PART V READING COMPREHENSION [25 MIN]In this section there are four passages followed by questions or unfinished statements, each with four suggested answers marked A, B, C and D. Choose the one that you think is the best answer.TEXT AOpen up most fashion magazines and you will see incredibly thin models with impossible hair and wearing unreasonably expensive, impracticably styled clothes. But shouldn't clothes be comfortably durable and make a principle of being simple for the individual who wears them? Why are we constantly told that we need to buy new clothes and add fresh pieces to our collection?Fashions change year after year so lots of people can make piles of money. If folks are convinced that they need a different look each season, that this year's sweater's length and shoes style are important, they can be persuaded to buy. The fashion industry would have you ignore your shortcomings and just make you feel beautiful and happy. In fact it is not only a phenomenon we can find in people's dressing.Fashion controls our lives. Fashion controls what we wear, what we eat, what we drink, the way we cut our hair, the makeup We buy and use, the color of the cars we drive. Fashion even controls our ideas.You don't believe me? How many. Of your friends are vegetarians? Why are they vegetarians? Because it is fashionable!Where does fashion come from? Often the reasons are quite logical. Scientists and historians study the fashions of the past and discover the secrets of each fashion.When girls see an attractive guy, their blood pressure rises and their lips become redder. That's why guys think that girls wearing lipstick are beautiful.Why do guys shave their heads? In the past soldiers shaved their heads to kill the insects that lived in their hair. Now guys shave their heads so that they look strong and masculine, like soldiers.People spend a lot of time and money on fashion. But are they wasting their money? Changes in fashion help to develop new technologies. Changes in style create work for people all over the world. Many people work in the fashion industry, particularly in the fashion capitals of London, New York, Paris and Milan.And finally, fashion makes you feel good, doesn't it? When you are dressed in the latest style, dancing to the most fashionable music, after watching the latest hit film, you feel great, don't you?1. What's the author's viewpoint about the models and their hairstyles and clothes?A. Unbiased.B. Indifferent.C. Critical.D. Appreciative.2. It is indicated by the author that clothes should beA. comfortable and durable.B. new and fresh.C. expensive and fashionable.D. simple and unique3. The fashion industry makes profits byA. selling the products at high prices.B. creating a need in you.C. helping you get rid of your shortcomings.D. making you look more beautiful.4. The author thinks what has been found about fashions by the scientists and the. historians isA. incredible.B. amazing.C. reasonable.D. creative.5. The passage mentions the advantages of fashion EXCEPT thatA. it can help promote technological development.B. it enables people to remain up-to-date.C. it can create more job opportunities for people.D. it can make people achieve a great feeling.TEXT BCalifornia is a land of variety and contrast. Almost every type of physical land feature, sort of arctic ice fields and tropical jungles can be found within its borders. Sharply contrasting types of land often lie very close to one another. People living in Bakersfield, for instance, can visit the Pacific Ocean and the coastal plain, the fertile San Joaquin Valley, the arid Mojave Desert, and the high Sierra Nevada, all within a radius of about 100 miles. In other areas it is possible to go snow skiing in the morning and surfing in the evening of the same day, without having to travel long distance. Contrast abounds in California. The highest point in the United States (outside Alaska) is in California, and so is the lowest point (including Alaska).Mount Whitney, 14,494 feet above sea level, is separated from Death Valley, 282 feet below sea level, by a distance of only 100 miles. The two areas have a difference in altitude of almost three miles. California has deep, clear mountain lakes like Lake Tahoe, the deepest in the country, but it also has shallow, salty desert lakes. It has Lake Tulainyo, 12,020 feet above sea level, and the lowest lake in the country, the Salton Sea, 236 feet below sea level. Some of its lakes, like Owens Lake in Death Valley, are not lakes at all: they are dried-up lake beds. In addition to mountains, lakes, valleys, deserts, and plateaus, California has its Pacific coastline, stretching longer than the coastlines of Oregon and Washington combined.1. Which of the following is the lowest point in the United States?A. Lake Tulainyo.B. Mojave desert.C. Death Valley.D. The Salton Sea.2. Where is the highest point in the United States located?A. Lake Tahoe.B. Sierra Nevada.C. Mount Whitney.D. Alaska.3. How far away is Death Valley from Mount Whitney?A. About 3 miles.B. Only 100 miles.C. 282 feet.D. 14,494 feet.4. Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage as being within a radius of about 100 miles ofBakersfield?A. The Pacific Ocean.B. San Joaquin Valley.C. Mojave Desert.D. Oregon and Washington.5. Which statement best demonstrates that California is a land of variety and contrast?A. The highest lake in California is Lake Tulainyo.B. It is possible to go surfing and snow skiing in some parts of California without having to travel longdistance.C. Sierra Nevada, San Joaquin Valley, Mojave Desert and the Pacific Ocean all lie within a radius of about 100miles.D. Owens Lake, in Death Valley, is not really a lake at all.TEXT CThis year, like lots of other people, I'm going to try to make my own Christmas presents. It's not the first time that I've promised myself this. Being a milliner, and an all-round crafty type, I've often thought I should put my money where my mouth is. But this year I'm really going to stick to it. It's partly that I'm short of cash, but also that I've recently returned from an inspiring trip around Britain, looking into "make do and mend" for BBC2's Newsnight.I dreamed up the trip a few months ago. The thought of traveling the country--making things as I went, meeting artists and craftspeople--sounded like the perfect way to spend the summer. I'd pack a tent and a sewing machine and off I'd go. But by the time I finalized my plans and hit the road, leaves were already crunching under foot. It seemed crazy to camp with winter on the way; instead, Newsnight viewers offered me board and lodging in return for help with a craft task. There was an overwhelming response.My tasks ranged from darning (缝补) a moth-eaten monk's jumper to making trousers for a stilt walker. Textile students in Harpenden offered to pay for my petrol in return for a talk about hats. In Derby, Amy needed help to transform an old pair of curtains.I was really struck by people's growing enthusiasm for making things. I asked a WI group in Sheffield how many could sew, and only a few put up their hands. But when I asked who wanted to learn, nearly everyone responded positively. At the Textile Workshop in Nottingham, the number of classes on offer has doubled in a year, and a knitting club in Leeds is growing by the week.Craft is definitely fashionable at the moment. But over and above fashion, we're learning to appreciate effort and quality again. Perhaps once people rediscover the pleasure to be gained from making something unique, it may stick.Sue Pilchard is curator (管理者) of quilts at the V&A, where next spring she'll be putting on the museum's first major quilting exhibition. Sue believes the return to crafting is wrapped up in how we are redefining ourselves. "There's certainly a movement.., towards a new domesticity. People, especially women, are starting to think about the way they live their lives. It's 40 years since the first women's liberation conference was held in Oxford.Since that time we've been in the workplace, and we've had the opportunity of choice. Now we're deliberately choosing to go back into the home."Whether you agree with that or not, there's something about Christmas that brings out the artistic streak in everyone. Whether it's baking mince pies or decking the halls, we're all prepared to have a go. So if you fancy pushing the boat out and making a few presents, try these really simple ideas, each inspired by my recent journey. They make ideal stocking fillers or small gifts, and take no longer than 30 minutes each. Play some carols, settle down with a steaming cup of cocoa, and forget the cold. You'll save yourself a bit of money and spread a little bit of love too!1. The author promised to make herself a Christmas present this year mainly becauseA. she wanted to save money.B. she couldn't afford to buy one.C. she was inspired by her trip for a BBC2 program.D. A lot of people make presents themselves.2. Which of the following is CORRECT about the author's trip to Britain?A. She met many artists and craftsmen on her way to Britain.B. She spent a whole summer in Britain making crafts.C. She was asked to sew clothes, pants and curtains and made a fortune.D. Many people were found to be interested in making things themselves.3. When was the author probably on her trip to Britain?A. Spring.B. Late Summer.C. Late Autumn.D. Winter.4. According to the passage, through crafting people learn toA. appreciate the efforts in manual things.B. keep up with fashion.C. stick to something interesting.D. understand craft better.5. What is the author's view on homemade Christmas presents?A. Making Christmas presents can just convey a bit of your love.B. It would take long time to prepare a Christmas present.C. You can drink a cup of hot cocoa when you make preparations.D. People can find their artistic talent in making Christmas presents.TEXT DAt the age of twelve years, the human body is at its most vigorous. It has yet to reach its full size and strength, and its owner his or her full intelligence; but at this age the likelihood of death is least. Earlier, we were infants and young children, and consequently more vulnerable; later, we shall undergo a progressive loss of our vigor and resistance which, though imperceptible at first, will finally become so steep that we can live no longer, however well we look after ourselves, and however well society, and our doctors, look after us.This decline in vigor with the passing of time is called ageing. It is one of the most unpleasant discoveries which we all make that we must decline in this way, that if we escape wars, accidents and disease we shall eventually "die of old age", and that this happens at a rate which differs little from person to person, so that there are heavy odds in favor of our dying between the ages of sixty-five and eighty. Some of us will die sooner, a few will live longer—on into a ninth or tenth decade. But the chances are against it, and there is a virtual limit on how long we can hope to remain alive, however lucky and robust we are.Normal people tend to forget this process unless and until they are reminded of it. We are so familiar with the fact that man ages, that people have for years assumed that the process of losing vigor with time, of becoming more likely to die the older we get, was something self-evident, like the cooling of a hot kettle or the wearing-out of a pair of shoes. They have also assumed that all animals, and probably other organisms such as trees, or even the universe itself, must in the nature of things "wear out".Most animals we commonly observe do in fact age as we do, if given the chance to live long enough; and mechanical systems like a wound watch, or the sun, do in fact an out of energy in accordance with the second law of thermodynamics (热力学) (whether the whole universe does so is a moot point at present). But these are not analogous to what happens when man ages. A run-down watch is still a watch and can be rewound. An old watch, by contrast, becomes so worn and unreliable that it eventually is not worth mending. But a watch could never repair itself—it does not consist of living parts, only of metal, which wears away by friction. We could,at one time, repair ourselves—well enough, at least, to overcome all but the most instantly fatal illnesses and accidents. Between twelve and eighty years we gradually lose this power; an illness which at twelve would knock us over, at eighty can knock us out, and into our grave. If we could stay as vigorous as we are at twelve, it would take about 700 years for half of us to die, and another 700 for the survivors to be reduced by half again.1. Which of the following statements is INCORRECT?A. Our first twelve years represent the peak of human development.B. People usually are unhappy when reminded of ageing.C. Normally only a few of us can live to the eighties and nineties.D. People are usually less likely to die at twelve years old.2. The word "it" in the last sentence of Paragraph Two refers toA remaining alive until 65.B. remaining alive after 80.C. dying before 65 or after 80.D dying between 65 and 80.3. What is ageing?A. It is usually a phenomenon of dying at an old age.B. It is a fact that people cannot live any longer.C. It is a gradual loss of vigor and resistance.D. It is a phase when people are easily attacked by illness.4. What do the examples of watch show?A. Normally people are quite familiar with the ageing process.B. All animals and other organisms undergo the ageing process.C. The law of thermodynamics functions in the ageing process.D. Human's ageing process is different from that of mechanisms.5. Which of the following best fits the style of this passage?A. Argumentation.B. Exposition.C. Narration.D. Description.【答案解析】TEXT A1．[C]观点态度题。