高二上学期期末考试英语试题 their own vegetables.

Fortunately, Prateek met Vinay Yadav, another educated farmer. They then decided to start their own value chain and sell their vegetables and grains, while skipping the middlemen. The variety of vegetables they grew wasn’t enough, so they decided to form a group of farmers.

Once the plan was ready, the group was registered by the name of Farmer Producer Organization (FPO). However, the trial failed in the first year as most of the farmers were grain growers and had limited knowledge of growing vegetables. However, the largest reason was the switch to organic from chemical.

Luckily, once the soil was used to organic methods, the next round of crops were successful and the FPO had a good amount of produce. So at the end of 2017, Prateek finally quit his job and devoted all his time to farming. Now he’s successful and recently his team has started two farmer resource centers at Dhaba Khurd and Nathrula Canj.

24. Why did Prateek have trouble continuing his life as a banker? A. He felt it so boring to be a banker.

B. He almost never satisfied his boss. D. He was enthusiastic about farming.

C. He found farming easier to do well.

25. Why was it difficult for Prateek to decide on quitting his job? A. The prices of organic products were low. B. The income from farming wasn’t much. C. He had no money to put into farming. D. He found farming produce hard to sell.

26. What did Prateek and Vinay Yadav set about doing after they met? A. Building their own marketing system. B. Raising the prices of their products. C. Switching from chemical to organic. D. Adding the kinds of vegetables grown.

27. What mainly resulted in the failure of FPO’s first year trial? A. Their no experience in growing vegetables. B. Their poor management on the employees. C. The soil’s not adapting to organic farming. D. The wrong ways of doing organic farming.

5

高二上学期期末考试英语试题

C

The values of artistic works, according to cultural relativism（相对主义）, are simply reflections of local social and economic conditions. Such a view, however, fails to explain the ability of some works of art to excite the human mind across cultures and through centuries.

History has witnessed the endless productions of Shakespearean plays in every major language of the world. It is never rare to find that Mozart packs Japanese concert halls, as Japanese painter Hiroshige does Paris galleries. Unique works of this kinds are different from today’s popular art, even if they began as works of popular art. They have set themselves apart in their timeless appeal and will probably be enjoyed for centuries into the future.

In a 1757 essay, the philosopher David Hume argued that because “the general principles of taste are uniform（不变的）in human nature,” the value of some works of art might be essentially permanent. He observed that Homer was still admired after two thousand years. Works of this type, he believed, spoke to deep and unvarying features of human nature and could continue to exist over centuries.

Now researchers are applying scientific methods to the study of the universality of art. For example, evolutionary psychology is being used by literary scholars to explain the long-lasting themes and plot devices in fiction. The structures of musical pieces are now open to experimental analysis as never before. Research findings seem to indicate that the creation by a great artist is as permanent an achievement as the discovery by a great scientist.

28. According to the passage, what do we know about cultural relativism? A. It introduces different cultural values. B. It explains the history of artistic works. C. It relates artistic values to local conditions. D. In excites the human mind throughout the world.

29. In Paragraph 2, the artists are mentioned in order to show that ________. A. great works of art can go beyond national boundaries B. history gives art works special appeal to set them apart C. popular arts are hardly distinguishable from great arts D. great artists are skilled at combining various cultures

30. According to Hume, some works of art can exist for centuries because ________.

6

高二上学期期末考试英语试题 A. they are results of scientific study

B. they establish some general principles of art C. they are created by the world’s greatest artists D. they appeal to unchanging features of human nature 31. Which of the following can best serve as the title of the passage? A. Are Popular Arts Permanent? C. Is Human Nature Uniform?

D

A new argument has been put forward as to whether penguins are disturbed by the presence of tourists in Antarctica.

Previous research by scientists from Keil University in Germany monitored Adelie penguins and noted that the birds’ heart rates increased dramatically at the sight of a human as far as 30 meters away. But new research using an artificial egg, which is equipped to measure heart rates, disputes this. Scientists from the Scott Polar Research Institute at Cambridge say that a slow moving human who does not approach the nest too closely, is not viewed as a threat by penguins.

The earlier findings have been used to partly explain the 20 per cent drop in populations of certain types of penguins near tourist sites. However, tour operators have continued to insist that their activities do not adversely（不利地）affect wildlife in Antarctica, saying they encourage non-destructive behavior in tourists, and that the decline in penguin numbers is caused by other factors.

Amanda Nimon of the Scott Polar Research Institute spent three southern hemisphere summers at Cuverville Island in Antarctica studying penguin behavior towards humans. “A nesting penguin will react very differently to a person rapidly and closely approaching the nest,” says Nimon. “First they exhibit large and prolonged heart rate changes and then they often flee the nest leaving it open for predators（掠夺者）to fly in and remove eggs or chicks.” The artificial egg, specially for the project, monitored both the parent who had been ‘disturbed’ when the egg was placed in the nest and the other parent as they both took it in turns to guard the nest.

However, Boris Culik, who monitored the Adelie penguins, believes that Nimon’s findings do not prove his own research invalid. He points out that species behave differently – and Nimon’s work was with Gentoo penguins. Nimon and her colleagues believe that Culik’s research was

7

B. Are Artistic Values Universal? D. Is Cultural Relativism Scientific?

高二上学期期末考试英语试题

methodologically（方法论上）defective because the monitoring of penguins’ responses needed catching the birds and fitting them with heart-rate transmitters（发射器）. Therefore, argues Nimon, it would not be surprising if they became stressed on seeing a human subsequently. 32. According to the passage, which of the following messages is presented? A. No firm conclusions are drawn.

B. Neither Culik’s nor Nimon’s findings are of much value. C. Penguin reduction is closely related to tourist behavior. D. Tourists are not responsible for the fall in penguin numbers. 33. Which of the following is right according to the passage? A. Penguins are harder to research when they have young. B. Tour operators should encourage tourists to avoid Antarctica. C. Not all penguins behave in the same way. D. Penguins need better protection from tourists.

34. What do you know about the opinions of Culik and Nimon in the passage? A. They are unreasonable. C. They are similar.

B. They are based on each other. D. They are contrary to each other.

35. The underlined word subsequently probably means ________. A. later

B. calmly D. earlier

C. separately

第二节（共5小题；每小题2分，满分10分）

根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。

The Science of Risk-Seeking

Sometimes we decide that a little unnecessary danger is worth it because when we weigh the risk and the reward, the risk seems worth taking. 36 Some of us enjoy activities that would surprise and scare the rest of us. Why? Experts say it may have to do with how our brains work?

The reason why any of us take any risks al all might have to do with early humans. Risk-takers were better at hunting, fighting, or exploring. 37 As the quality of risk-taking was passed from one generation to the next, humans ended up with a sense of adventure and a tolerance for risk.

8