高中英语SPEED READING知识精讲

高中英语SPEED READING阅读理解A文章难度：★★词数：280 建议做题用时：8分钟What makes people happier: money or having happy friends and neighbors? Researchers from Harvard University and the University of California, San Diego, have found an answer as part of a study.The new study found that friends of happy people had a greater chance of being happy themselves. And the smaller the physical distance between friends, the larger the effect they had on each other s happiness. For example, a person was twenty percent more likely to feel happy if a friend living within one and a half kilometers was also happy. Having a happy neighbor who lived next door increased an individual’s chance of being happy by thirty-four percent. The effects of friends happiness lasted for up to a year.The researchers found that happiness really is contagious. Sadness also spread among friends, but not as much as happiness. People removed by as much as three degrees of separation still had an effect on a person’s happiness. Three degrees of separatio n means the friend of a friend of a friend. The study showed that having an extra five thousand dollars increased a person’s chances of becoming happier by about two percent. But the researchers found that the influence of a friend of a friend of a friend can be greater than that.Another finding is that people who are married or work together do not have as much of an effect on happiness as friends do. Earlier studies, by the two researchers described the effects of social networks on obesity and efforts to stop smoking. The new study shows that happiness spreads through social networks like an emotional virus —a virus people would be happy to catch.1. Who would be happiest, according to the passage?A. A person who is married.B. A person who works together with others.C. A person who has a happy friend.D. A person who has enough money to spend.2. A person would feel happy .A. no matter how far away his good friend livesB. if his or her friend living within a short distance is happyC. only if his or her friend lives within one and a half kilometersD. if he and his friends can get in touch easily3. If you are the friend of a friend of a happy friend, you’d.A. be quite likely to be happy tooB. have less chance of being happyC. be influenced by your friends in many waysD. have a feeling of being separated4. We can conclude from the passage that .A. happiness has nothing to do with how much money you haveB. your neighbors can also contribute to your happinessC. the distance between two friends has nothing to do with happinessD. the effects of friends’ happiness last a lifetime5. The underlined word “contagious” in the third paragraph probably means.A. that can be passed from person to personB. that has been widely acceptedC. that is hard to explainD. that can be gained through effortsB文章难度：★★★词数：305 建议做题用时：9分钟Home-schooling has been a part of American heritage since the days of the country’s founding. The first immigrants, as well as the pioneers who moved westward in later years, home-schooled their children until they were able to establish community schools. Fourteen of the forty-three United States presidents were home-schooled, including George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, and Woodrow Wilson. Inventors Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell were all home-schooled for at least part of their educational careers.In the early days of modern home education, state laws were highly restrictive or even prohibited parents from teaching their children at home. However, as the number of home-schooling families grew, the idea of educating at home became more popular. Eventually, all fifty states passed laws allowing parents to teach their own children. Many states relaxed their restrictive requirements to allow more freedom and flexibility for home educators, especially as statistics began to reveal the academic success of home-schooled children.Today, parents teach at home for a variety of reasons. While desiring to educate according to the family’s religious belief system is still the number one motivation, the ability to tailor-fit(量身定制的) education to their children’s particular learning styles and unique interests is attractive to many parents. Some feel that the individual attention their students receive at home will help them to learn more successfully. Concern about school violence, negative peer pressure, and drug and alcohol use is another reason why some choose home-schooling.Because children who have been home educated consistently integrate(融合) well into schools of higher learning, most colleges welcome home-school graduates. Awareness of the positive results of home-schooling has also grown in the business community, and many employers are eager to hire those who have been educated at home. Home-school graduates have developed a reputation for integrity, taking initiative, and carrying responsibility well in the workplace.1. We can learn from the first paragraph that .A. home education was brought to America from other parts of the worldB. home education was the only form of education when the US was first foundedC. home education was highly restrictive when the US was first foundedD. the American people have a long tradition of home education2. Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell .A. were home-schooled for some timeB. had little formal education when youngC. received their education mainly through home- schoolingD. were both born in poor families3. The third paragraph mainly tells us .A. the academic success of home-schooled childrenB. the reason why parents home-school their childrenC. the kinds of parents who home-school their childrenD. parents’ concern about school education4. What is the most important reason why parents home-school their children?A. To give their children a formal education.B. To suit their children’s particular learning styles and unique interests.C. To make their children better prepared for later education.D. To pass on the family’s religious belief.5. According to the last paragraph, children who have been home-educated .A. have more advantages than disadvantagesB. are popular both at school and at workC. have a poor ability to fit in with societyD. still cause some concern in modern society完形填空It started last spring when my daughter signed on to the Internet.She found it very interesting and kept asking me to try it. At age 50, I was _1__ I wouldn’t be able to learn what I would need to know. Finally, after some 2 , I agreed. I have to admit that it was very 3 and I found so many interesting things.Then one day, I 4 in the word “adoption” on a search engine. I couldn’t believe all the stuff that 5 . I became obsessed(痴迷的). You see, I had a baby boy many years ago and I gave him away to 6 , but I never stopped thinking about him and 7 for his well-being. I had been8 since 1985 for my birth son to contact(联系) me. By February 1999 I had been searching the9 for 10 months, contacting the Youth Services and not receiving one shred of 10 . I was told there was nothing I could do. I was ready to give up.The following week, I read a 11 written on the Internet by a birth mom and I was given one last thing to do before I 12 . She had a baby girl at St. Vincent’s in Philadel phia, Pennsylvania, and a social worker from CSS had 13 her with her daughter. Something inside me told me to 14 to this woman and ask her about her reunion with her daughter. She wrote and told me to 15 a number in Philadelphia and ask a social worker if they could 16 . Six weeks later I 17 my son, Joseph, for the second time in 32 years.I was the beneficiary of a miracle(奇迹). I could write so much more about the 18 , but they are not of 19 . What is important is the fact that we should 20 stop believing in miracles.1. A. sorry B. afraid C. ashamed D. curious2. A. experiment B. disappointment C. encouragement D. improvement3. A. enjoyable B. complex C. difficult D. quick4. A. inserted B. placed C. pressed D. typed5. A. came up B. came out C. came in D. came over6. A. nursery B. society C. charity D. adoption7. A. looking B. asking C. praying D. caring8. A. sensing B. waiting C. expecting D. begging9. A. Internet B. neighborhood C. city D. media10. A. support B. theme C. proof D. hope11. A. notice B. post C. letter D. story12. A. failed B. attempted C. quit D. succeeded13. A. reunited B. connected C. identified D. related14. A. speak B. point C. turn D. write15. A. find B. call C. pick D. get16. A. help B. manage C. answer D. join17. A. recognized B. caught C. met D. reached18. A. effects B. results C. processes D. details19. A. importance B. use C. value D. benefit20. A. always B. never C. still D. also刘景田朱利平参考答案：阅读理解A篇本文是科普阅读。