英语专八阅读理解精读训练附答案和解析- 第8篇 The Development of Cities
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专业英语八级阅读附答案专业英语八级阅读精选附答案Reputation is often got without merit and lost without fault.以下是店铺为大家搜索整理的专业英语八级阅读精选附答案,希望能给大家带来帮助!Passage 8 (Equality of opportunity in the twentieth Century Has Not Destroyed the Class System)These days we hear a lot of nonsense about the ‘great classless society'. The idea that the twentieth century is the age of the common man has become one of the great clichés of our time. The same old arguments are put forward in evidence. Here are some of them: monarchy as a system of government has been completely discredited. The monarchies that survive have been deprived of all political power. Inherited wealth has been savagely reduced by taxation and, in time, the great fortunes will disappear altogether. In a number of countries the victory has been complete. The people rule; the great millennium has become a political reality. But has it? Close examination doesn't bear out the claim.It is a fallacy to suppose that all men are equal and that society will be leveled out if you provide everybody with the same educational opportunities. (It is debatable whether you can ever provide everyone with the same educational opportunities, but that is another question.) The fact is that nature dispenses brains and ability with a total disregard for the principle of equality. The old rules of the jungle, ‘survival of the fittest', and ‘might is right' are still with us. The spread of education has destroyed the old class system and created a new one. Rewards are based on merit. For ‘aristocracy' read ‘meritocracy'; inother respects, society remains unaltered: the class system is rigidly maintained.Genuine ability, animal cunning, skill, the knack of seizing opportunities, all bring material rewards. And what is the first thing people do when they become rich? They use their wealth to secure the best possible opportunities for their children, to give them ‘a good start in life'. For all the lip service we pay to the idea of equality, we do not consider this wrong in the western world. Private schools which offer unfair advantages over state schools are not banned because one of the principles in a democracy is that people should be free to choose how they will educate their children. In this way, the new meritocracy can perpetuate itself to a certain extent: an able child from a wealthy home can succeed far more rapidly than his poorer counterpart. Wealth is also used indiscriminately to further political ends. It would be almost impossible to become the leader of a democracy without massive financial backing. Money is as powerful a weapon as ever it was.In societies wholly dedicated to the principle of social equality, privileged private education is forbidden. But even here people are rewarded according to their abilities. In fact, so great is the need for skilled workers that the least able may be neglected. Bright children are carefully and expensively trained to become future rulers. In the end, all political ideologies boil down to the same thing: class divisions persist whether you are ruled by a feudal king or an educated peasant.1. What is the main idea of this passage?[A] Equality of opportunity in the twentieth century has not destroyed the class system.[B] Equality means money.[C] There is no such society as classless society.[D] Nature can't give you a classless society.2. According to the author, the same educational opportunities can't get rid of inequality because ___________[A] the principle ‘survival of the fi ttest' exists.[B] Nature ignores equality in dispensing brains and ability.[C] Material rewards are for genuine ability.[D] People have the freedom how to educate their children.3. Who can obtain more rapid success ___________[A] those with wealth.[B] Those with the best brains.[C] Those with the best opportunities.[D] Those who have the ability to catch at opportunities.4. Why does the author say the new meritocracy can perpetuate itself to a certain extent? Because ___________[A] money decides everything.[B] Private schools offer advantages over state schools.[C] People are free to choose the way of educating their children.[D] Wealth is used for political ends.5. According to the author, class divisions' refers to ___________[A] the rich and the poor.[B] Different opportunities for people.[C] Oppressor and the oppressed.[D] Genius and stupidity.Vocabulary1. discredit 损害,破坏,败坏(某人的名声),不可信2. monarch 国王,女皇,君主政体3. millennium 千年the millennium 千僖年4. bear out 证实5. level out (升跌之后)呈平稳状态6. meritocracy 英才管理,英才教育,能人统治7. knack 技巧,诀窍8. perpetuate 使永久,永存或持续9. indiscriminate 不加鉴别的,不加分析的,任意的10. boil down 归结为……难句译注1. Close examination doesn't bear out the claim.【参考译文】深入探索证实此断言不确。
专业英语八级(阅读)练习试卷8(题后含答案及解析) 题型有: 2. READING COMPREHENSIONPART II READING COMPREHENSION (30 MIN)Directions: In this section there are four reading passages followed by a total of 20 multiple-choice questions. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. You should decide on the best choice.Britain’s east midlands were once the picture of English countryside, alive with flocks, shepherds, skylarks and buttercups—the stuff of fairytales. In 1941 George Marsh left school at the age of 14 to work as a herdsman in Nottinghamshire, the East Midlands countryside his parents and grandparents farmed. He recalls skylarks nesting in cereal fields, which when accidentally disturbed would fly singing into the sky. But in his lifetime, Marsh has seen the color and diversity of his native land fade. Farmers used to grow about a ton of wheat per acre; now they grow four tons. Pesticides have killed off the insects upon which skylarks fed, and year-round harvesting has driven the birds from their winter nests. Skylarks are now rare. “Farmers kill anything that affects production,”says Marsh. “Agriculture is too efficient. “Anecdotal evidence of a looming crisis in biodiversity is now being reinforced by science. In their comprehensive surveys of plants, butterflies and birds over the past 20 to 40 years in Britain, ecologists Jeremy Thomas and Carly Stevens found significant population declines in a third of all native species. Butterflies are the furthest along—71 percent of Britain’s 58 species are shrinking in number, and some, like the large blue and tortoiseshell, are already extinct. In Britain’s grasslands, a key habitat, 20 percent of all animal, plant and insect species are on the path to extinction. There’s hardly a corner of the country’s ecology that isn’t affected by this downward spiral. The problem would be bad enough if it were merely local, but it’s not : because Britain’s temperate ecology is similar to that in so many other parts of the world, it’s the best microcosm scientists have been able to study in detail. Scientists have sounded alarms about species’extinction in the past, but always specific to a particular animal or place—whales in the 1980s or the Amazonian rain forests in the 1990s. This time, though, the implications are much wider. The Amazon is a “biodiversity hot spot”with a unique ecology. But in Britain, “the main drivers of change are the same processes responsible for species’declines worldwide, “says Thomas. The findings, published in the journal Science, provide the first clear evidence that the world is in the throes of a massive extinction. Thomas and Stevens argue that we are facing a loss of 65 to 95 percent of the world’s species, on the scale of an ice age or the meteorite that may have wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. If so, this would be only the sixth time such devastation had occurred in the past 600 million years. The other five were associated with one-off events like the ice ages, a volcanic eruption or a meteor. This time, ecosystems are dying a thousanddeaths—from overfishing and the razing of the rain forests, but also from advances in agriculture. The British study, for instance, finds that one of the biggest problems is nitrogen pollution. Nitrogen is released when fossil fuels burn in cars and power plants—but also when ecologically rich heath-lands are plowed and fertilizers are spread. Nitrogen-rich fertilizers fuel the growth of tall grasses, which in turn overshadow and kill off delicate flowers like harebells and eyebrights. Even seemingly innocuous practices are responsible for vast ecological damage. When British farmers stopped feeding horses and cattle with hay and switched to silage, a kind of preserved short grass, they eliminated a favorite nesting spot of corncrakes, birds known for their raspy nightly mating calls; corncrake populations have fallen 76 percent in the past 20 years. The depressing list goes on and on. Many of these practices are being repeated throughout the world, in one form or another, which is why scientists believe that the British study has global implications. Wildlife is getting blander. “We don’t know which species are essential to the web of life so we’re taking a massive risk by eliminating any of them,” says David Wedin, professor of ecology at the University of Nebraska. Chances are we’ll be seeing the results of this experiment before too long.1.From the first paragraph, we get the impression that George MarshA.cherishes his adolescence memories.B.thinks highly of the efficiency of agriculture.C.may not have happy memories of past time.D.cannot remember his adolescence days.正确答案:A解析:推断题。
英语专业八级真题完整答案及详细解析word版TEST FOR ***** MAJORS (20XX年)GRADE EIGHT TIME LIMIT: 195 MINPART I *****NG *****ENSION***** A MINI-*****In this section you will hear a mini-lecture. You will hear the lecture ONCE ONLY. While listening, take notes on the important points. Your notes will not be marked, but you will need them to complete a gap-filling task after the mini-lecture. When the lecture is over, you will be given two minutes to check your notes, and another ten minutes to complete the gap-filling task on ANSWER SHEET ONE. Some of the gaps may require a maximum of THREE words. Make sure the word(s) you fill in is (are) both grammatically and semantically acceptable. You may refer to your notes while completing the task. Use the blank sheet for note-taking.Now, listen to the mini-lecture.Classifications of CulturesAccording to Edward Hall, different cultures result in different ideas about the world. Hall is an anthropologist. He is interested in relations between cultures.I. High-context cultureA. feature- context: more important than the message- meaning: (1)__________i.e. more attention paid to (2) ___________ than to the message itself B. examples- personal space- preference for (3)__________- less respect for privacy / personal space- attention to (4)___________- concept of time- belief in (5)____________ interpretation of time- no concern for punctuality- no control over timeII. Low-context cultureA. feature- message: separate from context- meaning: (6)___________B. examples- personal space- desire / respect for individuality / privacy- less attention to body language- more concern for (7)___________- attitude toward time- concept of time: (8)____________- dislike of (9)_____________- time seen as commodityIII. ConclusionAwareness of different cultural assumptions- relevance in work and lifee.g. business, negotiation, etc.- (10)_____________ in successful communication参考答案:(1) context of message(2) what's happening / the context(3) closeness to people(4) body language(5) poly-chronic(6) message itself(7) the message(8) mono-chronic(9) lateness(10) great influence / significanceTIPS:(1) 根据原文中一句“A high-context culture is a culture in which thecontext of the message, or the action, or an event carries a large part of its meaning and significance.”可知答案。
专八阅读理解精读训练附答案和解析第1篇:The Only Way to Travel is on Foot•第1 页:精读练习原文•第2 页:精读答案详解•第3 页:精读点拨精读原文:The past ages of man have all been carefully labeled by anthropologists. Desc riptions like 'Palaeolithic Man', 'Neolithic Man', etc., neatly sum up whole perio ds. When the time comes for anthropologists to turn their attention to the twe ntieth century, they will surely choose the label'Legless Man'. Histories of the time will go something like this: 'in the twentieth century, people forgot how t o use their legs. Men and women moved about in cars, buses and trains froma very early age. There were lifts and escalators in all large buildings to prevent people from walking. This situation was forced upon earth dwellers of tha t time because of miles each day. But the surprising thing is that they didn't u se their legs even when they went on holiday. They built cable railways, ski-lifts and roads to the top of every huge mountain. All the beauty spots on earth were marred by the presence of large car parks.'The future history books might also record that we were deprived of the use of our eyes. In our hurry to get from one place to another, we failed to see anything on the way. Air travel gives you a bird's-eye view of the world – or even less if the wing of the aircraft happens to get in your way. When you travel by car or train a blurred image of the countrysi de constantly smears the windows. Car drivers, in particular, are forever o bsessed with the urge to go on and on: they never want to stop. Is it the lure of the great motorways, or what? And as for sea travel, it hardly deservesmention. It is perfectly summed up in the words of the old song: 'I joined the navy to see the world, and what did I see? I saw the sea.' The typical twenti eth-century traveler is the man who always says 'I've been there.'You mention the remotest, most evocative place-names in the world like El Dorado, Kabul, Irkutsk and someone is bound to sa y 'I've been there'– meaning, 'I drove through it at 100 miles an hour on the way to somewhere else. 'When you travel at high speeds, the present means nothing: you live mainly in the future because you spend most of your time looking forward to arriving at some other place. But actual arrival, when it is achieved, is meaningless. Y ou want to move on again. By traveling like this, you suspend all experience; the present ceases to be a reality: you might just as well be dead. The travel er on foot, on the other hand, lives constantly in the present. For him traveli ng and arriving are one and the same thing: he arrives somewhere with every step he makes. He experiences the present moment with his eyes, his ears a nd the whole of his body. At the end of his journey he feels a delicious physic al weariness. He knows that sound. Satisfying sleep will be his: the just rew ard of all true travellers.【阅读练习题】1、Anthorpologists label nowaday's men 'Legless' becauseA people forget how to use his legs.B people prefer cars, buses and trains.C lifts and escalators prevent people from walking.D there are a lot of transportation devices.2、Travelling at high speed meansA people's focus on the future.B a pleasure.C satisfying drivers' great thrill.D a necessity of life.3、Why does the author say 'we are deprived of the use of our eyes' ?A People won't use their eyes.B In traveling at high speed, eyes become useless.C People can't see anything on his way of travel.D People want to sleep during travelling.4、What is the purpose of the author in writing this passage?A Legs become weaker.B Modern means of transportation make the world a small place.C There is no need to use eyes.D The best way to travel is on foot.5. What does 'a bird's-eye view' mean?A See view with bird's eyes.B A bird looks at a beautiful view.C It is a general view from a high position looking down.D A scenic place.【答案详解】1.A 人们忘了用脚。
英语专业八级阅读考试训练试题附答案英语专业八级阅读考试训练试题附答案经常不断地学习,你就什么都知道。
你知道得越多,你就越有力量。
以下是店铺为大家搜索整理的英语专业八级阅读考试训练试题附答案,希望能给大家带来帮助!He was an old man with a white beard and huge nose and hands. Long before the time during which we will know him, he was a doctor and drove a jaded white horse from house to house through the streets of Winesburg. Later he married a girl who had money. She had been left a large fertile farm when her father died. The girl was quiet, tall, and dark, and to many people she seemed very beautiful. Everyone in Winesburg wondered why she married the doctor. Within a year after the marriage she died.The knuckles of the doctor's hands were extraordinarily large. When the hands were closed they looked like clusters of unpainted wooden balls as large as walnuts fastened together by steel rods. He smoked a cob pipe and after his wife's death sat all day in his empty office close by a window that was covered with cobwebs. He never opened the window. Once on a hot day in August he tried but found it stuck fast and after that he forgot all about it.Winesburg had forgotten the old man, but in Doctor Reefy there were the seeds of something very fine. Alone in his musty office in the Heffner Block above the Paris Dry Goods Company's store, he worked ceaselessly, building up something that he himself destroyed. Little pyramids of truth he erected and after erecting knocked them down again that he might have the truths to erect other pyramids.Doctor Reefy was a tall man who had worn one suit of clothesfor ten years. It was frayed at the sleeves and little holes had appeared at the knees and elbows. In the office he wore also a linen duster with huge pockets into which he continually stuffed scraps of paper. After some weeks the scraps of paper became little hard round balls, and when the pockets were filled he dumped them out upon the floor. For ten years he had but one friend, another old man named John Spaniard who owned a tree nursery. Sometimes, in a playful mood, old Doctor Reefy took from his pockets a handful of the paper balls and threw them at the nursery man. "'That is to confound you, you blithering old sentimentalist," he cried, shaking with laughter.The story of Doctor Reefy and his courtship of the tall dark girl who became his wife and left her money to him is a very curious story. It is delicious, like the twisted little apples that grow in the orchards of Winesburg. In the fall one walks in the orchards and the ground is hard with frost underfoot. The apples have been taken from the trees by the pickers. They have been put in barrels and shipped to the cities where they will be eaten in apartments that are filled with books, magazines, furniture, and people. On the trees are only a few gnarled apples that the pickers have rejected. They look like the knuckles of Doctor Reefy’ s hands. One nibbles at them and they are delicious. Into a little round place at the side of the apple has been gathered all of its sweetness. One runs from tree to tree over the frosted ground picking the gnarled, twisted apples and filling his pockets with them. Only the few know the sweetness of the twisted apples.The girl and Doctor Reefy began their courtship on a summer afternoon. He was forty-five then and already he had begun the practice of filling his pockets with the scraps of paper that became hard balls and were thrown away. The habit had beenformed as he sat in his buggy behind the jaded grey horse and went slowly along country roads. On the papers were written thoughts, ends of thoughts, beginnings of thoughts.One by one the mind of Doctor Reefy had made the thoughts. Out of many of them he formed a truth that arose gigantic in his mind. The truth clouded the world. It became terrible and then faded away and the little thoughts began again.The tall dark girl came to see Doctor Reefy because she was in the family way and had become frightened. She was in that condition because of a series of circumstances also curious.The death of her father and mother and the rich acres of land that had come down to her had set a train of suitors on her heels. For two years she saw suitors almost every evening. Except two they were all alike. They talked to her of passion and there was a strained eager quality in their voices and in their eyes when they looked at her. The two who were different were much unlike each other. One of them, a slender young man with white hands, the son of a jeweler in Winesburg, talked continually of virginity. When he was with her he was never off the subject. The other, a black-haired boy with large ears, said nothing at all but always managed to get her into the darkness, where he began to kiss her.For a time the tall dark girl thought she would marry the jeweler's son. For hours she sat in silence listening as he talked to her and then she began to be afraid of something. Beneath his talk of virginity she began to think there was a lust greater than in all the others. At times it seemed to her that as he talked he was holding her body in his hands. She imagined him turning it slowly about in the white hands and staring at it. At night she dreamed that he had bitten into her body and that his jaws weredripping. She had the dream three times, then she became in the family way to the one who said nothing at all but who in the moment of his passion actually did bite her shoulder so that for days the marks of his teeth showed...-..-.After the tall dark girl came to know Doctor Reefy it seemed to her that she never wanted to leave him again. She went into his office one morning and without her saying anything he seemed to know what had happened to her.In the office of the doctor there was a woman, the wife of the man who kept the bookstore in Winesburg. Like all old-fashioned country practitioners, Doctor Reefy pulled teeth, and the woman who waited held a handkerchief to her teeth and groaned. Her husband was with her and when the tooth was taken out they both screamed and blood ran down on the woman's white dress. The tall dark girl did not pay any attention. When the woman and the man had gone the doctor smiled. "I will take you driving into the country with me," he said.For several weeks the tall dark girl and the doctor were together almost every day. The condition that had brought her to him passed in an illness, but she was like one who has discovered the sweetness of the twisted apples, she could not get her mind fixed again upon the round perfect fruit that is eaten in the city apartments. In the fall after the beginning of her acquaintanceship with him she married Doctor Reefy and in the following spring she died. During the winter he read to her all of the odds and ends of thoughts he had scribbled on the bits of paper. After he had read them he laughed and stuffed them away in his pockets to become round hard balls.1.According to the story Doctor Reefy’s life seems very __________.A. eccentricB. normalC. enjoyableD. optimistic2.The story tells us that the tall dark girl was in the family way. The phrase “in the family way” means____________.A. troubledB. PregnantC. twistedD. cheated3.Doctor Reef lives a ___________ life.A. happyB. miserableC. easy-goingD. reckless4. The tall dark girl’s marriage to Doctor Reef proves to bea _____ one.A. transientB. understandableC. perfectD. funny5. Doctor Reef’s paper balls probably symbolize his ______.A eagerness to shut himself away from societyB suppressed desire to communicate with peopleC optimism about lifeD cynical attitude towards life参考答案:A B B A B。
英语专业八级考试阅读理解试题带答案英语专业八级考试阅读理解试题带答案形成天才的决定因素应该是勤奋。
以下是店铺为大家搜索整理的英语专业八级考试阅读理解试题带答案,希望能给大家带来帮助!Cryptic ColoringCryptic coloring is by far the commonest use of color in the struggle for existence. It is employed for the purpose of attack (aggressive resemblance or anticryptic coloring ) as well as of defense (protective resemblance or procryptic coloring ). The fact that the same method concealment, may be used both for attack and defense has been well explained by T.Belt who suggests as an illustration the rapidity of movement which is also made use of by both pursuer and pursued, which is similarly raised to a maximum in both by the gradual dying out of the slowest through a series of generations.Cryptic coloring is commonly associated with other aids in the struggle for life. Thus well-concealed mammals and birds, when discovered, will generally endeavor to escape by speed and will often attempt to defend themselves actively. On the other hand, small animals which have no means of active defense, such as large, numbers of insects, frequently depend upon concealment alone. Protective resemblance is far commoner among animals than aggressive resemblance, in correspondence with the fact that predaceous forms are as a rule much larger and much less numerous than their prey. In the case of insectivorous Vertebrata and their prey such differences exist in an exaggerated form.Cryptic coloring, whether used for defense of attack, may be either general or special. In general resemblance the animal, inconsequence of its coloring, produces the same effect as its environment, but the conditions do not require any special adaptation of shape and outline. General resemblance is especially common among the animal inhabiting some uniformly colored expanse of the earth’s surface, such as an ocean or a desert. In the former, animals of all shapes are frequently protected by their transparent blue color, on the latter, equally diverse forms are defended by their sandy appearance. The effect of a uniform appearance may be produced by a combination of tints in startling contrast. Thus the black and white stripes of the zebra blend together at a little distance, and “their proportion is such as exactly to match the pale tint which arid ground possesses when seen by moonlight.” Special resemblance is far commoner than general and is the form which is usually met with on the diversified surface of the earth, on the shores, and in shallow water, as well as on the floating masses of algae on the surface of the ocean, such as the Sargasso Sea. In these environments the cryptic coloring of animals is usually aided by special modifications of shape, and by the instinct which leads them to assume particular attitudes. Complete stillness and the assumption of a certain attitude play an essential part in general resemblance on land; but in special resemblance the attitude is often highly specialized, and perhaps more important than any other element in the complex method by which concealment is effected.In special resemblance the combination of coloring, shape, and attitude is such as to produce a more or less exact resemblance to some one of the objects in the environment, such as a leaf of twig, a patch of lichen, a flake of bark. In all cases the resemblance is to some object which is of no interest to theenemy or prey respectively. The animal is not hidden from view by becoming indistinguishable from its background as in the case of general resemblance, but it is mistaken for some well-know object.seeking the interpretation of these most interesting and elaborate adaptations, attempts have been made along two lines. The first seeks to explain the effect as a result of the direct influence of the environment upon the individual (G.L.L.Buffon), or by the inherited effects of efforts and the use and disuse of parts (marck). The second believes that natural selection produced the result and afterwards maintained it by the survival of the best concealed in each generation.The former suggestion breaks down when the complex nature of numerous special resemblances is appreciated. Thus the arrangement of colors of many kinds into an appropriate pattern requires the cooperation of a suitable shape and the rigidly exact adoption of a certain elaborate attitude. The latter is instinctive and thus depends on the central nervous system. The cryptic effect is due to the exact cooperation of all these factors; and in the present state of science, the only possible hole of an interpretation lies in the theory of natural selection, which can accumulate any and every variation which tends toward survival.A few of the chief types of methods by which concealment is effected may be briefly described. The colors of large numbers of vertebrate animals are darkest on the back and become gradually lighter on the sides, passing into white on the belly. Abbot H. Thayer has suggested that this gradation obliterates the appearance of solidity, which is due to shadow.The color harmony, which is also essential to concealment, is produced because the back is of the same tint as theenvironment (e. g. earth), bathed in the cold blue-white of the sky, while the belly, being cold blue-white and bathed in shadow and yellow earth reflections produces the same effects. This method of neutralizing shadow for the purpose of concealment by increased lightness of tint was first suggested by E.B.Poulton in the case of a larva and a pupa, but he did not appreciate the great importance of the principle. In an analogous method an animal in front of a background of dark shadow may have part of its body obliterated by the existence of a dark tint, the remainder resembling, e.g., a part of a leaf. This method of rendering invisible any part which would interfere with the resemblance is well know in mimicry.1. The black and white stripes of the zebra are most useful form[A] hunters. [B] nocturnal predators[C] lions and tigers. [C] insectivorous Vertrbrata2. Aggressive resemblance occurs when[A] a predaceous attitude is assumed.[B] special resemblance is utilized.[C] an animal relies on speed.[D] an animal blends in with its background.3. Special resemblance differs from general resemblance in that the animal relies on[A] its ability to frighten its adversary. [B] speed.[C] its ability to assume an attitude. [D] mistaken identify4. The title below that best expresses the ides of this passage is[A] Cryptic coloration for Protection. [B] How Animals Survive.[C] The uses of Mimicry in Nature. [D] Resemblances of Animals.5. Of the following which is the least common?[A] protective resemblance. [B] General resemblance.[C] Aggressive resemblance. [D] Special resemblance.答案详解:1. B. 夜间活动的食肉动物。
英语专八考试阅读练习及答案解析英语专八考试阅读练习及答案解析no pain, no gain. 以下是我为大家搜寻整理的英语专八考试阅读练习及答案解析,期望能给大家带来帮忙!更多精彩内容请准时关注我们应届毕业生考试网!The British psychoanalyst John Bowlby maintains that separation from the parents during the sensitive "attachment' period from birth to three may scar a childs personality and predispose to emotional problems in later life. Some people have drawn the conclusion from Bowlbys work that children should not be subjected to day care before the age of three because of the parental separation it entails, and many people do believe this. But there are also arguments against such a strong conclusion.Firstly, anthropologists point out that the insulated love affair between children and parents found in modern societies does not usually exist in traditional societies. For example, we saw earlier that among the Ngoni the father and mother of a child did not rear their infant alone--far from it. Secondly, common sense tells us that day care would not so widespread today if parents, caretakers found children had problems with it. Statistical studies of this kind have not yet been carried out, and even if they were, the results would be certain to be complicated and controversial. Thirdly, in the last decade, there have been a number of careful American studies of children in day care, and they have uniformly reported that day care hada neutral or slightly positive effect on childrens development. But tests that have had to be used to measure this development are not widely enough accepted to settle the issue.But Bowlbys analysis raises the possibility that early day care has delayed effects. The possibility that such care might lead to, say, more mental illness or crime 15 or 20 years later can only be explored by the use of statistics. Whatever the long-term effects, parents sometimes find the immediate effects difficult to deal with. Children under three are likely to protest at leaving their parents and show unhappiness. At the age of three or three and a half almost all children find the transition to nursery easy, and this is undoubtedly why more and more parents make use of child care at this time. The matter, then, is far from clear-cut, though experience and available evidence indicate that early care is reasonable for infants.1. This passage primarily argues that ___.A. infants under the age of three should not be sent to nursery schools.B. whether children under the age of three should be sent to nursery schools.C. there is not negative long-term effect on infants who are sent to school before they are three.D. there is some negative effect on children when they are sent to school after the age of three.2. The phrase "predispose to' (Para. 1, line 3) most probably means ___.A. lead toB. dispose toC. get intoD. tend to suffer3. According to Bowlbys analysis, it is quite possible that ___.A. childrens personalities will be changed to some extent through separation from their parents.B. early day care can delay the occurrence of mental illness in children.C. children will be exposed to many negative effects from early day care later on.D. some long-term effects can hardly be reduced from childrens development.4. It is implied but not stated in the second paragraph that ___.A. traditional societies separate the child from the parent at an early age.B. Children in modern societies cause more troubles than those in traditional societies.C. A child did not live together with his parents among the Ngoni.D. Children in some societies did not have emotional problems when separated from the parents.5. The writer concludes that ___.A. it is difficult to make clear what is the right age for nursery school.B. It is not settled now whether early care is reasonable for children.C. It is not beneficial for children to be sent to nursery school.D. It is reasonable to subject a child above three to nursery school.答案:BDCAD文档内容到此结束,欢迎大家下载、修改、丰富并分享给更多有需要的人。
精读原文:Passage 1 The Law to Keep the Oil Industry under ControlThe Norwegian Government is doing its best to keep the oil industry under control. A new law limits exploration to an area south of the southern end of the long coastline; production limits have been laid down (though these have already been raised); and oil companies have not been allowed to employ more than a limited number of foreign workers.But the oil industry has a way of getting over such problems, and few people believe that the Government will be able to hold things back for long.As on Norwegian politician said last week: "We will soon be changed beyond all recognition."Ever since the war, the Government has been carrying out a programme of development in the area north of the Arctic Circle. During the past few years this programme has had a great deal of success: Tromso has been built up into a local capital with a university, a large hospital and a healthy industry.But the oil industry has already started to draw people south, and within a few years the whole northern policy could be in ruins.The effects of the oil industry would not be limited to the north, however. With nearly 100 percent employment, everyone can see a situation developing in which the service industries and the tourist industry will lose more of their workers to the oil industry. Some smaller industries might even disappear altogether when it becomes cheaper to buy goods from abroad.The real argument over oil is its threat to the Norwegian way of life. Farmers and fishermen do not make up most of the population, but they are an important part of it, because Norwegians see in them many of the qualities that they regard with pride as essentially Norwegian.And it is the farmers and the fishermen who are most critical of the oil industry because of the damage that it might cause to the countryside and to the sea.【阅读练习题】1.The Norwegian Government would prefer the oil industry to[A] provide more jobs for foreign workers.[B]slow down the rate of its development.[C] sell the off it is producing abroad.[D] develop more quickly than at present.2.The Norwegian Government has tried to[A] encourage the off companies to discover new off sources.[B]prevent oil companies employing people from northern Norway.[C] help the oil companies solve many of their problems.[D] keep the off industry to something near its present size.3.According to the passage, the off industry might lead northern Norway to[A] the development of industry.[B]a growth in population.[C] the failure of the development programme.[D] the development of new towns.4.In the south, one effect to the development of the oil industry might be[A] a large reduction on unemployment.[B]a growth in the tourist industry.[C] a reduction in the number of existing industries.[D] the development of a number of service industries.5.Norwegian farmers and fishermen have an important influence because[A] they form such a large part of Norwegian ideal.[B]their lives and values represent the Norwegian ideal.[C] their work is so useful to the rest of Norwegian society.[D] they regard off as a threat to the Norwegian way of life.1-5BDCCBPassage 2 TV's HarmfulnessYes, but what did we use to do before there was television? How often we hear statements like this!Television hasn't been with us all that long, but we are already beginning to forget what the world was like without it. Before we admitted the one-eyed monster into our homes, we never fond it difficult to occupy our spare time. We used to enjoy civilized pleasures. For instance, we used to have hobbies, we used to entertain our friends and be entertained by them, we used to go outside for our amusements to theatres, cinemas, restaurants and sporting events.We even used to read books and listen to music and broadcast talks occasionally. All that belongs to the past. Now all our free time is regulated by the goggle box. We rush home or gulp down our meals to be in time for this or that programme.We have even given up sitting at table and having a leisurely evening meal, exchanging the news of the day. A sandwich and a glass of beer will do一anything, providing it down't interfere with the programme. The monster demands and obtains absolute silence and attention.If any member of the family dares to open his mouth during a programme, he is quickly silenced.Whole generations are growing up addicted to the telly. Food is left uneaten, homework undone and sleep is lost.The telly is a universal pacifier. It is now standard practice for mother to keep the children quiet by putting them in the living-room and turning on the set.It doesn't matter that the children will watch rubbishy commercials or spectacles of sadism and violence一so long as they are quiet.There is a limit to the amount of creative talent available in the world. Every day, television consumes vast quantities of creative work. That is why most of the programmes are so bad: it is impossible to keep pace with the demand and maintain high standards as well.When millions watch the same programmes, the whole world becomes a village, and society is reduced to the conditions which obtain in preliterate communities. We become utterly dependent on the two most primitive media of communication: pictures and the spoken word.Television encourages passive enjoyment. We become content with second-hand experiences. It is so easy to sit in our armchairs watching others working. Little by little, television cuts us off from the real world.We get so lazy, we choose to spend a fine day in semi-darkness, glued to our sets, rather than go out into the world itself. Television may be s splendid medium of communication, but it prevents us from communicating with each other.We only become aware how totally irrelevant television is to real living when we spend a holiday by the sea or in the mountains, far away from civilization. In quiet, natural surroundings, we quickly discover how little we miss the hypnotic tyranny of King Telly.【阅读词汇学习】1.What is the biggest harm of TV?[A] It deprives people of communication with the real world.[B]People become lazy.[C] People become dependent on second-hand experience.[D] TV consumes a large part of one' s life.2.In what way can people forget TV?[A] Far away from civilization.[B]To a mountain.[C] By the sea.[D] In quiet natural surroundings.3.What does a mother usually do to keep her children quiet?[A] Let them watch the set.[B]Put them in the living room.[C]Let them watch the rubbish.[D]Let them alone.4.What does the first sentence in the first paragraph mean?[A] We found it difficult to occupy our spare time.[B]We become addicted to TV[C] What we used to do is different from now.[D] We used to enjoy civilized pleasures.1-4ADABPassage 3 Strictly Ban smokingIf you smoke and you still don't believe that there's a definite link between smoking and bronchial troubles, heart disease and lung cancer, then you are certainly deceiving yourself. No one will accuse you of hypocrisy. Let us just say that you are suffering from a bad case of wishful thinking.This needn't make you too uncomfortable because you are in good company. Whenever the subject of smoking and health is raised, the governments of most countries hear no evil, see no evil and smell no evil. Admittedly, a few governments have taken timid measures.In Britain for instance, cigarette advertising has been banned on television. The conscience of the nation is appeased, while the population continues to puff its way to smoky, cancerous death.You don' t have to look very far to find out why the official reactions to medical findings have been so lukewarm. The answer is simply money. Tobacco is a wonderful commodity to tax. It' s almost like a tax on our daily bread.In tax revenue alone, the government of Britain collects enough from smokers to pay for its entire educational facilities. So while the authorities point out ever so discreetly that smoking may, conceivable, be harmful, it down't do to shout too loudly about it.This is surely the most short-sighted policy you could imagine. While money is eagerly collected in vast sums with one hand, it is paid out in increasingly vaster sums with the other. Enormous amounts are spent on cancer research and on efforts to cure people suffering from the disease.Countless valuable lives are lost. In the long run, there is no doubt that everybody would be much better-off if smoking were banned altogether.Of course, we are not ready for such a drastic action. But if the governments of the world were honestly concerned about the welfare of their peoples, you'd think they'd conduct aggressive anti-smoking campaigns. Far from it! The tobacco industry is allowed to spend staggering sums on advertising.Its advertising is as insidious as it is dishonest. We are never shown pictures of real smokers coughing up their lungs early in the morning. That would never do. The advertisement always depict virile, clean-shaven young men. They suggest it is manly to smoke, even positively healthy!Smoking is associated with the great open-air life, with beautiful girls, true love and togetherness. What utter nonsense!For a start, governments could begin by banning all cigarette and tobacco advertising and should then conduct anti-smoking advertising campaigns of their own. Smoking should be banned in all public places like theatres, cinemas and restaurants. Great efforts should be made to informyoung people especially of the dire consequences of taking up the habit. A horrific warning say, a picture of a death's head should be included in every packet of cigarettes that is sold. As individuals, we are、certainly weak, but if governments acted honestly and courageously, they could protect us from ourselves.【阅读练习题】1.Why do a few governments take timid measures toward smoking?[A] because they are afraid of people.[B]Because diseases cost a lot.[C] Because they are afraid of the cutting down of their revenue.[D] Because they are afraid of manufacturers.2.The tone of this passage is[A] critical.[B]ironical.[C]distaste.[D]amusm3.What does the sentence "because you are in good company" mean?[A] you are backed by the government.[B]You are not alone.[C] You have good colleagues.[D] Governments are blind to evils of smoking too.4.What is the best title of this passage?[A] World Governments should conduct serious campaigns against smoking.[B]World governments take timid measures against smoking.[C] smoking is the most important source of income to many countries.[D] tobacco industry spends a large sum of money on medical research.1-4 CBDAPassage 4 On the President's ProgramPresident Arling has put his long awaited economic restructuring program before the Congress. It provides a coordinated program of investment credits, research grants, education reforms, and changes designed to make American industry more competitive. This is necessary to reverse economic slide into unemployment, lack of growth, and trade deficits that have plagued the economy for the past six years.The most liberal wing of the President' s party has called for stronger and more direct action.They want an incomes policy to check inflation while federal financing helps rebuild industry behind a wall of protective tariffs.The Republicans, however, decry even the modest, graduated tax increases in the President' s program.They want tax cuts and more open market. They say if federal money has to be injected into the economy, let it through defence spending.Both these alternatives ignore the unique nature of the economic problem before us. It is not simply a matter of markets or financing. The new technology allows vastly increased production for those able to master it.But it also threatens those who fail to adopt it with permanent second-class citizenship in the world economy. If an industry cannot lever itself up to the leading stage of technological advances, then it will not be able to compete effectively. If it cannot do this, no amount of government protectionism or access to foreign markets can keep it profitable for long.Without the profits and experience of technological excellence to reinvest, that industry can only fall still further behind its foreign competitors.So the crux is the technology and that is where the President' s program focused. The danger is not that a plan will not be passed, it is that the ideologues of right and left will distort the bill with amendments that will blur its focus on technology. The economic restructuring plan should be passed intact.If we fail to restructure our economy now, we may not get a second chance.【阅读练习题】1.The focus of the President' s program is on[A]investment.[B]economy.[C] technology.}D} tax.2.What is the requirement of the most liberal wing of the Democratic-party?[A] They want a more direct action.[B]They want an incomes policy to check inflation.[C]They want to rebuild industry.[D]They want a wall of protective tariffs.3.What is the editor' s attitude?[A] support.[B]distaste.[C] Disapproval.[D] Compromise.4.The danger to the plan lies in[A] the two parties'objection.[B]different idea of the two parties about the plan.[C] its passage.[D1 distortion.5.The passage is[A] a review.[B]a preface.[C] a advertisement.[D1 an editorial.1-5 CAADDPassage 5 MulesAlthough the top men in smuggling business must work together, most of a syndicate's small fry, especially the mules, know only their immediate contacts. If caught there is little they can give away.A mule probably will not even know the name of the person who gives him his instructions, nor how to get in touch with him. Usually he even does not know the person to whom he has to make delivery.He will be told just to sit tight in a certain hotel or bar until someone contacts him. In this way if he is blown, coming through airport customs he cannot unwittingly lead agents to the next link in the chain.All the persons at the receiving end do is to hang around the airport among the waiting crowd, and see that the mule comes through safely. If he does not, he is dimply written off as a loss.To make identification of mules easier, several syndicates have devised their own "club ties" so that a mule wearing one can immediately be picked out.Mules often receive careful training before embarking on their first journey. One Beirut organization, for example, uses a room with three airline seats in it. There the trainee mules sit for hours on end wearing weighted smuggling vests beneath their clothes, so that they become accustomed to standing up after a long flight in a natural way, and without revealing what they are carrying.An outfit in Brussels maintained a comfortable apartment where the mules could relax and get a firm grip on themselves on the night before their first journey; they were helped to dress before setting out for the airport in the morning. More often than not a courier will not know precisely where he is going or what flight number is until he is actually handed his tickets at the airport.This prevents the careless boast in some bar or to a girl friend the night before.Mules occasionally run off with the goods to keep the profit themselves. As insurance against this, a syndicate often sends a high-up on the same plane to keep a wary eye on couriers, particularly new ones. Even then things can go badly wrong. One international currency smuggler who was having trouble getting money out of Britain was offered help by a group of men who said they were in a position to "fix thing"一for a fee of course. Foolishly, the smuggler agreed to accept their help.When he got to London's Heathrow Airport, he handed over to one of the men a black suitcase containing nearly $90,000 in cash, destined for Frankfurt. Just to keep an eye on things, the smuggler went along on the same plane. When they landed at Frankfurt he was handed back his suitcase.He beat a straight path to the men's toilet, opened the case, and found only old clothes. The courier had switched suitcase en route, but the smuggler could hardly run to the police and complain that "the man who was smuggling money out of England for me has stolen it."【阅读练习题】1.What is a "mule"?[A] A person who sends smuggling goods for a syndicate is called mule.[B]A person in charge of smuggling goods is called mule.[C] A person who makes delivery for a syndicate is called mule.[D] A person who receives instructions from a smuggler is called mule.2.The sentence "if he is blown" in line (6) is closest in meaning to[A] if he is arrested.[B]if he is recognized, but not necessarily arrested.[C] if he is recognized and arrested.[D] if he runs away.3.Why does the author give an example in the last paragraph?[A] To show how a smuggler is caught.[B]To show a smuggler is afraid of the police.[C] To show to keep a wary eye on couriers is useless.[D] To show mules may keep the profit for themselves.4.how does a mule work?[A] Jointly.[B]Independently.[C] consciously.[D] Separately.1-4 CBDDPassage 6 Contribution of CoeducationImagining being asked to spend twelve or so years of your life in a society which consisted only of members of own sex. How would you react? Unless there was something definitely wrong with you, you wouldn't be too happy about it, to say the least. It is all the more surprising therefore that so many parents in the world choose to impose such abnormal conditions on their children conditions which they themselves wouldn't put up with for one minute!Any discussion of this topic is bound to question the aims of education. Stuffing children's heads full of knowledge is far from being foremost among them. One of the chief aims of educations is to equip future citizens with all they require to take their place in adult society.Now adult society is made up of men and women, so how can a segregated school possibly offer the right sort of preparation for it?Anyone entering adult society after years of segregation can only be in for a shock.A co-educational school offers children nothing less than a true version of society in miniature. Boys and girls are given the opportunity to get to know each other, to learn to live together from their earliest years.They are put in a position where they can compare themselves with each other in terms of academic ability, athletic achievement and many of the extra-curricular activities which are part of school life.What a practical advantage it is(to give just a small example)to be able to put on a school play in which the male parts will be taken by boys and the female parts by girls! What nonsense co-education makes of the argument that boys are cleverer than girl or vice-versa.When segregated, boys and girls are made to feel that they are a race apart. Rivalry between the sexes is fostered.In a coeducational school, everything falls into its proper place. But perhaps the greatest contribution of co-education is the healthy attitude to life it encourages.Boys don't grow up believing that women are mysterious creatures一airy goddesses, more like book-illustrations to a fairy-tale, than human beings. Girls don't grow up imagining that men are romantic heroes.Years of living together at school dispel illusions of this kind. There are no goddesses with freckles, pigtails, piercing voices and inky fingers. There are no romantic heroes with knobbly knees, dirty fingernails and unkempt hair. The awkward stage of adolescence brings into sharp focus some of the physical and emotional problems involved in growing up. These can better be overcome in a co-educational environment.Segregated schools sometimes provide the right conditions for sexual deviation. This is hardly possible under a co-educational system. When the time comes for the pupils to leave school, they are fully prepared to enter society as well-adjusted adults.They have already had years of experience in coping with many of the problems that face men and women.【阅读练习题】1.What is the best title for this passage?[A] only co-education can be in harmony with society.[B]people are in great need of co-education.[C] any form of education other than co-education is simply unthinkable.[D] co-education has many features.2.what does co-education offer to children?[A] A society.[B]A true small model of society.[C] A real life.[D] 1}ue version of social condition.3.According to the passage, what is one of the chief aims of education?[A] It is for students to acquire knowledge.[B]It is to equip future citizens with scientific technology.[C] It is to equip future citizens with what is required in getting a position in society.[D] It is for students to get academic achievements.4.Why do boys and girls in co-education have no illusion about each other?[A] They live together and know each other too well.[B]Years of living together at school dismiss such illusion.[C] co-education encourage them to have an healthy attitude toward life.[D] They are familiar with each other' s problems.CBCBPassage 7 Antarctica and EnvironmentAntarctica has actually become a kind of space station a unique observation post for detecting important changes in the world' s environment. Remote from major sources of pollution and the complex geological and ecological systems that prevail elsewhere, Antarctica makes possible scientific measurements that are often sharper and easier to interpret than those made in other parts of the world.Growing numbers of scientists therefore see Antarctica as a distant-early-warning sensor, where potentially dangerous global trends may be spotted before they show up to the north. One promising field of investigation is glaciology. Scholars from the United States, Switzerland, and France are pursuing seven separate but related projects that reflect their concern for the health of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet一a concern they believe the world at large should share.The Transantarctic Mountain, some of them more than 14,000 feet high, divide the continent into two very different regions. The part of the continent to the "east" of the mountains is a high plateau covered by an ice sheet nearly two miles thick. "West" of the mountain, the half of the continent south of the Americas is also covered by an ice sheet, but there the ice rests on rock that is mostly well below sea level. If the West Antarctic Ice Sheet disappeared, the western part of the continent would be reduced to a sparse cluster of island.While ice and snow are obviously central to many environmental experiments, others focus on the mysterious "dry valley" of Antarctica, valleys that contain little ice or snow even in the depths of winter. Slashed through the mountains of southern Victoria Land, these valleys once held enormous glaciers that descended 9,000 feet from the polar plateau to the Ross Sea.Now the glaciers are gone,perhaps a casualty of the global warming trend during the 10,000 years since the ice age. Even the snow that falls in the dry valleys is blasted out by vicious winds that roars down from the polar plateau to the sea. Left bare are spectacular gorges, rippled fields of sand dunes, clusters of boulders sculptured into fantastic shapes by 100-mile-an-hour winds, and an aura of extraterrestrial desolation.Despite the unearthly aspect of the dry valleys, some scientists believe they may carry a message of hope of the verdant parts of the earth. Some scientists believe that in some cases the dry valleys may soak up pollutants faster than pollutants enter them.【阅读练习题】1.What is the best title for this passage?[A] Antarctica and environmental Problems.[B]Antarctica: Earth' s Early-Warning station.[C] Antarctica: a Unique Observation Post.[D] Antarctica: a Mysterious Place.2.What would the result be if the West Antarctic Ice Sheet disappeared?[A] The western part of the continent would be disappeared.[B]The western part of the continent would be reduced.[C] The western part of the continent would become scattered Islands.[D] The western part of the continent would be reduced to a cluster of Islands.3.Why are the Dry Valleys left bare?[A] Vicious wind blasts the snow away.[B]It rarely snows.[C] Because of the global warming trend and fierce wind.[D] Sand dunes.4.Which of the following is true?[A]The "Dry Valleys" have nothing left inside.[B]The "Dry Valleys" never held glaciers.[C]The "Dry Valleys"may carry a message of hope for the verdant.[D]The "Dry Valleys"are useless to scientists.ADCCPassage 8 The Neutrality of American in the Early World War IIThe establishment of the Third Reich influenced events in American history by starting a chain of events which culminated in war between Germany and the United States. The compete destruction of democracy, the persecution of Jews, the war on religion, the cruelty and barbarism of the Nazis, and especially the plans of Germany and her allies, Italy and Japan, for world conquest caused great indignation in this country and brought on fear of another world war.While speaking out against Hitler' s atrocities, the American people generally favored isolationist policies and neutrality.The Neutrality Acts of 1935 and 1936 prohibited trade with any belligerents or loans to them. In 1937 the President was empowered to declare an arms embargo in wars between nations at his discretion.American opinion began to change somewhat after President Roosevelt' s "quarantine the aggressor" speech at Chicago (1937) in which he severely criticized Hitler' s policies. Germany's seizure of Austria and the Munich Pact for the partition of Czechoslovakia (1938) also aroused the American people.The conquest of Czechoslovakia in March, 1939 was another rude awakening to the menace of the Third Reich. In August,1939 came the shock of the Nazi-soviet Pact and in September the attack on Poland and the outbreak of European war.The United States attempted to maintain neutrality in spite of sympathy for the democracies arrayed against the Third Reich. The Neutrality Act of 1939 repealed the arms embargo and permitted "cash and carry" exports of arms to belligerent nations. A strong national defense program was begun.A draft act was passed (1940) to strengthen the military services. A Lend Act (1941) authorized the President to sell, exchange, or lend materials to any country deemed necessary by him for the defense of the United States. Help was given to Britain by exchanging certain overage destroyers for the right to establish American bases in British territory in the Western Hemisphere. In August, 1940 President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill met and issued the Atlantic Charter which proclaimed the kind of a world which should be established after the war.In December, 1941, Japan launched the unprovoked attack on the United States at Pearl Harbor.Immediately thereafter, Germany declared war on the United States.【阅读练习题】l.One item occurring before 1937 that the author does not mention in his list of actions that。
英语专八考试历年阅读理解练习及答案详解英语专八考试历年阅读理解练习及答案详解天才就是这样,终身劳动,便成天才!以下是店铺为大家搜索整理的.英语专八考试历年阅读理解练习及答案详解,希望对正在关注的您有所帮助!In Britain, the old Road Traffic Act restricted speeds to 2 m.p.h. (miles per hour) in towns and 4 m.p.h. in the country. Later Parliament increased the speed limit to 14 m.p.h. But by 1903 the development of the car industry had made it necessary to raise the limit to 20 m.p.h. By 1930, however, the law was so widely ignored that speeding restrictions were done away with altogether. For five years motorists were free to drive at whatever speeds they likes. Then in 1935 the Road Traffic Act imposed a 30 m.p.h. speed limit in built-up areas, along with the introduction of driving tests and pedestrian crossing.Speeding is now the most common motoring offence in Britain. Offences for speeding fall into three classes: exceeding the limit on a restricted road, exceeding on any road the limit for the vehicle you are driving, and exceeding the 70 m.p.h. limit on any road. A restricted road is one where the street lamps are 200 yards apart, or more.The main controversy (争论) surrounding speeding laws is the extent of their safety value. The Ministry of Transport maintains that speed limits reduce accidents. It claims that when the 30 m.p.h. limit was introduced in 1935 there was a fall of 15 percent in fatal accidents. Likewise, when the 40 m.p.h. speed limit was imposed on a number of roads in London in the late fifties, there was a 28 percent reduction in serious accidents. There were also fewer casualties (伤亡) in the year after the 70m.p.h. motorway limit was imposed in 1966.In America, however, it is thought that the reduced accident figures are due rather to the increase in traffic density. This is why it has even been suggested that the present speed limits should be done away with completely, or that a guide should be given to inexperienced drivers and the speed limits made advisory, as is done in parts of the USA.Questions: (注意:答题尽量简短,超过10个词要扣分。
第8篇:The Development of Cities精读原文:The Development of CitiesMass transportation revised the social and economic fabric of the American city in three fundamental ways. It catalyzed physical expansion, it sorted out people and land uses, and it accelerated the inherentinstability of urban life. By opening vast areas of unoccupied land for residential expansion, the omnibuses, horse railways, commuter trains, and electric trolleys pulled settled regions outward two to four times more distant form city centers than they were in the premodern era. In 1850, for example, the borders of Boston lay scarcely two miles from the old business district; by the turn of the century the radius extended ten miles. Now those who could afford it could live far removed from the old city center and still commute there for work, shopping, and entertainment. The new accessibility of land around the periphery of almost every major city sparked an explosion of real estate development and fueled what we now know as urban sprawl. Between 1890 and 1920, for example, some 250,000 new residential lots were recorded within the borders of Chicago, most of them located in outlying areas.Over the same period, another 550,000 were plotted outside the city limits but within the metropolitan area. Anxious to take advantage of the possibilities of commuting, real estate developers added 800,000 potential building sites to the Chicago region in just thirty years一lots that could have housed five to six million people.Of course, many were never occupied; there was always a huge surplus of subdivided, but vacant,land around Chicago and other cities. These excesses underscore a feature of residential expansion related to the growth of mass transportation: urban sprawl was essentially unplanned. It was carried out by thousands of small investors who paid little heed to coordinated land use or to future land users.Those who purchased and prepared land for residential purposes, particularly land near or outside city borders where transit lines and middle-class inhabitants were anticipated, did so to create demand as much as to respond to it. Chicago is a prime example of this process. Real estate subdivision there proceeded much faster than population growth.【阅读练习题】1.With which of the following subjects is the passage mainly concerned?[A] Types of mass transportation.[B]Instability of urban life.[C] How supply and demand determine land use.[D] The effect of mass transportation on urban expansion.2.Why does the author mention both Boston and Chicago?[A] To demonstrate positive and negative effects of growth.{B]To exemplify cities with and without mass transportation.[C] To show mass transportation changed many cities.[D] To contrast their rate of growth.3.According to the passage, what was one disadvantage of residential expansion?[A] It was expensive.[B]It happened too slowly.[C] It was unplanned.[D] It created a demand for public transportation.4.The author mentions Chicago in the second paragraph as an example of a city,[A] that is large.[B]that is used as a model for land development.[C] where the development of land exceeded population growth.[D] with an excellent mass transportation system.【答案详解】1.D公共交通运输对城市扩展的影响。
文章开门见山提出这一点“公共交通运输从三个根本方面改变了美国城市的社会和经济结构。
”后面文章内容就是三方面的具体化。
A.公共交通运输类型。
B.城市生活的不稳定性。
C.供需如何决定土地利用。
这三项文中作为具体问题提到,并不是文章涉及的主要题目。
2.C说明公共交通改变了许多城市。
答案箭第一段第四句“举例说,1850年,波士顿市界离老的商业地区儿乎不到2英里,到了这世纪末,其半径扩至10英里。
现在供得起的人们可以住得很远,远离老的城市中心,仍然来回去那里上班、购物和娱乐”。
第七句,“举例说,在1890至1920年期问,据记载,芝加哥市界内有约250, 000个新的住宅楼区大多数设在郊区。
经过同样这段时期,市区外,但仍在芝加哥大都市地区内,又计划建造了550, 000个住宅楼区。
”A.表示成长的正反两方面效果。
B.举有无公共交通运输的城市为例。
D.对比两者成长率;都不是本文中举两城市例了的目的。
3.C没有计划。
见第二段第三句起“城市扩展蔓延根本无计划,好儿千个小的投资商进行扩展,毫不考虑相互协调配合利用土地,也不考虑未来土地利用。
”A.太贵和B.太慢,两个选项,文内没有提。
D.它创造了对公共交通运输的需求。
这不是住宅扩展的一个缺点,而是三个根本改变城市的一个方面。
见第一段第三句:“通过大量开发未占土地扩建住宅,公共汽车、马车、铁路、来回火车,有轨电车把已有人定居的居住区向外扩展了三四倍,比他们先现代时期的市中心更远。
”4.C(第二段中以芝加哥城市例了说明)土地开发超过人口增长速度。
答案详见第二段“这些购买和置备土地建设住宅,特别是购置临近城市或就在市界外的土地,抢在交通线路和中产阶层的居民进去之前。
他们这样做的目的是创造一种需求,也是响应这种需求。
芝加哥就是这种过程的典型例了。
那里的房地产小块土地比人口增长快得很多很多。
”A.城市大。
B.用作土地开发的样板。
D.具有优越的公共的交通系统。
【阅读词汇学习】l.revise修正2.fabric结构3.catalyze催化4.sort out把……分门别类,拣选5.omnibus公共汽车/马车6.trolley(美)有轨电车,(英)无轨电车7.periphery周围,边缘8.sprawl建筑物无计划延仲,蔓延,四面八方散开9.lot小片土地l0.underscore强调,在下面划横线ll.transit lines运输线路12.subdivision(出售的)小块土地,再划分小区【写作方法与文章大意】文章论述了“公共交通从三方面改变了城市的社会和经济结构。
”采用分类写法。
文章一开始就提出三方面:第一,促进城市实质性的扩展;第二,把人和土地分民别类加以利用;第三,加速了城市生活的不稳定性。
然后就是三方面的具体内容。