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共52题，约3710字。

　　2015-2016学年度上学期期中考试
　　高二英语试题
　　第二部分　阅读理解（共两节，满分４０分）
　　第一节（共１５小题；每小题２分，满分３０分）                             
　　A
　　The morning had been a disaster. My tooth was aching, and I’d been in an argument with a friend. Her words still hurt：“The trouble with you is that you won’t put yourself in my place. Can’t you see things from my point of view?”I shook my head stubbornly（固执地） —and felt the ache in my tooth. I’d thought I could hold out till my dentist came back from holiday, but the pain was really unbearable. I started calling the dentists in the phone boot no one could see me immediately. Finally, at about lunchtime, I got lucky.“If you come by right now,” the receptionist（接待员） said,“ the dentist will fit you in .”
　　I toorse and keys and rushed to my car. But suddenly I began to doubt about the dentist. What kind of dentist would be so eager to treat someone at such short notice? Why wasn’t he as busy as the others?In the dentist’s office, I sat down and loond. I saw nothing but the bare walls and I became even more worried. The assistant noticed my nervousness and placed her warm hand over my ice-cold one.
　　When I told her my fears, she laughed and said ,“Don’t worry. The dentist is very good.”
　　“How long do I have to wait for him?”I asked impatiently.
　　“Come on ,he is coming. Just lie down and relax. And enjoy the artwork,” the assistant said.
　　“The artwork?”I was puzzled.
　　The chair went bacddenly I smiled. There was a beautiful picture, right where I could enjoy it ：on the ceiling. How considerate the dentist was ! At that moment, I began to understand what my friend meant by her words.
　　What a relief!
　　1.Which of the following best describes the author’s feeling that morning?
　　A. Cheerful.  B. Nervous.  C. Satisfied.  D. Upset.
　　2.What made the author begin to doubt about the dentist?
　　A. The dentist’s agreeing to treat her at very short notice.
　　B. The dentist’s being as busy as the other dentists.
　　C. The surroundings of the dentist’s office.
　　D. The laughing assistant of the dentist.
　　3.Why did the author suddenly smile?
　　A. Because the dentist came at last.     B. Because she saw a picture on the ceiling.
　　C. Because she could relax in the chair.  D. Because the assistant kept comforting her.
　　4.What did the author learn from her experience most probably?
　　A. Strike while the iron is hot.     B. Do not tell a book by its cover. 
　　C. Put oneself in other’s shoes     D. A friend in need is a friend indeed. 
　　B
　　Any list of the world’s top ten most famous paintings will surely include da Vinci’s Mona Lisa. Part of the painting’s attraction is its mystery.
　　Those lucgh to have a view of the Mona Lisa at the Louvre often stare in awe（敬畏）, surprised by the smile that seems to flicker（忽隐忽现）．Staring at a reproduction of the worcesthe same effect．Now she's smiling, then she's not．
　　What's the deal with Mona Lisa's smile?
　　Harvard scientist Margaret Livingstone is pretty sure she's solved the puzzle．After careful studies on human brains, Livingstone reasoned that the famous painting's flickering smile is caused by the way human beings see．
　　Our eyes use two separate regions（部位） to see．One is central vision（视力；视觉）, used to see colors and pict details such as fine print．The other is the vision around, used to observe lights, shadows, black and white contrasts．
　　When we look at a person's face, according to Livingstone, we usually focus centrally on the eyes．Staring at Mona Lisa's eyes, our less accurate vision notices the mouth, picp shadows from the cheekbones．The shadows play tricks, looking like a smile．But when we look directly at the mouth, our central vision doesn't see the shadows, and so the smile suddenly disappears．As our eyes observe different parts of the painting, Mona's smile seems to show up or disappear．
　　Did da Vinci intend to create this flickering smile effect? Perhaps．In any case, he was talented enough to paint shadows so good as to puzzle viewers for centuries．Meanwhile, Mona Lisa will keep smiling．And not．
　　5．Staring at Mona Lisa, people are amazed because _____．
　　A．it is one of the world's top ten most famous paintings
　　B．Mona Lisa's smile seems to disappear sometimes
　　C．they are lucgh to have a view at the Louvre
　　D．the reproduction of the worces the same effect
　　6．According to the passage, the use of the central vision is to ______．
　　A． observe different colors and findout details     C. see black and white contrasts
　　B． enjoy lights and fine printD. enjoy fine paintings
　　7．What can you infer from the passage?
　　A．Da Vinci created the flickering smile effect by design．
　　B．The flickering smile effect is caused by the shadows．
　　C．Our eyes use many separate regions to see paintings．
　　D．Mona Lisa is the most famous painting in the world．
　　C
　　When we think someone is smart, we say they have a big brain. But are there any facts to prove that statement?
　　Yes！In a new study done by Michael McDaniel，a psychologist at Virginia
　　Commonwealth University，bigger does mean smarter. “For all ages and sex groups，”he says，“it is now very clear that intelligence has something to do with brain volume（容量）.”
　　McDaniel reached his conclusion after measuring the size and volumeof 26 brains with the help of some instruments. He then used standard IQ tests to