高考

Ⅰ.阅读理解(人物故事类+科普研究类)

A

(2014·河北唐山一模)

Helen Thomas, the pioneering White House reporter known for putting presidents on the hot seat, died at 92.

To those who regularly watch presidential press conferences, Helen Thomas is a familiar figure. Usually dressed in red and always seated in the front row, she is always the first or second reporter the president calls upon. It is an honor she has earned. Besides, it affords her the perfect opportunity to do what she does best—challenge the president and other public officials to tell the plain truth. She said, “We reporters' priority(首要事情) is the people's right to know—without fear or favor. We are the people's servants.”

Helen Thomas was born in Kentucky in 1920. All the nine Thomas children were brought up to value education, and all were expected to make something of themselves through working hard.She made up her mind while still in high school to become a reporter after writing for the student newspaper. After receiving her bachelor's degree in 1942, Thomas headed straight for Washington D.C., in search of a newspaper job. Before long，she landed one at Washington Daily News.Her duty included fetching coffee and doughnuts for the paper's reporters and editors.The eager young woman found the atmosphere exciting and was convinced she had made the right career choice.

Her big break came when she was sent to Florida to report on the vacation of President-elect John F. Kennedy and his family. Once President Kennedy took office, Thomas changed her focus from the president's family to his policies. She began attending the daily press briefings at the White House as well as presidential press conferences. Thomas has covered every president since Kennedy. Over the years, Thomas found her job “thrilling and inspiring”， but never boring. And she took very seriously her duty to “keep an eye on the president” and keep American people informed.

1.What can we learn about Helen Thomas from the passage?

A.Her career took off after covering the Kennedys.

B.Her first job was to deliver doughnuts to a news agency.

C.She was born to a large family in Kentucky in 1942.

D.She decided to be a reporter while in college.

2. Paragraph 3 is written to show Helen Thomas ________.

A.is a good decision-maker for her career

B.appreciates education and hard work

C.wants to be famous by writing reports

D.has great support from her family

3. What does Helen Thomas think of her work?

A.Unbearable. B.Exciting.

C.Challenging. D.Unforgettable.

4. What can be the best title for the text?

A.A reporter sticking to the facts

B.A reporter challenging President Kennedy

C.A reporter from an ordinary family

D.A reporter for Washington Daily News

答案：

【语篇解读】　美国记者海伦·托马斯辞世，享年92岁。她采访过约翰·肯尼迪后的历任美国总统，而且以问题尖锐著称。她以让人民了解事实为宗旨，以过人的执著、勇气、正直和激情诠释了职业良知。

1.A　解析：细节理解题。根据最后一段的第一句“Her big break came when she was sent to Florida to report on the vacation of President-elect John F.Kennedy and his family”可知，在采访了肯尼迪及其家人之后，海伦的事业开始腾飞。

2.B　解析：写作意图题。根据第三段的第二句“All the nine Thomas children were brought up to value education，and all were expected to make something of themselves through working hard”及对海伦经历的介绍可知，第三段的内容表明海伦重视教育及努力工作。

3.B　解析：细节理解题。根据第三段的最后一句“The eager young woman found the atmosphere exciting”以及最后一段倒数第二句中的“Thomas found her job ‘thrilling and inspiring'，but never boring”可知，海伦觉得她的工作很令人兴奋。

4.A　解析：主旨大意题。本文主要介绍了为了让公众了解事实而向历任美国总统尖锐发问的记者海伦·托马斯，因此A项为最佳标题。

B

(2014·河南开封高三第一次摸底考试)

Personal Background

Steve Jobs

Apple Computer

3-year return: 26%

Age: 42

CEO since: 1997

Here's a guy with enough knowledge, ability and brainpower to effectively hold down two CEO jobs at once and do a pretty amazing job at both. We've listed him for his post at Apple, but of course Steve Jobs also runs Pixar, the animation company.

Coming in after a $ 1 billion loss in fiscal 1997, Jobs turned a $106 million profit—38 percent above Wall Street's consensus target. A lot of credit goes to a very simple idea: make computers in different colors. Jobs was the only one who thought to make it happen. The colorful mid-priced iMac has also succeeded by playing down the compatibility (兼容性) problem. Apple positioned it as the machine for the Internet, where compatibility questions are no big deal. Behind the scenes, Jobs streamlined the product line, and also did a whole series of work for improving and selling the production. Meanwhile，over at Pixar, A Bug's Life nabbed a total $159 million in domestic box office, the highest domestic animated take since Toy Story and third highest ever, after Toy Story and the leader, The Lion King.

Business philosophy: “The technology isn't the hard part. The hard part is: who's going to buy it. How are they going to buy it? How do you tell them about it?”

How he got the job: the Apple board begged him to return.

Management style: at Apple, Jobs is a micromanager—some say nanomanager who changes mood suddenly and unexpectedly. Virtually every decision goes by him. At any time, 10,000 employees are wondering, “What would Steve say?” not “What is the right thing to do?” said a former Apple executive. At Pixar, realizing that he isn't a film visionary, he leaves the experts to their knitting.

Financial reward: his Apple rewards are minimal—a salary of one dollar a year so that his family is eligible for the health plan. But his 69 percent share of Pixar is worth about $ 1.3 billion.

—selected from a newspaper

5. According to the passage, the following adjectives can be used to describe Jobs EXCEPT ________.

A.creative B.easy-going

C.demanding D.distinguished

6. We can learn from the passage that ________.

A.Jobs can work well in every field

B.the colorful iMac is accepted for its low price

C.Jobs makes a big difference at Apple as a designer

D.the technology is more important than business idea

7. The underlined word “nabbed” in Paragraph 2 probably means “________”.

A.pulled up B.brought in

C.went through D.handed over

8. What does the author mainly want to tell us?

A.Jobs is the richest man in the world.

B.Jobs is a giant of electronic products.

C.Jobs spends most of his time at Pixar.

D.Jobs can get much money a year as his salary.

（责任编辑：何以笙箫默）