快速导航
学历类
职业资格
公务员
医卫类
建筑工程
外语类
外贸类
计算机类
财会类
技能鉴定
Part I Reading Comprehension
Passage 1
Questions 1 to 5 are based on the following passage:
In Washington D.C., 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue is a very special address. It is
the address of the White House, the home of the president of the United
States.
Originally the White House was gray and was called the Presidential Palace.
It was built from 1792 to 1800. at this time, the city of Washington itself was
being built; it was to be the nation’s new capital city. George Washington, the
first president, and Pierre Charles L’Enfant, a French engineer, chose the place
for the new city. L’Enfant then planned they city. The president’s home was an
important part of the plan.
A contest was held to pick a design for the president’s home. An architect
named James Hoban won. He designed a large three-story house of gray stone.
President Washington never lived in the President Palace. The first president
to live there was John Adams, the second president of the United States, and his
wife Mrs. Adams did not really like hew new house. In her letters, she often
complained about the cold. Fifty fireplaces were not enough to keep the house
warm!
In 1812 the United States and Britain went to war. In 1814 the British
invaded Washington. Theu burned many buildings, including the Presidential
Palace.
After the war James Hoban, the original architect, partially rebuilt the
president’s homes. To cover the marks of the fire, the building was painted
white. Before long it became known as the White House.
The White House is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the United
States. Every year more than 1.5 million visitors go through the five rooms that
are open to the public.
1. The White House was built in Washington .
A. because a French engineer was invited to design it
B. because President George Washington liked to live in it
C. because the British invaders lived in it in 1812-1814
D. because it was to be the nation’s capital city
2. The Presidential Palace was .
A. painted gray and white B. made of gray stone
C. made of white stone D. made very warm in winter
3. The president’s home and the city of Washington were .
A. built by the American army B. built by the British troops
C. planned by George Washington D. planned by the French
4. The original home of the president needed to be rebuilt .
A. because John Adam’s wife did not like it
B. because it was cold in winter even with 50 fireplaces
C. because it had burned down during the war
D. because George Washington was not willing to live in it
5. The new presidential home was painted white to .
A. cover the marks of fire B. attract tourist from France
C. to please Mrs. John Adams D. keep it warm in winter
What does the future hold for the problem of housing? A good deal depends, of
course, on the meaning of “future”. If one is thinking in terms of science
fiction and the space age, it is at least possible to assume that man will have
solved such trivial and earthly problems as housing. Writers of science fiction,
from H.G. Wells onwards, have had little to say on the subject. They have
conveyed the suggestion that men will live in great comfort, with every
conceivable apparatus to make life smooth, healthy and easy, if not happy. But
they have not said what his house will be made of. Perhaps some new building
material, as yet unimagined, will have been discovered or invented at least. One
may be certain that bricks and mortar(泥灰，灰浆) will long have gone out of
fashion.
But the problems of the next generation or two can more readily be imagined.
Scientists have already pointed out that unless something is done either to
restrict the world’s rapid growth in population or to discover and develop new
sources of food (or both), millions of people will be dying of starvation or at
the best suffering from underfeeding before this century is out. But nobody has
yet worked out any plan for housing these growing populations. Admittedly the
worst situations will occur in the hottest parts of the world, where housing can
be light structure or in backward areas where standards are traditionally low.
But even the minimum shelter requires materials of some kind and in the teeming,
bulging towns the low-standard “housing” of flattened petrol cans and dirty
canvas is far more wasteful of ground space than can be tolerated.
Since the war, Hong Kong has suffered the kind of crisis which is likely to
arise in many other places during the next generation. Literally millions of
refugees arrived to swell the already growing population and emergency steps had
to be taken rapidly to prevent squalor(肮脏)and disease and the spread crime. The
city is tackling the situation energetically and enormous blocks of
tenements(贫民住宅)are rising at an astonishing aped. But Hong Kong is only one
small part of what will certainly become a vast problem and not merely a housing
problem, because when population grows at this rate there are accompanying
problems of education, transport, hospital services, drainage, water supply and
so on. Not every area may give the same resources as Hong Kong to draw upon and
the search for quicker and cheaper methods of construction must never cease.
1.What is the author’s opinion of housing problems in the first
paragraph?
A.They may be completely solved at sometime in the future.
B.They are unimportant and easily dealt with.
C.They will not be solved until a new building material has been
discovered.
D.They have been dealt with in specific detail in books describing the
future.
2.The writer is sure that in the distant future ___.
A.bricks and mortar will be replaced by some other building material.
B.a new building material will have been invented.
C.bricks and mortar will not be used by people who want their house to be
fashionable.
D.a new way of using bricks and mortar will have been discovered.
3.The writer believes that the biggest problem likely to confront the world
before the end of the century ___.
A.is difficult to foresee.
B.will be how to feed the ever growing population.
C.will be how to provide enough houses in the hottest parts of the world.
D.is the question of finding enough ground space.
4.When the writer says that the worst situations will occur in the hottest
parts of the world or in backward areas, he is referring to the fact that in
these parts ___.
A.standards of building are low.
B.only minimum shelter will be possible.
C.there is not enough ground space.
D.the population growth will be the greatest.
5.Which of the following sentences best summarizes Paragraph 3?
A.Hong Kong has faced a serious crisis caused by millions of refugees.
B.Hong Kong has successfully dealt with the emergency caused by millions of
refugees.
C.Hong Kong’s crisis was not only a matter of housing but included a number
of other problems of population growth.
D.Many parts of the world may have to face the kind of problems encountered
by Hong Kong and may find it much harder to deal with them.
Passage 4
Questions 16 to 20 are based on the following passage:
The new global satellite communications systems will offer three kinds service, which may overlap in many different kinds of receivers.
VOICE. Satellite telephones will be able to make calls from anywhere on the Earth to anywhere else. That could make them especially useful to remote, third world villages (some of which already use stationary satellite telephones), explorers and disaster-relief teams. Today’s mobile telephones depend on
earth-bound transmitters, where technical standards vary from country to country. So business travelers cannot use their mobile phones on international trips. Satellite telephones would make that possible.
MESSAGING. Satellite massagers have the same global coverage as satellite telephones, but carry text alone, which could be useful for those with laptop computers. Equipped with a small screen like today’s papers, satellite massagers will also receive short messages.
TRACKING. Voice and messaging systems will also tell their users where they are to within a few hundred meters. Combined with the messaging service, the location service could help rescue teams to find stranded adventurers, the police to find stolen cars, exporters to follow the progress of cargoes, and
haulage companies to check that drivers are not detouring the pub. America’s military Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite will provide better positioning information to anyone who has a receiver for their signals, but GPS does not carry messages, so such a receiver cannot be used on its own for tracking or rescue. By the mid-1990s, GPS receivers will be able to tell people where they are to within 70 meters anywhere in the world, and to within a meter or so in areas where the service is supplemented by ground-based transmitter.
16. Global satellite communications systems will be useful to .
A. laptop computer users
B. remote villages
C. disaster-relief teams
D. all above
17. Satellite telephone will make .
A. business travelers use mobile phones on international trips
B. possible calls from anywhere on earth to anywhere else
C. explorers happy
D. all above
18. Which of the following is true?
A. The positioning precision of the voice system is better than that of
GPS.
B. The positioning precision of GPS is Better than that of the voice
system.
C. The positioning precision of the messaging system is better than of
GPS.
D. The positioning precision of voice system is better than that of the
messaging system.
19. What can we say about the new global satellite communications
systems?
A. They are widely used.
B. They are very helpful.
C. They are costly.
D. Both A and B.
20. Which of the following may be the best title for the passage?
A. Global Satellite Communications
B. New Voice and Messaging System
C. New Generation Satellite
D. Always in Touch
