2014年高考英語(yǔ)模擬試題（五）

劉松

第Ⅰ卷

第一部分聽(tīng)力（略）

第二部分閱讀理解（共兩節(jié)，滿分40分）

第一節(jié)（共15小題；每小題2分，滿分30分）

閱讀下列短文，從每題所給的四個(gè)選項(xiàng)（A、B、C和D）中，選出最佳選項(xiàng)，并在答題卡上將該項(xiàng)涂黑。

A

A new study finds a lack of education for young children in developing nations seriously affects the countrys economic progress. The organization Results for Development called R4D performed the study. The NonGovernmental group is based in Washington D.C. Its study says children who are not attending primary school are an unused source of economic growth for their country.

R4D says it performed the study because it was worried about a growing worldwide problem in education.

Milan Thomas works for R4D. He says there has been progress in reducing the number of children who do not attend school， but he says that progress has slowed in recent years. He says there is no disagreement that children with basic education can look forward to a better life.

“The benefits associated with primary education are really undisputed at this point because there are countless studies showing that children who complete basic education tend to enjoy better health and higher incomes over their lifetimes，” said Thomas.

But he says even though the value of education is known， it is important to find new ways of proving that value. So the organization led its work with the question， “What is the estimated cost to a nations economy of its outofschool children？ ”

The study uses information from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics， as well as studies of developing labor markets. The results estimate the losses suffered by 20 developing countries if more young children can not get basic education. Milan Thomas says the study also considered earnings the children not attending primary school would never receive.

He says the research found that it is far more costly in SubSaharan Africa to have primary school age children out of school than to educate them. He notes the cost to provide all children with primary education is much less than the average cost of not providing the schooling.

He says he hopes the study will prove to local governments and policy makers the value of a basic education for all children. And he says he hopes it will move them for provide that education to primary school age children in their country.

21. What kind of organization is R4D？

A.Results for Development.

B. State owned group.

C. Private group.

D. Economic group.

22. What does the underlined word “undisputed” in the fourth paragraph mean？

A. Doubtful.B. Hopeful.

C. Important.D. Certain.

23. What does R4D find in its study？

A. 20 developing countries suffer the losses.

B. Not providing schooling costs more than educating children.

C. The number of children not attending school is increasing.

D. An educated person lives a better life.

24. According to Milan Thomas， what should the government do？

A. To provide basic education to all children.

B. To provide the value of education to all children.

C. To develop economy first.

D. To send more students to study abroad.

B

New research suggests that speaking more than one language may delay different kinds of dementia， that is the lost of mental ability. In fact， researchers say， speaking two languages appears to be more important than the level of education in defending against dementia.

A study in India examined the effect of knowing more than one language in delaying the first signs of several disorders， these included Alzheimers disease， frontotemporal dementia， vascular dementia， Lewy bodies dementia and mixed dementias. Researchers studied nearly 650 people whose average age was 66. 240 of those studied suffered from Alzheimers， the most common form of mental decline.

391 of the subjects spoke two or more languages. Investigators found the dementia began about fourandahalf years later in those who were bilingual compared to those who spoke only one language. The level of education had no effect on the age at the first sign of dementia.

Thomas Bak helped to organise the study. He is with the Center of Cognitive Aging at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. He suggests that individuals who speak more than one language train their brains by moving back and forth between different words and expressions.

Mr Bak believes this effort improves what scientists called executive functioning or attention to tasks， which often weakens in people with dementia.

Researchers found there was no extra gain in speaking more than two languages. They also did not see a delay in the first signs of Lewy bodies dementia， the disorder causes patients to see or experience things that do not really exist. They can also cause sufferers to move back and forth between being wide awake and really sleeping.

Mr Bak says it does not appear important whether you learn a language at a young age or later in life.