一、阅读理解（共 4 道试题，共 40 分。）V 1. In the water around New York city is a very small island called Liberty Island. On Liberty Island there is a very special statue called the Statue of Liberty. It is one of the most famous sights in the world.
The Statue of Liberty was a gift from the people of France to the people of the United States. The statue was made by a French sculptor named Frederic Auguste Bartholdi. The inner support system was designed by Gustave Eiffel, the same man who made the famous Eiffel Tower in Paris.
Liberty, of course, means freedom, and the Statue of Liberty was given to the United States to celebrate the one-hundredth anniversary of U.S independence from England. The statue was built in France, taken apart piece by piece, and then rebuilt in the United States. It was opened to the public on October 28, 1886.
As you might expect, the statue is very big. Visitors can ride an elevator from the ground to the bottom of the statue. If they want, they can walk 168 steps to reach the head of the statue where they can look out and enjoy the beautiful sight of the city of New York.
1). The word “sight” in the first paragraph means ______.
A. a small gift
B. the ability to see
C. a special island
D. something that one can see
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2). The Statue of Liberty was built ______.
A. in France
B. in the United States
C. in Paris
D. on Liberty Island
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3). We may conclude that the elevator does not ______.
A. go fast enough
B. cost lots of money
C. go to the top
D. start from the floor
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4). Who made the outside of the statue?
A. Eiffel.
B. Bartholdi.
C. An unknown artist.
D. Both A and B.
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5). A suitable title for this passage is ______.
A. A. The Eiffel Tower.
B. The Statue of Liberty.
C. Famous sights in France.
D. Famous sights in the United States.
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2. The opportunity to study abroad should be something that sounds very exciting. For most students, going abroad is a life-changing experience. There are benefits for the host country as well. Not only do foreign students spend money on tuition, housing, food and clothing, but they also often take home positive impressions of their stay and the people they met.
But Japan, which hosts over 100,000 foreign students a year, is having trouble making the most of its foreign students. “I’ve been here for three years,” says a 26-year-old Chinese student in Osaka. “I don’t have any Japanese friends, I’ve never been invited to a Japanese home, and I’ve never felt very welcome here.”
That’s hardly the kind of impression that the Japanese government wants foreign students taking home to their families and classmates, but it seems to be a widespread sentiment（情感）. One newspaper complained that, “If foreign students tell everyone how they hate this country when they go home, we should ask for what purpose we are hosting them to begin with.”
Many of the students arrive with hopes to learn Japanese and stay on for a few years working for a Japanese company. However, that doesn’t always work out. Many foreign students graduate from a Japanese university only to discover that “Japanese companies don’t hire foreigners because they think they cannot trust non-Japanese people,” says one job-seeker from the Philippines.
This is a problem for universities. With the Japanese birth rate one of the lowest in the world, Japanese schools are turning to foreign students to fill their classrooms.
The government has actively tried to increase the number of foreign students, up from fewer than 10,000 only 20 years ago. But, as one student in Tokyo says, “Japan’s policy is one of persuading people to come and then dissuading them from staying.”
1). According to the author, studying abroad ________.
A. does good to most foreign students and the host country
B. ensures a chance to get promoted
C. has a great effect on most foreign students
D. both A and C
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2). How is life in Japan in the eyes of most foreign students?
A. Helpful and meaningful.
B. Busy yet attractive.
C. Boring and disappointing.
D. Tiring yet rewarding.
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3). The word “dissuading” in the last paragraph probably means ________ .
A. discouraging
B. encouraging
C. advising
D. informing
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4). Which of the following is NOT true?
A. Japan is one of the countries with the lowest birth rate worldwide.
B. The present situation in Japan lies in the slow action by the government.
C. It is almost impossible for foreign graduates to work in Japanese companies.
D. learning Japanese and having work experience are the hopes of many arrivals.
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5). A suitable title for this passage might be ________.
A. Poor Reception in Japan
B. Japanese Foreign Policies
C. Japanese Shifting Population
D. Successful Careers in Japan
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3. Believe it or not, optical illusion (错觉)can cut highway crashes.
Japan is a case in point. It has reduced automobile crashes on some roads by nearly 75 percent using a simple optical illusion. Bent stripes, called chevrons (人字形), painted on the roads make drivers think that they are driving faster than they really are, and thus drivers slow down.
Now the American Automobile Association Foundation for Traffic Safety in Washington D.C. is planning to repeat Japan’s success. Starting next year, the foundation will paint chevrons and other patterns of stripes on selected roads around the country to test how well the patterns reduce highway crashes.
Excessive speed plays a major role in as much as one fifth of all fatal traffic accidents, according to the foundation. To help reduce those accidents, the foundation will conduct its tests in areas where speed-related hazards are the greatest---curves, exit slopes, traffic circles, and bridges.
Some studies suggest that straight, horizontal bars painted across roads can initially cut the average speed of drivers in half. However, traffic often returns to full speed within months as drivers become used to seeing the painted bars.
Chevrons, scientists say, not only give drivers the impression that they are driving faster than they really are but also make a lane appear to be narrower. The result is a longer lasting reduction in highway speed and the number of traffic accidents.
1). The passage mainly discusses __________.
A. a new way of highway speed control
B. a new pattern for painting highways
C. a new approach to training drivers
D. a new type of optical illusion
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2). On roads painted with chevrons, drivers tend to feel that __________.
A. they should avoid speed-related hazards
B. they are driving in the wrong lane
C. they should slow down their speed
D. they are approaching the speed limit
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3). The advantage of chevrons over straight, horizontal bars is that the former ___________.
A. can keep drivers awake
B. can cut road accidents in half
C. will have a longer effect on drivers
D. will look more attractive
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4). The American Automobile Association Foundation for Traffic Safety Plans to __________.
A. try out the Japanese method in certain areas
B. change the road signs across the country
C. replace straight, horizontal bars with chevrons
D. repeat the Japanese road patterns
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5). What does the author say about straight, horizontal bars painted across roads?
A. They are falling out of use in the United States
B. They tend to be ignored by drivers in a short period of time.
C. They are applicable only on broad roads.
D. They cannot be applied successfully to traffic circles.
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4. Acting is such an over-crowded profession that the only advice that should be given to a young person thinking of going on the stage is "Don't!" But it is useless to try to discourage someone who feels that he must act, although the chances of his becoming famous are slim. The normal way to begin is to go to a drama school. Usually only students who show promise and talent are accepted, and the course lasts two years. Then the young actor or actress takes up work with a theatrical company (剧团), usually as an assistant stage manager. This means doing everything that there is to do in the theatre and occasionally acting in very small parts. It is very hard work indeed, the hours are long and the salary is tiny.
Of course, some people have remarkable chances which lead to fame and success without this long and hard training. Connie Pratt, for example, was just an ordinary girl working in a bicycle factory. A film producer happened to catch sight of her one morning waiting at a bus stop, as he drove past in his car. He stopped and got out to speak to the girl. He asked if she would like to go to the film studio to do a test, and she thought he was joking. Then she got angry and said she would call the police. It took the producer twenty minutes to convince Connie that he was serious. The test was successful. And within a few weeks she was playing the leading part opposite one of the most famous actors of the day. But chances like this happen once in a blue moon!
1). From the very beginning, the author puts it clearly that acting is a profession _________ .
A. sought after by too many
B. too difficult for young people
C. for slim people only
D. one can go into without special training
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2). For someone who feels he must act, it is very likely that ________ .
A. he will become a film star at long last
B. he will become a stage manager
C. he will be well paid
D. he will end up without any success
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3). The film producer found Connie Pratt one morning when she was ________ .
A. at work in a bicycle factory
B. driving past him in her car
C. going to a film studio
D. waiting for a bus
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4). A few weeks after the test, Connie Pratt found herself ________ .
A. the most famous actress of the world
B. playing the leading female role in a play
C. as famous as the greatest actor of the world
D. no less famous than the leading actor of the day
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5). The concluding sentence "chances like this happen once in a blue moon" means _______ .
A. this is something which happens once in a while
B. this is a highly profitable chance