29篇2012年考博阅读理解模拟试题

第1篇

Drunken-driving sometimes called America's socially accepted form of murder -- has become a national epidemic. Every hour of every day about three Americans on average are killed by drunken drivers, adding up to an incredible 250,000 over the past decade.

A drunken driver is usually defined as one with a 0.10 blood alcohol contentor roughly three beers, glasses of wine or shots of whisky drunk within two hours. Heavy drinking used to be an acceptable part of the American macho image and judges were lenient in most courts, but the drunken slaughter has recently caused so many well-publicized tragedies, especially involving young children, that public opinion is no longer so tolerant.

Twenty states have raised the legal drinking age to 21, reversing a trend in the 1960s to reduce it to 18. After New Jersey lowered it to 18, the number of people killed by 18-20-year-old drivers more than doubled, so the state recently upped it back to 21.

Reformers, however, fear raising the drinking age will have little effect unless accompanied by educational programmes to help young people to develop "responsible attitudes" about drinking and teach them to resist peer pressure to drink.

Tough new laws have led to increased arrests and tests and in many areas already, to a marked decline in fatalities. Some states are also penalizing bars for serving customers too many drinks. A tavern in Massachusetts was fined for serving six or more double brandies to a customer who was "obviously intoxicated" and later drove off the road, killing a nine-year-old boy.

As the fatalities continue to occur daily in every state, some Americans are even beginning to speak well of the 13 years national prohibition of alcohol that began in 1919, which President Hoover called the "noble experiment". They forget that legal prohibition didn't stop drinking, but encouraged political corruption and organized crime. As with the booming drug trade generally, there is no easy solution.

1. Drunken driving has become a major problem in America because _____.

A) most Americans are heavy drinkers B) Americans are now less shocked by road accidents

C) accidents attract so much publicity D) drinking is a socially accepted habit in America

2. Why has public opinion regarding drunken driving changed?

A) Detailed statistics are now available. B) The news media have highlighted the problem.

C) Judges are giving more severe sentences. D) Drivers are more conscious of their image.

3. Statistics issued in New Jersey suggested that _____.

A) many drivers were not of legal age B) young drivers were often bad drivers

C) the level of drinking increased in the 1960s D) the legal drinking age should be raised

4. Laws recently introduced in some states have _____.

A) reduced the number of convictions B) resulted in fewer serious accidents

C) prevented bars from serving drunken customers D) specified the amount drivers can drink

5. Why is the problem of drinking and driving difficult to solve?

A) Alcohol is easily obtained. B) Drinking is linked to organized crime.

C) Legal prohibition has already failed. D) Legislation alone is not sufficient.

第2篇

Los Angeles-Bill Joy is not a Luddite. He is not afraid of new technology. As founder and chief scientist of the Silicon Valley Company, he has been on the vanguard of the high tech revolution for 20 years. But recently Joy took a glimpse into the future and it scared him to death. What he saw was a world in which humans have been effectively supplanted by machines; a world in which super powerful computers with at least some attributes of human intelligence manage to

replicate themselves and develop their own autonomy and people become superfluous and risk becoming extinct.

"It might be argued that the human race would never be foolish enough to hand over all the power to the machines. But what we do suggest is that the human race might easily permit itself to drift into a position of such dependence on the machines that it would have no practical choice but accept all of the machines' decisions. As society and the problems that face it become more and more complex and machines become more and more intelligent, people will let machines make more of their decisions for them. Eventually a stage may be reached at which the decisions necessary to keep the system running will be so complex that human will be incapable of making them intelligently. At that stage the machines will be in effective control. People won't be able to just turn the machines off, because they will be so dependent on them that turning them would amount to suicide."

Previously, Joy had dismissed such scenarios as sci-fi fantasy, but then he listened to friends who were experts in robotics and realized that this brave new world was much closer than any of us might imagine -- as close as 30 years away. The further that Joy dug into the cutting edge of research in the new technologies -- robotics, genetic engineering and Nan technology -- the more horrified he became. Not only did he see scenarios in which robots would like to take on a life of their own and exterminate the human race, but also he began to see ways in which other staples of sci-fi horror might come to pass. Specifically, robots, engineered organism, and Nan bots share a dangerous amplifying factor: they can self-replicate. A bomb is blown only once -- but one robot can become many, and quickly get out of control.

"I think it is no exaggeration to say we are on the cusp of the further perfection of extreme evil, an evil whose possibility spreads well beyond that which weapons of mass destruction bequeathed to the nation-states, on to a surprising and terrible empowerment of extreme individuals. We are being propelled into this new century with no plan, no control, no brakes." Joy concludes. "Have we already gone too far down the path to alter course? I don't believe so, but we aren't trying yet, and the last chance to assert control -- the fail-safe point -- is rapidly approaching."

1. According to the passage, the word "Luddite"(in paragraph 1, line 1) means?

A) the name of a place where science is underdeveloped. B) the name of a country.

C) the name of an organization which aims to advocate developing the new technology.

D) the name of a party which protest at developing science.

2. From the passage, we know that it is that scared Bill Joy to death?

A) robots have been practically running the world.

B) humans are actually at the mercy of the machines.

C) humans are facing a fatal situation that the machines are out of control gradually and the machines will overwhelm the whole world.

D) humans will be exiled from the earth by the machines and they have to explore another fixed star.

3. What does the sentence "I don't believe so, but we aren't trying yet..."(in the last paragraph, line

5) indicate?

A) It is high time for us to give an end to the new technologies.

B) We should cease to explore the perilous Nan technology.

C) Humans have to devote themselves to save the whole world by containing and wrecking the machines.

D) It i s right time for humans to dominate the high devel oping technol ogy effecti vel y and handl e it skill full y.

4. Bill Joy realized the situation that _____.

A) the day when the world controlled by the machines is just round the corner

B) the human world is on the edge of an exceeding danger

C) the machines in the future will be as perilous as the mass destruction

D) humans are now on their wit's end

5. Which of the following can best describe the author's attitude towards the future relationship between humans and machines?

A) Optimistic. B) Pessimistic. C) Confident. D) Indifferent.

第3篇

The study of philosophies should make our own ideas flexible. We are all of us apt to take certain general ideas for granted, and call them common sense. We should learn that other people have held quite different ideas, and that our own have started as very original guesses of philosophers.

A scientist is apt to think that all the problems of philosophy will ultimately be solved by science. I think this is true for a great many of the questions on which philosophers still argue. For example, Plato thought that when we saw something, one ray of light came to it from the sun, and another from our eyes and that seeing was something like feeling with a stick. We now know that the light comes from the sun, and is reflected into our eyes. We don't know in much detail how the changes in our eyes give rise to sensation. But there is every reason to think that as we learn more about the physiology of the brain, we shall do so, and that the great philosophical problems about knowledge are going to be pretty fully cleared up.

But if our descendants know the answers to these questions and others that perplex us today, there will still be one field of which they do not know, namely the future. However exact our science, we cannot know it as we know the past. Philosophy may be described as argument about things of which we are ignorant. And where science gives us a hope of knowledge it is often reasonable to suspend judgment. That is one reason why Marx and Engels quite rightly wrote to many philosophical problems that interested their contemporaries.

But we have got to prepare for the future, and we cannot do so rationally without some philosophy. Some people say we have only got to do the duties revealed in the past and laid down by religion, and god will look after the future. Other say that the world is a machine and the course of future events is certain, whatever efforts we may make, Marxists say that the future depends on ourselves, even though we are part of the historical process. This philosophical view certainly does inspire people to very great achiements. Whether it i s true or not, it i s powerful guide to action.

We need a philosophy, then, to help us to tackle the future. Agnosticism easily becomes an excuse for laziness and conservation. Whether we adopt Marxism or any other philosophy, we cannot understand it without knowing something of how it developed. That is why knowledge of the history of philosophy is important to Marxism, even during the present critical days.

1. What is the main idea of this passage?

A) The main idea of this passage is the argument whether philosophy will ultimately be solved by science or not.

B) The importance of learning philosophies, especially the history of philosophy.

C) The difference between philosophy and science.

D) A discuss about how to set a proper attitude towards future.

2. The example of what Plato thought in the passage shows that __________.

A) the development of science really can solve a great many of the problems on which philosophers still argue

B) Plato knew nothing about Physi cs C) the scientists have achieved a lot in terms of light theory

D) different people have different ways of perception

3. What field can our descendants know?

A) The origin of human beings. B) Some questions that perplex us today.

C) Many philosophical problems which Marx and Engels wrote rather little. D) The future.

4. How many kinds of ideas are there about the future?

A) Two. B) Three. C) Four. D) Five.

5. What are the functions of studying philosophies mentioned in the passage?

A) The study of philosophies would make our own ideas flexible.

B) The study of philosophies would help prepare us for the future and guide our actions.

C) The study of philosophies woul d enable us to understand how things develop as to better tackle the future.

D) All of the above.

第4篇

The mental health movement in the United States began with a period of considerable enlightenment. Dorothea Dix was shocked to find the mentally ill in jails and almshouses and crusaded for the establishment of asylums in which people could receive humane care in hospital-like environments and treatment which might help restore them to sanity. By the mid 1800s, 20 states had established asylums, but during the late 1800s and early 1900s, in the face of economic depression, legislatures were unable to appropriate sufficient funds for decent care. Asylums became overcrowded and prison like. Additionally, patients were more resistant to treatment than the pioneers in the mental health field had anticipated, and security and restraint were needed to protect patients and others. Mental institutions became frightening and depressing places in which the rights of patients were all but forgotten.

These conditions continued until after World War II. At that time, new treatments were discovered for some major mental illnesses theretofore considered untreatable (pencillin for syphilis of the brain and insulin treatment for schizophrenia and depressions), and a succession of books, motion pictures, and newspaper exposes called attention to the plight of the mentally ill. Improvements were made and Dr. David Vail's Humane Practices Program is a beacon for today. But changes were slow in coming until the early 1960s. At that time, the Civil Rights movement led lawyers to investigate America's prisons, which were disproportionately populated by blacks, and they in turn followed prisoners into the only institutions that were worse than the prisons -- the hospitals for the criminally insane. The prisons were filled with angry young men who, encouraged by legal support, were quick to demand their rights. The hospitals for the criminally insane, by contrast, were populated with people who were considered "crazy" and who were often kept obediently in their place through the use of severe bodily restraints and large doses of major tranquilizers. The young cadre of public interest lawyers liked their role in the mental hospitals. The lawyers found a population that was both passive and easy to champion. These were, after all, people who, unlike criminals, had done nothing wrong. And in many states, they were being kept in horrendous institutions, an injustice, which once exposed, was bound to shock the public and, particularly, the judicial conscience. Patients' rights groups successfully encouraged reform by lobbying in state legislatures.

Judicial interventions have had some definite positive effect, but there is growing awareness that courts cannot provide the standards and the review mechanisms that assure good patient care. The details of providing day-to-day care simply cannot be mandated by a court, so it is time to take from the courts the responsibility for delivery of mental health care and assurance of patient rights and return it to the state mental health administrators to whom the mandate was originally given. Though it is a difficult task, administrators must undertake to write rules and standards and to provide the training and surveillance to assure that treatment i s given and patient rights are respected. 1. The main purpose of the passage is to _________.

A) provide an historical perspective on problems of mental health care

B) increase public awareness of the plight of the mentally ill

C) shock the reader with vivid descriptions of asylums

D) describe the invention of new treatments for mental illness

2. The author's attitude toward people who are patients in state institutions can best be described as __________.

A) inflexible and insensitive B) detached and neutral

C) understanding and sympathetic D) enthusiastic and supportive

3. It can be inferred from the passage that, had the Civil Rights movement nor prompted an investigation of prison conditions _________.

A) states would never have established asylums for the mentally ill

B) new treatments for major mental illness would have likely remained untested

C) the Civil Rights movement in America would have been politically ineffective

D) conditions in mental hospitals might have escaped judicial scrutiny

4. The tone of the final paragraph can best be described as _________.

A) overly emotional B) cleverly deceptive C) cautiously optimistic D) fiercely independent

5. A ccording to the passage, mental hospital conditions were radi cally changed because of ________.

A) as groups of young angry men in the 1900s B) active young lawyers in the 1960s

C) innocent insane patients' protest D) powerful court interventions

第5篇

What will it mean to know the complete human genome. Eric Lander of MIT's Whitehead Institute compares it to the discovery of the periodic table of the elements in the last 1800s. "Genomics is now providing biology's periodic table." says Lander. "Scientists will know that every phenomenon must be explainable in terms of this meansly list" which will in on a single CD-ROM. Already researchers are extracting DNA from patients, attaching fluorescent molecules and sprinkling the sample on a glass chip whose surface is speckled with 10,000 known genes. A laser reads the fluorescence, which indicates which of the known genes on the chip are in the mystery sample from the patient. In only the last few months such "gene-expression monitoring" has diagnosed a muscle tumor in a boy thought to have leukemia, and distinguished between two kinds of cancer that require very different chemotherapy.

But decoding the book of life poses daunting moral dilemmas. With knowledge of our genetic code will come the power to re-engineer the human species. Biologists will be able to use the genome as a parts list much as customers scour a list of china to replace broken plates and may well let prospective parents choose their unborn child's traits. Scientists have solid leads on genes for different temperaments, body builds, statures and cognitive abilities. And if anyone still believes that parents will recoil at praying God, and leave their baby's fate in the hands of nature recall that couples have already created a frenzied market in eggs from Ivy League women.

Beyond the profound ethical issues are practical concerns. The easier it is to change ourselves and our children, the less society may tolerate those who do not; warns Lori Andrews of Kent College of Law. If genetic tests in uterus predict mental dullness, obesity, short stature or other undesirable traits of the moment will society disparage children whose parents let them be born with those traits? Already, Andrews finds, some nurses and doctors blame parents for bringing into the world a child whose birth defect was diagnosable before delivery; how long w ill it be before the same condemnation applies to cosmetic imperfections? An even greater concern is that well intentioned choices by millions of individual parents-to-be could add up to unforeseen consequences for all of humankind. It just so happens that some disease genes also confer

resistance to disease: carrying a gene for sickle cell amenia, for instance, brings resistance to malaria. Are we smart enough, and wise enough, to know how knocking out "bad" genes will affect our evolution as a species?

1. The mai n similari ty between the bi ology's periodi c table and the peri odi c table of the elements i s _______.

A) they are both lists B) they can be used to explain every phenomenon in their own fields

C) they can be used to diagnose diseases D) they are both used to cure diseases

2. In the second paragraph, "the book of life" refers to __________.

A) a book written by a prophet B) a book written by a biologist

C) the periodic table of the elements D) the human genome

3. We can infer that some couples are eager to get eggs from Ivy League women because _________.

A) they can't give birth to children B) they want to have a good-looking child

C) they want to have a clever child D) curiosity drives them to do that

4. It can be learned from the passage that _________.

A) "gene-expression monitoring" is helpful in curing diseases

B) all of the disease genes are harmful to human beings

C) short people may also be looked down upon in future

D) scientists are encouraged to do research on human genome

5. The author's attitude towards knowi ng the complete human genome can be described as ________.

A) critical B) objective C) positive D) indifferent

第6篇

Bank of America, holding company for the San Francisco -- based Bank of America, was once unchallenged as the nation's biggest banking organization. At its peak, it had more branches in California -- 1,100 -- than the U.S. Postal Service. It was also a highly profitable enterprise. But since 1980, Bank of America's earnings have been down or flat. From March 1985 to March 1986, for example, earnings per share dropped 50.8 percent. Samuel H. Armacost, president and CEO, has confessed that he doesn't expect a turnaround soon.

Some of Bank of America's old magic seems to have rubbed off on New York's Citibank, perennial rival for top banking honors. Thanks to aggressive growth policies, Citicorp's assets topped Bank of America's for the first time in 1983 -- and by a healthy margin. Citibank has also been generating profits at a fast clip, enabling it to spend lavishly on campaigns to enter new markets -- notably Bank of America's turf in California.

The bad times Bank of America is currently facing are partly the result of the good times the bank enjoyed earlier. Based in a large and populous state and operating in a regulated environment, Bank of America thrived. Before deregulation, banks could not compete by offering savers a higher return, so they competed with convenience. With a branch at every crossroads, Bank of America was able to attract 40 percent of the California deposit market -- a source of high earnings when the legal maximum payable to depositors was much lower than the interest on loans.

The progressive deregulation of banking forced Bank of America to fight for its customers by offering them competitive rates. But how could this mammoth bureaucracy, with its expensive overhead, offer rates as attractive as its loaner competitors? Pruning the establishment was foremost in the minds of Bank of America policymakers. But cutbacks have proceeded slowly. Although the bank is planning to consolidate by offering full services only in key branches, so far only about 40 branches have been closed. Cutbacks through attrition have reduced the work force from 83,000 to fewer than 73,000; wholesale layoffs, it seems, would not fit the tradition of the organization. And they would intensify the morale problems that already threaten the institution. 1. According to the passage, New York's Citibank _________.

A) is a dark horse in the field of banking B) has been growing in a moderate way

C) has been making efforts to conquer the markets of Bank of America

D) has more branches than Bank of America now

2. Which of the following is NOT the reason for which Bank of America thrived?

A) It's turf -- California was a state with a large number of population.

B) The economic environment that was controlled by the government.

C) Its deposit rate was higher than that of other banks. D) Its large amount of branches.

3. The phrase "mammoth bureaucracy" (Line 2, Paragraph 4) refers to _______.

A) its expensive overhead B) its large amount of branches

C) its long history D) corruption of its leaders

4. Now the most important factor for a bank to win in competition seems to be _________.

A) higher deposit rate B) flexibility of capital C) high banking honors D) support of the government

5. Which of the following conclusions can't be drawn from the passage?

A) The U.S. Postal Service had less than 1,100 branches in California a few decades before.

B) The profit of the Bank of America has been reducing since the 1980s.

C) The prospect of the Bank of America is not quite promising.

D) Moral problem is also a factor that leads to the decline of the Bank of America.

第7篇

Volcanic fire and glac ial ice are natural enemies. Eruptions at glaciated volcanoes typically destroy ice fields, as they did in 1980 when 70 of Mount Saint Helens ice cover was demolished. During long dormant intervals, glaciers gain the upper hand cutting deeply into volcanic cones and eventually reducing them to rubble. Only rarely do these competing forces of heat and cold operate in perfect balance to create a phenomenon such as the steam caves at Mount Rainier National Park.

Located inside Rainier's two ice-filled summit craters, these caves form a labyrinth of tunnels and vaulted chambers about one and one-half miles in total length. Their creation depends on an unusual combination of factors that nature almost never brings together in one place. The cave-making recipe calls for a steady emission of volcanic gas and heat, a heavy annual snowfall at an elevation high enough to keep it from melting during the summer, and a bowl-shaped crater to hold the snow.

Snow accumulating yearly in Rainier's summit craters is compacted and compressed into a dense form of ice called firm, a substance midway between ordianry ice and the denser crystalline ice that makes up glaciers. Heat rising from numerous opening (called fumaroles) along the inner crater walls melts out chambers between the rocky walls and the overlying ice pack. Circulating currents of warm air then melt additional openings in the firm ice, eventually connecting the individual chambers and, in the larger of Rainier's the crater's, forming a continuous passageway the extends two-thirds of the Way around the crater's interior.

To maintain the cave system, the elements of fire under ice must remain in equilibrium, enough snow must fill the crater each year to replace that melted from below. If too much volcanic heat is discharged, the crater's ice pack will melt away entirely and the caves will vanish along with the snows of yesteryear. If too little heat is produced, the ice, the replenished annually by winter snowstorms, will expand, pushing against the enclosing crater walls and smothering the present caverns in solid firm ice.

1. With what topic is the passage mainly concerned?

A) The importance of snowfall for Mount Rainier. B) The steam caves of Mount Rainier's.

C) How ice covers are destroyed. D) The eruption of Mount Saint Helens in 1980.

2. A ccording to the passage, long periods of vol canic inactivity can lead to a volcani c cone's _______.

A) strong eruption B) sudden growth C) destruction D) unpredictability

3. The second paragraph mentions all of the following as necessary elements in the creation of steam caves EXCEPT _______.

A) a glacier B) a crater C) heat D) snow

4. According to the passage, heat from Mount Rainier's summit craters rises from _________.

A) crystalline ice B) firms C) chambers D) fumaroles

5. "smothering" (Paragrah 4) means _________.

A) eliminate B) enlarged C) prevented D) hollowed

第8篇

Moviegoers may think history is repeating itself this weekend. The summer's most anticipated film, Pearl Harbor, which has opened recently, painstakingly recreates the Japanese attack that drew the United States into World War II. But that isn't the film's only reminder of the past. Harbor invites comparison to Titanic, the biggest hit of all time. Like Titanic, Harbor heaps romance and action around a magor historical event. Like Titanic, Harbor attempts to create popular global entertainment from a deadly real-life. Like Titanic, Harbor costs a pretty penny and hopes to get in even more at the box office.

Both Titanic and Pearl Harbor unseal their tales of love and tragedy over more than three hours. Both stories center on young passion, triangles of tension with one woman and two men: In Titanic, Lenardo DiCaprio and Billy Zane compete for the love of the same woman, a high-society type played by a British actress name Kate (Winslet). In Harbor, two pilots (Ben Affelck, Josh Hartnett) fall for the same woman, a nurse played by a British actress named Kate (Beckinsale).

The scenes of peril also have similarities. Harbor has a shot in which soldiers cling for dear life as the battleship USS Oklahoma capsizes. The moment is recalled of the Titanic's sinking scene in which DiCaprio and Winslet hang from the ocean liner as half of the ship vertically plunges into the water. In Harbor, one of its stars floats atop a piece of debris in the middle of the night, much like Winslet's character does in Titanic.

And the jaw-dropping action of Titanic is matched by Harbor's 40-minute recreation of Dec. 7, 1941 attack on the United States' Pacific Fleet. Both films spent heavily on special effects. Harbor director, Michael Bay, for example, says he kept salaries down so more could be spent on the visuals. Both movies event shot their ship-sinking scenes at the same location: Fox Studios Baja in Mexico.

Harbor's makers have even taken a Titanic-like approach to the soundtrack. The film includes one song, There You'll Be, performed by country music superstar Faith Hill. Titanic, which is one of the best selling soundtracks of all time, also had only one pop song: Celine Dion's My Heart Will Go On.

"If Harbor becomes a major moneymaker, filmmakers may comb history books searching for even more historical romance-action material," says a critic.

1. What are the two things that the author of this article tries to compare?

A) The attack on Pearl Harbor and the sinking of the Titanic.

B) Historical fiction movies and successful box office hits.

C) The movie Titanic and the on-show movie Pearl Harbor. D) Sinking boats and famous actors.

2. What does the phrase "cost a pretty penny" (Paragraph 1) mean?

A) To be very attractive. B) To cost a lot.

C) To have big box office returns. D) To require a lot of effort to accomplish.

3. It is said in the passage that _______.

A) major historical events can never repeat themselves

B) both Titanic and Pearl Harbor are the historical reappearance

C) Pearl Harbor may have a better box office return than Titanic

D) Titanic is the most successful film in history

4. Pearl Harbor and Titanic are similar in all the following aspects EXCEPT _________.

A) both spent large amount of money on special effects

B) both have soundtracks starring a major pop star

C) both added made-up stories to historical events

D) both are documentary movies of historical events

5. If Pearl Harbor is as successful as Titanic, which of the following movies might we see next?

A) The Battle of Waterloo. B) The Adventures of Mr. Bean.

C) Space Invaders. D) The Haunted House.

第9篇

Traditionally, the study of history has had fixed boundaries and focal points -- periods, countries, dramatic events, and great leaders. It also has had clear and firm notions of scholarly procedure: how one inquires into a historical problem, how one presents and documents one's findings, what constitutes admissible and adequate proof.

Anyone who has followed recent historical literature can testify to the revolution that is taking place in historical studies. The currently fashionable subjects come direc tly from the sociology catalog: childhood, work, leisure. The new subjects are accomplished by new methods. Where history once was primarily narrative, it is now entirely analytic. The old questions "What happened?" and "How did it happen?" have given way to the question "Why did it happen?" Prominent among the methods used to answer the question "Why" is psychoanalysis, and its use has given rise to psychohistory.

Psychohistory does not merely use psychological explanations in historical contexts. Historians have always used such explanations when they were appropriate and when there was sufficient evidence for them. But this pragmatic use of psycholoanalysis is not what psychohistories intend. They are committed, not just to psychology in general, but to Freudian psychoanalysis. This commitment precludes a commitment to history as historians have always understood it. Psychohistory derives its "facts" not from history, the detailed records of events and their consequences, but from psychoanalysis of the individuals who made history, and deduces its theories not from this or that instance in their lives, but from a view of human nature that transcends history. It denies the basic criterion of historical evidence: that evidence be publicly accessible to, and therefore accessible by, all historians. And it violates the basic tenet of historical method: that historian be alert to the negative instances that would refute their theses. Psychohistorians, convinced of the absolute rightness of their own theories, are also convinced that theirs i s the "deepest" explanation of any event, and that other explanations fall short of the truth.

Psychohistory is not content to violate the discipline of history (in the sense of the proper mode of studying the writing about the past); it also violates the past itself. It denies to the past an integrity and will of its own, in which people acted out of a variety of motives and in which events had a multiplicity of causes and effects. It imposes upon the past the same determinism that it imposes upon the present, thus robbing people and events of their individuality and of their

complexity. Instead of respecting the particularity of the past, it assimilates all events, past and present, into a single determini sti c schema that is presumed to be true at all times and in all circumstances.

1. Which of the following best states the main point of the passage?

A) The approach of psychohistorians to historical study is currently in fashion even though it lacks the rigor and verifiability of traditional historical method.

B) Traditional hi storians can benefit from studying the techniques and findings of psychohistorians.

C) Areas of sociological study such as childhood and work are of little interest to traditional historians.

D) The psychological assessment of an individual's behavior and attitudes is more informative than the details of his or her daily life.

2. It can be inferred from the passage that one way in which traditional history can be distinguished from psychohistory is that traditional history usually ________.

A) views past events as complex and having their own individuality

B) relies on a single interpretation of human behavior to explain historical events

C) turns to psychological explanation in historical contexts to account for events

D) interprets historical events in such a way that their specific nature is transcended

3. Which of the following did the author mention as a characteristic of the practi ce of psychohi storians?

A) The lives of historical figures are presented in episodic (插话式的) rather than narrative form.

B) Archives used by psychohistorians to gather material are not accessible to other scholars.

C) Past and current events are all placed within the same deterministic schema.

D) Events in the adult life of a historical figure are seen to be more consequential than are those in the childhood of the figure.

4. The author of the passage suggests that psychohostorians view history primarily as _________.

A) a report of events, causes, and effects that is generally accepted by historians but which is, for the most part, unverifiable

B) an episodic account that lacks cohesion because records of the role of childhood, work, and leisure in the lives of historical figures are rare

C) an uncharted sea of seemingly unexplainable events that have meaning only when examined as discrete (不连续的) units

D) a record of the way in which a closed set of unchallengeable psychological laws seems to have shaped events

5. The author of the passage puts the word "deepest" (the last sentence of Paragraph 3) in quotation marks most probably in order to _________.

A) signal her reservations about the accuracy of psychohistorians' claims for their work

B) draw attention to a contradiction in the psychohistorians' method

C) emphasi ze the major di fference between the traditi onal hi storians' method and that of the psychohi storians

D) disassociate her opinion of psychohistorians' insights from her opinion of their method

第10篇

To these indirect presumptions that our sensations, following the mutations of our capacity for feeling, are always undergoing an essential change, must be added another presumption, based on what must happen in the brain. Every sensation corresponds to some cerebral action. For an identical sensation to recur it would have to occur the second time in an unmodified brain. But as this, strictly speaking, is a physiological impossibility, so is an unmodified feeling an impossibility; for to every brain-modification, however small, we suppose that there must correspond a change of equal amount in the consciousness which the brain subserves.

But if the assumption of "simple sensations" recurring in immutable shape is so easily shown to be baseless, how much more baseless is the assumption of immutability in the larger

masses of our thought! For there it is obvious and palpable that our state of mind is never precisely the same. Every thought we have of a given fact is, strictly speaking, unique, and only bears any resemblance of kind with our other thoughts of the same fact. When the identical fact recurs, we must think of it in a fresh manner, see it under a somewhat different angle, apprehend it in different relations from those in which it last appeared. And the thought by which we cognize is the thought of it in those relations, a thought suffused with the consciousness of all that dim context. Often we are ourselves struck at the strange differences in our successive views of the same thing. We wonder how we ever could have opined as we did last month about a certain matter. We have outgrown the possibility of that state of mind, though we know not how. For one year to another we see things in new lights. What was unreal has grown real, and what was exciting is insipid. The friends we used to care the world for are shrunken to shadow; the women once so divine, that stars, the woods, and the waters, how now so dull and common! -- The young girls that brought an aura of infinity, at present hardly distinguishable existences; the pictures so empty; and as for the booksm what was there to find so mysteriously significant in Goethe, or in John Mill so full of weight? Instead of all this, more zestful that ever is the work, the work; and fuller and deeper the import of common duties and of common goods.

1. Our sensations are assumed to change because __________.

A) the brain changes B) no sensation occurs twice in the same way

C) sensations are complicated D) our capacity for feeling remains constant

2. We can infer that the writer is ________.

A) friendless B) not a young man

C) depressed by his findings D) dismayed by the changeability of feeling and thoughts

3. Which of the following states the main idea of this passage?

A) We can know sensations only through reasoning, never by direct experience.

B) Our mental processes are characterized by change.

C) Work is the best goal of men. D) Each thought i s known only in context of our other thoughts.

4. The author apparently feels that _________.

A) our values remain constant throughout our lives B) our senses are more reliable than our minds

C) the things we value in our youth are worthless D) our reality changes as we change

5. The word "insipid" (para. 3) means _________.

A) without interesting qualities B) not tasty C) lovely D) invalid

第11篇

Over the last decade, demand for the most common cosmetic surgery procedures, like breast enlargement and nose jobs, has increased by more than 400 per cent. According to Dr. Dai Davies, of the Plastic Surgery Partnership in Hammersmith, the majority of cosmetic surgery patients are not chasing physical perfection. Rather, they are driven to fantastic lengths to improve their appearance by a desire to look normal. "What we all crave is to look normal, and normal is what is prescribed by the advertising media and other external pressures. They give us a perception of what is physically acceptable and we feel we must look like that."

In America, the debate is no longer about whether surgery is normal; rather, it centers on what age people should be before going under the knife. New York surgeon Dr. Gerard Imberre commends "maintenance" work for people in their thirties. "The idea if waiting until one need a heroic transformation is silly," he says. "By then, you've wasted 20 great years of your life and allowed things to get out of hand." Dr. Inber draws the line at operating on people who are under 18, however, "It seems that someone we don't consider old enough to order a drink shouldn't be considering plastic surgery."

In the UK cosmetic surgery has long been seen as the exclusive domain of the very rich and famous. But the proportionate cost of treatment has fallen substantially, bringing all but the most advanced laser technology within the reach of most people. Dr. Davie, who claims to "cater for the average person", agrees. He says: "I treat a few of the rich and famous and an awful lot of secretaries. Of course, ￡3,000 for an operation is a lot of money. But it is also an investment for life which costs about half the price of a good family holiday."

Dr. Davies suspects that the increasing sophistication of the fat injecting and removal techniques that allow patients to be treated with a local anesthetic in an afternoon has also helped promote the popularity of cosmetic surgery. Yet, as one woman who recently paid ￡2,500 for liposuction to remove cellulite from her thighs admitted, the slope to becoming a cosmetic surgery veteran is a deceptively gentle one. "I had my legs done because they'd been bugging me for years. But going into the clinic was so low key and effective it whetted my appetite. Now I don't think there's any operation that I would rule out having if I could afford it."

1. According to the text, the reason for cosmetic surgery is __________.

A) being physi cally healthy B) looking normal C) investing for life D) improving appearance

2. According to paragraph 3, what Dr. Davies said implies that ________.

A) cosmetic surgery, though costly, is worth having B) cosmetic surgery is very expensive

C) cosmetic surgery is necessary even for the average person

D) cosmetic surgery is beyong the reach of most people

3. There is a hot debate in America about ________.

A) whether those who are under 18 need cosmetic surgery

B) whether people should have "maintenance" work in their thirties

C) at what age people should have cosmetic surgery

D) whether cosmetic surgery should cater for the average person

4. According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?

A) It i s wi se to have cosmeti c surgery under 18. B) Cosmeti c surgery i s now easier and less painful.

C) People tend to abuse cosmetic surgery.

D) The earlier people have cosmetic surgery, the better they will be.

5. The text is mainly about _________.

A) the advantage of having cosmetic surgery B) what kind of people should have cosmeti c surgery C) the reason why cosmetic surgery is so popular D) the disadvantage of cosmetic surgery

第12篇

Like our political society, the university is under severe attack today and perhaps for the same reason; namely, that we have accomplished much of what we have set out to do in this generation, that we have done so imperfectly, and while we have been doing so, we have said a lot of things that simply are not true. For example, we have earnestly declared that full equality of opportunity in universities exists for everyone, regardless of economic circumstance, race or religion. This has never been true. In another sense the university has failed. It has stored great quantities of knowledge; it teaches more people; and despite its failures, it teaches them better. It is in the application of this knowledge that the failure has come.

Of the great branches of knowledge -- the sciences, the social sciences and humanities -- the sciences are applied, sometimes almost as soon as they are learned. Strenuous and occasionally successful efforts are made to apply the social sciences, but almost never are the humanities well applied. The great tasks of the university in the next generation are to search the past to form the future, to begin an earnest search for a new and relevant set of values, and to learn to use the knowledge we have for the questions that come before us. The university should use one-fourth of

a student's time in his undergraduate years and organize it into courses which might be called history, and literature and philosophy, and anything else appropriate and organize these around primary problems.

The difference between a primary problem and a secondary problem is that primary problems tend to be around for a long time, whereas the less important ones get solved. One primary problem is that of interfering with what some call human destiny and others call biological development, which is partly the result of genetic circumstance and partly the result of accidental environmental conditions. It is anticipated that the next generation, and perhaps this one, will be able to interfere chemically with the actual development of an individual and perhaps biologically by interfering with his genes. Obviously, there are benefits both to individuals and to society from eliminating, or at least improving, mentally and physically deformed persons. On the other hand, there could be very serious consequences if this knowledge were used intentionally to produce superior and subordinate classes, each geneti cally prepared to carry out a predetermined mi ssion.

This can be done, but what happens to free will and the rights of the individual? Here we have a primary problem that will still exist when we are all dead. After all, the purpose of education is not only to impart knowledge but to teach students to use the knowledge that they either have or will find, to teach them to ask and seek answers for important questions.

1. The author suggests that the university's greatest shortcoming is its failure to __________.

A) attempt to provide equal opportunity for all B) offer courses in philosophy and the humanities

C) prepare students adequately for professional studies

D) help students see the relevance of the humanities to real problems

2. It is implied in the second paragraph that universities ________.

A) mistake literature as of little or no practical value

B) attach great importance to social sciences and humanities

C) can distinguish primary problems from secondary problems

D) do not offer undergraduate courses like history, literature and philosophy

3. Which of the following questions does the author answer in the passage?

A) What are some of the secondary problems faced by the past generation?

B) How can we improve the performance of our political society?

C) What is the chief objective of a university education?

D) Why is the university of today better than the university of the past?

4. The primary purpose of the passage is to _________.

A) discuss a problem and propose a solution B) analyze a system and defend it

C) Present both sides of an issue and allow the reader to draw a conclusion

D) outline a new idea and criticize it

5. The development discussed in the passage is primarily a problem of _________.

A) political philosophy B) educational philosophy C) scientifi c philosophy D) practical science

第13篇

Economics has long been known as the dismal science. But is any economist so dreary as to criticize Christmas? At first glance, the holiday season in western economies seems a treat for those concerned with such vagaries as GDP growth. After all, everyone is spending; in America, retailers make 25% of their yearly sales and 60% of their profits between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Even so, economists find something to worry about in the nature of the purchases being made.

Much of the holiday spending is on gifts for others. At the simplest level, giving gifts involves the giver thinking of something that the recipient would like —- he tries to guess her

preferences, as economists say —- and then buying the gift and delivering it. Yet this guessing of preferences is no mean feat; indeed, it is often done badly. Every year, ties go unworn and books unread. And even if a gift is enjoyed, it may not be what the recipient would have bought had they spent the money themselves.

Intrigued by this mismatch between wants and gifts, in 1993 Joel Waldfogel, then an economist at Yale University, sought to estimate the disparity in dollar terms. In a paper that has proved seminal in the literature on the issue, he asked students two questions at the end of a holiday season: first, estimate the total amount paid (by the givers) for all the holiday gifts you received; second, apart from the sentimental value of the items, if you did not have them, how much would you be willing to pay to get them? His results were gloomy: on average, a gift was valued by the recipient well below the price paid by the giver.

The most conservative estimate put the average receiver's valuation at 90% of the buying price. The missing 10% is what economists call a deadweight loss: a waste of resources that could be averted without making anyone worse off. In other words, if the giver gave the cash value of the purchase instead of the gift itself, the recipient could then buy what she really wants, and be better off for no extra cost.

If the results are generalized, a waste of one dollar in ten represents a huge aggregate loss to society. It suggests that in America, where givers spend $40 billion on Christmas gifts, $4 billion is being lost annually in the process of gift-giving. Add in birthdays, weddings and non-Christian occasions, and the figure would balloon. So should economists advocate an end to gift-giving, or at least press for money to become the gift of choice?

1. Why do some people regard the holiday season in western economies a treat?

A) Because the economic situation in US has been gloomy.

B) Because holiday spending can stimulate GDP growth.

C) Because American retailers make a quarter of their yearly sales through holiday season.

D) Because retailers can make as much profit as 60% over holiday season.

2. What's the main idea for the second paragraph?

A) Much of the holiday spending is on gifts for others.

B) The purchases made over holiday season are actually a waste of money.

C) It's really not easy to guess the others' preferences.

D) In many cases the gifts present cannot meet the recipients needs.

3. The purpose of Joel Waldfogel's study is to ________.

A) prove the mi smatch between wants and gi fts B) spark new i deas of economi c studi es on holi day spending

C) evaluate the disparity between wants and gifts in economic terms

D) discover the exact cost of holiday spending on gift giving

4. Economists think of the mi ssing 10% of holiday spending a deadweight loss because _________.

A) the cash value of the purchase is lower than the buying price

B) it makes many people even worse off for spending more on unwanted gifts

C) with the money the recipients can be better off for no extra cost

D) it is actually a waste of resources in economic terms

5. According to the passage altogether how much money is wasted every year on gift giving?

A) About $40 billion. B) About $4 billion C) About 10% of the total value. D) Much more than $4 billion.

第14篇

On December 14th, university researchers were due to find out what their colleagues really thought about them, with the publication of the results of a five-yearly assessment of research. Since money depends on the results, everybody is watching keenly.

The results divide research into what is world-class and what is not. They show that British research, ranked among the best in the world, has further improved since it was last examined. More than half of researchers are based in departments containing work of international excellence, compared with a third in 1996.

Britain now ranks first in the world in terms of the numbers of publications and citations. Six years ago, British-based researchers wrote 11% of the most frequently cited papers; that figure has since risen to 18%. Despite such tributes from their peers, many academics still argue that more does not necessarily mean better. Academics may rush work into print merely to meet the artificial deadline of the five year cycle, rather than spend longer producing the sort of great magnum opus that used to distinguish disciplines such history and English.

Part of the improved performance is due to universities playing games to maximize their research income. Universities included only their top researchers in this year's exercise, in order to keep their average marks up. Even so, there is no doubt that much of the improvement is genuine. After the 1996 exercise, universities were stung by criticism that British judges were deeming university departments to be internationally excellent without canvassing opinion from outside Britain. This time, international opinion was sought and, in all but 3% of cases, it confirmed the judgment of the British panels.

The dramatic improvement has taken the government by surprise. It uses the results to determine how it spends ￡1.4 billion (＄2 billion) each year, discriminating between excellent research, which it rewards, and less impressive work, which it does not. The bill for rewarding the improvement is ￡200 million and no money has been set aside for paying it. Margaret Hodge, the mini ster for higher education, has told universities that they must live wi thin the original budget.

That university research has flourished during a time when the public funding for higher education has not kept pace with the expansion in student numbers is a testament to the importance of research to universities. A separate study has found that universities use the money which overseas students pay in tuition fees to subsidize research. It is no coincidence that those producing the best research also have a high proportion of overseas students. Kudos and cash go hand in hand.

1. Why are university researchers so deeply concerned with the assessment results?

A) Because by the results they can find out their colleagues' opinion of them.

B) Because the results determine how much fund they can get for their researches.

C) Because the five year assessment decides who will be promoted to world-class researcher.

D) Because the results shows the rank of British researchers in the world academic circle.

2. Many academics insist that the high number of publications and citations ________.

A) contributes to the enhancement of academic studies in Britain

B) is a recognition of the British researchers' work

C) will encourage the British researchers to further their academic efforts

D) may exert negative influence on the British researchers

3. In the fourth paragraph the author pointed out that ________.

A) universities play dirty tricks in the assessment to get more research grant

B) more and more people doubt the authenticity of the improvement

C) British judges were unfair in the 1996 evaluation

D) in the latest assessment international opinion refutes the judgment of the British panels

4. The British government was surprised by the results because _________.

A) the improvement was really remarkable

B) the results uncover how the ￡1.4 billion research fund was spent

C) the results help to tell the world-class researches from the national ones

D) the government is short of money to reward the excellent research

5. Why is research important to British universities?

A) Because research can earn both reputation and money for these universities.

B) Because with the money earned from research, universities can raise more funds for the increasingly large number of students.

C) Because research projects attract more overseas students who study at their own expense.

D) Because the best research which involves overseas students can get more government subsidies.

第15篇

By 2030, people over 65 in Germany, the world's third-largest economy, will account for almost half the adult population, compared with one-fifth now. And unless the country's birth rate recovers from its present low of 1.3 per woman, over the same period its population of under-35s will shrink about twice as fast as the older population will grow. The net result will be that the total population, now 82m, will decline to 70m-73m. The number of people of working age will fall by a full quarter, from 40m today to 30m.

The German demographics are far from exceptional. In Japan, the world's second-largest economy, the population will peak in 2005, at around 125m. By 2050, according to the more pessimistic government forecasts, the population will have shrunk to around 95m. Long before that, around 2030, the share of the over-65s in the adult population will have grown to about half. And the birth rate in Japan, as in Germany, is down to 1.3 per woman. The figures are pretty much the same for most other developed countries, and for a good many emerging ones, especially China.

Life expectancy — and with it the number of older people — has been going up steadily for 300 years. But the decline in the number of young people is something new. The only developed country that has so far avoided this fate is America. But even there the birth rate is well below replacement level, and the proportion of older people in the adult population will rise steeply in the next 30 years.

All this means that winning the support of older people will become a political imperative in every developed country. Pensions have already become a regular election issue. There is also a growing debate about the desirability of immigration to maintain the population and workforce. Together these two issues are transforming the political landscape in every developed country.

By 2030 at the latest, the age at which full retirement benefits start will have risen to the mid-70s in all developed countries, and benefits for healthy pensioners will be substantially lower than they are today. Indeed, fixed retirement ages for people in reasonable physical and mental condition may have been abolished to prevent the pensions burden on the working population from becoming unbearable. Already young and middle-aged people at work suspect that there will not be enough pension money to go round when they themselves reach traditional retirement age. But politicians everywhere continue to pretend that they can save the current pensions system.

1. In Germany ________.

A) people over 65 now constitutes about half the adult population

B) Birth rate has gone up to 1.3 per woman C) By 20 30 its working force may have shrunk by 25%

D) its population of under-35s is twice as large as that of over-65s

2. The problem that the population becomes aging ________.

A) is exceptional to Germany C) has become universal

B) can be relieved in Japan with the shrinkage of its population to around 95m

D) makes the economic outlook in the developed countries even more gloomy

3. A new tendency in demographic change is that ________.

A) life expectancy has been going up steadily B) there is a decline of the young population

C) in America the birth rate has gone above replacement level

D) the old population has risen sharply in USA

4. What is the political implication of the demographic change in the developed countries?

A) Winning the support of older people will become a political impetative.

B) Pension policy will become a key issue in elections.

C) Immigration should be banned to maintain the workforce.

D) The demographic change will change the political landscape greatly.

5. By 2030 the government in developed countries may put an end to fixed retirement ages ________.

A) to realize full retirement benifits substantially B) to ensure the benefits for healthy pensioners C) to relieve the pensions burdern on the working population D) to save the current pension system

第16篇

While the roots of social psychology lie in the intellectual soil of the whole western tradition, its present flowering is recognized to be characteristically an American phenomenon. One reason for the striking upsurge of social psychology in the United States lies in the pragmatic tradition of this country. National emergencies and conditions of social disruption provide special incentive to invent new techniques, and to strike out boldly for solutions to practical social problems. Social psychology began to flourish soon after the First World War. This event, followed by the great depression of the 1930s, by the rise of Hitler, the genocide of Jews, race riots, the Second World War and the atomic threat, stimulated all branches of social science. A special challenge fell to social psychology. The question was asked: How is it possible to preserve the values of freedom and individual rights under condition of mounting social strain and regimentation? Can science help provide an answer? This challenging quest ion led to a burst of creative effort that added much to our understanding of the phenomena of leadership, public opinion, rumor, propaganda, prejudice, attitude change, morale, communication, decision-making, race relations, and conflicts of war.

Reviewing the decade that followed World War II, Cartwright [1961] speaks of the "excitement and optimism" of American social psychologists, and notes "the tremendous increase in the total number of people calling themselves social psychologists." Most of these, we may add, show little awareness of the history of their field.

Practical and humanitarian motives have always played an important part in the development of social psychology, not only in America but in other lands as well. Yet there have been discordant and dissenting voices. In the opinion of Herbert Spencer in England, of Ludwig Gumplowicz in Austria, and of William Graham Sumner in the United States, it is both futile and dangerous for man to attempt to steer or to speed social change. Social evolution, they argue, requires time and obeys laws beyond the control of man. The only practical service of social science is to warn man not to interfere with the course of nature (or society). But these authors are in a minority. Most social psychologists share with Comte an optimistic view of man's chances to better his way of life. Has he not already improved his health via biological sciences? Why should he not better his social relationships via social sciences? For the past century this optimistic outlook has persisted in the face of slender accomplishment to date. Human relations seem stubbornly set. Wars have not been abolished, labor troubles have not abated, and racial tensions are still with us. Give us time and give us money for research, the optimists say.

1. Social psychology developed in the US ________.

A) because its roots are intellectually western in origin B) as a direct response to the great depression

C) because of its pragmatic traditions for dealing with social problems

D) to meet the threat of Hitler and his policy of mass genocide

2. According to the passage, in US social psychology should help man to ________.

A) preserve individual rights B) become healthier C) be aware of hi story D) improve material wel fare

3. According to the passage, Spencer, Cumplowicz and Sumner ________.

A) are ignorant of the historical development of the science

B) think it's man's responsibility to work vigorously for social change

C) bel i eve that, though thei r so ci al l aws beyond the control o f man, so ci al evol uti on can be qui ckened wi th man's effort s

D) only represent a small group of social psychologists

4. Who believed that man can influence social change for the good of society?

A) Cartwright. B) Spencer. C) Sumner. D) Comte.

5. From the passage we can know that ________.

A) most social psychologists believe that it's useless for man to attempt to speed social change

B) little achievement was made in man's drive to better social relationships

C) the optimistic view has already lost its sway in the past century

D) we have to disregard the course of society in order to better the world

第17篇

People who live and work in areas with elevated levels of ozone and other airborne pollutants appear to run an increased risk of lung cancer, US researchers report in the December issue of the journal Environmental Health Perspectives. The researchers, Dr. Beeson of Texas University and colleagues studied more than 4,000 female and 2,000 male, white, nonsmoking volunteers from 1977 to 1992.

At the start of the study, the volunteers filled out questionnaires about their occupations, their exercise patterns, diet and other lifestyle choices, and their family's health history. The questionnaires also asked whether the volunteers had any respiratory symptoms, how many hours they spent outdoors, and where they lived and worked. The researchers updated this information in 1987 and again in 1992.

Using air quality monitoring station data, Beeson and colleagues then determined the levels of particle soot, ozone or "smog", sulfur dioxide, and other pollutants that the volunteers were exposed to, given where they lived and worked. Over the course of the 15-year study, 20 of the women and 16 of the men were diagnosed with lung cancer.

Analyzing the relationship between exposure to airborne pollutants and lung cancer risk, the researchers found that both men and women regularly exposed to levels of particle soot that were higher than the National Ambient Air Quality Standard of 50 microgram per meter cubed ran an increased risk of lung cancer. And both men and women exposed to elevated levels of sulfur dioxide ran an increased risk of lung cancer.

In addition, men regularly exposed to ozone levels of 80 parts per billion (ppb) ran more than three times the risk of lung cancer as men exposed to lower levels. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) limit on ozone is 120 ppb, Beeson and colleagues report. Women, however, did not appear to run an increased risk of lung cancer if exposed to high levels of smog.

"This gender difference may be due to the males spending much more time outdoors then females," they write. "This was especially true for the summer when ozone levels are higher." The difference may also have been due to hormonal differences, they add. Some research findings also suggest that the female sex hormone estrogen may partly offset the consequences of exposure to high ozone levels.

"Our findings suggest that the current EPA standard of 120 ppb for ozone may not adequately protect the large portion of the US male population who live or work in communities where the current standard for ozone is frequently exceeded," Beeson and colleagues conclude. "More research with a larger number of incident cases of lung cancer is needed to better understand the observed gender difference in regard to ozone exposure as well as to better separate the independent effects of ozone, airborne particulate matter sulfur dioxide, and other airborne pollutants."

1. Which of the following is not included in the questionnaire?

A) What kind of food they eat. B) Their jobs. C) Sleeping habits. D) The family's health hi story.

2. In the research done by Dr. Beeson and his colleagues ________.

A) researchers asked the volunteers to fill out questionnaires once a year

B) researchers intentionally studied twice as many female as male volunteers

C) the volunteers were asked to expose to high levels of airborne pollutants

D) the volunteers were asked to fill out questionnaires three times in 15 years

3. It was found in the research that did not seem to run an increased risk of lung cancer ________.

A) women exposed to high levels of sulfur dioxide

B) men regularly exposed to high levels of sulfur dioxide

C) women exposed to high levels of smog D) men regularly exposed to high levels of smog

4. It can be inferred from the research mentioned in this passage ________.

A) males are more vulnerable to dangers in life than females B) female is stronger sex than male

C) male sex hormone may not be able to decrease the effect of exposure to high ozone levels

D) spending much time outdoors in summer is not harmful to females

5. The proper title for this passage should be ________.

A) Smog Appears to Up Lung Cancer Risk B) Airborne Pollutants

C) Lung Cancer Risk D) The Gender Difference

第18篇

The beginning of what was to become the United States was characterized by inconsistencies in the values and behavior of its population, inconsistencies that were reflected by its spokesmen who took conflicting stances in many areas; but on the subject of race, the conflicts were particularly vivid. The idea that the Caucasian race and European civilization were superior was well developed in the culture of the colonists at the very time that the "egalitarian" republic was founded. Voluminous historical evidence indicates that, in the mind of the average colonist, the African was a heathen, he was black, and he was different in crucial philosophical ways. As time progressed, he was also increasingly captive, adding to the conception of deviance. The African, therefore, could be justifiable (and even philanthropically) treated as property, according to the reasoning of slave traders and slaveholders.

Although slaves were treated as objects, bountiful evidence suggests that they did not view themselves similarly. There are many published autobiographies of slaves, and Afro-American scholars are beginning to know enough about West African culture to appreciate the existential climate in which the early captive were raised and which, therefore, could not be totally destroyed by the enslavement experience. This was a climate that defined in dividuality in collective terms. Individuals were members of a tribe, within which they had prescribed roles determined by the history of their family within the tribe.

The colonial plantation system that was established and into which Africans were thrust did virtually eliminate tribal affiliations. Individuals were separated from kin; interrelationships among kin kept together were often transient because of sales. A new identification with those

slaves working and living together in a given place could satisfy what was undoubtedly a natural tendency to be a member of a group. New family units became the most important attachments of individual slaves. Thus, as the system of slavery was gradually institutionalized, West African affiliation tendencies adapted to it.

This exceedingly complex dual influence is still reflected in black community life, and the double consciousness of black Americans is the major characteristic of Afro-American mentality. DuBois articulated this divided consciousness as follows:

The history of the American Negro is the history of this strife - this longing to attain self-conscious manhood, to merge his double self into a better and truer self. In this merging, he wishes neither of the older selves to be best.

Several black political movements have looked upon this duality as destructively conflictual and have variously urged its reconciliation. Thus, the integrationists and the black nationalists, to be crudely general, have both been concerned with resolving the conflict, but opposite directions.

1. Which of the following would be the most appropriate title for the passage?

A) The History of Black People in the United States. B) West African Tribal Relations.

C) The Origin of Modern Afro-American Consciousness.

D) The Legacy of Slavery: A Modern Nation Divided.

2. Whi ch of the foll owi ng can be i nferred about the vi ewpoi nt expressed i n the second paragraph of the passage?

A) It is a reinterpretation of slave life based on new research done by Afro-American scholars.

B) It is based entirely on recently published descriptions of slave life written by slaves themselves.

C) It is highly speculative and supported by little actual historical evidence.

D) It i s supported by descriptions of slave life written by early Americans who actually owned slaves.

3. The author puts the word "egalitarian" (Paragraph 1) in quotation marks to ________.

A) emphasize his admiration for the early Americans B) ridicule the idea of democracy

C) remind the reader of the principles of the new nation

D) underscore the fact that equality did not extend to everyone

4. The tone of the passage could best be described as ________.

A) informed and anecdotal B) cri ti cal and argumentative C) i mpassi oned and angry D) analyti cal and objecti ve

5. It can be inferred that ________ are the two elements of the "dual influence" mentioned.

A) slavery and West African culture B) a sense of individuality and a sense of tribal identification C) the hi story of West A fri ca and modern black politi cal movements D) i ntegrationi sm and black nationali sm

第19篇

Media mogul Ted Turner yesterday sold more than of his AOL Time Waner Inc. holdings for about $780 million, a move that reflects his efforts to slash his financial stake in the media giant.

After the close of regular trading yesterday, Turner sold a block of 60 million shares to Goldman Sachs & Co. for $13.07 per share, or 31 cents below the stock's closing price yesterday. Goldman was said by Wall Street sources to be offering the stock to major investors for $13.15. An outspoken critic of the corporation, Turner remains AOL Time Warner's largest individual shareholder, with 45 million shares, and a member of its board of directors. A spokeswoman for Turner referred questions to AOL Time Warner.

At his peak Turner owned about 130 million shares, but he lost billions of dollars in wealth and grew bitter after the stock plunged following the merger of America Online and Time Warner in January 2001.

Turner, who initially supported the merger, later expressed outrage over revelations that America Online had manipulated its financial results. The Securities and Exchange Commission is

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