【摘要】高三是高中最重要的阶段，大家一定要把握好高三，多做题，多练习，为高考奋战，小编为大家整理了高中英语阅读题，希望对大家有帮助。

A

Our listener question this week comes from Vietnam. Quang Khoi asks about Murphy’s Law. Murphy’s Law says: “Everything that can possibly go wrong will go wrong.” Like many other popular sayings, it is difficult to find one explanation for it.

Those trying to explain Murphy’s Law agree that it began in the United States Air Force, which says the expression was named after officer Edward Murphy. He was an engineer working on a project in space flight research in 1949. One story says Captain Murphy was commenting about the failure of some equipment he was using in an experiment. He reportedly mentioned the worker responsible by saying: “If there is a way to do it wrong, he will find it.” Another official heard this and called it Murphy’s Law.

Another story is found in a book called A History of Murphy’s Law by Nick Spark. It says members of the research team working with Captain Murphy created a similar phrase: “If it can happen, it will happen.” They called this Murphy’s Law. But Spark later said there are in fact many different explanations about who invented the expression.

Still, many stories say the first use of the term Murphy’s Law was at a press conference several weeks later. John Stapp was an Air Force captain at the time. He spoke to reporters about the tests completed by Captain Murphy and his team. Stapp said no one was injured during the tests because the Air Force considered “Murphy’s Law” before carrying out their experiments. He said this meant that they considered everything that could go wrong before a test and planned how to prevent those mistakes from happening.

Today, you can find examples of Murphy’s Law in everyday life. For example, you might say that if you drop a slice of buttered bread on the floor, it will always land with the buttered side down.

41. The passage is probably taken from______

A. a newspaper B. a history textbook C. a radio programme D. a cultural magazine

42. According to the first explanation, we can learn that Murphy was ____ the worker responsible.

A. pleased with B. dissatisfied with C. familiar with D. concerned about

43. According to Nick Spark, we can know that______.

A. nobody knows who really invented the expression

B. it was Captain Murphy who invented this expression

C. Murphy’s teammates created this popular expression

D. it is a waste of time to discuss who invented the expression.

B

In November of 2007, NBC Universal launched(发起) its first official Green Week. Throughout the week, NBC Universal presented over 150 hours of environmentally themed content across multiple platforms.

Now, NBC Universal is proud to present Green Week 2009. With a new theme and message of "Green Your Routine," Here at NBC and NBC.com we celebrate our talent in the "The More You Know" PSA campaign, presenting green-themed tips in several of our daytime life, among several other features here on the "Green Your Routine" site.

Fashion & Beauty

Throw a clothes swap party! Dying for that sweater your friend wore the other day? Well, maybe she'll trade for that old T-shirt you have. Here's a website that helps you organize a swap party (www.swapstyle.com), or just plan your own!

Go natural with organic make-up. Applying unnatural products directly on your skin wasn't exactly what nature intended. Try switching to a line of organic make-up and cosmetics for a different way to bring out your natural beauty.

Home

Drop a brick in your toilet tank! Literally! According to the EPA, flushing(冲洗)makes up 30 percent of a household's water use (about three to six gallons per flush). By placing a brick in your toilet tank, you can help to conserve the amount of water used during each flush.

Work

Print smarter. Printing and copying can be one of the most costly operations in any office. To save on ink and paper costs, print double-sided and try to fit more than one page on a sheet. More printing tips can be found here: lifehacker.com

Turn off your computer. Do you leave your computer on overnight? If so, you're using up a good amount of electricity. When you can, try turning off your computer and the power strip it's connected to. If you can't, at least shut off your monitor.

Transportation

Organize a carpool. There are many benefits to carpooling. You save on gas, reduce wear and tear on your car, and you get to ride in the HOV lanes. Get connected with your neighbours and co-workers to start sharing rides and check out this website for more tips: www.erideshare.com.

Lose the car, get a bike. If you live close to where you work, try taking a bike instead of driving. You'll keep in shape and save on gas!

Every small step and effort makes a difference! Be sure to GREEN YOUR ROUTINE!

44. NBC Universal holds Green Week activities ___________.

A. in a university B. in a park C. in an office D. on the internet

45. This year, Green Week welcomes ____________.

A. advice on how to improve the website

B. suggestions about how to make their activities more interesting

C. tips on what to do to make our life greener

D. opinions on whether we should have campaigns

46. If you want to carpool with somebody, you can find more advice and information at______.

A. www.swapstyle.com B. www.erideshare.com

C. www. lifehacker.com D. www. NBC.com

47. Which is NOT recommended by Green Week this year?

A. Using things like cucumbers to beautify your skin.

B. Reducing the room of your toilet tank to save water when flushing.

C. Giving away your old clothes to those in need of them.

D. Printing and using computers in an economical way.

41-43 CBA 44-47 DCBC

二、(浙江省北仑中学2012届高三上学期期中考试)

A

Children's Books: Hawking's fact and fiction

George F. R. Ellis & Ruby

BOOK REVIEWED-George's Secret Key to the Universe

by Lucy & Stephen Hawking

Stephen Hawking's book A Brief History of Time was a huge commercial success. Its achievements in bringing difficult scientific ideas to a wide audience are not so clear. Now the distinguished physicist has teamed up with his daughter Lucy to produce a children's book designed to communicate contemporary physics. Will it capture the attention of young minds and teach them some real science? Or will it be boring and over the heads of the prospective readers?

George's Secret Key to the Universe is an adventure story complete with villains and hero and is illustrated with enjoyable line-drawings. It involves a lost pig, a humorously portrayed intelligent computer, school bullies and a trip through the Solar System. Didactic discussions on aspects of modern physics, such as supernova explosions and black-hole physics are hung on this set-up. There are also fact boxes on physics and astronomy, and some photographs of astronomical phenomena: planets, comets, galaxies and so on. Overall, the book is a serious effort to convey facts and ideas in present day astronomy and astrophysics, within a science-fiction adventure story.

The mixture is great. Children love facts and adventure stories. The combination will catch their interest and keep them occupied for hours. After ten minutes of leafing through the book, my granddaughter Ruby was deeply absorbed and I had to promise to bring it back for her to read after I had completed my review. Like any educational tool, it will succeed for some and not for others. I suppose there should be more of the former.

41. Where do you think this passage is taken?

A. From a news story. B. From a textbook.

C. From a book review. D. From an advertisment.

42. Which of the following books is mainly reviewed in this passage?

A. George's Secret Key to the Universe B. A Brief History of Time

C. The Nature of Space and Time D. Hawking's fact and fiction

43. What is the author’s attitude towards the book being reviewed?

A. It will be less successful. B. It will be more successful.

C. It will be a complete failure. D. It all depends on Ruby

44. The underlined word “leafing” (in the last paragrph) probably means ______.

A. adding leaves to a book B. throwing away a book

C. tearing up a book D. turning pages of a book

B

Exercise, such as walking, can reduce the risk of diabetes (糖尿病) in people whose blood sugar is starting to rise. That outcome was shown in a large study. Despite trying hard, those who dieted and worked out lost very little weight. But they did manage to maintain a regular walking program, and fewer of them went on to develop diabetes.

Exercise also may reduce the risk of heart disease. There seems to be some effect: Most of the heart protection appears to be realized by walking regularly. More intense exercise has been shown to provide only slightly greater benefits.

Active people are much less likely to smoke; they’re thinner and they eat differently than people who are less active. They also tend to be more educated, and education is one of the strongest predictors of good health in general and a longer life. As a result, it is impossible to know with confidence whether exercise prevents heart disease or whether people who are less likely to get heart disease are also more likely to be exercising.

Still, in rigorous studies in which elderly people were assigned either to exercise or maintain their normal routine, the exercisers were less likely to fall, perhaps because they got stronger or developed better balance. Exercise may prevent broken bones—but only indirectly.

And what about weight loss? Lifting weights builds muscles but will not make you burn more calories. Jack Wilmore, an exercise physiologist at Texas A & M University, calculated that the average amount of muscle that men gained after a serious 12-week weight-lifting program was 2 kilograms, or 4.4 pounds. That added muscle would increase the metabolic rate (代谢率) by only 24 calories a day.

Exercise alone, in the absence of weight loss, has not been shown to reduce blood pressure. Nor does it make much difference in cholesterol (胆固醇) levels. Weight loss can lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels, but if you want to lose weight, you have to diet as well as exercise. Exercise alone has not been shown to bring sustained weight loss. Just ask Steven Blair, an exercise researcher at the University of South Carolina. He runs every day and even runs marathons. But, he adds, “I was short, fat and bald when I started running, and I’m still short, fat and bald. Weight control is difficult for me. I fight the losing battle.”

The difficulty, Dr. Blair says, is that it’s much easier to eat 1,000 calories than to burn off 1,000 calories with exercise. As he relates, “An old football coach used to say, ‘I have all my assistants running five miles a day, but they eat 10 miles a day.’”

45 In the case of Steven Blair, running does ______ to his weight control.

A. little B. much C. good D. harm

46 The last paragraph of the text tells us that the problem is that people tend to ______?

A. burn off 1,000 calories in a day B. use more energy than they get

C. get more energy than they use D. run five miles in a football game

47 Which of the following is true according to the text?

A. Exercise can certainly prevent heart disease.

B. Exercise alone can not reduce blood pressure.

C. Lifting weight can directly prevent broken bones.

D. Walking can not reduce blood sugar in people.

48 According to the text, the more educated one is, the ______.

A. less exercise one will take B. stronger and thinner one will be

C. more cigarettes one will smoke D. healthier one will generally be

41-44 CABD 45-48 ACBD

三、(浙江省苍南中学2012届高三上学期期中考试)

A

Any foreigner who has tried to learn Chinese can tell how hard it is to master the tones required to speak and understand. And anyone who has tried to learn to play the violin or other instruments can report similar challenges.

Now researchers have found that people with musical training have an easier time learning Chinese. Writing in the online edition of Nature Neuroscience，researchers from Northwestern University say that both skills draw on the same parts of the brain that help people discover changes in pitch(音调).

One of the study’s authors，Nina Kraus，said the findings suggested that studying music “actually tunes our sensory system”.This means that schools that want children to do well in languages should hesitate before cutting music programs，Dr.Kraus said. She said music training might also help children with language problems.

Mandarin(普通话)speakers have been shown to have a more complex encoding(编码) of pitch patterns in their brains than English speakers do. This is because in Mandarin and other Asian languages，pitch plays a central role. A single­syllable word can have several meanings depending on how it is intoned.

For this study，the researchers looked at 20 non­Chinese speaking volunteers，half with no musical background and half who have studied an instrument for at least six years.

As they were shown a movie，the volunteers also heard an audio tape of the Mandarin word “mi” in three of its meanings：squint，bewilder and rice. The researchers recorded activities in their brain stems to see how well they were processing the sounds. Those with a music background showed much more brain activities in response to the Chinese sounds.

The lead author of the study，Patrick C.M.Wong，said it might work both ways. It appears that native speakers of tonal languages may do better at learning instruments.

41. When learning Chinese，a foreigner will find ________.

A.he has a difficult time learning music at the same time

B.he has an easier time learning music at the same time

C.it is hard to master the tones required to speak and understand

D.it is easy to use the brain to help him discover changes in pitch

42. Why does Chinese learning have something to do with music training?

A.Because there is the same difficulty in learning Chinese and music.

B.Because skills to learn the two make use of the same parts of the brain.

C.Because music training might help people with language study

D.Because people who do well in Chinese study do well in music.

43. The underlined word “intoned” in the fourth paragraph can be replaced by the word “____”.

A.created B.spelled

C.seemed D.pronounced

44. What would be the best title for this passage?

A.Mandarin Speakers Are Smarter than English Speakers

B.Skilled Ear for Music May Help Language Study

C.Pitch Plays a Central Role in Chinese Learning

D.Schools Need to Develop Music Programs

B

Today, there’s hardly an aspect of our life that isn’t being upended by the tons of information available on the hundreds of millions of sites crowding the Internet, not to mention its ability to keep us in constant touch with each other via electronic mail. “If the automobile and aerospace technology had exploded at the same pace as computer and information technology,” says Microsoft, “a new car would cost about $ 2 and go 600 miles on a small quantity of gas. And you could buy a Boeing 747 for the cost of a pizza.”

Probably the biggest payoff, however, is the billions of dollars the Internet is saving companies in producing goods and serving for the needs of their customers. Nothing like it has been seen since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, when power-driven machines began producing more in a day than men could turn out in nearly a year. “We view the growth of the Internet and e-commerce as a global trend,” says Merrill Lynch, “along the lines of printing press, the telephone, the computer, and electricity.”

You would be hard pressed to name something that isn’t available on the Internet. Consider: books, health care, movie tickets, construction materials, baby clothes, stocks, cattle feed, music, electronics, antiques, tools, real estate, toys, autographs of famous people, wine and airline tickets. And even after you’ve moved on to your final resting place, there’s no reason those you love can’t keep in touch. A company called FinalThoughts.com offers a place for you to store “afterlife e-mails” you can send to Heaven with the help of a “guardian angel”.

Kids today are so computer literate that it in fact ensures the United States will remain the unchallenged leader in cyberspace for the foreseeable future. Nearly all children in families with incomes of more than $75,000 a year have home computers, according to a study by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. Youngsters from ages 2 to 17 at all income levels have computers, with 52% of those connected to the Internet. Most kids use computers to play games (some for 30 hours or more a week), and many teenage girls think nothing of rushing home from school to have e-mail chats with friends they have just left.

What’s clear is that, whether we like it or not, the Internet is an ever growing part of our lives and there is no turning back. “The Internet is just 20% invented,” says cyber pioneer Jake Winebaum. “The last 80% is happening now.”

45. What can we learn from the Microsoft’s remark?

A. Today’s cars and airplanes are extremely overpriced.

B. Information technology is developing at an amazing speed.

C. Information technology has reached the point where improvement is difficult.

D. There’s more competition in information technology industry than in car industry.

46. According to the author, the biggest benefit of the Internet is that___.

A. it saves companies huge amounts of money

B. it speeds up profit making

C. it brings people incredible convenience

D. it provides easy access to information

47. The author gives the example of FinalThoughts.com to make the point that____.

A. there are some genius ideas on the Internet

B. almost anything is available on the Internet

C. people can find good bargains on the Internet

D. people are free to do anything on the Internet

48. What can we learn from the fourth paragraph?

A. There is a link between income and computer ownership.

B. Many American children don’t put computers to good use.

C. Studies show that boys are more computer literate than girls.

D. The U.S. will stay ahead in the information technology in years.

49. Which sentence has the phrase that has the same meaning as the one underlined in the fifth paragraph?

A. Some can tell you that he has changed their lives, while others think nothing of him.

B. Think nothing of it. It was my pleasure.

C. He thinks nothing of staying up all night in the Café bar.

D. He thinks nothing of the pain in his back for the moment.

50. What is the message the author intends to convey?

A. The Internet is going to get firm hold of our lives some day.

B. The Internet is going to influence our lives even more greatly.

C. We should have a positive attitude towards the changes the Internet brings.

D. Children should be well prepared for the challenges in the information age.