Each of the passages below is followed by some questions. For each question four answers are given. Read the passage carefully and choose the best answer to each of the questions. Put your choice in the ANSWER SHEET. (30 points)
Text 1
It is all very well to blame traffic jams, the cost of petrol and the quick pace of modern life, but manners on the roads are becoming horrible. Everybody knows that the nicest men become monsters behind the wheel. It is very well, again, to have a tiger in the tank, but to have one in the driver’s seat is another matter altogether. You might tolerate the odd road-hog, the rude and inconsiderate driver, but nowadays the well-mannered motorist is the exception to the rule. Perhaps the situation calls for a ‘Be Kind to Other Drivers’ campaign, otherwise it may get completely out of hand.
Road politeness is not only good manners, but good sense too. It takes the most cool-headed and good-tempered of drivers to resist the temptation to revenge when subjected to uncivilized behavior. On the other hand, a little politeness goes a long way towards relieving the tensions of motoring. A friendly nod or a wave of acknowledgement in response to an act of politeness helps to create an atmosphere of goodwill and tolerance so necessary in modern traffic conditions. But such acknowledgements of politeness are all too rare today. Many drivers nowadays don’t even seem able to recognize politeness when they see it.
However, misplaced politeness can also be dangerous. Typical examples are the driver who brakes violently to allow a car to emerge from a side street at some hazard to following traffic, when a few seconds later the road would be clear anyway; or the man who waves a child across a zebra crossing into the path of oncoming vehicles that may be unable to stop in time. The same goes for encouraging old ladies to cross the road wherever and whenever they care to. It always amazes me that the highways are not covered with the dead bodies of these grannies.
A veteran driver, whose manners are faultless, told me it would help if motorists learnt to filter correctly into traffic streams one at a time without causing the total blockages that give rise to bad temper. Unfortunately, modern motorists can’t even learn to drive, let alone master the subtler aspects of boatmanship. Years ago the experts warned us that the car-ownership explosion would demand a lot more give-and-take from all road users. It is high time for all of us to take this message to heart.
31.According to this passage, troubles on the road are primarily caused by ________.
[A] people’s attitude towards the road-hog
[B] the rhythm of modern life
[C] the behavior of the driver（C）
[D] traffic conditions
32.The sentence “You might tolerate the odd road-hog... the rule.” (Para. 1) implies that ________.
[A] our society is unjust towards well-mannered motorists
[B] rude drivers can be met only occasionally
[C] the well-mannered motorist cannot tolerate the road-hog（D）
[D] nowadays impolite drivers constitute the majority of motorists
33.By “good sense,” the writer means ________.
[A] the driver’s ability to understand and react reasonably
[B] the driver’s prompt response to difficult and severe conditions
[C] the driver’s tolerance of rude or even savage behavior（A）
[D] the driver’s acknowledgement of politeness and regulations
34.Experts have long pointed out that in the face of car-ownership explosion, ________.
[A] road users should make more sacrifice
[B] drivers should be ready to yield to each other
[C] drivers should have more communication among themselves（B）
[D] drivers will suffer great loss if they pay no respect to others
35.In the writer’s opinion, ________.
[A] strict traffic regulations are badly needed
[B] drivers should apply road politeness properly
[C] rude drivers should be punished（B）
[D] drivers should avoid traffic jams
Text 2
In the atmosphere, carbon dioxide acts rather like a one-way mirror -- the glass in the roof of a greenhouse which allows the sun’s rays to enter but prevents the heat from escaping.
According to a weather expert’s prediction, the atmosphere will be 3℃warmer in the year 2050 than it is today, if man continues to burn fuels at the present rate. If this warming up took place, the ice caps in the poles would begin to melt, thus raising sea level several metres and severely flooding coastal cities. Also, the increase in atmospheric temperature would lead to great changes in the climate of the northern hemisphere, possibly resulting in an alteration of earth’s chief food-growing zones.
In the past, concern about a man-made warming of the earth has concentrated on the Arctic because the Antarctic is much colder and has a much thicker ice sheet. But the weather experts are now paying more attention to West Antarctic, which may be affected by only a few degrees of warming, in other words, by a warming on the scale that will possibly take place in the next fifty years from the burning of fuels.
Satellite pictures show that large areas of Antarctic ice are already disappearing. The evidence available suggests that a warming has taken place. This fits the theory that carbon dioxide warms the earth.
However, most of the fuel is burnt in the northern hemisphere, where temperatures seem to be falling. Scientists conclude, therefore, that up to now natural influences on the weather have exceeded those caused by man. The question is: Which natural cause has most effect on the weather?
One possibility is the variable behavior of the sun. Astronomers at one research station have studied the hot spots and “cold” spots (that is, the relatively less hot spots) on the sun. As the sun rotates, every 27.5 days, it presents hotter or “colder” faces to the earth, and different aspects to different parts of the earth. This seems to have a considerable effect on the distribution of the earth’s atmospheric pressure, and consequently on wind circulation. The sun is also variable over a long term: its heat output goes up and down in cycles, the latest trend being downward.
Scientists are now finding mutual relations between models of solar-weather interactions and the actual climate over many thousands of years, including the last Ice Age. The problem is that the models are predicting that the world should be entering a new Ice Age and it is not. One way of solving this theoretical difficulty is to assume a delay of thousands of years while the solar effects overcome the inertia (惯性) of the earth’s climate. If this is right, the warming effect of carbon dioxide might thus be serving as a useful counter-balance to the sun’s diminishing heat.
36.It can be concluded that a concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere would ________.
[A] prevent the sun’s rays from leeching the earth’s surface
[B] mean a warming up in the Arctic
[C] account for great changes in the climate in the northern hemisphere（D）
[D] raise the temperature of the earth’s surface
37.The article was written to explain ________.
[A] the greenhouse effect
[B] the solar effects on the earth
[C] the models of solar-weather interactions（D）
[D] the causes affecting weather
38.Although the fuel consumption is greater in the northern hemisphere, temperatures there seem to be falling. This is ________.
[A] mainly because the levels of carbon dioxide are rising
[B] possibly because the ice caps in the poles are melting
[C] exclusively due to the effect of the inertia of the earth’s climate（D）
[D] partly due to variations in the output of solar energy
39.On the basis of their models, scientists are of the opinion that ________.
[A] the climate of the world should be becoming cooler
[B] it will take thousands of years for the inertia of the earth’s climate to take effect
[C] the man-made warming effect helps to increase the solar effects（A）
[D] the new Ice Age will be delayed by the greenhouse effect
40.If the assumption about the delay of a new Ice Age is correct, ________.
[A] the best way to overcome the cooling effect would be to burn more fuels
[B] ice would soon cover the northern hemisphere
[C] the increased levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere could warm up the earth even more quickly（D）
[D] the greenhouse effect could work to the advantage of the earth
Text 3
Some people believe that international sport creates goodwill between the nations and that if countries play games together they will learn to live together. Others say that the opposite is true: that international contests encourage false national pride and lead to misunderstanding and hatred. There is probably some truth in both arguments, but in recent years the Olympic Games have done little to support the view that sports encourages international brotherhood. Not only was there the tragic incident involving the murder of athletes, but the Games were also ruined by lesser incidents caused principally by minor national contests.
One country received its second-place medals with visible indignation after the hockey (曲棍球) final. There had been noisy scenes at the end of the hockey match, the losers objecting to the final decisions. They were convinced that one of their goals should not have been disallowed and that their opponents’ victory was unfair. Their manager was in a rage when he said: “This wasn’t hockey. Hockey and the International Hockey Federation are finished.” The president of the Federation said later that such behavior could result in the suspension of the team for at least three years.
The American basketball team announced that they would not yield first place to Russia, after a disputable end to their contest. The game had ended in disturbance. It was thought at first that the United States had won, by a single point, but it was announced that there were three seconds still to play. A Russian player then threw the ball from one end of the court to the other, and another player popped it into the basket. It was the first time the USA had ever lost an Olympic basketball match. An appeal jury debated the matter for four and a half hours before announcing that the result would stand. The American players then voted not to receive the silver medals.
Incidents of this kind will continue as long as sport is played competitively rather than for the love of the game. The suggestion that athletes should compete as individuals, or in non-national teams, might be too much to hope for. But in the present organization of the Olympics there is far too much that encourages aggressive patriotism.
41.According to the author, recent Olympic Games have ________.
[A] created goodwill between the nations
[B] bred only false national pride
[C] barely showed any international friendship（C）
[D] led to more and more misunderstanding and hatred
42.What did the manager mean by saying, “... Hockey and the International Hockey Federation are finished”?
[A] His team would no longer take part in international games.
[B] Hockey and the Federation are both ruined by the unfair decisions.
[C] There should be no more hockey matches organized by the Federation.（B）
[D] The Federation should be dissolved.
43.The basketball example implied that ________.
[A] too much patriotism was displayed in the incident
[B] the announcement to prolong the match was wrong
[C] the appeal jury was too hesitant in making the decision（A）
[D] the American team was right in rejecting the silver medals
44.The author gives the two examples in paragraphs 2 and 3 to show ________.
[A] how false national pride led to undesirable incidents in international games
[B] that sportsmen have been more obedient than they used to be
[C] that competitiveness in the games discourages international friendship（C）
[D] that unfair decisions are common in Olympic Games
45.What conclusion can be drawn from the passage?
[A] The organization of the Olympic Games must be improved.
[B] Athletes should compete as individual in the Olympic Games.
[C] Sport should be played competitively rather than for the love of the game.（A）
[D] International contests are liable for misunderstanding between nations.
