Imagine a world 400 years ago where children were used as chimney sweeps．The pay was low, it was a dirty trade and there was little reward for the men who did the job and even less for children.

Medway’s annual Sweeps Festival recreates the joy and laughter enjoyed by the chimney sweeps at their traditional holiday: the one time of the year the sweeps could leave the soot（煙灰） behind and have some fun．The sweeps’ holiday was traditionally held on 1 May each year．Locally, they used to mark the occasion by staging a procession through the streets of Rochester.

Their fun continued with the Jack-in-the-Green ceremony, a seven-foot character that they used to waken at dawn on Blue Bell Hill, Chatham．The Jack-in-the-Green would walk with the chimney sweeps in their parade．When the Climbing Boys’ Act 1868 made it illegal to employ young boys to carry out the trade, the traditional procession gradually began to fade．The final May celebration was held in the early 1900s.

The modern day Rochester Sweeps Festival is a colorful mix of music, dancing and entertainment with more than 60 Morris sides and entertainers celebrating throughout the three-day festival．The festival was revived in 1981 by local businessman Gordon Newton, a keen historian．He decided it was time to bring it back and over the years he has helped develop the festival into what it is today — an excellent performance of traditional Britain.

Gordon researched the Sweeps’ tradition and organized a small parade, involving local Morris teams．In time, Medway Council took over organization of the festival but Gordon remained actively involved．Today he is festival producer and plays melodeon（簧風琴） for several Morris teams．Doug Hudson is the festival’s music director, a role he has held for many years．Through Gordon’s vision and hard work, Doug’s musical ability and the council’s help, the Rochester Sweeps Festival has become the largest May Day celebration of its kind in the country.

1．According to the writer, chimney sweeps ____________.

      A．were highly respected                      B．were well rewarded

      C．led a hard life in the past                 D．worked in good conditions

2．Medway’s Sweeps Festival ____________.

      A．has been organized by the Jack-in-the-Green

      B．dated back to the May celebration in the early 1900s

    C．is held to honor those chimney sweeps every other year

      D．has become a time for chimney sweeps to enjoy themselves

3．The underlined word “revive” in the 4th paragraph most probably means ___________.

      A．realize          B．review         C．recreate         D．recognize

4．It can be inferred from the passage that ____________.

      A．the festival has never been supported by the local government

      B．The festival is a good way to see British folk customs in action

      C．youngsters has been forbidden to be chimney sweeps since 1981

      D．the modern festival lasts five days celebrating the coming of spring

5．What is the passage mainly concerned about?

      A．Sweeps Festival history                        B．Medway’s traditional holidays

      C．Climbing Boys’ Act 1868                      D．a(chǎn) procession in Rochester

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科目：高中英語 來源： 題型：

—He must be busy doing his homework right now.

   —I imagine____.

  A. that     B. to     C. so     D. it

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科目：高中英語 來源： 題型：閱讀理解

Few of us make money by losing sleep．But three graduate students at Brown University in Providence built a company around sleep deprivation （睡眠不足）．

       Jason Donahue, Ben Rubin and Eric Shashoua were working late nights in Brown's business and engineering schools．They began thinking about ways to sleep better．They discovered they weren't alone in burning the midnight oil．Around 20% of Americans get less than six hours of rest a night．

       The friends imagined a smart alarm clock that could track how much time people spend in the most restorative （有回復作用的） stages of the sleep cycle: REM （rapid eye movement） and deep sleep．What would it cost to design such a thing? Five years of research, 20 employees, $14 million and a whole lot of doubting from investors and scientists．

       Their company, Zeo, based in Newton, Mass, launched its product in June, 2009．The Zeo device uses a headband with tiny sensors （傳感器） that scan your brain for signs of four sleep states- REM, light, deep and waking sleep．The smart alarm clock displays a graph of your sleep pattern and wakes you as you're not in REM sleep （which is when you're least groggy）．In the morning you can upload the data to the company's Web site, and so track your sleep over time．Most of the feedback comes in the form of Zeo's ZQ score showing how well you've slept．

       "Zeo allows people to unlock this black box of sleep," says Dave Dickinson, a health-care CEO．

       Whether any of this actually improves sleep is up to the consumer, who will also need to make lifestyle changes like cutting out alcohol before bedtime or caffeine after 3 pm．

       For now the company is selling Zeo online only．Dickinson also plans to spread it to countries such as Australia, where sleep deprivation approaches US levels．

Who will support Zeo?

       A．People full of imagination．          B．People suffering sleeping problems．

       C．People having access to the Internet． D．People having bad lifestyles．

Why did the three graduate students imagine a smart alarm clock?

       A．To wake them up on time in the morning．

       B．To earn enough money for their study．

       C．To improve the quality of people's sleep．

       D．To enjoy their life while working at night．

To design the Zeo device, the three graduate students ____．

       A．spent much time and money           B．were widely supported by scientists

       C．worked by themselves all the time       D．a(chǎn)ttracted many investors

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       A．Zeo has a direct effect on users' lifestyles．

       B．It needs more personal efforts to make Zeo function better．

       C．A large quantity of Zeo devices have been sold in Australia．

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科目：高中英語 來源：2011屆寧夏銀川一中高三第一次模擬英語卷 題型：閱讀理解

  Imagine yourself on a boat looking out at the horizon and all you can see is the water meeting the sky with no land in sight and you are sailing straight ahead to meet the world. Jesse Martin does not have to imagine: he is living in it.
On Dec. 7, 1998, at 17 years old, Jesse set sail from Melbourne, Australia on his boat, attempting to become the youngest person to sail alone and nonstop around the world. He sailed south of New Zealand, through the South Pacific, around South America, north on the Atlantic, back south past Africa, through the Indian Ocean and back to Melbourne.
Even as a young child, Jesse had been an adventurer who traveled all over Europe and Asia with his parents. Born in Munich, Germany in 1981, he moved to Australia with his family when he was only two years old. They moved close to a rainforest in Cow Bay, about 3500kms north of Melbourne, where they built a small house with no electricity or running water. Jesse grew up at the beach enjoying the outdoors to its fullest.
At 14, he sailed for the first time with his father and brother, Beau. It was after this trip that he began to dream about sailing around the world.
Jesse’s family played an important role. “I was made to believe I could do anything.” he says. Although, he says, there were others that were not so encouraging or supportive, “People that I looked up to, respected and trusted told me I couldn’t. Thankfully, I trusted myself. There were people that said that the boat couldn’t be ready by the time I had to leave.” However, through perseverance and belief in himself he was able to do what many told him was impossible.
On Oct.31, 1999, more than 10 months after he set sail, Jesse Martin went down in history as the youngest person to sail around the world alone, nonstop and unassisted.
【小題1】 What’s the author’s purpose in encouraging the reader to imagine a sailing experience?

A．To show how difficult it is to be a sailor.
B．To show how wonderful Jesse’s sailing is.
C．To describe what Jesse’s sailing is like.
D．To describe what a sailor’s life is like.
【小題2】 Jesse Martin was at the end of his voyage when he _______.
A．sailed on the South Pacific.
B．sailed on the Indian Ocean.
C．sailed past Africa
D．sailed past South America.
【小題3】 Which of the following made Jesse decide to sail alone around the world?
A．His childhood adventure experiences.
B．His journeys to Europe.
C．His first sailing trip with his family.
D．His love for outdoor activities.
【小題4】 What can we learn from Jesse Martin’s story?
A．Interest leads to success.
B．A strong belief will make a person stronger.
C．Life is an unusual adventure we should enjoy.
D．Failure is the mother of success.

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科目：高中英語 來源：貴州省凱里一中2009-2010學年度高二上學期期末考試英語 題型：閱讀理解


B
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With the aid of a mechanic, Fred Young ,Goldman designed the first shopping cart based on the folding chair.Wheels were placed where the bottoms of the chair legs were. In place of the chair seat, Young and Goldman , placed two metal baskets on top of each other. This cart could be stored by folding it up like a folding chair．
At first there was a bit of difficulty getting the public to accept shopping carts．Men thought using them was effeminate(女人氣的)while younger women considered the use of the shopping carts to carry products around to be somewhat unstylish．Goldman solved this problem by hiring men and women models to use shopping carts in his stores．In addition，store     greeters instructed customers in how to use the shopping carts．In short order，the shopping carts became incredibly popular because it made shopping much easier for customers．By 1940 the popularity of shopping carts had grown to such an extent that there was a 7 year waiting list in store orders for new shopping carts．
45.. The underlined word“ubiquitous”is closest in meaning to”_________”．
A．strange    B．pleasant       C．common       D．possible
46.. The idea of shopping carts came from _____________．
A．Goldman’ s imagination           B．customers’needs
C．Fred Young’ s suggestion           C．other shops’examples
47.. Why was it difficult to get the public to accept shopping carts at first?
A．Both men and women were afraid they would not look good if they used them．
B.  People thought it unnecessary to use them because they never did much shopping．
C.  The early shopping carts were too difficult to use．
D. Only men and women models were supposed to use such modern things．
48.. How popular did Goldman’s invention finally become?
A．Men and women models used shopping carts in his stores．
B．Store greeters instructed customers in how to use the shopping carts．
C．Some stores had to wait several years to get his shopping carts．
D．His shopping carts had improved so much that both men and women liked to use them．

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科目：高中英語 來源：2010-2011學年寧夏高三第一次模擬英語卷 題型：閱讀理解

  Imagine yourself on a boat looking out at the horizon and all you can see is the water meeting the sky with no land in sight and you are sailing straight ahead to meet the world. Jesse Martin does not have to imagine: he is living in it.

On Dec. 7, 1998, at 17 years old, Jesse set sail from Melbourne, Australia on his boat, attempting to become the youngest person to sail alone and nonstop around the world. He sailed south of New Zealand, through the South Pacific, around South America, north on the Atlantic, back south past Africa, through the Indian Ocean and back to Melbourne.

Even as a young child, Jesse had been an adventurer who traveled all over Europe and Asia with his parents. Born in Munich, Germany in 1981, he moved to Australia with his family when he was only two years old. They moved close to a rainforest in Cow Bay, about 3500kms north of Melbourne, where they built a small house with no electricity or running water. Jesse grew up at the beach enjoying the outdoors to its fullest.

At 14, he sailed for the first time with his father and brother, Beau. It was after this trip that he began to dream about sailing around the world.

Jesse’s family played an important role. “I was made to believe I could do anything.” he says. Although, he says, there were others that were not so encouraging or supportive, “People that I looked up to, respected and trusted told me I couldn’t. Thankfully, I trusted myself. There were people that said that the boat couldn’t be ready by the time I had to leave.” However, through perseverance and belief in himself he was able to do what many told him was impossible.

On Oct.31, 1999, more than 10 months after he set sail, Jesse Martin went down in history as the youngest person to sail around the world alone, nonstop and unassisted.

1. What’s the author’s purpose in encouraging the reader to imagine a sailing experience?

A．To show how difficult it is to be a sailor.

B．To show how wonderful Jesse’s sailing is.

C．To describe what Jesse’s sailing is like.

D．To describe what a sailor’s life is like.

2. Jesse Martin was at the end of his voyage when he _______.

A．sailed on the South Pacific.

B．sailed on the Indian Ocean.

C．sailed past Africa

D．sailed past South America.

3. Which of the following made Jesse decide to sail alone around the world?

A．His childhood adventure experiences.

B．His journeys to Europe.

C．His first sailing trip with his family.

D．His love for outdoor activities.

4. What can we learn from Jesse Martin’s story?

A．Interest leads to success.

B．A strong belief will make a person stronger.

C．Life is an unusual adventure we should enjoy.

D．Failure is the mother of success.

 

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