Text 10

The 59th annual Grammy Awards was a night to remember, full of unforgettable performances. This year’s most memorable artist was definitely Adele, who amazed the audience with her voice and unique style. Fashion designers praised her dress that looked like it was made of glass, which she wore for her performance of “Hello”. They also loved the beautiful green gown that she wore for the rest of the night. It was her performance of “Hello” from her album 25 that was most extraordinary. In contrast to the other artists, who used moving set pieces and back-up dancers, Adele stood motionless, under a single light, and let her voice impress the audience. On a night that celebrates the best in music, and surrounded by the outstanding singers like Beyoncé, Justin Bieber, Rihanna, and Drake, this was a reminder just how talented this woman is. She was also given the honor of paying her respects to legendary pop artist George Michael — who had recently passed away — by singing his hit song “Fastlove”. At one point during the performance, she had some technical difficulties with the sound system, and she stopped the performance so she could start again, saying “I’m sorry, I can’t mess this up for him. I’m sorry.” When she accepted the award for Album of the Year, she dedicated her award to Beyoncé, her inspiration for many years — another example of professionalism from one of the world’s most beloved artists.

江西高考英语真题及答案解析精选2

(C)

The Process of Ageing

At the age of twelve years, the human body is at its most vigorous. It has yet to reach its full size and strength, and its owner his or her full intelligence; but at this age the possibility of death is least. Earlier, we were infants and young children, and consequently more vulnerable (易受伤的); later, we shall undergo a progressive loss of our vigour and resistance which, though vague at first, will finally become so steep that we can live no longer, however well we look after ourselves, and however well society, and our doctors, look after us.

This decline in vigour with the passing of time is called ageing. It is one of the most unpleasant discoveries which we all make that we must decline in this way, that if we escape wars, accidents and disease we shall eventually “die of old age”, and that this happens at a rate which differs little from person to person, so that there are heavy odds in favor of our dying between the ages of sixty-five and eighty. Some of us will die sooner, a few will live longer ---- on into a ninth or tenth decade. But the chances are against it, and there is a virtual limit on how long we can hope to remain alive, however lucky and physically strong we are.

Normal people tend to forget this process unless and until they are reminded of it. We are so familiar with the fact that man ages, that people have for years assumed that the process of losing vigour with time, of becoming more likely to die the older we get, was something self-evident, like the cooling of a hot kettle or the wearing-out of a pair of shoes. They have also assumed that all animals, and probably other organisms such as trees, or even the universe itself, must in the nature of things “wear out”.

Most animals we commonly observe do in fact age as we do, if given the chance to live long enough; and mechanical systems like a wound (上发条的) watch, or the sun, do in fact an out of energy in accordance with the second law of thermodynamics (热力学). But these are not similar or equivalent to what happens when man ages. A run-down watch is still a watch and can be rewound. An old watch, by contrast, becomes so worn and unreliable that it eventually is not worth mending. But a watch could never repair itself — it does not consist of living parts, only of metal, which wears away by friction (摩擦). We could, at one time, repair ourselves — well enough, at least, to overcome all but the most instantly fatal illnesses and accidents. Between twelve and eighty years we gradually lose this power, an illness which at twelve would knock us over, at eighty can knock us out, and into our grave. If we could stay as vigorous as we are at twelve, it would take about 700 years for half of us to die, and another 700 for the survivors to be reduced by half again.

74. What can be learned from this passage is that ______.

A. people usually are unhappy when they are reminded of ageing

B. children reach their full intelligence at the age of twelve years

C. people are usually more likely to die at the age of twelve years

D. our first twelve years represent the peak of human development

75. The underlined word “it” in the last sentence of Paragraph Two refers to ______.

A. remaining alive until 65 B. dying before 65 or after 80

C. remaining alive after 80 D. dying between 65 and 80

76. What does “ageing” mean according to the passage?

A. It is a fact that people cannot live any longer.

B. It refers to a gradual loss of vigor and resistance.

C. It is usually a phenomenon of dying at an old age.

D. It is a period when people are easily attacked by illness.

77. What do the examples of the watch refer to in the last paragraph?

A. Normally people are quite familiar with the ageing process.

B. The law of thermodynamics functions in the ageing process.

C. All animals and other organisms undergo the ageing process.

D. Human's ageing process is different from that of mechanisms.

Section C

Directions: Read the passage carefully. Then answer the questions or complete the statements in the fewest possible words.

Proxemics (空间关系学) is the study of what governs how closely one person stands to another. People who feel close will be close, though the actual distances will vary between cultures. For Americans we can detect four main categories of distance: intimate (亲密的), personal, social and public. Intimate ranges from direct contact to about 45 centimeters. This is for the closest relationships such as those between husband and wife. Beyond this comes personal distance. This stands at between 45 and 80 centimeters. It is the most usual distance maintained for conversations between friends and relatives. Social distance covers people who work together or are meeting at social gatherings. Distances here tend to be kept between 1.30 to 2 meters. Beyond this comes public distance, such as that between a lecturer and his audience.

All cultures draw lines between what is an appropriate and what is an inappropriate social distance for different types of relationship. They differ, however, in where they draw these lines. Look at an international reception with representatives from the US and Arabic countries talking and yowill see the Americans pirouetting (快速旋转) backwards around the hall pursued by their Arab partners. The Americans will be trying to keep the distance between themselves and their partners which they have grown used to regarding as “normal”. They probably will not even notice themselves trying to adjust the distance between themselves and their partners, though they may have vague feeling that their Arab neighbors are being a bit “pushy”. The Arab, on the other hand, coming from a culture where much closer distance is the pattern, may be feeling that the Americans are being “stand-offish”. Finding themselves happier standing close to and even touching those they are in conversation with they will persistently pursue the Americans round the room trying to close the distance between them.

The appropriateness of physical contact varies between different cultures too. One study of the number of times people talking in coffee shops over a one-hour period showed the following interesting variations: London, 0; Florida, 2; Paris, 10; and Puerto Rico 180. Not only does it vary between societies, however, it also varies between different subcultures within one society. Young people in Britain, for example, are more likely to touch and hug friends than are the older generation. This may be partly a matter of growing older, but it also reflects the fact that the older generation grew up at a time when touching was less common for all age groups. Forty years ago, for example, footballers would never hug and kiss one another on the field after a goal as they do today.

(Note: Answer the questions or complete the statements in NO MORE THAN TEN WORDS)

78. What govern the standing space between two persons in proxemics?

79. The underlined word “stand-offish” in Paragraph 2 most probably means “______”.

80. Why may Arabs pursue Americans in a conversation at an international reception?

81. What can be inferred from the last paragraph is that the appropriateness of physical contact also varies with ______.

第II卷(共47分)

I. Translation

Directions: Translate the following sentences into English, using the words given in the brackets.