齐鲁师范学院

齐鲁师范学院2012-2013学年度第一学期期末试题

考试课程：英语阅读一专业：11级师范英语本科试卷类型：A Section A: (80%)

Direction: In this section, you are allowed to finish the following 4 readings and choose the best answers in 60 minutes.

Passage 1:

There are many theories about the beginning of drama in ancient Greece. The one most widely accepted today is based on the assumption that drama evolved from ritual. The argument for this view goes as follows. In the beginning, human beings viewed the natural forces of the world, even the seasonal changes, as unpredictable, and they sought through various means, to control these unknown and feared powers. Those measures which appeared to bring the desired results were then retained and repeated until they hardened into fixed rituals. Eventually stories arose which explained or veiled the mysteries of the rites. As time passed some rituals were abandoned, but the stories, later called myths, persisted and provided material for art and drama.

Those who believed that drama evolved out of ritual also argue that those rites contained the seed of theater because music, dance, masks, and costumes were almost always used. Furthermore, a suitable site had to be provided for performances, and when the entire community did not participate, a clear division was usually made between the "acting area" and the "auditorium". In addition, there were performers, and, since considerable importance was attached to avoiding mistakes in the enactment of rites, religious leaders usually assumed that task. Wearing masks and costumes, they often impersonated other people, animals, or supernatural beings, and mimed the desired effect-success in hunt or battle, the coming rain, the revival of the Sun-as an actor might. Eventually such dramatic representations were separated from religious activities. Another theory traces the theater’s origin from the human interest in storytelling. According to this view, tales (about the hunt, war, or other feats) are gradually elaborated, at first through the use of impersonation, action, and dialogue by a narrator and then through the assumption of each of the roles by a different person. A closely related theory traces theater to those dances that are primarily rhythmical and gymnastic or that are imitations of animal movements and sounds. 1.What does the passage mainly discuss?

A. The origins of theater.

B. The role of ritual in modern dance.

C. The importance of storytelling.

D. The variety of early religious activities.

2. What aspect of drama does the author discuss in the first paragraph?

A. The reason drama is often unpredictable.

B. The seasons in which dramas were performed.

C. The connection between myths and dramatic plots.

D. The importance of costumes in early drama.

3. Which of the following is NOT mentioned as a common element of theater and ritual?

A. Dance.

B. Costumes.

C. Music.

D. Magic.

4. According to the passage, what is the main difference between ritual and drama?

A. Ritual uses music whereas drama does not.

B. Ritual is shorter than drama.

C. Ritual requires fewer performers than drama.

D. Ritual has a religious purpose and drama does not.

5. The passage supports which of the following statements?

A. No one really knows how the theater began.

B. Myths are no longer represented dramatically.

C. Storytelling is an important part of dance.

D. Dramatic activities require the use of costumes.

Passage 2:

California is a land of variety and contrast. Almost every type of physical land feature, sort of arctic ice fields and tropical jungles can be found within its borders. Sharply contrasting types of land often lie very close to one another. People living in Bakersfield, for instance, can visit the Pacific Ocean and the coastal plain, the fertile San Joaquin Valley, the arid Mojave Desert, and the high Sierra Nevada, all within a radius of about 100 miles.

In other areas it is possible to go snow skiing in the morning and surfing in the evening of the same day, without having to travel long distance.

Contrast abounds in California. The highest point in the United States (outside Alaska) is in California, and so is the lowest point (including Alaska).Mount Whitney, 14,494 feet above sea level, is separated from Death Valley, 282 feet below sea level, by a distance of only 100 miles.

The two areas have a difference in altitude of almost three miles. California has deep, clear mountain lakes like Lake Tahoe, the deepest in the country, but it also has shallow, salty desert lakes. It has Lake Tulainyo, 12,020 feet above sea level, and the lowest lake in the country, the Salton Sea, 236 feet below sea level. Some of its lakes, like Owens Lake in Death Valley, are not lakes at all: they are dried-up lake beds. In addition to mountains,

lakes, valleys, deserts, and plateaus, California has its Pacific coastline, stretching longer

2. Where is the highest point in t

4. Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage as being within a radius of

A. The highest lake in California is Lake Tulainyo.

B. It is possible to go surfing and snow skiing in some parts of California without having

C. Sierra Nevada, San Joaquin Valley, Mojave Desert and the Pacific Ocean all lie within a

D. Owens Lake, in Death Valley, is not really a lake at all.

Passage 3:

I live in the land of Disney, Hollywood and year-round sun. You may think people in such a glamorous, fun-filled place are happier than others. If so, you have some mistaken ideas about the nature of happiness.

Many intelligent people still equate happiness with fun. The truth is that fun and happiness have little or nothing in common. Fun is what we experience during an act. Happiness is what we experience after an act. It is a deeper, more abiding emotion.

Going to an amusement park or ball game, watching a movie or television, are fun

activities that help us relax, temporarily forget our problems and maybe even laugh. But they do not bring happiness, because their positive effects end when the fun ends. I have often thought that if Hollywood stars have a role to play, it is to teach us that happiness has nothing to do with fun. These rich, beautiful individuals have constant access to glamorous parties, fancy cars, expensive homes, everything that spells “happiness”. But in memoir after memoir, celebrities reveal the unhappiness hidden beneath all their fun: depression, alcoholism, drug addiction, broken marriages, troubled children and profound loneliness.

Ask a bachelor why he resists marriage even though he finds dating to be less and less satisfying. If he’s honest, he will tell you that he is afraid of making a commitment. For commitment is in fact quite painful. The single life is filled with fun, adventure and

excitement. Marriage has such moments, but they are not its most distinguishing features. Similarly, couples that choose not to have children are deciding in favor of painless fun over painful happiness. They can dine out ever they want and sleep as late as they want. Couples with infant children are lucky to get a whole night’s sleep or a three -day vacation. I don’t know any parent who would choose the word fun to describe raising children. Understanding and accepting that true happiness has nothing to do with fun is one of the most liberating realizations we can ever come to. It liberates time: now we can devote more hours to activities that can genuinely increase our happiness. It liberates money: buying that new car or those fancy clothes that will do nothing to increase our happiness now seems pointless. And it liberates us from envy: we now understand that all those rich

and glamorous people we were so sure are happy because they are always having so much fun actually may not be happy at all.

1.Which of the following is true?

A.Fun creates long-lasting satisfaction.

B.Fun provides enjoyment while pain leads to happiness.

C.Happiness is enduring whereas fun is short-lived.

D.Fun that is long-standing may lead to happiness.

2.To the author, Hollywood stars all have an important role to play that is to __.

A.rite memoir after memoir about their happiness.

B.tell the public that happiness has nothing to do with fun.

C.teach people how to enjoy their lives.

D.bring happiness to the public instead of going to glamorous parties.

3.In the author’s opinion, marriage___.

A.affords greater fun.

B.leads to raising children.

C.indicates commitment.

D.ends in pain.

4.Couples having infant children___.

A.are lucky since they can have a whole night’s sleep.

B.find fun in tucking them into bed at night.

C.find more time to play and joke with them.

D.derive happiness from their endeavor.

5.If one get the meaning of the true sense of happiness, he will__.

A.stop playing games and joking with others.

B.make the best use of his time increasing happiness.

C.give a free hand to money.

D.keep himself with his family.

Passage 4: Once it was possible to define male and female roles easily by the division of labor. Men worked outside the home and earned the income to support their families, while women cooked the meals and took care of the home and the children. These roles were firmly fixed for most people, and there was not much opportunity for women to exchange their roles. But by the middle of this century, men’s and women’s roles were becoming less firmly fixed.

In the 1950s, economic and social success was the goal of the typical American. But in the 1960s a new force developed called the counterculture. The people involved in this movement did not value the middle-class American goals. The counterculture presented men and women with new role choices. Taking more interest in childcare, men began to share child-raising tasks with their wives. In fact, some young men and women moved to communal homes or farms where the economic and childcare responsibilities were shared equally by both sexes. In addition, many Americans did not value the traditional male role of soldier. Some young men refused to be drafted as soldiers to fight in the war in Vietnam.

In terms of numbers, the counterculture was not a very large group of people. But its influence spread to many parts of American society. Working men of all classes began to change their economic and social patterns. Industrial workers and business executives alike cut down on “overtime” work so that they could spend more leisure time with their families. Some doctors, lawyers, and teachers turned away from high paying situations to practice their professions in poorer neighborhoods.

In the 1970s, the feminist movement, or women’s liberation, produced additional economic and social changes. Women of all ages and at all levels of society were entering the work force in greater numbers. Most of them still took traditional women’s jobs as public school teaching, nursing, and secretarial work. But some women began to enter traditionally male occupations: police work, banking, dentistry, and construction work. Women were asking for equal work, and equal opportunities for promotion.

Today the experts generally agree that important changes are taking place in the roles of men and women. Naturally, there are difficulties in adjusting to these transformations.

1.Which of the following best express the main idea of Paragraph 1?

A.Women usually worked outside the home for wages.

B.Men and women’s roles were easily exchanged in the past.

C.Men’s roles at home were more firmly fixed than women’s.

D.Men and women’s roles were usually quite separated in the past.

2.Which sentence best expresses the main idea of Paragraph 2?

A.The first sentence.

B.The second and the third sentences.

C.The fourth sentence.

D.The last sentence.

3.In the passage the author proposes that the counterculture___.

A.destroyed the United States.

B.transformed some American values.

C.was not important in the United States.

D.brought people more leisure time with their families.

4.It could be inferred from the passage that___.

A.men and women will never share the same goals.

B.some men will be willing to exchange their traditional male roles.

C.most men will be happy to share some of the household responsibilities with their wives.

D.more American households are headed by women than ever before.

5.The best title for the passage may be ___.

A.Results of Feminist Movements

B.New influence in American Life

C.Counterculture and Its consequence

D.Traditional Division of Male and Female Roles.

Section B: (20%)

Direction : In this section,you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay about "A Few Remark on Competition". You should write a passage with the words given and it should be no less than 160 words.

Key Words and Expressions:

common phenomenon, play, study, constant, so forth, to some extent, motive force, cooper ation, a basketball game, in most cases, equally, early something to extremes, pure and , obtain one's goals.

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