高考英语科说明中出现了一种新的题型——填空题。这一题型的出现引起了全国各地教师和考生的密切注视。填空题如何命题，如何解填空题成为目前高考复习中的一个焦点。根据对《说明》样题的研究，笔者认为高考中的填空题可能会有三种类型：一、摘要型。 题目给出一篇短文，要求考生根据短文的内容，把短文中某一种类的人或事写出来。二、关系型。题目给出一篇短文，短文中的人和事有一定关系，要求考生根据某种关系把涉及到的人和事的名字填出来。三、改写型。题目给出一篇短文，短文的后面给出短文的改写形式，其中留出一些空白，让考生根据短文的内容填上适当的词。按照这三种形式，笔者分别出了一道填空题，共大家商讨。
一、摘要型
the busiest airports
two of the busiest airports in the world are in the united states. lax is located in los angeles, california. hartsfield atlanta international airport (atl) is in atlanta, georgia.
los angeles airport, or lax, was established in 1928. it is now one of the busiest airport in the world with 47 different passengers and cargo airlines that use the airport. in 2001, more than 66 million passengers flew into or out of lax. about 59,000 employees work at the airport. the employees work at a number of places throughout the airport, including airline counters, coffee shops, bakeries, and one of the 41 stores, where waiting passengers can shop.
established in 1925, hartsfield has become the busiest airport in the world. more than 80 million passengers passed through atlanta in 2001. forty-five different passengers and cargo airlines use the airport. forty-four thousand employees work for the airlines, the 75 restaurants, and 82 shops. in fact, the airport is the largest employer in georgia. to help people move from terminal to terminal, or from a terminal to one of the 30,000 parking space, the airport has an underground people-mover, which connects all of the airport terminals.
scan the reading and complete the chart.
airport number of passengers
for 2001 year of
established number of airlines number of
employees facilities
offered
los angeles airport (lax) 1.__________ 3._______ 5.________ 7._______ 9._____
hartsfield atlanta airport (atl) 2.__________ 4._______ 6.________ 8._______ 10._____
key:
1. 66 million；2. 80 million；3. 1928；4. 1925；5. 47；6. 45；7. 59,000；8. 44,000；
9. airline counter, coffee shops, bakeries and stores；10. restaurants, shops and an underground people-mover
二、关系型
the bison on the plains of america
the first settlers on the plains of america were native americans. they arrived more than 30,000 years ago by crossing a land bridge from asia to america. the native americans lived by gathering roots, nuts and wild fruit and hunting wild animals.
they hunted bison, a type of wild animals which used to exist in huge numbers on the plains of america. the bison grows to a shoulder-height of 1.5 metres and can weigh 1,100 kilogrammes. it was an important part of native americans’ life. bison were killed for their meat, while their fur provided warm clothing during cold winters. the native americans made tents and water containers from the skins and tools from the bones. the teeth were used to make necklaces.
from about 1830 onwards in the usa, european settlers began to move westwards. large groups of native americans were forced to move away from their old hunting grounds. when they resisted, they were killed. they were many fierce wars between native americans and european settlers. the american government made agreements with native american chiefs but always broke them afterwards. in this way, native american were forced onto poor land that the settlers did not want.
the settlers built railways across the plains and began to hunt even more bison. while early settlers had killed bison for food, now the killing became more widespread. they killed the bison, cut off the skins and left the bodies behind to rot. the bison skins were sent by rail to cities to be sold. between 1850 and 1910 the bison population is thought to have fallen from 60 million to just a few hundred.
the killing of the bison changed the whole wildlife of the plains. with fewer bison, grass shoots were not eaten, so grass did not grow as strongly. bison waste no longer fell on the ground to improve the soil, which as a result became less good for growing plants. the ground supported fewer plants, and the insects which lived on these plants died out. there was less food for birds and also for the prairie dogs, a kind of animals which lives in holes in the ground. this in turn had an effect on the food supply for wolves. thus one simple fact, a change in the number of bison, had an effect on the whole wildlife chain of plains.
use what you have learnt from the passage to complete the diagram below.
key: 1. kill；2. bison；3. waste；4. soil；5. fewer；6. insects；7. birds；8. wolves；9. bison；10. grass.
三、改写型
thanksgiving day is a very special day for people in the united states. they celebrate it on the last thursday in november. canadians also celebrate thanksgiving day, but they do it on the second monday of october. in britain, where this festival is called “harvest festival” , people celebrate it earlier in the year，in september. a harvest is the fruit you take from the trees and the crops you take from the ground. in north america and britain, harvest time for most fruit and crops is in the autumn. in these countries and other christian places, people give thanks to god (上帝) on a special day of the year. they thank god for the good things that have happened during the year and for the good harvest they have had. people usually take small boxes of fruit, flowers, and vegetables to their churches to show their thanks.
the first thanksgiving service (仪式) in north america took place on december 4th, 1619 when 38 english people arrived in america to make their home in the new country. they held this service not to thank god for the harvest, but to thank god for their safe journey. the next year, many more english people arrived. they had a bad winter, but fortunately the harvest was good. they decided to celebrate it with a big meal. they shot and killed small animals to eat and cooked everything outside on large fires. about 90 indians also came to the meal. everyone ate at tables outside their houses and played games together. the festival lasted three days.
a thanksgiving day celebration was held every year for a long time, but not always on the same day of the year. then, in 1789, president george washington named november 26th as the day of thanksgiving. in 1863, president abraham lincoln changed the date, and said that the last thursday in november should be thanksgiving day. nowadays, north americans around the world get together with their families on this day to eat good food and have a happy time.
根据上面短文的内容，用适当的词填入空白处。
people in the united states, canada and 1 all have a special festival---thanksgiving day, but they celebrate it on 2 days of the year.
the first thanksgiving service in north america was 3 in 1619 when the first 4 people came to america. they celebrated it to thank god for their 5 . the next year they had a good 6 . they had a big 7 to celebrate it.
when thanksgiving day comes, people go to 8 with fruit, flowers, and vegetables to show their thanks to god. nowadays they celebrate this festival on the last thursday in 9 . people in 10 and canada get together with their families on this day.
key: 1. britain；2. different；3. held；4. british；5. safety；6. harvest；7. meal；8. churches；9. november；10. america.
