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发表于 2016-7-28 13:27:32
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II. Reading Comprehension (40%)
Directions: This part consists of two sections. In Section A, there are three passages followed by a total of 15 multiple-choice questions. In Section B, there is one passage followed by a total of 5 short-answer questions. Read the passages and then mark or write down your answers on the Answer Sheet.
Section A
Passage 1
All North American canids have a doglike appearance characterized by a graceful body, long muzzle, erect ears, slender legs, and bushy tail. Most are social animals that travel and hunt in groups or pairs. After years of persecution by humans, the populations of most North American canids, especially wolves and foxes, have decreased greatly. The coyote, however, has thrived alongside humans, increasing in both numbers and range.
Its common name comes from coyotl, the term used by Mexico’s Nahuatl Indians, and its scientific name, canis latrans, means “barking dog.” The coyote’s vocalizations are varied, but the most distinctive are given at dusk, dawn, or during the night and consists of a series of barks followed by a prolonged howl and ending with short, sharp yaps. This call keeps the band alert to the locations of its members. One voice usually prompts others to join in, resulting in the familiar chorus heard at night throughout the west.
The best runner among the canids, the coyote is able to leap fourteen feet and cruise normally at 25-30 miles per hour. It is a strong swimmer and does not hesitate to enter water after prey. In feeding, the coyote is an opportunist, eating rabbits, mice, ground squirrels, birds, snakes, insects, many kinds of fruit, and carrion—whatever is available. To catch larger prey, such as deer or antelope, the coyote may team up with one or two others, running in relays to tire prey or waiting in ambush while others chase prey toward it. Often a badger serves as involuntary supplier of smaller prey: while it digs for rodents at one end of their burrow, the coyote waits for any that may emerge from an escape hole at the other end.
Predators of the coyote once included the grizzly and black bears, the mountain lion, and the wolf, but their declining populations make them no longer a threat. Man is the major enemy, especially since coyote pelts have become increasingly valuable, yet the coyote population continues to grow, despite efforts at trapping, shooting, and poisoning the animals.
1. According to the passage, the coyote is unlike other North American canids in what way?
A. The coyote’s body is not graceful.
B. The coyote is not hunted by humans.
C. The coyote population has not decreased.
D. The coyote does not know how to swim.
2. All of the following statements describe the coyote’s vocalizations EXCEPT
A. Vocalizations communicate the locations of other coyotes.
B. The coyote uses its distinctive call to trick and catch prey.
C. A group of coyotes will often bark and howl together.
D. The coyote’s scientific name reflects its manner of vocalizing.
3. According to the passage, the coyote is an opportunist because it
A. knows how to avoid being captured.
B. likes to team up with other coyotes.
C. has better luck than other predators.
D. takes advantage of circumstances.
4. Which animal sometimes unknowingly helps the coyote catch food?
A. wolf
B. rodent
C. deer
D. badger
5. According to the passage, all the following statements are true EXCEPT
A. the coyote is a serious threat to human activities.
B. the coyote is a skillful and athletic predator.
C. the coyote hunts cooperatively with other coyotes.
D. the coyote survives despite persecution by humans.
Passage 2
Starting on January 1, Bakersfield High School is planning to implement a dress code. The administration has printed out a list of those items that students will be allowed to wear to school and those that will be considered unacceptable. Even though I understand that the school had good intentions, I think that it is a bad idea overall.
There are a number of problems with the dress code. The rule against clothes that are “torn, ripped, or cut off” discriminates against those students who cannot afford to buy new clothes every year. In the late spring and early summer, students forced to wear long pants will be so uncomfortable that they will not be able to concentrate on their studies. Although girls can stay cool in skirts and dresses, boys have no such option.
Even so, a dress code violates students’ freedom of expression. Students should be able to dress themselves in a way that expresses their tastes and creativity. It is only through making decisions about ourselves and how we choose to present ourselves that we will grow into mature, independent adults.
6. Which of the following is the best version of the underlined sentence in paragraph 1?
A. (as it is now)
B. school. Those that will be considered unacceptable
C. school; others that will be considered unacceptable
D. school as well as unacceptable clothing
7. What does the underlined “it” in paragraph 1 refer to?
A. the administration
B. the dress code
C. the list
D. the intention
8. Which of the following is the best version of the underlined “Even so” in paragraph 3?
A. To the extent that
B. More importantly
C. It is true that
D. That notwithstanding
9. Which of the following, if added at the end of the 3rd paragraph, would provide the best concluding sentence for the passage?
A. As near-adults, we should be allowed decide how to dress ourselves.
B. In today’s society, teenagers are required to make decisions about a number of extremely important issues.
C. Thus, the dress code will ultimately impede the educational process rather than aid it.
D. It is for a student and his/her parents to decide what clothing a student should wear, not a school administration.
10. The author’s argument would be more balanced if it included a section on which of the following?
A. An outline of the steps that students will take to overturn the dress code, should it be implemented.
B. A list of other bureaucratic policies that have angered students in the past.
C. A discussion of the author’s own clothing preferences.
D. An acknowledgement of the positive aspects of the dress-code policy.
Passage 3
Granted, the study of racial and sex differences in intelligence has not exactly covered itself in glory. In a heated debate, scientists are calling for an end to research on possible links between race, gender and intelligence.
Neuroscientist Steven Rose of Britain’s Open University argues, the problem is that both race and IQ are slippery concepts. Standard measures of intelligence are ridiculously flexible. In the 1930s and 1940s, for instance, when girls kept outscoring boys, IQ tests were repeatedly adjusted to make the results turn out “right”. That calls into question what studies of intelligence actually measure, and whether it is too easy to choose and modify data to produce desired results. Worse, race in the sense of Caucasian, Asian and African is too broad to capture anything biological, including genetic differences.
As for sex, there are indeed structural and biochemical differences between male and female brains. But since boys and girls, and men and women, live very different lives and are treated differently first by parents and then by society, it’s impossible to attribute those differences to native biology rather than experience. That is especially true now that discoveries in neuroplasticity have shown that brains of any age can change their structure and function in response to experience.
Defenders of studies of how intelligence varies by race or sex argue, the studies must continue because of the wealth of important knowledge they produce. In the 1960s, for instance, psychologist Arthur Jensen presented evidence that African-Americans are inferior in intellect due to inherited genes. That prompted psychologist James Flynn of the University of Otago, New Zealand, to examine decades of IQ data from dozens of countries, something he never would have done without Jensen’s work to drive him. He discovered what is now called the Flynn effect, which is the increase in IQ scores over the last 70 or so years. The increase reflects generational improvements in abstract problem solving. The Flynn effect “shows that substantial increases in IQ can and have occurred over a short period of time,” says psychologist Wendy Williams of Cornell University. “Genetics cannot explain such changes. Thus we look to environment… As experiences for blacks improve, so can and does IQ.” That has already happened: one quarter of the IQ gap between black and white Americans has been erased in 30 years. Cultural effects are more powerful than we thought, says Williams, a conclusion that would have remained undiscovered if race and IQ were off limits.
There has been a parallel increase in understanding sex differences in IQ. The fact that experience shapes the brain, and that girls’ and boys’ experiences are different so their brain differences might be the result of different experiences, seems less like an argument against studying sex and IQ than a fascinating research project: how do sex-specific experiences leave a footprint in the folds of the cortex?
11. The opponents of race-IQ studies think that ________.
A. the studies lack clear purpose
B. the measures of IQ are inconsistent
C. the IQ tests cannot define intelligence
D. the definition of race is too narrow
12. According to paragraph 3, sex differences in IQ are mainly caused by ______.
A. innate biology
B. life experience
C. genetic structure
D. social environment
13. Some scientists insist on the continuance of the studies because these studies _______.
A. help people get valuable knowledge
B. help to increase people’s intelligence
C. help people solve abstract problems
D. help to erase the IQ gap among people
14. It can be inferred from the passage that race-sex-IQ studies ______.
A. has been advocated by most scientists nowadays
B. has altered the concept and categories of race
C. has changed people’s view on gender difference
D. has stimulated relevant valuable researches
15. The author’s attitude towards the studies of the link between sex, race and IQ is__.
A. enthusiastic support
B. strong disapproval
C. reserved consent
D. complete indifference |
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