四级考前训练三
Part Ⅱ Reading Comprehension
Directions: There are 4 passages in this part. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements.For each of them there are four choices marked A),B),C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the centre.
Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage:
Solar energy for your home is coming. It can help you as a single home owner.It can help the whole country as well.Whether or not solar energy can save your money depends on many things. Where you live is one factor. The type of home you have is another. Things like insulation present energy coasts, and the type of ssstem you buy are added factors.
Using solar energy can help save our precious fuel. As you know, our supplies of oil and gas are very limited. There is just not enough on hand to meet all our future energy needs.And when Mother Nature says that’s all. The only way we can delay hearing those words is by starting to save energy now and by using other sources, like the sun.
We won’t have to worry about the sun’s running out of energy for another several billion years or so. Besides begin an endless sourse of energy, the use of the sun has other advantages as well. The sun doesn’t offer as many problems as other energy sources. For example, fossil fuel plants add to already high pollution levels. With solar energy, we will still need sources of energy, but we won’t need as much. That means we can cut down on our pollution problems.
With all these good points, why don’t we use more solar power? There are many reasons for this. The biggest reason is money. Until now, it was just not practical for a home owner to put in a solar unit. There were cheaper sources of energy.
All that is changing now. Solar coats are starting to equal the costs of oil and electricity. Experts say that gas, oil and electricity prices will continue to rise. The demand for electricity is increasing rapidly. But new power plants will use more gas,oil or coal. Already in some places the supply of electricity is being rationed. Solar energy is now in its infancy. It could soon grow to become a major part of our nation’s energy supply.
21. Which statement best expresses the main idea?
A) Something about Solar Energy and Pollution.
B) Solar Energy.
C) Energy and Pollution
D) Energy and Money.
22. Solar energy can help us save ____.
A) the earth and natural resources
B) mother nature
C) the sun
D) our precious fuel
23. The sun is an endless source of energy, it will not run out of it for ____.
A) several million years
B) several hundred years
C) several billion years
D) several thousand years
24. Which of the following statements is correct?
A) Energy from coal would not pollute our living environment.
B) Energy from natural gas would not pollute our living environment.
C) Energy from the sun would not pollute our living environment.
D) Energy from oil would not pollute our living environment.
25. Solar energy is now in its infancy, ____.
A) but it will be considered as an important part of our nation ’ s energy supply
B) yet we will build more power plants
C) and the supply of electricity will be rationed
D) but we don ’ t need practice energy rationing now
Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage:
Nearly 54 million cars and trucks in the United States are equipped with driver side air bags located in the center of the steering wheel. 24 million also have a passenger side device located in the dashboard. Air bags are designed to protect against sudden, fierce frontal highway impacts.
Five years ago evidence of serious air bag injuries began to surface. Drivers in minor fender benders suffered severe eye and ear injuries, broken bones and third degree burns from the force of the inflating bags. In December 1991 the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) advised parents to avoid putting rear facing infant sets in front of air bags, acknowledging that the force of the explosive bag could harm infants, whose heads were only inches away from the devices.
Last October it was determined that all children 12 and under were more susceptible to injury and death than adults;their more fragile bodies were seated lower, increasing the impact of the air bag to the head area. In addition, more children were not properly restrained or were out of position when the air bag inflated. On November 22, 1996, after nearly 60 deaths and thousands of injuries were attributed to the devices, the NHTSA mandated improved labels for all new vehicles,warning of the risk to children under 13. Despite these problems, officials stress the overall effectiveness of these devices. “All in all, air bags work well and are responsible for an 11 percent reduction in driver fatalities,” says NHTSA Administrator Dr. Ricardo Martinez.
“ First and foremost, make sure you’re properly buckled up before getting on the road,” says Brain O’Neill, president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety. Keep in mind how close you sit to an air bag. Push seats as far back as possible, remaining just close enough to control the pedals. Your face and torso should be at least ten to 12 inches from the steering column. “It’s not a bad idea actually to measure the distance with a ruler to be sure.” adds O’Neill.
Adjustable steering wheels should be pointed toward the chest rather than the head to prevent inflating bag from damaging the face or neck. Also, position hands at nine o’clock and three o’clock on the wheel to keep your arms away from an opening air bag.
Pregnant women in particular should keep their abdomen as distant from theair bag as possible. In the final trimester,women should point adjustable steeringwheels upward, away from their fetus.Perhaps most important, children 12 and under should always ride in the backseat, buckled up.
26. From the passage, we learned that ____.
A) there are 24 million cars and trucks in the United States
B) there are 78 million cars and trucks in the United States
C) there are 24 million cars and trucks equipped with air bags in the United States
D) there are 78 million cars and trucks equipped with air bags in the United States
27. The air bags are ____.
A) safety devices which can protect people from being hurt during highway accidents
B) unsafe devices which hurt many people
C) safety devices which saved 11% American drivers
D) safety devices but need to be improved
28. The air bag is located in the center of the steering wheel,so you should ____.
A) keep in mind how close you sit to an air bag
B) push the front seat as far back as possible, remaining just close enough to control the pedal
C) keep your face and torso at least 10 to 12 inches from the steering column
D) all of the above
29. Adjustable steering wheels should ____.
A) be pointed toward the chest rather than the head
B) be driven at 9 o ’ clock
C) be driven at 3 o ’ clock
D) keep your arms away from an opening air bag
30. The air bag is a good safety device, but children 12 and under should always ride in the back seat buckled up means____.
A) air bags are no good for children
B) air bags are only good for the parents who have more than 12 children
C) the best position for children to ride a car is in the back seat and be buckled up
D) the front seat is unsafe for young people
Questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage:
In the debates about how a particular piece of land is to be used, the priorities often conflict. What should you do, for example, if you find out that under the fertile fields of a farming community there is a thick bed of coal which can be strip mined? Strip mining rips up top soil and vegetation. But mining may create jobs, bring money to the town’s businesses. Those who approve of strip mining say that the coal is needed, and they point out that it is quicker and cheaper to get coal from the surface than to go deep into the earth to get it by standard mining techniques. On the other hand, it takes nature 500 years to create an inch of top soil. As the countryside fills up, people are becoming more aware of the need for open space. Nearly every proposal for a new power plant, highway, or airport draws fierce opposition. Everyone wants the big, land eating “ uglies ” to be in someone else ’ s backyard.
Minneapolis and St.Paul, Minnesota, for example, have been debating about the site of a future airport for years. Yet if a new airport is needed, it will have to go somewhere.How do we find our way out of the land used problem? One way might be to reexamine our values, to think in new directions. Does everyone have to have a car with its need for highways and parking lots? What about developing mass transit systems that use less land? Do suburbs have to sprawl? Can they be designed so they use less space? Do we have to have more energy? If we do, do we really have to strip mine coal to provide it?
However difficult they may be to arrive at, choices will have to be made if we want to preserve the beauty and usefulness of the land. For there is at least one point on which all of us can agree: The land does have its limits.
31. The word “priorities” in the sentence means ____.
A) the various needs
B) the most important goal
C) the number one necessity
D) the first thing to be considered
32. “… ,people are becoming more aware of the need for open space. ” tells us that ____.
A) people are thinking to develop their living space into the sky
B) people noticed the need for unoccupied land
C) people are struggling to get more land from the space
D) people are becoming more active on the space issue
33. How do we find our way out of the land use problems?
A) One way might be to reexamine our values, to think in new directions.
B) Everyone has to have a car with its need for highways and parking lots.
C) We have to have more energy. We need strip mine coal to provide it.
D) We may develop mass transit systems which use less land.
34. “ Everyone wants the big, land eating ‘ uglies ’ to be in someone else ’ s backyard. ” shows that ____.
A) people don ’ t want more big projects
B) people don ’ t want to live in the neighborhood of the big projects
C) people regard the large construction projects are “ uglies ”
D) people don ’ t like the undesirable building projects
35. The main idea of this article is ____.
A) The Limits of Land
B) Land
C) Land and Our Life Styles
D) Land and Space
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