全国2011年7月自学考试英语阅读（一）真题

全部题目用英文作答（翻译题除外），请将答案填在答题纸相应位置上

I. Careful Reading. (40 points, 2 points for each)

Directions: Read the following passages carefully. Decide on the best answers antl then write the corresponding letters on your Answer Sheet.

Passage One

Questions 1 to 5 are based on the following passage.

The old fashioned general store is fast disappearing. This is, perhaps, a pity, because shopping today seems to lack that personal element which existed when the shopkeeper knew all his regular customers personally. He could, for instance, remember which brand of tea Mrs. Smith usually bought or what sort of washing powder Mrs. Jones preferred. Not only was the shop a center of buying and selling, but a social meeting place.

A prosperous general store might have employed four or five assistants, and so there were very few problems in management as far as the staff was concerned. But now that the supermarket has replaced the general store, the job of the manager has changed completely. The moderm supermarket manager has to cope with a staff of as many as a hundred, apart from all the other everyday problems of running a large business.

Every morning the manager must, like the commander of an army division, carry out an inspection of his store to make sure that everything is ready for the business of the day  He must see that everything is running smoothly. He will have to give advice and make decisions as problems arise; and he must know how to get his huge staff to work efficiently with their respective responsibilities. No matter what he has to do throughout the day, however, the supermarket manager must be ready for any emergency that may arise. They say in the trade that you are not really an experienced supermarket manager until you have dealt with a flood, a fire, a birth and a death in your store.

1. The main purpose of the passage is to show ______.

A. how the supermarket replaces the old general store

B. how the old fashioned general store is fast disappearing

C. how supermarket managers deal with problems every morning

D. how the role of the shop manager undergoes an overall change

2. It is a pity that there are fewer old general stores now because _______.

A. there is less trading business

B. there used to be more social activities in the old days

C. supermarket managers have more problems

D. there is less personal contact between manager and customer

3. Who are Mrs. Smith and Mrs. Jones mentioned in the first paragraph?

A. People representing any of the regular customers of the old general store.

B. Shop assistants.

C. Friends of the shop manager’s.

D. Two regular customers of the store.

4. How has the job of the store manager changed?

A. He doesn’t sell tea or washing powder any more.

B. He has a much larger staff to take care of, to say nothing of all the other daily problems of running the store.

C. He must try hard to remember the names of the regular customers.

D. He has to give advice and make decisions every day.

5. The author compared the supermarket manager to ______.

A. a military leader B. a school inspector

C. a traffic supervisor D. an orchestra conductor

Passage Two

Questions 6 to 10 are based on the following passage.

By the Treaty of Paris of 1763, which ended the war with the French and the Indians, England gained possession of Canada and all the territory east of the Mississippi River. French influence on this continent thus came to an end; England now controlled most of North America. But the war had been long and expensive. England had many debts. George III, king of England, after consulting with his advisers, decided that the American colonists should help pay some of the expenses of this war. A standing English army of 10,000 men had been left in the colonies for protection against the Indians. The English government also felt that the colonists should share in the expenses of maintaining this army. The result was a Series of measures, the Grenville Program, passed by Parliament and designed to raise money in the colonies. Some of these measures were accepted by the colonists, but one in particular, the Stamp Act, was met with great protest. The Stamp Act required that stamps, ranging in price from a few cents to almost a dollar, be placed on all newspapers, advertisements, bills of sale, wills, legal papers, etc. The Stamp Act was one of the causes of the American Revolution. It affected everyone, rich and poor alike. Some businessmen felt that the act would surely ruin their businesses.

Of all the voices raised in protest to the Stamp Act, none had greater effect than that of a young lawyer from Virginia-Patrick Henry. Henry had only recently been elected to the Virginia Assembly. Yet when the Stamp Act came up for discussion, he opposed it almost single-handedly. He also expressed, for the first time, certain ideas that were held by many Americans of the time but that never before had been stated so openly. “Is life so dear or peace so sweet, as to be bought at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty, or give me death!”

6. From the passage we learn that ______.

A. Britain took over Canada from the Indians in 1 763

B. there had been a war between the French and the Indians which ended in 1763

C. France used to have control of Canada and some areas east of the Mississippi River

D. the French still kept some influence in North America through the Treaty of Paris

7. The Grenville Program refers to ______.

A. King George III’s plan to gather money in North America

B. the British government’s desire to raise money in North America

C. a plan to share the expenses of maintaining an army in the American colonies

D. a decision of the British Parliament to collect money in the American colonies

8. The Stamp Act ______.

A. was an act about selling stamps at prices from a few cents to almost a dollar

B. was one of the causes of the American Revolution

C. required that all commercial and legal documents in America have stamps on them

D. chiefly affected business people who felt it would ruin their businesses

9. From the passage we learn that Patrick Henry ______.

A. had been a member of the Virginia Assembly for a long time

B. didn’t know what courses to take to complete his studies as a lawyer

C. was almost the only one who openly protested against the Stamp Act

D. didn’t value life or peace as much as other people did

10. This passage is mainly about ______.

A.  one of the events leading to the American Revolution

B. the Treaty of Paris between Britain and France

C. the Grenville Program to raise money in the American colonies

D. Patrick Henry, a hero who opposed the Stamp Act

Passage Three

Questions 11 to 15 are based on the following passage.

In the past, American families tended to be quite large. Parents raising five or more children were common.  Over the years, the size of the family has decreased. One reason for this is an increase in the cost of living.  On the average, children attend schools for more years than they used to, making them financially dependent on their families. Moreover, children nowadays are better dressed and have more money to spend on entertainment. The parents usually take the responsibility for all the expenses. Meanwhile, families are less close than they used to be. More and more American mothers work away from home.

The breakup of the family occurs when the parents divorce. A lot of children in the U.S. live part of their young lives with only one parent. Broken families usually result in problems for children and parents alike. Children blame themselves when their parents separate. They grow up feeling unsettled as they are moved back and forth between parents. Usually one parent is responsible for raising the children. These single parents must care for the children’s emotional and psychological needs while also supporting them financially. This is very demanding and leaves very little time for the parent’s own personal interests. Single parents often marry other single parents. In this type of family, unrelated children are forced to develop brother or sister relationship.

The situations of many American families today are not good. However, recent signs indicate that things are getting better. The divorce rate is declining. The rate of childbirth is rising. Perhaps Americans have learned how important families are.

11. In the past, American families tended to be ______.

A. quite small B. medium-sized

C. quite large D. small

12. To parents who take the responsibility for children’s expenses, the cost of living increases because ______.

A. children attend school for less years

B. children are worse dressed

C. children have more interests nowadays

D. children spend more money on entertainment

13. What problems would broken families bring to children and parents respectively?

A. Children grow up feeling unsettled and parents didn’t pay much attention to children.

B. Children grow up feeling free and one parent is responsible for raising the children.

C. Children are moved back and forth between parents and the single parent is busy working to make money to support himself or herself.

D. Children grow up feeling unsettled, and the parents have little time for his or her own interests because one parent is too busy taking care of children.

14. According to the author, the situations of American families in the future may ______.

A. become worse B. remain the same

C. get better D. keep unchanged

15. The title of the article might be ______.

A. American Children B. American Families

C. American Mother D. American Parents

Passage Four

Questions 16 to 20 are based on the following passage.

In a family where the roles of men and women are not sharply separated and where many household tasks are shared to a greater or lesser extent, notions of male superiority are hard to maintain. The pattern of sharing in tasks and in decisions makes for equality and this in turn leads to further sharing. In such a home, the growing boy and girl learn to accept equality more easily than did their parents and to prepare more fully for participation in a world characterized by cooperation rather than by the “battle of the sexes”.

If the process goes too far and man’s role is regarded as less important—and that has happened in some cases—we are as badly off as before, only in reverse.

It is time to reassess the role of the man in the American family. We are getting a little tired of “Momism” — but we don’t want to exchange it for a “neo-Popism”. What we need, rather, is the recognition that bringing up children involves a partnership of equals. There are signs that psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, and specialists on the family are becoming more aware of the part men play and that they have decided that women should not receive all the credit

nor the blame. We have almost given up saying that a woman’s place is in the home. We are beginning, however, to analyze man’s place in the home and to insist that he does have a place in it. Nor is that place irrelevant to the healthy development of the child.

The family is a co-operative enterprise for which it is difficult to lay down rules, because each family needs to work out its own ways for solving its own problems.

Excessive authoritarianism（命令主义) has unhappy consequences, whether it wears skirts or trousers, and the ideal of equal rights and equal responsibilities is pertinent (相关的，中肯的) not only to healthy democracy, but also to a healthy family.

16. The danger in the sharing of household tasks between the mother and the father is that ______.

A. the role of the father may become an inferior one

B. the role of the mother may become an inferior one

C. the children believe that life is a battle of sexes

D. sharing leads to constant arguing

17. The author states that bringing up children ______.

A. is mainly the mother’s job B. belongs to the duties of the father

C. is the job of schools and churches D. involves a partnership of equals

18. The ideal of equal rights and equal responsibilities is ______.

A. fundamental to a sound democracy      B. not pertinent to a healthy family  

C. responsible for Momism D. what we have almost given up

19. According to the author, the father’s role in the home is ______.

A. minor because he is an ineffectual parent

B. irrelevant to the healthy development of the child

C. pertinent to the healthy development of the child

D. identical to the role of the child’s mother

20. Which of the following statements would the author be most likely to agree with?

A. A healthy, co-operative family is a basic ingredient of a healthy society.

B. Men are basically opposed to sharing household chores.

C. Division of household responsibilities is workable only in theory.

D. A woman’s place in the home now is the same as that in the past.

II. Speed Reading. (10 points, 1 point for each)

Directions: Skim or scan the following passages. Decide on the best answers and then write

the corresponding letters on your Answer Sheet.

Passage Five

Questions 21-25 are based on the following passage.

You’re busy filling out the application form for a position you really need. Let’s assume you once actually completed a couple of years of college work or even that you completed your degree. Isn’t it tempting to lie just a little, to claim on the form that your diploma represents a Harvard degree? Or that you finished an extra couple of years back at State University? More and more people are turning to utter deception like this to land their job or to move ahead in their careers, for personnel officers, like most Americans, value degrees from famous schools. A job applicant may have a good education anyway, but he or she assumes that chances of being hired are better with a diploma from a well-known university.

Registrars at most well-known colleges say they deal with deceitful claims like these at the rate of about one per week. Personnel officers do check upon degrees listed on application forms, then. If it turns out that an applicant is lying, most colleges are reluctant to accuse the applicant directly. One Ivy League school calls them “impostors (骗子)”; another refers to them as “special cases”. One well-known West Coast school, in perhaps the most delicate phrase of all, says that these claims are made by “no such people”. To avoid outright lies, some job-seekers claim that they “attended” or “were associated with” a college or university, After carefully checking, a personnel officer may discover that “attending” means being dismissed after one semester. It may be that “being associated with” a college means that the job-seeker visited his younger brother for a football weekend. One school that keeps records of false claims says that the practice dates back at least to the turn of the century——that’s when they began keeping records, anyhow. If you don’t want to lie or even stretch the truth, there are companies that will sell you a phony diploma.

One company, with offices in New York and on the West Coast, will put your name on a diploma from any number of nonexistent colleges. The price begins at around twenty dollars for a diploma from “Smoot State University”. The prices increase rapidly for a degree from the “University of Purdue”. As there is no Smoot State and the real school in Indiana is properly called Purdue University, the prices seem rather high for one sheet of paper.

21. The main idea of this passage is that ______.

A. employers are checking more closely on applicants now

B. lying about college degrees has become a widespread problem

C. college degrees can now be purchased easily

D. employers are no longer interested in college degrees

22. According to the passage, “special cases” refer to cases that ______.

A. students attended a school only part-time

B. students never attended a school they listed on their application forms

C. students purchased false degrees from commercial firms

D. students attended a famous school

23. From the sentence “job-seeker visited his younger brother for a football weekend” (Para.2), we can infer that _____.

A. the job-seeker is a student in that college

B. the job-seeker’s brother is a student in that college

C. neither the two are students in that college

D. the job-seeker lives in that college

24. We can infer from the passage that ______.

A. performance is a better judge of ability than a college degree

B. experience is the best teacher

C. past work histories influence personnel officers more than degrees do

D. a degree from a famous school enables an applicant to gain advantage over others in job competition

25. The underlined word “phony” (Para.2) means ______.

A. thorough B. false

C. ultimate D. decisive

Passage Six

Questions 26-30 are based on the following passage

Are you happy? Do you remember a time when you were happy? Are you seeking happiness today?

Many have sought a variety of sources for their feelings of happiness. Some put their hearts and efforts into their work. Too many turn to drugs and alcohol. Meanwhile, untold numbers look for it in the possession of expensive cars, exotic vacation homes and other popular “toys”. Most of their efforts have a root in common: people are looking for a lasting source of happiness.

Unfortunately, I believe that happiness escapes from many people because they misunderstand the journey of finding it. I have learned many people say that, “I’ll be happy when I get my new promotion,” or “I’ll be happy when I get that extra 20 pounds.” It is dangerous because it accepts that happiness is a “response” to having, being or doing something.

In life, we all experience stimulus and response. Today, some people think that an expensive car is a stimulus. Happiness is a response. A great paying job is a stimulus. Happiness is a response. This belief leaves us thinking and feeling: “I’ll be happy when ...”

It has been my finding that actually the opposite is true. I believe that happiness is a stimulus and response is what life brings to those who are truly happy. When we are happy, we tend to have more success in our work. When we are happy, we more naturally take better care of our bodies and enjoy good health. Happiness is not a response but a stimulus.

Happiness is a conscious choice we make in daily life. For unknown reasons to me, many choose to be upset and angry most of the time. Happiness is not something that happens to us after we get something we want. On the contrary, we usually get things we want after we choose to be happy.

26. According to the second paragraph, which of the following is NOT true?

A. Some people are happy when they work hard.

B. Some people are happy when they drink or take drugs.

C. Some people are happy when they get well-paid jobs.

D. Some people are happy when they possess their own expensive cars.

27. Generally speaking, most people feel happy because ______.

A. they think happiness is rooted in their deep hearts

B. they get what they want to have

C. they get a long vacation

D. they get a great paying job

28. In the author’s opinion, which of the following.is the most important if you want to be happy?

A. Losing weight B. An expensive car

C. Success in work D. Feeling happy   

29. Which of the following is right according to the author?

A. Most people today are happy.

B. Most people choose to be unhappy most of the time.

C. Work is a necessary part in our daily life.

D. We try to get more and then we’ll be happy.

30. From the viewpoint of the author, happiness is ______.

A. limited B. out of reach

C. unconditional D. based on our needs

III. Discourse Cloze. (10 points, 1 point for each)

Directions: The following passage is taken from the textbook. Read the passage and fill in the numbered spaces (there are more suggested answers than necessary). Write your answers on the Answer Sheet.

Miller uses the techniques of the modern theatre to the full. He is not satisfied with simply employing the devices oflights and sound as an addition to the acting, 31. ______. This is a deliberate attempt to make the theatre as a whole, not merely the actors, express the messages of the play. Mechanical devices assume, then, a symbolic significance—they represent an essential meaning or idea in the play in physical terms. They express a meamng — 32. ______.

Miller was writing for a middle-class audience. His plays were performed on Broadway,33. ______. Therefore they reached only a small proportion of the population Miller uses this fact (that the plays reached only a relatively small proportion of the population) to advantage in Death of a Salesman, where he examines American middle-class ideas and beliefs. He was able to place before his audience  Willy Loman, 34. ______, ones which have been summed up by the phrase “the American Dream”. The American Dream is a combination of  beliefs in the unity of the family, the healthiness of competition in society, the need for success and money, and the view that 35. ______.  Some of these are connected: America seemed at one stage in history to offer alternatives to the European way of life; she seemed to be the New World, vast, having plenty of land and riches for all of its people, all of whom could share in the wealth of the nation. America was a land of opportunity. This belief is still apparent, even in twentieth-century America, with its large urban population, and Miller uses it in his plays, in order to state something significant about American society. In such a land, where all people have a great deal of opportunity, success should come fahly easily, 36. ______. To become successful in the American Dream means to believe in competition, to reach the top as quickly as possible by proving oneself better than others. Success is judged by the amount of wealth which can be acquired by an individual. 37. ______. Money and success mean stability; and stability can be seen in the family unit. The family is a guideline to success. 38. ______. These ideas should always be kept in mind when Death of a Salesman is considered.

Another point to consider is Miller’s conception of what the theatre should do. He is both a psychological and a social dramatist.39. ______. Often, these people are ordinary, everyday types, but ones whose actions are made significant by the dramatist. For example, the lives of ordinary citizens going about their daily business in their homes may not obviously appear interesting, but the dramatist can indicate that their daily lives are important, that they are interesting or unusual as people and that the audience may see their own situations and psychological states reflected in the characters the dramatist has created. Death of a Salesman is a good example of this. Of course, all dramatists and novelists try to make the actions of their characters relevant to other people, and most analyze closely the minds of the characters they have created in order to establish what makes them function as individuals.  Where Miller differs from many of the others is 40. ______. Most of his heroes are ordinary people: they do not seem to be different from anyone who can be met in any street; and this, it might be argued, adds force to his plays, since none of the characters are remote—we share their feelings, and understand their difficulties. Also, Miller is able to show that everyday people can rise above the ordinary when challenged.

(From Miller’s Theatre and Miller’s Ideas)

A. a man who shared many of their ideals

B. America is the great land in which free opportunity for all exists

C. hence the term “expressionist” is often used to describe Miller as a dramatist

D. but indicates in the stage directions of his plays precisely when a particular form of lighting or piece of sound is to be used

E. so an unsuccessful man could feel bitter about his failure, excluded as he was from the success around him

F. This means that Miller has often been regarded as an ally of the American Left

G the center of New York’s theatrical and cultural life, and in London’s West End

H. As a psychological dramatist he studies character, the motives and reasons behind the behavior of individuals, and presents them to his audiences so that his individual characters become convincingly alive

I. People were not as stable financially because of the depression and then the 1939-45 war, and so their way of life seemed to be challenged

J. It also provides emotional stability, and a good family shares its hopes and beliefs

K. Success is extemal and visible, shown in material wealth and encouraged

L. in the type of person that he has created

IV. Word Formations. (10 points, 1 point for each)

Directions: Complete each of the following sentences with the proper form of the word in the brackets. Write your answers on the Answer Sheet.

41. (complete) In his life, each stage of his development depends on the satisfactory ______ of the one before .

42. (achieve) I felt a great sense of ______ when I reached the top of the mountain.

43. (shock) He’s ______ at the prevalence of bribery among these officials.

44. (relief) He smoked frequently to _____his nervous tension.

45.(imply) The new report has far-reaching ______ for the future of Chinese education.

46. (doubt) Because of a long drought, the farmers are ______ about the prospect of a good yield.

47. (horrify) I was ______ at the idea of having to give a speech in front of so many people.

48. (polite) ______ is the attribute of a gentleman.

49. (deception) You are ______ yourself if you still believe that she will help you.

50. (treat) First aid is emergency care for a victim of sudden illness or  injury until more skillful medical ______ is available.

V. Gap Filling. (10 points, 1 point for each)

Directions: The following passage is taken from the textbook. Fill in the numbered gaps with the correct form of the words or phrases in the box (there are more words than necessary).  Write your answers on the Answer Sheet.

In big cities, the Police Commissioner (Head of the Force) is often appointed by Mayor and therefore senior police officers tend to be too 51. ______ linked to politics. Their ambitions sometimes tempt them to turn a blind eye or to accept bribes, which lowers the morale of the ordinary cop. The structure of the many different American police forces is said to be the most varied in the whole world.

The city police often come into conflict with the FBI —the Federal Bureau of Investigation. FBI men, do not wear uniforms, have the right to cross State borders if they are pursuing a 52. ______. They are responsible to the US Department of Justice, and have their 53. ______ in Washington, D. C. The head of the FBI is chief domestic intelligence adviser to the President. The FBI men are more concerned with spies and agents hostile to the USA, radicals and Mafia（黑手党） bosses 54. ______ they are with ordinary criminals, but they do keep a record of all crimes, which city and State police can consult if they 55. ______. The FBI laboratory services, among the best in the world, are also available to local law enforcement agencies.

The activities of the CIA—the Central Intelligence Agency— are now well 56. ______ in every country in the world. The job of the CIA is to keep the Government informed of the activities of 57. ______ agents and the secret preparations of hostile powers. CIA agents also work in countries where it is felt that aid, or the promise of aid, will maintain sympathy 58. ______ the USA. Sometimes the CIA’s actions do just the reverse, and in many parts of the world

including countries friendly to the USA, they are disliked and even 59. ______.However, the CIA is just one of the many secret services all countries use to protect themselves 60. ______ possible enemies.

(From The Police and the Intelligence Agents)

VI. Short Answer Questions. (10 points, 5 points for each)

Directions: The following 2 questions are based on Passage Four in this test paper. Read the passage carefully again and answer the questions briefly by referring back to Passage Four. Write your answers on the Answer Sheet.

61. What are psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, and specialists on the family aware of in Passage Four?

62. Why does the author state that the family is a co-operative enterprise according to the passage?

VII. Translation. (10 points, 2 points for each)

Directions: The following excerpt is taken from the textbook. Read the paragraphs carefully and translate into Chinese each of the numbered and underlined parts.

Most of us, however, take life for granted. We know that one day we must die, but usually we picture that day as far in the future. When we are in buoyant health, death is all but unimaginable. We seldom think of it. 63. The days stretch out in an endless vista. So we go about our petty task, hardly aware of our listless attitude toward life. The same lethargy, I am afraid, characterizes the use of all our faculties and senses. 64. Only the deaf appreciate hearing, only the blind realize the manifold blessings that lie in sight. Particularly does this observation apply to those who have lost sight and hearing in adult life. 65. But those who have never suffered impairment of sight or hearing seldom make the fullest use of these blessed faculties. 66. Their eyes and ears take in all sights and sounds hazily, without concentration, and with little appreciation. It is the same old story of not being grateful for what we have until we lose it, of not being conscious of health until we are ill. I have often thought it would be a blessing if. each human being were stricken blind and deaf for a few days at some time during his early adult life. Darkness would make him more appreciative of sight; silence would teach him the joys of sound. Now and then I have tested my seeing friends to discover what they see. Recently I was visited by a very good friend who had just returned from a long walk in the woods, and I asked her what she had observed. “Nothing in particular.” She replied. 67. I might have been incredulous had I not been accustomed to such responses, for long ago I became convinced that the seeing see little.

(From Three Days to See)