-
Passage 1
Everyone has
heard of the San Andreas fault
(
断层)
, which
constantly threatens
California and the
West
Coast with earthquakes.
But how many people know about
the equally serious New Madrid fault in
Missouri?
Between
December
of
1811
and
February
of
1812,
three
major
earthquakes
occurred, all
centered around the town of New Madrid, Missouri,
on the Mississippi
River.
Property
damage
was
severe.
Buildings
in
the
area
were
almost
destroyed.
Whole forests
fell at once, and huge cracks opened in the
ground, allowing smell of
sulfur
(硫磺)
to
filter upward.
The
Mississippi
River
itself
completely
changed
character,
developing
sudden
rapids
and
whirlpools.
Several
times
it
changed
its
course,
and
once,
according
to
some observers, it
actually appeared to run people were killed in
the
New
Marid
earthquakes,
probably
simply
because
few
people
lived
in
the
area
in
1811; but the severity of
the earthquakes are shown by the fact that the
shock waves
rang
bells
in
church
towers
in
Charleston,
South
Carolina,
on
the
coast.
Buildings
shook in New York
City, and clocks wer stopped in Washington, D.C.
Scientists now
know that America's two
major faults are essentially different. The San
Andreas is a
horizontal
boundary
between
two
major
land
masses
that
are
slowly
moving
in
opposite
directions.
California
earthquakes
result
when
the
movement
of
these
two
masses suddenly lurches
(倾斜)
forward.
The
New
Madrid
fault,
on
the
other
hand,
is
a
vertical
fault;
at
some
points,
possibly hundreds of millions of years
ago, rock was pushed up toward the surface,
probably by volcanoes under the
surface. Suddenly, the volcanoes cooled and the
rock
collapsed,
leaving
huge
cracks.
Even
now,
the
rock
continues
to
settle
downwards,
and sudden sinking motions trigger
(
触发)
earthquakes in the region. The fault
itself,
a large crack in this layer of
rock, with dozens of other cracks that split off
from it,
extends from northeastArkansas
through Missouri and into southern lllinois.
Scientists who have studied the New
Madrid fault say there have been numerous
smaller quakes in the area since 1811;
these smaller quakes indicate that larger ones
are probably coming, but the scientists
say have no method of predictingwhen a large
earthquake will occur.
1. This passage
is mainly about
C
.
New Madrid
fault in Missouri
causes of
faults
San Andreas and the New Madrid
faults
t scientific knowledge
about fault
2. The New Madrid fault is
A
.
A.a vertical
fault
B.a horizontal fault
C.a more serious fault than
the San Andreas fault
sible
for forming the Mississippi River
3. We may
conclude from the passage that
C
.
rnia will become an island in future
New Madrid fault will
eventually develop a mountain range in Missouri
is probably as
dangerous to live in Missouri as in
California
D.A big
earthquake will occur to California
soon
4. This passage implies that
B
.
ntal faults are more dangerous than
vertical faults.
al faults
are more dangerous than horizontal faults
rnia will break into pieces
by an eventual earthquake
uakes occur only around fault
areas
5. As used in
the first sentence of the fourth paragraph, the
word essentially
means
C
.
A.
greatly
lly
ely
arily
Passage 2
In 1960-1961, Chad
(乍得)
harvested
9800 tons of cotton seed for the first
time in its history, and put out the
flag a little too soon. The efforts of the
authorities
to get the peasants back to
work, as they had slacked off
(松懈)
a great deal
the
previous year during independence
celebrations, largely contributed to it. Also,
rains
were
well
spaced,
and
continued
through
the
whole
month
of
October.
If
the
1961-1962
total
is
back
to
the
region
of
45000
tons,
it
is
mostly
because
efforts
slackened again and sowing was started
too late.
The
average
date
of
sowing
is
about
July
1st.
If
this
date
is
simply
moved
up
fifteen or twenty days,
30000 to 60000 tons of cotton are gained,
depending on the
year. The peasant in
Chad sows his millet
(小米)
first, and it is hard to criticize this
instinctive priority given to his daily
bread. An essential reason for his lateness with
sowing cotton is that at the time when
he should leave to prepare the fields he has just
barely sold the cotton of the previous
season. The work required to sow, in great heat,
is
psychologically far more
difficult if one's pockets
are full
of money. The date of
cotton
sales should therefore be moved forward as much as
possible, and purchases of
equipment
and draught animals encouraged.
Peasants
should
also
be
encouraged
to
save
money,
to
help
them
through
the
difficult
period
between
harvests.
If
necessary
they
should
be
forced
to
do
so,
by
having the payments for
cotton given to them in installments
(分期付款)
. The last
payment would be made after proof that
the peasant has planted before the deadline,
the date being advanced to the end of
June. Those who have done so would receive
extra money whereas the last planters
would not receive their last payment until later.
Only the first steps are hard, because
once work has started the peasants continue
willingly
on
their
way.
Educational
campaigns
among
the
peasants
will
play
an
essential
role in this basic advance, early sowing, on which
all the others depend. It is
not a
matter of controlling the peasants. Each peasant
will remain master of his fields.
One
could, however, suggest the need for the time
being of kind but firm rule, which,
as
long as it cannot be realized by the people,
should at least be for the people.
6. In
1960-1961, Chad had a good harvest of cotton
because
C
.
government greatly encouraged peasants
favored the growth of
cotton
A
)
and
B
)
gained independence in the previous
year
7. We learn from the passage that the
date of sowing cotton is usually
B
.
A. on June 15th
B.
on July 1st
C. on July
15th
July 20th
8.
As
used
in
the
third
sentence
of
the
second
paragraph,daily
breadrefers
to
C
.
ast
and
butter
9. In order to
help them through the difficult time between
harvests the peasants have
to
A
.
encouraged to save money
cotton in advance
cotton in time
millet
first
10. Which
of the following is NOT true?
C
ional campaigns are very important to
early sowing.
ts should
remain the masters of their fields.
all the advances that the writer hopes
for, early sowing is the most important.
ment might as
well make good and firm rule for peasants.
Passage 3
For
most people learning to drive, the driving test
arises ahead as a major barrier.
It
is
also
a
general
source
of
conversation
whenever
drivers
are
gathered
together.
There
are
probably
more
tall
stories
about
the
driving
test
than
about
any
other
motoring
subjects;
the
most
remarkable
thing
about
those
stories
is
the
number
of
times
the
old
ones
appear
again,
years
after
they
were
first
heard,
in
new
and
exaggerated forms.
All driving examiners have had to pass
a very strict selection process, followed
by
at
least
six
weeks'
training.
In
the
course
of
this
training
the
Department
makes
sure that their driving is of a
consistently high standard.
Driving test centers are chosen with
equal care. It would be nice to have centers
and examiners town by town. But this is
just not possible, because the centers have to
be
at
places
where
there
is
enough
parking
space
for
candidates
(
考生
)
and
where
there
are enough test routes. Routes are carefully
chosen to make sure that they are all
roughly
comparable-the
proportion
of
right
and
left
turns,
hills,
pedestrian
(
行人
)
crossings and so on. The object of all
this is to make sure, as far as possible, that all
candidates in the driving test have to
cope with the same sort of conditions whether
they take the test in New York or
California.
The
work
that
examiners
do
in
actually
carrying
out
tests
is
checked
continuously by
supervising examiners. This is to make as sure as
possible that every
candidate for the
driving test has a proper and equal chance of
showing the examiner,
in the words of
the Regulations,
with
due
consideration
for
other
users
of
the
road.
This
is
all
that
the
examiner
is
concerned with.
11. It can be learned from the passage
that ___A____.
A. whenever
people learning to drive get together, they often
talk about the driving
test
B. new and exaggerated stories about
the test are always appearing
C. there are more tall stories about
the driving test than any other subject
D. the same stories about
the test reappear years later
12. According to the passage, driving
examiners ___C____.
A. are
trained for six weeks, then have a difficult
selection interview
B. are
given regular driving tests themselves by
supervising examiners
C.
sometimes have more than six weeks' training
D. are tested during the
selection process to see if their driving is of a
high standard
13. There
isn't a test center in every town because
____D____.
A. some
examiners can go to occasional centers from the
permanent centers
B. routes
and conditions have to be the same everywhere
C. there has to be enough
parking space for the candidates and the examiners
D. not every town could
provide enough test routes close to permanent
centers
14. We can judge
from this passage that ___D_____.
A. the detailed records are checked
after each test by a supervising examiner
B. sometimes candidates are
tested by a supervising examiner
C. it's true that some examiners never
pass anyone on Thursday afternoons
D. examiners are only concerned with a
candidate's ability to drive
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
上一篇:中班英语自然拼读作业2
下一篇:2021年寒假假期的英语作文