Reading Comprehension & Cloze

Directions: There are 10 reading passages in this part. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D).

Passage 1

       You want something you can't get by behaving within the rules, and you want it badly enough you'll do it regardless of any guilt or deep regret, and you're willing to run the risk of being caught. That's how Ladd Wheeler, psychology professor at the University of Rochester in New York, defines cheating. Many experts believe cheating is on the rise. 'We're suffering a moral breakdown,' Pinkard says. 'We're seeing more of the kind of person who regards the world as a series of things to be dealt with. Whether to cheat depends on whether it's in the person's interest.' He does, however, see less cheating among the youngest students. Richard Dienstbier, psychology professor at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln, believes that society's attitudes account for much of the upsurge in cheating. 'Twenty years ago if a person cheated in college, society said: 'That is extremely serious, you will be dropped for a semester if not kicked out permanently,' he says. 'Nowadays, at the University of Nebraska, for example, it is the stated policy of the College of Arts and Sciences that if a student cheats in an exam, the student must receive an 'F' on what he cheated in. That's nothing. If you're going to flunk anyway, why not cheat'. Cheating is most likely in situations where the vital interests are high and the chances of getting caught are low, says social psychologist Lynn Kahle of the University of Oregon in Eugene.

1. The passage centers on ______.
A) convincing the reader that cheating is immoral
B) discussing the reasons for cheating
C) describing how students cheat in exams
D) suggesting how to control cheating
正确答案是

2. Cheating tends to occur in all the following situations except when ______.
A) one wants something badly
B) one can't get something in a right way
C) it is not very likely to be revealed
D) a series of things have to be dealt with
正确答案是

3. Which of the following is true according to the passage?
A) It is forgivable to cheat unless money is involved.
B) There has been an increase in cheating.
C) Most cheaters are college students.
D) Cheaters do not feel guilty and regretful.
正确答案是

4. What can be inferred from the passage?
A) Cheating is widespread because society is too tolerant.
B) Cheating is the result of intense pressure.
C) Cheating is cheating, whether in a test or on any other occasions.
D) Cheating comes together with civilization.
正确答案是

5. Which of the following could best replace the word 'flunk' (Para. 5, Line. 3)?
A) Fear.
B) Be pleased.
C) Succeed.
D) Fail.
正确答案是

Passage 2

      Believe it or not, optical illusion can cut highway crashes. Japan is a case in point. It has reduced automobile crashes on some roads by nearly 75 percent using a simple optical illusion. Bent stripes, called chevrons, painted on the roads make drivers think that they are driving faster than they really are, and thus drivers slow down. Now the American Automobile Association Foundation for Traffic Safety in Washington D.C. is planning to repeat Japan's success. Starting next year, the foundation will paint chevrons and other patterns of stripes on selected roads around the country to test how well the patterns reduce highway crashes. Excessive speed plays a major role in as much as one fifth of all fatal traffic accidents, according to the foundation. To help reduce those accidents, the foundation will conduct its tests in areas where speed-related hazards are the greatest -- curves, exit slopes, traffic circles, and bridges. Some studies suggest that straight, horizontal bars painted across roads can initially cut the average speed of drivers in half. However, traffic often returns to full speed within months as drivers become used to seeing the painted bars. Chevrons, scientists say, not only give drivers the impression that they are driving faster than they really are but also make a lane appear to be narrower. The result is a longer lasting reduction in highway speed and the number of traffic accidents.

6. The passage mainly discusses ______.
A) a new way of highway speed control
B) a new pattern for painting highways
C) a new approach to training drivers
D) a new type of optical illusion
正确答案是

7. On roads painted with chevrons, drivers tend to feel that ______.
A) they could avoid speed-related hazards
B) they are driving in the wrong lane
C) they should slow down their speed
D) they are approaching the speed limit
正确答案是

8. The advantage of chevrons over straight, horizontal bars is that the former ______.
A) can keep drivers awake
B) can cut road accidents in half
C) will have a longer effect on drivers
D) will look more attractive
正确答案是

9. The American Automobile Association Foundation for Traffic Safety Plans to ______.
A) try out the Japanese method in certain areas
B) change the road signs across the country
C) replace straight, horizontal bars with chevrons
D) repeat the Japanese road patterns
正确答案是

10. What does the author say about straight, horizontal bars painted across roads?
A) They are falling out of use in the United States.
B) They tend to be ignored by drivers in a short period of time.
C) They are applicable only on broad roads.
D) They cannot be applied successfully to traffic circles.
正确答案是

Passage 3

      Oceanography has been defined as 'the application of all sciences to the study of the sea'. Before the nineteenth century, scientists with an interest in the sea were few and far between. Certainly Newton considered some theoretical aspects of it in his writings, but he was reluctant to go to sea to further his work. For most people the sea was remote, and with the exception of early intercontinental travelers or others who earned a living from the sea, there was little reason to ask many questions about it, let alone to ask what lay beneath the surface. The first time that the question 'what is at the bottom of the oceans' had to be answered with any commercial consequence was when the laying of a telegraph cable from Europe to America was proposed. The engineers had to know the depth profile of the route to estimate the length of cable that had to be manufactured. It was to Maury of the US Navy that the Atlantic Telegraph Company turned, in 1853, for information on this matter. In the 1840s, Maury had been responsible for encouraging voyages during which soundings were taken to investigate the depths of the North Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Later , some of his findings aroused much popular interest in his book The Physical Geography of the Sea. The cable was laid, but not until 1866 was the connection made permanent and reliable. At the early attempts, the cable failed and when it was taken out for repairs it was found to be covered in living growths, a fact which defied contemporary scientific opinion that there was no life in the deeper parts of the sea. Within a few years oceanography was under way. In 1872 Thomson led a scientific expedition, which lasted for four years and brought home thousands of samples from the sea. Their classification and analysis occupied scientists for years and led to a five-volume report, the last volume being published in 1895.

11.The proposal to lay a telegraph cable from Europe to America made oceanographic studies take on ______.
A) an academic aspect
B) a military aspect
C) a business aspect
D) an international aspect
正确答案是

12. It was ______ that asked Maury for help in oceanographic studies.
A) the American Navy
B) some early intercontinental travelers
C) those who earned a living from the sea
D) the company which proposed to lay an undersea cable
正确答案是

13.The aim of the voyages Maury was responsible for in the 1840 was ______.
A) to make some sounding experiments in the oceans
B) to collect samples of sea plants and animals
C) to estimate the length of cable that was needed
D) to measure the depths of the two oceans
正确答案是

14. 'Defied' in the 5th paragraph probably means '______'.
A) doubted
B) gave proof to
C) challenged
D) agreed to
正确答案是

15.This passage is mainly about ______.
A) the beginnings of oceanography
B) the laying of the first undersea cable
C) the investigation of ocean depths
D) the early intercontinental communications
正确答案是

Passage 4

      Nowadays it is understood that a diet which contains nothing harmful may yet result in serious disease if certain important elements are missing. These elements are called 'vitamins'. Quite a number of such substances are known and they are given letters to identify them, A, B, C, D, and so on. Different diseases are associated with deficiencies of particular vitamins. The vitamins necessary for a healthy body are normally supplied by a good mixed diet, including a variety of fruit and green vegetables. It is only when people try to live on a very restricted diet, say during extended periods of religious fasting, or when trying to lose weight, that it is necessary to make special provision to supply the missing vitamins. One example of the dangers of a restricted diet may be seen in the disease known as beriberi, which used to afflict large numbers of Eastern peoples who lived mainly on rice. In the early years of this century, a Dutch scientist called Eijkman was trying to discover the cause of beriberi. At first he thought it was transmitted by a germ. He was working in a Japanese hospital, where the patients were fed on rice which had had the outer husk removed from the grain. It was thought this would be easier for weak, sick people to digest. Eijkman thought his germ theory was confirmed when he noticed, the chickens in    the hospital yard, which were fed on scraps from the patients' plates, were also showing signs of the disease. He then tried to isolate the germ he thought ,was causing the disease, but his experiments were interrupted by a hospital official, who claimed that the huskless rice, even though left over by the patients, was too good for chickens. It should be recooked and the chickens fed on cheap, coarse rice with the outer covering still on the grain. Eijkman noticed that the chickens began to recover on the new diet. He began to consider the possibility that eating unmilled rice somehow prevented or cured beriberi -- even that a lack of some ingredient in the husk might be the cause of the disease. Indeed this was the case. The element needed to prevent beriberi was shortly afterwards isolated from rice husks and is now known as vitamin B.

The milled rice, though more expensive, was in fact perpetuating the disease the hospital was trying to cure. Nowadays, this terrible disease is much less common thanks to our knowledge of vitamins.

16. Deficiencies of the various vitamins ______.
A) cause identical diseases
B) are not serious except in the case of vitamin C
C) cause different diseases
D) are often caused by scurvy
正确答案是

17. Fresh fruit and vegetables ______.
A) contain more vitamin C than any other food
B) decrease our resistance to colds
C) contain every kind of vitamin
D) increase our susceptibility to influenza
正确答案是

18. The disease 'beriberi' ______.
A) kills a large number of western people
B) is a vitamin deficiency disease
C) is transmitted by diseased rice
D) can be caught from diseased chickens
正确答案是

19. The chickens Eijkman noticed in the hospital yard ______.
A) couldn't digest the huskless rice
B) proved beriberi is transmitted by germs
C) were later cooked for the patients' food
D) were suffering from vitamin deficiency
正确答案是

20. The ingredient missing from milled rice ______.
A) was vitamin B
B) did not affect the chickens
C) was named the Eijkman vitamin
D) has never been accurately identified
正确答案是

Passage 5

     The idea of test-tube babies may make you starry-eyed with delight at the wonders of modern medicine or bleary-eyed with considering the moral/legal implications of starting life in a laboratory. But if you've ever been pregnant yourself, one thing is certain: You wonder what it's like to carry, a test tube baby. Are these pregnancies normal Are the babies normal The earliest answers came from Australia, where a group of medical experts at the Queen Victoria Medical Center in Melbourne took a look at the continent's first nine successful test-tube pregnancies. The Australians report that the pregnancies themselves seemed to proceed according to the plan, but at birth some unusual trends did show up. Seven of the nine babies turned out to be girls. Six of the nine were delivered by Caesarean section. And one baby, a twin, was born with a serious heart defect and a few days later developed life-threatening abdominal problems. What does it all mean Even the doctors don't know for sure because the numbers are so small. The proportion of girls to boys is high, but until there are many more test-tube babies no one will know whether that's pure coincidence or something special. The same thing is true of the single heart defects it usually shows up in only 15 out of 60,000 births in that part of Australia, but the fact that it occurred in one out of nine test-tube babies does not necessarily mean that they are at special risk. One thing the doctors can explain is the high number of Caesareans. The Australian researchers report that they are quite encouraged. All the babies are now making normal progress -- even the twin with the birth defects.

21. Which of the following would be the most appropriate title for the passage?
A) The proportion of Test-tube Girls to Boys,
B) Are Test-tube Babies Healthy
C) The Social Meaning of the Idea of Test-tube Babies.
D) The Moral Issue Associated with Test-tube Babies.
正确答案是

22. The passage implies that the first test-tube babies were born in ______.
A) Canada
B) Britain
C) America
D) Australia
正确答案是

23. Which of the following statements best describes the organization of the passage?
A) A problem is examined and possible reasons and solutions are given.
B) A procedure is explained and its importance is emphasized.
C) Two contrasting views of a problem are presented.
D) Recent scientific advancements are outlined in order of importance.
正确答案是

24. According to the passage, which of the following is NOT mentioned?
A) People are not sure of the reason why ;the proportion of test-tube girls to boys is high.
B) Heart defect usually occurs in only 15 out of 60,000 in Australia.
C) Heart defect shows up in one out of nine test-tube babies.
D) The test-tube babies are growing well.
正确答案是

25. Where did the passage most probably appear?
A) In a specialized publication for moral philosophers.
B) In a specialized report for doctors.
C) In a weekly news magazine with a large readership.
D) On the front page of a daily newspaper.
正确答案是

Passage 6

     There are two main things that make aircraft engineering difficult: the need to make every component as reliable as possible and the need to build everything as light as possible. The fact that an aero-plane is up in the air and cannot stop if anything goes wrong, makes it perhaps a matter of life or death that its performance is absolutely dependable. Given a certain power of engine, and consequently a certain fuel consumption, there is a practical limit to the total weight of aircraft that can be made to fly. Out of that weight as much as possible is wanted for fuel, radio navigational instruments, passenger seats, or freight room, and, of course, the passengers or freight themselves. So the structure of the aircraft has to be as small and light as safety and efficiency will allow. The designer must calculate the normal load that each part will bear. This specialist is called the stress man. He takes account of any unusual stress that may be put on the part as a precaution against errors in manufacture, accidental damage, etc. The stress man's calculations go to the designer of the part, and he must make it as strong as the stress man says is necessary. One or two samples are always    tested to prove that they are as strong as the designer intended. Each separate part is tested, then a whole assembly -- for example, a complete wing, and finally the whole aeroplane. When a new type of aeroplane is being made, normally only one of the first three made will be flown. Two will be destroyed on the ground in structural tests. The third one will be tested in the air. When a plane has passed all the tests it can get a government certificate of    airworthiness, without which it is illegal to fly, except for test flying. Making the working parts reliable is as difficult as making the structure strong enough. The flying controls, the electrical equipment, the fire precautions, etc. must not only be light in weight, but must work both at high altitudes where the temperature may be below freezing point and in the hot air of an airfield in the tropics. To solve all these problems the aircraft industry has a large number of research workers, with elaborate laboratories and test houses, and new materials to give the best strength in relation to weight are constantly being tested.

26. The two main requirements of aircraft design are ______.
A) speed and cheapness
B) reliability and passenger comfort
C) making things both light and dependable
D) ability to stay up in the air and avoid breakdowns
正确答案是

27. The stress man's job is to calculate ______.
A) how safe the plane is
B) how strong each part must be
C) what height the plane will fly at
D) the amount of luggage each passenger may carry
正确答案是

28. The first three aeroplanes of a new type ______.
A) are all destroyed
B) do not fly
C) are later broken up for spare parts
D) are used for testing purposes
正确答案是

29. All equipment in an aircraft must ______.
A) work especially well at high temperatures
B) be tested to destruction
C) not be too light in weight
D) work perfectly within a wide range of temperatures
正确答案是

30. New materials are ______.
A) too expensive to use in aircraft
B) avoided if possible
C) put to a variety of tests
D) tested at a constant temperature
正确答案是

Passage 7

     A breakthrough in the provision of energy from the sun for the European Economic Community (EEC) could be brought forward by up the two decades, if a modest increase could be provided in the EEC's research effort in this field, according to the senior EEC scientists engaged in experiments in solar energy a EEC's scientific laboratories at Ispra, near Milan. The senior West German scientist in charge of the Community's solar energy program, Mr. Joachim Gretz, told journalists that at present levels of research spending it was most unlikely that solar energy would provide as much as three per cent of the Community's energy requirements even after the year 2000. But he said that with a modest increase in the present sums, devoted by the EEC to this work it was possible that the breakthrough could be achieved by the end of the next decade.
Mr. Gratz calculates that if solar energy only provided three percent of the EEC's needs, this could still produce a saving of about a billion pounds in the present bill for imported energy each year. And he believes that with the possibility of utilizing more advanced technology in this field it might be possible to satisfy a much bigger share of the Community's future energy needs. At present the EEC spends about '2.6 millions a year on solar research at Ispra,? one of the EEC's official joint research centers, and another '3 millions a year in indirect research with universities and other independent bodies.

31. The phrase 'be brought forward' (Line. 2, Para. 1)most probably means '______'.
A) be expected
B) be completed
C) be advanced
D) be introduced
正确答案是

32. Some scientists believe that a breakthrough in the use of solar energy depends on ______.
A) sufficient funding
B) further experiments
C) advanced technology
D) well-equipped laboratories
正确答案是

33. According to Mr. Gretz, the present sum of money will enable the scientists to provide ______.
A) more than 3% of the EEC's needs after the year 2000
B) only 3% of the EEC's needs before the year 2000
C) lees than 3% of the EEC's needs before the year 2000
D) 3% of the EEC's needs after the year 2000
正确答案是

34. Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
A) The EEC spends one billion pounds on imported energy each year.
B) At the present level of research spending, it is difficult to make any significant progress in the provision of energy from the sun.
C) lees than 3% of the EEC's needs before the year 2000.
D) 3% of the EEC's needs after the year2000.
正确答案是

35. The application of advanced technology to research in solar energy ______.
A) would lead to a big increase in research funding
B) would make it unnecessary to import oil
C) would make it possible to meet the future energy needs of the EEC
D) would provide a much greater proportion of the Community's future energy needs
正确答案是

Passage 8

     Centuries ago, during the Middle Ages, most of the land in Europe was owned by many different kings and queens, princes and princesses, and lords and ladies. They did not all get along. They were always fighting. They all wanted to get more land. To protect themselves, they started building huge homes out of stone. They called their homes castles. A castle was built behind a strong stone wall. The wall was five or six feet thick and ten to twenty feet high. A deep ditch called a moat was dug around the outside of the wall. It was often filled with water, and the only way anyone could enter the castle was to cross a drawbridge. The drawbridge could be raised or lowered over the moat from inside the castle walls. There was also a tunnel that began in the castle and ended at the moat. This was important in case the castle was captured. It allowed the king and queen to escape. They could swim across the moat and hide in the forest. Living in a castle was not very comfortable. The rooms were cold and damp. Every room could have a fire burning in a great fireplace, but until the twelfth century castles did not have chimneys. The smoke from their fireplaces had to go out through open doors and windows. Meals often had ten or twelve courses. The meat might be wild boar or birds that were boiled or roasted over an open fire. All the food was highly seasoned. People even put pepper in their drinks! The people sat at a long table and ate with their fingers and a knife, all picking their food from the same big dish. They had no napkins. Therefore, they often wiped their hands on pieces of bread. When their fingers were clean, they threw the bread to their hunting dogs.

36.Which of the following statements is NOT true about castles?
A) Kings and queens, princes and princesses, and lords and ladies built castles in order to get more land.
B) Around the outside of a castle, a moat was dug, which was often filled with water.
C) A castle was built behind a thick and high stone wall, which was strong enough to stand the possible attack of enemies.
D) If a drawbridge was pulled up, there was no way for people to enter the castle.
正确答案是

37. A tunnel built in a castle is ______.
A) a secret passage for the king and queen to get out of the castle to live an ordinary life
B) a secret passage for soldiers to attack the enemy from their back
C) a secret passage for the king and queen to swim in the moat and play the chase-and-hide game in the forest
D) a secret passage for the king and queen to escape when the castle was captured
正确答案是

38. According to the passage, why was it not comfortable to live in a castle?
A) People living in a castle could not go out of the castle freely.
B) It was cold and humid inside the rooms of a castle and the smoke from their fireplaces had no chimney to go out.
C) Every time they wanted to go out of the castle, they had to ask the soldiers to lower the drawbridge.
D) The castle was not big enough to ride horse or to take a walk.
正确答案是

39. It can be inferred from the people's eating habit in a castle that ______.
A) they lived a luxurious life and their diet was very delicate
B) they lived a primitive life and their table manner was often rude
C) they lived a highly civilized court life
D) they lived a comparatively luxurious but not-so-civilized life
正确答案是

40. The main topic of this passage is ______.
A) why people built castles and their structure
B) castles' structure and the people who lived in them
C) castles' structure and the life in them
D) castles' structure and the eating habit in them
正确答案是