Ⅰ.阅读理解
(2014·江西省重点中学盟校第一次联考)
Autumn means different things to different people. “It all depends on your personality.” said British naturalist Richard Mabey. “Personality shapes your view of the season，” he said. “You may see it as a fadingaway, a packingup(结束), or as a time of packing in another sense — the excited gathering of resources before a long journey.”
If this is true, perhaps it tells us a little about, for instance, Thomas Hood, the 19th Century English poet. About November, he wrote:
No warmth, no cheerfulness, no healthful ease
No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees
November!
On the other hand, another English poet John Keats, already sensing he was seriously ill, was inspired by a late September day to pen one of the most famous poems in the English language, To Autumn. He wrote to a friend afterwards that there was something comforting and healing about it.
According to Richard Mabey, Keats has the biological evidence on his side. Autumn is not a time of slowing down, but a time of new beginnings and great movements of creatures. For example, just at the moment that Keats's “gathering swallows” (in To Autumn) are departing for Africa, millions of creatures are fleeing from the frozen north like Iceland, Greenland and Russia to winter along the east and south coasts of Britain. According to scientists, before falling, the leaves transfer their chlorophyll(叶绿素) and carbohydrates into the woody parts of the tree for safekeeping over winter. What remains are the natural antioxidants(防老剂) in the leaves: the yellow and orange carotenoids(类胡萝卜素), and another protective chemical specially produced for autumn, the brightred anthocyanin(花青素). High color is not a signal of deterioration(退化) and decline, but of detox(排毒的) ability and good health.
A century after Keats, the American poet Loren Eiseley wrote in his journal: “Suppose we saw ourselves burning like maples in a golden autumn. And that we could break up like autumn leaves...dropping their substance like chlorophyll. Would not our attitude towards death be different?”
文章大意：以秋天为主题，引用不同诗人写到的有关秋天的诗，即反映不同人对于秋天有不同见解，又升华出秋天落叶的真理和积极意义。
1. From Thomas Hood's poem, we may infer that ________.
A.he suffered a lot from cold November
B.he missed the shining summer days very much
C.he had a negative attitude towards autumn
D.he enjoyed butterflies and bees very much
答案：C 根据Thomas Hood的诗歌：No warmth, no cheerfulness, no healthful ease, No shade, no shine, no butterflies, no bees, November!一切都是从消极的一面来描写的。
2. In autumn, leaves turn yellow before falling because ______.
A.they can't bear the freezing
B.they can't get enough water from the wood part
C. chlorophyll and carbohydrates have been lost through leaves
D. chlorophyll and carbohydrates have come back to the wood part
答案：D 根据文章第四段可知。
3. From the passage we can learn that________.
A.autumn has different faces in different people's eyes
B.John Keats was a good biologist as well as a poet
C.all creatures move from the cold north to Britain for winter
D.the three poets were only known for their poems about autumn
答案：A 根据文中几位诗人的诗歌可以看到对于秋天不同的理解，因此选A。
4.Which word can best describe Loren Eiseley's attitude towards autumn?
A.Fearful. B.Optimistic.
C.Doubtful. D.Realistic.
答案：B 根据文章最后一段，诗人的诗歌以及倒数第二段的内容可知，他表达的是一种乐观积极的态度。
5. What does the underlined sentence mean?
A. Man can never live long, just as leaves must leave the tree annually.
B.Man is different from autumn leaves, which will come again the next spring.
C.Man should have a positive attitude towards death, quite different from autumn leaves.
D.Man should treat death calmly, just like autumn leaves fall to the ground.
答案：D 根据文章最后一段，可推断出画线句的含义为：我们应该冷静地对待死亡，就象秋天的落叶要归根一样。
