IV. Reading Comprehension (60 points)

　　Directions: There are five reading passages in this part. Each passage is followed by fourquestions. For each question there are four suggested answers marked A, B, C and D. Choose one best answer and blacken the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet.

　　Passage One

　　Man's story in China began many thousands of years ago.Remains of an early form of man discovered in China, known as Peking Man, indicate that Stone Age men lived in the area as long as 500,000 years ago.During the centuries that followed, their descendants laid the foundations of civilization in China.

　　Throughout its history, China has been a rich source of inventions. Silk, the compass, tea and porcelain originated there. In addition, they are responsible for the invention of paper and printing.

　　The Chinese had used ink as early as 1200 B. C., an excellent type which they made from lampblack and which is known in English as India ink or China ink. By the end of the first century A. D., the Chinese had invented paper.

　　The Chinese also invented printing. Early Chinese printing is called block printing. The printer carved raised characters on a block of wood, wet the surface of the characters with ink, and pressed sheets of paper against them. Printers in the llth century went on to invent movable type of baked clay. The characters of the movable type could be rearranged to form different words and thus be used over and over again. The Chinese alphabet has about 40 thousand characters. Because of the difficulty of producing so many pieces of type, most Chinese printers continued to use block printing.

　　36. A good synonym for the underlined word "descendants" in paragraph 1 is__________.

　　A. foreigners

　　B. following generations

　　C. enemies

　　D. fossilized remains

　　37. The name of an earlier form of man found in China is__________.

　　A. New Stone Man

　　B. Silk Man

　　C. Peking Man

　　D. India Man

　　38. Which type of printing is more convenient based on the passage?

　　A. Movable type.

　　B. Baked clay.

　　C. Block printing.

　　D. Wet ink.

　　39. This passage talks mostly about__________.

　　A. the landforms of China

　　B. the people of China

　　C. Chinese explorers

　　D. Chinese history

　　Passage Two

　　American Blacks experienced a revolution after 1945, a revolution in expectations.Following World War Ⅱ, the steady movement toward first-class citizenship for Black people quickened, with significant actions taking place in courts of law, in voting booths, in restaurants and in the streets of the nation.

　　A decade of intense civil rights activity was launched in 1954 when the United States Supreme Court declared segregated schools to be unconstitutional.In 1955, Dr.Martin Luther King, Jr.,effectively organized the Blacks of Atlanta, Georgia, in a bus boycott. The boycott lasted two years,and when it was over, Blacks no longer were degraded by being forced to sit or stand in the rear of buses.

　　In 1960, a group of Black college students decided that they, as well as white persons, had the right to eat at a lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina.This sit-in sparked an aggressive national movement and, in the next few years, thousands of young men and women--Black and White,North and South--overturned local laws and customs that had maintained segregation. Sit-ins, pray-ins, freedom rides, freedom marches and demonstrations to open all schools to Black children took place across the nation.

　　40. Several important actions took place to change the status of black people__________.

　　A. after World War II

　　B. in 1954

　　C. before 1945

　　D. in 1960

　　41. In which city was the bus boycott organized?

　　A. Georgia.

　　B. Greensboro.

　　C. North Carolina.

　　D. Atlanta.

　　42. Who are the first to make the success of sit-in become true?

　　A. Black college students and whites.

　　B. First-class citizens.

　　C. The Blacks of Atlanta.

　　D. Young men and women in Greensboro.

　　43. The best title for this passage could be

　　A. Black History

　　B. Educational Opportunities for Blacks

　　C. The Fight for Equality

　　D. Civil Rights Workers of the '60s

　　Passage Three

　　People often speak of fire as though it were a living creature--It grows, dances, needs oxygen,feeds on whatever it can find, and then dies. And when a forest fire rages out of control, threatening human lives and homes, it must be fought like a "wild animal. " The fight is often desperate, since firefighters' best efforts may be dwarfed by the fury of a large fire. But the fire's own traits can be used against it.

　　The heated air above a fire rises in a pillar of smoke and burnt gases, pulling fresh air in from the sides to replace it. Firefighters use this fact when they "fight fire with fire. " They start a fire well in front of the one which they are fighting. Instead of traveling on in front of the huge fire, the smaller fire is pulled back toward it by the updrafts of the larger blaze. As it travels back to meet the large fire, the smaller backfire burns away the fuel that the forest fire needs to survive.

　　Even when a backfire has been well set, however, the fire may still win the struggle. The wind which the firefighters used to help them may now become their enemy. When the backfire meets the main fire, before both die for lack of fuel, there is tremendous flame, great heat and wild winds. A strong gust may blow the fire into the treetops beyond the area, giving the fire new fuel and a new life.

　　44. This passage focuses on__________.

　　A. how fires start

　　B. damage caused by fire

　　C. the fascination of fire

　　D. fighting forest fires

　　45. A backfire is started__________.

　　A. behind a forest fire

　　B. ahead of a forest fire

　　C. on the sides of a forest fire

　　D. all around a forest fire

　　46. This passage suggests that a fire will travel__________.

　　A. faster than a horse can run

　　B. in all directions at the same speed

　　C. in whatever direction the wind is blowing

　　D. toward the nearest source of fuel

　　47. In the last paragraph, the writer again refers to the fire as a living creature by saying that it__________.

　　A. can be blown around by the wind

　　B. dwarfs man's best efforts

　　C. heats the air above it

　　D. may still win the struggle

　　Passage Four

　　When Abraham Lincoln was a lawyer in rural Illinois, he and a certain judge in town once got to bantering with one another about horse trading. The upshot of the discussion was that they agreed that the next morning, at nine o'clock, they would meet in front of the general store and make a trade.

　　Each would bring a horse, unseen by anyone up to that hour. If either backed out of the deal, he would forfeit $25. The money from each man was held by the local banker.

　　The next morning, at the appointed hour, the Judge, came up the dirt road, leading the sorriest looking specimen of a horse ever seen in those parts of Illinois. The large crowd viewing the spectacle burst out laughing, already knowing that Abe Lincoln was bound to get the worst of the deal. A poorer horse just couldn't exist anywhere and still be walking.

　　In a few minutes,however,Mr.Lincoln was seen approaching the general store carrying something quite large and bulky on his shoulders. As he drew nearer, the crowd saw what it was, and great shouts and laughter broke out. The shouts and laughter soon broke into a thunderous roar when Mr. Lincoln, looking carefully and seriously over the Judge's animal, set down his sawhorse (鋸木架), and exclaimed, "Well, Judge, this is the first time I ever got the worst of it in a horse trade. "

　　48. This passage concerns__________.

　　A. the life of Abe Lincoln

　　B. a horse trade made by Abe Lincoln

　　C. a gambling in Illinois

　　D. Abe Lincoln's philosophy

　　49. It is evident that neither Lincoln nor the Judge was__________.

　　A. serious about their agreement

　　B. a native of Illinois

　　C. very knowledgeable about horses

　　D. in the mood for jokes

　　50. This passage attempts to arouse__________.

　　A. outrage

　　B. tears

　　C. sympathy

　　D. laughter

　　51. A person who banters is__________.

　　A. singing

　　B. insulting

　　C. joking

　　D. deceiving

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