I work with Volunteers for Wildlife, a rescue and education organization at Bailey Arboretum in LocustValley. Trying to help injured, displaced or sick creatures can be heartbreaking; survival is never certain. However, when it works, it is simply beautiful.

我在“野生动物志愿者”组织工作，这是蝗虫谷贝利植物园的一个援救教育组织，帮助受伤、流离失所或生病的动物。这样的工作可能会令人心碎；因为无法确定动物是否能活下来。然而，当救援起作用时，这种感觉真的很棒！

I got a rescue call from a woman in Muttontown. She had found a young owl on the ground. When I arrived, I saw a 2-to 3-week-old owl. It had already been placed in a carrier for safety.

我接到马特顿镇一位女士的求救电话，她在地上发现了一只猫头鹰幼鸟。当我到达时，我看见了一只两三周大的猫头鹰。为了安全起见，它已经被放在一辆大货车上。

I examined the chick and it seemed fine. If I could locate the nest, I might have been able to put it back, but no luck. My next work was to construct a nest and anchor it in a tree.

我检查了这只幼鸟，看起来还不错。如果我能找到鸟巢，我也许能把它放回去，但没那么幸运。接下来的工作就是建造一只鸟巢，并固定在一棵树上。

The homeowner was very helpful. A wire basket was found. I put some pine branches into the basket to make this nest safe and comfortable. I placed the chick in the nest, and it quickly calmed down.

房主非常乐于助人，给我找来了一只铁丝篮。为了让鸟巢安全舒适，我把一些松枝放进铁丝篮里，然后我把小猫头鹰放进鸟巢里，它很快安静了下来。

Now all that was needed were the parents, but they were absent. I gave the homeowner a recording of the hunger screams of owl chicks. These advertise the presence of chicks to adults; they might also encourage our chick to start calling as well. I gave the owner as much information as possible and headed home to see what news the night might bring.

现在最需要的是这只小猫头鹰的父母，但它们不在。我给了房主一份小猫头鹰饥饿尖叫声的录音。这些录音会让猫头鹰父母知道小猫头鹰的存在，也会鼓励小猫头鹰学着尖叫。我把尽可能多的消息告诉了房主，然后回家，看看晚上会有什么情况。

A nervous night to be sure, but sometimes the spirits of nature smile on us all! The homeowner called to say that the parents had responded to the recordings. I drove over and saw the chick in the nest looking healthy and active. And it was accompanied in the nest by the greatest sight of all — LUNCH！The parents had done their duty and would probably continue to do so.

这的确是一个紧张的夜晚，但有时大自然的神灵会眷顾我们！房主打电话说小猫头鹰的父母已经对这些录音做出了回应。我开车过去，鸟巢里的小猫头鹰看起来健康又活泼。鸟巢里出现了最令人感动的一幕——小猫头鹰的身边全是午餐！它的父母已经在尽职尽责，而且很可能会继续这样做。

2017高考英语阅读理解试题（含答案）

　在阅读理解题上得分的多少很大程度上决定着高考英语的总成绩。而且,阅读量有逐渐扩大且阅读速度进一步提高的趋势。为了帮助大家训练英语阅读能力，我整理了一些高考英语阅读理解题，欢迎阅读!

　第二部分：阅读理解(共两节，满分35分)

　第一节(共10小题;每小题2.5分，满分25分)

　阅读下面短文，从每题所给的`四个选项A、B、C和D中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

　Mr. Peter Johnson, aged twenty-three, battled for half an hour to escape from his trapped car yesterday when it landed upside down in three feet of water. Mr. Johnson took the only escape route --- through the boot(行李箱).

　Mr. Johnson's car had finished up in a ditch (沟渠) at Romney Marsin, Kent after skidding on ice and hitting a bank. "Fortunately, the water began to come in only slowly," Mr. Johnson said. "I couldn't force the doors because they were jammed against the walls of the ditch and dared not open the windows because I knew water would come flooding in."

　Mr. Johnson, a sweet salesman of Sitting Home, Kent, first tried to attract the attention of other motorists by sounding the horn and hammering on the roof and boot. Then he began his struggle to escape.

　Later he said, "It was really a half penny that saved my life. It was the only coin I had in my pocket and I used it to unscrew the back seat to get into the boot. I hammered desperately with a hammer trying to make someone hear, but no help came."

　It took ten minutes to unscrew the seat, and a further five minutes to clear the sweet samples from the boot. Then Mr. Johnson found a wrench and began to work on the boot lock. Fifteen minutes passed by. "It was the only chance I had. Finally it gave, but as soon as I moved the boot lid, the water and mud poured in. I forced the lid down into the mud and scrambled clear as the car filled up."

　His hands and arms cut and bruised (擦伤), Mr. Johnson got to Beckett Farm nearby, where he was looked after by the farmer's wife, Mrs. Lucy Bates. Trembling in a blanket, he said, "That thirty minutes seemed like hours." Only the tips of the car wheels were visible, police said last night. The vehicle had sunk into two feet of mud at the bottom of the ditch.

　21. What is the best title for this newspaper article?

　A. The Story of Mr. Johnson, a Sweet Salesman

　B. Car Boot Can Serve as the Best Escape Route

　C. Driver Escapes through Car Boot

　D. The Driver Survived a Terrible Car Accident

　22. The underlined sentence in Paragraph 5 ?Finally it gave? means that _______.

　A. luckily the door was torn away in the end

　B. at last the wrench went broken

　C. the lock came open after all his efforts

　D. the chance was lost at the last minute

　23. It can be inferred from the passage that _______.

　A. the ditch was along a quiet country road

　B. the accident happened on a clear warm day

　C. the police helped Mr. Johnson get out of the ditch

　D. Mr. Johnson had a tender wife and was well attended

　B

　It?s easy to think of the selfless reasons to listen. People want you to listen to them. By listening, you can help someone with a problem, or help them come up with new ideas. But listening also has selfish benefits that make it worth the investment.

　The biggest selfish benefit is that you learn more with your mouth closed. You?ll learn more about other people, and often, about yourself, if you stop talking. Those ideas are useful if you want to improve yourself.

　Listening also helps you think. When you?re truly listening, not just waiting for your turn to speak, you can chew over your ideas more. You can mull on points of the conversation longer. In the end, you?ll appear a lot wiser if you explain a fully-digested point of view, than if you just speak out the first response that comes to mind. Building the listening habit also makes better friends than trying to be an impressive conversationalist. People like the guy who listens more than the guy with the best jokes. Be interested, rather than interesting.

　If the person you?re talking with doesn?t feel too chatty, bait (启发) them with a comment. Throw something at them which will make it easy for them to talk. A better strategy to listen is to master the short anecdote. This is a 2-3 sentence comment on something that the other person has said. If they are telling a long explanation of their work as an accountant, you could comment on someone you know that does accounting or something you know about accounting.

　24. The following are talked about EXCEPT ______.

　A. the ways of being a good listener

　B. the benefits of building the listening habit

　C. the ways of being a good speaker

　D. the strategies to inspire others to speak

　25. According to the passage, which kind of person is most probably popular with people?

　A. The one who is good at telling jokes.

　B. The one who has no speaking ability.

　C. The one who is good at public speaking.

　D. The one who is good at listening to others.

　26. The underlined phrase ?mull on? in the third paragraph means ______.

　A. think over B. agree with C. disagree with D. put forward

　C

　New York?s long awaited bike share program, which arranged the distribution of 10,000 bicycles along some of the city?s busiest street, will be sponsored by Citi financial group, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced on Monday.

　Citi Bike will be the largest public bike share system in the US, with bikes placed in 600 stations in Manhattan and Brooklyn. The program will be operated by Alta bicycle share, which runs similar projects in Washington D.C. and Boston.

　?The idea behind bike share is simple: give people one more way to get around the town,? Bloomberg said in a restaurant. ?The new Citi Bikes will be an affordable transportation network that will help New Yorkers get where they?re going faster. When the walk seems a little far, New Yorkers can choose to skip the hike, and take a bike.?

　The program was announced in September 2011, and the department of transport has spent the last eight months planning locations for the stations. Full details on the locations have not been released yet, but they will include Times Square, Penn Station and close to Central Park.

　Annual membership of the program will cost $95, which entitles (授权) users to free journeys up to 45 minutes. For those unwilling to commit to a year?s cycling, seven-day subscriptions are available for $25 or 24-hour access for $9.95, with the first 30 minutes of any journey free. The official website for the program ? citibikenyc.com ? says the pricing strategy is likely to ensure that riders keep their trips short. Although short journeys are free, anyone wanting to take a bike for the day will face very high charges. People who do not sign up to an annual membership ? tourists, for example, would pay $49 for a three-hour ride, plus the $9.95 24-hour access fee, making a total of $59.

　The department of transport said the bikes and stations, which will begin to be fixed from ?late July?, will be the same as in London, Montreal and Minneapolis; however, in one sense Bloomberg will be hoping the New York program differs from that of London. While the London program has ended up losing money since it launched in 2010, the mayor said New York City would ?split system profits with the operator?, creating a potential new income program.

　27. According to the passage, the main purpose of setting up New York?s bike share system is to ________.

　A. make profits from the bike users

　B. discourage people from going hiking

　C. reduce people?s expenses on transportation

　D. help people travel around the city more easily

　28. According to the passage, which of the following locations is NOT available for the Citi Bike service?

　A. Central Park B. Time Square

　C. Brooklyn Botanic Garden D. Penn Station

　29. What can be learned from Paragraph 5?

　A. It is wise of people to use the bikes for short trips.

　B. Anyone can use the bike free of charge for 45 minutes.

　C. Most people are unwilling to pay for the annual membership.

　D. Tourists are charged more for the use of bikes than local people.

　30. In what sense does Bloomberg hope the New York program differs from that of London?

　A. Better accepted. B. Better operated.

　C. More profitable. D. More widespread.

　第二节共5个小题;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。

　Life can be so busy these days. It?s time that you all should admit that you need help in organizing your life. Here are some tips that will help you.

　Write everything down and don?t rely on your memory. 31 If you want to remember things, put them in writing, or in a digital notebook. Keeping your to-do lists and other information written somewhere allows you to look back at them anytime, even when you?ve hit your head and forgotten your own name.

　32 Try this experiment: before buying one thing, throw out something old or something you don?t use any more. Or, if you?re a really terrible pack rat, just throw out one old thing a day until you can?t find any more items to throw.

　Recycle and donate. Is your closet full of unopened bags and clothes that still have their tags on them? Is your bookshelf full of unread books? Chances are that if you haven?t read, worn, or used them, then you're probably not going to use them at all. 33

　Create daily, weekly and monthly timetables for cleaning. Organize your cleaning timetables. 34 Distribute tasks evenly, for example, dish washing could be done daily while vacuuming could be done weekly and cleaning windows done monthly.

　Whichever of these tasks you decide to do, remember that you can?t completely organize your life in one go. 35 Just decide to organize now, and then take baby steps. Soon enough, you will be making a habit of it.

参考答案

　27-30 DCAC 31-35 GBDEC

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