文档内容
英语专项深度练习——阅读理解(一)
The “standard of living” of any country means the average person‘s share of the goods and
services which the country produces. A country’s standard of living， therefore， depends
first and foremost on its capacity to produce wealth. “Wealth” in this sense is not
money， for we do not live on money but on things that money can buy： “goods” such as
food and clothing， and “services” such as transport and entertainment.
A country‘s capacity to produce wealth depends upon many factors， most of which have an
effect on one another. Wealth depends to a great extent upon a country’s natural
resources， such as coal， gold， and other minerals， water supply and so on. Some regions
of the world are well supplied with coal and minerals， and have a fertile soil and a
favorable climate; other regions possess perhaps only one of these things， and some regions
possess none of them. The U. S. A is one of the wealthiest regions of the world because she
has vast natural resources within her borders， her soil is fertile， and her climate is
varied. The Sahara Desert， on the other hand， is one of the least wealthy.
Next to natural resources comes the ability to turn them to use. China is perhaps as well
off as the U. S. A. in natural resources， but suffered for many years from civil and
external wars， and for this and other reasons was. unable to develop her resources. Sound
and stable political conditions， and freedom from foreign invasion， enable a country to
develop its natural resources peacefully and steadily， and to produce more wealth than
another country equally well served by nature but less well ordered. Another important
factor is the technical efficiency of a country‘s people. Old countries that have， through
many centuries， trained up numerous skilled craftsmen and technicians are better placed to
produce wealth than countries whose workers are largely unskilled. Wealth also produces
wealth. As a country becomes wealthier， its people have a large margin for saving， and can
put their savings into factories and machines which will help workers to turn out more goods
in their working day.
1. A country’s wealth depends upon______. ，
A. its standard of living
B. its money
C. its ability to provide goods and services
D. its ability to provide transport and entertainment
2. The word “foremost” means______.
A. most importantly B. firstly
C. largely D. for the most part3. The main idea of the second paragraph is that______.
A. a country‘s wealth depends on many factors
B. the U. S. A. is one of the wealthiest countries in the world
C. the Sahara Desert is a very poor region
D. natural resources are an important factor in the wealth or poverty of a country
4. The third paragraph mentions some of the advantages which one country may have over
another in making use of its resources. How many such advantages are mentioned in this
paragraph？
A. 2 B. 3
C. 4 D. 5
5. The second sentence.in Paragraph 3 is______.
A. the main idea of the paragraph
B. an example supporting the main idea of the paragraph
C. the conclusion of the paragraph
D. not related to the paragraph
答案：1. C 2. A 3. A 4. B 5. B
The productivity of Americans employed in private businesses has declined. The productivity
of workers in countries such as Japan and Germany is increasing. American machine tools， on
average， are old， relatively inefficient， and rapidly becoming obsolete， whereas those
of our competitors overseas， in comparison， are newer and more efficient. We are no longer
the most productive workers in the world. We are no longer the leaders in industrial
innovation （革新）。 We are an immensely
wealthy nation of educated men and women who seem to have lost sight of the fact that
everything—from the simplest necessities to the finest luxuries—must be produced through
our own collective hard work. We have come to expect automatic increases in our collective
standard of living， but we seem to have forgotten that these increases are possible only
when our productivity continues to grow.
One thing that must change is the rate at which we substitute capital equipment for human
labor. Simply put， our labor force has increased at a far greater rate than has our stock
of capital investment. We seem to have forgotten that our past productivity gains， to alarge extent， were realized from substitutions of capital for human labor. Today， 3 times
as many robots are listed as capital assets by Japanese firms as by United States firms.
There is no doubt that robots will become a common sight in American factories. Representing
a new generation of technology， robots will replace factory labor much as the farm tractor
replaced the horse. Robot technology has much to offer. It offers higher levels of
productivity and quality at lower costs; in promises to free men and women from the dull，
repetitious toil of the factory， it is likely to have an impact on society comparable to
that made by the growth of computer technology.
1. The word “obsolete”（Para. 1） most probably means_______.
A. weak B. old
C. new D. out of date
2. The author is anxious about_______.
A. his people no longer taking the lead in industrial innovation
B. his country no longer being a wealthy nation
C. his people forgetting to raise their productivity
D. his country falling behind other industrial nations
3. According to the author， in his country_______.。
A. the proportion of labor force to capital investment is quite low
B. the growth rate of labor force should be greater than that of capital investment
C. the productivity increases should be achieved by the increases of labor force
D. capital investment should have increased more rapidly than labor force
4. So far as the influence on society is concerned， _______.
A. robot technology seems to be much more promising than computer technology
B. computer technology has less to offer than robot technology
C. robot technology can be compared with computer technology
D. robot technology cannot be compared with computer technology5. The purpose of the author in writing this passage is to show that_______.
A. robots will help increase labor productivity
B. robots will rule American factories
C. robots are cheaper than human laborers
D. robots will finally replace humans in factories
答案：1. D 2. C 3. D 4. C 5. A
Sugar is so much a part of our modern life that we only really think about it when， for
some ___1___ ， we cannot obtain it. It has been known to man for at least 3，000 years，
but has ___2___ into common use only in ___3___times. Until quite recently it was considered
as a medicine and as a luxury for the very rich only.
Sugar is， then， ___4 ___to our civilization. But what___5___ is it？ Of course， most of
us recognize sugar immediately as the sweet material which we put in coffee or cakes. This
common form of sugar is derived from two plants： the sugar cane （a type of grass which
grows to a height of twenty feet） and the sugar beet （which grows under ground）。 But
there are in fact many types of sugar， and the chemist recognizes hundreds of different
___6___ ， each coming from a different source.
About 90% of the sugar is produced as food. Only 10% is used in industry for ___7___other
than food production. Yet sugar has great possibilities for use as the basis of chemicals.
It can even be used for making plastics. In the future these potential uses will certainly
be developed more than in the past.
There are many reasons why we should ___8___the production of sugar. Most important is that
it is one of the most highly concentrated of energy foods.
Thus sugar cane and beet produce an average of 7，000，000 calories per acre. In this way
they have the advantage over potatoes which give only 4， 000， 000， while the___9___ for
wheat and beans is 2 ，000，000 each. So three acres of land growing wheat， beans and
potatoes give only ___10__more energy than one acre of sugar.
A. slightly B. intention C. reason D. modern
E. strongly F. figure G. come H. significant
I. exactly J. increase K. proposals L. turn M. purposes N. varieties O. serious
答案：I. C 2. G 3. D 4. H 5. I 6. N 7. M 8. J 9. F 10. AMore than 60 percent of all high school graduates continue their formal education after
graduation. Many attend colleges that offer four-year programs leading to a bachelor‘s
degree. College students are called undergraduates， and their four years of study are
divided into the freshman， sophomore， junior， and senior years. In most colleges the
first two years are designed to provide a broad general education， and during this time the
college student is usually required to take courses in general areas of study， such as
English， science， foreign languages， and social science. By the junior year the student
begins to major in one particular field of study， or discipline.
Some institutions of higher learning offer only the four-year college program. A university
offers graduate or post-college programs， as well. Graduate degrees in fields such as
English literature， chemistry， and history are granted by graduate schools of arts and
sciences. These schools may offer one- or two-year programs leading to a master’s degree
（M. A. ）， and programs lasting three years or more that lead to the degree of doctor of
Philosophy （Ph. D. ）。 A candidate for a Ph. D. must meet certain course requirements in
his field， pass written and oral examinations， and present a written thesis based on
original research. Some universities offer postdoctoral programs that extend study and
research beyond the Ph. D.
Many universities also have what are called professional schools for study in such fields as
law， medicine， engineering， architecture， social work， business， library science， and
education. Professional schools differ widely in their requirements for admission and the
lengths of their programs. Medical students， for example， must complete at least three
years of premedical studies at an undergraduate school before they can enter the three- or
four-year program at a medical school. Engineering and architecture students， on the other
hand， can enter a four- or five-year professional school immediately upon completion of
secondary school.
The various disciplines， or fields of study， are organized by department. These
departments are staffed by faculty members ranging from full professors to
instructors. A full professor has tenure， which is permanent appointment with guaranteed
employment at the institution until his retirement. Ranking below the full professors are
the associate professors， who may or may not have tenure， depending on the policy of the
particular college or university. Next are the assistant professors， who do not have
tenure. At the bottom of this academic ladder are the instructors. They are usually young
teachers who have just received their doctorates or will receive them shortly. Sometimes
graduate students are employed as part-time teaching assistants while they are completing
their graduate work.
Today almost 5 million men and more than 3 million women attend more than 2500 colleges and
universities. Approximately 85 percent of these schools are coeducational， which means that
both men and women are enrolled in the same institutions. Colleges range in size from a few
hundred students to many thousands. Several universities have more than 20， 000
undergraduate and graduate students on one campus. A number of large state institutionsmaintain branches on several different campuses throughout the state. Classes vary from
seminars， or small discussion groups， of fewer than twenty to large lecture courses for
hundreds of students.
Approximately one-fourth of all college and university students attend private institutions.
The rest study at state or municipal， publicly financed colleges and universities. Every
state has at least one public university， and in addition there are several hundred state
and locally supported colleges. The academic programs of these private and public
institutions are very similar. Indeed， there are only a few important differences between
public and private colleges. Private colleges are privately organized and privately run;
public institutions are operated under the control of state or local officials. The other
differences involve admissions policies and the methods by which public and private
institutions are financed.
Admission to a state university is usually open to all men and women who have graduated from
high schools of the state and who have satisfactory high school records. Many state
universities require students to earn high scores on achievement and aptitude examinations，
but the underlying philosophy is that all students who want an education and are qualified
should have the opportunity to continue their education at public institutions. Tuition
rates are low， compared to private-college costs， and scholarship aid and loans are
frequently available. A few nonresidents are admitted to state schools， but they must pay
much higher tuition fees than residents of the state.
Admission to some private colleges is more selective and rigid than admission to some public
institutions， and frequently the student body is smaller. High school applicants to some
private colleges must submit detailed application forms， and they must take scholastic
aptitude and achievement examinations. College admissions committees decide which students
to accept， basing their judgment on these applications， the results of the examinations，
high school records， and other factors such as personal interviews with the applicants and
letters of recommendation from high school teachers. For certain colleges， such as
Harvard， Yale， Princeton， Stanford， and Columbia， applications usually far exceed the
number of students who are accepted. In 1975 ， for example， Harvard received 7620
applications for 1500 available places.
The average private college tuition in the early 1970s was $ 2161 a year. This figure was
approximately four times greater than the average public-college tuition. At Harvard，
tuition cost $3200 in 1973-1974. The University of Massachusetts， a publicly supported
institution in the same state， charged $ 300 for a state resident. These tuition figures do
not include the costs of room， food， and other everyday living expenses. Some students
receive scholarship assistance and loans to help pay for the cost of their education. Many
students at private and public colleges work while they are attending school， in order to
pay their expenses.
Almost 1500 American colleges and universities are privately organized and financed. More
than half the income of these institutions comes from student tuition payments. The restcomes from private gifts， endowment earnings， and some federal research grants， Because
of steadily rising costs， many private institutions have had to raise tuition rates，
reduce scholarship aid， and limit some academic programs. The poor financial condition of
most private institutions is a very serious problem in the world of higher education today.
Student fees account for only 15 percent of the income of public colleges and universities.
The rest comes from municipal or state and some federal government sources. Although public
institutions have also experienced the problem of rising costs， they have often been able
to depend on state legislators for financial support. In large part this support may be
explained by the legislators‘ response *o the wishes of the people who elected them and to
general acceptance of the American tradition that everyone who is qualified should have the
opportunity to continue his climb up the educational ladder at publicly financed
institutions.
1. It can be inferred from the passage that all high school graduates who want an education
and are qualified will have the opportunity for further education in either public or
private universities.
2. According to the passage， about three fourths of college and university students are
studying in the public institutions.
3. Private institutions. enjoy higher reputation of good teaching quality， although they
have similar academic programs with public institutions.
4. Students can study for a master’s degree or the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in any
institutions as long as they can meet all the requirements.
5. The assistant professors are right next to the full professors in the academic ladder.
6. The average tuition of private colleges was about four times more than that of public
colleges in the early 1970s， which accounted for half of the total income.
7. The majority of the students who graduate from high schools go on with their education in
the institutions of higher learning.
8. A college senior is supposed to focus his study on______.
9. That the operation of the colleges and universities rests with state or local government
is the characteristic of______.
10. The admissions committees of private colleges are responsible for______.
答案：I. Y 2. Y 3. NG 4. N 5. N 6. N 7. Y
8. his major 9. public institutions 10. deciding which students to accept
