Unit 3
Part Ⅱ Reading Comprehension
(35 minutes)
Directions: There are 4 reading passages in this part. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the centre.
Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage:
It is natural for young people to be critical of their parents at times and to blame them for most of the misunderstandings between them. They have always complained, more or less justly, that their parents are out of touch with modern ways; that they are possessive and dominant; that they do not trust their children to deal with crises; that they talk too much about certain problems — and that they have no sense of humour, at least in parent-child relationships.
I think it is true that parents often underestimate their teenage children and also forget how they themselves felt when young.
Young people often irritate their parents with their choices in clothes and hairstyles, in entertainers and music. This is not their motive. They feel cut off from the adult world into which they have not yet been accepted. So they create a culture and society of their own. Then, if it turns out that their music or entertainers or vocabulary or clothes or hairstyles irritate their parents, this gives them additional enjoyment. They feel they are superior, at least in a small way, and that they are leaders in style and taste.
Sometimes you are resistant, and proud because you do not want your parents to approve of what you do. If they did approve, it looks as if you are betraying your own age group. But in that case, you are assuming that you are the underdog: you can't win but at least you can keep your honour. This is a passive way of looking at things. It is natural enough after long years of childhood, when you were completely under your parents' control. But it ignores the fact that you are now beginning to be responsible for yourself.
If you plan to control your life, co-operation can be part of that plan. You can charm others, especially your parents, into doing things the way you want. You can impress others with your sense of responsibility and initiative, so that they will give you the authority to do what you want to do.
21. The author is primarily addressing .
A) parents of teenagers C) teenagers
B) newspaper readers D) those who give advice to teenagers
22. The first paragraph is mainly about .
A) the teenagers' criticism of their parents
B) misunderstandings between teenagers and their parents
C) the dominance of the parents over their children
D) the teenagers' ability to deal with crises
23. Teenagers tend to have strange clothes and hairstyles because they .
A) want to irritate their parents
B) have a strong desire to be leaders in style and taste
C) have no other way to enjoy themselves better
D) want to show their existence by creating a culture of their own
24. Teenagers do not want their parents to approve of whatever they do because they .
A) have a desire to be independent
B) feel that they are superior in a small way to the adults
C) are not likely to win over the adults
D) have already been accepted into the adult world
25. To improve parent-child relationships, teenagers are advised to be .
A) obedient C) independent
B) responsible D) co-operative
Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage:
The long years of food shortage in this country have suddenly given way to apparent abundance. Stores and shops are choked with food. Rationing (定量供应) is virtually suspended, and overseas suppliers have been asked to hold back deliveries. Yet, instead of joy, there is wide-spread uneasiness and confusion. Why do food prices keep on rising, when there seems to be so much more food about? Is the abundance only temporary, or has it come to stay? Does it mean that we need to think less now about producing more food at home? No one knows what to expect.
The recent growth of export surpluses on the world food market has certainly been unexpectedly great, partly because a strange sequence of two successful grain harvests in North America is now being followed by a third. Most of Britain's overseas suppliers of meat, too, are offering more this year and home production has also risen.
But the effect of all this on the food situation in this country has been made worse by a simultaneous rise in food prices, due chiefly to the gradual cutting down of government support for food. The shops are overstocked with food not only because there is more food available, but also because people, frightened by high prices, are buying less of it.
Moreover, the rise in domestic prices has come at a time when world prices have begun to fall, with the result that imported food, with the exception of grain, is often cheaper than the home-produced variety. And now grain prices, too, are falling. Consumers are beginning to ask why they should not be enabled to benefit from this trend.
The significance of these developments is not lost on farmers. The older generation have seen it all happen before. Despite the present price and market guarantees, farmers fear they are about to be squeezed between cheap food imports and a shrinking home market. Present production is running at 51 per cent above pre-war levels, and the government has called for an expansion to 60 per cent by 1956; but repeated Ministerial advice is carrying little weight and the expansion programme is not working very well.
26. Why is there “wide-spread uneasiness and confusion” about the food situation in Britain?
A) The abundant food supply is not expected to last.
B) Despite the abundance, food prices keep rising.
C) Britain is importing less food.
D) Britain will cut back on its production of food.
27. The main reason for the rise in food prices is that .
A) people are buying less food
B) imported food is driving prices higher
C) domestic food production has decreased
D) the government is providing less support for agriculture
28. Why didn't the government's expansion programme work very well?
A) Because the farmers were uncertain about the financial support the government guaranteed.
B) Because the farmers were uncertain about the benefits of expanding production.
C) Because the farmers were uncertain whether foreign markets could be found for their produce.
D) Because the older generation of farmers were strongly against the programme.
29. The decrease in world food prices was a result of .
A) a sharp fall in the purchasing power of the consumers
B) a sharp fall in the cost of food production
C) the overproduction of food in the food-importing countries
D) the overproduction on the part of the main food-exporting countries
30. What did the future look like for Britain's food production at the time this article was written?
A) It looks depressing despite government guarantees .
B) An expansion of food production was at hand.
C) British food producers would receive more government financial support.
D) The fall in world food prices would benefit British food producers.
Questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage:
It is hard to predict how science is going to turn out, and if it is really good science it is impossible to predict. If the things to be found are actually new, they are by definition unknown in advance. You cannot make choices in this matter. You either have science or you don't, and if you have it you are obliged to accept the surprising and disturbing pieces of information, along with the neat and promptly useful bits.
The only solid piece of scientific truth about which I feel totally confident is that we are profoundly ignorant about nature. Indeed, I regard this as the major discovery of the past hundred years of biology. It is, in its way, an illuminating piece of news. It would have amazed the brightest minds of the 18th century Enlightenment (启蒙运动) to be told by any of us how little we know and how be wildering seems the way ahead. It is this sudden confrontation with the depth and scope of ignorance that represents the most significant contribution of the 20th century science to the human intellect. In earlier times, we either pretended to understand how things worked or ignored the problem, or simply made up stories to fill the gaps. Now that we have begun exploring in earnest, we are getting glimpses of how huge the questions are, and how far from being answered. Because of this, we are depressed. It is not so bad being ignorant if you are totally ignorant; the hard thing is knowing in some detail the reality of ignorance, the worst spots and here and there the not-so-bad spots, but no true light at the end of the tunnel nor even any tunnels that can yet be trusted.
But we are making a beginning, and there ought to be some satisfaction. There are probably no questions we can think up that can't be answered, sooner or later, including even the matter of consciousness. To be sure, there may well be questions we can't think up, ever, and therefore limits to the reach of human intellect, but that is another matter. Within our limits we should be able to work our way through to all our answers, if we keep at it long enough, and pay attention.
31. According to the author, really good science .
A) would surprise the brightest minds of the 18th century Enlightenment
B) will help people to make the right choice in advance
C) will produce results which cannot be foreseen
D) will bring about disturbing results
32. It can be inferred from the passage that scientists of the 18th century .
A) knew that they were ignorant and wanted to know more about nature
B) were afraid of facing up to the realities of scientific research
C) thought that they knew a great deal and could solve most problems of science
D) did more harm than good in promoting man's understanding of nature
33. Which of the following is NOT mentioned about scientists in earlier times?
A) They invented false theories to explain things they didn't understand.
B) They falsely claimed to know all about nature.
C) They did not believe in results from scientific observation.
D) They paid little attention to the problems they didn't understand.
34. What is the author's attitude towards science?
A) He is confident though he is aware of the enormous difficulties in scientific research.
B) He is doubtful because of the enormous difficulties in scientific research.
C) He is depressed because of the ignorance of scientists.
D) He is delighted because of the illuminating scientific findings.
35. The author believes that .
A) man can not solve all the problems he can think up because of the limits of human intellect
B) man can find solutions sooner or later to whatever questions concerning nature he can think up
C) sooner or later man can think up all the questions concerning nature and answer them
D) questions concerning consciousness are outside the scope of scientific research
Questions 36 to 40 are based on the following passage:
Greenspace facilities are contributing to an important extent to the quality of the urban environment. Fortunately it is no longer necessary that every lectureor every book about this subject has to start with the proof of this idea. At present it is generally accepted, although more as a self-evident statement than on the base of a closely-reasoned scientific proof. The recognition of the importance of greenspaces in the urban environment is a first step on the right way, this does not mean, however, that sufficient details are known about the functions of greenspace in towns and about the way in which the inhabitants are using these spaces. As to this rather complex subject I shall, within the scope of this lecture, enter into one aspect only, namely the recreative function of green space facilities.
The theoretical separation of living, working, traffic and recreation which for many years has been used in town-and-country planning, has in my opinion resulted in disproportionate attention for forms of recreation far from home, whereas there was relatively little attention for improvement of recreative possibilities in the direct neighbourhood of the home. We have come to the conclusion that this is not right, because an important part of the time which we do not pass in sleeping or working, is used for activities at and around home. So it is obvious that recreation in the open air has to begin at the street-door of the house. The urban environment has to offer as many recreation activities as possible, and the design of these has to be such that more obligatory activities can also have a recreative aspect.
The very best standard of living is nothing if it is not possible to take a pleasant walk in the district, if the children cannot be allowed to play in the streets, because the risks of traffic are too great, if during shopping you can nowhere find a spot for enjoying for a moment the nice weather, in short, if you only feel yourself at home after the street-door of your house is closed after you.
36. According to the author, the importance of green spaces in the urban environment .
A) is still unknown C) is being closely studied
B) has been fully recognized D) is usually neglected
37. The theoretical separation of living, working, traffic and recreation has led to .
A) the disproportion of recreation facilities in the neighbourhood
B) the improvement of recreative possibilities in the neighbourhood
C) relatively little attention for recreative possibilities
D) the location of recreation facilities far from home
38. The author suggests that the recreative possibilities of greenspace should be provided .
A) in the neighbourhood of the house C) in special areas
B) in the suburbs D) in gardens and parks
39. According to the author, greenspace facilitties should be designed in such a way that .
A) an increasing number of recreative activities might be developed
B) more and more people might have access to them
C) more obligatory activities might take on a recreative aspect
D) recreative activities might be brought into our homes
40. The main idea of this passage is that .
A) attention must be directed to the improvement of recreative possibilities
B) better use of greenspace facilities should be made so as to improve the quality of our life
C) the urban environment is providing more recreation activities than it did many years ago
D) priority must be given to the development of obligatory activities
