Part Ⅱ Reading Comprehension(Skimming and Scanning)(15 minutes)
Directions：In this part，you will have 15 minutes to go over the passage quickly and answer the questions an Answer Sheet 1. For question 1—7 choose the best answer from the four choices marked /A)，B)，C)and D). For questions 8—10 complete the sentences with the information given in the passage.
Supersize Surprise
Ask anyone why there is an obesity epidemic and they will tell you that it’s al down to eating too much and burning too few calories. That explanation appeals to common sense and has dominated efforts to get to the root of the obesity epidemic and reverse it/ yet obesity researchers are increasingly dissatisfied with it. Many now believe that something else must have changed in our environment to precipitate(促成) such dramatic rises in obesity over the past 40 years or so. Nobody is saying that the “big two” – reduced physical activity and increased availability of food – are not important contributors to the epidemic, but they cannot explain it all.
Earlier this year a review paper by 20 obesity experts set out the 7 most plausible alternative explanations for the epidemic. Here they are.
1. Not enough sleep
It is widely believed that sleep is for the brain, not the body. Could a shortage of shut-eye also be helping to make us fat?
Several large-scale studies suggest there may be a link. People who sleep less than 7 hours a night tend to have a higher body mass index than people who sleep more, according to data gathered by the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. Similarly, the US Nurses’ Health Study, which tracked 68,000 women for 16 years, found that those who slept an average of 5 hours a night gained more weight during the study period than women who slept 6 hours, who in turn gained more than whose who slept 7.
It’s well known that obesity impairs sleep, so perhaps people get fat first and sleep less afterwards. But the nurses’ study suggests that it can work in the other direction too: sleep loss may precipitate weight gain.
Although getting figures is difficult, it appears that we really are sleeping less. In 1960 people in the US slept an average of 8.5 hours per night. A 2002 poll by the National Sleep Foundation suggests that the average has fallen to under 7 hours, and the decline is mirrored by the increase in obesity.
2. Climate control
We humans, like all warm-blooded animals, can keep our core body temperatures pretty much constant regardless of what’s going on in the world around us. We do this by altering our metabolic(新陈代新的) rate, shivering or sweating. Keeping warm and staying cool take energy unless we are in the “thermo-neutral zone”, which is increasingly where we choose to live and work.
There is no denying that ambient temperatures(环境温度) have changed in the past few decades. Between 1970 and 2000, the average British home warmed from a chilly 13C to 18C. In the US, the changes have been at the other end of the thermometer as the proportion of homes with air conditionings rose from 23% to 47% between 1978 and 1997. In the southern states – where obesity rates tend to be highest – the number of houses with air conditioning has shot up to 71% from 37% in 1978.
Could air conditioning in summer and heating in winter really make a difference to our weight? Sadly，there is some evidence that it does at least with regard to heating. Studies show that in comfortable temperatures we use less energy.
3. Less smoking
Bad news: smokers really do tend to be thinner than the rest of us, and quitting really does pack on the pounds, though no one isn’t sure why. It probably has something to do with the fact that nicotine is an appetite suppressant and appears to up your metabolic rate.
Katherine Flegal and colleagues at the US National Center for Health Statistics in Hyattsville, Maryland, have calculated that people kicking the habit have been responsible for a small but significant portion of the US epidemic of fatness. From data collected around 1991 by the US National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, they worked out that people who had quit in the previous decade were much more likely to be overweight than smokers and people who had never smoked. Among men, for example, nearly half of quitters were overweight compared with 37% of non-smokers and only 28%of smokers.
4. Genetic effects
Yours chances of becoming fat may be set, at least in part, before you were even born. Children of obese mothers are much more likely to become obese themselves later in life. Offspring of mice fed a high-fat diet during pregnancy are much more likely to become fat than the offspring of identical mice fed a normal diet. Intriguingly, the effect persists for two or three generations. Grand-children of mice fed a high-fat diet grow up fat even if their own mother is fed normally-so you fate may have been sealed even before you were conceived.
5. A little older…
Some groups of people just happen to be fatter than others. Surveys carried out by the US National Center for Health Statistics found that adults aged 40 to 79 were around three times as likely to be obese as younger people. Non-white females also tend to fall at the fatter end of the spectrum: Mexican-American women are 30% more likely than white women to be obsess, and black women have twice the risk.
In the US, these groups account for an increasing percentage of the population. Between 1970 and 2000 the US population aged 35 to 44 grew by 43%.the proportion of Hispanic-Americans also grew, from under 5% to 12.5% of the population, while the proportion of black Americans increased from 11% to 12.3%.these changes may account in part for the increased prevalence of obesity.
6. Mature mums
Mothers around the world are getting older. In the UK, the mean age for having a first child is 27.3, compared with 23.7 in 1970. Mean age at first birth in the US has also increased, rising from 21.4 in 1970 to 24.9 in 2000.
This would be neither here nor there if it weren’t for the observation that having an older mother seems to be an independent risk factor for obesity. Results from the US National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute’s study found that the odds of a child being obese increase 14% for every five extra years of their mother’s age , though why this should be so is not entirely clear.
Michael Symonds at the University of Nottingham, UK, found that first-born children have more fat than younger ones. As family size decreases, firstborns account for a greater share of the population. In 1964, British women gave birth to an average of 2.95 children; by 2005 that figure had fallen to 1.79. In the US in 1976, 9.6% of woman in their 40s had only one child; in 2004 it was 17.4%. This combination of older mothers and more single children could be contributing to the obesity epidemic.
7. Like marrying like
Just as people pair off according to looks, so they do for size. Lean people are more likely to marry lean an d fat more likely to marry fat. On its own, like marrying like cannot account for any increase in obesity. But combined with others —— particularly the fact that obesity is partly genetic, and that heavier people have more children-it amplifies the increase form other causes.
1. What is the passage mainly about?
A) Effects of obesity on people’s health
B) The link between lifestyle and obesity
C) New explanations for the obesity epidemic
D) Possible ways to combat the obesity epidemic
2. In the US Nurses’ Health Study, women who slept an average of 7 hours a night _______.
A) gained the least weight
B) were inclined to eat less
C) found their vigor enhanced
D) were less susceptible to illness
3. The popular belief about obesity is that _______.
A) it makes us sleepy
B) it causes sleep loss
C) it increases our appetite
D) it results from lack of sleep
4. How does indoor heating affect our life?
A) It makes us stay indoors more
B) It accelerates our metabolic rate
C) It makes us feel more energetic
D) It contributes to our weight gain
5. What does the author say about the effect of nicotine on smokers?
A) It threatens their health
B) It heightens their spirits
C) It suppresses their appetite
D) It slows down their metabolism
6. Who are most likely to be overweight according to Katherine Flegal’s study?
A) heavy smokers
B) passive smokers
C) those who never smoke
D) those who quit smoking
7. According to the US National Center for Health Statistics, the increased obesity in the US is the result of ________.
A) the growing number of smokers among young people
B) the rising proportion of minorities in its population
C) the increasing consumption of high-calorie foods
D) the improving living standards of the poor people
8. According to the US National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, the reason why older mothers’ children tend to be obese remains ____________.
9. According to Michael Symonds, one factor contributing to the obesity epidemic is decrease of __________.
10. When two heavy people get married, chances of their children getting fat increase, because obesity is _________.
试题详解
本文是一篇说明性的文章，从7个方面探讨了导致肥胖的原因，例如寿没有充足的睡眠、年龄的增长、基因的影响等。
1. C
本题考查文章中心，为主旨题。快速阅读的结构明确，先提出文章主要话题，然后以标题的形式展开。因此文章的主旨就在文章前两段。文章第一段提出谈论话题：肥胖，紧接着第二段提出科学家目前提出了关于肥胖的七个主要原因。
2. A
根据题干关键词US Nurses’ Health Study和7 hours定位文中第一个小标题后第二段第三句话。此题的关键是要看出作者的数据推理比较，睡5个小时比睡6个小时的人体重增加的多，睡6个小时的又比睡7个小时的多。因此，睡7个小时的人增加的体重最少。
3. B
此题可以利用题干关键词the popular belief和选项中的核心词汇sleep定位在第一个小标题下面的最后一段。段首的It’s well known是关键词的同义改写。文中提到，人们先会出现肥胖，然后会睡眠减少。因此和B选项cause sleep lose同义。
4. D
此题关键词也非常明确，为indoor heating，定位于文章第二个小标题下面的最后一段。题干问屋内温度对生活有什么影响，文中提到研究表明在舒适环境中我们会减少能量的消耗。因此屋内温度舒适会导致体重增加。
5. C
关键词nicotine出现在文章的第三个小标题下面的第一段最后。原文nicotine is an appetite suppressant 和选项C it suppresses their appetite只是调整了单词的顺序。
6. D
专有名词Katherine Flegal出现在第三个小标题下面的第二段。题干问根据研究，谁最有可能肥胖，而文中指出people kicking the habit have been responsible for a small but significant portion of the US epidemic of fatness(戒烟是肥胖问题蔓延的一个很小的原因，但是非常重要。)，因此戒烟的人最有可能肥胖。
7. B
此题有一定难度，关键词US National Center for Health Statistics很容易定位，在第五个小标题下面的第一段，但是该段提供大量信息需要归纳总结。文中借用非白人女性、墨西哥裔女性、黑人女性等肥胖数据，证明在美国非白人女性的肥胖问题非常严重，因此和B选项的the rising proportion of minorities 同义。
8. not entirely clear
利用关键词US National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute定位在文章第六个小标题下面第一段最后。题目中的reason和原文中的why同义转换，因此答案非常清晰。
9. family size
由题干中的Michael Symonds定位在第六个小标题下面第二段第二句。随着家庭规模的缩小，第一个出生的孩子成为了肥胖问题的重要组成部分。文中使用的主谓结构，题干转换位介宾结构，但是都是名词性结构，因此不用发生形式变化。
10. partly genetic
根据依次而下的顺序出题原则，定位在原文最后一段。而原文中出现明显的转折词but和破折号，因此进一步定位在文章最后一句话中。
Directions: In this section, there is a short passage with 5 questions or incomplete statements. Read the passage carefully. Then answer the questions or complete statements in the fewest possible words. Please write your answers on Answer Sheet 2.
One of the major producers of athletic footwear, with 2002 sales of over $10 billion, is a company called Nike, with corporate headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon. Forbes magazine identified Nike’s president, Philip Knight, as the 53rd-richest man in the world in 2004. But Nike has not always been a large multimillion-dollar organization. In fact, Knight started the company by selling shoes from the back of his car at track meets.
In the late 1950s Philip Knight was a middle-distance runner on the University of Oregon track team, coached by Bill Bowerman. One of the top track coaches in the U.S., Bowerman was also known for experimenting with the design of running shoes in an attempt to make them lighter and more shock-absorbent. After attending Oregon, Knight moved on to do graduate work at Stanford University; his MBA thesis was on marketing athletic shoes. Once he received his degree, Knight traveled to Japan to contact the Onitsuka Tiger Company, a manufacturer of athletic shoes. Knight convinced the company’s officials of the potential for its product in the U.S. In 1963 he received his first shipment of Tiger shoes, 200 pairs in total.
In 1964, Knight and Bowerman contributed $500 each to from Blue Ribbon Sports, the predecessor of Nike. In the first few years, Knight distributed shoes out of his car at local track meets. The first employees hired by Knight were former college athletes. The company did not have the money to hire “experts”, and there was no established athletic footwear industry in North America from which to recruit those knowledgeable in the fielD) In its early years the organization operated in an unconventional manner that characterized its innovative and entrepreneurial approach to the industry. Communication was informal; people discussed ideas and issues in the hallways, on a run, or over a beer. There was little task differentiation. There were no job descriptions, rigid reporting systems, or detailed rules and regulations. The team spirit and shared values of the athletes on Bowerman’s teams carried over and provided the basis for the collegial
1. While serving as a track coach, Bowerman tried to design running shoes that were __________.
2. During his visit to Japan, Knight convinced the officials of the Onitsuka Tiger Company that its product would have ____________.
3. Blue Ribbon Sports as unable to hire experts due to the absence of ____________ in North America.
4. In the early years of Nike, communication within the company was usually carried out ___________.
5. What qualities of Bowerman’s teams formed the basis of Nike’s early management style?
试题详解
1. lighter and more shock-absorbent
根据题干关键词a track coach, Bowerman和design running shoes定位在第二段首句。本题考查设计的跑鞋有什么特征，而句中提及an attempt to make them lighter and more shock-absorbent，因此lighter and more shock-absorbent为正确答案。
2. the potential in the U.S.
根据题干中的Japan和the officials of the Onitsuka Tiger Company定位到原文第二段段末：Knight convinced the company’s officials of the potential for its product in the U.S.，意思是Knight使公司官员确信产品在美国具有潜力。题干中its product为主语，have为谓语动词，所填部分充当宾语，因此the potential in the U.S.。
3. established athletic footwear industry
根据题干中的Blue Ribbon Sports和North America定位到原文第三段第三句。 题干中提及公司没有雇用专家是因为在北美缺少什么，短语the absence of 是对原文中的there was no的同义转换。所以答案是established athletic footwear industry。
4. informally
此题的关键词非常明确，就是communication，定位在文章倒数第四行：Communication was informal。题干中需要填写动词词组carry out的修饰词，应该是副词，所以答案为informally.
5. The team spirit and shared valves of the athletes.
根据题干结构分析，可以得知答案应该在句中充当主语quality的修饰，即为定语，是名词性或形容词性结构。根据题干关键词Bowerman’s teams 和 the basis of Nike’s early management style，以及依次而下的顺序出题原则，可以定位在文章结尾。
Directions: There are 2 passages in this section. 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 Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.
Passage One
Questions 52 to 56 are based on the following passage.
Sustainable development is applied to just about everything from energy to clean water and economic growth, and as a result it has become difficult to question either the basic assumptions behind it or the way the concept is put to use. This is especially true in agriculture, where sustainable development is often taken as the sole measure of progress without a proper appreciation of historical and cultural perspectives.
To start with, it is important to remember that the nature of agriculture has changed markedly throughout history, and will continue to do so .medieval agriculture in northern Europe fed, clothed and sheltered a predominantly rural society with a much lower population density than it is today. It had minimal effect on biodiversity, and any pollution it caused was typically localized. In terms of energy use and the nutrients(营养成分)captured in the product it was relatively inefficient.
Contrast this with farming since the start of the industrial revolution. Competition from overseas led farmers to specialize and increase yields. Throughout this period food became cheaper, safe and more reliable. However, these changes have also led to habitat(栖息地)loss and to diminishing biodiversity.
What’s more, demand for animal products in developing countries is growing so fast that meeting it will require an extra 300 million tons of grain a year by 2050.yet the growth of cities and industry is reducing the amount of water available for agriculture in many regions.
All this means that agriculture in the 21stcentury will have to be very different from how it was in the 20th.thiswill require radical thinking. For example, we need to move away from the idea that traditional practices are inevitably more sustainable than new ones. We also need to abandon the notion that agriculture can be “zero impact”. The key will be to abandon the rather simple and static measures of sustainability, which centre on the need to maintain production without increasing damage.
Instead we need a more dynamic interpretation, one that looks at the pros and cons(正反两方面)of all the various way land is used. There are many different ways to measure agricultural performance besides food yield: energy use, environmental costs, water purity, carbon footprint and biodiversity. It is clear, for example, that the carbon of transporting tomatoes from Spain to the UK is less than that of producing them in the UK with additional heating and lighting. But we do not know whether lower carbon footprints will always be better for biodiversity.
What is crucial is recognizing that sustainable agriculture is not just about sustainable food production.
52. How do people often measure progress in agriculture?
A) By its productivity
B) By its sustainability
C) By its impact on the environment
D) By its contribution to economic growth
53. Specialisation and the effort to increase yields have resulted in________.
A) localised pollution
B) the shrinking of farmland
C) competition from overseas
D) the decrease of biodiversity
54. What does the author think of traditional farming practices?
A) They have remained the same over the centuries
B) They have not kept pace with population growth
C) They are not necessarily sustainable
D) They are environmentally friendly
55. What will agriculture be like in the 21st century?
A) It will go through radical changes
B) It will supply more animal products
C) It will abandon traditional farming practices
D) It will cause zero damage to the environment
56 What is the author’s purpose in writing this passage?
A) To remind people of the need of sustainable development
B) To suggest ways of ensuring sustainable food production
C) To advance new criteria for measuring farming progress
D) To urge people to rethink what sustainable agriculture is
试题详解
52. B
细节题。本题考查关于农业生产发展的衡量标准，通过关键词measure progress定位在文章第一段末尾：sustainable development is often taken as the sole measure of progress，be taken as表示前后同位关系，解释说明。
53. D
细节题。题干关键词Specialisation and the effort to increase yields定位在文章第三段的第二、三句。题目问农业生产专业化及大量提高产量会带来什么样的后果。文中提到由于产量的加大，使得食物较之以前更加便宜、安全，但是也导致了动植物栖息地和生物多样性减少。B选项中的farmland是农田，混淆了文中habitat的概念。
54. C
细节推理题。可以通过题干关键词traditional farming practices定位在文章第五段第三行：we need to move away from the idea that traditional practices are inevitably more sustainable than new ones. 意思是我们不能再认为传统耕作方式一定比新方式更具有可持续的特征。同义于C。
55. A
细节题。题干出现显性关键词in the 21st century，定位在文中第五段开头，原文意思是：21世纪的农业生产和20世纪的截然不同，也就是说21世纪的农业生产将发生巨大的变化。第五段的第二句话提到要求我们radical thinking(彻底改变原有的想法)。
56. D
主旨题。答案一般出自文章首段，而且本文从一开始就讲述可持续发展(sustainable development)，而且本文主要谈论工业生产的可持续发展问题，因此选项里必须要出现农业和可持续的单词。
Passage Two
Questions 57 to 61 are based on the following passage.
The percentage of immigrants (including those unlawfully present) in the United states has been creeping upward for years. At 12.6 percent, it is now higher than at any point since the mid1920s.
We are not about to go back to the days when Congress openly worried about inferior races polluting America’s bloodstream. But once again we are wondering whether we have too many of the wrong sort newcomers. Their loudest critics argue that the new wave of immigrants cannot, and indeed do not want to, fit in as previous generations did.
We now know that these racist views were wrong. In time, Italians, Romanians and members of other so-called inferior races became exemplary Americans and contributed greatly, in ways too numerous to detail, to the building of this magnificent nation. There is no reason why these new immigrants should not have the same success.
Although children of Mexican immigrants do better, in terms of educational and professional attainment, than their parents UCLA sociologist Edward Telles has found that the gains don’t continue. Indeed, the fouth generation is marginally worse off than the third James Jackson, of the University of Michigan, has found a similar trend among black Caribbean immigrants. Tells fears that Mexican-Americans may be fated to follow in the footsteps of American blacks-that large parts of the community may become mired(陷入)in a seemingly permanent state of poverty and underachievement. Like African-Americans, Mexican-Americans are increasingly relegated to (降入)segregated, substandard schools, and their dropout rate is the highest for any ethnic group in the country.
We have learned much about the foolish idea of excluding people on the presumption of the ethnic/racial inferiority. But what we have not yet learned is how to make the process of Americanization work for all. I am not talking about requiring people to learn English or to adopt American ways; those things happen pretty much on their own, but as arguments about immigration hear up the campaign trail, we also ought to ask some broader question about assimilation, about how to ensure that people, once outsiders, don’t forever remain marginalized within these shores.
That is a much larger question than what should happen with undocumented workers, or how best to secure the border, and it is one that affects not only newcomers but groups that have been here for generations. It will have more impact on our future than where we decide to set the admissions bar for the latest ware of would-be Americans. And it would be nice if we finally got the answer right.
57. How were immigrants viewed by U.S. Congress in early days?
A) They were of inferior races.
B) They were a Source of political corruption.
C) They were a threat to the nation’s security.
D) They were part of the nation’s bloodstream.
58. What does the author think of the new immigrants?
A) They will be a dynamic work force in the U.S.
B) They can do just as well as their predecessors.
C) They will be very disappointed on the new land.
D) They may find it hard to fit into the mainstream.
59. What does Edward Telles’ research say about Mexican-Americans?
A) They may slowly improve from generation to generation.
B) They will do better in terms of educational attainment.
C) They will melt into the African-American community.
D) They may forever remain poor and underachieving.
60. What should be done to help the new immigrants?
A) Rid them of their inferiority complex.
B) Urge them to adopt American customs.
C) Prevent them from being marginalized.
D) Teach them standard American English.
61. According to the author, the burning issue concerning immigration is_______.
A) How to deal with people entering the U.S. without documents
B) How to help immigrants to better fit into American society
C) How to stop illegal immigrants from crossing the border
D) How to limit the number of immigrants to enter the U.S.
试题详解
57. A
细节题。本题有明确的关键词U.S. Congress，定位在文章第二段首句。此题的难点是在做题过程会被第
二句开头的转折词but吸引，而直接将答案定位在but之后。但是题干中还有一个重要的信息词in early
days，题干中只要出现时间状语，文中肯定会有干扰的其他时间出现。In early days是对第二段首句中的
go back to the days的改写。因此答案就在二段首句。
58. B
细节题。利用题干关键词the new immigrants定位在文章三段末句：There is no reason why these new immigrants should not have the same success.意思是为什么这些新移民就不能拥有同样的成功。什么样的成功在前面的句子进行了阐述，为这个国家的建设做出了贡献。因此在作者看来新移民同样可以和他们的先人一样，为这个国家做出贡献。而前此段开头作者提到种族主义这是错的。
59. D
细节题。通过题干关键词Edward Telles和Mexican-Americans定位在文章第四段的第三句，Tells 担心
这些墨西哥裔美国人会陷入长期的贫穷和无所作为的状况，和D同义。
60. C
细节推论题。利用依次而下的顺序出题原则，可以定位在文章最后两段中。由于定位区域比较宽泛，可以利用出题原则帮助进一步定位，文章倒数第二段中连续出现两次转折but，因此段落重心应该是as arguments about immigration hear up the campaign trail, we also ought to ask some broader question about assimilation, about how to ensure that people, once outsiders, don’t forever remain marginalized within these shores.而题干中考查如何帮助新移民，和此句中的we also ought to近义改写，因此“如何确保这些外来移民不会永远边缘化”，和C同义。
61. B
主旨题。由于文章首段是举例，因此文章的中心就转移到了文章末尾。而且通过前面的题目可以推断此篇文章主要探讨如何帮助新移民融入美国社会，因此他们为美国的建设做出了巨大的贡献。
