阅读 １

Passage 1

　　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 (不愿意) to go to sea to further his work.
　　For most people the sea was remote, and with the exception of early intercontinental travellers or others who earned a living from the sea, there was little reason to ask many questions about it, 1et 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 (起伏形状)of the mute 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(测深) 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 1866was 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 1872Thomson led a scientific expedition (考察), 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.

1. The passage implies that the telegraph cable was built mainly_____
A)for oceanographic studies C)for business considerations
B)for military purposes D)for investigating the depths of the oceans

2.It was_____ that asked Maury for help in oceanographic studies.
A)the American Navy
B)some early intercontinental travellers
C)those who earned a living from the sea
D)the company which proposed to lay an undersea cable

3.The aim of voyages Maury encouraged in the 1840s was____
A)to make some sound experiments in the oceans
B)to collect samples of sea plants and animals
C)to estimate the length of cable that was to be made
D)to measure the depths of two oceans

4.'Defied' in the 5th paragraph probably means_____
A)'doubted' C)'challenged'
B)'gave proof to' D)'agreed to'

5.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

6.The author's attitude in this passage is _____
A)critical
B)objective
C)warmhearted
D)sad

Passage 2
　　The speaker, a teacher from a community college, addressed a sympathetic audience. Heads nodded in agreement when he said, "High school English teachers are not doing their jobs." He described the inadequacies of his students, all high school graduates who can use language only at a grade 9 level. I was unable to determine from his answers to my questions how this grade 9 level had been established.
　　My topic is not standards nor its decline (降低).What the speaker was really saying is that he is no longer young; he has been teaching for sixteen years, and is able to think and speak like a mature adult.
　　My point is that the frequent complaint of one generation about the one immediately following it is inevitable. It is also human nature to l∞k for the reasons for our dissatisfaction. Before English became a school subject in the late nineteenth century, it was difficult to find the target of the blame for language deficiencies(缺陷).But since then, English teachers have been under constant attack.
　　The complainers think they have hit upon an original idea. As their own command of the language improves, they notice that young people do not have this same ability. Unaware that their own ability has developed through the years, they assume the new generation of young people must be hopeless in this respect. To the eyes and ears of sensitive adults. The language of the young always seems inadequate.
　　Since this concern about the decline and fall of the English language is not perceived as a generational phenomenon but rather as something new and peculiar to today's young people, it naturally follows that today 's English teachers cannot be doing their jobs. Otherwise, young people would not commit offenses against the language.

1.The speaker the author mentioned in the passage believed that
A) the language of the younger generation is usually inferior to that of the older generation
B) the students had a poor command of English because they didn't work hard enough
C) he was an excellent language teacher because he had been teaching English for sixteen years
D) English teachers should be held responsible for the students, poor command of English

2.In the author's opinion, the speaker
A) gave a correct judgement of the English level of the students
B) had exaggerated the language problems of the students
C) was right in saying that English teachers were not doing their jobs
D) could think and speak intelligently
3.The author's attitude towards the speaker's remarks is________ .
A) neutral C) critical
B) positive D)compromising
4.It can be concluded from the passage that
A) it b justifiable to include English as a school subject
B) the author disagrees with the speaker over the standard of English at Grade 9level
C) English language teaching is by no means an easy job
D) Language improvement needs time and effort

5.In the passage the author argues that
A) it is unfair to blame the English teachers for the language deficiencies of the students
B) young people would not commit offences against the language if the teachers did their jobs properly
C) to eliminate language deficiencies one must have sensitive eyes and ears
D) to improve the standard of English requires the effort of several generations

Passage 3

　　For some time past it has been widely accepted that babies -- and other creatures -- learn to do things because certain acts lead to "rewards"; and there is no reason to doubt that this is true. But it used also to be widely believed that effective rewards, at least in the early stages, had to be directly related to such basic physiological (生理的) "drives" as thirst or hunger. In other words, a baby would learn if he got food or drink or some sort of physical comfort, not otherwise.
　　It is now clear that this is not so. Babies will learn to behave in ways that produce resuits in the world with no reward except the successful outcome.
　　Papousek began his studies by using milk in the normal way to "reward" the babies and so teach them to carry out some simple movements, such as turning the head to one side or the other. Then he noticed that a baby who had had enough to drink would refuse the milk but would still goon making the learned response with clear signs of pleasure. So he began to study the children's responses in situations where no milk was provided. He quickly found that children as young as four months would learn to turn their heads to right or left if the movement "switched on" a display of lights-and indeed that they were capable of learning quite complex turns to bring about this result ,for instance ,two left or two right ,or even to make as many as three turns to one side.
　　Papousek's light display was placed directly in front of the babies and he made the interesting observation that sometimes they would not turn back to watch the lights closely although they would "smile and bubble" when the display came on. Papousek concluded that it was not primarily the sight of the lights which pleased them, it was the success they were achieving in solving the problem, in mastering the skill, and that there exists a fundamental human urge to make sense of the world and bring it under intentional control .

1.According to the author, babies learn to do things which_______
A) are directly related to pleasure C)will bring them a feeling of success
B) will meet their physical needs D)will satisfy their curiosity

2.Papousek noticed in his studies that a baby________
A)would make learned responses when it saw the milk
B)would carry out learned movements when it had enough to drink
C)would continue the simple movements without being given milk
D)would turn its head to right or left when it had enough to drink

3.In Papousek's experiment babies make learned movements of the head in order to_______
A)have the lights turned on C)please their parents
B)be rewarded with milk D)be praised
4.The babies would "smile and bubble" at the lights because_____
A)the lights were directly related to some basic "drives"
B)the sight of the lights was interesting
C)they need not turn back to watch the lights
D)they succeeded in "switching on" the lights

5.According to Papousek, the pleasure babies get in achieving something is a reflection of
__________
A)a basic human desire to understand and control the world
B)the satisfaction of certain physiological needs
C)their strong desire to solve complex problems
D)a fundamenta1human urge to display their learned skills

答案：
Passage 1: CDDCAB
Passage 2: DBCDA
Passage 3: CCADA

阅读 ２

Passage 1

　　Just seven years ago, the Jarvik-7 artificial heart was being cheered as the model of human creativeness. The sight of Barney Clark-alive and conscious after trading his diseased heart for a metal-and-plastic pump-convinced the press, the public and many doctors that the future had arrived. It hadn't. After monitoring production of the Jarvik-7, and reviewing its effects on the 150 or so patients (most of whom got the device as a temporary measure) the U.S Food and Drug Administration concluded that the machine was doing more to endanger lives than to save them. Last week the agency cancelled its earlier approval, effectively banning (禁止) the device.
　　The recall may hurt Symbion Inc, maker of the Jarvik-7, but it wont end the request for an artificial heart. One problem with the banned model is that the tubes connecting it to an external power source created a passage for infection (感染). Inventors are now working on new devices that would be fully placed, along with a tiny power pa

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