2016年职称英语等级考试用书(理工类)阅读理解、完形填空.doc

2016年职称英语等级考试用书（理工类）阅读理解、完形填空 Microchip Research Center Created A research center has been set up in this Far Eastern country to develop advanced microchip production technology. The center, which will start out with about US $14 million, will help the country develop its chip industry without always depending on imported technology. The center will make use of its research skills and facilities to develop new technology for domestic chip plants. The advent of the center will possibly free the country from the situation that it is always buying almost-outdated technologies from other countries, said the countrys flagship chipmaker.1 Currently, chip plants in this country are in a passive situation because many foreign governments dont allow them to import the most advanced technologies, fearing they will be used for military purposes. Moreover, the high licensing fees they have to pay to technology providers are also an important reason for their decision of self-reliance2. As mainstream chip production technology shifts from one generation to the next every three to five years3, plants with new technology can make more powerful chips at lower costs, while4 plants with outdated equipment, which often cost billions of dollars to build, will be marginalized by the maker. More than 10 chip plants are being built, each costing millions of US dollars.5 The majority of that money goes to overseas equipment vendors and technology owners mainly from Japan and Singapore. Should the new center play a major role in improving the situation in the industry,6 the country admits the US $14 million investment is still rather small. This country is developing comprehensive technologies. Most of the investment will be spent on setting alliances with technology and intellectual property7 owners. 词汇: microchip / 5maIkrEJtFIp / n.微芯片 marginalize /mB:dVInLlaIz/ v.忽视，边缘化 flagship /5flAFIp/ n. (用作定语 )首位，最好 vendor /5vendC:/ n.卖主mainstream /5meInstri:m/ n.主流 注释: 第七篇 Moderate Earthquake Strikes England A moderate earthquake struck parts of southeast England on 28 April 2007, toppling chimneys from houses and rousing residents from their beds. Several thousand people were left without power1 in Kent County2. One woman suffered minor head and neck injuries. “It felt as if the whole house was being slid across like a fun-fair ride,3” said the woman. The British Geological Survey said the 4.3-magnitude quake4 struck at 8:19 a. m. and was centered under the English Channel5, about 8.5 miles south of Dover6 and near the entrance to the Channel Tunnel7. Witnesses said cracks appeared in walls and chimneys collapsed across the county. Residents said the tremor had lasted for about 10 to 15 seconds. “I was lying in bed and it felt as if someone had just got up from bed next to me,” said Hendrick van Eck, 27, of Canterbury8 about 60 miles southeast of London. “I then heard the sound of cracking, and it was getting heavier and heavier9. It felt as if someone was at the end of my bed hopping up and down.” There are thousands of moderate quakes on this scale around the world each year, but they are rare in Britain. The April 28 quake was the strongest in Britain since 2002 when a 4.8-magnitude quake struck the central England city of Birmingham10. The countrys strongest earthquake took place in the North Sea in 1931, measuring 6.1 on the Richter scale11. British Geological Survey scientist Roger Musson said the quake took place on 28 April in an area that had seen several of the biggest earthquakes ever to strike Britain, including one in 1580 that caused damage in London and was felt in France.12 Musson predicted that it was only a matter of time13 before another earthquake struck this part of England. However, people should not be scared too much by this prediction. Musson said, as the modern earthquake warning system of Britain should be able to detect a forthcoming quake and announce it several hours before it takes place. This would allow time for people to evacuate and reduce damage to the minimum.词汇： moderate /5mCdErit/ adj.中等的 magnitude /5mAnitju:d/ n. 值，强度量 topple /5tCpl/ v.倾倒，震倒 rouse /rauz/ v. 唤醒 tremor /5tremE/ n.震动 hop /hRp/ v. 齐足跳起 fun-fair n.公共露天游乐场 scale /skeil/ n. 震级 forthcoming /fC:W5kQmiN/ adj.即将来临的 evacuate /i5vAkjueit/ v. 疏散geological /dViE5lCdVikEl/ adj.地质的 注释: 第八篇What Is a Dream?For centuries, people have wondered about the strange things that they dream about. Some psychologists say that this nighttime activity of the mind has no special meaning. Others，however， think that dreams are an important part of our lives. In fact, many experts believe that dreams can tell us about a persons mind and emotions.Before modern times, many people thought that dreams contained messages from God. It was only in the twentieth century that people started to study dreams in a scientific way.The Austrian psychologist, Sigmund Freud1，was probably the first person to study dreams scientifically. In his famous book, The interpretation of Dreams (1900), Freud wrote that dreams are an expression of a persons wishes. He believed that dreams allow people to express the feelings, thoughts, and fears that they are afraid to express in real life.The Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung2 was once a student of Freuds. Jung，however，had a different idea about dreams. Jung believed that the purpose of a dream was to communicate a message to the dreamer. He thought people could learn more about themselves by thinking about their dreams. For example, people who dream about falling may learn that they have too high an opinion of themselves. On the other hand, people who dream about being heroes may learn that they think too little of themselves.Modern-day psychologists continue to develop theories about dreams. For example, psychologist William Domhoff from the University of California, Santa Cruz，believes that dreams are tightly linked to a persons daily life, thoughts, and behavior. A criminal, for example, might dream about crime.Domhoff believes that there is a connection between dreams and age. His research shows that children do not dream as much as adults. According to Domhoff, dreaming is a mental skill that needs time to develop.He has also found a link between dreams and gender. His studies show that the dreams of men and women are different. For example, the people in mens dreams are often other men, and the dreams often involve fighting. This is not true of womens dreams.3 Domhoff found this gender difference in the dreams of people from 11 cultures around the world, including both modern and traditional ones.Can dreams help us understand ourselves? Psychologists continue to try to answer this question in different ways. However, one thing they agree on this: If you dream that something terrible is going to occur, you shouldnt panic. The dream may have meaning, but it does not mean that some terrible event will actually take place. Its important to remember that the world of dreams is not the real world.词汇： psychologist / sakldst / n心理学家psychiatrist /sai kaitrst/ n精神病学家(医生)Austrian / strn / adj奥地利的gender / dend / n性别 第九篇 Dangers Await Babies with Altitude Women who live in the worlds highest communities tend to give birth to underweight babies, a new study suggests. These babies may grow into adults with a high risk of heart disease and strokes.1 Research has hinted that newborns in mountain communities are lighter than average. But it wasnt clear whether this is due to reduced oxygen levels at high altitudes or because their mothers are under-nourished many people who live at high altitudes are relatively poor compared with those living lower down. To find out more, Dino Giussani and his team at Cambridge University studied the records of 400 births in Bolivia during 1997 and 1998. The babies were born in both rich and poor areas of two cities: La Paz and Santa Cruz. La Paz is the highest city in the world, at 3.65 kilometers above sea level, while Santa Cruz is much lower, at 0.44 kilometers. Sure enough, Giussani found that the average birthweight of babies in La Paz was significantly lower than in Santa Cruz. This was true in both high and low-income families. Even babies born to poor families in Santa Cruz were heavier on average than babies born to wealthy families in lofty La Paz. “We were very surprised by this result,” says Giussani. The results suggest that babies born at high altitudes are deprived of2 oxygen before birth. “This may trigger the release or suppression of hormones that regulate growth of the unborn child,3” says Giussani. His team also found that high-altitude babies tended to have relatively larger heads compared with their bodies4. This is probably because a fetus starved of oxygen will send oxygenated blood to the brain in preference to the rest of the body.5 Giussani wants to find out if such babies have a higher risk of disease in later life. People born in La Paz might be prone to heart trouble in adulthood, for example. Low birth weight is a risk factor for coronary heart disease. And newborns with a high ratio of head size to body weight are often predisposed to high blood pressure and strokes in later life. *第十篇The Biology of MusicHumans use music as a powerful way to communicate. It may also play an important role in love. But what is music, and how does it work its magic? Science does not yet have all the answers.What are two things that make humans different from animals? One is language, and the other is music. It is true that some animals can sing (and many birds sing better than a lot of people). However, the songs of animals, such as birds and whales, are very limited. It is also true that humans, not animals, have developed musical instruments. 1Music is strange stuff. It is clearly different from language. However, people can use music to communicate things especially their emotions. When music is combined with speech in a song, it is a very powerful form of communication. But, biologically speaking, what is music?If music is truly different from speech, then we should process music and language in different parts of the brain. The scientific evidence suggests that this is true.Sometimes people who suffer brain damage lose their ability to process language. However, they dont automatically lose their musical abilities. For example, Vissarion Shebalin, a Russian composer，had a stroke in 1953. It injured the left side of his brain. He could no longer speak or understand speech. He could, however, still compose music until his death ten years later. On the other hand，sometimes strokes cause people to lose their musical ability, but they can still speak and understand speech. This shows that the brain processes music and language separately.By studying the physical effects of music on the body，scientists have also learned a lot about how music influences the emotions. But why does music have such a strong effect on us? That is a harder question to answer. Geoffrey Miller, a researcher at University College, London, thinks that music and love have a strong connection. Music requires special talent, practice, and physical ability. Thats why it may be a way of showing your fitness to be someones mate. For example, singing in tune or playing a musical instrument requires fine muscular control. You also need a good memory to remember the notes. And playing or singing those notes correctly suggests that your hearing is in excellent condition. Finally, when a man sings to the woman he loves (or vice versa)， it may be a way of showing off.However, Millers theory still doesnt explain why certain combinations of sounds influence our emotions so deeply. For scientists，this is clearly an area that needs further research.第三部分、概括大意与完成句子 How We Form First Impression 1 We all have first impression of someone we just met. But why? Why do we form an opinion about someone without really knowing anything about him or her aside perhaps from a few remarks or readily observable traits. 2 The answer is related to how your brain allows you to be aware of the world. Your brain is so sensitive in picking up facial traits, even very minor difference in how a persons eyes, ears, nose, or mouth are placed in relation to each other makes you see him or her as different1. In fact, your brain continuously processes incoming sensory information the sights and sounds of your world. These incoming “signals” are compared against2 a host of “memories” stored in the brain areas called the cortex system to determine what these new signals “mean.” 3 If you see someone you know and like at school3, your brain says “familiar and safe.” If you see someone new, it says, “new potentially threatening.” Then your brain starts to match features of this stranger with other “known” memories. The height, weight, dress, ethnicity, gestures, and tone of voice are all matched up. The more unfamiliar the characteristics, the more your brain may say. “This is new. I dont like this person.” Or else, “Im intrigued.” Or your brain may perceive a new face but familiar clothes, ethnicity, gestures like your other friends; so your brain says: “I like this person.” But these preliminary “impressions” can be dead wrong4. 4 When we stereotype people, we use a less mature form of thinking (not unlike the immature thinking of a very young child) that makes simplistic and categorical impressions of others. Rather than learn about the depth and breadth of people their history, interest, values, strengths, and true character we categorize them as jocks , geeks , or freaks. 5 However, if we resist initial stereotypical impressions, we have a chance to be aware of what a person is truly like. If we spend time with a person, hear about his or her life, hopes, dreams, and become aware of the persons character, we use a different, more mature style of thinking and the most complex areas of our cortex, which allow us to be humane. 第七篇 Screen Test 1 Every year millions of women are screened with X-rays to pick up signs of breast cancer. If this happens early eough, the disease can often be treated successfully. According to a survey published last year, 21 countries have screening programmes. Nine of them, including Australia, Canada, the US and Spain, screen women under 50. 2 But the medical benefit of screening these younger women are controversial, partly because the radiation brings a small risk of inducing cancer. Also, younger women must be given higher doses of X-rays because their breast tissue is denser. 3 Researchers at the Polytechnic University1 of Valencia analysed the effect of screening more than 160,000 women at 11 local clinics. After estimating the womens cumulative dose of radiation, they used two models to calculate the number of extra cancers this would cause. 4 The mathematical model recommended by Britains National Radiological Protection Board (NRPB) predicted that the screening programme would cause 36 cancers per 100,000 women, 18 of them fatal. The model preferred by the UN Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation led, to a lower figure of 20 cancers. 5 The researchers argue that the level of radiation-induced cancers is “not very significant” compared to the far larger number of cancers that are discovered and treated. The Valencia programme, they say, detects between 300 and 450 cases of breast cancer in every 100,000 women screened. 6 But they point out that the risk of women contracting cancer from radiation could be reduced by between 40 and 80 percent if screening began at 50 instead of 45, because they would be exposed to less radiation. The results of their study, they suggest, could help “optimise the technique” for breast cancer screening. 7 “There is a trade-off between the diagnostic benefits of breast screening and its risks.” admits Michael Clark of the NRPB. But he warns that the study should be interpreted with caution. “On the basis of the current data, for every 10 cancers successfully detected and prevented there is a risk of causing one later in life. Thats why radiation exposure should be minimised in any screening programme.”词汇： polytechnic /7pCli5teknik/adj.多工艺的 contract /5kCntrAkt/v.感染 cumulative /5kju:mjulEtiv/adj.递增的 optimise /5Cptimaiz/v.昀大程度地完善 radiological /9reIdIEJlCdVIkEl/adj.放射性的 trade-off n.平衡注释： 1. Polytechnic University:理工大学第八篇 The Mir Space Station 1 The Russian Mir Space Station, which came down in 2001 at last after 15 years of pioneering the concept of long-term human space flight, is remembered for its accomplishments in the human space flight history. It can be credited with many firsts in space. 2 During Mirs lifetime, Russia spent about US $4.2 billion to build and maintain the station. 3 The Soviet Union launched Mir, which was designed to last from three to five years, on February 20, 1986, and housed 104 astronauts over 12 years and seven months, most of whom were not Russian. In fact, it became the first international space station by playing host to1 62 people from 11 countries. From 1995 through 1998, seven astronauts from the United States took turns living on Mir for up to six months each2. They were among the 37 Americans who visited the station during nine stopovers by space shuttles. 4 The more than 400 million the United States provided Russian for the visits not only kept Mir operating, but also gave the Americans and their partners in the international station project valuable experience in long-term flight and multinational operations. 5 A debate continues over Mirs contributions to science. During its existence, Mir was the laboratory for 23,000 experiments and earned scientific equipment, estimated to be worth $80 million, from many nations.3 Experiments on Mir arc credited with a range of findings,