-
大学英语教研室
2
012
年
12
月
Part I Reading comprehension
Passage 1
When
it
comes
to
health,
the
poor
are
doubly
cursed.
Not
only
are
they
more
prone
to
deadly
infectious
diseases than the
rich, but they have far less access to the means
of improvement. Twenty years ago, Paul Farmer,
an
American
doctor
and
anthro
pologist(
人类学者
),
set
out
to
do
something
about
this.
Amid
the
political
turmoil(
混乱
)and
poverty of rural Haiti, he created a community
based health care system called Zanmi Lasante,
or Partners in Health. It not only
delivers appropriate, affordable medical treatment
to thousands of poor people,
but goes
beyond the clinic to address the social causes
making them sick and keeping them from getting
better.
As Dr.
Farmer
argues,
improving
the
health
of
the
poor
is
not
just a
medical
challenge, but
a
question
of
human
rights. Tackling the inequality, racism, sexism
and other forms of
―
structural
violence
‖
which oppress the
poor is as critical as extending the
drugs. Or as his Haiti patients put it, medicine
without food is like washing
one’s
hands and drying them in the dirt.
Unfortunately,
Dr.
Farmer
’
s
powerful
message
is
often
weakened
by
his
book
’
s
academic
tone.
It
does,
however, scream out in
passages describing the human face of
―
structural
violence
‖
. It is these
personal stories
that make Dr.
Farmer
’
s anger at such
―
st
upid deaths‖
so compelling.
The
good
doctor
’
s
motives
and
methods
are
better
described
in
Mountains
Beyond
Mountains.
This
biography
by
Tracy
Kidder
traces
Dr.
Farmer
from
his
unconventional
upbringing
and
unusual
education,
shuttling
(
来回穿梭于
) between the shacks
of central Haiti and the halls of Harvard Medical
School, to his later
work
around
the
world.
Though
well
written,
Mr.
Kidder’s
book
also
makes
for
uncomfortable
reading.
The
author
is
clearly
close
to
his
subject,
having
traveled
with
Dr.
Farmer
from
the
green
poverty
of
Haiti
to
the
tubercular
whiteness of Russia. Too close, perhaps. The
biographer seems to be seeking his subject’s
approval,
rather than the other way
round. Mr. Kidder writes, rather disturbingly,
about his fear of disappointing Dr. Farmer,
his own pain at wounding him with a
critical remark and his relief at the doctor’s
forgiveness.
When Mr. Kidder
’
s
health falls, this dependence becomes all the more
intense. But rather than compromise
the
book
’
s
equity(
公正
),
this
intimacy
serves
to
highlight
Dr.
Farmer
’
s
admirable,
yet
ultimately
irritating,
character. As Mr. Kidder observes,
―
Farme
r wasn’t
put on earth to make anyone feel comfortable,
except those
lucky enough to be his
patients or those unlucky enough to need
him.‖
1. What makes the
―
Partners in
Health
‖
system unique
compared with traditional hospitals?
A) It makes attempts to help the poor
on a social level.
B) It is
aimed at treating poor people for free.
C) It is designed to help
the poor rise from poverty.
D) It offers community help
to those who are poor.
2. What can be
inferred from the last sentence of the second
paragraph?
A) Hands should
not be dried in the dirt after washing.
B) Medicine is also needed
for cleaning hands.
C)
Medicine is not a long term cure to their poor
health.
D) Food can cure
their disease better than any medicine.
3. The disadvantage of Dr.
Farmer
’
s book seems to be
that_________.
A) the plots
in the book are not attractive enough
B) the way he tells the stories is not
compelling enough
C) the
anger he expresses at
D)
the tone is not strong enough to arouse people's
attention
4. Mr.
Kidder
’
s book also makes for
uncomfortable reading because _________ .
A) Mr. Kidder himself has
never been involved in Dr.
Farmer
’
s life
B) Mr. Kidder is afraid of making true
comments on Dr. Farmer
C)
Mr. Kidder
’
s emotions
prevent him from independent writing
D) Mr. Kidder is always waiting for Dr.
Farmer
’
s forgiveness
5. It can be inferred from the last
paragraph that _________ .
A) Dr. Farmer only helped those who are
lucky enough
B) Dr. Farmer
may have severely criticized the society
C) Dr. Farmer was not
actually making his patients comfortable
D) Dr. Farmer's job is not
to make people comfortable
Passage 2
Many
visitors
finds
the
fast
pace
at
which American
people
move
very
troubling.
One's
first
impression
is
likely to be that
everyone is in a rush .City people always appear
to be hurrying to get where they are going and
are very impatient if they are delayed
even for a brief moment.
At
first, this may seem unfriendly to you. But
drivers will rush you; storekeepers will be in a
hurry as they serve
you; people will
push past you as they walk along the street. You
will miss smiles, brief conversations with people
as you shop or dine away from home. Do
not think that because Americans are in such a
hurry they are unfriendly.
Often, life
is much slower outside the big cities, as is true
in other countries as well.
Americans who
live in cities such as New York, Chicago, or Los
Angeles, often think that everyone is equally
in a hurry to get things done; they
expect others to
for example . But when
they discover that you are a stranger, most
Americans become quite kindly and will take
great care to help you. Many of them
first came to the city as strangers and they
remember how frightening a new
city can
be .If you need help or want to ask a question ,
choose a friendly looking person and
say,
here. Can you help me?
Most people
will stop, smile at you, and help you find you way
or answer your questions. But you must let
them know that you need help. Otherwise
they are likely to pass you by, not noticing that
you are new to the city
and in need of
help. Occasionally, you may find someone too busy
or perhaps too rushed to give you aid. If this
happens, do not be discouraged; just
ask someone else. Most Americans enjoy helping a
stranger.
1. Many people who first
visit the United States will find that _______.
A) America is a highly developed
country
B) American city people seem to
be always in a rush
C) the fast pace in
American life often causes much trouble
D) Americans are impatient and
unfriendly people
the author says
A) you will fail to notice that
Americans are pleasant and happy
B) you
will be puzzled why Americans do not smile at you
C) you will feel that Americans do not
seem very friendly
D) you will find
that Americans don't have much sense of humor
3. In the author's opinion,
___________.
A) it is true that life in
New York is much faster than that in any other
city
B) people living outside big
cities are lazy and miserable
C) most
American people enjoy living in the suburbs of big
cities
D) those who are busy are not
necessarily unfriendly
2
4. The author mentions big cities such
as Tokyo, Singapore and Paris ___________.
A) to show that city people all over
the world have a lot in common
B) to
let his readers be aware that they are some of the
world's biggest cities
C) to illustrate
their difference from American cities
D) because they are some of the cities
that attract visitors most
5. If you
say to an American that you are a stranger there,
most probably be will _________.
A)
offer his help
B) stop smiling
at you
C) help you find the way
D) reply that
he is pleased to meet you
Passage 3
The thousands of
people forced to abandon their homes in recent
weeks to floodwaters are victims not just of
nature
but
of
human
error
as
well.
Years
of
mismanagement
of
the
vast
Mississippi
River
ecosystem
---
the
continuous and often inadvisable
construction of
levees
(
堤坝
) and
navigation
(
导航
) channels, the paving
over of
wetlands, the commercial
development of flood plains --- have made the
damage worse than it might otherwise
have been.
The Obama
administration is now completing an inspection of
the guidelines governing dams, levees and
other water-related projects built with
federal money.
Historically, projects
had been shaped by two main factors: the Army
Corps of Engineers
’
conviction that
nature
can
be
subdued
by
levees
and
dams,
and
its
reflexive
green-lighting
of
any
flood
control
project
that
encouraged commercial or agricultural
development. The new rules, Congress said, should
require the Corps and
other
federal
agencies
to
give
equal
weight
to
less
easily
measurable
benefits
like
wildlife
habitat
and
to
―
nonstructural
‖
solutions
to flood control like preserving wetlands, flood
plains and other
―
natural
systems.
‖
To give
the Corps its due, it has performed nobly in the
present emergency. Its main-stem levees have held.
Its decision to blow holes in levees
guarding the New Madrid floodway in Missouri
clearly saved Cairo, Illinois,
and
other places downstream. These methods had long
been part of Corps emergency plans, and they
worked.
The
question
the
environmental
community
and
many
in
Congress
are
asking
is
whether
this
would
have
been
necessary if the river had been better managed. In
populated areas, some levees were built solely to
attract
more development, while others
closed off flood plains that could have acted as a
natural safety valve.
Meanwhile, over
the years, the upper Mississippi watershed has
lost millions of acres of wetlands that could
have served as a natural sponge for
floodwaters.
So-called 100-year floods
seemed to be hitting the Mississippi with scary
regularity --- a $$16 billion flood in
1993,
a
bad
one
in
2001,
another
in
2008,
and
now
this
one.
Climate
change,
which
some
suspect
of
causing
violent downpours,
may be part of the problem, though the connection
is unclear. What is clear is that we should
learn from our mistake, let nature help
out where it can, and not build or farm in places
where it makes no sense to
do so. As
the saying goes, nobody ever beats the river.
1. Why have the levees, navigation
channels, etc. made the situation worse?
A)
Because the development of them only emphasizes
economic benefits.
B) Because the design and
construction of them are unrealistic.
C) Because they
haven
’
t met the actual
demand of people nearby.
D) Because they are a wrong
management of the ecosystem.
2. What is
the Congress
’
s suggestion to
the Corps and federal agencies?
A) They should
pay equal attention to nature and its function.
B)
They should encourage commercial and agricultural
development.
C) They should replace their projects
with
―nonstructural‖
solutions.
D) They should give wildlife habitat
more attention and protection.
3. What
is the author
’
s assessment
of the Corps?
A) It has done nothing useful in flood
control.
3
B) It has
caused great damage to ecosystem.
C) It has
played an important role in emergency.
D) It has
justified its projects effectively.
4.
What function are flood plains supposed to
fulfill?
A) Expanding populated areas.
B) Acting as a
natural safety valve.
C) Attracting more
development.
D) Closing off
some levees.
5. What can we learn from
the last paragraph about climate change?
A)
It has nothing to do with the violent downpours
and floods.
B) It is the main cause of the violent
downpours and floods.
C) It has been proved to be
related to violent downpours and floods.
D)
It may be part of the reason causing violent
downpours and floods.
Passage 4
No one knows for sure why birds
migrate. One theory of migration says that ancient
birds of the northern
part of the earth
were forced southward during the ice age, when ice
covered large parts of
Europe
，
Asia and north
America. as the ice
melted
，
the birds came back
to their homelands, spent the summer, and then
went south again
in winter. Gradually,
these comings and goings became habits, and birds
now migrate though much of the ice has
gone.
Another theory
proposes that the ancient home of all modern birds
was the tropic areas. There they lived so well
that the region became overcrowded.
Many species had to move northward. During the
summer
，
these birds found
plenty of room and food. In winter
，
however
，
fo
od became scarce and they had to return to the
south.
A newer theory
is that increasing daylight stimulates certain
glands(
腺
) in the bird's body
and prepares it for
migration. One
scientist is able to make birds migrate in
midwinter by exposing them for two months to
artificial
daylight. Recoveries of
marked birds indicate that they fly north as soon
as they are set free. The conclusion is that
the urge to migrate is determined by
changes in the bi
rd’s body which take
place under seasonal changes in the
length of daylight.
This
theory would account for the fact that not all
birds migrate at the same time. Each species seems
to have its
own schedule. The theory
would also account for the regular time and routes
of migration. Birds arrive at a given
place
year
after
year.
Unfavorable
weather
delays
them
only
a
few
days.
Total
hours
of
daylight
，
rather
than
weather
，
start
them on the way.
How birds
find their way to the same place year after year
and why they follow their own particular route are
still
mysteries. They evidently do not
follow known landmarks
，
for
many young birds migrate alone without the help
of experienced adults.
1. We
can conclude from the first paragraph that ______.
A) during the ice age, the
whole Europe was covered with ice
B) the south used to be the homelands
of all birds
C) scientists
can confidently explain why birds migrate now
D) migration of birds can
be explained by the change of ice on earth.
2. The birds mentioned in
the third paragraph fly north in midwinter because
______.
A) they are
specially trained by a scientist
B) they are affected by
seasonal changes
C) there
is a change in their body temperature
D) they are
exposed to extra daylight
3. The
phrase ―account
for‖(line 2
，
Para. 4) most probably means ______.
A) indicate
B) explain
C)
prove
D) provide
4. Which of the following can not be
inferred from the passage
？
A) birds do not migrate at
the same time.
B) birds
usually follow regular routes of migration.
C) each species has a
special reason for migration.
4
D) birds
migrate to their own particular places every year.
5. The best title for the
passage is ______.
A)
different accounts of migration
B)
migration and weather
C)
new discovery of bird migration
D) routes of
bird migration
Passage 5
Art
is considered by many people to be little more
than a
decorative
means of
giving pleasure. This is not
always the
case, however; at times, art may be seen to have a
purely functional side as well. Such could be said
of
the sand-paintings of the Navaho
Indians of the American Southwest; these have a
medical as well as an artistic
purpose.
According to Navaho
traditions, one who suffers from either a mental
or a physical illness has in some way
disturbed or come in contact with the s
upernatural(
超自然的
)
—
perhaps a certain animal, a ghost, or
the dead. To
counteract this evil
contact, the ill person or one of his relatives
will employ a medicine man called a ―singer‖ to
perform a healing ceremony which will
attract a powerful supernatural being. During the
ceremony, which may
last from 2 to 9
days, the ―singer‖ will produce a sand
painting on the floor of the Navaho house. On the
last day
of the ceremony, the patient
will sit on this sand
painting and the
―singer‖ will rub the
sick parts of the
patien
t’s
body with sand. In
this way the patient absorbs the power of that
particular supernatural being and becomes strong
like it. After the ceremony, the sand
painting is then destroyed so its power will not
harm anyone.
The art
of sand painting is ha
nded down from
old ―singer
s
‖ to their
students. The material
s used are easily
found in the areas the Navaho inhabit:
brown, red, yellow, and white sandstone, which is
ground into powder by
being crushed
between 2 stones much as corn is ground into
flour. T
he ―singer‖ holds a small
amount of this sand
in his hand and
lets it flow between his thumb and forefinger onto
a clean, flat surface on the floor. With a steady
hand and great patience, he is thus
able to create designs of people, snakes and other
creatures that have power in
Navaho
belief system.
1. Which of
the following refers to the same thing as
< br>―
decorative
‖
in Para.1?
A)
Functional.
B) Medicinal.
C) Artistic.
D) Pure.
2.
According to the Navaho traditions, one is ill
because he has met with ________.
A) something with
supernatural powers
B) a dead goat
C) any animal
D) too many dead people
3.
How can a sick person recover from his illness
according to the passage?
A) He must avoid the evil contact.
B) He needs
help from another powerful supernatural being.
C) He must draw
a sand painting.
D) He must sing at a ceremony.
4. The reason for the san painting to
be destroyed after the ceremony is ________.
A) not to allow
others to use it freely
B)
to harm the patient
C) not to harm others
D) to protect the patient
5. Which of the following is TRUE of
the designs of people created by the
―<
/p>
singer
‖
?
A) They are
sand paintings.
B)
They attract supernatural beings.
C) They have healing
powers.
D) All of the above.
Passage
6
We may all like to consider ourselves
free spirits. But a study of the traces left by
50,000 cell phone users
over three
months has conclusively proved that the truth is
otherwise.
―
We are all in
one way or another boring,
‖
says Albert-Laszlo Barabasi at the Center for
Complex Network
Research
at
Northeastern
University
in
Boston,
who
co-wrote
the
study.
―
Spontaneous
individuals
are
largely
absent from the
population.
‖
.
Barabasi and colleagues used three
months
’
worth of data from a
cell phone network to track the cell phone
5
towers
each
person's
phone
connected
to
each
hour
of
the
day,
revealing
their
approximate
location.
They
conclude
that
regardless
of
whether
a
person
typically
remains
close
to
home
or
roams
far
and
wide,
their
movements are
theoretically predictable as much as 93 per cent
of the time.
Surprisingly,
the
cell
phone
data
showed
that
individuals
’
movements
were
more
or
less
as
predictable
at
weekends as on weekdays, suggesting
that routine is rooted in human nature rather than
being an effect of work
patterns.
The
cell
phone
records
were
processed
to
identify
the
most
visited
locations
for
each
user.
Then
the
probability of finding a given user at
his or her most visited location at each hour
through the day was calculated.
People
were
to
be
found
in
their
most
visited
locations
for
any
given
hour
70
per
cent
of
the
time.
Not
surprisingly, the figure increased at
night, and decreased at lunchtime and in the early
evening, when most people
were
returning home from work.
The
team
analyzed
the
randomness
（随意性）
of
people
’
s
traces
to
show
it
was
theoretically
possible
to
predict the average
person
’
s whereabouts as much
as 93 per cent of the time.
―
Say your routine movement
is from home to the coffee shop to work: if you
are at home and then go to the
coffee
shop it
’
s easy for me to
predict that you are going to
work,
‖
says co-author
Nicholas Blumm.
This predictability was
not much affected by differences in age, gender,
language spoken or whether a person
lived in a rural or urban setting.
1. The
―
spontaneous
individuals
‖
are most
probably people who _____.
A
）
rely much on a
cell phone in life
B
）
can
live without a cell phone
C
）
act without
much restraint
D
）
are
boring in some way
2. A phone
user
’
s location is shown by
_______.
A
）
which
cell phone tower he is connected to
B
）
which cell
phone network he is connected to
C
）
how often he
uses the phone every day
D
）
the
content of his every phone call
3. What
did the cell phone data show about
―
routine
‖
?
A) One
’
s routine
affects his work pattern.
B) Our routine affects our human
nature.
C) One
’
s
work pattern determines his routine.
D) Our human nature
determines our routine.
4. According to
the sixth paragraph, a person is more likely to
______ at night than in the early evening.
A)
be found at
home
B
）
return home
from work
C
）
go to
his most visited place
D
）
take home as
his most visited place
5. What is that
passage mainly about?
A) The new
application of cell phones.
B
）
The
predictability of one
’
s
routine.
C) The influence of cell
phones on one
’
s routine.
D) The factors that help
determine one
’
s routine.
Passage 7
After
inventing
dynamite,
Swedish-born
Alfred
Nobel
became
a
very
rich
man.
However,
he
foresaw
its
universally destructive powers too
late.
Nobel preferred not
to be remembered as the inventor of dynamite, so
in 1895, just two weeks before his death,
he created a fund to be used for
awarding prizes to people who had made worthwhile
contributions to mankind.
Originally
there were five awards: literature, physics,
chemistry, medicine, and peace. Economics was
added in
1968, just sixty-seven years
after the first award ceremony.
Nobel's original legacy of
nine million dollars was invested, and the
interest on this sum is used for the awards
which vary from $$30,000 to $$125,000.
Every year on
December 10, the anniversary of Nobel's death, the
awards (gold medal, illuminated diploma,
and
money)
are
presented
to
the
winners.
Sometimes
politics
plays
an
important
role
in
the
judge'
decision.
Americans
have
won
numerous
science
awards,
but
relatively
few
literature
prizes.
No
awards
were
presented
6
from 1940 to 1942 at the
beginning of World War II. Some people have won
two prizes, but this is rare; others
have shared prizes.
1. When
did the first award ceremony take place?
A) 1895
B) 1901
C) 1962
D) 1968
2. Why was the Nobel Prize established?
A) To recognize worthwhile
contributions to humanity.
B) To
resolve political differences.
C) To
honor the inventor of dynamite.
D) To
spend money
3. Which of the following
statements is NOT true?
A) Awards vary
in monetary value.
B) Ceremonies are
held on December 10 to commemorate Nobel's
invention.
C) Politics can play an
important role in selecting the winners.
D) A few individuals have won two
awards.
4. In which area have Americans
received the most awards?
A) literature
B) peace
C)
economics
D)
science
5. In how many fields are
prizes bestowed
（授予）
?
A) 2
B)
5
C)
6
D) 10
Passage 8
Earlier
this
year
I
met
with
a
group
of
women
in
Matela,
a
small
farming
village
in
Tanzania,
and
we
discussed something that's been on all
of our minds lately: finding a safe place to save
money. The women said
their
babies
were
getting
sick
from
malaria
(
疟疾
),
and
they
could
afford
the
drugs
if
they
saved
money
over
time
---but with no access to formal savings accounts,
they had a hard time safeguarding cash. So they
saved in
risky
and
inefficient
ways.
They
made
loans
to
each
other,
or
bought
goats
or
jewelry,
then
sold
them
if
they
suddenly needed money.
The success of microloans has opened
new opportunities for many poor people and has
been a crucial factor
in reducing
poverty. But loans are not enough. Savings
accounts could help people in the developing world
with
unexpected events, accumulate
money to invest in education, increase their
productivity and income, and build
their financial security. Fortunately,
this is a moment of opportunity. New policy ideas
are uniting in ways that will
lower the
cost of savings and bring safe financial services
to the doorsteps of the poor.
One
exciting trend is agent banking, in which stores
and post offices serve as banking outlets. Banks
still
manage and guarantee the
deposits, but they rely on the infrastructure
(
基础设施
) of other outlets to
deal with
clients where there are no
bank branches
．
The
phenomenal growth of mobile phones in the
developing world presents another opportunity
．
M-Pesa
，
the
mobile-phone cash-transfer
service in
Kenya
，
has signed
up more than 5 million subscribers in two
years and
recently expanded
to Tanzania
．
This new idea is
opening markets and transforming
lives
．
A split-second M-Pesa
transaction costs as little as 30 cents
and replaces a day of risk and expense just to
send someone money or carry
earnings
home
．
．
At the Gates
Foundation
，
it has been
committed more than $$350 million to make financial
services widely
accessible to the poor
because safe places to save can help break the
cycle of poverty
．
If action
is taken on this
moment
，
then
within a generation
，
billions
of people will have the chance to build up their
savings and live the
healthy
，
productive lives that they
deserve
．
1.
According to the first
paragraph
，
people in Matela
are most likely to expect that
．
A) they can afford the cure for malaria
B)
they can save their cash efficiently
C) they can live safely in
the village
D) their can
get rid of poverty soon
7
2. What can help the poor build
financial security?
A) Getting
microloans
．
B)
Lower cost of savings
．
C) Chances for
education
．
D) Savings
services
．
3. What
is the role of post offices
in
“
agent
banking
”
?
A)They are subordinate to
banks
．
B)They are
cooperative with banks
．
C)They are
taking the place of banks
．
D)They are being changed into
banks
．
4.
Compared with agent
banking
，
M-Pesa most probably
．
A) is less practical for poor people
B)
is more popular among clients
C) costs less except
transaction fees
D) provides safer savings accounts
5. Gates Foundation intends to make
financial services
．
A) affordable
B) widely recognized
C)
influential
D) easily obtained
Passage 9
The
market
is
a
concept.
If
you
are
growing
tomatoes
in
your
backyard
for
sale
you
are
producing
for
the
market.
You might sell some to your neighbor and some to
the manager of the local supermarket. But in
either
case,
you
are
producing
for
the
market.
Your
efforts
are
being
directed
by
the
market.
If
people
stop
buying
tomatoes, you will stop producing them.
If you take
care of a sick person to earn money, you are
producing for the market. If your father is a
steelworker
or a truck driver or a
doctor or a grocer, he is producing goods or
service for the market.
When
you
spend
your
income,
you
are
buying
things
from
the
market.
You
may
spend
money
in
stores,
supermarkets, gas stations, and
restaurants.
Still you are buying from the market.
When the local grocer hires you to drive the
delivery truck, he is buying
your labor
in the labor market.
The marker may seem
to be
something abstract. But for each
person
or business who is
making and selling
something, it's very real. If nobody
buys your tomatoes, it won't be long before you
get the message. The market is
telling
you something. It's telling you that you are using
energies and resources in doing something the
market
doesn't want you do.
1. Which of the following would be the
best title for the passage?
A) Selling
and Buying
B) What Is the
Market
C) Everything You Do Is
Producing for the Market
D) What the Market Can Do
for You?
2. All of the following acts
are producing for the market except _________.
A) working in a bank
B)
printing a book
C) attending a night
school
D) growing beans for sale
3.
You are buying from the market when you ________.
A) borrow a book from the library.
B) look after your children
C) drive to the seaside for a holiday
D)
dine at a restaurant
4. The word
A) serious
B) true
C) important
D) concrete
5.
In what way is the market very real for each
person or business who is making and selling
something?
A) It tells you what to
produce.
B)
It tells you how to grow tomatoes.
C)
It provides you with everything you need.
D)
It helps you save money.
Passage 10
Marriage and divorce are life-changing
events, the effects of which are evident in
innumerable ways.
Both marriage and
divorce appear to lead to weight gain among
couples, but each occasion affects men and
women differently. Researchers from
Ohio State University found that women tended to
gain more weight than
men after
marriage, while after a divorce,
men
’
s
girth
(
腰围
) expanded more than
women
’
s.
Previous
studies of weight gain have looked at average
gains and losses, but Prof. Zhenchao Qian and his
8
student Dmotry
Tumin decided to break down the weight effects by
gender to better understand whether
marital
(
婚姻的
) transitions
affected men differently than women.
The researchers looked at survey data
from a nationally representative sample of more
than 10000 men and
women who were 14 to
22 years old when the survey began in 1979. The
participants were questioned every year
until 1994, and then every other year
afterward.
The scientist found
interesting gender differences when they focused
on the two-year mark after a marriage
or divorce. Although both men and women
who married tended to gain weight compared with
their counterparts
who stayed single,
women tended to gain more weight than men.
The study did not dig into what
particular lifestyle habits--- in diet or physical
activity, for example--- may
have
changed after either marriage or divorce to lead
to weight gain, but the relationship between
weight and life
events remained strong
after the researchers accounted for potential
confounding
(
混合的
) factors such as race,
education and income.
Qian
and Tumin have some theories, based on previous
research by others on the subject. Following
marriage, the researchers suggest,
wives may encourage their husbands to adopt a
healthier lifestyle, helping men
maintain their weight or even lose a
few excess pounds. After divorce, however, men may
return to their
pound-packing habits.
Women, on the other hand, may tend to
eat more and exercise less after getting married
and starting a family
because of the
stresses of child bearing and maintaining a
household.
The effects were strongest
among those who were 30 or older at the time they
married or divorced. Younger
people
didn
’
t show as consistent a
pattern in weight gain or loss after such events.
1. The purpose of Prof. Zhenchao
Qian
’
s study is to find
__________.
A) if marital
transitions affect weight differently by gender
B) what are the reasons that cause
marital transitions
C) why couples gain weight
after marriage and divorce
D) what are the
shortcomings of the previous study
2.
The participants of Prof. Zhenchao
Qian
’
s study were _________.
A)
questioned every two years after 1994
B) selected
without any restraint
C) questioned every year
before 1979
D) not mature when the survey began
3. Why do men probably lose weight
after marriage according to the researchers?
A)
They form a good habit for life.
B) They have to
do a lot of housework.
C) They are more mature
than before.
D) They want to keep fit by losing
weight.
4. Which of the following
statements is true according to the passage?
A)
The researchers finished the study without any
help.
B) Bearing children may cause women to
gain weight.
C) Men tend to gain more weight than
women after marriage.
D) Married couples tended
to be heavier than separated partners.
5. Marital transitions have the
strongest effects on people who _________.
A)
get married at the age of their early twenties
B)
get divorced at the time of thirty or older
C)
are engaged in the hotel and catering industry
D)
have particular lifestyle habits in physical
activity
Passage 11
9
As a group of young
African immigrants struggles to adapt to life in
United States, an after-school drama
program at White Oak Middle School aims
to make their lives easier by first making them a
little harder.
Project X is a program
that uses drama, dance, poetry and other creative
outlets to help students discuss the
tough and sometimes painful problems
they face as pre-teen immigrants with significant
language barriers. A final
unveiling of
their creation will be performed for friends and
family at the end of the year at Imagination
Stage.
Wanjiru
Kamau,
coordinator
of
White
Oaks
African
Club
said
it
is
important
to
give
troubles
to
group
members
to help them find their place at the school,
―
It comforts those who are
uncomfortable, and it discomforts
those
who are comfortable,‖
Kamau said of
Project X.
Kamau
teamed
up
with
Imagination
Stage
after
she
noticed
that
many
African
students
seemed
uncomfortable talking about problems,
such as being laughed at by their fellow students
about how they look and
talk.
When
most
of
the
kids
join
the
club,
they
speak
little
or
no
English,
Kamau
said.
Each
week,
the
club
typically draws 5 to 10 students who
are originally from Africa for discussion sessions
and the Project X program.
―
We are going to express
ourselves through our words and our actions, and
that is powerful,‖
said
teaching
artist Meg Green as she
introduced fill-in-the-blank poems the students
wrote about their identities.
One
student, Franck Ketchouang, 13, wrote,
―I a
m from the world;
I am love‖ which drew oohs and aahs
from the group. Ketchouang has been in
the United States less than a year, said program
coordinator Chad Dike.
When
Ketchouang
started
attending Project X, he
had
been
in
the United
States
for
two
months
and
spoke
no
English.
Now he is one of
the group’s most outg
oing members and
helps translate instructions from English to
Creole for the
groups
’
newest member, who
is from Haiti.
―Many people
will give up when there’s a language
barrier,
but these students
prove them wrong,‖
Kamau
said.
―You do have something
to give.
You are important. When TV,
media, etc.
are bringing
them down,
this
program is bring then up.‖
1. Project X is intended for helping
the young African immigrants to
.
A)
get over language barrier
B) become more
creative
C) enrich after-school life
D) overcome
tough problems
2. How well the members
learn in Project X program is demonstrated by
.
.
A)
their annual creative performances
B)
their scores gained at school
C) the
comments of friends and family
D) the comments
of the program teachers
3. What do we
know about the Imagination Stage?
A) It
is established by Kamau for Project X.
B) It is a
cooperative partner of White Oaks African Club.
C) It is a project designed
by White Oak Middle School.
D) It is
operated once at the end of each year.
4. According to the author, what Franck
Ketchouang wrote was
.
A) silly
B)
simple
C) remarkable
D)
disputable
5. The passage is written
mainly to
.
A) inspire immigrants to never give up
B) call for
more attention to immigrants
C)
advocate White Oaks African Club
D) introduce
the Project X program
Passage 12
Questions 62 to 66 are based on the
following passage.
In 1784, five years
before he became president of the United States,
George Washington , 52 , was nearly
toothless. So he hired a dentist to
transplant into his jaw nine teeth, which have
been extracted from the mouths of
his
slaves.
That's far different image from
the cherry tree chopping George most people
remember from their history
books. But
recently, many historians have begun to focus on
the roles slavery played in the lives of the
founding
generation.
They
have
been
spurred
in
part
by
DNA
evidence
made
available
in
1998,
which
most
certainly
10