大学英语四六级阅读理解主旨题名师深解

　　主要考查对文章进行概括或总结的能力，要求在阅读短文时，能够提炼文章的中心思想，体会作者的主要写作意图，充分运用逻辑概括能力，透过字里行间获取文章最具代表性的观点、论点及作者的情感倾向。

　　(一)出题形式：主旨大意题命题形式主要有三大类：一类是概括中心思想(main idea)型;一类是确定文章标题或主题(topic/title/headline)型;还有一类是询问文章的写作目的(purpose)。

　　1) What would be the best title for the text?

　　2) What is the topic of the text?

　　3) Which of the following best expresses the main idea?

　　4) The best title/headline for this passage might be ______.

　　5) The authors main purpose in writing the passage is ______.

　　6) Which of the following statements is best supported by the text?

　　7) Which of the following best summarizes the passage?

　　8) The main idea/The general idea/The main theme of this passage is ______.

　　9) The title that best expresses the main idea of the passage is ______.

　　(二)答案位置：大部分文章都有主题句(topic sentence)，主题句表达了文章的中心思想(main idea)，找到了主题句，也就抓住了文章的主旨大意。因此，主题句定位法是解答主旨大意题的一种行之有效的方法。主题句呈现形式通常有以下几种：

　　1)在开头出现;

　　2)在结尾出现;

　　3)在开头和结尾同时出现，首尾呼应;

　　4)有些文章的中心思想贯穿全文，并没有用一句话明确表达出来，这就要求学生学会归纳概括。(三)实战演练

　　1. The easy way out isnt always easiest. I learned that lesson when I decided to treat Doug, my husband of one month, to a special meal. I glanced through my cookbook and chose a menu which included homemade bread. Knowing the bread would take tine, I started on it as soon as Doug left for work. As I was not experienced in cooking, I thought if a dozen was good, two dozen would be better, so I doubled everything. As Doug loved oranges, I also opened a can of orange and poured it all into the bowl. Soon there was a sticky dough covered with ugly yellowish marks. Realizing I had been defeated, I put the dough in the rubbish bin outside so I wouldnt have to face Doug laughing at my work. I went on preparing the rest if the meal, and, when Doug got home, we sat down to Cornish chicken with rice. He tried to enjoy the meal but seemed disturbed. Twice he got up and went out side, saying he thought he heard a noise. The third time he left, I went to the window to see what he was doing. Looking out, I saw Doug standing about three feet from the rubbish bin, holding the lid up with a stick and looking into the container. When I came out of the house, he dropped the stick and explained that there was something alive in our rubbish bin . Picking up the stick again, he held the lid up enough for me to see. I felt cold. But I stepped close and looked harder. Without doubt it was my work. The hot sun had caused the sough to dough to double in size and the fermenting yeast made the surface shake and sigh as thought it were breathing . It looked like some unknown being from outer space. I could see why Doug was shaken. I had to admit what the living thing was and why it was there. I dont know who was more embarrassed by the whole thing Doug or me.

　　The writers purpose in writing this story is ___________

　　a.to tell an interesting experience.

　　b.To show the easiest way out of a difficulty.

　　c.To describe the trouble facing a newly married woman

　　d.To explain the difficulty of learning to cook from books

　　2 Decision thinking is not unlike poker--- it often matters not only what you think, but also what others think you think and what you think they think you think. The mental process is similar. Naturally, this card game has often been of considerable interest to people who are, by any standards, good thinkers.

　　The great mathematician John von Neumann was one of the founders of game theory. In particular, he showed that all games of perfect information, games like chess where the players cant hide anything or play tricks; they dont win by chance, but by means of logic and skills. Then there are games of imperfect information, like poker, in which it is impossible to know in advance that one course of action is better than another.

　　One mistaken idea about business is that it can be treated as a game of perfect information. Quit the reverse. Business, politics, life itself are games which we must normally play with very imperfect information. Business decisions are often made with many unknown and unknowable factors which would even puzzle best poker players. But few business people find it comfortable to admit that they are taking a chance, and many still prefer to believe that they are playing chess, not poker.

　　The subject discussed in this text is _____

　　a. the process of reaching decision

　　b. the difference between poker and chess

　　c. the secret of making good business plans

　　d. the value of information in winning games

　　3 Most people feel lonely sometimes, but it usually only lasts between a few minutes and a few hours. This kind of loneliness is not serious, In fact, it is quite normal. For some people, though, loneliness can last for years. Now researchers say there are three different types of loneliness.

　　The first kind of loneliness is temporary. This is the most common type. It usually disappears quickly and does not require any special attention. The second kind, situational loneliness, is a natural result of a particular situationfor example a family problem, the death of a loves one, or moving to a new place. Although this kind of loneliness can cause physical problems, such as headaches and sleeplessness, it usually does not last for more than a year.

　　The third kind of loneliness is the most severe. Unlike the second type, chronic loneliness usually lasts more than two years and has no specific cause. People who experience habitual loneliness have problems socializing and becoming close to others. Unfortunately, many chronically lonely people think there is little or nothing they can do to improve their condition.

　　Psychologists agree that one important factor in loneliness is a persons social contacts, e.g. friends, family members, co-workers, etc. We depend on various people for different reasons. For instance, our families give us emotional support; our parents share similar interests and activities. However, psychologists have found that, though lonely people may have many social contacts, they sometimes feel they should have more. They question their own popularity.

　　Psychologists are trying to find ways to help habitually lonely people for two reasons: they are unhappy and unable to socialize and there is a connection between chronic loneliness and serious illness such as heart disease. While temporary and situational loneliness can be a normal, healthy part of life, chronic loneliness can be a very sad, and sometimes dangerous condition.

　　The topic of the 4th paragraph is that _________.

　　a. one problem of loneliness is a persons social contacts

　　b. we depend on various people for different reasons

　　c. lonely people dont have many social problems

　　d. lonely people dont have many friends

　　What is the best title for the passage?

　　a. Three Kinds of Loneliness.

　　b. Loneliness and Diseases

　　c. Loneliness and Social Contacts

　　d. Chronic Loneliness.

　　4.Excused from recycling because you live in a high rise with a rubbish chute ? You wont be for long. Miamis Mark Shantzis has made it simple for those living in tall buildings to use the chute and cycle, too.

　　In Shantzis Hi-Rise Recycling system, a chute leads to a pip-shaped container with six boxes that can turn around when operated. The system, which fits in the same space as the chute and container now in use, enables ,glass, plastics, paper, metal, and other rubbish to go into separate boxes.

　　The system is controlled from a board foxed next to the chute door. The board has a button for each class of recycling materials. At the press of a button, a microcomputer locks all other floors chute doors and sets the recycling container turning until the right box comes under the chute. The computer also counts the loads and gives a signal by phone when the box is full. And a particular piece of equipment breaks up the non-recyclables.

　　Sorting recyclables before they are collected saves the use of expensive materials recovery equipment which otherwise has to do the sorting. Such equipment often makes recycled materials very expensive, so expensive that tones of recyclables remain wasted. Shantzis believes his system could help recycled materials become more cost-effective.

　　The purpose in writing this text is _________.

　　A to encourage people to recycle their rubbish.

　　B to introduce a recycling system for high rises

　　C to describe the use of computer technology in recycling

　　D to explain the need for rubbish collection in high rise

　　5 Many cities around the world today are heavily polluted. Careless methods of production and lack of consumer demand for environment-friendly products have contributed to the pollution problem. One result is that millions of tons of glass, paper, plastics, and these are difficult to get rid of.

　　However, today, more and more consumers are choosing green and demanding that the products they buy should be safe for the environment. Before they buy a product, they ask questions like these, Will this shampoo damage the environment? Can this metal container be reused or can it only be used once?

　　A recent study showed that two out of five adults now consider the environmental safety of a product before they buy it, this means that companies must now changed the way they make and sell their products to make sure that they are green, that is, friendly to the environment.

　　Only a few years ago, it was impossible to find green products in supermarkets, but now there are hundreds. Some supermarket products carry labels to show that the product is green. Some companies have made the manufacturing of clean and safe products their main selling point and emphasize it in their advertising.

　　The concern for a safer and cleaner environment is making companies rethink how they do business. No longer will the pubic accept the old attitude of buy it, use it , throw it away, and forget it. The public pressure is on , and gradually business is cleaning up its act.

　　What would be the best title for the text?

　　a. Business and People

　　b. Business Goes Green

　　c. Shopping Habits Are Changing

　　d. Supermarkets and Green Products

　　6If you ask people to name the one person who had the greatest effect on the English language, you will get answers like Shakespeare, Samuel Johnson, and Webster, but none of these men had any effect at all compared to a man who didnt even speak English ----William the Conqueror.

　　Before 1066, in the land we now call Great Britain lived peoples belonging to two major language groups. In the west-central region lived the Welsh, who spoke a Celtic language, and in the north lived the Scots, whose language, though not the same as Welsh, was also Celtic. In the rest of the country lived the Saxons, actually a mixture of Anglos, Saxons, and other Germanic and Nordic peoples, who spoke what we now call Anglo-Saxon , a Germanic language. If this state of affairs had lasted, English today would be close to German.

　　But this state of affairs did not last. In 1066 the Normans led by William defeated the Saxons and began their rule over England. For about a century, French became the official language of England while Old English became the language of peasants. As a result, English words of politics and the law come from French rather than German. In some cases, modern English even shows a distinction between upper-class French and lower-class Anglo-Saxon in its words. We even have different words for some foods, meat in particular, depending on whether it is still out in the field or at ready to be cooked, which shows the fact that the Saxon peasants were doing the farming, while the upper-class Normans were doing most of the eating.

　　When Americans visit Europe for the first time, they usually find Germany more foreign than France because the German they see on signs and advertisements seems much more different from English language is actually Germanic in its beginning and that the French influences are all the result of one mans ambition.

　　What is the subject discussed in the text?

　　a. The history of Great Britain.

　　b. The similarity between English and French.

　　c. The rule of England by William the conqueror

　　d. The French influences on the English language.

　　7Britains oldest man made his first visit to London yesterday at the age of 110. Mr. John Evans had never found the time or the money to make the trip from his home near Swansea. But, when British Rail offered him an all-expenses-paid birthday trip to the capital, he just could not refuse.

　　Until yesterday he had never been far from home, except for one trip to Aberdeen. Mr.Evens, who spent 60 years working as a miner in South Wales, almost made the journey to London once before, at the turn of the century. There was a trip to the White city but it was ten shillings return from Swansea-too much I thought. All my money went to the family then, he said.

　　During the nest two days Mr. Evens will be taken on a whistle-stop tour of London to see the sights. Top of his list is a visit to the Houses of Parliament.

　　The only arrangement he does not care for is the wheelchair provided to move him about if he gets tired. I dont like the chair business-people will so think I am getting old, he said.

　　Hi secret for a long and healthy life has been well publicizedno alcohol, no cigarette and no anger. Before setting off from Swansea with his 76-year-old son, Amwel, he quipped, Im glad to see theyve given me a return ticket.

　　What might be the best title for this passage?

　　a. 100-year-old Tourist

　　b. Secret for Long and healthy life

　　c. Free Return Ticket

　　d. Sightseeing in London

　　8 BEING set of by the April 1 Sino-us plane collision and US official agreement of the biggest arms sale to Taiwan in decade as well as remarks by US president Bush on Defending Taiwan, there have been increasing hacker attacks on websites of the two countries in the past weeks.

　　An American group of hackers (黑客) which calls itself Poison Box had begun ruining Chinese websites after the April1 spy plane incident, top Chinese portal sina.com said.

　　The Chinese soon attacked back.

　　On April 2, Chinese hackers invaded two Government websites over the weekend, forcing the Department of labor and the Department of the Health and Human Services to shut down their sites for a short time.

　　The US Department of labor went off line for a few hours after a page in its website was changed to display a picture of Wang Wei, the Chinese pilot who died in the collision.

　　The page was titled China back! and read, in English, the whole country is so sorry for losing the best son of China ---Wang Wei forever. We will miss the end of the day.

　　On May1, hackers exchanged bad remarks in which the official White House website was defaced by a huge amount of e-mail garbage. On May5, the White House website fell victim to a denial of serviced attack that blocked access to the site for more than two hours.

　　The Computer Network and Information Security Management Office told web operators an average of 100 sites a day had seen some more form of attack.

　　The best title of the passage is _____.

　　a. Sino-US plane collision.

　　b. Sino-US Hackers Fighting Cyber war

　　c. Cyber war continuing

　　d. Wang wei, our best son

　　9There were two interesting news items in the paper a few years ago . One was about a man who received a bill from the telephone company for 999,999for three month! The other was about a man who received 2,000 a month ---for doing nothing.

　　The connection between the two news items is simple: computer the best invention of the 20th century. The telephone bill came from a computer which made a terrifying mistake that was only 23.36. The other item was not so amusing. A man walked into the unguarded computer room of a large packaged food company and expertly programmed the computer to pay him 2,000 a month for raw meat which he supplied to the company. Of course he never sent the meat, but he certainly received the money. The computer wrote out a bill, and even signedit. It was only a random check that uncovered the trick. It could be happening in thousands of other companied all over the world.

　　Computers are not the magical workers that some people say they are. They make mistakes, theyre sometimes slower than human beings and theyre easily fooled. The US used to conscript people with the help of a computer. The army sent out a card, which had to be filled in and sent back. It was easy to avoid being called up simply by spreading candle-waxon on the card. The computer couldnt read the card and did nothing with it.

　　Its in our everyday life that computers cause many problems. Lets get back to using people instead of computers, before a mistake that we cant put right.

　　The writers main idea is __________.

　　A wed better use people instead of computers in our everyday life.

　　B we should not use computers because they always make mistakes

　　C computers are widely used in our everyday life

　　D if we want to work well, dont use the computers.

　　10 During the early years of this century, wheat was seen as the very lifeblood of Western Canada. When the crops were good, the economy on city streets watched the yields and the price of wheat with almost as much felling as if they were growers. The marketing of wheat became an increasingly favorite topic of conversation.

　　War set the stage for the most dramatic events in marketing the western crop. For years, farmers mistrusted speculative grain selling as carried on through the Winnipeg Grain Exchange. Wheat prices were generally low in the autumn, but farmers could not wait for markets to improve. It had happened too often that they sold their wheat soon after harvest when farm debts were coming due, only to see prices rising and speculators getting rich. On various occasions, producer groups asked for farmer controls, but governments had no wish to become involved, at least not until wartime wheat prices threatened to run wild.

　　Anxious to check inflation and rising living costs, the federal government appointed a board of grain supervisors to handle deliveries from the crops of 1917 and 1918. Grain Exchange trading was suspended, and farmers sold at prices fixed by the board. To handle the crop of 1919, the government appointed the first Canadian Wheat Board, with full authority to buy, sell and set prices.

　　What is the main purpose of the passage?

　　A To explain how wheat is marketed today

　　B To justify suspension of trading on the Grain Exchange.

　　C To describe the origins of the Canadian Wheat Board.

　　D To argue for further reforms on the Canadian Wheat Board

　　11.April 27 is Take Our Daughters to Work Day in Britain. Started at first in the United States and brought to Britain in 1994, Take Our Daughter to Work Day has become a special day for girls between 11 and 15. On that day thousands of girls take a day off school and go together with one of their parents to their work places. The purpose of this day is to broaden girls horizons and raise their self-confidence.

　　For many years people have thought that boy can do better than girls in society. But actually, Girls can be whatever they want to be just like boys, whether it is a pilot , a nurse or a chief executive , says the chairman of the Our Sons and Daughters Charitable Trust, an organization which supported the activity of the Day. Now the girls have a close look at what their parents are doing and this may help them to be more self-confident when they are faced with a choice of work.

　　Schools and many companied support the activity, too. Palmers Green High School for girls, in north London, has made the day a necessary of careers education.

　　Zarina Bart,15, from Palmers Green, went with her mother Gwen to her lawyers office on this years Take Our Daughters to Work Day. I learned how to fill in a legal aid form and I read details of a case. Then I went to see the actual trail, she said.

　　Zarina found it interesting to see her mother at work. Its really strange seeing Mum at work-running around, getting serious and telling people what to do. She has always liked this idea of going into law and thinks it likely that she will follow in her mothers footsteps. Having a chance to see how her mother works has given hr more self-confidence.

　　Experts believe that girls with higher self-confidence aim higher and are more likely to be successful in life. Parents have more important effect on the confidence of teenage girls. If parents believe in their daughter and show examples both at work as well as at home for them, this will give a lot of help to girls. Take Our Daughters to Work Day is surely a step in the right direction.

　　The writers purpose in writing this text is to _________

　　A introduce to us a special day for girls

　　B broaden girls view and raise their confidence

　　C show us that girls can do as well as boys

　　D tell how the special day for girls came into being

　　12 To swim the English Channel takes at least nine hours. Its hard work and it makes you short of breath. To fly over the channel takes only twenty minutes as long as youre not held up at the airport, but its an expensive way to travel. You can travel by hovercraft if you dont mind the noise and that takes forty minutes. Otherwise, you can go by boat, if you remember sea-sickness pills. All these means of transport have their problems, and the weary traveler often dreams of being able to drive to France in his own car. Not possible, you say. Well, wait a minute people are once again considering the idea of a Channel tunnel or bridge. This time , the great London Council is looking into the possibility of building a channel link straight to London. A bridge would cost far more a tunnel, but you would be able to go by rail or by car on a bridge, whereas a tunnel would provide a rail link only.

　　Why is this idea being discussed again? Is Britain realizing the need for links with Europe as a result of joining EEC? Well, perhaps. The main reason , though, is that a tunnel or bridge would reach the twenty square kilometers of Londons discussed stimulate trade and revitalise the port, and would ,make London a main trading center in Europe. With a link over the channel, you could buy your fish and chips in England and be able to eat them in France while they are still warm!

　　The main idea of the passage is ______

　　A how to develop the trade of London

　　B crossing the Channel is difficult

　　C how to get to Europe more conveniently

　　D what to do in the development of traveling

　　13 Believe it or not, optical illusion can cut highway crashes. Japan is a case in point. It has reduced automobile crashes on some roads by nearly 75 percent using a simple optical illusion. Bent strips, called cheverons , painted on the roads make drivers think that they are faster than they really are, and thus drivers slow down.

　　Now the American Automobile Association Foundation for Traffic Safety in Washington D.C. is planning to repeat Japans success. Starting next year, the foundation will paint cheverons and other patterns of strips on selected roads around the country to test how well the patterns reduce highway crashes.

　　Excessive speed plays a major role in as much a one fifth of all fatal traffic accidents, according to the foundation. To help reduce those accidents, the foundation. To help reduce those accidents, the foundation will carry its tests in areas where speed-related hazards are the greatest curves, exit slopes, traffic circles, and bridges.

　　Some studies suggest that straight, horizontal barspainted across roads can initially cut the average speed of drivers in half. However, traffic often returns to full speed within months as drivers become used to seeing the painted bars.

　　Cheverons, scientists say, not only give drivers the impression that they are driving faster than they really are, but also make a lane appear to be narrower. The result is a longer lasting reduction in highway speed and the number of traffic accidents.

　　The passage mainly discusses ________.

　　A a new way of highway speed control

　　B a new pattern for painting highways

　　C a new way to training drivers

　　D a new type of optical illusion

　　14 Farmer ED Rawlings smiles as he looks at his orange trees. The young oranges are growing well in Floridas weather. Warm sunshine and gentle rains, along with ED Rawlings expert care, will produce a good crop of oranges this year.

　　But ED has to fight against Floridas changeable winter weather. In January and February, temperature can destroy EDs entire orange crops. Having farmed in Florida for the past 35 years, Ed Rawlings is prepared for the frosts. When temperatures drop below freezing, Ed tries to save his crop by watering his orange trees. The water freezes and forms a thin layer of ice on the trees. Strange as it may sound, this thin layer of ice actually keep the fruit warm..

　　What happens is simple. When the trees are watered, the water loses heat and becomes ice. The warmth of the heat it loses is sicked in by the fruit and keeps its temperature at a safe level. Ed Rawling has effectively used this method to save many orange crops.

　　But Ed still faces some difficulties. The trees should be watered at the exact moment the temperature drops to the freezing point. Also, just the right quantity of water must be used. Too much water can form a thick layer of ice that will break the trees branches. Another difficulty is that wind blows away the heat. So Ed has to worry about not only when but also how often his trees should be watered, and how much water should be used.

　　Computer technology may help Ed with some of these worries. With equipment, air and soil temperatures and wind speed can be measured. The information is fed into a computer which can tell when temperatures drop to freezing. The computer can correctly decide the quantity of water to be used and how frequently the trees should be watered. Ed will find looking after his orange trees a lot easier with the help of a computer, and well all have the benefits of computerage oranges.

　　The passage is mainly about_______.

　　A a farmers expert care for his orange trees

　　B the different uses of computers

　　C growing oranges in Floridas changeable weather

　　D different way of frost protection

　　15 RALOALTO, CaliforniaSwitching off the television may help prevent children from getting fattereven if they do not change their diet or increase the amount they exercise, US researchers said last week.

　　A study of 192 third and forth grades, generally aged eight and nine, found that children who cut the number of hours spent watching television gained nearly two pounds less over a one-year period than those who did not change their television diet.

　　The findings are important because they show that weight loss can only be the result of a reduction in television view and not any other activity, said Thomas Robison, a pediatrician at Stanford University.

　　In the study, presented this week to the Pediatric Academic Societies annual meeting in San Francisco, the researchers persuaded about 100 of the students to reduce their television viewing by one-quarter to one third.

　　Children watching fewer hours of television showed a pretty smaller increase in waist size and had less body fat than other students who continued their took part in any extra exercise.

　　One explanation for the weight loss could be the children unstuck to the television may simply have been moving around more and burning off calories, Robinson said.

　　Another reason might be due to eating fewer meals in front of the television. Some studies have suggested that eating in front of the TV encourages people to eat more, Robison said.

　　The author tried to tell us in the first two paragraphs that _____

　　A children will get fatter if they eat too much

　　B Children will get thinner if they eat less

　　C children will get fatter if they spend less time watching TV

　　D children will get fatter if they spend more time watching TV

　　参考答案

　　主旨题实战演练

　　1. A 2. A 3. A.A 4. B 5. B. 6. D 7. A

　　8. B 9. A 10. C 11. A 12. C 13. A 14. A.15. D

　　16During the summer you should be even more careful than usual of the foods you prepare. Foods spoil faster in hot weather than in cold weather. When you are shopping, purchase frozen and refrigerated foods, dont make long stops on your way home because frozen foods could become soft or warm. Using insulated bags helps keep food cold until you arrive home. Mild or milk products should be refrigerated immediately. When camping or picnicking or at any time when refrigeration isnt available, use special dry foods. Above all , if a food doesnt seem to be normal in odor or appearance, discard it immediately. Dont taste it.

　　What is the main idea of the passage?

　　A How to store frozen and refrigerated foods

　　B How to keep food from spoiling during the summer?

　　C How to select fresh food?

　　D How to prepare summer food

　　17A new era is upon us. Call it what you will: the service economy, the information age, the knowledge society. It all translates to be a basic change in the way we work. Already we are there now. The percentage of people who earn their living by making things has fallen fortunately in the Western World. Today the major of jobs in America, Europe and Japan are in the service industry, and the number in on the rise. More women are in the workforce than ever before. There are more part-time jobs. More people are self-employed. But the wildness of the economic change cant be measured by numbers alone, because it also is giving rise to a radical new way of thinking about the nature of work itself. Long-held views about jobs and careers, the skills to succeed, even the relation between individuals and employersall these are being challenged.

　　We have only to look behind us to get some sense of what may lie ahead. No one looking ahead 20 years possible could have foreseen the ways in which a single invention, the chip, would change our world thanks to its use in personal computers, digital biotechnology, artificial intelligence or even some still unimagined technology could produce a similar wave of unexpected changes. But one thing is certain: information and knowledge will become even more important ,and the people who have it , whether they work in manufacturing or services, will have the advantage and produce the wealth. Computer knowledge will become as basic a requirement as the ability to read and write. The ability to solve problems by using information instead of performing regular work will be valued above all else. If you look forward 10 years, information services will be predominant. It will be the way you do your job.

　　Which of the following can be the vest title of the passage?

　　a. Computer and Knowledge Society.

　　b. Service Industry in the Modern Society

　　c. Characteristics of the new Era

　　d. Fast Development of Information Technology

　　18It is commonly believed in the United States that school is where people go to get an education. Nevertheless, it has been said that today children interrupt their education to go to school. The difference between schooling and education implied by this remark is important.

　　Education is much more open-ended and all-inclusive than schooling. Education knows not limits. It can take place anywhere, whether in the school or on the job, whether in a kitchen or on a tractor. It includes both the formal learning that takes place in schools and the whole universe of informal learning. The agent of education can vary from respected grandparents to the people arguing about politics on the radio, from a child to a famous scientist. Whereas schooling has a certain predictability(可预料性), education quite often produces surprises. A chance conversation with a strange may lead a person to discover how little is know of other religious . People receive education from infancy on. Education, then, is a very broad, inclusive term. It is a lifelong process, a process that starts long before the start of school, and one that should be a necessary of ones entire life.

　　Schooling, on the other hand, is a specific, formalized process, whose general pattern varies little from one setting to the next. Throughout a country, children arrive school at about the same time, take the assigned seats, are taught by the adult, use similar textbooks, do homework, take exams, and so on. The pieces of reality that are to be learned, whether they are the alphabet or an understanding of the workings of government, have been limited by the subjects being taught. For example, high school students know that they are likely to find out in their classes the truth about political problems in their society or what the newest filmmakers are experimenting with. There are clear undoubtful conditions surrounding the formalized of schooling.

　　What is the main idea of this passage?

　　A The best schools teach a variety of subjects.

　　BEducation and schooling are quite different experiences.

　　A. The more years students go to schools, the better their education.

　　B. Students benefit from schools, which require bong hours and homework.

　　19Since the beginning of time, man has invented many interesting things. Some of these inventions, like numbers, the alphabet and the radio, have certainly changed history. Since 1946, one of the most important inventions has been the computer. It will change all our lives.

　　At one time it was as large as a room, and quite difficult and slow to operate. But, since the invention of the silicon ship, which is really a very very small electric circuit, computers have been greatly improved. They have become smaller, easier to use, and faster; they can store a lot more information.

　　Some computer are made as well as television sets. Simple computers can be made smaller than a book. And computers are getting smaller all the time.

　　There are several reasons why the computer is useful to us. Firstly, it can store a very very large quantity of information in its memory. Secondly, the computer can operate very quickly thousands of times faster than a humanand it will not tire. Thirdly, modern computers can be built into other kinds of machines, like radios, cars, planes and so on. They can do many kinds of work.

　　Soon, almost everyone, either at home or at work, will use some kind of computer. the lives of all of us will be changed by this invention.

　　The main idea of this passage is ____

　　A how the computer came into being

　　B that computers ate getting smaller and smaller all the time

　　C that the computer will change the lives of all of us

　　D that modern computers can be built into other machine

　　20 The computer is an electronic machine. It is a machine that solves problems as much as you do. As an example, lets trace the way you would add two numbers. Then, lets see how a computer would do it.

　　Step1. You collect information. That is, you either see or hear the numbers to be added.

　　Step2. You find a method to solve the problem. In this case, you remember how to do addition.

　　Step 3 You bring together the information , and the method

　　Step 4 You perform the operation, adding the two numbers.

　　Step5 You report the results of your work, either by writing down the answer or by saying it aloud.

　　All computers go through five similar steps.

　　Step 1 The computer receives information, or data, from the outside. It changes the data into electric language, called input.

　　Step 2 The computer has been given a program contain instructions for solving the problem. The instructions ate found in the storage or memory.

　　Step 3 The computer bring together the data from the input and the instructions from the storage. This is done by the computers control.

　　Step 4 The computer goes through the steps of the instructions on the data; this is called processing.

　　Step 5 The computer changes the result from electric language to human language. It presents the results in print or sound, called output.

　　Sometimes the five parts of a computer input, storage, control, processor , and outputare together in one large unit. Other times they are far apart and connected by wires. Often, large computers have one control and processing unit, with a number of separate memory, input, and output device.

　　What does the passage mainly tell us?

　　A The computer is an electric machine.

　　B Computer solve problems in the same way as people do

　　C How we add two numbers

　　D Computers have five parts together in one unit.

　　21 Astronomers have spent hundreds of years searching for signs of life on other planets, using telescopes. When they saw the geography of Mars , they thought they could see canals and that this might be evidence of intelligent life on the planet. More recently, however, spacecraft have been sent there to analyze the soil for signs of life. The result were negative and astronomers now feel certain that no life exist on the surface of any craft far beyond our solar system (太阳系)I not realistic because of the huge distances.

　　Unless life comes and visit us, the only way we likely to know of its existence is from radio message. Listening for intelligent extraterrestrial or E.T. life is not a new idea, but the techniques now being used offer a much better chance off success than before. Looking for evidence of life in other solar systems now means using special radio receivers called radio telescopes to listen out for message. The idea is that intelligent forms of life would have discovered radio waves and would, like us, be using them to communicate.

　　Through its research work, NASA has develop two means of systematically searching for E.T. life. The first method is to select the closest 800 stars like our sun and to direct a radio telescope to scan each of one them for electromagnetic wave. The second way is to survey the entire sky, listening for continuous signals which may come from extraterrestrial life. Scientists are looking in the 100-10,000 MegaHetz frequency rangea range where there are fewer natural radio signals which could interfere with transmission . By looking signals in these specific regions, scientists can avoid any confusion that might be caused by receiving a natural radio signal rather than one sent by intelligent life.

　　NASAs search in space has already resulted in some discoveries including new equipment which may help in the development of new communication and medical technologies.

　　All this, as well as the chance of discovering, has made us feel confident that maybe we are not alone in the universe!

　　What is the main idea of the passage?

　　A Astronomers now feel certain that no life exists on the surface of any other planet in our solar system.

　　B It is realistic to send a spacecraft far beyond our solar system to search for E.T. life.

　　C There is no E.T. life on Mars.

　　D Using radio telescopes to listen out for message from E.T. life, scientists have discovered that the new equipment nay help in the development of new communication and medical technologies.

　　22 It is burning hot in Mali, an island country in Africa, where the highest temperature even reach 55℃, while the average temperature of the whole year there maintains above 45℃. But to our great surprise, the tourism there is getting very well. Nearly all the year round the tourists can be seen coming and going.

　　That is because there are a large number of In-the-Well Hotels in Mali. It means that first of all, people have dug a thirty-metre-deep well under very hot land surface, then in the wall of the well several empty caves, about two metres high each, are made. In these caves beds are arranged.

　　Obviously, In-the-Well Hotel, not as hot as it is out of the well, remains only about 12~20℃. In the cave rooms, tourists can find all the daily necessaries.

　　It not only frees the guests of the country from the hot weather but also gives them a new and fresh experience. So it is appealing to the tourists coming all parts of the world.

　　The best title for this passage should be ________.

　　A Mali, a Burning Hot Country

　　B Tourism in Mali

　　C The Well Hotel

　　D A way to Develop Tourism

　　23Imagine life as a game in which you are playing with some five balls in the air. You name them work, family, health, friends and spirit, and youre keeping all these balls in the air.

　　You understand that work is a rubber ball. If you drop it, it will bounce back. But the other four balls are made of glass. If you drop one of these, it will be surely marked, broken, damaged or even shattered. They will never be the same. You must understand that and strive for balance in your life. How?

　　Dont undermine your worth by comparing yourself to others . It is because we are different that each of us is special. Dont set your goals by what other people consider important. Only you know what is best for you. Dont take for granted the things closest to your heart. Stick to them as you would to life, for without them, its meaningless. Dont let life one day at a time, you live ALL the days of your life. Dont run through life so fast that your forget not only where youve been, but also where youre going. Dont use time or words carelessly. Neither can be regained. Life is not a race, but a journey to be enjoyed each step of the way. Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, and today is a gift. That is why we call it---The Present.

　　Which of the following best states the main idea of the passage?

　　A We should strive for balance in our life.

　　B We should not undermine our worth by comparing ourselves to others

　　C We should not set our goals by what other people consider important.

　　D Words and time will never return once they are gone.

　　24Some people think they have an answer to the problems of automobile crowding and pollution in large cities. Their answer is the bicycle, or bike.

　　In a great many cities, hundreds of people ride bicycles to work everyday. In New York City, some bike riders have even formed a group called Bike fie a Better City. They claim that if more people rode bicycles to work there would be fewer automobiles in the downtown section of the city and therefore less dirty air from car engines.

　　For several years this group has been trying to get the city government to help bicycle riders. For example, they want the city to paint special lanes for bicycles onlyon some of the main streets, because when bicycle riders must use the same lanes as cars, there may be accidents. Bike foe a Better City feels that if there were special lanes, more people would use bikes.

　　But no bicycle lanes have been painted yet. Not everyone thinks it is a good idea. Taxi drivers dont like the ideathey say it will slow traffic. Some store owners on the main streets dont like the ideathey say if there is less traffic, they will have less business. And most people live too far from downtown to travel by bike.

　　The government has not yet decided what to do. It wants to keep everyone happy. On weekends, Central Park---the largest open space in New York is closed to cars, and the roads may be used by bicycles only. But Bike for a Better City says that this is not enough and keeps fighting to get bicycle lanes downtown. Until that happens, the safest place to bicycles may be in the park.

　　The main idea of the passage is to show_________.

　　A the problems of automobile crowding and pollution in large city,

　　B bike for a Better Citys answer to the problems of automobiles

　　C a great many bike riders in New York City.

　　D the city governments decision about bicycle lanes.

　　25In its country of Germany, the hot dog was called the frankfurter. It was named after Frankfurt, a German city. Frankfurters were first sold in the United States in the 1860s. Americans called frankfurters dachshund sausages. A dachshund is a dog from Germany with a very long body and short legs. Dachshund sausages first became popular in New York, especially at baseball games. At games they were sold by men who kept them warm in hot-water tanks. As the men walked up and down the rows of people, they yelled, Get your dachshund sausages! Get your hot dachshund sausages! People got the sausages on buns, a special bread.

　　One day in 1906, a newspaper cartoonist named Tad Dargan went to a baseball game. When he saw the man with the dachshund sausages, he got an idea for a cartoon. The next say at the newspaper office he drew a bun with a dachshund inside ---not a dachshund sausage, but a dachshund. Dorgan didnt know to spell dachshund. Under the cartoon, he wrote Get you hot dogs!

　　The cartoon caused deep interest and excitement, and so was the new name. If you go to a baseball games today, you can still see sellers walking around with hot-water tanks. As they walked up and down the rows they yell, Get your hot dogs here! Get your hot dogs!

　　The main purpose of the passage is to show_____.

　　A the home country of the hot dog

　　B the origin of the hot dog

　　C the selling of the hot dog

　　D the cartoon of the hot dog

　　26All of us eat every day, but most of us dont understand nutrition. How much do you know about good nutrition? Are the following statements true or false?

　　1. People who dont eat meat can stay healthy.

　　True. As long as people eat enough milk, eggs and meat alternated, they can get enough protein.

　　2. Fresh vegetables cooked at home are always more nutritious than canned vegetables.

　　False. The difference depends on how vegetables are prepared than whether they are fresh or canned. Vegetables cooked in too much water lose a great amount of vitamins.

　　3 Food eaten between meals can be just as good for health as food eaten at regular meals.

　　True. Nutritional value depends on what type of food you eat, not when you eat them. Eating an egg or an orange between meals can contribute to a good diet.

　　4. Taking extra vitamins beyond the recommended daily allowances wont give you more energy.

　　True. Its widely believed that extra vitamins provide more energy. But taking more than the body needs doesnt make it function better, not more than overfilling your gas tank makes your car run better.

　　5. Natural vitamins are better supplements for the diet than synthetic vitamins.

　　False. There is no difference. A vitamin has the same properties and specific chemical structure whether made in a laboratory or taken from plant or animal parts.

　　6 Older people need the same amount of vitamins as younger people.

　　True. Older people need the same amount of vitamins as younger people although they need fewer calories . Certain illnesses raise the requirements for some vitamins, but that is true for the young as well as the old.

　　7 Food grow in poor soil is lower in vitamins than food grown in rich soil.

　　False. The vitamins in our food are made by the plants themselves. They dont come from the soil. However, the minerals in a plant depend on the minerals in the soil.

　　If you have answered these questions correctly, You can say you know much about food and nutrition by todays standards. But remember that nutrition is growing science and that it may be changed as new information is obtained.

　　The main purpose of the passage is _____.

　　A to list todays standards of food and nutrition

　　B to introduce what should be eaten and what not

　　C to explain what is helpful to your health and what is not.

　　D to test our nutrition IQ by judging the problems listed

　　27When we say that Cambridge us a university town, we dont mean just that it is a town with a university in it. Manchester and Milan have universities, but we dont call them university towns. A university town is one where there is no clear separation between the university buildings and the rest of the city. The university is not just one part of the town; it is all over the town. The heart of Cambridge has its shops, pubs , marketplace and so on, but most of it is universitycolleges, faculties, libraries, clubs and other places for university staff and students. Students fill the shops, cafes, bands, and churches, making these as well part, of the university.

　　The town was there first. Two Roman roads crossed there, and there are signs of building before Roman times . Cambridge became a center of learning, and the authority(权威) of the head of the university was recognized by the king in 1226.

　　With about 8,250 undergraduates and over 2,000 postgraduates, the city is a busy place in full turn . Undergraduates are not allowed to keep cars in Cambridge, so nearly all of them use bicycles. Dont try to drive through Cambridge during the five minutes between lectures. Your bicycle must go through a boiling sea of other bicycles hurrying in all directions. If you are in Cambridge at five minutes to the hour any morning of full term , you know that you are in a university town.

　　What is the title of the passage?

　　A Cambridge --- A University Town

　　B Cambridge ---A Centre of learning

　　C Cambridge with Many Students

　　D Cambridge with a Long History

　　参考答案

　　16. B 17. C 18. B 19. C 20. B 21. D

　　22. C 23. A 24. B 25. B 26. D 27. A