B. Reading Comprehension.
Passage One
Ron Barrister awoke once again with a slight ringing in his ears. After he showered and dressed, the condition got worse. He was also short of breath.
When he looked in the mirror to see if his tongue were coated or if there were some other signs of a cold coming on, he noticed that his eyes looked peculiar. He turned sideways and looked again. Sure enough, his eyes seemed to be bulging out.
He decided to explain his symptoms to Dr. Klien, the eye, ear, nose, and throat specialist.
Dr. Klien examined Ron very carefully. He took X-rays to see if he could find any reason for the bulging eyes, ringing ears, and shortness of breath.
After a complete examination he was stumped. Everything appeared normal and tests showed no signs of disorder. "Ron," he said, "I really can't find anything wrong, and I'm at a loss to explain your strange symptoms. However if you'd like another consultation, Dr. Brown is next door. She might be able to discover something I missed."
After another full examination, even Dr. Brown was stumped. "I can think of nothing to tell you except that you should be admitted to the hospital for a closer examination."
When Ron was being admitted to the hospital, the nurse asked him, "What size pajamas（睡衣） do you wear, Mr. Barrister?"
"I really don't know,"he replied.
"Well, do you know your shirt size?" She asked as she reached for a measuring tape.
"Yes," answered Ron, "I wear 15.5 collar with a ..."
The nurse measured his neck and said, "You mean a 16.5, don't you?"
"No," answered Ron, "I've always worn a 15.5 collar on all my shirts."
"O.K., but if you wear a 15.5 collar with your neck size, sooner or later you're surely going to have a ringing in your ears, bulging eyes, and you'll be short of breath."
1. Which of the following statements is not true according to the passage?
A) His ears were ringing.
B) He was short of breath.
C) He felt cold.
D) His eyes seemed to be bulging out.
2. In handling Ron Barrister's case, both Dr. Klein and Dr. Brown were ________ .
A) less observant B) experienced
C) confident D) very observant
3. Who solved Mr. Barrister's problems?
A) Dr. Klein. B) Dr. Brown.
C) Mr. Barrister himself. D) The nurse.
4. What was the cause of Mr. Barrister's discomfort?
A) His pajamas. B) His neck.
C) His shirts. D) His collars.
5. How many specialists did Ron Barrister visit before he was admitted to the hospital?
A) One. B) Two.
C) Three. D) Four.
Passage Two
The Man of Many Secrets - Harry Houdini - was one of the GREatest American entertainers in the theater this century. He was a man famous for his escapes - from prison cells, from wooden boxes floating in rivers, from locked tanks full of water. He appeared in theaters all over Europe and America. Crowds came to see the great Houdini and his "magic" tricks.
Of course, his secret was not magic, or supernatural powers. It was simply strength. He had ability to move his toes as well as he moved his fingers. He could move his body into almost any position he wanted.
Houdini started working in the entertainment world when he was 17, in 1891. He and his brother Theo performed card tricks in club in New York. They called themselves the Houdini brothers. When Harry married in 1894, he and his wife Bess worked together as magician and assistant. But for a long time they were not successful. Then Harry performed his first prison escape, in Chicago in 1898. Harry persuaded a detective to let him try to escape from the prison, and he invited the local newspaperman to watch.
It was the publicity that came from this that started Harry Houdini's success.
Harry had fingers trained to escape from handcuffs and toes trained to escape from ankle chains. But his biggest secret was how he unlocked the prison doors. Every time he went into the prison cell, Bess gave him a kiss for good luck - and a small skeleton key, which is a key that fits many locks, passed quickly from her mouth to his.
Harry used these prison escapes to build his fame. He arranged to escape from the local jail of every town he visited. In the afternoon, the people of the town would read about it in their local newspapers, and in the evening every seat in the local theater would be full．What was the result? World-wide fame, and a name remembered today.
6. According to the passage, Houdini's success
in prison escape depends on _______ .
A) his magic tricks and inhuman powers
B) his special tricks and a skeleton key
C) his unusual ability and skeleton key
D) his inhuman talents a and magic tricks
7. In the fourth paragraph, the word this refers
to ________ .
A) the previous sentence
B) "the publicity"
C) the place, Chicago
D) the time, 1898
8. According to the passage, how did Houdini
get the key which helped him unlock prison
door?
A) He kept the key in his mouth.
B) His wife passed it to his hand while
kissing him.
C) His wife gave it to him by a magic
trick.
D) He got it in his mouth through a kiss
from his wife.
9. It can be inferred from the passage that
Houdini became successful ________ .
A) before he was about 17
B) when he was about 17
C) after the year 1898
D) before the year 1898
10. According to the passage, which of the
following statements is not true?
A) Houdini used to be a famous magician
in the USA.
B) Houdini was first recognized widely in
Chicago.
C) Houdini first entered the entertainment
world together with his wife.
D) Houdini owed his GREat success to his
small skeleton key.
C. Short Answer Questions.
Passage One
The American Revolution was not a revolution in the sense of a radical or total change. It was not a sudden and violent overturning of the political and social framework, such as later occurred in France and Russia, when both were already independent nations. Significant changes were ushered in, but they were not breathtaking. What happened was accelerated evolution rather than outright revolution. During the conflict itself people went on working and praying, marrying and playing. Most of them were not seriously disturbed by the actual fighting, and many of the more isolated communities scarcely knew that a war was on.
America's War of Independence heralded the birth of three modern nations. One was Canada, which received its first large immigration of English-speaking population from the thousands of loyalists who fled there from the United States. Another was Australia, which became a penal colony now that America was no longer available for prisoners and debtors. The third newcomer - the United States - based itself solidly on republican principles.
Yet even the political overturn was not so revolutionary as one might suppose. In some states, notably Connecticut and Rhode Island, the war largely ratified a colonial self-rule already existing. British officials were replaced by a home-grown governing class, which promptly sought local substitutes for king and Parliament.
Questions:
1.What is the most appropriate title for the passage?
2.According to Paragraph 1, what does the author suggest about the French and Russian Revolutions?
3. In Paragraph 1, what does the author mean by"people went on working and praying, marrying and playing"?
4.In Paragraph 2, the author states that the colonies' struggle for self-government led to the creation of the following countries: _________ .
5.It can be inferred from the passage that the loyalists who escaped to Canada were _________ .
Passage Two
The advantage and disadvantages of a large population have long been a subject of discussion among economists. It has been argued that the supply of good land is limited. To feed a large population, inferior land must be cultivated and the good land worked intensively. Thus, each person produces less and this means a lower average income than could be obtained with a smaller population. Other economists have argued that a large population gives more scope for specialization and the development of facilities such as ports, roads and railways, which are not likely to be built unless there is a big demand to justify them.
One of the difficulties in carrying out a world?鄄wide birth control program lies in the fact that official attitudes to population growth vary from country to country depending on the level of industrial development and the availability of food and raw materials. In the developing country where a vastly expanded population is pressing hard upon the limits of food, space and natural resources, it will be the first concern of government to place a limit on the birthrate, whatever the consequences may be. In a highly industrialized society the problem may be more complex. A decreasing birthrate may lead to unemployment because it results in a declining market for manufactured goods. When the pressure of population on housing declines, prices also decline and the building industry in developed country may well prefer to see a slowly increasing population, rather than one which is stable or in decline.
Questions:
6. A small population may mean __________ .
7. According to the passage, a large population will provide a chance for developing _____ .
8. In a developing country, people will perhaps go out of work if the birthrate_________ .
9. According to the passage, slowly rising birthrate perhaps is good for _______ .
10. Why is it no easy job to carry out a general plan for birth control throughout the world?
D. Translation.
1. A woman wants the man in her life to be a true equal, someone, who respects her strengths, treats her weakness with kindness, and expects her to do the same for him.
2. If they are not sincere and do not practise what they preach, their children may grow confused, and emotionally insecure when they grow old enough to think for themselves, and realize they have been to some extent fooled.
3. If language were perfectly rational in this respect, we should be able to handle words like the nine digits in arithmetic, and combine them into sentences at pleasure by applying a few simple grammatical rules.
4. Parents who buy the watch may discover that it is one thing for children to tell time; it is quite another thing for them to be on time.
5. In spite of all stories of prosperity in the United States, not only does poverty exist there, but crimes of various types have been increasing at an alarming rate.
E. Writing.
Direction: Write a composition on the topic Science and Our Daily Life. You should write at least 120 words and base your composition on the outline given below:
1. 我们处在一个科学高度发展的时代；
2. 我们的日常生活离不开科学；
3. 我们要为科学的发展做贡献。
