高考英语阅读训练四

A

Americans have contributed to many art forms, but jazz, a type of music, is one of the art form that was stared in the United States. Black Americans, who sang and played the music of their homeland, created jazz.

Jazz is a mixture of music of Africa, the work songs the slaves sang, and religious＊（宗教）music. Improvisation is an important part of jazz. This is why a jazz song might sound a little different each time it is played.

Jazz bands formed in the late 1800s. They played in bars and clubs in many towns and cities of the South, especially New Orleans. New Orleans is an international seaport, and people from all over the world come to New Orleans to hear jazz.

Jazz became more and more popular. By the 1920s, jazz was popular all over the United States. By the 1940s, you could hear jazz not only in clubs and bars, but in concert halls as well. Today, people from all over the world play jazz. Jazz musicians from the United States, Asia, Africa, South America, and Europe meet and share their music at festivals on every continent. In this way jazz continues to grow and change.

1.What can be the best title of the passage?

A. American art forms B. The development of jazz

C. The music of black Americans D. The birthplace of jazz

2.Which of the following is true?

A. Jazz is now popular all over the world.

B. Jazz is now a kind of religious music.

C. Jazz is now played only in bars and clubs.

D. Jazz is now played a little differently sometimes.

3. From the text it can be inferred that .

A. New Orleans is the place where jazz was first produced

B. the American people are all jazz lovers

C. jazz is merrily sung by the black when working

D. jazz may become more popular as time goes on

4. It took about years to make jazz popular in the United States.

A.200 B.120 C.80 D.40

B

Computer programmer David Jones earned &35,000 a year designing new computer games, yet he cannot find a bank prepared to let him have a check card. Instead, he has been told to wait another two years until he is 18.

He works for a small firm in Liverpool, where most young people of his age are finding jobs. David's biggest headache is what to do with his money. Though he has high payment, he cannot drive a car, or get credit cards（信用卡）.

David got his job four months ago, a year after leaving school with six O-levels（普通成绩）and working for a time in a computer shop. “I got the job because the people who run the firm knew I had already written some programs,”he said.

“I suppose $35,000 sounds a lot but I hope it will come to more than that this year.”He spends some of his money on records and clothes, and give his mother &20 a week as he lives with his parents. But most of his spare time is spent working.

“Unfortunately, computing was not part of our studies at school,”he said.“But I had been studying it in books and magazines for four years in my spare time. I knew what I wanted to do and never considered staying on at school .Most people in this business are fairly young, anyway. I would like to earn a million and I suppose early retirement（退休）is a possibility. You never know when the market might disappear. ”

5.Why is David so different from other young people of his age?

A. He earns an extremely high payment. B. He has got a job.

C. He lives at home with his parents. D. He does not go out much.

6.David's greatest problem is that .

A. he can't be treated as an adult（成年人）by the bank

B. he can't make as many games as he wishes

C. he doesn't know what to buy with the money

D. he had learnt to use computers at school

7.He left school after taking six O-levels because .

A. he was afraid of getting too old to start computing

B. he did not enjoy school

C. he wanted to work with computers

D. he wanted to earn a lot of money

8. Why does David think he might retire early?

A. He thinks computer games might not always sell so well.

B. He wants to stop working when he is a millionaire.

C. One has to be young to write computer programs.

D. He thinks his firm might close down.