高级阅读试题库

高级阅读1Ⅰ. Choose the best answer.1. The _____ axles screaming — a device which is deliberately intended to keep the bullocks awake.A. oiledB. oilingC. unoiledD. unoiling2. If I hadn’t had to swallow, it _____ a dream come true.A. wasB. would have beenC. would beD. has been3．The shop assistant was dismissed as she was _____ of cheating customers.A. cursedB. accusedC. chargedD. scolded4. Last year they produced ______ than us.A. three times carsB. three times more carsC. three times cars thanD. three cars than5. It is essential these application forms _____ back as early as possible.A. be sentB. will be sentC. are sentD. must be sent6. Mr. Wang, _____ for his informative lecture, was warmly received by his students.A. having knownB. to be knownC. knownD. knowing7. Being black is much less of a drawback than _____ female.A. isB. beC. to beD. being8. I was the first _____ both handicaps at once.A. to overcomeB. overcameC. overcomeD. overcoming9. The damage to my car was _____ in the accident, but I have a lingering fear even today.A. insufficientB. ambiguousC. negligibleD. ignorant10. I’m sure your suggestion will_____ the problem.A. contribute to solvingB. be contributed to solvingC. be contributed to solvingD. contribute to solve11. That there is prejudice ______women is an idea that still strikes nearly all men.A. againstB. toC. forD. with12. It’s important to _____ between the rules of grammar and the conventions of written language.A. determineB. identifyC. distinguishD. explore13. He refused to go there ______ the price of the ticket.A. for thatB. becauseC. because ofD. for reason14. In fact as he approached this famous statue, he couldn’t resist the _____ to reach into his bag for his camera.A. impatienceB. impulseC. excitingD. interesting15. The children need help, ______ today.A. especialB. moreC. mostD. especially16. At yesterday’s party, Tom amused us by _____ Charlie Chaplin.A. modelingB. imitatingC. followingD. copying17. It was not until she reached the age of specialization _____she realized how well she had done.A. thatB. howC. whenD. while18. We can’t help being _____ of Bob who bought a luxurious sports car just after the moneywas stolen from the office.A. skepticalB. appreciativeC. tolerantD. suspicious19. Tom must say sorry to me when he is aware _____ the reason.A. forB. ofC. toD. about20. Those gifts of rare books that were given to us were deeply_____.A. approvedB. appreciatedC. appealedD. appliedⅡ.Complete the text.Passage oneIt has been estimated that at least 30 percent of the elderly live in substandard housing. Many more must deprive themselves 1 essentials to keep their homes in repair.The American dream promised older people that if they worked 2 all their lives, things would 3 well for them. Today’s elderly were brought up to believe in pride, self-reliance and 4 . Many are tough, determined individuals who manage to survive 5 adversity. But even the tough ones reach a point 6 help should be available to them.Age 7 in employment is unrestrained, with arbitrary retirement practices and bias against hiring 8 people for available jobs. Social Security penalizes the old by 9 their income checks as soon as they earn more than $2400 a year. Job-training programs don’t want the elderly, so there is no 10 to learn new skills. Employers rarely make concessions for the possible physical limitations of otherwise valuable older employees, and instead they are fired, retired or forced to resign.1. A. to B. for C. in D. of2. A. so hard B. hard enough C. hard so D. enough hard3. A. turn in B. turn on C. turn out D. turn up4. A. dependent B. dependence C. independent D. independence5. A. against B. to C. for D. with6. A. that B. where C. who D. which7. A. discriminate B. discrimination C. discriminated D. discriminates8. A. young B. younger C. older D. disable9. A. reducing B. reduce C. increase D. increasing10. A. ability B. possible C. opportunity D. reasonPassage twoWhether work should be placed among the causes of happiness or among the causes of unhappiness may perhaps be regarded 1 a doubtful question. There is certainly much work 2 is exceedingly irksome, and an excess of work is always very painful. I think, however, that, 3 work is not excessive in amount, even the dullest work is to most people less painful than idleness. There are in work all grades, from mere relief of tedium up to the profoundest delights, 4 to the nature of the work and the abilities of the worker. Most of the work that most people have to do is not in itself interesting, but even such work has certain great advantages. To begin with, it fills a good many hours of the day 5 the need of deciding what one shall do. Most people, when they are left free to fill their own time according to their own choice, are at a loss to think of 6 to be worth doing. And whatever.they decide on, they are troubled by the feeling that something else 7 pleasanter. To be able to fill leisure intelligently is the last product of civilization, and 8 very 9 people have reached this level. Moreover the exercise of choice is in itself tiresome. Except to people with unusual initiative it is positively agreeable to be told what to do at each hour of the day, provided the orders are not too 10 .1. A. in B. for C. on D. as2. A. who B. where C. which D. when3. A. think B. provided C. thought D. regard4. A. regard as B. suppose C. because of D. according to5. A. with B. not C. without D. but6. A. anything sufficient pleasant B. something sufficiently pleasantC. pleasant anythingD. pleasant something7. A. will have been B. would be pleasanterC. would have been pleasanterD. will pleasanter8. A. in present B. at present C. for present D. on present9. A. few B. a few C. a little D. little10. A. unpleasant B. pleasant C. pleased D. pleasureⅢ.Comprehension.Passage oneBoston is a tiny place. Even when inner urban “suburbs” such as Cambridge, Brookline,Somerville, and Chelsea are included, Greater Boston is still unusually small in scale for a major population center. That gives Boston much of its special flavor. Unfortunately, during times of great prosperity it also creates special challenges.Perhaps the most pressing of these challenges is housing. As the Phoenix’s special package on housing shows, the apartment shortage in Greater Boston has reached crisis proportions. Since the mid 1990s, rents have gone up by 50 percent or more in some neighborhoods. And even at these grossly inflated prices, apartments are still nearly impossible to come by. Nevertheless, some modest steps can be taken.It’s the old not-in-my-backyard syndrome: everyone knows there’s a housing shortage, but no one wants to see new housing come into his or her own neighborhood. Such opposition can be eased by involving local residents in planning for new housing. The lesson is that bottom-up solutions invariably work better than top-down edicts.Boston University, Boston College, Northeastern University, and MIT have taken major steps toward building housing for their students on their own campuses. During the 1960s and 1970s, student housing spread into neighborhoods such as the Fenway (near Northeastern) and Audubon Circle (near BU). Students kept such neighborhoods alive during those difficult years. But as neighborhoods become able to thrive on their own, universities should be encouraged, wherever possible, to pull back, thus opening up neighborhood housing to long-term residents.In his State of the City address in January, Mayor Tom Menino identified the housing crises as his number-one priority, and named a respected legislator, Charlotte Richie, as his housing czar. In a recently published interview, Boston Redevelopment Authority head Tom O’Brien spoke of the need to preserve the diversity of Boston’s neighborhoods, and identified the city’s residential character as one of its saving graces. Yet the city has been missing in action. At the very least, Menino should make a concerted effort to ease the housing shortage in neighborhoods where the problem is particularly acute.More important, Menino has to realize that he cannot deal with housing as an “in box”mayor, taking on an issue here, an issue there as they come up. He should work with officials in surrounding communities and convene a housing summit to consider a wide range of ideas.1.The author thinks that Boston is a tiny place, because _______.A.it is unusually small in scale for a major population centerB.it covers a small piece of landC.it has a small populationD.few people know about this city2.The author has suggested the following solutions to the housing crisis, EXCEPT______.A.involving grassrootsB.back to campusC.improving transportationernmental efforts3.What does the author mean by “not-in-my-backyard syndrome”?A.You can do whatever you like so long as you don’t bother me.B.It is none of my business, and I don’t care about it.C.No new houses should be built in my backyard.D.It is the mayor’s decision and I have had no word in it.4.The author’s attitude towards the government is ______.A.hopefulB.disappointedC.sarcasticD.bitter5.The author’s suggestion to the Mayor is _____.A.to sit in his office and listen to reportsB.to meet the mayors of nearby cities and listen to their opinionsC.to hold a meeting attend by high officials in his government and listen to their adviceD.to visit those bothered by lack of housing and listen to their complaintsPassage twoTrans World Entertainment Corporation, a leading retailer of entertainment products, announced that it had executed an agreement to purchase 19.99% of the outstanding capital stock of Woodstock Broadcasting Network Corp. The agreement offers Trans World Entertainment exclusivity to entertainment content on Woodstock Broadcasting Network for use on the Company’s web site, , which will be promoted throughout the Company’s retail stores.Woodstock Broadcasting Network Corp., a privately-held company, offers Radio Woodstock,a streaming Real Audio Internet radio station that now can be listened to free of charge,24 hours a day on . The station, , features a wide variety of music broadcasts including an exciting mixture of archived music, interviews with performers and talk programs, as well as live concerts and international music festivals. The site also has information about Woodstock’99, which will feature a diverse group of artists such as the Dave Matthews Band, Fat Boy Slim, Willie Nelson and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.The Company’s investment will provide Woodstock Broadcasting Network with sufficient working capital to enhance its site as well as to further develop and produce new entertainment content. In addition, the Company will offer Woodstock Broadcasting Network Corp. assistance in developing, marketing and promoting Radio Woodstock and .Gary Chetkof, Chief Executive Officer and President of Woodstock Broadcasting Network Corp. commented, “The ability to strategically align our company with the largest music retailer in the country presents us with many opportunities. In particular, we look forward to raising the visibility of Radio Woodstock and to providing the most ‘cutting edge’entertainment content on the Internet today.”1. Which information about Radio Woodstock is correct?A. It is an American company.B. It doesn’t provide live concerts.C. It is free internet radio station.D. It features a divers group of artists.2. doesn’t provide programs of ________.A. interviews with performersB. archived musicC. international music festivalsD. musical movies3. Which statement is INCORRECT about the results of the alignment?A. Trans World Entertainment has gained exclusivity to entertainment content onWoodstock Broadcasting Network for use on the Company’s web site.B. Radio Woodstock now can be listened to free of charge, 12 hours a day on .C. Woodstock Broadcasting Network has got more working capital.D. Trans World Entertainment will help Woodstock Broadcasting Network to promote itsinfluence.4. From the passage we can infer that ______.A. Woodstock Broadcasting Network Corp. is run by the state governmentB. Trans World Entertainment is now in charge of Radio WoodstockC. Trans World Entertainment Corporation has taken over the management of Woodstock Broadcasting Network Corp.D. Broadcasting Network Corp. is optimistic about the alignment5. “cutting edge” in the last paragraph can be best interpreted as ______.A. excitingB. trendyC. matureD. impressivePassage threeBritish cancer researches have found that childhood leukemia (白血病) is caused by an infection and clusters of cases around industrial sites are the result of population mixing that increases exposure. The research published in the British Journal of Cancer backs up a 1988 theory that some as yet unidentified infection causes leukemia — not the environmental factors widely blamed for the disease.“Childhood leukemia appears to be “an unusual result of a common infection,” said Sir Richard Doll, an internationally-known cancer expert who first linked tobacco with lung cancer in 1950. “A virus is the most likely explanation. You would get an increased risk of it if you suddenly put a lot of people from large towns in a rural area, where you might have people who had not been exposed to the infection.”Doll was commenting on the new findings by researchers at Newcastle University, which focused on a cluster of leukemia cases around the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant in Cumbria in northern England. Scientists have been trying to establish why there was more leukemia in children around the Sellafield area, but have failed to establish a link with radiation or pollution. The Newcastle University research by Heather Dichinson and Louise Parker showed the cluster of cases could have been predicted because of the amount of population mixing going on in the area, as large numbers of construction workers and nuclear staff moved into a rural setting. “Our study shows that population mixing can account for the (Shellafiled)leukemia cluster and that all children, whether their parents are incomers or locals, are at a higher risk if they are born in an area of high population mixing,”Dickinson said in a statement issued by the Cancer Research Campaign, which publishes the British Journal of Cancer.This paper adds crucial weight to the 1988 theory put forward by Leo Kinlen, a cancer epidemiologist at Oxford University, who said that exposure to a common unidentified infection through population mixing resulted in the disease.1.This passage is mainly about ______.A.the kind of infection that causes childhood leukemiaB.the causes of childhood leukemiaC. a new finding by British scientistsD. the cluster of leukemia cases around the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant2.Who first hinted at the possible cause of childhood leukemia by infection?A.Richard Doll.B.Lio Kinlen.C.Heather Dikckinson.D.Louise Parker.3.Which statement can be supported by Heather Dickinson and Louise Parker’s new findings?A.Childhood leukemia is caused by an unusual infection.B.Radiation has contributed to the disease.C.Putting a lot of people from rural area in a large towns increases the risk ofchildhood leukemia.D.Population mixing is the most important reason for leukemia cluster.4.What can you infer from the passage?A.Most people believe childhood leukemia is due to environmental factors.B.Radiation has nothing to do with childhood leukemia.C.Children born in a large town are at higher risk of leukemia.D.Population mixing best explains the cause of childhood leukemia.5.Cancer Research Campaign is most possibly a ______.ernmental agencyB.medical journalC.research instituteD.private companyPassage fourI grow up in the small town of Marshville, N.C.. My father raised turkeys and ran a construction company. I was barely ten years old when my dad gave me the responsibility of feeding the turkeys and cleaning out the barn. When I was not at the farm or in school, I helped at construction site by picking up wood and metal scraps.My first real paying job was as a country-music singer. My parents had a big collection of country record, which they were always playing. George Jones, Ernest Tubb and Tex Ritter were among the familiar voices of childhood.I was just nine years old when my father bought me and my three brothers guitars, drums and a piano. He wanted us to become country musicians and was confident we would succeed. We took music lessons, and soon my brother Ricky and I found a group called the Traywick --- that’s my real last name---Brothers. We played at the local Veterans of Foreign Wars hall and the Moose Lodge.Even though I wasn’t yet a teenager, my father believed it was important for me to have those jobs to learn responsibility and a solid work ethic. During my teenage years, I worked hard to develop my talents as a country singer.When I was 22 I wound up in Marshville, at a country-music supper club called the Marshville Palace. I washed dishes and cooked from 4p.m. to 9 p.m. and then went on stage and sang until two in the morning. It wasn’t long before I became known as “the singing cook”.I had been rejected so many times by record companies that it was hard not to be discouraged. One night, an executive from Warner Bros. Records came to hear me sing. Whenthe show over, we sat down and talked, and after she left, I said to myself , “What’s one more rejection?”A few weeks later, my manger received a phone call---Warner Bros. wanted to sign me to a record deal. Soon after, they picked a new last name for me, and I released my first album in June 1986. It sold over two million copies.My best effort has gone into every job I have ever held. Whether I was singing a Roy Rogers tune at the V.F.W. hall, feeding turkeys or hauling construction material, it was the sense of responsibility that made me feel like a man. Knowing that I had done my best filled me with pride.I still feel that way. People pay their hard-earned money to see me perform, and nothing is more important than putting on the best show possible.1. The author started working before ten, because_______.A. the family was poorB. his father was so busy that he needed his helpC. he wanted to earn some moneyD. his father wanted him to learn responsibility from work2. His father wanted him to become_________.A. a scholarB. a civil engineerC. a musicianD. an artist3. The author was known as “the singing cook” because_______.A. he always sang country songs while cookingB. he was as good a cook as a singerC. all cooks at the supper club could sing wellD. people were amused to know the singer at the supper club was at the same time a cook4. The first record company that signed a contract with him is ______.A. V.F.WB. Warner Bros.C. Marshville PalaceD. Traywick Brothers5. The author owns his success to his ______.A. effortB. talentC. confidenceD. sense of responsibilityPassage fiveBoston is a tiny place. Even when inner urban “suburbs” such as Cambridge, Brookline, Somerville, and Chelsea are included, Greater Boston is still unusually small in scale for a major population center. That gives Boston much of its special flavor. Unfortunately, during times of great prosperity it also creates special challenges.Perhaps the most pressing of these challenges is housing. As the Phoenix’s special package on housing shows, the apartment shortage in Greater Boston has reached crisis proportions. Since the mid 1990s, rents have gone up by 50 percent or more in some neighborhoods. And even at these grossly inflated prices, apartments are still nearly impossible to come by. Nevertheless, some modest steps can be taken.It’s the old not-in-my-backyard syndrome: everyone knows there’s a housing shortage, but no one wants to see new housing come into his or her own neighborhood. Such opposition can be eased by involving local residents in planning for new housing. The lesson is that bottom-up solutions invariably work better than top-down edicts.Boston University, Boston College, Northeastern University, and MIT have taken major steps toward building housing for their students on their own campuses. During the 1960s and 1970s, student housing spread into neighborhoods such as the Fenway (near Northeastern) and Audubon Circle (near BU). Students kept such neighborhoods alive during those difficult years. But as neighborhoods become able to thrive on their own, universities should be encouraged, wherever possible, to pull back, thus opening up neighborhood housing to long-term residents.In his State of the City address in January, Mayor Tom Menino identified the housing crises as his number-one priority, and named a respected legislator, Charlotte Richie, as his housing czar. In a recently published interview, Boston Redevelopment Authority head Tom O’Brien spoke of the need to preserve the diversity of Boston’s neighborhoods, and identified the city’s residential character as one of its saving graces. Yet the city has been missing in action. At the very least, Menino should make a concerted effort to ease the housing shortage in neighborhoods where the problem is particularly acute.More important, Menino has to realize that he cannot deal with housing as an “in box”mayor, taking on an issue here, an issue there as they come up. He should work with officials in surrounding communities and convene a housing summit to consider a wide range of ideas.11.The author thinks that Boston is a tiny place, because _______.A.it has a small populationB.it covers a small piece of landC.few people know about this cityD.it is unusually small in scale for a major population center12. The author has suggested the following solutions to the housing crisis, EXCEPT______.A.involving grassrootsB.back to campusC.improving transportationernmental efforts13.What does the author mean by “not-in-my-backyard syndrome”?A.You can do whatever you like so long as you don’t bother me.B.It is none of my business, and I don’t care about it.C.No new houses should be built in my backyard.D.It is the mayor’s decision and I have had no word in it.14.The author’s attitude towards the government is ______.A.hopefulB. disappointedC. sarcasticD. bitter15.The author’s suggestion to the Mayor is _____.A.to sit in his office and listen to reportsB.to meet the mayors of nearby cities and listen to their opinionsC.to hold a meeting attend by high officials in his government and listen to their adviceD.to visit those bothered by lack of housing and listen to their complaintsPassage sixResearchers have established that when people are mentally engaged, biochemical changes occur in the brian that allow it to act more effectively in cognitive areas such as attention and memory. This is true regardless of age.People will be alert and receptive if they are faced with information that gets them to think about things they are intersted in. And someone with a history of doing more rather than less will go into old age more cognitively sound than someone who has not had an active mind.Many exeperts are so convinced of the benefits of challenging the brain that they are putting the theory to work in their lives.“The idea is not necessarily to learn to memorize enormous amounts of information,” says James Fizard,associate director of the National Institute on Aging.“Most of us don’t need that kind of skill. Such specific training is of less interst than being able to maintain mental alertness.” Forzd and others say they challenge their brians with different mental skills, both because they enjoy them and because they are sure that their rang of activities will help the way their brians work.Gene Cohen, acting the same institute, suggests that people in their old age should engage in mental and physical activities individually as well as in groups. Cohen says thatwe are frequently advised to keep physically active as we age,but older people need to keep mentally active as well. Those who do are more likely to maintain their intellectual abilities and to be generally happier and better adjusted. “The point is , you need to do both ,” Cohen says.“Intellectual activety influence brain-cell health and size”.1.People who are cognitively health are thoseA.who can remember large amounts of informationB.who are highly intelligentC.whose minds are alert and receptiveD.who are good recognizing different sounds2.According to Forzd’s argument, people can make their brains work more efficientlybyA.constantly doing memory activitiesB.taking part in various mental activitiesC.going through specific trainingD. making frequent adjustments3.The findings of James and other scientists in theit workA.remain a theory to be futher provedB.have been challenged by many other expertsC.have been generally acceptedD.are practiced by the researched themselves4.Older people are generally advised toA.keep fit by going in physical activitiesB.keep mentally active by challenging their brainsC.maintain mental alertness through specific trainingD.maintain a balance between individual and group activities5.What’s the passage mainly about?A.How biochemical changes occur in the hnman brainB.Why should people keep active not only physically but also mentallyC.How intellectual activities influence brain-cell healthD.Why should people receive specific mental training as they agePassage sevenIt’s a small world after all. The United Arab Emirates (阿拉伯联合酋长国) threatens to boycott all Disney products if one of the exhibits in its Millennium Village Exhibition in Orlando depicts Jerusalem as the capital of Israel. Disney is keeping mum about the contents of the exhibit. “What has appeared (in the press) so far doesn’t appear to be based on first-hand knowledge, and none of the groups involved has seen the exhibit,”Disneyspokesperson Bill Warren said. Mark Regev, spokesman of the Embassy of Israel, went even further and denied that the exhibit portrayed Jerusalem as the capital: “One of the features there is ‘The Jerusalem Experience’,”he said, adding, “They are trying not to be political.”The Millennium Village contains exhibits from 40 countries, including the Arab countries of Saudi Arabia and Morocco. The Emirates Information and Culture Minister Sheik Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahyan requested that a group of Arab-Americans and Muslims be granted a sneak preview of the Israel pavilion, but Disney cannot reveal information about the exhibits until the Oct.1 opening. If the boycott does occur, and if other Arab states join their Persian Gulf brethren, Disney could lose anestimated $100 million that it makes in the Middle East each year. An editorial in the UAE’s Gulf brethren, Disney should come out with a clear comment that it will not permit the illegal political claim by Israel to be included in its Millennium Village…”All Disney would say is, “We’re well known for what we try to accomplish, which is to celebrate the diversity of the world, not generate political debate. We encourage people to visit and see for themselves.”6. The United Arab Emirates has got information about the content of Disney exhibit from______.A. a Disney spokesmanB. newspaperC. the embassy of IsraelD. sources not mentioned in the passage7. Disney’s response to the United Arab Emirates’ threat is ______.A. appearing enragedB. keeping silenceC. giving an official explanationD. allowing some Muslims to see for themselves8. The Emirates Minister suggested a group of Arab-Americans and Muslims be granted a sneak preview of the Israel pavilion, because ________.A. they are curious about the content exhibited thereB. they are afraid that it is better decorated than the Arabian oneC. they want to make sure it doesn’t depict Jerusalem as the capital of IsraelD. they are privileged people9. From the passage we can infer that ______.A. the Disney Exhibition aims at celebrating the year 2000B. the Disney Exhibition contains exhibits from the United Arab EmiratesC. the Disney Exhibition will open on Dec.31, 1999。