决胜四级--阅读(4)

决胜四级--阅读（4）1In the early days of sea travel, seamen on long voyages lived exclusively on salted meat and biscuits. Many of them died of scurvy(坏血病), a disease of the blood which causes swollen gums, livid white spots on the flesh and general exhaustion. On one occasion, in 1535, an English ship arrived in Newfoundland with its crew desperately ill. The men’s lives were saved by Iroquois Indians who gave them vegetable leaves to eat. Gradually it came to be realized that scurvy was caused by some lack in the sailors’ diet and Captain Cook, on his long voyages of discovery to Australia and New Zealand, established the fact that scurvy could be warded off by the provision of fresh fruit for the sailors.Nowadays it is understood that a diet which contains nothing harmful may yet result in serious disease if certain important elements are missing. These elements are called “vitamins”. Quite a number of such substances are known and they are given letters to identify them, A, B, C, D, and so on. Different diseases are associated with deficiencies of particular vitamins. Even a slight lack of Vitamin C, for example, the vitamin most plentiful in fresh fruit and vegetables, is thought to increase significantly our susceptibility(敏感度) to colds and influenza.The vitamins necessary for a healthy body are normally supplied by a good mixed diet, including a variety of fruit and green vegetables. It is only when people try to live on a very restricted diet, say during extended periods of religious fasting(斋戒), or when trying to lose weight, that it is necessary to make special provis ion to supply the missing vitamins.1. Scurvy is a disease that is provoked by ____A. salted meat and biscuitsB. exhaustionC. want of some essential substancesD. lack of fresh vegetables and fruits2. In the last sentence of Paragraph 1, “warded off” could probably be replacedby ____.A. got rid ofB. killedC. avoidedD. cleared away3. To avoid such disease as s curvy, it’s better for us ____.A. not to eat much salted meatB. to supplement our diet with various vitamin pillsC. to have more fresh fruit and vegetablesD. to develop a good dietary habit4. Based on the passage we can safely conclude that if our diet is not comprehensive enough ____.A. vitamin pills are of no availB. nutritious food might be unhealthyC. vegetable leaves can be a good remedyD. religious fasting may help out a lot5. Which of the following sentences best expresses the central ideal of the passage?A. Deficiencies of Vitamin C may cause serious diseases.B. Fresh fruit and green vegetables contain enough nutrition that is necessary for a healthy body.C. Vitamins play a vitally important role in people’s health.D. A good mixed diet normally supplies sufficient vitamins for us.2In a society such as the United States or Canada, which has many national, religious, and cultural differences, people highly value individualism—the differences among people. Teachers place a lot of importance on the qualities that make each student special. The educational systems in these countries show these values. Students do not memorize information. Instead, they work individually and find answers themselves. There is often discussion in the classroom. At an early age, students learn to form their own ideas and opinions.In most Asian societies, by contrast, the people have the same language, history, and culture. Perhaps for this reason, the educational system in much of the Orient reflets society’s belief in group goals and purposes rather than individualism. Children in China, Japan, and Korea often work together and help one another on assignments. In the classroom, the teaching methods are often very formal. The teacher lectures, and the students listen. There is not much discussion. Instead, the students recite rules or information that they have memorized.There are advantages and disadvantages to both of these systems of education. For example, one advantage to the system in Japan is that students there learn much more math and science than American students learn by the end of high school. They also study more hours each day and more days each year than North Americans do. The system is difficult, but it prepares students for a society that values discipline and self control. There is, however, a disadvantage. Memorization is an important learning method in Japanese schools, yet many students say that after an exam, they forget much of the information that they have memorized.The advantage of the educational system in North America, on the other hand, is that students learn to think for themselves. The system prepares them for a society that values creative ideas. There is, however, a disadvantage. When students graduate from high school, they haven’t memorized as many basic rules and facts as students in other countries have.6. The reason why American teachers attach much importance to individualism is that ____.A. they are required to do soB. their students do not memorize informationC. the United States is a country of multicultureD. their students work individually7. Which of the following statements applies to Asian methods of education?A. Each child in a classroom draws a different picture.B. Students have to find information themselves.C. Students are prepared for a society that values discipline.D. Teachers serve as a guide in discussion.8. An ideal educational system would be the one that ____.A. have more advantagesB. is the combination of Western and Oriental methodsC. is based on the Western systemD. rests on the Asian system9. The author is convinced that ____.A. different educational systems reflect different culture of the societiesB. students from Western countries are creative but selfishC. Asian students are merely interested in math and scienceD. there are more advantages to Western system of education than toOriental one10.The author focuses on ____.A. the differences in methods of education between Orient and WestB. the advantages and disadvantages to both of the Western and Asian educational systemC. how Asian school systems reflect group goalsD. how Western school systems mirror the value of individualism3Auctions are public sales of goods, conducted by an officially approved auctioneer. He asks the crowd assembled in the auction room to make offers, or “bids”, for the various items on sale. He encourages buyers to bid higher figures, and finally names the highest bidder as the buyer of the goods. This is called “knocking down” the goods, for the bidding ends when the auctioneer bangs a small hammer on a table at which he stands. This is often set on a raised platform called a rostrum(台子).The ancient Romans probably invented sales by auction, and the English word comes from the Latin auction, meaning “increase”. The Romans usually sold in this way the spoils taken in war.Practically all goods whose qualities vary are sold by auction. Among these are coffee, hides, skins, wool, tea, cocoa, furs, spices, fruit and vegetables and wines. Auction sales are also usual for land and property, antique furniture, pictures, rare books, old china and similar works of art.The auctioneer must know fairly accurately the current market values of the goods he is selling, and he should be acquainted with regular buyers of such goods. He will not waste time by starting the bidding too low. He will also play on the rivalries among his buyers and succeed in getting a high price by encouraging two business competitors to bid against each other. It is largely on his advice that a seller will fix a “reserve” price, that is, a price below which the goods cannot be sold. Even the best auctioneers, however, find it difficult to stop a “knock out”, whereby dealers illegally arrange beforehand not to bidagainst eachother, but nominate one of themselves as the only bidder, in the hope of buying goods at extremely low prices. If such a “knock out”comes off, the real auction sale takes place privately afterwards among the dealers.The auctioneer’s services are paid for in the form of a percentage of the price the goods are sold for.11.Auction goods are sold ____.A. in a competitive wayB. at a bargain priceC. for a higher price offeredD. at a moderate price12. The end of the bidding is called “knocking down” because ____.A. the auctioneer bangs down the table at which he stands with a hammerB. the goods are knocked down by the auctioneerC. the rostrum is knocked down at the end of the biddingD. the auctioneer bangs the table with a hammer to end the bidding13.People can buy the following goods from auction sales except ____.A. peltB. artC. prisoner of warD. property14.A “knock out” is arranged ____.A. to help the auctioneer to sell the goods for a better priceB. for the purpose to keep the price in the auction room lowC. to benefit the owners of the goodsD. in order to encourage buyers to bidhigher figures15.It can be inferred from the passage that ____.A. auction sales were initially conducted in Rome in wartimeB. in order to begin the bidding moderately, the auctioneer should be kept informed of current market quotationsC. the higher prices an auctioneer gets for the goods he sells the more profits he earns for himselfD. an auctioneer is often in a rivalry with his buyers4As many as one thousand years ago in the Southwest, the Hopi and Zuni tribes of North America were building with adobe—sun baked brick plastered with mud. Their homes looked remarkablly like modern apartment houses. Some were four stories high and contained quarters for perhaps a thousand people, along with storerooms for grain and other goods. These buildings were usually put up against cliffs, both to make construction easier and for defense agaisnt enemies. They were really villages in themselves, as later Spanish explorers must have realized since they called them “pueblos,” which is Spanish for town. The people of the pueblos raised what are called “the three sisters”—corn, bean, and squash(南瓜). They made excellent pottery and wove marvelous baskets, some so fine that they could hold water. The Southwest has always been a dry country, with water scarce. The Hopi and Zuni brought water from streams to their fields and gardens through irrigation ditches. Water was so important that it played a major role in their religion. They developed elaborate ceremonies and religious rituals(仪式) to bring rain.The way of life of less settled groups was simpler and more strongly influenced by nature. Small tribes such as the Shoshone and Ute wandered the dry and mountainous lands between the Rocky Mountains and the Pacific Ocean. They gathered seeds and hunted small animals such as rabbits and snakes. In the Far North the ancestors of today’s Inuit hunted seals, walruses, and the great whales. They lived right on the frozen seas in shelters called igloos(圆顶冰屋) built of blocks of packed snow. When summer came, they fished for salmon and hunted the lordly caribou.The Cheyenne, Pawnee, and Sioux tribes, known as the Plains Indians, lived on the grasslands between the Rocky Mountains and the Mississippi River. They hunted the bison, commonly called the buffalo. Its meat was the chief food of these tribes, and its hide was used to make their clothing and the covering of their tents and tepees(圆锥形帐篷).16.The dwellings of the Hopi and Zuni were ____.A. very crowdedB. extremely crudeC. highly advancedD. located on plains17.The phrase “the three sisters” in the second paragraph refers to ____.A. important cropsB. Hopi and Zuni womenC. handicraftsD. Hopi and Zuni tribes18.All of the following are mentioned in the passage as lodgings of the early North Americans, except ____.A. igloosB. tepeesC. adobe housesD. log cabins19.Which of the following statements is NOT TRUE, according to the passage?A. The Plain Indians lived, to a great extent, on the buffalo.B. The life style of each North American Indian tribe was decided by its environment.C. The Cheyenne and Sioux tribes lived on the grasslands.D. The Hopi and Zuni tribes built their homes against cliffs for the simple reason that they lacked a sense of security.20.The best title for the passage might be ____.A. The Hopi and Zuni TribesB. Early North American SocietiesC. Dwellings of the Early North AmericansD. The History of the Early North Americans答案部分1. 答案C。