英语6级17篇阅读.docx

1、英语6级17篇阅读1 Scattered through the seas of the world are billions of tons of small plants and animals called plankton. Most of these plants and animals are too small for the human eye to see. They drift about lazily with the currents, providing a basic food for many larger animals. Plankton has been d

2、escribed as the equivalent of the grasses that grow on the dry land continents, and the comparison is an appropriate one. In potential food value however, plankton far outweighs that of the land grasses. One scientist has estimated that while grasses of the world produce about 49 billion tons of val

3、uable carbohydrates each year. The seas plankton generates more than twice as much.Despite its enormous food potential, little effort was made until recently to farm plankton as we farm grasses on land. Now marine scientists have at last begun to study this possibility, especially as the seas resour

4、ces loom even more important as a means of feeding an expanding world population.No one yet has seriously suggested that “planktonburgers” may soon become popular around the world. As a possible farmed supplementary food source, however, plankton is gaining considerable interest among marine scienti

5、sts.One type of plankton that seems to have great harvest possibilities is a tiny shrimplike creature called krill. Growing to two or three inches long, krill provide the major food for the giant blue whale, the largest animal ever to inhabit the Earth. Realizing that this whale may grow 100 feet an

6、d weigh 150 tons at maturity, it is not surprising that each one devours more than one ton of krill daily.Krill swim about just below the surface in huge schools sometimes miles wide, mainly in the cold Antarctic. Because of their pink color, they often appear as a solid reddish mass when viewed fro

7、m a ship or from the air. Krill are very high in food value. A pound of these crustaceans contains about 460 caloriesabout the same as shrimp or lobster, to which they are related.If the krill can feed such huge creatures as whales, many scientists reason, they must certainly be contenders as new fo

8、od source for humans.1.Which of the following best portrays the organization of the passage?A.The author presents the advantages and disadvantages of plankton as a food source.B.The author quotes public opinion to support the argument for farming plankton.C.The author classifies the different food s

9、ources according to amount of carbohydrate.D.The author makes a general statement about plankton as a food source and then moves to a specific example.2.According to the passage, why is plankton regarded to be more valuable than land grasses?A.It is easier to cultivate.B.It produces more carbohydrat

10、es.C.It does not require soil.D.It is more palatable.3.Why does the author mention “planktonburgers”?A.To describe the appearance of one type of plankton.B.To illustrate how much plankton a whale consumes.C.To suggest plankton as a possible food sources.D.To compare the food values of beef and plank

11、ton.4.What is mentioned as one conspicuous feature of krill?A.They are the smallest marine animals.B.They are pink in color.C.They are similar in size to lobsters.D.They have grass like bodies.5.The author mentions all of the following as reasons why plankton could be considered a human food source

12、except that it is _.A.high in food value.B.in abundant supply in the oceans.C.an appropriate food for other animals.D.free of chemicals and pollutants.答案：DBCBD2 In the last 12 years total employment in the United States grew faster than at any time in the peacetime history of any country from 82 to

13、110 million between 1973 and 1985 that is, by a full one third. The entire growth, however, was in manufacturing, and especially in no blue-collar jobsThis trend is the same in all developed countries, and is, indeed, even more pronounced in Japan. It is therefore highly probable that in 25 years de

14、veloped countries such as the United States and Japan will employ no larger a proportion of the labor force I n manufacturing than developed countries now employ in farming at most, 10 percent. Today the United States employs around 18 million people in blue-collar jobs in manufacturing industries.

15、By 2010, the number is likely to be no more than 12 million. In some major industries the drop will be even sharper. It is quite unrealistic, for instance, to expect that the American automobile industry will employ more than one third of its present blue-collar force 25 years hence, even though pro

16、duction might be 50 percent higher.If a company, an industry or a country does not in the next quarter century sharply increase manufacturing production and at the same time sharply reduce the blue-collar work force, it cannot hope to remain competitive or even to remain “developed.” The attempt to

17、preserve such blue collar jobs is actually a prescription for unemploymentThis is not a conclusion that American politicians, labor leaders or indeed the general public can easily understand or accept. What confuses the issue even more it that the United States is experiencing several separate and d

18、ifferent shifts in the manufacturing economy. One is the acceleration of the substitution of knowledge and capital for manual labor. Where we spoke of mechanization a few decades ago, we now speak of “robotization “ or “automation.” This is actually more a change in terminology than a change in real

19、ity. When Henry Ford introduced the assembly line in 1909, he cut the number of man hours required to produce a motor car by some 80 percent in two or three years far more than anyone expects to result from even the most complete robotization. But there is no doubt that we are facing a new, sharp ac

20、celeration in the replacement of manual workers by machines that is, by the products of knowledge.1.According to the author, the shrinkage in the manufacturing labor force demonstrates_.A.the degree to which a countrys production is robotizedB.a reduction in a countrys manufacturing industriesC.a wo

21、rsening relationship between labor and managementD.the difference between a developed country and a developing country2.According to the author, in coming 25years, a developed country or industry, in order t remain competitive, ought to _.A.reduce the percentage of the blue-collar work forceB.preser

22、ve blue collar jobs for international competitionC.accelerate motor can manufacturing in Henry Fords styleD.solve the problem of unemployment3.American politicians and labor leaders tend to dislike_.A.confusion in manufacturing economyB.an increase in blue collar work forceC.internal competition in

23、manufacturing productionD.a drop in the blue collar job opportunities4.The word “prescription” in “a prescription for unemployment” may be the equivalent to _A.something recommended as medical treatmentB.a way suggested to overcome some difficultyC.some measures taken in advanceD.a device to dire5.T

24、his passage may have been excepted from _A.a magazine about capital investmentB.an article on automationC.a motor-car magazineD.an article on global economy答案：AADCD3 What does the future hold for the problem of housing? A good deal depends, of course, on the meaning of “future”. If one is thinking i

25、n terms of science fiction and the space age, it is at least possible to assume that man will have solved such trivial and earthly problems as housing. Writers of science fiction, from H.G. Wells onwards, have had little to say on the subject. They have conveyed the suggestion that men will live in

26、great comfort, with every conceivable apparatus to make life smooth, healthy and easy, if not happy. But they have not said what his house will be made of. Perhaps some new building material, as yet unimagined, will have been discovered or invented at least. One may be certain that bricks and mortar

27、(泥灰，灰浆) will long have gone out of fashion.But the problems of the next generation or two can more readily be imagined. Scientists have already pointed out that unless something is done either to restrict the worlds rapid growth in population or to discover and develop new sources of food (or both),

28、 millions of people will be dying of starvation or at the best suffering from underfeeding before this century is out. But nobody has yet worked out any plan for housing these growing populations. Admittedly the worst situations will occur in the hottest parts of the world, where housing can be ligh

29、t structure or in backward areas where standards are traditionally low. But even the minimum shelter requires materials of some kind and in the teeming, bulging towns the low-standard “housing” of flattened petrol cans and dirty canvas is far more wasteful of ground space than can be tolerated.Since

30、 the war, Hong Kong has suffered the kind of crisis which is likely to arise in many other places during the next generation. Literally millions of refugees arrived to swell the already growing population and emergency steps had to be taken rapidly to prevent squalor(肮脏)and disease and the spread cr

31、ime. The city is tackling the situation energetically and enormous blocks of tenements(贫民住宅)are rising at an astonishing aped. But Hong Kong is only one small part of what will certainly become a vast problem and not merely a housing problem, because when population grows at this rate there are acco

32、mpanying problems of education, transport, hospital services, drainage, water supply and so on. Not every area may give the same resources as Hong Kong to draw upon and the search for quicker and cheaper methods of construction must never cease.1.What is the authors opinion of housing problems in the first paragraph?A.They may be completely solved at sometime in the futur