辽宁省葫芦岛市第一高级中学2017-2018学年高二英语下学期期中试题满分：120分考试时间:100 分钟第I卷第一部分：听力（略）第二部分：阅读理解（共两节；满分40分）第一节（共15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。

AWant a journey that is really more interesting than the destination? Then you might want to fly to one of these airports.The runway where planes have been known to drop off a cliffTaking off at the Matekane airstrip (飞机跑道) in Lesotho, South Africa, is a frightening experience, as the plane soars over an about 600-metre cliff face after taking off.Matekane's runway sits 2,286 metres up on a mountain gully (沟渠), so it takes nerves of steel to both land and take off. If a plane doesn't manage to pick up enough speed on the 400 metre-long airstrip, it falls off the cliff before it takes flight.The ice runwayMany travellers find plane landings a terrifying enough prospect ordinarily, but imagine if the runway were made of ice!That's a reality for anyone flying into Doris Lake Aerodrome --- a privately owned ice runway located on Doris Lake in Nunavut, Canada. The small airport is open from January to April and it mainly operates for gold mining.The failed runwayThe French tried to build a concrete airstrip at their Dumont D' Urville research station in the Antarctic more than two decades ago.But they failed when the area was badly damaged by a storm, just months before its pletion.Work was stopped because attempts to rebuild the airstrip would have negatively affected local wildlife, but small aircraft still use the long, snow-free area to land.The inner-city water airstripVancouver's seaplane terminal in Canada is home to the world's largest all-seaplane airline.Flying down at high speed and then landing on water is exciting enough for most passengers, but what really makes this particular port so special is its location. It's located in the middle of downtown Vancouver, among the city's tallest skyscrapers.21. What is special about the Matekane airstrip?A. It is constructed on ice.B. It is open for one month every April.C. It was built for scientific research.D. It is on the edge of a cliff.22. Where is the inner-city water airstrip located?A. In CanadaB. In FranceC. In South AfricaD. In the Antarctic23. Due to the environmental protection factor, ________ was never pleted.A. the runway on Doris LakeB. the runway at the Dumont D' Urville research stationC. the airstrip in the middle of downtown VancouverD. the Matekane airstrip in LescoBWhen I flew into this country, the sides of the runway were littered with destroyed aircraft, large and small. On the seven-hour drive to our hospital, we passed old stone houses built into the sides of mountains with seemingly normal country life going on in the small villages, and I wished I were visiting this place as a tourist. But the conflict, which has been ongoing for almost two years, is impossible to ignore: we saw broken-down bridge, destroyed overpasses (天桥) a nd pieces of shrapnel (弹片) everywhere.You can hear shooting and air attacks throughout the day and night in the hospital. You very quickly get to know the direction of the shooting. I couldn’t help but think about the people living in this situation for much longer than I have, trying to get on with their normal lives surrounded by conflict and fear. The markets are running, and there are people in the streets, but you never know when and where there’s going to be an air attack. It’s very sad to think about the fear that they are forced to live with.Our hospital is in a building originally intended as a hotel. Our focus is on children and reproductive health services.I’ll never forget the first twins delivered at the hospital. They were born at just seven months to a young first-time mother, and were small enough to hold in the palm of my hand. Because they were so premature, the chance of their survival was low, but the staff finally saved their lives. And seven weeks later we discharged two very healthy twins, Ola and Osman. Their parents were so appreciative --- it was a j oy to see the satisfaction on their mother’s and father’s faces as they left the hospital.It’s amazing to see the direction of the local health staff. The war is affecting them and their families, yet they still show up for work, sometimes crossing frontlines to get there.24. What does the author want to tell us in the first paragraph?A. The country is heavily affected by war.B. The country isn’t worth visiting for tourists.C. The villages are full of destroyed building.D. It took the author a long time to get to the country by air.25. The hospital is ___________.A. quite far away from the frontlineB. built for child delivery and mother careC. built in a hotel to protect it from air attacksD. a place for the homeless to live temporarily26. What happened to the twins?A. They were born early.B. Their mother died after their birth.C. They were abandoned during the war.D. They grew up in the hospital.27. What is the author’s attitude towards the local doctor s and nurses?A. AshamedB. DisappointedC. AdmiringD. EnviousCHumanoid robots were out of fashion at this year's BoboBusiness, the annual exhibition in San Jose, California, which claims to be the most important robotics event in the world. However, the iPal, a child-size robot designed to take over adult responsibilities, was an exception.The three-foot tall iPal has wide eyes, working fingers, and a touchscreen tablet on its chest. It can talk with children, answer questions like "why is the sun hot?", and provide video chat for absent parents."It's a robot for children, " said Avatar Mind founder, Jiping Wang. "It' s mainly for panionship." The iPal, he said, could keep children aged three to eight occupied for " a couple of hours" without ad ult supervision.The iPal takes the debate over the automation of human jobs to the next level. The ethics of how robots should interact with children is necessarily more fraught than the ethics of robots in the workforce. Childcare has rarely, if eve r, been a respected job, but it is essential.Noel Sharkey, an emeritus (名誉) professor of robotics and artificial intelligence at the University of Sheffield, has been raising concerns about robotic nannies (保姆) since2008."Robot are a great educational tool for children. It inspires them to learn about science and engineering," Sharkey told the Guardian in March. "But they do not have the sensitivity or understanding needed for childcare."The iPal will be available to Chinese consumers by the end of the year, Wang said. He hopes to start selling it in the United States next year. The robot has been tested in China. Wang said , "80% love it, 15% have no reaction, and 5% are scared." Of course,not all of the innovations (创新) on display at RobotBusiness are so alarming.The Obi, for example, bines a special plate with a motorized arm to help people with disabilities feed themselves. The Obi does not replace a caretaker ---someone still needs to cook the meal and serve it---but it does allow its user more independence.28. What do we know about the iPal from the passage?A. It was designed to take care of the disabled or old.B. It is not very popular with Chinese children.C. It is to be sold in American stores by the end of this year.D. It can help parents babysit their children when they're away.29. The underlined word in the fourth paragraph can be replaced by ________.A. attractiveB. cheerfulC. worryingD. popular30. What does Professor Sharkey think of robotic nannies?A. They cannot replace real nannies.B. They are intelligent and have feeling.C. They are good for the moral development of children.D. They can teach children about science and engineering.31. What might be the best title for the passage?A. Ready for the Robot Revolution?B. Robots Will Soon Be Raising Children in AmericaC. A Robot Babysitter Is Launched at BoboBusinessD. What will Happen When Robots Can Do All the Human Jobs?DReintroducing beaver(海狸) to Britain could help clean up rivers, prevent flooding and minimise soil loss, an expert has claimed.Professors Richard Brazier, a researcher at the University of Exeter, said unpublished results from a trial area in Devon showed muddy water entering an area where beavers were living was three times cleaner when it left. "Our trial has shown that the beavers are able to dam(筑坝) our streams in a way that keeps soil in the headwaters of our catchment(流域) so it doesn't block up rivers downstream and pollute our drinking and bathing waters. If we bring beavers back it's just one tool we need to solve Britain's crisis of soil loss and agriculture pollution of waterways, but it's a useful tool," he said.Prof Brazier's claims were disputed by the National Farmers' Union (NFU), which warned that the reintroduction of beavers to Scotland had led to fields and forests being damaged. Spokesman Mark Pope said:"The knowledge of the impacts be avers have had on farmland, riverbanks and flood defenses in Scotland is concerning. We await the results of the Devon trial and will analyze the outes then."Prof Brazier, an expert in Earth Surface Processes, insisted the animals could even play a useful role in preventing flooding. He told BBC News:" The public is currently paying people to build leaky dams to keep storm waters in the uplands. The beavers can do it free of charge and even build their own homes."However, Professor Jane Rickson, a soil specialist from Cranfield University, Bedfordshire, joined the NFU in sounding a note of caution. She agreed that in some places in the UK there was evidence of worrying soil loss, and said new policies were urgently needed. Beavers may in fact reduce th e river channel and remove vegetation, exposing banks to greater erosion(侵蚀) and increasing, rather than decreasing, the risk of flooding, she warned. And she said beaver dams should be "leaky" to avoid build-ups of large volumes of waters.32. How do beavers help clean up rivers, prevent flooding and minimise soil loss?A. By damaging their dams to avoid build-ups of large volumes of water.B. By protecting the forests or fields.C. By building their own homes in the riverbank.D. By building dams in their own way.33. What can we learn from the passage?A. Beavers can't clean up rivers.B. Mark Pope supports Professor Richard Brazier.C. The scientists haven't decided to introduce beavers.D. Beavers have positive effects on agriculture.34. Professor Jane Rickson didn't agree with Professor Richard Brazier because she thought that _____.A. beaver dams are not leakyB. beavers couldn't decrease the risk of floodingC. it would take a lot of time to introduce beaversD. the environment problems were extremely serious35. In which section of a website can you most probably find this passage?A. TechnologyB. EnvironmentC. EducationD. Culture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。