III. Reading Comprehension   (50)

Section A  (15)

Directions: For each blank in the following passage there are four words or phrases marked A, B, C and D. Fill in each blank with the word or phrase that best fits the context. Nothing seems more inevitable than aging and death ---- not even taxes. Every plant, animal and person you have ever seen will ____50____ die. But some recent research suggests that aging as we know it may not be inevitable. Indeed, as our ____51____ of it grows, aging can be seen not as an unchangeable reality from which there is no escape, but as the product of biological processes that we may be able to ____52____ someday.

We already know that some animals do not seem to age. Many cold-water ocean fish and some amphibians (两栖动物) never ____53____ a fixed size; they continue to grow bigger, to be able to reproduce and to live until something kills them. What these ____54____ seem to be telling us is that something in their genes ---- and possibly in ours ---- controls the ____55____ of aging, and that aging is not the fate of every living thing.

____56____ the history of life on earth, one of the most common difficulties that animals ( and their cells) have faced has been a lack of food. About 70 years ago, scientists discovered that when animals are forced to live on 30 to 40 percent fewer calories ( 卡路里 ) than they would ____57____ eat, something unusual happens: they become ____58____ to most age-related diseases ---- cancer, heart disease, diabetes (糖尿病) ---- and live 30 to 50 percent longer. Restricting calories ____59____ aging. But what are the ____60____ genes that preserve vitality( 生命力 ) and starve off diseases?

About 15 years ago, armed with powerful new molecular-research techniques, a few scientists began to ____61____ these genetic phenomena. They have discovered that a gene called Sir2 ---- which is present in all animals, including humans ---- is ____62____ for the health benefits of calorie restriction, perhaps by repairing our DNA. But if we had to restrict our calorie intake by 30 to 40 percent, would it be of any ____63____ use? Few of us would be capable of restricting our diets so severely that we were constantly ____64____ : whether or not it made life longer, it would surely make life feel longer.

50. A. suddenly     B. eventually        C. separately        D. unexpectedly

51. A. desire        B. feeling           C. dream           D. understanding

52. A. develop        B. design           C. control          D. solve

53. A. reach          B. acquire          C. need             D. display

54. A. objects        B. samples         C. items           D. creatures

55. A. nature        B. system          C. pace             D. condition

56. A. Through       B. Throughout       C. Beyond          D. Across

57. A. rarely         B. occasionally      C. normally         D. mainly

58. A. resistant       B. similar          C. essential        D. accessible

59. A. quickens       B. slows           C. avoids           D. overcomes

60. A. horrible       B. extra            C. specific          D. original

61. A. investigate     B. illustrate         C. record           D. prove

62. A. famous        B. generous         C. responsible       D. convenient

63. A. fashionable    B. practical           C. immediate          D. daily

64. A. happy          B. depressed        C. hungry,          D. scared

Section B  (30)

Directions: Read the following passages. Each passage is followed by several questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. Choose the one that fits according to the information given in the passage you have just read.

(A)

When I saw the notice “Women film extras wanted” in a local newspaper, I jumped at the chance. Since childhood, I had dreamt of being a film star.

The casting interview went well, and two days later I was told that I had been chosen. I was to lose some of my enthusiasm for the idea, however. Extras are often left in the dark for some time as to which role they will play. Finally the nature of my role was revealed: I was asked to play a mental hospital patient.

Despite my disappointment, I agreed to participate. Then, barely a week later, the day of filming dawned. All 13 of us extras, mainly housewives, were driven to an old hospital. The coffee and tea they served us looked and tasted like cement. Then we were rushed off to make-up. My hair was pinned back and make-up was applied that gave me a pale appearance. Then we just sat in a minibus for a few hours, as the cameras rolled elsewhere.

After the second hour had passed I was becoming bored. I bet stars are never treated like this, I thought. I had expected to be so busy that I hadn’t come prepared for a long wait. Many of the others had brought a book or knitting.

Three hours had now passed. Then at last we were called to do our scenes. When the director came in, we were instructed where to stand and what to do. Along with a few others, I was told to sit at a table and weave baskets. This was not an easy task. The cane(藤条)we had to use was very long. On several occasions my basket fell apart in front of my very eyes. On others I only succeeded in hitting a cameraman in the eye.

Life for the other extras was far from easy. Jean, who was barefoot，had to circle the floor. Poor Alice was asked to pretend to bang her head against the wall. Meanwhile, Veronica swept the floor.

Thankfully, after just a few attempts, the scenes were done. And so my first taste of this “glorious” career was over. Although I found the experience quite interesting. My first screen role will almost certainly be my last.

65. The word “extras” used in this story means people who__________.

A. play unimportant parts in a film

B. have little experience of acting

C. pretend to be film stars

D. need a part-time job

66. According to the story, which of the following statements is true about the author?

A. She understood clearly that most film stars used to be extras.

B. She didn’t refuse the role assigned to her although she didn’t like it.

C. Unlike other women who were reading or knitting，she was busy with her scene.

D. The only thing she did well was to use the cane as a weapon.

67. The best title for this story could be__________.

A. In Fashion    B. On Camera  C. A Fancy Dream  D. A Great Career (B)

As public playgrounds grow increasingly worn and shabby, the for-profit centers offer clean, safe, supervised activity as well as a variety of challenging exercises to develop youngsters’ physical fitness, usually for a fee of around $5 an hour. “Playgrounds are dirty, not supervised,” says Dick Guggenheimer, owner of the two-month-old Discovery Zone in Yonkers, N.Y., part of a Kansas City-based chain. “We’re indoors; we’re padded(铺上软垫); parents can feel their child is safe.”

Discovery Zone has sold 120 outlets in the past 14 months, boasting sandboxes full of brightly colored plastic balls, mazes(迷宫), obstacle courses, slides and mountains to climb. Now McDonalds is getting into the act. The burger giant is test-marketing a new playground, Leaps&Bounds, in Naperville, Ill. Phys Kids of Wichita has opened one center and has plans to expand.

American parents are rightly worried about their kids leisure life. There are 36 million children in the U.S. aged 2 to 11 who watch an average of 24 hours of TV a week and devote less and less energy to active recreation. Nationwide decrease in education budgets are making the problem worse, as gym classes and after-hours sports time get squeezed. Says Discovery Zone president Jack Gunion: “we have raised a couple of pure couch potatoes.”

In an attempt to attract more people , the new facilities cater to the concerns of two-earner families, staying open in the evenings, long after traditional public playground have grown dark and unusable. At Naperville’s Leaps&Bounds, families can play together for $4.95 per child, parents free. Fresh-faced assistants, dressed in colorful sport pants and shirts, guide youngsters to appropriate play areas for differing age group.

These new playground are not meant to be day-care facilities; parents are expected to stay and play with their kids rather than drop them off. But several also provide high-tech baby-sitting services. At some of the Discovery Zones, parents can register their children in special supervised programs, then leave them and slip away for a couple of hours to enjoy a movie or dinner.

The most fun of all, though, is getting to do what parents used to do in the days before two-career families and two-hour commutes: play with their kid. That, at least, is old-fashioned, even at per-hour rates.

68. What is this article mainly talking about?

A. Children can play in the public playground without parents’ care.

B. The fast development of Discovery Zone.

C. A new type of playground for kids.

D. The decay of outdoor playground.

69. According to the article, which of the following is true to the new playground?

A. The cost is high for a family.

B. It’s a place where kids can watch TV while eating potatoes.

C. It doesn’t allow parents to leave their kids.

D. It’s a place where parents can play together with their kids.

70. What does the writer mean by saying “old-fashioned”?

A. The so-called new playground is outdated.

B. the new playground offers a fashion which is popular in the past.

C. The new playground is also enjoyed by old people.

D. The new playground is actually enjoyed by parents

71. What is the writer’s attitude toward the new playground?

A. Agreeable.  B. Indifferent.  C. Objective.  D. Neutral.

(C)

Engineering students are supposed to be examples of practicality and rationality, but when it comes to my college education I am an idealist and a fool. In high school I wanted to be an electrical engineer and, of course, any sensible student with my aims would have chosen a college with a large engineering department, famous reputation and lots of good labs and research equipment. But that’s not what I did.

I chose to study engineering at a small liberal-arts(文科)university that doesn’t even offer a major in electrical engineering. Obviously, this was not a practical choice; I came here for more noble reasons. I wanted a broad education that would provide me with flexibility and a value system to guide me in my career. I wanted to open my eyes and expand my vision by interacting with people who weren’t studying science or engineering. My parents, teachers and other adults praised me for such a sensible choice. They told me I was wise and mature beyond my 18 years, and I believed them.

I headed off to college and I was sure I was going to have an advantage over those students who went to big engineering “factories” where they didn’t care if you had values or were flexible. I was going to be a complete engineer: technical genius and sensitive humanist(人文学者)all in one.

Now I’m not so sure. Somewhere along the way my noble ideals crashed into reality, as all noble ideals eventually do. After three years of struggling to balance math, physics and engineering courses with liberal-arts courses, I have learned there are reasons why few engineering students try to reconcile(协调)engineering with liberal-arts courses in college.

The reality that has blocked my path to become the typical successful student is that engineering and the liberal arts simply don’t’ mix as easily as I assumed in high school. Individually they shape a person in very different ways; together they threaten to confuse. The struggle to reconcile the two fields of study is difficult.