全国通用版2019版高考英语大一轮复习单元检测卷2Unit2Englisharoundtheworld新人教版必修.docVIP

Unit 2 English around the world Ⅰ.阅读理解 A (2018·长郡中学高三实验班选拔)On Wednesday, nearly 300 kids will take part in the National Spelling Bee. Fewer will make it to the following days semi-finals, where one mistake means elimination(淘汰). Id bet that many of them will be silently praying—not on the first word. I knew __it__ because I was there 17 years ago. I was a 14-year-old girl then. My mother and I had flown from Kentucky to Washington, but the capital was no strange to her. My older sister had already competed at the national level. When my sister was 14 and I was 12, we trained together. We began with the Suggested List given out at school—hundreds of words printed on a poster that could be folded up like a map. When the words along the creases(褶痕) began to disappear, we bought additional spelling lists. Sometimes my mother tested us, reading words most English teachers wouldnt know how to pronounce, let alone my Indian-born mother. When she pointed out the misspelled words, I blamed her accent for my errors! When it was my turn, I approached the microphone and waited for my first word. The announcer was somewhere to my left, a man who pronounced clearly. “Barbican，” he said. It seemed that my competitors were secretly complaining about the relative ease of my word. Would they laugh at me if I couldnt spell it? Would my mother be disappointed in me? That last syllable could go two ways: C-A-N or C-O-N. Which one was right? Finally I decided on C-O-N. Of course, I was eliminated and guided to the Comfort Room, where parents couldnt enter. Inside, recent losers were sitting around a table abundant with junk food. We casually mentioned the words that defeated us, like a special ceremony to welcome each new arrival. Then we changed the subjects if wed already moved on from missed words and lost opportunities. Eventually, I went out and saw my mother. “Well，” she said, “__I_guess_you_wont_be_doing_this_again.__” Yes, next year I would be 15 and not allowed to t