阅读练习
（A篇）
Today , roller skating is easy and fun ．But a long time ago , it wasn’t easy at all ．Before 1750 , the idea of skating didn’t exist ．That changed because of a man named Joseph Merlin ．Merlin’s work was making musical instruments ．In his spare time he liked to play the violin ．Joseph Merlin was a man of ideas and dreams ．People called him a dreamer .
One day Merlin received an invitation to attend a fancy dress ball（化装舞会）．He was very pleased and a little excited ．As the day of the party came near , Merlin began to think how to make a grand entrance at the party ．He had an idea ．He thought he would get a lot of attention if he could skate into the room .
Merlin tried different ways to make himself roll ．Finally , he decided to put two wheels under each shoe ．These were the first roller skates ．Merlin was very proud of his invertion and dreamed of arriving at the party on wheels while playing the violin .
On the night of the party Merlin rolled into the room playing his violin ．Everyone was astonshed to see him ．There was just one problem ．Merlin had no way to stop his roller skates ．He rolled on and on ．Suddenly , he ran into a hugh mirror that was hanging on the wall ．Down fell the mirror , breaking to pieces ．Nobody forgot Merlin’s grand entrance for a long time !
1．The text is mainly about ________ .
A．a strange man
B．an unusual party
C．how roller skating began
D．how people enjoyed themselves in the 18th century
2．People thought Merlin was a dreamer because he _________ .
A．often gave others surprises B．was a gifted musician
C．invented the roller skates D．was full of imagination
3．Merlin put wheels under his shoes in order to ________ .
A．impress the parry guests B．arrive at the party sooner
C．test his invention D．show his skill in walking on wheels
4．What is the main point the writer is trying to make in the last paragraph ?
A．The roller skates needed further improvement
B．The party guests took Merlin for a fool .
C．Merlin succeeded beyond expectation .
D．Merlin got himself into trouble .
（B篇）
As I stood in front of the grave（墓）of President Richard Nixon , I was thinking about the time 25 years ago when this president helped bring the United States and China closer together ．Young people of our two countries should help this relationship grow .
This remark was made by a Shanghai student when speaking to his fellow students at the Nixon Library in California , U.S.A．he was one of 80 middle school students from China attending a month-long‘Youth Summit’．The Summit was to mark the 25th anniversary（周年）of President Nixon’s journey to China , which was the turning point in China－U.S．relations .
The Youth Summit was aimed at increasing understanding and friendship between young students of the two countries through visits and discussions ．Seventy-five American students were selected to visit China ．They also visited the Nixon Library on July 21 before leaving for Beijing the next day ．The head of the library said he was pleased to see the American and Chinese students talking and laughing together .
One Chinese student said ,‘I didn’t find it particaularly difficult to talk with Americans ．We have our differences , but we have a lot in common ．Dialogue is good for us .’
1．The words‘Youth Summit’refer to ________ .
A．visits to the Nixon Library
B．the Chinese students’ visit to the U.S.
C．a meeting discussing relations between China and the U.S.
D．activities to strengthen the ties between the Chinese and American students
2．The student from Shanghai thought about the time 25 years ago because it was when Nixon __________ .
A．died B．visited China C．became U. Ｄ．president .
D．started building the library in his name
3．The text is mainly about ___________ .
A．the China－U.S．relations B．the Nixon Library
C．President Nixon D．the Youth Summit
（C篇）
At 9:00 Dick Spivak’s bank telephoned and said his payment was late .‘The check is in the post ,’Dick replied quickly ．At 11:45 Dick left for a 12:00 meeting across town ．Arriving late , he explained that traffic（交通）had been bad ．That evening , Dick’s girlfriend wore a new dress , he hated it .‘It looks just great on you,’he said .
Three lies in one day ! Yet Dick Spivak is just an ordinary man ．Each time , he told himself that sometimes the truth causes too many problems ．Most of us tell much the same white lies , harmless untruths that help to save trouble ．How often do we tell white lies ? It depends in part on our age , education , and even where we live ．According to one U.S．study , women are more truthful than men , and honesty increases as we get older .
While most people use little white lies to make life easier , the majority of Americans care , about honesty in both public and personal life ．They say that people today are less honest than they were ten years ago ．Althought it is believed that things are getting worse , lying seems to be an age-old human problem ．The French philospher（哲学家）Vauvenarges , writing in the eighteenth century , touched on the truth when he wrote ,‘All men are born truthful and die liars（说谎者）.’
1．When the writer says‘Dick Spivak is just an ordinary man’, he means ________ .
A．it is common that people tell white lies
B．Dick could do nothing about bad traffic
C．it is common that people delay their payment
D．Dick found it hard to deal with everyday problems
2．According to the text , most Americans _________ .
A．hate white lies B．believe white lies
C．value honesty D．consider others dishonest
3．Vauvenarges’ remark suggests that ________ .
A．lying is an age-old human problem
B．dishonesty increases as people get older
C．people were dishonest in the 18th century
D．it is social conditions that make people tell lies
（D篇）
The report came to the British on May 21,1941 ．The German battleship Bismarck , the most powerful warship in the world , was moving out into the Atlantic Ocean ．Her task : to destoy the ships carrying supplies from the United States to war-torn England .
The British had feared such a task ．No warship they had could match the Bismarck in speed or in firepower ．The Bismarck had eight 15-inch guns and 81 smaller guns ．She could move at 30 nautical miles（海里）an hour ．She was believed to be unsinkable .
However , the British had to sink her ．They sent out a task force headed by their best battleship Hood to hunt down the Bismarck ．On May 24 , the Hood found the Bismarck .
It was a meeting that the German commander Luetjens did not want to see ．His orders were to destroy the British ships that were carrying supplies , but to stay away from a fight with British warships .
The battle didn’t last long ．The Bismarck’s first torpedo（鱼雷）hit the Hood , which went down taking all but three of her 1,419 men with her .
But in the fight , the Bismarck was slightly damaged（损坏）．Her commander decided to run for repairs to France , which had at that time been taken by the Germans ．The British force followed her ．However , because of the Bismarck’s speed and the heavy fog , they lost sight of her .
For two days , every British ship in the Atlantic tried to find the Bismarck , but with no success ．Finally , she was sighted by a plane from Ireland ．Trying to slow the Bismarck down so that their ships could catch up with her , the British fired at her from the air ．The Bismarck was hit .
On the morning of May 27 , the last battle was fought ．Four British ships fired on the Bismarck , and she was finally sunk .
1．The Bismarck sailed into the Altantic Ocean _________ .
A．to sink the Hood B．to gain control of France
C．to cut off American supplies to Britain D．to stop British warships reaching Germany
2．Many people believed that the Bismark could not be defeated because she ________ .
A．was fast and powerful B．had more men on board
C．was under Luetjens’ command D．had bigger guns than other ships
3．We learn from the text that on 24 May _______ .
A．the British won the battle against the Bismarck
B．the Bismarck won the battle against the British
C．the British gunfire damaged the Bismarck seriously
D．the Bismarck succeeded in keeping away from the British
4．Luetjent tried to sail to France in order to ________ .
A．have the ship repaired B．join the other Germans
C．get help from the French D．get away from the British
5．Which of the following is the immediate cause of the sinking of the Bismarck ?
A．The British air strikes . B．The damage done by the Hood .
C．Gunfire from the British warships . D．Luetjens’ decision to run for France .
（E篇）
As prices and building costs keep rising , the‘do-it-yourself’（DIY）trend（趋势）in the U.S．continues to grow .
‘We needed furniture（家具）for our living room ,’says John Ross ,‘and we just didn’t have enough money to buy it ．So we decided to try making a few tables and chairs .’John got married six months ago , and like many young people these days , they are struggling to make a home at a time when the cost of living is very high ．The Rosses took a 2-week course for $ 280 at a night school ．Now they build all their furniture and make repairs around the house .
Jim Hatfield has three boys and his wife died ．He has a full-time job at home as well as in a shoe making factory ．Last month , he received a car repair bill for $ 420 .‘I was deeply upset about it ．Now I’ve finished a car repair course , I should be able to fix the car by myself .’
John and Jim are not unusual people ．Most families in the country are doing everything they can to save money so they can fight the high cost of living ．If you want to become a‘do-it-yourselfer’, you can go to DIY classes ．And for those who don’t have time to take a course , there are book that tell you how you can do things yourself .
1．We can learn from the text that many newly married people ___________ .
A．find it hard to pay for what they need
B．have to learn to make their own furniture
C．take DIY courses run by the government
D．seldom go to a department store to buy things
2．John and his wife went to evening classes to learn how to ___________ .
A．run a DIY shop . B．make or repair things
C．save time and money D．improve the quality of life
3．When the writer says that Jim has a full-time job at home , he means Jim ________ .
A．make shoes in his home B．does extra work at night
C．does his own car and home repairs D．keeps house and looks after his children
4．Jim Hatfield decided to become a do-it-yourselfer when _________ .
A．his car repairs cost too much B．the car repair class was not helpful
C．he could not possibly do two jobs D．he had to raise the children all by himself
5．What would be the best title for the text ?
A．The Joy of DIY B．You Can DO It TOO !
C．Welcome to Our DIY Course ! D．Ross and Hatfield : Believers in DIY
参考答案
（A篇）1．C 2．D 3．A 4．C
（B篇）1．D 2．B 3．D
（C篇）1．A 2．C 3．D
（D篇）1．C 2．A 3．B 4．A 5．C
（E篇）1．A 2．B 3．D 4．A 5．B