12月大学英语六级仔细阅读练习题及答案

　　Scattered through the seas of the world are billions of tons of small plants and animals called plankton. Most of these plants and animals are too small for the human eye to see. They drift about lazily with the currents, providing a basic food for many larger animals. Plankton has been described as the equivalent of the grasses that grow on the dry land continents, and the comparison is an appropriate one. In potential food value however, plankton far outweighs that of the land grasses. One scientist has estimated that while grasses of the world produce about 49 billion tons of valuable carbohydrates each year. The seas plankton generates more than twice as much.

　　Despite its enormous food potential, little effort was made until recently to farm plankton as we farm grasses on land. Now marine scientists have at last begun to study this possibility, especially as the seas resources loom even more important as a means of feeding an expanding world population.

　　No one yet has seriously suggested that planktonburgers may soon become popular around the world. As a possible farmed supplementary food source, however, plankton is gaining considerable interest among marine scientists.

　　One type of plankton that seems to have great harvest possibilities is a tiny shrimplike creature called krill. Growing to two or three inches long, krill provide the major food for the giant blue whale, the largest animal ever to inhabit the Earth. Realizing that this whale may grow 100 feet and weigh 150 tons at maturity, it is not surprising that each one devours more than one ton of krill daily.

　　Krill swim about just below the surface in huge schools sometimes miles wide, mainly in the cold Antarctic. Because of their pink color, they often appear as a solid reddish mass when viewed from a ship or from the air. Krill are very high in food value. A pound of these crustaceans contains about 460 caloriesabout the same as shrimp or lobster, to which they are related.

　　If the krill can feed such huge creatures as whales, many scientists reason, they must certainly be contenders as new food source for humans.

　　1.Which of the following best portrays the organization of the passage?

　　A.The author presents the advantages and disadvantages of plankton as a food source.

　　B.The author quotes public opinion to support the argument for farming plankton.

　　C.The author classifies the different food sources according to amount of carbohydrate.

　　D.The author makes a general statement about plankton as a food source and then moves to a specific example.

　　2.According to the passage, why is plankton regarded to be more valuable than land grasses?

　　A.It is easier to cultivate.

　　B.It produces more carbohydrates.

　　C.It does not require soil.

　　D.It is more palatable.

　　3.Why does the author mention planktonburgers?

　　A.To describe the appearance of one type of plankton.

　　B.To illustrate how much plankton a whale consumes.

　　C.To suggest plankton as a possible food sources.

　　D.To compare the food values of beef and plankton.

　　4.What is mentioned as one conspicuous feature of krill?

　　A.They are the smallest marine animals.

　　B.They are pink in color.

　　C.They are similar in size to lobsters.

　　D.They have grass like bodies.

　　5.The author mentions all of the following as reasons why plankton could be considered a human food source except that it is ___.

　　A.high in food value.

　　B.in abundant supply in the oceans.

　　C.an appropriate food for other animals.

　　D.free of chemicals and pollutants.

　　答案：DBCBD

　　In the last 12 years total employment in the United States grew faster than at any time in the peacetime history of any country from 82 to 110 million between 1973 and 1985 that is, by a full one third. The entire growth, however, was in manufacturing, and especially in no blue-collar jobs

　　This trend is the same in all developed countries, and is, indeed, even more pronounced in Japan. It is therefore highly probable that in 25 years developed countries such as the United States and Japan will employ no larger a proportion of the labor force I n manufacturing than developed countries now employ in farming at most, 10 percent. Today the United States employs around 18 million people in blue-collar jobs in manufacturing industries. By 2010, the number is likely to be no more than 12 million. In some major industries the drop will be even sharper. It is quite unrealistic, for instance, to expect that the American automobile industry will employ more than one third of its present blue-collar force 25 years hence, even though production might be 50 percent higher.

　　If a company, an industry or a country does not in the next quarter century sharply increase manufacturing production and at the same time sharply reduce the blue-collar work force, it cannot hope to remain competitive or even to remain developed. The attempt to preserve such blue collar jobs is actually a prescription for unemployment

　　This is not a conclusion that American politicians, labor leaders or indeed the general public can easily understand or accept. What confuses the issue even more it that the United States is experiencing several separate and different shifts in the manufacturing economy. One is the acceleration of the substitution of knowledge and capital for manual labor. Where we spoke of mechanization a few decades ago, we now speak of robotization or automation. This is actually more a change in terminology than a change in reality. When Henry Ford introduced the assembly line in 1909, he cut the number of man hours required to produce a motor car by some 80 percent in two or three years far more than anyone expects to result from even the most complete robotization. But there is no doubt that we are facing a new, sharp acceleration in the replacement of manual workers by machines that is, by the products of knowledge.

　　1.According to the author, the shrinkage in the manufacturing labor force demonstrates______.

　　A.the degree to which a countrys production is robotized

　　B.a reduction in a countrys manufacturing industries

　　C.a worsening relationship between labor and management

　　D.the difference between a developed country and a developing country

　　2.According to the author, in coming 25years, a developed country or industry, in order t remain competitive, ought to ______.

　　A.reduce the percentage of the blue-collar work force

　　B.preserve blue collar jobs for international competition

　　C.accelerate motor can manufacturing in Henry Fords style

　　D.solve the problem of unemployment

　　3.American politicians and labor leaders tend to dislike_____.

　　A.confusion in manufacturing economy

　　B.an increase in blue collar work force

　　C.internal competition in manufacturing production

　　D.a drop in the blue collar job opportunities

　　4.The word prescription in a prescription for unemployment may be the equivalent to ______

　　A.something recommended as medical treatment

　　B.a way suggested to overcome some difficulty

　　C.some measures taken in advance

　　D.a device to dire

　　5.This passage may have been excepted from ________

　　A.a magazine about capital investment

　　B.an article on automation

　　C.a motor-car magazine

　　D.an article on global economy

　　答案：AADCD