2004-2-1 10:42
PartⅡ Reading Comprehension (35 minutes)
Directions: There are 4 passages in this part. 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 center.
Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage.
Psychologist George Spilich and colleagues at Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland, decided to find out whether, as many smokers say, smoking helps them to “think and conceniraie.” Spilich put young non?smokers, active smokers and smokers deprived (被剥夺) of cigarettes through a series of tests.
In the first test, each subject (试验对象) sat before a computer screen and pres sed a key as soon as he or she recognized a target letter among a grouping of 96. In this simple test, smokers, deprived smokers and nonsmokers performed equally well.
The next test was more complex, requiring all to scan sequences of 20 identical letters and respond the instant one of the letters transformed into a different one. Non-smokers were faster， but under the stimulation of nicotine (尼古丁), active smokers were faster than deprived smokers.
In the third test of short-term memory, non-smokers made the fewest errors, but deprived smokers committed fewer errors than active smokers.
The fourth test required people to read a passage, then answer questions about it. Non-smokers remembered 19 percent more of the most important information tha n active smokers, and deprived smokers bested those who had smoked a cigarette ju st before testing. Active smokers tended not only to have poorer memories but al so had trouble separating important information from insignificant details.
“As our tests became more complex.”Sums up Spilich,“non-smokers performed better than smokers by wider and wider margins”He predicts,“smokers might per form adequately at many jobs?until they got complicated. A smoking airline pilot could fly adequately if no problems arose, but if something went wrong, smoking might damage his mental capacity.”
21. The purpose of George Spilich's experiments is _______.
A) to test whether smoking has a positive effect on the mental capacity of smokers
B) to show how smoking damages people's mental capacity
C) to prove that smoking affects people's regular performance
D) to find out whether smoking helps people's short?term memory
22. George Spilich's experiment was conducted in such a way as to _______.
A) compel the subjects to separate major information from minor details
B) put the subjects through increasingly complex tests
C) check the effectiveness of nicotine on smokers
D) register the prompt responses of the subjects
23. The word“bested”(Line 3, Para. 5) most probably means _______.
A) beat B) envied C) caught up with D) made the best of
24. Which of the following statements is true?
A) Active smokers in general performed better than deprived smokers.
B) Active smokers responded more quickly than the other subjects.
C) Non?smokers were not better than other subjects in performing simple tasks.
D) Deprived smokers gave the slowest responses to the various tasks.
25. We can infer from the last paragraph that _______.
A) smokers should not expect to become airline pilots
B) smoking in emergency cases causes mental illness
C) no airline pilots smoke during flights
D) smokers may prove unequal to handing emergency cases
Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage.
There is no denying that students should learn something about how computers work, just as we expect them at least to understandthat the internal combustion engine(内燃机) has something to do with burning fuel, expanding gases and pistons (活塞) being driven. For people should have some basic idea of how the things th at they use do what they do. Further, students might be helped by a course that considers the computer's impact on society. But that is not what is meant by com puter literacy. For computer literacy is not a form of literacy(读写能力)；it is a trade skill that should not be taught as a liberal art.
Learning how to use a computer and learning how to program one are two distinct activities, A case might be made that the competent citizens of tomorrow should free themselves from their fear of computers. But this is quite different from s aying that all ought to know how to program one. Leave that to people who have c hosen programming as a career. While programming can be lots of fun, and while o ur society needs some people who are experts at it, the same is true of auto repair and violin?making.
Learning how to use a computer is not that difficult, and it gets easier all the time as programs become more“user?friendly”. Let us assume that in the future everyone is going to have to know how to use a computer to be a competent citiz en. What does the phrase “learning to use a computer”mean? It sounds like “le arning to drivea car”, that is, it sounds as if there is some set of definite skills that, once acquired, enable one to use a computer.
In fact,“learning to use a computer”is much more like“learning to play a game”, but learning the rules of one game may not help you play a second game, whose rules maynot be the same. There is no such a thing as teaching someone how to use a computer. One can only teach peple to use this or that program and generally that is easily accomplished.
26. To be the competent citizents of tomorrow, people should _______.
A) try to lay a solid foundation in computer science
B) be aware of how the things that they use do what they do
C) learn to use a computer by acquiring a certain set of skills
D) understand that programming a computer is more essential than repairing a car 27. In the second paragraph “violin?making”is mentioned to show that _______ .
A) programming a computer is as interesting as making a violin
B) our society needs experts in different fields
C) violin making requires as much skill as computer programming
D) people who can use a computer don't necessarily have to know computer program-
ming
28. Learning to use a computer is getting easier all the time because _______ .
A) programs are becoming less complicated
B) programs are designed to be convenient to users
C) prograrnming is becoming easier and easier
D) programs are becoming readily available to computer users
29. According to the author,the phrase“learning to use a computer”(Lines3,4,Para.3)
means learging _______.
A) a set of rules B) the fundamentals of computer science
C) specific programs D) general principles of programming
30. The author's purpose in writing this passage is _______.
A) to stress the impact of the computer on society
B) to explain the concept of computer literacy
C) to illustrate the requirements for being competent citizens of tomorrow
D) to emphasize that computer programming is an interesting and challenging job
Directions: There are 4 passages in this part. 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 center.
Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage.
Psychologist George Spilich and colleagues at Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland, decided to find out whether, as many smokers say, smoking helps them to “think and conceniraie.” Spilich put young non?smokers, active smokers and smokers deprived (被剥夺) of cigarettes through a series of tests.
In the first test, each subject (试验对象) sat before a computer screen and pres sed a key as soon as he or she recognized a target letter among a grouping of 96. In this simple test, smokers, deprived smokers and nonsmokers performed equally well.
The next test was more complex, requiring all to scan sequences of 20 identical letters and respond the instant one of the letters transformed into a different one. Non-smokers were faster， but under the stimulation of nicotine (尼古丁), active smokers were faster than deprived smokers.
In the third test of short-term memory, non-smokers made the fewest errors, but deprived smokers committed fewer errors than active smokers.
The fourth test required people to read a passage, then answer questions about it. Non-smokers remembered 19 percent more of the most important information tha n active smokers, and deprived smokers bested those who had smoked a cigarette ju st before testing. Active smokers tended not only to have poorer memories but al so had trouble separating important information from insignificant details.
“As our tests became more complex.”Sums up Spilich,“non-smokers performed better than smokers by wider and wider margins”He predicts,“smokers might per form adequately at many jobs?until they got complicated. A smoking airline pilot could fly adequately if no problems arose, but if something went wrong, smoking might damage his mental capacity.”
21. The purpose of George Spilich's experiments is _______.
A) to test whether smoking has a positive effect on the mental capacity of smokers
B) to show how smoking damages people's mental capacity
C) to prove that smoking affects people's regular performance
D) to find out whether smoking helps people's short?term memory
22. George Spilich's experiment was conducted in such a way as to _______.
A) compel the subjects to separate major information from minor details
B) put the subjects through increasingly complex tests
C) check the effectiveness of nicotine on smokers
D) register the prompt responses of the subjects
23. The word“bested”(Line 3, Para. 5) most probably means _______.
A) beat B) envied C) caught up with D) made the best of
24. Which of the following statements is true?
A) Active smokers in general performed better than deprived smokers.
B) Active smokers responded more quickly than the other subjects.
C) Non?smokers were not better than other subjects in performing simple tasks.
D) Deprived smokers gave the slowest responses to the various tasks.
25. We can infer from the last paragraph that _______.
A) smokers should not expect to become airline pilots
B) smoking in emergency cases causes mental illness
C) no airline pilots smoke during flights
D) smokers may prove unequal to handing emergency cases
Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage.
There is no denying that students should learn something about how computers work, just as we expect them at least to understandthat the internal combustion engine(内燃机) has something to do with burning fuel, expanding gases and pistons (活塞) being driven. For people should have some basic idea of how the things th at they use do what they do. Further, students might be helped by a course that considers the computer's impact on society. But that is not what is meant by com puter literacy. For computer literacy is not a form of literacy(读写能力)；it is a trade skill that should not be taught as a liberal art.
Learning how to use a computer and learning how to program one are two distinct activities, A case might be made that the competent citizens of tomorrow should free themselves from their fear of computers. But this is quite different from s aying that all ought to know how to program one. Leave that to people who have c hosen programming as a career. While programming can be lots of fun, and while o ur society needs some people who are experts at it, the same is true of auto repair and violin?making.
Learning how to use a computer is not that difficult, and it gets easier all the time as programs become more“user?friendly”. Let us assume that in the future everyone is going to have to know how to use a computer to be a competent citiz en. What does the phrase “learning to use a computer”mean? It sounds like “le arning to drivea car”, that is, it sounds as if there is some set of definite skills that, once acquired, enable one to use a computer.
In fact,“learning to use a computer”is much more like“learning to play a game”, but learning the rules of one game may not help you play a second game, whose rules maynot be the same. There is no such a thing as teaching someone how to use a computer. One can only teach peple to use this or that program and generally that is easily accomplished.
26. To be the competent citizents of tomorrow, people should _______.
A) try to lay a solid foundation in computer science
B) be aware of how the things that they use do what they do
C) learn to use a computer by acquiring a certain set of skills
D) understand that programming a computer is more essential than repairing a car 27. In the second paragraph “violin?making”is mentioned to show that _______ .
A) programming a computer is as interesting as making a violin
B) our society needs experts in different fields
C) violin making requires as much skill as computer programming
D) people who can use a computer don't necessarily have to know computer program-
ming
28. Learning to use a computer is getting easier all the time because _______ .
A) programs are becoming less complicated
B) programs are designed to be convenient to users
C) prograrnming is becoming easier and easier
D) programs are becoming readily available to computer users
29. According to the author,the phrase“learning to use a computer”(Lines3,4,Para.3)
means learging _______.
A) a set of rules B) the fundamentals of computer science
C) specific programs D) general principles of programming
30. The author's purpose in writing this passage is _______.
A) to stress the impact of the computer on society
B) to explain the concept of computer literacy
C) to illustrate the requirements for being competent citizens of tomorrow
D) to emphasize that computer programming is an interesting and challenging job