大学英语六级考试专项练习（5）——阅读与简答

I. Directions: There are two reading passages in this part. Each passage is followed by five questions. For each question there are four suggested answers marked A),B),C) and D), you should choose the One best answer.

Passage 1

Questions 1 to 5 are based on the following passage.

People tend to think of computers as isolated machines, working away all by themselves. Some do—personal computers without an outside link, like someone’s secret cabin in the woods. But just as most homes are tied to a community by streets, bus routes and electric lines, computers that exchange intelligence are part of a community—local, national, and even global network joined by telephone connections.

The computer network is a creation of the electronic age, but it is based on old-fashioned trust. It cannot work without trust. A rogue (流氓、无赖) loose in a computer system called hacker is worse than a thief entering your house. He could go through anyone’s electronic mail or add to, change or delete anything in the information stored in the computer’s memory. He could even take control of the entire system by inserting his own instructions in the software that runs it. He could shut the computer down whenever he wished, and no one could stop him. Then he could program the computer to erase any sign of his ever having been there.

Hacking,  our  electronic-age  term  for  computer break-in, is more and more in the news—intelligent kids vandalizing(破坏) university records, even pranking (恶作剧)about in supposedly safeguarded systems. To those who understand how computer networks are increasingly regulating life in the late 20th century, these are not laughing matters. A potential for disaster is building: A dissatisfied former insurance-company employee wipes out information from some files. A student sends out a “virus”, a secret and destructive command, over a national network. The virus copies itself at lightning speed, jamming the entire network—thousands of academic, commercial and government computer systems. Such disastrous cases have already occurred. Now exists the possibility of terrorism by computer. Destroying a system responsible for air-traffic control at a busy airport, or knocking out the telephones of a major city, is a relatively easy way to spread panic. Yet, neither business nor government has done enough to strengthen its defenses against attack. For one thing, such defenses are expensive; for another, they may interrupt communication—the main reason for using computers in the first place.

1. People usually regard computers as________.

A) part of a network

B) means of exchanging intelligence

C) personal machines disconnected from outside

D) a small cabin at the end of a street

2. The writer mentions “a thief” in the paragraph 2 most probably to________.

A) show that a hacker is more dangerous than a thief

B) tell people that thieves like to steal computers nowadays

C) demand that a computer network should be set up against thieves

D) look into the case where hackers and thieves are the same people

3. According to the passage, a hacker may do all the damages below EXCEPT________.

A) attacking people’s e-mails

B) destroying computer system

C) creating many electronic-age terms

D) entering into computer systems without being discovered

4. By saying“Now exists the possibility of terrorism by computer” (Line 14, Para. 3), the writer means that________.

A) some employees may erase information from some files

B) students who send out a“virus” may do disastrous damages to thousands of computers

C) some people may spread fear in public by destr oying computer system

D) some terrorists are trying to contact each other using electronic mails

5. From the passage, it can be seen that the author is ________.

A) amazed at hacking because some hackers are so intelligent

B) concerned about hacking because the problem may get even worse

C) optimistic that hacking would be eliminated in the near future

D) indifferent to hacking because this is all government’s affair

Passage 2

Questions 6 to 10 are based on the following passage.

When you see a clever advertisement in a newspaper, do you say to yourself, “Ah, that’s  good. I’d like to have one of those?” Or do you say, “What lies are they telling this time? It can’t be very good or they wouldn’t have to advertise it so cleverly?” Both of these people exist; the first are optimistic; the second pessimists and realists.

Advertisements can be extremely useful if they are honest; if, let us say, you have broken your pen and you want to buy another, the first thing to do is to look at as many advertisements for pens as you can find. That will help you to choose the model, color and price that suit you. Advertisements save a lot of time and trouble by putting sellers in touch with buyers in a quick and simple way. If the advertisements are true and accurate, the customers will be satisfied and will probably buy from the same firm next time and advise their friends and acquaintances to do the same.

The really dishonest advertiser hopes to sell hid goods quickly and to make a large profit on them before the customer’s reactions begin. He knows that no customers will buy from him a second time, and that none will recommend his products to their friends. But there are also semi-dishonest advertisers who make claims for their products which they know perfectly well to be incapable of verification(验证), like advertising that a certain toothpaste contains a particular substance—which it in fact does—knowing that this substance is in fact neither beneficial nor harmful to the teeth. Such advertisements do not tell downright lies, but their advertising is deliberately misleading.

6. From the passage we learn that a pessimistic advertisement reader will________.

A) trust all advertisements and make purchases accordingly

B) get suitable colors and prices from advertisements

C) doubt the truthfulness of advertisements

D) admire the clever ways advertisements are made

7. What is the biggest benefit people may get from honest advertisements?

A) Customers can offer their friends some good advice about shopping.

B) Some firms will make a large profit from loyal customers.

C) Customers can find their favorite colors.

D) Customers can make purchases from sellers efficiently.

8. The term “semi-dishonest advertisers” in the last paragraph refers to________.

A) advertisers who tell small lies in advertisements

B) advertisers who tell white lies in advertisements

C) advertisers who don’t tell lies but may give false information

D) advertisers who are sometimes honest and sometimes dishonest

9. If a semi-dishonest advertisement claims that a certain toothpaste contains a particular substance, it may mean that________.

A) there is no such substance at all in the toothpaste

B) the toothpaste does contain such substance

C) such substance is pretty good for people’s teeth

D) such substance may be harmful to people’s teeth

10. In the third paragraph, the author discusses________.    A) the tricks of semi-dishonest advertisers

B) the customer’s reactions

C) the downright lies in advertisements

D) the false claims in advertisements 

II. Directions: In this part there are two short passages, each with five questions or incomplete statements. Read the passages carefully. Then answer the questions or complete the statements in the fewest possible words (not exceeding 10 words).

Passage 1

In the 1920s demand for American farm products fell, as European countries began to recover from World War I and instituted austerity（紧缩） programs to reduce their imports. The result was a sharp drop in farm prices. This period was more disastrous for farmers than earlier times had been, because farmers were no longer self-sufficient. They were paying for machinery, seed, and fertilizer, and they were also buying consumer goods. The prices of the items farmers bought remained constant, while prices they received for their products fell. These developments were made worse by the GREat Depression, which began in 1929 and extended throughout the l930s.

In 1929, under President Herbert Hoover, the Federal Farm Board was organized. It established the principle of direct interference with supply and demand, and it represented the first national commitment to provide GREater   economic stability for farmers.

President Hoover’s successor attached even more importance to this problem. One of the first measures proposed by President Franklin ID. Roosevelt when he took office in 1933 was the Agricultural Adjustment Act, which was subsequently passed by ConGREss. This law gave the Secretary of Agriculture the power to reduce production through voluntary agreements with farmers who were paid to take their land out of use. A deliberate scarcity of farm products was planned in an effort to raise prices. This law was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court on the grounds that general taxes were being collected to pay one special group of people. However, new laws were passed immediately that achieved the same result of resting soil and providing flood-control measures, but which were based on the principle of soil conservation. The Roosevelt Administration believed that rebuilding the nation’s soil was in the national interest and was not simply a plan to help farmers at the expense of other citizens. Later the government guaranteed loans to farmers so that they could buy farm machinery, hybrid(杂交)grain, and fertilizers.

Questions:

1. What brought about the decline in the demand for

    American farm products?

2. The chief concern of the American government in the

    area of agriculture in the 1920s was to________.

3. The Agricultural Adjustment Act encouraged American

    farmers to________.

4. The Supreme Court rejected the Agricultural Adjust-

    ment Act because it believed that the Act________.

5. It was claimed that the new laws passed during the

   Roosevelt Administration were aimed at________.

Passage 2

Cars account for half the oil consumed in the U. S., about half the urban pollution and one fourth the GREenhouse (温室) gases. They take a similar toll of (损耗)resources in other industrial nations and in the cities of the developing world. As vehicle use continues to increase in the coming decade, the U.S. and other countries will have to deal with these issues or else face unacceptable economic, health—related and political costs. It is unlikely that oil prices will remain at their current low level or that other nations will accept a large and growing U. S. contribution to global climatic change.

Policymakers and industry have four options: reduce vehicle use, increase the efficiency and reduce the emissions of conventional gasoline—powered vehicles, switch to less harmful fuels, or find less polluting driving systems. The last of these—in particular the introduction of vehicles powered by electricity—is ultimately the only sustainable option. The other alternatives are attractive in theory but in practice are either impractical or offer only marginal improvements. For example, reduced vehicle use could solve traffic problems and a host of social and environmental problems, but evidence from around the world suggests that it is very difficult to make people give up their cars to any significant extent. In the U. S., mass-transit ridership and carpooling (合伙用车) have declined since World War II. Even in western Europe, with fuel prices averaging more than $ 1 a liter (about 54 a gallon) and with easily accessible mass transit and dense populations, cars still account for 80 percent of all passenger travel.

Improved energy efficiency is also appealing, but automotive fuel economy has barely made any proGREss in 10 years. Alternative fuels such as natural gas, burned in internal-combustion engines, could be introduced at relatively low cost, but they would lead to only marginal reductions in pollution and greenhouse emissions (especially because oil companies are already spending billions of dollars every year to develop less polluting types of gasoline.)

Questions:

6. From the passage we know that________will have serious consequences for the well-being of all nations.

7. The U. S. has to deal with the problems arising from vehicle use because________.

8. What is the best solution to the problems mentioned in the passage?

9. What is practical but only makes a marginal contribution to solving the problem of GREenhouse emissions?

10. How much GREenhouse gases do cars cause in the U. S.?