2011.04(2)阅读理解(2)必考一篇

发布时间：2011-06-13 13:22:45 来源：文档文库

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Passage 17

When John and Victoria Falls arrived in New York City for one-year stay, they did not bring very many things with them. They had planned either to live in a furnished apartment or to buy used furniture. But they soon learned about a new system that more and more people are using. The renting of home furnishings (bed, tables, dishes, and so on) has become one of America’s fastest growing businesses.

What kinds of people rent their home furnishings instead of buying them? People who are international business or government officials, foreign students, airline workers, young married couple – people whose job or business may force them to move frequently from one city to another. They save a lot of trouble and the cost of moving their furniture each time. They simply rent new furniture when they reach their new homes. Young people with little money do not want to buy cheap furniture that they may soon dislike. They prefer to wait until they have enough money to buy furniture that they really like. Meanwhile, they find they can rent better quality furniture than they could afford to buy.

One family, who now have a large, beautiful home of their own, liked their rented furniture so much that they decided to keep renting it instead of buying new things. But usually people don’t like to tell others about it. The idea of renting home furnishings is still quite new, and they are not sure what their neighbors might think. (248words)

1. Which of the following has become one of America’s fastest growing businesses? ____________

A. Selling home furnishings. B. Renting furnished apartments.

C. Selling used furniture. D. Renting home furnishings.

2. Why do some people prefer to rent furniture? ____________

A. Because the furniture they get in this way is new. B. Because it saves them a lot of money.

C. Because it saves them much trouble and money. D. Because they can always get better quality furniture in this way.

3. What can you infer from the passage? ____________

A. The idea of renting furniture is not acceptable. B. Renting furniture is not popular in the couple’s home town.

C. Only those who don’t have enough money to rent furniture.

D. People usually grow to like the furniture they have rented.

4. Which of the following can best serve as the title of the passage? ____________

A. Rent or Buy? B. A New Way of Getting Home Furnishings. C. Furnished Apartments. D. A New Idea.

5. Young people liked renting home furniture in that __________.

A. They have less money B. They don’t want to buy old furniture

C. The new furniture is of good quality D. They don’t have much money and don’t want to buy the cheap furniture

KEY：DCBBD

Passage 18

A characteristic of American culture that has become almost a tradition is to respect the self-made man — the man who has risen to the top through his own efforts, usually beginning by working with his hands. While the leader in business or industry or the college professor occupies a higher social position and commands greater respect in the community than the common laborer or even the skilled factory worker, he may take pains to point out that his father started life in America as a farmer or laborer of some sort.

This attitude toward manual（体力的）labor is now still seen many aspects of American life. One is invited to dinner at a home that is not only comfortably but even luxuriously（豪华地）furnished and in which there is every evidence of the fact the family has been able to afford foreign travel, expensive hobbies, and college education for the children; yet the hostess probably will cook the dinner herself, will serve it herself and will wash dishes afterward, furthermore the dinner will not consist merely of something quickly and easily assembled from contents of various cans and a cake or a pie bought at the nearby bakery. On the contrary, the hostess usually takes pride in careful preparation of special dishes. A professional may talk about washing the car, digging in his flowerbeds, painting the house. His wife may even help with these things, just as he often helps her with the dishwashing. The son who is away at college may wait on table and wash dishes for his living, or during the summer he may work with a construction gang on a highway in order to pay for his education.

1. From paragraph 1, we know that in America _______.

A. people tend to have a high opinion of the self-made man B. people can always rise to the top through their own efforts

C. college professors win great respect from common workers D. people feel painful to mention their fathers as labors

2. According to the passage, the hostess cooks dinner herself mainly because _______.

A. servants in American are hard to get B. she takes pride in what she can do herself

C. she can hardly afford servants D. It is easy to prepare a meal with canned food

3. The expression “wait on table” in the second paragraph means “_______”.

A. work in a furniture shop B. keep accounts for a bar C. wait to lay the table D. serve customers in a restaurant

4. The author’s attitude towards manual（体力的）labor is _______.

A. positive B. negative C. humorous D. critical

5. Which of the following may serve as the best title of the passage?

A. A Respectable Self-made Family. B. American Attitude toward Manual Labor.