大学英语四级阅读理解练习六
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:
The science of. meteorology is concerned with the study of the structure, state, and behavior of the atmosphere. The subject may be approached from several directions, but the scene cannot be fully approached from any one vantage point (有利的地位). Different views must be integrated to give perspective to the whole picture.
One may consider the condition of the atmosphere at a given moment and attempt to predict changes from that condition over a period of a few hours to a few days ahead. This approach is covered by the branch of the science called synoptic meteorology(天气学).
Synoptic meteorology is the scientific basis of the technique of weather forecasting by means of the preparation and analysis of weather maps and aerological diagram (高空气象图). The practical importance of the numerous applications of weather forecasting cannot be overestimated . In serving the needs of shipping, aviation, agriculture, industry, and many other interests and fields of human activity with accurate weather warnings and professional forecast advice, great benefits are obtained in the form of the saving of human life and property and in economic advantages of various kinds. One important purpose of the science of meteorology is constantly to strive, through advanced study and research, to increase our knowledge of the atmosphere with the aim of improving the accuracy of weather forecasts.
The tools needed to advance our knowledge in this way are the disciplines of mathematics and physics applied to solve meteorological problems. The use of these tools forms that branch of the science called dynamic meteorology.
1.Which of the following statements best describes the organization of the third paragraph of the passage?
A) A problem is examined and possible solutions are given.
B) A procedure is explained and its importance is emphasized.
C) Two contrasting views of a problem are presented.
D) Recent scientific advancements are outlined in order of importance.
2. The author implies that increased accuracy in weather forecasting will lead to _______.
A) a higher number of professional forecasters
B) less-specialized forms of synoptic meteorology
C) more funds given to meteorological research
D) greater protection of human life
3.In the last sentence of the passage, the phrase "these tools" refer to ________.
A) weather forecasts
B) economic advantages
C) mathematics and physics
D) meteorological problems
4.The best title for the passage is _______.
A) Approaches to the Science of Meteorology
B) New Advances in Synoptic Meteorology
C) The limitations of Meteorological Forecasting
D) The Basics of Dynamic Meteorology
5.Which of the following is referred to by the author as a field whose needs are served by weather
forecasting?
A) Teaching.
B) Transportation.
C) Medical service
D) Boxing.
Questions 6 to 10 are based on the following passage:
Much attention has been given in the media to the so-called information superhighway which is supposed to use computer and telecommunication technology to completely change the way Americans will do business and receive information and entertainment at home in the future. There have been countless newspaper and magazine articles, television and radio discussions, meetings and conferences about it. However, according to a public opinion poll, most Americans say they have never heard of it.
The people who conducted the poll didn't actually talk to most Americans, of course, but they did talk to 1255 individuals, and they say the result has a margin of error of plus or minus three percentage points. But even if it's off by three percentage points, it's still amazing. Two-thirds of Americans do not recall having heard of the information superhighway. And, even among the 34% who have heard of it，most say that they have little understanding of what it is. But even though most of those who have heard of it don't know what it is, six out of ten of them say that they are for it.
It seems very odd that people can admit that they don't know what something is and yet say they are for it, or against it, for that matter. It generally works out better when you find things out, rather than this business of linking something before finding out what it is. This is the way they know anything about it or not.
Unfortunately, this is the way political leadership works today: the so- called leaders read the polls to find out what the people want and here's the poll telling us that the people are ready to say what they want without knowing the first thing about it. This is the blind leading the blind. No wonder things are the way they are.
6. According to the passage, which of the following media covers the information superhighway?
A) Television series
B) Newspaper cartoons
C) Speeches at the meetings
D) Concerts
7.________ don't really know what the information superhighway is.
A) Most Americans
B) Two-thirds of Americans
C) All Americans
D) More than half Americans
8. What point is the writer of the article trying to make about the American people?
A) They do not know the information superhighway though they pretend to.
B) They say they agree with the leaders before they know who the leaders are.
C) They don't know much about telecommunication technology though they say they do.
D) They express an opinion on something before they know anything about it.
9. The passage is a criticism of _________ in the U.S. .
A) the mass media
B) the information superhighway
C) the political leadership
D) the general public
10. The expression " the blind leading the blind" in the last paragraph means ________.
A) the ignorant leaders are taken in by the mass media
B) both the media and Americans are blind
C) ill-informed leaders are leading ignorant people
D) both the people and the leaders are taken in by the media.
Questions 11 to 15 are based on the following passage:
Taste is such a subjective matter that we don't usually conduct preference tests for food. The most you can say about anyone's preference, is that it's one person's opinion. But because the two big cola companies-Coca-Cola and Pepsi Cola are marketed so aggressively, we have wondered how big a role taste preference actually plays in brand loyalty. We set up a taste test that challenged people who identified themselves as either Coca-Cola Classic(传统型)or Pepsi fans: find your brand in a blind tasting.
We invited staff volunteers who had a strong liking for either Coca-Cola Classic or Pepsi, Diet (低糖的) Coke, or Diet Pepsi. These were people who thought they' d have no trouble telling their brand from the other brand.
We eventually located 19 regular cola drinkers and 27 diet cola drinkers. Then we fed them four unidentified samples of cola one at a time, regular colas for the one group, diet versions for the other. We asked them to tell us whether each sample was Coke or Pepsi, then we analyzed the records statistically to compare the participants' choices with what mere guess-work could have accomplished.
Getting all four samples right was a tough test, but not too tough, we thought, for people who believed they could recognize their brand. In the end, only 7 out of 19 regular cola drinkers correctly identified their brand of choice in all four trials. The diet-cola drinkers did a little worse-only 7 of 27 identified all four samples correctly.
While both groups did better than chance would predict, nearly half the participants in each group made the wrong choice two or more times. Two people got all four samples wrong. Overall, half of the participants did about as well on the last round of tasting as on the first, so fatigue(疲劳), or taste burnout, was not a factor. Our preference test results suggest that only a few Pepsi participants and Coke fans may really be able to tell their favorite brand by taste and price.
11. According to the passage the preference test was conducted in order to _______.
A) find out the role taste preference plays in a person's drinking
B) reveal which cola is more to the liking of the drinkers
C) show that a person' s opinion about taste is mere guess-work
D) compare the ability of the participants in choosing their drinks
12. The statistics recorded in the preference tests show _________.
A) Coca-Cola and Pepsi are people's two most favorite drinks
B) there is not much difference in taste between Coca-Cola and Pepsi
C) few people had trouble telling Coca-Cola from Pepsi
D) people's tastes differ from one another
13. It is implied in the first paragraph that ________.
A) the purpose of taste tests is to promote the sale of colas
B) the improvement of quality is the chief concern of the two cola companies
C) the competition between the two colas is very strong
D) blind tasting is necessary for identifying fans
14. The word 'burnout" in Line Four, Paragraph Five, refers to the state of ________.
A) being seriously burnt in the skin
B) being unable to burn for lack of fuel
C) being badly damaged by fire
D) being unable to function because of excessive use
15. The author's purpose in writing this passage is to ________.
A) show that taste preference is highly subjective
B) argue that taste testing is an important marketing strategy
C) emphasize that taste and price are closely related to each other
D) recommend that blind tasting be introduced in the quality control of colas
passage:
Lincoln was a strong executive who saved the government, saved the United States. He was a President who understood people and when time came to make decisions he was willing to take the responsibility and make those decisions no matter how difficult they were. He knew how to treat people and how to make a decision stick and that's why he is regarded as such a great Administrative.
Carl Sandburg and a lot of others have tried to make something out of Lincoln that he wasn't. He was a decent man, a good politician, and a great President, and they've tried to build up things that he never even thought about. I'll bet a dollar and a half that if you read Sandburg's mouth and mind that never even occurred to him. He was a good man who was in the place where he ought to have been at the time important events were taking place, but when they write about him as though he belongs in the pantheon(众神庙)of the gods, that's not the man he really was. He was the best kind of ordinary man and when I say that he was an ordinary man, I mean that as a high praise, not deprecation(贬低). That's the highest praise you can give a man. He's one of the people and becomes distinguished in the service that he gives other people. He was one of the people, and he wanted to stay that way. And he was that way until the day he died. One of the reasons he was assassinated(暗杀)was because he didn't feel important enough to have proper guards around him at Ford's Theatre.
16. According to the passage, Lincoln was __________.
A) a man belonging in the pantheon of the gods
B) deified(神化)by all the people
C) as ordinary as all the other people
D) a responsible person
17. What's the author's comment on Carl Sandburg's biography of Lincoln?
A) It's objective.
B) It is unfair to Lincoln.
C) It sang high praise of Lincoln.
D) It's too exaggerating.
18. What's the author's attitude toward Lincoln?
A) Admiring
B) Indifferent
C) Critical
D) Kind
19. Which of the following titles suits the passage best?
A) Lincoln一an Ordinary Man
B) Lincolna一Great Politician
C) Lincoln's Biography by Carl Sandburg
D) How was Lincoln Assassinated?
20. In the author's opinion,"an ordinary man"___________.
A) is a mediocre(平庸的)person
B) can never become distinguished
C) indicates deprecation
D) can be used to praise a person