people may have felt awkward about asking for a table for one, but those days are over. Now, we have our smartphones to keep us company at the table. “It doesn’t feel as alone as it may have before all the advances in technology,” said Laurie Demerit, whose company provided the statistics for the report.
28. What are the statistics in paragraph 2 about? A. Food variety. C. Table manners.
B. Eating habits. D. Restaurant service.
29. Why does Bechtel prefer to go out for lunch? A. To meet with her coworkers. C. To have some time on her own.
B. To catch up with her work. D. To collect data for her report.
30. What do we know about Mazoleny? A. He makes videos for the bar.
B. He’s fond of the food at the bar. D. He’s familiar with the barkeeper.
C. He interviews customers at the bar. 31. What is the text mainly about? A. The trend of having meals alone. B. The importance of self-reflection. C. The stress from working overtime. D. The advantage of wireless technology.
提分训练 Passage 1
Emoji might not be your first choice of communication in a disaster, but researchers feel they
could make a difference during emergencies, where every second counts. Now, the Emoji-quake campaign is lobbying for an earthquake emoji to be accepted into the Unicode—the standard group of icons(图标) available on digital devices worldwide. The campaign aims to find an earthquake-appropriate design to be admitted to Unicode.
“Approximately up to one third of the world’s population are exposed to earthquakes,” explains University of Southampton seismologist(地震学家) Dr. Stephen Hicks, a founder of the
campaign. “So we really want to be able to communicate to all of those regions, all of those different languages, and an emoji is an amazing way of doing that.”
Unlike many other weather and climate related events, where longer warning times or visible signs are available, earthquakes move incredibly quickly and are difficult to measure while they are still occurring. Populations in areas like Japan and Mexico are dependent on earthquake early warning technology, which issues an alert on digital devices and broadcast media. “You may have seconds to get under a table or to protect yourself,” explains Dr. Hicks. “That can be life-saving in many cases. Naturally you don’t want too much wording in the warning message.”
Pictographs(象形文字) and other visuals like emoji have a track record of being faster and easier to understand than written information. Dr. Sara McBride, a communications specialist, who is also part of the campaign, told BBC News, “Emoji can cross the boundaries of written languages, helping communicate valuable information to people who may struggle to read a certain language.”
The potential usefulness of emoji in emergencies could extend well beyond earthquakes. A team of designers also came up with emerji—an entire set of emoji for climate and environmental events.
1. What was the aim of the Emoji-quake campaign? A. To add an earthquake emoji to the Unicode. B. To attract people’s attention to earthquakes. C. To reduce the damages by earthquakes. D. To help communicate in earthquakes.
2. What may be the relationship between emoji and emerji? A. Emerji is part of emoji. B. Emoji is included into emerji. C. They are two independent systems. D. Emerji is for events beyond earthquakes.
3. Which of the following may be the best title of the passage? A. Could an emoji save our life? B. What can emoji do in our life? C. How is emoji changing our life?
D. Do we really know about emoji?
Passage 2
There is now a museum for pizza lovers in America’s pizza capital, New York City. The Museum of Pizza is devoted to pizza, cheese and sauce, but there’s more to it than meets the tongue.
“It’s often that the simplest ideas are the best. And we wanted to use pizza’s appeal to get people through the door and to look at art and hear about history in a different forms,” said Alexandra Serio, Chief Content Officer at Nameless Network, the group that baked the Museum of Pizza idea. Another instantly recognizable characteristic of the space is the bright colors that are weaved(穿行) throughout the exhibits—perfect for taking social media-ready pictures.
Located on the street level of Brooklyn’s William Vale hotel, the museum is a large, one-floor space that houses a wide variety of art, from giant photographs to sculptures that surround visitors.
Serio said exhibits of this kind are becoming an advantage for museums as they try to get younger legs to walk through their doors. “It’s a kind of change,” she said. “You’ll see it in the next few years because of museums like the Museum of Ice Cream, and multiple pop-ups(出现) of this kind of museums suiting a younger audience and seeing how they can make their exhibitions more attractive, touch and photography friendly.”
“Honestly, I thought it would be like more of a museum in the beginning, with the pizza boxes and it tells you when it was developed and things like that,” said Nene Raye, visitor from New Jersey.
Lydia Melendez, a self-described “pizza fan”, bought her tickets in April and for her, this experience was worth the wait. “I thought it was going to be kind of boring, like I’m going to walk in and there’s just going to be a book about pizza and how to make it, but this is definitely one for the books.” she said.
4. What’s a noticeable attraction of the pizza-themed museum according to Serio? A. It covers a large area. B. Visitors can bake pizza in it.
C. It’s perfect for taking amazing pictures.
D. Its exhibits are arranged in the simplest way. 5. Who is the museum targeted at? A. Younger audience.
B. Ice cream lovers.
D. Professional photographers.
C. Artists and sculpturers.
6. What does Lydia Melendez think of the museum? A. It is kind of disappointing. C. It is definitely a dull museum.
B. It is surprisingly wonderful. D. It looks like a traditional museum.
7. Which can be the best title for the text? A. Small Pizza, Huge Influence B. New York City, Pizza Capital
C. Fashionable Museums Appear in America D. Pizza Museum Meets More Than the Tongue
Passage 3
Do you have imagination? Do you like to solve problems? If so, you could be the next great inventor. “But I’m just a kid,” you might say. Don’t worry about a little thing like age. For example, one famous inventor—Benjamin Franklin—got his start when he was only 12. At that young age, he created paddles for his hands to help him swim faster. Eventually, his creation led to what we now call flippers!
So you don’t have to be an adult to be an inventor. One thing you do need, though, is something that kids have plenty of: curiosity and imagination. Kids are known for looking at things in new and unique ways.
Jeanie Low invented the Kiddie Stool when she was just 11. It’s a folding stool that fits under the kitchen sink. Kids can unfold it and use it to reach the sink all by themselves.
At the age of 15, Louis Braille invented the system named after him that allows the blind to read.
Chelsea Lannon received a patent(专利) when she was just 8 for the “pocket diaper”, a new type of diaper that includes a pocket for holding baby wipes and powder. 8. By saying “But I’m just a kid”, you probably mean you . A. are too young to achieve anything B. can do anything though you are young C. are old enough to become an inventor. D. have to learn knowledge from other people.
9. Kids are most likely to be inventors probably because they A. would like to make friends with others. B. think about things in quite different ways. C. like playing all kinds of toys at home. D. usually work hard at their lessons at school. 10. Who invented something that helps the blind to read? A. Jeanie Low
B. Benjamin Franklin D. Louis Braille
C. Chelsea Lannon
11. Which of the following can be the main idea for this passage? A. Kids have curiosity and imagination. B. There are some world famous inventors. C. It is possible for kids to be inventors. D. Kids are exactly like adults in a way.
Passage 4
Western conservation groups are seeking stricter laws to deal with trade in endangered wildlife, but Dr. Paul Jepson warns that this isn’t the best solution. He highlights the case of the Bali starling(八哥). Bringing in tougher laws created unexpected outcomes, which contributed to the bird’s extinction in the wild in 2006.
He said that the traditional law enforcement(执行) approach that outlawed(宣布……非法) ownership of the Bali starling in the 1980s and 1990s increased rather than reduced the demand for wild-caught Bali starlings. The bird has become a popular gift among the rich of Indonesia, who can gain more status by owning one.
2021届高三精准培优专练 阅读理解——主旨大意题(含答案)
