2017年成人学位英语考前冲刺试题及答案（9）_第2页

　　Part ⅡReading Comprehension (30 minutes 30%)

　　Directions: In this part there are four passages. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. You are required to decide on the choice that best answers the question or completes the statement.

　　Passage 1

　　Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage.

　　The producers of instant coffee found their product strongly resisted in the market places despite their product's obvious advantages. Furthermore, the advertising expenditure for instant coffee was far greater than that for regular coffee. Efforts were made to find the cause of the consumers' seemingly unreasonable resistance to the product. The reason given by most people was dislike for the taste. The producer suspected that there might be deeper reasons, however. This was confirmed by one of motivation research's classic studies, one often cited in the trade.

　　Mason Haire, a professor of the University of California, constructed two shopping lists that were identical except for one item. There were six items common to both lists: hamburger, carrots, bread, baking powder, canned peaches, and potatoes, with the brands or amounts specified. The seventh item, in fifth place on both lists, read "one pound Maxwell House Coffee'' on one list and Nescafe Instant Coffee'' on the other. One list was given to each one in a group of fifty women, and the other list to those in the other group of the same size. The women were asked to study their list and then to describe, as far as they could, the kind of woman ("personality and character") who would draw up that shopping list. Nearly half of those who had received the list including instant coffee described a housewife who was lazy and a poor planner. On the other hand, only one woman in the other group described the housewife, who had included regular coffee on her list, as lazy; only six of that group suggested that she was probably not a good wife. No one in the other group drew such a conclusion about the housewife who intended to buy regular coffee.

　　21. In the opinion of instant coffee producers, _____________.

　　A. people should buy regular coffee

　　B. regular coffee is superior to instant coffee

　　C. instant coffee should have a good market because of its obvious advantages

　　D. the advertising expenditure for regular coffee is very great

　　22. In this instance, the purpose of motivation study was to discover ____________.

　　A. why there were deeper reasons

　　B. why instant coffee did not taste good

　　C. why regular coffee was successful

　　D. the reason why people resisted instant coffee

　　23. The list on which "Nescafe Instant Coffee'' was written as an item was given to a group consisting of ____________.

　　A. seven people B. seven women C. fourteen people D. fifty women

　　24. On the result of this test, the producers of instant coffee probably would advertise on TV to show a _________________.

　　A. lazy wife drinking instant coffee

　　B. stupid wife using instant coffee

　　C. hard-working woman drinking instant coffee

　　D. good wife using regular coffee

　　25. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?

　　A. It is reasonable for people to resist instant coffee.

　　B. Advertising does not always assure favorable sales results.

　　C. People pay little attention to advertising.

　　D. Regular coffee has better taste than instant coffee.

　　Passage 2

　　Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage:

　　There are places in the world where people are alleged to live much longer and remain more vigorous in old age than in most modern societies. I have visited the best known of these regions, all relatively remote and mountainous.

　　A striking feature common to all three cultures is the high social status of the aged. Each of the very elderly persons I saw lived with family and close relatives-often an extensive household-and occupied a central and privileged position within this group. The sense of family continuity is strong.

　　There is also a sense of usefulness. Even those well over 100 for the most part continue to perform essential duties and contribute to the economy of the community. These duties included weeding in the fields, feeding the poultry, tending flocks, picking tea, washing the laundry, cleaning house, or caring for grandchildren, all on a regular daily basis.

　　In addition, the aged are esteemed for the wisdom that is thought to derive from long experience, and their word in the family group is generally law.

　　In none of the three communities is there any forced retirement age, and the elderly are not shelved, as occurs in most of our industrialized society. Khfaf Lasuria, the former tea picker, had retired only two years before I met her. When I asked Seliac Butba, age 121, if he was helping in the construction of a new house springing up next to his own, he responded, “Of course, they can't do without me. ”

　　Many of the centenarians emphasized the importance of being independent and free to do the things they enjoyed and wanted to do, and of maintaining a placid state of mind free from worry or emotional strain. “Now everywhere people don't live so long because they don't live a free life,” commented Sonia Kvedzenia of Atara, age 109. “They worry more and don't do what they want.” Fabriel Chapnian, 117, of Gulripshi expressed a similar thought when told that few Americans attain his age. His response is: “Hmm--- too literate.”

　　Expectation of longevity may also be important. In America the traditional life-span is three score and ten years. But when we asked the young people of Abkhazia how long they expected to live , they generally said, "To a hundred. '' Dr. Georgi Kaprashvili of Gulriphsi confirmed that the public has the notion that the normal life-span of man is 100 years. For exaggeration, when proposing toasts, they say 300 years, but everyone expects to be 100.

　　26. What does the word "centenarian'' (Para. 6) mean in this passage?

　　A. Person who has 100 family members.

　　B. Person who is 100 or more years old.

　　C. Person who is the central figure.

　　D. Leader of a unit of 100 soldiers.

　　27. From the interviews with some local aged, it can be inferred that people in industrialized society ___________.

　　A. don't have personal freedom

　　B. are illiterate

　　C. don't have a placid state of mind

　　D. are poorer and less healthy

　　28. According to the passage, all the following are the reasons for the longer life span of the aged the author saw EXCEPT ______________.

　　A. They enjoy high privilege in their families

　　B. They live in an extensive household

　　C. their food are not as polluted as those in industrialized society

　　D. they working and make themselves useful as possible as they can

　　29. In the three communities ____________.

　　A. the aged must retire at a certain age

　　B. the aged worked till death

　　C. there is no retirement age the aged must observe

　　D. the aged needn't work if they don't like to

　　30. Which of the following is NOT the important factor for longevity?

　　A. Suitable living areas.

　　B. Independence and freedom to do things.

　　C. A placid state of mind and expectation of longevity.

　　D. A large extended family.

　　Passage 3

　　Questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage:

　　The idea of a fish being able to generate electricity story enough to light lamp bulbs-or even to run a small electric motor-is almost unbelievable, but several kinds of fish are able to do this. Even more strangely, this curious power has been acquired in different ways by fish belonging to very different families.

　　Perhaps the best known are the electric rays, or torpedoes (电鱼), of which several kinds live in warm seas. They possess on such side of the head, behind the eyes, a large organ consisting of a number of hexagonal shaped cells rather like a honeycomb. The cells are filled with a jelly-like substance, and contain a series of flat electric plates. One side, the negative side, of each plate, is supplied with very fine nerves, connected with a main nerve coming from a special pan of the brain. Current passes from the upper, positive side of the organ downwards to the negative, lower side. Generally it is necessary to touch the fish in two places, completing the circuit, in order to receive a shock.

　　The strength of this shock depends on the size of the fish , but newly born ones only about 5 centimeters across can be made to light the bulb of a pocket flashlight for a few moments, while a fully grown torpedo gives a shock capable of knocking a man down, and, if suitable wires are connected, will operate a small electric motor for several minutes.

　　Another famous example is the electric eel. This fish gives an even more powerful shock. The system is different from that of the torpedo in that the electric plates run longitudinally (纵向) and are supplied with nerves from the spinal (脊骨) cord. Consequently, the current passes along the fish from head to tail. The electric organs of these fish are really altered muscles and like all muscles apt (likely) to tire, so they are not able to produce electricity for very long.

　　The power of producing electricity may serve these fish both for defense and attack.

　　31. It can be seen from the passage that _________.

　　A. the capacity to generate electricity is the distinctive characteristic of the fish

　　B. the current travels in an upward direction from the positive side to negative side in torpedo’s electric cells

　　C. some fish can produce enough electricity to drive a number of electric motors

　　D. the torpedo’s electric cells have a shape with six sides

　　32. Usually you will not get a shock by touching the electric ray in one place only because __________.

　　A. the current in one place is not strong enough to give a shock

　　B. the fish’s electric cells are filled with jelly-like substance

　　C. to complete the circuit, you have to touch the fish in two places

　　D. a torpedo’s electric cells contain more than one electric plates

　　33. The main idea of the third paragraph is that _____________.

　　A. a mature torpedo is capable of producing enough electricity to knock down a man

　　B. the mass of the fish decides the intensity of electric power it generates

　　C. the strength of shock given by a young electric ray can only light the bulb of a pocket flashlight

　　D. to make full use of the energy produced by electric fish, suitable wires should be available

　　34. The reason why the electric eel is able to give more powerful shock is that ________________.

　　A .the working system of the electric plates in the eel is the most effective

　　B. the working system of the electric plates in the eel is far inferior to those in the torpedo

　　C. compared with those in the torpedo, the working system of electric plates in the eel is more direct and efficient

　　D. compared with other electric fish, the eel possesses much more electric plates

　　35. The ideal title for this passage is _____________.

　　A. The Eel B. Torpedo C. Electric Fish D. Electric Power