大学英语准四级英语阅读理解试卷

精品文库I Reading comprehension（2 x 20=40）Directions: There are 4 reading passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C, and D. You should decide on the best choice.Passage OneQuestions 1 to 5 are based on the following passage.When school was out, I hurried to find my sister and get out of the schoolyard before seeing anybody in my class. But Barbara and her friends had beaten us to the playground entrance and they seemed to be waiting for us. Barbara said, “So now youre in the A class.” She sounded impressed. “Whats the A class?” I asked. Everybody made superior yet faintly envious giggling sounds. “Well, why did you think the teacher moved you to the front of the room, dopey? Didnt you know you were in the C class before, way in the back of the room?”Of course I hadnt known. The Wenatchee fifth grade was bigger than my whole school which had been in North Dakota, and the idea of subdivisions（分班）within a grade had never occurred to me. The subdividing for the first marking period had been done before I came to the school, and I had never, in the six weeks Id been there, talked to anyone long enough to find out about the A, B, and C classes.I still could not understand why that had made such a difference to Barbara and her friends. I didnt yet know that it was shameful and dirty to be a transient（临时的）laborer and ridiculous to be from North Dakota. I thought living in a tent was more fun than living in a house. I didnt know that we were gypsies, really (how that thought would have excited me then!), and that we were regarded with the suspicion felt by those who plant toward those who do not plant. It didnt occur to me that we were all looked upon as one more of the untrustworthy natural phenomena, drifting here and there like mists or winds. I didnt know that I was the only child who had camped on the Baumanns land ever to get out of the C class. I didnt know that school administrators and civic leaders held conferences to talk about the problem of transient laborers.I only knew that for two happy days I walked to school with Barbara and her friends, played hopscotch and jumped rope with them at class intervals, and was even invited into the house for some ginger alea strange drink I had never tasted before.1. The tone of this passage as a whole is_.A. reflectiveB. enthusiasticC. impersonalD. defensive2.The narrator had most probably been placed in the C class because _.A. she was a poor readerB. she had come from a small schoolC. the marking system confused herD. all children of transient laborers were placed in the C class3. The basic reason why the people in the community distrusted the transient workers was that the transient workers_.A. tended to be lawbreakersB. had little schoolingC. were afraid of strangersD. were temporary residents4. Which of the following is not characteristic of Gypsies?A. Wandering around the world.B. Make ginger ale in their house.C. Never plant something.D. Had been foreigners wherever they go.5. Immediately after the narrator was moved to the A class, what was the attitude of Barbara and Barbaras friends towards her?A. DislikeB. AcceptanceC. ApologyD. JealousyPassage TwoQuestions 6 to 10 are based on the following passage.More and more, the operations of our business, governments, and financial institutions are controlled by information that exists only inside computer memories. Anyone clever enough to modify this information for his own purposes can reap substantial rewards. Even worse, a number of people who have done this and been caught at it have managed to get away without punishment.Its easy for computer crimes to go undetected if no one checks up on what the computer is doing, but even if the crime is detected, the criminal may walk away not only unpunished but with a glowing recommendation from his former employers. Of course, we have no statistics on crimes that go undetected. But its disturbing to note how many of the crimes we do know about were detected by accident, not by systematic inspections or other security procedures. The computer criminals who have been caught may have been the victims of uncommonly bad luck.For example, a certain keypunch operator complained of having to stay overtime to punch extra cards. Investigation revealed that the extra cards she was being asked to punch were for dishonest transactions. In another case, dissatisfied employees of the thief tipped off the company that was being robbed. Unlike other lawbreakers, who must leave the country, commit suicide, or go to jail, computer criminals sometimes escape punishment, demanding not only that they not be charged but that they be given good recommendations and perhaps other benefits. All too often, their demands have been met.Why? Because company executives are afraid of the bad publicity that would result if the public found out their computer had been misused. They hesitate at the thought of a criminal boasting in open court of how he juggled the most confidential records right under the noses of the companys executives, accountants, and security staff. And so another computer criminal departs with just the recommendations he needs to continue his crimes elsewhere.6. It can be concluded from the passage that_ .A. it is still impossible to detect computer crimes todayB. computer crimes are the one of most serious problem in the operation of financial institutionsC. computer criminals can escape punishment because they cant be detectedD. people commit computer crimes at the request of their company7.It is implied in the third paragraph that_ .A. many more computer crimes go undetected than are discoveredB. the rapid increase of computer crimes is a troublesome problemC. most computer criminals are smart enough to cover up their crimesD. most computer criminals who are caught blame their bad luck8.Which of the following is mentioned in the passage?A. A strict law against computer crimes must be enforced.B. Companies need to impose restrictions on confidential information.C. Companies will guard against computer crimes to protect their reputation.D. Companies usually hesitate to uncover computer crimes.9. The underlying reason for the computer criminals to get recommendations he needs is that_.A. they have skills formidably difficult for others to masterB. the employers are afraid that they would take avenge if punishedC. the employers are much afraid of bringing the public into disbelief towards them through the criminals words in open courtD. those who commit crimes do not mean bad10.What may happen to computer criminals once they are caught?A. With bad reputation they can hardly find another job.B. They will be denied access to confidential records.C. They may walk away and easily find another job.D. They must leave the country or go to jail.Passage ThreeQuestions 11 to 15 are based on the following passage.Of the thousands of different kinds of animals that exist in the world man has learned to make friends with an enormous number. Some are pets, and offer him companionship; some give protection, and some do hard work which man cannot do for himself. Dogs, which serve man in all three capacities, are found in various breeds in all countries of the world. The Husky can live in the cold polar regions, and the Saluki is at home in the hottest parts of Central Africa. The inhabitants of certain countries are dependent for their very lives on the camel. In the West Indies the little donkey, strong and sure-footed, carrying heavy loads even in mountainous places, is a familiar sight. Trained and tamed for many generations, domestic animals are not accustomed to roaming(到处走动) in search of food and shelter. They look to their masters to provide for their needs, and as long as these are supplied, they are content to do what their masters require.All domestic animals need proper food. It must be suitable for them, sufficient in quantity, fresh and clean. Some people feed a pet dog or cat on odds and ends of table scraps, and then wonder why the animal seems listless(倦怠的) and dull. The quantity of food depends on the size of the animal and the amount of exercise it takes. Overfeeding is as bad as underfeeding. Containers for food and water must be washed regularly if the animal is to maintain good health.Even well cared animals may sometimes fall ill. If this happens, the wise master seeks the best advice he can get. All sorts of medicines and treatments are available for sick animals, and in some countries organizations exist to provide them free or at a cheap price. Useful, friendly, hardworking animals deserve to have some time, money and attention spent on their health.11. What main idea does the author want to convey in the first paragraph? A. There exist thousands of species of animals in the world.B. Man has come to establish a close relationship with a number of animals.C. In some regions a donkey seems to be a very useful beast.D. An animal will be useless unless domesticated. 12. When an animal is underfed, it will probably _. A. refuse to obey its masterB. immediately fall illC. require its master to offer some foodD. seek for food on its own 13. Which of the following is NOT true of dogs according to the passage? A. They can act as friends, guards, and servants to man.B. They have great adaptation for the environment.C. There live a great variety of breeds of dogs on the globe.D. The Husky and the Saluki are the strongest breed ever known in the world. 14. To keep a domestic animal physically fit, its owner is advised _. A. not to hesitate to spend enormous amount of money on itB. to pay attention to its proper feedingC. not to allow it to take excessive amounts of exerciseD. to join some sort of pet-keeping organizations 15. Which of the following would be best TITLE for this passage? A. Domesticated Animals - Mans Best FriendB. Proper Diet - the Road to HealthC. The Advantages of Raising Domestic AnimalsD. Some Tips on Pet-keepingPassage FourQuestions 16 to 20 are based on the following passage.A new life begins when a male sperm and a female egg join. This new life has in it some chromosomes from the father and some from the mother. So it will inherit some characteristics from each parent. It is, if you like, a mix of both parents. Everyone knows this is true of all human life. But here comes the shock. Now, we are told, human life can start in another way, a way that does not need to join a male sperm and a female egg. This new way of reproduction is called cloning. This is how it works. Each single cell in the human body has in it a full set of chromosomes. All the genetic information that a living thing needs is in those chromosomes in the nucleus of the cell. So if any body cell can be made to divide and grow, it can form a new life. Since this new life would have only one set of chromosomes, it would be exact replica of the body it comes from. This type of cloning has worked with plants, fruit flies, and even frogs. As far back as 1968 a man, J.B. Gurdon from Oxford University, produced a cloned frog. Could this procedure work with people? Scientists say it could. And it would work in the same way. A healthy egg would be taken from a womans body. No male sperm would fertilize it. The nucleus of the egg would be destroyed. It would be replaced with the nucleus of a new cell taken from the arm or anywhere else on the body of the donor. This donor could be a man or woman. The egg would then be put back into the womb of the woman. The egg would grow into a new life even though no sperm had fertilized it. The new baby would have only one parent. The parent would not have to be the woman in whose womb it grew. The parent would be the donor from whom the new nucleus had come, because it would be that persons chromosomes in the new baby. And the baby would be an exact twin of the donor. Cloning means that anyone could have a child. It would give new hope to people who cannot have a baby in the usual way. All you have to do is have one cell taken from anywhere on your body. Then, the nucleus of the cell would be put in the place of the nucleus of an egg cell and allowed to grow in a womb, or perhaps in a test tube. A new life would be made that would be a twin of the donor. Scientists are still at work to see if they can make this new way of reproduction perfect.But the thought of cloning brings all sorts of questions and fears. The use of cloning could change our world to the point where we might not know it. The family, as it is now, would not exist. Sex would not be needed for production. The whole meaning of “parent” would change. We might even end up with whole tribes of people who look exactly alike. “clone clans” might take the place of nations and races. It is easy to see how cloning could be misused. One nation could set out to make a master race of cruel “Hitler” who would all be exactly alike and who would kill or make slaves of everyone else in the world. What about crime? Think what would happen if all the murderers, thieves, cheats, and swindlers in the world made thousands of clones of themselves to run the greatest crime ring in the history of the world. What about things that go wrong? What if by accident we got a race of hideous monsters that would make clones of themselves forever and ruin the world? Scientists cannot promise that such things might not happen. There is also the moral side of the issue. Is it right for humans to change the way life begins? Or is God the only one who can do that? Of course, there is a bright side. Think of all the great people in the world who could clone themselves so their genius could last forever. The world