Passage 7Washington Irving was America's first man of letters
to be known internationally. His works were received enthusiastically both in England and
in the United States. He was, in fact, one of the most successful writers of his time in
either country, delighting a large general public and at the same time winning the
admiration of fellow writers like Scott in Britain and Poe and Tarwthorne in the United
States. The respect in which he was held was partly owing to the man himself, with his
warm friendliness, his good sense, his politeness, his gay spirits, his artistic
integrity, his love of both the old World and the New Thackery described Irving as a
"gentleman, who, though himself born in no very high sphere, was most finished,
polished, witty; socially the equal of the most refined Europeans". In England he was
granted an honorary degree from Oxford --- an unusual honor for a citizen of a young,
uncultured nation --- and be received the medal of the Royal Society of Literature;
America made him ambassador to Spain. Irving's background provides little to explain his
literary achievements. A gifted but delicate child, he had little schooling. He studied
law, but without zeal, and never did practice seriously. He was immune to his strict
Presbyterian home environment, frequenting both social gatherings and the theater.
- What is the most proper comment on Irving?[ANSWER]
A)His works were very popular in England and the United States.
B)He was respected by many fellow writers.
C)His works were of popularity and high quality.
D)He is a gentleman.
- According to Thachery's description,which of the following statements is NOT TRUE?[ANSWER]
A)Irving tried to show elegance in society.
B)Irving's parents were not aristocratic.
C)Irving's social grace were unusual.
D)Irving was inferior to Europeans of refinement.
- Why is it unusual that Irving was granted an honorary degree from Oxford?[ANSWER]
A)Because his degree was honorary,rather than earned.
B)Because he was not so successful as his fellow writers.
C)Because he was from America which was a country with young history and less culture.
D)Because Oxford was a famous university in England.
- What is true about Irving's background?[ANSWER]
A)His background had provided opportunity for his literary a achievement.
B)He spent very little time working as a lawyer.
C)As a gifted child,he had reveived good education.
D)His religious belief helped him a lot.
- The tone of the author can be said to be _____.[ANSWER]
A)serious
B)mild
C)friendly
D)appreciative
Passage 8In a family where the roles of men and women are not
sharply separated and where many household tasks are shared to a greater or lesser extent,
notions of make superiority are hard to maintain. The pattern of sharing in tasks and in
decisions makes for equality, and this in turn leads to further sharing . In such a home,
the growing boy and girl learn to accept that equality more easily than did their parents
and to prepare more fully for participation in a world characterized by cooperation rather
than by the "battle of sexes".
In the process goes too far and man's role is regarded as less
important-and that has happened in some cases --- we are as badly off as before, only in
reverse. It is time to reassess the role of the man in the American family. We are getting
a little tired of "Momism" --- but we don't want to exchange it for a
"neo-Popism". What we need, rather, is the recognition that bringing up children
involves a partnership of equals. There are signs that psychiatrists, psychologists,
social workers, and specialists on the family are becoming more aware of the part men play
and that they have decided that women should not receive all the credits --- nor all the
blame. We have almost given up saying that a woman's place is in the home. We are
beginning, however, to analyze man's place in the home and to insist that he does have a
place in it. Nor is that place irrelevant to the healthy development of the child. The
family is a cooperative enterprise for which it is difficult to lay down rules, because
each family needs to work out its own ways for solving its own problems. Excessive
authoritarianism has unhappy consequences, whether it wears skirts or trousers, and the
ideal of equal rights and equal responsibilities is pertinent (与…有关) not only to a
healthy family.
- Sharing tasks and decisions in a family leads to _____.[ANSWER]
A)momism
B)neo-popism
C)inequality
D)further sharing
- If a boy and girl has grwon up in a home with sharing tasks and decisions,he or she will
probably _____.[ANSWER]
A)believe that life is a "battle of sexes".
B)accept equality as their parents did.
C)prepare more fully for participation in a cooperative world.
D)insist that man has a place in the home.
- According to the author,man's role in the American family _____.[ANSWER]
A)less important than woman's
B)equal to woman's
C)irrelevant to the healthy development of the child
D)hard to maintain
- Psychiatrists,psychologists,social workers and specialists on the family _____.[ANSWER]
A)are paying in creased attention to man's place in the home.
B)suggest that we exchange "Momism" for a "neo-popism".
C)women should receive all the credits and blames.
D)men should receive all the credits and blames.
- The ideal of equal rights and equal responsibilities is _____.[ANSWER]
A)related to either a healthy democracy or a healthy family
B)related to a healthy family as well as healthy democracy
C)related to neither a halthy democracy nor a healthy family
D)none of the above
Passage 9How men first learnt to invent words is unknown; in
other words, the origin of language is a mystery. All we really known is that men, unlike
animals, somehow invented certain sounds to express thoughts and feelings, actions, and
things, so that they could communicate with each other; and that later they agreed upon
certain signs, called letters, which could be combined to represent those sounds, and
which could be written down, these sounds, whether spoken, or written in letters we call
words. The power of words, then, lies in their associations - the
things they bring up before our minds, Words become filled with meaning for us by
experience; and the longer we live, the more certain words recall to us the glad and sad
events of our past; and the more we read and learn, the more the number of words that mean
something to us increases. Great writers are those who not only have great thoughts but
also express these thoughts in words which appeal powerfully to our minds and emotions.
This charming and telling use of words is what we call literary style(文体). Above all,
the real poet is a master of words. He can convey his meaning in words which sing like
music, and which by their position and association can move men to tears. We should
therefore learn to choose our words carefully and use them accurately, or they will make
our speech silly and vulgar (粗俗的).
- Which is true about origin of language?[ANSWER]
A)Men,as well as animals,invented certain sounds to express thoughts.
B)The origin of language is a complicated question.
C)Words did not have written form,at first.
D)Words were invented to represent meanings.
- The power of words lies in _____.[ANSWER]
A)the fact that it can associate the things in the world with the ideas in our mind
B)the fact that one word is connected with another
C)the fact that it can associate one person with another
D)the fact that it can recall to us the events of our past
- In order not to make our speech silly and vulgar,we should _____.[ANSWER]
A)use words that can move men to tears
B)choose words with care and accuracy
C)become a master of words
D)use words which sing like music
- Which of the following statements is NOT TRUE?[ANSWER]
A)The more we read and learn,the larger our vocabulary will be.
B)The longer we live,the number of words that mean something to us increases.
C)Words can be used to represent various meanings.
D)Literary style a usually very charming.
- The best title for this passage would be _____.[ANSWER]
A)The meaning of words
B)The characteristics of words
C)The origin of words
D)The power of words
Passage 10In Switzerland, six miles west of Geneva, lies a
collection of laboratories and buildings, and most curious of all, a circular mound of
earth more than 650 feet in diameter. This cluster has unique importance. It is Europe's
one and only atomic city dedicated to investigating the atom for peaceful purposes. The
strange buildings belong to the European Council for Nuclear Research, more popularly
known, from its French initials, as CERN. The council was born when a handful of statesman
and scientific experts met in Paris in 1950. Their aim was to "establish an
organization providing for collaboration among European states in nuclear research of a
pure scientific and fundamental character". The CERN agreement was signed in 1953,
and work on the atomic city began in 1954. Today CERN's facilities are among the most
modern and the most diversified ones in the world. Impressive as the scientific aspect may
be, the real significance of CERN may lie with the thousand people --- the scientists, lab
workers, and administrative crew drawn from the fourteen member nations --- who populate
it. British engineers work side by side with Swiss electricians, Yugoslav nuclear
physicists, and Dutch mathematicians. The official languages are French and English, with
German an unofficial third. But CERN is no tower of Babel --- the language of science is
universal and all embracing.
- The laboratories and buildings discussed in the passage belong to _____.[ANSWER]
A)a private research organization
B)Switzerland
C)the European Council for Nuclear Research
D)the United Nationa
- The cluster has unique significance because it is _____.[ANSWER]
A)Europe's only atomic city
B)a city devoted to nuclear research
C)a city dedicated to investigating the atom for peaceful purposes
D)a clearing house for the world's nuclear research
- CERN's facilities for research are _____.[ANSWER]
A)limited but effective
B)among the best in the world
C)rapidly expanding
D)both a and c
- The passage says that CERN is not a tower of Babel because _____.[ANSWER]
A)work is the common denominator of all the staff
B)the language of science is universal
C)CERN had adopted only two official languages
D)all the workers are drawn from one country
- The real significance of CERN may lie in its staff because they _____.[ANSWER]
A)work in international harmony
B)come from all over the world
C)are investigating all phases of human conduct
D)are eliminating the problems of individual rationalism
Passage 11Every artist knows in his heart that he is saying
something to the public. Not only does he want so say it well, but he wants it to be
something which has not been said before. He hopes the public will listen and understand -
he wants to teach them, and he wants them to learn from him. What visual artists like
painters want to teach is easy to make out but difficult to explain, because painters
translate their experiences into shapes and colors, not words. They seem to feel that a
certain selection of shapes and colors, out of the countless billions possible, is
exceptionally interesting for them and worth showing to us. Without their work we should
never have noticed these particular shapes and colors, or have felt the delight which they
brought to the artist. Most artists take their shapes and colors from the world of nature
and from human bodies in motion and repose; their choices indicate that these aspects of
the world are worth looking at, that they contain beautiful sights. Contemporary artists
might say that they merely choose subjects that provide an interesting pattern, that there
is nothing more in it. Yet even they do not choose entirely without reference to the
character of their subjects. If one painter chooses to paint a gangrenous (生坏疽的)
leg and another a lake in moonlight, each of them is directing our attention to a certain
aspect of the world. Each painter is telling us something, showing us something,
emphasizing something --- all of which mean that, consciously or unconsciously, he is
trying to teach us.
- All artists are common in that _____.[ANSWER]
A)they use shapes and colors instead of words
B)they are trying to teach the public
C)what they want to teach is difficult to explain
D)they want to learn from the public
- A painter chooses certain shapes and colors out of the countless billions possible
because he believes they _____.[ANSWER]
A)are beautiful
B)can bring delight to him
C)are worth showing to the public
D)are particular
- Contemporary artists choose subjects _____.[ANSWER]
A)without reference to the character of their subjects
B)that only provide an interesting pattern
C)that there is no meaning in it
D)partly for the meaning of the subjects
- Comparing the painter who paints a gangrenous leg with the one who paints a lake in
moonlight,we can draw the conclusion that _____.[ANSWER]
A)both convey the same meaning
B)both show certain aspects of the world
C)the latter is more meaningful
D)the former is more meaningful
- According to the passage,which of the follwoing statements is true?[ANSWER]
A)The public could share the artist's feelings through their choice of shapes and colors.
B)The painter should not choose to paint ugly things.
C)Contemporary artists are completely different from other artists.
D)All artists are teaching the public consciously.
Passage 12For the person keeping a journal, whatever he
experiences and wants to hold he can write down. But to get it down on paper begins
another adventure. For he has to focus on what he has experienced, and to be able to say
what, in fact, the experience is. What of it is new? What of it is remarkable because of
associations in the memory it stirs up? Is it a good or bad thing to have happened? And
why, specifically? The questions multiply themselves quickly. As one tries to find the
words that best represent this discovery, the experience becomes even more clear in its
shape and meaning.
Beyond the value of the journal as record, there is the value of
the discipline it teaches. The journalist begins to pay closer attention to what happens
to and around himself. He develops and sharpens his skills of observation. He learns the
usefulness of languages as a means of representing what he sees, and gains skill and
certainty in the expression of his experiences. To have given up one's experience to words
is to have begun marking out the limits and potential of its meaning. In the journal that
meaning is developed and clarified to oneself. When the intention of the development of
that meaning is the consideration of another reader, the method of the journal redirects
itself and it becomes the essay.
