全国2007年1月高等教育自学考试英语阅读（二）试题







Ⅰ.Reading Comprehension. (50 points, 2 points for each)

Directions: In this part of the test, there are five passages. Following each passage, there are five questions with four choices marked A, B, C and D. Choose the best answer and then write the corresponding letter on your Answer Sheet.

Passage One

A boom economy coupled with dramatic changes in technology has created entirely new jobs and expanded opportunities in age-old professions. Many of these occupations -from computer programmers and Web page designers to chefs and police officers - don't require a bachelor's degree. Neither do many good jobs in the arts, crafts, skilled trades, construction, service industry, science, and health fields. Such jobs include: aircraft mechanic , cardiovascular technologist, electronic technician, law clerk, registered nurse , sales rep, secretary, travel agent .... This list goes on.

Jenna Novell, 21, is now full of career ideas thanks to a ten-month cosmetology program she attended at the Aveda Institute in Minneapolis. Although Novell got lots of career leads from salon recruiters at a career fair hosted by the institute, she didn't meet any from California - where she wants to live. So she plans to find a job out West on her own, perhaps in television or maybe doing makeup for fashion shows. Or selling cosmetics. Or managing a salon. "You'd be surprised how many occupations there are in this field, "she says.

High school students often don't understand there are so many options available to them, says Farr, author of America's Jobs for People Without a Four-Year Degree. "That's a shame. People who are interested in various things really can earn a decent living even if they don't want to go to college."

It's still true that people with more education, on average, earn more money. But 28% of workers without a four-year degree earn more than the average worker with a bachelor's degree, according to Harlow G Unger, author of But if I Don't Want to Go to College?, a guide to educational alternatives to college. And more and more computer-savvy young people are skipping college to join the high-tech revolution as computer network engineers, Internet entrepreneurs, and game designers.

Don't get the wrong idea. This doesn't mean you can waltz into a great job straight out of high school with no skills, training, or effort. To get a good job without a four-year degree, you still must have at least a solid high school education. "Even if you think you're not going to college, you still need to pay attention, "says Farr. "You need to know how to be part of a team, how to communicateeffectively, how to learn."

Questions 1-5 are based on Passage One.

1．Which of the following most likely requires a college degree?

A．A doctor.

B．A salesman.

C．A hairdresser.

D．A computer game designer.

2．What can be learnt from Novell's story?

A．She has just found an interesting job in the West.

B．She believes there are lots of jobs for her in the West.

C．College degree is not that important in getting a job.

D．There are more job opportunities with help from recruiters.

3．Mr. Farr says "That's a shame. People who are interested in ...". What does "that"refer to ?

A．Some people say high schools don't produce good employees.

B．Some people without college degrees don't do decent jobs.

C．Some high school students don't want to further their education in college.

D．Some high school leavers don't realize that there are lots of jobs for them.

4. Which of the following is NOT true?

A. People who don't have a college degree may sometimes earn more than those who have.

B. It is impossible for high school graduates to have high-tech jobs no matter how bright they are.

C. Without proper training, one with only high school diploma may not get well-paid jobs.

D. One needs to be serious with his high school study though he may not expect to go to college.

5. The author's purpose of writing this article is to show_______.

A. why college education is not as important as before

B. which kinds of people don't need college degrees

C. how to get good jobs for those without college degrees

D. what job opportunities are provided in western cities

Passage Two

Everybody loves a fat pay rise. Yet pleasure at your own can vanish if you learn that a colleague has been given a bigger one. Indeed, if he has a reputation for slacking, you might even be outraged. Such behavior is regarded as "all too human", with the underlyingassumption that other animals would not be capable of this finely developed sense of grievance. But a study by Sarah Brosnan and Frans de Waal of Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, which has just been published in Nature, suggests that it is all too monkey, as well.

The researchers studied the behavior of female brown capuchin monkeys. They look cute. They are good-natured, co-operative creatures, and they share their food tardily. Above all, like their female human counterparts, they tend to pay much closer attention to the value of "goods and services" than males. Such characteristics make them perfect candidates for Dr. Brosnan's and Dr. de Waal's study. The researchers spent two years teaching their monkeys to exchange tokens for food. Normally, the monkeys were happy enough to exchange pieces of rock for slices of cucumber. However, when two monkeys were placed in separate but adjoining chambers, so that each could observe what the other was getting in return for its rock, their behavior became markedly different.

In the world of capuchins grapes are luxury goods (and much preferable to cucumbers). So when one monkey was handed a grape in exchange for her token, the second was reluctant to hand hers over for a mere piece of cucumber. And if one received a grape without having to provide her token in exchange at all, the other either tossed her own token at the researcher or out of the chamber, or refused to accept the slice of cucumber. Indeed, the mere presence of a grape in the other chamber (without an actual monkey to eat it ) was enough to reduce resentment in a female capuchin.

The researches suggest that capuchin monkeys, like humans, are guided by social emotions. In the wild, they are a co-operative, group living species. Such co-operation is likely to be stable only when each animal feels it is not being cheated. Feelings of righteousindignation, it seems, are not the preserve of people alone, and refusing a lesser reward completely makes these feelings abundantly clear to other members of the group. However, whether such a sense of fairness evolved independently in capuchins and humans, or whether it stems from the common ancestor that the species had 35 million years ago, is, as yet, an unanswered question.

Questions 6-10 are based on Passage Two.

6. In the opening paragraph, the author introduces his topic by______.

A. posing a contrast

B. justifying an assumption

C. making a comparison

D. explaining a phenomenon

7. The statement "it is all too monkey" ( Paragraph 1 ) implies that______.

A. monkeys are also outraged by slack rivals

B. resenting unfairness is also monkeys' nature

C. monkeys, like humans, tend to be jealous of each other

D. no animals other than monkeys can develop such emotions

8. Female capuchin monkeys were chosen for the research most probably because they are______.

A. more inclined to weigh what they get

B. attentive to researchers' instructions

C. nice in both appearance and temperament

D. more generous than their male companions

9. Dr. Brosnan and Dr. de Waal have eventually found in their study that the monkeys______.

A. prefer grapes to cucumbers

B. can be taught to exchange things

C. will not be co-operative if feeling cheated

D. are unhappy when separated from others

10. What can we infer from the last paragraph?

A. Monkeys can be trained to develop social emotions.

B. Human indignation evolved from an uncertain source.

C. Animals usually show their feelings openly as humans do.

D. Cooperation among monkeys remains stable only in the wild.

Passage Three

The temperature of the Sun is over 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit at the surface, but it rises to perhaps more than 16 million degrees at the center. The Sun is so much hotter than the Earth that matter can exist only as a gas except at the core. In the core of the Sun, the pressures are so great against the gases that, despite high temperature, there may be a small solid core. However, no one really knows, since the center of the Sun can never be directly observed.

Solar astronomers do know that the Sun is divided into five layers or zones. Starting at the outside and going down into the Sun, the zones are the corona, chromosphere, photosphere, convection zone, and finally the core. The first three zones are regarded as the Sun's atmosphere. But since the Sun has no solid surface, it is hard to tell where the atmosphere ends and the main body of the Sun begins.

The Sun's outermost layer begins about 10,000 miles above the visible surface and goes outward for millions of miles. This is the only part of the Sun that can be seen during an eclipse such as the one in February 1979. At any other time, the corona can be seen only when special instruments are used on cameras and telescopes to shut out the glare of the Sun's rays.

The corona is a brilliant, pearly white, filmy light, about as bright as the full Moon. Its beautiful rays are a sensational sight during an eclipse. The corona's rays flash out in a brilliant fan that has wispy spikelike rays near the Sun's north and south poles. The corona is thickest at the Sun's equator.

The corona rays are made up of gases streaming outward at tremendous speeds and reaching a temperature of more than 2 million degrees Fahrenheit. The rays of gas thin out as they reach the space around the planets. By the time the Sun's corona rays reach the Earth, they are weak and invisible.

Questions 11-15 are based on Passage Three.

11. Matter on the Sun can exist only in the form of gas because of the Sun's______.

A. size B. age

C. location D. temperature

12. With what topic is the second paragraph mainly concerned ?

A. The evolution of the Sun.

B. The structure of the Sun.

C. The scientific study of the Sun.

D. The distance of the Sun from the planets.

13. All of the following are parts of the Sun's atmosphere EXCEPT the______.

A. corona B. chromosphere

C. photosphere D. core

14.As the corona rays reach the planets they become______.

A. hotter B. clearer

C. thinner D. stronger

15. What writing style is used in this passage?

A. Popular science. B. Science fiction.

C. Pure science. D. Applied science.

Passage Four

From good reading we can derive pleasure, companionship, experience and instruction. A good book may absorb our attention so completely for the time being that we forget our surroundings and even our identity. Reading good books is one of the greatest pleasures in life. It increases our contentment when we are cheerful, and lessens our troubles when we are sad. Whatever may be our main purpose in reading, our contact with good books should never fail to give us enjoyment and satisfaction.

With a good book in our hands we need never be lonely. Whether the characters portrayed are taken from real life or are purely imaginary, they may become our companions and friends. In the pages of books we can walk with the wise and the good of all lands and all times. The people we meet in books may delight us either because they resemble human friends whom we hold dear or because they present unfamiliar types whom we are glad to welcome as new acquaintances. Our human friends sometimes may bore us, but the friends we make in books never weary us with their company. By turning the page we can dismiss them without any fear of hurting their feelings. When human friends desert us, good books are always ready to give us friendship, sympathy and encouragement.

One of the most valuable gifts bestowed by books is experience. Few of us can travel far from home or have a wide range of experiences, but all of us can lead varied lives through the pages of books. Whether we wish to escape from the seemingly dull realities of everyday life or whether we long to visit some far-off place, a book will help us when nothing else can. To travel by book we need no bank account to pay our way, no airship or ocean liner or stream-lined train to transport us, no passport to enter the land of our heart's desire. Through books we may get the thrill of hazardous adventure without danger. We can climb lofty mountains; brave the perils of an Antarctic winter, or cross the scorching sands of the desert, all without hardship. In books we may visit the studios of Hollywood; we may mingle with the gay throngs of the Paris boulevards; we may join the picturesque peasants in an Alpine village or the kindly natives on a South Sea island. Indeed through books the whole world is ours for the asking. The possibilities of our literary experiences are almost limited" title="a.无限的；过渡的">unlimited. The beauties of nature, the enjoyment of the music, the triumphs of architecture, the marvels of engineering, are all open to the wonder and enjoyment of those who read.

Questions 16-20 are based on Passage Four.

16. In the first paragraph, we are told that______.

A. we should always read good books, not bad ones

B. happiness can be derived only from reading

C. enjoyment can be achieved by reading good books

D. reading good books is very important in one's life

17. Why do we sometimes forget our surroundings and identity while reading?

A. Nobody comes to disturb you.

B. Everything is quiet around you.

C. You are reading very fast.

D. You are absorbed in the book.

18. According to the writer, ______portrayed in books may become our companions

and friends.

A. all characters, real and imaginary,

B. only real characters

C. only imaginary characters

D. none of the characters

19. Why do people like their acquaintances in books even more?

A. They resemble human friends.

B. They are the type we like.

C. They never desert us.

D. They never hurt our feelings.

20. "... the whole world is ours for the asking" implies that______.

A. in books the world is more accessible to us

B. we can ask to go anywhere in the world

C. we can make a claim to everything in this world

D. we can make a round-the-world trip free of charge

Passage Five

We were pleased to see the Defense Department finally recognize the power of the Supreme Court over prisoners of the military and order the armed forces to follow the Geneva Conventions requirement of decent treatment for all prisoners, even terrorism suspects. It was a real step forward for an administration that tossed aside the Geneva rules years ago and then tried to place itself beyond the reach of the courts.