专插本英语阅读冲刺教材第三课
第三课
Directions: In this section, there are four passages, each of which is followed by five questions or unfinished statements. Choose the best answer and mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet.
Passage 1
We can make mistakes at any age. Some mistakes we make are about money. But most mistakes are about people. "Did Jerry really care when I broke up with Helen?" "When I got that great job, did Jim really feel good about it, as a friend? Or did he envy my luck?" When we look back, doubts like these can make us feel bad. But when we look back, it's too late.
Why do we go wrong about our friends or our enemies? Sometimes what people say hides their real meaning. And if we don't really listen closely we will miss the feeling behind the words. Suppose some-one tells you,"You're a lucky dog."That's being friendly. But"lucky dog"? There's a bit of envy in those words. Maybe he doesn't see it himself. But bringing in the"dog"puts you down a little. What he may be saying is that he doesn't think you deserve your luck.
"Just think of all the things you have to be thankful for"is another noise that says one thing and means another. It could mean that the speaker is trying to get you to see your problem as part of your life as a whole. But is he? Wrapped up in this phrase is the thought that your problem isn't important. It's telling you to think of all the starving people in the world when you haven't got a date for Saturday night.How can you tell the real meaning behind someone's words? One way is to take a good look at the person talking. Do his words fit the way he looks? Does what he says agree with the tone of voice? His posture? The look in his eyes? Stop and think. The minute you spend thinking about the real meaning of what people say to you may save another mistake.
31. This passage is mainly about .
A. how to interpret what people say
B. what to do when you listen to others talking
C. how to avoid mistakes when you communicate with people
D. Why we go wrong with people sometimes
32. According to the author, the reason why we go wrong about our friends is that .
A. we fail to listen carefully when they talk
B. people tend to be annoyed when we check what they say
C. people usually state one thing but mean another
D. we tend to doubt what our friends say
33. In the sentence"Maybe he doesn't see it himself"in Paragraph 2, the pronoun"it" refers to .
A. being friendly B. a bit of envy C. lucky dog D. your luck
34. When we listen to a person talking, the most important thing for us to do is to .
A. notice the way the person is talking
B. take a good look at the person talking
C. mind his tone, his posture and the look in his eyes
D. examine the real meaning of what he says based on his manner, his tone and his posture
35. The author most probably is a .
A. teacher B. psychologist C. philosopher D. doctor
Passage 2
There is no creature that does not need sleep or complete rest every day.
If you want to know why, just try going without sleep for a long period of time. You will discover that your mind and body would become too tired to work properly. You would become irritable and find it hard to think clearly or concentrate on your work. So sleep is quite simply the time when the cells of your body recover from the work of the day and build up supplies of energy for the next period of activity.
One of the things we all know about sleep is that we are unconscious in sleep. We do not know what is going on around us. But that doesn't mean the body stops all activity. The important organs continue to work during sleep, but most of the body functions are slowed down.
For example, our breathing becomes slower and deeper. The heart beats more slowly, and the blood pressure is lower. Our arms and legs become limp and muscles are at rest. It would be impossible for our body to relax to such an extent if we were awake. So sleep does for us what the most quiet rest can not do.
Your body temperature becomes lower when you are asleep, which is the reason people go to sleep under some kind of covers. And even though you are unconscious, many of your reflexes still work. For instance, if someone tickles your foot, you will put it away in your sleep, or even brush a fly from your forehead. You do these things without knowing it.
36. If you don't have as much sleep as your body needs, you will .
A. work properly
B. think clearly
C. keep your attention on your work
D. easily get angry
37. The cells of your body develop supplies of energy .
A. when you are asleep
B. when you recover from your work of the day
C. in the next period of activity
D. when you are quiet
38. In the clause"... that we are unconscious in sleep"(Paragraph 3), the word "unconscious" means .
A. untiring
B. unmoved
C. quiet
D. not knowing what is happening around
39. Sleep helps your body to relax to such an extent .
A. that any rest can reach
B. that no rest can have the same effect
C. that you will never need any rest
D. that you will need the most quiet rest
40. When you are sleeping, .
A. all of you reflexes stop working
B. most of your reflexes stop working
C. many of your reflexes still work
D. all of your reflexes still work
Passage 3
Space is a dangerous place, not only because of meteors but also because of rays from the sun and other stars. The atmosphere again acts as our protective blanket on earth. Light gets through, and this is essential for plants to make the food which we eat. Heat, too, makes our environment endurable. Various kinds of rays come through the air from outer space, but enormous quantities of radiation from the sun are screened off. As soon as men leave the atmosphere they are exposed to this radiation. But their spacesuits or the walls of their spacecraft, if they are inside, do prevent a lot of radiation damage.
Radiation is the greatest known danger to explorers in space. The unit of radiation is called "rem".
Scientists have reason to think that a man can put up with far more radiation than 0.1 rem without being damaged; the figure of 60 rems has been agreed on. The trouble is that it is extremely difficult to be sure about radiation damage-a person may feel perfectly well, but the cells of his or her sex organs may be damaged, and this will not be discovered until the birth of deformed children or even grandchildren. Missions of the Apollo flights have had to cross belts of high radiation and, during the outward and return journeys, the Apollo crew accumulated a large amount of rems. So far, no dangerous amounts of radiation have been reported, but the Apollo missions have been quite short. We simply do not know yet how men are going to get on when they spend weeks and months outside the protection of the atmosphere, working in a space laboratory. Drugs might help to decrease the damage done by radiation, but no really effective ones have been found so far.
41. According to the first paragraph, the atmosphere is essential to man in that .
A. it protects him against the harmful rays from space
B. it provides sufficient light for plant growth
C. it supplies the heat necessary for human survival
D. it screens off the falling meteors
42. We know from the passage that .
A. exposure to even tiny amounts of radiation is fatal
B. the effect of exposure to radiation is slow in coming
C. radiation is avoidable in space exploration
D. astronauts in spacesuits needn't worry about radiation damage
43. It can be inferred from the passage that .
A. the Apollo mission was very successful
B. protection from space radiation is no easy job
C. astronauts will have deformed children or grandchildren
D. radiation is not a threat to well-protected space explorers
44. The harm radiation has done to the Apollo crew members .
A. is insignificant B. is enormous C. seems overestimated D. remains unknown
45. The best title for this passage would be .
A. The Atmosphere and Our Environment B. Research on Radiation
C. Effects of Space Radiation D. Importance of Protection Against Radiation
Passage 4
How men first learned to invent words is unknown; in other words, the origin of language is a mystery. All we really know is that men, unlike animals, somehow invented certain sounds to express thoughts and feelings, actions and things, so that they could communicate with each other; and that later they agreed upon certain signs, called letters, which could be combined to represent those sounds and which could be written down. Those sounds, whether spoken, or written, in letters, we call words.
The power of words,then,lies in their associations-the things they bring up before our minds.
Words become filled with meaning for us by experience; and the longer we live, the more certain words recall to us the glad and sad events of our past; and the more we read and learn, the more the number of words that mean something to us increases.
Great writers are those who not only have great thoughts but also express these thoughts in words which appeal powerfully to our minds and emotions. This charming and telling use of words is what we call literary style. Above all, the real poet is a master of words. He can convey his meaning in words which sing like music, and which by their position and association can move men to tears. We should therefore leam to choose our words carefully and use them accurately, or they will make our speech silly and rude.
46. The origin of language .
A. is a legend handed down from the past
B. is reflected in sounds and letters
C. dates back to the prehistoric period
D. is a problem not yet solved
47. One of the reasons why men invented certain sounds to express thoughts and actions is that .
A. they could agree upon certain signs
B. they could write them down
C. they could communicate with each other
D. they could combine them
48. What is true about words?
A. They are used to express feelings only.
B. They can not be written down.
C. They are represented either by sounds or letters.
D. They are visual letters.
49. The real power of words exists in their .
A. accuracy
B. beauty
C. charm
D. representative function
50. What is the main idea of the passage?
A. The importance of choosing words.
B. Where the real power of words comes from.
C. What great writers are like.
D. We should learn to choose words carefully.
