Part II Reading Comprehension (60%)
Directions: There are three reading passages in this part. Each passage is followed by some statements and questions. You should decide on the best choice.
Passage One
When you send a letter or a postcard, you have to put stamps on the envelope or on the card. When did people first begin to use stamps? Who was the first to think of this idea?
In the early nineteenth century, people did not use stamps. They had to pay postage when they received letters. Sometimes they didn’t want to receive a letter at all, but they had to pay money for it. They were unhappy about this. The postage was high at that time, because the post offices had to send many people to get the postage.
Rowland Hill was a schoolteacher in England. He was the first to think of using stamps in the 1850s. He thought it would be much easier for people to use stamps. They could go to the post office to buy stamps and put them on envelopes before they sent the letters. The post office could just put seals on the stamps so that people could not use the stamps again. In this way, the post office did not need to send postmen to get postage. It only needed fewer postmen to send letters.
1. People began to use stamps at the beginning of the nineteenth century. A
A. True B. False
2. Before stamps were used, postage was paid by the letter-receivers. C
A. True B. False
3. Rowland Hill ___________. D
A. bought the first stamp
B. was a postman in England
C. gave the idea to use stamps
D. was the first man to use stamps
4. After stamps were used, ___________. B
A. postmen needn’t get postage
B. people needn’t pay postage
C. the post office could get more postage
D. people should pay more postage
5. What is the main idea of the passage? B
A. How did stamps begin to be used?
B. Why were postmen sent to get postage?
C. When did people first begin to use stamps?
D. Who was the first to think of using stamps?
Passage Two
I don’t often lose things and I’m especially careful with money, so I was quite surprised when I reached for my wallet and it wasn’t there. At first, I thought it was possible that I could have left it at home. Then I remembered taking it out to pay for the taxi, so I knew I had it with me just before I walked into the restaurant. I wondered if it was possible that it could have slipped out of my pocket while I was eating dinner. Thinking about that possibility, I turned and walked back to the table where I had been sitting. Unfortunately, there were several people sitting at the table at the time, so I called a waiter and explained to him that my wallet had fallen out of my pocket while I was sitting at the table a few minutes earlier. I had the waiter go over to the table to see if my wallet was on the floor. While the waiter was looking for it, the manager of the restaurant came up to me and asked me if anything was wrong. I didn’t want to get a lot of people involved in the problem, but I knew I had to get the wallet back. I told the manager what had happened. He had me describe the wallet to him, and then he insisted that I report the missing wallet to the police. I told him that I didn’t particularly want to get the police involved in it; besides, I was in a hurry because I had an appointment with my doctor in just a few minutes ... I explained to him that my biggest worry at the moment was how I was going to pay the check. He told me not to worry about that. He had me write down my name and address, and he said he would send me a bill.
6. When he walked back to the table, the writer asked the people at the table about his wallet. D
A. True B. False
7. The manager came up pretty soon to see what had happened. C
A. True B. False
8. Why was the writer so sure he had brought his wallet with him? B
A. He remembered that he didn’t leave it at home.
B. He always felt his pocket for the wallet before he left home.
C. He believed his own memory.
D. He had taken it out to pay the taxi-driver.
9. According to the passage, the writer most probably lost his wallet when A .
A. he took it out to pay for the taxi
B. he walked into the restaurant
C. he was eating dinner
D. he was ordering his dish
10. Why did the writer walk back to the table where he had been sitting? C
A. He was sure his wallet was still there.
B. It was possible that he could find his wallet there.
C. He could ask someone there about his wallet.
D. He saw the wallet lying on the floor near the table.
Passage Three
When we talk about intelligence, we do not mean the ability to get a good score on a certain kind of test, or even the ability to do well in school. These are at best only indicators of something larger, deeper, and far more important. By intelligence we mean a style of life, a way of behaving in various situations. The true test of intelligence is not how much we know what to do, but how we behave when we don’t know what to do.
The intelligent person, young or old, meeting a new situation or problem, opens himself up to it. He tries to take in with mind and senses everything he can about it. He thinks about it, instead of about himself or what it might cause to happen to him. He grapples (努力克服) with it boldly, imaginatively, resourcefully (机智地), and if not confidently, at least hopefully: if he fails to master it, he looks without fear or shame at his mistakes and learns what he can from them. This is intelligence. Clearly its roots lie in a certain feeling about life, and one’s self with respect to life. Just as clearly, unintelligence is not what most psychologists seem to suppose, the same thing as intelligence, only less of it. It is an entirely different style of behavior, arising out of entirely different set of attitudes.
Years of watching and comparing bright children with the not-bright, or less bright, have shown that they are very different kinds of people. The bright child is curious about life and reality, eager to get in touch with it, embrace (捉住机会) it, unite himself with it. There is no wall; no barrier, between himself and life. On the other hand, the dull child is far less curious, far less interested in what goes on and what is real, more inclined (倾向于) to live in a world of fantasy. The bright child likes to experiment, to try things out. He lives by the maxim (格言) that there is more than one way to skin a cat. If he can’t do something one way, he’ll try another. The dull child is usually afraid to try at all. It takes a great deal of urging to get him to try even once; if that try fails, he is through.
Nobody starts off stupid. Hardly an adult in a thousand, or ten thousand, could in any three years of his life learn as much, grow as much in his understanding of the world around him, as every infant (婴儿) learns and grows in his first three years. But what happens, as we grow older, to this extraordinary capacity for learning and intellectual growth? What happens is that it is destroyed, and more than by any other one thing, it is destroyed by the process that we misname education – a process that goes on in most homes and schools.
11. The writer believes that intelligence is doing well on some examinations. B
A. True B. False
12. The writer believes that “unintelligence” is a particular way of looking at the world.B
A. True B. False
13. Why does the writer say that education is misnamed?B
A. Because it takes place more in homes than in school.
B. Because it discourages intellectual growth.
C. Because it helps dull children with their problems.
D. Because it helps children understand the world around them.
14. “There’s more than one way to skin a cat.” Which of the following maxims has a similar meaning to this one? C
A. If at first you don’t succeed, try, try, and try again.
B. All work and no play makes Johnny a dull boy.
C. Make new friends and keep the old; one is silver and the other is gold.
D. Make hay while the sun shines.
15. “It is an entirely different style of behavior, arising out of an entirely different set of attitudes.” “It” in this sentence refers to A .
A. intelligence B. behavior C. life D. unintelligence
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