第一部分　选修 8　Unit 4

　　Ⅰ.阅读理解

　　A

　　(2024湖南师大附中高三上学期第三次月考，B)

　　On a cold winter day in Denver, I waited in line to see my hero, Jack Canfield, the co-author of the best-selling Chicken Soup for the Soul series and the author of The Success Principles.What Jack had become was a version of what I wanted to be.

　　During his talk, Jack reached for his wallet, pulled out a hundred-dollar bill, and said, “Who wants this？”

　　Hands shot up in the audience; people leaned forward to see whom Jack would choose.But I ran up the stairs to the stage and grabbed the bill from his hand.He turned to me and said, “Yes, that's it! Instead of waiting around for opportunities, simply take the initiative and create what we want！”

　　After this week, I asked for his personal e-mail address and sent him e-mail sharing my views and dreams.He kindly e-mailed back simple encouragement such as “Keep thinking and playing bigger; it's much more fun that way.Love, Jack.” Then I got occupied with other things in life and I stopped e-mail Jack.

　　A year later, my dream gradually faded.I had this idea if I got back in touch with Jack.I e-mailed him again and again but got no response.As I sat down at my computer to check my e-mail for the fifth time in 15 minutes, an inspiration came like lighting: What was I doing? Was I waiting for the prize of life? I knew I needed to do something about all this waiting.I was going to write a book, which I would call “Waiting for Jack”！

　　It all sounded good, but then reality hit.Some nights I cried and wanted to give up.I wrote and rewrote.Even though I could feel the fear, I did it anyway.Fortunately, three years later, Waiting for Jack turns out a best-seller on Amazon!

　　We all have a “Jack” for whom we wait—whether it's a person, a place or a thing.Now I would like to ask you: what are you waiting for?

　　()1.From the first paragraph we can learn that the author ________.

　　A．wanted Jack to autograph her book

　　B．wanted to be as successful as Jack

　　C．wanted to make friends with Jack

　　D．wanted to get help from Jack

　　()2.It can be inferred from the passage that Jack Canfield is probably a person who ________.

　　A．enjoys playing a lot

　　B．likes showing off his wealth

　　C．seldom takes risks

　　D．welcomes challenges in life

　　()3.How did the author lose contact with Jack?

　　A．She and Jack had an argument.

　　B．She had no time to contact Jack.

　　C．Jack was too proud to get along with.

　　D．She was too upset with her broken dream.

　　()4.What might be the theme of the book Waiting for Jack?

　　A．The disappointment of waiting for her hero Jack.

　　B．The need to keep waiting for the prize of our life.

　　C．The importance of taking action to achieve a goal.

　　D．The harm of blindly worshipping others as heroes.

　　【主旨大意】本文为记叙文，题材为故事阅读类。本文通过作者等待畅销书作家“杰克”的邮件的同时，开始创作一本名为《等待杰克》的书成为亚马逊网的热门书的故事，告诉我们在我们的人生中，每个人都有一个等待的目标，仅仅等待是不够的，而要行动。

　　1．【答案】B

　　【解析】推理判断题。根据第四段“I asked for his personal e-mail address and sent him e-mail sharing my views and dreams”可以推知作者的dream是和Jack一样成功。

　　2．【答案】D

　　【解析】推理判断题。根据第四段“Keep thinking and playing bigger; it's much more fun that way.Love, Jack.”他回复作者的邮件说要他“保持梦想并且挑战更多，那样更有趣”，可以看出Jack本人喜欢挑战。

　　3．【答案】B

　　【解析】细节理解题。根据第四段“Then I got occupied with other things in life and I stopped e-mail Jack”可以知道她写完邮件之后一直忙于别的事情停止了给Jack写邮件。所以正确答案是B。

　　4．【答案】C

　　【解析】主旨大意题。根据文章的后三段可以得知，作者停止了“等待”，自己着手写了一本书并成为畅销书的故事来阐明本文的主题：要达到自己的目标，最重要的是采取行动。

　　B

　　(2024辽宁实验中学高三上学期阶段测试，C)

　　When should people be made to retire? 55? 65? Should there be a compulsory age limit?

　　Many old people work well into their 70s and 80s, running families, countries or corporations.Other people, however, despite being fit and highly talented, are forced to retire in their fifties or even earlier because of the regulations of a company or the nation.This essay will examine whether people should be allowed to continue working as long as they want or whether they should be encouraged to retire at a particular stage.

　　Some people think there are several arguments for allowing older people to continue working as long as they are able.First of all, older employees have an immense amount of knowledge and experience which can be lost to a business or organization if they are made to retire.A second point is that older employees are often extremely loyal employees and are more willing to carry out company policies than younger less committed staff.However, a more important point is regarding the attitudes in society to old people.To force someone to resign or retire at 60 indicates that the society does not value the input of these people and that effectively their useful life is over.Age is irrelevant to a working life, surely if older employees are told they cannot work after 60, this is age discrimination.That they become old does not necessarily mean they are going to be sick.Old people could be more aware, experienced and committed than some youngsters.

　　Others, however, think that allowing older people to work indefinitely is not a good policy.Age alone is no guarantee of ability.Old people are only ambitious workaholics who are too selfish and self-centered to believe that a younger person could do better.Actually, many younger employees have more experience or skills than older staff, who may have been stuck in one area or unfit for most of their working lives.Having compulsory retirement allows new ideas in an organization.In addition, without age limits, however, many people would continue to work purely because they did not have any other plans or roles.A third point of view is that older people should be rewarded by society for their life's labor by being given generous pensions and the freedom to enjoy their leisure.We now have youngsters who can't find jobs because old people are choosing not to retire.Old people are not retiring because this new generation of “old people” think they will never die due to modern advances in medicine.

　　With many young people unemployed or frustrated in low-level positions, there are often calls to compulsorily retire older workers.However, this can affect the older individual's freedom and right to work and can deprive(剥夺) society of valuable experience and insights.I feel that giving workers more flexibility and choice over their retirement age will benefit society and the individual.

　　()5.What is the purpose of this passage?

　　A．To explain the compulsory age limit.

　　B．To discuss the retirement age.

　　C．To examine people's working life.

　　D．To introduce a particular stage.

　　()6.Which of the following is NOT a reason for allowing old people to continue working according to the passage?

　　A．Their contribution should be valued.

　　B．Their experience should be made use of.

　　C．They can help the youngsters.

　　D．They are loyal employees.

　　()7.What can be inferred in the fourth passage?

　　A．The young people have more creative spirits.

　　B．Modern advances in medicine make old people never die.

　　C．Pensions and freedom are not given to the old now.

　　D．Old people believe that a younger person could do better.

　　【主旨大意】文章从正反两面讨论了是否应该设定退休年龄限制。最后作者认为应该给予职工有弹性的退休年龄，更有利于社会和个人。

　　5．【答案】B

　　【解析】细节理解题。根据全文，作者是在讨论退休年龄限制的问题。所以选B，而不应该选A(解释强制退休规定)。

　　6．【答案】C

　　【解析】细节理解题。根据第三段，A(文中第三点)，B(文中第一点)，D(文中第二点)都提到了。

　　7．【答案】A

　　【解析】推理判断题。根据第四段的many younger employees have more experience or skills than older staff可推知A正确。B，C项违背常理。D项与第四段第二句“有些老员工太自私、太以自我为中心而认为年轻人干不好工作”相反。

　　Ⅱ.七选五阅读

　　(2024陕西西安第七十中学11月检测)

　　The iPon Generation

　　Today it is common to see people who walk about with colored wires hanging from their ears wherever they go.They move about in their personal bubbles, sometimes unaware of what's happening around them.__1__ Outside life is shut out.So are you one of them?

　　For me; walking around in my own personal bubble is perfect.__2__ What's even better, wearing earphones seems to give a signal to people which says; “I'm not available for chatting at the moment.”

　　Suppose, you're at work and about to make an incredible breakthrough？But a colleague suddenly turns up.At this precise moment, the slightest disturbance would break your concentration.__3__Once again, those wires hanging from your ears would be sure to give that “Go away！” signal.

　　__4__ It's probably part of the growing up stage when they just want to ignore their whole family.While their mothers give them lectures about why they should do their “Yes.Mum.”Problem solved.

　　Pretty soon, not only will we have pretty colored wires hanging from our ears—but also our brains will be directly plugged into some new high-tech instrument.We'll be in a virtual (虚拟的) world, communicating with everyone else, or choosing not to, as we like.In this world, we will all be permanently plugged in.__5__And they are changing our social habits along the way.

　　In the end, there is a thin line between using technology as a tool for making life better and being a slave to it! It's so strange－suddenly, I don't feel like wearing my earphones anymore.

　　A．Our instruments are changing quickly.

　　B．I also have wires hanging from my ears.

　　C．In the home situation, teenagers love these wires.

　　D．I don't have to deal with the noise from the environment.

　　E．After all, I am listening to my favourite music and would rather not be disturbed.

　　F．Listening to music through earphones is the perfect way to ignore such interruptions.

　　G．They walk around in their own spaces, with their personal digital noise reduction systems.

　　1．【答案】G

　　【解析】从第一段“They move about in their personal bubbles”以及“Outside life is shut out”可知，人们戴着耳机沉浸在自己的世界里，G 选项的句子同理。

　　2．【答案】D

　　【解析】根据空格前的perfect以及后面的“What's even better”，推知我认同戴耳机这种方式。故此处应该提及戴耳机的好处。

　　3．【答案】F

　　【解析】选项中的“such interruptions”和前面提到的“the slightest disturbance”是相对应的。

　　4．【答案】C

　　【解析】本段提到在家里也是同样的情况，有可能是因为(孩子)到了成长的阶段， 所以 C 选项说的孩子们都戴着耳机是相对应的。

　　5．【答案】A

　　【解析】空格后的 they 代指 A 选项中的 instruments。

　　Ⅲ.短文改错

　　In early January this year, the rate of UFO reports were steady, around three per weeks.When, however, on Monday, January 16, a science fiction film about visitors to outer space was shown on television, there was the immediate increase in reports of sightings from all parts of the States.The commanding officer, Wayne Tyler, who directly responsible for the study of all such reports, decided to making his findings known.They wrote an article, which said that all UFO reports could be explained for quite naturally by aircraft movements.Follow this explanation, there was a rapid drop in the number of reported sightings, because the rate remained above the previous level.

　　【答案】

　　In early January this year, the rate of UFO reports

　　steady, around three per .When, however, on Monday, January 16, a science fiction film about visitors

　　outer space was shown on television, there was

　　immediate increase in reports of sightings from all parts of the States.The commanding officer, Wayne Tyler, who directly responsible for the study of all such reports, decided to

　　his findings known. wrote an article, which said that all UFO reports could be explained for quite naturally by aircraft movements. this explanation, there was a rapid drop in the number of reported sightings,

　　the rate remained above the previous level.

　　第一处：were→ was　此句的主语是“the rate”谓语动词用单数， 而且根据时间状语“In early January this year”可知要用过去时。

　　第二处：weeks→ week　per/every/each后要加名词的单数形式。

　　第三处：to→ from　根据上下文可知外星人是“来自于”外星空，要用from。

　　第四处：the→ an　是有关目击外星人的报道有了一个迅速的增长，是泛指，用an。

　　第五处：who后加is/was　be responsible for意为“对……负责”。

　　第六处：making→ make　decide to do sth.意为“决定做某事”。

　　第七处：They→ He　根据上文是指“The commanding officer, Wayne Tyler”写了一篇文章，要用代词He。

　　第八处：去掉for　quite naturally为副词，前面不加介词；explain也不缺介词。

　　第九处：Follow→ Following　分析句型可知，follow…作伴随状语， 而且follow与逻辑主语之间的关系是主动的，要用v.-ing的形式。

　　第十处：because→ though/although/but/yet　根据句意可知，前后两句是转折关系，而不是因果关系。

　　Ⅳ.书面表达

　　(2024湖南益阳箴言中学三模)

　　某天你收到如下一封来自笔友的电子邮件，请根据邮件内容回复一封100词左右的邮件，表示对Tom的欢迎，并询问他来长沙的具体时间、住宿安排、课程时间，并说明你需要了解这些的原因。

　　Dear Li Hua,

　　Surprise! I enrolled in a camp organized by Chinese Bridge in August and will spend about a week in Changsha. So, we can finally see each other. Learning the Chinese language and visiting some places of interest like Shaoshan Mountain will be part of the camp. I just can't wait to see you.

　　Tom

　　Dear Tom,

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