2024年3月15日发(作者：)

PART V 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 best answer.

TEXT A

The case for college has been accepted without question for more than a generation. All high school

graduates ought to go, says conventional wisdom and statistical evidence, because college will help them earn

more money, become "better" people, and learn to be more responsible citizens than those who don't go.

But college has never been able to work its magic for everyone. And now that close to half our high school

graduates are attending, those who don't fit the pattern are becoming more numerous, and more obvious. College

graduates are selling shoes and driving taxis; college students interfere with each other's experiments and write

false letters of recommendation in the intense competition for admission to graduate school. Other find no

stimulation in their studies, and drop out—often encouraged by college administrators.

Some observers say the fault is with the young people themselves—they are spoiled and they are expecting

too much. But that is a condemnation of the students as a whole, and doesn't explain all campus unhappiness.

Others blame the state of the world, and they are partly right. We have been told that young people have to go to

college because our economy can't absorb an army of untrained eighteen-year-olds. But disappointed graduates

are learning that it can no longer absorb an army of trained twenty-two-year-olds, either.

Some adventuresome educators and watchers have openly begun to suggest that college may not be the best,

the proper, the only place for every young person after the completion of high school. We may have been looking

at all those surveys and statistics upside down, it seems, and through the rosy glow of our own remembered

college experiences. Perhaps college doesn't make people intelligent, ambitious, happy, liberal, or quick to learn

things—may it is just the other way around, and intelligent, ambitious, happy, liberal, quick-learning people are

merely the ones who have been attracted to college in the first place. And perhaps all those successful college

graduates would have been successful whether they had gone to college or not. This is heresy to those of us who

have been brought up to believe that if a little schooling is good, more has to be much better. But contrary

evidence is beginning to mount up.

1. According to the author, ___.

used to question the value of college education.

used to have full confidence in higher education.

high school graduates went to college.

few high school graduates chose to go to college.

2. In the 2nd paragraph, "those who don't fit the pattern" refer to___.

school graduates who aren't suitable for college education.

e graduates who are selling shoes and driving taxis.

e students who aren't any better for their higher education.

school graduates who failed to be admitted to college.

3. The dropout rate of college students seems to go up because___.

people are disappointed with the conventional way of teaching at college.

people are required to join the army.

people have little motivation in pursuing a higher education.

people don't like the intense competition for admission to graduate school.

4. According to the passage, the problems of college education partly originate in the fact that___.

y cannot provide enough jobs for properly trained graduates.

school graduates do not fit the pattern of college education.

many students have to earn their own living.

e administrators encourage students to drop out.

5. In this passage the author argues that___.

and more evidence shows college education may not be the best thing for high school graduates.

e education is not enough if one wants to be successful.

e education benefits only the intelligent, ambitious, and quick-learning people.

igent people may learn quicker if they don't go to college.

TEXT B

What we know of prenatal development makes all this attempt made by a mother to mold the character of her

unborn child by studying poetry, art, or mathematics during pregnancy seem utterly impossible. How could such

extremely complex influences pass from the mother to the child? There is no connection between their nervous

systems. Even the blood vessels of mother and child do not join directly. An emotional shock to the mother will

affect her child, because it changes the activity of her glands and so the chemistry her blood. Any chemical

change in the mother's blood will affect the child for better or worse. But we can not see how a looking for

mathematics or poetic genius can be dissolved in blood and produce a similar liking or genius in the child.

In our discussion of instincts we saw that there was reason to believe that whatever we inherit must be of

some very simple sort rather than any complicated or very definite kind of behavior. It is certain that no one

inherits a knowledge of mathematics. It may be, however, that children inherit more or less of a rather general

ability that we may call intelligence. If very intelligent children become deeply interested in mathematics, they

will probably make a success of that study.

As for musical ability, it may be that what is inherited is an especially sensitive ear, a peculiar structure of the

hands or the vocal organs connections between nerves and muscles that make it comparatively easy to learn the

movements a musician must execute, and particularly vigorous emotions. If these factors are all organized around

music, the child may become a musician. The same factors, in other circumstance might be organized about some

other center of interest. The rich emotional equipment might find expression in poetry. The capable fingers might

develop skill in surgery. It is not the knowledge of music that is inherited, then nor even the love of it, but a

certain bodily structure that makes it comparatively easy to acquire musical knowledge and skill. Whether that

ability shall be directed toward music or some other undertaking may be decided entirely by forces in the

environment in which a child grows up.

6. Which of the following statements is not true?

A. Some mothers try to influence their unborn children by studying art and other subjects during their

pregnancy.

B. It is utterly impossible for us to learn anything about prenatal development.

C. The blood vessels of mother and child do not join directly.

D. There are no connection between mother's nervous systems and her unborn child's.

7. A mother will affect her unborn baby on the condition that ____.

A. she is emotionally shocked

B. she has a good knowledge of inheritance

C. she takes part in all kind of activities

D. she sticks to studying

8. According to the passage, a child may inherit____.

A. everything from his mother

B. a knowledge of mathematics

C. a rather general ability that we call intelligence

D. her mother's musical ability

9. If a child inherits something from his mother, such as an especially sensitive ear, a peculiar structure of the

hands or of the vocal organs, he will ____.

A. surely become musician

B. mostly become a poet

C. possibly become a teacher

D. become a musician on the condition that all these factors are organized around music

10. Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

A. Role of Inheritance.

B. An Unborn Child.

C. Function of instincts.

D. Inherited Talents

TEXT C

Which is safer-staying at home, traveling to work on public transport, or working in the office? Surprisingly,

each of these carries the same risk, which is very low. However, what about flying compared to working in the

chemical industry? Unfortunately, the former is 65 times riskier than the latter! In fact, the accident rate of

workers in the chemical industry is less than that of almost any of human activity, and almost as safe as staying at

home.

The trouble with the chemical industry is that when things go wrong they often cause death to those living

nearby. It is this which makes chemical accidents so newsworthy. Fortunately, they are extremely rare. The most

famous ones happened at Texas City (1947),Flixborough (1974), Seveso (1976), Pemex (1984) and Bhopal

(1984).

Some of these are always in the minds of the people even though the loss of life was small. No one died at

Seveso, and only 28 workers at Flixborough. The worst accident of all was Bhopal, where up to 3,000 were killed.

The Texas City explosion of fertilizer killed 552. The Pemex fire at a storage plant for natural gas in the suburbs

of Mexico City took 542 lives, just a month before the unfortunate event at Bhopal.

Some experts have discussed these accidents and used each accident to illustrate a particular danger. Thus the

Texas City explosion was caused by tons of ammonium nitrate（硝酸铵）,which is safe unless stored in great

quantity. The Flixborough fireball was the fault of management, which took risks to keep production going during

essential repairs. The Seveso accident shows what happens if the local authorities lack knowledge of the danger

on their doorstep. When the poisonous gas drifted over the town, local leaders were incapable of taking effective

action. The Pemex fire was made worse by an overloaded site in an overcrowded suburb. The fire set off a chain

reaction os exploding storage tanks. Yet, by a miracle, the two largest tanks did not explode. Had these caught fire,

then 3,000 strong rescue team and fire fighters would all have died.

11. Which of the following statements is true?

g at the office is safer than staying at home.

lling to work on public transport is safer than working at the office.

g at home is safer than working in the chemical industry.

g in the chemical industry is safer than traveling by air.

12. .Chemical accidents are usually important enough to be reported as news because ____.

are very rare

often cause loss of life

always occur in big cities

arouse the interest of all the readers

13. According to passage, the chemical accident that caused by the fault of management happened at ____.

city

rough

City

14. From the passage we know that ammonium nitrate is a kind of ____.

l gas, which can easily catch fire

izer, which can't be stored in a great quantity

ous substance, which can't be used in overcrowded areas

, which is stored in large tanks

15. From the discussion among some experts we may coclude that ____.

avoid any accidents we should not repair the facilities in chemical industry

local authorities should not be concerned with the production of the chemical industry

these accidents could have been avoided or controlled if effective measure had been taken

l gas stored in very large tanks is always safe

TEXT D

What we know of prenatal development makes all this attempt made by a mother to mold the character of her

unborn child by studying poetry, art, or mathematics during pregnancy seem utterly impossible. How could such

extremely complex influences pass from the mother to the child? There is no connection between their nervous

systems. Even the blood vessels of mother and child do not join directly. An emotional shock to the mother will

affect her child, because it changes the activity of her glands and so the chemistry her blood. Any chemical

change in the mother's blood will affect the child for better or worse. But we can not see how a looking for

mathematics or poetic genius can be dissolved in blood and produce a similar liking or genius in the child.

In our discussion of instincts we saw that there was reason to believe that whatever we inherit must be of

some very simple sort rather than any complicated or very definite kind of behavior. It is certain that no one

inherits a knowledge of mathematics. It may be, however, that children inherit more or less of a rather general

ability that we may call intelligence. If very intelligent children become deeply interested in mathematics, they

will probably make a success of that study.

As for musical ability, it may be that what is inherited is an especially sensitive ear, a peculiar structure of the

hands or the vocal organs connections between nerves and muscles that make it comparatively easy to learn the

movements a musician must execute, and particularly vigorous emotions. If these factors are all organized around

music, the child may become a musician. The same factors, in other circumstance might be organized about some

other center of interest. The rich emotional equipment might find expression in poetry. The capable fingers might

develop skill in surgery. It is not the knowledge of music that is inherited, then nor even the love of it, but a

certain bodily structure that makes it comparatively easy to acquire musical knowledge and skill. Whether that

ability shall be directed toward music or some other undertaking may be decided entirely by forces in the

environment in which a child grows up.

16. Which of the following statements is not true?

A. Some mothers try to influence their unborn children by studying art and other subjects during their

pregnancy.

B. It is utterly impossible for us to learn anything about prenatal development.

C. The blood vessels of mother and child do not join directly.

D. There are no connection between mother's nervous systems and her unborn child's.

17. A mother will affect her unborn baby on the condition that ____.

A. she is emotionally shocked

B. she has a good knowledge of inheritance

C. she takes part in all kind of activities

D. she sticks to studying

18. According to the passage, a child may inherit____.

A. everything from his mother

B. a knowledge of mathematics

C. a rather general ability that we call intelligence

D. her mother's musical ability

19. If a child inherits something from his mother, such as an especially sensitive ear, a peculiar structure of the

hands or of the vocal organs, he will ____.

A. surely become musician

B. mostly become a poet

C. possibly become a teacher

D. become a musician on the condition that all these factors are organized around music

20. Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

A. Role of Inheritance.

B. An Unborn Child.

C. Function of instincts.

D. Inherited Talents

【参考答案】答案： 1-5 BCCAA 6-10 BACDA 11-15 DBABC 16-20 BACDA