drill on reading comprehension.docx

1、drill on reading comprehension2Part Reading Comprehension (35minutes)Directions: There are four passages in this part. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B) C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark t

2、he corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the center.Passage 1:Question 21 to 25 are based on the following passage:American cities are similar to other cities around the world. In every country, cities reflect the values of the culture. Cities contain the very best aspe

3、cts of a society: opportunities for education, employment, and entertainment. They also contain the very worst parts of a society: violent crime, racial conflict（冲突，抵触）and poverty. American cities are changing, just as American society.After World War ,the population of most large American cities de

4、creased; however, the population in many Sun Belt cities increased. Los Angeles and Houston are cities where population increased. These population shifts to and from the city reflect the changing values of American society.During this time, in the late 1940s and early 1950s, city residents became w

5、ealthier, more prosperous. They had more children. They moved out of their apartments in the city to buy their own homes. They bought houses in the suburbs, areas near a city where people live. These are areas without many offices or factories. During the 1950s the American dream was to have a house

6、 in the suburbs.Now things are changing. The children of the people who left the cities in the 1950s are now adults. They, unlike their parents, want to live in the cities. Some continue to move to cities in the Sun Belt. Cities are expanding and the population is increasing in such states as Texas,

7、 Florida, and California. Others are moving too more established cities of the Northeast and Midwest, such as Boston. Baltimore and Chicago.Many young professionals, doctors, lawyers, and executives are moving back into the city. They prefer the city to the suburbs because their jobs are there; they

8、 are afraid of the fuel shortage; or they just enjoy the excitement and opportunities, which the city offers. A new is moving into the cities - a wealthier, more mobile class.21. What does the passage mainly discuss? A) The American dream.B) A new class of city residents.C) Racial conflict and pover

9、ty.D) Cities in America.22. The colon is used twice in paragraph 1. What does the colon do ?A) It introduces examples.B) It introduces a conflicting idea.C) It introduces a false idea.D) It introduces a bright idea.23. According to the passage, why did many people move to the suburbs during the peri

10、od after World War ?A) They were afraid of another world war.B) They wanted to be free from violent crimeC) They became richer and wanted to have more living space.D) They could not bear the air pollution in the city.24. According to the passage, why do many people want to live in the city now?A) Th

11、ey think their parents were once city residents.B) They can not afford the fuel for their transportation.C) They want to restore the old cities.D) They love the excitement and chances in the city.25. In paragraph 4, the words more established could best be replaced by which of the following?A) more

12、organized B) more officialC) more famous D) olderPassage 2:Question 26 to 30 are based on the following passage:What do we think with? Only the brain? Hardly. The brain is like a telephone exchange. It is the switchboard, but not the whole sys-tem. Its function is to receive incoming signals, make p

13、roper connections, and send the messages through to their destination, For efficient service, the body must function as a whole.But where is the mind ? Is it in the brain? Or perhaps in the nervous system ? After all, can we say that the mind is in any particular place? It is not a thing like a leg

14、or even the brain. It is a function, an activity. Aristotle, twenty-three hundred years ago, observed that the mind was to the body what cutting was to the ax. When the ax is not in use, there is no cutting. So with the mind. Mind said Charles H. Woolbert, is what the body is doing.”If this activity

15、 is necessary for thinking, it is also necessary for carrying thought from one person to another. Observe how people go about the business of ordinary conversation. If you have never done this painstakingly, you have a surprise in store, for good conversationalists are almost constantly in motion. T

16、heir heads are continually nodding and shaking sometimes so vigorously that you wonder how their necks can stand the strain.Even the legs and feet are active. As for hands and arms, they are seldom stilling for more than a few seconds at a time.These people, remember, and are not making speeches. Th

17、ey are merely common folk trying to make others understand what they have in mind. They are not conscious of movement. Their speech is not studied. They are just human creatures in a human environment, trying to adapt themselves to a social situation. Yet they converse, not only with oral language b

18、ut with visible actions that involve practically every muscle in the body.In short , because people really think all ever , a speaker must talk all over if he succeeds in making people think.26. Which of the following is the best title for the passage?A) Bodily CommunicationB) Bodily Actions .C) Spo

19、ken Language.D) Conversations.27. Which of the following statements would the author agree with?A) Thinking is a social phenomenon.B) Thinking is solely a brain function.C) Thinking is a function of the nervous activity.D) Thinking is the sum total of bodily activity.28. In communication, it is esse

20、ntial not only to employ speech, but also _.A) to speak directly to the other personB) to employ a variety of bodily movements.C) to be certain that the other person is listeningD) to pay great attention to the other persons behavior.29. It can be inferred from the passage that the basic function of

21、 bodily activity in speech is to _.A) make the listener feel emotionalB) make the speaker understoodC) amplify or intensify the speakers spoken wordsD) convey the speakers implied meaning to the listener30. Which of the following is TRUE?A) The brain is compared to a telephone exchange.B) The mind i

22、s an activity of the nervous system.C) Some people remain still while talking to others.D) Many people move their bodies on purpose while talking.Passage3:Question 31 to 35 are based on the following passage:Sophy Brent came to visit me nearly every day. She irritated me unbearably most of the time.

23、 She smoked incessantly and never used an ashtray. She followed me into the kitchen while I made tea or coffee or supper and helped her-self to the childrens orange juice . She made a great hit with my two-year-old daughter Flora, who would hang about her for hours and refer to her loving as Sofa ,

24、and she was always talking about my husband and asking me where he was.I could not decide why she chose my company, al- though I released that nobody else paid her very much attention. Her situation was very difficult in that she was straight out of drama school and only nineteen, but being required

25、 to play a leading part in a company of fairly distinguished and experienced actors. They would not have liked her much even if she had been good, and as, from all accounts, she was not good they took every opportunity to run her down. I think she thought that I was the only person around who were b

26、oth unconnected with the theatre and tolerably smart. To associate with me was not, at any rate, to step down the scale. And for my part, although she irritated me and I did not dislike her. There was something genuinely discerning in her effusiveness （感情洋溢）and she had such physical charm that with

27、me she could get away with any-thing . She was nice to have around, like flowers of a bowl of fruit.31. When Sophy Brent came to visit her, the writer _.A) was envious of her B) thought sophy was intolerably rude C) disliked Sophys influence over FloraD) found Sophys habits aggravating32. How did Fl

28、ora react to Sophy?A) She preferred her to her own mother.B) She liked to hold her hand.C) She took a great liking to her .D) She liked the games Sophy played with her.33. Before joining this theatre company Sophy had _.A) never acted professionally in her life B) received no professional training.C

29、) belonged to a leading companyD) acted professionally in only one play34. The other actors often criticize Sophy because _.A) they thought she was too young for the part she played.B) they didnt like her arrogant behaviorsC) they didnt liking listening to her conversationD) they didnt think that sh

30、e very competent35. The writer thought Sophy came to see her because she _.A) wanted to visit the writers young daughter B) liked visiting someone else involved in the theatre C) liked visiting someone acceptable who was not in-volved in the theatre.D) wanted to meet the writers husband and often as

31、ked about him.Passage 4:Questions 36 to 40 are based on the following passage.Oceanography has been defined as the application of all sciences to the study of the sea.Before the nineteenth century, scientists with an interest in the sea were few and far between. Certainly Newton considered some theo

32、retical aspects of it in his writings, but he was reluctant to go to sea to further his work.For most people the sea was remote, and with the exception of early intercontinental travelers or others who earned a living from the sea , there was little reason to ask many questions about it , let alone to ask what lay beneath the surface. The first time that the question What is at the bottom of the oceans? had to