专八阅读理解真题
英语专八考试阅读题及答案解析
英语专八考试阅读题及答案解析英语专八考试阅读题及答案解析Pageants Pageants are usually conceived on a fairly large scale, oftenunder the auspices of some local or civic authority or at any ratein connection with local groups of some kind. This sometimesmeans that there is an allocation of funds available for thepurpose of mounting the production, though unfortunately thiswill usually be found to be on the meager side and muchingenuity will have to be used to stretch it so that all performerscan be adequately clothed.Most pageants have a historical flavour as they usually come about through the celebration of theanniversary of some event of historic importance, or the life or death of some local worthy.Research among archives and books in the public library will probably prove very useful andproduce some workable ideas which will give the production an especially local flavour. From thefirst economy will have to be practiced because there are usually a great number of people todress. Leading characters can be considered individually in the same way as when designing for aplay; but the main body of the performers will need to be planned in groups and the massed effectmust be always borne in mind.Many pageants take place in daylight in the open air. This is an entirely different problem fromdesigning costumes which are going to be looked at under artificial lighting; for one thing, scenesviewed in the daylight are subject to many more distractions. No longer is everything around cutout by the surrounding darkness, but instead it is very easy to be aware of disturbing movementin the audience of behind the performers.Very theatrically conceived clothes do not always looktheir best when seen in a daylight setting of trees, verdant lawns and old ivy-covered walls; thesame goes for costumes being worn in front of the mellow colors of stately homes. The locationneeds to be studied and then a decision can be made as to what kinds of colors and textures willharmonize best with the surroundings and conditions and then to carry this out as far as possibleon the funds available.If money is available to dress the performers without recourse to their own help in the provision ofitems, it is best to arrange for all the cutting and pinning together of the costumes to be done byone or two experienced people than to be given out to the groups and individuals for completion.When there is little or no money at all, the garments need to be reduced to the basic necessities.Cloaks and shawls become invaluable, sheets and large bath towels and bath sheets are admirablefor draping. Unwanted curtains and bed spreads can be cut to make tunics, robes and skirts.These are particularly valuable if they are of heavy fabrics such as velvet or chenille.Colors should be massed together so that there are contrasting groups of dark and light, this willbe found to help the visual result substantially. Crowds of people gathered together in a jumble ofcolors will be ground to look quite purposeless and will lack dramatic impact.The use of numbers of identical head-dresses, however simply made, are always effective whenworking with groups. If these are made of cardboard and painted boldly the cost can be almostnegligible. Helmets, hats and plumes will all make quite a show even if the costumes are onlyblandest or sheets cleverly draped. The same can be said of the use of banners, shields andpoleswith stiff pennants and garlands—anything which will help to have a unifying effect. Any kind ofeye-catching device will always go with a flourish and add excitement to the scenes.1. The main idea of this passage is[A] Pageants. [B] Costumes on the stage.[C] Costumes for pageants. [D] How to arrange a pageant.2. It can be inferred that the most important factor in costume design is[A] money [B] color [C] harmony [D] texture3. Why will much ingenuity have to be required in costume design?[A] Because pageants take place in daylight in the open air.[B] Because different characters require different costumes.[C] Because the colors and textures must be in harmony with the setting.[D] Because an allocation of the funds available is usually rather small.4. Why do most pageants have a historical flavour?[A] Because most pageants take place for celebration.[B] Many pageants take place for amusement.[C] A lot of pageants take place for religion.[D] Because pageants usually take place for competition.答案详解：1. C. 露天演出的服装。
专业英语八级(阅读)练习试卷25(题后含答案及解析)
专业英语八级（阅读）练习试卷25(题后含答案及解析) 题型有： 2. READING COMPREHENSIONPART II READING COMPREHENSION (30 MIN)Directions: In this section there are four reading passages followed by a total of 20 multiple-choice questions. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. You should decide on the best choice.To Get on the Same Page Sami Adwan is the very model of a soft-spoken professor. He measures his words, and listens carefully to what others have said. Yet while pursuing a Ph.D. at the University of San Francisco in the 1980s, Adwan not only refused to listen to Jewish students, he says but he dropped out of classes if he knew they included Jews. A Palestinian born in the village of Surif, near Hebron, Adwan had grown up under the shadow of the Israeli occupation, hearing tales from his father and grandfather of how Jews had seized the family’s orange groves and wheat fields in 1948. Returning to his homeland with his degree, Adwan joined the then outlawed Fatah Party and was thrown into an Israeli jail in 1993. That was his real education. While awaiting charges, Adwan overheard two Israeli soldiers arguing over whether he should be made to sign a document in Hebrew that he couldn’t read. Shocked to hear one of his enemies defending his rights, Adwan decided that he had some things to learn about the Jewish nation. So much of the gulf in understanding that plagues the Middle East has to do with the willful disregard for the other’s point of view. Israelis refer to the 1948 conflict that gave birth to their nation as the War of Independence; Palestinians know it as the Nakba, or Catastrophe. What Israelis call “the riots of 1920”—when Palestinians attacked Jewish neighborhoods around Jerusalem and Jaffa—are termed “the popular uprisings”by the other side. Adwan, a lecturer at Bethlehem University, has spent much of his professional career trying to bridge this gap. Together with Dan Bar-On, a social psychologist at Ben Gurion University in southern Israel, he now co-directs the Peace Research Institute in the Middle East (PRIME). Since 2002 the group has produced three booklets to use in Palestinian and Israeli high schools that force each side to confront a contradictory vision of history. Each page is divided into three: the Palestinian and Israeli narratives and a third section left blank for the pupil to fill in. “The idea is not to legitimize or accept the other’s narrative but to recognize it,”Adwan says. “The [historical] dates may be the same, but the interpretation of each side is very different.”Side by side, the divergent world views are striking. Zionism is described in the Israeli column as “a result of... the continuation of anti-Semitism [in Europe], the inspiration of other national movements, and the continual connection of the people of Israel to the land of Israel.”It bears little resemblance to the “imperialist political movement that bestowed a nationalist characteristic to the Jews”known to Palestinians. Educators in otherconflict-ridden societies are taking notice. Last year the Center for Human Rights and Conflict Resolution at Skopje University in Macedonia published their own parallel Macedonian-Albanian narratives based on PRIME’s model. “If the Israeli and Palestinian teachers managed to overcome the incredible gap between themselves, we can do it here,” says Skopje University professor Violeta Petroska- Beska. In France, Which suffers from its own tensions between Muslims and non- Muslims, the PRIME booklet “Learning the Other’s Narrative” has sold more than 23,000 copies. It’s also been translated into English, Spanish, Italian, Catalan and Basque, and later this year will be produced in German. American educators in Virginia and Philadelphia have expressed interest in introducing the narratives into classes on conflict resolution. Closer to home, however, the text has had a harder time. “When we established PRIME in 1998, we thought peace was around the corner,” says Adwan. “Today both Dan and I know it was a wishful thinking.” Shortly after the beginning of the second Palestinian intifada in 2000, Bar-On and Adwan found themselves stand on different sides of an Israeli checkpoint near Bethlehem, begging soldiers to let them shift a couple of yards closer to each other so they could discuss the project. In 2004, right- wing Israeli Education Minister Limor Livnat threatened teachers with disciplinary action if they used the booklet. One West Bank teacher has given lessons in her house for fear of reprisal and another, from a refugee camp near Jerusalem, was threatened by colleagues and parents for teaching what they called “normalization under occupation.”Asked whether the booklets will ever be a part of the local school curriculum, Adwan shakes his head slowly, shrugs and looks out his office window. From there he has a fine view of the wall that snakes between Jerusalem and Bethlehem, dividing Israel from the West Bank.1．According to the passage, Adwan’s real education took place ______.A．in an Israeli jailB．in the village of SurifC．at Bethlehem UniversityD．at the University of San Francisco正确答案：A解析：由第一和第二段可知，爱德万在以色列监狱时，偶尔听到了两名以色列士兵的对话，改变了他对以色列人的看法。
2023年英语专八真题
2023年英语专八真题一、阅读理解题目一阅读下面的短文，并根据短文后的问题选择正确答案。
One of the most fascinating aspects of human nature is our ability to communicate through language. Language is not only a means of transmitting information, but it also reflects our culture and identity. English, as a global language, plays an important role in international communication.In the future, the demand for English proficiency will continue to grow. As technology advances and the world becomes more interconnected, English will be the common language used in various domains, such as business, travel, and education. Therefore, it is crucial for individuals to develop excellent English skills in order to be competitive in the job market.To improve English proficiency, individuals can take advantage of various resources and strategies. First of all, it is important to expose oneself to authentic English materials, such as books, movies, and news. This will help individuals get familiar with the natural rhythms and expressions of the language. Additionally, interactive language-learning platforms, such as language exchange programs and online courses, can provide a supportive environment for practicing English skills.Moreover, communication plays a vital role in language development. Engaging in conversations with native English speakers or participating in English-speaking activities can greatly enhance one’s oral communication skills. It is also beneficial to join English clubs or communities, where individuals can interact with like-minded people and exchange ideas in English.In conclusion, English proficiency is becoming increasingly important in the globalized world. By utilizing various resources, strategies, and opportunities for practice, individuals can enhance their English skills and become proficient in the language.根据短文内容，回答以下问题：1.What is one of the most fascinating aspects ofhuman nature?(A)Our ability to communicate through language.(B)Our ability to adapt to new environments.(C)Our ability to solve complex mathematical problems.(D)Our ability to predict the future.答案：A2.Why is it crucial for individuals to develop excellentEnglish skills?(A)English is the most widely spoken language in the world.(B)English is the official language of most countries.(C)English proficiency is necessary for success in the job market.(D)English is the language of science and technology.答案：C3.What is one strategy mentioned in the passage to improve English proficiency?(A)Learning from textbooks.(B)Watching movies in English.(C)Memorizing grammar rules.(D)Writing essays in English.答案：B4.How can individuals enhance their oral communication skills?(A)Joining English clubs or communities.(B)Reading English literature.(C)Studying English vocabulary.(D)Taking online courses.答案：A题目二阅读下面的短文，并根据短文后的问题选择正确答案。
历年英语专八阅读理解真题训练附答案
历年英语专八阅读理解真题训练附答案历年英语专八阅读理解真题训练附答案不读书则愚，不思考则浅;不多练则生，不巧用则钝。
以下是店铺为大家搜索整理的'历年英语专八阅读理解真题训练附答案，希望对正在关注的您有所帮助!Stratford-on-Avon, as we all know, has only one industry-William Shakespeare-but there are two distinctly separate and increasingly hostile branches. There is the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC), which presents superb productions of the plays at the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre on the Avon. And there are the townsfolk who largely live off the tourists who come, not to see the plays, but to look at Anne Hathaway’s Cottage, Shakespeare’s birthplace and the other sights.The worthy residents of Stratford doubt that the theatre adds a penny to their revenue. They frankly dis like the RSC’s actors, them with their long hair and beards and sandals and noisiness. It’s all deliciously ironic when you consider that Shakespeare, who earns their living, was himself anactor (with a beard) and did his share of noise - making.The tourist streams are not entirely separate. The sightseers who come by bus- and often take in Warwick Castle and Blenheim Palace on the side –don’t usually see the plays, and some of them are even surprised to find a theatre in Stratford. However, the playgoers do manage a little sight -seeing along with their play going. It is the playgoers, the RSC contends, who bring in much of the town’s revenue because they spend the night (some of them four or five nights) pouring cash into the hotels and restaurants. The sightseers can take in everything and get out of town by nightfall.The townsfolk don’t see it this way and local council does not contribute directly to the subsidy ofthe Royal Shakespeare Company. Stratford cries poor traditionally. Nevertheless every hotel in town seems to be adding a new wing or cocktail lounge. Hilton is building its own hotel there, which you may be sure will be decorated with Hamlet Hamburger Bars, the Lear Lounge, the Banquo Banqueting Room, and so forth, and will be very expensive.Anyway, the townsfolk can’t understand why the Royal Shakespeare Company needs a subsidy. (The theatre has broken attendance records for three years in a row. Last year its 1,431 seats were 94 per cent occupied all year long and this year they’ll do bette r.) The reason, of course, is that costs have rocketed and ticket prices have stayed low.It would be a shame to raise prices too much because it would drive away the young people who are Stratford’s most attractive clientele. They come entirely for the plays, not the sights. They all seem to look alike (though they come from all over) –lean, pointed, dedicated faces, wearing jeansand sandals, eating their buns and bedding down for the night on the flagstones outside thetheatre to buy the 20 seats and 80 standing-room tickets held for the sleepers and sold to them when the box office opens at 10:30 a.m.1. From the first two paragraphs , we learn thatA. the townsfolk deny the RSC ’ s contribution to the town’s revenueB. the actors of the RSC imitate Shakespeare on and off stageC. the two branches of the RSC are not on good termsD. the townsfolk earn little from tourism2. It can be inferred from Paragraph 3 thatA. the sightseers cannot visit the Castle and the Palace separatelyB. the playgoers spend more money than the sightseersC. the sightseers do more shopping than the playgoersD. the playgoers go to no other places in town than the theater3. By saying “Stratford cries poor traditionally” (Line 2-3, Paragraph 4), the author implies thatA. Stratford cannot afford the expansion projectsB. Stratford has long been in financial difficultiesC. the town is not really short of moneyD. the townsfolk used to be poorly paid4. According to the townsfolk, the RSC deserves no subsidy becauseA. ticket prices can be raised to cover the spendingB. the company is financially ill-managedC. the behavior of the actors is not socially acceptableD. the theatre attendance is on the rise5. From the text we can conclude that the authorA. is supportive of both sidesB. favors the townsfolk’s viewC. takes a detached attitudeD. is sympathetic to the RSC.参考答案：A B C D D。
专八阅读理解练习题
passage One (Violence Can Do Nothing to Diminish Race Prejudice)In some countries where racial prejudice is acute, violence has so come to be taken for granted as a means of solving differences, that it is not even questioned. There are countries where the white man imposes his rule by brute force; there are countries where the black man protests by setting fire to cities and by looting and pillaging. Important people on both sides, who would in other respects appear to be reasonable men, get up and calmly argue in favor of violence - as if it were a legitimate solution, like any other. What is really frightening, what really fills you with despair, is the realization that when it comes to the crunch, we have made no actual progress at all. We may wear collars and ties instead of war-paint, but our instincts remain basically unchanged. The whole of the recorded history of the human race, that tedious documentation of violence, has taught us absolutely nothing. We have still not learnt that violence never solves a problem but makes it more acute. The sheer horror, the bloodshed, the suffering mean nothing. No solution ever comes to light the morning after when we dismally contemplate the smoking ruins and wonder what hit us.The truly reasonable men who know where the solutions lie are finding it harder and herder to get a hearing. They are despised, mistrusted and even persecuted by their own kind because they advocate such apparently outrageous things as law enforcement. If half the energy that goes into violent acts were put to good use, if our efforts were directed at cleaning up the slums and ghettos, at improving living-standards and providing education and employment for all, we would have gone a long way to arriving at a solution. Our strength is sapped by having to mop up the mess that violence leaves in its wake. In a well-directed effort, it would not be impossible to fulfill the ideals of a stable social programme. The benefits that can be derived from constructive solutions are everywhere apparent in the world around us. Genuine and lasting solutions are always possible, providing we work within the framework of the law.Before we can even begin to contemplate peaceful co-existence between the races, we must appreciate each other's problems. And to do this, we must learn about them: it is a simple exercise in communication, in exchanging information. 'Talk, talk, talk,' the advocates of violence say, 'all you ever do is talk, and we are none the wiser. ‘ It's rather like the story of the famous barrister who painstakingly explained his case to the judge. After listening to a lengthy argument the judge complained that after all this talk, he was none the wiser.’ Possible, my lord,' the barrister replied, 'none the wiser, but surely far better informed.’ Knowledge is the necessary prerequisite to wisdom: the knowledge that violence creates the evils it pretends to solve.1.What is the best title for this passage?[A]Advocating Violence.[B]Violence Can Do Nothing to Diminish Race Prejudice.[C]Important People on Both Sides See Violence As a Legitimate Solution.[D]The Instincts of Human Race Are Thirsty for Violence.2.Recorded history has taught us[A]violence never solves anything.[B]nothing.[C]the bloodshed means nothing.[D]everything.3.It can be inferred that truly reasonable men[A]can' t get a hearing.[B]are looked down upon.[C]are persecuted.[D]Have difficulty in advocating law enforcement.4.“He was none the wiser” means[A]he was not at all wise in listening.[B]He was not at all wiser than nothing before.[C]He gains nothing after listening.[D]He makes no sense of the argument.5.According the author the best way to solve race prejudice is[A]law enforcement.[B]knowledge.©nonviolence.[D]Mopping up the violent mess.Vocabulary1.acute严重的，剧烈的，敏锐的2.loot v.抢劫，掠夺；n.赃物3.pillage v.抢劫，掠夺4.crunch v.吱嘎吱嘎咬或嚼某物；n.碎裂声eg. when it comes to the crunch = if/when the decisive moment comes. 当关键时刻来至U 时。
英语专八阅读理解练习附答案
英语专八阅读理解练习附答案英语专八阅读理解练习附答案篇一Racket, din clamor, noise, whatever you want to call it, unwanted sound is America’s most widespread nuisance. But noise is more than just a nuisance. It constitutes a real and present danger topeople’s health. Day and night, at home, at work, and at play, noise can produce serious physical and psychological stress. No one is immune to this stress. Though we seem to adjust to noise by ignoring it, the ear, in fact, never closes and the body still responds—sometimes with extreme tension, as to a strange sound in the night. The annoyance we feel when faced with noise is the most common outward symptom of the stress building up inside→← us. Indeed, because irritability is so apparent, legislators have made public annoyance the basis of many noise abatement programs. The more subtle and more serious health hazards associated with stress caused by noise traditionally have been given much less attention. Nevertheless, when we are annoyed or made irritable by noise, we should consider these symptoms fair warning that other thing may be happening to us, some of which may be damaging to our health.Of many health hazards to noise, hearing loss is the most clearly observable and measurable by health professionals. The other hazards are harder to pin down. For many of us, there may be a risk that exposure to the stress of noise increases susceptibility to disease and infection. The more susceptible among us may experience noise as a complicating factor in heart problems and other diseases. Noisethat causes annoyance and irritability in health persons may have serious consequences for these already ill in mind or body.Noise affects us throughout our lives. For example, there areindications of effects on the unborn child when mothers are exposedto industrial and environmental noise. During infancy and childhood, youngsters exposed to high noise levels may have trouble falling asleep and obtaining necessary amounts of rest.Why, then, is there not greater alarm about these dangers? Perhaps it is because the link between noise and many disabilities or diseases has not yet been conclusively demonstrated. Perhaps it is because we tend to dismiss annoyance as a price to pay for living in the modern world. It may also be because we still think of hearing loss as only an occupational hazard.1.In Paragraph 1, the phrase immune to are used to mean ___.A.unaffected byB.hurt byC.unlikely to be seen byD.unknown by2.The author’s attitude toward noise would best be described as ___.A.unrealisticB.traditionalC.concernedD.hysterical3.Which of the following best states the main idea of the passage?A.Noise is a major problem; most people recognize its importance.B.Although noise can be annoying, it is not a major problem.C.Noise is a major problem and has not yet been recognized as such.D.Noise is a major problem about which nothing can be done.4.The author condemns noise essentially because it ___.A.is against the lawB.can make some people irritableC.is a nuisanceD.in a ganger to people’s health5.The author would probably consider research about the effects noise has on people to be ___.possible.C.a waste of moneyD.essential答案：ACCDD英语专八阅读理解练习附答案篇二Joy and sadness are experienced by people in all cultures around the world, but how can we tell when other people are happy or despondent? It turns out that the expression of many emotions may be universal. Smiling is apparently a universal sign of friendliness and approval. Baring the teeth in a hostile way, asnoted by Charles Darwin in the nineteenth century, may be a universe sign of anger. As the originator of the theory of evolution, Darwin believed that the universal recognition of facial expressions would have survival value. For example, facial expressions could signal the approach of enemies (or friends) in the absence of language.Most investigators concur that certain facial expressions suggest the same emotions in a people. Moreover, people in diverse cultures recognize the emotions manifested by the facial expressions. In classic research Paul Ekman took photographs of people exhibiting the emotions of anger, disgust, fear, happiness, and sadness. He then asked people around the world to indicate what emotions were being depicted in them. Those queried ranged from European college studentsto members of the Fore, a tribe that dwells in the New Guinea highlands. All groups including the Fore, who had almost no contact with Western culture, agreed on the portrayed emotions. The Fore also displayed familiar facial expressions when asked how they would respond if they were the characters in stories that called for basic emotional responses. Ekman and his colleagues morerecently obtained similar results in a study of ten cultures in which participants were permitted to report that multiple emotions were shown by facial expressions. The participants generally agreed on which two emotions were being shown and which emotion was more intense.Psychological researchers generally recognize that facial expressions reflect emotional states. Infact, various emotional states give rise to certain patterns of electrical activity in the facial muscles and in the brain. The facial-feedback hypothesis argues, however, that the causal relationship between emotions and facial expressions can also work in the opposite direction. According to this hypothesis, signals from the facial muscles ("feedback") are sent back to emotion centers of the brain, and so a person's facial expression can influence that person's emotional state.ConsiderDarwin's words: "The free expression by outward signs of an emotion intensifies it. On the otherhand, the repression, as far as possible, of all outward signs softens our emotions." Can smiling giverise to feelings of good will, for example, and frowning to anger?Psychological research has given rise to some interestingfindings concerning the facial-feedback hypothesis. Causing participants in experiments to smile, for example, leads them to report morepositive feelings and to rate cartoons (humorous drawingsof people or situations) as being morehumorous. When they are caused to frown, they rate cartoons as being more aggressive.What are the possible links between facial expressions and emotion? One link is arousal, which is the level of activity or preparedness for activity in an organism. Intense contraction of facial muscles,such as those used in signifying fear, heightens arousal. Self-perception of heightened arousal then leads to heightened emotional activity. Other links may involve changes in brain temperature and the release of neurotransmitters (substances that transmit nerve impulses.) The contraction of facial muscles both influences the internal emotional state and reflects it. Ekman has found that theso-called Duchenne smile, which is characterized by "crow's feet" wrinkles around the eyes and asubtle drop in the eye cover fold so that the skin above the eye moves down slightly toward theeyeball, can lead to pleasant feelings.Ekman's observation may be relevant to the British expression "keep a stiff upper lip" as are commendation for handling stress. It might be that a "stiff" lip suppresses emotional response-as long as the lip is not quivering with fear or tension. But when the emotion that leads to stiffening the lip is more intense, and involves strong muscle tension, facial feedback may heighten emotional response.1. The word despondent in the passage is closest in meaning toA curiousB unhappyC thoughtfulD uncertain2. The author mentions "Baring the teeth in a hostile way" in order toA differentiate one possible meaning of a particular facial expression from other meanings of itB upport Darwin's theory of evolutionC provide an example of a facial expression whose meaning is widely understoodD contrast a facial expression that is easily understood with other facial expressions3. The word concur in the passage is closest in meaning toA estimateB agreeC expectD understand4. According to paragraph 2, which of the following was true of the Fore people ofNew Guinea?A They did not want to be shown photographs.B They were famous for their story-telling skills.C They knew very little about Western culture.D They did not encourage the expression of emotions.5. According to the passage, what did Darwin believe would happen to human emotions that werenot expressed?A They would become less intense.B They would last longer than usual.C They would cause problems later.D They would become more negative.参考答案：B C B C A。
专业八级英语考试阅读理解练习题及答案
专业八级英语考试阅读理解练习题及答案专业八级英语考试阅读理解练习题及答案不吃饭则饥，不读书则愚。
以下是店铺为大家搜索整理专业八级英语考试阅读理解练习题及答案，希望对正在关注的您有所帮助!“I have great confidence that by the end of the decade we’ll know in vast detail how cancer cells arise,” says microbiologist Robert Weinberg, an expert on cancer. “But,” he cautions, “some people have the idea that once one understands the causes, the cure will rapidly follow. Consider Pasteur, he discovered the causes of many kinds of infections, but it was fifty or sixty years before cures were available.”This year, 50 percent of the 910,000 people who suffer from cancer will survive at least five years. In the year 2000, the National Cancer Institute estimates, that figure will be 75 percent. For some skin cancers, the five-year survival rate is as high as 90 percent. But other survival statistics are still discouraging -- 13 percent for lung cancer, and 2 percent for cancer of the pancreas.With as many as 120 varieties in existence, discovering how cancer works is not easy. The researchers made great progress in the early 1970s, when they discovered that oncogenes, which are cancer-causing genes, are inactive in normal cells. Anything from cosmic rays to radiation to diet may activate a dormant oncogene, but how remains unknown. If several oncogenes are driven into action, the cell, unable to turn them off, becomes cancerous.The exact mechanisms involved are still mysterious, but the likelihood that many cancers are initiated at the level of genes suggests that we will never prevent all cancers. “Changes are a normal part of the evolutionary process,” says oncologist William Hayward. Environmental factors can never be totallyeliminated; as Hayward points out, “We can’t prepare a medici ne against cosmic rays.”The prospects for cure, though still distant, are brighter.“First, we need to understand how the normal cell controls itself. Second, we have to determine whether there are a limited number of genes in cells which are always responsible for at least part of the trouble. If we can understand how cancer works, we can counteract its action.”习题1.The example of Pasteur in the passage is used to ________.[A] predict that the secret of cancer will be disclosed in a decade[B] indicate that the prospects for curing cancer are bright[C] prove that cancer will be cured in fifty to sixty years[D] warn that there is still a long way to go before cancer can be conquered2. The author implies that by the year 2000, ________.[A] there will be a drastic rise in the five-year survival rate of skin-cancer patients[B] 90 percent of the skin-cancer patients today will still be living[C] the survival statistics will be fairly even among patients with various cancers[D] there won’ t be a drastic increase of survival rate of all cancer patients3. Oncogenes are cancer-causing genes ________.[A] that are always in operation in a healthy person[B] which remain unharmful so long as they are not activated[C] that can be driven out of normal cells[D] which normal cells can’t turn off4. The word “dormant” in the third paragraph most probably means ________.[A] dead[B] ever-present[C] inactive[D] potential全文翻译“我有极大的信心相信到这个十年期结束时我们将会详尽地知晓癌细胞的生成原因，”一位癌症专家和微生物学家罗伯特•温伯格说道。
英语专业八级（阅读理解）练习试题及答案
英语专业八级（阅读理解）练习试题及答案一、问答题（共7题，共70分）1.As Gilbert White，Darwin ， and others observed long ago，all species appear to have theinnate capacity to increase their numbers from generation to generation. The task forecologistsis to untangle the environmentaand biologicalfactorsthat hold this intrinsiccapacity for poppation growth in check over the long run. The great variety of dynamicbehaviorsexhibitedby differentpoppationmakes thistaskmore difficpt：sompoppations remain roughly constant from year to year; others exhibit regpar cycles ofabundance and scarcity; still others vary wildly， with outbreaks and crashes that arein some cases plainly correlated with the weather， and in other cases not.To impose some order on this kaleidoscopeof patterns ， one school of thought proposespiding poppations into two groups. These ecologists posit that the relatively steadypoppations havedensity-dependent growth parameters; that is， rates ofbirth ， death ，and migrationwhich depend strongly on poppation density. The highly varying poppationshave density-independent growth parameters， with vital rates buffeted by environmentalevents ;these rates fluctuate in a way that is wholly independent of poppationdensity.This dichotomy has its uses， but it can cause problems if taken too literally. Forone thing ， no poppation can be driven entirely by density-independent factors all thetime. No matter how severely or unpredictably birth， death ， and migration rates may befluctuatingaroundtheirlong-termaverages ， ifthere were nodensity-dependenteffects ，the poppationwopd ， in the long run ， eitherincrease or decrease without bound (barringa miracle by which gains and losses canceled exactly)。
2024年英语专八练习阅读测试题及答案
[D] it’s desirable for good men to keep away from evil
[D] 好人应该远离邪恶
2. According to the author, if a person is found guilty of a crime,_____________.
[B]小城镇的人坚守老的纪律和标准
[C] today’s society lacks sympathy for people in difficulty
[C]现代社会缺少对于困境中的人的同情
[D] people in disadvantaged circumstances are engaged in criminal activities
[C] 罪犯本人应该为此负责
[D] the standards of living should be improved
[D] 生活水平应该提高
3. Compared with those in small towns, people in large cities have________.
3. 和小城镇相比，大城市的人________。
[C] 对人们的行为应该加以更多控制
[D] more people should accept the value of accountability
[D] 更多人应该接受“责任感”这一价值观
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[A] 学校和家庭中应该保持更严格的纪律
[B] more good examples should be set for people to follow
[B] 应该为人们树立更多学习榜样
专八阅读训练10篇(含答案)
精读原文：Passage 1 The Law to Keep the Oil Industry under ControlThe Norwegian Government is doing its best to keep the oil industry under control.A new law limits exploration to an area south of the southern end of the long coastline; production limits have been laid down (though these have already been raised); and oil companies have not been allowed to employ more than a limited number of foreign workers.But the oil industry has a way of getting over such problems, and few people believe that the Government will be able to hold things back for long.As on Norwegian politician said last week: "We will soon be changed beyond all recognition."Ever since the war, the Government has been carrying out a programme of development in the area north of the Arctic Circle. During the past few years this programme has had a great deal of success: Tromso has been built up into a local capital with a university, a large hospital and a healthy industry.But the oil industry has already started to draw people south, and within a few years the whole northern policy could be in ruins.The effects of the oil industry would not be limited to the north, however. With nearly 100 percent employment, everyone can see a situation developing in which the service industries and the tourist industry will lose more of their workers to the oil industry. Some smaller industries might even disappear altogether when it becomes cheaper to buy goods from abroad.The real argument over oil is its threat to the Norwegian way of life. Farmers andfishermen do not make up most of the population, but they are an important part of it, because Norwegians see in them many of the qualities that they regard with pride as essentially Norwegian.And it is the farmers and the fishermen who are most critical of the oil industry because of the damage that it might cause to the countryside and to the sea.【阅读练习题】1.The Norwegian Government would prefer the oil industry to[A] provide more jobs for foreign workers.[B]slow down the rate of its development.[C] sell the off it is producing abroad.[D] develop more quickly than at present.2.The Norwegian Government has tried to[A] encourage the off companies to discover new off sources.[B]prevent oil companies employing people from northern Norway.[C] help the oil companies solve many of their problems.[D] keep the off industry to something near its present size.3.According to the passage, the off industry might lead northern Norway to[A] the development of industry.[B]a growth in population.[C] the failure of the development programme.[D] the development of new towns.4.In the south, one effect to the development of the oil industry might be[A] a large reduction on unemployment.[B]a growth in the tourist industry.[C] a reduction in the number of existing industries.[D] the development of a number of service industries.5.Norwegian farmers and fishermen have an important influence because[A] they form such a large part of Norwegian ideal.[B]their lives and values represent the Norwegian ideal.[C] their work is so useful to the rest of Norwegian society.[D] they regard off as a threat to the Norwegian way of life.1-5BDCCBPassage 2 TV's HarmfulnessYes, but what did we use to do before there was television? How often we hear statements like this!Television hasn't been with us all that long, but we are already beginning to forget what the world was like without it. Before we admitted the one-eyed monster into our homes, we never fond it difficult to occupy our spare time. We used to enjoy civilized pleasures. For instance, we used to have hobbies, we used to entertain our friends and be entertained by them, we used to go outside for our amusements to theatres, cinemas, restaurants and sporting events.We even used to read books and listen to music and broadcast talks occasionally. All that belongs to the past. Now all our free time is regulated by the goggle box. We rush home or gulp down our meals to be in time for this or that programme.We have even given up sitting at table and having a leisurely evening meal, exchanging the news of the day. A sandwich and a glass of beer will do一anything, providing it down't interfere with the programme. The monster demands and obtains absolute silence and attention.If any member of the family dares to open his mouth during a programme, he is quickly silenced.Whole generations are growing up addicted to the telly. Food is left uneaten, homework undone and sleep is lost.The telly is a universal pacifier. It is now standard practice for mother to keep the children quiet by putting them in the living-room and turning on the set.It doesn't matter that the children will watch rubbishy commercials or spectaclesof sadism and violence一so long as they are quiet.There is a limit to the amount of creative talent available in the world. Every day, television consumes vast quantities of creative work. That is why most of the programmes are so bad: it is impossible to keep pace with the demand and maintain high standards as well.When millions watch the same programmes, the whole world becomes a village, and society is reduced to the conditions which obtain in preliterate communities. We become utterly dependent on the two most primitive media of communication: pictures and the spoken word.Television encourages passive enjoyment. We become content with second-hand experiences. It is so easy to sit in our armchairs watching others working. Little by little, television cuts us off from the real world.We get so lazy, we choose to spend a fine day in semi-darkness, glued to our sets, rather than go out into the world itself. Television may be s splendid medium of communication, but it prevents us from communicating with each other.We only become aware how totally irrelevant television is to real living when we spend a holiday by the sea or in the mountains, far away from civilization. In quiet, natural surroundings, we quickly discover how little we miss the hypnotic tyranny of King Telly.【阅读词汇学习】1.What is the biggest harm of TV?[A] It deprives people of communication with the real world.[B]People become lazy.[C] People become dependent on second-hand experience.[D] TV consumes a large part of one' s life.2.In what way can people forget TV?[A] Far away from civilization.[B]To a mountain.[C] By the sea.[D] In quiet natural surroundings.3.What does a mother usually do to keep her children quiet?[A] Let them watch the set.[B]Put them in the living room.[C]Let them watch the rubbish.[D]Let them alone.4.What does the first sentence in the first paragraph mean?[A] We found it difficult to occupy our spare time.[B]We become addicted to TV[C] What we used to do is different from now.[D] We used to enjoy civilized pleasures.1-4ADABPassage 3 Strictly Ban smokingIf you smoke and you still don't believe that there's a definite link between smoking and bronchial troubles, heart disease and lung cancer, then you are certainly deceiving yourself. No one will accuse you of hypocrisy. Let us just say that you are suffering from a bad case of wishful thinking.This needn't make you too uncomfortable because you are in good company. Whenever the subject of smoking and health is raised, the governments of most countries hear no evil, see no evil and smell no evil. Admittedly, a few governments have taken timid measures.In Britain for instance, cigarette advertising has been banned on television. The conscience of the nation is appeased, while the population continues to puff its way to smoky, cancerous death.You don' t have to look very far to find out why the official reactions to medical findings have been so lukewarm. The answer is simply money. Tobacco is a wonderful commodity to tax. It' s almost like a tax on our daily bread.In tax revenue alone, the government of Britain collects enough from smokers to pay for its entire educational facilities. So while the authorities point out ever so discreetly that smoking may, conceivable, be harmful, it down't do to shout too loudly about it.This is surely the most short-sighted policy you could imagine. While money is eagerly collected in vast sums with one hand, it is paid out in increasingly vaster sums with the other. Enormous amounts are spent on cancer research and on efforts to cure people suffering from the disease.Countless valuable lives are lost. In the long run, there is no doubt that everybodywould be much better-off if smoking were banned altogether.Of course, we are not ready for such a drastic action. But if the governments of the world were honestly concerned about the welfare of their peoples, you'd think they'd conduct aggressive anti-smoking campaigns. Far from it! The tobacco industry is allowed to spend staggering sums on advertising.Its advertising is as insidious as it is dishonest. We are never shown pictures of real smokers coughing up their lungs early in the morning. That would never do. The advertisement always depict virile, clean-shaven young men. They suggest it is manly to smoke, even positively healthy!Smoking is associated with the great open-air life, with beautiful girls, true love and togetherness. What utter nonsense!For a start, governments could begin by banning all cigarette and tobacco advertising and should then conduct anti-smoking advertising campaigns of their own. Smoking should be banned in all public places like theatres, cinemas and restaurants. Great efforts should be made to inform young people especially of the dire consequences of taking up the habit. A horrific warning say, a picture of a death's head should be included in every packet of cigarettes that is sold. As individuals, we are、certainly weak, but if governments acted honestly and courageously, they could protect us from ourselves.【阅读练习题】1.Why do a few governments take timid measures toward smoking?[A] because they are afraid of people.[B]Because diseases cost a lot.[C] Because they are afraid of the cutting down of their revenue.[D] Because they are afraid of manufacturers.2.The tone of this passage is[A] critical.[B]ironical.[C]distaste.[D]amusm3.What does the sentence "because you are in good company" mean?[A] you are backed by the government.[B]You are not alone.[C] You have good colleagues.[D] Governments are blind to evils of smoking too.4.What is the best title of this passage?[A] World Governments should conduct serious campaigns against smoking.[B]World governments take timid measures against smoking.[C] smoking is the most important source of income to many countries.[D] tobacco industry spends a large sum of money on medical research. 1-4 CBDAPassage 4 On the President's ProgramPresident Arling has put his long awaited economic restructuring program before the Congress. It provides a coordinated program of investment credits, research grants, education reforms, and changes designed to make American industry more competitive. This is necessary to reverse economic slide into unemployment, lack of growth, and trade deficits that have plagued the economy for the past six years.The most liberal wing of the President' s party has called for stronger and more direct action.They want an incomes policy to check inflation while federal financing helps rebuild industry behind a wall of protective tariffs.The Republicans, however, decry even the modest, graduated tax increases in the President' s program.They want tax cuts and more open market. They say if federal money has to be injected into the economy, let it through defence spending.Both these alternatives ignore the unique nature of the economic problem before us. It is not simply a matter of markets or financing. The new technology allows vastly increased production for those able to master it.But it also threatens those who fail to adopt it with permanent second-class citizenship in the world economy. If an industry cannot lever itself up to the leading stage of technological advances, then it will not be able to compete effectively. If it cannot do this, no amount of government protectionism or access to foreign markets can keep it profitable for long.Without the profits and experience of technological excellence to reinvest, that industry can only fall still further behind its foreign competitors.So the crux is the technology and that is where the President' s program focused. The danger is not that a plan will not be passed, it is that the ideologues of right and left will distort the bill with amendments that will blur its focus on technology. The economic restructuring plan should be passed intact.If we fail to restructure our economy now, we may not get a second chance.【阅读练习题】1.The focus of the President' s program is on[A]investment.[B]economy.[C] technology.}D} tax.2.What is the requirement of the most liberal wing of the Democratic-party?[A] They want a more direct action.[B]They want an incomes policy to check inflation.[C]They want to rebuild industry.[D]They want a wall of protective tariffs.3.What is the editor' s attitude?[A] support.[B]distaste.[C] Disapproval.[D] Compromise.4.The danger to the plan lies in[A] the two parties'objection.[B]different idea of the two parties about the plan.[C] its passage.[D1 distortion.5.The passage is[A] a review.[B]a preface.[C] a advertisement.[D1 an editorial.1-5 CAADDPassage 5 MulesAlthough the top men in smuggling business must work together, most of a syndicate's small fry, especially the mules, know only their immediate contacts. If caught there is little they can give away.A mule probably will not even know the name of the person who gives him his instructions, nor how to get in touch with him. Usually he even does not know the person to whom he has to make delivery.He will be told just to sit tight in a certain hotel or bar until someone contacts him. In this way if he is blown, coming through airport customs he cannot unwittingly lead agents to the next link in the chain.All the persons at the receiving end do is to hang around the airport among the waiting crowd, and see that the mule comes through safely. If he does not, he is dimply written off as a loss.To make identification of mules easier, several syndicates have devised their own "club ties" so that a mule wearing one can immediately be picked out.Mules often receive careful training before embarking on their first journey. One Beirut organization, for example, uses a room with three airline seats in it. There the trainee mules sit for hours on end wearing weighted smuggling vests beneath their clothes, so that they become accustomed to standing up after a long flight in a natural way, and without revealing what they are carrying.An outfit in Brussels maintained a comfortable apartment where the mules could relax and get a firm grip on themselves on the night before their first journey; they were helped to dress before setting out for the airport in the morning. More often than not a courier will not know precisely where he is going or what flight number isuntil he is actually handed his tickets at the airport.This prevents the careless boast in some bar or to a girl friend the night before.Mules occasionally run off with the goods to keep the profit themselves. As insurance against this, a syndicate often sends a high-up on the same plane to keep a wary eye on couriers, particularly new ones. Even then things can go badly wrong. One international currency smuggler who was having trouble getting money out of Britain was offered help by a group of men who said they were in a position to "fix thing"一for a fee of course. Foolishly, the smuggler agreed to accept their help.When he got to London's Heathrow Airport, he handed over to one of the men a black suitcase containing nearly $90,000 in cash, destined for Frankfurt. Just to keep an eye on things, the smuggler went along on the same plane. When they landed at Frankfurt he was handed back his suitcase.He beat a straight path to the men's toilet, opened the case, and found only old clothes. The courier had switched suitcase en route, but the smuggler could hardly run to the police and complain that "the man who was smuggling money out of England for me has stolen it."【阅读练习题】1.What is a "mule"?[A] A person who sends smuggling goods for a syndicate is called mule.[B]A person in charge of smuggling goods is called mule.[C] A person who makes delivery for a syndicate is called mule.[D] A person who receives instructions from a smuggler is called mule.2.The sentence "if he is blown" in line (6) is closest in meaning to[A] if he is arrested.[B]if he is recognized, but not necessarily arrested.[C] if he is recognized and arrested.[D] if he runs away.3.Why does the author give an example in the last paragraph?[A] To show how a smuggler is caught.[B]To show a smuggler is afraid of the police.[C] To show to keep a wary eye on couriers is useless.[D] To show mules may keep the profit for themselves.4.how does a mule work?[A] Jointly.[B]Independently.[C] consciously.[D] Separately.1-4 CBDDPassage 6 Contribution of CoeducationImagining being asked to spend twelve or so years of your life in a society which consisted only of members of own sex. How would you react? Unless there was something definitely wrong with you, you wouldn't be too happy about it, to say the least. It is all the more surprising therefore that so many parents in the world choose to impose such abnormal conditions on their children conditions which they themselves wouldn't put up with for one minute!Any discussion of this topic is bound to question the aims of education. Stuffing children's heads full of knowledge is far from being foremost among them. One of the chief aims of educations is to equip future citizens with all they require to take their place in adult society.Now adult society is made up of men and women, so how can a segregated school possibly offer the right sort of preparation for it?Anyone entering adult society after years of segregation can only be in for a shock.A co-educational school offers children nothing less than a true version of society in miniature. Boys and girls are given the opportunity to get to know each other, to learn to live together from their earliest years.They are put in a position where they can compare themselves with each other in terms of academic ability, athletic achievement and many of the extra-curricular activities which are part of school life.What a practical advantage it is(to give just a small example)to be able to put on a school play in which the male parts will be taken by boys and the female parts by girls! What nonsense co-education makes of the argument that boys are cleverer than girl or vice-versa.When segregated, boys and girls are made to feel that they are a race apart. Rivalry between the sexes is fostered.In a coeducational school, everything falls into its proper place. But perhaps the greatest contribution of co-education is the healthy attitude to life it encourages.Boys don't grow up believing that women are mysterious creatures一airy goddesses, more like book-illustrations to a fairy-tale, than human beings. Girls don't grow up imagining that men are romantic heroes.Years of living together at school dispel illusions of this kind. There are no goddesses with freckles, pigtails, piercing voices and inky fingers. There are no romantic heroes with knobbly knees, dirty fingernails and unkempt hair. The awkward stage of adolescence brings into sharp focus some of the physical and emotional problems involved in growing up. These can better be overcome in a co-educational environment.Segregated schools sometimes provide the right conditions for sexual deviation. This is hardly possible under a co-educational system. When the time comes for the pupils to leave school, they are fully prepared to enter society as well-adjusted adults.They have already had years of experience in coping with many of the problems that face men and women.【阅读练习题】1.What is the best title for this passage?[A] only co-education can be in harmony with society.[B]people are in great need of co-education.[C] any form of education other than co-education is simply unthinkable.[D] co-education has many features.2.what does co-education offer to children?[A] A society.[B]A true small model of society.[C] A real life.[D] 1}ue version of social condition.3.According to the passage, what is one of the chief aims of education?[A] It is for students to acquire knowledge.[B]It is to equip future citizens with scientific technology.[C] It is to equip future citizens with what is required in getting a position in society.[D] It is for students to get academic achievements.4.Why do boys and girls in co-education have no illusion about each other?[A] They live together and know each other too well.[B]Years of living together at school dismiss such illusion.[C] co-education encourage them to have an healthy attitude toward life.[D] They are familiar with each other' s problems.CBCBPassage 7 Antarctica and EnvironmentAntarctica has actually become a kind of space station a unique observation post for detecting important changes in the world' s environment. Remote from major sources of pollution and the complex geological and ecological systems that prevail elsewhere, Antarctica makes possible scientific measurements that are often sharper and easier to interpret than those made in other parts of the world.Growing numbers of scientists therefore see Antarctica as a distant-early-warning sensor, where potentially dangerous global trends may be spotted before they show up to the north. One promising field of investigation is glaciology. Scholars from the United States, Switzerland, and France are pursuing seven separate but related projects that reflect their concern for the health of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet 一a concern they believe the world at large should share.The Transantarctic Mountain, some of them more than 14,000 feet high, divide the continent into two very different regions. The part of the continent to the "east" of the mountains is a high plateau covered by an ice sheet nearly two miles thick. "West" of the mountain, the half of the continent south of the Americas is also covered by an ice sheet, but there the ice rests on rock that is mostly well below sea level. If the West Antarctic Ice Sheet disappeared, the western part of the continent would be reduced to a sparse cluster of island.While ice and snow are obviously central to many environmental experiments, others focus on the mysterious "dry valley" of Antarctica, valleys that contain little ice or snow even in the depths of winter. Slashed through the mountains of southern Victoria Land, these valleys once held enormous glaciers that descended 9,000 feet from the polar plateau to the Ross Sea.Now the glaciers are gone,perhaps a casualty of the global warming trend during the 10,000 years since the ice age. Even the snow that falls in the dry valleys is blasted out by vicious winds that roars down from the polar plateau to the sea. Left bare are spectacular gorges, rippled fields of sand dunes, clusters of boulderssculptured into fantastic shapes by 100-mile-an-hour winds, and an aura of extraterrestrial desolation.Despite the unearthly aspect of the dry valleys, some scientists believe they may carry a message of hope of the verdant parts of the earth. Some scientists believe that in some cases the dry valleys may soak up pollutants faster than pollutants enter them.【阅读练习题】1.What is the best title for this passage?[A] Antarctica and environmental Problems.[B]Antarctica: Earth' s Early-Warning station.[C] Antarctica: a Unique Observation Post.[D] Antarctica: a Mysterious Place.2.What would the result be if the West Antarctic Ice Sheet disappeared?[A] The western part of the continent would be disappeared.[B]The western part of the continent would be reduced.[C] The western part of the continent would become scattered Islands.[D] The western part of the continent would be reduced to a cluster of Islands.3.Why are the Dry Valleys left bare?[A] Vicious wind blasts the snow away.[B]It rarely snows.[C] Because of the global warming trend and fierce wind.[D] Sand dunes.4.Which of the following is true?[A]The "Dry Valleys" have nothing left inside.[B]The "Dry Valleys" never held glaciers.[C]The "Dry Valleys"may carry a message of hope for the verdant.[D]The "Dry Valleys"are useless to scientists.ADCCPassage 8 The Neutrality of American in the Early World War IIThe establishment of the Third Reich influenced events in American history by starting a chain of events which culminated in war between Germany and the United States. The compete destruction of democracy, the persecution of Jews, the war on religion, the cruelty and barbarism of the Nazis, and especially the plans of Germany and her allies, Italy and Japan, for world conquest caused great indignation in this country and brought on fear of another world war.While speaking out against Hitler' s atrocities, the American people generally favored isolationist policies and neutrality.The Neutrality Acts of 1935 and 1936 prohibited trade with any belligerents or loans to them. In 1937 the President was empowered to declare an arms embargo in wars between nations at his discretion.American opinion began to change somewhat after President Roosevelt' s "quarantine the aggressor" speech at Chicago (1937) in which he severely criticized Hitler' s policies. Germany's seizure of Austria and the Munich Pact for the partition of Czechoslovakia (1938) also aroused the American people.The conquest of Czechoslovakia in March, 1939 was another rude awakening to the menace of the Third Reich. In August,1939 came the shock of the Nazi-soviet Pact and in September the attack on Poland and the outbreak of European war.The United States attempted to maintain neutrality in spite of sympathy for the democracies arrayed against the Third Reich. The Neutrality Act of 1939 repealed the arms embargo and permitted "cash and carry" exports of arms to belligerent nations. A strong national defense program was begun.A draft act was passed (1940) to strengthen the military services. A Lend Act (1941)authorized the President to sell, exchange, or lend materials to any country deemed necessary by him for the defense of the United States. Help was given to Britain by exchanging certain overage destroyers for the right to establish American bases in British territory in the Western Hemisphere. In August, 1940 President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill met and issued the Atlantic Charter which proclaimed the kind of a world which should be established after the war.In December, 1941, Japan launched the unprovoked attack on the United States at Pearl Harbor.Immediately thereafter, Germany declared war on the United States.【阅读练习题】l.One item occurring before 1937 that the author does not mention in his list of actions that alienatedthe American public was[A] the burning of the Reichstag.[B]German plans for conquest.[D] Nazi barbarism.[D] the persecution of religious groups.2.The Lend-Lease Act was designed to[A] help the British.[B]strengthen the national defense of the United States.[C] promote the Atlantic Charter.[D] avenge Pearl Harbor.。
专业英语八级(阅读)-试卷137
专业英语八级（阅读）-试卷137(总分：44.00，做题时间：90分钟)一、 READING COMPREHENSION(总题数：11，分数：44.00)1.PART II READING COMPREHENSION__________________________________________________________________________________________解析：2.SECTION A MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONSIn this section there are several passages followed by fourteen multiple-choice questions. For each multiple-choice question, there are four suggested answers marked [A] , [B], [C] and [D]. Choose the one that you think is the best answer.__________________________________________________________________________________________解析：Cruelty to animals, it is said, is often a precursor to graver crimes. So would there not be some usefulness to a registry of individuals convicted of felony animal abuse? Legislators in California want the Golden State to be the first to establish such a record—just as California was the first in the nation to create a registry of sex offenders. The goal of the registry, which would list crimes against both pets and farm animals, is to make it easier for shelters and animal-adoption groups to identify people who shouldn't be allowed access to animals. It would also be a boon to law enforcement because animal abuse, the bill's authors' say, often escalates to violence against people. Abuses covered in the bill would include the malicious and intentional maiming, mutilation, torture, wounding or killing of a living animal. It would also target pet hoarders and operators of animal-fighting rings (such as dog-baiting and cockfighting) who have felony convictions. "We think California is primed for this kind of a bill," says state senate majority leader Dean Florez, who introduced the bill in late February. "We've progressed to the point where we as a legislature are moving in a direction of this bill, which is ultimately, how do we in essence prevent repeat offenses when it comes to cruelty to animals in the state of California?" It is an issue that, Florez says, Californians care for deeply. About 60% of California residents own pets, he says; add in farm animals, and 80% of the population has some kind of ownership of animals. The bill's biggest stumbling block may be the funding it would require. Created with the assistance of the Animal Legal Defense Fund, the bill would raise the approximately $500,000 to $1 million necessary for its launch through a 2- or 3-cent tax per pound of pet food, says Florez, a Democrat who is chairman of the Food and Agriculture Committee. He estimated that after it's launch, the project could cost between $300,000 to $400,000 a year to maintain. Yet even that relatively small amount has some organizations, including a national pet-product trade group and even the Humane Society, raising concerns. Jennifer Fearing, California senior state director and chief economist for the US Humane Society, supports the measure's aims but worries about whether it can get passed. Says Fearing: "I would be shocked if this legislature is prepared to enact any tax this year, much less one levied on pet owners who are struggling to care for their animals, when many of them are dropping them off at shelters. " Ed Rod, vice President of government affairs for the American Pet Products Association, says the proposal is inherently inequitable. "You're looking at pet owners paying for something that's really going to benefit everyone," says Rod. "And animal abuse certainly affects pets, but it also affects agricultural animals as well, and in this case I don't believe there is any provision to impose a fee on livestock feed. The goal we support, certainly, but we think this is kind of a blunt instrument to reach that goal. " There may be other ways to fund the registry. Fearing says the Humane Society supported a similar law in Tennessee that called for those convicted of animal abuse to pay $50 toward the cost of an animal-abusers registry. The bill, however, was defeated. Florez says having offenders pay a fee toward the operation of the registry is alsounder consideration in the California legislation. Even if those convicted of animal-abuse felonies were charged a fee, however, that may not be enough to cover the cost of the registry, since only a small percentage of animal-abuse cases result in felony charges, according to Madeline Bernstein, president of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Los Angeles. "The bottom line is that there aren't a lot of felony convictions for animal abuse in the state of California," says Bernstein. The proposal also puts an added burden on local police—operating at a time of state funding cuts—by requiring them to gather registry information on convicted felons and transfer the information to the Department of Justice within three days of collection. Despite the obstacles, Florez expects to push the legislation as far as it can go. Could he get the two-thirds majority required to turn the bill into law—particularly from the Republican minority that pledged not to raise taxes? "In this case," he says, "the issue is simple. Do Republican members really want to be seen on the side of animal abuse? I don't think they do."（分数：8.00）(1).If the bill were passed, which of the following actions would be registered for animal abuse?（分数：2.00）A.Lions in the zoo were safely locked in the cage for the safety of the visitors.B.The researcher dissected the dead sheep to make clear the tissue pattern.C.The tamer beat the beast to treat its infectious disease.D.The researcher pinned tightly the belly of the bird to observe its response. √解析：解析：推断题。
专八英语考试阅读理解试题附答案
专八英语考试阅读理解试题附答案Can electricity cause cancer? In a society that literally runs on electric power, the very idea seems preposterous. But for more than a decade, a growing band of scientists and journalists has pointed to studies that seem to link exposure to electromagnetic fields with increased risk of leukemia and other malignancies. The implications are unsettling, to say the least, since everyone comes into contact with such fields, which are generated by everything electrical, from power lines and antennas to personal computers and micro-wave ovens. Because evidence on the subject is inconclusive and often contradictory, it has been hard to decide whether concern about the health effects of electricity is legitimate—or the worst kind of paranoia.Now the alarmists have gained some qualified support from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In the executive summary of a new scientific review, released in draft form late last week, the EPA has put forward what amounts to the most serious government warning to date. The agency tentatively concludes that scientific evidence “suggests a casual link” between extremely low-frequency electromagnetic fields—those having very longwave-lengths—and leukemia, lymphoma and brain cancer, While the report falls short of classifying ELF fields as probable carcinogens, it does identify the common 60-hertz magneticfield as “a possible, but not proven, cause of cancer in humans.”The report is no reason to panic—or even to lost sleep. If there is a cancer risk, it is a small one. The evidence is still so controversial that the draft stirred a great deal of debate within the Bush Administration, and the EPA released it over strong objections from the Pentagon and the Whit House. But now no one can deny that the issue must be taken seriously and that much more research is needed.At the heart of the debate is a simple and well-understood physical phenomenon: When an electric current passes through a wire, tit generates an electromagnetic field that exerts forces on surrounding objects, For many years, scientists dismissed any suggestion that such forces might be harmful, primarily because they are so extraordinarily weak. The ELF magnetic field generated by a video terminal measures only a few milligauss, or about one-hundredth the strength of the earth’s own magnetic field, The electric fields surrounding a power line can be as high as 10 kilovolts per meter, but the corresponding field inducedin human cells will be only about 1 millivolt per meter. This is far less than the electric fields that the cells themselves generate.How could such minuscule forces pose a health danger? The consensus used to be that they could not, and for decades scientists concentrated on more powerful kinds of radiation, like X-rays, that pack sufficient wallop to knock electrons out of the molecules that make up the human body. Such “ionizing” radiations have been clearly linked to increased cancer risks and there are regulations to control emissions.But epidemiological studies, which find statistical associations between sets of data, do not prove cause and effect. Though there is a body of laboratory work showing that exposure to ELF fields can have biological effects on animal tissues, a mechanism by which those effects could lead to cancerous growths has never been found.The Pentagon is for from persuaded. In a blistering 33-page critique of the EPA report, Air Force scientists charge its authors with having “biased the entire document” toward proving a link. “Our reviewers are convinced that there is no suggestion that (electromagnetic fields) present in the environment induce or promote cancer,” the Air Force concludes. “It is astonishing that the EPA would lend its imprimatur on this report.” Then Pentagon’s concern is understandable. There is hardly a unit of the modern military that does not depend on the heavy use of some kind of electronic equipment, from huge ground-based radar towers to the defense systems built into every warship and plane.1. The main idea of this passage is ___________[A]. studies on the cause of cancer[B]. controversial view-points in the cause of cancer[C]. the relationship between electricity and cancer.[D]. different ideas about the effect of electricity on caner.2. The view-point of the EPA is ___________[A]. there is casual link between electricity and cancer.[B]. electricity really affects cancer.[C]. controversial.[D].low frequency electromagnetic field is a possible cause of cancer3. Why did the Pentagon and Whit House object to the release of the report? Because ___________[A]. it may stir a great deal of debate among the Bush Administration.[B]. every unit of the modern military has depended on the heavy use of some kind of electronic equipment.[C]. the P entagon’s concern was understandable.[D]. they had different arguments.4. It can be inferred from physical phenomenon ___________[A]. the force of the electromagnetic field is too weak to be harmful.[B]. the force of the electromagnetic field is weaker than the electric field that the cells generate.[C]. electromagnetic field may affect health.[D]. only more powerful radiation can knock electron out of human body.5. What do you think ordinary citizens may do after reading the different arguments?[A].They are indifferent. [B]. They are worried very much.[C]. The may exercise prudent avoidance. [C]. They are shocked.Vocabulary1. preposterous 反常的，十分荒谬的，乖戾的2. leukemia 白血病3. malignancy 恶性肿瘤4. legitimate 合法的，合理的5. paranoia 偏执狂，妄想狂。
专业英语八级阅读理解训练题及解析
专业英语八级阅读理解训练题及解析专业英语八级阅读理解训练题及解析"Can not help but always sad, so slowly learned to hide."以下是店铺为大家搜索整理的专业英语八级阅读理解训练题及解析，希望能给大家带来帮助!As Michael Jackson made the unfortunate transition from pop-music icon to tabloid staple，one of the most common lines of attack was on his ever-changing appearance, the way his skin dramatically lightened in color, and his face altered in structure.What's most tragic about Jackson's death, aside from the fact that it comes as he was mounting a comeback to include a sold-out 50-show residence at London's 02 Arena，is that what people will remember about him is his changing face. What they should remember：The way he changed the face of pop music.Jackson first came to prominence as the pint-size nucleus of his family band, the Jackson 5. He quickly became the focal point of the group because of his popular cuteness and, of course, that voice. What was so remarkable about the young Michael was his ability to co mmunicate youthful innocence’ or premature wisdom, or sometimes both at the same time. It was no small feat for the same preteen to credibly deliver shrewd stories of love and loss like “I Want You Back" and "The Love You Save", as well as he carried off c utesy soul ditties like “ ABC" and "Rockin' Robin". He led the group to four No. 1 singles.But his watershed moments came after he came out of his awkward teenage years. At 20, Jackson starred in the film version of The Wiz, at which point he met Quincy Jones, who agreed to produce his fifth solo album, Off the Wall. The record was a mature, sexy blend of pop soul with a heavy, danceable discogroove. Having spent his earlier years trying to straddle vocal adolescence，he effortlessly became an adult. It certainly helped that Jackson was so adept at using that voice, and that he had a set of amazing songs to work with, among them "Don't Stop Til You Get Enough" and “Rock With You", in which Jackson sings lyrics that perfectly describe his own gifted footwork："When you dance, there's a magic that must be love.“As stunning an artistic statement as Off the Wall was, it did little to prepare anyone for the cultural phenomenon that was his subsequent album, Thriller. Jackson’s goal was to create an album in which every song was a hit. He didn't quite accomplish that, but he did create a classic pop album that fans zealously snatched up (to the tune of an estimated 100 million copies worldwide to date) and that solidified his status as the King of Pop. Debate still rages about whether Off the Wall or Thriller is stronger as an album. But the sea change Jackson created with Thriller had less to do with the music than with the medium.At the height of MTV, Jackson became the first black artist to create a fan base using his image rather than in spite d it. His grasp of performance and presentation remains without parallel.Jackson's subsequent albums failed to reach the heights of Thriller. But Jackson retained his knack for spectacle. Every music video he released was a major event, which is why MTV's lifetime-achievement statue at its annual awards show still bears his name. As a singer, as a songwriter, as a performer, as a dancer, Jackson remains among the most gifted ’ imaginative ’ larger-than-life musician of any race that has ever come along. Whatever changed about him over the years, that certainly didn't.1. According to Paragraph Two, which of the following is NOT true aboul Jackson's tragic death?[A] He had been busy preparing for his comeback shows before he died. [B] The tickets to his comeback shows had been sold out before he died. [C] His ever-changing appearance had negative effects on him. [D] People don't remember the way he changed the face of pop music.2. Which of the following is true about Jackson's songs mentioned in this passage?[A] "I Want You Back", "The Love You Save", "ABC" and "Rockin' Robin" were the four No. 1 singles of Jackson 5.[B] Jackson failed to convey the meaning trf love and loss in the songs "I Want You Back" and "The Love You Save".[C] "Don't Stop Til You Get Enough" and "Rock With You" were from Off the Wall, which was his first solo album.[D] Jackson's wonderful dancing skills were vividly described in the lyrics of “ Rock With You".3. "Straddle" in Paragraph Four can be best replaced by[A] deal with. [B] get over. [C] avoid. [D] end.4. Which of the following can be inferred from Paragraph Five?[A] Every song in Thriller was a success.[B] Thriller was more successful than Off the Wall.[C] Jackson had already been recognized as the King of Pop before Thriller. [D] Some of Jackson's fans still minded his image as a black person.5. The tone of the passage can be best described as[A] commendatory. [B] derogatory. [C] critical. [D] neutral.2009年6月25日.美国“流行天王”迈克尔杰克逊在洛杉矾突发心脏病离世,终年50岁。
专业英语八级(阅读)练习试卷20(题后含答案及解析)
专业英语八级（阅读）练习试卷20(题后含答案及解析) 题型有： 2. READING COMPREHENSIONPART II READING COMPREHENSION (30 MIN)Directions: In this section there are four reading passages followed by a total of 20 multiple-choice questions. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. You should decide on the best choice.Lately, everybody from industrial designers to city planners claims to be looking after our aesthetic interests, and there is ample anecdotal evidence that, on the margin, people do put a higher premium on the look and feel of things than they once did. That is to be expected as society grows richer. But aesthetics is not the only value -- trade-offs must be made -- and aesthetic value is hard to measure. What is “it,” after all? Aesthetics doesn’t come in neat units like microprocessor speed, calories, or tons of steel. Style is qualitative. The value of qualitative improvements poses tricky problems for economists. It is a major challenge to tease out how much consumers value each individual attribute that comes bundled in a given good or service. If you pay $2.99 for a toothbrush, how much of that is for the cleaning ability? How much for the feel of the handle? How much for the durability? How much for the packaging? How much for the convenient distribution to your comer drugstore? How much for the color? Economists use statistical techniques called “hedonic pricing” to try to separate the implicit prices of various characteristics. Essentially, they look at how prices go up or down as features are added or subtracted and try to figure out how consumers value the individual features. How much will consumers pay for an extra megahertz of computing speed, for instance? Not every characteristic is as easily measured as megahertz. The trickier the measurement, the more difficult the problem. For aesthetics, economists generally don’t even try. It’s just too hard. How do you account for the restaurant d écor or subtle enhancements in the taste of the food? How do you measure the increased value of a typeset resume, memo or client newsletter -- the result of ubiquitous word processors -- over an old-fashioned typed document? That sort of detail is simply lost in crude economic statistics. Many product characteristics -- from convenience to snob appeal to aesthetics -- are hard to quantify and so tend to be undercounted. The result is that the standard of living can change for the better without much notice. That is especially likely if products improve without becoming more expensive. Consumers are happier, but if they aren’t spending more money, no revenue increase shows up in the productivity statistics. This isn’t unusual in competitive markets. Shopping malls redecorate, and newspapers adopt color printing just to keep up with the competition. They aren’t able to charge more. They are just able to stay in business. When thinking about new products, producers face two challenges. First, they need to offer something whose value to the consumer is greater than its cost to produce and distribute. Increasing the surplus ofvalue minus cost is where both higher living standards and higher profits come from. It is the measure of real economic improvement. The second challenge is, of course, to price the offering to maximize profit. As a general matter, aesthetics sells. But “as a general matter” obscures all the specifics that make or break a product: What exact design will you use? How will you manufacture it? What will you charge? And, given those decisions, how will customers respond? The answers can’t be found through a blackboard exercise. Price theory is a useful tool, but we can’t know in advance how much people will value the characteristics of a product they haven’t yet seen or compared with real alternatives. Even market research, while helpful, cannot duplicate real-life choices. Although we all have fun predicting and second-guessing business ideas, the only way to find out is through trial and error. Market competition is a discovery process that subjects business hypotheses to unsentimental testing. Some managers are better than others at identifying promising new sources of value, and some companies are better than others at operations and pricing -- the skills that determine whether a product that consumers do value will in fact be profitable. Market competition tests these theories and skills. And, like all competitions, this one has its failures, some of them beautiful. Not every attempt at improvement works out. Sometimes value does not exceed cost. Sometimes it does, but managers fall in love with their product, price it too high and drive away potential customers. Sometimes the coolest of the cool just can’t survive the heat. With 20/20 hindsight, it is easy to see that the pricey Cube was doomed. But nobody knew that a year ago.1．The passage is mainly concerned with ______.A．adding aesthetics to productsB．increasing surplus of value minus costC．quantifying product characteristicsD．putting business ideas to market testing正确答案：C解析：本文主要讨论了如何对产品的抽象属性进行价格定位这一问题。
专八英语考试阅读试题及答案
专八英语考试阅读试题及答案On a nondescript block south of New York's Union Square’ up a dreary staircase and through a black-barred gate, there is a long, narrow room that might be mistaken for a very small museum of literary counterculture. On one wall hangs two rows of iconic posters：a print of Che Guevara's proud head; a photograph of the authors Jean Genet, William S. Burroughs, and Allen Ginsberg marching at the 1968 Democratic National Convention ;a portrait of Bobby Kennedy. Ixiose-leaf binders of correspondence with groundbreaking authors line floor-to-ceiling bookshelves. Beside the bookcases, Samuel Beckett peers out of a black-and-white photograph with a fierce crow's gaze. Next to him in the picture stands a shorter, milder-looking man named Barney Rosset.Rosset's publishing house, Grove Press, was a tiny pany operating out of the ground floor of Rosset's brownstone when it published an obscure play called Waiting for Godot in 1954. By the time Beckett had won the Nobel Prize in 1969 ’ Grove had e a force that cha llenged and changed literature and American culture in deep and lasting ways. Its impact is still evident——from the Che Guevara posters adorning college dorms to the canonical status of the house's once controversial authors. Rosset is less well known— but late in his life he is achieving some wider recognition.“Hie story of Rossel's life is essentially one of creative destruction. He found writers who wanted to break new paths, and then he picked up a sledge-hammer to help ihem whale away at the existing order.Rosset saw many crises. He or his pany was forever going broke, being attacked, breaking the law. In his legal battles, Rosset made his most enduring impact. Before Rosset challenged federal and slate obscenity laws, censorship was an accepted feature of publishing. His victories in high courts helped to change that. Rosset believed that it was impossible to represent life in the streets and in the dark recesses of the heart and mind honestly without using language that in ihe mid-20th century was considered “ obscene"— and therefore illegal to sell or mail. To a significant extent, the books he published convinced others that this was true.Rosset wasn't the only publisher who took risks, but he was one of the most visible and promising. Not everything he published was high-minded. Some of it aimed below the belt, and he was promising about that too. His stubbornness made his achievements possible, bul it also helped to undo him. At the end of the 60s, Grove moved into fancy offices, into film, and, to some extent, away from books. The repression of the 50s and freewheeling openness of the 60s were over, and other houses, now free from fear of censorship, took more chances. The left splintered. The feminist movemenl attacked him. Grove began to drift. But Rosset, asalways, kept doing what he wanted, everything else be damned.1.Which of the following statements contains a metaphor? [A]。
英语专业八级考试阅读理解试题带答案
英语专业八级考试阅读理解试题带答案Cryptic ColoringCryptic coloring is by far the commonest use of color in the struggle for existence. It is employed for the purpose of attack (aggressive resemblance or anticryptic coloring ) as well as of defense (protective resemblance or procryptic coloring ). The fact that the same method concealment, may be used both for attack and defense has beenwell explained by T.Belt who suggests as an illustration the rapidity of movement which is also made use of by both pursuer and pursued, which is similarly raised to a maximum in both by the gradual dying out of the slowest through a series of generations.Cryptic coloring is commonly associated with other aids in the struggle for life. Thus well-concealed mammals and birds, when discovered, will generally endeavor to escape by speed and will often attempt to defend themselves actively. On the other hand, small animals which have no means of active defense, such as large, numbers of insects, frequently depend upon concealment alone. Protective resemblance is far commoner among animals than aggressive resemblance, in correspondence with the fact that predaceous forms are as a rule much larger and much less numerous than their prey. In the case of insectivorous Vertebrata and their prey such differences exist in an exaggerated form.Cryptic coloring, whether used for defense of attack, may be either general or special. In general resemblance the animal, in consequence of its coloring, produces the same effect as its environment, but the conditions do not require any special adaptation of shape and outline. General resemblance is especially common among the animal inhabiting some uniformly colored expanse of the earth’s surface, such as an ocean or a desert. In the former, animals of all shapes are frequently protected by their transparent blue color, on the latter, equally diverse forms are defended by their sandy appearance. The effect of a uniform appearance may be produced by a combination of tints in startling contrast. Thus the black and white stripes of the zebra blend together at a little distance, and “their proportion is such as exactly to match the pale tint which arid ground possesses when seen by moonlight.” Special resemblance is far commoner than general and is theform which is usually met with on the diversified surface of the earth, on the shores, and in shallow water, as well as on the floating massesof algae on the surface of the ocean, such as the Sargasso Sea. In these environments the cryptic coloring of animals is usually aided by special modifications of shape, and by the instinct which leads them to assume particular attitudes. Complete stillness and the assumption of a certain attitude play an essential part in general resemblance on land; but in special resemblance the attitude is often highly specialized, and perhaps more important than any other element in the complex method by which concealment is effected.In special resemblance the combination of coloring, shape, and attitude is such as to produce a more or less exact resemblance to some one of the objects in the environment, such as a leaf of twig, a patchof lichen, a flake of bark. In all cases the resemblance is to some object which is of no interest to the enemy or prey respectively. The animal is not hidden from view by becoming indistinguishable from its background as in the case of general resemblance, but it is mistaken for some well-know object.seeking the interpretation of these most interesting and elaborate adaptations, attempts have been made along two lines. Thefirst seeks to explain the effect as a result of the direct influence of the environment upon the individual (G.L.L.Buffon), or by the inherited effects of efforts and the use and disuse of parts (marck). The second believes that natural selection produced the result andafterwards maintained it by the survival of the best concealed in each generation.The former suggestion breaks down when the complex nature of numerous special resemblances is appreciated. Thus the arrangement of colors of many kinds into an appropriate pattern requires thecooperation of a suitable shape and the rigidly exact adoption of a certain elaborate attitude. The latter is instinctive and thus dependson the central nervous system. The cryptic effect is due to the exact cooperation of all these factors; and in the present state of science, the only possible hole of an interpretation lies in the theory ofnatural selection, which can accumulate any and every variation which tends toward survival. A few of the chief types of methods by which concealment is effected may be briefly described. The colors of large numbers of vertebrate animals are darkest on the back and become gradually lighter on the sides, passing into white on the belly. Abbot H.Thayer has suggested that this gradation obliterates the appearance of solidity, which is due to shadow.The color harmony, which is also essential to concealment, is produced because the back is of the same tint as the environment (e. g. earth), bathed in the cold blue-white of the sky, while the belly, being cold blue-white and bathed in shadow and yellow earth reflections produces the same effects. This method of neutralizing shadow for the purpose of concealment by increased lightness of tint was first suggested by E.B.Poulton in the case of a larva and a pupa, but he did not appreciate the great importance of the principle. In an analogous method an animal in front of a background of dark shadow may have part of its body obliterated by the existence of a dark tint, the remainder resembling, e.g., a part of a leaf. This method of rendering invisible any part which would interfere with the resemblance is well know in mimicry.1. The black and white stripes of the zebra are most useful form[A] hunters. [B] nocturnal predators[C] lions and tigers. [C] insectivorous Vertrbrata2. Aggressive resemblance occurs when[A] a predaceous attitude is assumed.[B] special resemblance is utilized.[C] an animal relies on speed.[D] an animal blends in with its background.3. Special resemblance differs from general resemblance in that the animal relies on[A] its ability to frighten its adversary. [B] speed.[C] its ability to assume an attitude. [D] mistaken identify4. The title below that best expresses the ides of this passage is[A] Cryptic coloration for Protection. [B] How Animals Survive.[C] The uses of Mimicry in Nature. [D] Resemblances of Animals.5. Of the following which is the least common?[A] protective resemblance. [B] General resemblance.[C] Aggressive resemblance. [D] Special resemblance.答案详解：1. B. 夜间活动的`食肉动物。
专八阅读真题
PART II READING COMPREHENSION (30 MIN)In this section there are four reading passages followed by a total of 20 multiple-choice questions. Read the passages and then mark your answers on your coloured answer sheet.TEXT AStill, the image of any city has a half-life of many years. (So does its name, officially changed in 2001 from Calcutta to Kolkata, which is closer to what the word sounds like in Bengali. Conversing in English, I never heard anyone call the city anything but Calcutta.) To Westerners, the conveyance most identified with Kolkata is not its modern subway—a facility whose spacious stations have art on the walls and cricket matches on television monitors—but the hand-pulled rickshaw. Stories and films celebrate a primitive-looking cart with high wooden wheels, pulled by someone who looks close to needing the succor of Mother Teresa. For years the government has been talking about eliminating hand-pulled rickshaws on what it calls humanitarian grounds—principally on the ground that, as the mayor of Kolkata has often said, it is offensive to see “one man sweating and straining to pull another man.” But these days politicians also lament the impact of 6,000 hand-pulled rickshaws on a modern city’s traffic and, particularly, on its image. “Westerner s try to associate beggars and these rickshaws with the Calcutta landscape, but this is not what Calcutta stands for,” the chief minister of West Bengal, Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, said in a press conference in 2006. “Our city stands for prosperity and development.” The chief minister—the equivalent of a state governor—went on to announce that hand-pulled rickshaws soon would be banned from the streets of Kolkata.Rickshaws are not there to haul around tourists. (Actually, I saw almost no tourists in Kolkata, apart from the young backpackers on Sudder Street, in what used to be a red-light district and is now said to be the single place in the city where the services a rickshaw puller offers may include providing female company to a gentleman for the evening.) It’s the people in the lanes who most regularly use rickshaws—not the poor but people who are just a notch above the poor. They are people who tend to travel short distances, through lanes that are sometimes inaccessible to even the most daring taxi driver. An older woman with marketing to do, for instance, can arrive in a rickshaw, have the rickshaw puller wait until she comes back from various stalls to load her purchases, and then be taken home. People in the lanes use rickshaws as a 24-hour ambulance service. Proprietors of cafés or corner stores send rickshaws to collect their supplies. (One morning I saw a rickshaw puller take on a load of live chickens—tied in pairs by the feet so they could be draped over the shafts and the folded back canopy and even the axle. By the time he trotted off, he was carrying about a hundred upside-down chickens.) The rickshaw pullers told me their steadiest customers are schoolchildren. Middle-class families contract with apuller to take a child to school and pick him up; the puller essentially becomes a family retainer.From June to September Kolkata can get torrential rains, and its drainage system doesn’t need torrential rain to begin backing up. Residents who favor a touch of hyperbole say that in Kolkata “if a stray cat pees, there’s a flood.” During my stay it once rained for about 48 hours. Entire neighborhoods couldn’t be reached by motorized vehicles, and the newspapers showed pictures of rickshaws being pulled through water that was up to the pullers’ waists. When it’s raining, the normal customer base for rickshaw pullers expands greatly, as does the price of a journey. A writer in Kolkata told me, “When it rains, even the governor takes rickshaws.”While I was in Kolkata, a magazine called India Today published its annual ranking of Indian states, according to such measurements as prosperity and infrastructure. Among India’s 20 largest states, Bihar finished dead last, as it has for four of the past five years. Bihar, a couple hundred miles north of Kolkata, is where the vast majority of rickshaw pullers come from. Once in Kolkata, they sleep on the street or in their rickshaws or in a dera—a combination garage and repair shop and dormitory managed by someone called a sardar. For sleeping privileges in a dera, pullers pay 100 rupees (about $2.50) a month, which sounds like a pretty good deal until you’ve visited a dera. They gross between 100 and 150 rupees a day, out of which they have to pay 20 rupees for the use of the rickshaw and an occasional 75 or more for a payoff if a policeman stops them for, say, crossing a street where rickshaws are prohibited. A 2003 study found that rickshaw pullers are near the bottom of Kolkata occupations in income, doing better than only the ragpickers and the beggars. For someone without land or education, that still beats trying to make a living in Bihar.There are people in Kolkata, particularly educated and politically aware people, who will not ride in a rickshaw, because they are offended by the idea of being pulled by another human being or because they consider it not the sort of thing people of their station do or because they regard the hand-pulled rickshaw as a relic of colonialism. Ironically, some of those people are not enthusiastic about banning rickshaws. The editor of the editorial pages of Kolkata’s Telegraph—Rudrangshu Mukherjee, a former academic who still writes history books—told me, for instance, that he sees humanitarian considerations as coming down on the side of keeping hand-pulled rickshaws on the road. “I refuse to be carried by another human being myself,” he said, “but I question whether we have the right to take away their livelihood.” Rickshaw supporters point out that when it comes to demeaning occupations, rickshaw pullers are hardly unique in Kolkata.When I asked one rickshaw puller if he thought the government’s plan to rid the city of rickshaws was based on a genuine interest in his welfare, he smiled, with a quick shake of his head—a gesture I interpreted to mean, “If you are so naive as to ask s uch a question, I will answer it, but it is not worth wasting words on.” Some rickshaw pullers I met were resigned to the imminent end of their livelihood and pin their hopes on being offered something in its place. As migrant workers, they don’thave the political clout enjoyed by, say, Kolkata’s sidewalk hawkers, who, after supposedly being scaled back at the beginning of the modernization drive, still clog the sidewalks, selling absolutely everything—or, as I found during the 48 hours of rain, absolutely everything but umbrellas. “The government was the government of the poor people,” one sardar told me. “Now they shake hands with the capitalists and try to get rid of poor people.”But others in Kolkata believe that rickshaws will simply be confined more strictly to certain neighborhoods, out of the view of World Bank traffic consultants and California investment delegations—or that they will be allowed to die out naturally as they’re supplanted by more modern conveyances. Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, after all, is not the first high West Bengal official to say that rickshaws would be off the streets of Kolkata in a matter of months. Similar statements have been made as far back as 1976. The ban decreed by Bhattacharjee has been delayed by a court case and by a widely held belief that some retraining or social security settlement ought to be offered to rickshaw drivers. It may also have been delayed by a quiet reluctance to give up something that has been part of the fabric of the city for more than a century. K olkata, a resident told me, “has difficulty letting go.” One day a city official handed me a report from the municipal government laying out options for how rickshaw pullers might be rehabilitated.“Which option has been chosen?” I asked, noting that the r eport was dated almost exactly a year before my visit.“That hasn’t been decided,” he said.“When will it be decided?”“That hasn’t been decided,” he said.11. According to the passage, rickshaws are used in Kolkata mainly for thefollowing EXCEPTA. taking foreign tourists around the city.B. providing transport to school children.C. carrying store supplies and purchasesD. carrying people over short distances.12. Which of the following statements best describes the rickshaw pullers fromBiharA. They come from a relatively poor area.B. They are provided with decent accommodation.C. Their living standards are very low in Kolkata.D. They are often caught by policemen in the streets.13. That “For someone without land or education, that still beats trying to make aliving in Bihar” (4 paragraph) means that even so,A. the poor prefer to work and live in Bihar.B. the poor from Bihar fare better than back home.C. the poor never try to make a living in Bihar.D. the poor never seem to resent their life in Kolkata.14. We can infer from the passage that some educated and politically aware peopleA. hold mixed feelings towards rickshaws.B. strongly support the ban on rickshaws.C. call for humanitarian actions fro rickshaw pullers.D. keep quiet on the issue of banning rickshaws.15. Which of the following statements conveys the author’s sense of humor?A. “…not the poor but people who are just a notch above the poor.”(2paragraph)B. “…,.which sounds like a pretty good deal until you’ve visited a dera.”(4paragraph)C. Kolkata, a resident told me, “ has difficulty letting go.” (7 paragraph).D.“…or, as I found during the 48 hours of rain, absolutely everything butumbrellas.” (6 paragraph)16. The dialogue between the author and the city official at the end of the passageseems to suggestA. the uncertainty of the court’s decision.B. the inefficiency of the municipal government.C. the difficulty of finding a good solution.D. the slowness in processing options.TEXT BDepending on whom you believe, the average American will, over a lifetime, wait in lines for two years (says National Public Radio) or five years (according to customer-loyalty experts).The crucial word is average, as wealthy Americans routinely avoid lines altogether. Once the most democratic of institutions, lines are rapidly becoming the exclusive province of suckers(people who still believe in and practice waiting in lines). Poor suckers, mostly.Airports resemble France before the Revolution: first-class passengers enjoy "élite" security lines and priority boarding, and disembark before the unwashed in coach, held at bay by a flight attendant, are allowed to foul the Jetway.At amusement parks, too, you can now buy your way out of line. This summer Ihaplessly watched kids use a $52 Gold Flash Pass to jump the lines at Six Flags New England, and similar systems are in use in most major American theme parks, from Universal Orlando to Walt Disney World, where the haves get to watch the have-mores breeze past on their way to their seats.Flash Pass teaches children a valuable lesson in real-world economics: that the rich are more important than you, especially when it comes to waiting. An NBA player once said to me, with a bemused chuckle of disbelief, that when playing in Canada--get this--"we have to wait in the same customs line as everybody else."Almost every line can be breached for a price. In several U.S. cities this summer, early arrivers among the early adopters waiting to buy iPhones offered to sell their spots in the lines. On Craigslist, prospective iPhone purchasers offered to pay "waiters" or "placeholders" to wait in line for them outside Apple stores.Inevitably, some semi-populist politicians have seen the value of sort-of waiting in lines with the ordinary people. This summer Philadelphia mayor John Street waited outside an AT&T store from 3:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. before a stand-in from his office literally stood in for the mayor while he conducted official business. And billionaire New York mayor Michael Bloomberg often waits for the subway with his fellow citizens, though he's first driven by motorcade past the stop nearest his house to a station 22 blocks away, where the wait, or at least the ride, is shorter.As early as elementary school, we're told that jumping the line is an unethical act, which is why so many U.S. lawmakers have framed the immigration debate as a kind of fundamental sin of the school lunch line. Alabama Senator Richard Shelby, to cite just one legislator, said amnesty would allow illegal immigrants "to cut in line ahead of millions of people."Nothing annoys a national lawmaker more than a person who will not wait in line, unless that line is in front of an elevator at the U.S. Capitol, where Senators and Representatives use private elevators, lest they have to queue with their constituents.But compromising the integrity of the line is not just antidemocratic, it's out-of-date. There was something about the orderly boarding of Noah's Ark, two by two, that seemed to restore not just civilization but civility during the Great Flood.How civil was your last flight? Southwest Airlines has first-come, first-served festival seating. But for $5 per flight, an unaffiliated company called will secure you a coveted "A" boarding pass when that airline opens for online check-in 24 hours before departure. Thus, the savvy traveler doesn't even wait in line when he or she is online.Some cultures are not renowned for lining up. Then again, some cultures are too adept at lining up: a citizen of the former Soviet Union would join a queue just so he could get to the head of that queue and see what everyone was queuing for.And then there is the U.S., where society seems to be cleaving into two groups: Very Important Persons, who don't wait, and Very Impatient Persons, who do--unhappily.For those of us in the latter group-- consigned to coach, bereft of Flash Pass, toopoor or proper to pay a placeholder --what do we do? We do what Vladimir and Estragon did in Waiting for Godot: "We wait. We are bored."17. What does the following sentence mean? “Once the most democratic ofinstitutions, lines are rapidly becoming the exclusive province of suckers…Poor suckers, mostly.” (2 paragraph)A. Lines are symbolic of America’s democracyB. Lines still give Americans equal opportunities.C. Lines are now for ordinary Americans only.D. Lines are for people with democratic spirit only.18. Which of the following is NOT cited as an example of breaching the line?A. Going through the customs at a Canadian airport.B. Using Gold Flash Passes in amusement parks.C. First-class passenger status at airports.D. Purchase of a place in a line from a placeholder.19. We can infer from the passage that politicians (including mayors andCongressmen)A. prefer to stand in lines with ordinary people.B. advocate the value of waiting in lines.C. believe in and practice waiting in lines.D. exploit waiting in lines for their own good.20. What is the tone of the passage?A. Instructive.B. Humorous.C. Serious.D. Teasing.TEXT CA bus took him to the West End, where, among the crazy coloured fountains of illumination, shattering the blue dusk with green and crimson fire, he found the caféof his choice, a tea-shop that had gone mad and turned. Bbylonian, a while palace with ten thousand lights. It towered above the other building like a citadel, which indeed it was, the outpost of a new age, perhaps a new civilization, perhaps a new barbarism; and behind the thin marble front were concrete and steel, just as behind the careless profusion of luxury were millions of pence, balanced to the last halfpenny. Somewhere in the background, hidden away, behind the ten thousand llights and acresof white napery and bewildering glittering rows of teapots, behind the thousand waitresses and cash-box girls and black-coated floor managers and temperamental long-haired violinists, behind the mounds of cauldrons of stewed steak, the vanloads of ices, were a few men who went to work juggling with fractions of a farming, who knew how many units of electricity it took to finish a steak-and-kidney pudding and how many minutes and seconds a waitress( five feet four in height and in average health) would need to carry a tray of given weight from the kitchen life to the table in the far corner. In short, there was a warm, sensuous, vulgar life flowering in the upper storeys, and a cold science working in the basement. Such as the gigantic tea-shop into which Turgis marched, in search not of mere refreshment but of all the enchantment of unfamiliar luxury. Perhaps he knew in his heart that men have conquered half the known world, looted whole kingdoms, and never arrived in such luxury. The place was built for him.It was built for a great many other people too, and, as usual, they were al there. It seemed with humanity. The marble entrance hall, piled dizzily with bonbons and cakes, was as crowded and bustling as a railway station. The gloom and grime of the streets, the raw air, all November, were at once left behind, forgotten: the atmosphere inside was golden, tropical, belonging to some high mid-summer of confectionery. Disdaining the lifts, Turgis, once more excited by the sight, sound, and smell of it all, climbed the wide staircase until he reached his favourite floor, whre an orchestra, led by a young Jewish violinist with wandering lustrous eyes and a passion for tremolo effects, acted as a magnet to a thousand girls, scented air, the sensuous clamour of the strings; and, as he stood hesitating a moment, half dazed, there came, bowing, s sleek grave man, older than he was and far more distinguished than he could ever hope to be, who murmured deferentially: “ For one, sir? This way, please,” Shyly, yet proudly, Turgis followed him.21. That “behind the thin marble front were concrete and steel” suggests thatA. modern realistic commercialism existed behind the luxurious appearance.B. there was a fundamental falseness in the style and the appeal of the café..C. the architect had made a sensible blend of old and new building materials.D. the café was based on physical foundations and real economic strength.22. The following words or phrases are somewhat critical of the tea-shop EXCEPTA. “…turned Babylonian”.B. “perhaps a new barbarism’.C. “acres of white napery”.D. “balanced to the last halfpenny”.23. In its context the statement that “ the place was built for him” means that the caféwas intended toA. please simple people in a simple way.B. exploit gullible people like him.C. satisfy a demand that already existed.D. provide relaxation for tired young men.24. Which of the following statements about the second paragraph is NOT true?A. The café appealed to most senses simultaneously.B. The café was both full of people and full of warmth.C. The inside of the café was contrasted with the weather outside.D. It stressed the commercial determination of the café owners.25. The following are comparisons made by the author in the second paragraphEXCEPT thatA. the entrance hall is compared to a railway station.B. the orchestra is compared to a magnet.C. Turgis welcomed the lift like a conquering soldier.D. the interior of the café is compared to warm countries.26. The author’s attitude to the café isA. fundamentally critical.B. slightly admiring.C. quite undecided.D. completely neutral.TEXT DI Now elsewhere in the world, Iceland may be spoken of, somewhat breathlessly, as western Europe’s last pristine wilderness. But the environmental awareness that is sweeping the world had bypassed the majority of Icelanders. Certainly they were connected to their land, the way one is complicatedly connected to, or encumbered by, family one can’t do anything about. But the truth is, once you’re off the beat-en paths of the low-lying coastal areas where everyone lives, the roads are few, and they’re all bad, so Iceland’s natural wonders have been out of reach and unknown even to its own inhab-itants. For them the land has always just been there, something that had to be dealt with and, if possible, exploited—the mind-set being one of land as commodity rather than land as, well, priceless art on the scale of the “Mona Lisa.”When the opportunity arose in 2003 for the national power company to enter into a 40-year contract with the American aluminum company Alcoa to supply hydroelectric power for a new smelter, those who had been dreaming of some-thing like this for decades jumped at it and never looked back. Iceland may at the moment be one of the world’s richest countries, with a 99 percent literacy rate and long lifeexpectancy. But the proj-ect’s advocates, some of them ge tting on in years, were more emotionally attuned to the country’s century upon century of want, hardship, and colonial servitude to Denmark, which officially had ended only in 1944 and whose psychological imprint remained relatively fresh. For the longest time, life here had meant little more than a sod hut, dark all winter, cold, no hope, children dying left and right, earthquakes, plagues, starvation, volcanoes erupting and destroying all vegeta-tion and livestock, all spirit—a world revolving almost entirely around the welfare of one’s sheep and, later, on how good the cod catch was. In the outlying regions, it still largely does.Ostensibly, the Alcoa project was intended to save one of these dying regions—the remote and sparsely populated east—where the way of life had steadily declined to a point of desperation and gloom. After fishing quotas were imposed in the early 1980s to protect fish stocks, many indi-vidual boat owners sold their allotments or gave them away, fishing rights ended up mostly in the hands of a few companies, and small fishermen were virtually wiped out. Technological advances drained away even more jobs previously done by human hands, and the people were seeing every-thing they had worked for all their lives turn up worthless and their children move away. With the old way of life doomed, aluminum projects like this one had come to be perceived, wisely or not, as a last chance. “Smelter or death.”The contract with Alcoa would infuse the re-gion with foreign capital, an estimated 400 jobs, and spin-off service industries. It also was a way for Iceland to develop expertise that potentially could be sold to the rest of the world; diversify an economy historically dependent on fish; and, in an appealing display of Icelandic can-do verve, perhaps even protect all of Iceland, once and for all, from the unpredictability of life itself.“We have to live,” Halldór Ásgrímsson said in his sad, sonorous voice. Halldór, a former prime minister and longtime member of parliament from the region, was a driving force behind the pro ject. “We have a right to live.27. According to the passage, most Icelanders view land as something ofA. environmental value.B. commercial value.C. potential value for tourism.D. great value for livelihood.28. What is Iceland’s old-aged advocates’ feeling towards the Alcoa project?A. Iceland is wealthy enough to reject the project.B. The project would lower life expectancy.C. The project would cause environmental problems.D. The project symbolizes and end to the colonial legacies.29. The disappearance of the old way of life was due to all the following EXCEPTA. fewer fishing companies.B. fewer jobs available.C. migration of young people.D. impostion of fishing quotas.30. The 4 paragraph in the passageA. sums up the main points of the passage.B. starts to discuss an entirely new point.C. elaborates on the last part of the 3 paragraph.D. continues to depict the bleak economic situation.PART III GENERAL KNOWLEDGE (10 MIN)There are ten multiple-choice questions in this section. Choose the best answer to each question. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET TWO.31. Which of the following statements in INCORRECT?A. The British constitution includes the Magna Carta of 1215.B. The British constitution includes Parliamentary acts.C. The British constitution includes decisions made by courts of law.D. The British constitution includes one single written constitution.32. The first city ever founded in Canada isA. Quebec.B. Vancouver.C. Toronto.D. Montreal.33. When did the Australian Federation officially come into being?A. 1770.B. 1788.C. 1900.D. 1901.34. The Emancipation Proclamation to end the slavery plantation system in theSouth of the U.S. was issued byA. Abraham Lincoln.B. Thomas Paine.C. George Washington.D. Thomas Jefferson.35. ________ is best known for the technique of dramatic monologue in his poems..A. Will BlakeB. W.B. YeatsC. Robert BrowningD. William Wordsworth36. The Financier is written byA. Mark Twain.B. Henry James.C. William Faulkner.D. Theodore Dreiser.37. In literature a story in verse or prose with a double meaning is defined asA. allegory.B. sonnet.C. blank verse.D. rhyme.38. ________ refers to the learning and development of a language.A. Language acquisitionB. Language comprehensionC. Language productionD. Language instruction39. The word “Motel”comes from “motor + hotel”. This is an example of________ in morphology.A. backformationB. conversionC. blendingD. acronym40. Language is t tool of communication. The symbol “Highway Closed”on ahighway servesA. an expressive function.B. an informative function.C. a performative function.D. a persuasive function.Part IV Proofreading & Error Correction (15 min) The passage contains TEN errors. Each indicated line contains a maximum of ONEerror. In each case, only ONE word is involved. You should proofread the passage andcorrect it in the following way:For a wrong word, underline the wrong word and write the correct one in theblank provided at the end of the line.For a missing word, mark the position of the missing word with a "∧" signand write the word you believe to be missing in the blankprovided at the end of the line.For a unnecessary word, cross the unnecessary word with a slash "/" and put theword in the blank provided at the end of the line. EXAMPLEWhen ∧art museum wants a new exhibit, it ╱never buys things in finished form and hangs them on the wall. When a natural history museum wants an exhibition, it must often build it.1________an2________ never3________ exhibitSo far as we can tell, all human languages are equally complete and perfectas instruments of communication: that is, every language appears to be well equipped as any other to say the things their speakers want to say.There may or may not be appropriate to talk about primitive peoples or cultures, but that is another matter. Certainly, not all groups of people are equally competent in nuclear physics or psychology or the cultivation of rice or the engraving of Benares brass. Whereas this is not the fault of their language. The Eskimos can speak about snow with a great deal more precision and subtlety than we can in English, but this is not because the Eskimo language 1 2 3(one of those sometimes miscalled 'primitive') is inherently more precise and subtle than English. This example does not come to light a defect in English, a show of unexpected 'primitiveness'. The position is simply and obviously that the Eskimos and the English live in similar environments. The English language will be just as rich in terms for similar kinds of snow, presumably, if the environments in which English was habitually used made such distinction as important.Similarly, we have no reason to doubt that the Eskimo language could be as precise and subtle on the subject of motor manufacture or cricket if these topics formed the part of the Eskimos' life. For obvious historical reasons, Englishmen in the nineteenth century could not talk about motorcars with the minute discrimination which is possible today: cars were not a part of their culture. But they had a host of terms for horse-drawn vehicles which send us, puzzled, to a historical dictionary when we are reading Scott or Dickens. How many of us could distinguish between a chaise, a landau, a victoria, a brougham, a coupe, a gig, a diligence, a whisky, a calash, a tilbury, a carriole, a phaeton, and a clarence ?4 5 6 7 8 910PART II READING COMPREHENSION11.A 12.C 13.B 14.A 15.D16.C 17.C 18.A 19.D 20.B21. A 22.B 23. B 24.B 25. C26.A 27.D 28.D 29.A 30.C31. Which of the following is INCORRECT答案D：The British Constituiton includes one single written constitution答题技巧：首先注意题干INCORRECT, 根据常识判断英国宪法为不成文宪法；故本题选择D，其他选项更为细节，直接忽略跳过。
专八英语中级阅读理解试题及解析
专八英语中级阅读理解试题及解析专八英语中级阅读理解试题及解析It's great to be great, but it's greater to be human. 以下是店铺为大家搜索整理的专八英语中级阅读理解试题及解析，希望能给大家带来帮助!The gift of being able to describe a face accurately is a rare one, as every experienced police officer knows to his cost. As the Lancet put it recently:” When we try to describe faces precisely words fail us, and we resort to identikit (拼脸型图) procedures.”Yet, according to one authority on the subject, we can each probably recognise more than 1,000 faces, the majority of which differ in fine details. This, when one comes to think of it, is a tremendous feat, though, curiously enough, relatively little attention has been devoted to the fundamental problems of how and why we acquire this gift for recognizing and remembering faces. Is it an inborn property of our brains, or an acquired one? As so often happens, the experts tend to differ.Thus, some argue that it is inborn, and that there are “special characteristics about the brain’s ability to distinguish faces”. In support of this these they note how much better we are at recognizing a face after a single encounter than we are, for example, in recognizing an individual horse. On the other hand, there are those, and they are probably in the majority, who claim that the gift is an acquired one.The arguments in favour of this latter view, it must be confessed, are impressive. It is a habit that is acquired soon after birth. Watch, for instance, how a quite young baby recognises his member by sight. Granted that his other senses help – the sound other voice, his sense of smell, the distinctive way she handleshim.But of all these, sight is predominant. Formed at the very beginning of life, the ability to recognize faces quickly becomes an established habit, and one that is, essential for daily living, if not necessarily for survival. How essential and valuable it is we probably do not appreciate until we encounter people who have been deprived of the faculty.This unfortunate inability to recognize familiar faces is known to all, but such people can often recognize individuals by their voices, their walking manners or their spectacles. With typical human ingenuity many of these unfortunate people overcome their handicap by recognizing other characteristic features.1. It is stated in the passage that ______.A. it is unusual for a person to be able to identify a face satisfactorilyB. the ability to recognize faces unhesitatingly is an unusual giftC. quit a few people can visualize faces they have seenD. few people can give exact details of the appearance of a face2. What the author feels strange about is that _______.A. people have the tremendous ability to recognize more than 1,000 facesB. people don’t think much of the problem of how and why we acquire the ability to recognize and remember facesC. people don’t realize how essential and valuable it is for them to have the ability to recognize facesD. people have been arguing much over the way people recognize and remember faces3. What is the first suggested explanation of the origin of the ability?A. It is one of the characteristics peculiar to human beings.B. It is acquired soon after birth.C. It is something we can do from the very moment we are born.D. It is learned from our environment and experiences.4. According to the passage, how important is the ability to recognize faces?A. It is useful in daily life but is not necessarily essential.B. It is absence would make normal everyday life impossible.C. Under certain circumstances we could not exist without it.D. Normal social life would be difficult without it.5. This passage seems to emphasize that ______.A. the ability to recognize individuals is dependent on other senses as well as sightB. sight is indispensable to recognizing individualsC. the ability to recognise faces is a special inborn ability of the brainD. the importance of the ability of recognize faces in fully appreciated by people.答案：DBCBA。
最新专八阅读理解练习题
专八阅读理解练习题passage One (Violence Can Do Nothing to Diminish Race Prejudice)In some countries where racial prejudice is acute, violence has so come to be taken for granted as a means of solving differences, that it is not even questioned．There are countries where the white man imposes his rule by brute force; there are countries where the black man protests by setting fire to cities and by looting and pillaging．Important people on both sides, who would in other respects appear to be reasonable men, get up and calmly argue in favor of violence – as if it were a legitimate solution, like any other．What is really frightening, what really fills you with despair, is the realization that when it comes to the crunch, we have made no actual progress at all．We may wear collars and ties instead of war-paint, but our instincts remain basically unchanged．The whole of the recorded history of the human race, that tedious documentation of violence, has taught us absolutely nothing．We have still not learnt that violence never solves a problem but makes it more acute．The sheer horror, the bloodshed, the suffering mean nothing．No solution ever comes to light the morning after when we dismally contemplate the smoking ruins and wonder what hit us．The truly reasonable men who know where the solutions lie are finding it harder and herder to get a hearing．They are despised, mistrusted and even persecuted by their own kind because they advocate such apparently outrageous things as law enforcement．If half the energy that goes into violent acts were put to good use, if our efforts were directed at cleaning up the slums and ghettos, at improving living-standards and providing education and employment for all, we would have gone a long way to arriving at a solution．Our strength is sapped by having to mop up the mess that violence leaves in its wake．In a well-directed effort, it would not be impossible to fulfill the ideals of a stable social programme．The benefits that can be derived from constructive solutions are everywhere apparent in the world around us．Genuine and lasting solutions are always possible, providing we work within the framework of the law．Before we can even begin to contemplate peaceful co-existence between the races, we must appreciate each other’s problems．And to do this, we must learn about them: it is a simple exercise in communication, in exchanging information．'Talk, talk, talk,’the advocates of violence say,‘all you everdo is talk, and we are none the wiser．’It’s rather like the story of the famous barrister who painstakingly explained his case to the judge．After listening to a lengthy argument the judge complained that after all this talk, he was none the wiser．‘Possible, my lord,’the barrister replied,‘none the wiser, but surely far better informed．’Knowledge is the necessary prerequisite to wisdom: the knowledge that violence creates the evils it pretends to solve．1．What is the best title for this passage?[A]Advocating Violence．[B]Violence Can Do Nothing to Diminish Race Prejudice．[C]Important People on Both Sides See Violence As a Legitimate Solution．[D]The Instincts of Human Race Are Thirsty for Violence．2．Recorded history has taught us ___________[A]violence never solves anything．[B]nothing．[C]the bloodshed means nothing．[D]everything．3．It can be inferred that truly reasonable men ___________[A]can’t get a hearing．[B]are looked down upon．[C]are persecuted．[D]Have difficulty in advocating law enforcement．4．“He was none the wiser” means ___________[A]he was not at all wise in listening．[B]He was not at all wiser than nothing before．[C]He gains nothing after listening．[D]He makes no sense of the argument．5．According the author the best way to solve race prejudiceis ___________[A]law enforcement．[B]knowledge．[C]nonviolence．[D]Mopping up the violent mess．Vocabulary1．acute 严重的，剧烈的，敏锐的2．loot v．抢劫，掠夺；n．赃物3．pillage v．抢劫，掠夺4．crunch v．吱嘎吱嘎咬或嚼某物；n．碎裂声eg．when it comes to the crunch = if/when the decisive moment comes．当关键时刻来到时。
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专八阅读理解精读训练附答案和解析第1篇:The Only Way to Travel is on Foot•第1 页：精读练习原文•第2 页：精读答案详解•第3 页：精读点拨精读原文：The past ages of man have all been carefully labeled by anthropologists. Desc riptions like 'Palaeolithic Man', 'Neolithic Man', etc., neatly sum up whole perio ds. When the time comes for anthropologists to turn their attention to the twe ntieth century, they will surely choose the label'Legless Man'. Histories of the time will go something like this: 'in the twentieth century, people forgot how t o use their legs. Men and women moved about in cars, buses and trains froma very early age. There were lifts and escalators in all large buildings to prevent people from walking. This situation was forced upon earth dwellers of tha t time because of miles each day. But the surprising thing is that they didn't u se their legs even when they went on holiday. They built cable railways, ski-lifts and roads to the top of every huge mountain. All the beauty spots on earth were marred by the presence of large car parks.'The future history books might also record that we were deprived of the use of our eyes. In our hurry to get from one place to another, we failed to see anything on the way. Air travel gives you a bird's-eye view of the world – or even less if the wing of the aircraft happens to get in your way. When you travel by car or train a blurred image of the countrysi de constantly smears the windows. Car drivers, in particular, are forever o bsessed with the urge to go on and on: they never want to stop. Is it the lure of the great motorways, or what? And as for sea travel, it hardly deservesmention. It is perfectly summed up in the words of the old song: 'I joined the navy to see the world, and what did I see? I saw the sea.' The typical twenti eth-century traveler is the man who always says 'I've been there.'You mention the remotest, most evocative place-names in the world like El Dorado, Kabul, Irkutsk and someone is bound to sa y 'I've been there'– meaning, 'I drove through it at 100 miles an hour on the way to somewhere else. 'When you travel at high speeds, the present means nothing: you live mainly in the future because you spend most of your time looking forward to arriving at some other place. But actual arrival, when it is achieved, is meaningless. Y ou want to move on again. By traveling like this, you suspend all experience; the present ceases to be a reality: you might just as well be dead. The travel er on foot, on the other hand, lives constantly in the present. For him traveli ng and arriving are one and the same thing: he arrives somewhere with every step he makes. He experiences the present moment with his eyes, his ears a nd the whole of his body. At the end of his journey he feels a delicious physic al weariness. He knows that sound. Satisfying sleep will be his: the just rew ard of all true travellers.【阅读练习题】1、Anthorpologists label nowaday's men 'Legless' becauseA people forget how to use his legs.B people prefer cars, buses and trains.C lifts and escalators prevent people from walking.D there are a lot of transportation devices.2、Travelling at high speed meansA people's focus on the future.B a pleasure.C satisfying drivers' great thrill.D a necessity of life.3、Why does the author say 'we are deprived of the use of our eyes' ?A People won't use their eyes.B In traveling at high speed, eyes become useless.C People can't see anything on his way of travel.D People want to sleep during travelling.4、What is the purpose of the author in writing this passage?A Legs become weaker.B Modern means of transportation make the world a small place.C There is no need to use eyes.D The best way to travel is on foot.5. What does 'a bird's-eye view' mean?A See view with bird's eyes.B A bird looks at a beautiful view.C It is a general view from a high position looking down.D A scenic place.【答案详解】1.A 人们忘了用脚。
答案在第一段：人类学家把以往年代的人们分别标上旧石器时代、新石器时代人，等等。
干脆利落地总结了一个时期。
当他们转向20 世纪，他们肯定会标上“无脚的人”。
因为在20 世纪，人们忘了如何用脚走路。
男人女人早年外出就坐车、公共汽车、火车。
大楼里由电梯、自动扶梯，不需要人们走路。
即使度假期间，他们也不用脚。
他们筑有缆车道、滑雪载车和路直通山顶。
所有的风景旅游区都有大型的汽车停车场。
B 人们喜欢汽车、公交车、火车等。
C 电梯、自动扶梯制止人们走路。
D 有许多交通运输工具。
2.A 人们的注意力在未来。
见最后一段第一句话：当你高速旅行，现在等于零，你主要生活在未来，因为你大部分时间盯在前面到达的某个地方。
真到了，又没有意义了，你还要再向前进。
B 是一种欢乐。
C 满足司机强烈的渴望。
第二段中提及死机醉心于开车、不停车但不是快速前进着眼于未来。
D 生活的需要。
这一条在第一段中提及这种情况是因为他们那异常的生活方法强加给时代的居民。