英语阅读理解训练

英语阅读理解训练（一）

Some of the most popular attractions across America are the many free concerts offered to public throughout the year. These involve not only amateur performers, but professional artists as well. The public parks of many cities across the country usually have bandstands and large lawns. As a service to citizens, they rent out space to performers free of charge. Amateur groups, with nothing more than a desire to perform offer their talents freely to public. Semi-professional artists are pleased to get the chance to perform before the public to perfect their craft and nurture the hope of being discovered before beginning a professional career. Famous professionals also give free concerts to make contact with their admiring fans. Often such concerts are sponsored by a large corporate organization and offered to the public free of charge as a cultural service and support for the arts.

The free concerts feature all kinds of music from rock and roll, jazz, country-western to the classics. In addition, free performances may include the plays of Shakespeare or experimental theater of modern dramatists. In New York's Central Park there has long been a summer Shakespeare festival which draws huge crowds to the free performances.

Of these concerts the ones held on a summer evening in the park are the most popular. They take on a festive air. Friends and groups gather together after work and spread out a blanket on the lawn facing the performers' stage. The early comers get the best locations and enjoy a picnic supper while it is still daylight. The free seating is on a first come basis. Therefore, by the time the concert begins, as many as five thousand or more people may be in attendance. The concerts usually begin at 8 p.m and are performed und er the stars. The sound is mad e sufficiently loud so that no matter where one chooses to sit, he can hear very well. The only disturbance may be the sound of an overhead airplane on its final approach to an airport or the far-off siren(警笛声) of an ambulance on its way to the hospital. This matters little! What counts is to soak up the atmosphere created by the music and to be with friends in the fresh open air. The best part of it all is that it's free!

1. Many American parks give free concerts on their lawns because they_______.

A. have the necessary facilities

B. can attract more visitors

C. want to serve the public

D. are in a position to invite musicians

2. The concerts in parks are often financially supported by_______.

A. the parks themselves

B. big organizations

C. professional musicians

D. music fans.

3. For semi-professional artists, performing before the public is a good chance _________.

A. to improve themselves in their career

B. to help train amateur performers

C. to make friends with superstars

D. to get involved in profitabl e business

4. The concerts can attract so many people mainly because__________.

A. the attendants d on't have to pay.

B. the seating is on a first come basis

C. they provid e free picnic supper

D. they are held in open air

5. The phrase "soak up" in the last paragraph probably means__________.

A. absorb

B. warm up

C. enjoy

D. use up

二

Whenever advertisers want you to stop thinking about the product and to start thinking about something bigger, better, or more attractive than the product, they use that very popular wore "like". The word "like'' is the advertiser's equival ent of the magician's use of misdirection.

"Like" gets you to ignore the product and concentrate on the claim the advertiser is making about it.

"For skin like peaches and cream" claims the ad for a skin cream. What is this ad really claiming? It doesn't say this cream will give you peaches-and-cream skin. There is no verb in this claim, so it doesn't even mention using the product. How is skin ever like "peaches and cream" '?

Remember, ads must be read exactly according to the dictionary definition of words. This ad is making absolutely no promise for this skin cream. If you think this cream will give you soft, smooth, and youthful-looking skin, you are the one who has read the meaning into the ad.

The wine that claims "It's like taking a trip to France" wants you to think about a romantic evening in Paris as you walk along the street after a wond erful meal in an intimate craft. Of course, you d on' t really believe that a wine can take you to France, but the goal of the ad is to get you to think pleasant, romantic thoughts about France and not about how the wine tastes or how expensive it may be. That little word "like" has taken you away from crushed grapes into a world of your own imaginative making. Who knows, maybe the next time you buy wine, you'll think those pl easant thoughts when you see this brand of wine, and you'll buy it.

How about the most famous "like" claim of all, "Winston tastes good like a cigarette should Ignoring the grammatical error here, you might want to know what this claim is saying.

Whether a cigarette tastes good or bad is a subjective judgment because what tastes good to one person may well taste horrible to another. There are many people who say that all cigarettes taste terrible, other peopl e who say only some cigarettes taste all right, and still others who say all cigarettes taste good.

1. The word "like" in an ad often focuses the consumer's attention on ______.

A. what the advertiser says about the product

B. what magic the product really possesses

C. why the advertiser promotes the product

D. why the product is as good as promised

2. The author suggests that language in ads should be und erstood ______.

A. according to its dictionary d efinition

B. according to its contexts

C. imaginatively

D. impartially

3. To promote sales, advertisers often exploit consumers' ______.

A. economic status

B. practical need

C. emotional need

D. social status

4. Advertisers often use ambiguous language to ______.

A. promise excellent quality

B. cash in on grammatical errors

C. appeal to consumers' rational judgments

D. take advantage of consumers' imagination

5. The best titl e for the passage would be ______.

A. The Magic of "Like" in Advertising

B. The Promise of "Like" in Advertising

C. The Definition of "Like" in Advertising

D. The Application of "Like" in Advertis ing

三

Writers who are conscientious but inexperienced often write with a great deal of self-conscious effort. Worrying constantly, they inch ahead word by word. When they have finally reached the end of the piece, they breathe a sign of relief. They have d one their best. They are off the hook.

Before they start to write, experienced writers generally think very hard about their audience and their

purpose. They devote time to sketching out the structure of the piece and perhaps to obsessing a bit about their first few sentences. But once over these hurdles, these writers do not fastidiously (挑剔的) choose their words like cherries from a tree. Rather, they let them fall upon the page as if their order were predestined. Such writers know well enough that nothing about this first rush of words has any relationship to destiny. Even though it frequently contains much worth retaining, this spontaneous outpouring represents only one of many possibilities for expressing the same thoughts.

Most writers want and need the luxury of shaking the tree and letting the fruit fall as it will. If we free our inner voice, it speaks to us rapidly and distinctly. By recording the words we hear, we quickly give form and substance to our thoughts. Half-formed id eas drifting through a writer's mind are, of course, nearly impossible to evaluate or revise. And frequently they are lost before we even have the opportunity to try. But an idea that has been made tangible and visible can be clarified and refined at will. And writers must revise. The more knowledgeabl e and particular the writer, the more complex or sensitive the purpose, the more time the revision may take, and the better the result is likely to be.

Your "gut" reaction to your first draft can provide some insights, but it will only carry you a short distance. To strengthen your phrasing and sentence structure, you again need to know precisely what you are trying to do and how you are going to d o it. As with word choice, revising word order with confidence requires some real knowledge of specific rules and techniques. Although this knowledge permeates (渗入) even your first drafts, you appreciate it the most when you revise. It helps you to spot weaknesses immediately and to know exactly what remedies to apply.

1. All of the following are characteristics of conscientious but inexperienced writers EXCEPT ______.

A. inching ahead word by word

B. worrying constantly

C. self-consciousness

D. being purposeful

2. The author thinks revision is ______.

A. a necessity

B. a surplus

C. a plus

D. a luxury

3. The exampl e of "cherries from a tree" is used to d escribe ______.

A. the way in which words fall into a writer's works naturally

B. the difficulty of sel ecting the best word among many

C. the beautiful language a writer can produce

D. the words a writer chooses to fill in his works

4. Which of the foll owing statements d oes the author imply？

A. The writer's inner voice usually speaks to them in a vague and indistinctive way.

B. The first rush of words in a writer's mind is always the only way to express his thoughts.

C. Half-formed id eas in a writer's mind cannot be revised.

D. The more knowledgeabl e the writer, the l ess time the revision may take.

5. The main idea for the last paragraph is ______.

A. first draft is never the perfect one

B. writers must work on basic skills like word choice and revising word order

C. a writer is knowledgeable and his knowledge permeates his works

D. even if your writing skills have been fully displayed in your first draft, you still need revision

四

Too often young people get themselves employed quite by accid ent, not knowing what lies in the way of opportunity for promotion, happiness and security. As a result, they are employed doing jobs that afford them little or no satisfaction. Our school leavers face so much competition that they seldom care what they do as long as they can earn a living . Some stay long at a job and learn to like it ，others quite from one to another looking for something to suit them, the young graduates who leave the university look for jobs that offer a salary up to their expectation. Very few go out into the world knowing exactly what they want and realizing their own abilities. The reason behind all this confusion is that there never has been a proper vocational guidance in our educational institution. Nearly all grope(摸索) in the dark and their chief concern when they look for a job is to ask what salary is like. They never bother to think whether they are suited for the job or, even more important, whether the job suits them, Having a job is more than merely providing yourself and your dependants with daily bread and some money for leisure and entertainment, It sets a pattern of life and, in many ways, determines social status in life, selection of friends, leisure and interest.

In choosing a career you should first consider the type of work which will suit your interest .Noting is more pathetic than taking on a job in which you have no interest, for it will not only discourage your desire to succeed in life but also ruin your talents and ultimately make you an emotional wreck (受到严重伤害的人)and a bitter person.

1. The reason why some peopl e are unlikely to succeed in life is that they _____.

A. have ruined their talents

B. have taken on an unsuitabl e job

C. think of nothing but their salary

D. are not aware of their own potential

2. The difficulty in choosing a suitabl e job lies mainly in that_____.

A. much competition has to be faced

B. many empl oyees have no working experience

C. the young people only care about how much they can earn

D. schools fail to offer students appropriate vocational guidance

3. Which of the foll owing statements is most important according to the passage?

A. Your job must suit your interest.

B. Your job must set a pattern of life.

C. Your job must offer you a high salary.

D. Your job must not ruin your talents.

4. The best titl e for this passage would be ____.

A. What Can A Good Job Offer

B. Earning A Living

C. Correct Attitud e On Job-hunting

D. How To Choose A Job

5. The word "pathetic" in paragraph 2 most probably means ____ .

A. spl endid

B. miserabl e

C. disgusted

D. touching

五

To get a chocolate out of a box requires a considerable amount of unpacking: the box has to be taken out of the paper bag in which it arrived, the cellophane wrapper has to be torn off, the lid opened and the paper removed, the chocolate itself then has to be unwrapped from its own piece of paper. But this overuse of wrapping is not confined to luxuries. It is now becoming increasingly difficult to buy anything that is not done up in beautiful wrapping.

The package itself is of no interest to the shopper, who usually throws it away immediately. Useless wrapping accounts for much of the refuse put out by the average Lond on household each week. So why is it done? Some of it, like the cellophane on meat, is necessary, but most of the rest is simply competitive selling. This is absurd. Packaging is using up scarce energy and resources and messing up the environment.

Recycling is already happening with milk bottles which are returned to the dairies, washed out, and refilled. But both glass and paper are being threatened by the growing use of plastic. More dairies are experimenting with plastic bottl es.

The troubl e with plastic is that it d oes not rot. Some environmentalists argue that the only solution to the probl em of ever increasing plastic containers is to do away with plastic altogether in the shops, a suggestion unacceptabl e to many manufacturers who say there is no alternative to their handy plastic packs.

It is evid ent that more research is needed into the recovery and re-use of various materials and into the cost of collecting and recycling containers as opposed to producing new ones. Unnecessary packaging, intend ed to be used just once, and make things look better so more people will buy them, is clearly becoming increasingly absurd. But it is not so much a question of doing away with packaging as using it sensibly. What is needed now is a more advanced approach to using scarce resources for what is, after all, a relatively unimportant function.

1. "This overuse of wrapping is not confined to luxuries." (line 4, Paragraph 1 ) means_____.

A. more wrapping is need ed for ordinary products

B. more wrapping is used for luxuries than for ordinary products

C. too much wrapping is used for both luxury and ordinary products

D. the wrapping used for luxury products is unnecessary

2. Packaging is important to manufacturers because_____.

A. it is easy to use it again

B. shoppers are interested in beautiful packaging

C. they want to attract more shoppers

D. packaged things will not go rotten

3. According to the passage, dairies are _____.

A. experimenting with the use of paper bottles

B. giving up the use of glass bottles

C. increasing the use of plastic bottl es

D. re-using their paper containers

4. Some environmentalists think that_____.

A. plastic packaging should be mad e more convenient

B. no alternative can be found to plastic packaging

C. too much plastic is wasted

D. shops should stop using plastic containers

5. The author thinks that_____.

A. packing is actually useless and could be ignored

B. people will soon stop using packaging altogether

C. enough research has been d one into recycling

D. it is better to produce new materials than to re-use old ones