However, while some seem to be lost in the desire to succeed, others take an opposite attitude. In a culture which values only the winner and pays no attention to the ordinary players, they strongly blame competition. Among the most vocal are youngsters who have suffered under competitive pressures from their parents or society. Teaching these young people, I often observe in them a desire to fail. They seem to se ek failure by not trying to win or achieve success. By not trying, they always have an excuse: “I may have lost, but it doesn’t matter because I really didn’t try.” What is not usually admitted by themselves is the belief that if they had really tried and lost, that would mean a lot. Such a loss would be a measure of their worth. Clearly, this belief is the same as that of the true competitors who try to prove themselves. Both are based on the mistaken belief that one’s self – respect relies on how well one performs in comparison with others. Both are afraid of not being valued. Only as this basic and often troublesome fear begins to dissolve (緩解) can we discover a new meaning in competition.

　　41.What does this passage mainly talk about?

　　A.Competition helps to set up self – respect.

　　B.Opinions about competition are different among people.

　　C.Competition is harmful to personal quality development.

　　D.Failures are necessary experiences in competition

　　42.Why do some people favor competition according to the passage?

　　A.It pushes society forward. B.It builds up a sense of duty.

　　C.It improves personal abilities. D.It encourages individual efforts.

　　43.The underlined phrase “the most vocal” in Paragraph 3 means .

　　A.those who try their best to win

　　B.those who value competition most highly

　　C.those who are against competition most strongly

　　D.those who rely on others most for success

　　44.What is the similar belief of the true competitors and those with a desire to fail ?

　　A.One’s worth lies in his performance compared with others.

　　B.One’s success in competition needs great efforts.

　　C.One’s achievement is determined by his particular skills.

　　D.One’s success is based on how hard he has tried.

　　45.Which point of view may the author agree to?

　　A.Every effort should be paid back.

　　B.Competition should be encouraged.

　　C.Winning should be a life – and – death matter.

　　D.Fear of failure should be removed in competition.

　　閱讀專項練習參考答案：

　　41.B 42.A 43.C 44.A 45.D

　　高考英語閱讀專項練習2：

　　Too much tourism can be a problem. If tourism grows too quickly, people must leave other jobs to work in the tourism industry. This means that other parts of the country’s economy can suffer.

　　On the other hand, if there is not enough tourism, people can lose jobs. Businesses can also lose money. It costs a great deal of money to build large hotels, airports, air terminals, first- class roads, and other support facilities(配套設施)needed by tourist attractions. For example, a major international class tourism hotel can cost as much as 50 thousand dollars per room to build. If this room is not used most of the time, the owners of the hotel lose money.

　　Building a hotel is just a beginning. There must be many support facilities as well, including roads to get to the hotel, electricity, sewers to handle waste, and water. All of these support facilities cost money. If they are not used because there are not enough tourists , jobs and money are lost.

　　56.Which of the following do you think has been discussed in the part before this selection?

　　A. It is extremely important to develop tourism.

　　B. Building roads and hotels is essential.

　　C. Support facilities are highly necessary.

　　D. Planning is of great importance to tourism.

　　57.Too much tourism can cause all these problems EXCEPT ________ .

　　A. a bad effect on other industries　 　B. a change of tourists’ customs

　　C. over - crowdedness of places of interest　　D. pressure on traffic

　　58.It can be inferred from the text that ________ .

　　A. the author doesn’t like tourism developing so fast

　　B. local people will benefit from tourist attraction

　　C. other parts of a country’s economy won’t benefit from tourism much

　　D. we can't build too many support facilities

　　59.The author thinks it is good for local people to know that tourism will ________ .

　　A. waste a lot of money　　 B. weaken their economy

　　C. help establish their customs D. help improve their life

　　閱讀專項練習參考答案：

　　56.D　本文一開始便講如果沒有適當的計劃，旅游業會帶來的各種問題，可見前文敘述適當計劃的好處，以正反兩方面來闡述。

　　57.B　本文提到旅游業過于興旺會帶來的各種后果中提到了A、C、D，但沒有說會改變游客的風俗習慣。

　　58.B　從文中的講述可以推知，旅游業會使當地人獲益。

　　59.D　本文講述了旅游業的很多好處，其中之一是advance their wealth and happiness.