[英语学习]英文试题.doc

2011.5 复习题三 （Book 3）Reading Comprehension Directions: In this part there are four passages below, each with four suggested answers. Choose the ONE you think is the best answer.Passage 1Unless we spend money to spot and prevent asteroids (小行星) now, one might crash into Earth and destroy life as we know it, say some scientists.Asteroids are bigger versions of the meteoroids (流星) that race across the night sky. Most orbit the sun far from Earth and dont threaten us. But there are also thousands of asteroids whose orbits put them on a collision course with Earth.Buy $50 million worth of new telescopes right now. Then spend $10 million a year for the next 25 years to locate most of the space rocks. By the time we spot a fatal (致命的) one, the scientists say, well have a way to change its course.Some scientists favour pushing asteroids off course with nuclear weapons. But the cost wouldnt be cheap.Is it worth it? Two things experts consider when judging any risk are: 1) How likely the event is; and 2) How bad the consequences if the event occurs. Experts think an asteroid big enough to destroy lots of life might strike Earth once every 500,000 years. Sounds pretty rarebut if one did fall, it would be the end of the world. If we dont take care of these big asteroids, theyll take care of us, says one scientist. Its that simple.The cure, though, might be worse than the disease. Do we really want fleets of nuclear weapons sitting around on Earth? The world has less to fear from doomsday (毁灭性的) rocks than from a great nuclear fleet set against them, said a New York Times article.1. What does the passage say about asteroids and meteoroids?A. They are heavenly bodies different in composition.B. They are heavenly bodies similar in nature.C. There are more asteroids than meteoroids.D. Asteroids are more mysterious than meteoroids.2. What do scientists say about the collision of an asteroid with Earth?A. Such a collision might occur once every 25 years.B. It is very unlikely but the danger exists.C. Collisions of smaller asteroids with Earth occur more often than expected.D. Its still too early to say whether such a collision might occur.3. What do people think of the suggestion of using nuclear weapons to alter the courses of asteroids?A. It sounds practical but it may not solve the problem.B. It may create more problems than it might solve.C. It is a waste of money because a collision of asteroids with Earth is very unlikely.D. Further research should be done before it is proved applicable.4. We can conclude from the passage that _A. while pushing asteroids off course nuclear weapons would destroy the worldB. workable solutions still have to be found to prevent a collision of asteroids with EarthC. asteroids racing across the night sky are likely to hit Earth in the near futureD. the worry about asteroids can be left to future generations since it is unlikely to happen in our lifetime5. Which of the following best describes the authors tone in this passage?A. Optimistic. B. Objective.C. Critical. D. Arbitrary.Passage 2Believe it or not, optical illusion (错觉) can cut highway crashes. Japan is a case in point. It has reduced automobile crashes on some roads by nearly 75 percent using a simple optical illusion.Bent stripes, called chevrons (人字形), painted on the roads make drivers think that they are driving faster than they really are, and thus drivers slow down.Now the American Automobile Association Foundation for Traffic Safety in Washington D.C. is planning to repeat Japans success. Starting next year, the foundation will paint chevrons and other patterns of stripes on selected roads around the country to test how well the patterns reduce highway crashes.Excessive speed plays a major role in as much as one fifth of all fatal traffic accidents, according to the foundation. To help reduce those accidents, the foundation will conduct its tests in areas where speed-related hazards are the greatestcurves, exit slopes, traffic circles, and bridges.Some studies suggest that straight, horizontal bars painted across roads can initially cut the average speed of drivers in half. However, traffic often returns to full speed within months as drivers become used to seeing the painted bars.Chevrons, scientists say, not only give drivers the impression that they are driving faster than they really are but also make a lane appear to be narrower. The result is a longer lasting reduction in highway speed and the number of traffic accidents.6. The passage mainly discusses _.A. a new pattern for painting highwaysB. a new approach to training driversC. a new way of highway speed controlD. a new type of optical illusion7. On roads painted with chevrons, drivers tend to feel that _.A. they should avoid speed-related hazardsB. they are driving in the wrong laneC. they should slow down their speedD. they are approaching the speed limit8. The advantage of chevrons over straight, horizontal bars is that the former _.A. can keep drivers awakeB. can cut road accidents in halfC. will have a longer effect on driversD. will look more attractive9. The American Automobile Association Foundation for Traffic Safety plans to _.A. change the road signs across the country.B. replace straight, horizontal bars with chevronsC. try out the Japanese method in certain areasD. repeat the Japanese road patterns10. What does the author say about straight, horizontal bars painted across roads?A. They are falling out of use in the United StatesB. They are applicable only on broad roads.C. They tend to be ignored by drivers in a short period of time.D. They cannot be applied successfully to traffic circles.Passage 3The fridge is considered a necessity. It has been so since the 1960s when packaged food first appeared with the label: store in the refrigerator.In my fridgeless fifties childhood, I was fed well and healthily. The milkman came daily, the grocer, the butcher (肉商), the baker, and the ice-cream man delivered two or three times a week.The Sunday meat would last until Wednesday and surplus（剩余) bread and milk became all kinds of cakes. Nothing was wasted, and we were never troubled by rotten food. Thirty years on food deliveries have ceased, fresh vegetables are almost unobtainable in the country.The invention of the fridge contributed comparatively little to the art of food preservation. A vast way of well-tried techniques already existednatural cooling, drying, smoking, salting, sugaring, bottling.What refrigeration did promote was marketing-marketing hardware and electricity, marketing soft drinks, marketing dead bodies of animals around the globe in search of a good price.Consequently, most of the worlds fridges are to be found, not in the tropics where they might prove useful, but in the wealthy countries with mild temperatures where they are climatically almost unnecessary. Every winter, millions of fridges hum away continuously, and at vast expense, busily maintaining an artificially-cooled space inside an artificially- heated house, while outside, nature provides the desired temperature free of charge.The fridges effect upon the environment has been evident, while its contribution to human happiness has been insignificant. If you dont believe me, try it yourself, invest in a food cabinet and turn off your fridge next winter, You. may miss the hamburgers, but at least youll get rid of that terrible hum.11. The statement In my fridgeless fifties childhood, I was fed well and healthily.( Line 1, Para. 2. suggests that_.A. the author was well-fed and healthy even without a fridge in his fiftiesB. there was no fridge in the authors home in the 1950s.C. the author was not accustomed to use fridges even in his fiftiesD. the fridge was in its early stage of development in the 1950s12. Why does the author say that nothing was wasted before the invention of fridges?A. People would not buy more food than was necessary.B. People had effective ways to preserve their food.C. Food was delivered to people two or three times a week.D. Food was sold fresh and did not get rotten easily.13. Who benefited the least from fridges according to the author?A. Inventors B. ConsumersC. Manufacturers D. Travelling salesmen14. Which of the following phrases in the fifth paragraph indicates the fridges negative effect on the environment?A. Climatically almost unnecessary B. Hum away continuouslyC. Artificially-cooled space D. With mild temperatures15. What is the authors overall attitude toward fridges?A. Neutral B. Critical C. Objective D. CompromisingPassage 4Psychologist George Spilich and colleagues at Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland, decided to find out whether, as many smokers say, smoking helps them to think and concentrate. Spilich put young non-smokers, active smokers and smokers deprived (被剥夺) of cigarettes through a series of tests.In the first test, each subject (试验对象) sat before a computer screen and pressed a key as soon as he or she recognized a target letter among a grouping of 96. In this simple test, smokers, deprived smokers and non-smokers performed equally well.The next test was more complex, requiring all to scan sequences of 20 identical letters and respond the instant one of the letters transformed into a different one. Non-smokers were faster, but under the stimulation of nicotine (尼古丁 ), active smokers were faster than deprived smokers.In the third test of short-term memory, non-smokers made the fewest errors, but deprived smokers committed fewer errors than active smokers.The fourth test required people to read a passage, then answer questions about it. Non-smokers remembered 19 percent more of the most important information than active smokers, and deprived smokers bested those who had smoked a cigarette just before testing. Active smokers tended not only to have poorer memories but also had trouble separating important information from insignificant details.As our tests became more complex, Sums up Spilich, non-smokers performed better than smokers by wider and wider margins He predicts, smokers might perform adequately at many jobs until they got complicated. A smoking airline pilot could fly adequately if no problems arose, but if something went wrong, smoking might damage his mental capacity.16. The purpose of George Spilichs experiments is _.A. to test whether smoking has a positive effect on the mental capacity of smokersB. to show how smoking damages peoples mental capacityC. to prove that smoking affects peoples regular performanceD. to find out whether smoking helps peoples short-term memory17. George Spilichs experiment was conducted in such a way as to _.A. put the subjects through increasingly complex testsB. compel the subjects to separate major information from minor detailsC. check the effectiveness of nicotine on smokersD. register the prompt responses of the subjects18. The word bested (Line 3, Para. 5. most probably means _.A. beat B. envied C. caught up with D. made the best of19. Which of the following statements is true?A. Non-smokers were not better than other subjects in performing simple tasks.B. Active smokers in general performed better than deprived smokers.C. Active smokers responded more quickly than the other subjects.D. Deprived smokers gave the slowest responses to the various tasks.20. We can infer from the last paragraph that _.A. smokers may prove unequal to handing emergency casesB. smokers should not expect to become airline pilotsC. smoking in emergency cases causes mental illnessD. no airline pilots smoke during flightsPassage 5The advantages and disadvantages of a large population have long been a subject of discussion among economists. It has been argued that the supply of good land is limited. To feed a large population, inferior land must be cultivated and the good land worked intensively. Thus, each person produces less and this means a lower average income than could be obtained with a smaller population. Other economists have argued that a large population gives more scope for specialization and the development of facilities such as ports, roads, and railways, which are not likely to be built unless there is a big demand to justify them.One of the difficulties in carrying out a world-wide birth control program lies in the fact that official attitudes to population growth vary from country to country depending on the level of industrial development and the availability of food and raw materials. In the developing country where a vastly expanded population is pressing hard upon the limits of food, space and natural resources, it will be the first concern of government to place a limit on the birth rate whatever the consequences may be. In a highly industrialized society the problem may be more complex. A decreasing birth rate may lead to unemployment because it results in a declining market for manufactured goods. When the pressure of population on housing declines, prices also decline and the building industry is weakened. Faced with considerations such as these, the government of a developed country may well prefer to see a slowly increasing population, rather than one which is stable or in decline.21. A small population may mean_.A. higher productivity, but a lower average incomeB. higher productivity and a higher average incomeC. lower productivity, but a higher average incomeD. lower productivity and a lower average income22. According to the passage, a large population will provide a chance for developing _A. agriculture B. transport systemC. mdustry D. national economy23. In a developed country, people will perhaps go out of work if the birthrate _A. goes up B. goes downC. remains stable D. is out of control24. According to the passage, slowly rising birthrate perhaps is good for _.A. a developing nation B. a developed nationC. every nation with a small population D. every nation with a large population25. It is no easy job to carry out a general plan for birth control throughout the world becauseA. there are too many underdeveloped countries in the worldB. different governments have different views on the issueC. underdeveloped countries have low level of industrial developmentD. even developed countries may have complex problemsPassage 6On November 19, 1863, Abraham Lincoln went to Gettysburg in Pennsylvania to speak at the National Soldiers Cemetery. The Civil War was still going on. There was much criticism of President Lincoln at the time. He was still not at all popular. He had been invited to speak at Gettysburg only out of courtesy. The principal speaker was to be Edward Everett, A famous statesman and speaker of the day. Everett was a handsome man and very popular everywhere.It is said that Lincoln prepared his speech on the train while going to Gettysburg. Late that night, alone in his hotel room and tired out, he again worked briefly in the speech. The next day Everett spoke first. He spoke for an hour and 57 minutes. His speech was a perfect example of the rich oratory of the day. Then Lincoln rose. The crowd of 15,000 people at first paid little attention to him and he spoke for only nine minutes. At the end there was little applause. Lincoln turned to a friend and remarked, I have failed again. On the train back to Washington he commented sadly, That speech was a flat failure, and the people are disappointed.Some newspapers at first criticized the speech. But little by little, as people read the speech, they began to understand better. They began to appreciate its simplicity and its deep meaning. It was a speech which only Abraham Lincoln could have made.Today, every American school child learns Lincolns Gettysburg Address by heart. Now everyone thinks of it as one of the greatest orations ever given in American history.26. In 1863, Abraham Lincoln was _.A. very popular B. very criticalC. unpopular D. very courteous27. Lincoln was invited to speak at the National Soldiers Cemetery because he was _.A. a famous orator B. Very handsomeC. the President at the time D. a popular statesman28. It can be inferred from the text that _.A. Lincolns speech was very longB. Lincolns speech was full of rich oratoryC. Lincoln didnt have much time to prepare his speechD. Lincoln prepared is speech very carefully before he went to Gettysburg29. Lincolns speech was _.A. an immediate success B. a total failureC. not well-received at first D. warmly applauded30. Which of the following statements is NOT true?A. Lincolns Gettysburg Address is simple in style.B. Lincolns Gettysburg Address has deep meaningC. Lincolns Gettysburg Address is the greatest speech in the United States.D. Lincolns Gettysburg Address is memorized by every American school child.Passage 7In the Caucasus (高加索) region of the Soviet Union, nearly 50 out of every 100,000 people live to celebrate their 100th birthday! But these Soviet old people arent alone. The Pakistani Hunzas, who live high in the Himalaya Mountains, and the Vikabambans of the Andes Mountains in Ecuador seem to share the secret of long life too.These peoples remain healthy in body and spirit despite the passage of time. While many old