英语六级阅读理解

The English policeman has several nicknames ( 绰号) but the most frequently used are " copper" and "bobby". The first name comes from the verb "to cop "(which is also slang ) , meaning " to take " or "to capture ", and the second comes from the first name of Sir Robert Peel, the nineteenth-century politician, who was the founder of the police forc e as we know it today. An early nickname for the policeman was "peeler", but this one has died out.

Whatever we may call them, the general opinion of the police seems to be a favorab le one; except, of course, among the criminal part of the community where the police are given more derogatory nicknames which originated in America, such as "fuzz" or "pig". Visitors to England seem nearly always to be very impressed by the English police. It ha s, in fact, become a standing joke that the visitor to Britain, when asked for his views of the country, will always say, at some point or other, "I think your policemen are wonder ful. "

Well, the British bobby may not always be wonderful but he is usually a very friend ly and helpful sort of character. A music-hall song of some years ago was called "If You Want To Know The Time, Ask A Policeman". Nowadays, most people own watches but they still seem to find plenty of other questions to ask the policeman. In London, the po licemen spend so much of their time directing visitors about the city that one wonders ho w they ever find time to do anything else!

Two things are immediately noticeable to the stranger when he sees an English police man for the first time. The first is that he does not carry a pistol (手枪) and the second is that he wears a very distinctive type of headgear, the policeman's helmet. His helmet, t ogether with his height, enable an English policeman to be seen from a considerable dista

nce, a fact that is not without its usefulness. From time to time it is suggested that the p oliceman should be given a pistol and that his helmet should be taken from him, but bot

h these suggestions are resisted by the majority of the public and the police themselves.

21. Nowadays British people call the policeman_______.

A. pig

B. peeler

C. fuzz

D. bobby

22. Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A. There are fewer criminals in America than in Britain.

B. The English police usually leave a deep impression on visitors.

C. The British bobby is friendly but not helpful.

D. The English police enjoy having pistols.

23. If you see an English policeman for the first time, you will probably notice at o nce that

A. he often tells people time

B. he is usually very helpful

C. he has a helmet on his head

D. he wears special clothes

24. That an English policeman can be seen from some distance is _______.

A. of some help to people

B. of no help to people

C. very strange and funny

D. a standing joke

25. Visitors praise the English police because_______.

A. they are armed with modern equipment

B. they obey orders

C. they are often given thanks by people

D. they are polite and helpful

21. D 22. B 23. C 24. A 25. D

Most of us trade money for entertainment. Movies, concerts and shows are enjoyable but 11 .If you think that you can't have a good time without spending a lot of money, read on. A little resourcefulness and a few minutes of newspaper-scanning should give you so me pleasant surprises.

People may be the most interesting show in a large city. 12 through busy streets and see what everybody else is doing. You will probably see people from all over the world; you will 13 see people of every age, size, and shape, and you'll get a free fashion show, too. Window-shopping is also a 14 sport if the stores are closed.

Check the listings in your neighborhood paper. Local colleges or schools often 15 the public to hear an interesting speaker or a good 16 . The film or concert series at the lo cal public library probably won't cost you a penny. Be sure to check commercial advertise ments too. A flea market can provide hours of pleasant looking round. Perhaps you can fi nd a free cooking or crafts 17 in a department store.

Plan ahead for some activities. It is always more pleasant not to have people in front of you in a museum or at a zoo. You may save some money, too, since these places of ten 18 aside one or two free 19 days at slow times during the week. Make sure that you are including the indispensable 20 that people travel miles to see. If you feel like taking an interesting walk, find a free walking tour, or plan one yourself.

A. expensive

B. Wonder

C.debate

D. admission

E. set

F. Wander

G.safe

H. addition

I. valuable J. dispute K.welcome L. confidently

M. sights N. demonstration O.certainly

Back in the old days, when I was a child, we sat around the family roundtable at dinnert ime and exchanged our daily experiences. It wasn't very organized, but everyone was reco gnized and all the news that had to be told was told by each family member.

We listened to each other and the interest was not put-on; it was real. Our family w as a unit and we supported each other, and nurtured each other, and liked each other, and —we were even willing to admit—we loved each other.

Today, the family roundtable has moved to the local fast-food restaurant and talk is not easy, much less encouraged.

? Grandma, who used to live upstairs, is now. the voice on long distance, and the w orking parent is far too beaten down each day to spend evening relaxation time listening t o the sandbox experience of an eager four-year-old.

So family conversation is as extinct as my old toys and parental questions such as " What have you been doing, Bobby?" have been replaced by "I'm busy, go watch televisio n. "

And watch TV they do; count them by the millions.

But it's usually not children's television that children watch. Saturday morning, the chi ldren's hour, amounts to only about 8 percent of their weekly viewing.

Where are they to be found? Watching adult television, of course, from the Match G ame in the morning, to the afternoon at General Hospital, from the muggings and battles on the evening news right through the family hour and past

into Starsky and Hutch. That's where you find our kids, over five million of them, at 10 p. m. , not fewer than a million until after midnight! All of this is done with parent al permission.

Television, used well, can provide enriching experiences for our young people, but w e must use it with some sense. When the carpet is clean, we turn off the vacuum cleaner. When the dishes are clean, the dishwasher turns itself off.

Not so the television, which is on from the sun in the morning to the moon at night and beyond!

Parents must exercise some control and show some concern about the cultural influen ce on the child when a program not intended for that child is viewed. Parents need to int ervene (干涉). Nonintervention may be a wise policy in international affairs, but the result s of parental nonintervention will not be wise at all.

26. From the first two paragraphs one may infer that the writer's a attitude towards " the old days"is______.

A. preferring

B. hating

C. being tired of

D. disappointing

27. The working parent is not willing to listen to her (his) four-year-old child talking about his sandbox games because she (he) is______.

A. boring

B. very tired

C. busy

D. angry

28. According to the writer, the responsibility for the kid's watching adult television a nd watching it for a long time should be undertaken by______.

A. the television stations

B. the society

C. TV programs

D. their parents

29. If we use television with some ______television can provide our young people wi th

much knowledge.

A. instruction of experts

B. judgment of our own

C. direction of engineers

D. indication of teachers

30. What is the main idea of the last paragraph?

A. Parental nonintervention will not be praised.

B. Nonintervention may be a good policy in international affairs.

C. Parents must exercise some control and show some concern about the cultural infl uence on the children.

D. Parents need to intervene.

26. A 27. B 28. D 29. B 30. C

Who Knows

Since no one knows what scientific discoveries will be made between now and the y ear A. D. 2000, each of us can make his own predictions.

Our prophecies (预言) need not be completely wild guesses. We know science has m oved forward rapidly in the past 50 years and will continue to do so. If we allow our im aginations to be guided by known research, our prophecies need not be sheer fantasy. We don't have to go so far as to predict that there will be invasion by men from Mars, or t hat all food and nourishment will be taken in capsule form, or that mechanical men will roam the world.

With the scientific information that we have available now, let's make an estimate of progress in air travel. It is likely that within 50 years we shall travel through the air at a speed of 10,000 miles per hour. Too fast? Not at all. Jet-propelled planes can now trav el at least 1,000 miles an hour, and jet planes will be outmoded(过时的) shortly by guide d missiles. The X-15 rocket's speed in 1961 was 3,690 miles per hour, and scientists are

hoping to double and even triple this speed. They will accomplish this speed-up, because there is no apparent scientific obstacle to prevent it.

Some day, certain aerodynamic(空气动力学的) problems will be overcome and missile s will be enlarged to carry at least 25 passengers. When scientists have solved all the pro blems of constructing and increasing the speed of apparatus-carrying missiles, their skill w ill lead them to the next step—missiles for interplanetary flight. This prediction is a scient ific possibility in the near future.

Flights into outer space began when Sputnik I was launched in 1957, and man first went into space in 1961. During the late 1950's and early 1960's many satellites—man-ma de astral bodies—orbited the earth and moon. Satellites, which will be controlled by men on earth, may have many beneficial uses. Perhaps scientists will discover a source of ener gy 100 miles above the earth. This energy could be transmitted to us as a source of pow er for manufacturing plants or even for our cook stoves. Or one of these missiles might s erve as the medium for transmitting communications across the globe. Telephonic commun ications might be carried on by beaming waves at the missile, which would in turn beam waves at a telephone halfway across the world. The missile might be the telephonic con nection, for example, between you in New York, and a friend in Bangkok.

Such a satellite might also be used as the transmitting medium for interna?tional tele vision broadcasts. Programs being telecast from a Paris studio could then be seen simultan eously in every other country. This immediate international transmission will surely be a d evelopment before the turn of a new century.

We may expect to order our clothing, groceries,and other household goods by televisi on-phone. We prophesy that within twenty five years, our telephones will be equipped wit h television screens so that we can see the person at the other end of the line.

Other fields of science have also made gigantic (巨大的) strides in progress. Medici ne had operated so efficiently in the past half-century that many diseases have been nearl y wiped out. And more will join this disappearing group of diseases. Diabetes and polio a re under control. We can hope and expect that cancer will be conquered. Certain skin dis eases, like psoriasis and eczema, which are exceedingly common though not fatal, will be eradicated(消灭). The victims of annoying diseases will lead pleasanter lives.

Even the healthy will benefit from the advances in medicine. Life expectancy already had been lengthened and scientists know that the time is coining rapidly when the perso n one hundred years old will not be a phenomenon

Despite these alarming statistics, the scale of the threat that smoking causes to women's h ealth has received surprisingly little attention. Smoking is still seen by many as a mainly male problem, perhaps because men were the first to take up the habit and therefore the first to suffer the ill-effects. This is no longer the case. Women who smoke like men will die like men. WHO estimates that, in industrialized countries, smoking rates amongst me n and women are very similar, at around 30 per cent; in a large number of developed co untries, smoking is now more common among teenage girls than boys.

As women took up smoking later than men, the full impact of smoking on their heal th has yet to be seen. But it is clear from countries where women have smoked longest, such as the United Kingdom and the United States, that smoking causes the same diseases in women as in men and the gap between their death rates is narrowing. On current tren

ds, some 20 to 25 per cent of women who smoke will die from their habit. One in three of these deaths will be among women under 65 year of age. The US Surgeon General h as estimated that, amongst these women, smoking is responsible for around 40 per cent he art disease deaths, 55 per cent of lethal strokes and, among women of all ages, 80 per ce nt of lung cancer deaths and 30 per cent of all cancer deaths. Over the last 20 years, dea th rates in women from lung cancer have more than doubled in Japan, Norway, Poland, S weden and the United Kingdom; have increased by more than 200 per cent in Australia, Denmark and New Zealand; and have increased by more than 300 per cent in Canada an

d th

e United States.

21. The effect of smoking on women has not been paid enough attention because___ ___.

A. men suffer more from smoking

B. men would like women to smoke

C. men are considered the main sufferers of smoking

D. there are alarming statistics of death caused by smoking

22. "This is no longer the case. " The word "this" refers to______.

A. that men used to suffer the ill-effects

B. that there were alarming statistics

C. that the scale of threat become larger

D. that women suffered from smoking as greatly as men

23. From the fact that in some developed countries smoking is now more common a mong teenage girls than boys, we can predict that in the days to come, ______.

A. women will have the same diseases as men

B. more women may suffer from smoking than men

C. the smoking rates among men and women will drop

D. the teenage girls today may give up smoking when they are grown-ups

24. All of the following statements are the effects of smoking on women EXCEPT t hat

A. the death rates of the women and men who are smoking are in similar proportion

B. smoking causes the same diseases in women as in men

C. in the past 20 years, death rates in women from lung cancer have more than dou bled

D. smoking is responsible for 30 percent of all cancer deaths among women

25. In the phrase "lethal stroke", the word "lethal" most probably means______.

A. causing death

B. causing discomfort

C. causing poor health

D. causing anxiety

21. C 22. A 23. B 24. C 25. A

The men who race the cars are generally small, with a tight, nervous look. They range fr om the early 20s to the middle 40s, and it is usually their nerves that go first.

Fear is the driver's constant companion, and tragedy can be just a step behind. Scarc ely a man in the 500 does not carry the scars of ancient crashes. The mark of the plastic surgeon is everywhere, and burned skin is common. Sometimes a driver's scars are invisi ble, part of his heritage. Two young drivers, Billy Vukovich and Gary Bettenhausen, raced in their first 500 in 1968. Less than 20 years before, their fathers also competed against one another on the Indy track—and died there.

All this the drivers accept. Over the years, they have learned to trust their own techn iques, reflexes, and courage. They depend, too, on a trusted servant—scientific engineering. Though they may not have had a great deal of schooling (an exception is New Zealand's Bruce McLaren, who has an engineering degree), many drivers are gifted mechanics, wit h a feeling for their engines that amount to kinship.

A few top drivers have become extremely wealthy, with six-figure incomes from priz

e money, endorsements, and jobs with auto-product manufacturers. Some have businesses o

f their own. McLaren designs racin

g chassis (底盘). Dan Gurney's California factory manu factured the chassis of three of the first four ears in the 1968 Indy 500, including his ow n second place car.

Yet money is not the only reason why men race cars. Perhaps it isn't even the major reason. Three-time Indy winner(1961, 1964, 1967) A. J. Foyt, for example, can frequentl y be found competing on dirty tracks in minor-league races, where money, crowds and sa fety features are limited, and only the danger is not. Why does he do it? Sometimes Foyt

answers, "It's in my blood. " Other times he says, "It's good practice. " Now and then h

e replies, "Don't ask dumb questions. "

26. The statement "it is usually their nerves that go first" means_______.

A. at first they all have a nervous look

B. they often find they can't bear the tension even if they are in good condition

C. someday they find they can't make responses to any risk

D. they can continue their career at most until the middle 40s

27. It can be inferred that a car accident is often coupled with_______.

A. a plastic surgeon

B. a companion

C. a risk

D. a fire

28. The invisible scars of the drivers mentioned in the second paragraph refers to___ ____.

A. the regrets left by their fathers

B. the fears left by their fathers

C. the cars left by their fathers

D. the heritage left by their fathers

29. Bruce McLaren is different from most of the drivers in that_______.

A. he himself designs chassis

B. he has an engineering degree

C. he manufactures chassis

D. he is a gifted mechanic

30. A. J. Foyt often takes part in minor-league races for_______.

A. prize money

B. blood test

C. cheers from the crowd

D. enjoyment

26. B 27. D 28. A 29. B 30. D

The School Years

Soon after the United States was founded, Thomas Jefferson, who was President from 1801 to 1809 wrote, "If a nation expects to be ignorant and free in a state of civilizatio n, it expects what never was and never will be. " Jefferson believed that the new republi c would be served best by literate, well-informed citizens and that everyone should have a guarantee of some education with further education for those who wanted it and were qu alified. The American system of public education has been built on this philosophy. Public education in this country is expected to offer equal educational opportunities to everyone enrolled in secular schools, which are publicly controlled and publicly financed, with free tuition, free books, and compulsory attendance.

There is no mention of education in the Constitution, and each state is responsible fo r its own educational system. Public schools are financed primarily by local and state taxe s, and the amount of money spent on public school students varies from state to state. Al abama, for example, spent an average of $716 for each pupil in 1974, the lowest rate of any state. New York, by contrast, had the highest rate, $ 1809 per pupil. The majority of states spent more than $ 800 per pupil.

There are great differences in expenditures (花费) by communities within each state, depending on the amount of local funds available for public education. Often, well-to-do communities spend several hundred dollars more for each child than poorer towns nearby do. These figures reflect differences in expenditures . for such items as teachers' salaries, t he purchase of books, and school construction and maintenance.

Despite these differences, there is general uniformity in the organization and curricula of public schools throughout the country. Each state is divided into local school districts. Usually a state department of education sets the general requirements that local communit ies or school districts must meet. Local school boards, usually elected by members of thei r communities, are responsible for the detailed organization and operation of their schools. This-responsibility includes hiring teachers and administration and setting their salaries.

The twelve years of public school education usually begin when a child is six years old. Some school systems are divided into eight years of primary school and four years o f secondary school. Primary schools are often called elementary schools, and secondary sc hools are called high schools. Many systems combine the last two years of elementary sc hool and the first year of high school in what is known as junior high school. This is fol lowed by three years of senior high school. A large number of school systems also have a kindergarten program that provides one year of preschool training for five-year-old childr en before they begin the formal school years. The academic year lasts nine months, from September to June, with winter and spring vacations. Classes are held five days a week, f rom Monday through Friday.

Elementary schools are usually organized on a neighbourhood basis. Children living in the same area attend a school that is close to their homes. High schools, on the other h

and, serve children from many different elementary schools, and a single high school ofte n has several thousand students from various parts of the community. Many towns have j ust one high school. In rural areas one elementary school frequently serves the children fr om several communi?ties. When schools are located beyond convenient walking distance, children are transported free of charge in bright yellow school buses. Today more than 40 percent of all American school children are bused to and from school daily.

It took many years for Jefferson's dream of education for everyone to approach realit y. In 1870 only slightly more than half of all children of school age attended school. It was not until 1918 that every state had a compulsory school-attendance law. Today most states require the attendance of all children between the ages of six and sixteen. Approxi mately 99 percent of all American children of elementary school age (six through thirteen) and 94 percent of high school age (fourteen through seventeen) go to school.

When a person feels low, blue, or down in the clumps, it usually means he has been hur t, disappointed, or saddened by something that causes a confused and listless feeling. Ther e is 11 a type of music called "the blue", a low, mournful, sad sound to 12 these univer sal human feelings.

Depression is another name for this mood. Feeling depressed is a normal and natural 13 to experiences of loss, failure, and undeserved bad luck. Indeed, it has been pointed out that without depression, we would 14 much of the world's great tragic literature, musi c, and art.

In some cases, however, depression becomes something more than just 15 feelings of blues or letdown. A large number of people suffer from what psychiatrists call "depressiv e illness. "Depressive illness is more 16 and lasts longer than common listless feelings.

Sometimes a serious 17 of depression can begin with the loss of a loved one or a change of job. Many times, in very

18 cases, there doesn't seem to be any circumstance serious enough to have caused t he depression.

Some psychiatrists suggest that the key feature in depression is change. The person b ecomes different from the way before the onset of his depression. He may even become t he opposite of his usual self. There are many examples: the businessman who becomes a wanderer, the mother who wants to 19 her children and herself. Instead of seeking satisfa ction and pleasure, the depressed person 20 it.

A. ever

B. escape

C. intense

D. response

E. avoids

F. even

G. express

H. realization

I. severe J. lessen K. dense L. period

M. harm N. lack O. normal

II. F 12. G 13. D 14. N 15. O 16. C 17. L 18. I 19. M 20.

Social change is more likely to occur in societies where there is a mixture of different ki nds of people than in societies where people are similar in many ways. The simple reaso n for this is that there are more different ways of looking at things present in the first ki nd of society. There are more ideas, more disagreements in interest, and more groups and organizations with different beliefs. In addition, there is usually a greater worldly interest and greater tolerance in mixed societies. All these factors tend to promote social change by opening more areas of life to decision. In a society where people are quite similar in

many ways, there are fewer occasions for people to see the need or the opportunity for c hange because everything seems to be the same. And although conditions may not be sati sfactory, they are at least customary and undisputed.

Within a society, social changes is also likely to occur more frequently and more rea dily in the material aspects of the culture than in the non-material, for example, in techno logy rather than in values; in what has been learned later in life rather than what was lea rned early; in the less basic and less emotional aspects of society than in their opposites; in the simple elements rather than in the complex ones; in form rather than in substance; and in elements that are acceptable to the culture rather than in strange elements.

Furthermore, social change is easier if it is gradual. For example, it comes more read ily in human relations on a continuous scale rather than one with sharp difference. This is one reason why change has not come more quickly to Black Americans as compared to other American minorities, because of the sharp difference in appearance between them an

d their whit

e counterparts.

21.

The passage is mainly discussing .

A. the necessity of social change

B. certain factors that determine the ease with which social changes occur

C. two different societies

22.

D. certain factors that promote social change

One of the factors that tend to promote social change is .

A. joint interest

B. different points of view

C. less emotional people

D. advanced technology

23.

According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true? A. Social change ten ds to meet with more difficulty in basic and emotional aspects of society.

B. Disagreement with and argument about conditions tend to slow down social chang e.

C. Social change is more likely to occur in the material aspect of society.

D. Social change is less likely to occur in what people learned when they were youn

g.

24. The expression "greater tolerance "(Para. 1) refers to_______.

A. greater willingness to accept social change

B. quicker adaptation to changing circumstances

C. more respect for different beliefs and behavior

D. greater readiness to agree to different opinions and ideas

25. Social change is less likely to occur in a society where people are quite similar i n many ways because_______. v

A. people there have got so accustomed to their conditions that they seldom think it necessary to change

B. people there have identical needs that can be satisfied without much difficulty

C. people there are easy to please

D. people there are less disputed

21. B 22. B 23. B 24. C 25. A

Anne Whitney, a sophomore (大学二年级学生) at Colorado State University, first had a p roblem taking tests when she began college. "I was always well prepared for my tests. So metimes I studied for weeks before a test. Yet I would go in to take the test, only to fin d I could not answer the questions correctly. I would blank out because of nervousness a nd fear. I couldn't think of the answer. My low grades on the tests did not show what I knew to the teacher. " Another student in biology had similar experiences. He said, "My first chemistry test was very difficult. Then, on the second test, I sat down to take it, and I was so nervous that I was shaking. My hands were moving up and down so quickly t hat it was hard to hold my pencil. I knew the material and I knew the answers. Yet I co uldn't even write them down!"

These two young students were experiencing something called test anxiety. Because a student worries and is uneasy about a test, his or her mind does not work as well as it usually does. The student cannot write or think clearly because of the extreme tension and