全国2012年7月自学考试00595《英语阅读（一）》试题
全国2012年7月高等教育自学考试
英语阅读（一）试题
课程代码：00595
全部题目用英文作答(翻译题除外)，请将答案填在答题纸相应位置上
I. Careful Reading. (40 points, 2 points for each)
Directions: Read the following passages carefully. Decide on the best answers and then
write the corresponding letters on your Answer Sheet.
Passage One
Questions 1 to 5 are based on the following passage.
The Nile made Egypt’s civilization possible. The river is more than 400 miles long. In its fertile valley crops are grown for food and cotton for clothing. Mud from the river bottom makes good bricks for houses. Thus ways of getting food, clothing and shelter were close for the Egyptians.
The Nile is a highway for the people of Egypt. Flat bottomed boats and large narrow barges carry products from one city to another. There are also passenger boats on the Nile, carrying people up and down the river. In ancient times huge blocks of stones were floated down the river on barges. These stones are used in making buildings and monuments.
For thousands of years the Egyptians have depended on the Nile for their crops. The land on both sides of the Nile is desert, where crops cannot be raised. But crops grow well in the Nile Valley. In fact, several different crops are often grown on the same land during the same year.
Once the Nile flooded each year, overflowed its banks, and carried rich soil in land every summer. These floods were caused by early summer rains.
At present there is a series of dams in the Nile. Water raises high in the river each summer as usual. The people do not let the Nile flood, however. They store the water behind dams. It is now possible to use the water as needed, not just at flood time.
1. In the past ______.
A. there was rain all the year long
B. the Nile flooded every year
C. the Nile became deeper and deeper after each rainfall
D. the Nile was not a long river
2. Egyptians have grown crops well ______.
A. on both sides of the Nile B. on the land near the desert area
C. in the Nile valley D. far away from the desert area
3. In the valley of the Nile ______.
A. bricks for houses are made
B. different crops are raised on the same land
C. only cotton can grow well
D. people grow all crops except cotton
4. “The Nile is a highway for the people of Egypt” means ______.
A. cars and trucks can move as fast as possible along it
B. the river bottom can serve as a road in dry season
C. the river is an important water transportation line in Egypt
D. on the river there are a lot of boats and people
5. Which of the following can best summarize the passage?
A. The Nile is the source of flood.
B. The Nile is a highway for the people in Egypt.
C. The flat bottomed boats have been used.
D. The Nile made Egypt’s civilization possible.
Passage Two
Questions 6 to 10 are based on the following passage.
Sleep plays a major role in preparing the body for an alert and productive tomorrow. But sleep is not a period of inactivity. The sleeping brain is highly active at various times during the night, performing numerous “house keeping tasks”. These keep us alive and aid our ability to think and remember. Sleep also energizes the body and brain. Most people spend one-third of their lives sleeping and this will affect the other two-thirds in terms of alertness, energy, moods, body weight, perception, memory, thinking, reaction time, productivity and performance.
To limit sleep means our health and daytime potential are significantly reduced. So, good sleep strategies are essential in order to feel energized day after day. There is no strategy which works for everyone, so each person needs to experiment. One important thing is that you shouldn’t worry too much if you go a few nights without a lot of sleep. It won’t ruin your life. On any given night, one in four people can’t sleep properly and everyone suffers from a lack of sleep at some time.
How does one minimize this problem? It is really quite simple. The first thing you must do is to reduce stress as much as possible. Stress is part of everyday life and, while we can never be entirely without stress, it can be managed. This means taking control of your life and focusing on what is important. One sleeping strategy is to sit in a comfortable position, close your eyes and relax all your muscles, breathing easily through your nose. Continue this for ten to twenty minutes. This should help you reduce stress and sleep better. Or, you can try getting plenty of exercise, because a tired body is likely to sleep better.
6. According to the passage, sleep is important because ______.
A. it is a period of complete inactivity for the brain
B. it helps us understand what we have already achieved
C. it makes us more effective when we are awake
D. it helps us to lose weight
7. Methods of getting enough sleep ______.
A. vary between men and women B. are the same for everybody
C. vary from person to person D. are based on your job
8. According to the passage, being unable to sleep ______.
A. affects young children the most
B. affects everybody at some time
C. is worse for those who have relaxing lives
D. is likely to ruin people’s life
9. A simple strategy to sleep better is to ______.
A. work harder than you could B. put your stress under control
C. breathe through your nose D. sleep on a chair instead of bed
10. After a lot of physical exercise, ______.
A. you should find stress increases dramatically
B. you will become out of breath
C. you should be able to enjoy better sleep
D. you will not need to sleep for some time
Passage Three
Questions 11 to 15 are based on the following passage.
Every body gets sick. Disease and injury make us suffer throughout our lives, until finally some attack on the body brings our existence to an end. Fortunately, most of us in modern industrialized societies can take relatively good health for granted most of the time. In fact, we tend to fully realize the importance of good health only when we or those close to us become seriously ill. At such times we keenly appreciate the ancient truth that health is our most precious asset, one for which we might readily give up such rewards as power, wealth, or fame.
Because ill health is a universal problem, affecting the individual and society, the human response to sickness is always socially organized. No society leaves the responsibility for maintaining health and treating ill health entirely to the individual. Each society develops its own concepts of health and sickness and authorizes certain people to decide who is sick and how the sick should be treated. Around this focus there arises, over time, a number of standards, values, groups, statuses, and roles: in other words, an institution. To the sociologist, then, medicine is the institution concerned with the maintenance of health and treatment of disease.
In the simplest pre-industrial societies, medicine is usually an aspect of religion. The social arrangements for dealing with sickness are very elementary, often involving only two roles: the sick and the healer (治疗者). The latter is typically also the priest, who relies primarily on religious ceremonies, both to identify and to treat disease: for example, bones may be thrown to establish a cause; songs may be used to bring about a cure. In modern industrialized societies, on the other hand, the institution has become highly complicated and specialized, including dozens of roles such as those of brain surgeon, druggist, hospital administrator, linked with various organizations such as nursing homes, insurance companies, and medical schools. Medicine, in fact, has become the subject of intense sociological interest precisely because it is now one of the most pervasive and costly institutions of modern society.
11. Which of the following statements is true according to Paragraph 1 ?
A. Nowadays most people believe they can have fairly good health.
B. Human life involves a great deal of pain and suffering.
C. Most of us are aware of the full value of health.
D. Ancient people believed that health was more expensive than anything else.
12. The word “authorize” in Paragraph 2 means“______”.
A. make way for B. give power to
C. write an order for D. make it possible for
13. In Paragraph 2, we learn that the sociologist regards medicine as ______.
A. a system whose purpose is to treat disease and keep people healthy
B. a universal problem that affects every society
C. a social responsibility to treat ill health
D. a science that focuses on the treatment of disease
14. According to Paragraph 3, which of the following is NOT true?
A. In the past, bones might be used to decide why people fell ill.
B. In pre-industrial societies priests sometimes treated patients by singing.
C. Modern medicine is so complicated that sociology no longer has a place in it.
D. There were only two roles in an elementary medical system, the patient and the one who tried to cure him.
15. The author of this passage is mainly concerned with ______.
A. sociological aspects in medicine
B. medical treatment of diseases
C. the development of medical science
D. the role of religion in medicine
Passage Four
Questions 16 to 20 are based on the following passage.
English people are less genetically diverse today than they were in the days of the Vikings, possibly due to two deadly diseases that swept their country centuries ago, a new study says.
The study compared DNA from ancient and modem Englanders and found that the country has a smaller gene pool than it did a thousand years ago.
The findings come in contrast to modem England’s reputation as a cultural melting pot, where in many major cities you are as likely to hear Urdu from India or Yoruba from Nigeria being spoken on the streets as English.
Rus Hoelzel, a geneticist from the Britain’s University of Durham, and his colleagues obtained DNA samples from the skeletal remains of 48 ancient Britons who lived between A. D. 300 and 1000. The researchers studied the DNA, which was passed down from mothers to their children. By comparing the DNA with that of thousands of people from various ethnic backgrounds living in England today, they found that genetic diversity was greater in the ancient population. The team also compared the ancient DNA with samples from people living in continental Europe and the Middle East, and found a similar lack of genetic variety.
One possible explanation for this narrowing of diversity might be two major outbreaks of plague that swept England and much of Europe — the Black Death (1347 — 1351) and the Great Plague (1665 — 1666).
The Black Death epidemic is estimated to have killed as much as 50 percent of the population of Europe. Three centuries later, a fifth of the population of London died in the Great Plague. However, these diseases didn’t kill randomly, Hoelzel explained. “The plague killed some people while others remained resistant,” he said.
Eske Willerslev, a specialist in ancient DNA from the University of Copenhagen, said he is surprised by the findings but agrees that the historic epidemics may explain the loss in diversity.
Since the diseases, it appears that England hasn’t been able to make up the loss to the gene pool, despite the high rate of immigration into the country over the past 200 years.
16. The modem England’s reputation as “a cultural melting pot” (Para. 3) most probably means ______.
A. English people speak many different languages
B. England has a population of many different cultural origins
C. England is famous for exporting melting pot
D. England has a close diplomatic relationship with India and Nigeria
17. The DNA comparison between modern and ancient English people reveals ______.
A. great changes have taken place in the genetic contents in the DNA
B. DNA differs among different people from different ethnic backgrounds
C. there is less DNA diversity in modern Englishmen than in their ancestors
D. modern Englishmen has the same DNA diversity as their ancestors
18. According to the passage, which of the following statements is NOT true?
A. The ancient DNA used in this study was gathered from the bones of the ancient British people.
B. The genetic information carried by DNA is passed to children from fathers.
C. Although modern England has high immigration rate, it still suffers from poor genetic variety.
D. England, European continent and Middle East all suffer from lack of genetic variety.
19. The two deadly diseases, namely the Black Death and the Great Plague ______.
A. affected England more than any other countries in Europe
B. broke out between the thirteenth century and the sixteenth century
C. took less than half of the population away in England
D. left some people alive with resistance for the diseases
20. It can be inferred from the passage that ______.
A. Willerslev was not prepared to see the lack of genetic variety in modern England
B. many immigrants moved to England to seek a new life after the two diseases
C. the gene bank will need to introduce more new genes to make up for its losses
D. England will need to immigrate more people to make up its gene loss
II. Speed Reading. (10 points, 1 point for each)
Directions: Skim or scan the following passages. Decide on the best answers and then write
the corresponding letters on your Answer Sheet.
Passage Five
Questions 21-25 are based on the following passage.
Du Bois was a sociological and educational pioneer who challenged the established system of education that tended to restrict rather than to advance the progress of black Americans. He challenged what is called the “Tuskegee machine” of Booker T. Washington, the leading educational spokesperson of the blacks in the US. A sociologist and historian, Du Bois called for a more determined and activist leadership than Washington provided.
Unlike Washington, whose roots were in southern black agriculture, Du Bois’s career spanned both sides of the Mason-Dixon Line. He was a native of Massachusetts, received his undergraduate education from Fisk University in Nashville, did his graduate study at Harvard University, and directed the Atlanta University Studies of Black American Life in the South. Du Bois approached the problem of racial relations in the United States from two dimensions: as a scholarly researcher and as an activist for civil rights. Among his works was the famous empirical (经验主义的) sociological study, The Philadelphia Negro: A Social Study, in which he examined that city’s black population and made recommendations for the school system. Du Bois’s Philadelphia study was the pioneer work on urban blacks in America.
Du Bois had a long and active career as a leader in the civil rights movement. He helped to organize the Niagara Movement in 1905, which led to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), established in 1909. From 1910 until 1934, Du Bois edited The Crisis, the major journal of the NAACP In terms of its educational policy, the NAACP position was that all American children and youth should have genuine equality of educational opportunity. This policy, which Du Bois helped to formulate, stressed the following themes: (1) public schooling should be free and compulsory for all American children; (2) secondary schooling should be provided for all youth; (3) higher education should not be monopolized by any special class or race.
As a leader in education, Du Bois challenged not only the tradition of racial segregation in the schools but also the accommodationist (妥协的;迁就的) ideology of Booker T. Washington. The major difference between the two men was that Washington sought change that was evolutionary in nature and did not upset the social order, whereas Du Bois demanded immediate change. Du Bois believed in educated leadership for blacks, and he developed a concept referred to as the “talented tenth”, according to which 10 percent of the black population would receive a traditional college education in preparation for leadership.
21. Compared with Booker T. Washington, Du Bois’s political stand was ______.
A. less popular B. more radical
C. less aggressive D. more conservative
22. According to the text, Du Bois worked as all of the following EXCEPT ______.
A. an editor B. an educator
C. a scholar D. an official
23. It is Du Bois’s belief that ______.
A. the blacks have a priority in terms of education
B. higher education should be free for all races
C. everyone has an equal right to education
D. development in education should be gradual
24. Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?
A. Washington would not appreciate the idea of overthrowing social order.
B. Racial separation is an outcome of accommodationist ideology.
C. Washington would not support a determined and activist leadership.
D. The Philadelphia Negro is a book on blacks in American South.
25. It can be inferred from the last paragraph that ______.
A. many blacks are prepared for leadership
B. Du Bois was in favor of “elite education” for blacks
C. Washington and Du Bois had never been friends
D. only the top 10 percent are worth educating
Passage Six
Questions 26-30 are based on the following passage.
In Jane Collard’s opinion, stress is becoming an increasingly common feature of the workplace. Stress is a highly individual reaction, which varies considerably from person to person, and it is difficult for some employees to avoid it. Indeed, stress is regarded by many as part of the organizational culture of our institutions: it comes with the job. Recent figures indicate that time taken off work because of stress has increased by 50 percent since the 1950s. Undoubtedly, changes in working conditions have led to greater pressure at work at all levels. With reductions in staffing, workloads for individual employees have increased. In addition, many employees are left worrying about the security of their jobs.
On the stress management courses that she runs, Jane Collard tries to make the trainees realize that stress in itself is not harmful. Everyone needs a certain level of stress to enable them to feel motivated and to perform effectively. A complete absence of stress can be as damaging as overstress, since it can make people lose interest in their work, and even lead to depression. The difficulties occur when the amount of stress rises above a level which is healthy for a particular individual. If this happens, the effects are very obvious and the trainees are taught to recognize the signs. Stress may be expressed physically, for example through headaches and tiredness, or through emotional problems such as depression. A person suffering from stress may also start to behave differently, and can be difficult to deal with.
While it may not always be possible to prevent stress, there are a number of ways in which it can be controlled. The first thing that the trainees learn is how to manage their time effectively. This involves, first of all, setting realistic goals for both the short and long terms. Once this framework has been established, tasks are then prioritized on a daily basis. The trainees are also reminded that when they are under pressure the less important items should be left, and they should never hesitate to delegate. Everyone is encouraged to look at ways of reducing “wasted time”, for example by grouping similar tasks together or dealing with items immediately.
Jane feels that one of the most useful features of the course is that it enables trainees to deal with those demands or deadlines that they regard as unreasonable. They are encouraged to avoid being defensive, but at the same time they are advised not to be afraid of saying “no”. They are asked to give reasons only if necessary. The training helps them to foresee difficult situations or unwanted demands, and they learn how to prepare themselves mentally. Everyone is encouraged not to get stuck in negative thought patterns, where stress can feed a circular sense of helplessness. One solution they discuss is to think of a more encouraging alternative for each negative message. They learn, for example, to remind themselves that nothing terrible happens when a demand is refused or a deadline missed. Life goes on.
26. According to the passage, which of the following statements is NOT the cause of stress at work?
A. Working conditions change.
B. With reductions in staffing, workloads for individual employees have increased.
C. Many employees are afraid of losing their jobs.
D. The pay is lower than before.
27. The purpose of the stress management courses run by Jane Collard is ______.
A. to help people reduce their stress
B. to make the trainees realize stress in itself is not harmful
C. to make the trainees realize stress enables people to feel motivated and to perform effectively
D. to make the trainees realize a complete absence of stress can lead to depression
28. “Prioritize” in the third paragraph means “______”.
A. arrange in order B. give attention to
C. concentrate on D. regard as
29. The most useful feature of the course is that ______.
A. it enables trainees to deal with those demands or deadlines that they regard as unreasonable
B. it helps people realize stress is not always harmful
C. it helps people work more efficiently
D. it lets people know the relationship between work and stress
30. Which of the following can best summarize the passage?
A. Stress is not always harmful.
B. Stress is becoming an increasingly common feature of the workplace.
C. Jane Collard’s research on stress.
D. How to prevent stress?
III. Discourse Cloze. (10 points, 1 point for each)
Directions: The following passage is taken from the textbook. Read the passage and fill in the numbered spaces (there are more suggested answers than necessary). Write your answers on the Answer Sheet.
It is difficult to live without a car in modern America. Cities and towns are built around the automobile. 31. ______. Future communities, while still allowing residents to own and operate cars if they so choose, must be centered not around vehicle traffic, but around foot traffic.
A common argument against cars is 32. ______, are undesirable. While this is true, the automobile must be removed from urban planning not only due to pollution but also because of its unsustainable nature. Cars—and the type of city that is planned around them — use considerable resources and space that will not be available in the future. 33. ______. Although it is possible for alternative fuel sources to be developed, these will nonetheless require considerable energy use. Furthermore, many resources are consumed in the production of cars. In a world with a constantly increasing population, the manufacture of new cars is not something that can be sustained and provided to all the people of the world. Not only does the production and operation of cars drain society, but the attitude associated with the automobile endangers the future. It is not advantageous for individuals to drive everywhere because, as the population increases, 34. ______ —a drain on both time and resources that can be avoided with proper planning for the future.
Unfortunately, current urban plans require 35. ______. Mass transit, for the most part, is hardly available to those outside of downtown areas. Even where it is available, mass transit is often limited in scope and does not provide a preferable alternative to automobiles. The desire to own cars and land accompanies this idea. This property craving is currently satiated via suburban sprawl and large houses. With burgeoning population, the inefficient land use based on the notion of property wealth needs to be discarded. 36. ______. Communities of the future must be designed so that businesses and homes are built next to one another.
Of course, this is not possible with current cities. Most businesses are located in undesirable areas of cities. Moreover, suburban sprawl further demands that one uses a car. Suburban areas are spread out over large tracts of land; not only does this use up valuable farmland and natural areas, 37. ______. For the most part, suburban communities function as places to sleep; residents work and play outside of where they live. In order to create sustainable communities for future generations, it is not enough to simply pursue ideas such as mass transit. Although mass transit is an important part of any city plan, it is an alternative that distracts from the immediate problem at hand: 38. ______.
Americans have a notion 39. ______. Downtown areas can be modified to lower crime and create a more attractive facade. In addition, new communities can be designed so that residential and commercial areas are zoned and built next to each other. With proper attention to building codes and planning, attractive houses and businesses can coexist. 40. ______. In return, this will eliminate the need for automobile transportation. It is not enough, however, that people merely be able to work near where they live. Shopping areas — from grocery to clothing stores — should be located near homes so that citizens do not have to travel long distances to run errands. Concurrent with this, entertainment facilities should be near homes and businesses so that an entire functioning and viable community can be within easy walking distance.
(From Communities for Future Generations in the US)
A. it will lead to incredible congestion within urban areas
B. but people who live in suburbs are far removed from entertainment and shopping centers and must travel by car to these places
C. but it is a necessary one that must be made if the nation wishes to maintain its high standards of living
D. This is a design focus that must be avoided in the future
E. the fundamental need is to rethink how people live and what type of communities they live in
F. It will be difficult for urban planners to take these steps
G. Communities must be redesigned so that people can live and work in both close quarters and comfort
H. that they pollute the environment and thus
I. If this is done properly, people will in fact prefer to live in these communities for convenience and ease of commute
J. that they need to accumulate property wealth and this must be changed
K. that anyone who wishes to lead an active life must drive a car
L. Oil reserves are dwindling and will disappear within the next century
IV. Word Formations. (10 points, 1 point for each)
Directions: Complete each of the following sentences with the proper form of the word in
the brackets. Write your answers on the Answer Sheet.
41. (robber) Acting on inside information, the police were able to arrest the gang before the ______ occurred.
42. (attention) He was talkative, but since he seemed inclined to talk about me I was prepared to be an ______ listener.
43. (vary) I was impressed by the actors’ ______ ways of dealing with death: sadness, humors, silence, etc.
44. (suggest) They will need specific ______ for problems such as speech defects or backwardness in learning to walk or control of bodily functions.
45. (similar) The only ______ is that we are all certificated when we are born and when we die, and we are recognized by a certification of birth and death.
46. (efficient) Although examinations do the job quite ______, their side effects are also enormous.
47. (anxiety) The whole country was now so ______ to return to normal conditions that it took little notice of events in Europe.
48. (norm) Upbringing is ______ used to refer to the treatment and training of the child within the home.
49. (break) Hitler’s ______ promises included an attack on Poland, which Britain and France were bound by treaty to defend.
50. (intense) After many hours of surgery and weeks of ______ care, Jerry was released from the hospital with fragments of the bullets still in his body.
V. Gap Filling. (10 points, 1 point for each)
Directions: The following passage is taken from the textbook. Fill in the numbered gaps with the correct form of the words or phrases in the box (there are more words than necessary). Write your answers on the Answer Sheet.
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The National Gallery is rich in paintings by Italian masters such as Raphael, Correggio, and Veronese, and it contains pictures 52. ______ of all European schools of art such as works by Rembrandt, Rubens, Van Dyck, Murillo, E1 Greco, and nineteenth century French masters. Many 53. ______. are especially attracted to Velasquez’s “Rokeby Venus” and Leonardo da Vinci’s “Virgin of the Rocks”.
On 54. ______ days, students and other young people are often to be seen having a sandwich lunch on the portico of the Gallery overlooking Trafalgar Square. Admission to the Gallery is free, as is the 55. ______ with other British national galleries and museums, which are maintained by money voted by Parliament. Bequests of pictures have been made to the galleries, 56. ______ on a generous scale, by private individuals.
Just behind the National Gallery 57. ______ the National Portrait Gallery, in which the visitors can see portraits of British monarchs since the reign of Richards II (1377 — 1399), and 58. ______ historical celebrities such as Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Cromwell. Many of the pictures are by well-known artists.
The National Gallery of British Art, better known as the Tate Gallery, was given to the nation by a rich sugar merchant, Sir Henry Tate, who had a taste for the fine arts. It overlooks the Thames, not far from the Houses of Parliament. English artists are 59. ______ well represented here, and the Tate also has a range of modern works, 60. ______ some sculptures, by foreign artists. This, of all the London galleries, is the young people’s gallery. It has been stated that three-quarters of its visitors are under twenty-five.
(From London Art Gallery)
VI. Short Answer Questions. (10 points, 5 points for each)
Directions: The following 2 questions are based on Passage Four in this test paper. Read the passage carefully again and answer the questions briefly by referring back to Passage Four. Write your answers on the Answer Sheet.
61. According to the passage, where did the researchers obtain the DNA samples for the study?
62. What’s Eske Willerslev’s reaction to the conclusion of the study?
VII. Translation. (10 points, 2 points for each)
Directions: The following excerpt is taken from the textbook. Read the paragraphs carefully
and translate into Chinese each of the numbered and underlined parts.
63. The fortunate people in the world — the only really fortunate people in the world, in my mind — are those whose work is also their pleasure. 64. The class is not a large one, not nearly so large as it is often represented to be; and authors are perhaps one of the most important elements in its composition. They enjoy in this respect at least a real harmony of life. 65. To my mind, to be able to make your work your pleasure is the one class distinction in the world worth striving for. And I do not wonder that others are inclined to envy those happy human beings who find their livelihood in the gay effusions of their fancy, to whom every hour of labour is an hour of enjoyment, to whom repose — however necessary — is a tiresome interlude, and even a holiday is most deprivation. 66.Whether a man writes well or ill, has much to say or little, if he cares about writing at all, he will appreciate the pleasures of composition. 67. To sit at one’s table on a sunny morning, with four clear hours of uninterruptible security, plenty of nice white paper, and a Squeezer pen — that is tree happiness. The complete absorption of the mind upon an agreeable occupation — what more is there than to desire? What does it matter what happens outside? The House of Commons may do what it likes, and so may the House of Lords. The heathen may rage furiously in every part of the globe.
(From The Joys of Writing)
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