Part Three: Reading Comprehension (30 points)
Directions: Read the following three passages. Each passage is followed by several questions or unfinished statements. For eahc of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. Choose the one that fits best acoording to the information given in the passage.
（A）
More Americans are turning to charm school to gain an advantage over competitors in a job market stricken by the longest economic slowdown since the Great Depression.
Etiquette (礼节) trainers report business growing from clients who believe that good manners could be the key selling point that helps them get hired or keeps them off the unemployment line.
“People are prepared to do whatever it takes to keep their job”, said Gloria Starr, an adviser on image, etiquette and communications in North Carolina. Starr, who says business is up 40 percent in the past year at her school, said people were “realizing that it takes more than just ability and knowledge” to keep or win a job.
Peggy Newfield, who has been teaching etiquette for 30 years and runs a charm school, said business was “booming.” “When the economy is down etiquette training will always be up. They’re focusing on ‘What I can do to survive, I really have to keep up my game because the competition is keen.’”
Proper business manners, however, extend far beyond greeting or thanking a would-be employer. Etiquette classes deal with the basics of presentation in an interview, including what to say and how to dress.
“It’s so much more than writing the thank-you note at the end,” Newfield said. “It’s about walking in for the job interview, every hair is in place, your clothes are perfectly pressed, your shoes are polished, you’re groomed to the nines, you speak the part, and your English is correct.”
It’s great that we have seen this renewal in etiquette and manners and self respect.
Studies have shown that 85 percent of the reason a person gets a job, keeps a job and moves up is related to their personal skills. There are very few jobs out there where your manners, where your socials skills, are not a big piece of being successful. If you have manners you can walk into any business or social situation.
Teaching etiquette has become a tougher task. Some people point to bad public behavior by athletes and celebrities (名人) as a factor in ruining good manners in U.S. society. Hotel owner Paris Hilton, actress Lindsay Lohan and singer Britney Spears are among those who have been charged with setting a poor example, especially for children and adolescents. Hilton is infamous （声名狼藉的）for a sex tape that became an Internet hit, Lohan has long been gossip stuff due to her quarrels with the law and Spears was photographed partying without underwear.
56. The writer wants to tell the readers___________.
A. the etiquette training in America B. the ways to avoid failure
C. good manners count in keeping a job D. how to keep business up
57. From the passage we learn that the charm school____________.
A. helps those who are unemployed B. deals with moral problems
C. becomes more popular with people D. does good to the economy
58. The underlined sentence “you’re groomed to the nines” probably means “you’re_________.”
A. dressed in the best way B. fully understood
C. greeted with good manners D. very concerned
59. We can infer from the last paragraph that__________.
A. Good examples contribute to etiquette teaching
B. good public behavior doesn’t exist any more
C. teaching etiquette has become a tougher task
D. some famous people don’t have good manners
60．Which of the following can you NOT learn in Peggy Newfield’s charm school?
A. How to dress in a job interview.
B. How to hack into the company centeral database.
C. How to maintain an edge over other competitors in the job market..
D. How to improve your communicative skills with your collegues.
C
There are two kinds of physical activity which require special training. The first demands exact careful movements of the muscles. This kind of activity must be strictly controlled because even a slight movement in the wrong direction will lead a mistake. To type quickly, for example, a person needs training; the slightest movement of a finger in the wrong direction may cause a spelling mistake. A dancer who has to dance on the point of her shoes or turn around on one foot must be trained for a long period of time before she can sense her own center and balance herself. You may have seen a girl walking on a rope across an empty space, which, too, requires a lot of practice.
The second kind of physical activity needs greater strength or extra effort. Most of us get tired if we try to run half a mile without stopping, but a specially-trained person can do this without much effort. Three years ago, some scientists carried out experiments, which produced meaningful and unexpected results. They wanted to find out whether a certain amount of physical exercise would injure those suffering from heart problems. They selected some male patients and trained them in continuous bicycle riding. They were surprised to find that the harmful effect of given amount of physical effort was actually less on the hearts of these trained patients than on those of the patients who were not similarly trained. This is important because it shows that regular physical exercise enables us to make better use of the oxygen we breathe in and that this training, in fact, reduces the amount of work our hearts do. Many tasks which are hard for untrained people are not hard at all for trained people.
9.The first kind of physical activity must be strictly controlled because _________.
A．a mistake in the wrong direction is dangerous to the fingers
B．a wrong movement in a direction will cause no mistakes
C．a movement in the wrong direction will cause a mistake
D．a slight movement of a finger will lead to a mistake
10.What must a dancer do before she can balance herself?
A．She must dance on the point of her shoes.
B．She must receive long-time training.
C．She must turn around on one foot.
D．She must perform again and again.
11.The experiments done by some scientists showed that ________.
A．some male patients were asked to ride bicycles regularly in the experiments
B．the physical exercise had more harmful effect on the hearts of the untrained patients
C．the physical exercise was harmless to the male patients with heart trouble
D．the physical exercise could be helpful for the patients to take in more oxygen
12.What would be the best title for this text?
A．Training Our Bodies B．Physical Activities
C．Movement Training D．Extra Body Effort
B
BEIJING, Oct. 13 (Xinhuanet) -- A recent sudden temperature drop in most areas of China has set off fears of a possible return of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and the country has mobilized to prepare for another outbreak.
North China's Tianjin Port resumed a temperature reporting system on Sunday. Any passengers through the port with a temperature above 38 degrees Celsius would be provided medical observation and reported to relevant authorities.
Zhong Nanshan, a well-known anti-SARS scientist during the last outbreak, said it was unlikely the SARS virus would die out naturally and it would definitely come back, but predicted no widespread epidemic outbreak and the epidemic would not cause serious damage again.
Caught unprepared this spring, Chinese authorities have learned to act quickly before the epidemic can take a hold.
Chinese Vice-Premier Wu Yi Thursday urged strictly implementing the daily SARS epidemic reporting system and warned that people delaying reporting or hiding the true situation would be severely punished.
In Beijing, the disease control center in Dongcheng District has recovered a 24 hour schedule for possible epidemic breakout. Every afternoon before 3:00 o'clock, the center receives SARS reports from every hospital in the district and then reports to the Beijing municipal disease control center and health bureau.
In Beijing Xiehe Hospital, plans are ready for fever patients to receive treatment in a special section. Doctors in that ward, wearing protective clothing, will observe patients for any possible respiratory diseases. Patients with high fever and symptoms of respiratory diseases are required to be observed for one or two weeks.
North China's Shanxi Province and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, the two other hardest-hit areas in the last SARS crisis, have both set up an emergency response mechanism and mobilized all concerned departments. The system has also been set up in rural Inner Mongolia.
People are urged to pick up again the healthy habits they formed during the last SARS outbreak. Zhong Nanshan said the most important way to prevent SARS was to play more sports and maintain good ventilation. Spitting in public and eating wild animals were very dangerous, said Zhong.
6. This passage is mainly about_______.
A. Zhong Nanshan, a well-known anti-SARS scientist
B. What happened during the first outbreak of SARS
C. How well China is prepared for another likely outbreak of SARS
D. What hospitals in Beijing have done
7. Which isn’t included in the measures taken by the Chinese?
A. A temperature reporting system. B. The daily SARS epidemic reporting system.
C. A 24-hour schedule for possible epidemic breakout.
D. An emergency response mechanism all over the country.
8. Which doesn’t belong to Beijing’s reaction to the possible epidemic?
A. SARS reports must be given to the disease control center and health bureau.
B. Fever patients receiving special sections are ready.
C. High fever patients are to be observed for 3 weeks.
D. Doctors treating high fever patients will wear protection clothes.
A
Mass media are tools of communication. They allow us to record and pass information rapidly to a large, scattered audience. They extend our ability to each other by helping us overcome limits caused by time and space. Mass media can be divided into two groups: print media and electronic media. By print media, we mean books, newspapers and magazines. Electronic media include television, radio and movie.
There are a number of ways in which mass media make daily life easier for us. First, they inform and help us keep a watch on our world. They gather and pass on information we would be unlikely or unable to gain on our own.
Second, mass media help us to arrange our time and life. What we talk about and what we think about are greatly influenced by the media. When people get together, they tend to talk about certain happenings on the newspapers or on TV. Because we are provided with differing points of view through different kinds of media every day, we are able to comment on all sides of a certain issue.
Third, mass media help us to connect with various groups in society. Through mass media, we are able to keep in contact with politicians in the world; with famous actors and actresses, and with our beloved singers.
Fourth, the media help to socialize us. We learn about the preferred behavior and values from the people we meet as well as from the media. Through portrayals of people, the media tell us what proper behaviors are. By doing so, they teach us standards of behavior and values, and help us in our daily life.
Fifth, the media are used to persuade people. A good example is advertisements through the media. Newspapers, magazines and TV are filled with all kinds of colorful, persuasive advertisements. Though many advertisements may not say openly that they want you to buy a certain product, they describe their products in such a way that you may want to but them.
Sixth, the media entertain. All of the media make some effort trying to entertain their audience. For example, even though the newspaper is a main medium of information, it also contains entertainment features. Many newspapers offer their readers at least some of the following: comics, fiction books and puzzle games, televisions and magazines are devoted mainly to entertainment. It is guessed that in the future, the entertainment function of mass media will become even more important than it is now.
1. They underlined word “scattered” in paragraph 1 means______.
A. faraway B. nearly C. a small number of D. small and far apart
2. The underlined word “portrayal” in Paragraph 5 means ______.
A. photograph B. words C. description D. clothes
3. According to the passage, which of the following statements isn’t true about medium?
A. Mass media have an effect on our speech and thoughts.
B. Mass media keep us informed and connected.
C. Mass media persuade us into buying what we don’t need at all.
D. Mass media help us spend time with others in a friendly way.
4. Which of the following isn’t included about mass media in the passage?
A. entertainment B. sports C. famous people D. advertisements
5. ______ is an old form of mass media now.
A. Mobile phone B. Computer C. Radio D. Television
C
Sherlock Holmes is considered by many people as the greatest detective in fictional literature. He is, in fact, more famous than his own creator, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. In the popular series of stories, Holmes is described as “tall and lean, pope-smoking, always in his cape and speaks in a splendid manner”. Doyle gave Holmes’ address as 221-B Baker Street, London, and to this day some visitors to London still go to Baker Street to search for 221-B. Of course, there never was really any such address. Holmes’ flat was supposed to be shared by the lovable, but sometimes clumsy Doctor Watson who went around with Holmes trying to solve crimes before Holmes did. Poor Dr Watson lost out to Holmes every time.
Doyle gave Holmes a masterly skill of deduction---the ability to come up with interesting conclusion from the simplest clues found at the scene of a crime. Doyle said that the description of Holmes was modeled on one of his lecturers at Edinburgh University where he studied medicine. That man was Dr Joseph Bell. Sherlock Holmes first appeared in Doyle’s A Study in Scarlet published in 1887. Holmes was so loved by all that when his author killed him off in one of his stories, readers wrote in anger to complain. They refused to allow Holmes to die! Holmes was brought back to “life” and appeared in further stories.
The stories of Sherlock Holmes have been reprinted many times ever since then. Today we can watch Holmes at work on cinema and television screens as well as on stage.
10. Sherlock Holmes was________.
A. the greatest detective who ever lived
B. Dr Joseph Bell
C. Arthur Conan Doyle
D. only a character made up by Arthur Conan Dolye
11. Dr Watson was________.
A. tall and learn
B. lovable but always clumsy
C. lovable but sometimes clumsy
D. lovable and never clumsy
12. Holmes was supposed to have lived_______.
A. with Dr Watson B. with Dr Joseph Bell
C. with the greatest detective D. with Doyle
13. Doyle made up the description of Holmes_______.
A. from his own imagination
B. based on a famous London doctor
C. based on Dr Joseph Bell at Edinburgh University
D. based on a model of Holmes
B
Reading to oneself is a modern activity which was almost unknown to the learned in the early days of the history, while during the fifteenth century the term “reading” undoubtedly meant reading aloud. Only during the nineteenth century did silent reading become popular.
One should be careful, however, of supposing that silent reading came about simply because reading aloud is distraction（分散注意力）to others. Examination of reasons connected with the historical development of silent reading shows that it became the usual mode of reading for most adult reading tasks mainly because the tasks themselves changed in character.
The last century saw a gradual increase in literacy（读写能力）and thus in the number of readers. As readers increased, so the number of listeners dropped, and thus there was some reduction in the need to read aloud. As reading for the benefit of listeners grew less common, so came the popularity of reading as a private activity in such public places as libraries, trains and offices, where reading aloud would disturb other readers in a way.
Towards the end of the century there was still heated argument over whether books should be used for information or treated respectfully, and over whether the reading of material such as newspapers was in some way mentally weakening. Indeed this argument remains with us still in education. However, whatever its advantages are, the old shared literacy culture had gone and was replaced by the printed mass media on the one hand and by books and magazines for a specialized readership on the other.
By the end of t he century students were being advised to have some new ideas of books and to use skills in reading them which were not proper, if not impossible, for the oral reader. The social, cultural, and technological developments in the century had greatly changed what the term “reading” referred to.
6. Why was reading aloud common before the nineteenth century?
A. Because silent reading had not been discovered.
B. Because there were few places for private reading.
C. Because few people could read for themselves.
D. Because people depended on reading for enjoyment.
7. The development of silent reading during the nineteenth century showed_______.
A. a change in the position of literate people
B. a change in the nature of reading
C. an increase in the number of books
D. an increase in the average age of readers
8. Educationalists are still arguing about__________.
A. the importance of silent reading
B. the amount of information provided by books and newspapers
C. the effects of reading on health
D. the value of different types of reading material
9. What is the writer of this passage attempting to do?
A. To explain how present day reading habits developed.
B. To change people’s way to read.
C. To show how reading methods have improved.
D. To encourage the growth of reading.