广东省广州市真光中学2023-2024学年高二下学期期中考试英语试题

广州市真光中学2023学年第二学期期中考试

高二英语试卷

（满分130分，考试时间120分钟）

第一部分 阅读（共两节，满分50分）

第一节（共15小题；每小题2.5分，满分37.5分）

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中选出最佳选项。

A

Nobody says high school and college are easy. Studying is difficult, as is memorizing information for a test. Fortunately, there are books that can help to make dealing with school easier.

Unlimited Memory by Kevin Horsley

Do you have trouble remembering everything you are studying? Feel like you have too much on your plate? Unlimited Memory by Kevin Horsley may be for you. It is a bestseller on memory improvement. This book has strategies to help you learn faster while also teaching you to become more productive. Of course, having a good memory comes in handy outside of the classroom as well. Really, this is a great book for life in general.

On Course by Skip Downing

It is another book you will want to check out. In its eighth edition, the book provides you with self-assessment tools to help you identify what you need to change for academic success. It contains guided journal entries to help you with learning, responsibility, self-management, self-awareness and self-esteem.

Students Guide to Writing College Papers by Kate L Turabian

Many students reach college and find that essay writing in college is very different from that in high school. Whether this is the case for you or you just want to improve your writing skills, you’ll want to check out Students Guide to Writing College Papers. It’s available on Kindle or in hardback or paperback forms. Right now, this one is in its fourth edition. The book covers writing your actual paper, citing sources and style. Even English majors can find a lot of helpful tips in this book.

How to Become a Straight-A Student by Carl Newport

The book will teach you different approaches and strategies to help you score better, but spend less time on studying, with a focus on studying smarter, not harder. It is available on Kindle and in audiobook (有声读物) and paperback forms.

1. What’s special about On Course?

A. It is of great help even to English majors.

B. It is the most popular one and sells the best.

C. It mainly focuses on memory improvement.

D. It helps you develop other qualities besides academic abilities.

2. What do Unlimited Memory and How to Become a Straight-A Student have in common?

A. They have various forms. B. They are best-sellers.

C. They focus on effective learning. D. They have been published many times.

3. What is the purpose of the text?

A. To introduce some books to students. B. To encourage students to study harder.

C. To make students interested in learning. D. To offer suggestions on writing skills.

B

Jim Metzner has spent nearly five decades documenting and sharing the sounds of the world, from immersive portraits of American cities to unforgettable moments with people and wildlife in varied places.

Now more people will be able to hear more of the world through Metzner’s tape. The Library of Congress announced earlier this month that it has acquired the full body of his life’s work. The recordings include soundscapes of every description from around the world and interviews with scientists, artists and local people. Whereas many recordists focus entirely on a single subject—nature, music or science —Metzner’s recordings convey various human experiences accompanied by the vast range of sounds from the natural world.

Metzner’s career began with a moment of realization in the 1970s, when he first ventured onto the campus of UMass Amherst equipped with a stereo recorder, microphone and ear phones. Metznerre called pushing the red button and hearing a lifelike symphony: a couple walking and talking nearby, a bicycle riding through gravel, a bird flying overhead, bells in the distance. “And I was going like, ‘Wow, this is amazing. What an extraordinary coincidence!’” he recalled. “But it wasn’t a coincidence--this stuff was happening all the time, I just hadn’t been paying attention to it. And it was the microphone and the recorder that said, ‘Wake up ... you live in a world of sound. Here it is.’And it was, like, handing it to me on a plate.”

Metzner continued to focus on those moments over the years. Now in his 7Os, Metzner isn’t hanging up his microphone quite yet. He tells NPR he’s grateful to the Library of Congress for preserving his life’s work, which he describes as a deep honor. But he also wants to make sure it’s actually being heard, not just “buried in an archive (档案室).”

He hopes more people will get to experience — and recognize the value -- of soundscapes, which he describes as “part of our natural heritage” and “the touchstones to our feelings.”

“You can go to a museum and see Diane Arbus’ photographs. You can see Rene Magritte’s paintings,” he adds.

“Why not soundscapes?”

4. What is special about Metzner’s recordings?

A. They describe the interviews with local people.

B. They convey sounds from human activities.

C. They display sounds on different subjects.

D. They focus entirely on a single subject.

5. What inspired Metzner to take up the recording career?

A. A symphony he heard on the campus of UMass Amherst.

B. A sound -rich moment on the campus of UMass Amherst.

C. A realization that he was well equipped with recording devices.

D. A coincidence that he happened to be waken up by the recorder.

6. Which aspect does Metzner value most about his life’s work?

A The Library of Congress has preserved it.

B. It has recorded unforgettable moments.

C. It can become our natural heritage.

D. More people can actually hear it.

7. What does Metzner probably mean in the last paragraph?

A. Soundscapes are every bit as much of an art form.

B. More and more people choose to appreciate soundscapes.

C. Photographs and paintings are recognized as natural heritage.

D. The value of soundscapes deserves more recognition than others.

C

After Alexander Pushkin was shot in a duel (决斗) in 1837, crowds of mourners formed in Saint Petersburg. When the wagon carrying the much loved poet’s body reached Pskov province, where he was to be buried, admirers tried to pull the vehicle themselves.

Today’s celebrity funerals tend to involve the public largely digitally rather than in person. But people are passionate all the same. In the past few months, grief has coursed around the Internet for Milan Kundera, and most recently, Michael Gambon. If you stop to think about it, such expressions of strong feelings for writers and actors are odd, even irrational.

Unlike other kinds of grief, this one is not rooted in personal intimacy (亲密关系). If you ever interacted with