西南大学《英语阅读二》（高）网上作业题及答案

[0085]《英语阅读二》(高)网上作业题答案

第1次作业 [论述题]

I. Text Comprehension

Direction: Each of the following comprehension questions, based on the texts you have learned, is provided with 4 possible answers marked A, B, C and D. Choose the best answer to each question. 1. In The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, Smiley always won money on his fighting dog except one because ________.

A. the other dog was stronger than Smiley's dog

B. the other dog ran Smiley's dog round

C. the other dog threw Smile's dog out of the ring

D. the other dog had no hind legs and smiley's dog didn't know how to make of it

2 In The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, there was a bet

on frogs between Smiley and a stranger. The result was that the stranger won the bet because ________. A. Smiley's frog was very ordinary

B. the stranger had fed Smiley's frog a few teaspoons of whiskey C. Smiley gave the stranger a good-looking and strong frog

D. the stranger had put quite a bit of liquor into his own frog

II. Reading Comprehension

Direction: There are 4 reading passages followed by 20 questions or unfinished statements. For each of the questions there are 4 choices marked A, B, C and D. Please decide on the best answer. Passage 1 Psychologist George Spilich and colleagues at Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland, decided to find out whether, as many smokers say, smoking helps them to \non-smokers, active smokers and smokers deprived of (剥夺)cigarettes through a series of tests.

In the first test, each subject sat before a computer screen and pressed a key as soon as he or she recognized a target letter among a grouping of 96. In this simple test, smokers, deprived smokers and non-smokers performed equally well.

The next test was more complex, requiring all to scan sequences of 20 identical （同样的）letters and respond the instant one of the letters transformed into a different one. Non-smokers were faster, but under the stimulation of nicotine, active smokers were faster than deprived smokers.

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In the third test of short-term memory, non-smokers made the fewest errors, but deprived smokers committed fewer errors than active smokers. The fourth test required people to read a passage, then answer questions about it. Non-smokers remembered 19 percent more of the most important information than active smokers, and deprived smokers bested those who had smoked a cigarette just before testing. Active smokers tended not only to have poorer memories but also had trouble separating important information from insignificant details.

\e complex,” sums up Spilich, \-smokers performed better than smokers by wider and wider margins.” He predicts, \― until they got

complicated. A smoking airline pilot could fly adequately if no problems arose, but if something went wrong, smoking might damage his mental capacity.” 1. The purpose of George Spilich's experiments is . A. to test whether smoking has a positive effect on the mental capacity of smokers

B. to show how smoking damages people's mental capacity C. to prove that smoking affects people regular performance

D. to find out whether smoking helps people's short-term memory. 2. George Spilich's experiment was conducted in such a way as to .

A. compel the subjects to separate major information from minor details

B. put the subjects through increasingly complex tests C. check the effectiveness of nicotine on smokers D. register the prompt responses of the subjects

3. The word \ .

A. beat B. envied C. caught up with D. made the best of

4. Which of the following statements is true?

A. Active smokers in general performed better than deprived smokers. B. Active smokers responded more quickly than the other subjects C. Non-smokers were not better than other subjects in performing simple tasks.

D. Deprived smokers gave the slowest responses to the various tasks. 5. We can infer from the last paragraph that . A. Smokers should not expect to become airline pilots B. smoking in emergency cases causes mental illness C. no airline pilot smoke during flights

D. smokers may prove unequal to handling emergency cases

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Passage 2 Aging is the process of growing old. It occurs eventually in every living thing provided, of course, that an illness or accident does not kill it prematurely. The most familiar outward signs of aging may be seen in old people, such as the greying of the hair and the wrinkling of the skin. Signs of aging in a pet dog or cat include loss of playfulness and energy, a decline in hearing and eyesight, or even a slight greying of the coat. Plants age too, but the signs are much harder to detect.

Most body parts grow bigger and stronger, and function more efficiently during childhood. They reach their peak at the time of maturity, of early adulthood. After that, they begin to decline. Bones, for example, gradually become lighter and more brittle易碎的. In the aged, the joints关节 between the bones also become rigid僵硬的and more inflexible. This can make moving very painful.

All the major organs of the body show signs of aging. The brain, for example, works less efficiently, and even gets smaller in size. Thinking processes of all sorts are slowed down. Old people often have trouble in remembering recent events.

One of the most serious changes of old age occurs in the arteries, the blood vessels that lead from the heart. They become thickened and

constricted, allowing less blood to flow to the rest of the body. This condition accounts, directly or indirectly, for many of the diseases of the aged. It may, for example, result in heart attack.

Aging is not a uniform process. Different parts of the body wear out逐渐用完或消耗at different rates. There are great differences among people in their rate of aging. Even the cells细胞of the body differ in the way they age. The majority of cells are capable of reproducing themselves many times during the course of a lifetime. Nerve cells and muscle fibers can never be replaced once they wear out.

Gerontologists, scientists who study the process of aging believe the wearing out of the body is controlled by a built-in biological time-clock. They are trying to discover how this clock works so that they can slow down the process. This could give man a longer life and a great number of productive years.

1. What is the main idea in the first paragraph?

A. Signs of aging are easier to detect in animals than in plants. B. Aging occurs in every living thing after it has reached maturity. C. The outward signs of aging may be seen in old people. D. Not all signs of aging are visible. 2. \The arteries” refers to ______.

A. the paths along which blood flows to all parts of the body B. the tubes carrying blood back to the heart C. vessels that are thickened and constricted

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D. such heart diseases as suffered by old people

3. \Aging is not a uniform process” means that ______.

A. old people do not have the same outward signs of aging B. not all people age at the same age C. the process of aging is slow

D. nerve cells and muscle fibers do not age simultaneously 4. Which of the statements about aging is false?

A. People vary in their rate of aging.

B. The cells of the body age in different ways.

C. The various parts of the body do not wear out at the same rate. D. All body cells once worn out can never be replaced.

5. According to the passage, what is responsible for many of the diseases of the old?

A. Their trouble in remembering recent events. B. The worn out nerve cells and muscle-fibers.

C. The blood vessels that have become thickened and constricted. D. The rigid and inflexible joints between the bones.

Passage 3 Among the more colorful characters of Leadville's golden age were H.A.W. Tabor and his second wife, Elizabeth McCourt, better known as \Doe”. Their history is fast becoming one of the legends of the Old West. Horace Austin Warner Tabor was a school teacher in Vermont. With his first wife and two children he left Vermont by covered wagon in 1855 to homestead家园in Kansas. Perhaps he did not find farming to his liking, or perhaps he was lured吸引by rumors of fortunes to be made in Colorado mines 矿山. At any rate, a few years later he moved west to the small Colorado mining camp known as California Gulch, which he later renamed Leadville when he became its leading citizen. \铅矿层are sure to be found here.” he said.

As it turned out, it was silver, not lead, that was to make Leadville's fortune and wealth. Tabor knew little about mining himself, so he opened a general store, which sold everything from boots to salt, flour, and tobacco. It was his custom to \grubstake” prospective miners, in other words, to supply them with food and supplies, or \while they looked for ore, in return for which he would get a share in the mine if one was discovered. He did this for a number of years, but no one that he aided ever found anything of value.

Finally one day in the year 1878, so the story goes, two miners came in and asked for \he had lost too much money that way. These were persistent, however, and Tabor was too busy to argue with them. \won't make any difference,” He said and went on selling shoes and hats to other customers. The two miners took $17 worth of supplies, in return for which they gave Tabor a one-third interest in their findings. They

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picked a barren place on the mountainside and began to dig. After nine days they struck a rich vein of silver. Tabor bought the shares of the other two men, and so the mine belonged to him alone. This mine, known as the \Pittsburgh Mine,” made 1,300,000 for Tabor in return for his $17 investment.

Later Tabor bought the Matchless Mine on another barren hillside just outside the town for $117,000.This turned out to be even more fabulous than the Pittsburgh, yielding $35 000 worth of silver per day at one time Leadville grew. Tabor became its first mayor, and later became lieutenant governor of the state.

1. Leadville got its name for the following reasons EXCEPT_____.

A. because Tabor became its leading citizen

B. because great deposits of lead is expected to be found there C. because it could bring good fortune to Tabor D. because it was renamed

2. The word \

A. to supply miners with food and supplies B. to open a general store

C. to do one's contribution to the development of the mine D. to supply miners with food and supplies and in return get a share in the mine, if one was discovered 3. Tabor made his first fortune_____.

A. by supplying two prospective miners and getting in return a one-third interest in the findings

B. because he was persuaded by the two miners to quit supplying C. by buying the shares of the other D. as a land speculator

4. The underlying reason for Tabor's life career is_____.

A. purely accidental

B. based on the analysis of miner's being very poor and their possibility of discovering profitable mining site

C. through the help from his second wife

D. he planned well and accomplished targets step by step 5. If this passage is the first part of an article, who might be introduced in the following part?

A. Tabor's life. B. Tabor's second wife, Elizabeth McCourt. C. Other colorful characters. D. Tabor's other careers

Passage 4 In the United States, when one becomes rich, he wants people to know it. And even if he does not become very rich, he wants people to think that he is. That is what ‘keeping up with the Joneses' is about, It is the story of someone who tried to look as rich as his neighbours.

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The expression was first used in 1913 by a young American called Arthur Momand. He told this story about himself. He began earning $ 125 a week at the age of 23. That was a lot of money in those days. He got married and moved with his wife to a very wealthy neighbourhood outside New York City. When he saw that rich people rode horses, Momand went horseback riding every day. When he saw that rich people had servants. Momand and his wife also hired a servant and gave big parties for their new neighbours.

It was like a race, but one could never finish this race because one was always trying to keep up. The race ended for Momand and his wife when they could no longer pay for their new way of life. They moved back to an apartment in New York City.

Momand looked around him and noticed that many people do things just to keep up with rich life-style of their neighbours. He saw the funny side of it and started to write a series of short stories, He called it %up with the Joneses” because ‘Jones' is a very common name in the United States. \life-style of the people around you. Momand's series appeared in different newspapers across the country for over 28 years.

People never seem to get tired of keeping up with the Joneses. And there are ‘Jonses' in every city of the world. But one must get tired of trying to keep up with the Joneses because no matter what one does, Mr. Jones always seems to be ahead. 1. Some people want to keep up with the Joneses because they ____________. A. want to be as rich as their neighbours

B. want others to know or to think that they are rich C. don't want others to know they are rich D. want to be happy 2. It can be inferred from the story that rich people like to ____________. A. live outside New York City B. live in New York City C. live in apartments D. have many neighbours 3. The underlined word neighbourhood in the second paragraph means ____________.

A. a person who lives near another B. people living in an area

C. an area near the place referred to town or city

D. an area in another

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