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二年级第二学期阅读资料36篇-专业四级

Passage One （CABAB）

Much of Canada’s forestry production goes towards making pulp and paper. According to the Canadian Pulp and Paper Association, Canada supplies 34% of the world’s wood pulp and 49% of its newsprint paper. If these paper products could be produced in some other way, Canadian forests could be preserved. Recently, a possible alternative way of producing paper has been suggested by agriculturalists and environmentalists: a plant called hemp.

Hemp has been cultivated by many cultures for thousands of years. It produces fibre which can be made into paper, fuel, oils, textiles, food, and rope. For centuries, it was essential to the economies of many countries because it was used to make the ropes and cables used on sailing ships; colonial expansion and the establishment of a world-wide trading network would not have been feasible without hemp. Nowadays, ships’ cables are usually made from wire or synthetic fibres, but scientists are now suggesting that the cultivation of hemp should be revived for the production of paper and pulp. According to its proponents, four times as much paper can be produced from land using hemp rather than trees, and many environmentalists believe that the large-scale cultivation of hemp could reduce the pressure on Cana da’s forests.

However, there is a problem: hemp is illegal in many countries of the world. This plant, so useful for fibre, rope, oil, fuel and textiles, is a species of cannabis, related to the plant from which marijuana is produced. In the late 1930s, a movement to ban the drug marijuana began to gather force, resulting in the eventual banning of the cultivation not only of the plant used to produce the drug, but also of the commercial fibre-producing hemp plant. In fact, marijuana cannot be produced from the hemp plant, since it contains almost no THC (the active ingredient in the drug). In recent years, a movement for legalization have been gathering strength. It is concerned only with the hemp plant used to produce fibre; this group wants to make it legal to cultivate the plant and sell the fibre for paper and pulp production.

1.Why is pulp and paper production important to Canada?

A) Canada needs to find a way to use all its spare wood.

B) Canada publishes a lot of newspapers and books.

C) Pulp and paper export is a major source of income for Canada.

D) Hemp is a traditional plant of Canada.

2.Why was the plant hemp essential to world-wide trade in the past?

A) Ships’ ropes were made from it.

B) Hemp was a very profitable export.

C) Hemp was used as fuel for ships.

D) Hemp was used as food for sailors.

3.Why do agriculturalists think that hemp would be better for paper production than trees?

A) It is cheaper to grow hemp than to cut down trees.

B) More paper can be produced from the same area of land.

C) Hemp produces higher quality paper.

D) It causes less pollution of the environment.

4.Why was hemp banned?

A) It is related to the marijuana plant.

B) It can be used to produce marijuana.

C) It was no longer a useful crop.

D) It was destructive to the land.

5.“According to its proponents, four times as much paper can b e produced from land using hemp rather than trees.” ——What does “proponents” mean?

A) People who are against something.

B) People who support something.

C) People in charge of something.

D) People who do research on something.

Passage Two (DCCDB)

I made a pledge to myself on the way down to the vacation beach cottage. For two weeks I would try to be a loving husband and father. Totally loving. No ifs, ands or buts.

The idea had come to me as I listened to a talk on my car radio. The speaker was quoting a Biblical（圣经的）passage about husbands being thoughtful of their wives. Then he went on to say, “Love is an act of will. A person can choose to love.” To myself, I had to admit that I had been a selfish husband. Well, for two weeks that would change.

An d it did. Right from the moment I kissed Evelyn at the door and said, “That new yellow sweater looks great on you.”

“Oh, Tom, you noticed,” she said, surprised and pleased. Maybe a little puzzled. After the long drive, I wanted to sit and read. Evelyn suggested a walk on the beach. I started to refuse, but then I thought, “Evelyn’s been alone here with the kids all week and now she wants to be alone with me.” We walked on the beach while the children flew their kites.

So it went. Two weeks of not calling the Wall Street firm where I am a director; a visit to the shell museum though I usually hate museums. Relaxed and happy, that’s how the whole vacation passed. I made a new pledge to keep on remembering to choose love.

There was one thing that went wrong with my experiment, however. Evelyn and I still laugh about it today. On the last night at our cottage, preparing for bed, Evelyn stared at me with the saddest expression.

“What’s the matter?” I asked her.

“Tom,” she said in a voice filled with distress,“do you know something I don’t?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well…that checkup（体检）I had several weeks ago…our doctor…did he tell you something about me? Tom, you’ve been so good to me…am I dying?”

It took a moment for it all to sink in. Then I burst out laughing.

“No, honey,” I said, wrapping her in my arms. “You’re not dying; I’m just starting to live.”

1. In the first paragraph, “No ifs, ands or buts” probably means “____.”

A) Unintentionally B) Inevitably

C) Impressively D) Unconditionally

2.From the story we may infer that Tom drove to the beach cottage ____.

A) with his family

B) with Evelyn

C) alone

D) with his children

3.During the two weeks on the beach, Tom showed more love to his wife because ____.

A) she looked lovely in her new clothes

B) he had made a lot of money in his Wall Street firm

C) he was determined to be a good husband

D) she was seriously ill

4.The author says, “There was one thing that went wrong with my experiment.” What was the one thing that went wrong?

A) He praised her sweater, which puzzled her.

B) She insisted on visiting a museum, which he hated.

C) He knew something about her illness but didn’t tell her.

D) He was so good to her that she thought she must be dying.

5.By saying “I’m just starting to live,” Tom means that ____.

A) he is just beginning to understand the real meaning of life

B) he is just beginning to enjoy life as a loving husband

C) he lived an unhappy life before and is now starting to change

D) he is beginning to feel regret for what he did to his wife before

Passage Three (CDCBA)

Questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage:

In science, a theory is a reasonable explanation of observed events that are related. A theory often involves an imaginary model that helps scientists envision the way an observed event could be produced. A good example of this is found in the kinetic molecular theory （分子运动论）, in which gases are pictured as being made up of many small particles that are in constant motion. A useful theory, in addition to explaining past observations, helps to predict events that have not as yet been observed. After a theory has been publicized, scientists design experiments to test the theory. If observations confirm the scientists’ predictions, the theory is supported. If observations do not confirm the predictions, the scientists must search further. There may be a fault in the experiment, or the theory may have to be revised or rejected. Science involves imagination and creative thinking as well as collecting information and performing experiments. Facts by themselves are not science. As the mathematician Jules Henry Poincare said:“ Science is built with facts just as a house is built with bricks, but a collection of facts cannot be called science any more than a pile of bricks can be called a house.” Most scientists start an investigation by finding out what other scientists have learned about a particular problem. After known facts have been gathered, the scientist comes to the part of the investigation that requires considerable imagination. Possible solutions to the problem are formulated. These possible solutions are called hypotheses.

In a way, any hypothesis is a leap into the unkn own. It extends the scientist’s thinking beyond the known facts. The scientist plans experiments, performs calculations, and makes observations to test hypotheses. For without hypotheses, further investigation lacks purpose and direction. When hypotheses are confirmed, they are incorporated into theories.

1.What is NOT true about a theory?

A) A useful theory can explain past observations.

B) A useful theory helps to make predictions.

C) A theory is the truth that does not need to be tested.

D) A theory may have to be revised or rejected sometimes.

2.Science involves ____.

A) imagination and creative thinking

B) collecting information

C) performing experiments

D) all of the above

3.The key point of the quotation from Jules Henry Pincare is that ____.

A）facts are the most important things

B）building a house is like performing experiments

C）science is more than a collection of facts

D）a pile of bricks can not be called a house

4.In Paragraph 4, the author implies that imagination is most important to scientists when they ____.

A）evaluate previous work on a problem

B）formulate possible solutions to a problem

C）gather known facts

D）close an investigation

5.In Paragraph 5, the author refers to a hypothesis as “a leap into the unknown” in order to show that hypotheses ____.

A）go beyond available facts

B）are sometimes ill-conceived

C）can lead to dangerous results

D）require efforts to formulate

Passage Four (ADACD)

Practically speaking, the artistic maturing of the cinema was the single-handed achievement of David W Griffith (1875-1948). Before Griffith, photography in dramatic films consisted of little more than placing the actors before a stationary camera and showing them in full length as they would have appeared on stage. From the beginning of his career as a director, however, Griffith, because of his love of Victorian painting, employed composition. He conceived of the camera image as having a foreground and a rear ground, as well as the middle distance preferred by most directors. By 1910, he was using close-ups to reveal significant details of the scene or of the acting. Extreme long shots were adopted to achieve a sense of spectacle and distance. His exploration produced amazing dramatic effects. By splitting an event into fragments and recording each from the most suitable camera position, he could significantly make the emphasis change from camera shot to camera shot.

Griffith also achieved dramatic effects by means of creative editing. By juxtaposing images and varying the speed and rhythm of their presentation, he could control the dramatic intensity of the events as the story progressed. Despite the reluctance of his producers, who feared that the public would not be able to follow such a story, Griffith persisted and experimented and these practices have become standard ever since.

Besides developing the cinema’s language, Griffith immensely broadened its range a nd treatment of subjects. His early movies included not only the standard comedies, melodramas, westerns, and thrillers, but also adaptations from Browning and Tennyson, and treatment of social issues. When he made a new movie in 1911, he insisted that a subject of importance could not be treated in the then conventional length of one reel. One of his movies reached the unprecedented length of four reels, or one hour’s running time. Griffith’s introduction of the American-made multi-reel picture

began an immense revolution.

1.The primary purpose of the passage is to ____.

A）discuss the importance of Griffith to the development of cinema

B）describe the impact on cinema of the flashbacks and other editing innovations

C）show Griffith’s impact on the choi ce of subject matter in American films

D）criticize the state of American cinema before the Griffith

2.The author suggests that Griffith’s film innovations had a direct effect on all of the following except ____.

A) film editing C) camera work

B) scene composing D) sound editing

3.It can be inferred from the passage that before 1910 the normal running time of a film was ____.

A) 15 minutes or less

B) between 30 and 45 minutes

C) between 15 and 30 minutes

D) one hour or more

4. It can be inferred that Griffith would be most likely to agree with which of the following statements?

A）The good director will attempt to explore new ideas as quickly as possible.

B）The most important element contributing to a film’s success is the ability of the actors. C）The camera should be considered an integral and active element in the creation of a film. D）The cinema should emphasize serious and sober examinations of fundamental human problems.

5.The author’s attitude toward photography in the cinema before G riffith can be best described as ____.

A) sympathetic B) amused

C) nostalgic D) condescending

Passage five (DDACB)

The American economic system is organize around a basically private enterprise, market oriented economy in which consumers largely determine what shall be produced by spending their money in the marketplace for those goods and services that they want most. Private businessmen, striving to make profits, produce these goods and services in competition with others businessmen; and the profit motive, operating under competitive pressures. Largely determines how these goods and services are produced. Thus, in the American economic system it is the demand of individual consumers, coupled with the desire of businessmen to maximize profits and the desire of individuals to maximize their incomes, that together determine what shall be produced and how resources are used to produce it.

An important factor of a market oriented economy is the mechanism by which consumer demands can be expressed and responded to buy producers. In the American economy, this mechanism is provided by a price system, a process in which prices rise and fall producers, which in turn will lower the price and permit more consumers to buy the product. Thus, price is the regulating mechanism in the American economic system. The important factor in a private enterprise economy is that individuals are allowed to own productive resources (private property), and they

are permitted to hire labor, gain control over natural resources, and produce goods and services for sale at a profit. In the American economy, the concept of private property embraces not only the ownership of productive resources but also certain rights, including the fight to determine the price of a product or to make a free contract with another private individual.

1.In Para. 1, “the desire of individuals to maximize their incomes” means ____.

A）Americans are never satisfied with their incomes

B）Americans tend to overstate their incomes

C）Americans want to have their incomes increased

D）Americans want to increase the purchasing power of their incomes

2.The first two sentences in the second paragraph tell us that____.

A）producers can satisfy the consumers by mechanized production

B）consumers can express their demands through producers

C）producers decide the price of products

D）supply and demand regulate price

3.According to the passage, a private enterprise economy is characterized by ____.

A）private property and rights concerned.

B）manpower and natural resources control

C）ownership of productive resources

D）free contracts and prices

4.The passage is mainly about ____.

A）how American goods are produced

B）how American consumers buy their goods

C）how American economic system works.

D）how American businessmen make their profits.

5.The word “embrace”(Sent. 2, Para. 3) may convey the meaning of ____.

A) hugs B) includes

C) excludes D) demands

Passage Six (CBDBD)

An exercise program designed for younger adults may be inappropriate for older persons, particularly for persons over age 50. Special attention must be paid to matching the program to the interests and abilities of the participants. The goals of the program should include both social interaction and physical conditioning.Older adults should take a physical examination before starting a fitness program. Included in this examination should be a stress cardiogram (心电图) , blood pressure check, and an evaluation of joint functioning. It is a good idea for participants to learn how to monitor their own cardiorespiratory (心肺的) status during exercise.Well-designed fitness programs for older adults will have activities that begin slowly, are monitored frequently, and are geared to the enjoyment of the participants. The professional staff coordinating the program should be familiar with the signs of distress. Periods of warm-up and cool-down should be included. Activities to increase flexibility are beneficial in the beginning and ending parts of the program. Participants should wear comfortable clothing, appropriate shoes, and be mentally prepared to enjoy the activities to the fullest.

A program designed for older adults will largely conform to the criteria of activity, intensity, duration, and frequency. The principal exception is in the intensity comp where the THR (Target

Heart Rate) should not exceed 120 beats per minute. This level of intensity is approximately 40% to 50% of the maximum heart rate. Also, because of possible joint or muscular or skeletal problems, certain activities may have to be done in a sitting position. Pain and discomfort should be reported immediately to the fitness instructor.

Fortunately, properly screened adults will rarely have health emergencies during a well-monitored fitness program. Like their youthful counterparts, many older adults find fitness programs socially enjoyable, physically beneficial, and occasionally addictive.

1.According to the author, ____.

A) older adults need more physical exercises than the younger ones

B) younger adults are not necessary to take a physical examination before a fitness program

C) fitness programs for older adults should be well-monitored

D) poorly-designed fitness programs for older adults will do serious harms to them

2.The author mentions that the maximum THR for older adult participants in sports should be less than ____beats per minute.

A) 60 B) 120

C)180 D) 240

3.According to the passage,all of the following are advisable to older adults for a fitness program except____.

A) wearing appropriate clothing and shoes

B) being mentally ready for physical exercises

C) including periods of warm-up and cool-down

D) avoiding any pressure to their hearts

4.The last word of the passage“addictive”means____.

A) excessive B) enthusiastic

C) dependent D) progressive

5.The passage is a piece of ____.

A) description B) narration

C) argumentation D) disposition

Passage Seven (BCABC)

Robot. It is a word that seems very modern. A word that creates a strong mental picture. A picture of something that looks and acts like a human. Robots are not human, of course. They are machines. The word robot, and robots themselves, are less than 100 years old. But humans have been dreaming of real and imaginary copies of themselves for thousands of years. Early people made little human statues out of clay. And they cut wood and stone to look like humans. What is the future of robots? The goal of scientists is to create a true humanlike robot. Some experts have described this robot of the future as one that can act independently with the physical world through its own senses and actions. Humans have the ability to see, hear, speak and solve problems. Engineers have built robots that have one or two of these abilities. But it takes a number of big expensive computers to make the robots work. The biggest problem in creating a humanlike robot is copying human intelligence. The way the human mind works is almost impossible to copy. A simple computer can mathematical problems far beyond the ability of even the smartest human mind. But the human mind is better than a thousand supercomputers at speaking, hearing and problem solving. Several American and Japanese companies are working to

develop the senses of sight and touch for robots. The development of these senses will make robots much more useful. However, the most important human ability—the most difficult to copy—is problem solving. An intelligent robot must be able to change the way it acts when it faces an unexpected situation. Humans do it all the time. Computers must do it for robots. This means computers must have a huge base of information about many things. They must be able to find quickly the needed information in their systems. And they must make choices about how to act. So far, this is beyond the ability of computers.

1.According to the passage, however intelligent a robot may be, it ____.

A) acts as an ordinary animal

B) is nothing but a machine

C) is viewed as a modern myth

D) is regarded as a human being

2.Which of the following conclusions is best supported by the second paragraph?

A) Robot does not last long.

B) The early men made toys themselves.

C) Man has always had a desire to make a copy of himself.

D) The materials for making a copy of man are limited.

3.From the third paragraph, we can know that ____.

A) there has not been a true humanlike robot yet

B) computers in the robots are expensive

C) robots may do what they are told

D) robots have been designed to work independently

4.According to the passage, why has human intelligence not been copied in the making of a robot?

A) Computers can only do mathematical problems better than human beings.

B) Technology is not advanced enough to copy how human minds work.

C) Scientists are satisfied to have the robot with senses of sight and touch.

D) Robots with human intelligence will be dangerous to human beings.

5.In order to enable the intelligent robot to deal with an unexpected situation, the computers in it must do the following things except ____.

A) having a large amount of information

B) making choices about how to act

C) studying the situation carefully

D) finding the information quickly

Passage Eight (ACBDC)

Is it possible to persuade mankind to live without war? War is an ancient institution which has existed for at least six thousand years. It was always wicked and usually foolish, but in the past the human race managed to live with it. Modern ingenuity has changed this. Either Man will abolish war, or war will abolish Man. For the present, it is nuclear weapons that cause the greatest danger, but bacteriological or chemical weapons may, before long, offer an even greater threat. If we succeed in abolishing nuclear weapons, our work will not be done. It will never be done until we have succeeded in abolishing war. To do this, we need to persuade mankind to look upon international questions in a new way not as contests of force, in which the victory goes to the side

which is most skillful in killing, but by arbitration (仲裁) in accordance with agreed principles of law. It is not easy to change age old mental habits, but this is what must be attempted. There are those who say that the adoption of this or that ideology would prevent war. I believe this to be a profound error. All ideologies are based upon dogmatic (武断的) assertions which are, at best, doubtful, and at worst, totally false. Their supporters believe in them so fanatically that they are willing to go to war in support of them. The movement of world opinion during the past two years has been very largely such as we can welcome. It has become a commonplace that nuclear war must be avoided. Of course very difficult problems remain in the international sphere, but the spirit in which they are being approached is a better one than it was some years ago. It has begun to be thought, even by the powerful men who decide whether we shall live or die, that negotiations should reach agreements even if both sides do not find these agreements wholly satisfactory. It has begun to be understood that the important conflict nowadays is not between East and West, but between Man and the H-bomb.

1.This passage implies that war is now ____.

A) more wicked than in the past

B) as wicked as in the past

C) less wicked than in the past

D) what people try to live with

2.According to the author ____.

A) it is impossible to live without war

B) war is the only way to settle international disagreements

C) war must be abolished if man wants to survive

D) war will be abolished by modern ingenuity

3.The author says that modern weapons ____.

A) will help abolish war

B) make mankind live in a greater threat.

C) will gradually become part of man’s life

D) need further improving

4.The author believes that the only way to abolish war is to ____.

A) abolish nuclear weapons

B) let the stronger side take over the world

C) improve bacteriological and chemical weapons

D) settle international issues through negotiation

5.The last paragraph suggests that ____.

A) nuclear war will definitely not take place

B) international agreements are now reached more and more easily

C) man is beginning to realize that nuclear war is his greatest enemy

D) world opinion is in favor of nuclear war

Passage Nine (CBCAA)

Every profession or trade, every art, and every science has its technical vocabulary. Different occupations, however, differ widely in the character of their special vocabularies. In trades and handicrafts, and other vocations, like farming and fishery, that have occupied great numbers of men from remote times, the technical vocabulary, is very old. It consists largely of native words,

or of borrowed words that have worked themselves into the very fiber of our language. Hence, though highly technical in many particulars, these vocabularies are more familiar in sound, and more generally understood, than most other technicalities. The special dialects of law, medicine, divinity, and philosophy have also, in their older strata, become pretty familiar to cultivated persons and have contributed much to the popular vocabulary. Yet every vocation still possesses a large body of technical terms that remain essentially foreign, even to educated speech. And the proportion has been much increased in the last fifty years, particularly in the various departments of natural and political science and in the mechanic arts. Here new terms are coined with the greatest freedom, and abandoned with indifference when they have served their turn. Most of the new coinages are confined to special discussions, and seldom get into general literature or conversation. Yet no profession is nowadays, as all professions once were, a close guild （行会）. The lawyer, the physician, the man of science, the divine, associated freely with his

fellow-creatures, and does not meet them in a merely professional way. Furthermore, what is called “popular science” makes everybody acquainted with modern views an d recent discoveries. Any important experiment, though made in a remote or provincial laboratory, is at once reported in the newspapers, and everybody is soon talking about it as in the case of the Roentgen rays and wireless telegraphy. Thus our common speech is always taking up new technical terms and making them commonplace.

1.Special words used in technical discussion____.

A) never last long

B) should be confined to scientific fields

C) may become part of common speech

D) are considered artificial language speech

2.It is true that____.

A) everyone is interested in scientific findings

B) the average man often uses in his own vocabulary what was once technical language not meant for him

C) an educated person would be expected to know most technical terms

D) various professions and occupations often interchange their dialects and jargons

3.In recent years,there has been a marked increase in the number of technical terms in the terminology of____.

A) fishery B) farming

C) government D) sports

4.The writer of the article was, undoubtedly ____.

A) a linguist B) an attorney

C) a scientist D) an essayist

5.The author’s main purpose in the passage is to____.

A) describe a phenomenon

B) propose a solution

C) be entertaining

D) argue a belief

Passage Ten （CDCDA）

An important new industry, oil refining, grew after the Civil War. Crude oil, or petroleum—a dark, thick ooze（渗出物，分泌物）from the earth—had been known for hundreds of years. But little use had ever been made of it. In the 1850’s Samuel M. Kier, a manufacturer in western Pennsylvania, began collecting the oil from local seepage and refining it into kerosene. Refining, like smelting, is a process of removing impurities from a raw material.

Kerosene was used to light lamps. It was a cheap substitute for whale oil, which was becoming harder to get. Soon there was a large demand for kerosene. People began to search for new supplies of petroleum.

The first oil well was drilled by E.L.Drake,a retired railroad conductor.In 1859 he began drilling

in Titusville,Pennsylvania.The whole venture seemed so impractical and foolish that onlookers called it“Drake’s Folly.”But when he had drilled down about 70 feet(21 meters),Drake struck

oil.His well began to yield 20 barrels of crude oil a day.

News of Drake’s success brought oil prospectors to the scene. By the early 1860’s these wildcatters were drilling for “black gold” all over western Pennsylvania. The boom rivaled the California gold rush of 1848 in its excitement and Wild West atmosphere. And it brought far more wealth to the prospectors than any gold rush. Crude oil could be refined into many products. For some years kerosene continued to be the principal one. It was sold in grocery stores and

door-to-door. In the 1880’s and 1890’s refiners learned how to make other products such as waxes and lubricating oils. Petroleum was not then used to make gasoline or heating oil.

1.According to the passage, many people initially thought that E. L. Drake had made a mistake by ____.

A) moving Pennsylvania

B) retiring from his job

C) searching for oil

D) going on a whaling expedition

2.According to the passage, what is “black gold”?

A) Gold ore. B) Sstolen money.

C) Whale oil. D) Crude oil.

3.Why does the author mention the California gold rush?

A) To indicate the extent of United States mineral wealth.

B) To argue that gold was more valuable than oil.

C) To describe the mood when oil was first discovered.

D) To explain the need for an increased supply of gold.

4.The author mentions all of the following as possible products of crude oil EXCEPT____.

A) gasoline B) kerosene

C) wax D) plastic

5.What might be the best title for the passage?

A) Oil Refining: A Historical Perspective.

B) Kerosene Lamps: A Light in the Tunnel.

C) The California Gold Rush: Get Rich Quickly.

D) Private Property: Trespassers Will Be Prosecuted.

Passage Eleven (CDDAB)

For about three centuries we have been doing science, trying science out, using science for the construction of what we call modern civilization. Every dispensable item of contemporary technology, from canal locks to dial telephones to penicillin, was pieced together from the analysis

of data provided by one or another series of scientific experiments. Three hundred years seems a long time for testing a new approach to human interliving, long enough to settle back for critical appraisal of the scientific method, maybe even long enough to vote on whether to go on with it or not. There is an argument.

Voices have been raised in protest since the beginning, rising in pitch and violence in the nineteenth century during the early stages of the industrial revolution, summoning urgent crowds into the streets any day these days on the issue of nuclear energy. Give it back, say some of the voices, it doesn’t really work, we’ve tried it and it doesn’t work, go back three hundred years and start again on something else less chancy for the race of man.

The principle discoveries in this century, taking all in all, are the glimpses of the depth of our ignorance about nature. Things that used to seem clear and rational, matters of absolute certainty-Newtonian mechanics, for example-have slipped through our fingers, and we are left with a new set of gigantic puzzles, cosmic uncertainties, ambiguities; some of the laws of physics are amended every few years, some are canceled outright, some undergo revised versions of legislative intent as if they were acts of Congress.

Just thirty years ago we call it a biological revolution when the fantastic geometry of the DNA molecule was exposed to public view and the linear language of genetics was decoded. For a while, things seemed simple and clear, the cell was a neat little machine, a mechanical device ready for taking to pieces and reassembling, like a tiny watch. But just in the last few years it has become almost unbelievably complex, filled with strange parts whose functions are beyond today’s imagining. It is not just that there is more to do, there is everything to do. What lies ahead, or what can lie ahead if the efforts in basic research are continued, is much more than the conquest of human disease or the improvement of agricultural technology or the cultivation of nutrients in the sea. As we learn more about fundamental processes of living things in general we will learn more about ourselves.

1.What can’ t be inferred from the 1st paragraph?

A) Scientific experiments in the past three hundred years have produced many valuable items.

B) For three hundred years there have been people holding hostile attitude toward science.

C) Modern civilization depends on science so man supports scientific progress unanimously.

D) Three hundred years is not long enough to settle back critical appraisal of scientific method.

2.The principle discovery in this century shows ____.

A) man has overthrown Newto n’ s laws of physics

B) man has solved a new set of gigantic puzzles

C) man has lost many scientific discoveries

D) man has given up some of the once accepted theories

3.Now scientists have found in the past few years____.

A) the exposure of DNA to the public is unnecessary

B) the tiny cell in DNA is a neat little machine

C) man knows nothing about DNA

D) man has much to learn about DNA

4.The writer’s main purpose in writing the passage is to say that ____.

A) science is just at its beginning

B) science has greatly improved man’s life

C) science has made profound progress

D) science has done too little to human beings

5.The writer’s attitude towards science is ____.

A) critical B) approving

C) neutral D) regretful

Passage Twelve （CCABD）

Efforts to educate people about the risks of substance abuse（毒品滥用）seem to deter some people from using dangerous substances, if such efforts are realistic about what is genuinely dangerous and what is not. Observed declines in the use of such drugs as LSD, PCP, and quaaludes since the early 1970s are probably related to increased awareness of the risks of their use, and some of this awareness was the result of warnings about these drugs in “ underground ”papers read by drug users. Such sources are influential, because they do not give a simple “all drugs are terrible for you” message. Drug users know there are big variations in danger among drugs, and antidrug education that ignores or denies this is likely to be ridiculed. This is illustrated by the popularity among young marijuana users of Reefer Madness, a widely unrealistic propaganda film against marijuana made in the 1930s. This film made the rounds of college campuses in the 1970s and joined rock music videos on cable television’s MTV in the 1980s. Inste ad of deterring marijuana use, it became a cult（风靡一时的）film among users, many of whom got high to watch it.

Although persuasion can work for some people if it is balanced and reasonable, other people seem immune to the most reasoned educational efforts. Millions have started smoking even though the considerable health risks of smoking have been well known and publicized for years. Moreover,

the usefulness of education lies in primary prevention: prevention of abuse among those who presently have no problem. Hence, Bomier’s contention that “if the Pepsi generation can be persuaded to drink pop wine, they can be persuaded not to drink it while driving” is probably not correct, since most drunken driving is done by people who already have significant drinking problems, and hence seem not to be dissuaded even by much stronger measures such as loss of a driver’s license.

1.According to the passage, up to now, antidrug education____.

A) has made all people see the danger of drugs

B) has succeeded in dissuading people from using drugs

C) has been effective only to a certain degree

D) has proved to be a total failure

2.The film “Reefer Madness” mentioned in the passage____.

A) effectively deterred marijuana use

B) was rejected by young marijuana users

C) did not picture the danger of marijuana realistically

D) was welcomed by marijuana users because it told them how to get high

3.The message “all drugs are terrible for you” is not influential because____.

A) it ignores the fact that drugs vary greatly in danger

B) it gives a false account of the risks of drug use

C) some drugs are good for health

D) it does not appear in underground papers

4.According to the passage, which of the following statements is NOT true?

A) Even balanced and reasonable antidrug persuasion is influential only to some people.

B) Most drug users are ignorant of the danger of drugs.

C) Punishments such as loss of a driver’s license do not seem to be an effective way to stop drunken driving.

D) Primary prevention is a useful principle to be followed in antidrug education.

5.The best title for the passage would be ____.

A) Are All Drugs Terrible for You?

B) Do People Believe What Underground Papers Say?

C) Is There an Increased Awareness of the Risks of Drugs?

D) Can Persuasion Reduce Drug Abuse?

Passage 13 (DDCDB)

Many people seem to think that science fiction is typified by the Bug-eyed Monster,embodying every feature that most people find repulsive.This is unfortunate because it degrades a worthwhile literary endeavor. Instead, the basic interest of science fiction lies in the relation between man and his technology and between man and the universe. Science fiction is a literature of change and a literature of the future, and the aspects of human life that it considers make it well worth reading and studying for no other literary form does quite the same things. What is science fiction? To begin, the following definition should be helpful: science fiction is a literary subgenre which postulates(以…为前提) a change (for human beings) from conditions as we know them and follows the implications of these changes to a conclusion.

The first point that science fiction is a literary sub genre-is a very important one, but one which is often overlooked or ignored in most discussions of science fiction. Specifically, science fiction is either a short story or a novel. There are only a few dramas which could be called science fiction, the body of poetry that might be labeled science fiction is only slightly larger. To say that science fiction is a subgenre of prose fiction is to say that it has all the basic characteristics and serves the same basic functions in much the same way as prose fiction in general, that is, it shares a great deal with all other novels and short stories.

Everything that can be said about prose fiction, in general, applies to science fiction. Every piece of science fiction, whether short story or novel, must have a narrator, a story, a plot, the themes of science fiction are concerned with interpreting ma n’s nature and experience in relation to the world around him. Themes in science fiction are constructed and presented in exactly the same ways that themes are dealt with in any other kind of fiction. They are the result to a particular combination of a narrator, story, plot, character, setting, and language. In short, the reasons for reading and enjoying science fiction, and the ways of studying and analyzing it, are basically the same as they would be for any other story or novel.

1.From the first paragraph, we can infer that science fiction has been most popular in the 20th century because ____.

A) with the growth of literacy, the size of the reading public has increased

B) competition from television has created a demand for more exciting fiction

C) science fiction is easier to understand than other kinds of fiction

D) the increased importance of technology has given science fiction an increased relevance

2.According to the definition in the passage, a fictional work that places human beings in a prehistoric world inhabited by dinosaurs____.

A) cannot be called science fiction because it does not deal with the future

B) cannot be called science fiction because it doesn’t deal with technology

C) can be called science fictio n because it deals with man’s relation to the world

D) can be called science fiction because it places people in an environment different from the one we know

3. Science fiction is called a literary subgenre because____.

A) it is not important enough to be a literary genre

B) it cannot be made into a dramatic presentation

C) it shares characteristics with other types of prose fiction

D) it has its limits

4.One implication of the final sentence in the passage is that____.

A) the reader should turn next to commentaries on general fiction

B) there is no reason for any reader not to like science fiction

C) the reader should compare other novels and stories to science fiction

D) those who can appreciate prose fiction can appreciate science fiction

5.An appropriate title for this passage would be____.

A) Man and the Universe

B) Toward a Definition of Science Fiction

C) A Type of Prose Fiction

D) The Bug-Eyed Monster

Passage 14 (DBAAB)

The railroads played a key role in the settlement of the West. They provided relatively easy access to the region for the first time, and they also actively recruited farmers to settle there. The railroads are criticized for their part in settling the West too rapidly, with its resultant economic unrest. (After the Civil War the vast Great Plains area was settled all at once.) Of course there were abuses connected with building and operating the railroads, but it must be pointed out that they performed a useful service in extending the frontier and helping to achieve national unity. The real tragedy of the rapid settlement of the Great Plains was the shameful way in which the American Indians were treated. Threatened with the destruction of their whole mode of life, the Indians fought back savagely against the white man’s final assault. Justice was almost entirely on the Indians’ side. The land was clearly theirs. The Indians, however, lacked the military force and the political power to protect this right. Not only did white men possess the Indians’ hunting grounds, but they rapidly destroyed the Indians’ principal means of existence—the buffalo. It has been estimated that there are 15 million buffalo in the plains in the 1860s. By 1869 the railroads had cut the herd in half, and by 1875 the southern herd was all but eliminated. By the middle of the 1880s the northern herd was also a thing to the past. Particularly annoying to the Indians was the fact that the white man frequently killed the buffalo merely for sport, leaving the valuable dead body to rot in the sun.

Theoretically, at least, the government tried to be fair to the Indians, but all too often the Indian agents were either too indifferent or corrupt to carry out the government’s promises conscientiously, the army frequently ignored the Indian Bureau and failed to coordinate its policies with the civilians who were normally in charge of Indian affairs. The settlers hated and feared the Indians and wanted them exterminated. This barbaric attitude, is certainly not excusable,

but it is understandable in the context of the times.

1.The author’s attitude toward the treatment of American Indians by whites is of ____.

A) qualified regret B) violent anger

C) strong disapproval D) objective indifference

2.The author implies which of the following about the forces at work during the settlement of the Great Plains?

A)The federal government represented the moral use of law.

B)Justice was overcome by military firepower.

C)Attempts by the government to be fair were rejected by the Indians.

D)The settler’s hatred and fear was offset by the Indians’ attempts at kindness.

3.Which of the following shows that the white settlers did not need the buffalo as did the Indians?

A) Buffalo dead bodies were left rotting in the sun by whites.

B) Nearly fifteen million buffalo were killed within twenty years.

C) More than half of the great buffalo herd had disappeared by 1869.

D) The railroad brought necessary food and supplies to the white settlers.

4.The author of the passage would most likely disagree that____.

A) the U.S. government’s policies towards the American Indians were shameful

B) the land that the Indians fought to retain belonged to them

C) numerous abuses were among the results of the railroads’ rapid spread

D) the U. S. army could not be considered a friend of the American Indian

5.It can be inferred from the passage that the purpose of the Indian Bureau was to____.

A) establish reservations where the peaceful American Indians would live

B) assist with Indian affairs regarding the American Indians

C) help Indians with their food supplies

D) assist the Indians in learning a new method of obtaining food

Passage 15 (CBADC)

Questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage:

“Popular”art has a number of meanings,impossible to define with any precis ion,which range from folklore to junk(质量低劣的东西).The poles are clear enough,but the middle tends to blur.There can be great trash, just as there is bad high art.The musicals of George Gershwin are great popular art,never aspiring to high art.Schubert and Brahms,however,used elements of popular music-folk themes-in works clearly intended as high art.The case of Verdi is a different one,he took a popular genre（流派）-bourgeois melodrama set to music(an accurate definition of 19th century opera)and,without altering its fundamental nature,transformed it into high art.This remains one of the greatest achievements in music,and one that cannot be fully appreciated without recognizing the essential trashiness of the genre. As an example of such a transformation, consider what Verdi made of the typical political elements of 19th century opera. Generally in the plots of these operas, a hero or heroine--usually portrayed only as an individual, independent from social class is caught between the corruption of the aristocracy and the greed of the proletariat. Verdi transforms this naive and unlikely formulation with music of extraordinary energy and rhythmic vitality, music more subtle than it seems at first hearing. Such pieces lend an immediacy to the otherwise concealed political message of these operas and call up feelings beyond those of the opera itself.

Or consider Verdi’s treatment of character. Before Verdi, there were rarely any characters at all in musical drama, only a series of situations which allowed the singers to express a series of emotional states. Any attempt to find coherent psychological portrayal in these is misplaced cleverness. The only coherence was the singer’s vocal technique: when the cast changed, new arias (独唱曲) were from other operas. Verdi’s char acters, on the other hand, have consistency and integrity. The integrity of the character is achieved through the music: once he had become established. Verdi did not rewrite his music for different singers or countenance alterations, as every 18th-century composer had done. When he revised an opera, he only intended for dramatic economy and effectiveness.

1.The author refers to Schubert and Brahms in order to suggest____.

A) that their works are examples of great trash

B) that their works are examples of high art

C) that popular music could be employed in compositions intended as high art

D) that their achievements are no less substantial than those of Verdi

2.It can be inferred that the author regards the independence from social class of the heroes and heroines of 19th century opera as____.

A) an idealized but fundamentally accurate portrayal of bourgeois life

B) a plot convention with no real connection to political reality

C) a plot refinement

D) a convention largely seen as irrelevant by audiences

3.According to the passage, the immediacy of the political message in Verdi’s operas stems from the____.

A) vitality and subtlety of the music

B) audience’s familiarity with the earlier operas

C) individual talents of the singers

D) portrayal of the heightened emotional states

4.According to the passage, all of the following characterize music drama before Verdi EXCEPT____.

A) arias tailored to a particular singer’s ability

B) adaptation of music from other operas

C) psychological inconsistency in the portrayal of characters

D) music used for defining a character

5.It can be inferred that t he author regards Verdi’s revisions to his operas with____.

A) regret that the original music and texts are altered

B) concern that many of the revisions altered the plots of the original work

C) approval for the intentions that motivated the revisions.

D) enthusiasm, since the revisions were aimed at reducing the conventionality

Passage 16 (DBABC)

Surprisingly, modern historians have rarely been interested in the history of the American South in the period before the South began to become self-con sciously “Southern”. Consequently, the cultural history of Britain’s North American Empire in the 17th and 18th centuries has been written almost as if the Southern colonies had never existed. The American culture that emerged during the Colonial periods has been depicted as having been simply an extension of New

England Puritan culture. However, Professor Davis has recently argued that the South stood apart from the rest of American society during this early period, following its own unique pattern of cultural development. The case for Southern distinctiveness rests upon two related premises(前提): the first: the cultural similarities among the five Southern colonies were far more impressive than the differences; the second: what made those colonies alike also made them different from other colonies. The first, for which Davies offers an enormous amount of evidence, can be accepted; the second is far more problematic.

What makes the second premise problematic is the use of the Puritan colonies as a basis for comparison. Quite properly, Davis condemns the excessive influence ascribed by historians to the Puritans in the formation of American culture. Yet Davis carelessly adds weight to such ascriptions by using the puritans as the standard against which to assess the achievements and contributions of Southern colonials. Throughout, Davis focuses on the important differences between the Southern and Puritan colonies in patterns of early settlement, in attitudes toward nature and Native Americans, and in the degree of receptivity (接受能力) to metropolitan cultural influences.

However, recent scholarship has strongly suggested that aspects of early New England culture that seem to have been most distinctly puritan, such as the strong religious orientation, were largely confined to the two colonies of Massachusetts and Connecticut.

1.According to the first paragraph, modern historians____.

A) are not interested in the history of American South

B) are more interested in the history of American South

C) are not interested in the history of American South colonies

D) are seldom interested in the history of American South colonies

2.The author mainly attempts to argue about____.

A)the influence of puritan culture on the early American south

B)〖JP3〗the distinctiveness of the early American South culture

C)early American culture was similar in nature

D)the American South made greater contributions to early American culture than Puritan New England did.

3.According to Professor Davis, the culture of American South colonies ____.

A) has its own uniqueness

B) differs greatly from each other

C) is similar to Puritan Culture

D) is problematic

4.According to the author, the depiction of American culture during the Colonial periods reflects the fact that____.

A) American culture was influenced by the religious orientation of the colonists

B) historians overestimated the influence of Puritans on American culture

C) Massachusetts served as cultural models for the other American colonies

D) colonial America resisted Puritan cultural patterns

5.The author is in agreement with which of the following elements of Davis’ book.

ⅠDavis’ argument that there were significant differences between Puritan and Southern culture during the Colonial period.

ⅡDavis’ thesis that the cultural of Southern colonies differs a lot from each other.

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【阅读练习】 What is it about America ns and food? We love to eat, but we feel 1 about it afterward. We say we want only the best, but we strangely enjoy junk food. We re 2 with health and weight loss but face an unprecedentedepidemic of obesity（肥胖）.Perhapsthe 3 to this ambivale nee矛盾情结）lies in our history. The first Europea ns came to this continent searchi ng for new spices but went in vain. The first cash crop经济作物）was n‘ t eate n but smoked. Then there was Prohibition, intended to prohibit drinking but actually en couragi ng more 4 ways of doing it. The immigra nt experie nee, too, has bee n one of in harm ony. Do as Roma ns do means eati ng what “real America ns” eat, but our n ati on' s food has come to be 5 by imports —pizza, say, or hot dogs. And some of the country s most treasured cooking comes from people who arrived here in shackles. Perhaps it should come as no surprise then that food has been a medium for the n ati on' s defi ning struggles, whether at the Bost on Tea Party or the sit ins at souther n lunch counters. It is integral to our concepts of health and even morality whether one refrains from alcohol for religious reas ons or evades meat for political 6 But strong opinions have not brought 7 . America ns are ambivale nt about what they put in their mouths. We have become 8 of our foods, especially as we lear n more about what they contain. The 9 in food is still prosperous in the American consciousness. ' s no coincidenee, then, that the first Thanksgiving holds the American imagination in such bondage（束缚）.

专业英语四级考试全真试题

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