Part II Reading Comprehension 35 minutes
Directions: There are 4 passages in this part. Each passage is followed by
some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four
choices marked A B C and D. You should decide on the best choice and
mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line
through the centre.
Passage One
Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage
In the 1960s medical researchers Thomas Holmes and Richard Rahe
developed a checklist of stressful events. They appreciated the tricky
point that any major change can be stressful. Negative events like
“serious illness of a family member” were high on the list but so were
some positive life-changing events like marriage. When you take the
Holmes-Rahe test you must remember that the score does not reflect how you
deal with stress—it only shows how much you have to deal with. And we now
know that the way you handle these events dramatically affects your
chances of staying healthy.
By the early 1970s hundreds of similar studies had followed Holmes and
Rahe. And millions of Americans who work and live under stress worried
over the reports. Somehow the research got boiled down to a memorable
message. Women’s magazines ran headlines like “Stress causes illness” If
you want to stay physically and mentally healthy the articles said avoid
stressful events.
But such simplistic advice is impossible to follow. Even if stressful
events are dangerous many—like the death of a loved one—are impossible to
avoid. Moreover any warning to avoid all stressful events is a
prescription (处方) for staying away from opportunities as well as trouble.
Since any change can be stressful a person who wanted to be completely
free of stress would never marry have a child take a new job or move.
The notion that all stress makes you sick also ignores a lot of what we
know about people. It assumes we’re all vulnerable (脆弱的) and passive in
the face of adversity (逆境). But what about human initiative and
creativity﹖ Many come through periods of stress with more physical and
mental vigor than they had before. We also know that a long time without
change or challenge can lead to boredom and physical and mental strain.
21. The result of Holmes-Rahe's medical research tells us ____ .
A the way you handle major events may cause stress
B what should be done to avoid stress
C what kind of event would cause stress
D how to cope with sudden changes in life
22. The studies on stress in the early 1970’s led to ____ .
A widespread concern over its harmful effects
B great panic over the mental disorder it could cause
C an intensive research into stress-related illnesses
D popular avoidance of stressful jobs
23. The score of the Holmes-Rahe test shows ____ .
A how much pressure you are under
B how positive events can change you life
C how stressful a major event can be
D how you can deal with life-changing events
24. Why is “such simplistic advice”Line 1Para.3 impossible to follow﹖
A No one can stay on the same job for long
B No prescription is effective in relieving stress
C People have to get married someday
D You could be missing opportunities as well
25. According to the passage people who have experienced ups and downs may become ____ .
A nervous when faced with difficulties
B physically and mentally strained
C more capable of coping with adversity
D indifferent toward what happens to them
Passage Two
Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage
Most episodes of absent-mindedness—forgetting where you left something
or wondering why you just entered a room-are caused by a simple lack of
attention says Schacter. “You’re supposed to remember something but you
haven’t encoded it deeply.”
Encoding Schacter explains is a special way of paying attention to an
event that has a major impact on recalling it later. Failure to encode
properly can create annoying situations. If you put your mobile phone in a
pocket for example and don't pay attention to what you did because
you're involved in a conversation you'll probably forget that the phone
is in the jacket now hanging in your wardrobe (衣柜). “Your memory itself
isn't failing you" says Schacter. “Rather you didn’t give your memory
system the information it needed."
Lack of interest can also lead to absent-mindedness. "A man who can
recite sports statistics from 30 years ago" says Zelinski “may not
remember to drop a letter in the mailbox." Women have slightly better
memories than men possibly because they pay more attention to their
environment and memory relies on just that.
Visual cues can help prevent absent-mindedness says Schacter. “But be
sure the cue is clear and available" he cautions. If you want to remember
to take a medication (药物) with lunch put the pill bottle on the kitchen
table—don’t leave it in the medicine chest and write yourself a note that
you keep in a pocket.
Another common episode of absent-mindedness walking into a room and
wondering why you're there. Most likely you were thinking about something
else. "Everyone does this from time to time" says Zelinski. The best
thing to do is to return to where you were before entering the room and
you’ll likely remember.
26. Why does the author think that encoding properly is very important?
A It helps us understand our memory system better
B It enables us to recall something from our memory
C It expands our memory capacity considerably
D It slows down the process of losing our memory
27. One possible reason why women have better memories than men is that
____ .
A they have a wider range of interests
B they are more reliant on the environment
C they have an unusual power of focusing their attention
D they are more interested in what's happening around them
28. A note in the pocket can hardly serve as a reminder because ____ .
A it will easily get lost
B it's not clear enough for you to read
C it's out of your sight
D it might get mixed up with other things
29. What do we learn from the last paragraph?
A If we focus our attention on one thing we might forget another.
B Memory depends to a certain extent on the environment.
C Repetition helps improve our memory.
D If we keep forgetting things we'd better return to where we were.
30. What is the passage mainly about?
A The process of gradual memory loss.
B The causes of absent-mindedness.
C The impact of the environment on memory.
D A way of encoding and recalling.
Passage Three
Questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage
It is hard to track the blue whale the ocean’s largest creature, which
has almost been killed off by commercial whaling and is now listed as an
endangered species. Attaching radio devices to it is difficult and visual
sightings are too unreliable to give real insight into its behavior.
So biologists were delighted early this year when with the help of the
Navy they were able to track a particular blue whale for 43 days
monitoring its sounds. This was possible because of the Navy's formerly
top-secret system of underwater listening devices spanning the oceans.
Tracking whales is but one example of an exciting new world just
opening to civilian scientists after the cold war as the Navy starts to
share and partly uncover its global network of underwater listening system
built over the decades to track the ships of potential enemies.
Earth scientists announced at a news conference recently that they had
used the system for closely monitoring a deep-sea volcanic eruption (爆发)
for the first time and that they plan similar studies. Other scientists
have proposed to use the network for tracking ocean currents and measuring
changes in ocean and global temperatures. The speed of sound in water is
roughly one mile a second-slower than through land but faster than through
air. What is most important different layers of ocean water can act as
channels for sounds focusing them in the same way a stethoscope (听诊器)
does when it carries faint noises from a patient’s chest to a doctor’s
ear. This focusing is the main reason that even relatively weak sounds in
the ocean especially low-frequency ones, can often travel thousands of
miles.
31. The passage is chiefly about ____ .
A an effort to protect an endangered marine species.
B the civilian use of a military detection system.
C the exposure of a U.S. Navy top-secret weapon.
D a new way to look into the behavior of blue whales.
32. The underwater listening system was originally designed ____ .
A to trace and locate enemy vessels
B to monitor deep-sea volcanic eruptions
C to study the movement of ocean currents
D to replace the global radio communications network
33. The deep-sea listening system makes use of ____ .
A the sophisticated technology of focusing sounds under water
B the capability of sound to travel at high speed
C the unique property of layers of ocean water in transmitting sound
D low-frequency sounds travelling across different layers of water
34. It can be inferred from the passage that____.
A new radio devices should be developed for tracking the endangered blue
whales
B blue whales are no longer endangered with the use of the new listening
system
C opinions differ as to whether civilian scientists should be allowed to
use military technology
D military technology has great potential in civilian use
35. Which of the following is true about the U.S. Navy underwater
listening network﹖
A It is now partly accessible to civilian scientists.
B It has been replaced by a more advanced system.
C It became useless to the military after the cold war.
D It is indispensable in protecting endangered species.
Passage Four
Questions 36 to 40 are based on the following passage
The fitness movement that began in the late 1960s and early 1970s
centered around aerobic exercise (有氧操). Millions of individuals became
engaged in a variety of aerobic activities and literally thousands of
health spas developed around the country to capitalize (获利) on this
emerging interest in fitness particularly aerobic dancing for females. A
number of fitness spas existed prior to this aerobic fitness movement
even a national chain with spas in most major cities. However their focus
was not on aerobics but rather on weight-training programs designed to
develop muscular mass strength and endurance in their primarily male
enthusiasts. These fitness spas did not seem to benefit financially from
the aerobic fitness movement to better health since medical opinion
suggested that weight-training programs offered few if any health
benefits. In recent years however weight training has again become
increasingly popular for males and for females. Many current programs
focus not only on developing muscular strength and endurance but on
aerobic fitness as well.
Historically most physical-fitness tests have usually included measures
of muscular strength and endurance not for health-related reasons but
primarily because such fitness components have been related to performance
in athletics. However in recent years evidence has shown that training
programs designed primarily to improve muscular strength and endurance
might also offer some health benefits as well. The American College of
Sports Medicine now recommends that weight training be part of a total
fitness program for healthy Americans. Increased participation in such
training is one of the specific physical activity and fitness objectives
of Healthy People 2000 National Health Promotion and Disease Prevention
Objectives.
36. The word “spas”Line 3Para.1 most probably refers to ____.
A sports activities
B places for physical exercise
C recreation centers
D athletic training programs.
37. Early fitness spas were intended mainly for ____.
A the promotion of aerobic exercise
B endurance and muscular development
C the improvement of women's figures
D better performance in aerobic dancing
38. What was the attitude of doctors towards weight training in health
improvement?
A Positive.
B Indifferent.
C Negative.
D Cautious.
39. People were given physical fitness tests in order to find out ____ .
A how well they could do in athletics
B what their health condition was like
C what kind of fitness center was suitable for them
D whether they were fit for aerobic exercise
40. Recent studies have suggested that weight training ____ .
A has become an essential part of people’s life.
B may well affect the health of the trainees.
C will attract more people in the days to come.
D contributes to health improvement as well.
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