Reading Comprehension 3
Passage 1
According to the dictionary definition of “create”, ordinary people are creative every day. To create means “to bring into being, to cause to exist”—something each of us does daily.
We are creative whenever we look at or think about something in a new way. First this involves an awareness of our surroundings. It means using all of our sese to become aware of our world. This may be as simple as being aware of color and texture, as well as taste, when we plan a meal. Above all, it is the ability to notice things that others might miss.
A second part of creativity is an ability to see relationships among things. If we believe the expression, “There is nothing new under the sun,” the creativity is remaking or recombining the old in new ways. For example, we might do this by finding a more effective way to study or a better way to arrange our furniture, or we might make a new combination of camera lenses and filters to create an unusual photograph.
A third part of creativity is the courage and drive to make use of our new ideas, to apply them to achieve some new results. To think up a new concept is one thing; to put the idea to work is another.
These three parts of creativity are involved in all the great works of genius, but they are also involved in many of our day to day activities.
1.Which of the following activities is NOT a creative one according to the passage?
A.To prepare a meal.
B.To arrange the furniture in a peculiar way.
C.To buy some books from a bookstore.
D.To “write” a letter with the computer.
2.The author holds that ____.
A.creativity is of highly demand
B.creativity is connected with a deep insight to some extent
C.creativity is to create something new and concrete
D.to practise and practise is the only way to cultivate one´s creativity
3.“There is nothing new under the sun.” (Par.3) really implies that ____.
A.we can seldom create new things
B.a new thing is only a tale
C.a new thing can only be created at the basis of original things
D.we can scarcely see really new things in the world
4.What does the author think about the relationship between a new thought and its being put into practice?
A.It´s more difficult to create a new thought than to apply it in practice.
B.To find a new thought will definitely lead to the production of a new thing.
C.One may come up with a new thought, but can not put it into practice.
D.A man with an excellent ability of practice can easily become an inventor.
5.The best title for this passage is ____.
A.How to Cultivate One´s Creativity
B.What is Creativity
C.The Importance of Creativity
D.Creativity—a Not Farway Thing
1.【答案】C。
【解析】本題可用排除法。根據(jù)第一段可知?jiǎng)?chuàng)造力的含義是“使事物產(chǎn)生”，“致使事物存在”。這樣就可得出結(jié)論，A、B、D項(xiàng)不能選，C為正確答案。
2.【答案】B。
【解析】主旨大意。選項(xiàng)B意為“創(chuàng)造力在一定程度上取決于非凡的洞察力�！备鶕�(jù)最后一段，可知這是一種“天賦”，故正確。
3.【答案】C。
【解析】此題可在正確理解句子含義的基礎(chǔ)上采取“排除法”來(lái)解答。根據(jù)上下文可以得知：此句的真正含義是“任何新事物的產(chǎn)生都是建立在原有事物基礎(chǔ)之上的”。據(jù)此，這樣就可確定C項(xiàng)為正確答案無(wú)疑。
4.【答案】C。
【解析】先找有關(guān)細(xì)節(jié)。此問(wèn)題涉及到對(duì)文章第三段最后一句的理解。這樣就可確定C為正確答案無(wú)疑。
5.【答案】B。
【解析】首先快速通讀全文(注意主題句)，可知文章主要談?wù)摰氖恰皠?chuàng)造力的含義及其三個(gè)方面的表現(xiàn)”，整篇文章都是圍繞創(chuàng)造力展開的。這樣就可確定，B項(xiàng)為正確答案。
Passage 2
In the past, American families tended to be quite large. Parents raising five or more children were common. Over the years, the size of the family has decreased. One reason for this is an increase in the cost of living. On the average, children attend schools for more years than they used to, making them financially dependent on their families longer. Moreover, children nowadays are better dressed and have more money to spend on entertainment. The parents usually take the responsibility for all the expenses. Meanwhile, families are less close than they used to be. More and more American mothers work away from home. The break up of the family occurs when the parents divorce. A lot of children in the U. S. live part of their young lives with only one parent. Broken families usually result in problems for children and parents alike. Children blame themselves when their parents separate. They grow up feeling unsettled as they are moved back and forth between parents. Usually one parent is responsible for raising the children. These single parents must care for the children´s emotional and psychological needs while also supporting them financially. This is very demanding and leaves very little time for the parent´s own personal interests. Single parents often marry other single parents. In this type of family, unrelated children are forced to develop brother or sister relationship. The situations of many American families today are not good. However, recent signs indicate that things are getting better. The divorce rate is declining. The rate of childbirth is rising. Perhaps Americans have learned how important families are.
6. In the past, American families tended to be ____.
A. quite small B. medium sizedC. quite large D. small
7. To parents who take the responsibility for children´sexpenses, the cost of living increases because ____.
A. children attend school for more yearsB. children are better dressed
C. children spend more money on entertainmentD. all of the above
8. What problems would broken families bring to both children and parents?
A. Children grow up feeling unsettled and parents didn´t pay much attention to children.
B. Children grow up feeling free and one parent is responsible for raising the children.
C. Children are moved back and forth between parents and the single parent is busy working to make money to support himself/herself.
D. Children grow up feeling unsettled, and the parents have little time for his/her own interests because one parent is too busy taking care of children.
9. According to the author, the situations of American families in the future may ____.
A. become worse B. remain the same
C. get better D. keep unchanged
10. The title of the article might be ____.
A. American Children B. American Families
C. American Mother D. American Parents
6.【答案】C。
【解析】本文第一句話說(shuō)明了過(guò)去美國(guó)家庭規(guī)模很大。
7.【答案】D。
【解析】回答此題要全面,仔細(xì)讀文章不難發(fā)現(xiàn),A.孩子們讀書時(shí)間延長(zhǎng)；B.孩子們穿著越來(lái)越好；C.孩子們花更多的錢在娛樂(lè)上。文中說(shuō)是造成生活消費(fèi)增長(zhǎng)的原因,因此要選D。
8.【答案】D。
【解析】這題可用排除法做。本題問(wèn)破裂的家庭會(huì)給孩子和家長(zhǎng)帶來(lái)什么困難。文中清楚說(shuō)明孩子們不安定,因?yàn)橐鶃?lái)于父母之中, 孩子們的單親父母得花更多的時(shí)間關(guān)心他們的心理、情緒,除了經(jīng)濟(jì)負(fù)擔(dān)外, 以致他們沒(méi)時(shí)間去滿足自己的興趣。A父母不管孩子;B孩子覺(jué)得自由; C父母忙于掙錢養(yǎng)活自己,這三項(xiàng)均與文章意見(jiàn)不符, 應(yīng)排除掉,故選D。
9.【答案】C。
【解析】在文章最后作者指出有跡象表明情況好轉(zhuǎn),諸如離婚率降低,出生率上升。也許美國(guó)人已認(rèn)識(shí)到家庭生活的重要性，我們可以體會(huì)到作者對(duì)未來(lái)美國(guó)家庭生活情形是持樂(lè)觀態(tài)度的,所以選C“變好”。
10.【答案】B。
【解析】縱觀全篇,A.美國(guó)兒童;C.美國(guó)母親;D.美國(guó)父母, 三項(xiàng)均在文中提到過(guò),但只是一個(gè)部分,都是B(美國(guó)家庭) 這個(gè)主題下的各個(gè)分支。而且文章主要還是講述美國(guó)家庭生活的種種,故B 正確。
Passage 3
Once upon a time, the United States seemed to have plenty of land to go around. Plenty of rivers to dam and plenty of rural valleys left over. Plenty of space for parks and factories. Plenty of forests to cut and grasslands to plow. But that was once upon a time. The days of unused land are over. Now the land has been spoken for, fenced off, carved up into cities and farms and industrial parks, put to use.
At the same time, the population keeps growing. People need places to work and places to play. So we need more sites for more industries, more beaches for more sunbathers, and more clean rivers for more fishers. And it isn´t just a matter of population growth. Our modern technology has needs that must be met, too. We need more coal for energy, and we need more power plants; cars must have highways and parking lots, and jets must have airports.
Each of these land uses swallows up precious space.Highways and expressways alone take some 200,000 acres each year. And urban sprawl --- the spreading out of cities --- is expected to gobble up vast areas of land by the year 2,000. But there is only so much land to go around. It is always hard to decide. Take, for example, a forest. A forest can be a timber supply. It can provide a home for wildlife. It is scenery and a recreation area for man. It is soil and watershed protection.
11. “…the United States seemed to have plenty of land to go around ” means that ______.
A. the United States seemed to have vast land for its people to walk around
B. the United States seemed to have enough land for sharing with everyone
C. the United States could provide whatever its inhabitents´ needs
D. the United States was not able to allow its people to do what they wanted to
12. The sentence of “Plenty of rivers to dam and plenty of rural valleys left over” suggests that _____.
A. the United States had a lot of rivers to dam and many rural valleys, too
B. the rivers could be damed later
C. rural valleys would be considered in the future
D. people needn´t think of the rivers and valleys
13. “Now the land has been spoken for, …” tells us that _______.
A. today, land has shown its values
B. now, people have said something about land
C. nowadays, land has been claimed by human beings
D. recently, people spoke for the land
14. The phrase of “swallows up” informed us that _______.
A. these usages of land have good results
B. these lands must be used totally
C. the precious space was taken completely
D. the precious space were eaten up
15. The word “sprawl” indicates that ______.
A. cities are developing very fast to meet the people´s demands
B. urban areas are diminishing smoothly
C. urban areas are enlarging steadily in a planned way
D. cities are spreading out without any plans
11.【答案】B。
【解析】句中關(guān)鍵詞組“go around” 意為“be enough for everyone”，而不是“ walk around” 的意思，所以選B。
12.答案A。
【解析】這實(shí)際上是由兩個(gè)名詞短語(yǔ) plenty of rivers和plenty of rural valleys 組成，“ to dam”和“l(fā)eft over”分別是動(dòng)詞不定式和過(guò)去分詞短語(yǔ)修飾前面的兩個(gè)詞組，這里所表達(dá)的意思是美國(guó)還有很多河流可以在其上筑壩還剩下有許多峽谷可以利用。
13.【答案】C。
【解析】句中詞組“ speak for sth.”常用于被動(dòng)語(yǔ)態(tài)，意思是“get the right to sth. in advance; reserve”，另外，根據(jù)上下文，運(yùn)用排除法，可以確定選C。
14.【答案】C。
【解析】詞組“ swallow up”意思是“use up completely; cause to disappear”。
15.【答案】D。
【解析】“ sprawl”意思是“spread out ungracefully over a wide area”。所以這個(gè)詞在此表明城市擴(kuò)張沒(méi)有規(guī)劃好。
Passage 4
He was a funny looking man with a cheerful face, good natured and a great talker. He was described by his student, the great philosopher Plato, as “the best and most just and wisest man”. Yet this same man was condemned to death for his beliefs. The man was the Greek philosopher, Socrates, and he was condemned for not believing in the recognized gods and for corrupting young people. The second charge stemmed from his association with numerous young men who came to Athens from all over the civilized world to study under him.
Socrates method of teaching was to ask questions and, by pretending not to know the answers, to press his students into thinking for themselves. His teachings had unsurpassed influence on all the great Greek and Roman schools of philosophy. Yet, for all his fame and influence, Socrates himself never wrote a word. Socrates encouraged new ideas and free thinking in the young, and this was frightening to the conservative people. They wanted him silenced. Yet, many were probably surprised that he accepted death so readily. Socrates had the right to ask for a lesser penalty, and he probably could have won over enough of the people who had previously condemned him. But Socrates, as a firm believer in law, reasoned that it was proper to submit to the death sentence. So, he calmly accepted his fate and drank a cup of poison hemlock in the presence of his grief-stricken friends and students.
16. In the first paragraph, the word “yet” is used to introduce____.
A. contrast B. a sequence C. emphasisD.an example
17. Scorates was condemned to death because he ____.
A. believed in lawB. was a philosopher
C. published radical philosophical articlesD. advocated original opinions
18. The word “unsurpassed” in the third paragraph is closest in meaning to ____.
A. untold B. unequalledC. unnoticed D. unexpected
19. By mentioning that Socrates himself never wrote anything, the writer implies that ____.
A. it was surprising that Socrates was so famous
B. Socrates was not so learned as he is reputed to have been
C. Socrates used the work of his students in teaching
D. the authorities refused to publish Socrates´ works
20. Socates accepted the death penalty to show ____.
A. his belief in his studentsB. his contempt for conservatives
C. his recognition of the legal systemD. that he was not afraid of death
16.【答案】A
【解析】yet前面一句說(shuō)蘇格拉底被他的學(xué)生柏拉圖稱作、最公正和最智慧的人，后一句說(shuō)蘇格拉底因?yàn)樾叛霎惤毯透g青年而被判有罪，兩個(gè)句子句意截然相反，所以yet 表示轉(zhuǎn)折。
17.【答案】D
【解析】文中第一段最后一句話“Yet this same man was condemned to death for his beliefs.”表明蘇格拉底因?yàn)樗乃枷攵慌兴佬�，所以正確答案是D）。
18.【答案】B
【解析】根據(jù)上下文可以得知蘇格拉底的影響很大，所以u(píng)nsurpassed influence應(yīng)該是巨大影響，四個(gè)答案中只有unequalled最接近，意思是無(wú)比的。
194.【答案】A
【解析】見(jiàn)第三段最后一句話“Yet,for all his fame and influence, Socrates himself never wrote a word.”，盡管蘇格拉底名聲和影響很大，但他卻從未出版過(guò)任何著作，所以A）是正確答案。
20.【答案】D
【解析】文中最后一段提到“But Socrates, as a firm believer in law, reasoned that it was proper to submit to the death sentence.”，作為法律制度的堅(jiān)定擁護(hù)者，蘇格拉底提出應(yīng)該服從死刑判決。因此，正確答案是D。
