Despitethefactthatithasneverbe-优题课

Section B
Directions: Read the following three passages. Each passage is followed by several questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. Choose the one that fits best according to the information given in the passage you have just read.
Margaret, married with two small children, has been working for the last seven years as a night cleaner, cleaning offices in a big building.
She trained as a nurse, but had to give it up when her elder child became seriously ill. “I would have liked to go back to it, but the shifts are all wrong for me, as I have to be home to get the children up and off to school.”
So she works as a cleaner instead, from 9 p.m. till 6 a.m. five nights a week for just £90, before tax and insurance. “It’s better than it was last year, but I still think that people who work ‘unsocial hours’ should get a bit extra.”
The hours she’s chosen to work mean that she sees plenty of the children, but very little of her husband. However, she doesn’t think that puts any pressure on their relationship.
Her work isn’t physically very hard, but it’s not exactly pleasant, either. “I do get angry with people who leave their offices like a place for raising pigs. If they realized people like me have to do it, perhaps they’d be a bit more careful.”
The fact that she’s working all night doesn’t worry Margaret at all. Unlike some dark buildings at night, the building where she works is fully lit, and the women work in groups of three. “Since I’ve got to be here, I try to enjoy myself—and I usually do, because of the other girls. We all have a good laugh, so the time never drags.”
Another challenge Margaret has to face is the reaction of other people when she tells them what she does for a living. “They think you’re a cleaner because you don’t know how to read and write,” said Margaret. “I used to think what my parents would say if they knew what I’d been doing, but I don’t think that way any more. I don’t dislike the work though I can’t say I’m mad about it.”
1.Margaret quit her job as a nurse because _______.
A. she wanted to earn more money to support her family
B. she had suffered a lot of mental pressure
C. she needed the right time to look after her children
D. she felt tired of taking care of patients
2.Margaret gets angry with people who work in the office because _______.
A. they never clean their offices B. they look down upon cleaners
C. they never do their work carefully D. they always make a mess in their offices
3.When at work, Margaret feels _______.
A. light-hearted because of her fellow workers B. happy because the building is fully lit
C. tired because of the heavy workload D. bored because time passed slowly
4.The underlined part in the last paragraph implies that Margaret’s parents would _______.
A. help care for her children B. regret what they had said
C. show sympathy for her D. feel disappointed in her

　　In 1961, scientist set up gigantic, sensitive instruments to collect radio waves from the far reaches of space, hoping to discover in them some mathematical pattern indicating that the waves were sent out by other intelligent beings. The first attempt failed, but someday the experiment may succeed.
　　What reason is there to think that we may actually detect intelligent life in outer space？To begin with, modern theories of the development of stars suggest that almost every star has some sort of family of planets. So any star like our own sun （and there are billions of such stars in the universe） is likely to have a planet situated at such a distance that it would receive about the same amount of radiation as the earth.
　　Furthermore, such a planet would probably have the same general composition as our planet; so, allowing a billion years or two or three, there would be a very good chance for life to develop, if current theories of the origin of life are correct.
　　But intelligent life？Life that has reached the stage of being able to send radio waves out into space in a deliberate pattern？Our own planet may have been in existence for five billion years and may have had life on it for two billion, but it is only in the last fifty years that intelligent life capable of sending radio waves into space has lived on earth. From this it might seem that even if there were no technical problems involved, the chance of receiving signals from any particular earth-type planet would be extremely small.
　　This does not mean that intelligent life at our level does not exist somewhere. There are such an unimaginable number of stars that, even at such miserable possibility, it seems certain that there are millions of intelligent life forms scattered through space. The only trouble is, none may be within easy distance of us. Perhaps none ever will be; perhaps the distances that separate us from our fellow “creatures” of this universe will forever remain too great to be conquered. And yet it is conceivable that someday we may come across one of them or, frighteningly, one of them may come across us. What would they be like, these outside-the-earth creatures？
1.What point is the author making by stating that almost every star has some sort of family of planets？
　　A. Sooner or later intelligent beings will be found on one of the stars.
　　B. There must be one or two of the planets on which there are no intelligent beings.
　　C. There are sufficient planets for there to be one that enjoys the same conditions as the earth does.
　　D. One or two billion years later intelligent beings will generate on those planets.
2.What is the main topic of the passage？
　　A. Some probable intelligent life forms on other planets.
　　B. Various stages undergone by the intelligent life on other planets.
　　C. Grounds for probable existence of intelligent life on other planets.
　　D. The possibility of intelligent life existing on our planet.
3.Which of the following can be inferred from the passage？
A. An encounter is probable between people from the earth and intelligent beings from another planet.
B. Though the first attempt failed, scientists did discover the radio waves sent out by other intelligent beings.
C. Other intelligent beings were able to send our radio waves into space well before the last fifty years.
D. It is certain that there are millions of intelligent beings scattered in space but only too far away.
4.According to the author, what is the difference between “we may come across one of them” and “one of them may come across us”？
A. The earth would be dangerously disadvantaged if it is sought after by possibly much more developed creatures.
B. It would prove that there are too many outside-the-earth creatures if “one of them comes across us”.
C. The history of the development of the earth would be proved to be shorter than that of “them” if “they” come across us.
D. it would prove that the distance in between is not so great as we think if “we come across one of them” someday.

　　In the United States in the early 1800’s, individual state governments had more effect on the economy than did the federal government. States controlled manufacturing, banking, mining and transportation firms and participated in the construction of various internal improvements such as canals, turnpikes（收费关卡）, and railroads. The states encouraged internal improvements in two distinct ways: first, by actually establishing state companies to build such improvements; second, by providing part of the capital for mixed public-private companies setting out to make a profit.
　　In the early nineteenth century, state governments also engaged in a surprisingly large amount of direct restricting activity, including extensive licensing and inspection programs. Licensing targets reflected both similarities in and difference between the economy of the nineteenth century and that of today: in the nineteenth century, state regulation through licensing fell especially on drug dealers, innkeepers and retail merchants of various kinds. The goods of trade generally came under state inspection and such important raw material as lumber and gunpowder were also subject to state control. Finally, state governments experimented with direct labor and business regulation designed to help the individual laborer or consumer, including setting maximum limits on hours of work and restrictions on price-fixing by business.
　　Although the states dominated economic activity during this period, the federal government was not inactive. Its goals were the facilitation of western settlement and the development of native industries. Toward these ends the federal government pursued several courses of action. It established a national bank to stabilize banking activities in the country and, in part, to provide a supply of relatively easy money to the region, where it was greatly needed for settlement. It permitted access to public western lands on increasing easy term, with a summit in the Homestead Act of 1862, by which title to land could be claimed on the basis of residence alone. Finally, it set up a system of tariffs（关税） that was basically protectionist in effect, although maneuvering for position by various regional interests produced frequent changes in tariff rates throughout the nineteenth century.
1.What does the passage mainly discuss？
　　A. States rights versus federal rights.
　　B. The participation of state governments in railroad, canal, and turnpike construction.
　　C. The roles of state and federal government in the economy of the nineteenth century.
　　D. Restricting activity by state government.
2.It can be inferred from the first paragraph that in the nineteenth century canals and railroads were ______.
　　A. built with money that came from the federal government
　　B. much more expensive to build than they had been previously
　　C. built predominantly in the western part of the country
　　D. sometimes built in part by state companies
3.According to the passage, which of the following is true of the Homestead Act of 1862？
　　A. It increased the money supply in the West.
　　B. It was a law first passed by state government in the West.
　　C. It made it increasingly possible for settlers to obtain land in the West.
　　D. It established tariffs in a number of regions.
4.Which of the following activities was the responsibility of the federal government in the nineteenth century？
　　A. Control of the manufacture of gunpowder.
　　B. Determining the conditions under which individuals worked.
　　C. Regulation of the supply of money.
　　D. Inspection of new homes built on western lands.

Reading Comprehension
Section B
Directions：Read the following passages. Each passage is followed by several questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. Choose the one that fits best according to the information given in the passage you have just read.
　　Are organically grown foods the best food choices？The advantages claimed for such foods over conventionally (传统地) grown and marketed food products are now being debated. Supporters of organic foods—a term whose meaning varies greatly—frequently announce that such products are safer and more nutritious than others.
　　The growing interest of consumers in the safety and nutritional quality of the typical North American diet is a welcome development. However, much of this interest has been sparked by sweeping claims that the food supply is unsafe or inadequate in meeting nutritional needs. Although most of these claims are not supported by scientific evidence, the flood of written material advancing such claims makes it difficult for the general public to separate fact from fiction. As a result, claims that eating a diet consisting entirely of organically grown foods prevents or cures disease or provides other benefits to health have become widely publicized.
　　Almost daily the public is besieged by claims for “no-aging” diets, new vitamins and other wonder foods. There are numerous unproved reports that natural vitamins are superior to synthetic ones, that fertilized eggs are nutritionally superior to unfertilized eggs, that untreated grains are better than fumigated grains and the like.
　　One thing that most organically grown food products seem to have in common is that they cost more than conventionally grown foods. But in many cases consumers are misled if they believe organic foods can maintain health and provide better nutritional quality than conventionally grown foods. So there is real cause for concern if consumers，particularly those with limited incomes, distrust the regular food supply and buy only expensive organic foods instead.
1.The “welcome development” mentioned in paragraph 2 is an increase in ______.
　　A. attention to food safety and nutrition among north Americans
　　B. the nutritional quality of the typical North American diet
　　C. the amount of healthy food grown in North America
　　D. the number of consumers in North America
2. The author implies that there is cause for concern if consumers buy organic foods instead of conventionally grown foods because ______.
　　A. organic foods can be more expensive but are often not better than conventionally grown foods
　　B. many organic foods are actually less nutritious than similar conventionally grown foods
　　C. conventionally grown foods are more readily available than organic foods
　　D. too many farmers will stop using conventional methods to grow food crops
3.What is the author’s attitude toward the claims made by advocates of health foods？
　　A. Enthusiastic. B. Favorable. C. Neutral. D. Distrustful.

In our life, we face situations where we are either asked to choose between trust and disbelief. Many of us would say we have to choose trust over disbelief. Actually we are given intellectual(智力的) power to choose what we want, and what we choose certainly need not be the one that sounds pleasing. That is, we can choose both trust and disbelief, but we have to know when to choose between these two.
We should all realize that we are living in a world which is unfortunately mixed with people of various types. We have been given the power of judging who we are working with and who we are partnering with. We cannot give an excuse for believing a scheming(诡计多端的)person, just because he looked or sounded nice, unless we consider ourselves mentally unskillful.
This world was there before us and it does not owe us a single thing. We are asked to take care of ourselves and our belongings. Trust, too, has to be saved for the deserving(值得的) people. When we give trust universally to all, we end up troubled by the undeserving common cheat. People say trust is life. True! But only wisely exercised trust is life.
When we start a conversation with someone, the first things that we usually notice would be their dress, behavior, style and their language. What sometimes we all forget to look at is the person’s intention. Now how to look at a person’s intention is a lesson everybody has to learn for themselves in their own way -- there is no single standard for it. But it is certainly possible to discover the purpose if we seek a little bit more.
Certainly a false offer of friendship or guidance cannot stand undiscovered for long; we are therefore called to exercise disbelief over trust at least momentarily till we find out that we certainly are in agreement with a mutual(相互的)good-willed person.
The world teaches you lots of lessons and if we are willing, we can learn all that we want.
1. In the first paragraph, the author ________.
A. concentrates on the reason why we make different choices
B. focuses on how to choose between trust and disbelief
C. suggests that trust should be wisely exercised
D. implies that people are forced to make the choice
2. The underlined sentence means __________.
A. trust and disbelief go hand in hand with each other.
B. disbelief is necessary if you aren’t wise
C. trust is established if two people know each other
D. doubt may serve as the precondition for trust
3. We can infer from the passage that _________.
A. people who we are working with are in fact those who we are partnering with
B. the first thing we notice tends to mislead our judgment
C. the mentally healthy people will not judge a person by his looks
D. the standards of looking at a person’s intention are various
4. Which of the following can serve as the best title for the passage?
A. Trust or Disbelief? B. Trust Is Life.
C. Trust over Disbelief? D. When to Choose between Trust and Disbelief?