Passage 1

　　How often one hears children wishing they were grown up, and

　　old people wishing they were young again. Each age has its pleasures and

　　its pains, and the happiest person is the one who enjoys what each age

　　gives him without wasting his time in useless regrets.

　　Childhood is a time when there are few responsibilities to make

　　life difficult. If a child has good parents, he is fed, looked after and loved,

　　whatever he may do. It is impossible that he will ever again in his life be

　　given so much without having to do anything in return. In addition, life is

　　always presenting new things to the child — things that have lost their

　　interest for older people because they are too well-known. But a child has

　　his pains: he is not so free to do what he wishes to do; he is continually

　　being told not to do things, or being punished for what he has done

　　wrong.

　　When the young man starts to earn his own living, he can no

　　longer expect others to pay for his food, his clothes, and his room, but has

　　to work if he wants to live comfortably. If he spends most of his time

　　playing about in the way that he used to as a child, he will go hungry. And

　　if he breaks the laws of society as he used to break the laws of his parents,

　　he may go to prison. If, however, he works hard, keeps out of trouble and

　　has good health, he can have the great happiness of building up forhimself his own position in society.

　　1. According to Paragraph 2, the writer thinks that _______.

　　A. life for a child is comparatively easy

　　B. a child is always loved whatever he does

　　C. if much is given to a child, he must do something in return

　　D. only children are interested in life

　　2. After a child grows up, he_____.

　　A. will have little time playing

　　B. has to be successful in finding a job

　　C. can still ask for help in time of trouble

　　D. should be able to take care of himself

　　3. Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the

　　passage?

　　A. People are often satisfied with their life.

　　B. Life is less interesting for old people.

　　C. Adults are freer to do what they want to do.

　　D. Adults should no longer rely on others.

　　4. The main idea of the passage is that ______.

　　A. life is not enjoyable since each age has some pains

　　B. young men can have the greatest happiness if they work hard

　　C. childhood is the most enjoyable time in one’s life

　　D. one is the happiest if he can make good use of each age in his life5. The paragraph following the passage will most probably discuss

　　______.

　　A. examples of successful young men

　　B. how to build up one’s position in society

　　C. joys and pains of old people

　　D. what to do when one has problems in life

　　1. A 【解析】第二段的主题句是第一句：童年是这样一段时光，不必

　　担负什么责任，生活也不会很艰难。与它意思一致的选项为 A“生活

　　对孩子来说相对容易”。

　　2. D【解析】D 选项全面概括了孩子长大后所应做的事情是照顾自己，

　　而 A、B、C 选项只是各说明了某一具体方面。

　　3. A【解析】选项 A 认为人们对自己的生活经常感到满意，但文章第

　　一段谈到“每个年龄段都有自己的快乐与痛苦，所以选项 A 的陈述

　　与原文不一致。

　　4. D【解析】文章的主旨在第一段最后一句体现出来：每个年龄段都

　　有自己的快乐与痛苦，最快乐的人就是在每个年龄段该做什么就去做

　　什么的人，是那些不会把时光浪费在无用的悔恨中的人。

　　5. C【解析】文章的第一段点明主题：每个年龄段都有自己的快乐与

　　痛苦，最快乐的人就是在每个年龄段该做什么就去做什么的人。第二、

　　三段分别谈到了童年和青年时期的快乐与痛苦，按照年龄分段，接下

　　来的段落中将会谈到老年阶段的快乐与痛苦。

　　Passage 2A great difference between American social customs and those of

　　other countries is the way in which names are used.Americans have little

　　concern for"rank”,especially socially.Most Americans do not want to be

　　treated in any especially respectful way because of their age or social

　　rank; it makes them feel uncomfortable.Many Americans even find the

　　terms “Mr.”,“Mrs”or “Miss" too formal.People of all ages may prefer to

　　be called by their first names."Don't call me Mrs Smith.Just call me

　　Sally." using only first names usually indicates friendliness and

　　acceptance.However, if you do not feel comfortable using only first

　　names, it is quite acceptable to be more formal.Just smile and say that

　　after a while you will use first names but you are accustomed to being

　　more when you first meet someone.

　　Very often, introductions are made using both first and last names: "

　　Mary Smith, this is John Jones."In this situation you are free to decide

　　whether to call the lady"Mary”or "Miss Smith” . Sometimes both of you

　　will begin a conversation using last names,and after a while one or both

　　of you may begin using first names instead.You have a choice: if you

　　don't want to use first names so quickly,no one will think it impolite if

　　you continue according to you own custom.

　　6.In the first paragraph the author tells us that( )

　　A.Americans do not talk about rank,especially socially

　　B.Americans feel uncomfortable when talking about rankC.Americans take interests in social customs

　　D.Americans don' t care much about social rank

　　7.According to the passage,most Americans feel( ) when they are

　　treated especially respectfully owing to their age or social rank.

　　A.sick

　　B. sorry

　　C.uneasy

　　D.embarrassed

　　8.Which of the following statements in NOT true?

　　A.The way names are used in America is different from those of other

　　countries.

　　B.Many Americans are used to being called by their first names.

　　C.It shows friendliness and kindness to use only first names.

　　D.When you talk to people in the United States, you have to use their first

　　names.

　　9.If an American lady say "Don’ t call me Mrs Smith, just call me Sally."

　　that shows( )

　　A.she is not a married woman

　　B.she prefers to be called "sally"

　　C.she is not Mrs Smith

　　D.she likes to be more formal

　　10.The passage you’ve just read would most likely be found in a(

　　)

　　A.guide-book for tourists

　　B.book about American history

　　C.notice

　　D.short story

　　答案解析∶

　　6.D 第一段讲道美国人很少关注“级别”，特别是在社交方面。多数

　　美国人不想因其年长或者级别高而受到特别的尊敬。这种特别的尊敬会让他们感到局促不安。比较四个选项，D 的意思最准确、最符合原

　　文。

　　7.C第一段原文提到多数美国人因其年长或者级别高而受到特别的尊

　　敬时会感到局促不安。所以选 C。“uncomfortable”在本文中应该理

　　解为“局促不安的”(ill at ease; uneasy).

　　8.D 第一段结尾提到如果只称呼名字你会感到不安，正式一些是完全

　　可以接受的。只要微笑着说过一会儿你会称呼名字，但是第一次见面

　　你习惯于比较正式的称呼。所以与美国人谈话并不一定必须(have to)

　　称呼名字。

　　9.B 从引文的上下文中可以推断出“

　　Mrs.Smith”是比较正式的称呼，

　　而美国人更喜欢直接称呼名字。所以选择 B

　　10.A 本文主要介绍美国的社会习俗―社交场合的称呼，与历史无关、

　　不是通知的形式、更不是短篇小说。所以最可能出现在旅游指南上。

　　Passage 3

　　Some psychologists(心理学家)maintain that mental acts such as

　　thinking are not performed in the brain alone, but that one's muscles also

　　participate. It may be said that we think with our muscles in somewhat

　　the same way that we listen to music with our bodies.

　　You surely are not surprised to be told that you usually listen to

　　music not only with your ears but with your whole body. Few people can

　　listen to music without moving their body or, more specifically, some partof their body. Often when one listens to a symphonic concert on the radio,

　　he is attracted to direct the orchestra(乐队)even though he knows there

　　is a good conductor on the job.

　　Strange as this behavior may be, there is a very good reason for it.

　　One cannot derive all possible enjoyment from music unless he

　　participates, so to speak, in its performance. The listener "feels" himself

　　into the music with more or less noticeable motions of his body.

　　The muscles of the body actually participate in the mental process

　　of thinking in the same way, but this participation is less obvious because

　　it is less noticeable.

　　11. Some psychologists think that thinking is __________.

　　A. not a mental process

　　B. more of a physical process than a mental action

　　C. a process that involves our entire bodies

　　D. a process that involves the muscles as well as the brain

　　12. The process of thinking and that of listening to music are similar in

　　that__________.

　　A. both are mental acts

　　B. muscles participate in both processes

　　C. both processes are performed by the entire body

　　D. we derive equal enjoyment from them

　　13. Few people are able to listen to familiar music without__________.A. moving some part of their body

　　B. stopping what they are doing to listen

　　C. directing the orchestra playing it

　　D. wishing that they could conduct music properly

　　14. The listener's way of "feeling" the music is__________.

　　A. the unnoticed motion of his muscles

　　B. "participating" in the performance

　　C. bending an ear to the music

　　D. being the conductor of the orchestra

　　15. According to the passage, muscle participation in the process of

　　thinking is__________.

　　A. Deliberate

　　B. apparent

　　C. Indistinct

　　D. impressive

　　答案解析：

　　11.D 事实细节题。第一段第一句提到一些心理学家认为精神活动如

　　思考不仅是大脑的活动，而且肌肉也参与其中，所以选 D。

　　12.B 事实细节题。第一段最后一句提到我们用肌肉思考与用身体听

　　音乐在某种程度上是一样的，所以选 B。

　　13.A 事实细节题。第二段中提到很少有人听音乐时不扭动自己的身

　　体，所以选 A。

　　14.B 推理判断题。第三段第二句提到如果一个人不参与到音乐中，也就是音乐演奏中，那他就无法从音乐中获得所有的乐趣。

　　15.C 事实细节题。文章最后一句提到肌肉以同样的方式参与了思考

　　的过程，但并不是十分明显，因为它不是很容易被注意到。distinct“明

　　显的，显著的”，前缀 in 表示否定。indistinct“不明显的，不显著的”。

　　Passage 4

　　It is difficult to imagine what life would be like without memory.

　　The meanings of thou-sands of everyday perceptions . the bases for the

　　decisions we make, and the roots of our habits and skills are to be found

　　in our past experiences, which are brought into the present by memory.

　　Memory can be defined as the capacity to keep information available

　　for later use. It includes not only "remembering" things like arithmetic or

　　historical facts, but also involving any change in the way an animal

　　typically behaves. )Memory is involved when a rat gives up eating grain

　　be-cause he has sniffed something suspicious in the grain pile. Memory is

　　also involved when a six-year-old child learns to swing a baseball bat.

　　Memory exists not only in humans and animals but also in some

　　physical objects and ma-chines. Computers, for example, contain devices

　　for storing data for later use. It is interesting to compare the

　　memory-storage capacity of a computer with that of a human being. The

　　instant-access memory of a large computer may hold up to 100,000

　　"words"-ready for instant use. An average U.S. teenager probably

　　recognizes the meaning of about 100,000 words of English. However, thisis but a fraction of the total amount of information which the teenager has

　　stored. Consider, for example, the number of faces and places that the

　　teenager can recognize on sight.

　　The use of words is the basis of the advanced problem-solving

　　intelligence of human beings.

　　A large part of a person's memory is in terms of words and

　　combinations of words.

　　16. According to the passage, memory is considered to be__________.

　　A. the basis for decision making and problem solving

　　B. an ability to store experiences for future use

　　C. an intelligence typically possessed by human beings

　　D. the data mainly consisting of words and combinations of words

　　17. The comparison made between the memory capacity of a large

　　computer and that of a human being shows that __________.

　　A. the computer's memory has a little bigger capacity than a

　　teenager's

　　B. the computer's memory capacity is much smaller that an adult

　　human being's

　　C. the computer's memory capacity is much smaller even than a

　　teenager's

　　D. both A and B

　　18. The whole passage implies that__________.A. only human beings have problem-solving intelligence

　　B. a person's memory is different from a computer's in every respect

　　C. animals are able to solve only very simple problems

　　D. animals solve problems by instincts rather than intelligence

　　19. The phrase "in terms of" in the last sentence can best be replaced

　　by__________.

　　A. "in connection with"

　　B. "expressed by"

　　C. "consisting"

　　D. "by means of"

　　20. The topic of the passage is:__________.

　　A. What would life be like without memory?

　　B. Memory is of vital importance to life.

　　C. How is a person's memory different from an animal's or a computer's?

　　D. What is contained in memory?

　　答案解析：

　　16.B 事实细节题。根据文章第二段的第一句，记忆力就是储存信息

　　以供将来使用的能力。所以选 B。A、C、D 都是记忆力特点的一个

　　方面，不能单独解释记忆力。

　　17.C 推理判断题。根据文章的第三段，一台计算机存储的“词汇”能达

　　到 100,000 个;一个十几岁的少年的词汇量也能达到 100,000 个。然

　　而，根据文章，100,000 个单词只是一个十几岁的少年全部记忆存储的一小部分。所以，计算机的“记忆”储备量要比一个十几岁的少年的

　　记忆存储量小得多。因为比较是在计算机和青少年之间进行的，与成

　　年人无关，所以不能选 B。

　　18.C 推理判断题。从文章第二段小老鼠的例子可判断，动物也有记

　　忆，也有一定解决问题的智力，所以 C 是对的。根据文章最后一段

　　第一句提到的“高级智力 advanced intelligence”可知动物也有智力，只

　　是相比人类智力低而已，所以 A 说只有人类才有解决问题的智力是

　　不准确的;D 说动物解决问题靠本能而不靠智力也是不对的。而根据

　　文章的第三段，计算机在存储“词汇”方面和一个十几岁的少年是一样

　　的，所以 B 说计算机存储和人脑记忆在各方面都不一样是错误的。

　　19.B 推理判断题。in terms of“根据;按照;用…来说”。如果不知道

　　该短语的意思，也可通过主语“一个人的大部分记忆”和“词或词组”之

　　间的关系来判断。本句的意思是一个人的大部分记忆都是靠词和词组

　　表达出来的。

　　20.B 归纳概括题。文章的主题要根据内容来确定。第一段讲的是记

　　忆的重要作用;第二段解释记忆是什么及其表现;第三段讲人类将记

　　忆功能运用到机器如计算机当中，并将人的记忆与计算机记忆进行比

　　较;第四段说大部分记忆都是通过词汇表现的。四个选项当中只有 B

　　更贴近文章的主题，其他三个选项都只是文章涉及的一个方面，都不

　　具有概括性。

　　Passage 5

　　Today anyone will accept money in exchange for goods and services.People use money to buy food, furniture, books, bicycles and hundreds of

　　others they need or want. When they work,they usually get paid in

　　money.

　　Most of the money today is made of metal or paper. But people used

　　to use all kinds of things as money. One of the first kinds of money was

　　shells.

　　Shells were not the only things used as money. In China, cloth and

　　knives were used. In the Philippine Islands, rice was used as money. In

　　some parts of Africa, cattle were one of the earliest kinds of money. Other

　　animals were used as money, too.

　　The first metal coins were made in China. They were round and had

　　a square hole in the center. People strung them together and carried them

　　from place to place.

　　Different countries have used different metals and designs for their

　　money. The first coins in England were made of tin. Sweden and Russia

　　used copper to make their money. Later, other countries began to make

　　coins of gold and silver.

　　But even gold and silver were inconvenient if you had to buy

　　something expensive. Again the Chinese thought of a way to improve

　　money. They began to use paper money. (80)The first paper money

　　looked more like a note from one person to another than paper moneused

　　toda.Money has had an interesting history from the days of shell money

　　until today.

　　21. Which of the following can be cited as an example of the use of

　　money in exchange for services?

　　A. To sell a bicycle for $20.

　　B. To get some money for old books at a garage sale.

　　C. To buy things you need or want.

　　D. To get paid for your work.

　　22. Where were shells used as money in history?

　　A. In the Philippines.

　　B. In China.

　　C. In Africa.

　　D. We don't know.

　　23. Why, according to the passage, did ancient Chinese coins have a

　　square hole in the center?

　　A. Because it would be easier to put them together and carry them

　　around.

　　B. Because it would be lighter for people to carry them from place to

　　place.

　　C. Because people wanted to make it look nicer.

　　D. Because people wanted to save the expensive metal they were made

　　from.24. Why does the author say that even gold and silver were inconvenient

　　if you had to buy some- thing expensive?

　　A. Because they are easy to steal.

　　B. Because they are difficult for people to obtain.

　　C. Because they are not easy to carry around.

　　D. Because they themselves are expensive, too.

　　25. Which do you choose as the best title for this passage?

　　A. Money and Its Uses

　　B. Different Things Used as Money

　　C. Different Countries, Different Money

　　D. The History of Money

　　答案解析：

　　21.D 常识经验题。只有 D(工作换取钱)才是钱与服务的交换，其

　　余三项全是钱与商品的交换。

　　22.D 事实细节题。由于文章没有提到贝壳最初是在哪里被用做货币

　　的，所以选 D。

　　23.A 事实细节题。见文章第四段的二、三两句，中国古代的铜钱有

　　孔，主要是因为人们为了携带方便要将之串起来。所以选 A。

　　24.C 推理判断题。由于金银很重，如果要花很多钱买某件东西的话，

　　携带起来会很不方便。25.D 归纳概括题。本文章的写作脉络很清晰：先由今天的钱(纸币

　　或硬币)说起，引出世界上最早的钱(每个国家都有不同的物来充当

　　货币)，接着谈到最早的硬币，之后随着钱的改进，出现了纸币。最

　　后作者总结钱的发展是一段有趣的历史。可见文章的主要内容是讲钱

　　的发展历史，所以选 D。

　　Passage 6

　　Long bus rides are like television shows. They have a beginning, a

　　middle, and an end—with commercials thrown in every three or four

　　minutes. The commercials are unavoidable. They happen whether you

　　want them or not. Every couple of minutes a billboard glides by outside

　　the bus window. "Buy Super Clean Toothpaste. "" Drink Root Beer. "

　　"Fill up with Pacific Gas." Only if you sleep, which is equal to turning the

　　television set off, are you spared the unending cry of "You Need It! Buy It

　　Now.! "

　　The beginning of the ride is comfortable and somewhat exciting,

　　even if you've traveled that way before. Usually some things have

　　changed--new houses, new buildings, sometimes even a new road. (76)

　　The bus driver has a style of driving and it's fun to try to figure it out the

　　first hour or so. If the driver is particularly reckless or daring, the ride can

　　be as thrilling as a suspense story.Will the driver pass the truck in time? Will the driver move into the

　　right or the left-hand lane? After a while, of course, the excitement dies

　　down. Sleeping for a while helps pass the middle hours of the ride. Food

　　always makes bus rides more interesting. But you've got to be careful of

　　what kind of food you eat. Too much salty food can make you very thirsty

　　between stops.

　　The end of the ride is somewhat like the beginning. You know it will

　　soon be over and there's a kind of expectation and excitement in that. The

　　seat, of course, has become harder as the hours have passed. (77)By now

　　you've sat with your legs crossed, with your hands in your lap, with your

　　hands on the armrests--even with your hands crossed behind your head.

　　The end comes just at the right time. There are just no more ways to sit.

　　26. According to the passage, what do the passengers usually see when

　　they are on a long bus trip?

　　A. Buses on the road.

　　B. Films on television.

　　C. Advertisements on the board.

　　D. Gas stations.

　　27. What is the purpose of this passage?

　　A. To give the writer's opinion about long bus trips.

　　B. To persuade you to take a long bus trip.

　　C. To explain how bus trips and television shows differ.

　　D. To describe the billboards along the road.

　　28. The writer of this passage would probably be in favor of__________.A. bus drivers who weren't reckless

　　B. driving alone

　　C. a television set on the bus

　　D. no billboards along the road

　　29. The writer feels long bus rides are like TV shows

　　because__________.

　　A. the commercials both on TV shows and on billboards along the road

　　are fun

　　B. they both have a beginning, a middle, and an end, with commercials in

　　every three or four minutes

　　C. the drivers are always reckless on TV shows just as they are on buses

　　D. both traveling and watching TV are not exciting

　　30. The writer thinks that the end of the ride is somewhat like the

　　beginning because both are__________.

　　A. Exciting

　　B. comfortable

　　C. tiring

　　D. boring

　　答案解析：

　　26.C 事实细节题。第一段提到在长途的公交车旅途中，会有各种铺

　　天盖地的广告牌映人眼帘，和 C 一致。而 A.B.D 在第一段中都没有

　　提到。

　　27.A 推理判断题。这篇文章的结构比较清楚，作者就是讲述自己对

　　长途公交车旅途(开始、途中、结尾)的感受，这和 A 一致。作者并没

　　有表露出说服大家乘坐长途公交车的意思，所以 B 不对。作者只是说长途公交旅途像电视节目，并没说明两者的不同，C 也不对。第一

　　段描述了路边的广告牌，但不是全文的主要内容，D 太片面。

　　28.D 推理判断题。第一段作者明显地表现出了对铺天盖地的广告牌

　　的反感，而 B.C 文中没有提到，第二段第四句提到如果司机开车比较

　　冒险，会是个让人兴奋的旅程，从这里可看出作者不排斥爱冒险的司

　　机，故 A 也不对。

　　29.B 事实细节题。第一段第二句提到长途公交旅途和电视节目相似

　　的地方在于，他们都有开始、中途和结尾，并且每隔三、四分钟插上

　　一段广告，所以选 B.

　　30.A 事实细节题。最后一段提到结束和开始的相似之处在于结束时

　　有种期待和兴奋的感觉，这和旅途刚开始是一样的。

　　Passage 7

　　It was not much fun to travel on one of the old sailing ships. Life

　　was hard for both passengers and crew. 17th century sailing ships were

　　small and roiled heavily in rough seas, so most of the passengers were

　　seasick.

　　There were no toilets, and the spaces below deck where passengers

　　had to stay during gales were often not more than 5 foot high. Water was

　　scarce and the little water they got was brown and smelt terrible.

　　Food was a problem, too--there was only salted meat, ship's biscuitsand cheese, but the cheese was so hard that sailors often made buttons out

　　of it for their jackets and trousers. There were no vegetables or fruit, so

　　the people on board often fell ill.

　　The sailors, however, were a bit better off than the passengers. They

　　each had a bottle of beer a day, and they needed. The work they had to do

　　was hard and dangerous. Courage was needed, for the heavy sails had to

　　be set and taken down in all kinds of weather, and quite often sailors were

　　swept overboard in a gale. Almost the worst thing about the voyages was

　　the time they took up to 70 days for the journey across the Atlantic. Not

　　surprisingly, everybody was overjoyed when they at last approached land

　　and stepped ashore. But some ships never arrived.

　　31. In the 17th century__________.

　　A. life on old sailing ships was enjoyable

　　B. people enjoyed sailing old ships in rough seas

　　C. most of the passengers felt comfortable when the ship was rolling

　　D. it was very painful for both passengers and crew during the voyage

　　32. The passengers__________when the ship was heavily rolling.

　　A. slept well

　　B. could drink a lot of water

　　C. had to stay below deck

　　D. had a big room of more than 5 foot high

　　33. Which of the following statements is true about food?

　　A. Passengers had a lot of vegetables, but no fruit.

　　B. The sailors had four tins of beer a day.C. The people on the ship often fell ill because of the lack of food.

　　D. The food for the passengers was more and better than that for the crew.

　　34. The working condition of the sailors was very hard.__________.

　　A. They often had to set the sails in bad weather.

　　B. So they had less courage.

　　C. They were happy to be swept overboard in a strong wind.

　　D. A 70-day-journey across the Atlantic was their happiest thing.

　　35. When the people saw the land,__________.

　　A. only passengers were glad

　　B. the sailors had to swim ashore

　　C. they were surprised at the news that some ships never arrived

　　D. all of them were excited

　　答案解析：

　　31.D 事实细节题。第一段提到 17 世纪时因为船小、在海浪中颠簸得

　　厉害，航海生活对于乘客和船员都非常艰苦，而 A.B.C 恰好与之相反，

　　所以选 D.

　　32.C 事实细节题。第二段第一句话提到刮大风时，乘客们不得不待

　　在甲板下面不足 5 英尺高的地方，而 A.B.D 与航海生活艰苦相悖，所

　　以选 C.

　　33.C 事实细节题。第三段最后一句话提到由于没有蔬菜和水果，船

　　上的人经常生病，和 c 相符，可以排除 A.最后一段提到船员一天必须喝一瓶啤酒，而不是四听，可知 B 不对。D 也不对，船员和乘客吃的

　　食物一样差而少，只是为了工作需要而每天喝一瓶酒。

　　34.A 事实细节题。最后一段提到船员们不管在什么样的天气下，都

　　必须挂风帆和降帆，经常被大风吹到甲板上，工作十分辛苦，而 B.C.D

　　明显不对，所以选 A.

　　35.D 事实细节题。倒数第二句话提到当船终于靠岸时大家都欢呼雀

　　跃，很兴奋。最后一句话虽然提到有些船永远不能到岸，但人们对此

　　不感到惊奇，故 C 不对，所以选 D.

　　Passage 8

　　No country in the world has more daily newspapers than the USA.

　　There are almost 2,000 of them, as compared with 180 in Japan, 164 in

　　Argentina and 111 in Britain. The quality of some American papers is

　　extremely high and their views are quoted all over the world.

　　Distinguished dailies like the Washington Post or the New York Times

　　have a powerful influence all over the country.

　　However, the Post and the Times are not national newspapers in the

　　sense that The Times is in Britain or LeMonde is in France, since each

　　American city has its own daily newspaper. The best of these present

　　detailed accounts of national and international news, but many tend to

　　limit them-selves to state or cite news.Like the press in most other countries, American newspapers range

　　from the "sensational",which feature crime, sex and rumor, to the serious,

　　which focus on factual news and the analysis of world events. But with

　　few exceptions American newspapers try to entertain as well as give

　　in-formation, for they have to compete with television.

　　Just as American newspapers give way to all tastes, so do they also

　　try and apply to readers for all political persuasions. (80) A few

　　newspapers support extremist groups on the far right and on the far left,

　　but most daily news papers attempt to attract middle-of-the-road

　　Americans who are essentially moderate. Many of these papers print

　　columns by well-known journalists of different political and social views,

　　in order to present a balanced picture.

　　As in other democratic countries American newspapers can be either

　　responsible or irresponsible, but it is generally accepted that the American

　　press serves its country well and that it has more than once bravely

　　uncovered political scandals (丑闻) or crimes, for instance, the Watergate

　　Affair. The newspapers drew the attention of the public to the fears of the

　　Vietnam War.

　　36. There are fewer national newspapers in __________.

　　A. Britain than in the USA

　　B. France than in Britain

　　C. the USA than in Britain or FranceD. France than in the USA or Britain

　　37. Most American newspapers try to entertain their readers

　　because__________.

　　A. they have to keep up a good relation with them

　　B. they have to compete with television

　　C. they have to write about crime, sex and rumor

　　D. they have to give factual news in an interesting way

　　38. Many American newspapers attract readers of different political

　　tendency by__________.

　　A. supporting extremist groups from time to time

　　B. inviting middle-of-the-road Americans to write articles for them

　　C. avoiding carrying articles about extremists

　　D. printing articles representing different political viewpoints

　　39. In this passage, the word "press" (Para. 2) means__________.

　　A. a machine for printing

　　B. the business of printing

　　C. great force

　　D. newspapers

　　40. The passage is mainly about__________.

　　A. the characteristics of American newspapers

　　B. thc development of American newspapers

　　C. the functions of American newspapers

　　D. the merits and shortcomings of American newspapers答案解析：

　　36.C 事实细节题。第一段后半部分提到美国每个城市都有自己的报

　　纸，而且很少有报纸把自己定位为像英国的《泰晤士报》那样的国家

　　级媒体，所以选 C.

　　37.B 事实细节题。第二段最后一句话说美国报纸除了提供信息外也

　　努力去娱乐人们，因为它们必须和电视竞争。

　　38.D 事实细节题。第三段最后一句话提到许多美国报纸通过刊登持

　　不同政治和社会观点的著名记者的文章来显示它的公正，所以选 D.

　　39.D 词汇理解题。因为此句话的主语是 American newspapers，由此

　　可推断出 press 意思就是 newspapers.

　　40.A 推理判断题。这篇文章通篇介绍了美国报纸的特点，如多数报

　　纸是州级或市级报纸，新闻涵盖面广，提供不同的政治和社会观点而

　　力求公正，责任感强等，所以选 A.

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