上海市金山区2014届高三英语一模试卷

7. Volunteer

Helping others increases your self-esteem and makes you feel like a valuable contributor.

66. Which of the following does NOT increase your life span?

A. Staying happy about life B. Exercising as much as possible C. Exercising your brain frequently D. Enjoying your social life 67. People who do not stay mentally active are more likely to _________.

A. become ignorant B. lose their minds

C. shorten their lives D. become slow in movement 68. The underlined phrase silver lining can be replaced with __________.

A. something made of silver B. new information C. good aspects D. long life span 69. Which of the following is correct about medication ?

A. Appropriate medication is necessary. B. Medication is always helpful to you. C. Doctors suggest taking expensive medicines. D. Drugs are unnecessary because of side-effects.

( B )

“We are going to have to get rid of Bay this year,” Meg’s dad said. “That horse can’t work another winter.”

It was October, and snow was falling lightly over their part of Montana. Meg knew the ranch needed strong, steady horses to bring the sheep back from pasture. Still, she could hardly take in the enormity of her father’s words.

“I know Bay’s old,” Meg told her dad, “but he is my horse. Won’t you let me keep him? I’d feed him. He won’t be a problem.”

“We use horses for labor,” her dad said, “We don’t keep them as pets.”

Meg understood. She thought about Casey, a dog she had once loved. He became lost when he chased a wandering sheep and never came home. Meg had been sad for weeks. She knew that on a ranch, animals come and go. You couldn’t grow attached to them. Bay was different, though. The horse had a personality all his own.

She went to the stable and stroked the old brown horse’s head. As Bay nuzzled her hand, Meg tried to imagine what the ranch would be like without her favorite horse.

The snow was falling faster, and dark gray clouds were settling over the peaks. Meg had an idea. She saddled Bay, put her foot in the stirrup, and swung up. “Let’s go !” she cried, and nudged him with heels.

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They galloped over the meadow, onto a steep and narrow trail, and up a wooded slope. “We’ll round up the sheep now, before the snow gets too thick,” Meg said. “We will show Dad how well you work.”.

The sheep stood in a high pasture, bleating at the storm clouds. Meg heard a lone bleat from above. She looked for the lost sheep but couldn’t see it. “It must be stuck in the bush above the rock wall,” she thought.

She got off her horse and began to climb up the steep wall. She was almost at the top when the heel of her foot slipped into a crack. She lost her balance and fell onto a rock. She tried to stand, but her foot hurt too much.

Then Bay got into position under the rock. He was telling Meg to crawl onto his back! Painfully, Meg got her feet into the stirrups. Slowly and carefully, Bay carried her down the snow trail.

On the way down, they met Dad riding his gray horse. “What happened ?” he asked anxiously.

“Bay saved me.” Meg told him what happened.

Dad’s voice shook when he said, “ I wouldn’t get rid of that horse for anything.”

70. Meg’s dad intended to ______________.

A. trade Bay for sheep B. let Meg keep Bay as a pet.

C. sell or kill Bay D. keep Bay working for another winter. 71. Meg hoped to keep Bay because______________.

A. Bay was a good sheep-keeper. B. Bay was like a good friend. C. Bay was strong and beautiful. D. Bay was the only animal she loved. 72. Meg rode Bay to the pasture to ___________.

A. look for a lost sheep. B. round up the sheep. C. climb over the meadow. D. meet her father. 73. Why does Dad change his mind about Bay?

A. Bay found the lost sheep and Meg. B. Bay was such a good friend to Meg. C. Bay proved his importance by rescuing Meg. D. Bay proved that he had a personality all his own.

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( C )

One picture in the Wonder Book of knowledge I had as a little boy showed a man reading a book while floating in the Dead Sea. What a miracle! How would it feel to lie back in water so thick with salt that it was impossible to sink?

Fed by the Jordan River and smaller streams, the Dead Sea is the lowest point on the earth’s surface, and its water is ten times saltier than the Mediterranean. With evaporation its only outlet, salt and other minerals become super-concentrated.

Earlier this year, I drove down the long, steep hill to realize my dream. The shoreline was a broad area of bare salt-mud, but the water edge was far out of sight. Had somebody pulled the Dead Sea’s plug? I wondered. Eli Dior, an Israeli official, explained the problem: “ The Dead Sea is drying up. Every year, the surface drops about one meter, and as the water level falls, shadow areas are left high and dry.”

Over the last half-century, the five neighboring countries have collectively diverted nearly all the water flowing into the Dead Sea to meet human and agriculture needs. Result: the Dead Sea is being emptied.

With population in the region set to double at least in the next 50 years, there is little hope of restoring the water being diverted for human consumption. No country has a drop to spare for the Dead Sea, where they know it will just evaporate. To dream of opening the dams and restoring natural balance is plainly unrealistic.

Yet one ambitious high-tech dream may turn out to be not only the salvation of the Dead Sea but also a ticket to peace around its shores. The “ Red-Dead” is a proposed $5 billion project to bring sea water some 240 kilometers by pipeline and canal from the Red Sea to the Dead Sea. The Red-Dead may be the only solution, but even if the project is carried out successfully, the Dead Sea will be 10 to 20 meters lower than now and two thirds of its current size.

Whatever the future holds, the Dead Sea’s magical mix of sun, mud, sea and salt will surely survive. Many might complain that the Dead Sea is half empty—but for me the Dead sea will always be half full.

74. What’s the passage mainly about ?

A. Dead Sea—miracle of the world. B. Save the environment of the Dead Sea. C. Slow shrinking of the Dead Sea. D. Why is the Dead Sea so salty.

75. The shrinking of the Dead Sea is mainly caused by _________ according to the passage.

A. a severe reduction of the water flowing into the sea. B. rapid evaporation of the water in the Dead Sea area. C. the increasing quantity of water drawn from the sea. D. very low annual rainfall in the Dead Sea Area.

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76. Which of the following is right according to the passage?

A. With no outlet to any ocean, the Dead Sea has become by evaporation the saltiest on earth.

B. Though burdened with the growing population, the neighboring countries haven’t cut off the sources of the Dead Sea.

C. All the countries in the area will consider diverting less water from the Jordan River. D. The Red-Dead Project has not only brought water to the Dead Sea, but peace to the area as well.

77. Which of the following statements will the author approve of ?

A. If the Dead Sea dried up, great natural disasters would happen in the region. B. The Dead Sea will not survive no matter what people do to save it.

C. The five neighboring countries should stop diverting water from the Jordan River. D. Though the Dead Sea is shrinking gradually, it will not die.

Section C

Directions: Read the passage carefully. Then answer the questions or complete the statements in the fewest possible words.

However important we may regard school life to be, there is no denying the fact that children spend more time at home than in the classroom. Therefore, the great influence of parents cannot be ignored or discounted by the teacher. They can become strong allies of the school personnel or they can consciously or unconsciously hinder and frustrate curricular objectives.

Administrators have been aware of the need to keep parents informed of the newer methods used in schools. Many principles have conducted workshops explaining such matters as the reading readiness program, manuscript writing and developmental mathematics. Moreover, the classroom teacher, with the permission of the supervisors, can also play an important role in enlightening parents. The informal tea and the many interviews carried on during the year, as well as new ways of reporting pupils’ progress, can significantly aid in achieving a harmonious interplay between school and home.

To illustrate, suppose that a father has been drilling Junior in arithmetic processes night after night. In a friendly interview, the teacher can help the parent sublimate (升华) his natural paternal interest into productive channels. He might be persuaded to let Junior participate in discussing the family budget, buying the food, using a standard or measuring cup at home, setting the clock, calculating mileage on a trip and engaging in scores of other activities that have a mathematical basis.

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