Part II Reading Comprehension (40 points )

Directions: There are 4 passages in this part. Each passage is followed by some questions or incomplete statements. For each of them there are 4 choices marked A, B, C and D. You should decide on the best choice, and mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet.

Passage One

    Thousands of years ago, in the middle of an ocean, miles from the nearest island, an undersea volcano broke out. The hot liquid got higher and higher and spread wider and wider. In this way, an island rose up in the sea.

    As time went on, hot sun and cool rains made the rock split and break to pieces. Sea waves hit against the rock. In this way, soil and sand came into being.

    Nothing lived on the naked soil. And then the wind and birds brought plant seeds, spiders and other little living things there. Only plants could grow first. Only they, in sunlight, could produce food from the soil, water and air. While many animals landed on the island, they could find no food. A spider made its web uselessly, because there were no insects(昆虫) for its web to catch. Insects couldn’t stay until there were plants for them to eat. So plants had to be the first life on this new island.

41. The passage centers on ______

  A. how an undersea volcano broke out     

  B. how an island rose up in the sea

  C. how soil was formed on a new island    

  D. how life began on a volcano produced island

42. According to the passage, the island got its first soil from _______ .

  A. sea waves                         B. the sand brought by the wind

  C. its own rock                      D. cool rains

43. The word “naked” (in Para. 3) could be replaced by which of the following?

  A. red            B. new        C. old         D. bare

44. The order of coming into being on the island is _______ .

  A. soil, plants and animals                B. soil, little creatures and plants

  C. soil, birds and plants                   D. soil, human beings and animals

45. According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?

  A. Spiders were the first life that could live on the island.

  B. The island is far away from any piece of land.

  C. Insects could not live on the island without plants.

  D. Plants were brought to the island by human beings.

Passage Two

    Ernest Miller Hemingway was born on July 21, 1899 in Oak Park, Illinois. In the nearly sixty two years of his life that followed, he built a literary fame unsurpassed (无法超越)  in the twentieth century.

    As a boy he was taught by his father to hunt and fish along the shores and in the forests around Lake Michigan. The Hemingways had a summer house in northern Michigan, and the family would spend the summer months there trying to stay cool. Hemingway would either fish the different streams that ran into the lake, or would take the small boat out to do some fishing there. He would also go squirrel hunting in the woods, discovering early in life the peace to be found while alone in the forest or going through a stream. It was something he could always go back to throughout his life, and though he often found himself living in major cities like Chicago, Toronto and Paris early in his life, once he became successful he chose somewhat isolated places to live in.

    When he wasn’t hunting or fishing his mother taught him the good points of music. She was a skilled singer who once had wished a life on stage, but at last settled down with her husband and spent her time by giving voice and music lessons to local children, including her own. Hemingway was never talented for music and suffered through singing practices and music lessons, however, the musical knowledge he got from his mother helped him share in his first wife Hadley’s interest in the piano.

46. Ernest Hemingway died in _______ .

  A. 1969        B. 1979         C. 1981             D. 1961

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

  A. His father taught him to fish and hunt when he was a boy.

  B. His family had a summer house in northern Michigan.

  C. He taught himself music when he was a boy.

  D. He also went squirrel hunting in the woods.

48. After he became successful, Ernest Hemingway _______ .

  A. preferred to stay in big cities    

B. chose to live in somewhat isolated places

   C. moved his family to Paris        

   D. killed himself

49. Being talented in music, Hemingway’s mother once wanted to _______ .

   A. be a music teacher                 B. help Hemingway learn music

   C. perform on the stage as a singer         D. marry a rich husband

50. The passage is most probably from _______ .

   A. a literary biography                     B. a science textbook 

   C. a term paper                           D. a personal diary

Passage Three

    What will man be like in the future —in 5000 or even 50000 years from now? We can only make a guess, of course, but we can be sure that he will be different from what he is today. For man is slowly changing all the time.

    Let us take an obvious example. Man, even five hundred years ago, was shorter than he is today. Now, on average , men are about three inches taller. Five hundred years is a relatively short period of time, so we may assume that man will continue to grow taller.

    Again, in the modern world we use our brains a great deal. Even so, we still make use of only about 20% of the brains capacity. As time goes on, however, we shall have to use our brains more and more, and eventually we shall need larger ones. This is likely to bring about a physical change —the head, in particular the forehead, will grow larger.

    Nowadays our eyes are in constant use. In fact, we use them so much that very often they become weaker and we have to wear glasses. But over very long period of time it is likely that mans eyes will grow stronger.

    On the other hand, we tend to make less use of our arms and legs. These, as a result, are likely to grow weaker. At the same time, however, our fingers will grow more sensitive because they are used a great deal in modern life.

    But what about hair? It will probably disappear from the body altogether in course of time because it does not serve a useful purpose any longer. In the future, then, both sexes are likely to be bald.

    Perhaps all this gives the impression that future man will not be a very attractive creature to look at. This may well be true. All the same, in spite of all these changes, future man will still have a lot in common with us. He will still be a human being, with thoughts and emotions similar to our own.

51. The passage tells us about _______ .

 A. how man’s life will be in the future

  B. how future man will look like

  C. the fact that man’s organs will function differently in the future

  D. the fact that man is growing uglier as time passes

52. There is evidence that man is changing, _______ .

  A. he has been growing taller over the past 500 years

  B. he has got stronger eyes than he ever had

  C. his hair is getting thinner and thinner

  D. his limbs are getting weaker because he tends to make less use of them

53. Man’s forehead will grow larger because _______ .

  A. he will make use of only about 20% of the brain’s capacity

  B. the other 80% of his brain will grow in due time

  C. he had rather narrow forehead a few hundred years ago

  D. he will have to use his brain more and more as time goes on

54. Future man will probably _______ .

  A. have smaller eyes                         B. have larger eyes

  C. see better                                D. have to wear better glasses

55. The reason for believing that future man will be different is that he _______ .

  A. will grow stronger                         B. never stops changing

  C. hopes for a change                         D. will live a different life