2014年高考英语真题试卷（陕西卷）

— ___________! That's good news.

— ________? I thought you'd met them before.

    It was Mother's Day and I was shopping at the local supermarket with my five-year-old son,Tenyson.As we were1,we realized that only minutes earlier an2woman had fallen over at the entrance and hit her head on the ground3was with her, but there was blood everywhere and the woman was embarrassed and clearly in shock4,a lot of people stopped to help out.5we were walking towards the scene, Tenyson became very6about what had happened to the elderly couple. He7to me,“Mom, it's not much fun falling over in front of8”Seeing that there was a flower stall(摊位)at the front of the supermarket, he added, “Why shouldn't we9the lady a flower? It will make her feel better.”I was10that he'd come up with this11idea. So we went over and told the flower seller12we wanted.“Just take it,”she replied.“I13take your money for such a wonderful14”

    By now medical staff had arrived, and were15the injured woman. We gave the flower to the woman's husband and I told him it was16my son. At that, the old man started crying and said,“Thank you very much.”He then turned to me,“You have a17son. Happy Mother's Day to you.”

    The man bent down and gave his wife the flower, telling her who it was from18being badly hurt,the old lady looked up at Tenyson with19in her eyes and gave him a little20

    When I told my father that I was moving to Des Moines, Iowa, he told me about the only time he had been there. It was in the 1930s, when he was an editor of the literary magazine of Southern Methodist University（SMU）in Dallas, Texas. He also worked as a professor at SMU, and there was a girl student in his class who suffered from a serious back disease. She couldn't afford the operation because her family was poor.

    Her mother ran a boardinghouse in Galveston, a seaside town near Houston, Texas. She was cleaning out the attic（阁楼）one day when she came across an old dusty manuscript（手稿）. On its top page were the words, “By O. Henry”. It was a nice story, and she sent it to her daughter at SMU, who showed it to my father. My father had never read the story before, but it sounded like O. Henry, and he knew that O. Henry had once lived in Houston. So it was possible that the famous author had gone to the beach and stayed in the Galveston boardinghouse, and had written the story there and left the manuscript behind by accident. My father visited an O. Henry expert at Columbia University in New York, whoauthenticatedthe story as O. Henry's.

My father then set out to sell it. Eventfully, he found himself in Des Moines, meeting with Gardner Cowles, a top editor at the Des Moines Register. Cowles loves the story and bought it on the spot. My father took the money to the girl. It was just enough for her to have the operation she so desperately needed.

My father never told me what the O. Henry story was about. But I doubt that it could have been better than his own story.

    Why do Americans struggle with watching their weight, while the French, who consume rich food, continue to stay thin? Now a research by Cornell University suggests how life style and decisions about eating may affect weight. Researchers concluded that the French tend to stop eating when they feel full. However, Americans tend to stop when their plate is empty or their favorite TV show is over.

    According to Dr. Joseph Mercola, a health expert, the French see eating as an important part of their life style. They enjoy food and therefore spend a fairly long time at the table, while Americans see eating as something to be squeezed between the other daily activities. Mercola believes Americans lose the ability to sense when they are actually full. So they keep eating long after the French would have stopped. In addition, he points out that Americans drive to huge supermarkets to buy canned and frozen foods for the week. The French, instead, tend to shop daily, walking to small shops and farmers' markets where they have a choice of fresh fruits, vegetables, and eggs as well as high-quality meats for each meal.

    After a visit to the United States, Mireille Guiliano, author of French Women Don't Get Fat, decided to write about the importance of knowing when to stop rather than suggesting how to avoid food. Today she continues to stay slim and rarely goes to the gym.

    In spite of all these differences, evidence shows that recent life style changes may be affecting French eating habits. Today the rate of obesity — or  extreme overweight — among adults is only 6%. However, as American fast food gains acceptance and the young reject older traditions, the obesity rate among French children has reached 17% — and is growing.

    One afternoon last week, I saw three tearful children from my son's school being comforted by teachers. That morning, my 11-year-old had stomach pains, retching(干呕)into a bowl. Talking to other mothers later, I heard about other children with stomachache or difficulty sleeping the night before.

What caused so much pain? Sports day. Sports day might be necessary at a highly-competitive independent school, but not at a village primary school. For the children who can fly like the wind, sports day causes no problem. For those who are overweight or just not good at sport, it is a nightmare(噩梦). Even for those who enjoy running but fall halfway down the track in front of the entire school and their parents, it can prove a disaster.

    Why do we put our children through this annual suffering? Some may say competition is character building; or it's taking part, not winning, that's important; or that it is a tradition of school life. I just felt great pity for those children in tears or in pain.

    Team games at the end of sports day produced some close races, wild enthusiasm, lots of shouting—and were fun to watch. More importantly, the children who were not so fast or quick at passing the ball were hidden a little from everyone's eyes. Some of them also had the thrill of being on the winning side.

    I wish that sports day could be abandoned and replaced with some other less-competitive event. Perhaps an afternoon of team games, with a few races for those who want them, would be less stressful for the children and a lot more fun to watch.

    Linda: Hello, George. 

    George: Hi, Linda. I'm reading a tourist guide to Europe.

    Linda: 

    George: Yes, i'm looking to such a trip. Hey, have you ever been there?

    Linda: Yes. I've actually visited my countries in Europe; France, Germany, Italy and Austria, for example.

    George: And how long did you stay?

    Linda: Two years ago. For over one month.

    George: Did you like it?

    Linda:There are many ancient churches and castles. It's the best trip I've ever taken.

    George: Sounds great. 

    Linda: Good idea. You won't regret it.

A: Of course.

B: Not exactly.

C: What are you doing?

D: When did you go there?

E: Do you plan to move to Europe?

F: Are you thinking of visiting Europe some day?

G: I decide to make a trip next October on my annual leave.

    On the Mediterranean island of Majorca in Spain, the locals are angry. Too late. In the last quarter of 20th century, they obtained profit from foreign visitors wanting to buy up property on their beautiful island. Suddenly, it occurred to Majorca that the island no longer belonged to them. Its 630,000 inhabitants（居民）are increasingly convinced that the 14 million visitors a year are far too much of a good thing. Water is in short supply, pollution is worsening, and there is no affordable housing left for them to buy.

    Tourism is the world's largest and fastest growing industry. In 1950, 25 million people traveled abroad; last year, it was 750 million. The World Tourism Organization predicts that 1.6 billion people, by 2020, will travel each year, spending over two trillion（万亿）US dollars.

    The host country may not see many benefits. In Thailand, 60% of the $ 4 billion annual tourism income leaves the country. Tourists arrange by travel companies tend to stay at a big foreign-owned hotels, buying few local products. Mass tourism（团队旅游）usually leaves little money inside the country and most of the money goes to the airlines, the tour operators,and the foreign hotel owners, who are the final winners of tourism.

    These days the industry's most urgent question may be how to control the flow of tourist. A typical example of this is Italy, where great cultural centers like the Florence and Venice can't handle all the tourists they get every summer. In Florence, it's half inhabitants have to live with the pollution, traffic jam, and crime caused by 11 million visitors a year. Now there is talk about how to solve these problems, like raising hotel taxes, or even changing admission to some public squares. The idea is to discourage at least some visitors, as well as to pay for cleaning up the mess.

    For many poorer countries, tourism may still offer the best hope foe development. The Vietnamese are doing their best to open up their country. Libya has paid $ 1 million for a study. They all wanted tourists. Yet if something isn't done, tourism seems certain to become the victim of its success. Its effect on the environment is a major concern. For this reason, tourist organizations need to have second thoughts about what exactly they are trying to sell.

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    My father took me out camping for the first time when I as seven. He wanted teach me about animals, insects and trees. My uncles all come along with bows and arrows for hunting.

    Ore evening at sunset, we sat by the fire, have our barbecue. Just then a bird was flying over us. My uncles immediate jumped up and shot their arrows on the bird. Neither of the arrows hit the target, Suddenly the arrows was flying down at us from the sky — they were looked like rain! We ran to escape but fortunately no one was injured.

    That day I didn't learn much about animals, insects or trees, but I learnt a impressive lesson about gravity!

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Dear American guests,