语鹅市安置阳光实验学校2012高考英语二轮复习专题训练：阅读理解（76）
阅读理解
A
  One August afternoon, Richard Allen dropped off his last passenger, Mrs. Carey. Lifting two grocery bags, he followed her across the yard and stood on the step of her house. Glancing up, he saw a large wasp（黄蜂）nest under the roof. Allen had heard that wasps can become more likely to sting（蜇）in summer. He mentioned this to Mrs. Carey, who had opened the door.
  “Oh, they don’t bother me,” she said lightly, “I go in and out all the time.”
  Anxiously, Allen looked at the nest again－to see the wasps flying straight at him. “Hurry!” he shouted to Mrs. Carey. “Get in!”
  She stepped quickly inside, Allen ran for his mini-bus. Too late; they were upon him. Just as he jumped aboard, half a dozen red spots showed on his arm, and he felt more on his back and shoulders.
  As he was driving down the road, Allen felt as if something was burning at the back of his neck, and the “fire” was spreading forward toward his face. An immediate anxiety took hold of him. Allen knew that stings could cause some persons to die. But he had been stung the previous summer and the after-effects soon passed. However, what he didn’t know was that the first sting had turned his body into a time bomb waiting for the next to set off an explosion.
  Miles from the nearest medical assistance, Allen began to feel his tongue thick and heavy and his heartbeat louder. Most frightening, he felt his breathing more and more difficult. He reached for the radio mike（话筒）, trying to call the mini-bus center, but his words were hardly understandable. Signals were also poor that far out. He knew a rescue team was on 24-hour duty at the Amherst Fire Department’s north station. So his best chance was to make a run for it.
  Rushing down the mountain, Allen tried not to panic, focusing his mind on each sharp turn. He was almost through the last of them when he felt sure he was going into shock（休克）. Just then he reached for the radio mike again.
  “Call fire station,” he shouted, concentrating to form the words. “Emergency. Bee sting. Emergency. There in ten minutes.”
  “Five-ten,” the center replied.
  Hold on, Allen thought. Keep your eyes open. Breathe. Keep awake.
  At last he reached the station. Two firemen ran out. Allen felt their hands grasp him before he hit the ground. You made it, he thought.
1. It is mentioned in the passage that wasps are more likely to attack when___ ．
A．there are huge noises          B．strangers are approaching
C．the air is filled with food smell  D．the hottest season comes around
2. Allen didn’t know that if stung by wasps again, he would___ ．
A．have no after-effects               B．suffer from sharper pain
C．surely lose his life                   D．become more sensitive
3. Allen failed at his first attempt to send his message to the mini-bus center because ____．
A．he was unable to speak clearly  B．his radio equipment was poor
C．he was in a state of shock      D．no one was on duty
4. Which would be the best title for the passage?
A．Allen, A Helpless Driver  B．Wasps, Bloody Killers
C．A Race Against Death    D．War Against Wasps
B
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As a Switch card, it lets you pay for all sorts of goods and services, wherever you see the Switch logo. The money comes straight out of your account, so you can spend as much as you like as long as you have enough money (or an agreed overdraft(透支)) to cover it. It is also a cheque guarantee(担保) card for up to the amount shown on the card. And it gives you free access to your money from over 31,000 cash machines across the UK.
  How to use your NatWest Chshcard
  You can use your Cashcard as a Solo card to pay for goods and services wherever you see the Solo logo. It can also give you access to your account and your cash from over 31,000 cash machines nationwide. You can spend or withdraw(提取) what you have in your account, or as much as your agreed overdraft limit.
  Using your card abroad
  You can also use your Servicecard and Cashcard when you’re abroad. You can withdraw cash at cash machines and pay for goods and services wherever you see the Cirrus or Maestro logo displayed.
  We take a commission charge(手续费) of 2.25% of each cash withdrawal you make (up to ￡4) and a commission charge of 75 pence every time you use Maestro to pay for goods or services. We also apply a foreign-exchange transaction fee of 2.65%.
  How to use your NatWest Credit Card
  With your credit card you can do the following:
＊ Pay for goods and services and enjoy up to 56 days’ interest-free credit.
＊ Pay in over 24 million shops worldwide that display the Mastercard or Visa logos.
＊ Collect one AIR MILE for every ￡20 of spending that appears on your statement(结  算单).
  (This does not include foreign currency or traveler’s cheques bought, interest and other charges.)
5. If you carry the Servicecard or the Cashcard, _______.
  A. you can use it to guarantee things as you wish
  B. you can draw your money from cash machines conveniently
  C. you can spend as much money as you like without a limit
  D. you have to pay some extra money when you pay for services in the UK
6. If you withdraw ￡200 from a cash machine abroad, you will be charged ______.
  A. ￡4        B. ￡4.5        C. ￡5.25            D. ￡5.3
7. Which of the following is TRUE about using your NatWest Credit Card?
  A. You have to pay back with interest within 56 days.
  B. You will be charged some interest beyond two months.
  C. You can use the card in any shop across the world.
  D. You will gain one air mile if you spend ￡20 on traveler’s cheques.
8. The purpose of the passage is to show you how to ______.
  A. play your cards right            B. use your cards abroad
  C. draw cash with your cards      D. pay for goods with your cards
C
  The Queen’s English is now sounding less upper-class, a scientific study of the Queen's Christmas broadcasts has 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 Germany's University of Munich, wanted to discover whether accent changes 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 don't 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’. Similarly, she would have spoken of ‘the citay’ and ‘dutay’, rather than ‘citeeunderstandable’ and ‘dutee’, and ‘hame’ rather than ‘home’. In the 1950s she would have been ‘lorst’, but by the 1970s ‘lost’.”
The Queen’s 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 in the Journal of Phonetics.
9. The Queen’s broadcasts were chosen for the study mainly because ______.
A. she has been Queen for many years