2018届二轮复习语法填空专题卷八

2018届二轮复习语法填空专题卷八

阅读下列材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（不多于3个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。

A

Clowns International (CI), a professional clown organisation, has seen its membership fall greatly in recent years. And numbers at the World Clown Association 1. ________ (drop) from 3,500 in 2004 to 2,500 in 2014.

To make matters worse, few new clowns are coming into the profession. So, what’s the reason for this decline in 2. ________ (popular)? Many blame the media. They think there’s 3. ________ very negative view from Hollywood, with films like It, and characters like Krusty the Clown from The Simpsons. These clowns are so negative. They don’t look at the positive.

4. ________ the reason is, it’s clear that there’s less work for clowns now. “It used to be cool to have a clown at a party, but now it is all DJs, paintball and themed-parties,” a clown explained. “A few years ago, I 5. ________ provide entertainment at 10-，l1- and 12-year-olds’ parties, but now, when I do get bookings, it’s for 3-, 4- or 5-year-olds. It’s the way of the world. Children are growing up 6. ________ (rapid) than before,” he added.

The depressed state of the economy isn’t helping things 7. ________. These days, fewer shopping malls hire clowns 8. ________ a form of entertainment. Instead, they use community choirs, 9. ________ are often cheaper or even free.

It seems that beneath the smiles, there isn’t much 10. ________ (laugh) about!

B

I once went hiking in the middle of winter and got caught up in a snowstorm. I was with a friend and we were 1. ________ a 100-kilometre trip in the mountains. We planned to hike for four days, 2. ________ (cover) about 25 kilometres a day. For the first couple of days, everything seemed 3. ________ (be) fine, but late in the evening of the third day, there was a really heavy snowstorm. The worst bit was the strong

wind — 4. ________ tore our tent to pieces. So, at about three in the morning, we had to pack up everything and leave as 5. ________ (quick) as we could. The problem was that it was really hard to see, and I was worried 6. ________ we were going to fall down the side of the mountain. In the end, we just dug a hole in the snow 7. ________ waited for the storm to die down. It was 8. ________ (freeze) and probably the worst night I’ve ever spent outdoors. As soon as dawn 9. ________ (break), we walked down the valley to a little village 10. ________ we got a bus back home.

C

Many inventors have helped improve our day-to-day lives and are well remembered, for example, Alexander Graham Bell for the telephone and Thomas Alva Edison for the light bulb. However, many other inventors’ names have been forgotten 1. ________ their outstanding accomplishments.

For example, who was Ezra J. Warner? Back in 1858, he was the first person 2. ________ (get) a patent for a can opener. Although it was effective, it was also dangerous to use and didn’t make it into households until 1870, 3. ________ William Lyman introduced an effective but much 4. ________ (safe) model.

For another inventor, Susan Hibbard, her invention didn’t transform the world, but it did make 5. ________ difference for other women inventors. She took old turkey feathers and bound 6. ________ together to make the first feather duster. When she went to patent it in 1876, however, she had to battle in court to prove it was her idea. Eventually, Hibbard won the patent for her invention. Her fight helped other women gain 7. ________ (confident) in their ideas, and their right to patent them. Alice H. Parker patented a furnace (暖气炉) that could heat individual rooms of a building at different temperatures. Both energy and money 8. ________ (save) by Parker’s furnace, since the invention allowed people to heat only the rooms needed at a(n) 9. ________ (give) time.

These inventors may not have received worldwide fame for their achievements, but their creations 10. ________ (certain) improved the lives of many people.

D

Music is universal — it is produced by all cultures. Some scientists believe that music 1. ________ (come) before speech. In fact, there is one theory 2. ________ the earliest languages were chanted or sung rather than spoken. Indeed, in some cultures, music is a form of 3. ________ (record) history. The Aboriginal Australians, for example, use music as 4. ________ means to pass on stories of the land and spirits to the next generation.

New evidence suggests that music does not just satisfy the feel-good factor 5. ________ it is also good for the brain. A study of 6. ________ (mental) disabled children showed that they could recall more information after it was given to them in a song 7. ________ after it was read to them as a story.

Researchers also report that people score better on a standard 8. ________ (intelligent) test after listening to Mozart. The so called “Mozart effect” has also been supported by findings that rats 9. ________ (bring) up on Mozart run faster through a complex network of paths or passages known as a maze (迷宫). Overall, it seems that in most instances people 10. ________ suffer from any form of mental illness can benefit from listening to music.

E

Koalas, native to the Australian wilds, initially proved difficult to keep alive in zoos, because koalas eat nothing but the leaves of the eucalyptus tree (桉树). Zoos provided them 1. ________ an unlimited supply of eucalyptus leaves. One zoo even planted eucalyptus trees 2. ________ (make) sure that the koalas had a continual supply of fresh leaves. However, koalas kept in cages always died within a year of their 3. ________ (arrive) at the zoo.

Eventually it was discovered that eucalyptus trees less than five years old sometimes produce a kind of acid in their leaves. Taking in small quantities of this acid 4. ________ (be) fatal to the koalas. In their natural habitat, the koalas’ senses tell them 5. ________ eucalyptus trees have dangerous leaves, and they simply move on to other trees until they find leaves 6. ________ are safe to eat. But in zoos, when

their keepers unknowingly were giving them leaves with acid, the koalas 7. ________ (leave) with only two options: eat the poisonous leaves 8. ________ starve. Either option was fatal to the 9. ________ (trap) koalas.

Fortunately, today’s zoos use special tests to distinguish between poisonous eucalyptus leaves and safe 10. ________, and now koalas are eating well and living an easy life in zoos.

参考答案：

A 1. have dropped 2. popularity 3. a 4. Whatever / No matter what 5. would / used to 6. more rapidly 7. either 8. as 9. which 10. to laugh

B 1. on 2. covering 3. to be 4. it 5. quickly

6. that 7. and 8. freezing 9. broke 10. where / from which C 1. in spite of / despite 2. to get 3. when 4. safer 5. a

6. them 7. confidence 8. were saved 9. given 10. certainly D 1. came 2. that 3. recording 4. a 5. but

6. mentally 7. than 8. intelligence 9. brought 10. who / that E 1. with 2. to make 3. arrival 4. is 5. which 6. that / which 7. were left 8. or 9. trapped 10. ones 解析: A

1. have dropped。考查时态。由from ... in 2014可知，强调的是过去的动作对现在造成的结果，故用现在完成时。

2. popularity。考查名词。设空处作介词宾语，故用名词popularity。 3. a。考查冠词。view在此作可数名词且表泛指，故其前填a。

4. Whatever / No matter what。考查连词。设空处引导让步状语从句，且从句中缺少表语， 故填Whatever / No matter what。