题文
It’s a Christmas tradition that’s more than half a century old. And it happened completely by accident.It started in 1955, when a local Sears store in Colorado Springs, Colorado printed an ad, which included a spedial phone mumber kids could call to know where Santa’s sleigh was at any given moment. Unfortunately, someone made a mistake in printing the phone mumber and kids were calling the wrong line.
A Colonel(上校) named Henry Shoup began answering his phong at what would become NORAD, the North American Aerospace Defence Command. At first, he thought it was a simple error of one caller.
But as the phone ketp ringing and tiny voices kept asking about Santa, Shoup realized he couldn’t disappoint them. So he told the staff to issue updates to any one asking about the location of Santa.
The wrong turned into a custom of the holiday and kept growing in popularity, and NORAD finally decided to make it permanent.
It’s become a holiday favourite ever since, adapting to whatever new technology has come along since. In the early days, it was a phone line. Then in the 60s, NORAD put out a special series of “reports” that was played on hundreds of radio stations across North America, broadcasting the Jolly Old Elf’s exact position on Christmas Eve.
Think of it as kind of an early GPS without the computer gear.
Finally ,came the Internet and NORAD has now transferred its annual watch onto the Web, with a site devoted to keeping tabs on the most famous journey in the world—what you might call the real amazing race, an around-the-world mission that has to be finished within 24hours.
This year’s entry allows kids to track Santa in 3Dusing Google Earth and play games at the North Pole using the Kids Countdown Section, and it even offers Santa Cams which are only operational on the night before Christmas.
36.Why did children keep calling Henry Shoup?
A.Because they wanted to play a joke on him.
B. Because they wanted to amuse him.
C.Because he knew where Santa exactly was.
D.Because they wanted to know where Santa’s sleigh was.
37.What did Colonel Henry Shoup do when more and more children kept calling?
A.He became annoyed and decided to tell them the truth.
B.He became excited and jioned them in searching Santa.
C.He thought quickly and took it seriously to satisfy their needs.
D.He laughed at them and took no notice of their calls.
38.What does “Jolly Old Elf” in Paragraph 6 most probably refer to?
A.Santa Claus.
B.Colonel Henry Shoup.
C.NOARD.
D.The staff in Henry Shoup’s charge.
39.According to the passage, how did people learn about the Jolly Old Elf’s exact position in the 1960s?
A.By calling a special phone mumber.
B.By listening to a special series of reports over the radio.
C.With the help of a kind of early GPS.
D.By scanning the spedial column in the newspaper.
40.The passage mainly tells us .
A.an old favorite holiday that develops along with new technology
B.50-year-old tracking Santa tradition that started by accident
C.a real amazing race, an around-the-world mission within 24 hours
D.a Colonel and the North American Aerospace Defence Command 题型：未知 难度：其他题型
答案
36-40DCABB解析
略考点
据考高分专家说，试题“It’s a Christmas tra.....”主要考查你对 [政治经济类阅读 ]考点的理解。政治经济类阅读
政治经济类文章的概念：
要做好这类阅读，平时就要注意了解国内外发生的政治经济大事，掌握一定背景知识，对这类文章的叙述特点及内容安排有一定了解，还要扩展这方面的词汇。阅读这类文章，要抓住文章的核心，即文章整体和各段主要在说什么，也要注意段落之间的逻辑关系。
如何备考政治经济类阅读理解题：
【题型说明】政治经济类阅读文章是高考常选材料之一。该类文章时代气息浓郁，语言鲜活，但熟字新义词、超纲词及专业词语多，长句、难句多。政治类文章大多数是同学们感性趣的内容，读起来倒有似曾相识的感觉，经济类文章读起来就像是雾里看花，文章看完，一头雾水。再加之这类文章的命题侧重于词义猜测、推理判断和文章主旨，同学们对这类题材是望而生畏。
【备考策略】建立心理优势。针对不同体裁的文章，我们要采取相应的阅读方法和技巧。政治类文章多采用记叙文形式，我们可采取“顺读法”，以便抓关键语句，领会文章主旨；而经济类文章则多采用说明文形式，我们则可以采取“逆读法”，先读试题，再从文章中查找有用信息。若遇到的确难读的材料。千万不用着急，因为你觉得难，其他人也一定是同感。在高考前，我们就要有这种心理准备，高考试卷肯定有一、两篇难以阅读的材料。不过，我们平时可以有意识地从报刊杂志上找一些较难的阅读材料来阅读，以培养自己迎难而上的心理素质。
【答题方法】
1、寻找主干：
根据英语中五种基本句型结构，把句子中的主语、谓语、宾语、表语等主要成分找出来，其他成分如定语、状语、补语等则易于理解。找到了句子主干，句子的意思至少明白了一半。
2、剔除从句：
在一个长句中可能会出现若干个从句，在理解时，如果把各个从句剔除出来单独理解，然后把大意拼凑起来，整个长句的意思就会明白六、七分。
3、辨别分句：
一个长句如果是由几个并列、转折、递进、对比关系的分句组成，句中往往有表示这些分句关系的连接词，只要能弄清楚分句和分句之间的逻辑关系，再把各层分句的意思加以连贯，整个长句的句意基本上能跃然脑中。
4、寻找关键词：
如果一个句子看完，一点句意的感觉也没有，下下策就是抓住句中的关键词，通过关键词大体弄懂这个长句的意思。
