英语阅读(4级)
成都理工大学外国语学院
<大学英语精品课程:四级阅读补充材料>
(CET-4 Reading Comprehension Supplementary Materials)
Passage 1
Exchange a glance with someone, then look away. Do you realize that you have made a statement? Hold the glance for a second longer, and you have made a different statement. Hold it for 3 seconds, and the meaning has changed again. For every social situation, there is a permissible time that you can hold a person's gaze without being intimate, rude, or aggressive. If you are on an elevator, what gaze-time are you permitted? To answer this question, consider what you typically do. You very likely give other passengers a quick glance to size them up (打量) and to assure them that you mean no threat. Since being close to another person signals the possibility of interaction. You need to emit a signal telling others you want to be left alone. So you cut off eye contact, what sociologist Erring Goffman (1963) calls "a dimming of the lights." You look down at the floor, at the indicator lights, anywhere but into another passenger's eyes. Should you break the rule against staring at a stranger on an elevator, you will make the other person exceedingly uncomfortable, and you are likely to feel a bit strange yourself.
If you hold eye contact for more than 3 seconds, what are you telling another person? Much depends on the person and the situation. For instance, a man and a woman communicate interest in this manner. They typically gaze at each other for about 3 seconds at a time, then drop their eyes down for 3 seconds, before letting their eyes meet again. But if one man gives another man a 3-second-plus stare, he signals, "l know you", "l am interested in you," or "You look peculiar and I am curious about you." This type of stareoften produces hostile feelings.
1.It can be inferred from the first paragraph that___.
A) every glance has its significance
B) staring at a person is an expression of interest
C) a gaze longer than 3 seconds is unacceptable
D) a glance conveys more meaning than words
2. If you want to be left alone on an elevator, the best thing to do is___.
A) to look into another passenger's eyes
B) to avoid eye contact with other passengers
C) to signal you are not a threat to anyone
D) to keep a distance from other passengers
3. By "a dimming of the lights" (Line 13,Para.1 )Erving Goffman means___.
A) closing one's eyes
B) turning off the lights
C) ceasing to glance at others
D) reducing gaze-time to the minimum
4. If one is looked at by a stranger for too long, he tends to feel___.
A) depressed
B) uneasy
C) curious
D) amused
5. The passage mainly discusses___.
A) the limitations of eye contact
B) the exchange of ideas through eye contact
C) proper behavior in situations
D) the role of eye contact in interpersonal communication.
Passage 2
Geraldo Rivera is well known for his compassionate investigative reports on WABC-TV Eyewitness News. He has done exposes（揭露性报道）of New York City‘s welfare ho tels, the over-pricing of prescription drugs, and drug abuse. In 1971, he received the Associated Press Broadcaster of the Year award for the program Drug Crisis in East Harlem. He received the award again in 1972 for the program Migrants, Dirt Cheap.
His most famous expose however was done on the horrible conditions at Staten Island‘s WillowbrookStateSchool. It is the world‘s largest institution for the mentally disabled. His investigation began when he and his camera crew
gained access to one of the b uildings. Geraldo‘s emotionally charged reports exposed the unsanitary（不卫生的）conditions and neglectful, often abusive, treatment of the patients. He cried over what he discovered, and he made his viewers cry, too. The programs created a public plea for reform, and changes were made. Governor Nelson Rockefeller of New York restored $20 million to the school‘s slashed budget. The programs—Willow brook earned him the Scripps-Howard Award, an Emmy（埃米金像奖）, and the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award.
Geraldo Rivera has continued working for the mentally disabled. He founded One-to-One, a charity （慈善机构）that provides small group homes for the care of the mentally disabled in the community. He hosts huge outdoor festivals for the mentally disabled in New York City‘s C entral Park. He also wrote a book about some of the courageous people he has met as an investigative journalist. It is called A Special Kind of Courage.As he himself says,― I make no pretense （矫饰）of objectivity. But I‘m not just in the business of making people cry. I‘m in the business of change.‖
6. Geraldo Rivera is working as a(n)______.
A.news reporter for a newspaper in New York
B.investigative reporter for a special TV program
C.investigative officer of the New York government
D.philanthropist(慈善家) for the welfare of the mentally disabled
7. How many awards did Rivera receive for his work?
A.Two
B.Three
C.Four
D.Five
8. Rivera‘s investigation and expose on the conditions at
WillowbrookStateSchool led to _____.
A.the public concern and request for changes
B.the improvement of the conditions there
C. a considerable increase in the school‘s budget
D.all of the above
9. The term ―One-to-One‖ in the 3rd paragraph refers to ______.
A.an organization in the community that helps take better care of the
mentally disabled
B. a device that helps mentally disabled behave themselves
C.an organization that provides homes for the mentally disabled
D.a hospital that helps cure the mentally disabled
10. The author suggests in this passage that_____.
A.Rivera has always been objective in reporting what he finds
B.Rivera never tries to conceal his own compassion in his reporting
C.Rivera has changed people‘s views on the disabled
D.Rivera‘s work and efforts have greatly improved the conditions of the
disabled in New York.
Passage 3
In the old days, children were familiar with birth and death as part of life. This is perhaps the first generation of American youngsters (年轻人) who have never been close by during the birth of a baby and have never experienced the death of a family member.
Nowadays when people grow old, we often send them to nursing homes. When they get sick, we transfer them to a hospital, where children are forbidden to visit terminally ill patients-even when those patients are their parents. This deprives (剥夺) the dying patient of significant family members during the last few days of his life and it deprives the children of an experience of death, which is an important learning experience.
Some of my colleagues and I once interviewed and followed approximately 500 terminally iii patients in order to find out what they could teach us and how we could be of more benefit, not just to them but to the members of their families as well. We were most impressed by the fact that even those patients who were not told of their serious illness were quite aware of its potential outcome.
It is important for family members, and doctors and nurses to understand these patients' communications in order to truly understand their needs, fears, and fantasies (幻想). Most of our patients welcomed another human being with whom they could talk openly, honestly, and frankly about their trouble. Many of them shared with us their tremendous need to be informed, to be kept
up-to-date on their medical condition and to be told when the end was near: We found out that patients who had been dealt with openly and frankly were better able to cope with the approach of death and finally to reach a true stage of acceptance prior to death.
11. The elders of contemporary Americans___.
A) were often absent when a family member was born or dying
B) were quite unfamiliar with birth and death
C) usually witnessed the birth or death of a family member
D) had often experienced the fear of death as part of life
12. Children in America today are denied the chance___.
A) to learn how to face death
B) to visit dying patients
C) to attend to patients
D) to have access to a hospital
13. Five hundred critically ill patients were investigated with the main purpose of___.
A) observing how they reacted to the crisis of death
B) helping them and their families overcome the fear of death
C) finding out their attitude towards the approach of death
D) learning how to best help them and their families
14. The need of a dying patient for company shows___.
A) his desire for communication with other people
B) his fear of approaching death
C) his pessimistic attitude towards his condition
D) his reluctance to part with his family
15. It may be concluded from the passage that___.
A) dying patients are afraid of being told of the approach of death
B) most doctors and nurses understand what dying patients need
C) dying patients should be truthfully informed of their condition
D) most patients are unable to accept death until it is obviously inevitable
Passage4
The oldest and simplest method, then, of describing differences in personality was to classify people according to types. Such a system is called a Typology.
A famous example of this method was set forth in Greece about the year 400
B.C. A physician named Hippocrates theorized that there were four fluids, or humors, in the body. Corresponding to each humor, he believed, there existed a definite type of personality.
The four humors were blood, yellow bile（胆汁）, black bile, and phlegm（黏液）. A person in whom all four humors were in perfect balance had a harmonious（和谐的）personality. If a person had too much blood, he was called sanguine, or cheerful and optimistic. Someone with too much yellow bile was choleric, or irritable and easily angered. Too much black bile made a person melancholy, or depressed and pessimistic. An oversupply of phlegm caused a human being to be phlegmatic, or slow and unfeeling. Scientists have long since discarded Hippocrates‘ fluid theory. But t he names of the humors, corresponding to these temperaments（气质）, have survived and are still useful, to some extent, in describing personality.
Other features of people, such as their faces and physiques, have also been used to classify personality. Today, however, personality theories and classifications may also include factors such as heredity, the environment, intelligence, and emotional needs. Psychology, biology, and sociology are involved in these theories. Because of the complexity of human personality, present-day theories are often very different from one another. Psychologists vary in their ideas about what is most important in determining personality.
16. This passage focuses on________.
A.the history of the system of typology
B.important factors in determining personality
C.personality theory and classification
D.important features of human beings
17. According to Hippocrates‘ fluid theory, a person with a perfect balance of all the four humors in him_________.
A.was humorous and good at singing
B.had a pleasant and agreeable temperament
C.would always be cheerful and optimistic
D.seldom quarreled of fought with others
18. Which of the following is NOT true?
A.people with too much yellow bile were easily angered
B.the names of the four fluids are still used today
C.people with an oversupply of blood would easily get excited
D.many features of human beings have been used to classify personality
19. Modern personality theories and classifications______.
A.are often very different because personality itself is rather
complicated
B.involve psychology , biology, and sociology
C.are based only on heredity, the environment, intelligence, and
emotional needs
D.all of the above
20. In the forth-coming paragraphs, the author is most probably going to talk about____.
A.some new interpretations of the Hisppocrates‘ fluid theory
B.different opinions of psychologists about the factors in determining
personality
C.various definitions of typology given by different psychologists
D.the comparison between present-day personality theories and ancient
personality theories
Passage 5
Space is a dangerous place, not only because of meteors (流星) but also because of rays from the sun and other stars. The atmosphere again acts as our protective blanket on earth. Light gets through, and this is essential for plants to make the food which we eat. Heat, too, makes our environment endurable. Various kinds of rays come through the air from outer space, but enormous quantities of radiation from the sun are screened off. As soon as men leave the atmosphere they are exposed to this radiation but their spacesuits or the walls of their spacecraft, if they are inside, do prevent a lot of radiation damage. Radiation is the greatest known danger to explorers in space. The unit of
radiation is called "rem". Scientists have reason to think that a man can put up with far more radiation than 0.1 rem without being damaged; the figure of 60 rems has been agreed on. The trouble is that it is extremely difficult to be sure about radiation damage -- a person may feel perfectly well, but the cells of his or her sex organs may be damaged, and this will not be discovered until the birth of deformed (畸形的) children or even grandchildren.
Missions of the Apollo flights have had to cross belts of high radiation and, during the outward and return journeys, the Apollo crew accumulated a large amount of rems. So far, no dangerous amounts of radiation have been reported, but the Apollo missions have been quite short. We simply do not know yet how men are going to get on when they spend weeks and months outside the protection of the atmosphere, working in a space laboratory. Drugs might help to decrease the damage done by radiation, but no really effective ones have been found so far.
21. According to the first paragraph, the atmosphere is essential to man in that___.
A) it protects him against the harmful rays from space
B) it provides sufficient light for plant growth
C) it supplies the heat necessary for human survival
D) it screens off the falling meteors
22. We know from the passage that___.
A) exposure to even tiny amounts of radiation is fatal
B) the effect of exposure to radiation is slow in coming
C) radiation is avoidable in space exploration
D) astronauts in spacesuits needn't worry about radiation damage
23. The harm radiation has done to the Apollo crew members___.
A) is insignificant
B) seems overestimated
C) is enormous
D) remains unknown
24. It can be inferred from the passage that___.
A) the Apollo mission was very successful
B) protection from space radiation is no easy job
C) astronauts will have deformed children or grandchildren
D) radiation is not a threat to well-protected space explorers
25. The best title for this passage would be___.
A) The Atmosphere and Our Environment
B) Research on Radiation
C) Effects of Space Radiation
D) Importance of Protection Against Radiation
Passage 6
Although the United Kingdom covers only a small area of the earth‘s surface, it represents people of many different origins and cultures. Yet all of them are British indeed, it would be difficult to find anyone in modern Britain who could say with certainty that his ancestors had not come to the British Isles from somewhere else. Who, then, are today‘s Britains and what kind of people are they?
The history of human settlement in Britain goes back to the Stone Age hunters and gatherers who arrived from the European continent about 10,000 years ago. The peoples who followed them were settled agriculturalists who kept domestic animals and knew how to make simple pottery. Around 2000 BC these Stone Age people started to erect huge stone monuments, or henges, possibly for religious purposes. Work on the henges continued into the Bronze Age, until about 1500BC. The most imposing and mysterious of these ancient monuments is Stonehenge, on windswept Salisbury plain in southwest England.
Easy communication between the islands and the continental mainland must have existed and, from earliest times, this encouraged migration. By the end of the Bronze Age, around 700BC, Celtic people had arrived from north-western Europe bringing with them a revolutionary new skill: ironworking. Celts continued to come and settle in Britain for about 500 years and, by the time the Romans first landed in 55BC, the Celtic culture was well established. The earliest written records of Britain‘s inhabitants come from the Romans who eventually conquered the various Celtic kingdoms then flourishing in England,
Wales and the Scottish Low-lands.
26. In this passage the author intends to tell the origin of ____.
A.the British
B.the Celts
C.the English
D.the Romans
27. From the passage we know that_______.
A.everyone in Britain came from the British Isles
B.almost everyone came to the British Isles from somewhere else
C.almost everyone in Britain had his or her family origin from the British
Isles
D.almost every British citizen had his or her family origin from
somewhere else
28. According to the passage, the earliest inhabitants in Britain were______.
A.the earliest agriculturalists
B.Celts
C.Stone Age hunters and gatherers
D.Romans
29. Thanks to ______ we can learn about the earliest inhabitants in Britain.
A.Celts from north-western Europe
B.Stonehenge on Salisbury plain
C.The well-established Celtic culture
D.The Romans occupying the Celtic Kingdoms in Britain
30. According to the passage which of the following is NOT true?
A.There were already religious activities in ancient Britain.
https://www.wendangku.net/doc/9a2238504.html,munication between the British islands and the continental
mainland was convenient in the earliest times.
C.There were many Celtic Kingdoms in Britain when the Romans came
in 55 BC.
D.There were blacksmiths in Britain before 700 BC.
Passage 7
The concept of "environment" is certainly difficult and may even be misunderstood; but we have no handy substitute. It seems simple enough to distinguish between the organism and the surrounding environment and to separate forces acting on an organism into those that are internal and biological and those that are external and environmental. But in actual practice this system breaks down in many ways, because the organism and the environment are constantly interacting so that the environment is modified by the organism and vice versa (反之亦然).
In the case of men, the difficulties with the environmental concept are even more complicated because we have to deal with man as an animal and with men as a bearer (持有者) of culture. If we look at man as an animal and try to analyze the environmental forces that are acting on the organism, we find that we have to deal with things like climate, soil, plants, and such-like factors common to all biological situations; but we also find, always, very important environmental influences that we can only class as "cultural", which
modify the physical and biological factors. But men, as we know him, is always a bearer of culture; and if we study human culture, we find that it, in turn, is modified by the environmental factors of climate and geography. We thus easily get into great difficulties from the necessity of viewing culture, at one moment, as a part of the man and, at another moment, as a part of the environment.
31. Which of the following words can best describe the popular understanding of "environment" as the author sees it?
A) Elaborate.
B) Prejudiced.
C) Faultless.
D) Oversimplified.
32. According to the author the concept of "environment" is difficult to explain because___.
A) it doesn't distinguish between the organism and the environment
B) it involves both internal and external forces
C) the organism and the environment influence each other
D) the relationship between the organism and the environment is unclear
33. In analyzing the environmental forces acting on man the authorsuggests that___.
A) biological factors are less important to the organism than cultural factors to man
B) man and other animals are modified equally by the environmental forces
C) man is modified by the cultural environment as well as by the natural environment
D) physical and biological factors exert more influence on other organisms than on man
34. As for culture, the author points out that___.
A) it develops side by side with environmental factors
B) it is also affected by environmental factors
C) it is generally accepted to be part of the environment
D) it is a product of man's biological instincts
35. In this passage, the author is primarily concerned with___.
A) the interpretation of the term "environment"
B) the discussion on organisms and biological environment
C) the comparison between internal and external factors influencing man
D) the evaluation of man's influence on culture
Passage 8
Together with earthquakes, volcanoes are phenomena which both delight and terrify the human mind at the same time. Some of the most beautiful mountains in the world, admired by all who see them, are volcanoes. On the other hand, volcanoes have throughout history caused great destruction. The term volcano is associated with the island of Vulcano just north of Sicily. In classical times, this was thought to be the home of the god Vulcan—the god of destruction. V olcanoes have always been objects of mystery, and this is true today even despite the advances of science.
A volcano is a kind of chimney, or ―vent‖ which goes down to a liquid deep inside the earth, called ―magma‖. Three types of material come out of the vent: a hot liquid called lava, pieces of rock, and great quantities of gas. The lava and rock often collect round the vent and form what is known as the volcano‘s cone. V olcanic
eruptions vary between two extremes. In one, the lava comes quietly to the surface and flows away as a river, causing little damage except to objects directly in its path. On the other extreme great explosions occur, frequently blowing away the cone and causing great damage. The great majority of the world‘s volcanoes are intermediate between these two extremes.
There are several ways of classifying volcanoes. This is usually done according to the type of vent or the nature of the explosion. According to this latter classification, the most explosive type of volcano is the Pelean type, named after the eruption of Mount Pelee in the Lesser Antibes in 1902. The characteristic feature of this type is the so-called ―glowing cloud‖. This is a great cloud of red lava thrown from the volcano at high speed.
36. V olcanoes______.
A.delight people rather than terrify them
B.either delight people or terrify them
C.neither delight people nor terrify them
D.delight people and, on the other hand, terrify them
37. The first paragraph implies that in classical times____.
A.there were a lot of volcanic eruptions on the island of Vulcano
B.Vulcan lived on the island of Vulcano
C.the island of Vulcano lay, and still lies today, just north of Sicily
D.there were a lot of volcanic eruptions on the island of Sicily
38. The word vent (Para. 2, Line 1)means_______.
A.something like a chimney in the volcano
B.magma deep inside the earth
C.the volcano‘s cone
https://www.wendangku.net/doc/9a2238504.html,va, rock, and gas
39. According to this passage, most of the world‘s volcanic eruptions_____.
A.are extremely destructive
B.cause little damage
C.are neither extremely destructive nor extremely nondestructive
D.are either extremely destructive or extremely nondestructive
40. According to _____, the Pelean type is the most explosive type of V olcano.
A.the type of vent
B.the nature of the explosion
C.the colour of lava
D.the ―glowing cloud‖
Passage 9
If you want to stay young, sit down and have a good think. This is the research finding of a team of Japanese doctors, who say that most of our brains are not getting enough exercise--and as a result, we are ageing unnecessarily soon. Professor Taiju Matsuzawa wanted to find out why otherwise healthy farmers in northern Japan appeared to be losing their ability to think and reason at a relatively early age, and how the process of ageing could be slowed down. With a team of colleagues at TokyoNationalUniversity, he set about measuring brain volumes of a thousand people of different ages and varying occupations. Computer technology enabled the researchers to obtain precise measurements of the volume of the front and side sections of the brain, which relate to intellect (智能) and emotion, and determine the human character. (The rear section of the brain, which controls functions like eating and breathing, does not contract with age, and one can continue without intellectual or emotional faculties.)
Contraction of front and side parts--as cells die off--was observed in some subjects in their thirties, but it was still not evident in some sixty-and seventy-year olds.
Matsuzawa concluded from his tests that there is simple remedy to the contraction normally associated with age--using the head.
The findings show in general terms that contraction of the brain begins sooner in people in the country than in the towns. Those least at risk, says Matsuzawa, are lawyers, followed by university professors and doctors. White collar workers doing routine work in government offices are, however, as likely to have shrinking brains as the farm worker, bus driver and shop assistant. Matsuzawa's findings show that thinking can prevent the brain from shrinking. Blood must circulate properly in the head to supply the fresh ox ygen the brain cells need. "The best way to maintain good blood circulation is through using the brain," he says, "Think hard and engage in conversation. Don't rely on
pocket calculators."
41. The team of doctors wanted to find out___.
A) why certain people age sooner than others
B) how to make people live longer
C) the size of certain people's brains
D) which people are more intelligent
42. On what are their research findings based?
A) A survey of farmers in northern Japan.
B) Tests performed on a thousand old people.
C) The study of brain volumes of different people.
D) The latest development of computer technology.
43. The doctor's tests show that___.
A) our brains shrink as we grow older
B) the front section of the brain does not shrink
C) sixty-year-olds have better brains than thirty-year-olds
D) some people's brains have contracted more than other
44. The word "subjects" in Paragraph 5 means___.
A) something to be considered
B) branches of knowledge studied
C) persons chosen to be studied in an experiment
D) any member of a state except the supreme ruler
45. According to the passage, which people seem to age slower than the others?
A) Lawyers
B) Farmers
C) Clerks
D) Shop assistants
Passage 10
It is difficult to imagine what life would be like without memory. The meanings of thousands of everyday perceptions, the bases for the decisions we make, and the roots of our habits and skills are to be found in our past
experiences, which are brought into the present by memory.
Memory can be defined as the capacity to keep information available for later use. It includes not only ―remembering‖ things like arithmetic or historical facts, but also involves any change in the way an animal typically behaves. Memory is involved when a rat gives up eating grain because he has sniffed something suspicious in the grain pile. Memory is also involved when a six-year-old child learns to swing a baseball bat.
Memory exists not only in humans and animals but also in some physical objects and machines. Computers, for example, contain devices for storing data for later use. It is interesting to compare the memory-storage capacity of a computer with that of a human being. The instant-access memory of a large computer may hold up to 100,000 ‖words‖---ready for instant use. An average U.S. teenager probably recognizes the meaning of about 100,000 words of English. However, this is but a fraction of the total amount of information which the teenager has stored. Consider, for example, the number of faces and places that the teenager can recognize on sight.
The use of words is the basis of the advanced problem-solving intelligence of human beings. A large part of a person‘s memory is in terms of words and combinations of words.
46. According to the passage, memory is considered to be _____.
A.the basis for decision making and problem solving
B.an ability to store experiences for future use
C.an intelligence typically possessed by human beings
D.the data mainly consisting of words and combinations of words
47. The comparison made between the memory capacity of a large computer and that of human being shows that______.
A.the computer‘s memory has a little bigger capacity than a teenager‘s
B.the computer‘s memory capacity is much smaller than an adult human
being‘s
C.the computer‘s memory capacity is much smaller even than a
teenager‘s
D.both A and B
48. The whole passage implies that____.
A.only human beings have problem-solving intelligence
B. a person‘s memory is different from a computer‘s in every respect
C.animals are able to solve only very simple problems
D.animals solve problems by instincts rather than by intelligence
49. The phrase ―in terms of‖ in the last sentence can best be replaced by______.
A.in connection with
B.expressed by
C.consisting in
D.by means of
50. The topic of the passage is:
A.What would life be like without memory?
B.Memory is of vital importance to life.
C.How is a person‘s memory different from an animal‘s or a computer‘s?
D.What is contained in memory?
Passage11
In what now seems like the prehistoric times of computer history, the earth's postwar era, there was quite a wide-spread concern that computers would take over the world from man one day. Already today, less than forty years later, as computers are relieving us of more and more of the routine tasks in business and in our personal lives, we are faced with a less dramatic but also less foreseenproblem. People tend to be over-trusting of computers and are reluctant to challenge their authority. Indeed, they behave as if they were hardly aware that wrong buttons may be pushed, or that a computer may simply malfunction (失误).
Obviously, there would be no point in investing in a computer if you had to check all its answers, but people should also rely on their own internal computers and check the machine when they have the feeling that something has gone wrong.
Questioning and routine double-checks must continue to be as much a part of good business as they were in pre-computer days. Maybe each computer should come with the warning: for all the help this computer may provide, it
should not be seen as a substitute for fundamental thinking and reasoning skills.
51. What is the main purpose of this passage?
A) To look back to the early days of computers.
B) To explain what technical problems may occur with computers.
C) To discourage unnecessary investment in computers.
D) To warn against a mentally lazy attitude towards computers.
52. According to the passage, the initial concern about computers was that they might___.
A) change our personal lives
B) take control of the world
C) create unforeseen problems
D) affect our businesses
53. The passage recommends those dealing with computers to___.
A) be reasonably doubtful about them
B) check all their answers
C) substitute them for basic thinking
D) use them for business purposes only
54. The passage suggests that the present-day problem with regard tocomputers is___.
A) challenging
B) psychological
C) dramatic
D) fundamental
55. It can be inferred from the passage that the author would disapprove of___.
A) investment in computers
B) the use of one's internal computer
C) double-on computers
D) complete dependence on computers for decision-making
Passage 12
A new enemy is threatening Japanese traditions: leisure. As part of its attempt to
increase imports, the government is trying to get people to work less and spend more. The workers are disgusted.
The figures support the western prejudice that the Japanese are all work and no play. Trying to force workers away from their desks and machines, the government said last April that the country should cut down from its 2,100 hours average work year to 1,899 hours and a five-day week by 1992. Beginning in February, banks and stock markets will be closed on Saturdays, staff of civil service will be forced out of their offices two Saturdays a month. The government hopes that others will follow that practice.
But some persuasion will be needed. Small companies are very angry about it and they fear competitors may not cut hours. The unions are not happier: they have been advertised in newspapers arguing their case against the foreign pressure that is forcing leisure upon them. They say that shorter hours are a disguised pay cut. The industrialists, who have no objection to the government‘s plans, admit that shorter hours will help them cut costs. Younger Japanese who are supposed to be acting against their hard-working parents, show no sign of wanting time off, either. But unlike older workers, they do spend money in their spare time. Not content with watching television, they dance, dress up, sit in cafes, go to pop concerts and generally drive the leisure-industry boom. Now that they know how to consume, maybe the West can teach them to; relax and enjoy themselves, too.
56. The purpose of getting the Japanese to have more spare time is that______.
A.the government wants to show more concern for the health of the people
B.the government needs to get more goods from abroad
C.the Japanese have been working too hard
D.the Japanese hope to change the western prejudice
57. The group of people who welcome the shorter-hour system in Japan is_____.
A.the small companies
B.the industrialists
C.the unions
D.the younger generation
58. The unions think that ______.
A.the shorter hours they work, the higher pay they can get
B.the more they work, the less leisure they can enjoy
C.the shorter hours they work, the less pay they can have
D.the greater pressure the government is forcing on them, the less happiness
they can enjoy
59. What is the result of the younger Japanese‘s reaction to the leisure industry?
A.It costs more money than they can offer.
B.It is more and more unbearable to older workers.
C.It becomes more and more flourishing
D.It becomes a new fashion for people to enjoy
60. The best title for this passage can be_____.
A.Oh no! Not Saturday Again!
B.Leisure: the Greatest Threat!
C.Enjoy While You Are Young!
D.Less Work and More Play!
Passage 13
In the 196Os,medical researchers Thomas Holmes and Richard Rahe developed a checklist of stressful events. They appreciated the tricky point that any major change can be stressful. Negative events like "serious illness of a family member" were high on the list, but so were some positive life-changing events, like marriage. When you take the Holmes-Rahe test you must remember that the score does not reflect how you deal with stress--it only shows how much you have to deal with. And we now know that the way you handle these events dramatically affects your chances of staying healthy.
By the early 197Os,hundreds of similar studies had followed Holmes and Rahe. And millions of Americans who work and live under stress worried over the reports. Somehow, the research got boiled down to a memorable message. Women's magazines ran headlines like "Stress causes illness! "If you want to stay physically and mentally healthy, the articles said, avoid stressful events. But such simplistic advice is impossible to follow. Even if stressful events are dangerous, many--like the death of a loved one--are impossible to avoid. Moreover, any warning to avoid all stressful events is a prescription (处方) for staying away from opportunities as well as trouble. Since any change can be stressful, a person who wanted to be completely free of stress would never