Ⅲ阅读(共两节，满分40分)
第—节 阅渎理解(共15小题；每小题2分，满分30分)
阅读—列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C和D项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Without most people realizing it, there has been a revolution in office work over the last ten years. Before that time, large computers were only used by large, rich companies that could afford the investment. With the advancement of technology, small computers have come onto the market, which are capable of doing the work that used to be done by much larger and expensive computers, so now most smaller companies can use them
The main development in small computers has been in the field of word processors (处理器) , or WPS as they are often called. 40% of British offices are now estimated to have a word processor and this percentage is growing fast.
There are many advantages in using a word processor for both secretary and manager. The secretary is freed from a lot of daily work, such as re-typing letters and storing papers. He or she can use this time to do other more interesting work for the boss. From a manager’s point of view, secretarial time is being made better use of and money can be saved by doing daily jobs automatically outside office hours.
But is it all good? If a lot of daily secretarial work can be done automatically, surely this will mean that fewer secretaries will be needed. Another worry is the increasing medical problems related to work with visual display units (显示器). The case of a slow loss of sight among people using word processors seems to have risen greatly. It is also feared that if a woman works at a VDU for long hours, the unborn child in her body might be killed. Safety screens to put over a VDU have been invented but few companies in England bother to buy them.
Whatever the arguments for and against word processor, they are a key feature (特征) of this revolution in office practice.
41. Ten years ago, smaller companies did not use large computers because_________.
A. these companies had not enough money to buy such expensive computers
B. these computers could not do the work that small computers can do today
C. these computers did not come onto the market
D. these companies did not need to use this new technology
42. According to the writer, the main feature of the revolution in office work over the last
ten years is __________.
A. the saving of time and money
B. the use of computers in small companies
C. the wide use of word processors
D. the decreasing number of secretaries
43. It is implied but not directly stated in the passage that with the use of word processors
_________.
A. some secretaries will lose their jobs
B. daily jobs can be done automatically outside office hours
C. medical problems related to work with a VDU have increased greatly
D. the British companies will make less money
44. Which of the following statements is NOT true?
A. There are both advantages and disadvantages in using a word processor.
B. The British companies care much for the health of the people using word processors.
C. The technology in the field of computers has been greatly advanced over the last
ten years.
D. Using word processors, secretaries can get more time to do more interesting work
for their bosses.
45. It can be concluded from the passage that ________.
A. safety screens are of poor quality
B. working at a VDU for a long time is good for one’s health
C. more and more British offices will use word processors
D. British companies will need fewer and fewer managers
A punctual person is in the habit of doing a thing at the proper time and is never late in keeping an appointment.
The unpunctual man, on one hand, never does what he has to do at the proper time. He is always in a hurry and in the end loses both time and his good name. A lost thing may be found again, but lost time can never be regained. Time is more valuable than material things. In fact, time is life itself. The unpunctual man is for ever wasting and mismanaging his most valuable asset (财产) as well as other’s. The unpunctual person is always complaining that he finds no time to answer letters, or return calls or keep appointments promptly. But the man who really has a great deal to do is very careful of his time and seldom complains of want of it. He knows that he can not get through his huge amount of work unless he faithfully keeps every piece of work when it has to be attended to.
Failure to be punctual in keeping one’s appointments is the sign of disrespect towards others. If a person is invited to dinner and arrives later than the appointed time, he keeps all the other guests waiting for him. Usually this will be regarded as a great disrespect to the host and all other guests present.
Unpunctuality, moreover, is very harmful when it comes to do one’s duty, whether public or private. Imagine how it would be if those who are put in charge of important tasks failed to be at their proper place at the appointed time. A man who is known to be habitually unpunctual is never trusted by his friends or fellow men.
1. What does the author think is the main difference between a punctual person and an unpunctual person?
A. A punctual person does everything ahead of time while an unpunctual person does everything behind schedule.
B. A punctual person does everything at the right time while an unpunctual person seldom does anything at the correct time.
C. A punctual person has a lot of appointments while an unpunctual person has few appointments.
D. A punctual person has much time to do everything while an unpunctual person has little time to do anything.
2. According to the passage, the main reason that a person is always unpunctual is that _______.
A. he has more work to do than other people
B. he is always in a hurry when he works
C. he doesn’t care much about time
D. he always mismanages and wastes his time
3. According to the third paragraph, when you are invited to dinner, you should arrive there _______.
A. after other guests have arrived
B. before all other guests
C. at the appointed time
D. after the host has got things ready
4. Which of the following statements best describes the harm of unpunctuality?
A. If you are an unpunctual person, you cannot be in charge of any important task.
B. If your friends know that you are unpunctual, they may not see you again.
C. Unpunctuality may bring about heavy losses for both public and private affairs.
D. Unpunctuality may make you miss a lot of appointments and lose friends.
“The first and best of victories is for a man to conquer himself; to be conquered by himself is, of all things, the most shameful,” says Plato. Self-control is at the root of all the advantages. Let a man give in to his impulses (冲动) and feelings, and from that moment he gives up his moral (道德上的) freedom.
A single angry word has lost many a friend. When Socrates found in himself any temper or anger, he would check it by speaking low in order to control himself. If you are conscious of being angry, keep your mouth shut so that you can hold back rising anger. Many a person has dropped dead in great anger. Fits of anger bring fits of disease. “Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad.” “Keep cool”, says George Herbert, “for fierceness (狂怒) makes error a fault.”
To be angry with a weak man is to prove that you are not strong yourself. “Anger,” says Pythagoras, “brings with folly(愚蠢) and ends with regret.” You must measure the strength of a man by the power of the feelings he conquers, not by the power of those which conquer him.
Self-control is man’s last greatest victory.
If a man lacks self-control he seems to lack everything. Without it he can have no patience, no power to govern himself; he can have no self-confidence, for he will always be controlled by his strongest feeling. If he lacks self-control, the very backbone and nerve of character are lacking also.
1. What does the reader learn from the first paragraph?
A. The greatest victory for a man is to conquer everything except himself.
B. One’s moral freedom is based on the control of himself.
C. To control oneself is the most difficult in one’s life.
D. If a person is too stubborn, he will feel most shameful.
2. What is the correct interpretation of “Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad” ?
A. If the gods want to kill you, they make you crazy first.
B. If you always lose your temper, you will soon be finished.
C. If you cannot control yourself, you will become crazy.
D. If you are mad, you will be punished by the gods.
3. If a man lacks self-control, he lacks all of the following EXCEPT _______.
A. the very backbone and nerve of character
B. the patience and power to control himself
C. strong feelings
D. self-confidence
4. The author’s main purpose in writing this article is to _______.
A. explain that self-control is the key to success
B. teach people how to control everything in order to make a great success
C. distinguish all kinds of self-control and suggest ways for keeping it
D. advise people not to lose temper so as to make and keep more friends
Among various programmes, TV talk shows have covered every inch of space on daytime television. And anyone who watches them regularly knows that each one is different in style(风格). But no two shows are more opposite in content, while at the same time standing out above the rest, than the Jerry Springer and the Oprah Winfrey shows.
Jerry Springer could easily be considered the king of “rubbish talk”. The contents on his show are as surprising as can be. For example, the show takes the ever-common talk show titles of love, sex, cheating, and hate, to a different level. Clearly, the Jerry Springer show is about the dark side of society, yet people are willing to eat up the troubles of other people’s lives.
Like Jerry Springer, Oprah Winfrey takes TV talk show to its top. But Oprah goes in the opposite direction. The show is mainly about the improvement of society and different quality(质量) of life. Contents are from teaching your children lessons, managing your work week, to getting to know your neighbors.
Compared to Oprah, the Jerry Springer show looks like poisonous waste being poured into society. Jerry ends every show with a “final word”. He makes a small speech about the entire idea of the show. Hopefully, this is the part where most people will learn something very valuable.
Clean as it is, the Oprah show is not for everyone. The show’s main viewers are middleclass Americans. Most of these people have the time, money, and ability to deal with life’s tough problems. Jerry Springer, on the other hand, has more of a connection with the young adults of society. These are 18-to-21-year-olds whose main troubles in life include love, relationship, sex, money and drug. They are the ones who see some value and lessons to be learned through the show’s exploitation.
1. Compared with other TV talk shows, both the Jerry Springer and the Oprah Winfrey are ____.
A. more interesting B. unusually popular C. more detailed D. more formal
2. Though the social problems Jerry Springer talks about appear unpleasant, people who watch the shows____.
A. remain interested in them B. are ready to face up to them
C. remain cold to them D. are willing to get away from them
3. Which of the following is likely to be a topic of the Oprah Winfrey show?
A. A new type of robot. B. Nation hatred.
C. Family income planning. D. Street accident.
4. We can learn from the passage that the two talk shows_____.
A. have become the only ones of its kind
B. exploit the weaknesses in human nature
C. appear at different times of the day
D. attract different people
Many people who work in London prefer to live outside it, and to go in to their offices or schools every day by train, car or bus, even though this means they have to get up early in the morning and reach home late in the evening.
One advantage of living outside London is that houses are cheaper. Even a small flat in London without a garden costs quite a lot to rent. With the same money, one can get a little house in the country with a garden of one’s own.
Then, in the country one can rest from the noise and hurry of the town. Even though one has to get up earlier and spend more time in trains or buses, one can sleep better at night and during weekends and on summer evenings, one can enjoy the fresh, clean air of the country. If one likes gardens, one can spend one’s free time digging, planting, watering and doing the hundred and one other jobs which are needed in a garden. Then, when the flowers and vegetables come up, one has the reward of one who has shared the secret of Nature.
Some people, however, take no interest in country things: for them, happiness lies in the town, with its cinemas and theatres, beautiful shops and busy streets, dance-halls and restaurants. Such people would feel that their life was not worth living if they had to live it outside London. An occasional walk in one of the parks and a fortnight’s (two weeks) visit to the sea every summer is all the country they want: the rest they are quite prepared to leave to those who are glad to get away from London every night.
1. Which of the following statements is NOT true?
A. People who like country things prefer to live outside the city.
B. People who work in London prefer to live in the country.
C. Because of certain disadvantages of living outside London, some people who work in London prefer to live inside London.
D. Because of certain advantages of living outside London, many people who work in London prefer to live outside London.
2. One can use the same money for ________ to buy a little house with a garden in the country.
A. getting a small flat with a garden B. having a small flat with a garden
C. renting a small flat without a garden D. buying a small flat without a garden
3. When the flowers and vegetables in the garden come up, those _______ have the reward of one who has shared the secret of Nature.
A. who live in the country
B. who have spent time working in the garden
C. who have a garden of their own
D. who have been digging, planting and watering
4. People who think happiness lies in the town would feel that _______ if they had to live it outside London.
A. their life was meaningless B. their life was invaluable
C. they didn’t deserve a happy life D. they were not worthy of their happy life
5. The underlined word rest in the last paragraph refers to ________.
A. the rest time B. the rest people
C. the rest of the country D. the rest of the parks and of the sea
How to protect children Web fans from unsuitable material on-line while encouraging them to use the Internet has long been discussed in the U.S.
For some parents, the Internet can seem like a jungle, filled with danger for their children. But jungles contain wonders as well as dangers and with good guides, some education, and a few precautions(预防措施), the wilds of the Internet can be safely navigated(航行). “Kids have to be on-line. If we tell our kids they can’t have access(机会) to the Internet, we’re cutting them off from their future,” said an expert.
Most kids have started to use search engines. Many of them are great for finding tons of interesting Internet sites, and they can also locate places where you might not want your kids to go. There are search engines designed just for kids. A certain software contains only sites that have been selected as safe. The most popular way to limit access would be to use what is known as a “content screener(过滤器)”. But this can’t be wholly reliable(可靠), and the best thing parents can do is to talk to their kids and let them know what is OK or not OK to see or do on the Internet. Another way is that mum or dad is nearby when the child is surfing(浏览) the Internet.
A few other tips
●Don’t put the PC in a child’s room but keep it in an area where mum or dad can keep an eye on things. That also makes the Internet more of a family activity.
●Ask your child what he or she has been doing and about any friends they make on-line.
●Tell your child not to give on-line strangers personal information, especially like address and phone number.
●And tell your children never to talk to anyone they meet on-line over the phone, send them anything, accept anything from them or agree to meet with them unless you go along.
1. The passage is mainly about the subject of _______.
A. American children going on-line B. Internet in America
C. appreciating Internet D. opposing children’s on-line
2. The best way to protect children from improper material is _______.
A. to install(安装) a content screener on the computer
B. to buy some search engines for the children
C. to be nearby when they are surfing the Internet
D. to talk to the children and persuade them to tell right from wrong
3. Which of the following is right according to the passage?
A. Surfing the Internet is the best method of educating children.
B. Children’s not having access to Internet may have effect on their progress.
C. Using a content screener is most reliable for keeping children having access to Internet.
D. Searching engines can help children to select materials fit for them.
4. According to the passage, we can infer that _______.
A. soft wares fit for children want programming
B. a child who is on-line is in danger
C. Internet is a jungle full of danger
D. Internet contains a lot of harmful sites