2020-2021学年译林牛津英语八年级下册Unit 1 Past and Present阅读理解（含答案）

译林牛津英语八年级下册Unit 1阅读理解随堂练
1
When Mencius (孟子) was a small boy, his father died. So Mencius and his mother were quite poor. One day, Mencius returned home from school and found his mother making some cloth. It was very beautiful and expensive.
"How much of your book have you read today?" Mencius' mother asked him. Mencius threw down his book. "I haven't read any of it." He replied, "I played with some friends of mine in the fields."
When his mother heard this, she picked up a pair of scissors (剪刀) and cut the cloth. "Why have you cut your cloth?" Mencius asked, "It was so beautiful and now you've wasted it." "You have wasted your time," she said, "Now I have wasted mine. Look at the terrible (可怕的) thing we have done!"
Mencius learned a lot from this lesson. After this, he always studied hard.
1. When did the story happen?
A. When Mencius was 30 years old.
B. When Mencius' family was very rich.
C. When Mencius' father lived with them.
D. When Mencius was a small boy.
2. The phrase "make some cloth" means "______".
A. 做衣服
B. 织布
C. 纺棉花
D. 缝衣服
3. Why did Mencius' mother cut the cloth? Because ______.
A. She wanted to make some more beautiful cloth
B. She thought it was wasting time to make cloth
C. She wanted to let her son get angry
D. She wanted to give her son a lesson
4. Why did Mencius always study hard after this? Because ______.
A. he wanted to be a teacher
B. he learned a lot from the lesson
C. he wanted to make his mother happy
D. he didn't play with any other friends
5. This passage mainly tells ______.
A. A story of Mencius and his friends
B. a story of Mencius' mother
C. a story about Mencius' wasting time
D. Mencius' mother cut the cloth
答案：DBDBC
2
One day, a teacher was giving a speech to his students. He held up (举起) a glass of water and asked the class, "How heavy do you think this glass of water is?"
The students' answers ranged from 20 g to 500 g? "It does not matter on the weight itself. It depends on how long you hold it. If I hold it for a minute, it is OK. If I hold it for an hour, I will have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you will have to call an ambulance (救护车). It is exactly the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes."
If we carry our burdens (负担) all the time, sooner or later, we will not be able to carry on, the burden
becoming increasingly heavier.
"What you have to do is to put the glass down, rest for a while before holding it up again."
We have to put down the burden sometimes, so that we can be refreshed and are able to carry on.
So before you return home from work tonight, put the burden of work down. Don't carry it back home.
You can pick it up tomorrow.
Whatever burdens you are having now on your shoulders, let it down for a moment if you can.
1. The teacher brought a glass of water to the class because _____.
A. he was very thirsty
B. his arms were strong
C. it was a good example
2. "A glass of water" in this passage referred to (指) _____.
A. knowledge
B. the burden
C. the time
3. According to the teacher, you may feel _____ if you put down the burden sometimes.
A. more energetic
B. much heavier
C. more stressed out
4. This was a lesson about _____.
A. how to relax oneself in life
B. how to solve a physics problem
C. how to keep fit by drinking water
5. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
A. You could become heavier and heavier if you held a glass of water in your hand.
B. All the students in the class knew what the weight of the glass of water exactly was.
C. The teacher had a good way of making his lesson clear and easy to be understood
答案：CBCAC
3
Years ago, a college teacher gave a group of graduate (毕业) students this job: Go to a poor place. Take
200 boys, between the ages of 12 and 16, and find out their living environment. The?predict?their chances for
the future.
After doing some research, the students found that 90% of the boys would spend some time in jail (监狱). Twenty-five years later, another group of students was given the job: Go to test what the first group of
students had predicted. They went back to the same place. These 200 boys had then become men. Some of
them were still there, a few had died and some had moved away. The students found that only four of them
had ever been sent tot jail.
These men had lived in a place full of crime (犯罪, 罪行) for many years. Why did the have such a good record? When the students asked the reason, the men said," Well, there was a teacher…?
The students found the teacher. What did she do to these boys? Could she give the students any reason
why these boys should have remembered her?
"No," she said, "no, I really couldn't give any reason."And then, thinking back over the years, she said
happily, " I loved those boys…?
1. The first group of the students took _____ boys to help them to do their job.
A. 12
B. 16
C. 90
D. 200
2. The underlined word "predict" in the passage most probably means "_____" in Chinese.
A. 证明
B. 预测
C. 提供
D. 证明
3. Which of the following is not true?
A. Four of the boys had been sent to jail.
B. The 200 boys were between 12 and 16.
C. The woman teacher could not give any reason at last.
D. The children lived I a place which was full of crime
4. What's the main idea of this passage?
A. Predicting never works
B. Teacher's love can change children's life
C. Two hundred boys were tested by students
D. The two groups of students could predict the boys' future
答案：DBCB
4
The hardworking blacksmith Jones used to work all day in his shop and so hard-working was he that at times he would make the sparks (火星) fly from his hammer.
The son of Mr. Smith, a rich neighbor, used to come to see the blacksmith every day and for hours and hours he would enjoy himself watching how the tradesman worked.
“Young man, why don’t you try your hand to learn to make shoe tacks (钉), even if it is only to pass the time?” said the blacksmith. “Who knows, one day, it may be of use to you.”
The lazy boy began to see what he could do. But after a little practice he found that he was becoming very skilled and soon he was making some of the finest tacks.
Old Mr. Smith died and the son on account of the war lost all his goods. He had to leave home and was forced to live in another country. It so happened that in this village there were many shoemakers who were spending a lot of money buying tacks for their shoes and even at times when they paid high prices they were not always able to get what they wanted, because in that part of the country there was a high demand for soldiers’ shoes.
Our young Mr. Smith, who was finding it difficult to earn his daily bread, remembered that once upon a time he had learned the art of making tacks and had the sudden idea of making a bargain with the shoemakers. He told them that he would make the tacks if they would help to get him settled in the workshop. The shoemakers were only too glad of the offer. And after a while, Mr. Smith found that he was soon making the finest tacks in the village.
“How funny it seems,” he used to say, “even making tacks can make money. My trade is more useful to me than all my former riches.”
The young man learnt to make shoe tacks because ________.
A. his father told him to B. he wanted to learn a skill
C. Jones encouraged him to D. he just wanted to pass his time
2. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A. Old Mr. Smith enjoyed making the shoe tacks.
B. The blacksmith had predicted the young man would be in need of the skill.
C. The higher prices they paid, the more tacks the shoemakers would get.
D. The young man earned his living by his skills learnt when he was young.
3. What can we learn from the story?
A. Practice makes perfect. B. Skill makes life easy.
C. A good beginning makes a good ending. D. Every man has his gift.
答案：CDB
5
In the early days of human history, people survived by hunting wild animals, or gathering wild grains and plants for food. Then, some people learned to grow crops and raise animals for food. They were the first farmers.
From the sixteenth century on, the word “farm” has meant agricultural land. But a much older meaning of the word “farm” is linked to economics. The word “farm” comes from the Latin word “firma”, which means an unchanging payment. Experts say the earliest meaning of the English word “farm” was a yearly payment made as a tax or rent.
Farmers in early England did not own their land. They paid every year to use agricultural lands. In England, farmers used hawthorn trees along the edges of houses. They called this row of hawthorns a hedge. Hedging fields was how careful farmers marked and protected them. Soon, people began to use the word “hedging” to describe steps that could be taken to protect against financial loss. Hedging is common among gamblers who make large bets. A gambler bets a lot of money on one team. But, to be on the safe side, he also places a smaller bet on the other team, to reduce a possible loss.
You might say that someone is hedging his bet when he invests in several different kinds of business. One business may fail, but likely not all. Farmers know that it is necessary to make hay while the sun shines. Hay has to be cut and gathered when it is dry. So a wise farmer never postpones gathering his hay when the sun is shining. Rain may soon appear. A wise person copies the farmer. He works when conditions are right.
1.We can know from the 3rd paragraph that farmers in early England _________.
A.?had land of their own??? B.?paid to use hawthorn trees every year
C.?used hedging fields??? D.?often suffered from financial loss
2.Which of the following is wise?
A.?A mother tries to sleep as soon as her baby is quiet
B.?Hay has to be cut and gathered before it is dry
C.?Put off gathering hay when the sun is shining
D.?Gather hay as it is rainy
3.If a boy is carefully listening to his teacher in class, he learns to _________.
A.?become a wise farmer??? B.?hedge his bet
C.?gather his hay??? D.?make hay while the sun shines
答案：CAD
6
My grandfather is eighty years old. He always complains about how fast things have changed, and he often says that life used to be better.
"Families aren't what they used to be. A lot of families have broken up. If the husband and wife have problems with their marriage, they no longer stay together. And mothers used to stay at home and take care of their children, but now parents are both busy working. No one has time to look after children at home.
And the cars! No one walks anymore. More and more people drive. We used to walk five miles to school on school days, even in winter. But now we don't. And in school, children don't have to think anymore. In math class, for example, we used to add, subtract, multiply and divide by using our heads. But now kids don't use their heads anymore. Instead, they use calculators.
Most families have computers now. In the past we didn't have computers. We didn't even have lights. My mother used to spend all day cooking in the kitchen. But now we don't often eat home-cooked food.
And people talk less to each other than before. They are too busy to talk, too busy to eat, too busy to think...Life used to be simple, but it isn't anymore."
1. What does the grandfather think of the life now?
A. It's as good as it used to be
B. It's worse than it used to be
C. It's better than it used to be
D. It's the same as it used to be
2. What does the underlined word "marriage" mean in Chinese?
A. 生活
B. 工作
C. 婚姻
D. 家庭
3. What did the grandfather used to do?
A. He used to use calculators in math class
B. He used to drive to school in winter
C. He used to go to school by bike
D. He used to walk five miles to school
4. What changes have happened?
① There are lights at home
② People often eat home-cooked food now
③ Lots of families have computers
④ More and more people drive instead of walking
A. ①②④
B. ②③④
C. ①②③
D. ①③④
5. Which of the following is TURE?
A. Life now is much simpler
B. People have more time to talk with each other now
C. The grandfather only complains and pays no attention to the better life now
D. Lots of mothers still stay at home and look after their children.
答案：BCCDC