一．阅读理解短文（10-13篇）Passage 10In science the meaning of the word "explain" suffers with civilization's every step in search of reality. Science cannot really explain electricity, magnetism, and gravitation; their effects can be measured and predicted, but of their nature no more is known to the modern scientist than to Thales who first speculated (设想) on the electrification of amber (琥珀). Most contemporary physicists reject the notion that man can ever discover what these mysterious forces "really" are. "Electricity", Bertrand Russell says, “is not a thing, like St. Paul's Cathedral; it is a way in which things behave. When we have told how things behave when they are electrified, and under what circumstances they are electrified, we have told all there is to tell.” Until recently scientists would have disapproved of such an idea.Aristotle, for example, whose natural science dominated Western thought for two thousand years, believed that man could arrive at an understanding of reality by reasoning from self-evident principles. He felt, for example, that it is a self-evident principle that everything in the universe has its proper place, hence one can deduce that objects fall to the ground because that's where they belong, and smoke goes up because that's where it belongs. The goal of Aristotelian science was to explain why things happen. Modern science was born when Galileo began trying to explain how things happen and thus originated the method of controlled experiment which now forms the basis of scientific investigation.1.The purpose of the controlled experiment is .A) to explain why things happenB) to explain how things happenC) to forms the basis of scientific investigationD) to prove accepted theories2. For two thousand years, scientific thought was most influenced by .A) self-evident principles.B) Thales' speculations.C) Aristotle's natural science.D) Russell's theory on electricity3. Which of the following is true of Bertrand Russell's notion about electricity?A)It is disapproved of by most modern scientistsB) It is in agreement witb Aristotle's theory of self-evident principlesC) It is disagreed by Galileo' theoryD) It is supported by scientific investigations directed toward "how" things happen4. According to the passage that until recently scientists disagreed with the idea that _________ .A) man can't discover what forces "really" areB) there are mysterious forces in the universeC) there are self-evident principles?D) we can discover why things behave as they do5. Aristotle believed the fact that objects fall to the ground .A) is a result of reasoningB) could be explained from self-evident principlesC) is an instance of self-evident principleD) could be tested by experiencePassage 11More than 30,000 drivers and front seat passengers are killed or seriously injured each year. At a speed of only 30 miles per hour it is the same as falling from a third-floor window. Wearing a seat belt saves lives; it reduces your chance of death or serious injury by more than half.Therefore drivers or front seat passengers over 14 in most vehicles must wear a seat belt. If you do not, you could be fined up to ￡50. It will not be up to the drivers to make sure you wear your belt. But it will be the driver’s responsibility to make sure that children under 14 do not ride in the front unless they are wearing a seat belt of some kind.However, you do not have to wear a seat belt if you are reversing your vehicle; or you are making a local delivery collection using a special vehicle; or if you have a valid medical certificate which excuses you from wearing it. Make sure these circumstances apply to you before you decide not to wear you seat belt. Remember you may be taken to court for not doing so, and you may be fined if you cannot prove to the court that you have been excused from wearing it.1. This text is taken from .A) a medical magazine B) a police reportC) a legal document D) a government information booklet2. Wearing a seat belt in a vehicle .A)reduces road accidents by more than halfB)saves lives while driving at a speed up to 30 miles per hourC)reduces the death rate in traffic accidentsD)saves more than 15,000 lives each year3. It is the driver’s responsibility to .A)make the front seat passenger wear a seat beltB)make the front sea children under 14 wear a seat beltC)stop children riding in the front seatD)wear a seat belt each time he drives4. According to the text, which of the following people riding in the front does not have to wear a seat belt?A)Someone who is backing into a parking space.B)Someone who is picking up the children from the local school.C)Someone who is delivering invitation letters.D)Someone who is under 14.5. For some people it may be better .A)to wear a seat belt for health reasonsB)not to wear a seat belt for health reasonsC)to get a valid medical certificate before wearing a seat beltD)to pay a fine rather than wear a seat beltPassage 12Every society is a dynamic system, which might be changed by internal or external factors, or both. When two different cultures are confronted with each other, there may cause a much deeper disruption (破坏)than a clash between the two societies. For instance, a tribal war in Mrica is not very likely to destroy one of the two cultures. But by modernization, one culture was imposed upon another, and this often resulted in the latter giving the worst of two worlds. Once the damage is done, it is difficult to imagine how it can be undone. The reality of today is that very few cultures are unaffected. It is a reality we have to recogrioe, so that we can start building up from there instead of trying to turn back the clock, or to "freeze" things as they are.Connecting the West, a clear distinction must be made between western culture and the free market system.Both are obvious by connected, but they are not one and the same. In fact, the free market system sets in motion a series of changes that are escaping more and more controls from national governments.The free market has its own dynamic. For instance, if a heavy financial crash occurs, there is little room for governments to intervene (干涉).The ongoing globalization of national economies makes it more and more difficult to be an island in this global stream. Even western governments can only witness how old values are lost, without being replaced by clear-cut new ones. Things are not only changing, it is the rate of change that is increasing, and in these circumstances, cultural enclaves (飞地) will become fewer and smaller. Global trade, mass media, cheap transport, and information explosion: how can anything or anybody resist these?In the forces that are reshaping the world, there will always be a western component, but basically we are all subjected to the free market system with its globalized trade and communication. Maybe here lies an opportunity for those who are not yet captured by it, to explore the possibilities of using good elements to their advantage, and protect their societies against the negative aspects of it.1. According to the passage, tribal war in Aferica .A) will probably destroy the cultures thereB) will do more damage to their cultures than to the tribesC) is a very serious conflictD) may destroy one of the cultures of the two tribes2. According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?A) A strong culture is able to resist either internal or external force.B) In a free market system, governments have fewer controls over the economic activity.C) Under certain circumstances, a country is an island in the global stream.D) Information explosion is a threat to everyone.3. In Paragraph 3, "heavy financial crash" means .A) government corruptionB) government interferenceC) violent conflic between two countriesD) serious economic crisis4. According to the fourth paragraph, which of the following goes rapidly?A) The development of economy.B) The change of things.C) The change of cultures.D) The step of globalization.5. T he author’s attitude toward the ongoing globalization of national economies might be best describedas .A) objective B) positive C) critical D) suspiciousPassage 13The early scientific study of chemistry, known as alchemy, grew up in the first few centuries A. D. at Alexandria in Egypt. There two important things came together: one was the practical knowledge of the Egyptian workers in metals, pottery and dyes; the other was the learning of the earlier Greek philosophers, such as Hippocrates and Aristotle. At the same time alchemy was much influenced by ideas from the East about magic and astrology (占星术)—foretelling the future from stars.Greek philosophers regarded debate about the nature of matter as superior to experiment and some held that all matter was made up of the same four elements" —earth, fire, air and water. Many people therefore thought thatif these elements could be rearranged, one substance could he changed into another. For instance , a base metal could perhaps be turned into gold. The chief aim of the alchemists was to find a way of doing this.Alchemy came under Arab influence when the armies of Islam conquerred Egypt during the seventh century. The Arabs carried its study into Western Europe when they advanec into Spain. The greatest Arab alchemist was Jabir ibn Hayyan, possibly the same person as Geber, author of two important books on alchemy known from the Latin translations of the thirteenth century. Jabir claimed that mercury (水银) and sulphur (硫磺) we re “elements” like the four Greek ones. He siad that all metals were composed of mercury and sulphur in different proportions. To change a base metal into gold required the proportions to he changed by the action of a mysterious substance which came to be called “the philosopher's stone”. Alchemists searched in vain for this substance for several hundred years.Alchemy was studied widely in Europe during the twelfth and following centuries. and attracted the attention of many learned men. Though they were doomed to fail in their attempts to make gold, their work led to the growth of a great deal of new chemical knowledge and of methods of making experiments. By the first half of the sixteenth century.the aim of the alchemists had changed from the making of gold to the making of medicines. In particular they sought a fanciful substance called “the elixir (长生不老药) of life”, a powerful medicine which was to cure all ills, and which some people thought would turn out to be the same substance as "the philosopher's stone". This phase of chemistry lasted till about 1700.1. According to the passage, the practical application of chemistry originated from ______ .A) astrology in the East B) the ancient EgyptiansC) philosophy in Greek D) Arabs2 What contributions did Arabs make to the development of alchemy?A) They spread alchemy to EgyptB) They carried out alchemical experiments in SpainC) They studied alchemy in the seventh centuryD) They introduced alchemy to Western Europe3. From the passage we learn that Jahir ibn Hayyan, the greatest Arab alchemist _______ .A) further developed the Greek theories about the "elements"B) translated two important books on alchemyC) believed that all metals were composed of the same four “elements”D) described a mysterious substance as "the philosopher's stone "4. From the twelfth to the eighteenth century .A) alchemy found its wide use in people's daily lifeB) many learned men found a clue to the mystery of alchemyC) alchemists were somewhat misledD) the study of alchemy was stagnant5. The passage implies that .A) Gold might be purified from a mysterious substanceB) ancient Greek philosophers attatched more importance to alchemical experimentsC) after 1700 chemistry changed its aim and methodsD) Egypt was the birthplace of magic and early science of chemistryPassage 101．B 细节题，问采用控制试验的方法其目的何在，答案参见本文最后一句。