专升本英语阅读训练

专升本英语阅读训练

Passage 1

Population tends to grow at an exponential(指数的)rate. This means that they progressively double. As an example of this type of growth rate take one penny and double every day for one month. After the first week, you would have only 64 cent, but after the fourth week you would have over a million dollars.

This helps explain why the population has come on“all of a sudden”took from he beginning of human 1ife to the year 1830 for the population of the earth to reach one billion. That repents(缓慢进行) a time span of at least two million years. Then it took from 1830 to 1930 for world population to reach 2 billion. The next billion was added by 1960 only thirty years and in 1975 world population reached 4 billion which is another billion people in only fifteen years.

World population is increasing at a rate of 9, 000per hour, 220,000 per day and 80 million per year.

This is not only due to higher birth rate, but to lower death rate as well. The number of births has not declined at the same rate as the number of deaths.

Some countries such as Columbia, Thailand, Morocco, Costa Rica and the Philippines are doubling their population about every twenty-one years with a growth rate of 3.3 percent a year or more. The United States is doubling its population about very eighty-seven years, with a rate of 0.8 percent per year. Every time a population doubles, the country involved needs twice as much of everything, including hospitals, schools, resources, food and medicines to care for its people. It is easy to see that this is very difficult to achieve for the more rapidly growing countries.

1. This passage chiefly discusses

A. the growth of world population.

B. one type of the exponential rate.

C. the population problem of more rapidly growing countries.

D. the possible ways of dealing with the rapid population growth.

2. According to the passage what helps to explain why the population problem has come on “all of a sudden”?

A. The penny that doubles itself every day for one month.

B. The time span of at 1east two million years in human history.

C. An illustration of the exponent growth rate given by the author.

D. The large amount of money you would luckily make after the fourth week.

3. It took for the world to increase its population from 1 billion to 4 billion.

A. 100 years

B. 175 years

C. 1975 years

D. over two million years

4. Which of the following statements is NOT true?

A. World population is increasing at a rate of 150 per minute.

B. Lower death rate also contributes to world population growth.

C. The population of Columbia has been doubling every year for 21 years.

D. The United States is usually doubling its population on about every 87 years.

5. When a population doubles, the country involved needs twice as much of everything including __.

A. hospitals and medicines

B. schools and students

C. food and manpower resources

D. all of the above

Passage 2

Women are on the whole more verbal than men. They are good at 1anguage and verbal reasoning. while men tend to be skilled at tasks demanding visual-spatial(视空)abilities. In fact, along with aggression these are the most commonly accepted difference between these sexes.

Words are tools for communicating with other people especially information about people. They are mainly social tools. Visual and spatial abilities are good for imagining and manipulating objects and for communicating information about them. Are these talents programmed into the brain? In some of the newest and most controversial research in neurophysiology(神经生理学), it has been suggested that when it comes to the brain males are specialists while women are generalists.

But one knows that, if anything this means in terms of the abilities of the two sexes. Engineering is both Visual and spatial and it’s true that there are relatively few women engineers. But women become just as skilled as men at shooting a rifle or driving a car task that involve visual-spatial skills. They also do equally well at programming a computer, which is neither visual nor spatial. Women do, however, seem less likely to fall in love with the objects themselves. We all know men for whom machines seem to be extensions of their identity. A woman is more likely to see her car, rifle or computer as a useful tool but not in itself fascinating.

1. According to the passage, women are usually good at_____.

A. body language

B. logical reasoning

C. tasks demanding for the use of words

D. both A and B

2. The word "accepted” in the last sentence of the first paragraph, roughly means_____.

A. believed

B. assumed

C. received

D. reconciled

3. In the author’s opinion, visual and spatial abilities are good for______.

A. achieving one’s objects.

B. mind and body.

C. programming talents into the brain.

D. imagination and communication.

4. All the following tasks involve visual-spatial abilities EXCEPT____.

A. imagining and handling objects.

B. providing a computer with a set of instructions

C. shooting a gun and driving an automobile

D. planning and making things as an engineer does

5. Why do women seem less likely to fall in love with the objects themselves?

A. Because they have no visual-spatial skills.

B. Because they are only good at 1anguage and verbal reasoning.

C. Because they are less likely to see their charming or interesting aspects.

D. Because they rarely use machines such as cars, rifles, computers, etc.

Passage 3

The US. government has recently helped people learn more about the dangers of earthquakes by publishing a map. This map shows the chances of an earthquake in each part of the country. The areas of the map where earthquakes are most likely to occur are called earthquake “belt”. The government is, spending a great deal money and is working hard to help discover the answer to these two questions: l. Can we predict earthquake? 2. Can we control earthquakes?

To answer the first question, scientists are looking very closely at the most active fault(断层)systems in the country such as the San Andreas fault in California, a fault is break

between two sections of the earth’s surface. These breaks between sections are the place where earthquake occurs. Scientists look at the faults for changes that might show that an earthquake was about to occurs. But it will probably be many years before we can predict earthquakes accurately. And the control of earthquakes is even farther away.

Nevertheless, there have been some interesting developments in the field of controlling earthquakes. The most interesting development concerns the Rocky Mountain Arsenal earthquakes. Here water was put into a layer of rocks 4000 meters below surface of the ground. Shortly after this injection of water, there were a small number of earthquakes.

Scientists have decided that the water which was injected into rocks works like oil on each other. When the water“oiled”the fault, the fault became slippery and the energy of an earthquake was released. Scientists are still experimenting at the site of these earthquakes.

They have realized that there is a connection between injection of the water and the earthquake activity. They have suggested that might be possible to use this knowledge to prevent very big destructive earthquakes, that is, scientists could inject some kind of fluid like water into faults and change one big earthquake into a number of small, harmless earthquakes.

1. Earthquake belts are .

A. maps that show where earthquakes are likely to occur

B. zones with a high probability of earthquakes

C. breaks between two sections of the earth’s surface

D. the two layers of earth along a fault

2. The San Andreas’ fault is .

A. an active fault system

B. a place where earthquakes have been predicted accurately

C. a place where earthquake have been controlled

D. the location of the Rocky Mountain

3. What did scientists learn about earthquakes at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal？

A. They occur at bout 4000 meters below ground level

B. The injection of water into earthquake faults prevents earthquakes from occurring.

C. They are usually caused by the oil in the faults.

D. Harmful earthquakes can be possibly prevented by causing small harmless

earthquake.

4. What can be said about the experiments at Rocky Mountain Arsenal?

A. They have no practical value in earthquake prevention.

B. They may have practical value in earthquake prevention.

C. They are certain to have practical value in earthquake prevention.

D. he article does not say anything about their practical value in earthquake prevention.

5. What is the most appropriate title for the passage?

A. Dangers of Earthquake

B. Earthquake Belts and Prediction

C. Earthquake Prediction and Control

D. Earthquake Engineering in California

Passage 4

Sporting activities are essentially modified forms of hunting behavior. Viewed biologically, the modern footballer is in reality a member of a hunting group. His killing weapon has turned

into a harmless football and his prey into a goalmouth. If his aim is accurate and he scores a goal, he enjoys the hunter’s triumph of killing his prey.

To understand how this transformation has taken place we must briefly look back at our forefathers. They spent over a million years evolving(进化) as Cooperative hunters. Their very survival depended on success in the hunting field. Under this pressure their whole way of life, even their bodies, became greatly changed：They became chasers, runners, jumpers, aimers, throwers and prey killers. They cooperated as skillful male group attack.

Then about ten thousand years ago, after this immensely long period of hunting the food, they became farmers. Their improved intelligence, so vital to their old hunting life was put to a new use——that of controlling and domesticating (驯养) their prey. The hunt became suddenly out of date. The food was there on the farms, awaiting their needs. The risks and uncertainties of the hunt were no longer essential for survival.

The skills and thirst for hunting remained, however, and demanded new outlets. Hunting for sport replaced hunting for necessity. This new activity involved all the original hunting sequences(后果), but the aim of the operation was no longer to avoid starvation. Instead the sportsmen set off to test their skill against prey that was no longer essential to their survival. To be sure, the kill may have been eaten, but there were other purposes, much simpler of obtaining a meaty meal.

1. What is the main idea of the passage?

A. Hunting is very important in human civilization.

B. Sporting activities satisfy the desire of modern society.

C. It’s hunting that provides human beings with food.

D. The importance of sporting activities in modern society.

2. According to the author, sporting activities .

A. are essential to the survival

B. have actually developed from hunting

C. evolve as biological development

D. are football games

3. For over a million years. our forefathers were basically .

A. skillful sportsmen

B. successful farmers

C. runners and jumpers

D. cooperating hunters

4. The word“operation (Par. 4)refers to .

A. sports activities

B. hunting

C. farmers

D. prey killing

5. Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A. The goalmouth is equal to the weapon in hunting.

B. Without hunting our forefathers couldn’t live.

C. After our forefathers became farmers they still hunted for food.

D. Farmers are satisfied with stable lives and they didn’t have enthusiasm for hunting any more

Passage 5

A man once said how useless it was to put advertisements in the newspapers. “Last week,”he said, my umbrella was stolen from a London church. As it was a present, I spent twice its worth in advertising, but didn’t get it back.

“How did you write your advertisement?” asked one of the listeners, a merchant.

“Here it is,” said the man, taking out of his pocket a slip cut from a newspaper, The other man took it and read, “Lost from the City Church last Sunday evening, a black silk umbrella. The

gentleman who finds it will receive ten shillings on leaving it at No. 10 Broad Street.”

“Now,” said the merchant, “I often advertise, and find that it pays me well. But the way in which an advertisement is expressed is of extreme importance. Let us try for your umbrella again, and if it fails, I’ll buy you a new one.”

The merchant then took a slip of paper out of his pocket and wrote: “If the man who was seen to take an umbrella from the City Church last Sunday evening does n’t wish to get into trouble, he will return the umbrella to No.10 Broad Street. He is well known.”

This appeared in the paper, and on the following morning, the man was astonished when the opened the front door. In the doorway lay at least twelve umbrellas of all sizes and colors that had been thrown in, and his own was among the number. Many of them had notes fastened to them saying that they hand been taken by mistake, and begging the loser not to say anything about the matter.

1. The man once thought advertising was _______.

A. of little use

B. of some use

C. practical

D. valuable

2. The result of the first advertisement was that______.

A. the man got his umbrella back

B. the man wasted some money advertising

C. nobody found the missing umbrella

D. the umbrella was found somewhere near the church

3. The merchant suggested that the man should_______.

A. buy a new umbrella

B. go on looking for his umbrella

C. write another better advertisement.

D. report to the police

4. Why did the merchant say “I often advertise and find that it pays me well”?

A. He knew how to advertise

B. He had more money for advertising

C. He found it easy to advertise.

D. He had a friend in the newspaper where he advertised.

5. This is a story about _________.

A. a useless advertisement

B. how to make an effective advertisement

C. how the man lost and found his umbrella

D. what the merchant did for the umbrella owner

Passage 6

The great advance in rocker theory 40 years ago shows that liquid-fuel rockets were far superior in every respect to the skyrocket with its weak solid fuel. However, during the decade, large solid-fuel rockets with solid fuels about as powerful as liquid fuels have made their appearance, and it is a favorite layman’s question to inquire which one is “better”. The question is meaningless. One might as well ask whether a gasoline or a diesel engine is “better”. It all depends on the purpose, a liquid-fuel rocket is complicated, but has the advantage that it can be controlled beautifully. The burning of the rocket engine can be stopped completely: it can be reignited when desired. In addition, the thrust can be made to vary by adjusting the speed of the fuel pumps. A solid-fuel rocket, on the other hand, is rather simple in construction, though hard to build when a really at very short notice. A liquid-fuel rocket has to be fueled first and cannot be

held in readiness for very long after it has been fueled. However, once a solid-fuel rocket has been ignited, it will keep burning. It cannot be stopped and reignited whenever desired and its thrust cannot be varied. Because a solid-fuel rocket can be kept ready for a long time, most military employ solid fuels, but manned space-flight needs the fine adjustments that can only be provided by liquid fuels. It may be added that a liquid-fuel rocket is an expensive device; a large solid-fuel rocket is, by comparison, cheap. But the solid fuel, pound per pound, costs about 10 times as much as the liquid fuel. So you have, on the one hand, an expensive rocket with a cheap fuel and on the other hand a comparatively cheap rocket with an expensive fuel.

1. The author feels that a comparison of liquid-fuel and solid-fuel rockets shows that _______.

A. neither type is very economical

B. the liquid-fuel rocket is best

C. each type has certain advantages

D. the solid-fuel rocket is best.

2. The most important consideration for manned space flight is that the rocket be_____.

A. inexpensive to construct

B. capable of lifting heavy space shift into orbit

C. easily controlled

D. inexpensive to operate

3. Solid-fuel rockets are expensive to operate because of their_______.

A. size

B. fuel

C. construction

D. complicated engines

4. Which of the following statements is not characteristic of liquid-fuel rockets?

A. the fuel is cheap

B. they are cheap to build.

C. they can be stopped and reignited.

D. they must be used soon after fueling.

5. The author tells us that_______.

A. whether a liquid-fuel or a solid-fuel rocket is better depends on the purpose

B. neither type is superior

C. forty years ago, large solid-fuel rockets with solid-fuel as powerful as liquid fuels were

made

D. the thrust can be made to vary by adjusting the direction of the pump

Passage 7

As a medium of exchange, money permits the separation of exchange into the two distinct acts of buying and selling. Hence producers who know they will be paid in money, can concentrate on finding the most suitable outlet for their goods, while buyers who will pay in money, can concentrate on finding the cheapest market for the wings they wish to purchase. Specialization is encouraged, because people whose output is not a complete product but only a part of one can be paid an amount equivalent to their share of the product.

Another advantage of money is that it is a measure of value. In a barter economy it would be necessary to determine how many plates were worth one hundred weight of cotton, or how many pens should be exchanged for a ton of coal. The process of establishing relative values would have to be undertaken for every act of exchange, according to what products were being offered against one another, and according to the two parties’ desires and preferences.

Thirdly, money acts as store of wealth. It is difficult to imagine saving under a barter system. No one engaged on only one stage in the manufacture of a product could save part of his output, since he would be producing nothing complete. Most products deteriorate fairly rapidly, either physically or in value, as a result of long storage; even if storage were possible, the practice of storing products for years on end would involve obvious disadvantages. If wealth could not be saved, or only with great difficulty, future needs could not be provided.

1. Using money as a medium of exchange means that_____.

A. you have to sell something in order to buy something

B. you have to buy something in order to sell something

C. you don’t have to buy something in order to sell something

D. the seller and the purchaser are the same person

2. Specialization is encouraged because_______.

A. people can use their money to buy whatever they want

B. people get paid according to their share of the product.

C. people pay great attention to the manufacture of a product

D. people cannot use their money to buy whatever they want

3. A barter economy is one in which _______.

A. value is decided by weight

B. value is decided by number

C. money is used and goods are not exchanged

D. goods are exchanged and money is not used

4. If one had to save products instead of money, __________.

A. this would need years of practice

B. coal, for example, would lose its value

C. they could not be stored for years on end

D. many products would lose their value

5. How many advantages of money are mentioned in this passage?

A. Two

B. Three

C. Four

D. Five

Passage 8

There are two common explanations for origin of tipping. The Oxford English Dictionary says tip was seventeenth-century underworld slang for “give”———as in “Tip me you r money or your life.” Opponents of tipping will probably prefer this explanation, since it suggests the practice as originally a form of robbery. A less reputable, but nonetheless charming explanation is that in Renaissance(文艺复兴) coffeehouses, boxes were set near the door, into which customers could drop money: These boxes, according to the story, bore the legend “To Insure Promptitude,” which was ultimately shortened to TIP. Whether it was a serving woman or a boss with his or her eye on depressing wages who first thought up the idea, the story does not say.

Tipping became common in England by the middle of the eighteenth century. Because it is ill-suited to a country without an established servant class, it did not catch on in America until after the Civil War, when former slaveholders suddenly found themselves having to pay the help and when new-rich industrialists adopted the European fashion. By the turn of the century, we had made the custom our own, and the American “big tipper” was on his way.

Today, although the lines between bribery(贿赂) and thanks for services remain as vague as ever, tipping has become universal, not least because, in an increasingly uncertain economy, it provides the growing service class with income that is at least as reliable as wages and that is less subject to tax review. Not surprisingly, government officials as among the few die-hards who still question the tipping system. They have a point too. Tippers’ International Association estimates that U.S. workers get about $5 billion a year in tips.

1. In the seventeenth century, tip was probably a word used by_____.

A. lawbreakers

B. customers

C. waitresses

D. coffeehouse bosses

2. Tipping did not become popular in U.S. until after the Civil War because______.

A. the country was free of a servant class

B. former slaveholders did not want to pay the help

C. northern industrialists refused to adopt the European fashion

D. tipping was contradictory to the American custom

3. Tipping is universally accepted mainly because_______.

A. it is an easy way to make money

B. it ensures people a good and prompt service

C. it enables the service class to be free from taxes

D. it supplies the service class with a sort of reliable income

4. Which of the following words can best describe the government officials’ attitudes towards the

tipping system?

A. Positive.

B. Negative.

C. Doubtful.

D. Indifferent.

5. The passage is about_______.

A. the origin of tipping

B. the practice of tipping in U.S

C. the popularity of tipping

D. the shaping of the tipping system

Passage 9

Learning how to write is like taking a course in public speaking. I’d ask whether anyone in class had ever taken such a course. Invariably a few hands would go up.

“What did you learn in that course?” I’d ask.

“Well, the main thing was learning how to face an audienc e… not to be inhibited (拘谨；抑制)…not to be nervous…”

Exactly, when you take a course in public speaking nowadays, you don’t hear much about gr- ammar and vocabulary. Instead, you’re taught how not to be afraid or embarrassed, how to speak without a prepared script, how to reach out to the live audience before you. Public speaking is a matter of overcoming your longstanding nervous inhibitions.

It is the same in writing. The point of the whole thing is to overcome your nervous inhibi- tions, to break through the invisible barrier that separates you from the person who’ll read what y- ou wrote. You must learn to sit in front of your typewriter or dictating machine and reach out to the person at the other end of the line.

Of course, in public speaking, with the audience right in front of you, the problem is easier. You can look at them and talk to them directly. In writing, you’re alone. It needs an effort of your experience or imagination to take hold of that other person and talk to him or her. But that effort is necessary or at least it’s necessary until you’ve reached the point when you quite naturally and unconsciously “talk on paper.”

1. The main task of a public speech course is to ________.

teach spoken-language experience

teach how to use gestures to assist speech

help the learners overcome nervousness

teach how to control the volume of the speaker’s voice

2. Learning how to write is similar to learning how to speak in public in that a writer should ___________.

overcome his or her nervousness in the first place

watch his or her grammar and vocabulary

collect a lot of data before writing

take hold of a reader and talk to him or her before writing

3. In the author’s opinion_________.

writing needs more experience and skill than public speaking

both writing and public speaking require effort

writing is imaginative

public speaking is not so natural as writing

4. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

Not many students feel the need to learn public speaking

Training is necessary before you can speak with script

In public speaking, the audience are more nervous than the speaker

Writing is just like making a public speech on paper

5. This selection is mainly about learning how to _______.

make a public speech

talk on paper

behave properly in public speech

express strong emotion on paper

Passage 10

In the modern technological world the sea offers many resources to help mankind survive. Resources on land are beginning to grow less. The sea, however, still offers hope to supply many of man’s needs.

The riches of the sea yet to be developed by man’s technology are impressive. Oil and gas explorations have existed for nearly thirty years. Valuable amounts of minerals such as iron, nickel and copper and so on exist on the ocean floor, ready to be mined.

Fish farming promises to be a good way to produce large quantities of food. The culture of fish and shellfish is an ancient skill practiced in the past mainly by Oriental peoples.

Besides oil and gas, the sea may offer new sources of energy. Experts believe that the warm temperature of the ocean can be used in a way similar to the steam in a steamship. Ocean currents and waves offer possible use as a source of energy such as hydroelectric power.

Technology is enabling man to explore ever deeper under the sea. The new undersea technology is providing divers with diving suits and undersea chambers that are kept at sea level pressure. The development of strong, new materials has made this possible.

The technology to harvest the sea continues to improve. By the year 2000, experts believe that the problems to exploit the food, minerals, and energy sources of the sea will be largely solved.

1. What is the best title for the passage?

A. Needs of Man

B. Sources of Energy

C. Sea Harvest

D. Sea Exploring Technology

2. According to the author, technology for exploring the sea is important because______.

man cannot travel farther into space

resources on land are running short

it’s a lot of fun diving into the sea

ancient people used to explore the sea

3. Why does the author mention a steamship?

To indicate that it is warmer in the ocean than on land.

To show that a steamship is better than other kinds of ship.

To argue that man should use steamships more than other means of transportation.

To illustrate that man can make use of sources of energy from the sea.

4. It can be inferred from the passage that_______.

man hasn’t completely developed the riches of the sea

technology for exploring the sea has been solved

planting rice in the sea will be made possible in a short time

in the near future man can live on the ocean floor

5. The word “exploit” in the last paragraph could best be replaced by________.

A. evaluate

B. develop

C. gather

D. scatter

Passage 11

Your passport is your official identification as an American citizen. In American, most people never consider obtaining a passport unless they are planning a trip out of the country. In Europe, where travel from one country to another is much more common, almost everyone carries a pass- port. A passport is final proof of identity in almost every county in the world.

In 1979 almost 15 million American held passports. Most of these passports were obtained to travel outside the country because, except for a few Western nations, passports are required to enter every country. And if you travel abroad, you must have a valid passport to return the country.

When traveling abroad, you will need a passport for identification when exchanging dollars for francs or marks or other foreign currency. You may also need your passport to use a credit card, buy an airplane ticket or check into a hotel. As a passport is an official U.S. document, it is valuable as identification in any emergency overseas, such as floods, fires or war.

Don’t confuse passports and visas. Whereas a passport is issued by a country to its citizens, a visa is official permission to visit a country granted by the government of that country. For some years, many countries were dropping their visa requirements, but that trend has reversed. They may be obtained from the embassy of the country you wish to visit.

Passport applications are available at passport agency offices in large cities like Boston, New York, or Chicago. In smaller cities, applications are available at post offices and at federal courts. To get your first passport, you must submit the application in person, along with a birth certificate and two pictures.

1. The main purpose of this passage is to___________.

A.discuss traveling in other countries

B.distinguish between passports and visas

C.discuss the financial uses of a passport

D.provide information about passports

2. Passports are beneficial for___________.

A. exchanging currency

B. using a credit card

C. checking into hotels

D. all of the above

3. We can conclude from the passage that_________.

A.passports are more important than visas

B.visas and passports are the same thing

C.foreign government issue visas instead of passports

D.visas are required to obtain passports

4. The passage suggests that_________.

A.Most people don’t realize how important passports are

B.passports aren’t important once you are in the country you’ve chosen to visit

C.passports are simple to obtain through the mail

D.passports are obtained at the embassy once you enter a country.

5. As used in this passage, the word “valid” in the second paragraph means__________.

A. foreign

B. legal

C. monetary

D. illegal

Passage 12

I hear many parents complaining that their teenage children are rebelling. I wish it were so. At young age you ought to be growing away from you parents. You should be learning to stand on your own two feet.

But take a good look at the present rebellion. It seems that teenagers are a1l taking the same way of snowing that they disagree with their parents. Instead of striking out on their own，most of them are clutching at one another’s hands for reassurance.

They say they want to dress as they please，but all of them wear the same clothes. They set off in new directions in music，but all of them end up huddled round listening to the same record. Their reason for thinking or acting in this and that way is that the crowd is doing it.

It has become harder and harder for a teenager to stand up against the popularity wave and go his or her own way. These days every teenager can 1earn from the advertisements what a teenager should have and be. And many of today’s parents have come to award high marks for the popularity of their children. All this adds up to a great barrier for the teenager who wants to find his or her own path.

But the barrier is worth climbing over. The path is worth following. You may want to listen to classical music instead of going to a party. You may want to collect rocks when everyone else is collecting records. You may have some thoughts that you don’t care to share at once with your classmates. Well，go to it. Find yourself. Be yourself. Popularity will come-will the people who respect you for who you are. That’s the only kind of popularity that really counts.

1. The author’s purpose in writing this passage is to tell _____.

A.readers how to be popular with people around

B.teenagers how to learn to decide things for themselves

C.parents how to control and guide their children

D.people how to understand and respect each other

2. According to the author, many teenagers think they are brave enough to act on their own, but, in fact, most of them _____.

A.have much difficulty understanding each other

https://www.wendangku.net/doc/91924077.html,ck confidence

C.dare not cope with problems single-handed

D.are very much afraid of getting lost

3. Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage？

A.There is no popularity that really counts.

B.What many parents are doing is in fact hindering their children from finding their own

paths.

C.It is not necessarily bad for a teenager to disagree with his or her classmates.

D.Most teenagers claim that they want to do what they like to, but they are actually doing

the same.

4. The author thinks of advertisements as _____.

A. convincing

B. influential

C. instructive

D. authoritative

5. During the teenage years, one should learn to _____.

A.differ from others in as many ways as possible

B.get into the right season and become popular

C.find one’s real self

D.rebel against parents and the popularity wave

Passage 13

Telephone, television, radio and the Internet help people communicate with each other. Because of these devices, ideas and news of events spread quickly all over the world. For example, within seconds, people can know the results of an election in another country. An international football match comes into the homes of everyone with a television set. News of a disaster, such as a flood, can bring help from distant countries. With in hours, help is on the way. This is because modern technology information travels fast.

How has this speed of communication changed the world? To many people, the world has become smaller. Of course, this does not mean that the world is actually physically smaller. It means that the world seems smaller. Two hundred years ago, communication between the continents took a long time. All news was carried on ships that took weeks or even months to cross the oceans. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, it took six weeks for news from Europe to reach the Americas. This time difference influenced people’s actions. For example, a few battles in the war of 1812 between England and the United States could have been avoided. A peace agreement had already been signed. Peace was made in England, but the news of peace took six weeks to reach America. During these six weeks, the large and serious Battle of New Orleans was fought. Many people lost their lives after a peace treaty had been signed. They would not have died if news had come in time. In the past, communication took much more time than it does now. There was a good reason why the world seemed so much larger than it does today.

1.News spreads fast because of ______.

A. modern transportation

B. new technology

C. the changes of the world

D. a peace agreement

2.According to this passage, ______is very important to people in a disaster area.

A. fast communication

B. modern technology

C. the news

D. new ideas

3.Which of the following statements is TRUE based on the text?

A. The world now seems smaller because of faster communication.

B. The world is actually smaller today.

C. The world is changing in size.

D. The distant between England and America has changed since the War of 1812.

4.Two hundred years ago, news between the continents was carried ______.

A. by telephone

B. by land

C. by air

D. by sea

5.The New Orleans Battle could have been avoided if the peace agreement had been signed

______.

A. by both sides

B. in time

C. in America

D. in England

Passage 14

This story began about 10 years ago. I was coming out of a very bad marriage. For seven long

years my husband spent his every waking moment telling me just what was wrong with me. When I finally asked for a divorce, he answered by telling me that I would never find anyone to love me because I was just so unattractive. This went on for about two years. One night one of my friends convinced me to go out with her. We went to a nightclub and that’s when I met him.

Clint was playing a game with a girl. I sat in the corner watching him. I didn’t feel that I had whatever it took to get up and mix with others because of my self-esteem problem. Finally I got up the courage to order a drink for him. When he got it, he gave me the most dazzling smile. We spent the rest of the evening talking until I realized that it was almost morning. I figured that he was simply being nice to me because I had brought him a drink, but the next day he called and told me that he could not stopping thinking about me and that he wanted to meet my kids too.

About 3 months later, my divorce was final and Clint sat my boys down and asked them if it was all right with them if he asked me to marry him because he could not imagine life without the three of us anymore. I was so touched that he went to my boys and asked for their approval because they were the “men of the house” at the ripe old ages of 2 and 4. They said yes and we have all been together even since. Clint gave me and my boys a second chance at a wonderful life. Not a day goes by that he doesn’t tell we are the best thing that ever has happened to him and that he loves us.

1. The writer’s first marriage was unsuccessful because ______.

A.her husband often woke her up at midnight

B.her husband kept criticizing her

C.she was unattractive

D.she had a self-esteem problem

2. When the writer asked for a divorce, her husband ______.

A.told her that she would never find one who loved her as he did

B.delayed two years before giving her a reply

C.accused her of having an affair

D.said that she was unattractive and not worth loving

3. When the writer first met Clint, she felt that ______.

she should have listened to her friend and met Clint earlier

Clint was a nice, dazzling young man

Clint could not be really interested in her

she would find true love in Clint

4. The writer was particularly touched by Clint because ______.

he believed that at 2 and 4, the two kids were the “men of the house”

he said that he could not imagine a life without her and the kids

he loved the kids and asked for their approval of the marriage

he kept her company and talked with her until the next morning

5. The writer’s marriage to Clint is important to her mainly because ______.

A.it made her kids happy, which is all she cared about

B.every day Clint would tell the writer that he loved her

C.it helped her to regain herself respect

D.it gave her and her sons a second chance to live a happy life

Passage 15

Thousands of years ago, ten of our very distant ancestors were hungry. They went out and picked berries or dug up roots to eat. Four of them chose poisonous food and died. The remaining six noticed that their food was safe to eat. They told their children, who, in turn, passed the message on to their descendants. In this way, habit became a vital factor in the survival of mankind: if you ate the right plant, you lived; if you wanted to make your own experiments, you would probably die.

The importance of habit on the survival of the human species is an interesting matter. Even today, most of us hesitate when we are invited to eat a new type of food or drink something we have not tasted before. Even if the food or drink is offered by a friend, we are usually not at all anxious to experiment and accept the offer.

When you get up tomorrow morning, notice which shoe or sock you put on first. Then notice which one you put on first on other days. You may discover that (a) you tend to put on one shoe or sock first every day, and (b) if you are right-handed, you usually deal with your left shoe or sock first. If you try to change this habit, you may find it uncomfortable or annoying, and you will soon return to your old habit.

When it comes to other matters, we often follow a fixed pattern. We sleep in one or two favorite ways. We often follow familiar routes even when they are not the shortest or best. We often wear a watch on the same wrist even when there is no real reason for doing so. In hundreds of other ways, we show that we are creatures of habit, following fixed patterns of behavior. This characteristic can help us to survive but it can be a barrier to progress too. We must be alert and not let a beneficial factor become a harmful one.

1. The best title for this passage might be ______.

Habit-a Barrier to Progress

The Survival of Mankind

Various Patterns of Human Behavior

We are Creatures of Habit

2. The first paragraph of this passage is mainly about ______.

the danger of making experiments

the importance of habit in the survival of mankind

the food our distant ancestors ate

the behavior of younger generation

3. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to Paragraph 2?

Habit can be harmful to the development of mankind

People usually like to taste new things at the risk of their lives

Most people hesitate to eat new things they have never tasted before

People are usually willing to try a new food if it is offered by a friend

4. The example shown in Paragraph 3 proves that ______.

it is difficult to change a habit

habit can be changed easily

shoes and socks are essential in our daily life

everyone puts on shoes and socks in the morning whether he is right-handed or left-handed 5. From the last paragraph we know that in the writer’s opinion ______.

habit can never become a harmful factor

people develop all their habits with good reasons

habit will always help people to make progress

people often behave in fixed patterns

Passage 16

Cancer is among the top killer diseases in our society today and scientists have found out that stress helps to bring it on. It is worthwhile to consider, therefore, what are the causes of stress in our life,and whether we can do anything about them.

Are we under-employed, or overburdened with too many responsibilities? Do we have a right balance of work and leisure in our lives? Are our relationships with family, friends or fellow workers all they should be?

All these things can be a cause of stress, and it is best to face them honestly, and to bring our frustrations into the open. People who have a good row and then forget it are doing their health more good than those who bottle up their feelings.

If our self-examination has brought any causes of stress to light, let us consider what we can do about them. It is possible to change jobs. We can make more leisure and fill it more happily, if we will accept a difficult living standard. We can improve our personal relationships by a different attitude. It is we who allow other people to make ourselves unhappy. Often the little things that disturb us are not worth an hour’s anger. The teaching in the Bible “Let not the sun go down upon your wrath” is good advice from the health point of view as well as the religious.

1. Which of the following statements is TRUE?

Freedom from responsibilities helps relieve stress

Stress is the direct cause of cancer

The causes of stress are worthy of serious study

Cancer is the number one killer in our society today

2. According to the passage, which of the following types of people is more likely to suffer from stress?

People who have cancer

People who like to quarrel with others

People whose living standard is low

People who have more responsibilities than they can handle

3. Judging from the context, the word “row” in the third paragraph most probably means ______.

a noisy quarrel

a very loud noise

a neat line of things side by side

a journey in a boat

4. Which of the following is NOT mentioned as a way to reduce our stress?

Changing our jobs

Changing our attitude about little things that make us unhappy

Speaking out about our frustrations

Reading the Bible

5. “Let not the sun go down upon your wrath” probably means “______”.

Don’t let your anger last long

Don’t get angry while the sun is going down

Don’t get angry easily about little things

Don’t watch the sun set while you are angry

Passage 17

What do we talk about when we talk about money? We often think about what we can buy with the money we have, what we can’t buy because we don’t have enough and what we’re planning to buy when we have more. We discuss the careers that bring us money and the expenses that take it away. We talk about our favourite shops and restaurants, the causes we support, the places we’ve been and seen. We share dreams that only money can make real.

In short, we talk about everything but money itself. In daily life, money is still a major conversational taboo. This is a shame, because money is as interesting as the things it does and buys, and the more you know about it, the more interesting it is.

As a financial advisor, I’ve seen hundreds of people learn to control their money instead of letting it control them and watched as they increased as they increased their freedom, power and security by handling money consciously. Wouldn’t you like to know that you’ll always have enough money to live exactly as you want to?

You will never be powerful in life until you’re powerful over your own money. Talking openly about it is the first step.

1. Which of the following is NOT discussed when we talk about money?

The careers that bring us money

The causes we support

The dreams that only money can make real

Money itself

2. What can we know from the second paragraph?

We should know more about money itself rather than avoid talking about it.

Money itself can interest us and bring us happiness.

The more money we earn, the more we should know about it.

It is a shame that people talk too much about money.

3. What does the writer want to say in the third paragraph?

People should learn how to make money.

People should know the value of money.

People should learn to control their money.

People should know how to use money to increase their power.

4. The writer’s advice that _____.

the more you talk about money, the more you can control it.

we should learn to be a good master of our money if we want to be powerful in life

we should not be so worried about money if we want to have a free life

the more money you have, the more powerful you are

5. What will the writer probably talk about after the last paragraph?

The importance of money

Money, power and security

The other steps for people to control money

The steps for people to make money

Passage 18

A question often put to the specialist on fishes is “How long do fishes live?” This puts the

specialists in an embarrassing position because he is often unable to give a direct answer to this simple question.

But actually this question is not as simple as it seems. There are thousands of different kinds of fishes, and they vary a great deal in size and life span. Moreover, it is not easy to find out just how long a fish lives in its natural state.

We can find out how old a fish is by studying its scales, but we cannot say how much more time it would live if we had not caught it.

We may rear fishes and record their life span but we cannot be sure that this is the length of time they would have lived, had they been left alone.

We may make marking to show how fast the fishes grow so that we can calculate the age of the largest on record, but unless this large fish dies of old age we are still not in a position to know its natural life span.

Unlike human beings, fishes do not stop growing when they reach maturity. They continue to grow as long as they live, although the rate of growth slows down in mature fishes.

1. People often ask the specialist on fishes regarding its _______.

A. size

B. life span

C. age

D. variety

2. The specialist is embarrassed by the question because _______.

he does not know the answer

there is no answer to the question

it is a silly and simple question for him

there is no definite answer to this question

3. We can know a fish’s age from its ______.

A. weight

B. size

C. scales

D. length

4. Which of the following statements is NOT true?

Different kinds of fishes have different life spans.

It is hard for the specialist to know the length of time a fish lives in its natural state

Mature fishes grow more quickly than young ones.

The specialist makes marking to know the rate of growth of fishes so that they know the age of the largest ones.

5. Human beings, unlike fishes, _______.

A. stop growing when they reach maturity

B. grow faster after maturing

C. continue to grow as long as they live

D. have a short life span

Passage 19

We find that bright children are rarely held back by mixed-ability teaching. On the contrary, both their knowledge and experience are enriched. We feel that there are many disadvantages in streaming (把……按能力分班) pupils. It does not take into account the fact that children develop at different rates. It can have a bad effect on both the bright and the not-so-bright child. After all, it can be quite discouraging to be at the bottom of the top grade!

Besides, it is rather unreal to grade pupils just according to their intellectual ability. This is only on aspect of their total personality. we are concerned to develop the abilities of all out pupils to the full, not just their academic ability. We also value personal qualities and social skills, and we find that mixed-ability teaching contributes to all these aspects of learning.

In our classrooms, we work in various ways. The pupils often work in groups: this gives them

the opportunity to learn to co-operate, to share, and to develop leadership skills. They also learn how to cope with personal problems as well as learning how to think, to make decisions, to analyze and evaluate, and to communicate effectively. The pupils learn from each other as well as form the teacher.

Sometimes the pupils work in pairs; sometimes they work on individual tasks and assignments, and they can do this at their own speed. They also have some formal class teaching when this appropriate. We encourage our pupils to use the library, and we teach them the skills they need in order to do this efficiently. An advanced pupil can do advanced work: it does not matter what age the child is. We expect our pupils to do their best, not their least, and we give them every encouragement to attain this goal.

1. In the passage the author’s attitude towards “mixed-ability” is _________.

critical B. approving C. questioning D. objective

2. By “held back”(Line 1, Para. 1) the author means _________.

made to remain in the same classes B. forced to study in the lower classes

C. learning ability and communicative skills

D. prevented from advancing

3. The author argues that a teacher’s chief concern should be the development of the student’s _______.

personal qualities and social skills B. total personality

C. learning ability and communicative skills

D. intellectual ability

4. Which of the following is NOT MENTIONED in the third paragraph?

Group work gives pupils the opportunity to learn to work together with others.

Pupils also learn to develop their reasoning abilities.

Group work provides pupils with the opportunity to learn to be capable organizers.

Pupils also learn how to participate in teaching activities.

5. The author’s purpose in writing this passage is to _______.

argue for teaching bright and not-so-bright pupils in the same class

recommend pair work and group work for classroom activities

offer advice on the proper use of the library

emphasize the importance of appropriate formal classroom teaching

Passage 20

Prices determine how resources are to be used. They are also the means by which products and services that are in limited supply are disturbed among buyers. The price system of the United States is a very complex network composed of the price of all the products brought and sold in the economy as well as those of numerous services, including labor, professional transportation, and public-utility services. The interrelationships of all these prices make up the “system” of prices. The prices of any particular product or service are linked to a broad, complicated system of prices in which everything seems to depend more or less on everything else.

If one were to ask randomly (随机地) a group of individuals to define “price”, many would reply that price is an amount of money paid by the buyer to the seller of a product or service as agreed upon in a market transaction (交易). This definition is, of course, valid as far as it goes.

For a complete understanding of a price in any particular transaction, much more than the amount of money involved must be known. Both the buyer and the seller should be familiar with not only the money amount, but with the amount and quality of the product or service to be

exchanged, the time and place at which the exchange will take place and the payment will be made, the form of money to be used, and the credit terms and discounts that supply to the transaction, guarantees on the product or service, delivery terms, return privileges, and other factors that comprise the total “package” being exchanged for the asked-for amount in order that they may evaluate a given price.

1. According to the passage, the price system is related primarily to ______.

labor and education B. transportation and insurance

C. utilities and repairs

D. products and services

2. According to the passage, which of the following is NOT a factor in the complete understanding of price?

Instructions that come with a product

The quantity of a product

The quality of a product

Guarantees that come with a product

3. In the last sentence of the passage, the word “they” refers to ________.

return privileges B. all the factors

C. the buyer and the seller

D. money

4. The paragraph following the passage likely discusses ________.

unusual ways to advertise products

types of payment plans for service

theories about how products affect different levels of society

how certain elements of price “package” influence its market value

5. What is the best title for the passage?

A.The Inherent Weakness in the Price System

B.The Complexities of the Price System

C.Credit Terms in Transactions

D.Resource Distribution and the Public Sector