辽宁省沈阳市东北育才双语学校2013-2014学年高一下学期期中考试英语试题答题时间：120分钟满分：150分命题人：高一英语组校对人：高一英语组第一部分阅读理解（共两节，满分40分）第一节（共15小题；每小题2分，满分30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。

AIt was a Sunday and the heavy storm had lasted all night. The morning after the storm, though, was beautiful blue skies, warm air and a calm, inviting sea touching the shore gently.My father realized it was a good day for fishing and invited my sister and me to go with him.I was only 14 and fishing had never been my thing, but I decided to go all the same. I’m so glad I did.On the road to the harbour we could see the terrible destruction on the coast, but the harbour itself was in fairly good shape. After all, it was protected by the arms of a bay that had only one tiny channel to the sea. As we got on board, we noticed two big humps(脊背) in the distance.On approaching them, we saw it was a mother whale with her baby. We couldn’t believe it — there aren’t any whales along the coast here. The storm must have driven them across the ocean into the bay, in which the still water was so badly polluted that nothing could survive.The little baby whale —actually as big as our boat —was obviously stuck and could not move. The mother dived under the water and came up suddenly, making big whirlpools(漩涡) and waves. “She’s trying to help her baby, but on the wrong side.” my father said. At this point, my father moved our boat in a semicircle to the other side and, heading the boat towards the baby whale, pushed it gently. With our several gentle pushes, the big hump turned over and disappeared under water. Then it swam up right beside its mum. They struggled in their desperate attempts to escape but missed the exit and started heading in the wrong direction. We hurried up to the whales and tried to lead them towards the bay channel. Slowly, they let us lead them, sometimes rising from the water right beside us to breathe — and to give us a trusting look with those huge eyes. Once they hit their first part of clean water flowing straight from the sea, the mum gave us a wave with her tail and off they swam into the distance.In the excitement it had felt like only a few minutes, but we had been with those wonderful animals for almost an hour and a half. That was the simple and lasting beauty of the day. Nearly four decades later, I still look back fondly to that golden day at sea.1. The author says “I’m so glad I did. “ (in Para. 2) because __________.A. he witnessed the whole process of fishingB. he enjoyed the beauty of the calm seaC. he experienced the rescue of the whalesD. he spent the weekend with his family2. The harbour survived the storm owing to______.A. the shape of the harbourB. the arms of the bayC. the still water in the channelD. the long coast line3. The mother whale failed to help her baby because __________.A. she had stayed in the polluted water for too longB. the whirlpools she had made were not big enoughC. she had no other whales around to turn to for helpD. the waves pushed her baby in the wrong direction4. What is the theme of the story?A. Saving lives brings people a sense of happinessB. Fishing provides excitement for childrenC. It’s necessary to live in harmony with animalsD. It’s vital to protect the environmentBThe Coalition for the Homeless is an organization that seeks to address the needs of the homeless population in the United States. It is a network of offices, some of which provide food and houses for the homeless population, and some of which fight for the passing of laws that of over two hundred million people living in the United States, up to three million are homeless —and the number is still growing. Since the late 1970s,fast rising house prices, large cuts in government supported housing programs, and economic recession (经济衰退) have made it impossible for many Americans to meet housing costs.Sadly, this has resulted in a number of persons being forced to leave their homes and/or unable to find new affordable homes. According to another research, families with children appear to be the fastest-growing part of the homeless population, making up 39% of it.A. talk aboutB. deal withC. fight forD. write to6. How many people are homeless in the U.S. according to the Coalition studies?A. 39% of the population.B. 200 million people.C. About 3 million people.D. About one-fifth of the population.7. Homeless people often have difficulty finding a job because .A. they have no home addressesB. they mostly have a drinking problemC. they aren’t supported by government programsD. they often don’t have enough work experience8. What is the main cause of the rising number of the homeless in the U.S.?A. The passing of new housing laws.B. The fast growth of family size.C. The slow construction of houses.D. The ever-rising price of housing.C“Blogging is helping students to think and write more critically(批评地),”says an Australian researcher, “and can help draw out people who would otherwise not engage in debate.”These are the preliminary findings of PHD research by Anne Bartlett-Bragg, a lecturer at the University of Technology, Sydney, who has been using weblogs or blogs in her own teaching since 2001.“The students are thinking more critically.” she says, “They are learning to be responsibleand they’re communicating outside the boundari es of the classroom and the institution, and they like that. “Bartlett-Bragg says in conventional teaching, students often rely on the lecturer as the main source of ideas and critique (评论)for their work. “I’m a bit over listening to my students giving me back in an essay what I’ve told them in class.”she says. “I want them to think for themselves and get different pers pectives.”“What makes blogs useful is their interactive nature.” she says. These web-based forums(论坛)for discussing ideas, experiences or opinions allow students to discuss publicly what they are studying with other students and experts outside their own university. “I really encoura ge them to put their personal opinion in there, provided they are informed and backed up with evidence.” Bartlett-Bragg says because a lot of academics in her field of electronic or e-learning now have their own blogs, students can engage directly with them.She says one of the most powerful facilities in weblogs is pinging, which involves a person positing a comment about someone else’s work on their own blog. They use the “Trackback” tool to notify the author when they have published the comment, basically inviting them to discuss it.“They get such a buzz when they make a comment on another person outside the boundaries of the institution and that person responds, or even gives them some further reading.” she says. “They are getting new perspectives that I can’t give them in a normal lecture.”9. What Bartlett-Bragg likes most is that blogs can help students to ______. .A. think for themselvesB. have stronger sense of responsibilityC. know more about the world outsideD. finish an essay assignment easily10. Bartlett-Brag would like her students to _______.A. make comments on her teachingB. spend more time on the webC. be taught in a conventional wayD. get new ideas from the web-based forums11. The “Trackback” tool is us ed to _______. .A. exchange views with the authorB. inform the author of a newly published commentC. invite the author to replyD. send a comment to the author12. Bartlett-Bragg’s attitude towards introducing blogs into teaching i s _______. .A. criticB. doubtfulC. supportiveD. neutral13.The fourth paragraph mainly talks about_________.A. the special nature of blogsB. the popularity of blogsC. the advantages of blogsD. Bartlett-Bragg’s teaching stylesDIt is hardly surprising that clothing manufacturers follow certain uniform standards for various features of clothes. What seems strange, however, is that the standard adopted for women is the opposite of the one for men. Take a look at the way your clothes button. Men’s clothes tend to button from the right, and women’s form the left. Considering most of the word’s population –men and women –are right-handed, the men’s standard would appear to make more sense for women. So why do women’s clothes button from the left?History really seems to matter here. Buttons first appeared only on the clothes of the rich in the 17th century, when rich women were dressed by servants. For the mostly right-handed servants, having women’s shirts button from the left would be easier. On the other hand, having men’s shirts button form the right made sense, too. Most men dressed themselves, and a sworddrawn from the left with the right hand would be less likely to get caught in the shirt.14.What is surprising about the standard of the clothing industry?A. It has been followed by the industry for over 400 years.B. It is different for men’s clothing and women’s.C. It woks better with men than with women.D. It fails to consider right-handed people.15. What do we know about the rich men in the 17th century?A. They tended to wear clothes without buttons.B. They were interested in the historical matters.C. They were mostly dressed by servants.D. They drew their swords from the left.第二节（共5小题；每小题2分，满分10分）根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。