同等学力英语人员申请硕士学位外国语水平全国统一考试.doc

同等学力英语人员申请硕士学位外国语水平全国统一考试

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同等学力英语人员申请硕士学位外国语水平全国统一考试

Part Ⅲ Reading Comprehension (45minutes, 30point)
Directions: There are 5 passages in this part. Each passage is followed by 5 questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are 4 choices marked A, B, C and D. Choose the best one and mark the corresponding letter with a single bar across the square brackets on your machine-scoring ANSWER SHEET.

Passage One
Loneliness has been linked to depression and other health problems. Now, a study says it can also spread. A friend of a lonely person was 52% more likely to develop feelings of loneliness. And a friend of that friend was 25% more likely to do the same.
Earlier findings showed that happiness, fatness and the ability to stop smoking can also grow like infections within social groups. The findings all come from a major health study in the American town of Framingham, Massachusetts.
The study began in 1948 to investigate the causes of heart disease. Since then, more tests have been added, including measures of loneliness and depression.
The new findings involved more than 5,000 people in the second generation of the Framingham Heart Study. The researchers examined friendship histories and reports of loneliness. The results established a pattern that spread as people reported fewer close friends.
For example, loneliness can affect relationships between next-door neighbors. The loneliness spreads as neighbors who were close friends now spend less time together. The study also found that loneliness spreads more easily among women than men.
Researchers from the University of Chicago, Harvard and the University of California, San Diego, did the study. The findings appeared last month in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
The average person is said to experience feelings of loneliness about 48 days a year. The study found that having a lonely friend can add about 17 days. But every additional friend can decrease loneliness by about 5%, or two and a half days.
Lonely people become less and less trusting of others .This makes it more and more difficult for them to make friends -and more likely that society will reject them.
John Cacioppo at the University of Chicago led the study. He says it is important to recognize and deal with loneliness. He says people who have been pushed to the edges of society should receive help to repair their social networks.
The aim should be to aggressively create what he calls a “protective barrier” against loneliness. This barrier, he says, can keep the whole network from coming apart.

31. Besides loneliness, which of the following can also spread among people?
A. FriendshipB. HappinessC. Depression D. Smoking

32. The Framingham Heart Study starting from 1948 ____
A. expanded its research topics
B. involved 5,000 patients of depression
C. identified loneliness as one key factor for heart disease
D. examined the relationship between loneliness and depression

33. Which of the following is true about the spread of loneliness?
A. It leads to a gradual loss of friends
B. It is a common phenomenon among women
C. it is often found in the neighborhood
D. it ruins the relationships between close friends

34. Having a lonely friend, you are more likely to________
A. strengthen your friendship
B. develop new friendship
C. increase the sense of loneliness
D. reduce the sense of loneliness

35. According to John Cacioppo at the University of Chicago, loneliness can _______
A. result in aggressiveness
B. cause people to be overprotective
C. infect social networks
D. push people to the verge of poverty

36. What is the main idea of the passage?
A. Loneliness can spread
　 　B. Loneliness is linked to depression
C. Lonely people tend to grow fat
D. Lonely people need more friends

Passage Two
California has a new program called the Digital Textbook Initiative. “Starting this fall with high school math and science. We will be the first state in the nation to provide schools with a state –approved list of digital textbooks.” That was Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in June, talking about his effort to get schools to use materials available free online. He listed reasons why he thinks digital textbooks make sense.
California approves traditional textbooks in six-year cycles. Digital one can offer the latest information. They lighten the load of school bags. They save paper and trees, and make learning more fun and interactive. And above all, he said, they help schools with their finances.
The state has had to make severe cuts in school spending because of deep financial problems. More than six million students attend California public schools.
Earlier this year, California invited content developers to offer digital math and science materials for high schools. These had to meet at least 90%of the state’s learning requirements. Specially trained teachers examined 16 textbooks and approved ten of them.
Six of the ten were published by the CK12 Foundation, a nonprofit group that had been developing digital science and math books for about two years. The foundation paid teachers and other education professionals to write and edit them. The money came from a group financed by the Khosla Family.
California cannot require schools to use the digital textbooks. Individual school districts will have to decide for themselves.
Susan Martimo, a California Department of Education official, says she does not expect widespread use right away. Her best guess is that some schools with a lot of technology will be the first to use them, but only in addition to their traditional books.
School administrators point out that the texts may be free online, but students need a way to access them. Not everyone has a computer or electronic reader. Schools could print out copies, but that would not help the environment. Also, there is the cost to train teachers to use digital textbooks effectively.
37. The Digital Textbook Initiative _______________
A. will probably take effect in six years
B. covers all the high school subjects
C. has been approved by all states
D. is advocated by California state governor
38. The main reason for promoting digital textbooks is to ______________　
　 A. help save money
B. benefit the environment
C. provide interesting materials
D. reduce students’ heavy burden
39. The digital textbooks were approved by _________
A. trained teachersB. content developers
C. Khosla Family D. CK12 Foundation
40. What is true of CK12 Foundation?
A. It produced 16 digital textbooks
B. It paid teachers to write digital textbooks
C. It is financed by California state government
D. It makes money through developing digital textbooks
41. According to Susan Martimo, digital textbook_____
A. are not likely to have a widespread use
B. will soon replace traditional ones
C. will first be adopted by well-equipped schools
D. are certain to be approved by school districts
42. It can be inferred from the last paragraph that________
A. schools are reluctant to print out copies
B. the use of digital textbooks is not really free
C. students need to pay for computers
D. training teachers to use the textbooks is not efficient
Passage Three
Doctors in Britain are warning of an obesity time bomb, when children who are already overweight grow up. So, what should we do? Exercise more? Eat less? Or both? The government feels it has to take responsibility for this expanding problem.
The cheerful Mr. Pickwick, the hero of the novel by Charles Dickens, is seen in illustrations as someone who is plump (胖乎乎的) ---and happy. In 18th century paintings beauty is equated with rounded bodies and soft curves. But nowadays being overweight is seen as indicating neither a cheerful character nor beauty but an increased risk of heart disease and stroke.
So what do you do? Diet? Not according to England’s chief medical officer, Sir Liam Donaldson. He says that physical activity is the key for reducing the risks of obesity, cancer and heart disease. And the Health Secretary John Reid even said that being inactive is as serious a risk factor in heart disease as smoking.
So, having bought some cross trainers, how much exercise should you do? According to Sir Liam Donaldson, at least 30 minutes of moderate activity five days a week. Is going to the gym the answer? Luckily for those who find treadmills (跑步机) tedious, the Health Development Agency believes that physical activity that fits into people’s lives may be more effective. They suggest taking the stairs rather than the lift, walking up escalators, playing active games with your children, dancing or gardening. And according to a sports psychologist, Professor Biddle, gyms are not making the nation fit, and may even cause harm.
There’s new scientific evidence that too much exercise may actually be bad for you. Scientists at the University of Ulster have found that unaccustomed exercise releases dangerous free radicals that can adversely affect normal function in unfit people. The only people who should push their bodies to that level of exercise on a regular basis are trained athletes.
So, should we forget about gyms and follow some experts’ advice to increase exercise in our daily life? After all, getting off the bus a stop early and walking the rest of the way can’t do any harm! One final thought. How come past generations lacked gym facilities but were leaner and fitter than people today?
43. This passage is mainly about ______________
A. how to keep fit and avoid fatness
B. increased risks for overweight people
C. the dangers of exercise in the gym
D. the benefit of a balanced diet
44. What dose “this expanding problem” (Para 1) refer to?
A. The slow growing up of overweight children
B. The obesity time bomb warned of by doctors
C. To little exercise and too much diet
D. Neglect of the health issue by the government
45. Why does the author mention Mr. Pickwick in Charles Dickens’ novel?
A. He was portrayed in an 18th century painting.
B. He is the hero of a world famous novel.
C. He suffered from heart disease and stroke.
D. He is the image of being plump and happy.
46. According to Sir Liam Donaldson, what is the best way to avoid obesity?
A. Being on diet
B. Giving up smoking
C. Being as inactive as possible
D. Doing physical activities
47. Which of the following is NOT recommended by the Health Development Agency?
A. Walking up escalators, dancing or gardening.
B. Going to the gym to walk on treadmills.
C. Taking the stairs rather than the lift.
D. Playing active games with your children.
48. It can be inferred from the last paragraph that ________.
A. too much exercise may actually be bad for health
B. experts’ advice cannot be always followed.
C. past generations longed for gym facilities we have today
D. moderate daily-life exercise can make us leaner and fitter
Passage Four
A metaphor is a poetic device that deals with comparison. It compares similar qualities of two dissimilar objects. With a simple metaphor, one object becomes the other. Love is a rose. Although this does not sound like a particularly rich image, a metaphor can communicate so much about a particular image that poets use them more than any other type of figurative language. The reason for this is that poets compose their poetry to express what they are experiencing emotionally at that moment. Consequently, what the poet imagines love to be may or may not be our perception of love. Therefore, the poet’s job is to enable us to experience it, to feel it the same way as the poet does.
Let’s analyze this remarkably unsophisticated metaphor concerning love and the rose to see what it offers. Because the poet uses a comparison with a rose, first we must examine the characteristics of that flower. A rose is spectacular in its beauty, its petals(花瓣)are nicely soft, and its smell is pleasing. It’s possible to say that a rose is actually a feast to the senses of sight, touch, and smell. The rose’s appearance seems to border on perfection, each petal seemingly symmetrical in form. Isn’t this the way one’s love should be. A loved one should be a delight to one’s senses and seem perfect. However, there is another dimension added to the comparison by using a rose. Roses have thorns. The poet wants to convey the idea that roses can be tricky. So can love, the metaphor tells us. When one reaches out with absolute trust to touch the object of his or her affection, ouch, a thorn can cause great harm! “Be careful,” the metaphor warns: Love is a feast to the senses, but it can overwhelm us, and it can also hurt us and cause acute suffering. This is the poet’s perception of love ---an admonition(劝诫).What is the point? Just this: It took almost 14 sentences to clarify what a simple metaphor communicates in only four words. That is the artistry and the joy of the simple metaphor.

49. According to the passage, what is a metaphor?
A. A comparison between two different objects with similar features.
B. A contrast between two different things to create a vivid image.
C. A description of two similar objects in a poetic way.
D. A literary device specially employed in poetry writing.
50. The main idea of this passage is that ________________
A. rose is a good image in poetry
B. Love is sweet and pleasing
C. metaphor is ambiguous
D. metaphor is a great poetic device
51. It can be inferred from the passage that a metaphor is ___
A. difficult to understand B. rich in meaning
C. not precise enough D. like a flower
52. As is meant by the author, thorns of a rose _________
A. protect the rose form harm
B. symbolize reduced love
C. add a new element to the image of love
D. represent objects of one’s affection
53. The meaning of the love-is-a-rose metaphor is that___
A. love is a true joy B. true love comes once in a lifetime
C. love does not last long D. love is both good and bad experiences
54. According to the passage, poetry is intended to _____
A. release anger B. entertain the readers
C. express poets’ ideas D. reward the senses

Passage Five
Some 23 million additional U.S. residents are expected to become more regular users of the U.S. health care system in the next several years, thanks to the passage of health care reform. Digitizing medical data has been promoted as one way to help the already burdened system manage the surge in patients. But putting people’s health information in databases and online is going to do more than simply reduce redundancies. It is already shifting the every way we seek and receive health care.
“The social dynamics of care are changing,” says John Gomez, vice president of Eclipsys, a medical information technology company. Most patients might not yet be willing to share their latest CT scan images over Facebook, he notes, but many parents post their babies’ ultrasound images, and countless pa