大学英语三级阅读

成都理工大学外国语学院

<大学英语精品课程:三级阅读补充材料>

(CET-3 Reading Comprehension Supplementary Materials)

Directions: There are 30 reading passages in this part. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four suggested answers marked A, B, C and D. Choose the best answer to each question. Passage 1

Television has opened windows in everybody‘s life. Young men will never again go to war as they did in 1914. Millions of people now have seen the effects of a battle. And the result has been a general dislike of war, and perhaps more interest in helping those who suffer from all the terrible things that have been shown on the screen.

Television has also changed politics. The most distant areas can now follow state affairs, see and hear the politicians before an election. Better informed, people are more likely to vote, and so to make their opinion count.

Unfortunately, television‘s influence has been extremely harmful to the young. Children do not have enough experience to realize that TV shows present an unreal world; that TV advertisements lie to sell products that are sometimes bad or useless. They believe that the violence they see is normal and acceptable. All educators agree that the ―television generations‖ are more violent than their parents and grandparents.

Also, the young are less patient. Used to TV shows, where everything is quick and interesting, they do not have the patience to read an article without pictures; to read a book that requires thinking; to listen to a teacher who doesn‘t do funny things like the people on children‘s programs. And they expect all problems to be solved happily in ten, fifteen, or thirty minutes. That‘s the time it takes on the screen.

1. In the past, many young people ______.

A. knew the effects of war

B. went in for politics

C. liked to save the wounded in wars

D. were willing to be soldiers

2. Now with TV people can _____.

A. discuss politics at an information center

B. show more interest in politics

C. make their own decisions on political affairs

D. express their opinions freely

3. The author thinks that TV advertisements _____.

A. are not reliable on the whole

B. are useless to people

C. are a good guide to adults

D. are very harmful to the young

4. Which is NOT true according to the passage?

A. People have become used to crimes now.

B. With a TV set some problems can be solved quickly.

C. People now like to read books with pictures.

D. The adults are less violent than the young.

5. From the passage, we can conclude that _____.

A. children should keep away from TV

B.TV programs should be improved

C. children‘s books should have pictures

D. TV has a deep influence on the young

Passage 2

Nonverbal (非语言的) communication has to do with gestures, movements and closeness of two people when they are talking. The scientists say that those gestures, movements and so on have meaning which words do not carry.

For example, the body distance between two speakers can be important. North Americans often complain that South Americans are unfriendly because they tend to stand close to the North American when speaking, while the South American often considers the North American to be ―cold‖ or ―distant‖ because he keeps a greater distance between himself and the person he is speaking to . The ―eye contact‖ provides another example of what we are calling nonverbal communication. Scientists have observed that there is more eye contact between people who like each other than there is between people who don‘t like each other. The length of time that the person whom you are speaking to looks at your eyes indicates the amount of interest he has in the things you are talking about.

On the other hand, too long a gaze can make people uncomfortable. The eyes apparently play a great part in nonverbal communication. Genuine warmth or interest, shyness or confidence can often be seen in the eyes. We do not always consider a smile to be a sign of friendliness. Someone who is always smiling, and with little apparent reasons, often makes us uneasy.

6. According to the passage, nonverbal communication _____.

A. is a method often used by people who cannot speak

B. can tell something that words cannot

C. can be used to talk with people who cannot bear

D. is less used than words

7. The South American _____.

A. tends to keep a distance between himself and the person he is speaking to

B. usually stands close to the person he is talking to

C. is often unfriendly when spoken to

D. is often cold and distant when speaking

8. Which of the following is NOT true?

A. Less eye contact suggests distance in relation.

B. The longer one looks at you, the more interest he has in you.

C. There is more eye contact between people who like each other.

D. Shorter eye contact shows more interest in what one is talking about.

9. Too long a gaze _____.

A. may upset people being looked at

B. shows one‘s great confidence

C. indicates one‘s interest in the talk

D. tells you how friendly one is

10. Constant smiling without apparent reason _____.

A. is a sign of one‘s friendliness

B. is a sign of one‘s unfriendliness

C. makes people feel happy

D. makes people feel uncomfortable

Passage 3

In the United States elementary education begins at the age of six. At this stage nearly all the teachers are women, mostly married. The atmosphere is usually very friendly , and the teachers have now accepted the idea that the important thing is to make the children happy and interested. The old authoritarian (要绝对服从的) methods of education were discredited (不被认可) rather a long time ago--so much so that many people now think that they have gone too far in the direction of trying to make children happy and interested rather than giving them actual instruction.

The social education of young children tries to make them accept the idea that human beings in a society need to work together for their common good. So the emphasis is on co-operation rather than competition throughout most of this process. This may seem curious, in view of the fact that

American society is highly competitive; however, the need for making people sociable in this sense has come to be regarded as one of the functions of education. Most Americans do grow up with competitive ideas, and obviously quite a few as criminals, but it is not fair to say that the educational system fails. It probably does succeed in making most people sociable and ready to help one another both in material ways and through kindness and friendliness.

11. According to the passage, the U.S. elementary education is supposed to make children _____.

A. sensible and sensitive

B. competitive and interested

C. curious and friendly

D. happy and co-operative

12. Some Americans complain about elementary schools because they think _____.

A. children are reluctant to help each other

B. schools lay too much emphasis on co-operation

C. children should grow up with competitive ideas

D. schools give little actual instruction to children

13. The author‘s attitude towards American education can be best described as _____.

A. favorable B. negative

C. tolerant D. unfriendly

14. The American educational system emphasizes _____.

A. material wealth B. competition C. co-operation D. personal benefit

15. The word ―sociable‖ (Line 7, Paragraph2) most probably means _____.

A. fond of talking freely

B. friendly with other people

C. concerned about social welfare

D. happy at school Passage 4

In the United States, 30 percent of the adult population has a ―weight problem‖. To many people, the cause is obvious: they eat too much. But scientific evidence does little to support this idea. Going back to the America of the 1910s, we find that people were thinner than today, yet they ate more food. In those days people worked harder physically, walked more, used machines much less and didn‘t watch television. Several modern studies, moreover, have shown that fatter people do not eat more on the average than thinner people. In fact, some investigations, such as the 1979 study of 3,545 London office workers, report that, on balance, fat people eat less than slimmer people.

Studies show that slim people are more active than fat people. A study by a research group at Stanford University School of Medicine found the following interesting facts:

The more the men ran, the more body fat they lost.

The more they ran, the greater amount of food they ate.

Thus, those who ran the most ate the most, yet lost the greatest amount of body fat.

16. The physical problem that many adult Americans have is that ________.

A. they are too slim B. they work too hard

C. they are too fat D. they lose too much body fat

17． According to the article, given 500 adult Americans, _______ people will have a “weight problem.”

A. 30 B. 50 C. 100 D. 150

18. Is there any scientific evidence to support that eating too much is the cause of a ― weight problem?‖

A. Yes, there is plenty of evidence.

B. Of course, there is some evidence to show this is true.

C. There is hardly any scientific evidence to support this.

D. We don‘t know because the information is not given.

19. In comparison with the adult American population today, the Americans of the 1910s_______.

A. ate more food and had more physical activities

B. ate less food but had more activities

C. ate less food and had less physical exercise

D. had more weight problems

20. Modern scientific researches have reported to us that ________.

A. fat people eat less food and are less active

B. fat people eat more food than slim people and are more active

C. fat people eat more food than slim people but are less active

D. thin people run less, but have greater increase in food intake

Passage 5

By adopting a few simple techniques, parents who read to their children can greatly increase their children‘s language development. It is surprising but true. How parents talk to their children makes a big difference in the children‘s language development. If a parent encourages the child to actively respond to what the parent is reading, the child‘s language skills increase.

A study was done with 30 three-year-old children and their parents. Half of the children participated in the experimental study; the other half acted as the control group. In the experimental group, the parents were given a two-hour training session in which they were taught to ask open-ended questions rather than yes-or-no questions. For example, the parent should ask, ―What is the doggie doing?‖ rather than ―Is the doggie running away?‖ The parents in the experimental group were also instructed in how to help children find answers, how to suggest alternative possibilities and how to praise correct answers.

At the beginning of the study, the children did not differ in measures of language development, but at the end of one month, the children in the experimental group showed 5. 5 months ahead of the

control group on a test of verbal expression and vocabulary. Nine months later, the children in the experimental group still showed an advance of 6 months over the children in the control group.

21. Which of the following can be inferred from the passage?

A. Children who talk a lot are more intelligent.

B. Parents who listen to their children can teach them more.

C. Active children should read more and be given more attention. D. Verbal ability can easily be developed with proper methods.

22. What does ―it‖ in line 2 can most probably be replaced by?

A. Parents increasing children‘s language development

B. Reading techniques being simple

C. Parents reading to children

D. Children‘s intelligence development

23. According to the author, which of the following questions is the best type to ask children about?

A. Do you see the elephant? B. Is the elephant in the cage?

C. What animals do you like? D. Shall we go to the zoo?

24. The difference between the control group and the experimental group was _______.

A. the training that parents received

B. the age of the children

C. the books that were read

D. the number of the children

25. The best conclusion we can draw from the passage is that _______.

A. parents should be trained to read to their children

B. the more children read, the more intelligent they will become

C. children‘s language skills increase when they are required to respond actively

D. children who read actively seem six months older Passage 6

The agriculture revolution in the nineteenth century involved two things: the invention of labor-saving machinery and the development of scientific agriculture. Labor-saving machinery naturally appeared first where labor was scarce. ―In Europe‖, said Thomas Jefferson, ―the object is to make the most of their land, labor being sufficient; here it is to make the most of our labor, land being abundant.‖ It was in America, therefore, that the great advances in nineteenth century agricultural machinery first came. At the opening of the century, with the exception of a crude (粗糙的) plow, farmers could have carried practically all of the existing agricultural tools on their backs. By 1860, most of the machinery in use today had been designed in an early form. The most important of the early inventions was the iron plow. As early as 1890 Charles Newbolt of New Jersey had been working on the idea of a cast-iron plow and spent his entire fortune in introducing his invention. The farmers, However, would home none of it, claiming that the iron poisoned the soil and made the weeds grow. Nevertheless, many people devoted their attention to the plow, until in 1869,James Oliver of South Bend, Indiana, turned out the first chilled steel plow.

26. The word ―here‖(Para,1,Line 5) refers to ______.

A. Europe B. America C. New Jersey D. Indiana

27. Which of the following statement is NOT true?

A. The need for labor helped the invention of machinery in America

B. The farmer rejected Charles Newbolt‘s plow for fear of ruin of their fields.

C. Both Europe and America had great need for farm machinery .

D. It was in Indiana that the first chilled-steel plow was produced.

28. The passage is mainly about _____.

A. the agriculture revolution

B. the invention of labor –saving machinery

C. the development of scientific agriculture

D. the farming machinery in America

29. At the opening of the nineteenth century, farmers in America_____.

A. preferred light tools

B. were extremely self-reliant(自给的)

C. had many tools

D. had very few tools

30. It is implied but not stated in the passage that_____.

A. there was a shortage of workers on American farms

B. the most important of the early invention was the iron plow

C. after 1869, many people devoted their attention to the plow

D. Charles Newbolt had made a fortune by his cast-iron plow Passage 7

Human needs seem endless. When a hungry man gets a meal, he begins to think about an overcoat, when a manager gets a new sports car, a big house and pleasure boats dance into view.

The many needs of mankind might be regarded as making up several levels. When there is money enough to satisfy one level of needs, another level appears.

The first and most basic level of needs involves food. Once this level is satisfied, the second level of needs, clothing and some sort of shelter, appears. By the end of World War II, these needs were satisfied for a great majority of Americans. Then a third level appeared. It included such items as automobiles and new houses.

By 1957 or 1958 this third level of needs was fairly well satisfied. Then, in the late 1950s,a fourth level of needs appeared: the ―life-enriching‖ level. While the other levels involve physical satisfaction, that is, the feeding, comfort, safety, and transportation, this level stresses mental needs for recognition, achievement, and happiness. It includes a variety of goods and services, many of which could be called ―luxury‖ items. Among them are vacation trips, the best medical and dental care, and recreation. Also included here are fancy goods and the latest styles in clothing.

On the fourth level, a lot of money is spent on services, while on the first three levels more is spent on goods. Will consumers raise their sights to a fifth level of needs as their income increases, or will they continue to demand luxuries and personal services on the fourth level?

A fifth level would probably involve needs that can be achieved best by community action. Consumers may be spending more on taxes to pay for government action against disease, ignorance, crime, and prejudice. After filling our stomachs, our clothes closets, our garages, our teeth, and our minds, we now may seek to ensure the health, safety, and leisure to enjoy more fully the good things on the first four levels.

31. According to the passage, man will begin to think about such needs as housing and clothing only when＿＿.

A. he has saved up enough money

B. he has grown dissatisfied with his simple shelter

C. he has satisfied his hunger

D. he has learned to build houses

32. It can be inferred from the passage that by the end of World War II, most Americans＿＿.

A. were very rich

B. lived in poverty

C. had the good things on the first three levels

D. did not own automobiles

33. Which of the following is NOT related to ―physical satisfaction‖?

A. A successful career B. A comfortable home

C. A good meal D.A family car

34. What is the main concern of man on the fourth level?

A. The more goods the better.

B. The more mental satisfaction the better.

C. The more ―luxury‖ items the better.

D. The more earnings the better.

35. The author tends to think that the fifth level＿＿.

A. would be little better than the fourth level

B. may be a lot more desirable than the first four

C. can be the last and most satisfying level

D. will become attainable before the government takes actions Passage 8

When we talk about intelligence, we do not mean the ability to get good scores on certain kinds of tests or even the ability to do well in school. By intelligence we mean a way of living and behaving, especially in a new or upsetting situation. If we want to test intelligence, we need to find out how a person acts instead of how much he knows what to do .

For instance, when in a new situation, an intelligent person thinks about the situation, not about himself or what might happen to him. He tries to find out all he can, and then he acts immediately and tries to do something about it. He probably isn‘t sure how it will all work out, but at least he tries. And, if he can‘t make things work out right, he doesn‘t feel ashamed that he failed; he just tries to learn from his mistakes. An intelligent person, even if he is very young, has a special outlook on life, a special feeling about life, and knows how he fits into it.

If you look at children, you‘ll see great difference between what we call ―bright‖ children and ―not-bright‖ children. They are actually two different kinds of people, not just the same kind with different amount of intelligence. For example, the bright child really wants to find out about life --- he tries to get in touch with everything around him. But, the unintelligent child keeps more to himself and his own dream-world; he seems to have a wall between him and life in general.

36. According to this passage, intelligence is＿＿.

A. the ability to study well

B. the ability to do well in school

C. the ability to deal with life

D. the ability to get high scores on some tests

37. In a new situation, an intelligent person＿＿.

A. knows more about what might happen to him

B. is sure of the result he will get

C. concentrates on what to do about the situation

D. cares more about himself

38. If an intelligent person failed, he would＿＿.

A. try not to feel ashamed

B. learn form his experiences

C. try to regret as much as possible

D. make sure what result he would get

39. Bright children and not-bright children＿＿.

A. are two different types of children

B. are different mainly in their degree of cleverness

C. have difference only in their way of thinking

D. have different knowledge about the world

40. The author of this passage will probably continue to talk about＿＿.

A. how to determine what intelligence is

B. how education should be found

C. how to solve practical problems

D. how an unintelligent person should be taught

Passage 9

We use both words and gestures to express our feelings, but the problem is that these words and gestures can be understood in different ways.

It is true that a smile means the same thing in any language. So does laughter or crying. There are also a number of striking similarities in the way different animals show the same feelings. Dogs, tigers and humans, for example, often show their teeth when they are angry. This is probably because they are born with those behavior patterns.

Fear is another emotion that is shown in much the same way all over the world. In Chinese and in English literature, a phrase like ―he went pale and began to tremble‖ suggests that the man is either very afraid or he has just got a very big shock. However, ―he opened his eyes wide‖ is used to suggest anger in Chinese whereas in English it means surprise. In Chinese ―surprise‖ can be described in a phrase like ?they stretched out their tongues!‘ Sticking out your tongue in English is an insulting gesture or expresses strong dislike.

Even in the same culture, people differ in ability to understand and express feelings. Experiments in America have shown that women are usually better than men at recognizing fear, anger, love and happiness on people‘s faces. Other studies show that older people usually find it easier to recognize or understand body language than younger people do.

41. According to the passage,＿＿.

A. we can hardly understand what people‘s gestures mean

B. we can not often be sure what people mean when they describe their feelings in words or

gestures

C. words can be better understood by older people

D. gestures can be understood by most of the people while words can not

42. People’s facial expressions may be misunderstood because＿＿.

A. people of different ages may have different understanding

B. people have different cultures

C. people of different sex may understand a gesture in a different way

D. people of different countries speak different languages

43. In the same culture＿＿.

A. people have different ability to understand and express feelings

B. people have the same understanding of something

C. people never fail to understand each other

D. people are equally intelligent

44. From this passage, we can conclude＿＿.

A. words are used as frequently as gestures

B. words are often found difficult to understand

C. words and gestures are both used in expressing feelings

D. gestures are more efficiently used than words

45. The best title for this passage may be＿＿.

A. Words and Feelings

B. Words, Gestures and Feelings

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