2016外研社杯阅读大赛南昌大学选拔赛题

The family is the center of most traditional Asians' lives. Many people worry about their families' welfare, reputation, and honor. Asian families are often 1___ , including several generations related by 2___ or marriage living in the same home. An Asian person's misdeeds are not blamed just on the individual but also on the family--including the dead 3___ .

Traditional Chinese, among many other Asians, respect their elders and feel a deep sense of duty 4___ them. Children repay their parents' 5___ by being successful and supporting them in old age. This is accepted as a 6___ part of life in China. 7___, taking care of the aged parents is often viewed as a tremendous 8___ in the United States, where aging and family support are not 9___ highly. 10___, in the youth-oriented United States, growing old is seen as a bad thing and many old people do not receive respect.

Pilipinos, the most Americanized of the Asians, are 11___ extremely family-oriented. They are 12___ to helping their children and will sacrifice greatly for their children to get an education. 13___ , the children are devoted to their parents, who often live nearby. Grown children who leave the country for economic reasons 14___ send large parts of their income home to their parents.

The Vietnamese family 15___ people currently 16___ as well as the spirits of the dead and of the as-yet unborn. Any 17___ or actions are done from family considerations, not individual desires. People's behavior is judged 18___ whether it brings shame or pride to the family. The Vietnamese do not particularly believe in self-reliance; in this way, they are the 19___ of people in the United States. Many Vietnamese think that their actions in this life will influence their 20___ in the next life.

1. A. enlarged B. extended C. expanded D. lengthened

2. B. interaction C. blood

3. A. pioneer B. settlers C. immigrant D. ancestors

4. A. toward

5. A contributions B. sufferings C. sacrifices D. tributes

6. A. formal B. natural C. regular D. peculiar

7. A. In comparison B. To the same extent C. In a way D. In contrast

8. A. relief B. responsibility C. burden D. business

9. A. rewarded B. honored C. regarded D. complimented

10. A. In fact B. In return D. As a result

11. A. meanwhile B. furthermore C. however

12. A. confined B. dedicated C. corresponded D. exposed

13. return B. In exchange C. In vain D. In turn

14. A. occasionally B. intentionally C. typically D. steadily

15. A. insists on B. consists of C. persists in D. resists to

16. A. living B. lively C. alive

17. A. incidences B. decisions C. accidents D. expedition

18. A. by

19. A. counterpart B. opposite C. competitor D. opponent

20. A) station B. status C. stature D. State

Optimism is a good characteristic, but if carried to an excess it becomes foolishness. We are prone to speak of the resources of this country as inexhaustible; this is not so. The mineral wealth of the country , the coal, iron, oil, gas, and the like, does not reproduce itself and therefore is certain to be exhausted ultimately; and wastefulness in dealing with it today means that our descendants will feel the exhaustion a generation or two before they otherwise would. But there are certain other forms of waste which could be entirely stopped--the waste of soil by washing, for instance, which is among the most dangerous of all wastes now in progress in the United States, is easily preventable, so that this present enormous loss of fertility is entirely unnecessary. The preservation or replacement of the forests is one of the most important means of preventing this loss. We have made a beginning in forest preservation, but... So rapid has been the rate of exhaustion of timber in the United States in the past , and so rapidly is the remainder being exhausted, that the country is unquestionably on the verge of a timber famine which will be felt in every household in the land. The present annual consumption of lumber is certainly three times as great as the growth; and if the consumption and growth continue unchanged, practically all our lumber will be exhausted in another generation, while long before the limit to complete exhaustion is reached the growing scarcity will make itself felt in many blighting ways upon our national welfare. About twenty percent of our forested territory is now reserved in national forests; but these do not include the most valuable timberland, and in any event the proportion is too small to expect that the reserves can accomplish more than a mitigation of the trouble which is ahead for the nation.

21. The author of the passage is likely to be a(n) _____.

22. According to the passage waste may be categorized into_____.

and unrecycled by-products

, vegetable,and mineral products

and infertile wastes

and non-preventable exhaustion of resources

23. It may be inferred that the author of the passage views the exhaustion of American’s non-reproductive wealth as _____.

24. The author is most concerned about the exhaustion of lumber as a resource because _____.

A.optimism prevents him from taking any action

B.it is being consumed faster than it can be grown

C.soil erosion cannot be prevented

D.forest preservation is an intense public concern

25. According to the passage the author feels that national forests _____.

A.are an unnecessary bureaucratic expense

B.are not created out of the best timberland

C.create a healthy environment for American recreation

D.are holding their own against soil erosion

Passage Two

Tierra del FUego is the end of the world. In geographical terms, it might just be. It is a small triangle of land that sits at the bottom of South America. The name means “Land of Fire”. It was given the name by a famous explorer who saw the natives’ fires on the shore. The island is shared by Argentina and Chile. Tierra del Fuego is notable for its unique geography.

However, the land is anything but fire. It rests at the southernmost tip of South America. The average temperature for the year is 5℃. In winter, it gets much colder. Much of the temperature differences are due to altitude. Rivers of ice form on the Andes Mountains to the west. Cold rain and winds chill the flat lands on the north and the east.

It is easy to talk about the land of Tierra del Fuego. The waters that surround it also are unique. They are perhaps the most important in the world. They are home to all kinds of birds. The albatross is the most well-known. There are also whales, squid, and many fish. For a few days in summer, huge schools of sardines move into this part

of the world. The local people can simply walk into the water and catch them with shopping bags. Schools of fish are everywhere. They can be caught without bait. These fish are of huge economic value to locals and to the world.

Tierra del Fuego is a rare place. In such a small space, it contains varied land features:mountains, forests,and prairies. Two great oceans meet on either side. This group of features makes it home to a huge range of wildfire. The land has very long days in summer and short days in winter. It is unique place on earth

. The word “notable” in the passage is closest in the meaning to ____

26.The word “altitude” in the p assage is closest in meaning to _____

27.According to the passage, all of the following are true except_____

land is an island

ocean is nearby

place is home to wildlife

land was set on fire

28.According to the passage , why are the waters unique?

A.The people catch fish with shopping bags

B.Many types of sea life and birds come here

C.The water is great for drinking

D.The ice has good nutritional properties

29.The author uses huge schools of sardines as an example of which of the following?

A.What the inhabitants like to catch

B.How people catch fish

C.Fish that come to the island

D.Birds that come to the island

psychologists have long argued about the relative importance of genetics and environment in determining human intelligence--an issue that is sometimes referred to as the "nature vs. Nurture” debate.

One reason that this question is hard to resolve is that many obstacles stand in the way of researchers who seek to investigate the effects of early childhood environment. Because the presumed environmental effects occur over a long period of time, it

obviously would be impractical to conduct experiments in the laboratory. Moreover, ethical considerations ordinarily keep researchers from manipulating the real-life environment of a child.

In the classic 1966 study by Harold M. Skeels, however, these obstacles were overcome because the researcher was able to find and make use of an "experiment in nature". Skeels' study began by chance during the 1930's when he was serving as a psychologist for the state of Iowa. Among his duties was the psychological testing of young children in an orphanage . One day he examined two baby girls who had been legally committed to the orphanage because their mothers, who were each mentally retarded, had neglected them. The girls were emaciated and pitifully inactive, spending their days rocking and whining (t^). Skeels found that,although there was no evidence of physical defects, the girls showed the mental development of children less than half their ages; the 16-month-old had a level of seven months; the 13-month-old had a level of six months. In those days, psychologists generally regarded intelligence as a genetically determined characteristic that was relatively fixed at birth. The two little girls were given up as unadoptable and, two months later, they were transferred to the Glenwood State school, an institution for the mentally retarded.

Six months after the transfer, Skeels visited the two little girls at Glenwood. He scarcely recognized them. They were alert, smiling, and active. Skeels tested them again and found to his astonishment that they were now approaching normal mental development for their age. Subsequent tests when the girls were about three years of age confirmed their progress.

What could explain the remarkable changes in their behavior and mental development? Skeels concluded that the change in environment had to be responsible. The orphanage where the girls spent their early months was understaffed and overcrowded. Much of the time, the young children were confined to large cribs with very little chance for human interaction. At Glenwood, by contrast, the two little girls had a homelike environment, rich in affection and interesting experiences. They lived in a ward with women ranging in age from 18 to 50 (mental age from 5 to 9) who, in effect, "adopted" them. They also received a lot of affection and attention from attendants and nurses who bought them toys and picture books and took them out for excursions.

All of this gave Skeels the idea for a bold experiment. He convinced the administrators of the orphanage to transfer 10 more children to the Glenwood State

School, pointing out that there was nothing to lose as the children all seemed destined for mental retardation in any case. His experimental group consisted of 13 children ?the two little girls who had transferred earlier, a third girl who had been transferred at about the same time, and the ten new transfers. Ali were under three years of age, and all had been certified as retarded. Their IQ scores ranged from 35 to 89 with a mean of 65. The progress of this experimental group at Glenwood was measured against that of a comparison group of 12 children who remained at the orphanage. The comparison group was considerably closer to average intelligence, with a mean IQ of 87.

The contrasts between the two different environments? the drab, sterile orphanage and the lively, stimulating mental institution--became even more marked as the children grew older. At the orphanage, there was little stimulation. Those children over two years old lived in cottages where one matron, aided by three or four untrained girls, had charge of 30 to 35 boys and girls. The cottages were so crowded that the children had to be tightly regimented. At age six, they attended the orphanage elementary school. Later, they were sent to public junior high school where there were few opportunities for individual attention and where they quickly fell behind in their work.

Meanwhile, at Glenwood, the transfers from the orphanage had a much more active and lively life. They were "adopted" by adults--attendants as well as the mentally retarded residents. Each child thus had the opportunity for an intense one-to-one emotional relationship with an older person. The children could often play outdoors on tricycles, swings and other equipment. And at the school at Glenwood, the matron in charge singled out children in need of special attention, allowing them to spend stimulating time each day visiting her office.

After several months, Skeels tested the children in the experimental and comparison groups. The 13 children in the enriched environment at Glenwood showed an average gain in IQ of points and 3 of the children gained over 45 points. In contrast, the 12 children in the deprived environment at the orphanage showed a decline in average IQ of points.

Even more impressive were the results of the follow-up study conducted by Skeels 21 years later. All 13 children in the Glenwood experimental group--11 of whom had been placed for adoption--were self-supporting. In the comparison group, four were still wards of institutions and one had died. The median education level in the

experimental group was the twelfth grade, in the comparison group less than the third grade. In the experimental group, subjects held jobs ranging from professional and business occupations to domestic service. Comparison group members who were not institutionalized(')^'^) tended to have low-level jobs.

Skeels' study had one methodological shortcoming: there was no way in which he could completely rule out possible innate differences in his subjects. That is, there may have been some degree to which the 13 children who were transferred to Glenwood had a higher level of intelligence than those who remained behind. Nonetheless, Skeels' study provides extremely persuasive evidence--in the short run and over a period of more than two decades--for early environment as a powerful force in the shaping of intelligence.

31. The author begins the article with_____.

A. a controversial opinion about environmental influence on human intelligence

B. a concise definition of the term "nature vs. nurture"

general remark about a much talked about issue known as the "nature vs. nurture" debate

D. an introduction to a new approach to the investigation of genetic and environmental effects

term "experiment in nature" can best be interpreted as_____.

A. (an) experiment that chanced to happen in nature

B.(an) experiment that was conducted without basically changing the subjects' real-life environment or doing any possible harm to them

C. (an) experiment that developed naturally without any researcher's interference

D. none of the above

33. From the article, we know for sure the following facts except that___.

A. Skeels decided to perform an experiment on the effects of environment when he was asked to do psychological tests on the young children in an orphanage

B. the two baby girls were officially sent to the orphanage because their mothers, mentally retarded, could not provide them with care and protection

C. Skeels, like most psychologists of his day, tended to believe that intelligence was only genetically determined, almost fixed at birth

D. affection and attention of the home-like environment in the Glenwood State School, an institution for the mentally retarded, brought about surprising changes in the two

little girls

34. For what reason does the author describe the Glenwood State School as a "lively,stimulating mental institution" with an "enriched environment"?

A. The children there had good opportunities to build up emotional relationship with older persons, staff members or mentally retarded residents.

children there could participate in a variety of outdoor activities.

children who needed special attention were better taken care of.

D. All of the above.

35.“The cottage were so crowded that the children had to be tightly regimented” . Can you figure out the meaning of the underlined expression from the context?

A.strictly disciplined arranged

controlled organized

the context we may figure out that the expression "wards of institutions" means ______.

A. persons who had to stay in certain places for special care and protection

B. students who were studying at orphanage schools

C. kids who were committed to hospitals for medical care

D. people who were disabled or mentally retarded

37. What was the striking difference between children in the experimental group and those in the comparison group?

_____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ ____________________

an institution for children's mental development, the orphanage was inferior to the Glenwood State School mainly in that _______________________________________________.

39.The author ends his article with the conclusion

_____________________________________________________________________ _____________________________________________________________________ ___________________

40.According to the text, this study of Skeels' lasts _____________________.

41.Obviously the author takes a very_____________attitude to Skeels' study.

Fields across Europe are contaminated with dangerous levels of the antibiotics given to farm animals. The drugs, which are in manure sprayed onto fields as fertilizers, could be getting into our food and water, helping to create a new generation of antibiotic-resistant "superbugs”.

The warning comes from a researcher in Switzerland who looked at levels of the drugs in farm slurry. 42____. Some 20,000 tons antibiotics are used in the European Union and the US each year. More than half are given to farm-animals to prevent disease and promote growth. 43____. Most researchers assumed that humans become infected with the resistant strains by eating contaminated meat. But far more of the drugs end up in manure than in meat products, says Stephen Mueller of the Swiss Federal Institute for Environmental Science and Technology in Dubendorf. 44 ____. With millions of tons animals manure spread onto fields of crops such as wheat and barley each year, this pathway seems an equally likely route for spreading resistance, he said. The drugs contaminate the crops, which are then eaten. 45____. Mueller is particularly concerned about a group of antibiotics called sulphonamides. 46____. This concentration is high enough to trigger the development of resistance among bacteria. But vets are not treating the issue seriously.

There is growing concern at the extent to which drugs, including antibiotics, are polluting the environment. Many drugs given to humans are also excreted unchanged and broken down by conventional sewage treatment.

A. They do not easily degrade or dissolve in water. His analysis found that Swiss farm manure contains a high percentage of sulphonamides; each hectare of field could be contaminated with up to 1 kilogram of the drugs.

B. And manure contains especially high levels of bugs that are resistant to antibiotics, he says.

C. Animal antibiotics is still an area to which insufficient attention has been paid.

D. But recent research has found a direct link between the increased use of these farmyard drugs and the appearance of antibiotic-resistant bugs that infect people.

E. His findings are particularly shocking because Switzerland is one of the few countries to have banned antibiotics as growth promoters in animal feed.

F. They could also be leaching into tap water pumped from rocks beneath fertilized fields.

G. There is no doubt that the food and drink is always important to the health.