2015湖北第一轮质检英语试题及答案(4)

55. The writer mentioned Webster to prove __________. 
A. the cruelty of the war with Britain     B. the spelling mistakes in dictionary 
C. the difficulty in editing a dictionary    D. the origin of American English
56. Some linguists think that in 10 years ___________. 
A. English won’t be what it is now online    B. Chinese will replace English online 
C. web pages will be ruled by Chinese       D. users won’t care about grammar 
57. The writer develops the 7th paragraph mainly by __________. 
A. making some comparisons             B. giving some examples 
C. defining some words                  D. analyzing the cause and effect 
58. According to Baron, the most important on the Internet is __________. 
A. to teach non-native speakers meaningful English 
B. to find out what the language should be 
C. to have a better communication with each other 
D. to give speakers a right of expressing themselves 
C
    We are not who we think we are.
    The American self-image is spread with the golden glow of opportunity. We think of the United States as a land of unlimited possibility, not so much a classless society but as a place where class is mutable—a place where brains, energy and ambition are what counts, not the circumstances of one's birth.
    The Economic Mobility Project, an ambitious research led by Pew Charitable Trusts, looked at the economic fortunes of a large group of families over time, comparing the income of parents in the late 1960s with the income of their children in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Here is the finding: The “rags to riches” story is much more common in Hollywood than on Main Street. Only 6 percent of children born to parents with family income at the very bottom move to the top.
    That is right, just 6 percent of children born to parents who ranked in the bottom of the study sample, in terms of income, were able to bootstrap their way into the top. Meanwhile, an incredible 42 percent of children born into that lowest are still stuck at the bottom, having been unable to climb a single rung of the income ladder.
    It is noted that even in Britain---a nation we think of as burdened with a hidebound class system-children who are born poor have a better chance of moving up. When the studies were released, most reporters focused on the finding that African-Americans born to middle-class or upper middle-class families are earning slightly less, in inflation-adjusted dollars, than did their parents.
    One of the studies indicates, in fact, that most of the financial gains white families have made in the past three decades can be attributed to the entry of white women into the labor force. This is much less true for African-Americans.
    The picture that emerges from all the quintiles, correlations and percentages is of a nation in which, overall, "the current generation of adults is better off than the previous one", as one of the studies notes.
    The median income of the families in the sample group was $55,600 in the late 1960s; their children's median family income was measured at $71,900. However, this rising tide has not lifted all boats equally. The rich have seen far greater income gains than have the poor.

    Even more troubling is that our nation of America as the land of opportunity gets little support from the data. Americans move fairly easily up and down the middle rungs of the ladder, but there is "stickiness at the ends" —four out of ten children who are born poor will remain poor, and four out of ten who are born rich will stay rich.
59. What did the Economic Mobility Project find in its research?
  A. Children from low-income families are unable to bootstrap their way to the top.
  B. Hollywood actors and actresses are upwardly mobile from rags to riches. 
  C. The “rags to riches” story is more fiction than reality.
  D. The “rags to riches” story is only true for a small minority of whites.
60. It can be inferred from the undertone of the writer that America, as a classless society, should ________.
  A. perfect its self-image as a land of opportunity
  B. have a higher level of upward mobility than Britain
  C. enable African-Americans to have exclusive access to well-paid employment
  D. encourage the current generation to work as hard as the previous generation
61. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
  A. The US is a land where brains, energy and ambition are what counts.
  B. Inequality persists between whites and blacks in financial gains.
  C. Middle-class families earn slightly less with inflation considered.
  D. Children in lowest-income families manage to climb a single rung of the ladder.
62. What might be the best title for this passage?
  A. Social Upward Mobility.        B. Incredible Income Gains.
  C. Inequality in Wealth.       D. America Not Land of Opportunity.
D
Dorothy was in a bit of a quandary (不知所措). She was undecided about whether she should go or not, but she had worn out all of her excuses. The only solution was to seek support, so she rang a friend. “I’m just going to the university to donate blood. What do you think? Does that sound like a good idea to you? ”After some communication and persuasion, Xiaohui agreed to go too.
On arrival at the university clinic, they found about 20 other students also donating blood. Their primary task was to register with the nurse. She started by interviewing each of them for a few minutes and filling in a form. Then she used a surprisingly sharp small razor to take a spot of blood from each of them to check their blood group. Both of them felt a little nervous but they did their best not to show it.