初三英语阅读竞赛     

班级________ 姓名 _________

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A

When I learned that my 71-year-old mother was playing Scrabble – a word game – against herself, I knew I had to do something. My husband suggested we give her a computer to play against. I wasn’t sure my mother was ready for it. After all, it had taken 10 years to persuade her to buy an electric cooker. Even so, we packed up our old computer and delivered it to my parents’ home. And so began my mother’s adventure in the world of computers.

    It also marked the beginning of an unusual teaching task for me. I’ve taught people of all ages, but I never thought I would be teaching my mother how to do anything. She has been the one teaching me all my life: to cook and sew; to enjoy the good times and put up with the bad. Now it was my turn to give something back.

    It wasn’t easy at the beginning. There was so much to explain and to introduce. Slowly but surely, my mother caught on, making notes in a little notebook. After a few months of Scrabble and other games, I decided it was time to introduce her to word processing(文字处理). This proved to be a bigger challenge(挑战) to her, so I gave her some homework I asked her to write me a letter, using different letter types, colors and spaces.

    “Are you demanding with your kindergarten pupils?” she asked.

    “No, of course not,” I said. “They already know how to use a computer.”

     My mother isn’t the only one experiencing a fast personal growth period. Thanks to the computer, my father has finally got over his phone allergy(过敏反应). For as long as I can remember, any time I called, my mother would answer. Dad and I have had more phone conversations in the last two months than we’ve had in the past 20 years.

1. What does the author do?

A. She is a cook.  B. She is a teacher.  C. She is a housewife.  D. She is a computer engineer.

2. The author decided to give her mother a computer ______________.    

A. to let her have more chances to write letters    B. to support her in doing her homework

 C. to help her through the bad times            D. to make her life more enjoyable

3. The author asked her mother to write her a letter                .

A. because her mother had stopped using the telephone

B. because she wanted to keep in touch with her mother

C. so that her mother could practice what she had learned

D. so that mother could be free from housework

4. After the computer was brought home, the author’s father             .

A. lost interest in cooking  B. took more phone calls C. played more games  D. began to use it

B

My mother believed you could be anything you wanted to be in America. You could open a restaurant. You could work for the government and get good retirement benefits. You could be rich. You could become famous.

"Of course you can be a talented child or what they call a wonder girl, too." My mother told me when I was nine. "You can be best at anything."

Every night after dinner, my mother presented tests, taking examples from stories of amazing children she had read in Believe It or Not , Good Housekeeping , Readers’ Digest and some others. She looked through the magazines, searching for stories about remarkable children.

The first night she brought out a story about a three-year-old boy. He knew capitals of all states and could also pronounce the names of foreign cities correctly.

"What’s the capital of Finland?" Mother asked me. But all I knew was the capital of California.

The tests got harder -- multiplying (乘) numbers in my head, standing on my head without using my hands, predicting the daily temperature in Los Angeles, New York or London and etc.

One night I had to look at a page from the Bible for three minutes and then report everything I could remember. After seeing my mother’s disappointments once again, something inside of me began to die. I began to hate the tests, the raised hopes and failed expectations. Before going to bed that night, I looked in the mirror. When I saw only my face staring back and it would always be this ordinary face -- I began to cry. Such a sad, ugly girl!

And then I saw what seemed to be the talented side of me. I looked at the reflection (映像) blinking ,so I could see more clearly. The girl was angry, powerful. This girl and I were the same. I had new thoughts, thoughts filled with lots of won’t. I won’t let her change me. I won’t be what I am not.

5. The mother’s belief was that in the U. S. ______.

A. everyone had a chance to realize his dream   B. a talented child could always rise to the top

C. ordinary children were wonder children    D. there were many ways for people to get rich

6. The mother gave the writer tests to make sure that ____.

A. she had any improvement in her study   B. she had a good memory

C. she was as talented as expected         D. she was good at reading

7. The writer hated the tests because ____.

A. she didn’t like standing on her head       B. she was poor in numbers

C. she found it difficult to remember details   D. she thought the tests were too much for her

8. We can infer that the writer would ____.

A. be angry with her mother             B. try to be nothing but herself

C. refuse to do any test                 D. meet her mother’s expectations

C

We are all called upon to make a speech at some point in life, but most of us don’t do a very good job. This article gives some suggestions on how to give an effective speech.

So, you have to give a speech—and you are terrified. You get nervous, you forget what you want to say, you talk too long, and you bore your audience. Later you think, “Thank Goodness, it’s over. I’m just not good at public speaking. I hope I never have to do that again.”

Cheep up! It doesn’t have to be that bad. Here are some simple steps to take the pain out of speech making. Ask yourself the purpose of your speech. What is the occasion（场合）? Why are you speaking? Then, gather as many facts as you can on your subject. Spend plenty of your time doing your research. Then spend plenty of your time organizing your material so that your speech is clear and easy to follow. Use as many examples as possible, and use pictures, charts, and graphs if they help you make your points more clearly. Never forget your audience. Don’t talk over their heads, and don’t talk down to them. Treat your audience with respect. They will appreciate your thoughtfulness.

Just remember: Be prepared. Know your subject, your audience, and the occasion. Be brief. Say what you have to say and then stop. And be yourself. Let your personality come through so that you make person-to-person contact （接触）with your audience.

If you follow these simple steps, you will see that you don’t have to be afraid of public speaking. In fact, you may find the experience so enjoyable that you volunteer to make more speeches! You’re not convinced (信服)yet? Give it a try and see what happens.

9．Paragraph 2 implies that         .

                                       A. many people are afraid of giving a speech    B. many people are happy to give a speech

C. many people don’t prepare for a speech      D. many people talk too long

10．The phrase “talk over their heads” means         .

A. speak too loudly                                B. look at the ceiling

C. look down upon them                         D. use words and ideas that are too difficult

11．All of the following statements are TRUE except         .

                                       A. only a few people know how to make good speeches

                                       B. a lecturer does not need to organize his speech

                                       C. research is important in preparing a speech

                                       D. there are simple steps you can take to improve your speaking ability

12．The title for this passage may be         .

                                       A．Do Not Make a Long Speech                B．How to Give a Good Speech

                                       C．How to Prepare for a Speech                D．Try to Enjoy a Speech

D

The most frightening words in the English language are, “Our computer is down.” You hear it more and more when you are on business. The other day I was at the airport waiting for a ticket to Washington and the girl in the ticket office said, “I'm sorry, I can't sell you a ticket. Our computer is down.”

“If your computer is down, just write me out a ticket.”

“I can't write you out a ticket. The computer is the only one allowed to do so.”

I looked down on the computer and every passenger was just standing there drinking coffee and staring at the black screen. Then I asked her, “What do all you people do?”

“We give the computer the information about your trip, and then it tells us whether you can fly with us or not.”

“So when it goes down, you go down with it.”

“That's good, sir.”

“How long will the computer be down?” I wanted to know.

“I have no idea. Sometimes it's down for 10 minutes, sometimes for two hours. There's no way we can find out without asking the computer, and since it's down it won't answer us.”

After the girl told me they had no backup(备用) computer, I said.“Let's forget the computer. What about your planes? They're still flying, aren't they?”

“I couldn’t tell without asking the computer.”

“Maybe I could just go to the gate and ask the pilot if he’s flying to Washington, ” I suggested.

“I wouldn't know what gate to send you to. Even if the pilot was going to Washington, he couldn't take you if you didn't have a ticket.”

“Is there any other airline flying to Washington within the next few hours?”

“I wouldn't know, ” she said, pointing at the dark screen. “Only ‘IT' knows. ‘It' can't tell me.”

By this time there were quite a few people standing in lines. The word soon spread to other travelers that the computer was down. Some people went white, some people started to cry and still others kicked their luggage.

13. The best title for the article is _______.

A. When the Computer Is Down                       B. The Most Frightening Words

C. The Computer of the Airport                              D. Asking the Computer

14. What could the girl in the ticket office do for the passengers without asking the computer?   

A. She could sell a ticket.                                B. She could write out a ticket.

C. She could answer the passengers' questions.  D. She could do nothing.

15. Why do you think they had not a backup computer?   

A. Because it was easy down.　　　                  B. Because it was very expensive.

C. Because it was not advanced enough.   D. Because it was not as big as the main computer.

16. The last paragraph suggests that ______.

A. a modern computer won't be down.　　         B. computers can take the place of humans

C. sometimes a computer may bring suffering to people

D. there will be great changes in computers

E

My house is made out of wood, glass and stone. It is also made out of software.

If you come to visit, you’ll probably be surprised when you come in. Someone will give you an electronic PIN（个人身份号码）to wear. This PIN tells the house who and where you are. The house uses this information to give you what you need. When it’s dark outside, the PIN turns on the lights nearest you, and then turns them off as you walk away from them. Music moves with you too. If the house knows your favorite music, it plays it. The music seems to be everywhere, but in fact other people in the house hear different music or no music. If you get a telephone call, only the nearest telephone rings.

Of course, you are also able to tell the house if you want something. There is a home control console (控制台), a small machine that turns things on and off around you.

The PIN and the console are new ideas, but they are in fact like many things we have today. If you want to go to a movie, you need a ticket. If I give you my car keys, you can use my car. The car works for you because you have the keys. My house works for you because you wear the PIN or hold the console.

I believe that ten years from now, most new homes will have the systems that I’ve put in my house. The systems will probably be even bigger and better than the ones I’ve put in today.

I like to try new ideas. I know that some of my ideas will work better than others. But I hope that one day I will stop thinking of these systems as new, and ask myself instead, “ How will I live without them?”

17. What does the passage mainly discuss?   

A. How to develop a new system.                   B. The function of the PIN.  

C. A home for the future.                    D. Easy life in the future.

18. What’s the purpose when the writer wrote the fourth paragraph?

A. To let readers know why his ideas are new.  B. To let readers know how special his house is.

C. To explain the importance of the PIN and the console.

D. To explain more easily what the functions of the PIN and the console are.

19. The writer’s new house is different from ordinary ones mainly because________.

A. it has been controlled by computers     B. you can make a telephone call anywhere

C. it has your favorite music following you

D. the writer is able to change his new idea into practice

20. What is the writer most likely to be according to the passage?

A. An IT expert.  B. A famous doctor. C. An idealist(理想主义者) D. An experienced teacher.