第4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，每道题后面都有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
Ocean Noise Pollution
Some scientists say that animals in the ocean are increasingly threatened by noise pollution caused by human beings.
The noise that affects sea creatures comes from a number of human activities. It is caused mainly by industrial underwater explosions, ocean drilling, and ship engines. Such noises are added to natural sounds. These sounds include the breaking of ice fields, underwater earthquakes, and sounds made by animals themselves.
Decibels (分贝) measured in water are different from those measured on land. A noise of one hundred-twenty decibels on land causes pain to human ears. In water, a decibel level of one-hundred ninety-five would have the same effect.
Some scientists have proposed setting a noise limit of one-hundred-twenty decibels in. oceans. They have observed that noises at that level can frighten and confuse whales (鲸鱼).
A team of American and Canadian scientists discovered that louder noises can seriously injure some animals. The research team found that powerful underwater explosions were causing whales in the area to lose their hearing. This seriously affected the whales' ability to exchange information and find their way. Some of the whales even died. The explosions had caused their ears to bleed (出血) and become infected (感染).
Many researchers whose work depends on ocean sounds object to a limit of one-hundred-twenty decibels. They say such a limit is a greater danger than they believed. They want to prevent noises from harming creatures in the ocean.
31 According to the passage, which of the following is increasingly dangerous to sea creatures?
A The sound of a car.
B The sound of voices.
C Man-made noise pollution.
D The sound of steps.
32 According to the passage, natural sounds include all of the following EXCEPT
A sounds made by animals themselves.
B ocean drilling.
C underwater earthquakes.
D the breaking of ice fields.,
33 Which of the following is discussed in the third paragraph?
A The same noise level produces a different effect on land and in the ocean.
B Different places may have different types of noises.
C The decibel is not a suitable unit for measuring underwater noise.
D Different ocean animals may have different reactions to noises.
34 Which of the following is true of whales?
A They won't be confused by noises.
B They are deaf to noises.
C Their ability to reproduce will be lowered by high-level noises.
D Their hearing will be damaged by high-level noises.
35 According to the passage, what will scientists most probably do in the future?
A They will work hard to reduce ocean noise pollution.
B They will protect animals from harmful noises.
C They will try to set a limit of 120 decibels.
D They will study the effect of ocean noise pollution.
第二篇
Lifetime Employment in Japanese Companies
In most large Japanese companies, there is a policy of lifetime employment. What this means is that when people leave school or university to join an enterprise, they can expect to remain with that organization until they retire. In effect, the employee gets job security for life, and can only be fired for serious mistakes in work. Even in times of business recession, he or she is free from the fear of being laid off.
One result of this practice is that the Japanese worker identifies closely with his company and feels strong loyalty to it. By working hard for the company, he believes he is safeguarding his own future. It is not surprising that devotion to one's company is considered a great virtue in Japan. A man is often prepared to put his firm's interests before those of his immediate family.
The job security guaranteed by this system influences the way employees approach their work. They tend to think in terms of what they can achieve throughout their career. This is because they are not judged on how they are performing during a short period of time. They can afford to, take a longer perspective than their Western counterparts.
This marriage between the employee and the company - the consequence of lifetime employment - may explain why Japanese workers seem positively to love the products their company is producing and why they are willing to stay on after work, for little overtime pay, to participate in earnest discussions about the quality control of their products.
36 Lifetime employment in the Japanese company means that the employee
A leaves his company only when business is bad.
B gets a job soon after he leaves school or university.
C can work there throughout his career,
D can have his serious mistakes in work corrected.
37 Which of the following statements is INCORRECT?
A Family and company interests are equally important
B The Japanese worker is very loyal to his company.
C One's future is guaranteed through hard work.
D Devotion to one's company is encouraged……
38 Lifetime employment influences one's
A achievements at work.
B performance at work.
C career options.
D attitude toward work.
39 The Japanese worker is fond of his company's products because of
A his marriage with the daughter of the president.
B the close link between him and his company.
C his willingness to work overtime.
D his active participation in quality control,
40 The passage mainly discusses
A how lifetime employment works in Japan.
B what benefits lifetime employment has brought to Japanese workers.
C what lifetime employment is.
D how lifetime employment is viewed.
第三篇
Dreams of Flight
The story of man's dream of flight, of his desire to reach the stars, is as old as mankind itself. According to Greek legend, Daedalus was the first man to fly. He and his son had been kept on an island. In order to escape, Daedalus shaped wings of wax (2) into which he stuck bird feathers. During their flight, his son flew too high and the sun melted the wax. He was drowned in the sea. The father was supposed to have continued his flight and reached Sicily, several hundred miles away.
There is also an English legend of King Bladud who, during his rule in the ninth century B.C., used wings to fly. But his flight was short-lived and he fell to his death. The dream of flying continued, but in all the legends, the flier rose like a bird only to fall like a stone. It took hundreds of years that men flew up into the air and returned to earth safely.
The first man to approach flying on a scientific basis was an Englishman who lived during the thirteenth century. He looked at the air about us as a sea, and he believed that a balloon could float on the air just as a boat did on water. Almost four hundred years later, an Italian priest applied his principle of air flight. He designed a boat, which would be held in the air by four hollow spheres (空心球). ach of the four balls was to be 20 feet in diameter (直径) and made of very thin copper. But his boat was never built since it was not possible to make spheres of such thin metal and such size in those days.
After studying the flight of birds and the movement of the air, a great scientist of the fifteenth century concluded that birds flew because they flapped (摆动) their wings and that it was possible for man to do the same. So a kind of flapping-wing flying machine was invented. Many men tried and failed to fly with flying machines. It was not until 1890 that people discovered why this method would never succeed - man could not develop sufficient power with his arms and legs.
41 How did Daedalus manage to escape to Sicily, according to the passage?
A He killed the guards and got out of the island.
B A god came to rescue him and took him away.
C His son came to rescue him and took him away.
D He made wings of wax and flew away from the island.
42 According to the English legend, King Bladud lost his life because
A he flew too far.
B he flew too high.
C he fell to the ground,
D he was hit by a stone.
43 The first scientific air flight was designed by
A a Greek.
B an Englishman.
C a Chinese.
D an Italian.
44 The priest failed to build the boat because
A he could not raise enough money.
B his design was not scientific.
C he could not find enough copper.
D copper spheres could not be made as designed
45 According to the last paragraph, man could not fly with flapping-wing flying machines because
A he could not develop adequate power with his arms and legs.
B he knew nothing about the movement of the air.
C they were made of heavy metal.
D they were made of light feathers.
