基础提升考研真题阅读每日一篇(1)(2013.3.8)

1998 Passage 1

Few

creations

of big

technology

capture

the

imagination

like

giant

dams. Perhaps

it

is

humankind's

long

suffering

at

the

mercy

of

flood

and

drought

th

at

makes

the

ideal

of

forcing

the

waters

to

do

our

bidding

so

fascinating. But to be fascinated is also, sometimes, to be blind. Several giant dam projects threaten to do more

harm than g

ood.

The lesson from dams is th

at big is not always beautiful. It doesn

't h

elp that building a big, powerful dam has

become a symbol of achievement for nations an

d people striving to assert themselves. Egypt's leadership in the

Arab world was cemented by

the Aswan High Dam. Turkey's bid for First W

orld status includes the giant Ataturk

Dam.

But

big dams ten

d

not to

work as

intended.

Th

e

Aswan

Dam,

f

or example, stopped the Nile

flooding

but

deprived Egypt of the fertile silt that floods left

—

all in return for a giant reservoir of disease which is now so full

of silt that it barely generates electricity

.

And y

et, the myth of controlling the waters persists. This week, in the heart of civilized Europe, Slovaks and

Hungarians stopped just sh

ort of sending in the troops in their contention over a dam on the Danube. The huge

complex will probably have all the usu

al problems of big dams. But Slovakia is bidding for independence from

the Czechs, and now needs a dam to prov

e itself.

Meanwhile, in India, th

e W

orld Bank has given the g

o-ahead to th

e even more wrong-headed Narmada Dam.

And

the bank

has don

e

this

ev

en

though

its

advisors

say

the dam

will

cause

hardship

for

th

e

powerless and

environmental destru

ction. The benefits are for the powerful, but they

are far from guaranteed.

Proper

, scientific study of the impacts of dams an

d of the cost and benefits of controlling water can

help to

resolve these conflicts. Hy

droelectric power and flood control and irrigation are possible without building monster

dams. But when you are dealing with

myths, it is hard to be either proper

, or scientific. It is time that th

e world

learned the lessons of Aswan

. Y

ou

don

't need a dam to be saved.

51. The third sentence of paragraph 1 implies that ________.

[A] people would be happy if they shut their eyes to reality

[B] th

e blind could be happier th

an the sighted

[C] over-excited people tend to neglect vital things

[D] fascination makes people lose their eyesight

52. In paragraph 5,

[A] areas short of electricity

[B] dams without power stations

[C] poor countries around India

[D] common people in the Narmada Dam area

53. What is th

e myth concerning giant dams?

[A] Th

ey bring in more fertile soil.

[B] They

help defend the country

.

[C] They

strengthen international ties.

[D] Th

ey have universal control of the waters.

54. What the auth

or tries to suggest may best be interpreted as ________.

[A]

[B]

[C]

[D]

51.

[C]

意为：

过于兴

奋的人

容易忽

视极为

重要的

事情。

第一

段指 出

，

在重大

技术所

创造的

东西中

，

很少有