密云区2014高考英语阅读理解系列训练（23）及答案

人物传记类---[201*·四川卷]

I left university with a good degree in English Literature, but no sense of what I wanted to do. Over the next six years, I_was_treading_water,_just trying to earn an income. I tried journalism, but I didn’t think I was any good, then finance, which I hated. Finally, I get a job as a rights assistant at a famous publisher. I loved working with books, although the job that I did was dull.

I had enough savings to take a year off work, and I decided to try to satisfy a deepdown wish to write a novel. Attending a Novel Writing MA course gave me the structure I needed to write my first 55,000 words.

It takes confidence to make a new start－there’s a dark period inbetween where you’re neither one thing nor the other. You’re out for dinner and people ask what you do, and you’re too ashamed to say, “Well, I’m writing a novel, but I’m not quite sure if I’m going to get there.”My confidence dived. Believing my novel could not be published, I put it aside.

The I met an agent(代理商)who said I should send my novel out to agents. So, I did and, to my surprise, got some wonderful feedback. I felt a little hope that I might actually become a published writer and, after signing with an agent, I finished the second half of the novel.

The next problem was finding a publisher. After twoandahalf years of no income, just waiting and wondering, a publisher offered me a book deal－that publisher turned out to be the one I once worked for.

It feels like an unbelievable stroke of luck—of fate, really. When you set out to do something different, there's no end in sight, so to find myself in a position where I now have my own name on a contract(合同)of the publisher—to be a published writer—is unbelievably rewarding(有回报的)．

49. What does the underlined part in Paragraph 1 mean?

A．I was waiting for good fortune.

B．I was trying to find an admirable job.

C．I was being aimless about a suitable job.

D．I was doing several jobs for more pay at a time.

50. The author decided to write a novel________.

A．to finish the writing course

B．to realize her own dream

C．to satisfy readers’ wish

D．to earn more money

51. How did the writer feel halfway with the novel?

A．Disturbed. B．Ashamed.

C．Confident. D．Uncertain.

52. What does the author mainly want to tell readers in the last paragraph?

A．It pays to stick to one’s goal.

B．Hard work can lead to success.

C．She feels like being unexpectedly lucky.

D．There is no end in sight when starting to do something.

【要点综述】文章讲述了作者从英语文学专业毕业之后，不知道自己想要做什么，几经周折，最终幸运地找到了自己喜爱的职业。

49. C　推理判断题。根据前后文“but no sense of what I wanted to do”“just trying to earn an income. I tried journalism, …then finance, which I hated. Finally, I got a job…”可知作者不知道自己想要做什么，什么工作适合自己。故选C。

50. B　细节理解题。根据第二段话“…I decided to try to satisfy a deepdown wish to write a novel.”可知作者决定写小说的目的只是满足自己内心深处的愿望，实现自己的梦想。故答案为B。

51. D　推理判断题。根据文章第三段话“It takes confidence to make a new start”“My confidence dived”“ Believing my novel could not be published, I put it aside.”及本段叙述了作者回答别人问题时提到“…I’m writing a novel, but I’m not quite sure if I’m going to get there.”可知，此时作者的感觉应该是还不能完全确定是否还要继续写小说。故答案选D。

52. A　推理判断题。本段作者表达刚刚开始时“there’s no end in sight”到后来的“an unbelievable stroke of luck” “to be a published writer — is unbelievably rewarding(有回报的)”，想告诉读者，坚持自己的目标是值得的。B项“刻苦努力是成功之路”，不符合文章意思。C、D项停留于文章表面意思。故答案为A。

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It came as something of a surprise when Diana, Princess of Wales, made a trip to Angola in 1997, to support the Red Cross’s campaign for a total ban on all anti-personnel landmines. Within hours of arriving in Angola, television screens around the World were filled with images of her comforting victims injured in explosions caused by landmines. “I knew the statistics,” she said. “But putting a face to those figures brought the reality home to me; like When I met Sandra, a 13-year-old girl who had lost her leg, and people like her.” 　　The Princess concluded, with a simple message: “We must stop landmines”. And she used every opportunity during her visit to repeat this message. 　　But, back in London, her views were not shared by some members of the British government, which refused to support a ban on these weapons. Angry politicians launched an, attack on the Princess in the press. They described her as “very ill-informed” and a “loose cannon (乱放炮的人).” 　　The Princess responded by brushing aside the criticisms: “This is a distraction (干扰) we do not need. All I’m trying to do is help.” 　　Opposition parties, the media and the Public immediately voiced their support for the Princess. To make matters worse for the government, it soon emerged that the Princess’s trip had been approved by the Foreign Office, and that she was in fact very well-informed about both the situation in Angola and the British government’s policy regarding landmines. The result was a severe embarrassment for the government. 　　To try and limit the damage, the Foreign Secretary, Malcolm Rifkind, claimed that the Princess’s views on landmines were not very different from government policy, and that it was “working towards” a worldwide ban. The Defense Secretary, Michael Portillo, claimed the matter was “a misinterpretation or misunderstanding.” 　　For the Princess, the trip to this war-torn country was an excellent opportunity to use her popularity to show the world how much destruction and suffering landmines can cause. She said that the experience had also given her the Chance to get closer to people and their problems. 17. Princess Diana paid a visit to Angola in 1997 ________. 　 A. to voice her support for a total ban of landmines 　 B. to clarify the British government’s stand on landmines 　 C. to investigate the sufferings of landmine victims there 　 D.to establish her image as a friend of landmine victims 18. What did Diana mean when she said “... putting a face to those figures

brought the reality home to me” (Line 5, Para. 1)? 　 A. She just couldn’t bear to meet the landmine victims face to face. 　 B. The actual situation in Angola made her feel like going back home. 　 C.Meeting the landmine victims in person made her believe the statistics. 　 D.Seeing the pain of the victims made her realize the seriousness of the situation. 19. What did Princess Diana think of her visit to Angola? 　 A.It had caused embarrassment to the British government. 　 B. It had brought her closer to the ordinary people. 　 C.It had greatly promoted her popularity. 　 D. It had affected her relations with the British government.

20. How did Diana respond to the criticisms? 　 A. She paid no attention to them.

B. She made more appearances on TV. 　 C.She met the 13-year-old girl as planned.

D. She rose to argue with her opponents.

参考答案ADBA

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阅读下列材料，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项。

A

A woman from Japan was telling a friend about her trip to the United States. The woman had visited major businesses and investment companies in New York City and Chicago.

“I studied English before I left home,” she said. “But I still was not sure that people were speaking English.”

Her problem is easy to understand. Americans in business are like people who are in business anywhere. They have a language of their own. Some of the words and expressions deal with the special areas of their work. Other expressions are borrowed from different kinds of work such as the theater and movie industry.

One such saying is “get your act together”.

When things go wrong in a business, an employer may get angry. He may shout, “Stop making mistakes. Get your act together.

Or, if the employer is calmer, he may say, “Let us get our act together.” Either way, the meaning is the same. Getting your act together is getting organized. In business, it usually means to develop a calm and orderly plan of action.

It is difficult to tell exactly where the saying began. But, it is probable that it was in the theater or movie industry. Perhaps one of the actors was nervous and made a lot of mistakes. The director may have said, “Calm down, now. Get your act together.”

Word expert James Rogers says the expression was common by the late 1970s. Mister Rogers says the Manchester Guardian newspaper used it in 1978. The newspaper said a reform policy required that the British government get its act together.

Now, this expression is heard often when officials of a company meet. One company even called its yearly report, “Getting Our Act Together.”

The Japanese visitor was confused by another expression used by American business people. It is “cut to the chase”.

She heard that expression when she attended an important meeting of one company. One official was giving a very long report. It was not very interesting. In fact, some people at the meeting were falling asleep.

Finally, the president of the company said, “Cut to the chase.”

Cut to the chase means to stop spending so much time on details or unimportant material. Hurry and get to the good part

Naturally, this saying was started by people who make movies. Hollywood movie producers believe that most Americans want to see action movies. Many of their movies show scenes in which the actors chase each other in cars, or in airplanes or on foot。

Cut is the director’s word for stop. The director means to stop filming, leave out some material, and get to the chase scene now.

So, if your employer tells you to cut to the chase, be sure to get to the main point of your story quickly.

1. After the woman visited the United States she might feel that __________.

A. it’s difficult to make money B. It’s easy to master English

C. her English was poor D. people there weren’t very friendly

2. In which situation could the words “get your act together” be used?

A. Visitors make a tiresome and unpleasant trip to someplace.

B. Players pe