III 阅读(共两节,满分40分)
第一节阅读理解(共15小题;每小题2分,满分30分)
阅读下列短文,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。
Concern with money, and then more money, in order to buy the conveniences and luxuries of modern life, has brought great changes to the lives of most Frenchmen. More people are working harder than ever before in France. In the cities the traditional leisurely midday meal is disappearing. Offices, shops, and factories are discovering the great efficiency of a short lunch hour in company lunch rooms. In almost all lines of work emphasis now falls on ever increasing output. Thus the “typical” Frenchman produces more, earns more, and buys more consumer goods than his counterpart of only a generation ago. He gains in creature comfort and ease of life. What he loses to some extent is his sense of personal uniqueness, or individuality.
Some say that France has been Americanized. This is because the United States is a world symbol of the technological society and its consumer products. The so called Americanization of France has its critics. They fear that “assembly line life” will lead to the disappearance of the pleasures of the more graceful and leisurely (but less productive) old French style. What will happen, they ask, to taste, elegance, and the cultivation of the good things in life to joy in the smell of a freshly picked apple, a stroll by the river, or just happy hours of conversation in a local café?
Since the late 1950s life in France has indeed taken on qualities of rush, tension, and the pursuit of material gain. Some of the strongest critics of the new way of life are the young, especially university students. They are concerned with the future, and they fear that France is threatened by the triumph of this competitive, goods-oriented culture. Occasionally, they have reacted against the trend with considerable violence.
In spite of the critics, however, countless Frenchmen are committed to keeping France in the forefront of the modern economic world. They find that the present life brings more rewards, conveniences, and pleasures than that of the past. They believe that a modern, industrial France is preferable to the old.
41.Which of the following is a feature of the old French way of life?
Leisure, elegance, and efficiency
Elegance, efficiency, and taste
Leisure, elegance, and taste
Elegance, efficiency, and leisure
42.Which of the following is NOT true about Frenchmen?
Many of them prefer the modern life style.
They actually enjoy working at the assembly line.
They are more concerned with money than before.
They are more competitive than the old generation.
43.The passage suggests that _________.
A. in pursuing material gains the French are suffering losses elsewhere
B. it’s now unlikely to see a Frenchman enjoying a stroll by the river
C. the French are fed up with the smell of freshly picked apples
D. great changes have occurred in the life style of all Frenchmen
44.Which of the following is true about the critics?
A. Critics are greater in number than people enjoying the new way of life.
B. Students critics are greater in number than critics in other fields.
C. Students critics have, on occasion, resorted to violent means against the trend.
D. Critics are concerned solely with the present and not the future.
45.Which of the following best states the main idea of the passage?
A. Changes in the French Way of Life
B. Criticism of the New Life Style
C. The Americanization of France
D. Features of the New Way of Life
Australia has passed regulations that will enable more international students to further their education in the country.
The new measures were released by the Australian Department of Tertiary Education, Skills, Jobs and Workplace Relations in September and will take effect in mid-2012.
As a result, the student visa application process for overseas students has been simplified, and the deposit (押金) required to study in Australia has been reduced. Language requirements for overseas students have also been eased.
Also, overseas students receiving a higher education in Australia will be granted a working visa lasting from two to four years after graduation, as long as they meet the basic IELTS requirement.
"This change will definitely make Australia a more attractive destination for Chinese students planning to study overseas," says Wang Lan, a consultant from Education International Cooperation Group (EIC), a Beijing-based company that provides services to students wishing to study overseas.
However, in the past few years, many of Wang's student clients could not start studies in Australia because they did not meet the language requirements, visa processing took a long time and deposit regulations were tough. The change in policy is good news for the parents of students wishing to study in Australia, Wang says.
A 22-year-old female student surnamed Li, in Beijing, who is planning to do her postgraduate studies in Australia, learned about the policy change several weeks ago.
"According to the previous deposit requirement for my student visa, my family was required to put down 550,000 yuan ($86,850). Now we only need to prepare 410,000 yuan. This is a relief for my parents," Li says.
She also says that the two to four years working visa makes her feel much clearer about her study plans.
"I believe several years of working experience abroad will strengthen my competitiveness when I return to China," she says.
Gaining a competitive advantage is the major reason for Chinese students to study abroad, according to the report by EIC.What's the main idea of the passage?
A.Language requirement for overseas students have been eased in Australia. |
B.Australia is a most attractive place for students in China. |
C.More students will work in Australia after their graduation. |
D.Australia widens window of opportunity for international students. |
Which of the following is NOT the content of the new regulations?
A.Language requirements for overseas students have been more difficult. |
B.The deposit required to study in Australia has been reduced. |
C.The student visa application process for overseas students has been simplified. |
D.After graduation, some overseas students can get a working visa in Australia. |
After the new regulations are passed, _______ .
A.more students will come to Australia to work |
B.more Chinese students will choose to live in Australia. |
C.the opportunities to work in Australia decrease for overseas students |
D.more Chinese students will choose to further their education in Australia |
Why do many students want to work in Australia after their graduation?
A.They can earn more money in Australia. |
B.The working experience abroad will strengthen their competitiveness. |
C.Their working experience can make them stay in Australia forever. |
D.They have to do so according to the new regulations. |
Just as the world’s most respected scientific bodies have confirmed that the world is getting hotter, they have also stated that there is strong evidence that humans are driving the warming. Countless recent reports from the world’s leading scientific bodies have said the same thing. For example, a 2010 summary of climate science by the Royal Society stated that: “There is strong evidence that the warming of the Earth over the last half-century has been caused largely by human activity.”
The idea that humans could change the planet’s climate may be counter-intuitive, but the basic science is well understood. Each year, human activity causes billions of tons of greenhouse gases to be released into the atmosphere. As scientists have known for years, these gases hold heat that would otherwise escape to space, wrapping the planet in an invisible blanket.
Of course, the planet’s climate has always been changing thanks to “natural” factors such as changes in solar or volcanic activity, or cycles relating the Earth’s going around the sun. According to the scientific literature, however, the warming recorded to date matches the pattern of warming we would expect from a build-up of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere – not the warming we would expect from other possible causes.
Even if scientists did discover another reasonable explanation for the warming observed so far, that would beg a difficult question. As Robert Henson puts it in The Rough Guide to Climate Change, “If some newly discovered factor can account for the climate change, then why aren’t carbon dioxide and the other greenhouse gases producing the warming that basic physics tells us they should be?”
The only way to prove with 100% certainty that humans are responsible for global warming would be to run an experiment with two identical Earths –one with human influence and one without. That obviously isn’t possible, and so most scientists are careful not to state human influence as an absolute certainty. In most scientists’ opinion, the global warming is mainly caused by ________.
A.human activity |
B.volcanic activity |
C.the Earth’s going around the sun |
D.solar activity |
The text is developed by ________.
A.giving typical examples |
B.following the order of space |
C.comparing and finding differences |
D.analyzing a theory and arguing it |
The underline word “identical” means ________.
A.totally different |
B.exactly the same |
C.extremely important |
D.relatively independent |
Which of the following can be the best title?
A.Are All the Scientists Really Scientific? |
B.Where Is Global Warming Leading Us to? |
C.Are Humans Definitely Causing Global Warming? |
D.What’s Relation of Global Warming and Greenhouse Gases? |
Driving to a friend’s house on a recent evening, I was attracted by the sight of the full moon rising just above my friend’s rooftop. I stopped to watch it for a few moments, thinking about what a pity it is that most city people — myself included — usually miss sights like this because we spend most of our lives indoors.
My friend had also seen it. He grew up living in a forest in Europe, and the moon meant a lot to him then. It had touched much of his life.
I know the feeling. Last December I took my seven-year-old daughter to the mountainous jungle of northern India with some friends. We stayed in a forest rest house with no electricity or running hot water. Our group had campfires outside every night, and indoors when it was too cold outside. The moon grew to its fullest during our trip. Between me and the high mountains lay three or four valleys. Not a light shone in them and not a sound could be heard. It was one of the quietest places I have ever known, a bottomless well of silence. And above me was the full moon, which struck me deeply.
Today our lives are filled with glass, metal, plastic and fiber-glass. We have television, cell phones, electricity, heaters and ovens and air-conditioners, cars, computers.
Struggling through traffic that evening at the end of a tiring day, most of it spent indoors, I thought, “Before long, I would like to live in a small cottage. There I will grow vegetables and read books and walk in the mountains. And perhaps write, but not in anger. I may become an old man there, and wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled and measure out my life in coffee spoons. But I will be able to walk outside on a cold silent night and touched the moon.”The best title for the passage would be _________.
A.Break away from the Reality |
B.A Bottomless well of Silence |
C.Touched by the Moon |
D.The Pleasures of Modern Life |
The writer felt sorry for himself because __________.
A.he failed to see the fullest moon. |
B.there were too many accidents on the road. |
C.he didn’t adapt to modern inventions |
D.there was too much pollution. |
Modern things are mentioned mainly to ___________.
A.show that the writer likes city life very much. |
B.show that we can also enjoy nature at home through them. |
C.tell us that people greatly benefit from modern life. |
D.explain that people have less chances to enjoy nature. |
For many years, I was convinced that my suffering was due to my size. I believed that when the weight disappeared, it would take old wounds, hurts and rejections with it.
Many weight-conscious people also mistakenly believe that changing our bodies will fix everything. Perhaps our worst mistake is believing that being thin equals being loved, being special, and being cherished. We fantasize about what it will be like when we reach the long-awaited goal. We work very hard to realize this dream. Then, at last, we find ourselves there.
But we often gain back what we have lost. Even so, we continue to believe that next time it will be different. Next time, we will keep it off. Next time, being thin will finally fulfill its promise of everlasting happiness, self-worth, and, of course, love.
It took me a long while to realize that there was something more for me to learn about beauty. Beauty standards vary with culture. In Samoa a woman is not considered attractive unless she weighs more than 200 pounds. More importantly, if it’s happiness that we want, why not put our energy there rather than on the size of our body? Why not look inside? Many of us strive hard to change our body, but in vain. We have to find a way to live comfortably inside our body and make friends with and cherish ourselves. When we change our attitudes toward ourselves, the whole world changes.What does the underlined word “everything” in Paragraph 2 mean?
A.All the problems. | B.All the properties. |
C.The whole world. | D.The absolute truth. |
What can be inferred about the author?
A.The author has been troubled by her weight. |
B.The author succeeded losing weight. |
C.The author is a Samoan. |
D.The author probably got wounded in an accident. |
According to the text, those who have lost weight first and gained it back later feel _______.
A.angry about the regained weight |
B.indifferent to the regained weight |
C.they should give up their future plans on weight control |
D.optimistic about future plans on weight control |
The text tries to stress the importance of ____________.
A.body size | B.attitudes toward life |
C.culture difference | D.different beauty standards |
Homeownership has let us down. For generations, Americans believed that owning a home was undoubtedly good. Our political leaders hammered home the point. Franklin Roosevelt held that a country of homeowners was “unconquerable.” Homeownership could even save babies, save children, save families and save America. A house with a lawn and a fence wasn’t just a nice place to live in or a risk-free investment; it was a way to transform a nation. No wonder leaders of all political types wanted to spend more than $100 billion a year on subsidies and tax breaks to encourage people to buy.
But the dark side of homeownership is now all too apparent: Indeed, easy lending stimulated by the cult(热潮)of homeownership may have caused the financial crisis. Housing remains a drag on the economy. Existing-home sales in April dropped 27% from the prior month, worsening fears of a double-drop. And all that is just the obvious tale of a housing bubble and what happened when it popped. The real story is deeper and darker still.
For the better part of a century, politics, industry and culture lined up to create a fetish of the idea of buying a house. Homeownership has done plenty of good over the decades; it has provided stability to tens of millions of families. Yet by idealizing the act of buying a home, we have ignored the downsides. In the bubble years, lending standards slipped dramatically, allowing many Americans to put far too much of their income into paying for their housing. And we ignored longer-term phenomena too. Homeownership contributed to the hollowing out of cities and kept renters out of the best neighborhoods. It fed America’s overuse of energy and oil. It made it more difficult for those who had lost a job to find another. Perhaps worst of all, it helped us become casually self-deceiving: By telling ourselves that homeownership was a pathway to wealth and stable communities and better test scores, we avoided dealing with these frightening issues head-on.
Now, as the U.S. recovers from the biggest housing bust(破产) since the Great Depression, it is time to rethink how realistic our expectations of homeownership are—and how much money we want to spend chasing them. Many argue that homeownership should not be a goal pursued at all costs.Political leaders wanted to spend money encouraging people to buy houses because _______.
A.owning a home was undoubtedly good | B.homeownership was unconquerable |
C.houses could save families and America | D.homeownership could shape a country |
The underlined sentence in Para. 2 means _______.
A.homeownership has quite a lot of bad effects |
B.the result of homeownership is much worse than it appears |
C.the existing-home sales will keep decreasing in the U.S |
D.there might be another housing breakdown in the U.S |
It can be inferred from Para. 3 that _______.
A.it is hard for Americans to get a home loan |
B.it is the way to wealth to have one’s own house |
C.homeownership has made many people out of work |
D.many Americans choose to live out of urban areas |
What is the author’s attitude towards homeownership?
A.Cautious. | B.Puzzled. | C.Favorable. | D.Optimistic. |