Despite their name, the Want Family don’t want much. They want enough money for a nice house and a holiday every year. But they don’t want to be millionaires. They want to do well at their job. But they don’t want to be the big boss. They do want to spend time improving their garden, visiting their families and taking their two kids, Nicolas and Leuan, to Mc Donald’s for lunch. But they don’t want to be famous.

   The Wants just want to be normal. That’s why they are famous. They have been selected as the most normal family in Britain. After a six-month search for the most ordinary family in Britain, the Wants were selected from hundreds of applicants.

   John wants a job in marketing for a food company. Claire has a part-time job renting out children’s play equipment. John doesn’t understand why they were chosen to represent ordinary English families. How are they normal?

   That is not a bad question. Nearly everyone does some of the things that the Wants do. But very few people do all of them. There have been great changes in the social structure of British life. It is becoming more common for people to have children when they are older than the Wants, and to have one child instead of two. A household with two children may be headed by a single parent, usually the mother. Or perhaps dad and mum are still together, but not married. Or maybe dad and mum are married. Dad goes out to work and mum stays at home and looks after the kids. They have traditional values――Every weekend the whole family goes to church.

   “What we have here is not an average family, but a traditional family,” says Cary Cooper, professor of philosophy at Lancaster University. “There is no such thing as a normal family anymore, in the way there was 20 or 30 years age. Of course the Wants exist, but for what do we need to celebrate them?” Perhaps because we think normal families are an endangered species. Examples of them have to be preserved（保護(hù)）to show future generations.

56.The Wants were selected as the most normal family in Britain because__________.

   A. they represent traditional English families        B. they don’t want much

   C. they don’t want to be famous                  D. they want to be normal

57. The following statements describe the great changes in British life EXCEPT that_________.

A.people have kids later than 20 or 30 years ago    B. some children are brought up by a single parent

  C. most families go to church every weekend     D. it’s more common for families to have only one kind

58. We may infer from the passage that __________.

  A. most British families hold traditional values

  B. traditional families are becoming fewer and fewer

  C. future generations are expected to study traditional families

  D. traditional families no longer exist in Britain

59. What might be the most suitable title for this passage?

  A. An Ordinary Family                   B. Families of Future Generations

  C. Celebration of a Family Competition      D. A Normal But Special Family

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科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源：2011年普通高校招生考試湖南卷英語(yǔ) 題型：050

Directions：Read the following three passages．Each passage is followed by several questions or unfinished statements．For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D．Choose the one that fits best according to the information given in the passage．

　　A rccent study of anclent and modern clcphants has come up with the uncxpeclcd conclusion that the african elcphant is dividcd into two disinct(不同的)species

　　The discovery was made by researchers at yod and haycard yniwersities when they were examining the genetid relinship between the ancient woolly manmmth and mastodon to modern ckephants ins asoan alepnant a feoan forest elephant and afcican sannna clephant

　　Once they obfantcd DNA sequences{序列}from two fossils{化石}，mammothd and mastodons the team comparcd them with dna form ，modcrn eleohants they found to their amazement that modern forest and sabanna elephants are as distinct from cach other as asian elephants and manmoths he scientists used detailed genetic anatysis to proce that the african savanna clelhants hace been distinct species for several million years the divcrgonce of the ttwo species took place around the time of the of the dicergcncc of asian clephants and woolly mammoths this result amazed all the scienitsts

　　There has long been debate in the scientific community that the two might be separespecies but this is the most convincing scientinfic evidence so far that they are anded difforent species

　　Preci many naluralists believed that afrjcan savanna elephants and airican forest were two plpulations of the same apecies despite the clcphants signigice\ant sizw differences the sac\vanna elelphant has an average shouldcr height of 3.5metres while the forest slsphant has an average shouldcr height of 2.5metres the sacanna laphant welghs belween six anp secedn tons roughly double the weight of the forest elephant but the fact that they look so different does not neccssarily mean they are different species howecer the prooflay in the analysis of th DNA

　　Alfred roca allisant professor in the dcoamment of animal scienccs at the unicerstiu of said “wu now nave to reat the forest and savanna elephants at two diffcrcnt units for consrrbation pucpooses since 1950 all african ele[hants are two cery distinctice animals the forest ele[hant shoule become a bigger prioity(優(yōu)先)for conscrvation puruose”

(1)

one of the fossols studied by the reaearchers if that of ________

[　　]

A．

the asian elephant

B．

the forest elephant

C．

the savnna clcphant

D．

the maslodon elephant

(2)

the underlined word “divergence” in p[aragraph 4means “________”

[　　]

A．

evolution

B．

e\cxhibition

C．

separation

D．

cxamination

(3)

68．the resarchcrs conclusion was based on a study of the a frican elephant's ________

[　　]

A．

DNA

B．

height

C．

weight

D．

populalion

(4)

What are Alfred Roca's words mainly about?

[　　]

A．

The conservation of African elephants．

B．

The urose of studing African elephants．

C．

The way to divide African elephants into two units

D．

The reason for the distinction of African elephants．

(5)

Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?

[　　]

A．

Naturalists' Beliefs about Elephants

B．

Amazing Experiments baout Elephants

C．

An Unexpected Finding about Elephants

D．

A Long Scientific Debate baout Elephants

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科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源：2012年普通高等學(xué)校招生全國(guó)統(tǒng)一考試湖南卷英語(yǔ) 題型：053

Directions：Read the following passage．Fill in the numbered blanks by using the information from the passage

　　Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer．

　　Since the earliest civilizations, people have controlled rivers to meet society's demands．Today, rivers are controlled for many reasons, primarily to maintain reliable water supplies for daily, agricultural and industrial needs, for power generation, for navigation(航行), and to prevent flooding．

　　River control is achieved by channelization, a term that covers a range of river engineering works, including widening, deepening, straightening and stabilization of banks, and by the construction of dams．

　　An important period of channelization took place in Europe during the l9'th century, when many large rivers were straightened and their beds deepened．One of the most dramatically changed was the Tisza River, a branch of the Danube that flows through Hungary．The controlling of the Tisza, designed to reduce flooding and make land for agriculture, included cutting off more than 100 meanders(河曲), shortening the river's length by nearly 400 kilometers．

　　One of the most common ways in which people control rivers is by damming them．The past 50 years or so has seen an increase in dam construction worldwide, and at the beginning of the 21st century, there were about 800, 000 dams globally, some towering more than 200 meters in height．

　　Despite their successes, many dams also cause significant environmental changes that prove harmful．Some particularly deep reservoirs(水庫(kù))can bring about earthquakes due to the stress on their bottom rocks caused by huge volumes of water．Downstream of a reservoir, the river is certainly influenced in many ways：water volume, speed and quality are all affected, leading to changes in the landscape and among plants and animals．

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科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源：2013屆湖北省七市（州）高三4月聯(lián)考英語(yǔ)試卷（帶解析） 題型：閱讀理解

Over three million people will do their Christmas shopping entirely online this year without once visiting an actual shop, a poll (民意調(diào)查) has found. Overcrowding and long queues in shops are forcing people away from the high street as the hassle (煩擾) of Christmas shopping becomes too much.
The number of people turning their backs on the high street is almost one million higher than it was last year, according to the poll by YouGov. Last Christmas 2.4 million shoppers did not do any of their shopping in actual shops. The figure this year is predicted to be around 3.4 million, equal to around 7 percent of the adult population.
Over a third of people said that the main turn-off about shopping on the high street is 0ver-crow-ding. Meanwhile almost a quarter said that long queues at the cheek-out are the worst thing about it.
Of the 2.065 people pored, even those who are stir taking to the shops plan to spend less time in them this Christmas. Around 31 percent of shoppers who plan to spend at least some time on the high street will spend less than half of their shopping time in actual shops, using the rest of the time to shop remotely via the internet. This compares to 28 percent of people last year. Meanwhile the proportion of people spending over half of their shopping time in high street shops has dropped from 41 percent last year to 39 percent this year. Just 2 percent of people said that they are looking forward to dealing wi.th store staff this festival season.
Guy Boxall, senior product marketing manager at Casio Business Solutions Division, which commissioned the research from YouGov, said that despite the fall in people visiting the high street,humans are "social creatures" who actually like spending time together.
"Although the high street is facing a big challenge Christmas, retailers (零售商) should see this research as a challenge to improve the in-store shopping experience, rather than the nail in the coffin. We are social creatures, and the desire to spend time with each other, particularly at Christmas, is never going to go away," said Mr. Boxall.
【小題1】According to the poll, in this year's Christmas       

A．a(chǎn)bout 7 % of the population will do both online and actual shopping
B．a(chǎn)bout 31% of shoppers will do half of their shopping in actual shops
C．a(chǎn)bout 39% of shoppers will do more than half of their shopping in actual shops
D．over three million shoppers will quit actual shopping just because of the long queues
【小題2】What's the meaning of "turn-off" in Para.5?
A．Something that makes people lose heart
B．Something that makes people lose face
C．Something that makes people lose interest
D．Something that makes people lose courage
【小題3】It can be inferred from Mr. Boxall's words that                                                                                                   
A．retailers should reduce their in-store goods.
B．retailers wiR be pessimistic about the result of this research.
C．retailers should focus on the advantage of in-store shopping.
D．retailers will make more profits this Christmas than last Christmas
【小題4】Wheat's the writer's attitude towards Christmas online shopping?
A．Concerned.B．Doubtful.C．Approving.D．Objective.

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科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源：2012-2013學(xué)年湖北省七市（州）高三4月聯(lián)考英語(yǔ)試卷（解析版） 題型：閱讀理解

Over three million people will do their Christmas shopping entirely online this year without once visiting an actual shop, a poll (民意調(diào)查) has found. Overcrowding and long queues in shops are forcing people away from the high street as the hassle (煩擾) of Christmas shopping becomes too much.

The number of people turning their backs on the high street is almost one million higher than it was last year, according to the poll by YouGov. Last Christmas 2.4 million shoppers did not do any of their shopping in actual shops. The figure this year is predicted to be around 3.4 million, equal to around 7 percent of the adult population.

Over a third of people said that the main turn-off about shopping on the high street is 0ver-crow-ding. Meanwhile almost a quarter said that long queues at the cheek-out are the worst thing about it.

Of the 2.065 people pored, even those who are stir taking to the shops plan to spend less time in them this Christmas. Around 31 percent of shoppers who plan to spend at least some time on the high street will spend less than half of their shopping time in actual shops, using the rest of the time to shop remotely via the internet. This compares to 28 percent of people last year. Meanwhile the proportion of people spending over half of their shopping time in high street shops has dropped from 41 percent last year to 39 percent this year. Just 2 percent of people said that they are looking forward to dealing wi.th store staff this festival season.

Guy Boxall, senior product marketing manager at Casio Business Solutions Division, which commissioned the research from YouGov, said that despite the fall in people visiting the high street,humans are "social creatures" who actually like spending time together.

"Although the high street is facing a big challenge Christmas, retailers (零售商) should see this research as a challenge to improve the in-store shopping experience, rather than the nail in the coffin. We are social creatures, and the desire to spend time with each other, particularly at Christmas, is never going to go away," said Mr. Boxall.

1.According to the poll, in this year's Christmas       

A．a(chǎn)bout 7 % of the population will do both online and actual shopping

B．a(chǎn)bout 31% of shoppers will do half of their shopping in actual shops

C．a(chǎn)bout 39% of shoppers will do more than half of their shopping in actual shops

D．over three million shoppers will quit actual shopping just because of the long queues

2.What's the meaning of "turn-off" in Para.5?

A．Something that makes people lose heart

B．Something that makes people lose face

C．Something that makes people lose interest

D．Something that makes people lose courage

3.It can be inferred from Mr. Boxall's words that                                                                                                   

A．retailers should reduce their in-store goods.

B．retailers wiR be pessimistic about the result of this research.

C．retailers should focus on the advantage of in-store shopping.

D．retailers will make more profits this Christmas than last Christmas

4.Wheat's the writer's attitude towards Christmas online shopping?

A．Concerned.        B．Doubtful.          C．Approving.        D．Objective.

 

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科目：高中英語(yǔ) 來(lái)源： 題型：閱讀理解

    Tuesday was the eighth day of the 12 th month on the Chinese lunar calendar. I first became aware of the day as a traditional festival called laba, or the eighth day of the winter month – when I was working in a factory 30 years ago.

At lunch time，some elder co-workers opened their lunch boxes, and out came the sweet smell of well-cooked rice porridge mixed with beans，nuts and dates（棗）and they talked excitedly. Then, I wondered why there should be such an unnecessary excitement over the  laba festival. Growing up during the “cultural revolution” (1966－1976), when almost all traditional things were considered out-of-date，I had scarcely become aware of most of the traditional festivals.

I really started to value and celebrate these traditional festivals when I began to write about  Chinese culture. It is really encouraging that, despite the dramatic changes and modernization that our country has experienced over the past three decades, people have come to treasure many of our traditions more. Some people may have a complaint against the extreme commercialization（商業(yè)化）of these traditional festivals, but I believe the business promotions have at least worked to increase people’s awareness.

Most of the traditional Chinese festivals are celebrated with feasts. No wonder that on Tuesday a lot of people were buying rice，nuts，dry fruit, and beans from supermarkets and stores. A few thousand went to the Yonghegong Lama Temple to make prays for peace and happiness.  

Now that we have celebrated laba festival，we are now looking forward to the Lunar New Year, when we are supposed to have a lot more feasts. In fact, it is reported that almost all popular restaurants have been booked out for the Lunar New Year Eve dinner in major cities across the country.

1．As a whole，the passage is mainly organized by_________.

    A．space               B．examples          C．time                 D．comparison

2．What is the writer’s attitude toward Chinese Festivals?

    A．He takes them seriously all the time.

    B．He values them more than before.

    C．He expects only the Lunar New Year.

      D．He thinks Chinese Festival are too commercialized.

3．The common ways to celebrate traditional Chinese festivals in the passage are to________.

       ① stop working in the factory               ② enjoy some special delicious food

       ③ have feasts with the family or friends     ④ pray for peace in temples

       ⑤ buy rice，nuts，fruits and beans         ⑥ write about Chinese culture

       A．①③⑤            B．②⑤⑥             C．①④⑥               D．②③④

4．From the last paragraph it can be inferred that now_________.   

       A．people are eager to show their richer life

    B．people have become tired of laba festival

    C．people are living a better life than before

       D．people are always active in celebrating festivals

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