Reading Comprehension

　　Directions:

　　Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing [A], [B], [C] or [D]. Mark your answers on Answer Sheet 1.

　　Text 1

　　Readers of our Christmas issue were invited to nominate the wisest fool of the past 50 years. They responded magnificently, though often predictably. But this was not a popularity contest, or an unpopularity one. Except Jack Kennedy, every eligible president of the United States was nominated, along with every important political leader of the rest of the world. Alan Greenspan was a popular choice, but surprisingly few businessmen were proposed. Donald Trump, Kenneth Lay, Steve Jobs, Sir Richard Branson and Lord Conrad Black were those most often mentioned. Even fewer women were nominated, though Diana, Princess of Wales, was a strong contender.

　　Piers Allen of Malta nominated Ronald Reagan, explaining, "A joke-cracking, afternoon-napping, intellectual lightweight whose memory could, in times of crisis, always be relied upon, but only to fail. Although foolish enough to announce, live on radio, that he would be bombing Russia in five minutes and take advice from his wife's astrologer (占星家), he was also wise enough to have survived union leadership and two terms as governor of California to reach the presidency of the United States and end the cold war favourably for the West. Any other wise fools making it to the White House will be hard pressed to fill his cowboy boots. "

　　Richard Spencer (address not supplied) chose Yasser Arafat, whose foolishness was in "never missing an opportunity to miss an opportunity". "While appearing to his people as a strong leader who could stand up to the Israelis, Arafat was unable to (or simply chose not to) seize the historical moment and forge a compromise solution that would benefit the lot of the Palestinians. Had he been wise enough to make a deal with Israel when the going was good, he likely would have been buried as a bona fide (真正的) world leader in a sovereign state of Palestine. "

　　Denis Papathanasiou of Hoboken, New Jersey, nominated Lawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra, baseball player for the New York Yankees (1946-63). "Mr Berra hardly qualifies as an intellectual: he is famous for such remarks as 'You don't look so hot yourself' (in response to a comment that he looked cool in his summer suit), 'What? You mean right now? (when asked for the time of day), and 'I take a two-hour nap, from one o'clock to four. ' On second glance, however, his utterances depict a certain honest Zen-like(类似禅宗) wisdom: If you don't know where you're going, you'll wind up somewhere else? It was hard to have a conversation with anyone-there were so many people talking. Those qualities have inspired a miniature popular cult (崇拜) of books and seminars. Not bad for a humble baseball player of modest education. "

　　Mr Papathanasiou takes first prize.

　　21. Dennis Papathasiou's comment suggests .

　　[A] Lawrence Berra is no doubt a confused character.

　　[B] It is hard to have a conversation with Lawrence Berra.

　　[C] It is wrong to underestimate a person of modest education.

　　[D] The baseball player is philosophical about life.

　　22. What is NOT true of Ronald Reagan?

　　[A] He was a trade union leader before assuming the governorship of California.

　　[B] He threatened to bomb the Soviet Union on the advise of an astrologer.

　　[C] He projected an image of tough guy when he was the U.S. president.

　　[D] His memory could only be relied on in times of crisis.

　　23. The possible reason to drop the U.S. presidents from the contest is that .

　　[A] The magazine deliberately disregarded popularity in the contest

　　[B] most of the readers endorsed Dennis Papathanasiou's choice

　　[C] The editors decided that they were not strong contenders

　　[D] The purpose of the contest was to outwit the readers

　　24. Richard Spencer's comment implies that the Palestinian leader .

　　[A] should have declared the formation of a Palestinian state

　　[B] failed to identify a historical opportunity when it arose

　　[C] failed to live up to his image as a strong leader

　　[D] should have been flexible in his approach to dealing with the Israelis

　　25. The word "humble" (Line 9, Para. 4) denotes .

　　[A] self-importance in bearing [B] modesty in behavior

　　[C] a free of care character [D] easy-goingness in manners

　　Text 2

　　The aging process may not be the result of a rigid genetic program that in itself dictates longevity. On the contrary, what we see as maximum life span may simply be the complex and indirect result of multiple traits in the organism that are internally tied to normal development. In other words, it is not that the body is somehow pre-programmed to acquire gray hair, wrinkles, or diminished metabolic(新陈代谢的) functions. Rather, these signs of aging are simply telltale side effects of activities of the organism.

　　Consider the analogy of an "aging car". Suppose a distinctive "species" of automobile were designed to burn fuel at a fixed temperature with an efficient rate of combustion(燃烧). That specific rate of combustion is required for appropriate acceleration, cruising speed, fuel mileage(油耗), and so on. But, when the car functions in this way over a period of time, the car also, of necessity, produces certain emission by-products that, over time, begin to clog the cylinders, reduce automotive efficiency, and lead to the breakdown and final collapse of the machine.

　　In the case of the human "car", it could be the burning oxygen in normal metabolism generates harmful by-products in free radicals that prove toxic to the organism. What we see here may be a basic trade-off: oxygen is essential for life yet harmful to our eventual well-being. In this view, the human "car" is not intentionally designed to accumulate toxic emissions in order to collapse. But there seems to be no way for the car to function at optimum levels without the destructive by-products.

　　But suppose we could find some special "fuel additive" that eliminates toxic emissions. Would we then have an "immortal" car? Probably not. Changing the fuel used in your car won't prevent accidents, nor would any fuel additive prevent rusting or the wearing down of springs and shock absorbers. The human "car" analogy, of course, is misleading, because an organism, unlike a manufactured object, has a capacity for repair and self-generation, at least up to certain point. The whole question about why we grow old is finding out why that capacity for self-repair ultimately seems unable to keep up with the damage rate: in short, why aging and death seem to be universal.

　　26. From the passage, we learn that .

　　[A] the aging process becomes quicker as people live longer

　　[B] one's life span has nothing to do with his genetic constitution

　　[C] aging may not be caused by the body's genetic program

　　[D] normal development dictates the maximum age of a person

　　27. The example of the "aging car" is used to make the point that .

　　[A] aging is actually a by-product of the life process

　　[B] any car may break down or collapse over time

　　[C] no car can function at optimum levels due to inferior fuel

　　[D] efficient rate of combustion is most important to the car

　　28. A "basic trade-off" (Line 3, Para. 3) is a process .

　　[A] by which old cars are traded off for new ones

　　[B] by which any organism depends on others for oxygen

　　[C] through which an organism gets rid of harmful substances

　　[D] in which any use carries with it an inherent side effect

　　29. Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?

　　[A] Aging would never take place if we developed a special fuel additive.

　　[B] We would live forever if we developed a magic medicine for longevity.

　　[C] Longevity is determined by diverse kinds of factors.

　　[D] Nothing can be done to prolong a life when it comes to its natural end.

　　30. The "human car" analogy is faulty in the way that .

　　[A] unlike a person, a car does not have a life span

　　[B] a human being has a self-repairing capacity

　　[C] no can is expected to last longer than a life

　　[D] a car cannot be restored to its original state once damaged

　　Text 1

　　文章概要：某杂志邀请读者评选近五十年来最聪明的傻瓜。有人提名里根，有人提名阿拉法特，Denis Papathanasiou 提名棒球选手Lawrence，理由是他在接受采访时，常常是看似答非所问的回答却包含着诚实的禅宗智慧。

　　21. [答案] D细节题。答案的依据在第四段里。Denis认为 Lawrence在接受采访时常常似答非所问，但是话里却包含诚实的禅宗智慧。故D正确。

　　22. [答案] B判断题。 里根总统虽然曾在广播中宣布要在五分钟内轰炸俄罗斯，但这是个玩笑，并不是根据某个占星家的建议所作的决定。故B正确。

　　23. [答案] A细节理解题。 答案的依据在第一段的第三句里，表明这次推选并不是看谁最受欢迎。故A正确。

　　24. [答案] D细节理解题。在文章的第三段里，Richard说Arafat没能够抓住历史的契机，由此可判断D正确。

　　25. [答案] B词意理解题。 humble 意思是 "谦虚的，谦逊的"，显然B正确。

　　Text 2

　　文章概要：本文大胆推论衰老的过程可能不是基因程序的结果。作者通过与车做类比，说明衰老和死亡是必然的结果。

　　26. [答案] C细节理解题。作者在文章的一开始就说，衰老的过程可能不是基因程序的结果。故C正确，因为其它三项内容文章根本就没有涉及。

　　27. [答案] A细节理解题。作者在第二段以汽车为例，说明汽车用久了也会彻底损坏。由此可推断A正确。

　　28. [答案] D细节理解题。作者在第三段里解释了有用的东西也会有内在的副作用。故D正确。

　　29. [答案] C判断题。文章最后一段实际上排除了B和C项。因为衰老和死亡是必然的。作者把人与汽车进行比较，汽车的 "寿命"是由各种因素决定的，因此人的寿命也是如此。故C正确。

　　30. [答案] B细节理解题。作者在最后一段倒数第二句里说，把人和车类比容易让人误解，因为生物体有自我修复和自生的能力，至少在某种程度上是如此。故B正确。