大学英语四级阅读理解练习五：
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.
Questions 1 to 5 are based on the following passage:
In the warm enclosed water of farm ponds, conditions are very likely to be lethal for fish when insecticides(杀虫剂)are applied in the neighbourhood. As many examples show, the poison is carried in by rains and runoff from surrounding lands. Sometimes the ponds receive not only polluted runoff but also a direct dose as crop-dusting pilots neglect to shut off the duster in passing over a pond. Even without such complication, normal agricultural use subjects fish to far heavier concentrations of chemicals than would be required to kill them. In other words, a marked reduction in the amount used would hardly change the fatal situation, for application of over 0.1 pound per acre to the pond itself are generally considered hazardous. And the poison, once introduced, is hard to get rid of. One pond that had been treated with DDT to remove unwanted shiners(银色小鱼)remained so poisonous through repeated draining and washing that it killed 94% of the sunfish with which it was later stocked. Apparently the chemical remained in the mud of the pond bottom.
In some parts of the world the cultivation of fish in ponds provides an indispensable source of food. In such places the use of insecticides without regard for the effects on fish creates immediate problems. In Rhodesia, for example, the young of an import food fish, the Kafue bream(鲷科海鱼), are killed by exposure to only 0.04 parts per million of DDT in shallow pools. Even smaller die, of many other insecticides would be fatal. The shallow waters in which these fish live are favorable mosquito-breeding places. The problem of controlling mosquitoes and at the same time conserving a fish important in the Central African diet has obviously not been solved satisfactorily.
1. The word "lethal" in the first sentence nearly means ________.
A) dead
B) important
C) fatal
D) vital
2. The author's tone in this passage can be best described as ________.
A) depressed
B) indifferent
C) questioning
D) objective
3.________ should be responsible for the presence of insecticides in ponds?
A) Rhodesia
B) Central Africa
C) Conditions of farm ponds
D) Human error
4. The author states a problem, ________ , and relates causes in this passage.
A) gives examples
B) proposes a solution
C) explains his suggestion
D) makes speeches
5. Which of the following titles best sums up the whole passage?
A) The Effect of Insecticides on Fish
B) The Water of Farm Ponds
C) The Cultivation of Fish as Food
D) Saving African Food Supplies
Questions 6 to 10 are based on the following passage:
There have been many great inventions, things that changed the way we live in. The first great invention was one that is still very important today一the wheel. This made it easier to carry heavy things and to travel long distances. For hundreds of years after that there were few inventions that had as much effect as the wheel. Then in the early 1800's the world started to change. There was little unknown land left in the world. People did not have to explore much anymore. They began to work instead to make life better. In the second half of the 19th century many great inventions were made. Among them were the camera, the electric light and the radio. These all became a big part of our life today.
The first part of the 20th century saw more great inventions. The helicopter in 1909. Movies with sound in 1926. The computer in 1928. And jet planes in 1930. This was also a time when a new material was first made. Nylon came out in 1935. It changed the kind of clothes people wear. The middle part of the 20th century brought new ways to help people get over disease. They worked very well. They made people healthier and let them live longer lives. By the 1960's most people could expect to live to be at least 60. By this time most people had a very good life. Of course new inventions continued to be made. But man now had a desire to explore again. The world was known to man but the stars were not. Man began looking for ways to go into space. Russia made the first step. Then the United States took a step. Since then other countries, including China and Japan, have made their steps into space. In 1969 man took his biggest step away from earth. Americans first walked on the moon. This is certainly just a beginning though. New inventions will someday allow us to do things we have never yet dreamed of.
6. Camera was invented after ________.
A) 1850
B) 1950
C) 1800
D) 1900
7.Why did the world start to change in the early 1800's?
A) Because there were few inventions that had as much effect as the wheel for hundreds of years.
B) Because there was little unknown land left in the world.
C) Because people did not have to explore much anymore.
D) Because people began to work to make life better instead of exploring unknown world
8. In Paragraph Two, the word "they" in the sentence "they worked very well" refer to_______.
A) helicopters, computers, jet planes, nylon
B) new ways to help people get over disease
C) new materials
D) people
9. Why did man have a desire to explore again?
A) Man wanted to move to other stars.
B) Other countries wanted to catch up with the Americans.
C) Other countries wanted to follow the Russians.
D) Going into space is a dream for man to realize.
10. The possible title for the passage might be _________.
A) Great Invention of the 20th Century
B) How Wheels, Cameras and Computers Were Invented?
C) People's Attitudes towards Inventions
D) Great Inventions Influence Our Way of Living
Questions 11 to 15 are based on the following passage:
One hundred and thirteen million Americans have at least one bank-issued credit card. They give their owners automatic credit in stores, restaurants, and hotels, at home, across the country, and even abroad, and they make many banking services available as well. More and more of these credit cards can be read automatically, making it possible to withdraw or deposit money in scattered locations, whether or not the local branch bank is opened. For many of us the "cashless society" is not on the horizon-it's already here.
While computers offer these conveniences to consumers, they have many advantages for sellers too. Electronic cash registers can do much more than simply ring up sales. They can keep a wide range of records, including who sold what, when, and to whom. This information allows businessmen to keep track of their list of goods by showing which items are being sold and how fast they are moving. Decisions to record or return goods to suppliers can then be made. At the same time these computers record which hours are busiest and which employees are the most efficient, allowing personnel and staffing assignments to be made accordingly. And they also identify preferred customers for promotional campaigns. Computers are relied on by manufacturers for similar reasons. Computer-analyzed marking reports can help to decide which products to emphasize now, which to develop for the future, and which to drop. Computers keep track of goods in stock, of raw materials on hand, and even of the production process itself.
Numerous other commercial enterprises, from theaters to magazines publishers, from gas and electric utilities to milk processors, bring better and more efficient services to consumers through the use of computers.
11. According to the passage, the credit card enables its owner to _________.
A) withdraw as much money from the bank as he wishes
B) obtain more convenient services than other people do
C) enjoy greater trust from the storekeeper
D) cash money wherever he wishes to
12. From the last sentence of the first paragraph we learn that _________.
A) in the future all the Americans will use credit cards
B) credit cards are mainly used in the United States today
C) nowadays many Americans do not pay in cash
D) it is now more convenient to use credit cards than before
13. If computers record which hours are busiest and which employees are the most efficient, what
will businessmen do?
A) They will fire some employees and raise the work efficiency.
B) They will arrange for different employees to do different jobs according to their abilities and performance.
C) They will assign more work for the employees to do.
D) They will allow the personnel to do whatever work they want to do.
14. The phrase "ring up sales" in Line Two, Paragraph Two, most probably means ________ .
A) make an order of goods
B) record sales on a cash register
C) call the sales manager
D) keep track of the goods in stock
15. What does the passage mainly discuss?
A) Approaches to the commercial use of computers.
B) Conveniences brought about by computers in business.
C) Significance of automation in commercial enterprises.
D) Advantages of credit cards in business.
Questions 16 to 20 are based on the following passage:
Ours has become a society of employees. A hundred years or so ago only one out of every five Americans at work was employed. Today only one out of five is not employed but working for himself. And when 50 years ago "being employed" meant working as a factory labourer or as a farmhand, the employee of today is increasingly a middle-class person with a substantial formal education, holding a professional or management job requiring intellectual and technical skills. Indeed, two things have characterized American society during these last 50 years: middle-class and upper-class employees have been the fastest-growing groups in our working population-growing so fast that the industrial worker, that oldest child of the Industrial Revolution, has been losing in numerical importance despite the expansion of industrial production.
Yet you will find little if anything written on what it is to be an employee. You can find a great deal of very dubious advice on how to get a job or how to get a promotion. You can also find a good deal of work in a chosen field, whether it be the mechanist's trade or bookkeeping(会计). Every one of these trades requires different skills, sets different standards, and requires a different preparation. Yet they all have employeeship(雇员身份)in common. And increasingly, especially in the large business or in government, employeeshipis more important to success than the special professional knowledge or skill. Certainly more people fail because they do not know the requirements of being an employee than because they do not adequately possess the skills of their trade; the higher you climb the ladder, the more you get into administrative or executive work, the greater the emphasis on ability to work within the organization rather than on technical abilities or professional knowledge.
16. It is implied that 50 years ago __________.
A) 80% of American working people were employed in factories
B) 20% of American intellectuals were employees
C) the percentage of intellectuals in the total work force was almost the same as that of industrial workers
D) the percentage of intellectuals working as employees was not so large as that of industrial workers
17. According to the passage, with the development of modern industry, __________.
A) factory labourers will overtake intellectual employees in number
B) there are as many middle-class employees as factory labourers
C) employers have attached great importance to factory labourers
D) the proportion of factory labourers in total employee population has decreased
18. The word "dubious" in Line Two, Paragraph Two，most probably means __________.
A) valuable
B) useful
C) doubtful
D) helpful
19. According to the writer, professional knowledge or skill is __________.
A) less important than awareness of being a good employee
B) as important as the ability to deal with public relation
C) more important than employer--employee relations
D) as important as the ability to co-operate with others in the organization
20. From the passage it can be seen that employeeship helps one ________ .
A) to be more successful in his career
B) to solve technical problems
C) to be more specialized in his field
D) to develop his professional skill