IV. Reading Comprehension ( 60 points)

Directions:There are five reading passages in this part. Each passage is followed by four questions. For each question there are four suggested answers marked A, B, C and D.Choose the best answer and blacken the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet.

Passage One

Debate is a valuable way to practise communicating. It can also bring long-lasting rewards,especially for people working with Western businesses. The main activity of debate is presenting one' s opinion and suppmting it with evidence,such as statistics or facts. It is a way of persuasive communication.

Charles Lebeau helped create the "Discover Debate" method. He says debate is important to understanding how people communicate in Western business. Successful debaters learn how to give their opinkm,reasans and support. "What we are trying to do is to develop a kind of thinking or approach to discussion and how to interact (交流) with someone else' s opinion, rather than brush their opinion aside. "

Debate skills are also important in selling a product, he says. In that situation, the judges are the customem. "So on Monday, for example, one company may come in and present their case to the customer and they" ll make as strong a ease as they can. On Tuesday, the next day, another company will come in and present their ease to the customer. Usually the party that can present the strongest case wins”

Debate also strengthens critical thinking. In other words, it helps students learn to ask questionsand try to understand someone' s reasons and evidence.lift-. Lebeau points out that successful debaters learn to listen carefully to what other people are saying. Then, they look for the weak points in someone else' s opinion or argument. He says debate teaches a systematic way of questioning.

Successful debaters also learn to think from someone else' s point of view. Mr. Lebeau says debate can help broaden the mind. "There' s an expression in English : don' t criticize another person before you have walked in their shoes. I think the wonderful thing about debate is, it puts us in another person' s shoes. "

36. According to Paragraph 1 ,what is the purpose of debate?

A. To bring long-lasting material rewards.

B. To present evidence such as statistics and facts.

C. To respond to questions in a systematic way.

D. To persuade people to accept your opinions.

37. Why is debate important.9

A. It helps people understand others better.

B. It allows people to present their opinions.

C. It develops one' s thinking and communicative competence.

D. It gives one the opportunity to brush others' opinion aside.

38. What does the underlined word "case" in Paragraph 3 refer to?

A. Container. B. Evidence.

C. Problem. D. Product.

39. What can debaters benefit from "walking in another person' s shoes" .9

A. Becoming more broad-minded. B. Developing critical thinking.

C. Finding others' weak points. D. Trying out others' methods.

Passage Two

We all love a hero, and rescue dogs are some of the biggest heroes of all. You will often find them going above and beyond duty to save someone, risking--and at times losing--their lives in the process.

Rescue dogs are generally found in the Sporting and Hunting Groups, or from the traditional Herding Group. These types include the Bloodhound, Labrador Retriever, Newfoundland, German Shepherd, Golden Retriever, and Belgian Malinois--all of which are chosen for search-and-rescue duty because of their amazing physical strength, loyalty, and their tendency for mental stability.

These types also have a keen sense of hearing and smell--to better locate lost individuals—and are often able to access hard-to-reach areas. As highly trained animals, they serve in many different fields, including specialist search, snow slide rescue, dead body location, and tracking.

To overcome obstacles and succeed when performing the demanding duties of a search-and-rescue worker, a dog must display certain qualities. In addition to intelligence and strength, the dog must be swift, confident, easily trainable, adaptable, and have a high level of stamina (耐力) and endurance.

A strong sense of group cooperation and an ability to engage in friendly play during "down" time is also required of search-and-rescue dogs.

A rescue dog goes through many, many hours of intensive training to be fit for duty. Training is not for the faint-hearted. Certification training can take from two to three years, working three to four hours a day, three to six days a week, often in group,team-oriented sessions.

Each search-and-rescue field requires different types of training. Rescue training, for instance, includes "air scenting"--where dogs are trained to smell the air for the victim' s scent (氣味) and then follow the scent to the person. This ability is crucial to finding victims trapped under collapsed buildings and snow slide.

40. Rescue dogs are chosen probably because__

A. they are loyal B. they are brave

C. they have amazing appearances D. they have good eyesight

41. What does "faint-hearted" in Paragraph 5 mean??

A. Courageous. B. Cowardly.

C. Energetic. D. Slow.

42. Which ability is most important for dogs to rescue people trapped in snow?

A. Sharp hearing. B. Swift movement.

C. Extraordinary smelling. D. A strong memory.

43. What is the passage mainly about?

A. Selection process of rescue dogs.

B. Qualities and training of rescue dogs.

C. Risks rescue dogs are faced with.

D. Types of tasks rescue dogs can perform.

Passage Three

Eating an apple a day doesn' t keep the doctor away, but it does reduce the amount of trips you make to the drug store per year. That ' s according to a new study that investigates whether there' s any truth in the old saying.

A team of researchers led by Dr Matthew Davis, of the University of Michigan School of Nursing,asked 8,399 participants to answer survey questions about diet and health. A total of 753 were apple eaters, consuming at least 149g of raw apple per day. The remaining 7,646 were classed as non-apple eaters. When both groups answered questions on trips to the doctor and trips to the drug store per year,the apple eaters were found to be 27% less likely to visit the druggist for drugs.

Trips to the doctor were not significantly affected by apple consumption, though. "Evidence does not support that an apple a day keeps the doctor away. However, the small number of US adults who eat an apple a day does appear to use fewer prescription medications," the study concludes.

Apple eaters were also found to be less likely to smoke and be more likely to have a higher educational attainment than non-apple eaters. While apples do not compete with oranges, they docontain some immune (免疫的) system-increasing vitamin C, which may be why apple-eaters visit the druggist less. With over 8mg of vitamin C per medium-sized fruit, an apple can provide roughly 14% your daily recommended intake.

Previous studies have also linked apple consumption to a lower risk of Type 2 diabetes (二型糖尿病) ,improved lung function and a lower risk of colon (結(jié)腸) cancer.

44. How many non-apple eaters answered survey questions in the research?

A. 149.

B. 7,646.

C. 753.

D. 8,399.

45. What is the conclusion of the study?

A. Apple consumption has greatly reduced US adults' trips to the doctor.

B. An apple a day does keep the doctor away.

C. Apples are far more nutritious than oranges.

D. A small number of US adult apple eaters tend to take less medicine.

46. What can we learn from the passage?

A. Apples are better than oranges.

B. Apples do have some vitamin C to increase the immune system.

C. Apples can help cure certain diseases.

D. Apples can provide people with sufficient daily intake of energy.

47. What can be described as the writing style of this passage?

A. Objective.

B. Creative.

C.subjective

D.persuasive

Passage Four

Sometimes I scratch my head when I read about the government' s efforts to improve schools:new standards and tests to be applied, strict teacher evaluations, and threats of school closures and job losses. They frighten the school employees, not to mention the students. Instead of making people unable to solve problems or try new ideas--which is what fear does to us--research on school reform strongly suggests that policy-makers should encourage school leaders to take a more humane approach. In their study on the reform efforts of twelve Chicago public schools, Bryk and Schneider found that enabling positive social relationships between the adults was the key to successful school improvement and that trust was at the heart of those relationships.

Trust in schools comes down to one thing:psychological safety or safety to speak one's mind,to discuss with openness and honesty what is and isn' t working,to make collective decisions.

Yet this kind of safety doesn' t come easily to schools. According to Bryk and Schneider, the adults in school rely on each other to do their jobs correctly and with integrity (正直). The challeage is that our expectations are very diverse based on our unique backgrounds.

At one school where I taught, each teacher had different expectations about how much effort teachers should put into their work--a big difference between the teachers who left af~the last bell and those who worked into the evening. And when expectations are uncoasci or unspoken, it becomes impossible for others to live up to them.

We also make assumptions about the intentions behind a person' s behavior. As we all Imam,assumptions are often wrong. For example, parents and teachers my think the principal taml particular decision based on his career advancement rather than hat" s best for the studeata. don't feel psychologically safe to question our assumptions and e~aecmtiatm, trust itiea am the window and our relationships suffer.

48. According to Paragraph 1,why does the author scratch his head?

A. Because he doesn' t know what to do once schools are closed.

B. Because he is not sure about the practicability of those new tests.

C. Because he is concerned that many teachers will lose their jobs.

D. Because he is not in favor of the government' s reform efforts.

49. According to Bryk and Schneider, what was most important for successful school improvemt?

A. New standards and tests in schools.

B. Positive social relationships.

C. Strict teacher and student evaluations.

D. Assistance of the government.

50. What is meant by trust in school?

A. Freedom to express one' s views,

B. Extra effort teachers put into their work.

C. Independence of the teachers in schools.

D. Unconscious and unspoken expectations.