Part One Reading Comprehension (2’×10 = 20’)
Directions: There are 2 passages in this section. 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 should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the centre.
Passage One
Air pollution can spread from city to city. It even spreads from one country to another. Some northern European countries have had “black snow” from pollutants that have traveled through the air from other countries and have fallen with the snow. So air pollution is really a global problem.
Air pollution can kill babies, older people, and those who have respiratory(呼吸的)diseases. As found in cities, air pollution increases the risks of certain lung diseases.
Air pollution can cause both airplane and car accidents because it cuts down visibility(能见度). There are other possible health dangers from air pollution that we don’t know much about. For example, scientists are trying to find out whether chemicals that reach us from the air may cause changes in our cells. These changes might cause babies to be born with serious birth defects. Scientists are trying to learn how all the many chemicals are apt(易于的)to take into our bodies from air, water, food, and even medicines act together to affect our health and the way our bodies work. That is another reason why it is so important to begin to control pollution now instead of waiting until we learn all the answers.
Air pollution costs us a lot of money. It corrodes(腐蚀)our buildings. It damages farm crops and forests. It has a destructive effect on our works of art. The cost of all this damage to our government is great. It would be much more worthwhile, both for us and for the government, to spend our tax dollars on air pollution control.
1. Air pollution may lead to airplane accidents because .
A. it may cause pilots to be ill
B. engines may fail from the air-borne dirt
C. visibility is reduced
D. it brings a lot of black snow
2. Scientists are trying to find a link between pollution and .
A. intelligence levels B. birth problems
C. man’s behavior D. the nervous system
3. Scientists have not yet determined .
A. all of the effects of pollution on the human body
B. how pollution can be controlled successfully
C. when the atmosphere first became polluted
D. how some snow becomes black
4. The author suggests that before air pollution becomes more serious, .
A. factories will be forced to stop operating
B. buildings should be protected
C. the earth will begin to grow colder
D. more money should be spent to solve the problem
5. We can conclude that .
A. civilization may be ruined if pollution is not controlled
B. pollution is more serious in Europe than it is in America
C. most people do not know that pollution is a serious problem
D. we should learn all the answers before we begin to control pollution
