PART Ⅵ READING COMPREHENSION[WT5] ［30 MIN.］
SECTION A READING COMPREHENSION ［25 MIN.］
In this section there are four passages followed by questions or unfinished statements, each with suggested answers marked A, B, C and D. Choose the one that you think is the correct answer. Mark your choices on your ANSWER SHEET.
TEXT A
The Alaska Pipeline
The Alaska pipeline starts at the frozen edge of the Arctic Ocean. It stretches southward across the largest and northernmost state in the United States, ending at a remote ice-free seaport village nearly 800 miles from where it begins. It is massive in size and extremely complicated to operate.
The steel pipe crosses windswept plains and endless miles of delicate tundra that tops the frozen ground. It weaves through crooked canyons, climbs sheer mountains, plunges over rocky crags, makes its way through thick forests, and passes over or under hundreds of rivers and streams. The pipe is 4 feet in diameter, and up to 2 million barrels (or 84 million gallons) of crude oil can be pumped through it daily. Resting on H-shaped steel racks called ”bents,” long sections of the pipeline follow a zigzag course high above the frozen earth. Other long sections drop out of sight beneath spongy or rocky ground and return to the surface later on. The pattern of the pipeline’s up-and-down route is determined by the often harsh demands of the arctic and subarctic climate, the tortuous lay of the land, and the varied compositions of soil, rock, or permafrost (permanently frozen ground). A little more than half of the pipeline is elevated above the ground. The remainder is buried anywhere from 3 to 12 feet, depending largely upon the type of terrain and the properties of the soil. One of the largest in the world, the pipeline cost approximately $8 billion and is by far the biggest and most expensive construction project ever undertaken by private industry. In fact, no single business could raise that much money, so 8 major oil companies formed a consortium in order to share the costs. Each company controlled oil rights to particular shares of land in the oil fields and paid into the pipeline-construction fund according to the size of its holdings. Today, despite enormous problems of climate, supply shortages, equipment breakdowns, labor disagreements, treacherous terrain, a certain amount of mismanagement, and even theft, the Alaska pipeline has been completed and is operating.
66. The passage primarily discusses the pipeline’s____.
A. operating costs
B. employees
C. consumers
D. construction
67. The author mentions all of the following as important in determining the pipeline’s route EXCEPT the ____.
A. climateB. lay of the land itself
C. local vegetationD. kind of soil and rock
68. The word `particular’ in paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to____.
A. peculiarB. specificC. exceptionalD. equal
69. Which of the following determined what percentage of the construction costs each member of the consortium would pay?
A. How much oil field land each company owned.
B. How long each company had owned land in the oil fields.
C. How many people worked for each company.
D. How many oil wells were located on the company’s land.
TEXT B
The City of the Future
What will city life be like in the future? Some people think that life in the cities is going to be horrible. They predict that cities will become more and more crowded. As the number of people increases, there will be less space for each person. This overcrowding will cause other problemsmore crime, dirtier streets, and worse problems with traffic than we have now. How will people find enough drinking water, energy (such as gas and electricity), and housing? Because life will be hard, people who live in cities will worry more, and they may become sick. For these reasons, some say that nobody will want to live in urban areas.
How can we solve such problems as overcrowding, crime, and traffic? In some cities, thousands of people are already sleeping in the streets because there is so little suitable housingand because rents are so high. The crime rate isn’t going down. Instead, it is increasing so fast that many people are afraid to go out at night. Traffic is also getting worse. More and more often, traffic jams are so bad that cars don’t move at all for several blocks. These urban problems have been getting worse, not better, so many people see no hope for the future of the city.
Los Angeles, California, for instance, has no subway system and the buses are slow. Instead, most commuters drive many miles from their homes to work. Many of these drivers spend several hours each day on busy freeways. New York, by contrast, has a mass transit systembuses, commuter trains, and subways. Because the public transportation is crowded and dirty, however, many people drive private cars, and the traffic jams are worse than in Los Angeles.
On the other hand, some cities have clean, fast, and pleasant public transportation systems. In Paris, France, and Toronto, Canada, for example, anyone can use mass transit to move quickly from one part of the city to another.
The disadvantages of any modern city are not unique to that city that is, cities all over the world have to solve the problems of traffic jams, crime, housing, energy, drinking water, and overcrowding. Yet many cities have found answers to one or more of these difficulties. Some European cities, such as Stockholm, Sweden, or London, England, have planned communities that provide people with apartments, jobs, shopping centers, green space, entertainment, and transportation. Many U. S. cities are rebuilding their downtown areas. Urban planners can learn from one another. They can try solutions that have been successful in other parts of the world.
70. Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage?
A. Crime.B. Anxiety.C. Disease.D. Education.
71. A possible solution to traffic jams in Los Angeles might be____.
A. decreasing the number of private cars
B. raising the speed limit for buses in the freeway
C. persuading people to live nearer to their work
D. building a subway system
72. According to the passage, ____has a better traffic condition.
A. New YorkB. ParisC. LondonD. Stockholm
73. The writer’s attitude toward the future city life is____.
A. optimisticB. pessimistic
C. objectiveD. indifferent
www.59wj.comTEXT C
Lighting Contrast
Since the brightness range that the color film will record is less than that of black-and-white film, the user of Kodachrome and Kodacolor Film should avoid subjects in which there are extreme highlights and deep shadows unless the pictures are taken for that effect. Good detail should not be expected in both the highlights and shadows when the lighting contrast is extreme. For pictures of people outdoors, the full lighting produced by sunlight coming over the shoulder of the Photographer to strike the subject from the front will give the most satisfactory effect. Subject positions that produce side lighting and back lighting may give effective Kodachrome pictures if the camera side of the subject is well illuminated by open sky, or if reflectors are used to light the shaded areas. Exposure recommendations for such lightings must be followed closely. A white cloth, sheet of cardboard, or a projection screen are good reflectors for building up light in shaded areas when taking close-ups of people and pictures of flowers and other small objects. Kodacolor pictures require even more care in adding light to shaded areas when the subject position does not afford full front lighting.
For pleasing effects in nearly all outdoor photographs, it is necessary to give careful consideration to the position of the sun. Pictures of people made during the middle of the day with the sun directly overhead are not pleasing because of the heavy shadows under the eyes, nose, and chin of the subject. During midmorning and midafternoon with the sun lower in the sky, excellent modeling and shadow effects are easily obtained. In some locations during winter, the sun is low enough in the sky during midday to afford good lighting. The angle of the sun is also important in making scenic and architectural photographs since their success depends largely upon shadows and texture.
Correctly exposed Kodachrome and Kodacolor pictures made under conditions of a hazy sun, with soft shadows cast, are usually quite good because of the soft lighting. Kodachrome pictures property exposed on dull days, while somewhat bluish, are pleasing, which is usually not the case in black-and-white photography.
74. For taking outdoor picture, the best effect will be obtained when ___.
A. the subject faces the sunlight
B. the photographer faces the sunlight
C. the subject is in the shadow
D. the photographer is in the shadow
75. The best color pictures are taken when____.
A. the sun is directly overhead
B. the range of highlights and shadows is large
C. the sun is lower in the sky
D. black and white film is used
76. A hazy sun____.
A. will produce soft lighting
B. will yield somewhat bluish pictures
C. needs to have the light supplemented by reflectors
D. will expose shaded areas fully.
TEXT D
Auctions
Auctions are public sales of goods, conducted by an officially approved auctioneer. He asked the crowd assembled in the auction-room to make offers, or `bids’, for the various items on sale. He encourages buyers to bid higher figures, and finally names the highest bidder as the buyer of the goods. This is called `knocking down’ the goods. For the bidding ends when the auctioneer bangs a small hammer on a table at which he stands. This is often set on a raised platform called a rostrum.
The ancient Romans probably invented sales by auction, and the English word comes from the Latin auction, meaning `increase’. The Romans usually sold in this way the spoils taken in war; these sales were called sub hasta, meaning `under the spear’, a spear being stuck in the ground as a signal for a crowd to gather.
In England in the eighteenth centuries, goods were often sold `by the candle’:
a short candle was lit by the auctioneer, and bids could be made while it stayedalight.
Practically all goods whose qualities vary are sold by auction. Among these are coffee, hides, skins, wool, tea, cocoa, furs, spices, fruit and vegetables and wines. Auction sales are also usual for landand property, antique furniture,pictures, rare books, old china and similar works of art. The auction-rooms at Christie’s and Sotheby’s in London and New York are world-famous.
An auction is usually advertised beforehand with full particulars of the articles to be sold and where and when they can be viewed by prospective buyers. If the advertisement cannot give full details, catalogues are printed, and each group of goods to be sold together, called a `lot’, is usually given a number. The auctioneer need not begin with Lot 1 and continue in numerical order; he may wait until he registers the fact that certain dealers are in the room and then produce the lots they are likely to be interested in. The auctioneer’s services are paid for in the form of a percentage of the price the goods are sold for. The aussible.
77. Auctioned goods are sold____.
A. for the highest price offered
B. only at fixed prices
C. at a price less than their true value
D. cheaply
78. The end of the bidding is called “knocking down” because____.
A. the auctioneer knocks the buyer down
B. the auctioneer knocks the rostrum down
C. the goods are knocked down on to the table
D. the auctioneer bangs the table with a hammer
79. A candle used to burn at auction sales____.
A. because they took place at night
B. as a signal for the crowd to gather
C. to give light to the auctioneer
D. to limit the time when offers could be made
80. An auction catalogue gives prospective buyers____.
A. the current market values of the goods
B. details of the goods to be sold
C. the order in which goods must be sold
D. free admission to the auction sale
www.59wj.comSECTION BSKIMMING AND SCANNING［5 MIN.］
In this section there are five passages with a total of ten multiple-choice questions. Skim or scan them as required and then mark your answers on your ANSWER SHEET.
TEXT E
First read the following question.
81. Which one can serve as the title of the passage?
A. Mountains, Rivers, and Seas.
B. The Rockies and the Deserts.
C. North America: A Grand Setting.
D. From Sea to Shining Sea.
Now skim the passage below and mark your answer on your ANSWER SHEET.
In its sweep and variety, North Americagenerally considered to include Canada, the United States, and Mexicois a grand setting. It contains every known landform, from towering mountains to sandy beaches, which are swept by arctic, temperate, and tropical waters. There are ancient masses of granite and stretches of earth so new that they have not separated from the water. There are humid forests and sun baked deserts, an inland sea, a gulf, and a bay as large as most seas.
Among the most fascinating of the varied phenomena are: the forty odd peaks of the Rockies, which rise above 14,000 feet: the MississippiMissouri River, which at some 4,000 miles is the longest river system in the world; Mount Larsen,an active volcano of the Pacific borderlands; and Death Valley, where, at 280 feet below sea level, the temperature has been recorded at 134 degrees in the shade.
TEXT F
First read the following questions.
82. When does the trainer give an animal a piece of sugar or fruit?
A. When the animal is hungry.
B. When the animal is playing the trick.
C. After the animal has done some simple job.
D. When the animal can be seen on the television.
83. Why are pigeons used to examine the small steel balls?
A. Because they have beaks.
B. Because they like seeds.
C. Because they can make a noise.
D. Because they can see well.
84. When does the pigeon touch the plate with its beak?
A. When the light goes on.
B. When it sees a fault.
C. When it hears a noise.
D. When there is a warning.
Now skim the passage below and mark your answers on your ANSWER SHEET.
Some scientists think that one day animals may be trained to do a number of simple jobs that are now done by human beings. They point out that at a circus, for example, we may see elephants, monkeys, dogs and other animals doing quite skillful things. Perhaps you have seen them on the television or in a film. If you watch closely, you may notice that the trainer always gives the animal a lump of sugar or a piece of fruit as a reward. The scientists say that many different animals may be trained to do same jobs if they know they will get a reward.
As we know, dogs can be used to guard a house, and soldiers in both old and modern times have used geese to give warning by making a lot of noise when an enemy comes near. In Russia, pigeons, which are birds with good eyesight, are being used to watch out for faults in small steel balls that are being made in one factory. When the pigeon sees a ball which looks different from the others, it touches a steel plate with its beak. This turns on a light to warn the people in the factory. At the same time a few seeds are given to the pigeon as a reward.
Apes have been used in America in helping to make cars. Scientists believe monkeys may one day gather crops and even drive trains.
www.59wj.comTEXT G
First read the following question.
85. What is the price list for?
A. Jewelry.B. Watch.C. Furniture.D. Spectacle.
Now skim the table below and mark your answer on your ANSWER SHEET.
___Men’s - 18K Gold - President___
Retail - Smooth Finish:
$15,900
Retail - Bark Finish:
$16,250
Retail - Quartz:
$16,500
Good To Mint Condition (Double Quick Set):
$9,200 - $10,500
Good To Mint Condition (Single Quick Set):
$7,500 - $8,900
Acrylic (Non-Quick Set):
$5,000 - $6,500
___Men’s - Stainless / Gold - Date just___
Retail:
$5,300
Good To Mint Condition:
$3,100 - $3,600
Acrylic (Quick Set):
$2,150 - $2,800
Acrylic (Non-Quick Set):
$1,800 - $2,050
___Men’s - Stainless Steel - Date just___
Retail:
$2,975
Retail: White Gold Bezel
$3,600
Good To Mint Condition:
$1,800 - $2,350
Acrylic (Quick Set):
$1,400 - $1,600
Acrylic (Non-Quick Set):
$1,100 - $1,475
___Men’s - Stainless / Gold - Submariner___
Retail:$5,800
Good To Mint Condition (Blue Dial):
$4,000 - $4,400
Good To Mint Condition (Black Dial):
$3,800 - $4,200
___Men’s - Stainless - Submariner (w/Date)___
Retail:
$3,350
Good To Mint Condition:
$2,400 - $2,650
Acrylic (Non-Quick Set):
$1,650 - $1,975
TEXT H
First read the following questions.
86. When will there be west wind?
A. Tonight.B. Saturday.C. Sunday.D. Nest week.
87. When will a thunderstorm mostly likely happen?
A. Tonight.B. Saturday.C. Sunday.D. Nest week.
Now skim the passage below and mark your answers on your ANSWER SHEET.
Local forecast for Florida1100 PM EDT FRI JUN 1 2001 Tonight...partly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of a shower or thunderstorm. Lows in the mid 60s inland...lower 70s at the coast. Southwest wind 5 to 10 mph. Saturday...partly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of afternoon showers or thunderstorms. Highs in the lower 90s inland...mid 80s at the coast. West wind 10 mph...becoming southwest.Saturday night...partly cloudy. Lows 70 to 75. Light southwest wind.
Sunday...partly cloudy with a 20 percent chance of afternoon showers or thunders torms. Highs in the lower 90s inland...mid 80s at the coast. Southwest wind 10 mph.
Sunday night...partly cloudy. Lows 70 to 75. Light southwest wind.
Extended forecast...
Monday and Tuesday...partly cloudy with isolated afternoon or evening thunderstorms. Lows Tuesday around 70. Highs 85 to 90. Wednesday and Thursday...considerable cloudiness with scattered to numerous showers and thunderstorms. Lows around 70. Highs in the mid to upper 80s.
Friday...partly cloudy. Lows in the mid 60s. Highs 85 to 90
TEXT I
First read the following questions.
88. Which territory was acquired by purchasing from Mexico?
A. Gadsden Purchase.B. Mexican Cession.
C. Louisiana Purchase.D. Virgin Islands.
89. Which territory is the smallest according to the table?
A. Virgin Islands.B. Panama Canal Zone.
C. Corn Islands.D. Guam.
90. How many territories were acquired in 1899?
A. 1.B. 2.C. 3.D. 4. www.59wj.com 如果觉得《英语专业四级考试全真模拟试卷九(2)》专四模拟试题,yyzszb不错，可以推荐给好友哦。