60. What does the underlined word “dire” in the second paragraph mean?

A. Exact or precise.                     B. Long and-boring

C. Fair or objective.                     D. Extremely serious or terrible.

61. Judging by the text, the claims are centered on

A. fair judgment of American education

B. American students' performance on tests

C. an accurate picture of American colleges

D. what should be taught in the American classroom

62. The passage is written mainly to

A. defend American education

B. show dissatisfaction with American education

C. explain why American students do badly on tests

D. offer advice on American education reform

C

Scientists have long wondered what benefit zebras might get from their fancy black-and-white coats. Those stripes (条纹) may be most useful as protection from biting flies, a recent study concludes.

Biologists studied zebras and other closely related African animals. They tested five popular ideas about how the stripes might function. No evidence emerged to support most of these notions, Tim Caro told Science News. A wildlife biologist, he works at the University of California, Davis.

①   .Some scientists had proposed those stripes help zebras hide from predators (食肉动物), such as lions, or confuse them. Still others suggested that those stripes might offer some cooling or help the animals in forming social groups.

②    . Instead, the stripes appear to help the animals avoid the bite of bloodthirsty flies. This finding supports some studies had found signs that flies prefer solids to stripes when hunting for a landing place.

③   .To test all of the theories, Caro's group used geographic information. They looked at where in Africa the 20 different types of animals belonging to the genus Equus lived. Some of these equines (马科动物) have stripes, including zebras and asses (驴) with striped legs. Others are stripe-free. These include other asses and wild horses.

The scientists found no connection between stripes and whether the animals lived in woodsy(树林多的)areas. That suggests stripes don’t camouflage(伪装)zebras in those places.

The scientists also saw no link between where striped animals lived and where lions hunted. In ether studies, researchers found that lions ate plenty of zebras. The new observations suggest stripes don't confuse the predators.

The experts also looked for-and found-no evidence that stripes cool the zebras or help them recognize each another when forming social groups.

④   .Striped animals often live in places where the environment is just right much of the year for biting flies to flourish. In those areas, horseflies, tsetse flies(舌蝇)and other biting flies spread fatal diseases to zebras and horses. That connection now suggests stripes may help zebras reduce the number of bites-and the infections they can spread.

The study doesn't answer how the zebra got its stripes in the first place, Caro admits. Science may never know. Inns Cuthill is a biologist at England's University of Bristol. He finds the new study “compelling(令人信服的)”，Until now, Cuthill's favorite hypothesis had been that zebra stripes confused predators. It's too soon to say the mystery of the zebra's stripes has been solved, he notes. But he says that keeping flies away is now probably “the leading contender.”

63. According to the recent study, the stripes in zebras may be used to

A. offer some cooling when it is hot

B. help them hide from or confuse predators

C. protect themselves from being bitter, by flies

D. help them in forming social groups

64. The missing sentence “None of those ideas make sense.” can be put in

A.①      B.②      C.③     D.④

65. It can be inferred from the passage that

A. The study answers how the zebra got its stripes

B. Flies prefer solids to stripes when seeking a landing place

C. Cuthill now tends to believe the new theory

D. The mystery of the zebra's stripes will be solved soon

66. Which of the following can best serve as the title of this passage?

A. One Plus to Wearing Stripes             B. How Does Zebra Get Stripes

C. Mystery Solved                       D. Zebra's Stripes

D

“I'm going home tomorrow,” Michael announced. It was the first time he had talked with Bert Hensley since their argument that morning. He wanted his father to say that he couldn't go, that he wouldn't let him run away. To say that running was no way for a man to live.

But he replied only, “I figured that's what you'd want."

Michael began to pack his suitcase. It took only a few more minutes to finish his packing. When Michael finally spoke, his voice was too loud in the small space. "Why'd you invite me?"He asked, "Why'd you call after so many years?" His father answered without looking at Michael.

"I thought it was time," he said.

“Time for what? ” Michael persisted.

"I guess we've let one another down pretty badly in the last couple of days, haven't we?" his father said. "Cil warned me," he continued, "She said I ought to think about it more before I called-about what I was trying to do, going back into your life that way. She said it wasn't fair, me letting some other man raise my son through all those years and then trying to take him back, just when he was getting to be a man."

A man? Michael almost laughed.

"I don't know if you'll understand any of this. You're pretty young." His father went silent, as though there was nothing more to say."

Michael leaned across the table. "Try me," he spoke quietly, but it was almost a command.

His father flashed him a surprised look. "Well, " he said at last, "my life was beginning to feel... sort of temporary, I guess you could say. When you finish a run on the river, it's done. You know? So I guess I found myself thinking about you. A lot. Not just now and then the way I used to."

Not just now and then! Michael felt rather disappointed. So during all the years he had carried this man in his heart, constantly, day and night-all the "conversations" they'd had--Bert Hensley hadn't been thinking of him equally. Only now and then!

And now you know, Michael thought. And it doesn't help, does it? He stood, but then he realized there was no place to go.

"Michael," his father said finally, "You don't have to go, you know," his father said as Michael settled his suitcase into the back seat of Cil's car. Michael looked at his father helplessly. They both knew that he did. What good did it do to start pretending now?

Not that thing would be any better back in Minnesota. Just that it was impossible to stay on here. "I guess they need me at home," Michael said. "There are always lots to do in the summer."

"Don't let the old man work too hard, Mike." His father added, trying on a chuckle(轻声地笑)that slipped immediately away.

The old man, the man his father had given him over to and then tried to take him back again. Even now, Michael thought, you could ask me to stay. That might make a difference. If you asked like you really mean it.

But his father didn't ask; Michael had known he wouldn't. They shook hands before Michael climbed into the car. Like two men. Like two frightened men.

67. After all of what had happened Michael still hoped his father could

A. apologize for what he had done                B. support his decision

C. go home with him                           D. ask him to stay

68. Why did Michael feel disappointed with his father?

A. His father abandoned him after he was born.

B. His father went back into his life all of a sudden.

C. His father never thought of him as the way he did.

D. His father said he was young to understand all of this.

69. The characteristic of the father can be described as

A. responsible          B. insincere             C. caring        D. stubborn

70. Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A. When the father said "You don't have to go", he meant it.

B. The father never regretted having tried to take his son back.

C. Michael probably wouldn't go back to his father again.

D. The old man was hard on Michael.

第II卷 (非选择题 两部分 共35分)

第四部分 任务型阅读(共10小题;每小题1分.满分10分)

请认真阅读下列短文，并根据所读内容在文章后表格中的空格里填入最恰当的单词.注意:每空格1个单词。

Happiness can be described as a positive mood and a pleasant state of mind. According to recent polls(民意测验)，sixty to seventy percent of people consider themselves to be moderately happy and one in twenty people feel very unhappy. Psychologists have been studying the factors that contribute to happiness. Happiness is unpredictable and a person in an apparently ideal situation is not necessarily happy. The ideal situation may have little to do with his actual feelings.

A good education and income are usually considered necessary for happiness. Though both may contribute, they are only chief factors if the person is seriously undereducated or actually suffering from lack of physical needs.

There is no doubt that money can buy a degree of happiness, but once you can afford to feed, clothe and house yourself, each extra dollar makes less and less difference. Whenever and wherever they look, scientists find that, on average, wealthier people are happier. But the link between money and happiness is complicated. In the past half-century, average income has skyrocketed in industrialized countries, yet happiness levels have remained static. Once your basic needs are met, money only seems to boost happiness if you have more than your friends, neighbors and colleagues.

The rich are not likely to be happier than the middle-income group or even those with very low incomes. People with college educations are somewhat happier than those who do not graduate from high school, and it is believed that this is mainly because they have more opportunity to control their lives. Yet people with a high income and no college education may be happier than those with the same income and a high college education. It should be noted that people quickly get used to what they have, and they are happiest when they feel they are increasing their level no matter where it stands at a given time.

The best formula for happiness is to be able to develop the ability to tolerate frustration, to have a personal involvement and commitment, and to develop self-confidence and self-esteem.

第五部分  书面表达(共25分)

阅读下面短文，然后按要求写一篇150词左右的英语短文.

Once upon a time in a land far away, there was a wonderful old man who loved everything: animals, spiders, insects... One day while walking through the woods the nice old man found a cocoon(茧)of a butterfly. He took it home. A few days later, a small opening appeared; he sat and watched the butterfly for several hours as it struggled to force its body through that little hole. The man decided to help the butterfly, so he took a pair of scissors and cut off the remaining bit of the cocoon. Then the butterfly then came out with ease. But it had a swollen body and small, shriveled(萎缩的)wings. As a result, the butterfly spent the rest of its life crawling around with a swollen body and shriveled wings. It never was able to fly!

What the kind-hearted man did not understand was that the restricting cocoon and the struggle required for the butterfly to get through the tiny opening were Nature's way of forcing fluid (液体)from the body of the butterfly into its wings so that it would be ready for flight once it achieved its freedom from the cocoon.

Sometimes struggles are exactly what we need in our life. If we were allowed to go through our life without any hardships, it would fail us. We would not be as strong as what we could have been. And we could never fly.

 

【写作内容】

1.以约30个词概括上文故事中的主要内容.

2.以约120个词就“个人成长需要艰难生活的磨砺”的主题发表看法，至少包含以下内容要点:

(1)你读了这个故事的感受;

(2)叙述当前父母溺爱子女的现象和由此造成的后果;

(3)假如你是父母的一方，你会如何磨砺自己的孩子?

【写作要求】

1.你可以使用实例或其他论述方法支持你的观点，也可以参照阅读材料的内容，但不得直接引用原文中的句子。

2.作文中不能出现真实姓名和学校名称。

淮安市2014高三英语10月联考试卷(含答案)就分享到这里了，更多相关信息请继续关注高考英语试题栏目！