温馨提示：手机用户请点击下方“原网页”或“电脑版”进行查看本文，效果最佳！
B
 
When early colonial settlers went to America, they took many forms of dance to their new home. Square dancing, one of the oldest forms of American folk dancing, developed from several different Old World group dances, mainly English country dances, and the French quadrille(四对方舞).
   In the American version of square dancing, four couples form a square and dance to music. An American addition to square dancing is the caller. What do you think a caller does?
The callers---someone who calls out the dance steps in time to the music--- was a completely American invention. At first dancers memorized all the steps for a particular dance, but eventually the dances became so complicated that it was necessary to have someone call out cues (提示) so that dancers didn’t have to remember so many steps. The caller didn’t just call out “do-se-do your partner”; a good caller also came up with colorful sayings or witty lines that he said in between the cues such as “Don’t be shy and don’t be afraid. Swing on the corner in a waltz promenade (步伐).” A caller might also come up with new dance steps and routines.
   Although popular for years, square dancing seemed to be going out of style and fading away until the early 1930s, when Henry Ford helped revive（复苏）interest in it. Ford, the automobile manufacturer, used to vacation at the Wayside Inn in Massachusetts, where he enjoyed the dance programme run by a man named Benjamin Lovett. Ford asked Lovett to come to Detroit and teach dances, but Lovett said he couldn’t because he had a contract with the inn. Ford solved that problem by buying the inn and Lovett’s contract. He took Lovett back to Detroit, where together they established a programme for teaching squares and rounds. Square dancing was updated and groups began forming all over the country.
25. What is the best title for the passage?
   A. The Different Steps of Square Dancing
   B. The Origin and Development of Square Dancing
   C. Who Was the Inventor of Square Dancing?
   D. Why Did Square Dancing Go Out of Style?
26. What does the underlined part “their new home” refer to?
   A. The United Kingdom.   B. France.    C. Africa.    D. America.
27. Why did the caller call out the steps for the dancers?
   A. Because the dance was invented by the caller.
   B. Because the dancers didn’t know the names of the steps.
   C. Because the steps were very particular.
   D. Because it was hard for the dancers to remember all the steps.
28. What can we learn about Henry Ford in the last paragraph?
   A. He was the man who made the first car.
   B. He was very fond of dancing.
   C. He helped make square dancing popular again.
   D. He taught people how to dance. 
C
 
    Almost every day we come across situations in which we have to make decisions one way or another. Choice, we are given to believe, is a right. But for a good many people in the world. In rich and poor countries, choice is a luxury, something wonderful but hard to get, not a right. And for those who think they are exercising their right to make choices, the whole system is merely an illusion, a false idea created by companies and advertiser, hoping to sell their products.
    The endless choice gives birth to anxiety in people’s lives. Buying something as basic as a coffee pot is not exactly simple. Easy access to a wide range of everyday goods leads to a sense of powerlessness in many people, ending in the shopper giving up and walking away, or just buying an unsuitable item that is not really wanted. Recent studies in England have shown that many electrical goods bought in almost every family are not really needed. More difficult decision-making is then either avoided or trusted into the hands of the professionals, lifestyle instructors, or advisors.
    It is not just the availability of the goods that is the problem, but the speed with which new types of products come on the market. Advances in design and production help quicken the process Products also need to have a short lifespan so that the public can be persuaded to replace them within a short time. The typical example is computers, which are almost out-of-date once they are bought. This indeed makes selection a problem. Gone are the days when one could just walk with case into a shop and buy one thing; no choice, no anxiety.
29. What does the author try to argue in Paragraph 1?
   A. The exercise of rights is a luxury.
   B. The practice of choice is difficult.
   C. The right of choice is given but at a price.
   D. Choice and right exist at the same time.
30. Why do more choices of goods give rise to anxiety?
   A. Professionals find it hard to decide on a suitable product.
   B. People are likely to find themselves overcome by business persuasion.
   C. Shoppers may find themselves lost in the broad range of items.
   D. Companies and advertisers are often misleading about the range of choice.
31. By using computers as an example, the author wants to prove that    .
   A. advanced products meet the needs of people
   B. products of the latest design fold the market
   C. competitions are fierce in high-tech industry
   D. everyday goods need to be replaced often
32. What is this passage mainly about?
   A. The variety of choices in modern society.
   B. The opinions on people’s right in different countries.
   C. The problems about the availability of everyday goods.
   D. The helplessness in purchasing decisions.
高考英语模拟试题库  http://www.17xuexiba.com/yy/