(衡阳市八中2008届高三模拟试题A篇)

Sacagawea, the only woman on the Lewis and Clark expedition into the American West, was the daughter of a Shoshone chief. Around the age of 12, Sacagawea was captured by Hidatsa Indians, an enemy of the Shoshones. She was then sold to a French-Canadian trapper named Toussaint Charbonneau and became one of his wives.

In November 1804, an expedition led by Meriwether Lewis and William Clark arrived there. Often called the Corps of Discovery, the expedition planned to explore newly acquired western lands and find a route to the Pacific Ocean. Lewis and Clark hired Charbonneau to serve as interpreter on their expedition. Even though she was pregnant with her first child, Sacagawea was chosen to accompany them.

She was killed at finding eatable plants. When a boat she was riding on turned over, she was able to save some of its goods, including important documents and supplies. She also served as a symbol of peace---a group traveling with a woman and a child were treated with less suspicion than a group of men alone.

Sacagawea also made a miraculous discovery of her own during the trip west. When they met a group of Shoshone Indians, she soon realized that its leader was actually her brother Cameahwait. It was through her that the expedition was able to buy horses from the Shoshone to cross the Rocky Mountains.

After reaching the Pacific coast in November 1805, they remained there until March of the following year. Sacagawea, her husband, and her son remained with the expedition on the return trip east until they reached the Mandan villages. And for her contribution to the Crops of Discovery, she was even featured on a dollar coin issued in 2000 by the US Mint.

56.The text is mainly about_______.

  A. the whole life of Sacagawea          B. the difficulties the Corps of Discovery met

  C. American history in exploration       D. Sacagawea’s contribution to the Corps of Discovery

57.What’s one of the purposes of the Corps of Discovery?

  A. To drive the Indians away                 B. To explore the Rocky Mountains

  C. To find how to reach the Pacific            D. To look for Sacagawea for help

58.During the expedition, what excited Sacagawea most was that she______.

  A.bought horses for Lewis and Clark           B. saved important documents and supplies

  C.was considered as a symbol of peace         D. reunited with her brother Cameahwait

59.What can be inferred from the text?

  A.Sacagawea is still highly honored by Americans

  B.Sacagawea’s husband was unfamiliar with the West

  C.Sacagawea stayed on the Pacific coast for half a year

  D.Sacagawea’s husband did little for the expedition

III 阅读（共两节，满分40分）

第一节：阅读理解（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。

                              Eddie McKay, a once-forgotten pilot, is a subject of great interest to a group of history students in Canada.

    It all started when Graham Broad, a professor at the University of Western Ontario, found McKay’s name in a footnote in a book about university history. McKay was included in a list of university alumni（校友）who had served during the First World War, but his name was unfamiliar to Broad, a specialist in military history. Out of curiosity, Broad spent hours at the local archives （档案馆） in a fruitless search for information on McKay. Tired and discouraged, he finally gave up. On his way out, Broad’s glance happened to fall on an exhibiting case showing some old newspapers. His eye was drawn to an old picture of a young man in a rugby uniform. As he read the words beside the picture, he experienced a thrilling realization. “After looking for him all day, there he was, staring up at me out of the exhibiting case,” said Broad. Excited by the find, Broad asked his students to continue his search. They combed old newspapers and other materials for clues. Gradually, a picture came into view.

    Captain Alfred Edwin McKay joined the British Royal Flying Corps in 1916. He downed ten enemy planes, outlived his entire squadron （中队） as a WWI flyer, spent some time as a flying instructor in England, then returned to the front, where he was eventually shot down over Belgium and killed in December 1917. But there’s more to his story. “For a brief time in 1916 he was probably the most famous pilot in the world,” says Broad. “He was credited with downing Oswald Boelcke, the most famous German pilot at the time.” Yet, in a letter home, McKay refused to take credit, saying that Boelcke had actually crashed into another German plane.

    McKay’s war records were destroyed during a World War II air bombing on London — an explanation for why he was all but forgotten.

    But now, thanks to the efforts of Broad and his students, a marker in McKay’s memory was placed on the university grounds in November 2007. “I found my eyes filling with tears as I read the word ‘deceased’ （阵亡） next to his name,” said Corey Everrett, a student who found a picture of Mckay in his uniform. “This was such a simple example of the fact that he had been a student just like us, but instead of finishing his time at Western, he chose to fight and die for his country.”

41. What made Professor Broad continue his search for more information on McKay?  

         A. A uniform of McKay.               B. A footnote about McKay.

C. A book on McKay.                              D. A picture of McKay.          

42. What did the students find out about McKay?                            

         A. He trained pilots for some time.

         B. He lived longer than other pilots.

         C. He died in the Second World War.

         D. He was downed by the pilot Boelcke.                                  

43. McKay’s flying documents were destroyed in        .                    

         A. Belgium          B. Germany         C. Canada                D. England 

44. We can learn from the last paragraph that McKay        .                 

         A. preferred fight to his study

         B. went to war before graduation

         C. left a picture for Corey Everrett

         D. set an example for his fellow students                               

45. What is the text mainly about?                                        

         A. The research into war history.             B. The finding of a forgotten hero.

         C. The pilots of the two world wars.          D. The importance of military studies.                                    

Mobile phones are an important business tool for farmers in rural areas. But they also put a valuable educational tool in their hands.
The University of Illinois in the United States has a project called SAWBO—Scientific Animations Without Borders. It produces educational videos that can be downloaded to cell phones. The goal is to help people in developing countries improve their lives.
One video shows farmers how to make a natural insecticide from neem seeds to prevent insect damage to crops. The process starts with sorting and drying the neem fruits. Then let the fruit dry in the sun for about three or four days, until they become brown. Using a mortar(碾槌) and stick, the fruits are slightly pounded to remove the shells from the fruits without breaking the seed inside.
The videos use computer animation(动画). Some of the animated characters are a little funny looking-like a farmer with a long nose. But the subjects are serious, including a health video on preventing cholera(霍乱). Team member Francisco Seufferheld says the information in the videos is meant to be quickly understood. He says, “The information is digested in such a way that in two minutes, we can transmit a complex idea.”
The researchers tested the seven-minute video on seven mobile phones. They wanted to see if people would share the video using Bluetooth wireless technology. With Bluetooth, files can be passed to a nearby phone even if neither phone is connected to the Internet. As a result, in one month, the video had spread to one hundred eighteen people in fifty different villages. “This is just incredible impact,” said Francisco Seufferheld.
The team has made a few videos so far. These are available in a total of eighty languages, dialects and accents. Professor Barry Pittendrigh says there are plans for more videos later this year.
【小题1】What is the text mainly about?