11.13 考研英语阅读题源外刊模拟试题【难度6.8】

Section II Reading Comprehension 

Part A 

Directions: Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark your answers on the ANSWER SHEET. 

Text 3

When the remnants of a hurricane drenched New York in 2021, the city’s old sewers were swamped by rain falling at nearly twice the rate they were built to handle. In a Bronx park where a lake drains into the sewers, floodwater left cars submerged on a nearby expressway. Local activists knew the cause: a stream that once ran through the area had been buried under concrete, yet the rain still had to go somewhere.

That stream is one of dozens of waterways in the city that were piped into sewers, filled in or built over to make way for development. Now the city plans, for the first time, to bring a buried stream back. Through a process called daylighting, part of the brook will be diverted from underground pipes into a new open channel beside the expressway, giving the park’s water a more natural outlet, easing flooding and adding green space.

Climate change is bringing more rain and more sudden, intense storms, while concrete and asphalt send water rushing into the drains. Daylighting joins rain gardens, porous pavements, green roofs and storage tanks on a menu of tools meant to slow the water down and keep the sewers from backing up. It may also be among the cheapest: the brook project is expected to cut sewage discharges by 215 million gallons a year for $150 million, while a tank scheme elsewhere in the city would cost more than ten times as much to remove a smaller volume.

Daylighting dates back to the 1980s and was long valued mainly for the parks and paths it creates. Increasingly, cities present it as flood control or climate protection: Paris is considering it to fight rising temperatures, and Zurich has uncovered more than 15 miles of streams to keep rain out of its sewers. In the Bronx, stressing the benefits for the sewers made funding easier to win, since the agency that runs the sewers has a budget more than double that of the parks department.

It is not a cure-all. In a dense city, securing land is hard: negotiations with a freight railway company dragged on for over a decade, and another agency had to agree to the stream crossing its property. A complete overhaul of the sewers, which one estimate put at $100 billion, is out of the question, so the city relies on a range of projects that capture water or slow it until the sewers can cope. Last year these averted 680 million gallons of overflows; the target for 2040 is nearly two and a half times that.

A stream can swell to take whatever volume it needs, one ecologist notes, whereas a pipe is fixed. He expects buried waterways to keep resurfacing in heavy rain, since the storms cannot be wished away.

31. What caused the severe flooding in the Bronx park in 2021, according to Paragraph 1?A. A nearby river burst its banks during the storm and poured into the park.B. Debris blocked the drains that carry water out of the lake into the sewers.C. The lake was fed by too many streams at once, and its outlet could not cope.D. Rain overwhelmed the sewers, and a buried stream’s water had nowhere else to go.

32. How would daylighting help to reduce flooding in this case?A. By raising the capacity of the underground pipes.B. By giving the park’s water a more natural outlet than the sewers.C. By storing floodwater in large underground tanks.D. By stopping rainwater from reaching the lake.

33. The comparison with the tank scheme in Paragraph 3 is used to suggest that daylightingA. can cut more discharges than a tank scheme at a far lower costB. is the only affordable way of reducing sewage dischargesC. should replace storage tanks wherever they are plannedD. costs less because it removes a smaller volume of sewage

34. Why did stressing the benefits for the sewers help the project in the Bronx?A. It persuaded residents that no trees would have to be cut.B. It made it easier to buy the land from the railway company.C. It made funding easier to obtain from a much larger budget.D. It reduced the cost of building the new channel.

35. What is the text’s overall attitude towards daylighting?A. Hopeful about its value but aware of its practical limits.B. Convinced that it can replace the city’s sewer system.C. Doubtful that it is worth the money it costs.D. Indifferent to whether it succeeds.

附注：根据历年考研英语真题阅读题源外刊等，摘选最新文章，模拟仿真出题。

参考答案见以下。

Quick look: DBACA

31.【正确答案】D【解析】题型：细节理解题（原因）定位：第一段 “the city’s old sewers were swamped by rain falling at nearly twice the rate they were built to handle... a stream that once ran through the area had been buried under concrete, yet the rain still had to go somewhere.”分析：2021年的降雨速度接近老旧下水道设计能力的两倍，而原本流经此地的溪流早已被埋在混凝土之下，水无处可去，因此公园一带积水严重。D项概括了这两个原因。干扰项：[A]”邻近河流决堤"无中生有，原文未提河流决堤；[B]"碎片堵塞出水口"无中生有；[C]"湖水被太多溪流同时注入"与原文相反，原文说的是溪流被埋，而不是溪流太多。

32.【正确答案】B【解析】题型：细节理解题（机制）定位：第二段 “part of the brook will be diverted from underground pipes into a new open channel beside the expressway, giving the park’s water a more natural outlet, easing flooding...”分析：重见天日是把部分溪水从地下管道改引到沿高速公路的新明渠，让公园的水有一个比下水道更自然的出口，从而缓解积水。B项准确。干扰项：[A]”提高地下管道容量"与原文相反，做法是把水从管道中分流出来；[C]"把洪水储存在地下水箱"张冠李戴，水箱方案是第三段中城市另一处的项目；[D]"阻止雨水流入湖中"无中生有。

33.【正确答案】A【解析】题型：推理判断题（数据比较）定位：第三段末句 “the brook project is expected to cut sewage discharges by 215 million gallons a year for $150 million, while a tank scheme elsewhere in the city would cost more than ten times as much to remove a smaller volume.”分析：溪流项目预计每年减少2.15亿加仑排放，费用1.5亿美元；而水箱方案成本超过其十倍，却只清除更小的量。作者以此说明：重见天日花更少的钱，能减少更多的排放。A项准确。干扰项：[B]”是唯一负担得起的办法"以偏概全，原文只说它"可能是最便宜的之一"；[C]"应在各处取代水箱"程度夸大，原文只作成本比较，且第五段说城市依靠多种项目；[D]"成本低是因为清除的污水量少"与原文相反，它清除的量反而更多。

34.【正确答案】C【解析】题型：细节理解题（原因）定位：第四段末句 “In the Bronx, stressing the benefits for the sewers made funding easier to win, since the agency that runs the sewers has a budget more than double that of the parks department.”分析：强调项目对下水道系统的好处，使项目更容易争取到资金，因为负责下水道的机构的预算是公园部门的两倍多。C项准确。干扰项：[A]”让居民相信不必砍树"无中生有，本文并未提及砍树；[B]"使从铁路公司购地更容易"张冠李戴，购地的困难在第五段，并未说强调下水道的好处使购地变容易；[D]"降低新渠的建设成本"无中生有。

35.【正确答案】A【解析】题型：态度推理题定位：第三段 “It may also be among the cheapest”；第五段 “It is not a cure-all... A complete overhaul of the sewers... is out of the question, so the city relies on a range of projects”分析：文章一方面肯定重见天日成本效益高、能缓解积水，另一方面指出在稠密城市获取土地很难，且全面改造下水道不现实，因此只能依靠多种项目。整体态度是看好其价值，但清楚它的局限。A项准确。干扰项：[B]”能取代整个下水道系统"与第五段相反，原文称全面改造下水道不可能，需靠多种项目；[C]"怀疑是否值得花钱"与第三段相反，原文称它可能是最便宜的之一；[D]"漠不关心"与文章详细分析其利弊不符。

【参考译文】

2021年，一场飓风的残余势力给纽约带来倾盆大雨，这座城市的老旧下水道不堪重负：降雨速度接近它们设计承载能力的两倍。在布朗克斯的一座公园里，一个湖泊的水排入下水道系统，洪水把附近一条高速公路上的汽车淹没在水中。当地的活动人士知道原因：一条曾经流经这一带的溪流被埋在了混凝土之下，而雨水依然要有个去处。

这条溪流是这座城市里数十条被接入下水道、被填平或被盖上建筑，为开发让路的水道之一。如今，这座城市首次计划让一条被掩埋的溪流重见天日。通过一种叫"重见天日"（daylighting）的做法，这条小溪的一部分将从地下管道中改道，引入高速公路旁一条新的明渠，让公园的水有一个更自然的出口，缓解积水，并增添一片绿地。

气候变化带来了更多的降雨和更突然、更猛烈的暴雨，而混凝土和沥青又把水迅速送进排水口。重见天日与雨水花园、透水路面、绿色屋顶和蓄水箱一起，构成一份旨在减缓水流、防止下水道倒灌的工具清单。它也可能是其中最便宜的之一：这条小溪项目预计每年可减少2.15亿加仑的污水排放，花费1.5亿美元，而城市另一处的一项水箱方案，成本超过前者的十倍，清除的量却更少。

重见天日可以追溯到20世纪80年代，长期以来主要因其创造的公园和步道而受到重视。越来越多的城市把它作为防洪或气候防护措施：巴黎正在考虑用它应对气温上升，苏黎世则已让15英里以上的溪流重见天日，以防雨水流入下水道。在布朗克斯，强调项目对下水道的好处使资金更容易争取到，因为负责下水道的机构的预算是公园部门的两倍多。

它并非万能良方。在一座人口稠密的城市里，获取土地很难：与一家货运铁路公司的谈判拖了十多年，另一个机构也得同意溪流穿过其用地。全面改造下水道（有一项估算认为要花1000亿美元）是不可能的，所以城市依靠一系列截留雨水或使其减速、直到下水道能够应付的项目。去年这些项目避免了6.8亿加仑的溢流；2040年的目标是其近两倍半。

一位生态学家指出，溪流可以膨胀到容纳它所需要的任何水量，而管道的容量是固定的。他预计，被掩埋的水道会在暴雨中不断重新浮现，因为这些风暴是无法靠一厢情愿让它们消失的。

附注：