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Directions: In this section, there are four passages. Each passage is followed by five questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. You should choose the best choice.
If one is asked about the best way to improve one's reading ability, it is of course, to read. As a student, you must make a real effort to improve both your reading speed and your comprehension. Too many students read passively and without judgment; they simply start at the first word and read through to the end. You should read a passage actively, selectively and purposefully. You must believe that you indeed have the ability to read faster and understand more, and that you will.
Reading, like everything else in life, is best done when you are relaxed. The key to improve it is concentration. You must be willing to break some old habits and form new ones. Extra body movement, such as turning the head from side to side, pointing at the line with a finger or a pencil, or moving the lips, should be stopped immediately. Reading is mostly a mental process and body movement helps neither speed nor comprehension. Then you should see words as part of a whole sentence or Paragraph, not just in isolation. This is why a slow, word-by-word student often understands far less, missing much of the joy and excitement of reading.
The student must learn to improve reading skills on their own, and not just when a teacher is looking over his shoulder . Reading improvement takes discipline and effort. Don't give up.
1. If you want to improve your reading ability, you should ______.
A. read each word in the passage carefully
B. read with choice, purpose and confidence
C. start at the first word
D. read a passage completely from the beginning to the end
2. The best title of the passage might be ______.
A. How to Improve Your Reading Ability
B. How to Cultivate Good Habits in Reading
C. Developing Reading Methods
D. Getting Rid of Your Bad Habits While Reading
3. Best reading efficiency can be achieved if one ______.
A. reads paragraph by paragraph
B. reads in great detail
C. reads with focus
D. reads as fast as possible
4. According to the author, all the following are the bad habits in reading EXCEPT ______.
A. moving the lips
B. pointing at words with something
C. holding a book in hands
D. turning the head from side to side
5. The phrase “looking over his shoulder” in Paragraph 3 may best be replaced by ______.
A. watching him
B. examining his shoulder
C. encouraging him
D. looking at someone behind him
When I was about 12, I had an enemy, a girl who liked to point out my shortcomings (缺点). Week by week her list grew : I was very thin, I wasn't a good student, I talked too much, I was too proud, and so on. I tried to hear all this as long as I could. At last, I became very angry. I ran to my father with tears in my eyes.
He listened to me quietly, and then asked, “Are the things she said true or not? Jane, didn't you ever wonder what you're really like? Well, you now have that girl's opinions. Go and make a list of everything she said and mark the points that are true. Pay no attention to the other things she said.”
I did as he told me. To my great surprise, I discovered that about half the things were true. Some of them I couldn't change (like being very thin), but a good number I could and suddenly I wanted to change. For the first time I got a fairly clear picture of myself.
I brought the list back to Daddy. He refused to take it. “That's just for you,” he said. “You know better than anyone else the truth about yourself. But you have to learn to listen, not just closing your ears in anger and feeling hurt. When something said about you is true, you'll find it will be of help to you. Our world is full of people who think they know your duty. Don't shut your ears. Listen to them all, but hear the truth and do what you know is the right thing to do.”
Daddy's advice has returned to me at many important moments. In my life, I've never had a better piece of advice.
6. Which do you think would be the best title for this passage?
A. Not an Enemy, but the Best Friend
B. The Best Advice I've Ever Had
C. My Father
D. My Childhood
7. What does “Week by week her list grew” in Paragraph 1 mean?
A. Week by week she discovered more shortcomings of mine and pointed them out to me.
B. She had made a list of my shortcomings and she kept on adding new ones to it so that it was growing longer and longer.
C. I was having more and more shortcomings as time went on.
D. Week by week, my shortcomings grew more serious.
8. The author's “enemy” pointed out all her shortcomings EXCEPT that ______.
A. she wasn't a good student
B. she talked too much
C. she was too proud
D. she was too fat
9. Why did her father listen to her quietly?
A. Because he believed that what his daughter's “enemy” said was mostly true.
B. Because he had been so angry with his daughter's shortcomings that he wanted to show this by keeping silent for a while.
C. Because he knew that his daughter would not listen to him at that moment.
D. Because he wasn't quite sure which girl was telling the truth.
10. What did the father do after he had heard his daughter's complaint?
A. He told her not to pay any attention to what her “enemy” had said.
B. He criticized (批评) her and told her to overcome her shortcomings.
C. He told her to write down all that her “enemy” had said about her and pay attention only to the things that were true.
D. He refused to take the list and have a look at it.
Roger Sperry and Robert Ornstein of the California Institute of Technology won a Nobel Prize in 1972. They discovered that the human brain has two sides, and each side has different work to do. The left side of the brain controls language and numbers; it analyzes and reasons. The right side controls our imagination; it controls our understanding of music and our sense of rhythm. It is the right side of our brain that makes daydreams.
Great artists and great scientists are similar: they both use the two sides of their brain. It is well-known that Albert Einstein, as a great scientist, also enjoyed art, playing the violin and sailing. Einstein said his scientific discoveries grew from his imagination rather than from analysis, reason and language. He said that written and spoken words were not important in his thinking. He got ideas by using his imagination. He then used the left side of his brain to use analysis, number and reason and then he used language to explain it.
Usual education in schools encourages us to use the left side of our brains. Language, number, analysis and reason are given more importance in our schools than imagination and daydreaming. In fact, all of us need both sides of our brain. We need to use our imagination to think of solutions to problems and to enjoy feelings and creative experiences. And we need to be logical and to be able to analyze and organize in order to live in this world.
It is true that some people find it easier to use one side of the brain rather than the other but all of us can use both sides and all of us benefit by using all the powers we have. Nietzsche, the well-known philosopher, said that we add to our knowledge by making conscious the unconscious.
11. According to the passage, ______ of our brain controls our understanding of music.
A. the left side
B. the right side
C. both sides
D. neither side
12. Albert Einstein's example is used to support the idea that ______.
A. all scientific discoveries are based on imagination
B. people should do nothing but daydream
C. using two sides of the brain is important
D. scientists are good at imagining what may happen
13. It is implied in the passage that school education ______.
A. suggests using both sides of the brain
B. finds it very important to have daydreams
C. claims that analysis and reason are of no value
D. fails to develop the right side of the brain
14. What did Nietzsche say about adding to the knowledge we have?
A. Learning happens when we are not conscious.
B. Learning happens when we make unconscious decisions.
C. Learning happens when we become aware of things inside us.
D. Learning happens when we think about things logically.
15. The author's attitude towards using two sides of the brain is ______.
A. positive
B. neutral
C. illogical
D. critical
Supermarket packaging often contains common English words that are confusing. Here's what you need to know to protect your health.
This is evaluated based on set portion sizes for total fat and it's fewer than 3 g per RACC (单次食用常规参考量) for calories. It's fewer than 40 g in a meal, unless it's a main meal; then it's 120g or fewer than 100g.
Don't be fooled: that a product claims to have reduced fat or to contain less sugar doesn't mean it's lower in the stuff you should avoid in excess. Such terms just mean the amount is lower than usual; the food might not meet the low standard at all. These phrases indicate a relational claim compared with a reference food.
Labels not only brag (吹嘘) about a food's low levels of bad stuff, but also about a food's high levels of good stuff. High means that the food has 20 percent or more of the recommended daily value.
This is the most disputable word on food labels. The FDA has considered comments about how to define natural for years but could not reach an agreement. The terms still have no official definition.
16. For total fat, what does the word “Low” mean?
A. Fewer than 3 g per RACC.
B. Fewer than 40 g per RACC.
C. Fewer than 100 g per RACC.
D. Fewer than 120 g per RACC.
17. What does it mean when a product claims to have reduced fat?
A. It contains less sugar.
B. It meets the low standard.
C. Its amount of fat is lower than usual.
D. Its amount of fat is lower than other foods.
18. What can we learn from the last two paragraphs?
A. High refers to a suggested daily amount.
B. It took the FDA years to reach an agreement.
C. Labels tend to show a food's high levels of good stuff.
D. The term “natural” has already had an official definition.
19. Which is the most disputable word on food labels?
A. Low.
B. Reduced.
C. High.
D. Natural.
20. Where is this passage most likely taken from?
A. A novel.
B. A magazine.
C. A news report.
D. A travel guide.