IV. Reading Comprehension (40 points)
So far as I know, Miss Hannah was the first person to give the basic difference between work and labor. To be happy, a man must feel, firstly, free and secondly, important. He cannot be really happy if he is forced by society to do what he does not enjoy doing, or what he enjoys doing lowly thought of by society as valueless or unimportant. In a society where slavery in the strict sense has been got rid of, the sign that what a man does is of social value is that he is paid money to do it, but a laborer today can rightly be called a wage slave. A man is a laborer if the job that society offers him is not interesting to himself but he has to take it just owing to the necessity of earning a living and supporting his family.
The opposite side to labor is play. When we play a game, we enjoy what we are doing, otherwise we should not play it, but it is a purely private activity; and society could not care less whether we play it or not.
Between labor and play stands work. A man is a worker if he is personally interested in the job which society pays him to do; what from the point view of society is necessary labor is from his own point of view willing play. Whether a job is to be classified as labor or work depends, not on the job itself, but on the tastes of the individual who does it. The difference does not, for example, agree with the difference between a physical and a mental job; a gardener or a copper may be a worker, a bank clerk is a laborer.
Which a man is can be seen from his attitude toward leisure. To a worker, leisure means simply the hours he needs to relax and rest in order to work efficiently. He is therefore more likely to take too little leisure than too much; workers die of heart attack and forget their wives' birthday. To the laborer, on the other hand, leisure means freedom from compulsion(强迫), so that it is natural for him to imagine that the fewer hours he has to spend laboring, and the more hours he is free to play, the better.
56. A man feels happy when ____________.
A. he is supposed to do what is important in his opinion
B. he has to take a job to earn a living and support his family
C. he is doing something personally interesting and socially valuable
D. what he enjoys doing is what he thinks highly of
57. The reason why a laborer can be called a wage slave is that ___________.
A. he has a family to support
B. his wages are as low as what a slave used to make
C. society doesn't care whether he plays or not
D. he is doing the job only for money, not for interest
58. Whether a job can be classified as labor or work depends on _____________.
A. whether it is a physical or mental B. the tastes of the person who does it
C. the attitude of the society toward it D. the necessity of the job to the society and individual
59. Which of the following can be the best title of the text?
A. Whether to Work or to Play B. Work, Labor, and Play
C. Differences between Labor and Play D. Leisure, Key to Work, Labor and Play
An inventor seeks to create a new product that serves a specific need and fulfills a role that other products do not. Sometimes an inventor comes up with a wholly new idea, but more often inventions are simply improvements on an older design. With a little imagination and creativity (创造力), an old idea can suddenly become something new.
However, creating a new invention means much more than having a brilliant idea. A good designer follows the design process: identifying the challenge, researching and brainstorming ideas(集思广益), designing a solution, testing and evaluating the ideas, and finally building the product. Designers also use science, math, technology, and engineering to design a tool that satisfies the need they identified.
Anyone can be an inventor —even kids! For example, Chester Greenwood was just fifteen years old when he invented a product that changed his life. In fact, his idea was so good that his invention supported him for the rest of his life. You may not know his name, but you probably know his invention —earmuffs (保暖耳罩)!
The inspiration for his earmuff design came to Chester when he was ice-skating. His ears were cold, and he decided to find a way to keep them warm. With the help of his grandmother, he made a new product to protect his ears and at the age of eighteen, Chester patented his earmuff design.
Many other famous inventors started young as well. Margaret Knight —the inventor of the flat-bottomed brown paper bag —is said to have created a safety device for textile looms(织布机) when she was just twelve years old. Another example is Thomas Edison, one of the greatest inventors in history, who applied for his first patent when he was just twenty-one years old. Over the course of his life, Thomas Edison patented a total of 1,093 inventions!In most cases, an invention ________ according to the first paragraph.
A.comes from a complete new idea | B.is usually based on an old product or idea |
C.will change its creator’s life completely | D.is created by scientists in different fields |
The second paragraph mainly wants to tell us _______.
A.the difficulty in making a new invention | B.the common steps of creating new things |
C.having a good idea is the key to creation | D.designing a tool is the first step in inventing |
The example of Chester Greenwood is used to show that ________.
A.children can also invent something |
B.it is easy even for children to make inventions |
C.kids have more advantages in inventing things |
D.to be an inventor is the best way to change one’s life |
At first Chester designed his earmuffs in order to ________.
A.protect his ears while ice-skating |
B.earn money to support his poor family |
C.realize his dream of becoming an inventor |
D.make himself look fashionable while ice-skating |
Students who say they never or hardly ever used dictionaries may speak English well but usually write poorly, because they make many mistakes.
The students who use dictionaries most do not learn especially well either. The ones who look up every new word do not read fast. Therefore they do not have time to read much. Those who use small two-language dictionaries have the worst problems. Their dictionaries often give only one or two words as translations of English. But one English word often has many translations in a foreign language and one foreign word has many translations in English.
The most successful students are those who use large college edition dictionaries with about 100,000 words but do not use them too often. When they are reading, these students first try to get the general idea and understand new words from the context. Then they reread and use the dictionary to look up only key words that they still do not understand. They use dictionaries more for writing. If they are not sure how to spell a word, they always use a dictionary. Also, if they think a noun might have an unusual plural form, they check this in a dictionary.The writer thinks that ___________.
A.choose a good dictionary, and you’ll be successful in learning English |
B.dictionaries are not necessary to the students who learn English |
C.it is very important for students to use good dictionaries properly |
D.using dictionaries very often can’t help to improve writing |
According to the passage, which of the following is WRONG?
A.Dictionaries have little effect on learning to speak English. |
B.Whatever new words you meet while reading, never use dictionaries. |
C.Small two-language dictionaries have serious shortcomings. |
D.Reading something for the first time, you’d better not use dictionaries. |
When in the reading does the writer advise students to use a good dictionary?
A.At the beginning of the reading | B.At the end of the reading |
C.During the first reading | D.After the first reading |
This passage mainly tells us .
A.that students shouldn’t use small two-language dictionaries |
B.what were the shortcomings of small two-language dictionaries |
C.why students should use large college edition dictionaries |
D.what dictionary students should choose and how to use it |
Not many years ago, a wealthy and rather strange old man named Johnson lived alone in a village in the south of England. He had made a lot of money in trading with foreign countries. When he was seventy-five, he gave£12,000 to the village school to buy land and equipment for a children’s playground.
As a result of his kindness, many people came to visit him. Among them was a newspaperman. During their talk, Johnson remarked that he was seventy-five and expected to live to be a hundred. The newspaperman asked him how he managed to be healthy at seventy-five. Johnson had a sense of humor. He liked whisky (威士忌酒) and drank some each day. “I have an injection (注射) in my neck each evening,” he told the newspaperman, thinking of his evening glass of whisky.
The newspaperman did not understand what Johnson meant. In his newspaper he reported that Johnson was seventy-five and had a daily injection in his neck. Within a week Johnson received thousands of letters from all over Britain, asking him for the secret of his daily injection.The gift of money to the school suggests (暗示) that Johnson ___________.
A.had no children | B.was a strange man |
C.was very fond of children | D.wanted people to know how rich he was |
Many people wrote to Johnson to find out ___________.
A.what kind of whisky he had | B.how to live longer |
C.how to become wealthy | D.in which part of the neck to have an injection |
The newspaperman ___________.
A.should have reported what Johnson had told him |
B.shouldn’t have asked Johnson what injection he had |
C.was eager to live a long life |
D.should have found out what Johnson really meant |
When Johnson said he had an injection in his neck each evening, he really meant that ___________.
A.he liked drinking a glass of whisky in the evening |
B.he needn’t an injection in the neck |
C.a daily injection in the evening would make him sleep well |
D.there was something wrong with his neck |
Most recently, it’s very common in students who need a parent present for job interviews.
Naturally, it’s easy to blame the students in these situations, but the bigger problem is us. We—as parents—are so eager to protect our kids that we fail to realize that this in itself is harming them. As the mother of two young sons, I have to remind myself all the time that the biggest responsibility I have as a parent is to help them develop the skills needed to live in, to live without me. So, I’ll let them fail.
I’ll let them fail because as long as they are safe and warm inside their comfort zones, they will never grow. And failure—along with loss, heartbreak, disappointment, etc.—will be part of growth for them. Call me the anti-tiger mom, but leaving them alone is my way of helping them become equipped to fit in this world as we know it today. From terrorism (恐怖主义) and seemingly endless natural disasters, to our national debt and beyond, if we expect the next generation to stand up to the very real problems of our time, we need to stop feeding them and start teaching them how to fish.
My children are faced with hard situations in their own life almost each day, but they try to negotiate (协商) everything now. It’s a small price to help them learn a skill they’ll use for the rest of their lives, including when I don’t come with them on job interviews.Why do parents go along with their kids on job interviews?
A.Because they want to protect their kids from difficulties. |
B.Because they think they can protect them from being hurt. |
C.Because their kids are too shy to attend interviews. |
D.Because their kids strongly request them to do so. |
According to the author, what is helpful to kids’ development?
A.Protecting them. | B.Keeping them safe. |
C.Leaving them alone. | D.Blaming them. |
The author believes experiencing failure in life can make kids ___________.
A.become healthier than other kids |
B.grow in this challenging world |
C.develop all social skills |
D.escape from natural disasters |
If the writer’s boy goes to a job interview, she probably will ___________.
A.go with him to protect her kid from difficulty |
B.stay home but give him directions over telephone |
C.wait outside and talk with other parents |
D.let him go to the interview by himself |
Which of the following might be the best title of the text?
A.Never help your kids | B.Let your kids fail |
C.Go to the interview with your kids | D.Live without parents |
The possibility that pleasant smells might reduce pain has recently been suggested by new research. In a scientific study, doctors asked 20 men and 20 women to keep their hands in very hot water for as long as possible while breathing in different smells.
As people believe that strong smells can affect the senses, volunteers were asked not to eat or drink for eight hours before the experiment began. During the experiment, volunteers were asked to take in pleasant smells such as vanilla (香草), and unpleasant smells such as durians (榴莲). The volunteers kept their hands in the water until it became too hot for them. When they could not bear the pain any more, they took their hands out of the water.
Scientists are interested in whether the senses or smell is related to pain and whether men and women have the same senses. Now, the study has proved that for women, pleasant smells reduce pain. For men, there is no change.
Dr Finkelstein has been studying smells since 1999. He says that scientists already have data from 40 volunteers. He adds that this year, scientists will test another 60 volunteers and will be in a better position to explain the results.
One explanation is that women’s sense of smell developed long ago, and is linked to recognizing the smell of babies. Scientists used to believe that mothers recognized their children by sight only. Now, they have started to believe that the sense of smell also helps, but why pleasant smells do not reduce pain in men is a question still to be answered by scientists.Before the experiment, volunteers ______.
A.are gathered and take a training |
B.cannot eat or drink for several hours |
C.must wash their hands carefully |
D.will be interviewed by Dr Finkelstein |
If both men and women are asked to keep their hands in hot water while taking in some pleasant smells, ______.
A.women may stand the pain of the hot water longer |
B.men may keep their hands in the hot water longer |
C.they will probably take their hands out at the same time |
D.we are not quite sure who will take their hands out earlier |
From the passage we learn that _________.
A.the reason why women are sensitive to smells is clear |
B.the experiment for the sense of smell has come to an end |
C.unpleasant smells affect men’s senses more than women’s |
D.scientists have not totally explained the result of the study |
Now scientists believe that _______.
A.mothers recognize their children only by sight |
B.men’s sense of smell developed a long time ago |
C.strong smells have a great influence on people’s senses |
D.smells are helpful for mothers to spot their children |
The writer wrote the passage in order to ________.
A.supply some entertainment to us |
B.show women’s sharper senses than men’s |
C.inform the readers of some knowledge |
D.call for volunteers for the experiment |