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Passage Two
Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage:
There are some each phenomena you can count on, but the magnetic field, someday is not of them. It fluctuates in strength, drifts from its axis, and every few 100,000 years undergo, dramatic polarity reversal-a period when north pole becomes south pole and south pole becomes north pole. But how is the field generated, and why is it so unstable?
Groundbreaking research by two French geophysicists promises to shed some light on the mystery. Using 80 metres of deep sea sediment(沉淀物)core, they have obtained measurments lots of magnetic-field intensity that span 11 polarity reversals and four million years. The analysis reveals that intensity appears to fluctuate with a clear, well-defined rhythm. Although the strength of the magnetic field varies irregularly during the short term, there seems to be an inevitable longterm decline preceding each polarity reversal. When the poles flip-a process that takes several hundred thousand years-the magnetic field rapidly regains its strength and the cycle is repeated.
The results have caused a stir among geophysicists. The magnetic field is thought to originate from molten (熔化的) iron in the outer core, 3,000 kilometers beneath the earth's surface. By studying mineral grains found in material ranging from rocks to clay articles, previous researchers have already been able to identify reversals dating back 170 million years, including the most recent switch 730, 000 years ago. How and why they occur, however, has been widely debated. Several theories link polarity flips to external disasters such as meteor(陨星)impacts. But Peter Olson, a geophysicist at the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, says this is unlikely if the French researchers are right. In fact, Olson says intensity that predictably declines from one reversal to the next contradicts 90 percent of the models currently under study. If the results prove to be valid geophysicists will have a new theory to guide them in their quest to understand the earth's inner physics. It certainly points the direction for future research.
26.Which of the following titles is most appropriate to the passage?
A) Polarity Reversal: A Fantastic Phenomenon of Nature.
B) Measurement of the Earth's Magnetic-Field Intensity.
C) Formation of the Two Poles of the Earth.
D) A New Approach to the Study or Geophysics.
27.The word“flip”(Line 6, Para. 2)most probably means“______”.
A) decline
B) intensify
C) fluctuate
D) reverse
28.What have the two French geophysicists discovered in their research?
A) Some regularity in the changes of the earth's magnetic field.
B) Some causes of the fluctuation of the earth's magnetic field.
C) The origin of the earth's magnetic field.
D) The frequency of polarity reversals.
29.The French geophysicists' study is different from currently prevailing theories in ______ .
A) its identification of the origin of the earth's magnetic field.
B) the way the earth's magnetic intensity is measured.
C) its explanation of the shift in the earth's polarity.
D) the way the earth's fluctuation rhythm is defined.
30.In Peter Oslo's opinion the French experiment ______ .
A) is likely to direct further research in the inner physics of the earth.
B) has successfully solved the mystery of polarity reversals.
C) is certain to help predict external disasters.
D) has caused great confusion among the world's geophysicists.
Passage Three
Questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage:
Imagine a world in which there was suddenly no emotion-a world in which human beings could feel no love or happiness, no terror or hate. Try to imagine the consequences of such a transformation. People might not be able to stay alive: knowing neither joy nor pleasure, anxiety nor fear, they would be as likely to repeat acts that hurt them as acts that were beneficial. They could not learn: they could not benefit from experience because this emotionless world would lack rewards and punishments. Society would soon disappear: people would be as likely to harm one another as to provide help and support. Human relationships would not exist: in a world without friends or enemies, there could be no marriage, affection among companions, or bonds among members of groups. Society's economic underpinnings (支柱) would be destroyed: since earning $10 million would be no more pleasant than earning $10, there would be no incentive to work. In fact, there would be no incentives of any kind. For as we will see, incentives imply a capacity to enjoy them.
In such a world, the chances that the human species would survive are next to zero, because emotions are the basic instrument of our survival and adaptation. Emotions structure the world for us in important ways. As individuals, we categorize objects on the basis of our emotions. True we consider the length, shape, size, or texture, but an object's physical aspects are less important than what it has done or can do to us-hurt us, surprise us, anger us or make us joyful. We al so use categorizations colored by emotions in our families, communities, and overall society. Out of our emotional experiences with objects and events comes a social feeling of agreement that certain things and actions are“good”and others are“bad”, and we apply these categories to every aspect of our social life-from what foods we eat and what clothes we wear to how we keep promises and which people our group will accept. In fact, society exploits our emotional reactions and attitudes, such as loyalty morality, pride shame, guilt, fear and greed, in order to maintain itself It gives high rewards to individuals who perform important tasks such as surgery, makes heroes out of individuals for unusual or dangerous achievements such as flying fighter planes in a war, and uses the legal penal (刑法的) system to make people afraid to engage in antisocial acts.
31.The reason why people might not be able to stay alive in a world without emotion is that _______ .
A) they would not be able to tell the texture of objects.
B) they would not know what was beneficial and what was harmful to them.
C) they would not be happy with a life without love.
D) they would do things that hurt each other's feelings.
32.According to the passage, people's learning activities are possible because they_______ .
A) believe that emotions are fundamental for them to stay alive.
B) benefit from providing help and support to one another.
C) enjoy being rewarded for doing the right thing.
D) know what is vital to the progress of society.
33.It can be inferred from the passage that the economic foundation of society is dependent on _______.
A) the ability to make money.
B) the will to work for pleasure.
C) the capacity to enjoy incentives.
D) the categorizations of our emotional experiences
34.Emotions are significant for man's survival and adaptation because _______.
A) they provide the means by which people view the size or shape of objects.
B) they are the basis for the social feeling of agreement by which society is maintained.
C) they encourage people to perform dangerous achievements.
D) they generate more love than hate among people.
35.The emotional aspects of an object are more important than its physical aspects in that
they_______ .
A) help society exploit its members for profit.
B) encourage us to perform important tasks.
C) help to perfect the legal and penal system.
D) help us adapt our behavior to the world surrounding us
Passage Four
Question 36 to 40 based on the following passage:
The Carnegie Foundation report says that many colleges have tried to be “all things to all people”. In doing so, they have increasingly catered to a narrow minded careerism while failing to cultivate a global vision among their students. The current crisis, it contends, does not derive from a legitimate desire to put learning to productive ends. The problem is that in too many academic fields, the work has no context; skills, rather than being means, have become ends. Students are offered a variety of options and allowed to pick their way to a degree. I n short, driven by careerism, “the nation's colleges and universities are more successful in providing credentials(文凭)than in providing a quality education f or their students. ”The report concludes that the special challenge confronting the undergraduate college is one of shaping an“integrated core”of common learning. Such a core would introduce students“to essential knowledge, to connections across the disciplines, and in the end, to application of knowledge to life beyond the campus. ”
Although the key to a good college is a high-quality faculty, the Carnegie study found that most colleges do very little to encourage good teaching. In fact, they do much to undermine it. As one professor observed:“Teaching is important, we are told, and yet faculty know that research and publication matter most. ” Not surprisingly, over the last twenty years colleges and universities have failed to graduate half of their four-year degree candidates. Faculty members who dedicated themselves to teaching soon discover that they will not be granted tenure (终身任期), promotion, or substantial salary increases. Yet 70 percent of all faculty say their interests lie more in teaching than in research. Additionally, a frequent complaint among young scholars is that“There is pressure to publish, although there is virtually no interest among administrators or colleagues in the content of the publications. ”
36.When a college tries to be “all things to al people” (Lines 1-2, Para. 1) it aims to
_______ .
A) satisfy the needs of all kinds of students simultaneously.
B) focus on training students in various skills.
C) encourage students to take as many courses as possible.
D) make learning serve academic rather than productive ends.
37.By saying that “in too many academic fields, the work has no context” (Lin es4-5, Pare. 1)
the author means that the teaching in these areas ______ .
A) ignores the actual situation.
B) is not based on the right perspective.
C) only focuses on an integrated core of common learning.
D) gives priority to the cultivation of a global vision among students.
38.One of the reasons for the current crisis in American colleges and universities is that
_______ .
A) a narrow vocationalism has come to dominate many colleges.
B) students don't have enough freedom in choosing what they want to learn.
C) skills are being taught as a means to an end.
D) students are only interested in obtaining credentials.
39.American colleges and universities failed to graduate half of their four-year degree
candidates because _______ .
A) most of them lack high-quality faculties.
B) the interests of most faculty members lie in research.
C) there are not enough incentives for students to study hard.
D) they attach greater importance to research and publication than to teaching .
40.It can be inferred from the passage that high-quality college education calls for _______ .
A) putting academic work in the proper context.
B) a commitment to students and effective teaching.
C) the practice of putting leaning to productive ends.
D) dedication to research in frontier areas of knowledge.
Part Ⅲ Vocabulary and Structure (20 minutes)
Directions: There are 30 incomplete sentences in this part. For each sentence there are four choices marked A），B) ，C) and D）. Choose the ONE that best completes the sentence. then mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the centre.
41.The Space Age ______ in October 1957 when the first artificial satellite was launched by the Soviet Union.
A) initiated
B) originated
C) embarked
D) commenced
42.John said that he didn't quite _______ and asked me to repeat what I had said.
A) snatch up
B) summon up
C) catch on
D) watch out
43.When he tried to make a ______ , he found that the hotel that he wanted was completely filled because of a convention.
A) complaint
B) claim
C) reservation
D) decision
44.A budget of five dollars a day is totally _______ for a trip round Europe.
A) inadequate
B) incapable
C) incompatible
D) invalid
