大学英语(B)阅读练习

阅读理解练习

Passage 1

The entertainment profession, or “show business”, attracts many young people. Unfortunately, only very few can hope to become famous and rich. Talent is not enough, because show business is as competitive as any other business. Without a good manager, a performer can never hope to succeed. Fashion is important in this business, too. The best tailor in this world will never be a success if he makes old-fashioned clothes. In exactly the same way, a performer must change his act in order to follow the taste of the moment. This is true for all performers: actors, dancers and perhaps most of all, for singers.

“Pop” stands for “popular”, and a pop singer has to work very hard to become popular. He must either give the public what they already want, or he must find a new way of singing that will attract their attention. Even when he has succeeded, and his CDs are sold everywhere, he cannot relax. Then he must work harder than ever to stay popular, because there are always younger singers trying to become famous and to steal some of the popularity.

The life of a successful pop singer is not at all easy. He can only relax when he is alone, because everything he does is watched and reported in a special newspaper written for the fans. The fans are the most important people in the world for the singer. They buy his CDs or VCDs. They go to his concerts, and watch his MTV. And it is they who make the singer rich and famous. But they can be very annoying too. Sometimes their enthusiasm gets so wild and mad that they do anything to attract attention and their behavior is as uncontrolled as possible. They shout and cry very loudly during the performance. In order to get a “gift”, they steal everything from the singer: his handkerchiefs (), his T shirts, his toothbrush. They sometimes tear off buttons from the singer’s clothes, and they even cut off pieces of the unfortunate singer’s hair. Many singers have been forced to hide, and some who have not been so lucky as to escape have almost nothing on at the end of their performance with almost everything taken away.

A pop singer has to spend a lot of money on clothes, because he must always look smart, or at any rate, different. He must have a luxurious car. And? Most important—he must always keep smiling for the benefit of his public. To keep his image young in his fan’s mind, he is not allowed to grow old.

1. What is not mentioned as the important thing to be a success in the entertainment profession in the passage?

A. Being talented.

B. Having a good manager.

C. Getting the best tailor.

D. Following the taste of the moment.

2. A successful pop singer must work even harder because ________.

A. he cannot relax

B. he must find new ways of singing

C. younger singers are catching up

D. he must stay popular to stop young singers

3. For a pop singer, the most important advantage of having fans is that ________.

A. they buy his CDs or VCDs. They go to his concerts, and watch his MTV

B. they watch him and report everything he does

C. they shout and cry very loudly during the performance

D. they make him rich and famous

4. According to the author, the fans _________.

A. are usually mad

B. can be very annoying

C. are thieves

D. are very wild people

5. The most important thing that a pop singer must do for the benefit of his public is to ________.

A. keep smiling

B. look smart or at least different

C. have an expensive car

D. keep his image young

Passage 2

In the United States, 30 percent of the grown-up population has a “weight problem”. To many people, the cause is clear: we eat too much. But scientific experiments do little to support this idea. Going back to the America of 1910, we find that people were thinner than today, yet they ate more food. In those days people worked harder physically, walked more, used machines much less , and didn’t watch television.

Several modern studies, besides, have shown that fatter people do not eat more on average than thinner people. In fact, some research work, such as the 1979 study of 3,545 London office workers, reports that fat study by research group at Standford University School of Medicine found the following fact: the more the man ran, the greater body fat he lost. The more her ran, the greater was his need for food. Thus, those who ran the most ate the most, yet lost the greatest amount of body fat.

6. What kind of physical problem do many grown-up Americans have?

A. They are too thin.

B. They work too hard.

C. They are too fat.

D. They lose too much body fat.

7. Based on the information given in this article, suppose there are 500 grown-up Americans, about how many of them have a weight problem?

A. 30.

B. 50.

C. 100.

D. 150

8. Are there scientific facts to support that eating too much is the cause of the “weight problem”?

A. Yes, there are plenty of them

B. Of course, there are facts to show this is true.

C. There are hardly any scientific facts to support this.

D. We don’t know because the information is not given.

9. Compared with the grown-up Americans today. The Americans of 1910 __________.

A. ate more food and had more physical activities.

B. ate less food but had more activities

C. ate less food and had less physical activities

D. had more weight problems

10. What have some modern medical and scientific researchers reported to us?

A. Fat people eat less food and are less active.

B. Fat people eat more food and are more active.

C. Fat people eat more food but are less active.

D. Thin people run less but eat more food.

Passage 3

People travel a lot with Heaven Air because they know they will get what they want. They want. They want to go quickly and safely across the land, across the sea or right across the world, and they know Heaven Air will take them where they want to go whenever they want to go. Heaven Air flies all the newest and fastest planes to more towns and cities of the world than any other airlines.

Do you want to go to Paris, Washington, Tokyo? Heaven Air will take you there, at all times of the

day or night, right through the week. But Heaven Air flies not only to the biggest cities, we also fly two or three times a week to towns and cities in the very center of Asia, Africa, Africa and South America.

People fly with Heaven Air because they know they will leave on time and arrive on time. They know that they will receive the best food and watch the best films.

Heaven Air is second to none.

11. Heaven Air is the name of ________.

A. a plane

B. an airline

C. a travel service

D. an advertising program

12. Traveling with Heaven Air is __________.

A. comfortable but expensive

B. cheap and pleasant

C. exciting but tiring

D. quick and safe

13. Heaven Air can take you to Paris _________.

A. on weekends only

B. just on weekdays

C. any time in a week

D. two or three times a week

14. Most flights of Heaven Air go to __________.

A. big cities

B. small towns

C. both big and small cities

D. the very center of Asia

15. According to the advertisement, Heaven Air believes it is ________.

A. the second biggest in the world

B. the second best in the world

C. the biggest in the world

D. the best in the world

Passage 4

Some people think they have an answer to the troubles of automobile crowding and city and dirty air in large cities. Their answer is the bicycle, or “bike”.

In a great many cities, hundreds of people ride bicycles to work every day. In New York City, some bike riders have even formed a group called Bike for a Better City. They claim that if more people rode bicycles to work there would be fewer automobiles in the downtown section of the city and therefore less dirty air from car engines.

For several years this group has been trying to get the city government to help bike riders. For example, they want the city to draw bicycle lanes on some of the main streets, because when bike riders have to use the same lanes as cars, there are accidents. Bike for a Better City feels that if there special lanes more people would use bikes.

But no bicycles lanes have been drawn. Not everyone thinks it is a good idea --- they say it will slow traffic. Some store owners on the main streets say that if there is less traffic, they will have less business. And most people live too far from downtown to travel by bike.

The city government has not yet decided what to do. It wants to keep everyone happy. Only on weekends, Central Park is closed to cars, and the roads may be used by bicycles only. But Bike for

a Better City says that this is not enough and keeps fighting to get bicycle lanes downtown.

16. According to passage, bicycles _________.

A. are more convenient than cars

B. are safer traffic tools than cars

C. are ridden by most people in the U.S.

D. are the solution to some city problems

17. The idea of special bicycle lanes is mostly favored by _______.

A. the city government

B. some bike riders

C. people living far from downtown

D. some store owners

18. “Bicycle lanes” in the third paragraph probably means ________.

A. narrow passages between buildings fro bicycles

B. roads full of bicycles

C. special arts of the road for bicycle riders only

D. roads for bicycles only

19. Which of the following is not true according to the passage?

A. Bike for a Better City members ride bicycles to work.

B. Sometimes accidents may occur when cars and bikes are on the same lanes.

C. The Central Park is closed to cars on weekends.

D. In New York City, many people use bikes as they have special lanes.

20. The best title for this passage is ________.

A. Traffic Crowding in New York City

B. Air Pollution in New York City by Cars

C. Special Lanes for Passengers

D. A Solution to Traffic Problem in New York

Passage 5

We often use gestures to express our feelings, but the problem is that the gestures can be understood in different ways.

It is true that a smile means the same thing in any language. So does laughter or crying. Fear is another emotion that is shown in much the same way all over the world. In Chinese and in English literature, a phrase like “he went pale and began to tremble” suggests that the man is either very afraid or he has just got a very big shock. However, “he opened his eyes wide” is used to suggest anger in Chinese whereas in English it means surprise. In Chinese, surprise can be described in a phrase like “they stretched out their tongues!”“Stretching out your tongue”in English is an insulting gesture or expresses strong dislike.

Even in the same culture, people differ in their ability to understand and express feelings. Experiments in America have shown that women are usually better than men at recognizing fear, anger, love and happiness on people’s faces. Other studies show that older people usually find it easier to recognize or understand body language than younger people do.

21. Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A. We can easily understand what people’s gestures mean.

B. Words can be better understood by older people.

C. Gestures can be understood by most people but words are not.

D. It is difficult to tell what people’ gestures really mean sometimes.

22. People’s facial expressions may be misunderstood in different cultures because _________.

A. people of different sexes may understand a gesture differently

B. people speaking different languages have different facial expressions

C. people of different ages may have different interpretations

D. people from different cultures have different meanings about some facial expressions

23. From the passage, we can conclude that _________.

A. gestures can be used to express feelings

B. gesture can be more effectively used than words to express feelings

C. words are often more difficult to understand than gestures

D. gestures are used as frequently as words to express feeling

24. In the same culture, people ________.

A. hardly ever fail to understand each other’s ideas and feelings

B. are equally intelligent even if they have different backgrounds

C. almost all have the same understanding of the same thing

D. may have different abilities to understand and express feelings

25. The best title for this passage can be _______.

A. Gestures

B. Feelings

C. Gestures and Feelings

D. Culture and Understanding

Passage 6

Until the twentieth century cigarette smoking was not a widespread habit. The cigarette industry started in the 1870’s with the development of cigarette manufacturing machines. It helped produce great numbers of cigarettes very quickly and reduced the price greatly. And consequently more and more people, both men and women, began to smoke cigarettes. Men as a group, however, smoke more than women. But the highest proportion of smokers is found in the age group of 24-44, regardless of sex difference.

Income, education, and occupation all play a part in determining a person’s smoking habits. City people smoke more than people living on farms. Well-educated men with high incomes are less likely to smoke cigarettes than men with fewer years of schooling and lower incomes. On the other hand, if a well-educated man with higher income smokers at all, he is likely to smoke more packs of cigarettes per day.

The situation is somewhat different for woman. There are slightly more smokers among women with higher family incomes and higher education than among the lower income and lower education groups. These more highly educated women tend to smoke more heavily.

Among teenagers the picture is similar. There are fewer teenage smokers from upper-income, well-educated families, and fewer from families living in farm areas. High school students who are preparing for college are less likely to smoke than those who do not plan to continue theit education after high school. Children are most likely to start smoking if one or both of their parents smoke.

26. When did cigarette smoking begin to become a widespread habit among men and women according to the author?

A. Before 1870’s.

B. In the year of 1870

C. When cigarette were made in large number

D. When women began to smoke cigarettes.

27. Among which age group of people are you likely to find the highest proportion of cigarette smokers according to the passage?

A. Teenagers.

B. People in their thirties.

C. People over fifty.

D. Students under twenty.

28. Which of the following has little to do with a person’s smoking habit?

A. How much money he earns.

B. What kind of job he does.

C. How much education he’s got.

D. How long he has worked.

29. Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A. Well-paid men with good education are more likely to smoke.

B. Women with high family incomes and good education are more likely to smoke.

C. Generally speaking, well-educated women with higher incomes smoke very few cigarettes.

D. Well-educated men usually smoke more packs of cigarettes than well-educated women.

30. What does the author mean by saying “Among teenagers the picture is similar.”in the last paragraph?

A. Teenagers smoke as many cigarettes as adults.

B. There are as many teenager smokers as adult smokers.

C. Family income and education have much the same effect on forming smoking habits among teenagers.

D. Teenager smokers have a picture that looks similar to that of adult smokers.

Keys:

1. C

2. C

3. D

4. B

5. A

6. C

7. D

8. C

9. A 10. A

11. B 12. D 13. C 14.C 15. D

16. D 17. B 18. C 19.D 20. D

21. D 22. D 23. A 24.D 25.C

26. C 27. B 28. D 29.B 30.C