试点高校网络教育部分公共基础课全国统一考试
大学英语A试卷
2007年
注 意 事 项
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Information for the Examinees:
This examination consists of THREE parts. They are: Part Ⅰ: Reading Comprehension (50 points, 60 minutes) Part Ⅱ: Vocabulary and Structure (30 points, 30 minutes) Part Ⅲ: Writing (20 points, 30 minutes)
The total score for this examination is 100. The time allowed for this examination is 2 hours (120 minutes).
Part Ⅰ: Reading Comprehension (50 points)
Instructions: ? This part will take 60 minutes. ? There are FIVE sections in this part. Mark ALL your answers by blackening the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet, e.g.[ A ].
Section A Questions 1- 5 are based on this section. (10 points)
Directions: Read the following passage and choose the best answer from A, B, C and D. Blacken the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet.
An owl is a bird. There are two basic types of owls: typical owls and barn owls. Owls live in almost every country of the world.
Owls are mostly nocturnal, meaning they are awake at night. Owls are predators- they hunt the food that they eat. Owls hunt for mice and other small mammals, insects, and even fish. Owls are well adapted for hunting. Their soft, light feathers make their flight nearly silent. They have very good hearing, which helps them to hunt well in the darkness. The sharp, hooked, and pointed mouth and claws of the owl make it very easy to tear apart small animals quickly, although owls also eat some animal whole.
Owl eyes are unusual. Like most predators, both of the owl?s eyes face front. The owl cannot move its eyes. Owls are far-sighted, which means they can see very well far away… but they can?t see up close very well at all. Fortunately, their distant vision is what they use for hunting, and they can see far away even in low light. Owls have facial disks around their eyes, bunches of feathers in a circle around each eye. These facial disks are thought to help with the owl?s hearing.
Owls can turn their heads 180 degrees. This makes it look like they might be able to turn their heads all the way around, but 180 degrees is all the owl needs to see what?s going on all around him.
Perhaps because of the owl?s mysterious appearance, especially its round eyes and flexible neck, there are a lot of myths and superstitions about owls. Many cultures believe that owls are unusually wise. Because owls are nocturnal, some cultures link owls with bad signs. The scream of the barn owl is considered by many to sound strangely like a person screaming. However, owls probably do not interact with the fates of humans at all. In fact, some owl groups may die out because of humans.
1. Which of the following is NOT a reason for owls? skill to hunt?
A. Their flight is almost silent.
B. Their mouth and claw are special. C. They are awake at night. D. They have good hearing.
2. Owl eyes are useful for hunting because _____.
A. they face front
B. they see far away very well in low light C. they are circled by facial disks D. they don?t move
3. Owl head is a good factor for hunting because _____.
A. owls can turn their heads all the way around
B. owls can move their head and see a range of 180 degrees C. the appearance of owl head is mysterious
D. owl?s flexible neck helps with moving their head freely
4. Which of the following is the closest in meaning with “superstition” in Line 2 of the last
paragraph?
A. Unreasonable belief. B. Bad sign.
C. Mysterious look. D. Unusual wisdom.
5. It can be inferred from the passage that _____.
A. different cultures see owls differently B. owls are mysterious to human beings C. owls scream strangely like a person D. human beings are a threat to owls
Section B Questions 6-10 are based on this section. (10 points)
Directions: Read the following passage and choose the best answer from A, B, C and D. Blacken the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet.
A newspaper is a publication that is issued daily or weekly and includes local and
international news stories, advertisements, announcements, opinions, cartoons, sports news and television listings. It is a very important method of letting the public know everything that is happening in their local area and around the world. Even with the advancements in computer technology, newspapers continue to be an important aspect of everyday life.
It is very important to know the sections of the newspaper and what information each one contains. The front page has the most important stories of the day. Each story has its own
\story has to answer the following questions:
5Ws Who? - who is the story about?
What? - what is the story about?
Where? - where does the story take place? When? - when does the story take place?
Why? - why is this happening? (This is not always possible to answer)
H How? - how this story happened.
Although every news story cannot fit into a formula, there is a certain structure that is fairly common of all news stories.
1、The first paragraph gives the answers to the most important of the 5 W's and H. The second paragraph tells the rest of the 5 W's if they were not included in the lead.
2、The rest of the paragraphs elaborates on the information given in the opening and gives more information and details.
3、Background information is included if it is giving new information to a story that had been printed previously in the newspaper. Sometimes it gives information which is necessary to understand the story.
4、A quotation or a statement about the news story is often included in order to explain the importance of the story. 5、Details are provided about the story and are organized into paragraphs. Each paragraph provides one aspect of the story and the details are arranged in order of importance. 6、Why are newspapers still important to people? A. Because they are issued daily or weekly. B. Because they tell people everything in the world. C. Because computer technology develops quickly. D. Because they include local and international news stories. 7、By answering “5Ws” and “H”, the reporter tells the reader _____.
A. the details of a news story B. the method of writing a news story C. the way to organize a news story D. the different sections of a news story
8、Which of the following section may add to the importance of the story?
A. The background information. B. The first paragraph. C. The second paragraph D. The quotation or the statement.
9、The underlined word “elaborates” most probably means _____.
A. “arranges details in a good order” B. “explains the importance of a story” C. “gives more information and details” D. “provides previously printed information” 10、This passage is mainly concerned about _____.
A. the information of news stories B. the organization of news stories C. the importance of newspapers D. both A and B
Section C Questions 11-15 are based on this section. (10 points)
Directions: In this section, there is one passage followed by a total of five pieces of information marked 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 in Column A. Match them with their correspondent parts marked A, B, C, D and E in Column B. Skim or scan the text as required and then blacken your answers on your answer sheet.
There are lots of bison or buffalo in Yellowstone National Park. When the winter weather is bad, bison have a hard time finding grazing land. They leave Yellowstone in search of food. Bison wander into the forests of southern Montana.
The state of Montana does not want bison to leave the park. Stray bison can infect nearby cattle and make them sick. Brucellosis is the sickness, and it causes pregnant cattle to lose their babies. In the past thirty years, Montana has spent thirty-four million trying to get rid of brucellosis.
Using snowmobiles and helicopters, Montana officials chase the bison back into the park. If the bison won?t go, then they are shot and killed. In 1996, thousands of bison couldn?t find food and left the park to find some. More than a thousand bison were killed. Since 1997, more than 4,000 bison have been hazed back to Yellowstone and only 317 bison have been shot.
Volunteers ski into the snowy areas to find wandering bison. The volunteers use two-way radios to stay in touch with each other. They want to get the bison back into Yellowstone so they won?t be hazed or killed. Volunteers race to find the bison.
Finding stray bison is costly to taxpayers. Huge herds of bison are in Yellowstone now, and there are at least one thousand too many. If more of the wild bison get loose, they will be killed. Montana cattle are a billion-dollar industry. Cattlemen and state officials will protect the cattle even if the bison are endangered. A B
11. a disease that infects cattle and causes A. stray bison
pregnant cattle to lose their babies
12.
vehicles that are used to haze bison back to the national park
B. Montana cattle
13.
buffalo that leave their home and go to other places to find food
C. volunteers
14.
people who try to find wandering bison and get them back to the park so as not to be killed
state officials will protect them if they are in danger
D. brucellosis
15. E. snowmobiles
Section D Questions 16 - 20 are based on this section. (10 points)
Directions: Read the following passage and choose the best answer from A, B, C and D. Blacken the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet.
GOLD FOUND IN CALIFORNIA