II
第一节
阅读下列短文,从每题所给的A、B、C和D项中,选出最佳选项,并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
A
A small dog should be belly-up after eating a handful M&M’s, at least according to conventional wisdom. But watching “Moose”, a friend’s five-pound Chihuahua, race around a living room after his sweet snack makes one wonder: Is chocolate truly poisonous to dogs?
Dogs and humans have similar tastes. But unlike humans, our companions experience dangerous effects from eating chocolate —it can poison them and in some cases is fatal. Chocolate’s danger to dogs depends on its quality.
Chocolate is processed from the bitter seeds of the cocoa tree, which contain a family of compounds known as methylxanthines(一种衍生物). This class of substances includes caffeine and the related chemical theobromine(可可碱). Chocolate contains a significant amount of theobromine and smaller amounts of caffeine. These chemicals can cause a dog’s heart to race up to twice its normal rate, and some dogs may run around as if “they drank a gallon of espresso(浓咖啡),” according to Hackett.
Dogs are capable of handling some chocolate, but it depends on the animal’s weight and the type of chocolate it eats. Unsweetened baking chocolate contains more than six times as much theobromine as milk chocolate, although amounts vary between cocoa beans as well as different brands of chocolate. Less than four ounces of milk chocolate is potentially fatal for Moose and other small dogs.
Around every confection-centered holiday — Valentine’s Day, Easter and Christmas — at least three or four dogs are hospitalized overnight in the animal medical center at Colorado State. But in 16 years, Hackett has seen just one dog die from chocolate poisoning, and he suspects it may have had an underlying disease that made it more exposed to chocolate’s heart –racing effect.
26. The underlined expression “belly-up” probably means______.
A. dead
27. All of the following are true EXCEPT______.
A. chocolate’s danger to dogs depends on its quantity and quality
B. people buy lots of chocolate around Valentine’s Day
C. an ounce of unsweetened baking chocolate is safe for Moose
D. there must be some theobromine or caffeine in espresso
28. What can we learn about Hackett?
A. He is a vet.
C. He is the owner of Moose
29. It can be inferred from the passage that Hackett believes that______.
A. chocolate is truly deadly to dogs
B. it’s OK to give chocolate to a big dog
C. pets are usually ignored around confection-centered holidays
D. a healthy dog probably could survive a chocolate poisoning
30. The passage is mainly about______.
A. the poisoning of Moose
B. the compounds of different chocolates
C. a handful M&M’s chocolate is poisonous
D. the relation between methylxanthines and chocolate poisoning
B
If sustainable competitive advantage depends on workforce skills, American firms have a problem. Human-resource management is not traditionally seen as central to the competitive survival of the firm in the United States. Skill acquisition is considered an individual responsibility. Labour is simply another factor of production to be hired—rented at the lowest possible cost—much as one buys materials or equipment.
31. Which of the following applies to the management of human resources in American companies?
A. They hire people at the lowest cost with relatively best skills.
B. They see the gaining of skills as their employees' own business.
C. They attach more importance to workers than to equipment.
D. They only hire skilled workers because of keen competition.
32. What is the position of the head of human-resource management in an American firm?
A. He is one of the most important executives in the firm.
B. His post is likely to disappear when new technologies are introduced.
C. He is directly under the chief financial executive.
D. He has no say in making important decisions in the firm.
33. The money most American firms put in training mainly goes to ________ .
34. According to the passage, the decisive factor in maintaining a firm's competitive advantage is_________ .
35. What is the main idea of the passage ?
C
Drawings of human colonies on other planets often picture the entire community under a glass or plastic bubble. The bubble is intended to create an atmosphere with adequate oxygen and other essential elements. But similar bubble-like structures have also been constructed on earth. One of the most famous, and controversial, is a site in the Arizona desert.
Biosphere 2, as it is called, was built not far from Tucson in 1984 and is now run by Columbia University. This huge(7,200,000-cubic-foot)glass and steel construction contains several separate ecosystems, including a desert, a rain forest, and a 900,000-gallon “ocean.” The climatic conditions-humidity, temperature, air quality-are regulated by sensors and can be adjusted as needed or desired. For example, a rainstorm can be created to increase the humidity. The adjustable features of Biosphere 2 make it an ideal location to perform experiments to help determine the effects of such climatic changes as global warming.
The current conditions at Biosphere 2 are vastly different from those in 1993, when eight people who had moved into the environment with great fanfare two years earlier moved out in failure. Though promising to be self-sufficient(自足的), these “colonists” had so much trouble regulating the environment that they reportedly had food smuggled into them. Oxygen levels became dangerously low; most plants and animals died. In taking over the unsuccessful site, Columbia hopes to erase its notorious past by focusing on small research projects that gradually answer some of Biosphere 1’s-that is, Earth’s-most basic environment questions.
36.This passage primarily deals with
A.conditions of life in Biosphere 2
B.building controlled environments on other planets
C.why Biosphere 2 failed in the past
D.what makes a good biosphere colonist
37.Biosphere 2 is now run by
A.a group of eight colonists
B.Columbia University
C.the city of Tucson
D.scientists who hope to establish Biosphere 3
38.The passage suggests that earlier colonists of Biosphere 2
A.did not like living in a controlled environment
B.found it very difficult to live in a controlled environment
C.still are involved with Biosphere 2
D.have now left the country in disgrace
39.The writer helps you understand what Biosphere 2 is like by
A.comparing its features with those of an outer space biosphere
B.explaining the process by which it was constructed
C.referring to an interview with one of former inhabitants
D.describing its appearance and conditions
40.In paragraph 3 the word “notorious” means
A.well known for something good
C.dangerous
Mr. Peter Johnson, aged twenty-three, battled for half an hour to escape from his trapped car yesterday when it landed upside down in three feet of water. Mr. Johnson took the only escape route — through the boot(行李箱).
Mr. Johnson’s car had finished up in a ditch at Romney Marsin Kent after skidding on ice and hitting a bank. “Fortunately, the water began to come in only slowly,” Mr. Johnson said. “I couldn’t force the doors open because they were jammed against the walls of the ditch and dared not open the windows because I knew water would come flooding in.”
Mr. Johnson, a sweet salesman of Sitting Home Kent, first tried to attract the attention of other motorists by sounding the horn and hammering on the roof and boot. Then he began his struggle to escape.
Later he said, “It was really a half penny that saved my life. It was the only coin I had in my pocket and I used it to unscrew the back seat to get into the boot. I hammered desperately with a hammer trying to make someone hear, but no help came.”
It took ten minutes to unscrew the seat, and a further five minutes to clear the sweet samples from the boot. Then Mr. Johnson found a wrench and began to work on the boot lock. Fifteen minutes passed by. “It was the only chance I had. Finally it gave, but as soon as I moved the boot lid, the water and mud poured in. I forced the lid down into the mud and scrambled clear as the car filled up.”
His hands and arms cut and bruised(擦伤), Mr. Johnson got to Beckett Farm nearby, where he was looked after by the farmer’s wife, Mrs. Lucy Bates. Huddled in a blanket, he said, “That thirty minutes seemed like hours.” Only the tips of the car wheels were visible, police said last night. The vehicle had sunk into two feet of mud at the bottom of the ditch.
41. What is the best title for this newspaper article?
A. The Story of Mr. Johnson, A Sweet Salesman
B. Car Boot Can Serve As The Best Escape Route
C. Driver Escapes Through Car Boot
D. The Driver Survived A Terrible Car Accident
42. Which of the following objects is the most important to Mr. Johnson?
A. The hammer.
C. The screw.
43. Which statement is true according to the passage?
A. Mr. Johnson’s car stood on its boot as it fell down.
B. Mr. Johnson could not escape from the door because it was full of sweet jam.
C. Mr. Johnson’s car accident was partly due to the slippery road.
D. Mr. Johnson struggled in the pouring mud as he unscrewed the back seat.
44. “Finally it gave” (Paragraph 5) means that _______.
A. Luckily the door was torn away in the end
B. At last the wrench went broken
C. The lock came open after all his efforts
D. The chance was lost at the last minute
45. It may be inferred from the passage that _______.
A. the ditch was along a quiet country road
B. the accident happened on a clear warm day
C. the police helped Mr. Johnson get out of the ditch
D. Mr. Johnson had a tender wife and was well attended