英语六级阅读练习.docx

1、英语六级阅读练习The word religion is derived from the Latin noun religio, which denotes both earnest observance of ritual obligations and an inward spirit of reverence. In modern usage, religion covers a wide spectrum of meaning that reflects the enormous variety of ways the term can be interpreted. At one

2、extreme, many committed believers recognize only their own tradition as a religion, understanding expressions such as worship and prayer to refer exclusively to the practices of their tradition. Although many believers stop short of claiming an exclusive status for their tradition, they may neverthe

3、less use vague or idealizing terms in defining religion for example, true love of God, or the path of enlightenment. At the other extreme, religion may be equated with ignorance, fanaticism, or wishful thinking.By defining religion as a sacred engagement with what is taken to be a spiritual reality,

4、 it is possible to consider the importance of religion in human life without making claims about what it really is or ought to be. Religion is not an object with a single, fixed meaning, or even a zone with clear boundaries. It is an aspect of human experience that may intersect, incorporate, or tra

5、nscend other aspects of life and society. Such a definition avoid the drawbacks of limiting the investigation of religion to Western or biblical categories such as monotheism (belief in one god only) or to church structure, which are not universal. For example, in tribal societies, religion unlike t

6、he Christian church usually is not a separate institution but pervades the whole of public and private life.In Buddhism, gods are not as central as the idea of a Buddha. In many traditional cultures, the idea of a sacred cosmic order is the most prominent religious belief. Because of this variety, s

7、ome scholars prefer to use a general term such as the sacred to designate the common foundation of religious life.Religion in this understanding includes a complex of activities that cannot be reduced to any single aspect of human experience. It is a part of individual life but also of group dynamic

8、s. Religion includes patterns of behavior but also patterns of language and thought. It is sometimes a highly organized institution that sets itself apart from a culture, and it is sometimes an integral part of a culture. Religious experience may be expressed in visual symbols, dance and performance

9、, elaborate philosophical systems, legendary and imaginative stories, formal ceremonies, and detailed rules of ethical conduct and law. Each of these elements assumes innumerable cultural forms. In some ways there are as many forms of religious expression as there are human cultural environments.1.

10、What is the passage mainly concerned about?A. Religion has a variety of interpretation.B. Religion is a reflection of ignorance.C. Religion is not only confined to the Christian categories.D. Religion includes all kinds of activities.2. What does the word “observance” probably convey in Para. 1?A. n

11、oticeB. watchingC. conformityD. experience3. According to the passage what people generally consider religion to be?A. Fantastic observanceB. Spiritual practiceC. Individual observance of traditionD. A complex of activities4. Which of the following is not true?A. It is believed by some that religion

12、 should be what it ought to be.B. “The path of enlightenment” is a definition that the author doesnt agree to.C. According to the author, the committed believers define religion improperly.D. The author doesnt speak in favor of the definition of “the sacred”.5. Which of the following is religion acc

13、ording to the passage?A. Performance of human beings.B. Buddha, monotheism and some tribal tradition.C. Practice separated from culture.D. All the above.Merchant and passenger ships are generally required to have a life preserver for every person aboard and, in many cases, a certain percentage of sm

14、aller sizes for children. According to United States Coast Guard requirements, life preservers must be simple in design, reversible, capable of being quickly adjusted to fit the uninitiated individual, and must be so designed as to support the wearer in the water in an upright or slightly backward p

15、osition.Sufficient buoyancy (浮力) to support the wearer should be retained by the life preserver after 48 hour in the water, and it should be reliable even after long period of storage. Thus it should be made of materials resistant to sunlight, gasoline, and oils, and it should be not easily set on f

16、ire.The position in which the life preserver will support a person who jumps or falls into the water is most important, as is its tendency to turn the wearer in the water from a face-down position to an upright or slightly backward position, with his face clear of the water, even when the wearer is

17、exhausted or unconscious.The method of adjustment to the body should be simple, and self-evident to uninitiated persons even in the dark under the confused conditions which follow a disaster. Thus, the life preserver should be reversible, so that it is nearly impossible to set it on wrong. Catches,

18、straps, and ties should be kept to a minimum. In addition, the life preserver must be adjustable to the wide variety of shapes and sizes of wearers, since this greatly affects the position of floating and the self-righting qualities. A suitable life preserver should also be comfortable to wear at al

19、l times, in and out of the water, not so heavy as to encourage to take it off on shipboard while the ship is in danger, nor so burdensome that it hinders a person in the water while trying to swim.6.The passage is mainly about _.A) the uses of life preserversB) the design of life preserversC) the ma

20、terials for life preserversD) the buoyancy of life preservers7.According to the passage, a life preserver should be first of all, _.A) adjustableB) comfortableC) self-evidentD) self-righting8.United States Coast Guard does NOT require the life preserver to the made _.A) with as few strings as possib

21、leB) capable of being worn on both sidesC) according to each wearers sizeD) comfortable and light to wear9.By “the uninitiated individual” (Para. 1, line 6) the author refers to the person _.A) who has not been instructed how to use a life preserverB) who has a little experience in using a life pres

22、erverC) who uses a life preserver without permissionD) who becomes nervous before a disaster10.What would happen if a person were supported by the life preserver in a wrong position?A) The waves would move him backwards.B) The water would choke him.C) He would immediately sink to the bottom.D) He wo

23、uld be exhausted or unconscious.A hundred years ago it was assumed and scientifically “proved” by economists that the laws of society made it necessary to have a vast army of poor and jobless people in order to keep the economy going. Today, hardly anybody would dare to voice this principle. It is g

24、enerally accepted that nobody should be excluded from the wealth Western industrialized countries, a system of insurance has been introduced which guarantees everyone a minimum of subsistence (生活维持费) in case of unemployment, sickness and old age. I would go one step further and argue that, even if t

25、hese conditions are not present, everyone has the right to receive the means to subsist (维持生活), in other words, he can claim this subsistence minimum without having to have any “reason”. I would suggest, however, that it should be limited to a definite period of time, lets say two years, so as to av

26、oid the encouraging of an abnormal attitude which refused any kind of social obligation.This may sound like a fantastic proposal, but so, I think, our insurance system would have sounded to people a hundred years ago. The main objection to such a scheme would be that if each person were entitled to

27、receive minimum support, people would not work. This assumption rests on the fallacy of the inherent laziness in human nature, actually, aside from abnormally lazy people, there would be very few who would not want to earn more than the minimum, and who would prefer to do nothing rather than work.Ho

28、wever, the suspicions against a system of guaranteed subsistence minimum are not groundless, from the standpoint of those who want to use ownership of capital for the purpose of forcing others to accept the work conditions they offer. If nobody were forced to accept work in order not to starve, work

29、 would have to be sufficiently interesting and attractive to induce one to accept it. Freedom of contract is possible only if both parties are free to accept and reject it; in the present capitalist system this is not the case.But such a system would not only be the beginning of real freedom of cont

30、ract between employers and employees, its principal advantage would be the improvement of freedom in inter-personal relationships in every sphere of daily life.11.People used to think that poverty and unemployment were due to _.A) the slow development of the economyB) the poor and jobless peoples ow

31、n faultsC) the lack of responsibility on the part of societyD) the large number of people who were not well-educated12.Now it is widely accepted that _.A) the present system of social insurance should be improvedB)everybody should be granted a minimum of subsistence without any “reason”C) everybody

32、has the right to share in the wealth of the countryD) people have to change their attitude towards the poor13.The writer argues that a system of social insurance should _.A) provide benefits for the sick, old and unemployedB) encourage people to take on more social obligationsC) guarantee everyone the right to be employedD) provide every