黑龙江省双鸭山市第一中学2015-2016学年高一上学期期中试题 英语
第一部分 阅读理解（共两节，满分40分）
第一节（共15小题；每小题2分，满分30分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
A
At the age of 5, most children in the USA start to go to school. Public education is free and most children go to schools near their homes. School in these early years is fun. The children learn to read and write. But they also play games and go on trips. There is no reason at such an early age for him to hit the books.
The situation changes as children become older. The subjects become more difficult. Students must learn about world history, algebra (代数), and the life sciences. Tests become more common. Pressure is growing to hit the books, study hard, and advance. However, most serious students only really begin hitting the books for long hours when they reach high school.
High school students who hope to continue their education at a college or university must take a special national test called the S-A-T. The test has two parts. The first part tests the student's ability wit h numbers and mathematical skills. The second part tests the student's ability in the English language.
The S-A-T test is very important. A high school student who gets a high score on the two parts of the test has a good chance to enter a top American college. For this reason, many students hit the books for months to prepare for the S-A-T.
1. The underlined phrase “hitting the books” in the second paragraph probably means ________.
A. working hard at a certain subject B. studying a subject carefully
C. reading books in a hurry D. reading books with great effort
2. The students in high school ________.
A. have to take the S-A-T
B. have to hit the books if they want to go on to college
C. are free and happy
D. don’t hit the books until they pass the S-A-T
