六级经典的阅读3

　　Passage 1

　　Not content with its doubtful claim to produce cheap food for our own population ，the factory farming industry also argues that hungry nations are benefiting from advances made the poultry(家禽)industry。 In fact， rather than helping the fight against malnutrition(营养不良)in hungry nations， the spread of factory farming has， inevitably aggravated the problem. Large-scale intensive meat and poultry production is a waste of food resources. This is because more protein has to be fed to animals in the form of vegetable matter than can ever be recovered in the form of meat. Much of the food value is lost in the animals process of digestion and cell replacement. Neither， in the case of chicken， can one eat feathers， blood ， feet or head. In a11，only about 44% of the live animal fits to be eaten as meat.

　　This means one has to feed approximately 9-10times as much food value to the animal than one can consume from the carcass. As a system for feeding the hungry， the effects can prove disastrous .At times of crisis， grain is the food of life.

　　Nevertheless， the huge increase in poultry production throughout Asia and Africa continues. Normally British or US firms are involved. For instance， an American based multinational company has this year announced its involvement in projects in several African countries. Britain s largest suppliers chickens， Ross Breeders， are also involved in projects all over the world. Because such trade is good for exports， Western governments encourage it. In 1979， a firm in Bangladesh called Phoenix Poultry received a grant to set up a unit of 6，000 chickens and 18，000 laying hens. This almost doubled the number of poultry kept in the country all at once. But Bangladesh lacks capital， energy and food and has large numbers of unemployed. Such chicken-raising demands capital for building and machinery ，extensive use of energy resources for automation， and involves feeding chickens with potential famine-relief protein food. At present， one of Bangladeshs main imports is food grains， because the country is unable to grow enough food to feed its population. On what then can they possibly feed the chicken?

　　26. In this passage the author argues that_____.

　　A)efficiency must be raised in the poultry industry

　　B)raising poultry can provide more protein than growing grain

　　C)factory farming will do more harm than good to developing countries

　　D)hungry nations may benefit from the development of the poultry industry

　　27.According to the author， in factory ，vegetable food

　　A) is easy for chickens to digest

　　B) is insufficient for the needs of poultry

　　C) is fully utilized in meat and egg production

　　D) is inefficiently converted into meat and eggs

　　28.Western governments encourage the poultry industry in Asia because they regard it as an

　　effective way to

　　A)boost their own exports

　　B)alleviate malnutrition in Asian countries

　　C)create job opportunities in Asian countries

　　D)promote the exports of Asian countries

　　29.The word carcass(Line 2，Para.3)most probably means 。

　　A)vegetables preserved for future use

　　B)the dead body of an animal ready to be cut into meat

　　C)expensive fd that consumers can hardly afford

　　D)meat canned for future consumption

　　30.What the last paragraph tells us is the authors.

　　A)detailed analysis of the ways of raising poultry in Bangladesh

　　B)great appreciation of the development of poultry industry in Bangladesh

　　C)critical view on the development of the poultry industry in Bangladesh

　　D)practical suggestion for the improvement of the poultry industry in Bangladesh

　　Passage 2

　　We all have offensive breath at one time or another. In most cases， offensive breath emanates from bacteria in the mouth， although there are other， more surprising causes.

　　Until a few years ago， the most doctors could do was to counsel patients with bad breath about oral cleanliness. Now they are finding new ways to treat the usually curable condition. Bad breath can happen whenever the normal flow of saliva (唾液) slows. Our mouths are full of bacteria feeding on protein in bits of food and shed tissue. The bacteria emit evil smelling gases， the worst of which is hydrogen sulfide (硫化物)。

　　Mouth bacteria thrive in airless conditions. Oxygen-rich saliva keeps their numbers down. When we sleep， for example， the saliva stream slows， and sulfur-producing bacteria gain the upper hand ，producing classic morning breath。

　　Alcohol， hunger， too much talking， breathing through the mouth during exerciseanything that dries the mouth produces bad breath. So can stress， though it s not understood why. Some peoples breath turns sour every time they go on a job interview.

　　Saliva flow gradually slows with age， which explains why the elderly have more bad breath trouble than younger people do. Babies， however， who make plenty of saliva and whose mouths contain relatively few bacteria have characteristically sweet breath.

　　For most of us， the simple， dry-mouth variety of bad breath is easily cured. Eating or drinking starts saliva and sweeps away many of the bacteria. Breakfast often stops morning breath.

　　Those with chronic dry mouth find that it helps to keep gum， hard candy ，or a bottle of

　　water or juice around. Brushing the teeth wipes out dry-mouth bad breath because it clears away many of the offending bacteria.

　　Surprisingly， one thing that rarely works is mouthwash. The liquid can mask bad breath odor with its own smell， but the effect lasts no more than an hour. Some mouthwashes claim to kill the bacteria responsible for bad breath. The trouble is， they dont necessarily reach all offending germs. Most bacteria are well protected from mouthwash under thick layers of mucus(粘液)。 If the mouthwash contains alcoholas most doit can intensify the problem by drying out the mouth.

　　31. The phrase emanate from in Paragraph 1 most probably means______

　　A) thrive on

　　B) account for

　　C) originate from

　　D) descend form

　　32. Which of the following is mentioned as one of the causes of bad breath?

　　A) Tooth trouble.

　　B) Sulfur-rich food.

　　C) To much exercise.

　　D) Mental strain.

　　33. According to the passage， alcohol has something to do with bad breath mainly because ______.

　　A) it keeps offending bacteria from reproducing

　　B) its smell adds to bad breath

　　C) it kills some helpful bacteria

　　D) it affects the normal flow of saliva

　　34. Mouthwashes are not an effective cure for bad breath mainly because

　　A)they cant mask the bad odor long enough

　　B)they cant get to ail the offending bacteria

　　C) their strong smell mixes with bad breath and makes it worse

　　D) they cant cover the thick layers of mucus

　　35. We can infer from this passage that_____.

　　A) offensive breath cant easily be cured

　　B) elderly people are less offended by bad breath

　　C) heavy drinkers are less affected by bad breath

　　D) offensive breath is less affected by alcohol

　　Passage 3

　　Welcome to the U.S.A.! Major Credit cards accepted!

　　By the millions they are coming-no longer the tired， the poor， the wretched masses longing for a better living .These are the wealthy. We dont have a budget ， says a biologist from Brazil， as she walks with two companions through New York Citys South Street. We just use our credit cards.

　　The U.S. has long been one of the worlds most popular tourist destinations， but this year has been exceptional. First there was the World Cup， which drew thousands from every comer of the globe; then came the weakening of the U.S. dollar against major currencies. Now the U.S.， still the worlds superpower， can also claim to be the worlds bargain basement (廉价商品部)。 Nobody undersells America these days on just about everything， from consumer electronics to fashion clothes to tennis rackets. Bottom retail prices-anywhere from 30% to 70% lower than those in Europe and Asia -have attracted some 47 million visitors， who are expected to leave behind $79 billion in 1994. That s up from $74 billion the year before.

　　True， not everyone comes just for bargains. There remains an undeniable fascination in the rest of the world with all things American， nourished by Hollywood films and U.S. television series. But shopping the U.S.A. is proving irresistible. Every week thousands arrive with empty suitcases ready to be filled; some even rent an additional hotel room to hold their purchases. The buying binge (无节制) has become as important as watching Old Faithful fountains erupt in Yellowstone Park or sunbathing on a beach in Florida.

　　The U.S. has come at last to appreciate what other countries learned long ago： the pouring in of foreign tourists may not always be convenient ，but it does put money in the bank. And with a trade deficit at about $130 billion and growing for the past 12 months， the U.S. needs all the deposits it can get. Compared with American tourists abroad， visitors to the U.S. stay longer and spend more money at each stop ;an average of 12.2night and $1624 a traveller versus the Americans， four nights and $298.

　　36. From what the Brazilian biologist says， we know that tourists like her______.

　　A) are reluctant to carry cash with them

　　B) simply dont care how much they spend

　　C) are not good at planning their expenditure

　　D)often spend more money than they can afford

　　37. The reason why 1994 was exceptional is that______

　　A)it saw an unusually large number of tourists to the U.S.

　　B)it witnessed a drop in the number of tourists to the U.S.

　　C) tourism was hardly affected by the weakening of the U.S. dollar that year

　　D) tourists came to the U.S. for sightseeing rather than for bargains that year

　　38. By saying nobody undersells America (Line 4，Para.3)， the author means that ______.

　　A) no other country underestimates the competitiveness of American products

　　B) no body expects the Americans to cut the prices of their commodities

　　C) nobody restrains the selling of American goods

　　D)no other country sells at a lower price that America

　　39. Why does the author assert that all things American are fascinating to foreigners?

　　A) Because they have gained much publicity through the American media.

　　B) Because they represent the worlds latest fashions.

　　C) Because they embody the most sophisticated technology.

　　D) Because they are available at all tourist destinations.

　　40. From the passage we can conclude that the U.S. has come to realize

　　A)the weakening if the U.S. dollar can result in trade deficits

　　B)the lower the retail prices， the greater the profits

　　C)tourism can make great contributions to its economy

　　D)visitors to the U.S. are wealthier than U.S. tourists abroad

　　Passage 4

　　We sometimes think humans are uniquely vulnerable to anxiety， but stress seems to affect the immune defenses of lower animals too. In one experiment， for example， behavioral immunologist Mark Laudenslager， at the University of Denver， gave mild electric shocks to 24 rats. Half the animals could switch off the current by turning a wheel in their enclosure， while the other half could not. The rats in the two groups were paired so that each time one rat turned the wheel it protected both itself and its helpless partner form the shock. Laudenslager found that the immune response was depressed below normal in the helpless rats but not in those that could turn off the electricity. What he has demonstrated， he believes， is that lack of control over an event， not the experience itself， is what weakens the immune system.

　　Other researchers agree Jay Weiss， a psychologist at Duke University School of Medicine， has shown that animals who are allowed to control unpleasant stimuli dont develop sleep disturbances or changes in brain chemistry typical of Stressed rats. But if the animals are confronted with situations they have no control over， they later behave passively when faced with experiences they can control. Such findings reinforce psychologists suspicions that the experience or perception of helplessness is one of the most harmful factors in depression.

　　One of the most startling examples of how the mind can alter the immune response was discovered by chance. In 1975 psychologist Robert Ader at the University of Rochester School of Medicine conditioned mice to avoid saccharin by simultaneously feeding them the sweetener and injecting them with a drug that while suppressing their immune systems caused stomach upsets. Associating the saccharin with the Stomach pains， the mice quickly learned to avoid the sweetener. In order to extinguish this dislike for the sweetener， Ader re-exposed the animals to saccharin. This time without the drug， and was astonished to find that those mice that had received the highest amounts of sweetener during their earlier conditioning died. He could only speculate that he had so successfully conditioned the rats that saccharin alone now served to weaken their immune systems enough to kill them.

　　11.Laudenslagers experiment showed that the immune system of those rats who could turn off the electricity ______ .

　　A) was strengthened

　　B) was not affected

　　C) was altered

　　D)was weakened

　　l2.According to the passage， the experience of helplessness causes rats to_________ .

　　A) try to control unpleasant stimuli

　　B) turn off the electricity

　　C) behave passively in controllable

　　situations

　　D) become abnormally suspicious

　　13.The reason why the mice in Aders experiment avoided saccharin was that ________ .

　　A)they disliked its taste

　　B)it affected their immune systems

　　C)it led to stomach pains

　　D)they associated it with stomachaches

　　l4.The passage tells us that the most probable reason for the death of the mice in Aders experiment was that_____ .

　　A)they had been weakened psychologically by the saccharin

　　B)the sweetener was poisonous to them

　　C)their immune systems had been altered by the mind

　　D)they had taken too much sweetener during earlier conditioning

　　15.It can be concluded from the passage that the immune systems of animals __________ .

　　A)can be weakened by conditioning

　　B)can be suppressed by drug injections

　　C)can be affected by frequent doses of saccharin

　　D)can be altered by electric shocks

　　答案：Passage 1 ： CDABC

　　Passage 2： CDDBA

　　Passage 3： BADAC

　　Passage 4： BCDCB