Part I Reading Comprehension (40% 35minutes)

　　Directions: In this part there are four passages. Each passage is followed by a number of comprehension questions. Read the passage and choose the best answer to each question. Then, mark your answer by blackening the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet.

　　Questions 1 to 5 are based on the following passage:

　　Do you find getting up in the morning so difficult that it’s painful? This might be called laziness, but Dr Kleitman has a new explanation. He has proved that everyone has a daily energy cycle. During the hours when you labor through your work you may say that you’re “hot”. That’s true. Time of day when you feel most energetic is when your cycle of body temperature is at its peak. For some people the peak comes during the forenoon. For others it comes in the afternoon or evening. No ore has discovered why this is so, but it leads to such familiar monologues (独白) as: “Get up, John! You’11 be late for work again!” Much family quarreling ends when husbands and wives realize what these energy cycles mean, and which cycle each member of the family has.

　　You can’t change your energy cycle, but you can learn to make your life fit it better Habit can help, Dr Kleitman believes. Maybe you’re sleepy in the evening but feel you must stay up late anyway. Counteract your cycle to some extent by habitually staying up later than you want to. If your energy is low in the morning but you have an important job to do early in the day, rise before your usual hour This won’t change your cycle, but you’11 get up steam and work better at your low point. Get off to a slow start which saves your energy. Get up with a leisurely yawn and stretch. Sit on the edge of the bed a minute before putting your feet on the floor. Avoid the troublesome search for clean clothes by laying them out the night before for your sharper hours.

　　1. If a person finds getting up early a problem, most probably _________.

　　A. he is a lazy person

　　B. he refuses to follow his own energy cycle

　　C. he is not sure when his energy is low

　　D. he is at his peak in the afternoon or evening

　　2. Which of the following may lead to family quarrels according to the passage?

　　A. Unawareness of energy cycles.

　　B. Familiar monologues.

　　C. A change in a family member’s energy cycle.

　　D. Attempts to control the energy cycle of other family members.

　　3. If one wants to work more efficiently at his low point the morning, he should__________.

　　A. change his energy cycle B. overcome his laziness

　　C. get up earlier than usual D. go to bed earlier

　　4. You arc advised to rise with a yawn and stretch because it will _______.

　　A. help to keep your energy for the day’s work

　　B. help you to control your temper early in the day

　　C. enable you to concentrate on your routine work

　　D. keep your energy cycle under control all day

　　5. Which of the following statements is NOT TRUE?

　　A. Getting off to work with a minimum effort helps save one’s energy.

　　B. Dr Kleitman explains why people reach their peaks at different hours of day

　　C. Habit helps one adapt to his own energy cycle

　　D. Children have energy cycles, too

　　Questions 6 to 10 are based on the following passage:

　　Another thing to remember in connection with concrete is that you are not allowed very much leeway (余地) for errors in either measurements or location. Once you have a solid mass of concrete set in place, it is going to stay there. You have a difficult job ahead of you if you try to remedy a mistake. Make very sure, before you fill the form, that everything is where and how you want it.

　　There are numerous rules regarding the proper mixing, handling, and finishing of concrete, but the essential one concerns the amount of water to use. The less water in the mix, the less the finished job will shrink. The less water used, the harder and more enduring the job after it has set.

　　The amateur concrete worker is annoyed with two desires. One is to use enough water to have the concrete nice and soft and easy to push around. You have been warned against that. The second is to take off the wooden forms too early, to see what the job 1ooks like. That is really fatal. If the forms are stripped off too soon, while the concrete is still “green”, two things are likely to cause a major crack or defect in the body of the work. An excellent rule is to wait until you are sure the concrete is properly hardened, and then wait another day before removing the forms.

　　6. The best title for this passage would be ________.

　　A. Rules for Working with Concrete B. Concrete and Its Uses children

　　C. Concrete, the Homeowner’s Joy D. Concrete, a Test of Charaeter

　　7. Two of the main thoughts in this passage are (1) preparation of forms for the concrete must be thorough, and (2) forms must be allowed to remain on long enough. The third main idea is _________.

　　A. taking off forms beforehand will probably cause a crack in the body of the work

　　B. trying to make changes after concrete has been poured is not recommended

　　C. mixing concrete properly will make it very hard and strong

　　D. using as little water as possible is recommended

　　8. In mixing concrete, one of the desires the amateur must resist is to ______.

　　A. break off a corner to see if the “green” has gone

　　B. leave the form on too long

　　C. strip off the forms a day after the concrete has properly hardened

　　D. use too much water

　　9. A human quality apparently not essential in someone who works with concrete is ________.

　　A. carefulness B. patience

　　C. self-control D. inventiveness

　　10. By the concrete being too “green”, the author means that the concrete has __________.

　　A. dried out B. hardened

　　C. not yet cured D. not cracked

　　Questions 11 to 15 are based on the following passage:

　　If women are mercilessly (无情地) exploited year after year, they have only themselves to blame. Because they tremble at the thought of being seen in public in clothes that are out of fashion, they are always taken advantage of by the designers and the big stores Clothes which have been worn only a few times have to be put aside because of the change of fashion. When you come to think of it, only a women is capable of standing in front of a wardrobe (衣柜) packed full of clothes and announcing sadly that she has nothing to wear.

　　Changing fashions are nothing more than the intentional creation of waste. Many women spend vast sums of money each year to replace clothes that have hardly been worn. Women who cannot afford to throw away clothing in this way, waste hours of their time altering the dresses they have. Skirts are lengthened or shortened; necklines are lowered or raised. and so on.

　　No one can claim that the fashion industry contributes anything really important to society. Fashion designers are rarely concerned with vital things like warmth, comfort and durability (耐用). They are only interested in outward appearance and they take advantage of the fact that women will put up with any amount of discomfort, as long as they look right. There can hardly be a man who hasn’t at some time in his life smiled at the sight of a woman shaking in a thin dress on a winter day, or delicately picking her way through deep snow 1i1 high heeled shoes.

　　When comparing men and women in the matter of fashion, the conclusions to be drawn are obvious. Do the constantly changing fashions of women’s clothes, one wonders, reflect basic qualities of inconstancy and instability? Men are too clever to let themselves be cheated by fashion designers. Do their unchanging styles of dress reflect basic qualities of stability and reliability? That Is for you to decide.

　　11. Designers and big stores always make money ________.

　　A. by mercilessly exploiting women workers in the clothing industry

　　B. because they are capable of predicting new fashions

　　C. by constantly changing the fashions in women’s clothing

　　D. because they attach great importance to quality in women’s clothing

　　12. To the writer, the fact that women alter their old-fashioned dresses is seen as _________.

　　A. a waste of money B. a waste of time

　　C. an expression of taste D. an expression of creativity

　　13. The writer would be less critical if fashion designers placed more stress on the _________ of clothing.

　　A. cost B. appearance C. comfort D. suitability

　　14. New fashions in clothing are created for _________.

　　A. the commercial exploitation of women

　　B. the women’s strength of character

　　C. basic qualities of inconstancy and instability

　　D. an important contribution to society

　　15. By saying “the conclusions to be drawn are obvious” (Line One, Paragraph Four) the writer means that __________.

　　A. women’s inconstancy in their choice of clothing is often laughed at

　　B. women are better able to put up with discomfort

　　C. men are also exploited greatly by fashion designers

　　D. men are more reasonable in the matter of fashion

　　Questions 16 to 20 are based on the following passage:

　　The black robin (知更鸟) is one of the world’s rarest birds It is a small, wild bird, and it lives only on the island of Little Mangere, off the coast of New Zealand. In 1967 there were about 50 black robins there; in 1977 there were fewer than ten. These are the only black robins left in the world. The island has many other birds, of course, of dif.ferent kinds, large and small; they seem to multiply very happily.

　　Energetic (有力的, 积极的) steps are being taken to preserve the black robin-to guard those remaining and to increase their number. Detailed studies are going on, and a public appeal for money has been made. The idea is to buy another island nearby as a special home, a “reserve”, for threatened wild life, including black robins. The organizers say that Little Mangere should then be restocked with the robin’s food-it eats only one kind of seed-and so renewed for it. Thousands of the required plants are at present being cultivated in New Zealand. The public appeal is aimed at the conscience of mankind, so that the wild black robin will not die out and disappear from the earth in our time at least.

　　In the earth’s long, long past hundreds of kinds of creatures have evolved, risen to a degree of success-and died out. In the long, long future there will he many new and different forms of life. Those creatures that adapt themselves successfully to what the earth offers will survive for a long time. Those that fail to meet the challenges will disappear early. That is Nature’s proven method of operation.

　　The rule of selection-“survival of the fittest” is the one by which man has himself arrived on the scene.

　　Life seems to have grown too tough for black robins

　　16. The black robin is dying out mainly because _________.

　　A. people have been very careless about its survival

　　B. its only food is becoming exhausted on Little Mangere

　　C. the other birds on the island have destroyed it

　　D. the appeal for money has come at the wrong time

　　17. The success of other small birds on Little Mangere shows that

　　A. the island cannot have very much food 1ef

　　B. something has to die out, they can’t all be winners

　　C. the big birds have all been attacking the black robin

　　D. the robin has failed to meet the challenges of life

　　18. As regards selection and survival, the decisive factor seems to be _______.

　　A. the ability to adapt to changed or changing conditions

　　B. the number of wild life reserves that are available

　　C. the concern and generosity (慷慨) of the public

　　D. the size of the home, or the amount of space one has to live m

　　19. The evidence seems to suggest that _________.

　　A. it is a disaster for everyone when one kind of bird dies out

　　B. all creatures are concerned about the survival of others

　　C. Nature expects and accepts the dying out of weaker breeds

　　D. man is to blame when such a thing happens

　　20. The writer’s attitude towards the protection of the black robins is _______.

　　A. active B. passive C. indifferent D. pessimistic