考研英语阅读理解精读80篇

第三部分：阅读理解(每小题2分，满分40分)

(A)

Nine years ago, after Leo had died, people said to me, "I never knew he was your stepfather." You see, I never called him that. At first, he was no one special in my life. Then he became my friend. In time, I felt he was also my father.

Leo married my mother when I was eleven. Two years later we moved into a house in a new suburban(郊区的)development, where we put down roots. At first our lawn (草坪) was just a pile of mud with wild grass, but Leo saw bright possibilities. "We'll plant trees there to give us shade as well as some flowers," he said. And just these little touches made our house different from all the others. More important, a real family was forming within this house, with its own special traditions. Leo was becoming a fulltime parent, and I was learning what it meant to have a father. Weekday mornings when the weather was bad, Leo often drove me to school. Having a father drop you off may have been something my classmates took for granted, but I always thought it was wonderful. Saturday mornings, we went to the hardware(五金)shop, then stepped into the five and ten, buying a sports magazine or something else. Some people might think that doing shopping together is nothing special, but I, who had ever before spent my childhood watching other families do their everyday activities, experienced them now with extreme delight. Looking back, I realized that Leo gave me what I needed most, the experience of doing ordinary things together as a family.

Soon after we moved to the suburbs, one of our new neighbors introduced herself to

me. She had already met my mother and Leo. "You know," she said, "you look just like your father." I knew she was just making conversation but even so... "Thank you", I said. Why tell her anything different?

56. The writer's purpose in writing this passage is _______.

A. to share her unforgettable experiences

B. to show how interesting a person Leo was

C. to remind us of our parents

D. to explain why they moved to the suburbs

57. Which of the following can be used in place of "put down roots"?

A. Settled.

B. Planted.

C. Farmed.

D. Worked.

58. In the writer's opinion, _______.

A. it is not easy for stepfamilies to live together

B. not all the stepfathers are as good as Leo

C. the husband and wife must think more about their children before they divorce(离婚)

D. in stepfamilies the love and friendship are extremely precious

59. When he said "Why tell her anything different", the writer meant that _______.

A. he should have told her the truth

B. he wouldn't tell her the truth

C. he wanted to tell her something that had nothing to do with Leo

D. he'd like to keep silence whenever he met the neighbors

(B)

The modern Olympic Games were founded with the intention of improving health and education, promoting world peace, and encouraging fair and equal competition. But over the years, the Olympic saying, "faster, higher, stronger", has pushed scientists as well as athletes to do

everything possible to reach new levels.

Doctors, engineers and coaches all use everything science has to offer to achieve that little bit extra in competition. The reason modern technology has become part of sport is very simple: winning is just as important as it was 2,500 years ago at the Olympics of ancient Greece. Developments in technology have often been reflected in the methods of training and performance at the Olympics through history. This technology falls into two main groups: improving an athlete's performance in competition, and allowing results to be measured more accurately.

One of the creations that has drawn the most attention is the new high-tech swimsuit from Speedo, which was used by many US swimmers in Athens. Until Sydney 2000, it was thought that the smaller the swimsuit, the faster the swimmer would travel.

"However, the fact that at the Sydney Olympics, 28 of the 33 gold medalists were wearing the body covering Fastskin suit proved the theory was out of date," said Andy Thomas, vice-president of Speedo.

The company's full body suit is supposed to make swimmers 3 to 4 percent faster, particularly when turning or diving into the water. It is believed that the suit creates less water resistance as it moves, behaving more like a shark skin than a human skin.

The introduction of high-tech equipment means that athletes in all sports, from the 100-metre sprint to the pole vault, can now train more effectively.

Meanwhile, scientific development also means performances can be measured and studied more accurately. Not only are winning times more accurately recorded, but cheating athletes are easier to catch out. Athens 2004 organizers promised to use only the very latest equipment to measure distance and speed.

60. Which is not the first aims of the modern Olympic Games?

A. Improving health and education.

B. Promoting world peace.

C. Encouraging fair and equal competition.

D. Winning medals.

61. The reason modern technology has become part of sport is that people ______.

A. make every effort to win medals

B. do their best to invent new sports equipment

C. try to test their abilities

D. want to improve their condition of competition

62. From the passage we know______.

A. before the Sydney Olympics people thought the less the swimmers wore, the faster they swam

B. at the Sydney Olympics among 33 swimming and diving gold medalists, 28 wore the full body suit made by Speedo

C. people think the body covering swimsuit is not popular

D. it is believed that the new high-tech suit creates no water resistance as it moves

63. In the passage it mentions that high technology is involved in ______ aspects.

A. 1

B. 2

C. 3

D. 4

(C)

"Life is speeding up. Everyone is getting unwell."

This may sound like something someone would say today. But in fact, an unknown citizen who

lived in Rome in AD 53 wrote it.

We all love new inventions. They are exciting, amazing and can change our lives.

But have all these developments really improved the quality of our lives?

Picture this: You're rushing to finish your homework on the computer. Your mobile phone rings, a QQ message from your friend appears on the screen, the noise from the television is getting louder and louder. Suddenly the computer goes blank and you lose all your work. Now you have to stay up all night to get it done. How calm and happy do you feel?

Inventions have speeded up our lives so much that they often leave us feeling stressed and tired. Why do you think people who live far away from noisy cities, who have no telephones, no cars, not even any electricity often seem to be happier? Perhaps because they lead simple lives.

One family in the UK went "back in time" to see what life was like without all the inventions we have today. The grandparents, with their daughter, and grandsons Benjamin, 10 and Thomas, 7, spent nine weeks in a 1940s house. They had no washing machine, microwave, computer or mobile phones.

The grandmother, Lyn, said: "It was hard physically. But not mentally." She believed life was less materialistic (物质的). "The more things you have, the more difficult life becomes," she said. The boys said they fought less. Probably, they said, because there was less to fight over, such as their computer. Also Lyn changed from being a "fashionable, beer-drinking granny, to one who cooked things."

Here are some simple ways to beat the stress often caused by our inventions!

· Don't be available all the time. Turn off your mobile phone at certain times of the day. Don't check your emails every day.

· Make sure you spend some time talking to your family. Set aside one evening a week when you don't turn on the television. Play cards and chat instead.

· Get a low-tech hobby. Every day, do something in the old-fashioned way, such as walking to have a face-to-face meeting instead of using the email or telephone.

· Don't worry too much about life -- laugh more!

64. The passage is mainly about ________.

A. problems with technology

B. improvements of our life with technology

C. the important roles technology plays in our everyday life

D. major changes which will be likely to happen to technology

65. The writer uses the quote(引语) at the beginning of the story to ________.

A. share a truth about life

B. tell us what life was like long time ago

C. make us wonder what causes such a thing to happen

D. point out that you experience some big problems and they may be the same

66. Why did the family choose to spend some time in a 1940s house?

A. Because they loved to live simple lives.

B. Because they were curious about how people lived without modern inventions.

C. Because they were troubled by modern inventions.

D. Because living in a different time would be a lot of fun for them.

67. What do you think the underlined word "available" in the 1st suggestion offered by the

writer means?

A. Busy on time.

B. Free.

C. Be able to.

D. To be found by others.

(D)

It's great to go on vacation, but it's also nice to come home. Migrating (迁徙) birds seem to feel the same way. Birds such as black-tailed godwits, a migrating bird that can be found in Europe, Asia, North Africa and north Australia, fly south every winter. Then, they return home to spend the summer months with their life long partner.

Now, scientists have found, pairs of godwits often return to their summer breeding (繁殖) grounds within three days of each other, even though they spend the entire winter apart. It's as if they arranged the date that they would meet up again.

Researchers in England, put coloured leg bands on the birds. Then, they asked birdwatchers around Europe to report by email when and where they saw the birds during the winter.

The simplest way for birds to return at the same time would be to spend the winter together. After all, if they're in different places, they can't call each other on the phone and talk about when they'll meet again. But, the survey found that couples usually spent their winters in different countries up to 1, 000 kilometres apart. One male, for example, spent the winter on the coast of Ireland while his mate was in France.

These findings are important for protecting the birds, scientists say. Black-tailed godwits live for up to 25 years. They spend their summers in Iceland, where they mate, but they spread all over other parts of Europe in winter. Once a pair mates, there's a 90 per cent chance that they'll return to mate with each other again the next year. So, protection of their wide web of holiday destinations (目的地) is very important.

How do the birds arrange their date of return? Unless scientists find their feathered cellphones, that question will remain a mystery.

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

A. Migrating birds all fly south every winter.

B. Migrating birds return home in summer.

C. Godwits often fly south in couples every winter.

D. Godwits often return home almost at the same time.

69.According to the passage we know that ______.

A. the birds return at the same time because they arrange the date before they part

B. the couples don't spend their winters together because they want to live apart for some time

C. the birds use their special feathered cellphones to arrange their date

D. once two birds become a couple they are likely to mate again the next year

70.We can infer from the passage that______.

A. black-tailed godwits are loyal to their mates

B. black-tailed godwits return home only to spend their summers

C. we know how to find and feed black-tailed godwits

D. we know why couples of godwits usually spend their winters in different places

71.Which is the best title?

A. How Birds Spend Their Winters

B. How Birds Spend Their Summers

C. Birds Come Back Home for Love

D. Birds Are to Be Protected

(E)

Nowadays, more and more lovers are using email to communicate with each other. The result: a new culture of love-letter writing has evolved and is rewriting the rules of how we express our love.

Make no mistake: in many cases email love letters significantly resemble their ancestors. The verbal imagery has hardly changed. Experts believe, in fact, that far more people now carry out sweet talk in cyberspace than in the time before email came along. When people use email, everything is more relaxed, and less curious. This helps the sweet words flow.

Nicola Doering, a media researcher, emphasizes that for many people contact over email is simpler: "The language is different in traditional letters; people tend to write more like they speak." This means that sometimes less thought goes into an email than a traditional love letter. Emails are more casual. This is obviously encouraging for many people.

But for romantic emails, writers reach back to the language of poetry. "Your clear-blue eyes" is typical of the kind of phrase found in love letters. Moreover, at least one traditional symbol between lovers has made an outstanding comeback. Even in the love letters of the 19th century, one often found the letter X as a symbol of a kiss. Many paper love letters would have three X's at the bottom as closing. And this symbol is often used today between lovers in their email messages. In spite of all the technological advancement that email represents, classic love letters on paper still have a special meaning, the experts say. Ink on paper simply affects many people more strongly than lines on a computer screen. It appears more serious, more permanent, as if written for all time. Sometimes people want to have something to touch, a letter that you can hold in your hand is obviously better than an email.

But Internet technology is ready to help even those with the courage to write a classic handwritten love letter. What stops many lovers from penning their most romantic thoughts is not a lack of good intentions but an inability to piece together a few sweet lines, says Thomas Neuss, the organizer of one Internet site devoted to romantic letters.

72. The author strongly believes that ______.

A. email love letters are more significant than traditional ones

B. email love letters are more convenient than traditional ones

C. most email love letters copy sweet words from traditional ones

D. most email love letters are quite similar to traditional ones

73. In the second paragraph, the term "verbal imagery" refers to ______.

A. the oral work

B. the sweet words

C. the verb form

D. their ancestor

74. Which of the following is NOT the author's opinion on traditional love letters?

A. They have a better effect.

B. They aren't out of date.

C. They are more reliable.

D. They are more romantic.

75. By showing that the letter X is popular in email love letters, the author intends to tell us______.

A. many people like using letters to express their love

B. traditional symbol between lovers has been popular

C. the romantic expression is also employed in emails

D. the language in email love letters becomes simpler