2012年高考英语阅读理解冲刺60篇Passage 1It was very cold last Sunday. Paul and his friends Allen, Bill and Betty went to the lake after breakfast. They began to skate on the ice. Paul skated better than his three friends. He skated fast and didn’t know a piece of ice was broken. He fell into the water. His friends were afraid and called for help. Just then two workers walked there and heard them. They ran there quickly and helped the boy come out of the water. Then they took him to a hospital. Paul and his parents thanked them very much.1. When did the children go skating?A. After breakfast.B. Before supper.C. After lunch.D. At lunch.2. How many children skated on the lake?A. Three.B. Four.C. Five.D. Six.3. Who skated best of all the children?A. Allen did.B. Paul did.C. Bill did.D. Worker did.4. Why did Paul fall into the water?A. Because he skated fast.B. Because he was not good at skating.C. Because he didn’t know the ice there was broken.D. Because he skated slow.5. Who helped Paul?A. His friends.B. His parents.C. Two workers.D. Betty.Key: ABBCCPassage 1Why is it that the more connected we get, the more disconnected I feel? Every advance in communication technology is a step back from the closeness of human interaction. With e-mail and instant messaging over the Internet, we can communicate without seeing or talking to one another. With voice mail, you can conduct entire conversations without ever reaching anyone. If my mom has a question, I just leave the answer on her machine.As almost every imaginable contact between human beings becomes automatic by machine, the alienation quotient goes up. You can’t even call a person to get the phone number of another person anywhere. Directory assistance is almost always fully automatic by machine. Pumping gas at the station? Why say good-morning to the worker when you … swipe （刷卡）your credit card at the pump and save yourself the bother of human contact? Placing money at the bank? … ta lk to a clerk who might live in the neighborhood when can just put your credit card into the ATM?Pretty soon you won’t have the hard task of making eye contact at the grocery store. Some grocery chains are usually a self-scanner so you can check yourself out, avoiding those annoying clerks who look at you and ask how you are doing?1. The writer’s attitude towards advances in communication technology may be described as ____?A. criticalB. unconcernedC. positiveD. uninterested2. If his mom has a question, he _______.A. will find ways to reach herB. will locate her e-mail addressC. will try to get her a voice machineD. will leave her the answer through voice mail3. Judging from the context, the word “alienation” in line 2, par agraph 2 means ______.A. relationshipB. closenessC. strangenessD. stress4. With the rapid development of high technology, people don’t need to _______.A. see or talk to one anotherB. say good morning to workersC. make eye contact with clerksD. completely rely on manpower5. It can be inferred that the writer _________.A. is pleased with the modern pace of lifeB. feels more separated from othersC. doesn’t want anyone to bother himD. sings the praised of com munication technologyKey: ADCABPassage 3There was once an ant that was very thirsty.It ran here and there looking for some water but could not find any.Then suddenly, when the ant was almost ready to die of thirst, a large drop of water fell on it.The ant drank the water, which saved its life.The water was actually a tear from a young girl who was crying. Because of her sadness, the tear had magical qualities and suddenly the ant could speak the language of human beings.The ant looked up and saw the young girl sitting in front of a huge pile of seeds.“Why are you sad?” asked the ant.“I’m the prisoner of a giant.” the girl told the ant. “ He won’t let me go until I’ve made three separate heaps of grain, barley（大麦）and rye（黑麦）out of this huge pile of seeds in which they are all mixed together.”“That will take you a month!” the ant said, looking at the huge pile of seeds.“I know,” the girl cried, “and if I haven’t finished by tomorrow, the giant will eat me for his supper!”“Don’t cry,” the ant said, “my friends and I will help you.”Soon thousands of ants were at work, separating the three kinds of seeds.The next morning, when the giant saw that the work had been done, he let the girl go.Thus it was one of her tears that saved her life.1. What is an ant?A. A small animal.B. An insect.C. A bird.D. A giant.2. When did the drop of water fall on the ant?A. When it was looking for food.B. When it saved the ant’s life.C. When it was nearly dying.D. When it looked up.3. Why was the young girl crying?A. Because of her sadness.B. Because she saw the ant.C. Because the giant would let her go.D. Because the giant had given her an impossible job to do.4. What would the giant do if the girl failed to do the work?A. He would eat her.B. He would let her go.C. He would take her away.D. He would send her to prison.5. Who or what saved the girl’s life?A. The giantB. The antC. The ant’s friendsD. Her tearsKey: BCDADPassage 4My friend’s grandfather came to America from Eastern Europe. After being processed（移民入境检查）at Ellis Island, he went into a cafeteria in Lower Manhattan to get something to eat. He sat down at a table and waited for someone to take his order. But nobody came to him. Later a woman with a plate full of food sat down opposite him and told him how a cafeteria worked.“Start out at the end,” she said. “Just go along the line and pick out what you want. At the other end he’ll tell you how much you have to pay.”“I soon learned that’s how everything works in America,” the grandfather told my friend. “Life is like a cafeteria here. You can get anything you want only if you are willing to pay the money. You can even get success, but you’ll never get it if you wait for someone to bring it to you. You have to get up and get it yourself.”1. Where do you think the old man came from?A. Poland.B. Australia.C. Canada.D. Japan.2. From the passage, we know if you want to get success in America, you should _________.A. get help from your friendsB. try to get it by yourselfC. know how a cafeteria worksD. get up again if you fail3. Which of the following is TRUE?A. The old man sat down opposite the woman so that she could take his order.B. The old woman sat down opposite the old man so that she could serve him.C. Although the woman didn’t know the old man, she told him how to get something to eat in the cafeteria.D. Although the woman didn’t know the old man, she decided to pay the bill for him.4. What does the word “it” in the third paragraph refer to?A. The food served in the cafeteria.B. The success one wants to get.C. The bill one has to pay in the cafeteria.D. The plate used in the cafeteria.5. Which is the best title for the passage?A. From Eastern Europe to AmericaB. Eating in an American CafeteriaC. How to Eat in a CafeteriaD. Life Is Like a Cafeteria in America Key: ABCBDPassage 5Three m en traveling on a train began a conversation about the world’s greatestwonders.“In my opinion,” the first man said, “the Egyptian pyramids（埃及金字塔）are the world’s greatest wonder. Although they were built thousands of years ago, they are still standing. And remember: the people who built them had only simple tools. They did not have the kind of machinery that builders and engineers have today.”“I agree that the pyramids in Egypt are wonderful,” the second man said, “but I do not think they are the greatest wonder. I believe computers are more wonderful than the pyramids. They have taken people to the moon and brought them back safely. In seconds, they carry out mathematical calculations that would take a person a hundred years to do.”He turned to the third man and asked, “What do you think is the greatest wonder in the world?”The third man thought for a long time, and then he said, “Well, I a gree that the pyramids are wonderful, and I agree that computers are wonderful, too. However, in my opinion, the most wonderful thing in the world is this thermos.”And he took a thermos out of his bag and held it up.The other two men were very surprised. “A thermos?” they exclaimed. “But that’s a simple thing.”“Oh, no, it’s not,” the third man said. “In the winter you put in a hot drink and it stays hot. In the summer you put in a cold drink and it stays cold. How does the thermos know whether it’s winter or summer?”1. The underlined word “thermos” in Chinese means “_______”.A. 电冰箱B. 洗衣机C. 电风扇D. 保温瓶2. That the three men could not agree on what the world’s greatest wonder was because _______.A. they could not think of anything very wonderfulB. they all had different ideasC. they could not prove that their opinions were rightD. the journey ended too soon3. The first man thought the pyramids were the most wonderful things in the world because ____.A. they were very beautifulB. they were EgyptianC. they had been built with very simple toolsD. they could do mathematical calculations4. The third man thought a thermos was the most wonderful thing in the worldbecause _____.A. it lasted longer than the pyramidsB. it cost less than a computerC. he thought it knew whether it was winter or summerD. the other two men were surprised when he told them about it5. The third man was not very clever because ______.A. he could not think of anything to sayB. he did not understand how athermos worksC. he did not think the pyramids were wonderfulD. he did not know anything aboutcomputersKey: DBCCBPassage 6If you ask Daniel Radcliff who acted Harry Potter to pick a special moment from the last year of his life, you will find it almost impossible. “Oh, wow, that’s really difficult,” he says with a smile.“There have been so many things, so many memories that at times it’s hard to recall them all,” says Daniel. “But I guess one of the best ones was the London premiere for the Philosopher’s Stone. It was just amazing, one of the best nights of my life.”“But I’ve had such a great time doing The Chamber of Secrets. I love doing the work. I love meeting new people and being part of the te am. It’s been great.”Daniel has changed. He turned 14 in July, 2002. He is taller, his voice is deeper and his frame is filling out as he begins his teenage years, and he has become an excellent actor, too.Daniel was born in London where his father, Alan, worked as an agent and his mother, Marcia, as a casting director, and both have been an essential guiding influence on their only child.1. How old was Daniel Radcliff in 2003?A. 15B. 16C. 14D. 132. What is Daniel Radcliff’s memory a bout the past year according to the passage?A. He didn’t remember anything about it.B. He had so many bad memories about it.C. There were amazing experiences in the past year.D. There were not many unforgetable things in the past year.3. Which of the following is not mentioned as a liking by Daniel?A. Making friends.B. Being an actor.C. Being part of the team.D. Becoming a director.4. Which of the following is true according to the passage?A. Daniel’s parents are all film stars.B. Daniel’s parents influenced Daniel greatly.C. Daniel has never had any influence from his parents.D. Daniel has brothers and sisters.5. Daniel was born in _________.A. New YorkB. BeijingC. ParisD. LondonKey: ACDBDPassage 7These days, children often think of superheroes（超级英雄）as cute（漂亮的）, cool and strong supermen. A poor, short and thin boy wearing glassed may not interest the kids today. Yet in less than 4 years, Harry Potter has taken the world by the storm. J. K. Rowling, the writer of Harry Potter, was a British single mother out of work and living on money given to her by the government. One day, when she was on a long train trip, she had the idea for this book. She wrote the first book of the seven in thecaféwith her baby daughter sleeping beside her. Last year, the fans welcomed the birth of the fourth by lining outside the bookstores. Today these books are still popular among people. Harry Potter is something more than fantasy（幻想）. Rowling tries to tell the readers how things are not always what they seem to be. However, millions of the fans don’t care about such a lesson. They would like to spend many sleepless nights waiting in line for the fifth, the sixth and the seventh to come. For them, surprising stories of the little boy are what they want.1. J.K. Rowling ________ when she wrote the first book.A. lived a quiet life with her husbandB. was very poor and didn’t get work for herselfC. had to teach her daughter how to workD. was already a famous writer2. When did Rowling think of the idea of writing her book?A. While she was telling her baby stories about superheroes.B. While she was going on a long trip.C. She was on her way to find work.D. While she was drinking in a café.3. How many books of the seven have come out according to this passage?A. Four.B. Five.C. Six.D. Seven.4. What does Rowling want to show to her readers?A. Harry Potter is a poor, short and thin boy wearing glasses.B. Fantasy.C. How things are not always what they seem to be.D. She has got many interesting story books.5. Which of the following is TRUE?A. Rowling wrote the first book with her daughter’s help.B. Rowling gave birth to her fourth baby last year.C. The fans just care about the surprising stories of Harry Potter.D. Only children love the books, for they’re fairy tales.Key: BBACCPassage 8Ours is a big world, complex and full of many diverse people. People with many varying points of view are constantly running up against others who have differing opinions. Those of us who smoke are just one group of many. Recently, the activism of non-smokers has reminded us of the need to be considerate of others when we smoke in public.But, please! Enough is enough! We should like to remind non-smokers that courtesy is a two-way street. If you politely request that someone not smoke you are more likely to receive a cooperative response than if you scowl（皱眉）fiercely and hurl insults. If you speak directly to someone, you are more likely to get what you want than if you complain to the management.Many of us have been smoking for so long that we sometimes forget that others are not used to the aroma of burning tobacco. We’re human, and like everyone else we occasionally offend unknowingly. But most of us are open to friendly suggestions and comments, and quite willing to modify our behavior to accommodate others.Smokers are people, too. We laugh and cry. We have hopes, dreams, aspirations.We have children, and mothers, and pets. We eat our hamburgers with everything on them and salute the flag at Fourth of July picnics. We hope you’ll remember that the next time a smoker lights up in public.1. The purpose of the first paragraph is _________.A. to inform the reader of the complexity of the worldB. to declare that the author belongs to the group of smokersC. to tell non-smokers that smokers will be considerateD. to reveal the author’s reason for writing this essay2. What does the second sentence in the second paragraph imply?A. We should go on two different roads.B. We have different ways of doing things.C. Being polite to each other is a mutual thing.D. We can smoke and sometimes we will not smoke.3. According to the author, how can you get cooperative response from smokers if you don’t like to have someone smoking beside you?A. Complain to his superior.B. Tell him directly that you hate smokers.C. Refrain from complaining but try to hint him next time.D. Tell him politely that you are not used to smoke.4. According to the author, why do some smokers smoke in public?A. Because they cannot resist smoking.B. Because they forget that others do not like the smell of cigarettes.C. Because they are humans and they cannot avoid offending people.D. Because there is no law against it.5. How does the author try to persuade the reader?A. He uses reasons.B. He appeals to people’s emotions.C. He cites examples in his argument.D. He simply states his opinion.Key: BCDBBPassage 9Here is a story told about an American general who was a very important figure in the American army during the First World War. Everybody in the United States knew him and many people wished to have a picture or something of his in their homes.Soon after the war the general returned to Washington. One day he went to a dentist and had six teeth pulled out. A week later the general heard that his teeth were being sold in shops at $5 each. On each of the teeth there was a label with the name of t he general and words: “buy these teeth and show them to your friends at home.” The general got angry. He rushed to his office and ordered six officers to go around the city and buy all his teeth.The officers went out and visited every shop in the capital. They were away from the office all day. In the evening they returned and put on the table in front of the general the teeth they had bought. They had collected 175 teeth.1. The general came back to Washington ____________.A. after the First World WarB. after the Second World WarC. during the First World WarD. both A and B2. Many families wanted to have __________ of the general.A. a pictureB. a tooth or anythingC. a shopD. Both A and B3. The general ordered his men to _____________.A. arrest the dentistB. look for all his teeth and buy all of themC. visit all the shops selling teethD. buy all the teeth in all the shops4. The face that the general’s name was on the label of each tooth shows that ____________.A. the general was famousB. the shop owners wanted to make more moneyC. the general’s teeth were valuable.D. both A and B5. The teeth they collected most probably cost __________.A. $175B. $795C. $875D. $1150Key: ADBDCPassage 10A public house which was recently bought by Mr. James is up for sale. He is going to sell it because it is haunted（闹鬼）. He told me that he could not go to sleep one night because he heard a strange noise coming from the bar. The next morning, he found that the doors had been blocked by chairs and the furniture had been moved. Though Mr. James had turned the lights off before he went to bed, they were on in the morning. He also said that he had found five empty whisky bottles which the ghost （鬼）must have drunk the night before. When I suggested that some villagers must have come in for a free drink, he shook his head. The villagers have told him that they will not accept it even if he gives it away.1. Mr. James was _________.A. a ghostB. the owner of the public houseC. going to buy the houseD. going to have a free drink2. Which of the following is correct?A. Mr. James saw the ghost.B. He had not turned off the lights.C. The chairs had been moved.D. He slept well.3. Mr. James __________ the house.A. was givenB. builtC. rentedD. bought4. Mr. James found ___________.A. sixty empty bottlesB. that the villagers had drunk the whiskyC. that the lights were onD. there was a ghost on his bed5. The writer of the passage _________ Mr. James’ story.A. believesB. doesn’t believeC. makes upD. has been told the story by some elseKey: BCDCBPassage 11We are busy talking about and using the Internet, but how many of us know the history of the Internet?Many people are surprised when they find that the Internet was set up in the 1960s. At that time, computers were large and expensive. Computer network didn’t work well. If one computer in the network broke down, then the whole network stopped. So a new network system had to be set up. It should be good enough to be used by many different computers. If part of the network was not working, information could be sent through another part. In this way computer network system would keep on working on the time.At first the Internet was only used by the government, but in the early 1970s, universities, hospitals and banks were allowed to use it too. However, computers were still very expensive and the Internet was difficult to use. By the start of the 1990s, computers became cheaper and easier to use. Scientists had also developed software that made “surfing” in the Internet more convenient.Today it is easy to get on-line and it is said that millions of people use the Internet every day. Sending e-mail is more and more popular among students.The Internet has now become one of the most important parts of people’s life.1. The Internet has a history of more than _______ years.A. sixtyB. tenC. fortyD. twenty2. A new network system was set up to _________.A. make computers cheaperB. make itself keep on working all the timeC. break down the whole networkD. make computers large and expensive3. At first the Internet was only used by _________.A. the governmentB. universitiesC. hospitals and banksD. schools4. __________ made “surfing” the Internet more convenient.A. ComputersB. HardwareC. SoftwareD. Information5. Which of the following is TRUE?A. In the 1960s, computer network worked well.B. In the early 1970s, the Internet was easy to use.C. Today it’s still not easy to get on-line.D. Sending e-mail is now more popular among students than before.Key: CBACD1. You needn’t pay if you want to get __________.A. a pair of shoesB. a women’s dressC. a girl’s dressD. a lovely dog2. If Mrs. Evans is interested in the dressed, so she may call _____________.A. 8631966B. 5998326C. 2455919D. 24568363. If Mrs. Evans wants to buy all the dressed, so she has to pay _________.A. $170B. $200C. $270D. $3004. If you give an old pair of shoes to Hilo’s Store, you can get a new pair of shoes with ________.A. over 10 dollarsB. less than 10 dollarsC. only 10 dollarsD. 10 dollars or less than 10 dollars5. Whom will the old shoes be given to __________.A. rich peopleB. poor peopleC. beggarsD. hard-working peopleKey: DBCDBPassage 13Jack Brown, an office worker, livers in Washington. He inherited（继承）a million dollars when he was 23, but he wasn’t happy at all. When his college friends were looking for their jobs, he didn’t have to. Jack decided to live a simple life like everyone else. He gave $10,000 of his money to a charity（慈善机构）to help poor children live a better life. Today he is 36. He still wears cheap shoes and clothes and drives a small car only, but he is very happy.Up to now Jack has helped some children from poor countries all over the world, by sending them each $200 a month. The money was used for the children’s study, food, medicine and clothing. Jack receives a report each year on the children’s progress. They can write to each other, but usually the children do not speak English.When Jack first heard about these children, he wanted to help them. “It was nothing special,” he said. “Until I went to these countries and met the children I was helping, I didn’t know anything about their life.” Once Jack went to meet a little girl in Africa. He said that the meeting was very exciting. “When I met her, I felt very, very happy.” he said. “And I saw tha t the money was used for a good cause. It brought me happiness. I want to do everything I can to go on helping those children.”1. Jack didn’t need to look for a job _________.A. before he went to collegeB. after he went to AfricaC. because he got one million dollarsD. before he received a report2. Jack has sent them each $200 a month to help some poor children __________.A. only in WashingtonB. only in EnglandC. only in AfricaD. around the world3. Jack learn ed about the children’s progress by __________.A. visiting them each yearB. getting a report every yearC. staying with themD. talking to them in English4. The underlined（划线的）words “for a good cause” means “__________” in Chinese.A. 施舍B. 行善C. 优惠D. 赏赐5. What’s the main idea of the story?A. Help others, and you will feel happy.B. It’s necessary to write letters to poor children.C. Live a simple life, and you can give others help.D. It’s the most important to help the children in Africa.Key: CDBBAPassage 14What is the best way to learn a language? We should remember that we learned our own language well when we were children. If we could learn a second language in the same way, it would not seem so difficult. Think of what a small child does. He listens to what people say and tries to imitate what he hears. When he wants something he has to ask for it. He is using the language, talking in it, thinking in it all the time. If people had to use a second language all the time, they would learn it quickly.We learn our own language by hearing people speak it, not by seeing what they write. We imitate what we hear. In school, though you learn to read and write as well as to hear and speak, it is best to learn all the new words through the ear. You can read them, spell them and write them later.1. Everyone learns his mother language when he ________.A. is a childB. was a childC. was a manD. is five2. A small child learns to speak by imitating ________.A. what people thinkB. what people doC. what people sayD. what people hear3. People can learn a language quickly if they ________.A. imitate itB. ask for itC. use it from time to timeD. hear it4. It is best to learn new words through ______ first.A. readingB. spellingC. listeningD. writing5. What is the best way to learn a language?A. Listening to what people say.B. Imitating what people do.C. Using the language all the time.D. Both A and C.Key: ACCCDPassage 15The Chinese New Year is now known as the Spring Festival because it startsfrom the beginning of spring. Though there are some sayings about its origin, all agree that the word Nian, which in modern Chinese means “year”, was originally the name of a beast that started to eat people the night before the beginning of a new year.One story goes that the beast Nian had a very big mouth that would take in a great many people at one time. People were very afraid. One day, an old man came to their help and said he would stop all this. He said to Nian, “I hear that you are very strong, but can you eat up all the beasts on earth instead of people who are too weak to be your enemies?” “Yes,” Nian agreed with him and went to kill many of the beasts on earth. People were very happy because those beasts also did bad things to people and killed their farm animals from time to time.After that, the old man, who was a god, rode on the beast Nian and left. Nian was gone, and other beasts also went into forests; people began to enjoy their happy life. Before the old man left, he had told people to put up red paper-cuts on their windows and doors at each year’s end to drive Nian away, because red is the color the beast felt most afraid of.From then on, every year at the beginning of spring, people prepare to “Guo Nian”. The word “Guo Nian” means “go through the Nian safely”. Putting up red paper-cuts to drive Nian away and making dumplings for a better new year are still an every-year doing by the Chinese people. However, people today have long forgotten why they are doing all this, they just feel the color and the food make the New Year very enjoyable.1. The Chinese New Year is also called __________.A. the Beginning of SpringB. the Spring FestivalC. the New SpringD. the Beast Nian2. How did the old man stop Nian from eating people?A. By putting red paper-cuts on windows.B. By eating up beasts.C. By talking to him.D. By riding on him.3. Why did people put on red paper-cuts instead of those of any other color?A. Because Nian liked the color red.B. Because the color red could kill Nian.C. Because the old man like the color red.D. Because Nian was afraid of the color red.4. The best title of this passage is “__________”.A. The Origin of the Chinese New YearB. The Old Man and the Beast NianC. How to Go Through the Nian safelyD. What Nian Was Like5. Which of the following statement is TRUE?A. Nian can eat up all the beasts on earth at one time.B. Nian is a tall beast that likes to eat farm animals.C. Nian is afraid of paper-cuts.D. Nian doesn’t like to use his own mind. Key: BCDACPassage 16Mr. White lived in a small village. His parents hadn’t enough money to send him to school. He had to help them to do something in the fields. But he didn’t like to live in the poor place. When he was sixteen, he got to the town and found work in a。
