PART Ⅵ READING COMPREHENSION［30 MIN.］
SECTION A READING COMPREHENSION ［25 MIN.］
In this section there are four passages followed by questions or unfinished statements, each with four 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
From Dr. R. S. Scorer of Britain’s Imperial College of Science comes the latest theory about the cause of lightening flashes. Dr. Scorer believes the cause is hail falling through super-cooled clouds. Ice particles bouncing off the falling hail acquire a positive charge and rise to the top of the cloud while the hail carries a negative charge to the bottom of the cloud.
According to Dr. Scorer, Benjamin Franklin first proved thunderclouds are charged with electricity. Later investigation showed that the tops of the clouds have a great positive charge and the bottoms a great negative charge.When the charges become great enough to break down the insulating properties of the air, lightening flashes carry the electricity within the cloud, or from cloud to cloud, or from cloud to earth. But the question remained : how do the charges develop within the cloud?
To seek the cause, Dr. Scorer and his colleagues at the college first duplicated thundercloud currents in a liquid tank. They doubt that mixture takes place only in the tops of the clouds.
Next a study of thunderclouds over the North Atlantic showed that lightening occurs only when the air temperature around the cloud is below freezing. Particles at the top of the cloud begin to freeze, but those in the remainder of the cloud stay unfrozen although below freezing temperature.
To measure moisture, the scientists sent planes equipped with external refrigerated rods into the clouds. The idea was that moisture would freeze on the rods and could later be measured. The men found, however, that some of the moisture particles bounced off the rods. This accidental discovery set the scientists on a new course of action.
In the laboratory, S. E. Reynolds whirled a refrigerated rod through ice particles and found that the particles bounced off the rod acquired a positive charge. This was the missing link. Without hail and super-cooled clouds, he concluded there could be no lightening.
66. According to the article, Benjamin Franklin was the first to prove that ____.
A. lightening is caused by hail falling through super-cooled clouds
B. thunderclouds are not charged with electricity
C. thunderclouds are charged with electricity
D. lightening was not an invention of the devil
67. After Benjamin Franklin’s discovery, others showed that____.
A. the tops of thunderclouds have a great positive charge
B. the bottoms of the clouds have a great negative charge
C. only the middles of thunders are electrically charged
D. both A and B
68. A study of thunderclouds over the North Atlantic showed that lightening occurred only when the air temperature ____.
A. around the cloud was below freezing
B. above the cloud was lower than the temperature below the cloud
C. around the cloud was above freezing
D. of the cloud was above freezing
69. What is implied in this passage?
A. Positive charges are in the top of the cloud, negative charges in the bottom.
B. When positive and negative charges within a cloud cannot break down the insulating properties of air, no lightening will be formed.
C. Without hail and thunder, there could be no lightening.
D. Without refrigerated rods, lightening could not be created.
TEXT B
The bicycling craze came in when we were just about at the right age to enjoy it. At first even “safety” bicycles were too dangerous and improper for ladies to ride, and they had to have tricycles. My mother had (I believe) the first female tricycle in Cambridge: and I had a little one, and we used to go out for family rides, all together; my father in front on a bicycle, and my brother Charles standing on the bar behind my mother. I found it very hard work, going noisily away on my hard tyres; a glorious, but not a pleasurable pastime.
Then, one day at lunch, my father said he had just seen a new kind of tyre, filled up with air, and he thought it might be a success. And soon after that everyo ne had bicycles, ladies and all; and bicycling became the smart thing in society, and the lords and ladies had their pictures in the papers, riding along in the park, in straw boater hats.
My mother must have fallen off her bicycle pretty often, for I remember seeing, several times, the worst cuts on her legs. But she never complained, and always kept these mishaps to herself. However, the great Mrs. Phillips, our cook, always knew all about them; as indeed she knew practically everything that ever happened. She used to draw us into the servants’ hall to tell us privately: “Her Lady ship had a bad fall yesterday; she cut both her knees. But don’t let her know I told you.” So we never dared say anything. Similar accidents used to occur when,at the age of nearly seventy, she insisted on learning to drive a car. She never mastered the art of reversing, and was in every way an unconventional and terrifying driver. Mrs. Phillips used then to tell us: “Her Ladyship ran into the back of a milk-cart yesterday; but it wasn’t much hurt”; or “ A policeman stopped her Ladyship because she was on the wrong side of the road; but he said she didn’t know what the white line on the road meant, so he explained and let her go on.” Mrs. Phillips must have had an excellent intelligence service at her command,for the stories were always true enough.
70. According to the passage, the writer____.
A. belongs to a high social class
B. comes from a middle class family
C. didn’t like to go bicycling with his parent
D. felt it a glory to own a bicycle
71. “Mrs. Phillips have an excellent Intelligence Service at her command” means ____.
A. she was excellent in her service
B. she must be exceedingly intelligent
C. she must be very good at getting information
D. lots of people worked with her
72. The writer admires Mrs. Phillips because ____.
A. she was an excellent cook
B. she was in command of all the servants
C. she could keep secrets
D. she knew everything that went on
73. The writer’s mother, it seems,____.
A. disliked slow driving
B. hated out-door life
C. was good-natured old lady
D. was a strong-willed old lady
www.59wj.comTEXT C
In Britain, within the lifetime of all the old people alive today, our life expectancy has rapidly shot up from an average of forty years to an average of seventy years. Although, in the last century, it was accepted that the body had been programmed to last for seventy years, until the 1960s it was all too obvious that very few bodies ever did, and for a man to enjoy good health in old age was exceptional.
Many of today’s old people had such rough starts, such small scraps of education, such low wages and so few possessions generally, that they feel they are ending their days in luxury, although they may not be doing so in other people’s eyes. “Manage” is word they often use, and having “managed” then, they manage now more easily. They will describe their poor and exhausting working lives for you without any feeling of hatred. Some are proud if they never cheated; and some are proud if they did and got away with it. However, many find that now is the deprived time. They are aware of gradual losses and of everything being taken away from them or placed out of reach by degrees. They are no longer considered as individuals. Constantly, as one talks to old people, one feels this struggle to claim their dignity and importance at the present time and not just to recall what they have been in the past.
Perhaps, as the young begin to realize that they are likely to “old” for twenty or more years, they will bring about the radical changes needed if the aged are to have the supportive conditions in their old age that they would really like.
At present, both our treatment of “the old” and the way we talk about them some times echo the actions and attitudes of our nineteenth-century ancestors, when they were considering “ the poor”. “The problems of the old are not our problems” is what we are often sayingpolitely and humanly, of course.
74. Many old people in Britain today feel they are spending their remaining years in luxury because ____.
A. they had a very hard life in the past
B. they had to manage to get away with cheating in their early years
C. they remain as healthy as ever
D. they take pride in the fact that they never cheated
75. “They are no longer considered as individuals,” suggests that old people in Britain ____.
A. are no longer regarded as very important persons
B. are no longer looked upon as honest people
C. are not human beings any more
D. are treated with indifference
76. Perhaps young people will make changes for the old because ____.
A. they are radical about the old age problem
B. they feel it necessary to do something for the old
C. they are sympathetic towards the old
D. they want to ensure their own social position when they get old
77. We learn from the passage that old people in Britain are____ .
A. on good terms with the society
B. inadequately cared for
C. highly regarded by the society
D. too numerous to care for
TEXT D
For well over 2000 years the world’s great religions have taught the virtues of a trusting heart. Now there is another reason to heed the wisdom of the ages: scientific evidence indicates that those with trusting hearts will live longer, he althier lives.
As a result of the work published in the 1970s by two pioneering cardiologists, Meyer Friedman and Ray H. Rosenman, nearly every American is aware that Type Apeople are impatient, driven and easily moved to hostility and anger. Many have come to believe that Type A’s are at much higher risk of suffering a heart attack or dying of coronary disease than others.
Just as the public was about to add Type A behavior to the list of cardiac risk factors-such as smoking, high cholesterol levels, high blood pressure and lack of physical exercise-reports began to appear suggesting that the Type A story was not so simple.
New studies failed to find an increased risk of heart attack in all Type A’s. But recent research is clarifying and refining our understanding of the problem. The good news is that not all aspects of Type A behavior are equally toxic. Recent research shows that being in a hurry appears harmful only as it aggravates one’s hostility.
Now for the bad news: hostility and anger can be fatal. They not only raise the odds that you will develop coronary heart disease but may also increase your risk of suffering other life-threatening illnesses. If yours is a hostile heart,it is important that you learn to reduce your anger.
The driving force behind hostility is a cynical mistrust of others. If we expect others to mistreat us, we are seldom disappointed. This generates anger and leads us to respond with aggression.
The most characteristic attitude of a cynic is suspicion of the motives of people he doesn’t know. Imagine you are waiting for an elevator and it stops two floors above for longer than usual. How inconsiderate! You think. If people want to carry on a conversation, why don’t they get off the elevator so the rest of us can get where we’regoing! You have no way of knowing what is causing the decline. Yet, in a few seconds, you have drawn hostile conclusions about unseen people and their motives.Meanwhile, your cynical mistrust is triggering an outpouring of adrenalin and other stress hormones, with noticeable physical consequences. Your voice changes to a higher pitch. The rate and depth of your breathing increases. You heart is beating faster and harder, and the muscles of your arms and legs tighten. You feel “charged up,” ready for action.
78. When the writer says that if we expect others to mistreat us we are seldom disappointed, he means____.
A. we are seldom disappointed because others mistreat us
B. we are seldom disappointed because others doesn’t mistreat us
C. it is easy for us to mistrust others
D. others are forced to mistreat us
79. Recent research shows that ____.
A. Type A behavior are always dangerous
B. there is an increased risk of heart attacks in all Type A’s
C. being in a hurry can aggravates one’s hostility
D. Type A behavior turns out to be toxic if it aggravates one’s hostility.
80. According to the result published in 1970s by the two pioneering card iologists____.
A. Type A people are impatient driven and easily moved to hostility and anger
B. Type A’s are at much higher risk of suffering a heart attack
C. Type A usually shows cardiac risk factors
D. The driving force behind hostility is a cynical mistrust
www.59wj.comSECTION B SKIMMING AND SCANNING［5 MIN.］
In this section there are six passages with a total of ten multiplechoice questions.. Skim or scan them as required and then mark your answers on your ANSWER SHEET.
TEXT E
First read the following question.
81. The main idea of the passage is about ____.
A. global marine distribution
B. secrets of the world’s oceans
C. research on marine life
D. satellite tracking devices
Now read Text E quickly and mark your answer on your ANSWER SHEET.
Scientists are gearing up for one of the most ambitious international research programs ever attempted: A decade-long exploration of the world’s oceans to unlock some of the most closely held secrets of the creatures of the deep. Using sophisticated technology that was not available even five years ago, the scientists will rely primarily on the animals they want to study to collect the data needed to complete the “ Census of Marine Life.” Creatures ranging from blue whales to turtles will be fitted with satellite tracking devices that will record their every movement. The project, involving scores of institutions around the globe, is expected to cost upwards of $1 billion, and it will take at least 10 years. The scientists hope the research will tell us much more about a region of the Earth we understand so poorly. That area, incidentally, covers 70 percent of the globe.
TEXT F
First read the following questions.
82. What does SMS stand for?
A. Short message service.
B. Sound modulation system.
C. Advanced information service.
D. Special mobile system.
83. Why did many young Thais prefer to send Valentine by SMS?
A. Because they were far from their lovers.
B. Because they couldn’t afford expensive roses.
C. Because they were too shy tovoice their feelings.
D. Because it was a fashion among youngsters.
Now read Text F quickly and mark your answers on your ANSWER SHEET.
Thailand’s biggest mobile phone network crashed on Valentine’s Day as thousands of young lovers sent romantic to their sweethearts. Advanced Info Service (AIS) said the company’s GSM network was flooded with more than 100,000 text messages sent within an hour via mobile phones on Valentine’s Day. As AIS has a capacity for just 72,000 SMS short messages per hour, the deluge of messages paralyzed the short message service (SMS) network, blocking all voice calls. “The volume of messages sent from mobile phones this Valentine’s Day was the highest volume evertwice as big as the message traffic sent on New Year’s Eve,” said Wichian Merktrakarn, vice president of AISs engineering operation. And he said many young Thais preferred to send Valentines by SMS because they were too shy to voice their feelings.
TEXT G
First read the following questions.
84. Which of the following sectors are NOT mostly occupied by foreign lab or in Malaysia?
A. Barber.
B. Plantation.
C. Transportation.
D. Construction.
85. According to the passage, how many races are there in Malaysia?
A. One.
B. Five.
C. Twenty-three.
D. Not mentioned.
Now read Text G quickly and mark your answers on your ANSWER SHEET.
Malaysia is running out of barbers and needs to import foreign workers to keep the population’s hair neat and tidy. The President of the Consumers Association of Penang (CAP), S. M. Idris, said at least 30 barber shops in Kuala Lumpur and the northern state of Penang closed last year due to a shortage of barbers. Malaysians are not interested in becoming barbers, forcing shops to turn to foreign labor. The Indian Barbers Association of Malaysia has submitted a request to employ 2,500 foreign barbers. ”CAP appeals to the government to deal with this request urgently as the barber shops need to obtain workers quickly. Even a month’s delay can result in another few shops closing down,” said Idris. Multiracial Malaysia depends on foreign labor for menial jobs. It recruits foreigners to work in plantation, construction and service sectors.
www.59wj.com TEXT H
First read the following question.
86. Which of the following is NOT included in the qualifications required for the position?
A. An ability to operate computer well
B. Good written English skills
C. A university degree in journalism, communications, English or other related field
D. An ability to work under deadline pressure
Now read Text H quickly and mark your answer on your ANSWER SHEET.Seeking English-Language Newspaper Sub-Editors
China Daily is looking for one full-time and one part-time native English-speaking newspaper copy editor for its affiliated English educational weekly-21st Century. The ideal candidates should have a university degree in journalism, communications, English or a related field. Working or teaching experience in these areas is required. Must have good written English skills and a ability to work under deadline pressure. The positions will be open from March 30,2001.Please fax or mail resume to MS. Wang Zhiting of the 21st Century Editorial Department, China Daily. Fax:(-10)64919162 Address: China Daily Office Building, 15 Huixing Dongjie, Chaoyang District, Beijing 100029. For further information call(010)64924488 ext. 2446 or visit www.21stcentury.com.cn
.
TEXT I
First read the following questions.
87. According to the passage, ____is not listed as offending nation against the Geneva Protocol of 1925.
A. ItalyB. Japan
C. CubaD. Afghanistan
88. When did Egypt wage a war against Yemen?
A. In 1925.
B. From 1935 to 1936.
C. From 1937 to 1945.
D. From 1963 to 1967.
Now read Text I quickly and mark your answers on your ANSWER SHEET.
Dishonor Roll
The GenevaProtocol of 1925, which prohibits the use (but not the manufacture of stockpiling) of chemical weapons, has been defied for decades. Italy flouted the treaty by using mustard gas ruthlessly in its 1935-1936 conquest of Ethiopia. Japan used a wide variety of poison gases in its war against China(1937-45).
Egypt employed mustard gas with terrible effect in its war with Yemen(1963-67).
None of the offenders suffered political or economic consequences.
In virtually every case, chemical weapons were used in situations where they would have maximum effect-against unprotected troops and civilians-and in remote areas where it was difficult to make a solid, documented case against the offending nation. This is still true today. Reports that Cuba ahs used poison gas against the UNITA guerrillas in Angola have largely been ignored. One of the Afghan rebel commanders. Gen. Rahim Wardak, charged that Soviet chemical weapons “wiped out entire villages in northern Afghanistan.” Despite captured Soviet soldiers’ confessions of using chemical weapons and the presence of poison-gas detection kits on the bodies of Russian soldiers, Wardak says, “Nobody believed us.”
Because of this you-can-get-away-with-it atmosphere, notes former Pentagon official John G.Kester, who served on a blue-ribbon U.S. Presidential Chemical Warfare Review Commission, “countries whose scruples do not match ours simply have no present reason to give up weapons that can serve them so effectively.”
TEXT J
First read the following questions.
89. In the U.S.S.R. information about agriculture and finance is ____.
A. printed in daily newspapers
B. available in the government section of popular magazines
C. available only by written request
D. nearly impossible to obtain
90. In the United States information is NOT readily available in the area of____.
A. agriculture
B. finance
C. national defense
D. living standards
Now read Text J quickly and mark your answers on your ANSWER SHEET.
Free access to information about what the government is doing is a primary feature of an open society. In closed societies it may be hard to obtain any information about government operations. In the U. S. S. R, for example, it is nearly impossible to obtain accurate information about agriculture, industry, finance, or living standards. In contrast, the United States information is readily available except in the areas of national defense and foreign affairs, and even in these areas the level of information is much higher than in the U. S. S. R. and other closed societies. www.59wj.com 如果觉得《英语专业四级考试全真模拟试卷十三(2)》专四模拟试题,yyzszb不错，可以推荐给好友哦。