2012年高考英语阅读理解训练：说理议论类

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　　(一)(2011·湖北高考)
　　Feeling blue about the world? “Cheer up.” says science writer Matt Ridley. “The world has never been a better place to live in, and it will keep on getting better both for humans and for nature.”
　　Ridley calls himself a rational optimist—rational, because he's carefully weighed the evidence; optimistic, because that evidence shows human progress to be both unavoidable and good. And this is what he's set out to prove from a unique point of view in his most recent book, The Rational Optimist. He views mankind as a grand enterprise that, on the whole, has done little but progress for 100,000 years. He backs his findings with hard facts gathered through years of research.
　　Here's how he explains his views.
　　1 ) Shopping fuels invention
　　It is reported that there are more than ten billion different products for sale in London alone. Even allowing for the many people who still live in poverty, our own generation has access to more nutritious food, more convenient transport, bigger houses, better cars, and, of course, more pounds and dollars than any who lived before us. This will continue as long as we use these things to make other things. The more we specialize and exchange, the better off we'll be.
　　2) Brilliant advances
　　One reason we are richer, healthier, taller, cleverer, longer??lived and freer than ever before is that the four most basic human needs—food, clothing, fuel and shelter—have grown  a lot cheaper. Take one example. In 1800 a candle providing  one hour's light cost six hours' work.  In the 1880s the same light from an oil lamp took 15 minutes' work to pay for.  In 1950 it was eight seconds. Today it's half second.
　　3 ) Let's not kill ourselves for climate change
　　Mitigating (减轻) climate change could prove just as damaging to human welfare as climate change itself.  A child that dies from indoor smoke in a village, where the use of fossil??fuel (化石燃料) electricity is forbidden by well??meaning members of green political movements trying to save the world, is just as great a tragedy as a child that dies in a flood caused by climate change. If climate change proves to be mild, but cutting carbon causes real pain, we may well find that we have stopped a nose??bleed by putting a tourniquet (止血带) around our necks.
　　1. What is the theme of Ridley's most recent book?
　　  A. Weakness of human nature.
　　  B. Concern about climate change.
　　  C. Importance of practical thinking.
　　  D. Optimism about human progress.
　　2. How does Ridley look at shopping?
　　  A. It encourages the creation of things.
　　  B. It results in shortage of goods.
　　  C. It demands more fossil fuels.
　　  D. It causes a poverty problem.
　　3. The candle and lamp example is used to show that ________.
　　  A. oil lamps give off more light than candles
　　  B. shortening working time brings about a happier life
　　  C. advanced technology helps to produce better candles
　　  D. increased production rate leads to lower cost of goods
　　4. What does the last sentence of the passage imply?
　　  A. Cutting carbon is necessary in spite of the huge cost.
　　  B. Overreaction to climate change may be dangerous.
　　  C. People's health is closely related to climate change.
　　  D. Careless medical treatment may cause great pain.
　　答案与解析
　　1．D　细节理解题。根据第二段第一句“Ridley calls himself a rational optimist—rational, because he's carefully weighed the evidence; optimistic, because that evidence shows human progress...” Ridley 自称是一个理性的乐观主义者，所谓理性是因为他仔细权衡证据；所谓乐观是因为这些证据表明人类进步是不可避免的，而且也是十分美好的。这就是他在近期的一本书当中以全新的视角向人们证明的主题。故此处D项正确。
　　2．A　推理判断题。根据第一个小标题题目“Shopping fuels invention”以及其内容最后一句“The more we specialize and exchange, the better off we'll be.”可知，购物刺激发明创造，刺激消费，促进生产，这种情况越多，我们将会越富有。故此处A项正确。
　　3．D　细节理解题。从第二个标题内容可知，我们生活远比以前富裕，健康，长寿，人也长得高了，也比以前聪明了，其中一个原因是我们人类的四种基本需求——衣，食，住，行比以前便宜了很多。因此以油灯和蜡烛为例进一步阐述，故此处D项正确。
　　4.B　推理判断题。由文章最后一句可知，如果气候变化证明是轻微的，然而降低二氧化碳会引起麻烦，那么很可能会发现我们用止血带缠绕脖子以此止住鼻血。此处暗指对气候变化的过度反应存在危险。故B项正确。

gkfive

　　(二)(2011·四川高考)
　　In business, there's a speed difference: It's the difference between how important a firm's leaders say speed is to their competitive(竞争的) strategy(策略) and how fast the company actually moves.The difference is important regardless of industry and company size. Companies fearful of losing their competitive advantage spend much time and money looking for ways to pick up the speed.
　　In our study of 343 businesses, the companies that chose to go, go, go to try to gain_an_edge ended up with lower sales and operating incomes than those that paused at key moments to make sure they were on the right track.What's more, the firms that “slowed down to speed up” improved their top and bottom lines, averaging 40% higher sales and 52% higher operating incomes over a three??year period.
　　How did they disobey the_laws_of_business_physics,_taking more time  than  competitors  yet  performing  better? They thought differently about what “slower” and “faster” mean.Firms sometimes fail to understand the difference between operational speed (moving quickly) and strategic speed (reducing the time it takes to deliver value)．Simply increasing the speed of production, for example, may be one way to try to reduce the speed difference.But that often leads to reduced value over time, in the form of lower??quality products and services.
　　In our study, higher??performing companies with strategic speed always made changes when necessary. They became more open to ideas and discussion.They encouraged new ways of thinking.And they allowed time to look back and learn.By contrast (相比而言), performance suffered at firms that moved fast all the time, paid too much attention to improving efficiency, stuck to tested methods, didn't develop team spirit among their employees, and had little time thinking about changes.
　　Strategic speed serves as a kind of leadership.Teams that regularly take time to get things right, rather than plough ahead full bore, are more successful in meeting their business goals.That kind of strategy must come from the top.
　　1．What does the underlined part “gain an edge” in Paragraph 2 mean?
　　    A．Increase the speed. 　　　     
　　B．Get an advantage.
　　    C．Reach the limit.         
　　D．Set a goal.
　　2．The underlined part “the laws of business physics” in Paragraph 3 means ________.
　　    A．spending more time and performing worse
　　    B．spending more time and performing better
　　    C．spending less time and performing worse
　　    D．spending less time and performing better
　　3．What can we learn from the text?
　　    A．How fast a firm moves depends on how big it is.
　　    B．How competitive a firm is depends on what it produces.
　　    C．Firms guided by strategic speed take time to make necessary changes.
　　    D．Firms guided by operational speed take time to develop necessary team spirit.
　　4．Which could be the best title for the text?
　　    A．Improve quality? Serve better.
　　    B．Deliver value? Plough ahead.
　　    C．Reduce time? Move faster.
　　    D．Need speed? Slow down.
　　答案与解析
　　1.B　词义猜测题。许多公司都想选择提速来获取优势，而不是达到极限或设定目标，故get an advantage正确。
　　2.D　细节理解题。由文中第三段第一句和第二句的含义：他们怎样违反商业物理规则，比做得更好的竞争对手花了更多的时间？他们不同地看待更慢和更快的意思。可知商业物理规则应是用更少的时间做得更好。故选D项。
　　3.C　推理判断题。文章主要讲述了strategic speed的重要性，且在文中第四段第一句也说明了这一点：运用策略速度的公司往往在必要时作出改变。故选C项。
　　4．D　主旨大意题。文章围绕speed 展开，且区分了operational speed 与 strategic speed，强调了后者的重要性，故D项正确。

gksix

　　(三)(2011·重庆高考)
　　Skeptics are a strange lot. Some of them refuse to admit the serious threat of human activities to the environment, and they are tired of people who disagree with them. Those people, say skeptics, spread nothing but bad news about the environment. The “eco??guilt” brought on by the discouraging news about our planet gives rise to the popularity of skeptics as people search for more comforting worldviews.
　　Perhaps that explains why a new book by Bjorn Lomborg received so much publicity. That book, The Skeptical Environmentalist, declares that it measures the “real state of the world” as fine.Of course, another explanation is the deep pockets of some big businesses with special interests.Indeed, Mr.Lomborg's views are similar to those of some industry??funded organizations, which start huge activities through the media to confuse the public about issues like global warming.
　　So it was strange to see Mr. Lomborg's book go largely unchallenged in the media though his beliefs were contrary to most scientific opinions. One national newspaper in Canada ran a number of articles and reviews full of words of praise, even with the conclusion that “After Lomborg, the environmental movement will begin to die down.”
　　Such one??sided views should have immediately been challenged. But only a different review appeared in Nature, a respected science magazine with specific readership. The review remarked that Mr. Lomborg's “preference for unexamined materials is incredible (不可信的)”．
　　A critical (批判的) eye is valuable, and the media should present information in such a way that could allow people to make informed decisions. Unfortunately, that is often inaccessible as blocked by the desire to be shocking or to defend some special interests. People might become half??blind before a world partially exhibited by the media.  That's a shame, because matters concerning the health of the planet are far too important to be treated lightly.
　　1．According to the passage, which of the following may be regarded as “skeptics” ?
　　   A．People who agree on the popularity of “eco??guilt”．
　　   B．People who disbelieve the serious situation of our planet.
　　   C．People who dislike the harmful effect of human activities.
　　   D．People who spread comforting news to protect our environment.
　　2．Which of the following can be a reason for the popularity of Lomborg's book?
　　   A．Some big businesses intend to protect their own interests.
　　   B．The book challenges views about the fine state of the world.
　　   C．The author convinces people to seek comforting worldviews.
　　   D．Industry??funded media present confusing information.
　　3．The author mentioned the review in Nature in order to
　　________.
　　   A．voice a different opinion
　　   B．find fault with Lomborg's book
　　   C．challenge the authority of the media
　　   D．point out the value of scientific views
　　4．What is the author's main purpose in writing the passage?
　　   A．To encourage the skeptics to have a critical eye.
　　   B．To warn the public of the danger of half??blindness with reviews.
　　   C．To blame the media's lack of responsibility in presenting information.
　　   D．To show the importance of presenting overall information by the media.
　　答案与解析
　　1.B　细节理解题。从第一段第三句“他们中的一些不承认人类活动对环境造成的严重危害”可知B项正确。
　　2.A　细节理解题。从第二段第一句“那或许能解释这本书为什么这么受欢迎”及第三句“另一种解释是一些特别的利益”可知A项正确。
　　3.A　主旨大意题。前文提到很多人对有关环境问题不好的消息质疑，文章倒数第二段提到这种片面的观点应该立刻受到挑战，然而在Nature上仅仅出现了为数不多的评论，故作者在此处提到the review in Nature是为了发表不同的观点。故选A项。
　　4.D　推理判断题。本文是观点类议论文，开头部分提出了一种反面的观点，然后对此提出批判，最后点明了本文的中心——媒体应该展现一些能让公众作出明智决定的信息。这也是作者的目的所在。故选D项。