College English Test
Part I Reading Comprehension (30%)
Directions: There are three passages in this part. 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 the Answer Sheet with a single line through the center.
Passage 1 (Questions 1-5 are based on this passage)
Trees are useful to man in three important ways： they provide him with wood and other products; they give him shade; and they help to prevent droughts and floods.
Unfortunately, in many parts of the world, man has not realized that the third of these services is the most important.76）In his eagerness to make money from trees, he has cut them down in large numbers, only to find that without them he has lost the best friends he had. And besides, he is usually too careless to plant and look after new trees. So the forests slowly disappear.
This does not only mean that man will have fewer trees. The results are even more serious: for where there are trees, their roots break up soil---allowing the rain to sink in ---and also bind the soil, thus preventing it from being washed away easily; but where there are no trees, the rain falls on hard ground and flows away, causing floods and carrying away the rich top-soil. When all the top-soil is gone, nothing remains but worthless desert.
Two thousand years ago a rich and powerful country cut down its trees to build warships , with which to gain itself an empire. It set up the empire but, without its trees, its soil became poor and it grew weak. When the empire fell to pieces, the home country found itself faced with floods and starvation.
1. What is the most important service of trees to man according to the passage?
A. They help him make money.
B. They give him wood and other products.
C. They help him prevent droughts and floods.
D. They give him shade.
2. Why do forests in many parts of the world slowly disappear?
A. New trees are not looked after properly.
B. Many trees have been cut down by man.
C. Man has not paid enough attention to planting trees.
D. All of the above.
3. Why did the country mentioned in the passage suffer from floods and starvation?
A. Because an empire was set up.
B. Because the empire fell to pieces.
C. Because it lost all its trees.
D. Because too much had been spent on wars.
4. Why does land become desert after all trees are cut down?
A. Because nothing remains on land except floods.
B. Because there are no longer trees to keep the rain and protect the top-soil.
C. Because too much rain sinks in and washes away the top-soil.
D. Because roots of the trees break up the soil.
5. What does the author tell us in this passage?
A. How trees help prevent droughts and floods.
B. The relationship between trees and man.
C. How an empire fell to pieces in ancient times.
D. A story of trees.
Passage 2 (Questions 6—10 are based on the following passage)
People travel for a lot of reason. Some tourists go to see battlefields or religious shrines. Others are looking for culture, or simply want to have their picture taken in front of famous places. But most European tourists are looking for a sunny beach to lie on.
77） Northern Europeans are willing to pay a lot of money and put up with a lot of inconveniences for the sun because they have so little of it. Residents of cities like London, Copenhagen , and Amsterdam spend a lot of their winter in the dark because the days are so short, and much of the rest of the year in the rain. This is the reason the Mediterranean has always attracted them. Every summer, more than 25 million people travel to Mediterranean resort and beaches for their vacation. They all come for the same reason :sun!
The huge crowds mean lots of money for the economies of Mediteranean countries. Italy’s 30,000 hotels are booked solid every summer. And 13 million people camp out on French beaches, parks and roadsides. Spain’s long sandy coastline attracts more people than anywhere else. 37 million tourists visit yearly, or one tourist for every person living in Spain.
78）But there are signs that the area is getting more tourism than it can handle. The Mediterranean is already one of the most polluted seas on earth. And with increased tourism, it’s getting worse. The French can’t figure out what to do with all the garbage left by campers around St. Tropez. And in many places , swimming is dangerous because of pollution.
None of this, however, is spoiling anyone’s fun. The Mediteranean gets more popular every year with tourists. Obviously, they don’t go there for clean water and solitude. They tolerate traffic jams and seem to like crowded beaches. They don’t even mind the pollution. No matter how dirty the water is, the coastline still looks beautiful. And as long as the sun shines, it’s still better than sitting in the cold rain in Berlin, London, or Oslo.
6. The writer seems to imply that Europeans travel mostly for the reason that__________.
A. they want to see historic remains or religious spots.
B. they are interested in different cultural traditions and social customs.
C. they would like to take pictures in front of famous sites.
D. they wish to escape from the cold, dark and rainy days back at home.
7. In paragraph 2, cities like London, Copenhagen, and Amsterdam are mentioned __________.
A. to show that they are not good cities in terms of geography and climate.
B. to tell us how wealthy their residents are.
C. to suggest that these cities lack places of historic interest and scenic beauty.
D. to prove that they have got more tourism than they an handle.
8. According to the passage, which of the following countries attracts more tourists than the others?
A. Italy
B. Spain
C. France
D. Greece.
9. The latter half of the last sentence in paragraph3, i.e., “ or one tourist for every person living in Spain” means __________.
A. all the 37 million people living in Spain are tourists.
B. every year almost as many tourists visit Spain as there are people living in that country.
C. every person living in Spain has to take care of a tourist.
D. every Spanish is visited by a tourist every year.
10. According to the passage, which of the following factors might spoil the tourists’ fun at Mediterranean resorts and beaches?
A. Polluted water.
B. Crowded buses
C. Traffic jams.
D. Rainy weather.
