英语期末考试阅读理解

Questions 41 to 45 are based on the same passage or dialog.A child who has once been pleased with a tale likes, as a rule, to have it retold in identically the same words, but this should not lead parents to treat printed fairy stories as sacred (神圣的) texts. It is always much better to tell a story than read it out of a book, and, if a parent can produce what, in the actual circumstances of the time and the individual child, is an improvement on the printed text, so much the better.A charge made against fairy tales is that they harm the child by frightening him or arousing his sadistic（施虐狂的）impulses. To prove the latter, one would have to show in a controlled experiment that children who have read fairy stories were more often guilty of cruelty than those who had not. As to fear, I think, we also need well-authenticated cases of children being dangerously terrified (使害怕) by some fairy story. Often, however, this arises from the child having heard the story once. Familiarity with the story by repetition turns the pain of fear into the pleasure of a fear faced and mastered.There are also people who object to fairy stories on the grounds that they are not objectively true, that giants, witches (巫婆), two-headed dragons, magic (有魔力的) carpets, etc., do not exist; and that, instead of indulging (沉溺) his fantasies in fairy tales, the child should be taught how to adapt to reality by studying history and mechanics. I find such people, I must confess, so unsympathetic and peculiar that I do not know how to argue with them. If their case were sound, the world should be full of madmen attempting to fly from New York to Philadelphia on a broomstick（女巫乘骑的扫帚柄）or covering a telephone with kisses in the belief that it was their enchanted (使着魔的) girl-friend.No fairy story ever claimed to be a description of the external world and no sane (神志正常的) child has ever believed that it was. (320 words)41. The author considers that a fairy story is more effective when it is _______.A. repeated without variationB. treated with respectC. adapted by the parentD. set in the present42. Some people dislike fairy stories because they feel that they ________.A. tempt people to be cruel to childrenB. show the primitive cruelty in childrenC. lend themselves to undesirable experiments with childrenD. increase a tendency to sadism in children43. According to the passage great fear can be stimulated in a child when the story is ________.A. set in realityB. heard for the first timeC. repeated too oftenD. dramatically told44. The author's mention of broomsticks and telephones is meant to suggest that ________A. fairy stories are still being made upB. there is confusion about different kinds of truthC. people try to modernize old fairy storiesD. there is more concern for children's fears nowadays45. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?A. Fairy stories are anything but beneficial to the growth of children.B. Fairy stories teach children the way to adapt to the society.C. No fairy story should be taken as the true description of the reality.D. No fairy story should be told to the children without modification.Questions 46 to 50 are based on the same passage or dialog.Standing alone at the Browns' party, Anna Mackintosh thought about her husband Edward, establishing him clearly in her mind's eye. He was a thin man, forty-one years of age, with fair hair that was often untidy. In the seventeen years they’d been married he had changed very little; he was still nervous with other people, and smiled in the same abashed way, and his face was still almost boyish.She believed she had failed him because he had wished for children and she had not been able to supply any. She had, over the years, become neurotic (神经过敏的) about this fact and in the end, quite some time ago now, she had consulted a psychiatrist (精神科医生), Dr. Abbat, at Edward's pleading (恳求).In the Browns' rich drawing room, its walls and ceiling gleaming (闪亮) with metallic (金属的) surface of imitation (模仿) gold, Anna listened to dance music coming from a tape recorder and continued to think about her husband.In a moment he would be at the party, since they had agreed to meet there, although by now it was three-quarters of an hour later than the time he had promised.The Browns were people he knew in a business way, and he had said he thought it wise that he and Anna should attend this gathering of theirs. She had never met them before, which made it more difficult for her, having to wait about, not knowing a soul in the room.When she thought about it she felt hard done by, for although Edward was kind to her and always had been, it was far from considerate to be as late as this. Because of her nervous condition she felt afraid and had developed a sickness in her stomach. She looked at her watch and sighed. (292 words)46. Why did Anna feel awkward at the party?A. She came to the party too early.B. She was neglected by the host and hostess.C. She felt uncomfortable with the atmosphere of the party.D. She didn't know anyone there.47. What made Anna feel inadequate?A. She did not make a good mother to her children.B. She was unable to satisfy her husband's desire to have children.C. She did not get along well with her husbandD. She was unable to have a better understanding of her husband.48. With time going by, Anna started to get angry as ________.A. she found the Browns were much wealthier than they wereB. her husband was usually more thoughtfulC. she noticed that no one was willing to talk to herD. her husband was bad-mannered in the party49. According to the passage, Edward wanted Anna to attend the party because ________.A. He wanted her to have more of a social lifeB. He tried to distract her from some unpleasant thoughtsC. He needed her supportD. He thought she would impress the Browns50. What kind of woman Anna was according to the passage?A. sensitive and nervyB. open and talkativeC. imaginative and cheerfulD. sensible and easygoingQuestions 51 to 55 are based on the same passage or dialog.The U.S. military has blocked public access to nearly all its Web sites after its servers were attacked by a new computer virus.Late last week, the U.S. Space Command, which provides security for military computers, instructed all military organizations to block public access after a number of sites had contracted the virus, called the "Code Red" bug, according to an official.The virus is known as a "denial of service" bug, because it replicates (自我复制) itself by reading the log files on a network server and sending copies to other servers — thereby multiplying and sometimes crashing a system — and denying access to legitimate (合法的) users of the site."The Code Red worm did in fact show up in some DoD [Department of Defense] Web sites and we're working to contain that," command spokesman Army Maj. Barry Venable said. "Ways we're going about that include blocking public access to the Web sites, because that's the way this worm works, to prevent it from using our networks to propagate (繁殖) itself."The virus exploits a security flaw (缺陷) in certain Microsoft network servers. The flaw was announced last month when a patch was released to fix it."To protect our DoD Web sites from being compromised, DoD organizations have been told to review the status of the Internet information servers ... to make sure that all the patches that were previously installed had been installed," says Venable.Only a handful of the major Defense Department sites, with the suffix ".mil" appear currently accessible to the public, including the central public affairs site DefenseLink and the military services' main homepages. Public access is blocked to information connected to those sites, and others such as the National Missile Defense site and the U.S. Air Forces in Europe site. Authorized Department of Defense personnel continue to have access to the sites, Venable said.(323 words)51. Which of the following can be the best title for this passage?A. The Code Red WormB. DoD Blocks Public Web Site AccessC. DoD was AttackedD. Protect DoD Web sites against Virus52. The word 'contracted' in Paragraph 2 most probably means ________.A. make less or smallerB. get an illnessC. make a legal agreementD. formally agree to marry somebody53. Which of the following statement is NOT true about the Code Red worm?A. It can multiply to a great numberB. It may make computer system stop working.C. It's included in a patch released by Microsoft.D. It may destroy the connection between legitimate users and the sites.54. Public access is blocked to most DoD [Department of Defense] Web sites so that ________.A. the Code Red worm can't use the web site to replicates itself and send copiesB. DoD organizations can have necessary patches installed to protect their sitesC. the defense secrets can be prevented from being revealedD. the mistake in certain Microsoft network servers can be corrected55. Which of the following is NOT the measure taken by DoD to fight against the Code Red worm?A. Blocking public access.B. Shutting down e-mail.C. Reviewing the status of the Internet information servers.D. Having necessary patches installed.Questions 56 to 60 are based on the same passage or dialog.The decline in moral standards — which has long concerned social analysts — has at last captured the attention of average Americans. And Jean Bethke Elshtain, for one, is glad.The fact that ordinary citizens are now starting to think seriously about the nation's moral climate, says this ethics (伦理学) professor at the University of Chicago, is reason to hope that new ideas will come forward to improve it.But the challenge is not to be underestimated. Materialism and individualism in American society are the biggest obstacles. "The thought that 'I'm in it for me' has become deeply rooted in the national consciousness," Ms. Elshtain says.Some of this can be attributed to the disintegration of traditional communities, in which neighbors looked out for one another, she says. With today's greater mobility and with so many couples working, those bonds have been weakened, replaced by a greater emphasis on self.In a 1996 poll of Americans, loss of morality topped the list of the biggest problems facing the U.S. And Elshtain says the public is correct to sense that: Data show that Americans are struggling with problems unheard of in the 1950s, such as classroom violence and a high rate of births to unmarried mothers.The desire for a higher moral standard is not a lament (挽歌) for some nonexistent "golden age," Elshtain says, nor is it a wishful ( 一厢情愿的) longing for a time that denied opportunities to women and minorities. Most people, in fact, favor the lessening of prejudice.Moral decline will not be reversed until people find ways to counter the materialism in society, she says. "Slowly, you recognize that the things that matter are those that can't be bought."(281 words)56. Professor Elshtain is pleased to see that Americans________.A. have adapted to a new set of moral standardsB. are longing for the return of the good old daysC. have realizedthe importance of material things D. are awakening to the lowering of their moral standards57. The moral decline of American society is caused mainly by ________.A. its growing wealthB. the self-centeredness of individualsC. underestimating the impact of social changesD. the prejudice against women and minorities58. Which of the following characterizes the traditional communities?A. Great mobility.B. Emphasis on individual effort.C. Concern for one's neighbors.D. Ever-weakening social bonds.59. In the 1950s, classroom violence ________.A. was something unheard ofB. attracted a lot of public attentionC. was by no means a rare occurrenceD. began to appear in analysts' data60. According to Elshtain, the current moral decline may be reversed ________.A. if people can return to the "golden age"B. when women and men enjoy equal rightsC. when people rid themselves of prejudiceD. if less emphasis is laid on material thingsQuestions 56 to 60 are based on the same passage or dialog.During the long vacation I was accepted as a trainee bus conductor. I found the job fiercely demanding even on a short route with a total of about two dozen passengers. I pulled the wrong tickets, forgot the change and wrote up my log (行程记录) at the end of each trip in a way that drew hollow laughter from the inspectors. The inspectors were likely to check at any time. A conductor with twenty years’ service could be dismissed if an inspector caught him accepting money without pulling a ticket.It was hot that summer: 100° Fahrenheit (华氏) every day. Inside the bus it was 30° hotter still. It was so jammed inside that my feet weren't touching the floor. I couldn't blink (眨眼睛) the sweat out of my eyes. There was no hope of collecting any fares.In these circumstances I was scarcely to blame. I didn't even know where we were, but I guessed we were at the top just before Market Street. I pressed the bell, the doors closed, and the bus surged forward. There were shouts and yells from down the back, but I thought they were the angry cries of passengers who had not got on. Too late I realized that they were coming from within the bus. The automatic doors at the back of the bus had closed around an old lady's neck as she was getting on. Her head was inside the bus. The rest of her, carrying a shopping bag was outside. I knew none of this at the time.When I at last signaled the driver to stop, he crashed to a halt and opened the automatic doors, whereupon the woman dropped to the road. Unfortunately, the car behind turned out to be full of inspectors. Since it would have made headlines if a university student had almost half-killed a woman of an advanced age, I was given the opportunity to leave quietly. (320 words)56. What do we learn about the inspectors in the first paragraph?A. They found the writer amusing.B. They never wore uniforms.C. They were feared by employees.D. They distrusted older employees.57. Why was the writer unable to do his job properly?A. He wasn't tall enough.B. The buses were too fast.C. People avoided paying.D. He couldn't move.58. The old lady in the incident described ________.A. was injuredB. faintedC. was draggedD. hit her head59. When the incident with old lady happened, ________.A. the writer had already decided to give up the jobB. the writer's employers wanted to avoid publicityC. the writer was offered the chance to continueD. the consequences were as the writer expected60. What is the writer's attitude now to the job?A. He feels responsible for the incident that ended it.B. He thinks that he was unfairly treated by the inspectors.C. He is ashamed that he was incapable of doing it properly.D. He believes that it was an impossible job to do well.Questions 61 to 65 are based on the same passage or dialog.My love of nature goes right back to my childhood, to the times when I stayed on my grandparent's farm in Suffolk. I think it was my grandmother who encouraged me more than anyone: she taught me the names of wildflowers and got me interested in looking at the countryside, so it seemed obvious to go on to do Zoology at university.I didn't get my first camera until after I'd graduated, when I was due to go diving in Norway and needed a method of recording the sea creatures I would find there. My father didn't know anything about photography, but he bought me an Exacta, which was really quite a good camera for the time, and I went off to take my first pictures of sea anemones (海葵) and starfish. I became keen very quickly, and I learnt how to develop and print.I've tried from the beginning to produce pictures which are always biologically correct. There are people who will alter things deliberately: you don’t pick up sea creatures from the middle of the shore an d take them down to attractive pools at the bottom of the shore without knowing you’re doing it.There can be a lot of ignorance in people's behavior towards wild animals and it's a problem that more and more people are going to wild places: while some animals may get used to cars, they won't get used to people suddenly rushing up to them. The sheer pressure of people, coupled with the fact there are increasingly few places whereno-one else has photographed, means that over the years, life has become much more difficult for the professional wildlife photographers.Nevertheless (然而), wildlife photographers play a very important part in educating people about what is out there and what needs conserving. Although photography can be an enjoyable pastime (消遣), as it is to many people, it is also something that plays a very important part in educating young and old alike. (325 words)61. The author decided to go to university and study Zoology because ________.A. she wanted to improve her life in the countrysideB. she was persuaded to do so by her grandmotherC. she was keen on the natural worldD. she wanted to stop moving around all the time62. How is the author different from some of the other wildlife photographers she meets?A. She tries to make her photographs as attractive as possible.B. She takes photographs which record accurate natural conditions.C. She likes to photograph plants as well as wildlife.D. She knows the best places to find wildlife.63. The author now finds it more difficult to photograph wild animals because ________.A. there are fewer of themB. they have become more nervous of peopleC. it is harder to find suitable placesD. they have become frightened of cars64. According to the author, wildlife photography is important because it can make people realize that ________.A. photography is an enjoyable hobbyB. we learn little about wildlife at schoolC. it is worthwhile visiting the countrysideD. it is important to look after wild animals65. Which of the following describes the author?A. Proud.B. Sensitive.C. Aggressive.D. Disappointed.Questions 36 to 40 are based on the same passage or dialog.During the first half of the nineteenth century much thought was given to building the Panama（巴拿马）Canal. The discovery of gold in California in 1848 brought an increased demand for a transportation link across Panama. A railroad line was completed after six years of hard labor in the swamps (沼泽) and jungles. Over two thousand workmen died from yellow fever and malaria (疟疾). In 1881 a French organization tried to build a canal across the Isthmus（巴拿马地峡）. For eleven years workmen struggled against heat and disease. At least 15,000 died before the French gave up their attempts to build the canal. For years the abandoned machinery lay in the jungles. At the close of the Spanish-American War the United States bought a strip of land ten miles wide across the Isthmus. Immediate attention was given to the control of diseases. In two years yellow fever was completely eliminated. Because of the work of American medical heroes, it was possible to build the splendid Panama Canal. (162 words)36. Prior to the successful completion of the Panama Canal, ________.A. France bought a strip of land across the Isthmus of PanamaB. Malaria was wiped out as a killer diseaseC. onecountry failed in its attempts to build a canal D. American doctors were honored for their work37. The building of the Panama Canal represents ________.A. man's unyielding desire for progressB. man's unceasing thirst for dangerC. man's ability to resist diseaseD. man's spirit of invention38. What was given priority by the United States?A. Buying a strip of landB. Starting building the canal immediatelyC. the prevention of illnessD. the Spanish-American War39. The author presents details according to ________.A. order of importanceB. spatial (???) orderC. simple listingD. time order40. What is the main idea of the passage?A. The elimination of yellow fever.B. The discovery of gold in California.C. The efforts recorded in the building of the Panama Canal.D. The work of American medical heroesQuestions 41 to 45 are based on the same passage or dialog.Real policemen, both in Britain and the United States, hardly recognize any resemblance ( ) between their lives and what they see on TV 刼if they ever get home in time.The first difference is that in real life a policeman must receive education in criminal law. He has to know exactly what actions are crimes and what evidence can be used to prove them in court.He will spend most of his working life typing millions of words on thousands of forms about hundreds of sad, unimportant people who are guilty 刼or not 刼of stupid, petty (ぃ 璶 ) crimes.Most television crime drama is about finding the criminal: as soon as heˇs arrested, the story is over. In real life, finding criminals is seldom much of a problem. Except in very serious cases like murders and terrorist attacks 刼where failure to produce results reflects on the standing of the police 刼little effort is spent on searching.A third big difference is between the drama detective and the real life ones. Detectives are subject to two opposing pressures: first, as members of a police force they always have to behave with absolute legality ( 猭); secondly, as expensive public servants they have to get results. They can hardly ever do both. Most of the time some of them have to break the rules in small ways.If the detective has to deceive the world, the world often deceives him. Hardly anyone he meets tells him the truth. And this separation the detective feels between himself and the rest of the world is deepened by the simplemindedness 刼as he sees it 刼of citizens, social workers, doctors, law-makers, and judges, who, instead of stamping out crime, punish the criminals less severely in the hope that this will make them reform. The result, detectives feel, is that nine-tenths of their work is re-catching people who should have stayed behind bars. This makes them rather cynical. (323 words)41. It is essential for a policeman to be trained in criminal law ________.A. so that he can catch criminals in the streetsB. because many of the criminals he has to catch are dangerousC. so that he can justify his arrests in courtD. because he has to know nearly as much about law as a professional lawyer42. The everyday life of a policeman or detective is ________.A. exciting and glamorousB. full of dangerC. devoted mostly to routine mattersD. wasted on unimportant matters43. When murders and terrorist attacks occur,the police ________.A. prefer to wait for the criminal to give himself awayB. make a lot of effort to try to track down the criminalsC. try to make a quick arrest in order to keep up their reputationD. usually fail to produce results44. The real detective lives in an unpleasant moral condition because ________.A. he is an expensive public servantB. he must always behave with absolute legalityC. he is obliged to break the law in order to preserve itD. he feels himself to be cut off from the rest of the world45 Detectives are rather cynical because ________.A. nine-tenths of their work involves arresting peopleB. hardly anyone tells them the truthC. society does not punish criminals severely enoughQuestions 51 to 55 are based on the same passage or dialog.Choosing a travel companion is at least as uncertain as choosing a marriage partner. The chances of success are perhaps even less.No law of causality（因果关系）exists to insist that in choosing a travel companion you will lose a friend. But it's not unlikely. The odd depends on the length and the rigorousness (严密) of the trip. Some friendships have a strength that will withstand even travel; others are by nature short-lived and travel merely hastens their dissolution (结束，终止).Perhaps I should make it clear that in discussing this matter of travel companions I am confining myself to Platonic (柏拉图式的) friendships. Intimate friends may well be the best companions of all. Compromises and concessions from such companions clearly spring from a recognized emotional base that colors every issue. I'll confine myself, then, to companions, male and female, who are sharing a trip solely for company. Why bother at all with a travel companion? Why not travel alone, shiftily pursuing one's goal? Some of the answers are obvious. A pleasant fellow traveler eases the stress and tensions, adds to the delights and rewards and pays half the bills. However, abad-tempered companion quite often brings you to the point where you devoutly（虔诚地）wish you were alone.Finding that suitable companion is something of an art and something of a gamble. But the choice should be determined by one important rule: Both travelers should be going on the trip with the same idea in mind. They should hold in common a theory of travel. (250 words)51. Choosing a travel companion is hard and risky, because ________.A. one may lose a friend.B. one may suffer financial losses.C. one may be trapped in the dangerous situationD. one may miss the chance of finding the right marriage partner.52. When intimate friends travel together, ________.A. the trip will hasten their dissolutionB. the trip will make them closer to each otherC. they will find the right ways to solve problems due to their relationshipD. they will make more friends on trip.53. It can be implied from the passage that the companion talked about here is the person ________.A. one can think of developing a deeper relationship withB. one can travel with merely for companyC. one can count on for a free travelD. one can learn much from54. Which of the following statements is TRUE?A. Choosing a travel companion won't lead to the loss of friends.B. Friendships cannot withstand the test of any trip.C. A travel companion is badly needed if one wants to take a trip.D. Like-minded people should travel together.55. Which of the following could be a likely title for the passage?A. Travel and Marriage Two Similar ExperiencesB. Finding a Good Travel Companion a Risky MatterC. Will Travel Damage the Friendship?D. Should One Travel Alone or in Another's Company?Questions 56 to 60 are based on the same passage or dialog.The term "culture shock" has already begun to creep into the popular vocabulary. Culture shock is the effect that involvement in a strange culture has on the unprepared visitor. Culture shock is what happens when a traveler suddenly finds himself in a place where yes may mean no, where a "fixed price" is negotiable, where to be kept waiting in an outer office is no cause for insult, where laughter may signify (意味) anger.The culture shock phenomenon causes a breakdown in communication, a misreading of reality, an inability to cope. Yet culture shock is relatively mild in comparison with the much more serious malady（弊病）, future shock. Future shock is brought on by the premature arrival of the future. It may well be the most important disease of tomorrow.。