Reading Practice 1 93年 Passage 1
Is language, like food, a basic human need without which a child at a critical period of life can be starved and damaged? Judging from the drastic experiment of Frederick Ⅱ in the thirteenth century, it may be. Hoping to discover what language a child would speak if he heard no mother tongue, he told the nurses to keep silent. All the infants died before the first year. But clearly there was more than lack of language here. What was missing was good mothering. Without good mothering, in the first year of life especially, the capacity to survive is seriously affected. Today no such severe lack exists as that ordered by Frederick. Nevertheless, some children are still backward in speaking. Most often the reason for this is that the mother is insensitive to the signals of the infant, whose brain is programmed to learn language rapidly. If these sensitive periods are neglected, the ideal time for acquiring skills passes and they might never be learned so easily again. A bird learns to sing and to fly rapidly at the right time, but the process is slow and hard once the critical stage has passed.
Experts suggest that speech stages are reached in a fixed sequence and at a constant age, but there are cases where speech has started late in a child who eventually turns out to be of high IQ. At twelve weeks a baby smiles and makes vowel-like sounds; at twelve months he can speak simple words and understand simple commands; at eighteen months he has a vocabulary of three to fifty words. At three he knows about l, 000 words which he can put into sentences, and at four his language differs from that of his parents in style rather than grammar.
Recent evidence suggests that an infant is born with the capacity to speak. What is special about man’s brain, compared with that of the monkey, is the complex system which enables a child to connect the sight and feel of, say, a toy-bear with the sound pattern \bear\And even more incredible is the young brain’s ability to pick out an order in language from the mixture of sound around him, to analyze, to combine and recombine the parts of a language in new ways.
But speech has to be induced, and this depends on interaction between the mother and the child , where the mother recognizes the signals in the child’ s babbling (咿呀学语) , grasping and smiling, and responds to them. Insensitivity of the mother to these signals dulls the interaction because the child gets discouraged and sends out only the obvious signals. Sensitivity to the child’s non-verbal signals is essential to the growth and development of language.
21. The purpose of Frederick II’s experiment was _________ [A] to prove that children are born with the ability to speak
[B] to discover what language a child would speak without hearing any human speech [C] to find out what role careful nursing would play in teaching a child to speak [D] to prove that a child could be damaged without learning a language 22. The reason some children are backward in speaking is most probably that _________ [A] they are incapable of learning language rapidly [B] they are exposed to too much language at once
[C] their mothers respond inadequately to their attempts to speak
[D] their mothers are not intelligent enough to help them
23. What is exceptionally remarkable about a child is that __________ [A] he is born with the capacity to speak
[B] he has a brain more complex than an animal’s [C] he can produce his own sentences
[D] he owes his speech ability to good nursing
24. Which of the following can NOT be inferred from the passage? [A] The faculty of speech is inborn in man.
[B] Encouragement is anything but essential to a child in language learning. [C] The child’s brain is highly selective.
[D] Most children learn their language in definite stages.
25. If a child starts to speak later than others, he will ________
[A] have a high IQ [B] be less intelligent
[C] be insensitive to verbal signals [D] not necessarily be backward
Passage 2
In general, our society is becoming one of giant enterprises directed by a bureaucratic (官僚主义的) management in which man becomes a small , well-oiled cog in the machinery. The oiling is done with higher wages, well-ventilated factories and piped music, and by psychologists and \oiling does not alter the fact that man has become powerless, that he does not wholeheartedly participate in his work and that he is bored with it. In fact, the blue-and the white-collar workers have become economic puppets who dance to the tune of automated machines and bureaucratic management.
The worker and employee are anxious, not only because they might find themselves out of a job; they are anxious also because they are unable to acquire any real satisfaction or interest in life. They live and die without ever having confronted the fundamental realities of human existence as emotionally and intellectually independent and productive human beings.
Those higher up on the social ladder are no less anxious. Their lives are no less empty than those of their subordinates. They are even more insecure in some respects. They are in a highly competitive race. To be promoted or to fall behind is not a matter of salary but even more a matter of self-respect. When they apply for their first job, they are tested for intelligence as well as for the tight mixture of submissiveness and independence. From that moment on they are tested again and again---by the psychologists, for whom testing is a big business, and by their superiors, who judge their behavior, sociability, capacity to get along, etc. This constant need to prove that one is as good as or better than one’ s fellow-competitor creates constant anxiety and stress, the very causes of unhappiness and illness. Am I suggesting that we should return to the pre-industrial mode of production or to nineteenth-century \enterprise\capitalism? Certainly not. Problems are never solved by returning to a stage which one has already outgrown. I suggest transforming our social system from a bureaucratically managed industrialism in which maximal production and consumption are ends in themselves into a humanist
industrialism in which man and full development of his potentialities----those of love and of reason----are the aims of all social arrangements. Production and consumption should serve only as means to this end, and should be prevented from ruling man.
26. By \that man is ______ [A] a necessary part of the society though each individual’s function is negligible [B] working in complete harmony with the rest of the society
[C] an unimportant part in comparison with the rest of the society, though functioning smoothly
[D] a humble component of the society, especially when working smoothly
27. The real cause of the anxiety of the workers and employees is that _____ [A] they are likely to lose their jobs
[B] they have no genuine satisfaction or interest in life
[C] they are faced with the fundamental realities of human existence [D] they are deprived of their individuality and independence
28. From the passage we can infer that real happiness of life belongs to those [A] who are at the bottom of the society
[B] who are higher up in their social status
[C] who prove better than their fellow-competitors
[D] who could keep far away from this competitive world
29. To solve the present social problems the author suggests that we should [A] resort to the production mode of our ancestors [B] offer higher wages to the workers and employees [C] enable man to fully develop his potentialities [D] take the fundamental realities for granted
30. The author’s attitude towards industrialism might best be summarized as one of ________
[A] approval [B] dissatisfaction [C] suspicion [D] tolerance
Passage 3
When an invention is made, the inventor has three possible courses of action open to him: he can give the invention to the world by publishing it, keep the idea secret, or patent it. A granted patent is the result of a bargain struck between an inventor and the state, by which the inventor gets a limited period of monopoly (垄断) and publishes full details of his invention to the public after that period terminates.
Only in the most exceptional circumstances is the lifespan of a patent extended to alter this normal process of events.
The longest extension ever granted was to Georges Valensi; his 1939 patent for color TV receiver circuitry was extended until 1971 because for most of the patent’ s normal life there was no color TV to receive and thus no hope of reward for the invention.
Because a patent remains permanently public after it has terminated, the shelves of the library attached to the patent office contain details of literally millions of ideas that are free for anyone to use and, if older than half a century, sometimes even re-patent. Indeed, patent experts often advise anyone wishing to avoid the high cost of conducting a search through live patents that the one sure way of avoiding violation of any other inventor’ s right is to plagiarize a dead patent. Likewise, because publication of an idea in any other form permanently invalidates further patents on that idea, it is traditionally safe to take ideas from other areas of print. Much modern technological advance is based on these presumptions of legal security.
Anyone closely involved in patents and inventions soon learns that most \ideas are, in fact, as old as the hills. It is their reduction to commercial practice, either through necessity or dedication, or through the availability of new
technology, that makes news and money. The basic patent for the theory of magnetic recording dates back to 1886. Many of the original ideas behind television originate from the late 19th and early 20th century. Even the Volkswagen rear engine car was anticipated by a 1904 patent for a cart with the horse at the rear. 31. The passage is mainly about ________. [A] an approach to patents
[B] the application for patents [C] the use of patents [D] the access to patents
32. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
[A] When a patent becomes out of effect, it can be re-patented or extended if necessary.
[B] It is necessary for an inventor to apply for a patent before he makes his invention public. [C] A patent holder must publicize the details of his invention when its legal period is over.
[D] One can get all the details of a patented invention from a library attached to the patent office.
33. George Valensi’s patent lasted until 1971 because _________ [A] nobody would offer any reward for his patent prior to that time [B] his patent could not be put to use for an unusually long time [C] there were not enough TV stations to provide color programs [D] the color TV receiver was not available until that time
34. The word \[A] steal and use [B] give reward to [C] make public [D] take and change
35. From the passage we learn that _______.
[A] an invention will not benefit the inventor unless it is reduced to commercial practice
[B] products are actually inventions which were made a long time ago [C] it is much cheaper to buy an old patent than a new one
[D] patent experts often recommend patents to others by conducting a search through dead patents
Passage 1 [长难句精解]
1．What is special about man’s brain, compared with that of the monkey, is the complex system which enables a child to connect the sight and feel of, say, a toy-bear with the sound pattern \结构分析：
整个句子的主语是What is special about man’s brain引导的是个主语从句, compared with that of the monkeys是个插入结构，单独处理，谓语是is，表语是the complex system，后面是which引导的定语从句，从句的谓语是动词短语enable(使)?to(能够去)，feel是个名词和前面的名词sight并列做connect的宾语。“say,”这个词语表示举例说明，相当于for example的意思。后面又用了一个动词短语connect A with B(把A和B联系起来)。 核心词汇： compared with(与?相比)；that做代词，指代前面的单数名词brain；enable?to?.；connect?.with； 参考译文：
与猴子的大脑相比，人脑的特殊之处在于这是一个复杂的系统，这个系统能够使孩子把看到和感受到的东西联系起来，比如说把一个玩具熊和“玩具熊”这个词的发音联系起来。
2．But speech has to be induced, and this depends on interaction between the mother and the child , where the mother recognizes the signals in the child’ s babbling (咿呀学语) , grasping and smiling, and responds to them 结构分析：
整个句子是由and连接的两个并列句子。第一个句子But speech has to be induced很简单。第二个句子是由and连接的句子，其后面比较复杂，主谓是this depends on，宾语是interaction，后面跟了between the mother and the child做其后置定语。Where引导的定语从句修饰前面的名词短语的核心名词interaction，相当于in which的意思，定语从句里的主语是the mother, 谓语是两个并列的动词recognizes和responds to them，中间的babbling, grasping and smiling 是三个并列的动名词，做介词短语in the child’s 的宾语，但整个介词短语又做signals的后置定语。 核心词汇：
induce(诱导)；depend on(取决于)；respond to(对...做出反应) 参考译文：
但是说话需要得到诱导，而这取决于母亲与孩子之间的交流，在这种交流中，母亲要能辨认出她的孩子咿呀学语、抓握和微笑的信号，并且对这些信号做出反应。
答案解析
21．依据第一段最后一句话，得出[B]是正确答案。 22．依据第三段第二句的意思，确定[C]是正确答案。
23．依据第五段第三句，确定[C]是正确答案。原文中的even more incredible和题干中的exceptionally
remarkable是同义替换。
24．正确答案是[B]，从第五段的第一句可以得出[A]，从第五段的第二，第三句可以推断出[C]，尤其是是短文