IV. 阅读理解（共15小题；每小题2分，满分30分）
The modern age is an age of electricity. People are so used to electric lights, radio, televisions, and telephones that it is hard to imagine what life would be like without them. When there is a power failure, people grope about in flickering candlelight, cars hesitate in the streets because there are no traffic lights to guide them, and food spoils in silent refrigerators.
Yet, people began to understand how electricity works only a little more than two centuries ago. Nature has apparently been experimenting in this field for million of years. Scientists are discovering more and more that the living world may hold many interesting secrets of electricity that could benefit humanity.
All living cells send out tiny pulses of electricity. As the heart beats, it sends out pulses of record; they form an electrocardiogram, which a doctor can study to determine how well the heart is working. The brain, too, sends our brain waves of electricity, which can be recorded in an electroencephalogram. The electric currents generated by most living cells are extremely small，often so small that sensitive instruments are needed to record them. But in some animals, certain muscle cells have become so specialized as electrical generators that they do not work as muscle cells at all. When large numbers of these cells are linked together, the effects can be astonishing.
The electric eel is an amazing storage battery. It can send a jolt of as much as eight hundred volts of electricity through the water in which it lives. ( An electric house current is only one hundred and twenty volts, but two hundred and twenty volts in China.) As many as four-fifths of all the cells in the electric eel's body are specialized for generating electricity, and the strength of the shock it can deliver corresponds roughly to length of its body
56. Electricity was invented ______.
A. when man had no candles
B. about 200 years ago
C. to be operating computers.
D. by Thomse Edison
57. The following things can send out pulses of electricity except______.
A. electric eels and human hearts.
B. Electrical generators and animal muscle.
C. Stones and dry wood.
D. human brain and living cells.
58. The electric current send out by an eel can be
A. as much as 800 volts. B. about one hundred and twenty volts.
C. as high as the house current in China. D. stored in the water where it lives.
59. From this shot passage we can infer _____.
A. the shorter an eel is, the stronger electricity it produces.
B. we can always feel the electricity produced by living cells.
C. human beings get t
heir knowledge about electricity from nature.
D. people learn about electricity from eels.
Deborah Cohen is a senior natural scientist at the Rand Corp and the author of the book A Big Fat Crisis: The Hidden Forces Behind the Obesity Epidemic and How We Can End It. According to the book, there are lots of misunderstandings of obesity.
1. If you’re obese, blame your genes.
Obesity rates have increased. Yet, between 1980 and 2000, the number of Americans who are obese has doubled—too quickly for genetic factors to be responsible.
At restaurants, a dollar puts more calories on our plates than ever before, because restaurant meals usually have more calories than what we prepare at home, so people who eat out more frequently have higher rates of obesity than those who eat out less.
2. If you’re obese, you lack self-control.
Research shows that if we are faced with too much information, we have a tendency to make poor dietary choices. Our world has become so rich in temptation that we can be led to consume too much in ways we can’t understand. Even the most vigilant(警觉的) people may not be up to the task of controlling themselves.
3. Lack of access to fresh fruits and vegetables is responsible for obesity.
Although the US Department of Agriculture estimates that fewer than 5 percent of Americans live in the “food deserts”, about 65 percent of the nation’s population is overweight or obese. For most of us, obesity is not related to access to more fresh fruits and vegetables, but to the choices we make in supermarkets.
4. The problem is not that we eat too much, but that we don’t exercise.
Michelle Obama’s “Let’s Move” campaign is based on the idea that if kids exercise more, childhood obesity rates will decrease. But there was no significant decrease in physical activity levels as obesity rates climbed in the 1980s and 1990s. In fact, although a drop in work-related physical activity may account for up to 100 fewer calories burned, leisure physical activity appears to have increased. The problem is that we eat too much.The author mentioned Deborah Cohen’s book in Paragraph 1 to _______.
| A．introduce the topic |
| B．draw readers’ attention |
| C．introduce the author of the book |
| D．advertise the book |
What is the relationship between obesity and the place where you eat?
| A．The less you eat out, the higher rates of obesity you have. |
| B．The less you eat at home, the lower rates of obesity you have. |
| C．The more you eat out, the higher rates of obesity you have. |
| D．The more you eat at home, the higher rates of obesity you have. |
What’s the best title of this passage?
| A．Four misunderstandings of obesity. |
| B．Four rules to help you avoid obesity. |
| C．Obesity leads to a big fat crisis. |
| D．Lacking self-control leads to obesity. |
Both of Jessica’s parents were lawyers and expected her to follow suit. So she went to law school, got a job at a great firm in Washington, DC, and worked as a lawyer for a decade. But her heart was never in it. “I had a big salary but no personal satisfaction,” she says.
Jessica found pleasure in the same thing that had brought her joy since joining the church choir at the age of 12. “Singing always felt like communicating something real at a spiritual and emotional level,” says Jessica. Yet she never considered it a career option. “That seemed like something people did in fairy tales, and I would never let my parents down,” she says.
It was her mom’s diagnosis of brain cancer in 2009 that made Jessica realize she had to write her own happy-ever-after. “Work was busy and my mother was ailing. So I was flying back and forth from Washington, DC to Houston to see her,” Jessica says. “I finally said, ‘Enough!’ and quit.” While caring for her mom, Jessica made a plan. She would spend her savings and study music for a year, and then open a part-time law practice so she could pursue her passion. Before her mother passed away two years later, she encouraged Jessica to follow her dream. Her song Live This Life was inspired by her mom, and her dad came to watch her perform at clubs.
In 2012, Jessica moved to Nashville to try singing and songwriting. A decade of presenting cases in court gave her the confidence to sing for a crowd. “At 20, I would have been too shy to perform,” says Jessica.
“Doing music is so free,” Jessica says. “There’s no pressure to be a star. Success, to me, isn’t a dollar amount or a record deal; it’s doing what I love.”Which of the following is TRUE?
| A．Jessica didn’t really like working as a lawyer. |
| B．Jessica didn’t know what she truly loved for ten years. |
| C．Jessica wasn’t satisfied with the pay she got as a lawyer. |
| D．Jessica was grateful for her parents’ arrangement for her. |
What does the underlined word “ailing” in Paragraph 3 mean?
| A．Sick. | B．Crazy. |
| C．Worried. | D．Unhappy. |
What was Jessica’s mother’s attitude toward her singing?
| A．Unknown. | B．Doubtful. |
| C．Supportive. | D．Negative. |
By telling Jessica’s story, the writer most probably wants to _______.
| A．encourage us to pursue our dreams |
| B．show that singing can be a practical career |
| C．tell us the importance of choosing a right job |
| D．show that family members’ support is important |
| A. London Alive This author of many famous novels has now turned to writing short stories with great success. The stories tell of Londoners’ daily lives and happen in eighteen different places——for example, one story takes place at a table in a cafe, another in the back of a taxi and another in a hospital. |
| B. The Last Journey John Reynold’s final trip to the African Congo two years ago unfortunately ended in his death. For the first time since then we hear about where he went and what happened to him from journalist Tim Holden, who has followed Reynold’s route. |
| C. The Missing Photograph Another story about the well-known policeman, Inspector Manning. It is written in the same simple but successful way as the other Manning stories——I found it a bit disappointing as I guessed who the criminal was halfway through! |
| D. Gone West A serious look at one of the least-known regions of the United States. The author describes the empty villages which thousands left when they were persuaded by the railway companies to go west in search of new lives. The author manages to provide many interesting details about their history. |
| E. The Letter The murder of a television star appears to be the work of thieves who are quickly caught. But they escape from prison and a young lawyer says she knows who the real criminals are. Written with intelligence, this story is so fast-moving that it demands the reader’s complete attention. |
| F. Free at Last Matthew Hunt, who spent half his life in jail for a crime he did not do, has written the moving story of his lengthy fight to be set free. Now out of prison, he has taken the advice of a judge to describe his experiences in a book. |
以下是几个有着不同阅读爱好的购书人，请匹配与之对应的书名：
With fifteen years Britain and other nations should be well on with the building of huge industrial complexes for the recycling of waste. The word “rubbish” could lose its meaning because everything which goes into the dumps would be made into something useful. Even the most dangerous and unpleasant wastes would provide energy if nothing else.
The latest project is to take a city of around half a million inhabitants and discover exactly what raw materials go into it and what go out. The aim is to find out how much of these raw materials could be provided if a plant(发电厂) for recycling waste were built just outside the city. This plant would recycle not only metal such as steel, lead and copper, but also paper and rubber as well.
Another new project is being set up to discover the best ways of sorting and separating the rubbish. When this project is complete, the rubbish will be processed like this: First, it will pass through sharp metal bars which will tear open the plastic bags in which rubbish is usually packed; then it will pass through a powerful fan to separate the lightest elements from the heavy solids; after that founders and rollers will break up everything that can be broken. Finally , the rubbish will pass under magnets(磁铁), which will remove the bits of iron and steel; the rubber and plastic will then be sorted out in the final stage.
The first full-scale giant recycling plants are perhaps fifteen years away. Indeed, with the growing cost of transporting rubbish to more distant dumps, some big cities will be forced to build their own recycling plants before long.
| A．have completed what was started |
| B．get ready to start |
| C．have achieved a great deal in |
| D．put an end to |
| A．Breaking up whatever is breakable. |
| B．Sharpening metal bars. |
| C．Separating light elements from the heavy ones. |
| D．Sorting out small pieces of metal. |
| A．To deal with wastes in a better way. |
| B．To protect the environment from pollution. |
| C．To get raw materials locally. |
| D．To get big profits from those plants. |
| A．began to operate fifteen years ago |
| B．will take less than fifteen years to build |
| C．will be built fifteen years later |
| D．will probably be in operation in fifteen years |
| A．a cheap way to get energy |
| B．the location of recycling plants |
| C．new ways of recycling wastes |
| D．the probability of city environment |
My grandfather died more than twenty-five years ago. I was fifteen. He was kind, strong, fair, and very funny. When I was a young musician, he was my biggest fan. I played my violin for him when he visited, and he loved everything, but each time he had one request. “Could you play ‘Amazing Grace’?” he asked, full of hope and with a twinkle in his eye, because he knew my answer was always, “I don’t know that one!” We went through this routine at every major holiday, and I always figured I’d have time to learn it for him later.
About the time I entered high school and started guitar, Grandpa got cancer. The last time I saw him alive was Thanksgiving weekend in 1985. My mom warned us that Grandpa didn’t look the same anymore and that we should prepare ourselves. For a moment I didn’t recognize him. He looked so small among all the white sheets. We had all gathered in Ohio for the holiday, and I’m sure we all knew we were there to say good-bye. I can see now that Grandpa held on long enough to see us each one more time. I remember how we ate in the dining room and laughed and talked while Grandpa rested in his hospital bed. I wonder if it was sad for him to be alone with our voices and laughter. Knowing Grandpa, he was probably content.
The next morning I found my moment alone with him. I pulled out my guitar, tuned to his appreciative gaze, and finally played for him “Amazing Grace.” I had worked on it for weeks, knowing it never mattered whether I actually played it well and choosing not to believe as I played that it was my last concert for my biggest fan. The cancer had stolen his smile, but I saw joy in his eyes. He held my hand afterward, and I knew I had done something important.
I argued with people all through college about my music major. I was told by strangers that music wouldn’t make me any money and it wasn’t useful like being a doctor. But I know firsthand that with music I was able to give my grandpa something at a point when no one else could.
A she hadn’t learned it yet
B. she found it difficult to play
C. she disliked playing it.
D. her grandfather was just joking.
| A．Grandpa treasured love from family |
| B．Grandpa was used to living alone |
| C．Grandpa was too weak to feel anything |
| D．Grandpa was optimistic about his health |
| A．she made him smile joyfully |
| B．she knew she must play it well |
| C．she brought him love and comfort |
| D．she believed she could play it many times for him. |
| A．Disapproving | B．Regretful |
| C．Doubtful | D．Positive |
| A．The author was 15 when she wrote the article. |
| B．The author has a great affection for her grandfather. |
| C．The author prefers to be a doctor rather than a musician. |
| D．The author is confident that music will make her much money. |
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