- 1 -2014高考英语阅读理解抓分训练（61）及答案阅读理解The Queens English is now sounding less upper-class, a scientific study of the Queens Christmas broadcasts had found. Researchers have studied each of her messages to the Commonwealth countries since 1952 to find out the change in her pronunciation from the noble Upper Received to the Standard Received.Jonathan Harrington, a professor at Germanys University of Munich, wanted to discover whether accent (口音) changers recorded over the past half century would take place within one person. “As far as I know, there just is nobody else for whom there is this sort of broadcast records,” he said.He said the noble way of pronouncing vowels (元音) had gradually lost ground as the noble upper-class accent over the past years. “Her accent sounds slightly less noble than it did 50 years ago. But these are very, very small and slow changes that we dont notice from year to year.”“We may be able to relate it to changes in the social classes,” he told The Daily Telegraph, a British newspaper. “In 1952 she would have been heard saying thet men in the bleck het. Now it would be that man in the black hat. And hame rather than home. In the 1950s she would have been lorst, but by the 1970s lost.”The Queens broadcast is a personal message to the Commonwealth countries. Each Christmas, the 10-minute broadcast is put on TV at 3 pm in Britain as many families are recovering from their traditional turkey lunch. (传统火鸡午餐).The results were published (发表) in the Journal of Phonetics.46. The Queens broadcasts were chosen for the study mainly because _.A. she has been Queen for many yearsB. she has a less upper-class accent nowC. her speeches are familiar to many peopleD. her speeches have been recorded for 50 years47. Which of the following is an example of a less noble accent in English?A. “duaty” B. “citee” C. “hame” D. “lorst” - 2 -48. We may infer from the text that the Journal of Phonetics is a magazine on _.A. speech sounds B. Christmas customsC. TV broadcasting D. personal messages49. What is the text mainly about?A. The relationship between accents and social classes.B. The Queens Christmas speeches on TV.C. The changes in a persons accent.D. The recent development of the English language.参考答案-46-549、DBAC(2011新课标卷，C)Cassandra Feeley finds it hard to manage on her husbands income. So this year she did something more than a hobby: She planted vegetables in her yard. For her first garden, Ms. Feeley has put in 15 tomato plants, and five rows of a variety of vegetables. The familys old farm house has become a chicken house, its residents arriving next month. Last year, Ms.Rita Gartin kept a small garden. This year she has made it much larger because, she said, “The cost of everything is going up and I was looking to lose a few pounds too; so its a winwin situation all around.”They are among the growing number of Americans who, driven by higher living costs and a falling economy(经济), have taken up vegetable gardening for the first time. Others have increased the size of their existing gardens. Seed companies and garden shops say that not since the 1970s has there been such an increase in interest in growing food at home. Now many gardens across the country have been sold out for several months. In Austin, Tex., some of the gardens have a threeyear waiting list.George CBall Jr, owner of a company, said sales of vegetable seeds and plants are up by 40% over last year, double the average growth of the last five years. Mr.Ball argues that some of the reasons have been building for the last few years. The big one is the striking rise in the cost of food like bread and - 3 -milk, together with the increases in the price of fruits and vegetables. Food prices have increased because of higher oil prices. People are now driving less, taking fewer vacations, so there is more time to garden.本文讲述了由于生活费用增高，加上经济下降，越来越多的人开始自己种菜，并且现在人们开车少了，旅游少了，有更多的时间来种菜，减少生活费用。9. What does the underlined word “residents” in Paragraph 1 probably refer to?Achickens BtomatoesCgardens Dpeople答案：A。词义猜测题。由上文的 a chicken house(鸡舍)可知，它的居民应该是小鸡，故 A项正确。10Why is vegetable gardening becoming increasingly popular?AMore Americans are doing it for fun. BThe price of oil is lower than before.CTheres a growing need for fruits. DThe cost of living is on the rise.答案：D。细节理解题。由短文第二段第一句话可知，由于生活费增高，经济下降，越来越多的人们开始自己种菜。故 D项正确。11Which of the following might be the best title for the text?AFamily Food Planning BBanking on GardeningCA Belttightening Move DGardening as a Hobby答案：B。主旨大意题。本文主要讲述了由于生活费用增高，经济下降，迫使人们自己种菜来减少开支。A 项意为：家庭食物计划；B 项：依靠种菜；C 项：紧缩腰带运动；D 项：把种菜当做爱好。There was a story many years ago of a school teacher- Mrs. Thompson. She told the children on the first day that she loved them all the same. But that was a lie. There in the front row was a little boy named Teddy Stoddard. He d