大学英语新视野读写译第三版第二册考前阅读题

U3 reading comprehension

Part 1 Reading comprehension (Each item: 1 point(s))

Directions: Read the following passages carefully. Each passage is followed by some

questions or unfinished sentences. For each of them there are four choices marked A,

B, C, and D. Choose the best answer to each question.

Questions 1 to 5 are based on the same passage or dialog.

An additional life phase between adolescence and adulthood has been added. Too often,

when young adults have not yet accomplished many of the tasks and challenges

commonly expected of them after they leave college, they are characterized as "lost,"

"not having found themselves," or, worse, "dysfunctional."

Many parents continue to hope, and perhaps expect, that their children will know clearly

about their career aspirations and be actively on the path toward a professional life by

graduation day. Often, they get their wish. Many graduates, however, complete college

with considerable career uncertainty. They may need a period of post-graduate

exploration and experimentation before coming close to a career choice that feels right

to them. In my psychotherapy (心理治疗) practice, I have seen many youngsters who

either referred themselves for help or were referred by concerned others, typically their

parents. The anxiety or depression they reported is often related to phase-of-life. Some

young adults feel unprepared when they leave home or college and try to establish a

separate and independent life. Others, however, similarly depressed or anxious, simply

may not have yet figured out the terms and conditions of their adulthood, including

career choice.

Some universities are working to create a program to send their newly admitted students

for a year of social service work in a foreign country before they set foot on campus as

freshmen. Such a program would give students a more international perspective, which

will add to their maturity and give them a break from academic pressures. Similarly,

growing numbers of high school students have chosen to take a "gap year" before

entering college.

Some parents may worry, however, that once their children get away from the

traditional pattern of high school-college they may lose interest in attending university.

In fact, the "gap year" makes "the odyssey years" more meaningful as these young

adults try to figure out how to establish their future career.

1. Why are young adults sometimes characterized as "lost"?

A. They don't really accomplish much after graduation.

B. They lost their energy in searching for jobs.

C. They face many challenges in their career.

D. They simply couldn't do anything.

2. What should graduates with career uncertainty do?

A. They should know clearly about their career aspirations.

B. They should be actively on the path toward their career.

C. They need to consult with people who're experienced.

D. They need a period of post-graduate exploration.

3. What's the purpose for some young people to go to psychotherapy?

A. They are unable to be independent.

B. They want to make their parents happy.

C. They want to know how to handle their life.

D. They are unprepared for their career choice.

4. Why do universities want to send students to a foreign country?

A. It is to enable students to burn out stress.

B. It is to broaden students' horizons.

C. It is to let students become more mature.

D. It is to make sure students won't be lost.

5. What message does the author want to send out?

A. Parents should stop worrying about their children's career.

B. Young people are following a different pattern of life.

C. It's necessary for young adults to take a year off to explore their life.

D. Young adults should figure out how to establish their future career.

Questions 6 to 10 are based on the same passage or dialog.

As the first generations to grow up in a wired world, teenagers hardly know a time when

computers weren't around, and they leap at the chance to spend hours online, chatting

with friends and searching the web for their interested topics. So what?

But researchers nationwide are increasingly concerned that teenagers are becoming

more isolated, less skillful at interpersonal relationships, and perhaps numb to the

small-or-big cheating that is so much a part of the e-mail world. Researchers are asking

just how the futures of teenagers are changed when so many of them are spending hours

on the Internet each day, replacing face-to-face contact with computer contact.

Teens, who used computers even just a few hours a week, showed increased signs of

loneliness and social isolation. These teens have fewer friends to hang around with,

possibly because their computer time has replaced the hours they would have spent with

others. They don't see anything strange in the fact that the computer screen occupies a

central place in their social lives. They think school is stressful and busy. There's almost

no time to just hang out. Talking online is just catch-up time.

Many teens acknowledge there's an unreal quality to their cyberspace communication,

including their odd shorthand terms, such as POS (parent over shoulder) or LOL

(laughing out loud). This code is considered as part of the exclusive shared language

that teenagers love. When it comes to e-mail exchanges, teens also show a remarkable

tolerance for each other's excuses or tricks. Nor are they surprised when a mere

acquaintance unloads a personal secret through e-mail. Nobody seems to expect the

online world to be the same as the real world.

Teens say they also appreciate the ability to edit what they say online, or take the time

to think about a response. As cowardly as it may seem, some teens admit that asking

someone for a date, or breaking up, can be easier in message form. But they insist there's

no harm intended, and cyberspace has become just another medium, like the telephone,

in the world of teenagers.

6. Why are researchers asking how the futures of teenagers are changed?

A. Teens don't know about a life without computers around.

B. Teens are becoming more isolated and less skillful.

C. Teens can easily get trapped into the e-mail world.

D. Teens are spending too much time on the Internet each day.

7. Why do teens spend much time on the Internet?

A. They have fewer friends to hang out with.

B. They don't see their social life strange.

C. They think school is too stressful and busy.

D. They think talking online can catch up time.

8. Which statement illustrates how teens think about the Internet?

A. Cyberspace communication is not the real world.

B. The Internet enables them to share their odd shorthand terms.

C. They enjoy uploading their own information through email.

D. Excuses and tricks in emails are normal and tolerable.

9. Why has cyberspace become another medium for teens?

A. Breaking up with girlfriends or boyfriends is easier.

B. Using cyberspace brings them a lot of convenience.

C. They can easily edit what they want to say online.

D. They feel more comfortable when express ideas by messages.

10. What is the major negative effect on teenagers using cyberspace?

A. They don't spend time doing homework.

B. They don't hand out with their friends.

C. They become more isolated and socially awkward.

D. They become more cowered in communication.

Questions 11 to 15 are based on the same passage or dialog.

When important events are happening around the world, most people turn to traditional

media sources, such as CNN and BBC, for their news. However, now people can write

diaries and post them on a web site, known as a "blog." Blogs, short for "web-logs," are

online diaries, usually kept by individuals, but sometimes by companies and other

groups of people. They are the fastest growing type of web site on the Internet.

A blog differs from a traditional web site in several ways. Most importantly, it is

updated much more regularly. Many blogs are updated every day, and some are updated

several times a day. Also, most blogs use special software or web sites which are

specifically aimed at bloggers, so you don't need to be a computer expert to create your

own blog. This means that ordinary people who may find computers difficult to use can

easily set up and start writing their own blog.

There are many different kinds of blogs. The most popular type is an online diary of

links, where the blog writer surfs the Internet and then posts links to sites or new articles

that they find interesting, with a few comments about each one. Other types are personal

diaries, where the writers talk about their life and feelings. Sometimes these blogs can

be very personal.

There is another kind of blogging, called "moblogging," short for "mobile blogging."

Mobloggers use mobile phones with cameras to take photos, which are posted instantly

to the Internet. The use of mobile phones in this way made the headlines in Singapore

when a high school student posted on the Internet a movie he had taken of a teacher

shouting at another student and tearing up the student's homework. Many people were

shocked by the student posting a video of the incident on the Internet.

As blogs become more common, news reporting will rely less on big media companies

and more on ordinary people posting news to the Internet. Possibly, the news will be

less like a lecture and more like a conversation, where anyone can join in.

11. What is the main idea of this passage?

A. The history of the Internet.

B. The introduction of new types of media.

C. The increase in popularity of computers.

D. growing number of people writing diaries.

12. To start your own blog, what do you need most?

A. Special software.

B. An Internet account.

C. An interesting point of view.

D. Access to the Internet.

13. What is the most significant difference between blogs and traditional web sites?

A. Blogs are updated much more often.

B. Blogs use special software.

C. Blogs contain links to other web sites.

D. Blogs contain personal information.

14. What is "moblogging"?

A. Mobile phones that made the headlines in Singapore.

B. Use phones to take photos and then post them online.

C. Negative news posted on the Internet.

D. Pictures posted instantly to the Internet.

15. According to the passage, which one is most likely to happen in the future?

A. Everyone will have a blog.

B. Large media companies will be unnecessary.

C. People will learn the news from different points of view.

D. Blogging technology will be banned.

Questions 16 to 20 are based on the same passage or dialog.

Have you ever flown? Did you fly to another country to study English? How do you

feel about flying? People who have to fly all the time for business usually find it boring.

People who fly only once in a while are excited. However, some people feel only terror

when they board an airplane. They suffer from a phobia, an illogical fear.

If you are afraid of poisonous spiders (有毒蜘蛛), this is logical. If you are afraid of all

spiders, even harmless ones, this is a phobia because it is illogical. Some people have

phobias about heights being shut up in a small or large open area. It's not logical to be

afraid of these things when there is no danger, but a phobia is not logical.

Fear of flying is another phobia. We always hear about a plane crash, but we don't hear

about the millions of flights every year that are safe. Riding in a car is thirty times more

dangerous than flying, but most of us are not afraid every time we get into a car. It is

not logical to be afraid of flying, but research shows that about 12 percent of people

have this fear.

People with a phobia about flying are afraid for one or more reasons. They are afraid

of heights. They avoid high places, and if they are in a high-rise building, they don't

look out the windows.

They might be afraid of being in an enclosed place like an elevator or a tunnel on a

highway. When they get on an airplane, they can't get out until the end of the flight, and

the flight might last several hours or even more. Maybe they are afraid of the crowds

and all the noise and people rushing around at an airport. This especially bothers older

people.

Some people are afraid of the unknown. They don't understand the technology of flying

and can't believe that a huge airplane can stay up in the air. Though some people are

afraid of flying, for many people it's not important because they don't really need to fly.

16. ________ usually think flying is boring.

A. People who fly once in a while

B. People who fly often on business trips

C. People who have a phobia about flying

D. People who feel terror once they board a plane

17. According to the passage, a phobia refers to ________.

A. a chemical that causes terror

B. an illogical way of reaction

C. a reliable way of predicting danger

D. a harmful way of thinking

18. A person with a fear of enclosed places doesn't like ________.

A. walking on a path

B. staying in high places

C. being in a tunnel

D. driving a car by himself

19. ________ especially bother old people.

A. Crowds at airports

B. High-rise buildings

C. Dangerous spiders

D. An enclosed place

20. What does the author want to say through this passage?

A. Riding on a car is much safer than riding on a plane.

B. car, though smaller, is more reliable than a plane.

C. Travelling by an airplane is not suitable to everyone.

D. It is illogical to be afraid of taking airplanes.

Part 2 Vocabulary and Structure

(Each item: 1 point(s))

Directions: For each of the following sentences there are four choices marked A, B, C

and D. Choose the best one to complete each sentence.

1. The winter was very severe, especially at night, so the mom had to put an extra

blanket over the baby for fear that __________.

A. he catches a cold

B. he be catching a cold

C. he caught a cold

D. he would catch a cold

2. He might have been killed __________ the timely arrival of the ambulance and

immediate operation in the hospital.

A. besides

B. except for

C. but for

D. except

3. Mr. Forbes is getting more irresponsible. __________ will he be able to regain the

trust and confidence of the company.

A. With hard work

B. Only if he works hardly

C. Only with hard work

D. In spite of his hard work

4. Since our research so far has not produced any answers to the problem, we need to

adopt a different __________ to it.

A. approach

B. manner

C. style

D. method

5. He wanted to become a writer, but his father didn't think it was a __________

profession, so he had to give it a second thought.

A. respectful

B. respective

C. respectable

D. respecting