专四考前恶补阅读完型(2)(2)
文章出处： 发布时间：2006-07-09
Tsunamis travel fairly slowly, at speeds up to 500 miles an hour. An adequate warning system is in use to warn all shores likely to be reached by the waves.
But this only enables people to leave the threatened shores for higher ground.
There is no way to stop the oncoming wave.
18. Which of the following CANNOT be concluded from the passage?
A. The number of earthquakes is closely related to depth.
B. Roughly the same number of earthquakes occur each year.
C. Earthquakes are impossible at depths over 460 miles.
D. Earthquakes are most likely to occur near the surfaces.
19. The destruction of Agadir is an example of ___ ___.
A. faulty building construction
B. an earthquake’s strength
C. widespread panic in earthquakes
D. ineffective instruments
20. The United Nations’ experts are supposed to ___ ___.
A. construct strong buildings
B. put forward proposals
C. detect disastrous earthquakes
D. monitor earthquakes
21. The significance of the slow speed of tsunamis is that people may ___ ___.
A. notice them out at sea
B. find ways to stop them
C. be warned early enough
D. develop warning systems
TEXT C
There are many theories about the beginning of drama in ancient Greece. The one most widely accepted today is based on the assumption that drama evolved from ritual. The argument for this view goes as follows. In the beginning, human beings viewed the natural forces of the world, even the seasonal changes, as unpredictable, and they sought through various means, to control these unknown and feared powers. Those measures which appeared to bring the desired results were then retained and repeated until they hardened into fixed rituals. Eventually stories arose which explained or veiled the mysteries of the rites. As time passed some rituals were abandoned, but the stories, later called myths, persisted and provided material for art and drama.
Those who believed that drama evolved out of ritual also argue that those rites contained the seed of theater because music, dance, masks, and costumes were almost always used. Furthermore, a suitable site had to be provided for performances, and when the entire community did not participate, a clear division was usually made between the “acting area” and the “auditorium”. In addition, there were performers, and, since considerable importance was attached to avoiding mistakes in the enactment of rites, religious leaders usually assumed that task. Wearing masks and costumes, they often impersonated other people, animals, or super
natural beings, and mimed the desired effect－success in hunt or battle, the coming rain, the revival of the Sun—as an actor might. Eventually such dramatic representations were separated from religious activities.
Another theory traces the theater’s origin from the human interest in storytelling. According to this view, tales (about the hunt, war, or other feats) are gradually elaborated, at first through the use of impersonation, action, and dialogue by a narrator and then through the assumption of each of the roles by a different person. A closely related theory traces theater to those dances that are primarily rhythmical and gymnastic or that are imitations of animal movements and sounds.
22. What does the passage mainly discuss?
A. The origins of theater.
B. The role of ritual in modern dance.
C. The importance of storytelling.
D. The variety of early religious activities.
23. What aspect of drama does the author discuss in the first paragraph?
A. The reason drama is often unpredictable.
B. The seasons in which dramas were performed.
C. The connection between myths and dramatic plots.
D. The importance of costumes in early drama.
24. Which of the following is NOT mentioned as a common element of theater and ritual?
A. Dance.B. Costumes.C. Music.D. Magic.
25. According to the passage, what is the main difference between ritual and drama?
A. Ritual uses music whereas drama does not.
B. Ritual is shorter than drama.
C. Ritual requires fewer performers than drama.
D. Ritual has a religious purpose and drama does not.
26. The passage supports which of the following statements?
A. No one really knows how the theater began.
B. Myths are no longer represented dramatically.
C. Storytelling is an important part of dance.
D. Dramatic activities require the use of costumes.
TEXT D
People have been painting pictures for at least 30,000 years. The earliest pictures were painted by people who hunted animals. They used to paint pictures of the animals they wanted to catch and kill. Pictures of this kind have been found on the walls of caves in France and Spain. No one knows why they were painted there. Perhaps the painters thought that their pictures would help them to catch these animals. Or perhaps human beings have always wanted to tell stories in pictures.
About 5,000 years ago, the Egyptians and other people in the Near East began to use pictures as kind of writing. They drew simple pictures or signs to represent things and ideas, and also to represent the sounds of their language. The signs these people used became a kind of alphabet. The Egyptians used to record information and to tell stories by putting picturewriting and pictures together. When an important person died, scenes and stories from his life were painted and carved on the walls of the place where he was buried. Some of these pictures are like modern comic strip stories. It has been said that Egypt is the home of the comic strip. But, for the Egyptians, pictures still had magic power. So they did not try to make their way of writing simple. The ordinary people could not understand it.
By the year 1,000 BC, people who lived in the area around the Mediterranean Sea had developed a simpler system of writing. The signs they used were very easy to write, and there were fewer of them than in the Egyptian system. This was because each sign, or letter, represented only one sound in their language. The Greeks developed this system and formed the letters of the Greek alphabet. The Romans copied the idea, and the Roman alphabet is now used all over the world.
These days, we can write down a story, or record information, without using pictures. But we still need pictures of all kinds: drawing, photographs, signs and diagrams. We find them everywhere: in books and newspapers, in the street, and on the walls of the places where we live and work. Pictures help us to understand and remember things more easily, and they can make a story much more interesting.
27. Pictures of animals were painted on the walls of caves in France and Spain because ___ ___.
A. the hunters wanted to see the pictures
B. the painters were animal lovers
C. the painters wanted to show imagination
D. the pictures were thought to be helpful
28. The Greek alphabet was simpler than the Egyptian system for all the following reasons EXCEPT that ___ ___.
A. the former was easy to write
B. there were fewer signs in the former
C. the former was easy to pronounce
D. each sign stood for only one sound
29. Which of the following statements is TRUE?
A. The Egyptian signs later became a particular alphabet.
B. The Egyptians liked to write comicstrip stories.
C. The Roman alphabet was developed from the Egyptian one.
D. The Greeks copied their writing system from the Egyptians.
30. In the last paragraph, the author thinks that pictures ___ ___.
A. should be made comprehensible
B. should be made interesting
C. are of much use in our life
D. have disappeared from our life
SKIMMING AND SCANNING ［5 MIN.］
In this section there are six passages followed by ten questions or unfinished statements. Skim or scan them as required and then mark your answers on your ANSWER SHEET.
TEXT E
First read the following question.
31. This letter is written by a ___ ___.
A. prospective salesperson
B. high school student
C. publisher
D. manager
Now read Text E quickly and mark your answer on your ANSWER SHEET.
28 Beach Road,
Newtown.
March 20th, 2000
The Manager,
Royal Publishers,
P.O.Box 446
Newtown.
Dear Sir,
I am 18 years old, and I graduated from Newtown High School last October. At high school my main subjects were English, business studies, history, athletics and science.
I would be very interested in working as a salesman. I am very interested in books, and I have always been interested in the publishing business. I enjoy meeting and talking to people.
I enclose two letters of reference, a photograph, and my school academic record. I would be available for an interview at any time. I look forward to hearing from you.
Yours sincerely,
Jack Eastwood
TEXT F
First read the following question.
32. The general idea of the passage is that _____.
A. doctors can produce magic
B. medicine has magic power
C. modern medicine can cure all illnesses
D. a healthy mind is also a cure for illness
Now read Text F quickly and mark your answer on your ANSWER SHEET.
For more than five thousand years Chinese doctors have used needles to fight illness. This kind of medicine is called acupuncture. The doctor studies the sick person carefully. Then he puts needles into that person’s body at the right places for his illness. Chinese doctors believe that they can control the body’s natural forces in this way. At first, doctors in the West thought that this was just another kind of magic. Recently, however, they have found out that it is possible to cure many illnesses like this because the needles help the body to produce its own “medicines”. In this way the body cures itself.
Nowadays doctors can do a lot of wonderful things. They can use thousands of medicines. They can give you pills and injections. They can even give you mechanical legs or a new heart. Sometimes modern medicine works like magic. But there are still a lot of illnesses that drugs and machines cannot cure completely. Medicine is not only a science; it is an art, too. And in the art of medicine, the mind is very important. You will not have a healthy body unless you have a healthy mind.
TEXT G
First read the following question.
33. Who will best fit the vacancy described in the ad?
A. A receptionist with secondaryschool education.
B. A typist with three years of working experience.
C. A young college graduate with a management degree.
D. A middleaged clerk with some working knowledge of computers.
Now read Text G quickly and mark your answer on your ANSWER SHEET.
Administration trainee
We have a vacancy for a trainee in our head office.
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