四、Reading Comprehension (75 points)Directions: There are four reading passages in this part.Each passage is followed by five questions.For each question there are four suggested answers marked A, B, C and D.Choose one best answer and blacken the corresponding letter on ANSWER SHEET Ⅰ.
Laura was married for 6 months. Her husband was using drugs. She didn’t want her son or her unborn baby to live that way, but she was afraid to ask her husband to leave. She left him a note instead. After reading the note,Laura’s husband waited for her to come home and then beat her and her son.
Laura had little education and she never had a good paying job. She was ashamed to ask for help from the police, courts or women’s shelters. Sometimes her husband was very nice to her. She decided to try harder so her children could have a home and a father. Laura joined a church and told a priest about her problem.
But her husband kept using drugs and hurting the family. Finally, she told her husband she loved him,but they should live apart for a while.He beat her again.The priest came over to talk to her.He asked the husband to go out for a while. Laura packed up her things and left home with her son. The next day she lost the baby. Her husband went to jail.
Laura got a lot of help from groups that help women who have been beaten.Now she is in college,has her own apartment and works on special projects at a women’s shelter.“We got out, and it changed life for me and my child. You can do it. You can break the cycle,”Laura said.
第31题 Laura felt her children shouldn’t live the old way when she was__________.
A. pregnant
B. taking drugs
C. just out of work
D. attending university
【正确答案】A
第32题 The message Laura left her husband was most likely “__________”.
A.Do not beat the kid any more
B. Learn to take care of the family
C. Leave me and my children
D. Be a good father
【正确答案】C
第33题 Laura didn’t go to the police or courts because__________.
A. she was afraid of being laughed at
B. the priest asked her not to do so
C. her husband was a nice guy
D. she was not well?educated
【正确答案】A
第34题 Which of the following statements is TRUE?
A. Laura has two children.
B. Laura never got any job.
C. Laura’s husband got punished.
D. Laura got little help from the society.
【正确答案】C
第35题 Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
A. Husband?Wife Relationship
B. Women’s Rights.
C. Laura’s Marriage.
D. Family Violence
【正确答案】D
During the Christmas shopping rush in London, the interesting story was reported of a tramp(流浪者)who, apparently though no fault of his own,found himself locked in a well?known chain store late on Christmas Eve. No doubt the store was crowded with last?minute Christmas shoppers and the staff were dead beat and longing to get home.Probably all the proper security checks were made before the store was locked and they left to enjoy the three?day holiday untroubled by customers desperate to get last?minute Christmas presents.
However ridiculous that may be,our tramp found himself alone in the store and decided to make the best of it. There was food, drink, bedding and camping equipment, of which he made good use. There must also have been television sets and radios.Though it was not reported if he took advantage of these facilities, when the shop reopened he was discovered in bed with a large number of empty bottles beside him.He seems to have been a man of good humor as indeed tramps very commonly are.
Everyone else was enjoying Christmas, so he saw no good reason why he should not do the same.He yielded himself cheerfully,and was taken by the police. Perhaps he had had a better Christmas than usual. He was sent to prison for seven days.The judge awarded no compensation(赔偿)to the chain store for the food and drink our tramp had consumed.They had,in his opinion,already received valuable free publicity from the story revealed in the newspaper and on television.Perhaps the judge had had a good Christmas,too.
第36题 The tramp was locked in the store__________.
A. for 7 days
B. on purpose
C. by accident
D. for security reasons
【正确答案】C
第37题 It can be inferred from the passage that the underlined phrase“dead beat”in Paragraph 1 means__________.
A. angry
B. exhausted
C. forgetful
D. careless
【正确答案】B
第38题 Which of the following was uncertain about the tramp after he was locked in the store?
A. He watched TV.
B. He was well fed.
C. He had a sound sleep
D. He had a good drink.
【正确答案】A
第39题 When the tramp was arrested, he__________.
A. was drunk
B. felt he deserved it
C. made no resistance
D. felt himself wronged
【正确答案】C
第40题 The judge didn’t award compensation to the chain store because__________.
A. the store was responsible for what happened
B. the report of the event benefited the store a lot
C. the tramp had stolen nothing of value
D. the tramp was penniless
【正确答案】B
If you want to stay young, sit down and have a good think. This is the research result of Professor Faulkner,who says that most of our brains are not getting enough exercise and as a result, we are ageing unnecessarily soon.
Professor Faulkner wanted to find out why healthy farmers in northern Japan appeared to be losing their ability to think and to reason at a relatively early age, and how the process of ageing could be slowed down.
He set about measuring brain volumes of a thousand people of different ages and occupations.
Computer technology enabled him to obtain precise measurements of the volume of the front and side sections of the brain, which relate to intelligence and emotion, and determine the human character.
Contraction of front and side parts—as cells die off—was observed in some subjects in their thirties, but it was still not evident in some sixty?and seventy?year?olds.
Faulkner concluded from his tests that there is a simple way to slow the contraction—using the head.
The findings show that contraction of the brain begins sooner in people in the country than in the towns.Those least at risk, says Faulkner,are lawyers,followed by university professors and doctors. White?collar workers doing routine work are,however, as likely to have shrinking brains as the farm worker, bus driver and shop assistant.
Faulkner’s findings show that thinking can prevent the brain from shrinking. Blood must circulate properly in the head to supply the fresh oxygen the brain cells need.“The best way to maintain good blood circulation is through using the brain,”he says.“Think hard and engage in conversation.Don’t rely on pocket calculators.”
第41题 Professor Faulkner wanted to find out__________.
A. how people’s brains shrink
B. the way of making people live longer
C. the size of certain people’s brains
D. why certain people aged sooner than others
【正确答案】D
第42题 Faulkner’s research findings are based on__________.
A. a survey of farmers in northern Japan
B. tests performed on a thousand old people
C. the study of brain volumes of different people
D. the latest development of computer technology
【正确答案】C
第43题 The professor’s tests show that__________.
A. our brains shrink as we grow old
B. the front section of the brain does not shrink
C. seventy?year?olds have better brains than sixty?year?olds
D. brain contraction may vary among people of the same age
【正确答案】D
第44题 The underlined word “subjects” in Paragraph 5 means__________.
A. branches of knowledge studied in a school
B. something to be considered
C. persons experimented on
D. citizens in a country
【正确答案】C
第45题 According to the passage,which group of people seem to age slower than the others?
A. Farmers
B. Lawyers
C. Clerks.
D. Shop assistants.
【正确答案】B