扬州中学2016届高三第二学期开学考试英语

decisions. Life doesn’t let you55 . 36. A. easily B. barely C. sufficiently D. adequately 37. A. Still B. Otherwise C. Though D. Anyhow 38. A. fear B. desire C. regret D. doubt 39. A. brought about B. picked out C. put down D. came across 40. A. receipts B. cans C. recipes D. labels 41. A. basically B. particularly C. roughly D. exactly 42. A. inferior B. superb C. fake D. sour 43. A. miserable B. amused C. misty D. concerned 44. A. smartest B. dumbest C. toughest D. rudest 45. A. As soon as B.As much as C.As far as D. As long as 46. A. employer B. customer C. salesman D. investor 47. A. inspiring B. relaxing C. frightening D. pushing 48. A. opportunity B. decision C. obstacle D. defeat 49. A. respectable B. recognizable C. honorable D. understandable 50. A. after B. by C. as D. for 51. A. hit B. got C. called D. promoted 52. A. make out B. reach out C. work out D. set out 53. A. appointed B. considered C. destined D. intended 54. A. hesitate B. need C. wait D. rush 55. A. delay B. plan C. dream D. prepare

第三部分: 阅读理解 (共 15 小题; 每小题 2 分, 满分 30 分)

请阅读下列短文, 从短文后各题所给的 A、B、C、D 四个选项中, 选出最佳选项, 并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

A

Based on home prices, median income and mortgage(抵押) rates these cities have the most affordable home prices in the nation, according to the National Association of Home Builders. Dayton, Ohio

Dayton is shrinking, or at least its population is, The metro(大城市的) area has lost about 1% of its residents(居民) over the past 11 years as businesses, like NCR Corp., moved out of town and others cut staff. While that hasn’t necessarily been a good thing for the local economy, it has kept homes extremely affordable. Grand Rapids, Mich.

As many once-booming midwestern cities, Grand Rapids was built up during an era of prosperity and high population growth. Now it’s left with a lot of fine, old houses that are cheap. Meanwhile, the city’s economic base, which once relied heavily on the furniture-making industry, has become more diversified. Health care is now a driving force in the local economy. Syracuse, N.Y.

Teachers and bank clerks far outnumber factory workers in this place these days. This has

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helped push the area’s median income to a level that is slightly higher than the national average.

All of those jobs are not doing much to attract new residents, however. In fact, the metro area has seen less than a 2% increase in population since 2000, compared with nearly 10% nationally. As a result, there’s very little competition for housing. Akron, Ohio

In the 20th century, Akron’s economy grew with the auto industry. With factory jobs harder to come by, the Akron metro area has become a slow growth zone. The population has only increased by less than 7% since 1990, a period when the U.S. population increased by about 26%. 56. What is the main purpose of the author in writing the passage? A. To persuade people to seek employment in these cities.

B. To introduce the economic conditions of some American cities. C. To supply information on houses people can afford to buy.

D. To show that home prices in most American cities are affordable.

57. Jenny, a new graduate majoring in medicine would be advised to live in _______. A. Dayton B. Grand Rapids C. Syracuse D. Akron

B

Did you hear what happened at yesterday’s meeting? Can you believe it? If you find those sorts of quietly whispered questions about your co-workers irresistible, you’re hardly alone. But why are we drawn to gossip?

A new study suggests it’s because the rumors are all about us. “Gossip receivers tend to use positive and negative group information to improve, promote, and protect the self,” writes a research team, led by Elena Martinescu of the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. In the journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, the researchers described two experiments testing the personal value gossip receivers get.

The first featured 178 university undergraduates, who had all previously worked on at least one course assignment with a group of four or more students. Participants were asked to recall and write a short description of an incident, in which a group member shared with them either positive or negative information about another group member’s secret. They then reported their level of agreement with a series of statements. Some of these measured the self-improvement value of the gossip(“The information received made me think I can learn a lot from X”); others measured its self-promotion value(“The information I received made me feel that I am doing well compared to X”). Still others measured whether the gossip raised personal concerns(“The information I received made me feel that I must protect my image in the group”).

In the second experiment, 122 undergraduates were assigned the role of “sales agent” at a major company. They received gossip from a colleague that a third person either did very well or very badly at a performance evaluation, and were then asked about the emotions that information caused. They also responded to the above-mentioned set of statements presented to the participants in the first experiment.

In each experiment, participants found both negative and positive gossip to be of personal

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value with different reasons. “Positive gossip has self-improvement value,” they write. “Competence-related positive gossip about others contains lessons about how to improve one’s own competence. On the other hand, negative gossip has self-promotion value, because it provides individuals with social comparison information that justifies self-promoting judgments which results in feelings of pride.”

In addition, the results “showed that negative gossip brought about self-protection concerns,” the researchers write. “Negative gossip makes people concerned that their reputations may be at risk, as they may personally become targets of negative gossip in the future, which generates fear.” Fear is hardly a pleasant sensation(感觉), but it can be a motivating one. As researchers put it: “Gossip conveniently provides individuals with indirect social-comparison information about relevant others.”

58.Why are we drawn to gossip according to the researchers?

A. We need evaluative information about others to evaluate ourselves. B. We are interested in the news that arouses our personal concerns. C. We tend to gain a sense of pride from judging others. D. We are likely to learn lessons from others’ mistakes.

59. According to the first experiment, which of the following shows self-promotion value? A. I’ve done better than Mary according to what Tom said about her. B. I should behave myself in case of being gossiped about like Mary. C. I have to learn from Mary according to what Tom said about her. D. I have no comments on what Tom said about Mary.

60. What’s the critical difference of the second experiment compared with the first one? A. The identities of the participants.

B. The number of the participants studied.

C. The time during which the experiment lasted. D. The role-play technique used in the experiment.

61. What role does “negative gossip” play according to the researchers? A. A fear killer. B. A motivator. C. A protector. D. A subject provider.

C

Can electricity cause cancer? In a society that literally runs on electric power, the very idea seems ridiculous. But for more than a decade, a growing band of scientists and journalists has pointed to studies that seem to link exposure to electromagnetic fields(电磁场) with increased risk of leukemia(白血病) and other malignancies. The implications are unsettling, to say the least, since everyone comes into contact with such fields, which are generated by everything electrical, from power lines and antennas to personal computers and micro-wave ovens. Because evidence on the subject is inconclusive and often contradictory, it has been hard to decide whether concern about the health effects of electricity is reasonable---or a kind of oversensitivity.

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Now the alarmists have gained some qualified support from the U.S. Environmental

Protection Agency. In the executive summary of a new scientific review, released in draft form late last week, the EPA has put forward what amounts to the most serious government warning to date. The agency tentatively concludes that scientific evidence “suggests a causal(因果关系的) link” between extremely low-frequency electromagnetic fields (ELF)---those having very

longwave-lengths---and leukemia, lymphoma and brain cancer. While the report falls short of classifying ELF fields as probable carcinogens(致癌物), it does identify the common 60-hertz magnetic field as “a possible, but not proven, cause of cancer in humans.”

The report is no reason to panic---or even to lost sleep. If there is a cancer risk, it is a small one. The evidence is still so controversial that the draft stirred a great deal of debate within the Bush Administration, and the EPA released it over strong objections from the Pentagon and the White House. But now no one can deny that the issue must be taken seriously and that much more research is needed.

At the heart of the debate is a simple and well-understood physical phenomenon: When an electric current passes through a wire, it generates an electromagnetic field that exerts forces on surrounding objects, For many years, scientists dismissed any suggestion that such forces might be harmful, primarily because they are so extraordinarily weak. The ELF magnetic field generated by a video terminal measures only a few milligauss, or about one-hundredth the strength of the earth’s own magnetic field. The electric fields surrounding a power line can be as high as 10 kilovolts per meter, but the corresponding field induced in human cells will be only about 1 millivolt per meter. This is far less than the electric fields that the cells themselves generate.

How could such minuscule(极小的) forces pose a health danger? The consensus used to be that they could not, and for decades scientists concentrated on more powerful kinds of radiation, like X-rays, that pack sufficient wallop to knock electrons out of the molecules that make up the human body. Such “ionizing” radiations have been clearly linked to increased cancer risks and there are regulations to control emissions.

But epidemiological(流行病学的) studies, which find statistical associations between sets of data, do not prove cause and effect. Though there is a body of laboratory work showing that

exposure to ELF fields can have biological effects on animal tissues, a mechanism by which those effects could lead to cancerous growths has never been found.

The Pentagon is far from persuaded. In a blistering 33-page critique of the EPA report, Air Force scientists charge its authors with having “biased(使倾向于) the entire document” toward

proving a link. “Our reviewers are convinced that there is no suggestion that (electromagnetic fields) present in the environment induce or promote cancer,” the Air Force concludes. “It is astonishing that the EPA would approve the release of this report.” Then Pentagon’s concern is understandable. There is hardly a unit of the modern military that does not depend on the heavy use of some kind of electronic equipment, from huge ground-based radar towers to the defense systems built into every warship and plane.

62. The main idea of this passage is _______. A. studies on the cause of cancer

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