专题04 阅读理解之议论文（2020届安徽六校教育研究会高三第二次素质测试）The famous Spanish painter Pablo Picasso once said, “Every child is an artist. The problem he has is how to remain an artist once he grows up.”This is both encouraging and discouraging. The fact that we were all born to be artists is certainly exciting, and yet the reality has proven that remaining one is a task that many of us have failed.Fortunately, some people have seen the problem and want to solve it.Western educators have suggested that we introduce the co ncept of “STEAM” instead of “STEM” - traditional “core majors” including science, technology, engineering, and math -since the “A”, which stands for “arts”, is just as important.And on April 11, China’s Ministry of Education issued a guideline. Colleges a nd universities are required to provide more art-related courses and students need to earn a certain number of art credits in order to graduate.These efforts came after many scientific studies had found that art education helps students developself-confidence and teamwork skills, as well as habits of mind such as problem solving and critical thinking, according to The Washington Post.It’s true that none of these skills target specific jobs. But as former US ballet dancer DamianWoetzel told The Atlantic, the purpose of art is “to give kids the tools to become adults who are creative, adaptable, and expressive - capable of having their eyes and ears and senses alive”.And we can now see how we lost track of our born “artist self” on our way to growing up: W e failed to keep our capabilities to see, hear and feel, and became blind, deaf and insensitive adults.Hopefully, art education can help turn things around.24．What is the function of the first paragraph?A．To introduce a famous artist. B．To summarize the whole passage.C．To lead in the topic. D．To encourage us to be artists.25．Why should the concept of “STEAM” be introduced according to western educators?A．Art is as important as traditional “core majors”.B．All of us should learn art in college.C．Tradi tional “core majors” are out of date.D．Western education is more helpful.26．What can we predict from the guideline issued by China’s Ministry of education?A．More art-related courses will appear in all schools.B．College students will have to gain enough art credits to graduate.C．More students will major in art at colleges and universities.D．Art will become much more important than science.27．What is the best title of the passage?A．Every child is an artist B．Bringing art to lifeC．Learning from the artists D．Life is art（2020届安徽省六安市第一中学高考模拟）In today’s difficult economic time, it’s natural to rethink your goal of studying abroad. Does the benefit outweigh the cost? The answer, in fact, is yes, when you look at the road ahead.When the economy becomes more challenged, competition for the workforce increases, and employers look for employees with the best credentials（资力）. Having an overseas degree — from a university where strong English skills are required — can make all the difference. The added expertise of a foreign degree, along with more cultural experience, can make you more qualified for many jobs.A 50-year study of 3,400 students shows that studying abroad is usually a defining moment in a young person’s life and continues to impact the participant’s life for years after the experience.82% said that they acquired skills that influenced their career path. 70% stated that it ignited（点燃）an interest in a career direction that they pursued after the experience.And the effect on one’s career can be eq ually strong. A study by the Queensland, Australia government showed:61% of employers stated overseas studying experience was positive on a graduate resume. 72% of employers felt that a second language made a graduate a more attractive employee.Still, th ere’s the question of how to pay for studying overseas. But the cost doesn’t have to be as high as you think. Scholarships may be available to cover some or all of these costs. And, there are plenty of ways to further offset（抵消）the cost — through financial tips, advice and grants（补助金）.8．The second study shows that studying abroad .A．helps one to get a job B．affects one’s whole lifeC．affects one’s career direction D．helps one to make more money9．The author tries to prove his idea by .A．giving examples B．answering questionsC．listing facts and numbers D．offering advice and solutions10．What does the author think about the university fees?A．Financial tips must increase the university fees.B．Scholarships can cover some of the costs.C．Money is a serious problem for studying abroad.D．There are few ways for the students to earn money.11．What does the author intend to tell us in the passage?A．Studying abroad is easy. B．Studying abroad is rewarding.C．The effects of studying abroad. D．The problems with studying abroad.（2020届东北三省四市教研联合体高考模拟）Living with your parents has its benefits at least when it comes to raising your kids― their grandkids. Two new studies add to the evidence that grandmothers can enhance the survival of grandchildren. That is, unless grandma's too old or lives too far away.Humans are unusual in that the females live long past the age at which they stop having babies. Patrick Bergeron, professor of biology at Bishop's University in Quebec, said that most of the organisms will reproduce up to their very last moment. This increase is often explained by the so-called "grandmother effect". He thinks there could still be a benefit for women who stop having babies to increase their genetic footprint by helping their daughters to raise larger families.To explore the "grandmother effect" hypothesis （假设），Bergeron and his colleagues examined nearly 200 years' worth of French-Canadian population records from the 17th and 18th centuries. "At the time, life was tough. In some years, a thir d o£ the kids were not even making it to one year of age.” But the researchers found that having a grandmother still alive was a definite plus."Families with grandmothers alive were larger by about two and the survival of these grandchildren to age 15 was much improved."This beneficial effect was only seen when the matriarchs （女家长）lived nearby. That role is tougher for them to fulfills as they get older in poor health, which brings us to the second study. The researchers found that the benefits associated with having a grandmother on hand depended on her age. Once manna hit 75, the grandchild survival benefit disappeared. This was almost certainly due to some form of indirect resource competition, though, rather than wickedness （邪恶）on the part of co- resident grandmothers.So a healthy grandma helps make for a healthy grandchild. If ',over the river and through the woods tograndmother's house" isn't too long a trip.12．What's the second paragraph mainly about?A．Differences between animals and human beings.B．Disadvantages of living with grandmasC．Grandmothers' influence on the kids.D．What's called“grandmother effect”.13．How does the writer describe about the French-Canadian population more than three hundred years ago?A．By voicing opinions. B．By providing facts.C．By giving examples. D．By telling stories.14．What can we infer from the second study?A．Society should be concerned about the old women.B．Grandmothers over 75 years old are unwilling to help.C．Some grandmothers may occupy kids' relative recourses.D．Some grandmothers are getting wicked after they are old.15．Which of the following can be the most helpful grandmother according to the passage?A．A healthy one living nearby. ,B．A healthy one living abroad.C．An old one living in a nursing home.D．A knowledgeable one living together.（2020届黑龙江省哈尔滨市高三高考模拟）Living with your parents has its benefits at least when it comes to raising your kids― their grandkids. Two new studies add to the evidence that grandmothers can enhance the survival of grandchildren. That is, unless grandma's too old or lives too far away.Humans are unusual in that the females live long past the age at which they stop having babies. Patrick Bergeron, professor of biology at Bishop's University in Quebec, said that most of the organisms will reproduce up to their very last moment. This increase is often explained by the so-called "grandmother effect". He thinks there could still be a benefit for women who stop having babies to increase their genetic footprint by helping their daughters to raise larger families.To explore the "grandmother effect" hypothesis （假设），Bergeron and his colleagues examined nearly 200 years' worth of French-Canadian population records from the 17th and 18th centuries. "At the time, life was tough.In some y ears, a third o£ the kids were not even making it to one year of age.” But the researchers found that having a grandmother still alive was a definite plus."Families with grandmothers alive were larger by about two and the survival of these grandchildren to age 15 was much improved."This beneficial effect was only seen when the matriarchs （女家长）lived nearby. That role is tougher for them to fulfills as they get older in poor health, which brings us to the second study. The researchers found that the benefits associated with having a grandmother on hand depended on her age. Once manna hit 75, the grandchild survival benefit disappeared. This was almost certainly due to some form of indirect resource competition, though, rather than wickedness （邪恶）on the part of co- resident grandmothers.So a healthy grandma helps make for a healthy grandchild. If ',over the river and through the woods to grandmother's house" isn't too long a trip.12．What's the second paragraph mainly about?A．Differences between animals and human beings.B．Disadvantages of living with grandmasC．Grandmothers' influence on the kids.D．What's called“grandmother effect”.13．How does the writer describe about the French-Canadian population more than three hundred years ago?A．By voicing opinions. B．By providing facts.C．By giving examples. D．By telling stories.14．What can we infer from the second study?A．Society should be concerned about the old women.B．Grandmothers over 75 years old are unwilling to help.C．Some grandmothers may occupy kids' relative recourses.D．Some grandmothers are getting wicked after they are old.15．Which of the following can be the most helpful grandmother according to the passage?A．A healthy one living nearby. ,B．A healthy one living abroad.C．An old one living in a nursing home.D．A knowledgeable one living together.（2020届云南省昆明市第一中学高三模拟）From the cold Arctic to the African plains, every society seems to have some form of music as part of theirculture. Music is so common and widespread that most people don’t even que stion it anymore. But until recently, there were researchers who doubted it: How could we know that music was really a part of all known societies?Now, Harvard researchers, Samuer Mehr and Manvir Singh, have found further evidence to support the argument. They gathered music from different countries, media and time periods, and collected descriptions of many different pieces of music. Rather than focusing on music first and then looking at where it could be found, they started by studying a record of detailed descriptions of more than three hundred known global societies, and found that all of them have music as part of their culture.To see if people could recognize the functions of songs from around the world, the researchers also created a listening experiment in which people tried to guess the behavioral context of a song. This went surprisingly well. Particularly music that was intended for dancing or to calm a baby were easy to recognize as either dance music or lullabies. Love songs were a bit more difficult to qualify, because they tend to be very diverse even within cultures.This systematic study of connections sounds like the way that researchers in other fields would study biological patterns. “There’s a field known as cultural phylogenetics,” say s Singh. Whereas biological characteristics are only received from parent to child, cultural characteristics (like music) are also shared between people of the same generation. That makes it much more difficult to figure out where the characteristic has come from.“Finally,” Singh says, “We still don’t know why music developed gradually. Our study shows that humans everywhere share cognitive mechanisms (认知机制) that make certain sounds seem appropriate in particular contexts.”12．What does the underlined word “it” in paragraph 1 refer to?A．The fact that music is part of every culture.B．The question whether music is widely spread.C．The doubt whether further research has been done.D．The idea that Africa and the Arctic have cool music.13．What did Mehr and Singh do first?A．They found out further evidence. B．They studied various societies.C．They sought the origins of music. D．They focused mainly on music.14．What’s the purpose of the listening experiment?A．To comfort a baby. B．To pick out love songs.C．To create a context. D．To tell functions of songs.15．What is the main idea of the text?A．Music shapes societies in different cultures.B．Global music shares common characteristics.C．Musical systems display cultural differences.D．Multi-culture is based on biological patterns.（2020届四川省成都市石室天府中学高三模拟）Time TravelIf you could travel in time, where would you go? Perhaps you would watch an original performance of a Shakespeare’s play in Elizabethan England? What about hanging out with Laozi in the Spring and Autu mn Period? Or maybe you'd voyage far ahead of the present day to see what the future holds.The possibility of time travel is indeed appealing. Stories exploring the subject have been around for hundreds of years. Perhaps the best known example is science fiction novel. The Time Machine, which was written by H.G. Wells and published in 1895 for the first time. It was adapted into at least two feature films of the same name, as well as two television versions, and a large number of comic book adaptations. It is generally credited with the popularization of the concept of time travel using a vehicle that allows an operator to travel purposefully and selectively. The term "time machine", coined by Wells, is now universally used to refer to a vehicle transporting people into the far future.But could time travel actually be possible? Some scientists say yes, in theory. They propose using cracks in time and space called “wormholes”, which could be used as shortcuts to other periods. Einstein’s theory of relativity allows time travel in extreme circumstances. And British physicist Stephen Hawking says you could travel into the future with a really fast spaceship going at nearly the speed of light. Though building such a spaceship would of course be no simple task.E ven if you could travel into the past, there is something called the “grandfather paradox”. It asks what would happen if a time traveler were to go back in time and have his own grandfather killed for some reason, and therefore prevent himself from being b orn. If the time traveler wasn’t born, how would he travel back in time?And would you really like to visit the future? In H.G. Wells’ book, the main character travels into distant time where he arrives at a beach and is attacked by giant crabs. He then voyages 30 million years into the future where the only living thing is a black object with tentacles(触角).If that’s what’s in store, maybe we are better just living in the present day after all.8．The novel The Time Machine mentioned in Paragraph 2 aims to show ______.A．the contribution of H.G .Wells B．the story’s different featuresC．the long history of time travel D．people’s interest in time machine9．Einstein’s and Hawking’s theories _____.A．suggest the possibility to invent the time machineB．push the invention of the first spaceshipC．have proved wrong by some time travelersD．have similarities in many way10．In Paragraph 4, “grandfather paradox” probably refers to the idea that ______.A．the traveler is prevented from meeting his grandfatherB．the gra ndfather’s death makes the traveler’s birth impossibleC．the traveler goes back in time to seek for his grandfatherD．the reunion of the traveler and his grandfather brings happiness11．According to the passage, what is probably the author’s attitude towar ds time travel?A．Skeptical. B．Unclear.C．Supportive. D．Unconcerned.（2020届四川省成都市石室天府中学高三模拟）As an international body charged with the mission of keeping world peace and development, the United Nations cannot operate without financial support from its member countries. And as a firm defender of multilateralism (多边主义) and a beneficiary of globalization, China knows how important it is to safeguard the current world order in which the UN plays an important role. China is aware how important it is that it does its bit to ensure the UN can accomplish its missions, and knows that this is a responsibility it must undertake for the benefit of all.And Chinese people can take pride in the fact that the country has overtaken Japan to be the second-largest contributor to the UN regular budget. Since how much a country pays to the regular budget of the United Nations is a standard on how powerful the country is, at least financially. It is therefore natural that China’s contribution to the UN budget should rise from 2.05 percent in 2005 to 12.01 percent this year. That hike is an indicator of what the country has achieved over the past 13 years. With the country’s further development, there is no doubt that its financial contribution to the UN will continue to rise. China will pay as it should.However, the more money a country pays, the more responsibility it shoulders and more say it is entitled to enjoy as a major player on the world stage. But the reality is that the rights and international standing China enjoysare still disproportional (不相称的) to what it does for the UN and its contribution to the development of the world economy. As a responsible member of the international community, China is struggling for reform of the UN and the global governance system so they are more effective and representative of the international community as a whole.Although peace and development remain the themes of the times, uncertainty and instability are on the rise. With this in mind, all countries should make combined efforts to deepen understanding, increase trust and promote cooperation. China is committed to building a community with a shared future for humanity and will continue to work with the UN to realize that vision.4．What can we learn from the first paragraph?A．China is against multilateralism and globalization.B．The UN needs financial help from its member countries.C．China doesn’t agree with the UN on keeping the current world order.D．The UN must undertake the responsibility to ensure China’s benefit.5．What does the underlined word “hike” in paragraph 2 probably mean?A．Walk. B．Rise.C．Budget. D．Contribution.6．What can we infer from paragraph 3?A．If a country pays more money, it can take on less responsibility.B．China’s contribution to world economy equals the righ ts it enjoys.C．China is making great efforts to improve the situation of the UN.D．The global governance system is very satisfying now.7．What is the main idea of the text?A．China is keeping world peace and development instead of the UN.B．China contributes most to the UN regular budget.C．China enjoys more say as a great power on the world stage.D．China is working with the UN in search for common good.（2020届湖北省武汉重点高中高三模拟）With the explosion of consumer choices in recent history, the latest must-haves would surely need to be upgraded more often than every 10 years. In 2002 a computer and basic mobile phone would have been enough for most people, but now? The public need a trendy notebook computer and a smart phone with WiFi connection tofeel they are up-to-date. So when will we have enough things? When will we finally be happy? Well, it looks like the things we buy today will barely keep us satisfied for a few months.In the eyes of some psychologists, far from making us happy, greater consumer choice creates many serious psychological problems. A fundamental principle of the society is that more freedom is better and more choice in the marketplace means more freedom. Therefore more choice leads to more happiness. This is not the case, however.Imagine you go to a café offering chocolate and vanilla ice cream. You choose the chocolate and eat it happily. But what if the café serves 50 kinds of ice cream? You choose chocolate and then start to worry, “maybe blueberry would have been better, perhaps the half-fat ice cream would have been healthier. Stupid me, all these choices and I didn’t make the best one! ”In China’s major cities we have now passed the point where more consumer choice is making us happier. We are annoyed by all the options we have, disappointed because our expectations are so high and angered at ourselves when we don’ t make a perfect choice every time.A newspaper reporter tells a story about traveling on a plane with high-speed Internet access. He thought this was amazing—the newest piece of technology he had heard of. Then the service went down. The man next to him was angry and swore. The reporter thought, “How quickly the world owes him something he knew existed only 10 seconds ago!”8．What is the text mainly talking about?A．Hi-tech and consumer needs.B．Computers and smart phones.C．Wireless products and WiFi connection.D．Diverse choices and consumer satisfaction.9．What may some psychologists think of the consumer demand in the café?A．The consumer has mental problems.B．More choice means more freedom.C．Variety leads to unhappiness.D．The shop provides too many choices.10．Why was the man next to the reporter quite annoyed?A．The net connection was interrupted. B．Someone owed him money.C．The air hostess offered poor service. D．The pleasure lasted only 10 seconds.11．What does the underlined word “swore” in the last paragraph probably mean? A．Fell asleep. B．Said rude words.C．Made promises. D．Became amazed.。
