阅读理解
阅读下列四篇短文，从每小题后所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该选项涂黑。
Why are newspapers and TV broadcasts filled with disaster, corruption and incompetence? It may be because we’re drawn to depressing stories without realizing, according to psychologists.
When you read the news, sometimes it can feel like the only things reported are terrible, depressing events. Why do the media concentrate on the bad things in life, rather than the good? In fact, many people often say that they would prefer good news.
The researchers present their experiment as solid evidence of a so called “negativity bias(偏见)”, psychologists’ term for our collective hunger to hear, and remember bad news.
It isn’t just delight in other people’s misfortune, the theory goes, but that we’ve evolved to react quickly to potential threats. Bad news could be a signal that we need to change what we’re doing to avoid danger.
As you’d expect from this theory, there’s some evidence that people respond quicker to negative words. In lab experiments, flash the word “cancer”, “bomb” or “war” up at someone and they can hit a button in response quicker than if that word is “baby”, “smile” or “fun”. We are also able to recognize negative words faster than positive words, and even tell that a word is going to be unpleasant before we can tell exactly what the word is going to be.
There’s another interpretation (解释)that researchers put on their evidence: we pay attention to bad news, because on the whole, we think the world is more hopeful than it actually is. When it comes to our own lives, most of us believe we’re better than average, and that, like the cliches, we expect things to be all right in the end. This pleasant view of the world makes bad news all the more surprising and arresting. It is only against a light background that the dark spots are highlighted.
So our attraction to bad news may be more complex than just journalistic prejudice or a hunger springing from the darkness within.What is “negativity bias” according to psychologists?
| A．It is one’s delight in others’ misfortune. |
| B．It is one’s habit of reacting quickly to potential threats. |
| C．It is a signal with which we can avoid danger. |
| D．People are born to hear and remember bad news. |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．Journalists only feel like reporting depressing bad news. |
| B．It is true that there are no good stories to be reported. |
| C．People unconsciously pay more attention to bad news. |
| D．People like to hear pleasant words rather than bad words. |
What will be read first by most readers according to the theory?
| A．Movie star arrested for taking drugs. |
| B．Movie star went on a campaign for ASL disease. |
| C．Movie star accepts Ice Bucket Challenge |
| D．Movie star awarded the third Oscar in three years. |
What causes people to focus more on bad news than on good news?
| A．The world is believed to be more hopeful than it actually is. |
| B．It is expected things will be all right in the end. |
| C．The world is believed to be full of darkness. |
| D．It is believed that we are better than others. |
Before the early 1960’s people interested in the differing roles of the left and right hemispheres(半球) of the brain depended almost entirely on facts drawn from animal research, form studies of patients with one-sided brain damage. But it was possible to find out which brain hemisphere was most involved in speech and other functions in normal people by having them listen to two different words coming to the two ears at the same time. This became known as the “dichotic listening” procedure. When several word pairs are given in a row, people are unable to report them all, and most right-handers prefer to report, and report more correctly, words given to their right ears. This seems to be related to the fact that signals from the right ear, although sent to both hemispheres, are better sent to the left hemisphere which controls speech. People who have speech represented(回忆) in the right hemisphere, a very unusual occurrence even in left-handed people, more correctly report what their left ears hear.
In contrast to the right-ear advantage for speech, there is generally a left-ear advantage for another type of auditory(听觉的) signal: music. When right-handed people listen to melodic patterns they report them better from the left ear.Which of the following would be the most proper title for the passage?
| A．An Introduction to Speech Damage in Patients with Brain Damage. |
| B．An Investigation into the Role of the Brain’s Hemispheres. |
| C．An Analysis of Left and Right-handed People. |
| D．An Examination of “Dichotic Listening”. |
The “dichotic listening” procedure could best be described as hearing _______.
| A．two different words in the same ear twice |
| B．the same word twice in the same ear |
| C．two different words in different ears |
| D．two different words twice in two ears |
according to the passage, right-handed people normally _______.
| A．have better hearing in their both ears |
| B．have little difficulty in reporting words given to their right ears |
| C．are unable to report word pairs given to their left ears |
| D．correctly report word pairs given in a row |
according to the passage, music is best appreciated when heard by _______.
| A．the left ear of right-handers |
| B．people with a left-ear advantage |
| C．left-handers in their right ears |
| D．right-handed people who understand melodic patterns |
“It was all his own idea, ” says Pat Peters, the 38-year-old wife of Palo Alto, California high school football coach Bob Peters, 39. Bob had just drawn up a “motherhood contract” -a document(文件) stating that for 70 days this summer he would take over the care and feeding of the couple’s four children, plus all household chores(杂务). Although he didn’t even know how to make coffee when he signed, he was quite confident.(He thought the experience would make a nice book.)
After 40 of the 70 days, he was ready to give up. “I was beaten down, completely humbled, ” admits Peters. Three weeks later he spoke to the local press(also part of the bargain), stating, “Not only is motherhood a difficult task, not only is it never-ending, it is an impossible job for any normal human being.”
Bob and Pat were high school sweethearts. After they were married in 1960, she worked as a secretary to help put him through university. Since then Bob has been the football and wrestling coach at Palo Alto’s Cubberley High while Pat raised the kids.
Then two years ago Pat went back to work as a secretary at Cubberley. “I had been around children so much,” she sighs(叹气), “I couldn’t talk to a grown-up.” She continued to run the household, however-until Bob signed the contract, whereupon she decided to relax and enjoy it.
Although Peters had consulted(咨询) with his school’s home economics teachers and the head of the cafeteria(食堂), his meals were sometimes a disaster. “I tried to slip the butter I’d forgotten under the eggs after they were frying, ” he says. For the last three weeks, the family ate out a lot—sometimes having Macdonald’s hamburgers for lunch and dinner.
As for housekeeping, a home economics teacher had told Bob that a room always looks clean if the bed is made. “I found an easier way-I shut the doors, ” he says. Soon the kids were wearing the same clothes for a week. “I made them wear their shirts inside out, and when we went to pick up Pat at work they turned them right side out so they would look clean.”
Now that Bob has publicly admitted he was wrong, he is routinely(日常地) sharing the child-raising and household tasks with Pat. The tentative(暂定的) title of his book about the summer is taken from something he shouted at the kids one day.The couple signed the contract because _______.
| A．Pat complained a lot about her doing the housework all by herself |
| B．Bob loved taking care of children and wanted his wife to have a good rest |
| C．they agreed that husband and wife should share household tasks |
| D．Bob thought it easy to take care of the family and wanted the experience for a book |
It was agreed that if Bob failed to keep to the contract, he would have to _______.
| A．pay a certain amount of money |
| B．do all the housework for years |
| C．say sorry to his wife |
| D．admit publicly he was wrong about motherhood |
What can we learn about Pat Peters?
| A．She was hard-working and selfless. |
| B．She was pretty and kind-hearted. |
| C．She was tired of the child-raising and household tasks. |
| D．She did not love Bob any longer. |
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．Bob managed to keep the kids’clothes clean. |
| B．Bob tried to cook good meals for his children. |
| C．Bob frequently took the kids out to eat because he was too busy at work. |
| D．Bob taught the kids to make their beds every day. |
Which of the following can best end the news story?
| A．“My experience of being a mother.” |
| B．“I’m proud of you all, my dear!” |
| C．“Wait till your mother gets home!” |
| D．“Motherhood: an impossible job for anyone.” |
Why do women earn less than men?
Women earn less than men. For example, in 1988 the hourly wages of women in the U.S. were 16% less than those of men. The gap between male and female incomes varies with age. The gap between the labor incomes of young women and young men is much smaller than that between middle-aged women and men. It is also clear that jobs in which women are concentrated pay less. The larger the number of workers in an industry who are women, the lower the average wages.
Why do women earn less than men? Are the differences explained by the fact that women are looked down upon? If so, the government has to intervene, to force the employers to pay equal wages to equal jobs. however, there is no agreement among economists about the causes of the gap. One view argues that women on the average have chosen low-paying jobs in which workers enjoy the freedom of entering and leaving the labor force, which reduces their years of experience relative to men. Other people say the gap can also be explained by the difference in educational background which is shown in the difference in the marginal product between men and women.
Much of the gap, however, has not been fully explained. It might be the result of some bias against women. It is this part that has produced calls for government action. What would happen if the government did intervene to increase the wages paid to women? One possibility is that incomes for women as a group might actually decline. An increase in wage decreases the quantity of labor input demanded, resulting in decreased employment as the rate of hiring new workers declines. The result will be a surplus of labor. Those who can find jobs might be better off while those who had jobs might find themselves out of work.The difference in labor incomes is most obvious between _______.
| A．young men and young women |
| B．young women in the same industry |
| C．middle-aged men and middle-aged women |
| D．middle-aged women in the same industry |
Some economists believe women earn less than men partly because ______.
| A．women are less experienced than men |
| B．women are only provided with low-paying jobs |
| C．women have much freedom in selecting their jobs |
| D．there is more than enough women in the labor force |
Which of the following cannot be inferred from the second paragraph?
| A．Women receive less education than men. |
| B．Women are not as productive as men. |
| C．Levels of education are closely related to productivity. |
| D．Goods produced by women are not as good as those by men. |
What does the author suggest that the government should do for women workers?
| A．To ensure equal pay for women. |
| B．To explain why women are paid less. |
| C．To force employers to hire more women. |
| D．No solution is clearly suggested. |
What would happen if women’s wages were raised?
| A．Input of capital would be increased. |
| B．The unemployment rate would go up. |
| C．Those that have jobs would become better off. |
| D．Women as a group would earn more than before. |
Macao, also called Macau, is on the western side of the Pearl River entrance, at the head of which is the Chinese port of Guangdong and it stands opposite Hong Kong which is on the eastern side of the entrance. It is made of a small narrow peninsula(半岛) sticking out from Guangdong province. The total area of Macao is about 21.45 square kilometers, and it is made up of three parts: Macao Peninsula, Dingbat Isle and Lehman Isle.
Between Macao Peninsula and Dingbat Isle there are two bridges which join the two parts together, and there is also a highway between the Dingbat and Lehman Isles. Therefore, two bridges and one highway make the three parts of Macao into an integrated region(一个整体).
Macao faces to the vast sea and its back is the Pearl River Delta. The two big cities, Hong Kong and Guangzhou, and the two special economic zones Hula and Shenzhen are its neighbors. All of this offers much advantage for its economic development.
Macao has a population of about 450, 000. This is very large against the size of the area. The average population density(密度) reaches 20, 000 per square kilometer. It is one of the densest population regions in the world. The majority of its people are Chinese, who make up 96% of the whole population.Which is the advantage for Macao’s economic development?
| A．Macao is on the coast line. |
| B．Macao is near some big cities or special economic zones. |
| C．Macao’s back is a rich delta. |
| D．All of the above. |
In Macao there are only about _______ people who are not Chinese.
| A．18,000 | B．20,000 |
| C．21,450 | D．428,000 |
We have two daughters: Kristen is seven years old and Kelly is four. Last Sunday evening, we invited some people home for dinner. I dressed them nicely for the party, and told them that their job was to join Mommy in answering the door when the bell rang. Mommy would introduce them to the guests, and then they would take the guests' coats upstairs and put them on the bed in the second bedroom.
The guests arrived. I introduced my two daughters to each of them. The adults were nice and kind and said how lucky we were to have such good kids.
Each of the guests made a particular fuss over Kelly, the younger one, admiring her dress, her hair and her smile. They said she was a remarkable girl to be carrying coats upstairs at her age.
I thought to myself that we adults usually make a big "to do" over the younger one because she's the one who seems more easily hurt. We do it with the best of intentions.
But we seldom think of how it might affect the other child. I was a little worried that Kristen would feel she was being outshined. I was about to serve dinner when I realized that she had been missing for twenty minutes. I ran upstairs and found her in the bedroom, crying.
I said, "What are you doing, my dear?"
She turned to me with a sad expression and said, "Mommy, why don't people like me the way they like my sister? Is it because I 'm not pretty? Is that why they don't say nice things about me as much?"
I tried to explain to her, kissing and hugging her to make her feel better.
Now, whenever I visit a friend's home, I make it a point to speak to the elder child first.
56．The underlined expression ' make a big "to do" over' (paragraph 4) means ______.
A．show much concern about B．have a special effect on
C．list jobs to be done for D．do good things for
57．The guests praised Kelly for carrying coats upstairs because of her ______.
A．beautiful hair B．pretty clothes
C．lovely smile D．young age
58．Kristen felt sad and cried because ______.
A．the guest gave her more coats to carry
B．she didn't look as pretty as Kelly
C．the guests praised her sister more than her
D．her mother didn't introduce her to the guests
59．We can conclude from the passage that ______.
A．parents should pay more attention to the elder children
B．the younger children are usually more easily hurt
C．people usually like the younger children more
D．adults should treat children equally
60．Which of the following saying is right?
A．Kristen and Kelly are not getting along with each other.
B．Kristen is older than Kelly.
C．The mother likes Kristen more than Kelly.
D．People usually talk more to Kelly than they do to Kristen.