1、高二英语上学期期中试题52017-2018学年度第一学期高二期中考试英语试题（文理科）本试卷满分150分 考试时间100分钟 第一部分：阅读理解（共两节，满分60 分）第一节:（共15小题；每小题3分，满分45分）阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项A、B、C和D中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。ALiquid Paper (修正液) was invented by Bette Nesmith Graham. She was 17 when she got a job at a Texas bank as a secretary, even though she didnt know h
2、ow to type. The company she worked for sent her to a secretary school, and she was typing in no time atall.The 1950s had seen the widespread use of the electric typewriter, which typed faster but also meant more mistakes. Also, mistakes made by early electric typewriters were very hard to erase, whi
3、ch caused problems for Bette.In order to make extra money she used her talent to paint holiday windows at the bank.Then one day, it suddenly occurred to her that she could create a paint to cover up type-writing mistakes.It worked! In 1956, Bette sold her first bottles of the new product, which she
4、called “Mistake Out”. She made it in her kitchen, and her son Michael and his friends bottled it in the family garage.By 1957, she was selling 100 bottles a month and had gotten a patent (专利) for her product, which she now called “Liquid Paper.” Sales continued togrow, as more and more people heard
5、about Liquid Paper, through word-of-mouth and by reading about it in magazines.In the 1960s, Bette bought a machine to help her produce Liquid Paper in large quantities. In 1971, she sold 2 million bottles. In 1979, she sold the company for 47.5 million dollars. She didnt live to see the end of the
6、contract (合同), dying in 1980, at the age of 56, in Texas.Bettes invention continues to be used every day by secretaries and other people in the office and wherever typewriters are used.1. When Bette began to work in a bank, she _.A.was too young to typeB. had graduated from secretary schoolC.had no
7、experience in typingD. taught herself about typing2. It can be inferred that the first Liquid Paper _.A. was produced by handB. was made by machineC. was bottled in the kitchenD. was tested in the factory3. What is the passage mainly about?A. A rock group.B. A secretary.C. Liquid Paper.D. Mistake Ou
8、t.4. The passage is organized mainly in order of _.A. importanceB. timeC. space D. popularityBHappy birthday! Do birthday really make people happy? Of course they do. Birthdays celebrate the day when we were born. Besides, that extra candle on the cake suggests another year of growth and maturity（成熟
9、）or so we hopeWe all like to imagine that we are getting wiser and not just olderMost of us enjoy seeing the wonder of growth in others, as wellFor instance, seeing our children develop and learn new things makes us feel proudFor Americans, like people in most cultures, growing up is a wonderful pro
10、cessBut growing old? That is a different story.Growing old is not exactly for people in youth-oriented (以年轻人为中心)American cultureMost Americans like to look young, act young and feel young. As the old saying goes, “Youre young as you feel”Older people joke about how many years young they are, rather
11、than how many years oldPeople in some countries value the aged as a source of experience and wisdomBut Americans seem to favor those who are young, or at least “young at heart”Many older Americans find the “golden years” to be anything but goldenEconomically, “senior citizens” often try just to get
12、byRetirement at the age of 65 brings a sharp decrease in personal incomeSocial security benefits usually cannot make up the differenceOlder people may suffer from poor nutrition (营养), medical care, and housing. Some even have the experience of age discrimination(歧视). American sociologist(社会学家) Pat M
13、oore once dressed up like an older person and wandered city streetsShe was often treated rudely-even cheated and robbedHowever, dressed as a young person, she received much more respectUnfortunately, the elderly population in America is increasing fastWhy? People are living longerFewer babies are be
14、ing bornAnd middle-aged “baby boomers”(婴儿潮) are rapidly entering the group of the elderlyAmerica may soon be a place where wrinkles（皱纹）are “in”Marketing experts are already noticing this growing group of consumers5.Growing up is a wonderful thing because _.A. people can celebrate their birthdays.B.
15、people can become more and mature and wiser.C. people can receive many presents.D. people will feel younger at heart.6.We can infer from the second paragraph that _.A. young people lack experience and wisdom.B. American older people often joke about their old age.C. American culture is very young.D.
16、 different countries have different opinions on the old age.7.The underlined sentence (in Paragraph 3) means “_.”A. the golden years can make the old earn lots of money and receive good medical careB. the old people inAmericaare probably leading a hard life without good nutrition, medical care or ho
17、using.C. the old inAmericahave to retire at the age of 65.D. American social security benefits are not good.8.From the last paragraph we know that the underlined word “in” can be replaced by _.A. serious B. badC. disappearing slowly D. growing fastCThe human brain remembers negative experiences more
18、 easily than positive ones. Our brains have developed in this way because threats, like dangerous animals, have a more immediate effect on peoples survival compared to positive things like food or shelter. As a result, you clearly know what makes you unhappy, but do you know what makes you happy?Res
19、earch suggests that our level of happiness is partly shaped by the choices we make. If youve been chasing wealth, fame, power and some material things, you may be looking for happiness in the wrong places. Psychologists suggest that the following habits can make people happier.People who own close r
20、elationships tend to be happier than those who do not. The number of our friends is not important. What matters is the quality of our relationships. Relationships that bring happiness usually consist of the sharing of feelings, acceptance, mutual (双方的) respect and trust.People who exercise regularly
21、 can improve both their physical and mental well-being. Some research has shown that exercise can be as effective as some medicine in treating depression.If we are so interested in an activity, we may lose track of time, and we can be in a state of flow. The activity could be playing the piano, surf
22、ing the Internet or playing a game People who experience flow in their work or life tend to be happier.People are more likely to be happy if they know what their strengths are and can use them regularly. People are especially happy when they can set goals and use their strengths to achieve them.Peop
23、le, who think positively by being grateful, mindful and optimistic, are more likely to be happy. Being grateful means being thankful. Being mindful means considering, focusing on, and enjoying the experiences of the present moment. Being optimistic means being hopeful about the future.9. Human brain
24、s remember negative things more easily because negative things _.A. tend to affect human survival immediatelyB. are easy to rememberC. are much more important than other thingsD. can make people live much happier10. According to this passage, people may find happiness in _.A. being famous B. chasing
25、 power C. setting life goals D. earning money11. In the last paragraph, the author tries to tell us to _.A. think more about our future B. be positive in our life and workC. focus on everything in our life D. only enjoy the present moment 12. What does the passage mainly want to tell us?A. Why peopl
26、e remember positive things easily.B. Why people remember negative things easily.C. What makes people happy.D. What makes people sad.DEmail has brought the art of letter writing back to life, but some experts think the resulting spread of bad English does more harm than good. Email is a form of commu
27、nication that is changing, for the worse, the way we write and use language, say some communication researchers. It is also changing the way we communicate and build relationship. These are a few of the recently recognized features of email, say experts, which should cause individuals and organizati
28、ons to rethink the way they use email. “Email has increased the spread of careless writing habits,” says Naomi Baron, a professor of linguistics at an American university. She says the poor spelling, grammar, punctuation and sentence structure of emails reflect a growing unconcern about the way we w
29、rite. Baron argues that we shouldnt forgive and forget the poor writing often shown in email. “The more we use email and its tasteless writing, the more it becomes the normal way of writing,” the professor says. Others say that despite its poor writing, email has finished what several generations of
30、 English teachers couldnt: it has made writing fashionable again. “Email is a critical new communication technology.” says Ian Lancashire, a professor of English at TorontoUniversity. “It fills the gap between spoken language and the formal methods of writing that existed before email. It is the pur
31、est form of written speech.” Lancashire says email has the mysterious ability to get people who are usually scared by writing to get their thoughts flowing easily onto a blank screen. He says this is because of emails close similarity to speech. “Its like a circle of four or five people around a cam
32、pfire,” he says. Still, he accepts that this new-found freedom to express themselves often gets people into trouble. Emails sent in a day almost exceed(超过) the number of letters mailed in a year. But more people are recognizing the content of a typical email message is not often exact.13. From what Baron says in the third paragraph we can see that _. A.
