電大工商學位英語考試--閱讀理解練習8

[@more@]

A

The famous American gorilla(大猩猩) expert Diane Fossey had a completely new way to study gorillas — she pretended to be one of them. She copied their actions and way of life — eating plants and getting down on her hands and knees to walk the way a gorilla does. It was a new relationship.

Diane Fossey was murdered in Rwanda in 1985 and her story was made into the popular film Gorillas in the Mist. It was a long way from King Kong, which is about a gorilla as a monster (a frightening animal), and helped to show a new idea: the real monster is man, while the gorilla is to be admired.

Today there are thought to be around 48,000 lowland gorillas and maybe 400—450 mountain gorillas in the wild. From the Congo in West Africa, to Rwanda and Uganda further east, they are endangered by hunting and by the cutting down of their forest homes.

Some time ago, I found in my letterbox a little magazine from the World Wide Fund for Nature. It had two photos side by side. One was of a young gorilla. “This is a species of mammal(哺乳類動物),” said the words below it. “It is being destroyed by man. We must save it for our own good.” The other photo showed a human baby. The words also read, “This is a species of mammal,” but then went on: “It is the most destructive(破壞性的) on earth. We must retrain it for its own good.”

56．The text mainly talks about _____.

A. Diane Fossey B. the gorillas in Rwanda

C. the protection of the gorillas D. the film Gorillas in the Mist

57．We can learn from the text that _____.

A. Gorillas in the mist was based Fossey’s experiences

B. Lowland gorillas live longer than mountain gorillas

C. King Kong showed us that a gorilla is admirable

D. Diane Fossey was murdered by a gorilla

58． What message can we get from the two photos in the magazine?

A. Gorillas are man’s close friends.

B. Both man and the gorilla need to be saved.

C. Young gorillas are as lovely as human babies.

D. Man should live peacefully with the gorilla.

B

It was a warm April day when a big fat envelope came in the mail from the only college I had ever imagined attending. I tore open the packet. My eyes were fixed on the word “congratulations. ”I don’t remember ever smiling so wide.

Then I looked at my financial（財政的）package.

The cost of Dream School’s tuition（學費）, room and board was around $ 40,000- an impossible sum! How could I afford to attend? What good reasons did I have to go there when three other fine colleges were offering me free tuition? My other choices were good, solid schools even if they weren’t as famous as my first choice.

In my mind, attending my dream university would be the only way to realize my dream of becoming a world-class writer. My parents understood how I felt. They told me that even though it would be a financial problem, I could go wherever I would be happiest. But as I was always careful with money, I wasn’t sure what to do.

One of the schools that offered me a full ride had an informational dinner one night in the spring. Considering my parents’ financial difficulties, I decided to drive the 45 minutes and attend. At first, all I had planned to do was smile politely, eat free food, listen quietly. But I surprised myself.

At dinner the president of the university talked about the wonderful activities on campus （校園）including guest lectures and social gatherings. He also made it perfectly clear that free food would be offered at all future events. He continued with explanations of professors, class sizes, activities, and sporting events on campus. As he spoke, I began to realize that this school, though not as good as my first choice, might be the best one for me. It seemed small yet with many great programs. It seemed challenging yet caring.

As the president ended his speech, we clapped politely and pushed back our chairs. As I walked out that door, a feeling of comfort washed over me. Looking at the campus that night, I realized that I would be spending the next four years right there.

In all honesty, my university is not as well-known as my “dream”university. However, it turned out to be the right choice of schools for me.

59. How did the author feel when he started to read the letter?

A. He was full of joy.

B. He was lost in his dream.

C. He was worried about the money.

D. He was uncertain which school to go to.

60. We can learn from the passage that the parents were _________.

A. honest B. strict C. supportive D. decisive

61. In Paragraph 5, “offered me a full ride”can be replaced by “_______”.

A. would pay for transport to the school

B. would show me around the campus

C. would offer free meals at all events

D. would charge me nothing for tuition

62. What does the author mainly want to say?

A. Your second-choice college may actually by your best fit.

B. You should consider comfort in your choice of schools.

C. You should try your best to attend your dream school.

D. Your choice of schools should be based on their fame.

C

It seems that some people go out of their way to get into trouble. That’s more or less what happened the night that Nashville Police Officer Floyd Hyde was on duty.

“I was on the way to a personal-injury accident in West Nashville. As I got onto Highway 40, blue lights and sirens（警笛）going, I fell in behind a gold Pontiac Firebird that suddenly seemed to take off quickly down the highway. The driver somehow panicked at the sight of me. He was going more than a hundred miles an hour and began passing cars on the shoulder. ”

But Hyde couldn’t go after him. Taking care of injured people is always more important than worrying about speeders, so the officer had to stay on his way to the accident. But he did try to keep the Firebird in sight as he drove, hoping another nearby unit would be able to step in and stop the speeding car. As it turned out, keeping the Firebird in sight was not that difficult. Every turn the Pontiac made was the very turn the officer needed to get to the accident scene.

Hyde followed the Pontiac all the way to his destination （目的地）. At that point he found another unit had already arrived at the accident scene. His help wasn’t needed. Now he was free to try to stop the driver of the Firebird, who by this time had developed something new to panic about.

“Just about that time, ”Hyde says, “I saw fire coming out from under that car, with blue smoke and oil going everywhere. He’d blown his engine. Now he had to stop. ”

“After I arrested him, I asked him why he was running. He told me he didn’t have a driver’s license（執照）. ”

That accident cost the driver of the Firebird plenty－a thousand dollars for the new engine－not to mention the charges for driving without a license, attempting to run away, and dangerous driving.

63. The meaning of “panicked”in Paragraph 2 is related to _____.

A. shame B. hate C. anger D. fear

64. Why did the driver of the Firebird suddenly speed down the highway?

A. Because he was racing with another driver on the road.

B. Because he realized he had to hurry to the accident scene.

C. Because he thought the police officer wanted to stop him.

D. Because he wanted to overtake other cars on the shoulder.

65. Which of the following statements is true?

A. Someone else was taking care of the injured person.

B. The Pontiac reached its destination at the accident scene.

C. Hyde knew where he was going by following the right car.

D. The policeman was running after a speeder on Highway 40.

66. The driver of the Firebird ______.

A. took a wrong turn on the way

B. had some trouble with his car

C. was stopped by the police officer

D. paid for the expenses of the accident

67. What is probably the best title for the article?

A. Losing His Way? B. Going My Way?

C. Fun All the Way? D. Help on the Way?

D

Grown－ups know that people and objects are solid. At the movies, we know that if we reach out to touch Tom Cruise, all we will feel is air. But does a baby have this understanding?

To see whether babies know objects are solid, T. Bower designed a method for projecting an optical illusion（視覺影像）of a hanging ball. His plan was to first give babies a real ball, one they could reach out and touch , and then to show them the illusion. If they knew that objects are solid and they reached out for the illusion and found empty air, they could be expected to show surprise in their faces and movements. All the 16-to 24- week -old babies tested were surprised when they reached for the illusion and found that the ball was not there.

Grown－ups also have a sense of object permanence. We know that if we put a box in a room and lock the door, the box will still be there when we come back. But does a baby realize that a ball that rolls under a chair does not disappear and go to never-never land?

Experiments done by Bower suggest that babies develop a sense of object permanence when they are about 18 weeks old. In his experiments, Bower used a toy train that went behind a screen. When 16－week－old and 22-week-old babies watched the toy train disappear behind the left side of the screen, they looked to the right, expecting it to reappear. If the experimenter took the train off the table and lifted the screen, all the babies seemed surprised not to see the train. This seems to show that all the babies had a sense of object permanence. But the second part of the experiment showed that this was not really the case. The researcher substituted（替換）a ball for the train when it went behind the screen. The 22-week-old babies seemed surprised and looked back to the left side for the train. But the 16-week -old babies did not seem to notice the switch（更換）. Thus, the 16-week-old babies seemed to have a sense of“something permanence, ”while the 22－week－old babies had a sense of object permanence related to a particular object.

68. The passage is mainly about _____.

A. babies’ sense of sight B. effects of experiments on babies

C. babies’ understanding of objects D. different tests on babies’ feelings

69. In Paragraph 3, “object permanence”means that when out of sight, an object ________.

A. still exists B. keeps its shape C. still stays solid D. is beyond reach

70. What did Bower use in his experiments?

A. A chair. B. A screen. C. A film. D. A box.

71. Which of the following statements is true?

A. The babies didn’t have a sense of direction.

B. The older babies preferred toy trains to balls.

C. The younger babies liked looking for missing objects.

D. The babies couldn’t tell a ball from its optical illusion.

E

How Long Can People Live?

She took up skating at age 85, made her first movie appearance at age 114, and held a concert in the neighborhood on her 121 st birthday.

When it comes to long life, Jeanne Calment is the world’s recordholder. She lived to the ripe old age of 122. So is 122 the upper limit to the human life span（壽命）? If scientists come up with some sort of pill or diet that would slow aging, could we possibly make it to 150－or beyond?

Researchers don’t entirely agree on the answers. “Calment lived to 122, so it wouldn’t surprise me if someone alive today reaches 130 or 135, ”says Jerry Shay at the University of Texas.

Steve Austad at the University of Texas agrees. “People can live much longer than we think, ”he says. “Experts used to say that humans couldn’t live past 110. When Calment blew past that age, they raised the number to 120. So why can’t we go higher? ”

The trouble with guessing how old people can live to be is that it’s all just guessing. “Anyone can make up a number, ”says Rich Miller at the University of Michigan. “Usually the scientist who picks the highest number gets his name in Time magazine. ”

Won’t new anti-aging techniques keep us alive for centuries? Any cure, says Miller, for aging would probably keep most of us kicking until about 120. Researchers are working on treatments that lengthen the life span of mice by 50 percent at most. So, if the average human life span is about 80 years, says Miller, “adding another 50 percent would get you to 120. ”

So what can we conclude from this little disagreement among the researchers? That life span is flexible（有彈性的）, but there is a limit, says George Martin of the University of Washington. “We can get flies to live 50 percent longer, ”he says. “But a fly’s never going to live 150 years. ”Of course, if you became a new species （物種）, one that ages at a slower speed, that would be a different story, he adds.

Does Martin really believe that humans could evolve （進化）their way to longer life? “It’s pretty cool to think about, ”he says with a smile.

72. What does the story of Jeanne Calment prove to us?

A. People can live to 122. B. Old people are creative.

C. Women are sporty at 85. D. Women live longer than men.

73. According to Steve Austad at the University of Texas, ______.

A. the average human life span could be 110

B. scientists cannot find ways to slow aging

C. few people can expect to live to over 150

D. researchers are not sure how long people can live

74. Who would agree that a scientist will become famous if he makes the wildest guess at longevity?

A. Jerry Shay. B. Steve Austad C. Rich Miller D. George Martin

75. What can we infer from the last three paragraphs?

A. Most of us could be good at sports even at 120.

B. The average human life span cannot be doubled

C. Scientists believe mice are aging at a slower speed than before.

D. New techniques could be used to change flies into a new species

56－58 CADA B 59. A 60. C 61. D 62. A 63. D 64. C 65. A 66. B

67. B 68. C 69. A 70. B 71. D 72. A 73. D 74. C 75. B