2012年插班生考试大学英语阅读练习（二）

                                                                     来源:《插班生考试之友》编辑部

Passage One

　　Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage:

　　You are a German living in Berlin. One day you' re walking down the street, minding your own business, when suddenly a stranger approached with a smile on his face. After stopping you, he holds a small electtonic device close to his face and speaks slowly into it, saying, in English: "Can you tell me where I can buy some sauerkraut?" What should you do? (a) Run away; (b) Call the police; or, (c) Listen closely for the device to say, in German. "Konnen Sie mir bitte sager, which Sauerkraut Kaufen Kann?"

　　The most appropriate response would be (c) because the person in front of you is only a tourist trying to enjoy himself. The device is said to he the world's first protable transistor —— a hand —— held microcomputer that at the same time converts one spoken language into another.

　　The four-pound battery-operated product is called the Voice, and it is the creation of Advanced Products and Technologies an American electronics company. When the Voice is introduced in the United States in late April —— at a price of $1,500 —— it will be capable of converting spoken English into Italian, German, French and Spanish. The product comes with separate cartridges (盒式储存器) for each of the four languages, which can be changed when the user travels from one country to another. The item will be sold in Europe soon after the U. S. Introduction, with cartridges that covert Italian, German, French and Spenish into English.

　　The Voice uses a microchip ( 微型集成块 ) and artificial Intellingence to translate Languages.  It is Started by voice command and produces voice output through a built-it speaker. Then the user makes a statement or asks a question, the Voice immediately repeats what has been said in another Language.

　　21. The stranger holding the Voice seems to be ______.

　　A) asking for some information

　　B) greeting the German

　　C) amusing himself

　　D) practising his German

　　22. The German sentence "Konnen Sie Kann?" means ______.

　　A) "Why don't you ask the policeman."

　　B) "Would you listen closely for the device to say?"

　　C) "Can you say it again, please?"

　　D) "Can you tell me where I can buy some sauerkraut?"

　　23. The word "speaker" in the last paragraph refers to ______.

　　A) the person who speaks to the device

　　B) a component part of the Voice

　　C) the person who speaks German

　　D) the speech produced by the Voice

　　24. Which of the following is NOT TRUE?

　　A) The voice is an invention of an electronices company.

　　B) The voice is a hand-held translator.

　　C) The voice is new product in wide use.

　　D) The voice is mainly a microcomputer.

　　25. The Voice can translate ______.

　　A) from German into any of the other four languages mentioned

　　B) from and into English by using the same cartridges

　　C) between any two of the above-mentioned languages

　　D) from English into any of the other four languages or the other way round

　　Passage Two

　　Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage:

　　Computers may one day turn night into day —— with good old, natural sunlight.

　　Colossal computer-controlled mirrors, thousands of feet across, may one day orbit the earth, reflecting sunlight onto a darkened United States.

　　Some Scientists say that 16 of these mirrors, each about a half mile across, could aim their reflected light at one area on the earth that was about 200 miles by 300 miles. That much light would equal about 56 moons.

　　The mirrors would be so high that they could catch the sun' s light as it was shining on the other side of the earth. The mirrors could orbit —— thousands of miles high —— at the same speed as the earth turns on its axis (铀). That way, the mirrors would always be over the same spot.

　　The aluminium-coated (涂铝的), plastic mirrors could be folded up and packed into a spaceship, according to the scientists. Once released a few hundred miles in space, the mirrors, powered by a solar-powered engine, could mark the rest of the trip into space on their own.

　　The seientists say that the computer-controlled mirrors could also be made to tilt (倾斜) slowly, so the refected sunlight would sweep slowly along the surface of the earth. For example, as night fell, the mirrors could be tilted to light up Boston. Later on, as darkness spread slowly westward.  Chicago, for example,  then San Francisco could be lit up. The reflected sunlight would allow these cities to save up electricity. And in emergencies, such as power-failures, the mirrors could light up the affected area.

　　What no one knows yet is what effect this artificial daytime would have on plants, animals, and humans. Would it confuse some animals and harm plants that are used to regular day-night cycles? The scientists recommond that studies be done to find out what had effects there might be.

　　26. The word "colossal" in Line 3 most likely means ______.

　　A) nuclear-powered .

　　B) orbiting

　　C) giant

　　D) spinning

　　27. Which of the following is NOT TRUE of the mirrors?

　　A) They would be made of plastic and coated with aluminium.

　　B) They could be launched directly into space.

　　C) They would stay in the same position over the earth.

　　D) They could reflect sunlight to a large area on the earth.

　　28. The reflected light sould sweep slowly along the surface of the earth because the mirrors ______.

　　A) would be operated by solar-powered engines

　　B) would orbit thousands of miles high to catch the sun's light

　　C) could move around the earth at the same speed as the earth turns on its axis

　　D) could be made to adjust their angles

　　29. The purpose for turning night into day is to ______.

　　A) confuse animals and plants

　　B) light up more cities

　　C) save energy and deal with emergencies

　　D) enable people to work longer hours

　　30. The writer of this passage ______.

　　A) gives an objective account of the mirrors

　　B) seems to be much worried about the effect of the mirrors

　　C) is in favour of the wide use of the mirrors

　　D) suggests that artificial daylight is harmful to living being

　　Passage Three

　　Questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage:

　　As supplier of most of the food we eat and of raw materials for many industrial processes, agriculture is clearly an important area of the economy. But the industrial performance of agriculture is even more important than this. For in nations where the productivity of farmers is low, most of the working population is needed to raise food and few people are available for production of investment goods or for other activities required for economic growth. Indeed, one of the factors related most closely to the per capital income (人均收入) of a nation is the fraction of its population engaged in farming. In the poorest nations of the world more than half of the pupolation lives on farms. This compares sharply with less than 10 per cent in western Europe and less than 4 per cent in the United States.

　　In short, the course of economie development in general depends in a fundamental way on the performance of farmers. This performance of farmars. This performance in turn, depends on how agriculture is organized and on the economie environment, or market structure, within which it function. In the following pages the performance of American agriculture is examined. It is approgrlate to begin with a conversation of its market structure.

　　31. This passage is most probably ______.

　　A) a news item

　　B) part of an introduction of a book

　　C) part of a lecture

　　D) an advertisement

　　32. What is most improtant to agriculture is ______.

　　A) the amount of food it produces

　　B) the per capital income of farmers

　　C) its industrial performance

　　D) the production of investment goods

　　33. The word "this" in Line 4 refers to ______.

　　A) the provision of food and raw materials

　　B) the productivity of farmers

　　C) the production of investment goods

　　D) the economy as a whole

　　34. The performance of farmers essentially determines ______.

　　A) the size of the working population

　　B) the organization of agriculture

　　C) the market atructure

　　D) the general development of economy

　　35. This passage will most probably be followed by a discussion of ______.

　　A) the stucture of American farming population

　　B) the market structure of American agriculture

　　C) the various functions of American agriculture

　　D) the organization of American agriculture

　　Passage Four

　　Questions 36 to 40 are based on the following passage:

　　Before 1945, hardly anyone outside of New Mexico had ever heard of Alamogordo. In 1960 its population numbered 21,723. Ever since 1898, when the town had been built by the Southern Pacific Railroad Alamogordo had been a lonely town. The land around it was largely desert, and largely empty.

　　Because it was isolated and because the weather was almost always clear and peaceful, a spot of desert near Alamogordo was chosen as the last site for the first stomic bomb ever exploded. The secret name of the test was Zeo.

　　At dawn on July 16, 1945, the atomic bomb was set off. Observers agreed that they had witnessed something unlike anything ever seen by men before, a huge, colorful fireball, more brilliant than the sun flashing as it rose for miles into the air. Never before had men released so much power at one time, nor had any nation ever possessed weapon as terrible and destructive as the atomic bomb.

　　For several weeks, the test was kept secret. When an atomic bomb was dropped from an American plane on Hiroshima, Japan, newspapers and radio stations all over America told of the test of the bomb in New mexico. Almost everybody was amared to learn where the bomb had been made and tested; the deserts of the Southwest had hidden the secret well.

　　When news of the stomic bomb and its destructiveness was announced, people all over the world wondered what other new wespons were being prepared in the New Mexico desert. Some people doubted that the secret of making atomic bomhs could be kept from other countries. Some even doubted the wisdom of using so powerful a weapon. But no one doubted that a new kind of war —— and a new kind of world —— had begun at Alamogordo, one summer morning in 1945.

　　36. What is the main topic of this passage?

　　A) The secret of Alamogordo.   　　B) A new kind of war.

　　C) The destructive force of the first atomic bomb.

　　D) The selection of the test site for the first atomic bomb.

　　37. Which of the following is the main reason for choosing Alamogordo as the test site?

　　A) It always had an enjoyable climate.

　　B) It was connceted to other cities by a railway.

　　C) Its location would hide the secret well.

　　D) It was situated in southwestern New Mexico.

　　38. When was the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima?

　　A) As soon as the secret was revealed 　　B) At dawn on July 16, 1945

　　C) Immediately after the test        　　D) Several weeks after the test

　　39. After the first atomic bomb explosion, everybody agreed that ______.

　　A) it was wise to choose Alamogordo as the test site.

　　B) man had entered the age of nuclear warfare

　　C) it was not wise to use such a powerful weapon

　　D) it was not possible to keep the technology of making atomic bombs secret

　　40. The tone of this passage is one of ______.

　　A) anxiety　　      B) satisfaction

　　C) encouragement　　D) fear

Suggested answers:

21.C) 22.D) 23.B) 24.C) 25.D)

26.D) 27.B) 28.D) 29.C) 30.A)

31.B) 32.C) 33.A) 34.D) 35.B)

36.A) 37.C) 38.D) 39.B) 40.B)