广东省中山一中2014届高三上学期第二次统测英语试题试卷(2)

Since Marshall’s family lives on a 600-acre cattle farm, you often find that you have a lot of time to yourself to think when you are there. That is precisely what I did not want to do at this time. I told Marshall that I needed to get a good book to get lost in while I was there. I told him I heard the Harry Potter books were good, so he went out and got the first one for me.
During that trip, I totally got lost in the book, which was of great help during a time when I needed a distraction to forget about the sadness. In the book, I noticed the name “Seamus”. I vaguely remembered it was pronounced “Shamus” and I liked the sound of that. I mentioned it to Marshall and he liked it too. Toward the end of the trip, I had just 5 chapters left and I knew I was about to finish the first book, which I was pretty excited about.
Soon after we put Jane down to bed, I had started labor (分娩), so I was unable to read. The labor lasted 5 and 1/2 hours, but Marshall stayed there with me, sitting beside me and reading aloud the last 5 chapters of Harry Potter. I can never fully explain how much that helped me through the experience. And ever since then, Marshall and I both have been fans of the Harry Potter books. We remember how they helped us get through that time of our lives.
We were sad to have lost the baby, but the name Seamus started our journey toward adoption. And we gave this name to our adopted son. Though our Seamus doesn’t have a drop of Irish blood in him, the name fits him perfectly.
26. Why did the writer want a good book during the trip?
A. Because the trip to Louisiana would take a long time.
B. Because she didn’t want to think of losing her baby.
C. Because she had nothing else to do except reading.
D. Because a good book could help her enjoy her trip.
27. According to the story, we can know that the Harry Potter books _________________.
A. made the family’s trip more exciting      B. include five books all together
C. have someone called Seamus in them         D. can help people deal with their problems
28. The writer named her son Seamus because ___________________.
A. she wanted to keep her trip in memory         B. she loved this name very much
C. her son doesn’t have Irish blood             D. it is a perfect name for a boy
29. Which of the following is TRUE about the couple?
A. They planned their trip after getting the shocking news.
B. They thought the cattle farm was too large to do anything on.
C. They felt excited when they almost finished the trip.
D. They liked reading Harry Porter very much after the trip.
30. Which is the best title for the passage?
A. Funny Stories Of My Family           B. Seamus And Harry Potter
C. How We Got To Louisiana              D. How My Son Got His Name
B
With large and small keyboards everywhere, neither children nor adults need to write much of anything by hand. That’s a big problem. Study after study suggests that handwriting is important for brain development — helping kids get fine motor skills and learn to express and create ideas. Yet the time devoted to teaching penmanship in most schools has shrunk to just one hour a week. Is it time to give up handwriting? Have a look at the link between the brain and penmanship, and you may get the answer.
A test among students in grades 2, 4 and 6 found that they not only wrote faster by hand than by keyboard, but also created more ideas when composing essays with handwriting. And other research shows that the finger movements required to write by hand activate brain areas involved with thought, language, and short-term memory.
A recent Indiana University study had one group of children practice writing letters by hand while a second group just looked at those letters. Then, both groups of kids entered a functional MRI (核磁共振)that scanned their brains as the researchers showed them the same letters. Researchers found that the brain activity in the first group was far more advanced and “adult-like”.
Handwriting also affects other people’s way they think of adults and children. Several studies have shown that the same average essay will score much higher if written with good penmanship and much lower if written out in poor handwriting. These studies have also found that people judge the quality of a person’s ideas based on his or her handwriting. And the consequences are real: On standardized tests with handwritten sections, like the SAT, all essay that is considered hard to recognize gets a big zero.
Studies show that this isn’t only an English-language phenomenon. Chinese and Japanese youths are suffering from “character amnesia”. They can’t remember how to write characters, thanks to computers and text messaging. Some experts fear that Chinese writing and reading are so closely linked in the brain that China’s reading ability as a nation could suffer.
31. According to the passage, it can be learned that ________________.
A. many researches have been done on handwriting
B. essays can’t be composed without handwriting
C. all children write faster by keyboard than by hand
D. most schools are trying to teach more handwriting
32. What does the Indiana University study imply?
A. Children should practice writing letters           B. Handwriting can increase brain activity
C. It’s good for children to enter a functional MRI.     D. Letters should often be shown to children
33. What does the 4th paragraph mainly talk about?