Chinesescientistshavefoundanew-优题课

There are many theories about the beginning of drama in ancient Greece. The one most widely accepted today is based on the assumption that drama evolved from ritual. The argument for this view goes as follows. In the beginning, human beings viewed the natural forces of the world, even the seasonal changes, as unpredictable, and they sought through various means, to control these unknown and feared powers. Those measures which appeared to bring the desired results were then retained and repeated until they hardened into fixed rituals. Eventually stories arose which explained or veiled the mysteries of the rites. As time passed some rituals were abandoned, but the stories, later called myths, persisted and provided material for art and drama.
Those who believed that drama evolved out of ritual also argue that those rites contained the seed of theater because music, dance, masks, and costumes were almost always used. Furthermore, a suitable site had to be provided for performances, and when the entire community did not participate, a clear division was usually made between the “acting area” and the “auditorium”. In addition, there were performers, and, since considerable importance was attached to avoiding mistakes in the enactment of rites, religious leaders usually assumed that task. Wearing masks and costumes, they often impersonated other people, animals, or super natural beings, and mimed the desired effect－success in hunt or battle, the coming rain, the revival of the Sun-as an actor might. Eventually such dramatic representations were separated from religious activities. 
Another theory traces the theater’s origin from the human interest in storytelling. According to this view, tales (about the hunt, war, or other feats) are gradually elaborated, at first through the use of impersonation, action, and dialogue by a narrator and then through the assumption of each of the roles by a different person. A closely related theory traces theater to those dances that are primarily rhythmical and gymnastic or that are imitations of animal movements and sounds.
77. What does the passage mainly discuss?
A. The origins of theater. B. The role of ritual in modern dance.
C. The importance of storytelling. D. The variety of early religious activities.
78. What aspect of drama does the author discuss in the first paragraph?
A.The reason drama is often unpredictable.
B.The seasons in which dramas were performed.
C. The connection between myths and dramatic plots.
D. The importance of costumes in early drama.
79. According to the passage, what is the main difference between ritual and drama?
A. Ritual uses music whereas drama does not.
B. Ritual is shorter than drama.
C. Ritual requires fewer performers than drama.
D. Ritual has a religious purpose and drama does not.
80. The passage supports which of the following statements?
A. No one really knows how the theater began.
B. Myths are no longer represented dramatically.
C. Storytelling is an important part of dance.
D. Dramatic activities require the use of costumes.

Glacier National Park in Montana shares boundaries with Canada, an American Indian reservation, and a national forest. Along the North Fork of the Flathead River, the park also borders about 17,000 acres of private lands that are currently used for ranching, timber, and agriculture. This land is an important part of the habitat and migratory routes for several endangered species that frequent the park. These private lands are essentially the only ones available for development in the region.
With encouragement from the park, local landowners initiated a landuse planning effort to guide the future of the North Fork. The park is a partner in an interlocal agreement that calls for resourcemanaging agencies to work together and with the more than 400 private owners in the area. A draft plan has been prepared, with objective of maintaining traditional economic uses but limiting new development that would damage park resources. Voluntary action by landowners, in cooperation with the park and the county, is helping to restrict smalllot subdivisions, maintain wildlife corridors, and minimize any harmful impact on the environment.
The willingness of local landowners to participate in this protection effort may have been stimulated by concerns that congress would impose a legislative solution. Nevertheless, many local residents want to retain the existing character of the area. Meetings between park officials and landowners have led to a dramatically improved understanding of all concerns.
73. The passage mainly discusses ______.
A. the endangered species in Glacier National Park
B. the protection of lands surrounding Glacier National Park
C. conservation laws imposed by the state of Montana
D. conservation laws imposed by Congress 
74. Why are the private lands surrounding Glacier National Park so important?
A. They function as a hunting preserve.B. They are restricted to government use.
C. They are heavily populated.
D. They contain natural habitats of threatened species. 
75. The relationship between park officials and neighboring landowners may best be described as ______.
A. indifferent B. intimate C. cooperative D. disappointing
76. It can be inferred from the passage that a major interest of the officials of Glacier National Park is to ______.
A. limit land development around the park B. establish a new park in Montana
C. influence national legislation D. settle border disputes with Canada 

People have been painting pictures for at least 30,000 years. The earliest pictures were painted by people who hunted animals. They used to paint pictures of the animals they wanted to catch and kill. Pictures of this kind have been found on the walls of caves in France and Spain. No one knows why they were painted there. Perhaps the painters thought that their pictures would help them to catch these animals. Or perhaps human beings have always wanted to tell stories in pictures.
About 5,000 years ago, the Egyptians and other people in the Near East began to use pictures as kind of writing. They drew simple pictures or signs to represent things and ideas, and also to represent the sounds of their language. The signs these people used became a kind of alphabet.
The Egyptians used to record information and to tell stories by putting picturewriting and pictures together. When an important person died, scenes and stories from his life were painted and carved on the walls of the place where he was buried. Some of these pictures are like modern comic strip stories. It has been said that Egypt is the home of the comic strip. But, for the Egyptians, pictures still had magic power. So they did not try to make their way of writing simple. The ordinary people could not understand it.
By the year 1,000 BC, people who lived in the area around the Mediterranean Sea had developed a simpler system of writing. The signs they used were very easy to write, and there were fewer of them than in the Egyptian system. This was because each sign, or letter, represented only one sound in their language. The Greeks developed this system and formed the letters of the Greek alphabet. The Romans copied the idea, and the Roman alphabet is now used all over the world.
These days, we can write down a story, or record information, without using pictures. But we still need pictures of all kinds: drawing, photographs, signs and diagrams. We find them everywhere: in books and newspapers, in the street, and on the walls of the places where we live and work. Pictures help us to understand and remember things more easily, and they can make a story much more interesting.
69. Pictures of animals were painted on the walls of caves in France and Spain because_____.
A. the hunters wanted to see the pictures B. the painters were animal lovers
C. the painters wanted to show imagination D. the pictures were thought to be helpful
70. The Greek alphabet was simpler than the Egyptian system for all the following reasons EXCEPT that_____.
A. the former was easy to write B. there were fewer signs in the former
C. the former was easy to pronounce D. each sign stood for only one sound
71. Which of the following statements is TRUE?
A. The Egyptian signs later became a particular alphabet.
B. The Egyptians liked to write comic strip stories.
C. The Roman alphabet was developed from the Egyptian one.
D. The Greeks copied their writing system from the Egyptians.
72. In the last paragraph, the author thinks that pictures_____.
A. should be made comprehensible B. should be made interesting
C. are of much use in our life D. have disappeared from our life

Most earthquakes occur within the upper 15 miles of the earth’s surface. But earthquakes can and do occur at all depths to about 460 miles. Their number decreases as the depth increases. At about 460 miles one earthquake occurs only every few years. Near the surface earthquakes may run as high as 100 in a month, but the yearly average does not vary much. In comparison with the total number of earthquakes each year, the number of disastrous earthquakes is very small.[JP]
The extent of the disaster in an earthquake depends on many factors. If you carefully build a toy house with an erect set, it will still stand no matter how much you shake the table. But if you build a toy house with a pack of cards, a slight shake of the table will make it fall. An earthquake in Agadir, Morocco, was not strong enough to be recorded on distant instruments, but it completely destroyed the city. Many stronger earthquakes have done comparatively little damage. If a building is well constructed and built on solid ground, it will resist an earthquake. Most deaths in earthquakes have been due to faulty building construction or poor building sites. A third and very serious factor is panic. When people rush out into narrow streets, more deaths will result.
The United Nations has played an important part in reducing the damage done by earthquakes. It has sent a team of experts to all countries known to be affected by earthquakes. Working with local geologists and engineers, the experts have studied the nature of the ground and the type of most practical building code for the local area. If followed, these suggestions will make disastrous earthquakes almost a thing of the past.
There is one type of earthquake disaster that little can be done about. This is the disaster caused by seismic sea waves, or tsunamis. (These are often called tidal waves, but the name is incorrect. They have nothing to do with tides.)
In certain areas, earthquakes take place beneath the sea. These submarine earthquakes sometimes give rise to seismic sea waves. The waves are not noticeable out at sea because of their long wave length. But when they roll into harbors, they pile up into walls of water 6 to 60 feet high. The Japanese call them “tsunamis”, meaning “harbor waves”, because they reach a sizable height only in harbors.
Tsunamis travel fairly slowly, at speeds up to 500 miles an hour. An adequate warning system is in use to warn all shores likely to be reached by the waves.
But this only enables people to leave the threatened shores for higher ground. There is no way to stop the oncoming wave.
65. Which of the following CANNOT be concluded from the passage?
A. The number of earthquakes is closely related to depth.
B. Roughly the same number of earthquakes occur each year.、
C. Earthquakes are impossible at depths over 460 miles.
D. Earthquakes are most likely to occur near the surfaces.
66. The destruction of Agadir is an example of_____.
A. faulty building construction B. an earthquake’s strength
C. widespread panic in earthquakes D. ineffective instruments
67. The United Nations’ experts are supposed to_____.
A. construct strong buildings B. put forward proposals
C. detect disastrous earthquakes D. monitor earthquakes
68. The significance of the slow speed of tsunamis is that people may_____.
A. notice them out at sea B. find ways to stop them
C. be warned early enough D. develop warning systems

第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分）
Before the mid 1860’s, the impact of the railroads in the United States was limited, in the sense that the tracks ended at this Missouri River, approximately the center of the country. At the point the trains turned their freight, mail, and passengers over to steamboats, wagons, and stagecoaches. This meant that wagon freighting, stagecoaching, and steamboating did not come to an end when the first train appeared; rather they became supplements or feeders. Each new “end of track” became a center for animal drawn or waterborne transportation. The major effect of the railroad was to shorten the distance that had to be covered by the older, slower, and more costly means. Wagon freighters continued operating throughout the 1870’s and 1880’s and into the 1890’s. Although over constantly shrinking routes, and coaches and wagons continued to crisscross the West wherever the rails had not yet been laid. The beginning of a major change was foreshadowed in the later 1860’s, when the Union Pacific Railroad at last began to build westward from the Central Plains city of Omaha to meet the Central Pacific Railroad advancing eastward from California through the formidable barrier of the Sierra Nevada. Although President Abraham Lincoln signed the original Pacific Railroad bill in 1862 and a revised, financially much more generous version in 1864, little construction was completed until 1865 on the Central Pacific and 1866 on the Union Pacific. The primary reason was skepticism that a Railroad built through so challenging and thinly settled a stretch of desert, mountain, and semiarid plain could pay a profit. In the words of an economist, this was a case of “premature enterprise”, where not only the cost of construction but also the very high risk deterred private investment. In discussing the Pacific Railroad bill, the chair of the congressional committee bluntly stated that without government subsidy no one would undertake so unpromising a venture; yet it was a national necessity to link East and West together. 
61. The author refers to the impact of railroads before the late 1860’s as “limited” because
A. the track did not take the direct route from one city to the next
B. passengers and freight had to transfer to other modes of transportation to reach western destinations C. passengers preferred stagecoaches
D. railroad travel was quite expensive
62. What can be inferred about coaches and wagon freighters as the railroad expanded?
A. They developed competing routes.
B. Their drivers refused to work for the railroads.
C. They began to specialize in private investment.
D. There were insufficient numbers of trained people to operate them.
63. Why does the author mention the Sierra Nevada in line 17? 
A. To argue that a more direct route to the West could have been taken.
B. To identify a historically significant mountain range in the West.
C. To point out the location of a serious train accident.
D. To give an example of an obstacle faced by the central pacific.
64. The word “subsidy” in line 27 is closest in meaning to_____.
A. persuasion B. financing C. explanation D. penalty 