第一节 任务型读写（共10小题；每小题1分，满分10分）
请认真阅读下列短文，并根据所读内容在文章后表格中的空格里填入一个最恰当的单词。注意：每个空格只填1个单词。请将答案写在答题卡上相应题号的横线上。
It doesn’t matter if books are delivered in printed or electronic forms; the main thing is to get lost in reading them. Reading books is vital for human development.
Why should we bother reading a book? People cannot figure out the meaning of reading. In a world of accelerating technology, lacking time and decreasing attention, should they invest precious time sinking into a good book?
The discovery that our brains are physically changed by the experience of reading is something many of us will understand instinctively, as we think back to the way an extraordinary book had a transformative effect on the world view of people. This transformation only takes place when we lose ourselves in a book. That’s why studies have found this kind of deep reading gives us a better understanding of the inner lives of others.
Rationally, we know that reading is the foundation stone of all education, and therefore an important basis of the economic benefits. But perhaps even more significant is its emotional role as the starting point for individual voyages of personal development and emotional pleasure. They can help create and strengthen our sense of self. If reading were to decline significantly, it would change the nature of our species. If we, in the future, are no longer wired for self-reflection and creative thought, we will die out.
Technology let the readers experience more adventures from more books. Publishers need to get better at using the ability of the Internet to inform readers, and potential readers, about all the extraordinary new books that are published every year.
The research shows the benefits of reading clearly. So there can hardly be a better reason for fighting to protect the future of the book.
Reading | |
Introduction | Reading books plays a vital role in human development, whether they are 1.or electronic. |
Against reading | ●People have trouble2. out the meaning of reading. ●Several factors affect reading including reading difficulty, accelerating technology, 3. of time and decreasing attention. |
For reading | ●A good book will transform our world4. when we get lost in it. ●Deep reading enables us to better5. others’ inner lives. ●All education is6. on reading, which will bring economic benefits indirectly. ●Books can advance personal development and bring us emotional 7. as well. |
Role of technology in reading | It 8. readers to more books, so publishers should make better 9. of the Internet to inform readers. |
Conclusion | Reading 10.us a lot so it is significant to protect the future of the book |
E
However wealthy we may be, we can never find enough hours in the day to do everything we want. Economics deals with this problem through the concept of opportunity cost, which simply refers to whether someone’s time or money could be better spent on something else.
Every hour of our time has a value. For every hour we work at one job we could quite easily be doing another, or be sleeping or watching a film. Each of these options has a different opportunity cost—namely, what they cost us in missed opportunities.
Say you intend to watch a football match but the tickets are expensive and it will take you a couple of hours to get to and from the stadium. Why not, you might reason, watch the game from home and use the leftover money and time to have dinner with friends? This—the alternative use of your cash and time—is the opportunity cost.
For economists, every decision is made by knowledge of what one must forgo—in terms of money and enjoyment—in order to take it up. By knowing precisely what you are receiving and what you are missing out on, you ought to be able to make better-informed, more reasonable decisions. Consider that most famous economic rule of all: there’s no such thing as a free lunch. Even if someone offers to take you out to lunch for free, the time you will spend in the restaurant still costs you something in terms of forgone opportunities.
Some people find the idea of opportunity cost extremely discouraging: imagine spending your entire life calculating whether your time would be better spent elsewhere doing something more profitable or enjoyable. Yet, in a sense it’s human nature to do precisely that we assess the advantages and disadvantages of decisions all the time.
In the business world, a popular phrase is “value for money.” People want their cash to go as far as possible. However, another is fast obtaining an advantage: “value for time.” The biggest restriction on our resources is the number of hours we can devote to something, so we look to maximize the return we get on our investment of time. By reading this passage you are giving over a bit of your time which could be spent doing other activities, such as sleeping and eating. In return, however, this passage will help you to think like an economist, closely considering the opportunity cost of each of your decisions.
1.According to the passage, the concept of “opportunity cost” is applied to ________.
A. weighing the choice of opportunities
B. reducing missed opportunities
C. making more money
D. taking more opportunities
2.The “leftover ... time” in Paragraph 3 probably refers to the time ________.
A. taken to have dinner with friends
B. spared for watching the match at home
C. saved from not going to watch the match
D. spent on the way to and from the match
3.What are forgone opportunities?
A. Opportunities you make up for.
B. Opportunities you forget in decision-making.
C. Opportunities you give up for better ones.
D. Opportunities you miss accidentally.
4.What is the author’s attitude towards the concept of “opportunity cost”?
A. Indifferent B. Negative
C. Subjective D. Objective
D
Mars was the first planet that humans attempted to get to. Since the 1960’s, scientists have been working to learn more information about the Mars’ past, We now know that Mars was once a warm, wet place with great oceans and deep rivers. We also know that about 3.7 billion years ago, all that water disappeared when the planet lost its air. But why did the atmosphere on Mars change so greatly?
NASA had launched the MAVEN spacecraft in the hope of answering that very question. MAVEN will study the remains of Mars’ air and help scientists figure out what became of the rest of it．
The spacecraft was launched on Monday, November 18, 2013, from Cape Canaveral, Florida. The trip to Mars takes about 10 months. and MAVEN is scheduled to go into orbit in September 2014. It is the first spacecraft created with the purpose of studying Mars’ atmosphere. Its wings measures 37.5 feet not quite the length of a school bus, and it weighs 1991 pounds about the same amount as a small car. MAVEN is equipped with eight different tools to measure and study the planet’s atmosphere. To collect information, it will fly in orbit as fast as 3278 miles per hour, and as slow as 93 miles per hour.
Once it arrived at Mars, MAVEN will have plenty of company. The spacecraft Curiosity is still walking around the planet’s rocky surface, studying the geology, chemistry and possible biology there. NASA currently has a number of spacecrafts getting unique views of Mars with powerful cameras and telescopes. These missions are all slow, steady steps forward to discover Mars secret past. While the results may not be revealed for some time, an exciting exploration is on the way.
1.We can learn from the first paragraph that________
A．all the scientists wanted to live on Mars
B．people have had a better knowledge of Mars nowadays
C．spaceships have been sent up to Mars since 1960s
D．all the water on Mars has been gone for ten billion years
2.The MAVEN spacecraft has been launched with the purpose of________
A．analyzing the change of the atmosphere on Mars
B．assisting Curiosity in studying the surface of Mars.
C. analyzing what is contained in Mars’ air
D．checking whether water still exists on Mars
3.It can be inferred from, the text that__________．
A．many different tasks will be given to MAVEN when it lands on Mars
B．many spacecrafts are working around Mars to study its water
C．more wonderful things about Mars will be found in the future
D．more spacecraft will be sent up to help Curiosity
4.What is the best title of this text?
A．A new finding on Mars
B．A new spacecraft sent to Mars
C．The rapid development of Mars
D．The great change of the Mars’ atmosphere
C
Free Fun Guides
1.What is new about this year’s Museum Day?
A. People will get free tickets online.
B. Two museums offer free admission.
C. People must buy tickets for visiting a museum.
D. People can visit museums online and get a small gift.
2.The main purpose of the passage is to___________.
A. introduce ways to save money
B. help people who are very poor
C. give guidance on how to have some fun
D. provide information about free things to do
3.How can kids get a free book?
A. By reading eighty books at any Barnes & Noble.
B. By downloading and printing out a passport before October.
C. By signing up for a summer reading program and choosing one of the books they have read.
D. By signing up for a winter reading program and make a list of the books.
4.Which of the following shows the similarity between Museum Day and Free Night of Theater?
A. They last for the same length of time
B. The same number of free tickets is given away.
C. The tickets can be used in any U.S. city
D. They take place once a year.
B
IKEA is the world’s largest furniture retailer, and the man behind it is Ingvar Kamprad, one of the world’s most successful businessmen. Born in Sweden in 1926, Kamprad was a natural businessman. As a child, he enjoyed selling things and made small profits from selling matches, seeds, and pencils in his community. When Kamprad was 17, his father gave him some money as a reward for his good grades. He used it to start up a business—IKEA. IKEA's name comes from Kamprad's initials (I.K.) and the place where he grew up ('E' and 'A').
IKEA first began to sell furniture through a mail-order book in 1947. The furniture was all designed and made by manufacturers near Kamprad’s home. Initial sales were very encouraging, so Kamprad expanded the product line．Furniture was such a successful aspect of the business that IKEA became a pure furniture company in 1951.
In 1956 Kamprad saw a man disassembling a table to make it easier to transport. Kamprad was inspired. The man had given him a great idea: flat packaging. Flat packaging would mean lower shipping costs for IKEA and lower prices for customers. IKEA tried it and sales boosted. The problem was that people had to assemble furniture themselves, but over time, even this grew into an advantage for IKEA. Nowadays, IKEA is often seen as having meanings of self-sufficiency. This image has done wonders for the company, leading to better sales and continued expansion．
Today there are over 200 stores in 32 countries. Amazingly, Ingvar Kamprad has managed to keep IKEA a privately-held company. In 2004 he was named the world’s richest man. He currently lives in Switzerland and is retired from the day-to-day operations of IKEA. IKEA itself, though, just keeps on growing.
1.The author states in Paragraph 4 that flat packaging___________.
A. needs large space to store furniture
B. is a business concept inspired by Kamprad
C. helps reduce transportation costs
D. makes the company self-sufficient
2.What is the main idea of the passage?
A. Ingvar Kamprad established IKEA and succeeded.
B. IKEA is the world’s largest furniture retailer.
C. The advantages of IKEA’s furniture.
D. Ingvar Kamprad was a natural businessman.
3.What can you learn about IKEA form the passage?
A. The starter kept IKEA a company operated by a few people
B. The furniture was made by manufacturers in Kamprad’s home
C. The starter made a big fortune when he was a child
D. The goods sold in IKEA are limited and not welcomed
4.The passage is written mainly in terms of ___________.
A. examples that illustrate a problem
B. order of events
C. analysis of a process
D. comparison and contrast
A
Once upon a time, a man was walking on a mountain when he found an incredible cave with all kinds of treasure inside it. So he gave up his job, his home, and his friends, and spent all his time guarding the cave.
He was so dedicated to it that he hardly ate or drank, and before long he fell ill. One day, when he could hardly move at all, he decided to share the treasure.
He crawled into the cave to get a handful of jewels, but discovered, to his horror, that it was empty except for a small diamond. The man took it and gave it to the first person to come by, a woman.
Then an old man came by. “What bad luck!” the man said. “Just a moment ago I gave a woman the last of the treasure I was guarding.”
“Are you sure there is nothing left?” the old man asked.
The man took him into the cave, where they found a box with jewels and some bags of gold. The man was shocked, and the old man explained to him, “At last! At last! At last someone has broken the curse of this cave. This is the Cave of Treasure, and you’re the first to have passed its great test. Many have devoted their lives to this cave, only to end up realizing there was nothing here …”
“And why does this happen?” the man asked.
“This magic cave has only as many riches as your own heart. When someone discovers it, the cave fills with the treasure they bring with them, but later, when they have devoted themselves to guarding the treasure, their hearts become empty, as does the cave. The only way to fill it is by filling your heart with all that is good, as you did by giving the woman that last jewel.”
From that day on, the man understood that it was better to share than to keep. Thanks to the cave and the old man, he became noble and generous.
1.Why did the man give up his job, home and friends?
A. Because he possessed a variety of treasure.
B. Because he had to guard the treasure cave.
C. Because he wanted to find the treasure cave.
D. Because he devoted himself to a great test.
2.What did the man find when he showed his cave to the old man?
A. All kinds of treasure.
B. A handful of jewels.
C. A small emerald.
D. A box with jewels and gold.
3.What do we learn about the people who dedicated their lives to the cave before?
A. They all filled the cave with the treasure they had.
B. They thought it was better to share than to enjoy the treasure alone.
C. They all found the cave empty at last.
D. The old man freed them from its spell.
4.What can we learn from the text?
A. Giving makes people healthier and happier than owing.
B. Some people never learn what is really valuable.
C. Treasure only belongs to those who possess it.
D. Different people have different views.
