英语六级阅读理解练习

A nine-year-old schoolgirl single-handedly cooks up a science-fair experiment that ends up debunking（揭穿 A nine-year-old schoolgirl single-handedly cooks up a science-fair experiment that ends up debunking（揭穿…的真相）a widely practiced medical treatment. Emily Rosa’s target was a practice known as therapeutic（治疗的）touch(TT for short), whose advocates manipulate patients’ “energy field” to make them feel better and even, say some, to cure them of various ills. Yet Emily’s test shows that these energy fields can’t be detected, even by trained TT practitioners（行医者）. Obviously mindful of the publicity value of the situation, Journal editor George Lundberg appeared on TV to declare, “Age doesn’t matter. It’s good science that matters, and this is good science.” Emily’s mother Linda Rosa, a registered nurse, has been campaigning against TT for nearly a decade. Linda first thought about TT in the late ‘80s, when she learned it was on the approved list for continuing nursing education in Colorado. Its 100,000 trained practitioners (48,000 in the U.S.) don’t even touch their patients. Instead, they waved their hands a few inches from the patient’s body, pushing energy fields around until they’re in “balance.” TT advocates say these manipulations can help heal wounds, relieve pain and reduce fever. The claims are taken seriously enough that TT therapists are frequently hired by leading hospitals, at up to $70 an hour, to smooth patients’ energy, sometimes during surgery. Yet Rosa could not find any evidence that it works. To provide such proof, TT therapists would have to sit down for independent testing-something they haven’t been eager to do, even though James Randi has offered more than $1 million to anyone who can demonstrate the existence of a human energy field. (He’s had one taker so far. She failed). A skeptic might conclude that TT practitioners are afraid to lay their beliefs on the line. But who could turn down an innocent fourth-grader? Says Emily: “I think they didn’t take me very seriously because I’m a kid.” The experiment was straightforward: 21 TT therapists stuck their hands, palms up, through a screen. Emily held her own hand over one of theirs─left or right─and the practitioners had to say which hand it was. When the results were recorded, they’d done no better than they would have by simply guessing. If there was an energy field, they couldn’t feel it. 16. Which of the following is evidence that TT is widely practiced? A、TT has been in existence for decades. B、Many patients were cured by therapeutic touch. C、TT therapists are often employed by leading hospitals. D、More than 100,000 people are undergoing TT treatment. 17. Very few TT practitioners responded to the $1 million offer because _____ . A、they didn’t take the offer seriously B、they didn’t want to risk their career C、they were unwilling to reveal their secret D、they thought it was not in line with their practice 18. The purpose of Emily Rosa’s experiment was ______ . A、to see why TT could work the way it did B、to find out how TT cured patients’ illnesses C、to test whether she could sense the human energy field D、to test whether a human energy field really existed 19. Why did some TT practitioners agree to be the subjects of Emily’s experiment? A、It involved nothing more than mere guessing. B、They thought it was going to be a lot of fun. C、It was more straightforward than other experiments. D、They sensed no harm in a little girl’s experiment. 20. What can we learn from the passage? A、Some widely accepted beliefs can be deceiving. B、Solid evidence weights more than pure theories. C、Little children can be as clever as trained TT practitioners. D、The principle of TT is too profound to understand. . Passage Three What might driving on an automated highway be like? The answer depends on what kind of system is ultimately adopted. Two distinct types are on the drawing board. The first is a special purpose lane system, in which certain lanes are reserved for automated vehicles. The second is a mixed traffic system: fully automated vehicles would share the road with partially automated or manually driven cars. A special-purpose lane system would require more extensive physical modifications to existing highways, but it promises the greatest gains in freeway(高速公路) capacity. Under either scheme, the driver would specify the desired destination, furnishing this information to a computer in the car at the beginning of the trip or perhaps just before reaching the automated highway. If a mixed traffic system was in place, automated driving could begin whenever the driver was on suitable equipped roads. If special-purpose lanes were available, the car could enter them and join existing traffic in two different ways. One method would use a special onramp（入口引道）. As the driver approached the point of entry for the highway, devices installed on the roadside would electronically check the vehicle to determine its destination and to ascertain that it had the proper automation equipment in good working order. Assuming it passed such tests, the driver would then be guided through a gate and toward an automated lane. In this case, the transition from manual to automated control would take place on the entrance ramp. An alternative technique could employ conventional lanes, which would be shared by automated and regular vehicles. The driver would steer onto the highway and move in normal fashion to a “transition” lane. The vehicle would then shift under computer control onto a lane reserved for automated traffic. (The limitation of these lanes to automated traffic would, presumably, be well respected, because all trespassers（非法进入者） could be swiftly identified by authorities.) Either approach to joining a lane of automated traffic would harmonize the movement of newly entering vehicles with those already traveling. Automatic control here should allow for smooth merging, without the usual uncertainties and potential for accidents. And once a vehicle had settled into automated travel, the driver would be free to release the wheel, open the morning paper or just relax. 21. We learn from the first paragraph that two systems of automated highways ______. A) are being planned C) are now in wide use B) are being modified D) are under construction 22. A special-purpose lane system is probably advantageous in that______. A)it would require only minor changes to existing highways B)it would achieve the greatest highway traffic efficiency C)it has a lane for both automated and partially automated vehicles D) it offers more lanes for automated vehicles 23. Which of the following is true about driving on an automated highway? A)Vehicles traveling on it are assigned different lanes according to their destinations. B)A car can join existing traffic any time in a mixed lane system. C) The driver should inform his car computer of his destination before driving onto it. D) The driver should share the automated lane with those of regular vehicles. 24. We know from the passage that a car can enter a special-purpose lane______. A)by smoothly merging with cars on the conventional lane B)by way of a ramp with electronic control devices C) through a specially guarded gate D) after all trespassers are identified and removed 25. When driving in an automated lane, the driver______. A)should harmonize with newly entering cars B)doesn’t have to rely on his computer system C) should watch out for potential accidents D) doesn’t have to hold on to the steering wheel . Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage. Taking charge of yourself involves putting to rest some very prevalent myths. At the top of the list is the notion that intelligence is measured by your ability to solve complex problems; to read, write and compute at certain levels; and to resolve abstract equations quickly. This vision of intelligence asserts formal education and bookish excellence as the true measures of self-fulfillment. It encourages a kind of intellectual prejudice that has brought with it some discouraging results. We have come to believe that someone who has more educational merit badges, who is very good at some form of school discipline is “intelligent.” Yet mental hospitals are filed with patients who have all of the properly lettered certificates. A truer indicator of intelligence is an effective, happy life lived each day and each present moment of every day. If you are happy, if you live each moment for everything it’s worth, then you are an intelligent person. Problem solving is a useful help to your happiness, but if you know that given your inability to resolve a particular concern you can still choose happiness for yourself, or at a minimum refuse to choose unhappiness, then you are intelligent. You are intelligent because you have the ultimate weapon against the big N.B.D.─Nervous Break Down. “Intelligent” people do not have N.B.D.’s because they are in charge of themselves. They know how to choose happiness over depression, because they know how to deal with the problems of their lives. You can begin to think of yourself as truly intelligent on the basis of how you choose to feel in the face of trying circumstances. The life struggles are pretty much the same for each of us. Everyone who is involved with other human beings in any social context has similar difficulties. Disagreements, conflicts and compromises are a part of what it means to be human. Similarly, money, growing old, sickness, deaths, natural disasters and accidents are all events which present problems to virtually all human beings. But some people are able to make it, to avoid immobilizing depression and unhappiness despite such occurrences, while others collapse or have an N.B.D. Those who recognize problems as a human condition and don’t measure happiness by an absence of problems are the most intelligent kind of humans we know; also, the most rare. 26. According to the author, the conventional notion of intelligence measured in terms of one’s ability to read, write and compute _____. A) is a widely held but wrong concept C) is the root of all mental distress B) will help eliminate intellectual prejudice D) will contribute to one’s self-fulfillment 27. It is implied in the passage that holding a university degree _____. A)may result in one’s inability to solve complex real-life problems B)does not indicate one’s ability to write properly ed documents C) may make one mentally sick and physically weak D) does not mean that one is highly intelligent 28. The author thinks that an intelligent person knows _____. A)how to put up with some very prevalent myths B)how to find the best way to achieve success in life C) how to avoid depression and make his life worthwhile D) how to persuade others to compromise 29. In the last paragraph, the author tells us that _____. A)difficulties are but part of everyone’s life B)depression and unhappiness are unavoidable in life C) everybody should learn to avoid trying circumstances D) good feelings can contribute to eventual academic excellence 30. According to the passage, what kind of people are rare? A)Those who don’t emphasize bookish excellence in their pursuit of happiness. B)Those who are aware of difficulties in life but know how to avoid unhappiness. C) Those who measure happiness by an absence of problems but seldom suffer from N.B. D.’s. D)Those who are able to secure happiness though having to struggle against trying circumstances Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage. Our culture has caused most Americans to assume not only that our language is universal but that the gestures we use are understood by everyone. We do not realize that waving good-bye is the way to summon a person from the Philippines to one’s side, or that in Italy and some Latin-American countries, curling the finger to oneself is a sign of farewell. Those private citizens who sent packages to our troops occupying Germany after World War II and marked them GIFT to escape duty payments did not bother to find out that “Gift” means poison in German. Moreover, we like to think of ourselves as friendly, yet we prefer to be at least 3 feet or an arm’s length away from others. Latins and Middle Easterners like to come closer and touch, which makes Americans uncomfortable. Our linguistic (语言上的) and cultural blindness and the casualness with which we take notice of the developed tastes, gestures, customs and language of other countries, are losing us friends, business and respect in the world. Even here in the United States, we make few concessions to the needs of foreign visitors. There are no information signs in four language on our public buildings or monuments; we do not have multilingual（多语的）guided tours. Very few restaurant menus have translations, and multilingual waiters, bank clerks and policemen are rare. Our transportation systems have maps in English only and often we ourselves have difficulty understanding them. When we go abroad, we tend to cluster in hotels and restaurants where English is spoken. The attitudes and information we pick up are conditioned by those natives—usually the richer—who speak English. Our business dealings, as well as the nation’s diplomacy, are conducted through interpreters. For many years, America and Americans could get by with cultural blindness and linguistic ignorance. After all, America was the most powerful country of the free world, the distributor of needed funds and goods. But all that is past. American dollars no longer buy all good things, and we are slowly beginning to realize that our proper role in the world is changing. A 1979 Harris poll reported that 55 percent of Americans want this country to play a more significant role in world affairs; we want to have a hand in the important decisions of the next century, even tough it may not always be the upper hand. 21.It can be inferred that Americans being approached too closely by Middle Easterners would most probably . A) stand still B) jump aside C) step forward D) draw back 22.The author gives many examples to criticize Americans for their . A)cultural self-centeredness C) indifference towards foreign visitors B) casual manners D) arrogance towards other cultures 23.In countries other than their own most Americans . A) are isolated by the local people B) are not well informed due to the language barrier C) tend to get along well with the natives D) need interpreters in hotels and restaurants 24.According to the author, American’s cultural blindness and linguistic ignorance will______. A)affect their image in the new era B) cut themselves off from the outside world C) limit their role in world affairs D) weaken the position of the US dollar 25.The author’s intention in writing this article is to make Americans realize that______. A)it is dangerous to ignore their foreign friends B) it is important to maintain their leading role in world affairs C) it is necessary to use several languages in public places D) it is time to get acquainted with other cultures. In department stores and closets all over the world, they are waiting. Their outward appearance seems rather appealing because they come in a variety of styles, textures, and colors. But they are ultimately the biggest deception that exists in the fashion industry today. What are they? They are high heels—a woman’s worst enemy (whether she knows it or not). High heel shoes are the downfall of modern society. Fashion myths have led women to believe that they are more beautiful or sophisticated for wearing heels, but in reality, heels succeed in posing short as well as long term hardships. Women should fight the high heel industry by refusing to use or purchase them in order to save the world from unnecessary physical and psychological suffering. For the sake of fairness, it must be noted that there is a positive side to high heels. First, heels are excellent for aerating(使通气) lawns. Anyone who has ever worn heels on grass knows what I am talking about. A simple trip around the yard in a pair of those babies eliminates all need to call for a lawn care specialist, and provides the perfect-sized holes to give any lawn oxygen without all those messy chunks of dirt lying around. Second, heels are quite functional for defense against oncoming enemies, who can easily be scared away by threatening them with a pair of these sharp, deadly fashion accessories. Regardless of such practical uses for heels, the fact remains that wearing high heels is harmful to one’s physical health. Talk to any podiatrist(足病医生), and you will hear that the majority of their business comes from high-heel-wearing women. High heels are known to cause problems such as deformed feet and torn toenails. The risk of severe back problems and twisted or broken ankles is three times higher for a high heel wearer than for a flat shoe wearer. Wearing heels also creates the threat of getting a heel caught in a sidewalk crack or a sewer-grate（阴沟栅）and being thrown to the ground—possibly breaking a nose, back, or neck. And of course, after wearing heels for a day, any woman knows she can look forward to a night of pain as she tries to comfort her swollen, aching feet. 26. What makes women blind to the deceptive nature of high heels? A) The multi-functional use of high heels. C) The rich variety of high heel styles. B) Their attempt to show off their status. D) Their wish to improve their appearance. 27.The author’s presentation of the positive side of high heels is meant_____. A) to be ironic C) to be fair to the fashion industry B) to poke fun at women D) to make his point convincing 28. The author’s presentation of the expression “those babies’ (Line 3, Para. 2) to refer to high heels . A) to show their fragile characteristics C) to show women’s affection for them B) to indicate their feminine features D) to emphasize their small size 29.The author’s chief argument against high heels is that_____. A) they pose a threat to lawns B) they are injurious to women’s health C) they don’t necessarily make women beautiful D) they are ineffective as a weapon of defense 30.It can be inferred from the passage that women should_____. A) see through the very hature of fashion myths B)boycott the products of the fashion industry C) go to a podiatrist regularly for advice D) avoid following fashion too closely. It is hardly necessary for me to cite all the evidence of the depressing state of literacy. These figures from the Department of Education are sufficient: 27 million Americans cannot read at all, and a further 35 million read at a level that is less than sufficient to survive in our society. But my own worry today is less that of the overwhelming problem of elemental literacy than it is of the slightly more luxurious problem of the decline in the skill even of the middle-class reader, of his unwillingness to afford those spaces of silence, those luxuries of domesticity and time and concentration, that surround the image of the classic act of reading. It has been suggested that almost 80 percent of America’s literate, educated teenagers can no longer read without an accompanying noise(music) in the background or a television screen flickering（闪烁）at the corner of their field of perception. We know very little about the brain and how it deals with simultaneous conflicting input, but every common-sense intuition suggests we should be profoundly alarmed. This violation of concentration, silence, solitude(独处的状态)goes to the very heart of our notion of literacy, this new form of part-reading, of part-perception against background distraction, renders impossible certain essential acts of apprehension and concentration, let alone that most important tribute any human being can pay to a poem or a piece of prose he or she really loves, which is to learn it by heart. Not by brain, by heart; the expression is vital. Under these circumstances, the question of what future there is for the arts of reading is a real one. Ahead of us li