安徽省潜山县野寨中学2015_2016学年高二英语上学期第二次段考试题

dry. I wasn’t even able to read the written speech properly. I was not aware of where I was standing and what I was reading. That was the day when I realized my biggest weakness, Public Speaking.

After my speech, I met with the principal and explained what happened to me. He told me that this happens to everyone. Even great speakers faced the same things when they started. He suggested that I come again next time.

Around one month later, I was invited to refer to a topic on Motivation. This time I was feeling comfortable. My speech was not only appreciated by the principal as well as the teachers, because I was able to get my idea across to them. They encouraged and praised my efforts.

After delivering it successfully, I became more confident .l said to myself, “If I can speak in front of such a learned audience, like the principal who educates others, I can now speak in front of others too.”

I started delivering lectures in my plant, on various topics like Self Motivation, Personality Development, Personal Excellence, Spoken English and Presentation Skills. This has become a passion for me. I learned that everything is possible if we have the courage to take the first step.

24．Which of the following is the best title for the passage? A. Practice Makes a Man a Better Speechmaker B. Public Speaking Makes a Man Embarrassed. C. Principal Provides the Best Chances.

D. Spoken English Develops in Malting Speeches.

25．The author had bad feelings before the speech because______. A. he disliked the idea of giving a lecture B. he had got a high fever before that C. he regretted accepting the invitation

D. he feared he couldn't perform it properly

26．What does the underlined part “ominous apprehensions” in the first paragraph mean?

A. Unlucky opportunities. B. Negative ideas. C. Curious views. D. Happy comments.

27．What can we conclude from the passage?

A. Nothing is to be got without pains but poverty. B. Knowledge makes humble, ignorance makes proud.

C. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. D. Necessity is the mother of invention.

c

This summer, Monika Lutz’s life took an unusual turn. Instead of heading off to college, the high school graduate packed her bags for a Bengali jungle. Lutz, like a growing number of other young Americans, is taking a year off. Gap(间隔) years are quite common in Britain and Australia, but they are just beginning to catch on in the U.S. Lutz, who grew up in Boulder, Colo., has put together a 14-month schedule that includes helping deliver solar power to some communities in India and interning

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(实习) for a fashion designer in Shanghai---experiences that are worlds away from the lecture halls and university dormitories that await other students. “I could not be happier,” she says.

Why are students attracted to the gap-year concept? According to new survey data from Karl Haigler and Rae Nelson, education-policy experts and co-authors of The Gap-Year Advantage, the most common reason for this is to avoid burnout. “I felt like I was focused on college as a means to an end,” says Kelsi Morgan, an incoming Middlebury College freshman who spent last year interning for a judge in Tulsa, Okla., and teaching English at an orphanage in the Dominican Republic. The hope is that after a year out of the classroom, students will enter college more energized, focused and mature. That can be an advantage for colleges too. Robert Clagett, dean of admissions at Middlebury, did some research a few years ago and found that a single gap semester was the strongest predictor of academic success at his school.

Most experts recommend securing a spot in college before taking a gap year and warn against using the time off to lengthen your resume. “Most admissions folks can see right through that,” says Jim Jump, the academic dean of St. Christopher’s School in Richmond, Va. But for students like Lutz, who, after getting rejected from five Ivies, decided to take time off, a gap year can help focus interests. Lutz now plans to apply mostly to non-Ivies that have strong marketing programs. “This experience has really opened my eyes to the opportunities the world has to offer,” she says.

But at least one education expert doesn’t want schools spreading the gap-year message. In a study that followed 11,000 members of the high school class of 1992 for eight years after graduation, Stefanie DeLuca, a sociology professor at Johns Hopkins University, found that, all things being equal, those who delayed college by a year were 64% less likely to complete a bachelor’s degree than those who didn’t. DeLuca did not say whether these students voluntarily started college late, but at the very least, her work indicates that taking a gap year doesn’t guarantee success. “I’m not going to say that time off does not have benefits,” says DeLuca. “But I think we should not be so enthusiastic.”

28．The students take gap years mainly because ______. A. they want to be more unusual B. they want to refresh themselves C. some experts advise them to do so D. their parents think it good for them

29．According to Lutz, the gap year has made her more ______. A. energetic B. relaxed

C. practical D. enthusiastic

30．Stefanie DeLuca probably agrees that ______.

A. students should think twice before taking gap years B. taking gap years enables students to achieve success

C. schools should encourage their students to take gap years

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D. taking gap years increases students’ chances of getting a good job 31．What’s the author’s attitude towards gap years? A. Sceptical. B. Positive. C. Disapproving. D. Objective.

D

No one would much like the idea of eating 61 pounds of tomatoes a day. But if their goodness was put into an easy-to-swallow pill that you were told might prevent strokes(中风) and heart attacks you would probably be putting in an order tomorrow.

Researchers believe they may have come up with just that after trials. The daily pill contains a chemical called lycopene which makes tomatoes red and is known to break down fat in the vessels(血管). A Cambridge University study found taking the pills improved blood flow and the lining of vessels in patients with pre-existing heart conditions. It also increased the flexibility(灵活性) of their vessels by 50 percent. The scientists believe it could limit the damage caused by heart disease-responsible for 180,000 deaths a year-and help cut the 49,000 deaths a year from strokes. They also hope it could benefit those with arthritis(关节炎), diabetes(糖尿病) and even slow the progress of cancer.

Each pill is equal to eating around 61 pounds of ripe tomatoes. Studies have shown eating a Mediterranean-style diet rich in tomatoes fish, vegetables, nuts and olive oil can significantly reduce cholesterol(胆固醇) and help prevent cardiovascular disease.

Preliminary results from a two-month trial, in which the pill was given to 36 heart disease patients and 36 healthy volunteers with an average age of 67, were presented at a meeting of the American Heart Association. It was shown to improve the function of the endothelium- the layer of cells lining blood vessels. It also improved their sensitivity to nitric oxide, the gas which causes the enlargement of the vessels in response to exercise.

Ian Wilkinson, head of Cambridge University’s clinical trials unit, said “These results are potentially very significant and it meets the goal, but we need more trials to see if they translate into fewer heart attacks and strokes.”

Further studies are planned, with researchers hoping it could offer a choice for heart disease sufferers who can not take the cholesterol-lowing drugs.

Mike Knapton, head of the British Heart Foundation, said, “Although this showed lycopene improved blood flow in people with heart disease, that’s a long way from demonstrating that taking it could improve outcomes for people with heart disease. The best way to get the benefits of a good diet is to eat plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables.”

32．What can we infer from Paragraph 1? A. We can eat too much tomato food.

B. Tomatoes are helpful to strokes and heart attacks.

C. Tomatoes will lose healthy elements were put into pills. D. We had better not eat tomatoes.

33．We can learn from the passage that the pills ____.

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A. are at the experiment stage B. can cure all the disease

C. are widely used among patients D. cost patients so little money

34．Who were the volunteers by taking part in the trial? A. Children. B. Youth.

C. Working people. D. old healthy people. 35．What Was Ian Wilkinson’s opinion on the trial? A. Disappointing. B. Surprising. C. Satisfactory. D. Terrible. 第二节（共5小题；每小题2分，满分10分）

根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。

How to Get Happy

36． Figure out how to change the way you view your life and you can achieve happiness.

Gretchen Rubin, the creator of the Happiness Project website spent a year testing “every principle, tip, and theory” she could find to help people cheer up, especially given the trying times. “When people feel like they’re worse off than they were last year, it’s a happiness challenge,” Rubin note. Her advice? 37． Here she happily shared other points.

What are the things that give a happiness boost?

Sleep, Sounds boring, but a 2014 study showed tiredness is one of the top two reasons people are in a bad mood at work. Another way to boost happiness is to join or start a group. Philosophers agree that social bonds are the key to happiness. But it’s hard to connect deeply with people at a party; a purpose and an agenda really help. 38． One principle of happiness is that you should always act the way you wish you felt. If you act generously, you’ll feel more secure.

You don’t have to do an extraordinary thing like climbing Mount Kilimanjaro? No. If you love scrapbooking, maybe you should learn Photoshop; if you like cycling, maybe bike repair. it should reflect your nature. You can be happier without 39． And completely changing your life.

40． A lot of the things I talk about are things that don’t actually take much time, but you have to stick with them-like writing a journal or taking a 20-minute walk every day. People always ask, “Is it hard or is it easy to do the happiness project?” And I say, “It’s hard in that you have to do it.”

A．Attitude is everything.

B．Happiness is a state of mind.

C．A third idea is to give something away. D．Always have music and books in your life.

E．Is it fair to say that many of your tips require finding a lot of extra time? F．It should be novel(新颖的) and challenging within the framework of what you like to do. G．Try to think ahead five years when, chances are, you’ll have regained your footing

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