owned the ring.They’d had it professionally cleaned up by a jeweler before sending it to my mother.
And it still fits me.
1.The underlined word “in” in the first paragraph probably means“________”．
A．fashionable B．available
C．practical D．renewable
2.When she got the ring back，the writer was about ________.
A．13 years old B．15 years old
C．26 years old D．28 years old
3.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A．The writer’s family moved several times.
B．The writer never stopped looking for her ring.
C．The writer’s ring was cleaned up by the new house owner.
D．The writer lost her ring in the morning when she took it off.
4.What would be the best title for the passage?
A．My New Ring B．Lost and Found
C．Lost and Replaced D．An Expensive Ring
