江苏省常州高级中学
2023～2024学年第二学期高二年级期中质量检查
英语试卷
第二部分：阅读理解(共两节，满分50分)
第一节(共15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
YOUR IMPACT BEGINS TODAY
Together we can
change the world.
Help us solve our world’s most pressing challenges
With your support, we’re driving new knowledge, working to reduce our human footprint on the planet, and inspiring a new generation of changemakers to value the natural world and help create a brighter future. 100% of all donations go directly to our Explorers and programs.
We’ve built a sustainable, innovative business model that allows us to invest every dollar you donate directly to our Explorers and programs.
When you support the National Geographic Society, not only are you supporting your passion for the planet, but you also help protect its wonder. You ensure our mission lives on so we can continue exploring the planet, saving wildlife, protecting our ocean, empowering the world’s most innovative scientists to help solve the planet’s mysteries and challenges, and preserving our ancient heritage for future generations.
Your generous contribution will immediately go to work supporting the things you care passionately about — not operating costs.
SUPPORT OUR WORK
Tax-free gifts
National Geographic Society is a tax-free organization, and we rely on the generosity of donors like you to support our Explorers’ work in science, exploration, education, and storytelling.
Single and monthly donations
Make a gift today to help explore and protect our planet. By giving monthly, your reliable support allows us to respond to the most pressing programmatic needs. Employer Matching Gifts
Many companies have a matching gift program for employees. You give an amount and your company donates the same. Double your impact by exploring your employer’s matching gift programs. Honor/Memorial Giving
Honor a friend or loved one’s passion for science, exploration, education, and storytelling by making an unusual gift in their name.
21. What’s the purpose of the above webpage?
A. To guide people to invest in a sustainable business.
B. To attract donations to National Geographic Society.
C. To appeal to people to preserve ancient heritage sites.
D. To publicize the mission of National Geographic Society.
22. To make your contribution twice as much, what can you do?
A. Make it a gift in the name of your friend.
B. Support the most pressing employer.
C. Reduce the tax attached to the donation.
D. Try your company’s matching gift programs.
23. What can be learned about National Geographic Society?
A. It needs no operating costs. B. Its mission hasn’t been recognized.
C. It is dedicated to protecting nature. D. Its employees needn’t pay income tax.
B
The Giza Pyramids are relics of Egypt’s Old Kingdom era and were constructed 4,500 years ago. Pharaoh (法老) Khufu was the first Egyptian king to build a pyramid in Giza, a project he began around 2550 BC. His Great Pyramid is the largest in Giza and originally towered 481 feet above the plateau. Its estimated 2.3 million stone blocks each weigh an average of 2.5 — 15 tons.
Khufu’s son, Khafre, built the second pyramid at Giza around 2520 BC. His burial ground stands out because it also includes the Sphinx, a limestone monument with the body of a lion and the head of a pharaoh. The third pyramid at Giza is considerably smaller than the first two—less than half their height at about 218 feet. Built by Khafre’s son Menkaure around 2490 BC, the pyramid’s complex includes two separate temples and three individual queens’ pyramids.
According to scientists, the builders were skilled Egyptian workers who lived in a nearby temporary city. Boatmen used the Nile and a network of artificial waterways to bring materials to the Giza Plateau, including copper cutting tools from the Sinai Peninsula and timber (木材) from Lebanon. To sustain the workers, they also delivered cattle from farms near the Nile Delta. Communities across Egypt probably contributed workers, as well as food and other essentials.
It’s generally believed that the Egyptians moved massive stone blocks to the heights along large ramps (坡道) using a system of ropes, rollers, and levers. Some suggest exterior ramps around each pyramid were applied, while a more controversial theory suggests internal ramps were used. Perhaps future imaging technology will reveal how Egyptian builders created these timeless monuments.
As the pyramids helped to build ancient Egypt, they also preserved it. “Many people think of the site as just a tomb in the modern sense, but it’s a lot more than that,” says Harvard University Egyptologist Peter Der Manuelian. “Almost any subject you want to study about the Pharaonic civilization is available on the tomb walls at Giza—so it’s not just about how the ancient Egyptians died but how they lived.”
24. What do the first two paragraphs mainly talk about?
