古英语受低地德语影响很大，比如动词，基本词汇，发音，复合词结构，形态变化很复杂，以下是陕西汉中2016届高三英语第一次教学质量检测试卷，请考生练习。

第二部分 阅读理解(共两节，满分40分)第一节(共15小题;每小题2分，满分30分) 阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C、和D)中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。 AGeorge Gershwin, born in 1898, was one of America’s greatest composers. He published his first song when he was eighteen years old. During the next twenty years he wrote more than five hundred songs. Many of Gershwin’s songs were first written for musical plays performed in theatres in New York City. These plays were a popular form of entertainment in the 1920s and 1930s. Many of his songs have remained popular as ever. Over the years they have been sung and played in every possible way—from jazz to country.

In the 1920s there was a debate in the United States about jazz music. Could jazz, some people asked, be considered serious music? In 1924 jazz musician and orchestra leader Paul Whiteman decided to organize a special concert to show that jazz was serious music. Gershwin agreed to compose something for the concert before he realized he had just a few weeks to do it. And in that short time, he composed a piece for piano and orchestra which he called Rhapsody in Blue. Gershwin himself played the piano at the concert. The audience were thrilled when they heard his music. It made him world-famous and showed that jazz music could be both serious and popular.

In 1928, Gershwin went to Paris. He applied to study composition with the well-known musician Nadia Boulanger, but she rejected him. She was afraid that classical study would ruin his jazz-influenced style. While there, Gershwin wrote An American in Paris. When it was first performed, critics were divided over the music. Some called it happy and full of life, to others it was silly and boring. But it quickly became popular in Europe and the United States. It still remains one of his most famous works.

George Gershwin died in 1937, just days after doctors learned he had brain cancer. He was only thirty nine years old. Newspapers all over the world reported his death on their front pages. People mourned the loss of the man and all the music he might have still written.

21. Many of Gershwin’s musical works were________.

A. written about New Yorkers B. composed for Paul Whiteman

C. performed in various ways D. played mainly in the countryside

22. What do we know about the concert organized by Whiteman?

A. It proved jazz could be serious music. B. It attracted more people to theatres.

C. It made Gershwin leader of the orchestra.

D. It caused a debate among jazz musicians.

23. What do we learn from the last paragraph?

A. Many of Gershwin’s works were lost.

B. A concert was held in memory of Gershwin.

C. The death of Gershwin was widely reported.

D. Brain cancer research started after Gershwin’s death.

24. Which of the  following best describes Gershwin?

A. Serious and boring. B. Talented and productive.

C. Popular and unhappy.  D. Friendly and honest.

BIt may help you to know that there is no such thing as a perfect speech. At some point in every speech, every speaker says something that is not understood exactly as he has planned. Fortunately, such moments are usually not obvious to the listeners, why? Because the listeners do not know what the speaker plans to say, they hear only what the speaker does say. If you lose your place for a moment, wrongly change the order of a couple of sentences, or forget to pause at a certain point, no one will be any the wiser. When such moments occur, don’t worry about them. Just continue as if nothing happened.

Even if you do make an obvious mistake during a speech, that doesn’t really matter. If you have ever listened to Martin Luther King’s famous speech—“I have a dream”, you may notice that he stumbles over his words twice during the speech. Most likely, however, you don’t remember. Why? Because you were fixing your attention on his message rather than on his way of speech-making. People care a lot about making mistakes in a speech because they regard speech-making as a kind of performance rather than as an act of communication. They feel the listeners are like judges in an ice-skating competition. But, in fact, the listeners are not looking for a perfect performance. They are looking for a well-thought-out speech that expresses the speaker’s ideas clearly and directly. Sometimes a mistake or two can actually increase a speaker’s attractiveness by making him more human.

As you work on your speech, don’t worry about being perfect. Once you free your mind of this, you will find it much easier to give your speech freely.

25. The underlined part in the first paragraph means that no one will _________.

A. be smarter than you      B. do better than you

C.  notice your mistakes D. know what you are talking about

26. You don’t remember obvious mistakes in a speech because _________.

A. you find the way of speech-making more important

B. you don’t fully understand the speech

C. you don’t know what the speaker plans to say

D. you attention is on the content

27. It can be inferred from the passage that _________.

A. one or two mistakes in a speech may not be bad

B. giving a speech is like giving a performance

C. the listeners should pay more attention to how a speech is made

D. the more mistake a speaker makes, the more attractive he will be

28. What would be the best title for the passage?

A.  How to Be a Perfect Speaker     B. How to Make a Perfect Speech

C.  Don’t Expect Mistakes in a Speech D. Don’t Expect a Perfect Speech