Practice 5专四

PART V READING COMPREHENSION

TEXT A

Attention to details is something everyone can and should do—especially in a tight job market. Bob Crossley, a human-resources expert notices this in the job applications that come across his desk every day. "It's amazing how many candidates eliminate themselves," he says.

"Resumes arrive with stains. Some candidates don't bother to spell the company's name correctly. Once I see a mistake, I eliminate the candidates," Crossley concludes. "If they cannot take care of these details, why should we trust them with a job?"

Can we pay too much attention to details? Absolutely. Perfectionists struggle over little things at the cost of something larger they work toward. "To keep from losing the forest for the tree." Says Charles Garfield, an associate professor at the University of California, San Francisco, "We must constantly ask ourselves how the details we're working on fit into the larger picture. If they don't, we should drop them and move to something else"

Garfield compares this process to his work as a computer scientist at NASA. "The Apollo Ⅱmoon launch was lightly off-course 90 percent of the time," says Garfield. "But a successful landing was still likely because we knew the exact coordinates of our goal. This allowed us to make adjustments as necessary." Knowing where we want to go helps us judge the importance of every task we undertake.

Too often we believe what accounts for others' success is some special secret or a lucky break. But rarely is success so mysterious. Again and again, we see that by doing little things within our grasp well, large rewards follow.

82. According to the passage, some job applicants were rejected ______.

A: because they eliminated their names from the applicants' list themselves

B: because of their inadequate education as shown in their poor spelling in writing a resume C: because they failed to give a detailed description of their background in their applications D: because of their carelessness as shown in their failure to present a clean copy of a resume 83. The underlined word "perfectionists" (Para. 3) refers to those who ______.

A: pay too much attention to details only to lose their major objectives

B: know how to adjust their goals according to the circumstances

C: demand others to get everything absolutely right

D: are capable of achieving perfect results in whatever they do

84. Which of the following is the author's advice to the reader?

A: Careless applicants are not to be trusted.

B: Don't forget details when drawing pictures.

C: Be aware of the importance of a task before undertaking it.

D: Although too much attention to details may be costly, they should not be overlooked. 85. The example of the Apollo Ⅱmoon launch is given to illustrate that ______.

A: minor mistakes can be ignored in achieving major objectives

B: keeping one's goal in mind helps in deciding which details can be overlooked

C: adjustments are the key to the successful competition of any work

D: failure is the mother of success

86. The best title for this passage would be ______.

A: Don't Be a Perfectionist

B: Details and Major Objectives

C: Importance of Adjustments

D: Hard Work Plus Good Luck

TEXT B

Many a young person tells me he wants to be a writer. I always encourage such people, but I also explain that there's a big difference between "being a writer" and writing. In most cases these individuals are dreaming of wealth and fame, not the long hours alone at a typewriter. "Y ou've got to want to write," I say to them, "not want to be a writer."

The reality is that writing is a lonely, private and poor-paying affair. For every writer kissed by fortune there are thousands more whose longing is never rewarded. When I left a 20-year career in the U. S. Coast Guard to become a freelance writer, I had no prospects at all. What I did have was a friend who found me my room in a New Y ork apartment building. It didn't even matter that it was cold and had no bathroom. I immediately bought a used manual typewriter and felt like a genuine writer.

After a year or so, however, I still hadn't gotten a break and began to doubt myself. It was so hard to sell a story that barely made enough to eat. But I knew I wanted to write. I had dreamed about it for years. I wasn't going to be one of those people who die wondering "What if?" I would keep putting my dream to the test—even though it meant living with uncertainty and fear of failure. This is the Shadowland of hope, and anyone with a dream must learn to live there.

87. The passage is meant to ______.

A: warn young people of the hardships that a successful writer has to experience

B: advise young people to give up their idea of becoming a professional writer

C: show young people it's unrealistic for a writer to pursue wealth and fame

D: encourage young people to pursue a writing career

88. What can be concluded from the passage?

A: Genuine writers often find their work interesting and rewarding.

B: A writer's success depends on luck rather than on effort.

C: Famous writers usually live in poverty and isolation.

D: The chances for a writer to become successful are small

89. Why did the author begin to doubt himself after the first year of his writing career?

A: He wasn't able to produce a single book.

B: He hadn't seen a change for the better.

C: He wasn't able to have a rest for a whole year.

D: He found his dream would never come true.

90. "… people who die wondering What if?" (Para. 3) refers to "those ______".

A: who think too much of the dark side of life

B: who regret giving up their career halfway

C: who think a lot without making a decision

D: who are full of imagination even upon death

91. “Shadowland” in the last sentence refers to ______.

A: the wonderland one often dreams about

B: the bright future that one is looking forward to

C: the state of uncertainty before one's final goal is reached

D: a world that exist only in one's imagination

TEXT C

Could the bad old days of economic decline be about to return? Since OPEC agreed to supply-cuts in March, the price of crude oil has jumped to almost ＄26 a barrel, up from less than ＄10 last December. This near-tripling of oil prices calls up scary memories of the 1973 oil shocks

resulted in double-digit inflation and global economic decline. So where are the headlines warning of gloom and doom this time?

The oil was given another push up this week when Iraq suspended oil exports. Strengthening economic growth, at the same time as winter grips the northern hemisphere, could push the price higher still in the short term.

Y et there are good reasons to expect the economic consequences now to be less severe than in the 1970s. In most countries the cost of crude oil now accounts for a smaller share of the price of petrol than it did in the 1970s. In Europe, taxes account for up to four-fifths of the retails price, so even quite big changes in the price of crude have a more muted effect on pump prices than in the past.

Rich economics are also less dependent on oil than they were, and so less sensitive to swings in the oil price. Energy conservation, a shift to other fuels and a decline in the importance of heavy, energy-intensive industries have reduces oil consumption. Software, consultancy and mobile telephones use far less oil than steel or car production. For each dollar of GDP (in constant prices) rich economics now use nearly 50% less oil than in 1978. The OECD estimates in its latest Economic Outlook that, if oil prices averaged ＄22 a barrel for a full year, compared with ＄13 in 1998, this would increase the oil import bill in rich economies by only 0. 25-0. 5% of GDP. That is less than one-quarter of the income loss in 1974 or 1980. On the other hand, oil-importing emerging economies—to which heavy industry has shifted—have become more energy-intensive, and so could be more seriously squeezed.

One more reason not to lose sleep over the rise in oil prices is that, unlike the rises in the 1970s, it has not occurred against the background of general commodity-price inflation and global excess demand. A sizable portion of the world is only just emerging from economic decline. The Economist's commodity price index is broadly unchanging from a year ago. In 1973 commodity prices jumped by 70%, and in 1979 by almost 30%.

92. The main reason for the latest rise of oil price is ______.

A: global inflation B: reduction in supply

C: fast growth in economy D: Iraq's suspension of exports

93. It can he inferred from the text that the retail price of petrol will go up dramatically if ______.

A: price of crude rises B: commodity prices rise

C: consumption rises D: oil taxes rise

94. The estimates in Economic Outlook show that in rich countries ______.

A: heavy industry becomes more energy-intensive

B: income loss mainly results from fluctuating crude oil prices

C: manufacturing industry has been seriously squeezed

D: oil price changes have no significant impact on GDP

95. We can draw a conclusion from the text that ______.

A: oil-price shocks are less shocking now

B: inflation seems irrelevant to oil-price shocks

C: energy conservation can keep down the oil prices

D: the price rise of crude leads to the shrinking of heavy industry

96. From the text we can see that the writer seems ______.

A: optimistic B: sensitive C: gloomy D: scared

TEXT D

How we look and how we appear to others probably worries us more when we are in our teens or early twenties than at any other time in our life. Few of us are content to accept ourselves

as we are, and few are brave enough to ignore the trends of fashion.

Most fashion magazines or TV advertisements try to persuade us that we should dress in a certain way or behave in a certain manner. If we do, they tell us, we will be able to meet new people with confidence and deal with every situation confidently and without embarrassment. Changing fashion, of course, does not apply just to dress. A barber today does not cut a boy's hair in the same way as he used to, and girls do not make up in the same way as their mothers and grandmothers did. The advertisers show us the latest fashionable styles and we are constantly under pressure to follow the fashion in ease our friends think we are odd or dull.

What causes fashions to change? Sometimes convenience or practical necessity or just the fancy of an influential person can establish a fashion. Take hats, for example. In cold climates, early buildings were cold inside, so people wore hats indoors as well as outside. In recent times, the late President Kennedy caused a depression in the American hat industry by not wearing hats: more American men followed his example.

There is also a cyclical pattern in fashion. In the 1920s in Europe and America, short skirts became fashionable. After World War II, they dropped to ankle length. Then they got shorter and shorter until the miniskirt was in fashion. After a few more years, skirts became longer again.

Today, society is much freer and easier than it used to he. It is no longer necessary to dress like everyone else. Within reason, you can dress as you like or do your hair the way you like instead of the way you should because it is the fashion. The popularity of jeans and the "untidy" look seem to be a reaction against the increasingly expensive fashions of the top fashion houses.

At the same time, appearance is still important in certain circumstances and then we must choose our clothes carefully. It would be foolish to go to an interview for a job in a law firm wearing jeans and a sweater; and it would be discourteous to visit some distinguished scholar looking as if we were going to the beach or a nightclub. However, you need never feel depressed if you don't look like the latest fashion photo. Look around you and you'll see that no one else does either!

97. The author thinks that people are ______.

A: satisfied with their appearance

B: concerned about appearance in old age

C: far from neglecting what is in fashion

D: reluctant to follow the trends in fashion

98. Fashion magazines and TV advertisements seem to link fashion to ______.

A: confidence in life B: personal dress

C: individual hair style D: personal future

99. Causes of fashions are ______.

A: uniform B: varied C: unknown D: inexplicable

100. Present-day society is much freer and easier because it emphasizes ______.

A: uniformity B: formality C: informality D: individuality 101. Which is the main idea of the last paragraph?

A: Care about appearance in formal situations.

B: Fashion in formal and informal situations.

C: Ignoring appearance in informal situations.

D: Ignoring appearance in all situations.