阅读简答题最先由湖南于2007年开始试行——将高考英语的阅读理解题进行改革：将其分为两节，原来阅读理解的最后一段被改为第二节——英语简答题。这一改革充分反映了现代英语教学的要求，对用英语获取信息、处理信息与用英语进行思维和表达能力进行综合考查。

一、试题介绍

简答题分两部分：阅读材料和问题。阅读材料为一篇300字左右的文章，在文章后设三道小题，每小题2分，满分6分。要求考生阅读文章后，根据各小题的具体要求，简要回答问题。

二、考纲样题

下面是2007年湖南省考试说明关于阅读简答题的样题：

SHISHMAREF, an Eskimo village on an island off northwestern Alaska , is falling into the ocean. Giant storm waves have so hit the place—once well buffered by sea ice—that villagers voted in 2002 to leave their ancestral home for the mainland. They are being called one of the first refugees(难民)of global warming.

“We tend to describe climate change in terms that are abstract—a one degree rise in temperature, an increase in greenhouse gases—but when waves wash away a village, that’s concrete and very emotional,” says Igor Krupnik, an expert at the National Museum of Natural History. “When they lose a piece of their land, they aren’t just losing a certain number of square miles. They are losing part of their history and their memory. They are losing childhood events and grandparents’ tales.”

Before temperatures began to rise in Shishmaref about 30 years ago, 20 to 30 miles of hard sea ice protected the village from powerful fall storms. But the natives say the ice doesn’t freeze as solidly or as soon as it used to and now stretches only six or seven miles, leaving the community of 600 people more exposed. Storms have swept houses into the ocean.

The villagers’ plan is to move to Tin Creek, a site on the Alaska mainland 12 miles away, and they have received $180 million from the government. Residents hope that in their new community they’ll be able to maintain their close ties, continue hunting animals, and keep fishing, much as their ancestors have done for centuries. “People are asking why the government should be spending so much money on so few people,” said a government official. “But people in Alaska are like everyone else. We want to help keep their culture alive.”

73. Find in the passage a word closest in meaning to the underlined word “buffered”.

74. according to the villagers’ saying, what do we know about the sea ice around Shishmaref in the past? (回答词数不超过8个)

75. What is the villagers’ main purpose to rebuild their community? (回答词数不超过6个)

三、考点提示

从上面的样题可以看出，第73小题为词义猜测题，要求考生根据句子意思，猜出问题中单词的意思，然后在文章中找出与其意思相近的词;第74小题为细节理解题、而第75小题为目的推测题，要求考生在文章中找出与问题相关的信息，然后用不超过8个单词回答第74题，而用不超过6个单词回答第75小题。

四、参考答案

73. protected (from www.nmet168.com)

74. It froze more solidly and sooner或It covered a larger area.

75. To keep their culture alive. 或To save their way of life.

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