In the United States, when one becomes rich, he wants people to know it. And even if he does not become very rich, he wants people to think that he is. That is what ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ is about, It is the story of someone who tried to look as rich as his neighbours.
The expression was first used in 1913 by a young American called Arthur Momand. He told this story about himself. He began earning $ 125 a week at the age of 23. That was a lot of money in those days. He got married and moved with his wife to a very wealthy neighbourhood outside New York City. When he saw that rich people rode horses, Momand went horseback riding every day. When he saw that rich people had servants, Momand and his wife also hired a servant and gave big parties for their new neighbours.
It was like a race, but one could never finish this race because one was always trying to keep up. The race ended for Momand and his wife when they could no longer pay for their new way of life. They moved back to an apartment in New York City.
Momand looked around him and noticed that many people do things just to keep up with rich life--style of their neighbours. He saw the funny side of it and started to write a series  of short stories, He called it ‘Keeping up with the Joneses’ because ‘Jones’ is a very common name in the United States.’ Keeping up with the Joneses’ came to mean keeping up with rich lifestyle of the people around you. Momand’s series appeared in different newspapers across the country for over 28 years.
People never seem to get tired of keeping up with the Joneses. And there are ‘Jonses’ in every city of the world. But one must get tired of trying to keep up with the Joneses because no matter what one does, Mr. Jones always seems to be ahead.
小題1:Some people want to keep up with the Joneses because they ______.
A．want to be as rich as their neighbours
B．want others to know or to think that they are rich
C．don’t want others to know they are rich
D．want to be happy
小題2:It can be inferred from the story that rich people like to ________.
A．live outside New York CityB．live in New York City
C．live in apartmentsD．have many neighbours
小題3:The underlined word neighbourhood in the second paragraph means ________.
A．a(chǎn) person who lives near anotherB．people living in an area
C．a(chǎn)n area near the place referred toD．a(chǎn)n area in another town or city
小題4: Arthur Momand used the name ‘Jones’ in his series of short stories because’ Jones’ is ________.
A．a(chǎn)n important nameB．a(chǎn) popular name in the United States
C．his neighbour’s nameD．not a good name
小題5:According to the writer, it is       to keep up with the Joneses.
A．correctB．interestingC．impossibleD．good

小題1:B
小題1:A
小題1:C
小題1:B
小題1:C

小題1:根據(jù)第一段when one becomes rich, he wants people to know it. And even if he does not become very rich, he wants people to think that he is. That is what ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ is about,描述,可知選B
小題1:根據(jù)第二段He got married and moved with his wife to a very wealthy neighbourhood outside New York City.描述,可知選A
小題1:聯(lián)系上下文,可知這單詞指的是和某處相鄰的地方,故選C
小題1:根據(jù)倒數(shù)第二段He called it ‘Keeping up with the Joneses’ because ‘Jones’ is a very common name in the United States.’描述,可知選B
小題1:根據(jù)最后一段But one must get tired of trying to keep up with the Joneses because no matter what one does, Mr. Jones always seems to be ahead.描述,可知人們永遠(yuǎn)無(wú)法趕上別人的腳步,故選C
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科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解


“Eat local.” It’s one way to reduce human effect on the planet. Eating local means to try to buy and consume foods that are grown in places close to home. However, most of the food sold at supermarkets is not locally grown or produced. Trucks and planes deliver these foods from hundreds or thousands of miles away. During the transportation, greenhouse(溫室)gases are produced, causing global warming. So the shorter the distance your foods must travel, the less the harm is done to the environment.
But how do you get local food if you live in a large city, hundreds of miles away from farms？Environmental health scientist Dickson Despommier and his students came up with the idea of a “vertical(垂直的)farm”.

A vertical farm is a glass-walled structure that could be built as tall as a skyscraper(摩天大樓). Since the garden is built upwards, rather than outwards, it requires much less space than an ordinary farm. The world is quickly running out of room for ordinary farming. Vertical farms could be a key to this situation. Despommier imagines a 30-story building with a greenhouse on every floor. The walls of the building would be clear, to allow crops to get as much sunlight as possible. Depending on a city’s water resources, Despommier thinks hydroponic(水培的) farming is another method for the vertical farm which needs no soil to grow plants.
Despommier says the hydroponic greenhouses would use a system that would use a city’s waste water and fill it with nutritions to make the crops grow. If this method works, it would provide food to a city and save millions of tons of water.
The idea of a vertical farm has attracted the attention of government officials around the world. Scott Stringer, a government official from New York City, thinks the city is suitable for the vertical farming. “Obviously we don’t have much land left for us,” Stringer said. “But the sky is the limit in Manhattan. ”
Despommier admits that there is still a lot of work to do to make vertical farms a reality. “But I think vertical farming is an idea that can work in a big way,” he says.
小題1:Why are people advised to eat local?
A．Because it means convenience(方便) to people.
B．Because it can help people save a lot of money.
C．Because local food has more nutrition.
D．Because it is environmentally friendly.
小題2:Which is one of the vertical farm’s benefits when compared with ordinary farming?
A．It produces healthier food.
B．It does less harm to the cities.
C．It needs less space of the city.
D．It requires less transport costs.
小題3:By saying “the sky is the limit in Manhattan”, Stringer means _____.
A．people can make full use of vertical space of Manhattan
B．there is a limit for using empty land in Manhattan
C．the height of buildings in Manhattan is limited
D．Manhattan can spread as far as possible
小題4:What can we learn about the vertical farming in the passage?
A．No soil is needed to grow plants in a vertical farm.
B．It has solved the problem of the food shortage in a big way.
C．It is a 30-story building with a greenhouse on every floor.
D．Crops are mainly grown in the rainwater in a vertical farm.

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科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

Perhaps the most astonishing theory to come out of kinetics，the study of body movement,was suggested by Professor Ray Birdwhistell.He believes that physical appearance Is often culturally programmed.In other words,we learn our looks;we are not born with them.
A baby generally unformed facial features.A baby,according to Birdwhistell,learns where to set the eyebrows by looking at those around family and friends．This helps explain why the people of some regions of the United States look so much lilke．New Englanders or Southerners have certain common facial characteristics that cannot be explained by genetics(遺傳學(xué))．The exact shape of the mouth is not set at birth,it is learned later．In fact，the final mouth shape is not formed until well after permanent(永久的)teeth are set．For many，this can be well into adolescence(青春期)．A husband and wife together for a long time often come to look somewhat alike．We learn our looks from those around us. This is perhaps why in a single country there are areas where people smile more than those in other areas．In the United States，for example，the South is the part of the country where the people smile most frequently．In New England they smile less，and in the western part of New York State still less．Many Southerners find cities such as New York cold and unfriendly，partly because people on Madison Avenue smile less than people on Peach Tree Street jn Atlanta，Georgia．People in densely(稠密地)populated urban areas also tend to smile and greet each other in public less than people in rural areas and small towns．
小題1:The passage might be taken out of a book dealing with______
A．physicsB．healthC．chemistryD．body movement
小題2:Ray Birdwhistell believes that physical appearance_______．
A．has little to do with cultureB．is decided by our parents
C．can be infiuenced by cultureD．varies from place to place
小題3:Ray Birdwhistell can tell what region of the United States a person is from by     .
A．the way he or she talksB．how he or she raises his or her eyebrows
C．what he or she likes bestD．how much he or she laughs
小題4:According to the passage，people who live_______are more friendly.
A．in the northB．in the country
C．in New York CityD．in densely populated areas

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科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

Diamonds may be a girl’s best friend. But some women show great interest in colorful beads（珠子）from Uganda made of recycled paper. The beads are sold by a nonprofit organization called BeadforLife.
BeadforLife began as a chance meeting between three American women on a trip to Uganda and a local jewelry maker. Millie Grace Akena was rolling paper beads near her home. She made paper beads as a hobby. But there was no real market in her country.
Torkin Wakefield says she and her daughters Devin and Ginny brought some of the beads back home. Immediately people started admiring the beads. The three Americans started BeadforLife in 2004. Nearly 700 women have taken part.
The group says its beaders earn an average of more than 2,000 dollars a year in the program. This is five times what they earned before. The beads are sold across Uganda and in Boulder, Colorado. They are also sold online and at jewelry shows called bead parties. “Because they have meaning, because these are gifts that help people, when folks in America and beyond buy our beads, they feel a sense of generosity. They feel a direct connection, like they can really take part in getting rid of poverty.” Torkin said.
The jewelry costs between five and thirty dollars. BeadforLife reported sales in its last budget year of more that 3.5 million dollars. It says for every ten-dollar necklace sold, the beader gets two dollars and forty-three cents in money or materials. It says more than 90% of earnings are reinvested in community development projects in Uganda. Torkin Wakefield estimates that BeadforLife has helped more than 8,000 people this way.
So what about Millie Grace Akena, the jewelry maker? Mrs Wakefield says she has gone on to organize a small group of women who work with her, and they sell their beads to a religious group.
小題1:According to the passage, BeadforLife is an organization that ______.
A．provides poor people worldwide with free education
B．mainly encourages people to learn to earn a living on their own
C．has attracted many businessmen to invest in beading
D．supports community development projects in Uganda
小題2:When Torkin Wakefield brought the beads to America, ______.
A．she didn’t know people would like them
B．she wanted to make a fortune out of them
C．people showed great interest in them at once
D．she was thinking of how to find investors
小題3:According to Paragraph 4, the beads are popular because ______.
A．people think buying them is a good way to help the poor
B．they are of good quality and can be kept for a long time
C．they symbolize the most important thing in people’s life
D．they look even more beautiful than diamonds
小題4:Which of the following can best summarize the main idea of the passage?
A．Mrs Wakefield makes a great contribution to developing countries.
B．BeadforLife makes beads out of recycled paper.
C．BeadforLife uses paper beads to improve people’s lives.
D．Mrs Wakefield’s career takes off thanks to paper beads.

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科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

Some people believe that international sports create goodwill between the nations and that if countries play games together they will learn to live together. Others say that the opposite is true: that international competitions encourage false national pride and lead to misunderstanding and hatred. There is probably some truth in both arguments, but in recent years the Olympic Games have done little to support the view that sports encourage international brotherhood. Not only was there the tragic incident involving the murder of athletes, but the Games were also ruined by lesser incidents caused mainly by minor national competitions.
　One country received its second-place medals with visible indignation（憤慨）after a hockey final. There had been noisy scenes at the end of the hockey match, the loser’s objection to the final decision. They were sure that one of their goals should not have been disallowed and that their opponents’ victory was unfair. Their manager was very angry and he said, “This wasn’t hockey. Hockey and the International Hockey Federation are finished.” The president of the Federation said later that such behavior could result in the suspension（停賽）of the team for at least three years.
　The American basketball team announced that they would not give up the first place to Russia, after a disputable end to their competition. The game had ended in disturbance. It was thought at first that the United States had won, by a single point, but it was announced that there were three seconds still to play. A Russian player popped the ball into the basket. It was the first time the USA had ever lost an Olympic basketball match. An appeal jury discussed the matter for four and a half hours before announcing that the result would stand. The American players then voted not to receive the silver medals.
　Incidents of this kind will continue as long as sports are played competitively rather than for the love of the game. The suggestion that athletes should compete as individuals, or in non-national teams, might be too much to hope for. But in the present organization of the Olympics there is far too much that encourages aggressive patriotism（愛國(guó)主義）.
小題1:According to the author, recent Olympic Games have ________.
A．caused national pride for athletes
B．created goodwill between the nations
C．hardly showed any international friendship
D．led to less misunderstanding between countries
小題2:What did the manager mean by saying “Hockey and the International Hockey Federation are finished”?
A．His team would no longer take part in international games.
B．There should be no hockey matches organized by the Federation.
C．Hockey and the Federation are both ruined by the unfair decisions.
D．The International Hockey Federation should be dismissed forever.
小題3:By taking the basketball game for example, the author wants to prove that ________.
A．too much patriotism was displayed in the games
B．the announcement to prolong the match was wrong
C．the appeal jury was too hesitant in making the decision
D．the team was right in refusing to accept the silver medals
小題4:What conclusion can be drawn from the passage?
A．Sports should be played for the love of one’s nation.
B．Unfair decisions are common in the Olympic Games.
C．International competitions will lead to misunderstanding.
D．The organization for the Olympic Games must be reformed.

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科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

When did you last visit a shopping mall? In many places, the answer would be “l(fā)ast weekend”. Some people go even more often. Why? For one thing, malls offer goods and services that people need all in one place : food, clothing, things for their houses, entertainment，and even medical services. So, are mallsone of the highlights of modern civilization? Environmental activists would say “No!” They would go even further and say that consumer behavior is causing a huge environmental disaster. They cause consumers of ignorance of the side effect of their shopping—urban sprawl (城市雜亂無(wú)序拓展的地區(qū)）.
Social scientists agree that patterns of development have changed the landscape a great deal in the last half century. Prior to 1950，most people lived in towns or cities and either walked to work or took public transportation. Only very wealthy people had automobiles. Farmers lived in rural areas or isolated villages and came into town only when they needed things they couldn’t produce themselves. If you gazed at the landscape you would see towns surrounded by countryside. Then a massive change occurred.
Automobiles became affordable and people were quick to adopt them. Now ambitious workers could live in the suburbs, the areas just outside cities, which started to grow rapidly. As long as there was lots of cheap land in the suburbs, no one paid much attention to the usage of that land. Malls, fast food restaurants, cinemas, and car dealerships spread out in large, flat buildings. These one - storey buildings and their parking lot took up a great deal of space. Well - meaning farmers thought they were better off selling their land than growing crops. In ignorance, no one realized that once the land was built up in urban sprawl, the good farming land would be ruined forever. There was no way to preserve it.
Only in recent years have people come to mourn the old way of life as they have developed insight into the problems of unconditional growth. Now people realize that urban sprawl has come with serious environmental problems. The negative aspects of sprawl include air and water pollution, loss of agricultural land, traffic jams, and the death of businesses in the old town centers. Many scholars think the time has come to analyze the problems better so we can develop appropriate policies to control further sprawl. Some think the best way to do is to educate citizens about their priceless environment.
小題1:What is mainly discussed in the passage?
A．Urban sprawl B．Weekend fun
C．New automobiles D．Isolated villages
小題2:Who do activists blame for environmental problems?
A．Endangered animals. B．Unthinking shoppers.
C．Shopping mall owners.D．Ambitious farmers.
小題3:What does the underlined word “They” refer to in the first paragraph?.
A．Activists B．Malls. C．Farmers. D．Scientists.
小題4:What is the scholars’ attitude toward urban sprawl?
A．Respectful. B．Pessimistic. C．Disapproving. D．Doubtful.

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科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

Employees are being flooded with too much information that has little to do with their work, according to a new survey.
On average, white-collar workers spend 51 percent of their work time receiving and processing information. Only one third of it was relevant to their work, the survey found. Information overload for white collar workers has become a global issue. The huge amount of information has already affected their efficiency in management as well as their performance at work.
Buried with e-mails
Every morning, a secretary at the human resources department of an auto parts company opens her e-mail box, only to find it crammed with at least 50 unread mails. For her, even scanning through these e-mails every day takes at least half an hour. Some of her colleagues are not so lucky — they have to read at least 100.
Bothered with calls
Telephone calls are also causing a problem. More than 40 percent white-collar workers chose mobile phones as the preferred way to communicate important and urgent business matters.
Talking saves time and energy over the clicking, reading and replying to e-mails, but phone calls are also more distracting(分心的). While answering a call, a clerk is likely to put away a much more important task at hand and start the business being talked about on the phone.
Solution? Not yet.
Many companies start with providing staff with better computers, better Internet access and more advanced gadgets(裝置). For example, staff members above a certain level in one company will be provided with a blackberry phone for easier access to their e-mails. The company has also organized many lectures on efficient ways of e-mail management. Yet most white-collar workers think their companies can do more.
小題1:What does the new survey find about white-collar workers?
A．They spend 51% of their work time on meetings.
B．Only half of the information they receive is useful.
C．Over 60% of them prefer to use the telephone.
D．Some of them have to read at least 100 e-mails every day.
小題2:Telephone calls cause a problem because ________.
A．they take up the time to receive and send e-mails
B．they are often not answered
C．they are mostly not about business
D．they may lead to the changing of work schedule
小題3:How do some companies try to solve the problem of information overload?
A．They start to give staff a pay rise.
B．They plan to employ more people.
C．They provide employees with more advanced equipment.
D．They organize lectures on how to reduce stress.
小題4:What is the major issue discussed in this text?
A．Poor management leads to inefficiency at work.
B．Junk mail is causing big trouble.
C．White-collar workers suffer from information overload.
D．Better computers are in need in workplaces.

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科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

Ideal for anyone who wants a good time, the Gold Coast is packed with enough fun for everyone in Australia．It's impossible to be bored on the Gold Coast．Below are the attractions;
Dream World
This is a fun place for everyone, whether you are a family with young kids, older kids, or out with your mates．This theme park is actually a series of parks, made up of such places as preschooler heaven Wiggles World and such attractions as Big Brother for inner reality TV fans．Dream World also owns the theme park White Water World．It is possible to buy tickets from Dream World that covers several different parks．
Sea World
Get up close and personal with dolphins, sharks and polar bears．This theme park also offers the right mixture of shows, exhibits, animal fights and thrill rides such as roller coaster．This is a must-see for your Gold Coast adventure．
Warner Bros Movie World
This theme park has the best combination of fast-paced entertainment．Visitors can have fun living as though they're in the movies．Kids will see all their cartoon favourites on parade and in shows．Bigger kids and grown-ups can pretend they're on real movie sets with their favourite action heroes, and then put themselves into some serious action．
How to get there梇ou can easily travel to the Gold Coast by plane．Fly straight into Gold Coast International Airport, or to Brisbane and then catch the '"airtrain" service to the Gold Coast．All of the major airlines have daily flights, some with several per day depending on your departure city．If you want to save money, you can get there by train．
Accommodation—Want something truly unusual? Consider staying in the world's largest residential tower （塔式住宅） and enjoy beautiful views．The accommodation choices on the Gold Coast are just as varied and interesting as the activities, so whether you are a single, couple, family, friends, a large or small group, you will find options perfect for you at TakeABreak．corn．a(chǎn)n．
小題1:From the passage, we know _____．
A．visitors can go t．o the Gold Goast only by air
B．the Gold Coast is famous for its golden beach
C．it is difficult for a family to find a right place to stay
D．the theme park "Sea World" will attract animal lovers
小題2:Which is NOT included in the theme parks?
A．Children can see their favorite cartoons．
B．Visitors have opportunities to take roller coasters．
C．Some famous movie actors often act with visitors．
D．Visitors can share the joy from animals．
小題3:This passage is mainly ______．
A．to describe the theme parks in Australia
B．to draw more visitors to go to the Gold Goast
C．to tell some exciting shows, adventures, etc．
D．to introduce how to get to the Gold Coast

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科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來源：不詳 題型：閱讀理解

One often hears that children should arrive at school “ready to learn.” For most children, the acquisition of reading and math skills starts in the first grade. In states where kindergarten is compulsory, it begins even earlier.
Many parents, teachers, and politicians maintain that preschool is the best way to prepare children to learn. There is no real consensus, however, about how this preparation should be achieved.
For some, early childhood education relates to the development of the whole child. They think that preschool should encourage exploration and discovery. Group activities teach positive social behaviors such as sharing, kindness, and patience. Time spent alone encourages independence. Learning letters and counting is important only for children who show an interest in them. Advocates of this approach stress that each child is unique and should learn at his or her own pace.
Other people refer to research showing that children are ready to absorb basic academic concepts by age 3 or 4. They claim that early introduction to letters and numbers lays the foundation for later academic excellence. Since the 1980s, many people have stressed the value of preschool and point to the success of programs -such as Head Start - that target low-income children.
Is there proof that an academic curriculum in preschool will lead to academic success? Studies have not been conclusive. In the short term, evidence suggests that middle-class children who attend preschool are ahead of their peers in maths and language skills as well as in social skills, when they enter school. However, the same studies show that the gap narrows considerably by the time children reach age 8.
Children living in poverty are a different matter. Those enrolled in programs such as Head Start seem to do better than impoverished children who do not attend a preschool. For instance, youngsters in one group enrolled in the program, tracked until the age of 21, earned higher scores on intelligence tests, were more likely to graduate from high school, and demonstrated more interest in higher education.
The idea of public preschool raises many issues. Providing Head Start for all children would be a financial burden on communities that already struggle to fund current school programs. Also, where would a sufficient number of teachers trained in early childhood development be found?
小題1:
Advocates of the development of the whole child believe school readiness is______ .
A．showing eagerness in exploration and discovery
B．learning basic skills, such as knowing letters and counting
C．showing great interest in basic academic concepts
D．demonstration of intellectual , social and emotional skills
小題2:
According to the passage, Head Start is most probably______ .
A．a(chǎn) preschool program that supports disabled children
B．a(chǎn) program that helps impoverished children attend a school
C．a(chǎn)n organization that aims to improve current school programs
D．a(chǎn) program that helps design the academic curriculum in preschool
小題3:
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A．Preschool benefits middle-class children more than poor children.
B．Most children start school with similar language and social skills.
C．Providing Head Start for all children has encountered great difficulties.
D．All children are ready to absorb basic academic concepts by age 3 or 4.
小題4:
Which of the following may best summarize the main idea of the passage?
A．An academic curriculum in preschool will lead to academic success.
B．Preshool is helpful, despite the disagreement about what it should offer.
C．Children enrolled in preschool demonstrate more interest in learning.
D．Preschool education shouldn't be a financial burden on communities.

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