The words comforted Ford greatly, who immediately set out building a second car which was to become the Model­T.6. The two men became friends and would go on camping trips together.When Edison later became limited to a wheelchair, Ford brought an extra one to his house so they could race.At the 50th anniversary of the invention of light bulb, Ford honoured Edison.When Edison spoke he ended his speech directed at Ford, “As to Henry Ford, words fail to express my feelings.I can only say that he is my friend.” Therefore it is no surprise that Ford wanted something to remember Edison by after he passed away in 1931.

　　Once, Ford asked Thomas Edison's son Charles to sit by the dying inventor's bedside and hold a test tube next to his father's mouth to catch his final breath. Ford was a man with many strange behaviours (as was Edison) including some interest in reanimation and spiritualism(復(fù)活通靈術(shù))and some say that he was attempting to catch Edison's soul as it escaped his body in hopes of later bringing the inventor back to life.

　　The test tube itself didn't turn up until 1950 when it was listed in the Ford's possessions after Clara Ford's passing away, and then lost again until 1978 when it was discovered in an exhibit entitled“Henry Ford—A Personal History”in the Henry Ford Museum. It would then be discovered that the tube was labeled “Edison's Last Breath”.

　　There is a further mystery of this “last breath” test tube.It would seem as if Edison had quite a last breath indeed, as the Edison Estate holds a collection of 42 test tubes all supposedly containing Edison's last breath.

　　Regardless of the excitement over the last breath, the test tube is quite touching in its meaning.Although both men were known for all sorts of poor behaviour towards their loved ones and mistreatment of employees, between them at least, there was clearly a deep respect and admiration.

　　1.The purpose of the author writing this passage is to ________.

　　A.remind the readers of the importance of the two inventors

　　B.stress the importance of friendship

　　C.tell the readers some stories about the two inventors

　　D.show that love can lead to some poor behaviours

　　2.From the underlined sentence in Paragraph 2, we can learn that________.

　　A.Edison envied what Ford had achieved

　　B.Edison was annoyed that Ford did better than him

　　C.Edison was angry because Ford stole his idea

　　D.Edison was extremely amazed at Ford's new idea

　　3.“The ‘last breath’ test tube”can probably be regarded as________.

　　A.a symbol of a friendship and memory

　　B.a witness to a scientific breakthrough

　　C.a failure to bring Edison back to life

　　D.a sign of the two inventors' poor behaviour

　　4.It can be learned from the last paragraph that “________.”

　　A.Great minds think alike

　　B.Nobody is perfect

　　C.Two heads are better than one

　　D.A friend in need is a friend indeed

　　高考英語閱讀復(fù)習(xí)練習(xí)答案：

　　【文章大意】 很多人有自己的偶像，發(fā)明T型車的亨利·福特也不例外，他的偶像是發(fā)明了電燈的愛迪生，在他的博物館里至今還保存著愛迪生最后的呼吸試管。

　　1.C　寫作意圖題。本文講述福特當(dāng)時在愛迪生的公司做首席工程師，研制汽車，而愛迪生致力于新能源做汽車動力的研究，所以是告訴讀者兩個發(fā)明家的故事，故選C項。

　　2.D　細節(jié)推斷題。根據(jù)第二段的“‘Young man，that's the thing! You have it! Your car is self­contained and carries…’”“…electricity as the power source，so the idea of a gas engine was a somewhat new one.”可知，愛迪生對于福特的想法很是吃驚，故選D項。

　　3.A　細節(jié)推斷題。根據(jù)倒數(shù)第二段的“It would seem as if Edison had quite a last breath indeed，as the Edison Estate holds a collection of 42 test tubes all supposedly containing Edison's last breath.”可知，這好像是愛迪生最后的呼吸，以此表明兩人的關(guān)系很是深厚，故選A項。

　　4.B　主旨大意題。根據(jù)最后一段的“Although both men were known for all sorts of poor behaviour towards their loved ones and mistreatment of employees，between them at least，there was clearly a deep respect and admiration.”可知，雖然他們對待家人與員工有不好的地方，但他們之間有深深的尊重和欣賞，故沒有人是完美的，選B項。

　　高考英語閱讀復(fù)習(xí)練習(xí)2：

　　JANE AUSTEN(1775—1817)is often regarded as the greatest of English women novelist on the strength of her six completed novels.Known particularly for their social comedy and accurate description of human relationships，they are still as widely read today as they have ever been.

　　As the seventh child of a country priest(牧師)，Jane Austen was born on 16 December 1775 at Steventon in Hampshire.Her father，the Reverend George Austen，was an intelligent and sensitive man who encouraged Jane in her love of reading.From an early age she was familiar with the works of Henry Fielding，Sir Walter Scott，Richardson，F(xiàn)rances Burney and the poet George Crabbe.Her early attempts at writing include burlesques(滑稽作品) of popular romances.When her father retired in 1801 the family moved to Bath, which was later to feature in her novel Northanger Abbey(published in 1818).After his death in 1805 the family moved first to Southampton and then in 1809 to Chawton in Hampshire, where Jane Austen is known to have written her last three novels：Mansfield Park(1814)，Emma(1816)and Persuasion(also published in 1818).Although her other novels were written much earlier，it was not until 1811 that Sense and Sensibility was first published. Pride and Prejudice，which followed in 1813，features Jane Austen's own favourite hero，Elizabeth Bennet.

　　Surrounded by her lively and warm family and wholly buried herself in her writing and housework，Jane Austen led a life often known for its lack of events.She did，however，attract several admirers and even accepted a proposal of marriage from one admirer—only to change her mind the following morning.Jane Austen's independent life often seems reflected in her novels，which seem to display the world in miniature(縮影).Sir Walter Scott praised Jane Austen for“that unique touch which makes ordinary commonplace things and characters interesting”，while Somerset Maugham claimed that she had at her command “the most precious gift a novelist can possess to keep the readers' interest”.Jane Austen died in 1817.

　　5.The underlined word“touch”in the third paragraph is closest in meaning to “________”.

　　A.style B.contact

　　C.taste D.attitude

　　6.Which of Jane Austen's novels were published after her death?

　　A.Northanger Abbey and Mansfield Park.

　　B.Northanger Abbey and Persuasion.

　　C.Pride and Prejudice and Emma.

　　D.Sense and Sensibility and Persuasion.

　　7.We can infer from the passage that Jane Austen had a gift for________.

　　A.attracting admirers

　　B.reflecting her own life in all her novels

　　C.making dull things and characters interesting

　　D.holding the readers' interest

　　8.This passage is most probably a________.

　　A.collection of women novelists and their works

　　B.comment on Jane Austen and her works

　　C.brief introduction of Jane Austen

　　D.description of Jane Austen's road to success

　　高考英語閱讀復(fù)習(xí)練習(xí)答案：

　　【文章大意】 簡.因為她的六本小說被人們稱為英國最偉大的女作家。文章主要介紹了簡·奧斯汀的生平事跡。

　　5.A　詞義猜測題。根據(jù)“Sir Walter Scott praised Jane Austen for‘that unique touch which makes ordinary commonplace things and characters interesting…’”可知，沃爾特·斯科特伯爵贊揚簡·奧斯汀，是因為她那獨一無二的化平凡無奇為生動有趣的手法，故選A項。

　　6.B　細節(jié)理解題。根據(jù)文章第二段“Northanger Abbey(published in 1818)”和“Persuasion(also published in 1818)”，以及“Jane Austen died in 1817.”可知，Northanger Abbey和Persuasion這兩本小說是在簡·奧斯汀死去之后才出版的，故選B項。

　　7.D　推理判斷題。根據(jù)文章最后一段的“…Somerset Maugham claimed that she had at her command‘the most precious gift a novelist can possess to keep the readers' interest.”可知，薩默塞特·毛姆稱她(簡·奧斯)有一種極為珍貴的她自己能靈活運用的天賦，那是一個作家能夠把握讀者興趣的天賦，故選D項。

　　8.C　推理判斷題。通讀文章可發(fā)現(xiàn)，文章主要介紹簡·奧斯汀的生平事跡。故選C項。