1、高考英语阅读理解训练十八高考英语阅读理解训练十八Passage 1 Hilversum is a medium-sized city between the major cities of Amsterdam and Utrecht in the Gooi area of North Holland, the Netherlands. Unlike most of the Netherlands, Hilversum is actually in a hilly area with the soil mostly consisting of sand. Once called the Gard
2、en of Amsterdam, it still attracts travelers to come over to cycle and walk through the surrounding forests. They visit it for a relaxing day off from the urban madness. For Dutch people, Hilversum is all about textile （纺织） and media industries, and modern architecture. In history, Hilversum was lar
3、gely an agricultural area. Daily life was marked by farming, sheep raising and wool production. A railway link to Amsterdam in 1874 attracted rich traders from Amsterdam to Hilversum. They built themselves large villas （别墅） in the wooded surroundings of the town. One of the families moving in was th
4、e Brenninkmeijers, currently the wealthiest family of the Netherlands. They moved in after big success in the textile industry and aided a substantial textile industry in Hilversum. But the textile boom lasted only several decades. The last factory closed in the 1960s. The change to a media economy
5、started in 1920, when the Nederlandse Seintoestellen Fabriek （NSF） established a radio factory in Hilversum. Most radio stations settled in the large villas in the leafy areas of the town. Television gave another push to the local economy. Hilversum became the media capital of the Netherlands, and D
6、utch television stars moved into the leafy neighborhoods surrounding the town. In the early 1900s, modern architects W. M. Dudok and J. Duiker placed hundreds of remarkable buildings in Hilversum. These modern architectural masterpieces （杰作） are so many that Hilversum almost feels like an open air m
7、useum. Dudok alone shaped most of 20th century Hilversum and approximately 75 buildings still bear his unique characteristics. His masterpiece, Hilversum Town Hall, was built in 1928-1931. It has wide international fame and is included in many architecture textbooks. The building has a remarkable sh
8、ape and looks like a combination of “blocks”. Actually, one may start his journey of modern architecture by walking or biking the W. M. Dudok Architectural Route in Hilversum.1. Hilversum is different from most of the Netherlands in that _.A. it has a large population B. it is cut off from big citie
9、sC. it has many beautiful gardens D. it is in a hilly area with sandy soil2. What was the greatest contribution of the Brenninkmeijers to Hilversum?A. Building a railway link to Amsterdam. B. Helping its textile industry to develop.C. Constructing large villas for the poor. D. Assisting its agricult
10、ural industry.3. The beginning of the media industry in Hilversum was marked by the establishment of _.A. a radio factory B. the medial capitalC. a radio station D. a TV station4. What is known about W. M. Dudoks Hilversum Town Hall?A. It consists of approximately 75 buildings. B. It looks like an o
11、pen air museum in the city.C. It is a classic example in architecture textbooks. D. It has shaped most of 20th century Hilversum.Passage 2“Two centuries ago, Lewis and Clark left St. Louis to explore the new lands acquired in the Louisiana Purchase,” George W. Bush said, announcing his desire for a
12、program to send men and women to Mars. “They made that journey in the spirit of discovery. America has ventured forth into space for the same reasons.”Yet there are vital differences between Lewis and Clarks expedition and a Mars mission. First, they were headed to a place where hundreds of thousand
13、s of people were already living. Second, they were certain to discover places and things of immediate value to the new nation. Third, their venture cost next to nothing by todays standards. A Mars mission may be the single most expensive non-wartime undertaking in U.S. history.Appealing as the thoug
14、ht of travel to Mars is, it does not mean the journey makes sense, even considering the human calling to explore. And Mars as a destination for people makes absolutely no sense with current technology.Present system for getting from Earths surface to low-Earth orbit are so fantastically expensive th
15、at merely launching the 1,000 tons or so of spacecraft and equipment a Mars mission would require could be accomplished only by cutting health-care benefits, education spending, or other important programs - or by raising taxes. Absent some remarkable discovery, astronauts, geologists, and biologist
16、s once on Mars could do little more than analyze rocks and feel awestruck（敬畏的）staring into the sky of another world. Yet rocks can be analyzed by automated probes without risk to human life, and at a tiny fraction of the cost of sending people.It is interesting to note that when President Bush unvei
17、led his proposal, he listed these recent major achievements of space exploration pictures of evidence of water on Mars, discovery of more than 100 planets outside our solar system, and study of the soil of Mars. All these accomplishments came from automated probes or automated space telescopes. Bush
18、s proposal, which calls for “reprogramming” some of NASAs present budget into the Mars effort, might actually lead to a reduction in such unmanned sciencethe one aspect of space exploration thats working really well.Rather than spend hundreds of billions of dollars to hurl tons toward Mars using cur
19、rent technology, why not take a decade or two or however much time is required researching new launch systems and advanced propulsion（推进力）? If new launch systems could put weight into orbit affordably, and advanced propulsion could speed up that long, slow transit to Mars, the dream of stepping onto
20、 the red planet might become reality. Mars will still be there when the technology is ready.1. What do Lewis and Clarks expedition and a Mars mission have in common?A. Instant value. B. Human inhabitance.C. Venture cost. D. Exploring spirit.2. Bushs proposal is challenged for the following reasons e
21、xcept that.A. its expenditure is too huge for the government to afford.B. American peoples well-being will suffer a lot if it is implementedC. great achievements have already been made in Mars exploration in America.D. unmanned Mars exploration sounds more practical and economical for the moment.3.
22、Which cannot be concluded from the passage?A. Going to Mars using current technology is quite unrealistic.B. A Mars mission will in turn promote the development of unmanned program.C. Bushs proposal is based on three recent great achievements of space exploration.D. The achievements in place explora
23、tion show how well unmanned science has developed.4. What is the main idea of the passage?A. Risky as it is, a Mars mission helps to retain Americas position as a technological leader.B. A Mars mission is so costly that it may lead to an economic disaster in America.C. Someday people may go to Mars
24、but not until it makes technological sense.D. A Mars mission is unnecessary since the scientists once there wont make great discoveries.Passage 3I never soon the night nor seen a star; Ive seen neither spring nor fall nor winter. I was born at the end of the Reining Age (刹车时代), just as the Earths ro
25、tation (旋转) was coming to a final stop.The Reining lasted for 42 years, three years longer than the Unity Government had planned. My mother once told me about the time our family witnessed the last sunset. The Sun had ever so slowly crept toward the horizon, almost as if it had stopped moving altoge
26、ther. In the end, it took three days and three nights to finally set. Naturally, that was the end of all days and all nights. The Eastern Hemisphere (半球) was covered in weak light for a long time then, perhaps for a dozen years or sowith the Sun hiding just beyond the horizonits rays reflected by ha
27、lf of the sky. It was during that long sunset that I was born.Dusk did not mean darkness. The Northern Hemisphere was lit up by the Earth Engines. These giant engines had been raised all across Asia and North America; only the solid plates beneath those two continents could resist the great pushing
28、forces they exerted. There were about 12,000 Earth Engines built and distributed across the Asian and American plains.From my home 1 could see the bright plasma plumes (等离子气柱) of several hundred Earth Engines. Just imagine a titanic palace, one as large as the Parthenon on the Acropolis. Now imagine
29、 countless titanic pillars rising from that palace, reaching to the heavens, each releasing brilliant, bluish-white light like a titanic shining tube. And then there is you; you are a microbe on the palaces floor. This only begins to paint the picture of the world we lived in.This picture, however,
30、is not yet complete. In order to survive the melting temperature of the expanding sun, we have to push the Earth away from it. First, the Earth must be stopped from rotating. Only the forces acting tangentially (正切地) to the Earths rotation could slow it, so the Earth Engines had to be built to a spe
31、cific angle. Those gigantic pillars of light were leaning to that angle. Now imagine what that meant for our palace, with its pillars all leaning on the point of falling down! Many who came from the Southern Hemisphere went mad when suddenly seeing this awesome view.Worse than the view was the burni
32、ng heat released by the Earth Engines. Outdoors the temperature was stuck at around 160 to 180 degrees, forcing us to wear special suits just to leave the house. The extremely high temperatures often brought pouring rains. It was always a terrifying scene when the beam of an Earth Engine cut through dark clouds. The clouds scattered the brilliant, bluish-white light of the beam, erupting it into endless rainbow light that covered the entire sky like white-hot magma (岩浆).To my generation
