高考英语考前三个月文档：专题四 任务型阅读 第三步 模拟演练(四)

模拟演练(四)

A

(2017·苏北四市摸底考试)

Among the natural creatures that can present a threat to people in rural areas of Mexico，one of the most productive is the scorpion(蝎子)．These relatives of spiders kill dozens of people each year and injure thousands more.However，scorpions have become a part of the local culture and tradition.

In the Durango city main market，scorpions are in evidence at every turn.There are books，key chains and lamps decorated with dead scorpions. There are scorpion images on T-shirts and hats and there are even candies shaped like scorpions.The whole place seems to be filled with the crawling creature.

In one corner of the market，Chelo Garcia even sells live scorpions.She says she has experienced two scorpion stings(蛰) in the recent years and that nothing happened.She says that if a person has no symptoms of poisoning with 30 minutes of the stinging，it is likely that nothing bad will result.She says some scorpions have little or no poison and so luck plays a big part.

It is hard to explain why people come to MsGarcia’s store to buy live ones，but she does a good business.She often reaches down through the top of the glass cage to catch one of the scorpions to show her customers.She holds them by the tail，where the barbed stinger(刺针) is located，so that she is safe from attack.

In the crowded market，many people pass by Ms Garcia’s store to look at the crawling creatures and to relate their own stories of encounters with the scorpions.One old woman says she nearly died when she was a girl of 18 years old and has been afraid of scorpions ever since.She said her tongue became numb(麻木的) and her throat began to swell shut，common symptoms of the scorpion poison.She says she survived because God protected her.

Every year in Mexico about 200,000 people are stung by scorpions.The number of annual deaths was nearly 300，till 2015，but a public health campaign and the widespread availability of anti-poison have cut the number of deaths to less than 100 a year.The state of Durango alone accounts for ten percent of all the scorpion stings in Mexico each year.

While the scorpion may be regarded as disgusting and horrible by many people，it has also become a bit of a local mascot(吉祥物)in Durango.People there seem proud of the fact that their city is known as the “scorpion capital”.

B

(2017·常州期末)

Feet of Clay

In 604 BC，the second year of his reign(统治)，Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar had a dream which left his spirit no rest and robbed him of his sleep.So he ordered that wise men of Babylon be called to interpret the dream for him.

They answered the king，“O king，live forever，tell to your servants your dream，and we will declare the interpretation.” The king said，“The thing is gone out of my mind.Unless you tell me the dream，and the meaning of it，you shall be put to death.But if you tell the dream，and the meaning of it，you shall receive from me rewards，gifts，and great honour.”

Unluckily no one could fulfill the task.Hearing this，the king was in great anger，and commanded all the wise men of Babylon be put to death.

When Arioch，to whom the king had given orders to destroy the wise men of Babylon，told the matter to the Prophet(预言者) Daniel，he immediately went in to the king and begged for the time to resolve the question.