自考试卷：2008年10月00596英语阅读（二）自考试题及答案

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全国2008年10月高等教育自学考试

英语阅读（二）试题

课程代码：00596

请将答案填在答题纸相应的位置上。全部题目用英文作答（翻译题除外）

I. Reading Comprehension. （50 points, 2 points for each）

Directions: In this part of the test, there are five passages.

Following each passage, there are five questions with four choices

marked A, B, C and D. Choose the best answer and then write the

corresponding letter on your Answer Sheet.

Passage One

Whether you’re delivering a speech, approaching your boss for a raise

or addressing audience on an important social occasion, do your

homework. The most polished, smoothly delivered, spontaneous-sounding

talks are the result of many hours of work. The memorable one-liners

and moving phrases that go down in history don’t come from last minute

burst of inspiration.

If you’re making a presentation of any sort, begin preparing as far

ahead of time as possible. “Good writing,” says Harvard University

historian Richard Marius, “is a kind of wrestling with thought.”

Begin the wrestling match early. Two days before your presentation is

usually too late to go into the ring and come up with a winning idea.

Prepare yourself as well as your material, giving special attention to

your voice. A shrill, nasal tone strikes your listener like chalk

screeching on a blackboard. By putting energy and resonance into your

voice, you will have a positive effect. If your voice is timid or

quivers with nervousness, you sense it, the audience hears it, and you

see discomfort in their eyes. With energy and enthusiasm in your voice,

the listeners say ahhh, tell me more. You read approval.

Like your voice, your appearance is a communication tool. For example,

if you are animated, you are most likely to see animated listeners. You

give the audience the message: I’m glad I’m here; I’m glad you’re

here.

However, don’t ever assume that an audience, an interviewer, your boss

will be sympathetic. Always be prepared for a grilling. Think

beforehand of the ten toughest questions you could get and be ready

with your answers. And remember, when you’re asked a hostile question,

never show hostility to your questioner. If you do, you lose.

While the hostile questioner is talking, prepare your response. Take a

positive tack immediately, and make your answer short. The instant the

interviewer finishes the question, begin the answer: first point,

second point, third point...bingo, your conclusion.

The way you listen gives messages about you too. Listen with interest,

focusing your eyes on the speaker. If he or she is sitting next to you,

angle your body slightly in the chair so that you’re turned toward the

person. Animate your face with approval. It says, I’m with you, I’m

interested in what you’re saying.

Once you’re prepared for a situation, you’re 50 per cent of the way

toward overcoming nervousness. The other 50 per cent is the physical

and mental control of nervousness: adjusting your attitude so you have

confidence, and control of yourself and your audience.

Questions 1-5 are based on Passage One.

1. What is the main idea of the passage?

A. The methods that one can use to let people agree with him or her in

a speech.

B. How to make one’s voice and appearance pleasant when one gives

speeches.

C. The importance of preparation before one talks to people on formal

occasions.

D. How to overcome anxiety when one talks to the audience on formal

occasions.

2. “One-liners” （Para. 1） are ________.

A. well-written articles B. excellent

speeches

C. single witty sentences D. unforgettable

phrases

3. By saying “like chalk screeching on a blackboard” （Para. 3）, the

author ________.

A. refers to the feeling an unpleasant voice arouses in the audience

B. points out that one needs to use chalk to write on the blackboard

C. means that one should speak loud enough for all audience to hear

D. stresses that one must put energy and resonance into his or her

voice

4. When asked a hostile question, one should________.

A. answer quickly and briefly B. ignore the question

totally

C. defend himself or herself firmly D. respond smartly and

pleasantly

5. Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?

A. One should look out for tough questions from an audience

beforehand.

B. One should spend a lot of time preparing before talking to an

audience.

C. If one looks active and vigorous, the audience will respond

accordingly.

D. If one makes a thorough preparation he won’t be nervous at all in

a speech.

Passage Two

Soccer might be the most popular sport in the world, but for decades,

Americans have managed to resist its charm. Their attention has been

focused, of course, on the big three American sports: baseball,

football and basketball. And while soccer is rapidly gaining popularity

among younger Americans, the older generation remains detached from the

game, even when the rest of the world is glued to TV screens watching

the 2006 World Cup matches.

It’s not as though soccer is a stranger to American shores. The U.S.

national soccer team played in the first World Cup in 1930. But from

the start, the game had an image for many Americans as an immigrant

sport. Still soccer began to attract more attention in the United

States after the 1974 World Cup.

The following year, the country got its first professional soccer

teams, with the launch of the North American Soccer League. The New

York Cosmos became the league’s flagship franchise when it acquired a

stellar roster of players from 16 different countries, including the

Brazilian soccer legend Pele, the high-scoring Italian great Georgio

Chinagalia, and German superstar Franz Beckenbauer. By 1977, attendance

at American soccer games had grown to a record 62,000.

Peppe Pinton, a veteran soccer player and the executive director of the

Cosmos soccer camps, likes to recall those golden days when American

fans packed the stadiums to watch some of the world’s best soccer

players — most of them playing on the same team. “Americans are used

to watch winners,” Pinton says. “Americans are used to watch

superstars, great players in all sports, and they are not settling for

inferiority. The Cosmos team was not successful in the early years, but

it was successful when those players came here.”

People lined up to get into the stadium like they would line up to get

into a popular restaurant, Pinton says. “People attracted people. And

the Cosmos made this happen all over the U.S.,” he says. “It drew

record crowds in Seattle, in Miami, in Tampa, Boston, in Chicago and

then they went all over the world. They went even into China when

nobody was reaching China those years.”

But for 40 years, the U.S. was unable to qualify for World Cup games

because most of the players on its soccer teams were not American

citizens. Finally, in 1990, with enough home-grown or naturalized

players on its rosters, the U.S. was able to field a World Cup team.

Questions 6-10 are based on Passage Two.

6. Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the

passage?

A. The U.S. has been playing in World Cup for 20 years.

B. Soccer is not one of the top spectator sports in the U.S.

C. Many players on America’s soccer team were foreigners.

D. More and more young people in the U.S. are enjoying soccer.

7. Which is true about the New York Cosmos?

A. It was established in 1975.

B. It played in the 1974 World Cup.

C. It was a great success in mid- 1970s.

D. It broke a sport record in the late 1970s.

8. It is suggested that more and more Americans will watch soccer

if________.

A. their team plays in the World Cup

B. there are superstar players in their teams

C. there is greater promotion of the sport

D. more matches are arranged in their country

9. Which year is the most glorious time for soccer in the U.S.?

A. 1974. B. 1977.

C. 1990. D. 2006.

10. “Field” （Para. 6） has the closest meaning to which of the

following?

A. To sponsor a team. B. To host a sports

event.

C. To provide a game venue. D. To send players to a

game.

Passage Three

Many Americans harbor a grossly distorted and exaggerated view of most

of the risks surrounding food. Fergus Clydesdale, head of the

department of food science and nutrition at the University of

Massachusetts-Amherst, says bluntly that if the dangers from

bacterially contaminated chicken were as great as some people believe,

“the streets would be littered with people lying here and there.”

Though the public increasingly demands no-risk food, there is no such

thing. Bruce Ames, chairman of the biochemistry department at the

University of California, Berkeley, points out that up to 10% of a

plant’s weight is made up of natural pesticides. He says, “Since

plants do not have jaws or teeth to protect themselves, they employ

chemical warfare.” And many naturally produced

chemicals, though occurring in tiny amounts, prove in laboratory tests

to be strong carcinogens — substance which can cause cancer. Mushrooms

might be banned if they were judged by the same standards that apply to

food additives. Declares Christina Stark, a nutritionist at Cornell

University, “We’ve got far worse natural chemicals in the food supply

than anything man-made.”

Yet the issues are not that simple. While Americans have no reason to

be terrified to sit down at the dinner table, they have every reason to

demand significant improvements in food and water safety. They

unconsciously and unwillingly take in too much of too many dangerous

chemicals. If food already contains natural carcinogens, it does not

make much sense to add dozens of new man-made ones. Though most people

will withstand the small amount of contaminants generally found in food

and water, at least a few individuals will probably get cancer one day

because of what they eat and drink.

To make good food and water supplies even better, the Government needs

to tighten its regulatory standards, stiffen its inspection program

and strengthen its enforcement policies. The food industry should

modify some long-accepted practices or turn to less hazardous

alternatives. Perhaps most important, consumers will have to do a

better job of learning how to handle and cook food properly. The

problems that need to be tackled exist all along the food-supply chain,

from fields to processing plants to kitchens.

Questions 11-15 are based on Passage Three.

11. What does the author think of the Americans’ view of their food?

A. They overlook the risks of the food they eat.

B. They overestimate the hazards of their food.

C. They are overoptimistic about the safety of the food they eat.

D. They overstate the government’s interference with the food

industry.

12. The author considers it impossible to obtain no-risk food because

______.

A. no food is free from pollution in the environment

B. pesticides are presently widely used in agriculture

C. almost all foods have additives and preservatives

D. many vegetables contain dangerous natural chemicals

13. By saying “they employ chemical warfare” （Para. 2）, Bruce Ames

means ______.

A. plants produce certain chemicals to combat pests and diseases

B. plants make use of natural chemicals to promote their growth

C. farmers use man-made chemicals to dissolve the natural chemicals in

plants

D. farmers use man-made chemicals to protect plants against pests and

diseases

14. Who is most responsible for better food and water supply?

A. The government. B. The consumer.

C. The processor. D. The growers.

15. What is the message the author wants to convey in the passage?

A. Eating and drinking have become more hazardous.

B. Measures must be taken to improve food production.

C. Health food is no longer a dream in modern society.

D. There is no cause for alarm about food consumption.

Passage Four

The estimates of the numbers of home-schooled children vary widely. The

U.S. Department of Education estimates there are 250, 000 to 350, 000

home-schooled children in the country. Home-school advocates put the

number much higher – at about a million.

Many public school advocates take a harsh attitude toward home

schoolers, perceiving their actions as the ultimate slap in the face

for public education and a damaging move for the children. Home

schoolers harbor few kind words for public schools, charging

shortcomings that range from lack of religious perspective in the

curriculum to a herdlike approach to teaching children.

Yet, as public school officials realize they stand little to gain by

remaining hostile to the home-school population, and as home schoolers

realize they can reap benefits from public schools, these hard lines

seem to be softening a bit. Public schoolers have moved closer to

tolerance and, in some cases, even cooperation.

Says John Marshall, an education official, “We are becoming relatively

tolerant of home schoolers.” The idea is, “Let’s give the kids

access to public school so they’ll see it’s not as terrible as they’

ve been told, and they’ll want to come back.”

Perhaps, but don’t count on it, say home-school advocates. Home

schoolers, oppose the system because they have strong convictions that

their approach to education — whether fueled by religious enthusiasm

or the individual child’s interests and natural pace — is best.

“The bulk of home schoolers just want to be left alone,” says Enge

Cannon, associate director of the National Center For Home Education.

She says home schoolers choose that path for a variety of reasons, but

religion plays a role 85 percent of the time.

Professor Van Galen breaks home schoolers into two groups. Some home schoolers want their children to learn not only traditional subject matter but also “strict religious doctrine and a conservative political and social perspective. Not incidentally, they also want their children to learn — both intellectually and emotionally — that the family is the most important institution in society.” Other home schoolers contend “not so much that the schools teach heresy, but that schools teach whatever they teach inappropriately”.Van Galen writes, “These parents are highly independent and strive to‘take responsibility’ for their own lives within a society that they define as bureaucratic and inefficient.”

Questions 16-20 are based on Passage Four.

16. According to the passage, home schoolers are______.

A. those who hire teachers to educate their children after school

B. those who are educated at home instead of going to school

C. those who advocate combining public education with home schooling

D. those who teach their children at home instead of sending them to school

17. Public schools are softening their position on home schooling because______.

A. they want to show their tolerance for different situation

B. there isn’t much they can do to change the present situation

C. public schools cannot offer proper education for all children

D. home schooling provides a new variety of education for children

18. Home-school advocates are of the opinion that ______.

A. things in public schools are not so bad as they have often been said

B. their cooperation with public school will bring about benefits to all

C. home schooling is superior and, therefore, they will not easily give in

D. their tolerance of public education will attract more kids to public schools

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