2020年中考英语专题：阅读理解（无答案）

非常时期 非常阅读
（01）
A very strict officer was talking to some new soldiers whom he had to train.He had never seen them before,so he began, “My name is Stone, and I’m even harder than stone, so do what I tell you or there’ll be trouble. Don’t try any tricks (诡计) with me, and then we’ll get on well together.”
Then he went to each soldier one after the other and asked him his name, “Speak loudly so that everyone can hear you clearly,” he said, “and don’t forget to call me‘sir’.”
Each soldier told him name until he came to the last one. This man remained silent. So Captain Stone shouted at him, “when I ask you a question, answer it!I’ll ask you again: What’s your name, soldier?”
The soldier was very unhappy, but at last he replied, “My name’s Stonebreaker, sir,” he said nervously (紧张地).
1. The officer was strict ________.
A. because the soldiers were new
B. with any of his soldiers,new or old
C. because he was named Stone
D. only when he was before soldiers
2. According to what the officer said, ________.
A. obeying his orders would sometimes bring no trouble
B. trouble would come if anybody made tricks
C. he always got on well with his soldiers
D. he often had trouble with his soldiers
3. The last soldier remained silent because ________.
A. he didn’t like the way the officer spoke to them
B. he wanted to see what would happen if he disobeyed his order
C. the question was difficult for him to answer
D. he was afraid the officer would be angry when he heard his name
4. According to the officer,how to answer the question,“How old are you?”
A. (sadly)Twenty,sir.
B. (clearly)Twenty.
C. (loudly)Twenty,sir
D. (quickly)Ten years younger than you, sir
5. Which is the best title (题目) for the passage?
A. A Clever Answer
B. A Terrible Answer
C. A Sorry Answer
D. A Strange Answer
（02）
Paul couldn’t sleep last night. He woke up early and sat up, and then he lay down again. He felt terrible. “I must be sick,” he thought. “but I must study for that test.”
He got up and looked for his history notebook. He finally found it under a pile of clothes on a chair. He went over his history notes, but he couldn’t remember any of the facts in the notes. “What shall I do?” he thought, feeling terrible.
Just then Paul’s telephone rang.He put down his notebook and picked up the telephone.
“Good morning,” Jack’s voice said, “You must be wrong about that test.”
“What do you mean?” Paul asked weakly.
“We’re not going to have the test today.”Jack said.“I wrote down the date in my notebook.The test will be next Wednesday;it isn’t today.How do you feel this morning?”
“Fine,” said Paul. “Just fine!” Suddenly he really felt fine.
6. Paul felt uneasy because he ________.
A. was seriously ill
B. was too tired
C. was worried about the coming test
D. couldn’t find his history notebook
7. It seemed that Paul ________.
A. was good at history
B. liked to study history
C. lost interest in history
D. was ready for the history test
8. What made Paul feel fine at once?
A. The telephone call.
B. the coming test.
C. Jack’s notebook
D. The fact that the test was not to be given that day.
9. “How do you feel this morning?” From this question we can see Jack ________.
A. knew Paul
B. knew Paul very well
C. wanted to help Paul with his history
D. would lend Paul his notebook
10. We can guess from the passage that ________.
A. Jack was as poor at history as Paul
B. Jack was as good at history as Paul
C. Jack was better at history than Paul
D. Jack was poorer at history than Paul
（3）
One day a few years ago a very funny thing happened to a neighbour of mine. He is a teacher at one of London’s big medical schools.He had finished his teaching for the summer term and was at the airport on his way to Russia to give a lecture.
He had put a few clothes and his lecture notes in his shoulder bag, but he had put Rupert,the skeleton (人体骨骼) to be used in his lecture, in a large brown suitcase (箱子). At the airport desk, he suddenly thought that he had forgotten to buy a newspaper. He left his suitcase near the desk and went over to the shop.
When he got back he discovered that someone had taken his suitcase by mistake. He often wonders what they said when they got home and found Rupert.
1. Who wrote the story?
A. Rupert's teacher.
B. The neighbour's teacher.
C. A medical school teacher.
D. The teacher's neighbour.
2. Why did the teacher put a skeleton in his suitcase?
A. He needed it for the summer term in London.
B. He needed it for the lecture he was going to give.
C. He wanted to take it to Russia for medical research.
D. He wanted to take it home as he had finished his teaching.
3. What happened at the airport?
A. The skeleton went missing .
B. The skeleton was stolen .
C. The teacher forgot his suitcase.
D. The teacher took the wrong suitcase .
4. Which of the following best tells the teacher's feeling about the incident?
A. He is very angry .
B. He thinks it rather funny .
C. He feels helpless without Rupert.
D. He feels good without Rupert .
5. Which of the following might have happened afterwards?
A. The teacher got back the suitcase but not Rupert.
B. The teacher got back neither the suitcase nor Rupert.
C. The teacher got back Rupert but not the suitcase.
D. The teacher got back both the suitcase and Rupert.
(4)

O.Henry was a pen name used by an American writer of short stories.His real name was William Sydney Porter. He was born in North Carolina in 1862.As a young boy he lived an exciting life.He did not go to school for very long,but he managed to teach himself everything he needed to know.When he was about 20 years old,O.Henry went to Texas, where he tried different jobs.He first worked on a newspaper, and then had a job in a bank,when some money went missing from the bank O.Henry was believed to have stolen it.Because of that,he was sent to prison. During the three years in prison,he learned to write short stories.After he got out of prison, he went to New York and continued writing.He wrote mostly about New York and the life of the poor there.People liked his stories,because simple as the tales were,they would finish with a sudden change at the end,to the reader’s surprise.
1. In which order did O. Henry do the following things?
a. Lived in New York.
b. Worked in a bank.
c. Travelled to Texas.
d. Was put in prison.
e. Had a newspaper Job.
f. Learned to write stories.
A. e. c. f. b. d. a
B. c. e. b. d. f. a
C. e. b. d. c. a. f
D. c. b. e. d. a. f
2. People enjoyed reading O. Henry's stories because_______.
A. they had surprise endings
B. they were easy to understand
C. they showed his love for the poor
D. they were about New York City
3. O. Henry went to prison because______.
A. people thought he had stolen money from the newspaper
B. he broke the law by not using his own name
C. he wanted to write stories about prisoners
D. people thought he had taken money that was not his
4. What do we know about O. Henry before he began writing?
A. He was well-educated.
B. He was not serious about his work.
C. He was devoted to the poor.
D. He was very good at learning.
5. Where did O. Henry get most material for his short stories?
A. His life inside the prison.
B. The newspaper articles he wrote.
C. The city and people of New York.
D. His exciting early life as a boy.
(05)
The fiddler crab (蟹) is a living clock.It indicates (=shows) the time of day by the colour of its skin, which is dark by day and pale by night. The crab’s changing colour follows a regular twenty-four hour plan that exactly matches the daily rhythm (节奏) of the sun.
Does the crab actually keep time, or does its skin simply answer to the sun's rays, changing colour according to the amount of light strikes it? To find out, biologists kept crabs in a dark room for two months. Even without daylight, the crab’s skin colour continued to change exactly on time.
This characteristic (特性) probably developed gradually in answer to the daily rising and setting of the sun, to help protect the crab from sunlight and enemies. After millions of years it has become completely regulated (受控制) inside the living body of the crab.
The biologists noticed that once each day the colour of the fiddler crab is especially dark, and that each day this happens fifty minutes later than on the day before. From this they discovered that each crab follows not only the rhythm of the sun but also that of the tides (潮水). The crab’s period of greatest darkening is exactly the time of low tide on the beach where it was caught!
1. The fiddler crab is like a clock because it changes colour ________.
A in a regular 24-hour rhythm
B. in answer to the sun’s rays
C. at low tide
D. every fifty minutes
2. The crab’s changing colour ________.
A. tells the crab what time it is
B. protects the crab from the sunlight and enemies
C. keeps the crab warm
D. is of no real use
3. When the fiddler crabs were kept in the dark, they ________.
A. did not change colour
B. changed colour more quickly
C. changed colour more slowly
D. changed colour on the same timetable
4. The crab’s colour-changing ability was probably developed ________.
A. in the process of evolution (进化)
B. over millions of years
C. by the work of biologists
D. both A and B
5. The best title for this selection would be ________.
A. The Sun and the Tides
B. Discoveries in Biology
C. A scientific Study
D. A Living Clock
(06)
Everyone knows what a needle is. Of course there are needles and needles, needles for sewing machines, needles for injection (注射), you name it. But few people think of the wonder a needle works in the hands of those who practice acupuncture (针刺疗法).
During the past ten years of so, I have been suffering from terrible headache. It seems to be getting from bad to worse these days. Last night I got a sudden pain in my head. It was so terrible that I could hardly bear (忍受) it. Although I swallowed all kinds of pain-killers (止痛药), I didn’t feel any better. It seemed that there was nothing I could do but phone for a doctor.
One of our neighbours happened to be with us. He was not a doctor, but he timidly (胆怯地) offered his help, saying “Do you mind if I tried acupuncture on you? These needles may possibly do you some good. I agreed. In a moment, he had taken out a few needles from his purse. Without a moment’s delay, he fixed a few needles into the skin on my head here and there. Before long, I felt thoroughly relieved (缓解疼痛).
Just then, the doctor sped through my house and said, “Where is our patient?”
“Sorry, Doctor. You are too late. It’s killed!” I answered in delight.
It’s a miracle, isn’t it?
6. The underlined word name in the first paragraph means to ________.
A. give a name to the needles
B. name as many kinds of needle as you can think of
C. call the needles by the name of needles
D. say the name of a needle
7. The underlined phrase from bad to worse in the second paragraph refers to the man’s ________.
A. character
B. life
C. headache
D. health
8. Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?
A. the neighbour fixed needles in his own head
B. The neighbour is a kind-hearted person.
C. The man’s pain was killed before the doctor arrived
D. Soon after the acupuncture,the man was completely recovered.
9. The sentences” You are too late. It’s killed.” mean that ________.
A. the pain was killed because the doctor came late
B. the man was killed because the doctor came too late
C. before the doctor came the man’s headache was already cured
D. it was too late and the man had gone way
10. The passage tells us that ________.
A. everyone knows that acupuncture is a miracle
B. the neighbour wanted to use acupuncture on every patient
C. the effect of acupuncture on the man was unbelievable
D. the patient did not believe in acupuncture

（07）
People used to say, “The hand that rocks (摇) the cradle (摇篮) rules the world.” and “Behind every successful man there is a woman.”
Both these sayings mean the same thing. Men rule the world, but their mothers and wives rule them.
Most American women wish to make their husbands and sons successful, but some of them want more for themselves. They want good jobs. When they work they want to be better paid. They want to be as successful as men.
The American women’s liberation movement was started by women who didn’t want to stand behind successful men. They wanted to stand beside men, with the same chance for success. They refused to work side by side with men who do the same work for a higher pay.
A liberated woman must be proud of being a woman and have confidence (自信) in herself. If somebody says to her, “You have come a long way, baby.” she will smile and answer “Not nearly as far as I’m going to go, baby!”
This movement is quite new, and many American women don’t agree yet. But it has already made some important changes in women’s lives---in men’s lives, too.
1. “Behind every successful man there is a woman” means ________.
A. men are always successful but not women
B. women are not willing to stand in front of men
C. women do play an important part in men’s lives and work
D. women can be as successful as men
2. Which of the following is NOT true?
A. Some American women want to work side by side with men and get the same pay for the same work.
B. Most American women want to be more successful than men.
C. Not every American woman wants to get a job.
D. The American women’s liberation movement did make some changes in women’s lives.
3. According to the passage,many American women today are ________.
A. still going a long way to work
B. working at easier jobs than men
C. unwilling to work side by side with men
D. willing to be less important than men as they used to
4. “Not nearly as far as I’m going to go”means ________.
A. I’m still going to work farther away from home
B. I’m not going to work far away from home
C. I’m not satisfied with what I’ve done
D. What I have done is not far from success
5. The American women’s liberation movement ________.
A. have still a long way to go
B. is a failure
C. was started by many successful women
D. is a new thing not accepted by the writer
(08)
The home computer industry has been growing rapidly in the United States for the last ten years. Computers used to be large, expensive machines that were very difficult to use. But scientists and technicians have been making them smaller and cheaper while at the same time they have been made easier to use. As a result, their popularity has been increasing as more people have been buying computers for their homes and businesses. Computers have been designed to store information and compute problems that are difficult for human beings to work out. Some have voices that speak with the operators. Stores use computers to keep records of their inventories (库存货物) and to send bills to their customers (顾客). Offices use computers to copy letters, record business and keep in touch with other offices. People have been using computers in their homes to keep track of the money they spend.
One important new use for computers is for entertainment (娱乐). Many new games have been designed to be played on the computers. People of all ages have been playing these games. People also have been buying home computers to play computer games, watch movies and listen to concerts at home. They have become very popular indeed.
6. Computers used to ________.
A. work rapidly
B. be large and expensive
C. be easy to use
D. be used for fun
7. In recent years, computers are being made ________.
A. larger and more expensive
B. smaller and cheaper
C. more difficult to use
D. to work more slowly
8. Home computers can be used for ________.
A. writing letters
B. playing games
C. doing business
D. all of the above
9. Salesmen use computers mainly to ________.
A. check the list of goods and materials that are kept in the store house
B. play games for pleasure
C. talk with their friends
D. write letters
10. The best title for the passage would be ________.
A. New Uses For Computers
B. The Popularity of Home Computers
C. The Home Computer Industry
D. Computers At Home

（09）
Hank Viscardi was born without legs. He had not legs but stumps (残肢) that could be fitted with a kind of special boots. People stared at him with cruel interest. Children laughed at him and called him ‘Ape Man’ (猿人) because his arms practically dragged on the ground.
Hank went to school like other boys. His grades were good and he needed only eight years to finish his schooling instead of the usual twelve. After graduating from school, he worked his way through college. He swept floors, waited on table, or worked in one of the college offices. During all this busy life, he had been moving around on his stumps. But one day the doctor told him even the stumps were not going to last much longer. He would soon have to use a wheel chair.
Hank felt himself got cold all over. However, the doctor said there was a chance that he could be fitted with artificial legs (假腿). Finally a leg maker was found and the day came when Hank stood up before the mirror. For the first time, he saw himself as he has always wanted to be--a full five feet eight inches tall. By this time he was already 26 years old.
Hank had to learn to use his new legs. Again and again he marched the length of the room, and marched back again. There were times when he fell down on the floor, but he pulled himself up and went back to the endless marching. He went out on the street. He climbed stairs and learned to dance. He built a boat and learned to sail it.
When World War II came, he talked the Red Cross into giving him a job. He took the regular training. He marched and drilled along with the other soldiers. Few knew that he was legless. This was the true story of Hank Viscardi, a man without legs.
1. Children laughed at Hank and called him ‘Ape Man’ because ________.
A. he didn’t talk to them
B. he kept away from them
C. his arms touched the ground when he moved
D. he couldn’t use his arms
2. It can be inferred from the story that five feet eight inches tall is ________.
A. an average height for a fully grown person
B. too tall for an average person
C. too short for an average person
D. none of the above
3. The sentence “he talked the Red Cross into giving him a job” implies that the Red Cross ________.
A. was only glad to give him a job
B. gave him a job because he was a good soldier
C. gave him a job after he talked to someone whom he knew in the organization
D. was not willing to give him a job at first
4. When Hank marched and drilled along with the other soldiers, he ________.
A. did everything the other soldiers did
B. did most of the things the other soldiers did
C. did some of the things the other soldiers did
D. took some special training
5. The writer suggests that Hank Viscardi ________.
A. had no friends
B. never saw himself as different from others
C. was very shy
D. was too proud to accept help from others


（10）
In the United States, when one becomes rich, he wants people to know it. And even if he does not become very rich, he wants people to think that he is. That is what ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ is about. It is the story of someone who tried to look as rich as his neighbours.
The expression was first used in 1913 by a young American called Arthur Momand. He told this story about himself. He began earning $ 125 a week at the age of 23. That was a lot of money in those days. He got married and moved with his wife to a very wealthy neighbourhood outside New York City. When he saw that rich people rode horses, Momand went horseback riding every day. When he saw that rich people had servants, Momand and his wife also hired a servant and gave big parties for their new neighbours.
It was like a race, but one could never finish this race because one was always trying to keep up. The race ended for Momand and his wife when they could no longer pay for their new way of life.They moved back to an apartment (公寓房间) in New York City.
Momand looked around him and noticed that many people do things just to keep up with rich life-style of their neighbours. He saw the funny side of it and started to write a series (系列) of short stories. He called it “Keeping up with the Joneses” because ‘Jones’ is a very common name in the United States. ‘Keeping up with the Joneses’ came to mean keeping up with rich lifestyle of the people around you. Momand’s series appeared in different newspapers across the country for over 28 years.
People never seem to get tired of keeping up with the Joneses. And there are ‘Jonses’ in every city of the world. But one must get tired of trying to keep up with the Joneses because no matter what one does, Mr. Jones always seems to be ahead.
6. Some people want to keep up with the Joneses because they ________.
A. want to be as rich as their neighbours
B. want others to know or to think that they are rich
C. don’t want others to know they are rich
D. want to be happy
7. It can be inferred from the story that rich people like to ________.
A. live outside New York City
B. live in New York City
C. live in apartments
D. have many neighbours
8. The underlined word neighbourhood in the second paragraph means ________.
A. a person who lives near another
B. people living in an area
C. an area near the place referred to
D. an area in another town or city
9. Arthur Momand used the name ‘Jones’ in his series of short stories because’ Jones’ is ________.
A. an important name
B. a popular name in the United States
C. his neighbour’s name
D. not a good name
10. According to the writer, it is ________ to keep up with the Joneses.
A. correct
B. interesting
C. impossible
D. good
(11)
The Antarctica is a actually a desert. It is the only continent on the earth without a river or a lake.
The Antarctica is all ice all year round. The warmest temperature ever recorded (所记录的) there is zero at the South Pole. Explorers (探险家) used to think that a place so cold would have a heavy snowfall. But less than ten inches of snow falls each year. That is less than half an inch of water. Ten times that much moisture (水份) falls in parts of the Sahara.
The little snow that falls in Antarctica never melts (融化). It continues to pile up deeper and deeper year after year and century after century. When the snow gets to be about eighty feet deep it is turned to ice by the weight of snow above it.
1. Antarctica is called a desert because it ________.
A. is sandy
B. has the same temperature as a desert
C. has little moisture and no lakes or rivers
D. there are no people there
2. Antarctica has ________.
A. ten times as much moisture as the Sahara
B. the same amount of moisture as the Sahara
C. about one—tenth of the moisture of the Sahara
D. none of the above
3. The snow in Antarctica is very deep because it ________.
A. never stops falling
B. piles up year after yea.
C. never melts
D. both B and C
4. The snow turns to ice when ________.
A. it gets wet
B. the next snowfall comes
C. the temperature gets colder
D. the snow above it is heavy enough.
5. The best title (题目) for the passage is ________.
A. A Strange Continent
B. An Ice Continent
C. Snowfall at the South Pole
D. The World’s Desert
(12)
Today I’ll be talking about the invention of the camera and photography. The camera is often thought to be a modern invention, but as early as 1727, a German physicist discovered that light darkens silver salt. Used as a camera, a big box was set up,and a small hole was cut in one side to let the light in; he made temporary pictures on the salt. Silver salt is still the base of the photographic film today. Then a French scientist made the first permanent (永久的) picture by using a special piece of metal which was covered with silver salt. A photograph he made in 1826 still exists.
The painter De Gear improved the process (制作法) by covering the metal also with placing the common salt which we can eat. This was in 1839, the official date of beginning of photographs. But the problem was the printing of the photographs. And it wasn’t until other scientists developed the kind of photographic paper we now use that good prints were possible and photography became truly modern. In the 1870’s, Matthew Bradey was able to take his famous pictures in American Civil War. In the 20’s of this century, Georges Mann of the United States simplified film developing (冲洗), and Dr Edward Lane invented the so-called Instant Camera, which uses self-developing film. If we say photography came into existence in 1839, it follows that it took more than 100 years for the camera to reach its present condition of technical refinement (密度).
6. What discovery was the basis of photography?
A. Light darkens silver salt.
B. Light darkens natural salt.
C. Light darkens silver.
D. Light darkens self--developing film
7. How was the first permanent picture made?
A. By making use of special paper.
B. By adding common salt to silver salt.
C. By giving a slight colour to the silver salt.
D.By using a special piece of metal.
8. What does the speaker regard as the official date of beginning of photography?
A. 1727.
B. 1826.
C. 1839.
D. 1870.
9. According to the speaker why is Matthew Bradey remembered today?
A. He was a soldier.
B. He took war photographs.
C. He painted portraits.
D. He designed a portable camera.
10. What did Doctor Edward Lane invent?
A. A cheap process of developing film at home.
B. A new kind of film.
C. An automatic printer.
D. An‘instant camera’ that develops its own film.