四、阅读理解(共15小题，每小题2分，共30分)
A
What do you want to be when you grow up? A teacher? A doctor? How about an ice-cream taster?
Yes, there really is a job where you can get paid to taste ice cream. Just ask John Harrison an “Official Taste Tester” for the past 21 years. Testing helps manufacturers to be sure of a product’s quality. During his career Harrison has been responsible for approving large quantities of the sweet ice cream-----as well as for developing over 75 flavors (口味).
Some people think that it would be easy to do this job; after all, you just have to like ice cream, right? No----there’s more to the job than that, says Harrison, who has a degree in chemistry. He points out that a dairy or food-science degree would be very useful to someone wanting a career in this “cool” field.
In a typical morning on the job, Harrison tastes and assesses 60 ice cream samples. He lets the ice cream warm up to about 12`F. Harrison explains: “You get more flavor from warmer ice cream, which is why some kids like to stir (搅拌) it, creating ice-cream soup.”
While the ice cream warms up, Harrison looks over the samples and grades each one its appearance. “Tasting begins with the eyes,” he explains. He checks to see if the ice cream is attractive and asks himself, “Dose the product have the color expected from that flavor?” Next it’s time to taste!
Continuing to think up new ideas, try out new flavors, and test samples from so many kinds of ice cream each day keeps Harrison busy but happy---working at one cool job.
51. What is John Harrison’s job?
A. An official B. An ice-cream taster
C. A chemist D. An ice-cream manufacturer
52. According to John Harrison, to be qualified in the “cool field”, it is helpful to ________ .
A. keep a diary of work B. have a degree in related subjects
C. have new ideas every day D. find out new flavor each day
53. What does Harrison do first when testing ice cream?
A. He stirs the ice cream. B. He examines the color of the ice cream.
C. He tastes the flavor of the ice cream. D. He lets the ice cream warm up.
54. Which of the following is probably the best title of the passage?
A. Tasting with Eyes B. Flavors of Ice Cream
C. John Harrison’s Life D. One Cool Job
B
The World Health Organization (WHO) planned to study the relationship between the eating habits of the people and the disease. Two doctors were chosen to make the study. They flew to Africa south of the Sahara and during the next two months visited ten countries. They found that serious diseases of poor eating, often mistaken for other diseases, existed in all parts of Africa. The diseases were similar and could therefore all be named kwashiorkor. The diseased children are usually from one to four years old. As the illness progresses, the child’s stomach becomes swollen by liquid collecting in the body. The skin changes color and may break out in open sores(疼痛). The hair changes color and starts to fall out. The patient loses all interest in his surroundings and even in food, and becomes so weak that he wants to lie down all the time. Stomach liquids are no longer produced.
The doctors reasoned that kwashiorkor was found in the young children of this age in many parts of Africa because of lack of milk or meat. Their mothers, after stopping their breastfeeding, gave them foods full of starches(淀粉) instead of greatly needed proteins. They found that the addition of milk to the food of the children suffering from kwashiorkor saved many lives.
The unbelievable thing about kwashiorkor is that the very existence of the disease ---- which has been killing thousands of children for centuries ---- was not even recognized in Latin America as recently as ten years ago. The deaths of those children were mistakenly listed as due to other diseases. It was the WHO’s work in Africa that led to the discovery of the problem in Central America.
55. From the passage we learn that kwashiorkor is a disease caused by __________ .
A. poor living conditions B. lack of proteins in food
C. breastfeeding D. lack of food
56. It is difficult to discover kwashiorkor because ____________________ .
A. it has no symptoms at all.
B. it is hard to identify signs of it
C. it doesn’t last long enough for careful observation
D. it is hardly different from other diseases
57. What is mentioned as a simple but reasonable way of curing this disease?
A. Taking a special medicine. B. Avoiding any food containing starch.
C. Having more meat or milk. D. Taking medicine full of proteins.
58. What’s the best title for the article?
A. Milk and Meat Are Daily Necessities
B. Kwashiorkor and Improper Eating Habits
C. A New Form of Illness in Africa and Latin America
D. A Case of Eating Habits
C
SCREENGRABS
BBC 1
PLANET EARTH
9PM
Fresh Water provides an expansive subject for the third program in the BBC’s fascinating new natural history series. Broadly, we investigate (调查) the world’s lakes and rivers and the creatures which inhabit (居住) them. Thus we visit the deepest lake on the planet, Lake Baikal in Siberia. We observe colonies (殖民地) of Indian smooth-coated otters. A magical series which gives us a real sense of context in relation to the planet we inhabit.
BBC 2
FAMILY GUY
11.45PM
Road to Europe, without proper identification, Brian and Stewie stow away on a plane they think is leaving for England. They’re wrong, and soon they’re in Saudi Arabia (Brian: “Oh my God, we are finished. We are lost in the desert.”) at the beginning of a long trip home.
ITV 1
AGATHA CHRISTIE’S POIROT
9PM
Cards on the Table, Tonight’s mystery concerns the death of one of London’s richest and most mysterious men, Mr. Shaitana (Alexander Siddig), who has a fascination with crime. Shaitana hosts dinner and a game of bridge in his apartment, but when the time comes for the first guests to take their leave, they discover that their host has been stabbed (刺) through the heart.
CHANNEL 4
THE GAMES: LIVE
9PM
For the first time on The Games, the men fight in a Kendo tournament, using 1.2m shinai (bamboo swords). The women compete in the cycling, racing wheel-to-wheel on competition bikes with no brakes. Plus other news from the English Institute of Sport in Sheffield.
59. The Fresh Water series at 9 PM _______________ .
A. explores the lakes, rivers and the creatures in them
B. is devoted to the fresh water creatures in the world
C. explain the relationship among inhabitants on the earth
D. focuses on the deepest river on the planet
60. The phrase “stow away” most probably means “_________”.
A. hide secretly B. talk excitedly C. operate easily D. guide successfully
61. A mystery story adapted from Agatha Christie’s novel will be shown on __________.
A. BBC 1 B. BBC 2 C. ITV 1 D .Channel 4
D
The Taj Mahal (泰姬陵) is a love story, a sad and beautiful one. If it didn’t exist, we would easily imagine that the story of its construction was simply a fairy tale. Three hundred years ago, there lived an Indian emperor called Shah Jahan. His wife was a beautiful and bright woman whom he loved greatly. Her title was Mumtazl Mahan: its shortened form Taj Mahan, means “pride of the palace”. In the year 1630 this beloved wife of the emperor died. He was so brokenhearted that he thought of giving up his throne. He decided out of his love for his wife, to build her the most beautiful tomb that had ever been seen.
He summoned the best artists and architects from India, Turkey, Persia and Arabia and finally, the design was complete. It took more than twenty thousand men working over a period of 18 years to build the Taj Mahan, one of the most beautiful buildings in the world.
The building itself stands on a marble platform 29 meters square and 6-7 meters high. Towers rise from each of the four corners. The Taj itself soars another 61 meters into the air. It is an eight-sided building made of white marble.
The emperor planned to build an identical tomb of black marble for himself on the other side of the river connected by a silver bridge. However his son put him into a prison in the palace before he could finish, and for the rest of his life, he could only gaze across river at the tomb of his beloved wife.
62. The whole passage tells us about ______.
A . a beautiful fairy tale
B. the story of the Taj Mahal
C. white and black marble tombs made for two emperors
D. the love story of Emperor Shah Jahan and his wife
63. Which of the following statements is NOT true about the Taj Mahal?
A. It was completed quickly owing to the efforts of the best artists and workers.
B. A lot of people took part in the building work
C. It is a magnificent building.
D. It is a tomb for the emperor’s beloved wife.
64. The emperor’s own tomb was designed to be ____________.
A. 61 meters high B. eight-sided C. black-coloured D. white-colored
65. The emperor _____________.
A. died soon after Taj Mahan died B. was killed by his son
C. was beloved by his people D. died after 1648
