2014北外网院专升本入学考试英语题目汇编阅读理解3(含答案)

阅读理解3

Passage One

This summer, for the first time, Emory College let freshmen pick their own roommates in an online roommate-selection system. Students, using screen names to hide their identities, posted profiles of themselves detailing personality attributes, work habits, music and food preferences, and exchanged information using e-mail.

Housing officials at Emory say they expect that letting students pick their own roommates who are their closest matches will increase the likelihood of compatibility, and there’s little risk of hurt feelings if the e-mail exchanges do not lead to a match, since the initial round of contacts is done under screen names.

Several studies have shown that roommates have an impact on the attitudes and social behavior of those they live with, and one recent study found that a roommate's academic performance has a small, but statistically significant effect on the other roommate's grade-point average. Other studies, however, did not find that effect.

The business of assigning roommates varies widely across the country. At Davidson College, the housing staff sort every freshman with careful hand-selection. The Davidson philosophy is that roommates should be as similar as possible, while halls should be as diverse as possible.

"We had a match that seemed perfect, until we discovered that one was a cattle rancher's son and the other was a vegan (绝对素食者)," said Ms. Kromm. "They should definitely meet, on the same hall. But we didn't want to put them in the same room." Occasionally, an incoming student asks to be paired with an Asian, or says she might not be able to get along with a Republican. In such cases, Ms. Kromm will remind them that Davidson does not accept roommate preferences based on race, ethnicity, and religion.

Davidson’s care in matching pays off. By Christmas last year, only four students requested roommate changes out of 480. No one knows whether computer-matching works as well, but at Emory, so far, student reaction seems to be overwhelmingly positive.

Questions 1-5: Choose the best answer from A, B, C and D. Write your answers on the Answer Sheet. 从A, B, C, D选项中选择一个正确的答案写在答题卷上。

1.In computer matchmaking, initially students do not reveal their _______.

A. personalities

B. identities

C. habits

D. hobbies

2.If e-mail exchanges between students fail to lead to a match, the students

involved _______.

A. will end up with hurt feelings

B. will stop using their screen names

C. won't feel embarrassed or discouraged

D. won't have another chance to contact others

3.As mentioned in the passage, only one study found that roommates have an

impact on the _______of the other roommates.

A. academic grades

B. social behavior

C. sleeping patterns

D. personal attitudes

4.It can be inferred from the passage that computer matching _______.

A. is unlikely to be a great success

B. is a novelty with no final results

C. will not be as good as expected

D. will soon replace hand selection

5.Both computer matching and hand selection follow the principle of _______.

A. putting students with similarities together

B. meeting all legitimate demands of students

C. letting students pick their own roommates

D. seeking diversity in roommate matching

Passage Two

Daniel Tammet is talking. As he talks, he studies my shirt and counts the stitches (缝线). Ever since the age of three, when he suffered a disease, Tammet has been obsessed with counting. Now he is 26, a mathematical genius who can figure out cube roots quicker than a calculator, but can't drive a car or tell right from left. He lives with extraordinary ability and disability.

Tammet is softly spoken and shy about making eye contact. He lives on the Kent coast, but never goes near the beach－there are too many pebbles to count. The thought of a mathematical problem with no solution means too much for him. Trips