2018南京金陵中学海安高级中学南京外国语学校第四次模拟英语考试试卷

from holes in the jacket of the radiator. “That’s easy to fix,” a man said. He sent a boy running for some green bananas. He patted me on the shoulder, assuring me everything would work out. “Green bananas,” he smiled. Everyone agreed.

We exchanged pleasantries while I thought over the effects of the green banana. Asking questions would betray my ignorance, so I remarked on the beauty of the place. Huge rock formations, like Sugar Loaf in Rio, rose up all around us. “Do you see that tall one right over there?” asked my benefactor, pointing to a particular tall, slender pinnacle of dark rock. “That rock marks the center of the world.”

I looked to see if he was teasing me, but his face was serious. He in turn inspected me carefully to be sure I grasped the significance of his statement. The occasion demanded some show of recognition on my part. “The center of the world?” I repeated, trying to convey interest if not complete acceptance. He nodded. “The absolute center. Everyone around here knows it.”

At that moment the boy returned with my green bananas. The man sliced one in half and pressed the cut end against the radiator jacket. The banana melted into a glue against the hot metal, plugging the leaks instantly. Everyone laughed at my astonishment. They refilled my radiator and gave me extra bananas to take along. An hour later, after one more application of green banana, my radiator and I reached our destination. The local mechanic smiled, “Who taught you about the green banana?” I named the village. “Did they show you the rock marking the center of the world?” he asked. I assured him they had. “My grandfather came from there,” he said. “The exact center. Everyone around here has always known about it.”

① As a product of American higher education, I had never paid the slightest attention to the green banana, except to regard it as a fruit whose time had not yet come. ② But as I reflected on it further, I realized that the green banana had been there all along. ③ Its time reached back to the very origins of the banana. ④ The people in that village had known about it for years. My own time had come in relation to it. This chance encounter showed me the special genius of those people, and the special potential of the green banana. I had been wondering for some time about those episodes of clarity which educators like to call “learning moments,” and knew I had just experienced two of them at once.

The importance of the rock marking the center of the world took a while to filter through. I had initially doubted their claim, knowing for a fact that the center was located somewhere in New England. After all, my grandfather had come from there. But gradually I realized they had a valid belief, a universal concept, and I agreed with them. We tend to define the center as that special place where we are known, where we know others, where things mean much to us, and where we ourselves have both identity and meaning; family, school, town, and local region.

The lesson which gradually filtered through was the simple concept that every place has special meanings for the people in it; every place represents the center of the world. The number of such centers is incalculable, and no one student or traveler can experience all of them, but once a conscious breakthrough to a second center is made, a life-long perspective and collection can begin. 62. What is the best title for the passage? A. A Car Accident B. An Identity Issue C. The Unforgettable Moment D. The Green Banana 63. What can we infer from Paragraph 3?

A. The author was open-minded enough to respect their wisdom and beliefs. B. The author was polite trying not to show disagreement with the helper.

C. It occurred to the author that the center of the world would be the tall slender rock. D. The author came to realize that every place has special meanings for the people in it.

64. Where could the following “Suddenly on that mountain road, its time and my need had met.” be best added in Paragraph 5?

A. ① B.② C.③ D.④ 65. What is the author’s purpose of writing the passage?

A. To inspire people to rethink and redefine the center of the world in their eyes. B. To illustrate that ignorance can sometimes be a blessing in disguise.

C. To encourage people to discover something with special value and meaning. D. To point out that traveling is a good way for people to search for their identity.

D

They make some of the world’s best-loved products. Their logos are instantly recognizable. For investors, they promise steady returns in difficult times. They seem to be getting ever bigger: on June 30th Mondelez International made a $23 billion bid for Hershey to create the world’s biggest confectioner (甜食业); and on July 7th Danone, the world’s largest yogurt maker, agreed to buy WhiteWave Foods, a natural-food group, for $12.5 billion. Yet trouble lurks (潜伏) for the giants in consumer packaged goods (CPG), which also include firms such as General Mills, Nestlé, Procter & Gamble and Unilever.

For a hint of the problem they face, take the example of Daniel Lubetzky, who began peddling his fruit-and-nut bars in health-food stores: his KIND bars are now everywhere, stacked in airports and Walmarts. Or that of Michael

Dubin and Mark Levine, entrepreneurs irked by expensive razors, who began shipping cheaper ones directly to consumers five years ago. Their Dollar Shave Club now controls 5% of America’s razor market.

From 2011 to 2015 large CPG companies lost nearly three percentage points of market share in America, according to a joint study by the Boston Consulting Group and IRI, a consultancy and data provider, respectively. In emerging markets local competitors are a growing headache for multinational giants. Nestlé, the world’s biggest food company, has missed its target of 5-6% sales growth for three years running.

For a time, size gave CPG companies an unbelievable advantage. Centralizing decisions and consolidating (合并) manufacturing helped firms expand profits. Deep pockets meant companies could spend millions on a fancy television advertisement, then see sales rise. Firms distributed goods to a vast network of stores, paying for good placement on shelves.

Yet these advantages are not what they once were. Consolidating factories has made companies more vulnerable to the swing of a particular currency, points out Nik Modi of RBC Capital Markets, a bank. The impact of television adverts is fading, as consumers learn about products on social media and from online reviews. At the same time, barriers to entry are falling for small firms. They can outsource production and advertise online. Distribution is getting easier, too: a young brand may prove itself with online sales, then move into big stores. Financing mirrors the same trend: last year investors poured $3.3 billion into private CPG firms, according to CB Insights, a data firm — up by 58% from 2014 and a huge 638% since 2011.

Most troublesome, the giants are finding it hard to keep up with fast-changing consumer markets. Ali Dibadj of Sanford C. Bernstein, a research firm, points out that some consumers in middle-income countries began by assuming Western products were superior. As their economies grew, local players often proved more adaptable to shoppers’ needs. Since 2004 big emerging economies have seen growth of local and regional companies, according to data compiled by RBC. In China, for example, Yunnan Baiyao Group accounts for 10% of the toothpaste market, with sales growing by 45% each year since 2004. In Brazil Botica Comercial Farmacêutica sells nearly 30% of perfume. And in India Ghari Industries now peddles more than 17% of detergent.

In America and Europe, the world’s biggest consumer markets, many firms have been similarly leaden-footed. If a shopper wants a basic product, he can choose from cheap, store-brand goods from the likes of Aldi and Walmart. But if a customer wants to pay more for a product, it may not be for a traditional big brand. This may be because shoppers trust little brands more than established ones. One-third of American consumers surveyed by Deloitte, a consultancy, said they would pay at least 10% more for the “craft” version of a good, a greater share than would pay extra for convenience or innovation. Interest in organic products has been a particular challenge for big manufacturers whose packages list such “tasty-sounding” ingredients as sodium benzoate (苯甲酸钠）and Yellow 6 (日落黄).

Big companies have been trying to respond. The most notable strategy has been to buy other firms and cut costs. 3G, a Brazilian firm has cut budgets at Heinz, a 147-year-old company it bought in 2013; then Kraft, which it merged (合并) with Heinz in 2015. Heinz’s profit margin widened from 18% to 28% in just two years, according to Sanford C. Bernstein.

Big firms are also acquiring or backing smaller rivals. In 2013 two American food companies and a French one — Campbell Soup, Hain Celestial and Danone — each bought a maker of organic baby food. Coca-Cola and Unilever, an Anglo-Dutch titan, have long bought companies outright or invested in them. Both General Mills and Campbell have launched their own venture-capital arms.

66. The underlined word “irked” in Paragraph 2 probably means “___________”. A. annoyed B. embarrassed C. frightened D. amazed

67. The author mentions “KIND bars” and “Dollar Shave Club razors” in Paragraph 2 to indicate that___________. A. “KIND” and “Dollar Shave Club” are becoming world-loved brand names

B. CPG giants are considering buying smaller firms like “KIND” or “Dollar Shave Club” C. small firms can also bring investors profits although they sell cheap and basic products

D. local competitors like “KIND” and “Dollar Shave Club” are challenging traditional big brands 68. According to the passage, the influence of TV advertisements is fading because___________. A. consumers are no longer interested in watching TV B. consumers can learn about products on social media C. consumers find TV advertisements less fancy than before

D. consumers can buy products online instead of going to a store

69. Which is one possible advantage of small firms over large giants in emerging market? A. It is not hard for small firms to keep up with fast-changing consumer markets.

B. Most consumers in America and Europe trust little brands more than established ones. C. Some local firms can meet consumers’ needs better than world-famous brand giants.

D. Small firms mainly sell creative or organic products which are more appealing to consumers. 70. Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A. Centralizing decisions can help small companies increase profits.

B. Over one-third of consumers would pay extra for convenience or innovation. C. Cutting cost is more important to big companies than meeting customer demand. D. Besides purchasing smaller competitors, big companies are supporting them as well.

第四部分 任务型阅读 (共10小题，每小题1分，满分10分)

请认真阅读下列短文，并根据所读内容在文章后表格中的空格里填入一个最恰当的单词。注意: 请将答案写在答题卡上相应题号的横线上。每个空格只填一个单词。

The future belongs to the flexible mind. This is the argument behind best-selling author Leonard Mlodinow’s new book, Elastic(灵活的), which examines the ever-increasing changes we find ourselves living through, and the ways of thinking best suited to them.

Do we need to develop a flexible mind？

Times we live in demand a flexible style of thinking. In politics, we now have to cope with more scandals in a single year than we used to encounter in a lifetime. Meanwhile, the speed and processing power of computers makes it difficult for us to navigate a landscape in which the number of websites has been doubling every two to three years, and the way we use and access them is subject to frequent “disastrous changes.” More importantly, social attitudes are changing just as fast.

Logical thought is an analysis that can be described by an algorithm(算术) of the kind that computers follow. Elastic thought cannot. Logical thought is evolved to help us face the everyday challenges of life while elastic thought helps us succeed when circumstances change. Elastic thought is where our new ideas come from. Logical thought can determine how to drive from our home to the grocery store most efficiently, but it’s elastic thought that gave us the automobile.

What makes it hard to think “flexibly”?

Flexible thinking comes naturally to all humans, but one way it may be blocked is through another power exercised by our brain, the ability to tune out “crazy” ideas. A single information processor depends on an algorithm to solve a problem. The human brain, instead, acts as a set of interacting and competing systems. They use our knowledge and expectations of the world to assess ideas. That approach is well suited to a stable environment. But it can be less productive when circumstances change.

How can we learn to be more flexible in our own thinking?

One of the abilities most important to flexible thinking is the power to relax our mind and let our guard down. If we are constantly alerted, our ideas may have a narrow range, and tend to be conventional.

One can also cultivate flexible thinking by adjusting one’s external conditions. Studies show that sitting in a darkened room, or closing our eyes, can widen our perspective. Low ceilings, narrow corridors, and windowless offices have the opposite effect. Being able to think without any kind of time pressure is also important when striving for novel ideas. Just as important, interruptions are deadly. A short phone call, email or even a text message can redirect your attention and thoughts.

As a more general exercise to nurture our mental flexibility, we can try to pay special attention to one of our strongly held beliefs, take it seriously and recall times in the past that we were wrong about something, even though we’d been confident of being right. In fact, more generally, introducing a little disagreement to our intellectual interactions may also be helpful.

Deep (71) ▲ into Flexible Thinking Supporting details Passage outline Necessity to possess a flexible mind (75) ▲ to thinking flexibly ● (72) ▲ , technological and social changes in our times call for flexible thinking. ● Flexible thinking and logical thinking are playing different roles in our daily lives. The (73) ▲helps make what we analyze accurate while the former enables us to be (74) ▲ . (76) ▲ information processors, our brain can either ignore new ideas or kill them (77) ▲ on our experience and expectations. ● It is better to let our mind off guard occasionally so as to avoid (78) ▲ our ideas to conventional ones. Ways to cultivate flexible ● Adjusting external surroundings(79) ▲ and thinking without time pressure thinking and distractions is also important. ●(80) ▲ on one of our strongly held beliefs and having some doubt about it may be of help. 第五部分 书面表达（满分25分）

请阅读下面图表及文字, 并按照要求用英语写一篇 150 词左右的文章。

某中学校本选修课程选修比例 On happiness 10% Chinese classical literature and art 7% Model UN 31% STEM-related courses 52% Here are some tips for students to take into consideration when choosing elective courses: ? Pursue your passions ? Maintain balance ? Try something new ? Take courses beneficial to your own development ? Take courses beneficial to your country ? ... 【写作内容】

1．用约30个词概括上述图文的主要内容；2．简要分析此现象产生的原因（至少两点）； 3．在这四门选修课中，你会选择哪一门？结合所给材料，阐述你选择的理由。 【写作要求】1．写作过程中不能直接引用原文语句。2．作文中不能出现真实姓名和学校名称。3．不必写标题。

1-5 AABBC 6-10 BABAC 11-15 ABCCA 16-20 ACACB 21-25 BDBAC 26-30 CDBCB 31-35 ABBDA

36-40 BABCA 41-45 DDCAC 46-50 BDABA 51-55 CDADA 56-60 ACDAA 61-65 CDBBA 66-70 ADBCD

71.Insight(s) 72. Political 73. latter 74. innovative /creative 75. Barriers/Obstacles 76. Unlike 77. based 78. limiting/restricting/narrowing 79. matters/counts 80. Focusing/Concentrating/Reflecting

【参考范文】

The chart illustrates the proportion of electives selected in a high school. 52% of the students register for scientific courses while 7% enroll in those concerning literature and art. Some tips are given for the selection.

Science and art courses are regarded differently, mainly because of where students’ interests lie. The former emphasizes searching natural laws to help human beings live longer and healthier, while the latter aims to better the thoughts of people, and promote social values. Apparently, given more attention, the former comes out ahead in our developing society. However, if the tendency continued to grow, we would end up in a steel concrete with no room for our spiritual home.

I would enroll in Chinese classical art. For one thing, I am always fascinated by traditional Chinese culture—paper-cutting, calligraphy, architecture, cuisine, just to name a few. For another, the wisdom delivered by Chinese philosophy will bring benefits to my long-term development and therefore the whole nation.