PartⅠClose test

　　Directions: There are 20 blanks in the following passage. For each numbered blank, there are 4 choices marked A, B, C and D. Choose the best one and mark your answer on the ANSWER SHEET with a single line through the center. （10points）

　　In the late 1960's, many people in North America turned their attention to environmental problems, and new steel-and-glass skyscrapers were widely criticized. Ecologists pointing  1  that a cluster of tall buildings in a city often overburdens public transportation and parking lot  2 .

　　Skyscrapers are also enormous  3 , and wasters, of electric power. In one recent year, the addition 4  17 million square feet of skyscraper office space in New York City raised the  5  daily demand for electricity by 120,000 kilowatts-enough to  6  the entire city of Albany for a day. Glass-walled skyscraper can be especially  7 . The heat loss (or gain) through a wall of half-inch plate glass is more than ten times  8  through a typical masonry wall filled with insulation board. To lessen the strain  9  heating and air-conditioning equipment,  10  of skyscrapers have begun to use double-glazed panels of glass, and reflective glasses  11  with silver or gold mirror films that reduce  12  as well as heat gain. However,  13  skyscrapers raise the temperature of the surrounding air and  14  neighboring buildings. Skyscrapers put severe pressure on a city's sanitation  15 , too. If fully occupied, the two World Trade Center towers in New York City would alone generate 2. 25 million gallons of raw sewage each year-as  16  as a city the size of Stamford, Connecticut, which has a 17 of more than 109,000. Skyscrapers also 18 with television reception, block bird flyways, and obstruct air traffic.

　　Still, people  19 to build skyscrapers for all the reasons that they have always built them-personal ambition and the  20 of owners to have the largest possible amount of rentable space.

　　1. A. at         B. to              C. out              D. towards

　　2. A. power            B. capacities           C. potentials           D. capabilities

　　3. A. savers              B. consumers           C. losers         D. spenders

　　4. A. of               B. in              C. to             D. at

　　5. A. point            B. top             C. summit           D. peak

　　6. A. distribute          B. give           C. supply          D. donate

　　7. A. thrifty           B. economic         C. prosperous         D. wasteful

　　8. A. that          B. those           C. which         D. when

　　9. A. to         B. between        C. on         D. both

　　10. A. founders       B. consumers       C. builders        D. suppliers

　　11. A. coated      B. filled          C. powdered         D. stained

　　12. A. brightness        B. light         C. glare        D. gaze

　　13. A. glass-walled      B. plastic-walled     C. concrete-walled    D. mirror-walled

　　14. A. affect          B. assist          C. protect          D. benefit

　　15. A. decorations       B. utensils          C. facilities       D. appliances

　　16. A. more       B. much         C. few          D. little

　　17. A. population       B. People         C. Mankind         D. race

　　18. A. intervene        B. interfere         C. interrupt         D. obstacle

　　19. A. stop       B. Pause          C. Continue         D. terminate

　　20. A. wish       B. desire         C. secret         D. promise

　　Part Ⅱ Reading Comprehension

　　SectionA

　　Directions: There are 4 passages in this part .Each of the passages is followed by 5 questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are 4 choices marked A, B, C and D. Choose the best one and mark your answer on the ANSWER SHEET.（40points）

　　Passage One

　　While popular in the U. S., the April Fool's Day tradition is even more prevalent in European countries, such as France and Great Britain. Although the roots of the traditional tricking are unclear, the French and the British both have claims on the origin of the celebration.

　　One theory holds that the first April Fool's Day was on April 1 of the year when King of France instituted the new calendar. This new system placed the day that had formerly been the first day of a new year on April 1. Many people were reluctant to adjust to the new calendar and continued to celebrate New Year's Day on what had become the first day of April. Thus, they became the first April Fools.

　　An English story about the day, however, holds that it began sometime during the 1200s. At the time, King John of England was in the habit of making a road out of nearly every path he walked regularly. The citizens of one particular farm village were aware of this. To avoid having their green meadows and pastures disturbed with one of the king's roads, they built a fence that prevented the king from walking through their countryside. The king sent a group of messengers to inform that they must remove the barrier. Upon hearing that the King was planning to do this, however, the villagers developed a plan of their own. When the messengers arrived, they found what appeared to be a community of lunatics, with people behaving in a bizarre manner, throwing things and running around wildly. The messengers, alarmed at what they had found, reported to King John that these people were so mad as to be beyond punishment. So, the villagers saved their farmland by tricking the King. In Great Britain, tradition only allows April Fool's tricks from midnight to moon on April 1. Those who try to play tricks in the afternoon become the fools themselves.

　　21. The word "prevalent" in the first sentence is nearest in meaning to "".

　　A. unusual                 B. traditional

　　C. prevailing                               D. prosperous

　　22. As indicated in the passage, the first French April Fools were .

　　A. people who supported the new calendar

　　B. people who opposed the new calendar

　　C. King of France

　　D. all the people in France

　　23. In the French story, some people were regarded as the first April Fools because .

　　A. they celebrated New Year's Day on Jan. 1st of the old calendar

　　B. they celebrated New Year's Day on April 1st of the old calendar

　　C. they celebrated April Fool's Day on Jan. 1st of the old calendar

　　D. they celebrated April Fool's Day on April 1st of the old calendar

　　24. The villagers in the English story can be best described as .

　　A. crazy                           B. brave

　　C. intelligent                       D. hard-working

　　25. The readers can learn from the last paragraph that the villagers built a fence .

　　A. to show the king the way to their farmland

　　B. because their farmland had been ruined by their king

　　C. because their king often walked on their farmland

　　D. to prevent their king from turning their farmland into roads

　　Passage Two

　　When families gather for Christmas dinner, some will stick to formal traditions dating back to Grandma's generation. Their tables will be set with the good dishes and silver, and the dress code will be Sunday-best.

　　But in many other homes, this china-and-silver elegance has given way to a stoneware-and-stainless informality, with dresses assuming an equally casual-Friday look. For hosts and guests, the change means greater simplicity and comfort. For makers of fine china in Britain, it spells economic hard times.

　　Last week Royal Doulton, the largest employer in Stoke-on-Trent, announced that it is eliminating 1,000 jobs-one-fifth of its total workforce. That brings to more than 4,000 the number of positions lost in 18 months in the pottery (陶瓷) region. Wedgwood and other pottery factories made cuts earlier.

　　Although a strong pound and weak markets in Asia play a role in the downsizing, the layoffs in Stoke have their roots in earthshaking social shifts. A spokesman for Royal Doulton admitted that the company "has been somewhat slow in catching up with the trend" toward casual dining. Families eat together less often, he explained, and more people eat alone, either because they are single or they eat in front of television.

　　Even dinner parties, if they happen at all, have gone casual. In a time of long work hours and demanding family schedules, busy hosts insist, rightly, that it's better to share a takeout pizza on paper plates in the family room than to wait for the perfect moment or a "real" dinner party. Too often, the perfect moment never comes. Iron a fine-patterned tablecloth? Forget it. Polish the silver? Who has time?

　　Yet the loss of formality has its down side. The fine points of etiquette (禮節(jié)) that children might once have learned at the table by observation or instruction from parents and grandparents （"Chew with your mouth closed" "Keep your elbows off the table") must be picked up elsewhere. Some companies now offer etiquette seminars for employees who may be competent professionally but clueless socially.

　　26. The trend toward casual dining has resulted in

　　A. bankruptcy of fine china manufacturers.

　　B. shrinking of the pottery industry.

　　C. restructuring of large enterprises.

　　D. economic recession in Great Britain.

　　27. Which of the following may be the best reason for casual dining?

　　A. Family members need more time to relax.

　　B. Busy schedules leave people no time for formality.

　　C. People want to practice economy in times of scarcity.

　　D. Young people won't follow the etiquette of the older generation.

　　28. It can be learned from the passage that Royal Doulton is

　　A. a retailer of stainless steel tableware.

　　B. a dealer in stoneware.

　　C. a pottery chain store.

　　D. a producer of fine china.

　　29. The main cause of the layoffs in the pottery industry is

　　A. the increased value of the pound.

　　B. the economic recession in Asia.

　　C. the change in people's way of life.

　　D. the fierce competition at home and abroad.

　　30. Refined table manners, though less popular than before in current social life,

　　A. are still a must on certain occasions.

　　B. are bound to return sooner or later.

　　C. are still being taught by parents at home.

　　D. can help improve personal relationships.

　　Passage Three

　　On average, American kids aged 3 to 12 spent 29 hours a week in school, eight hours more than they did in 1981. They also did more household work and participated in more of such organized activities as soccer and ballet. Involvement in sports, in particular, rose almost 50% from 1981 to 1997: boys now spend an average of four hours a week playing sports; girls log half that time. All in all, however, children's leisure time dropped from 40% of the day in 1981 to 25%.

　　"Children are affected by the same time crunch that affects their parents," says Sandra Hofferth, who headed the recent study of children's timetable. A chief reason, she says, is that more mothers are working outside the home. (Nevertheless, children in both double-income and "male breadwinner" households spent comparable amounts of time interacting with their parents, 19 hours and 22 hours respectively. In contrast, children spent only 9 hours with their single mothers.)

　　All work and no play could make for some very messed-up kids. "Play is the most powerful way a child explores the world and learns about himself," says T. Berry Brazelton, professor at Harvard Medical School. Unstructured play encourages independent thinking and allows the young to negotiate their relationships with their peers, but kids aged 3 to 12 spent only 12 hours a week engaged in it.

　　The children sampled spent a quarter of their rapidly decreasing "free time" watching television. But that, believe it or not, was one of the findings parents might regard as good news. If they're spending less time in front of the TV set, however, kids aren't replacing it with reading. Despite efforts to get kids more interested in books, the children spent just over an hour a week reading. Let's face it, who's got the time?

　　31. By mentioning "the same time crunch" (Para. 2) Sandra Hofferth means

　　A. children have little time to play with their parents.

　　B. children are not taken good care of by their working parents.

　　C. both parents and children suffer from lack of leisure time.

　　D. both parents and children have trouble managing their time.

　　32. According to the author, the reason given by Sandra Hofferth for the time crunch is

　　A. quite convincing.

　　B. partially true.

　　C. totally groundless.

　　D. rather confusing.

　　33. According to the author a child develops better if

　　A. he has plenty of time reading and studying.

　　B. he is left to play with his peers in his own way.

　　C. he has more time participating in school activities.

　　D. he is free to interact with his working parents.

　　34. The author is concerned about the fact that American kids

　　A. are engaged in more and more structured activities.

　　B. are increasingly neglected by their working mothers.

　　C. are spending more and more time watching TV.

　　D. are involved less and less in household work.

　　35. We can infer from the passage that

　　A. extracurricular activities promote children's intelligence.

　　B. most children will turn to reading with TV sets switched off.

　　C. efforts to get kids interested in reading have been fruitful.

　　D. most parents believe reading to be beneficial to children.