专四阅读训练

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专四阅读理解练习

（一）

the discovery of the antarctic not only proved one of the most interesting of all

geographical

adventures,

but

created

what

might

be

called

“

the

heroic

age

of

antarctic

exploration

”

.

by

their

tremendous

heroism,

men

such

as

shakleton,

scott,

and amundsen caused a new continent to emerge from the shadows, and yet that heroic

age,

little

more

than

a

century

old,

is

already

passing.

modern

science

and

inventions

are

revolutionizing

the

endurance,

future

journeys

into

these

icy

wastes

will

probably depend on motor

vehicles

equipped with caterpillar traction rather than

on

the dogs that earlier discoverers found so invaluable and hardly comparable.

few

realize

that

this

antarctic

continent

is

almost

equal

in

size

to

south

america,

and enormous field of work awaits geographers and prospectors. the coasts of this

continent

remain

to

be

accurately

charted,

and

the

maping

of

the

whole

of

the

interior

presents a formidable task to the cartographers who undertake the work. once their

labors

are

completed,

it

will

be

possible

to

prospect

the

vast

natural

resources

which

scientists believe will furnish one of the largest treasure hoards of metals and

minerals the world has yet known, and almost inexhaustible sources of copper, coal,

uranium,

and

many

other

ores

will

become

available

to

man.

such

discoveries

will

usher

in an era of practical exploitation of the antarctic wastes.

the polar darkness which hides this continent for the six winter months will be

defeated

by

huge

batteries

of

light,

and

make

possible

the

establishing

of

air-fields

for

the

future

inter- continental

air

services

by

making

these

areas

as

light

as

day.

present flying routes will

be

completely

changed, for the antarctic refueling bases

will make flights from australia to south america comparatively easy over the 5,000

miles journey.

the climate is not likely to offer an insuperable problem, for the explorer

admiral

byrd

has

shown

that

the

climate

is

possible

even

for

men

completely

untrained

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for

expeditions

into

those

frozen

wastes.

some

of

his

parties

were

men

who

had

never

seen snow before, and yet he records that they survived the rigors of the antarctic

climate

comfortably,

so

that,

provided

that

the

appropriate

installations

are

made,

we

may

assume

that

human

beings

from

all

countries

could

live

there

safely.

byrd

even

affirms that it is probably the most healthy climate in the world, for the intense

cold of thousands of years has sterilize this continent, and rendered it absolutely

germfree,

with

the

consequences

that

ordinary

and

extraordinary

sickness

and

diseases

from

which

man

suffers

in

other

zones

with

different

climates

are

here

utterly

unknown.

there exist no problems of conservation and preservation of food supplies, for the

latter

keep

indefinitely

without

any

signs

of

deterioration;

it

may

even

be

that

later

generations

will

come

to

regard

the

antarctic

as

the

natural

storehouse

for

the

whole

world.

plans

are

already

on

foot

to

set

up

permanent

bases

on

the

shores

of

this

continent,

and what so few years ago was regarded as a

“

dead continent

”

now promises to be

a most active center of human life and endeavor.

did man begin to explore the antarctic

100years ago.

this century.

the beginning of the 19th century.

1798.

must the explorers be, even though they have modern equipment and techniques

and tough

and arrogant.

and humorous.

and smart.

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most healthy climate in the world is___.

south america.

the arctic region.

the antarctic continent.

the atlantic ocean.

kind of metals and minerals can we find in the antarctic

, coal and ores.

, coal and uranium.

, natural gas and uranium.

, copper and natural gas.

is planned for the continent

dams along the coasts.

up several summer resorts along the coasts.

the coast and whole territory.

up permanent bases on the coasts.

（二）

without regular supplies of some hormones our capacity to behave would be seriously

impaired;

without

others

we

would

soon

die.

tiny

amounts

of

some

hormones

can

modify

moods

and

actions,

our

inclination

to

eat

or

drink,

our

aggressiveness

or

submissiveness,

and

our

reproductive

and

parental

behavior.

and

hormones

do

more

than

influence adult behavior; early in life they help to determine the development of

bodily form and may

even determine

an individual

’

s

behavioral capacities. later

in

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life

the

changing

outputs

of

some

endocrine

glands

and

the

body

’

s

changing

sensitivity

to some hormones are essential aspects of the phenomena of aging.

communication within the body and the consequent integration of behavior were

considered the exclusive province of the nervous system up to the beginning of the

present

century.

the

emergence

of

endocrinology

as

a

separate

discipline

can

probably

be traced to the experiments of bayliss and starling on the hormone secretion. this

substance

is

secreted

from

cells

in

the

intestinal

walls

when

food

enters

the

stomach;

it

travels

through

the

bloodstream

and

stimulates

the

pancreas

to

liberate

pancreatic

juice,

which

aids

in

digestion.

by

showing

that

special

cells

secret

chemical

agents

that are conveyed by the bloodstream and regulate distant target organs or tissues.

bayliss and starling demonstrated that chemical integration could occur without

participation of the nervous system.

the

term

“

hormone

”

was

first

used

with

reference

to

secretion.

starling

derived

the term from the greek hormone, meaning

“

to excite or set in motion. the term

“

endocrine

”

was introduced shortly thereafter

“

< br>endocrine

”

is used to refer to

glands that secret products into the bloodstream. the term

“

endocrine

”

contrasts

with

“

exocrine

”

,

which

is

applied

to

glands

that

secret

their

products

though

ducts

to the site of action. examples of exocrine glands are the tear glands, the sweat

glands, and the pancreas, which secrets pancreatic juice through a duct into the

intestine. exocrine glands are also called duct glands, while endocrine glands are

called ductless.

is the author

’

s main purpose in the passage

？

explain the specific functions of various hormones.

provide general information about hormones.

explain how the term

hormone

”

evolved.

report on experiments in endocrinology.

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passage supports which of the following conclusions

？

human body requires large amounts of most hormones.

hormones can replace a person

’

s natural supply of hormones if necessary.

quantity of hormones produced and their effects on the body are related to a

person

’

s age.

short

child

of

tall

parents

very

likely

had

a

hormone

deficiency

early

in

life.

can be inferred from the passage that before the bayliss and starling experiments,

most people believed that chemical integration occurred only___.

sleep.

the endocrine glands.

control of the nervous system.

strenuous exercise.

word

“

liberate

”

could best be replaced by which of the following

？

to the passage another term for exocrine glands is___.

glands

glands

glands

glands.

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（三）

if

the

old

maxim

that

the

customer

is

always

right

still

has

meaning,

then

the

airlines

that ply the world

’

s busiest air route between london and paris have a flight on

their hands.

the eurostar train service linking the uk and french capitals via the channel

tunnel is winning customers in increasing numbers. in late may, it carried its one

millionth passenger, having run only a limited service between london, paris and

brussels since november 1994, starting with two trains a day in each direction to

paris

and

brussels.

by

1997,

the

company

believes

that

it

will

be

carrying

ten

million

passengers a year, and continue to grow from there.

from

july,

eurostar

steps

its

service

to

nine

trains

each

way

between

london

and

paris,

and

five

between

london

and

brussels.

each

train

carries

almost

800

passengers,

210 of them in first class.

the airlines estimate that they will initially lose around 15%-20% of their

london-paris traffic to the railways once eurostar starts a full service later this

year

(1995),

with

15

trains

a

day

each

way.

a

similar

service

will

start

to

brussels.

the damage will be limited, however, the airlines believe, with passenger numbers

returning to previous levels within two to three years.

in the short term, the damage caused by the 1 million people-levels traveling

between

london

and

paris

and

brussels

on

eurostar

trains

means

that

some

air

services

are already suffering. some of the major carriers say that their passenger numbers

are

down

by

less

than

5%

and

point

to

their

rivals-particularly

air

france-as

having

suffered the problems. on the brussels route, the railway company had less success,

and the airlines report anything from around a 5% drop to no visible decline in

traffic.

the

airlines'

optimism

on

returning

traffic

levels

is

based

on

historical

precedent. british midland, for

example,

points

to its experience on heathrow leeds

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