在19至20世纪的，英国和美国在文化、经济、军事、政治和科学在世界上的领先地位使得英语成为一种国际语言，下面是福建福州八中2016届高三英语第一次摸底试卷，请考生及时练习。

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A,B.C和D)中，选出最佳选项。

A

An American shopper, Emma Mumford, who was named “the Coupon(优惠券) Queen” has spent just £350 on a luxury(奢侈) Christmas for her and her family—but got £2,500 worth of food, drink and presents thanks to coupons and offers.

Ms Mumford is a so-called “extreme couponer” and spends hours hunting out the best deals and bargains. She has been preparing for this Christmas since the end of the last one. Ms Mumford made the huge savings by checking price comparison websites and as a result collected more presents than she needed for Christmas. After sorting out gifts for all of her family, she has even been able to donate £1,000 worth of presents to her local hospital.

“It has been so nice to have Christmas sorted and not having to worry about breaking the bank. I wanted to get high quality presents for my family and show that you can do it without spending a fortune. There is a misunderstanding that everyone who does couponing only gets value products but through my careful shopping I have managed to purchase designer perfumes(香水), a high-end coffee machine .”she explained.

She said “What started as a hobby to help me save money has turned into my life and I am able to run a business helping people save money. I know what it feels like to struggle as my ex-partner had a lot of debt which I took on for him. We were in a poor situation where every penny counted. That’s what really inspired me.”

She has now turned her bargain-hunting addiction into a business where she searches for the best deals and offer tips to the general public through video blogging and her Facebook Page.

“I try and show people that it is just a little bit of work in the beginning but it will eventually pay off. One of the best things to do is just to be a bit forward thinking and save throughout the year.”

21. How did Emma make the huge savings?

A. She hunted out bargains in real shops.

B. She compared prices through websites.

C. She used coupons and offers worth £2,500.

D. She collected more Christmas presents than needed.

22. What really inspired Emma to help people save money?

A. Her addiction to bargain-hunting.

B. Her experience of running an unsuccessful business.

C. The financial difficulties she shared with her ex-partner.

D. The poor situation people around her were going through.

23. Which of the following can best describe Emma?

A. Careful and caring. B. Ambitious and stubborn.

C. Sensitive and determined. D. Brave and lucky.

B

Everywhere I look outside my home I see people busy on their high-tech devices, while driving, walking, shopping, even sitting in toilets. When connected electronically, they are away from physical reality.

People have been influenced to become technology addicted. One survey reported that “addicted” was the word most commonly used by people to describe their relationship to iPad and similar devices. One study found that people had a harder time resisting the allure of social media than they did for sleep, cigarettes and alcohol.

The main goal of technology companies is to get people to spend more money and time on their products, not to actually improve our quality of life. They have successfully created a cultural disease. Consumers willingly give up their freedom, money and time to catch up on the latest information, to keep pace with their peers or to appear modern.

I see people trapped in a pathological(病态的)relationship with time-sucking technology, where they serve technology more than technology serves them. I call this technology servitude. I am referring to a loss of personal freedom and independence because of uncontrolled consumption of many kinds of devices that eat up time and money.

What is a healthy use of technology devices? That is the vital question. Who is really in charge of my life? That is what people need to ask themselves if we are to have any chance of breaking up false beliefs about their use of technology. When we can live happily without using so much technology for a day or a week, then we can regain control and personal freedom, become the master of technology and discover what there is to enjoy in life free of technology. Mae West is famous for proclaiming the wisdom that “too much of a good thing is wonderful.”  But it’s time to discover that it does not work for technology.

Richard Fernandez, an executive coach at Google acknowledged that “we can be swept away by our technologies.”  To break the grand digital connection people must consider how life long ago could be fantastic without today’s overused technology.

24. The underlined word “allure” in Paragraph 2 probably means ______.

A. advantage B. adaption C.attraction D. attempt

25. From the passage, technology companies aim to ______.

A. provide the latest information B. attract people to buy their products

C. improve people’s quality of life D. deal with cultural diseases

26. It can be inferred from this passage that people ______.

A. may enjoy life better without overused technology

B. have realized the harm of high-tech devices

C. can regain freedom without high-tech devices

D. consider too much technology wonderful

27. What’s the author’s attitude towards the overusing of high-tech devices?

A. Neutral. B. Skeptical. C. Sympathetic. D. Disapproving.