第四部分：阅读理解(第31～45题，每题3分，共45分)
下面有3篇短文，每篇短文后有5道题，每题后面有4个选项。请仔细阅读短文并根据短文回答其后面的问题，从4个选项中选择1个最佳答案涂在答题卡相应的位置上。
第一篇
Ebbysemeyer—King of Currents
On December 9, 1994, the Huundai Seattle, a large freighter, lost 49 containers of cargo during a storm in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Among the cargo that fell overboard were some 34, 000, hockey gloves. Unable to retrieve the lost cargo, the ship headed for its destination in the United States.
What happened to the hockey gloves? Eight months later, the crew of a fishing boat found seven of them 1, 300 kilometers off the Oregon coast. Six months after that, the rest of the gloves began washing up on beaches in Washington state.
“Just as my colleague Jay Ingraham and I predicted,” said Ebbyesemeyer, a scientist in Seattle. An authority on ocean currents, Ebbysemeyer has been called the “King of Currents.” For more than 30 years, he has been tracking an assortment of floating objects—everything from huge icebergs to tiny bathtub toys. With his knowledge of ocean currents and sophisticated computer program developed by Ingraham, he can now predict with amazing accuracy which way floating objects will drift and where and when they will reach shore.
Why is it important to know such things? Because, Ebbysemeyer points out, knowledge of ocean currents can help determine how far an oil spill might spread or where the sewage from a treatment plant will go. By mapping currents, scientists can also figure out where plankton might drift or what paths salmon will take through the ocean to reach the streams of their birth.
Ebbysemeyer says currents are like giant rivers in the ocean. They are found both at the ocean's surface and several thousands feet down on the seafloor.
Surface currents are driven mainly by the wind and by earth's rotation, through a force called the Coriolis effect. As the wind pushes the water forward, the Coriolis effect nudges it slightly sideways. The two influences combine to make surface waters move in great loops.
Deep ocean currents are created as seawater approaches the North and South Poles. As the water cools, its molecules draw closer together, making each gallon denser. Heavier than warm water, the cold water sinks to the ocean floor, miles beneath the surface flows. The deep currents then drift toward the equator, where they are gradually heated by the sun. The water molecules spread out again, and the lighter, less dense fluid rises to the surface.
That is not the whole story, Ebbysemeyer says. Before you can accurately predict where or when a floating object will reach a particular shore, you must also consider certain details. One detail is windage. To calculate windage, Ebbysemeyer floats various items-cans, bottles, shoes-in a tank, then blasts each one with the breeze from a powerful fan.
“Some things sit on the water and just scoot right along,” said Ebbysemeyer. “Others are fairly well submerged and are ndt exposed to the wind much at all. A rubber bathtub toy might move at a rate of around 48 kilometers per day, compared with an athletic shoe, which will cover only 32 kilometers in the same period.”
Ebbysemeyer estimates that a thousand containers of cargo fall into the sea from ships every year. His data suggest that some of those items can remain adrift for years before washing shore. He cites the case of an unknown Nike sneaker that washed ashore in Washington after floating for three years in the Pacific Ocean. “It was still quite wearable,”said Ebbysemeyer.
31 What happened to those hockey gloves that fell overboard?
A They were retrieved by the crew.
B Some of them reached shore at last.
C They sank to the seafloor.
D They were completely lost in the vast ocean.
32 Why does Ebbysemeyer study ocean currents?
A For pragmatic purposes.
B For fun.
C Just out of curiosity.
D To study the lives of plankton.
33 All the factors that affect ocean currents are discussed in the passage EXCEPT ___________.
A the sun's heat
B rotation of the earth
C gravitational force
D windage
34 What creates deep ocean currents?
A High temperatures near the equator.
B Magnetic force near the South Pole.
C Magnetic force near the North Pole.
D Low temperatures near the two Poles.
35 What does the example of a Nike sneaker given in the last paragraph indicate?
A Nike products are most durable.
B Sometimes, objects may drift in the ocean for years.
C Seawater erodes drifting objects including Nike products.
D The Nike sneaker is still wearable after years of drifting.
第二篇
Global Cancer Rates to Rise 50% by 2020
The number of new cancer cases worldwide is expected to increase by 50% by the year 2020. But a new report suggests that as many as a third of new cancers could be avoided by adopting healthier lifestyles and through public health action.
The World Cancer Report, released by the International Agency for Research on Cancer(IARC, part of the World Health Organization), shows that cancer has now emerged as a major public health threat in developing countries s well as affluent ones.
Overall, cancer was responsible for 12% of all deaths in 2000. But in many countries more than a quarter of all deaths are caused by cancer.
The report show that 10 million new cancers were diagnosed globally in 2000, and that number is expected to rise to 15 million by 2020. researchers say most of that increase will mainly be due to steadily aging population in both developed and developing countries and current trends in smoking and other unhealthy habits.
“Cancer has emerged as a major public health problem in developing countries for th3e first time, matching its effect in industrialized countries,” says researcher Paul Kleihues, MD, director of LARC, in a news release. “Once considered a 'Western' disease, the Report highlights that more than 50 percent of the world's cancer burden, in terms of both numbers of cases and deaths, already occurs in developing countries.”
The risk of being diagnosed with cancer in developed countries is double that in less-developed ones. However, the risk of dying from cancer is much higher in developing countries, where 80% cancer patients already have late-stage incurable tumors at the time of diagnosis.
Researchers say cancer rates have traditionally been higher in developed countries due to greater exposure to tobacco, occupational carcinogens, and an unhealthy Western diet and lifestyle. As less-developed countries become industrialized and more prosperous, they tend to adopt the high-fat diet and low physical activity levels typically seen in the West, which increase cancer rates.
36 According to a new report, healthier lifestyles and pubic health action could help reduce about ___________.
A 50% of new cancers
B 33% of new cancers
C 12% of new cancers
D 80% of new cancers
37 Which of the following statements is NOT correct?
A There were 10 million cancer patients worldwide in 2000.
B Cancer accounted for 12% of all deaths in 2000.
C cancer is the cause of over 25% of all deaths in many countries.
D Global cancer rates are expected to rise 50% by 2020;
38 According to the passage, cancer was once considered ___________.
A an incurable disease
B a mysterious disease
C a “western” disease
D a world disease
39 The risk of dying from cancer in developed countries is ___________.
A double that developing countries
B much higher than that in developing countries
C the same as that in developing countries
D much lower that in developing countries
40 All the following factors may increase cancer rates EXCEPT ___________.
A occupational carcinogens
B lack of access to tobacco
C unhealthy habits
D aging populations
第三篇
Star Quality
A new anti-cheating system for counting the judges' scores in ice skating is flawed, according to leading sports specialists. Ice skating's governing body announced the new rules last week after concerns that a judge at the Winter Olympics may have been unfairly influenced.
Initially the judges in the pairs figure-skating event at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City voted 5 to 4 give gold medal to a Russian pair, even though ethey had a fall during their routine. But International Skating Union suspended the French judge for failing to reveal that she had been put under pressure to vote for the Russians. The International Olympics Corn-mittee then decided to give a second gold to the Canadian runners-up.
The ISU, skating's governing body, now says it intends to change the rules. In future 14 judges will judge each event, but only 7 of their scores-selected at random-will count.
The ISU won't finally approve the new system until it meets in June but already UK Sport, the British Government's sports body, has expressed reservations. “I remain to he convinced that the random selection system would offer the guarantees that everyone concerned with ethical sport is looking for” says Jerry Bingham, UK Sport's head of ethics.
A random system can still be manipulated, says Mark Dixon, a specialist on sports statistics from the Royal Statistical Society in London. “The score of one or two judges who have been nobbled may still be in the seven selected.”
Many other sports that have judges, including diving, gymnastics, and synchonised swimming, have a system that discards the highest and lowest scores. If a judge was under pressure to favour a particular team, they would tend to give it very high scores and mark down the opposition team, so their scores wouldn't count. It works for diving, says Jeff Cook, a member of the international government body's technical committee. “If you chuck out those at the top and bottom you're left with those in the middle, so you're getting a reasonable average. ”
Since the 2000 Olympics in Sydney, diving has tightened up in its system still further. Two separate panels of judges score different rounds of diving during top competitions; neither panel knows the scores given by the other. “We have done this to head off any suggestion of bias,” says Cook.
Bingham urged the ISU to consider other options. “This should involve examining the way in which other sports deal with problem of adjudicating on matter of style and presentation,” he says.
41 Which of the following was the final result of the pairs figure-skating event at the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City?
A The Russian pair was the only gold-medal winner.
B The Canadian pair was the only gold-medal winner.
C The Russian pair and the Canadian pair were each awarded a gold medal.
D The Canadian pair was awarded two gold medals.
42 According to the. new rules proposed by the ISU, ___________.
A the number of judges will be doubled
B only half of the judges will score
C only some selected judges will score
D only half of the scores will count
43 What does Jerry Bingham express by saying “I remain to be convinced”?
A His anger.
B His criticism.
C His disagreement.
D His doubt.
44 Which of the following is NOT true of the scoring system for diving when it is compared with that for ice-skating?
A It is more biased.
B It is more reasonable.
C It is fairer.
D It is tighter.
45 The attitude of those concerned in the UK to the new rules proposed by ISU can be best described as ___________.
A indifferent
B reserved
C enthusiastic
D disapproving
