2025年高考英语阅读理解难题Reading Comprehension for top students-4

高考培优阅读-5 Fisher‘s class Reading Comprehension-4 -Agriculture ​Potash (the old name for potassium carbonate) is one of the two alkalis (the other being soda, sodium carbonate) that were used from remote antiquity in the making of glass, and from the early Middle Ages in the making of soap: the former being the product of heating a mixture of alkali and sand, the latter a product of alkali and vegetable oil. Their importance in the communities of colonial North America need hardly be stressed. Potash and soda are not interchangeable for all purposes, but for glass- or soap-making either would do. Soda was obtained largely from the ashes of certain Mediterranean sea plants, potash from those of inland vegetation. Hence potash was more familiar to the early European settlers of the North American continent. The settlement at Jamestown in Virginia was in many ways a microcosm of the economy of colonial North America, and potash was one of its first concerns. It was required for the glassworks, the first factory in the British colonies, and was produced in sufficient quantity to permit the inclusion of potash in the first cargo shipped out of Jamestown. The second ship to arrive in the settlement from England included among its passengers experts in potash making. The method of making potash was simple enough. Logs was piled up and burned in the open, and the ashes collected. The ashes were placed in a barrel with holes in the bottom, and water was poured over them. The solution draining from the barrel was boiled down in iron kettles. The resulting mass was further heated to fuse the mass into what was called potash. In North America, potash making quickly became an adjunct to the clearing of land for agriculture, for it was estimated that as much as half the cost of clearing land could be recovered by the sale of potash. Some potash was exported from Maine and New Hampshire in the seventeenth century, but the market turned out to be mainly domestic, consisting mostly of shipments from the northern to the southern colonies. For despite the beginning of the trade at Jamestown and such encouragements as a series of acts to encourage the making of potash, beginning in 1707 in South Carolina, the softwoods in the South proved to be poor sources of the substance. 题目：      1. What aspect of potash does the passage mainly discuss? 　　(A) How it was made 　　(B) Its value as a product for export 　　(C) How it differs from other alkalis 　　(D) Its importance in colonial North America 　　2. All of the following statements are true of both potash and soda EXPECT: 　　(A) They are alkalis. 　　(B) They are made from sea plants. 　　(C) They are used in making soap. 　　(D) They are used in making glass. 　　3. They phrase the latter in line 4 refers to 　　(A) alkali 　　(B) glass 　　(C) sand 　　(D) soap 　　4. The word stressed in line 6 is closest in meaning to        (A) defined 　　(B) emphasized 　　(C) adjusted 　　(D) mentioned 　　5. The word interchangeable in line 7 is closest in meaning to 　　(A) convenient 　　(B) identifiable 　　(C) equivalent 　　(D) advantageous 　　6. It can be inferred from the passage that potash was more common than soda in colonial North 　　America because 　　(A) the materials needed for making soda were not readily available 　　(B) making potash required less time than making soda 　　(C) potash was better than soda for making glass and soap 　　(D) the colonial glassworks found soda more difficult to use 　　7. According to paragraph 4, all of the following were needed for making potash EXCEPT 　　(A) wood 　　(B) fire 　　(C) sand 　　(D) water 　　8. The word adjunct in line 22 is closest in meaning to 　　(A) addition 　　(B) answer 　　(C) problem 　　(D) possibility 　　9. According to the passage , a major benefit of making potash was that 　　(A) it could be exported to Europe in exchange for other goods 　　(B) it helped finance the creation of farms 　　(C) it could be made with a variety of materials 　　(D) stimulated the development of new ways of glassmaking 　　10. According to paragraph 5, the softwoods in the South posed which of the following problems 　　for southern settles? 　　(A) The softwoods were not very plentiful. 　　(B) The softwoods could not be used to build houses. 　　(C) The softwoods were not very marketable. 　　(D) The softwoods were not very useful for making potash. 答案：  DBDBC ACABD 钾肥（碳酸钾的旧称）是两种碱（另一种是苏打水、碳酸钠）之一，从遥远的古代开始用于制造玻璃，从中世纪早期开始用于制造肥皂：前者是加热碱和沙子混合物的产物，后者是碱和植物油的产物。它们在北美殖民地社区中的重要性几乎无需强调。 钾肥和苏打水不能互换用于所有用途，但对于玻璃或肥皂制造来说，两者都可以。苏打水主要来自某些地中海植物的灰烬，钾肥来自内陆植被的灰烬。因此，北美大陆的早期欧洲定居者更熟悉钾肥。 弗吉尼亚州詹姆斯敦的定居点在许多方面都是北美殖民地经济的缩影，钾肥是其首要关注的问题之一。它是英国殖民地的第一家工厂玻璃厂所必需的，并且生产量足够大，可以将钾肥包含在从詹姆斯敦运出的第一批货物中。第二艘从英国抵达定居点的船的乘客中包括钾肥制造专家。 制造钾肥的方法很简单。原木被堆积起来，露天焚烧，灰烬被收集起来。将骨灰放入底部有孔的桶中，然后将水倒在上面。从桶中排出的溶液在铁釜中煮沸。所得物质被进一步加热，将物质融合成所谓的钾肥。 在北美，钾肥生产很快成为农业开垦土地的辅助手段，因为据估计，通过出售钾肥可以收回多达一半的土地开垦成本。17世纪，缅因州和新罕布什尔州出口了一些钾肥，但市场主要是国内的，主要包括从北部到南部殖民地的运输。因为尽管从1707年开始，在南卡罗来纳州开始了钾肥贸易，并采取了一系列鼓励钾肥生产的行动，但南方的软木被证明是这种物质的不良来源。 1. 这段经文主要讨论钾肥的哪个方面？ 　 　（A） 它是如何制作的 　　（B） 其作为出口产品的价值 　　（C） 它与其他碱的区别 　　（D） 它在北美殖民地的重要性 　　 2. 以下所有陈述都适用于钾肥和苏打水 EXPECT： 　　（A） 它们是碱。 　　（B） 它们是由海洋植物制成的。 　　（C） 它们用于制造肥皂。 　　（D） 它们用于制造玻璃。 　　 3. 他们在第 4 行中将后者称为 　　（一）碱 　　（二）玻璃 　　（C） 沙子 　　（四）肥皂 　　 4. 第 6 行中强调的单词在含义上最接近        （一）界定 　　（二）强调 　　（三）调整 　　（四）提及 　 　5. 第 7 行中“可互换”一词的意思最接近 　　（一）方便 　　（二）可识别的 　　（三）等价物 　　（四）有利条件 　　 6. 从这段话中可以推断，在殖民地北部，钾肥比苏打水更常见 　　美国因为 　　（一）制造苏打水所需的材料不容易获得 　　（B）制造钾肥所需的时间比制造苏打水的时间少 　　（C）钾肥比苏打水更适合制造玻璃和肥皂 　　（四）殖民地玻璃厂发现苏打更难用 　　 7. 根据第 4 段，制造钾肥需要以下所有条件，但 　　（一）木材 　　（二）火灾 　　（C） 沙子 　　（四）水 　　 8. 第 22 行中的“助词”一词在含义上最接近 　　（一）加法 　　（二）回答 　　（三）问题 　　（四）可能性 　　 9. 根据这段经文，制造钾肥的一个主要好处是 　　（一）可以出口到欧洲换取其他商品 　　（B） 它帮助资助了农场的建立 　　（三）可用多种材料制成 　　（四）刺激玻璃制造新方法的发展 　　 10. 根据第5段，南方的软木造成了以下哪些问题 　　对于南方定居点？ 　　（A） 软木不是很丰富。 　　（B） 软木不能用于建造房屋。 　　（C） 软木不是很畅销。 　　（D）软木对制造钾肥不是很有用 学科网（北京）股份有限公司 $$