第1部分:詞匯選項(第1-15題,每題1分,共15分)
下面每個句子中均有1個詞或者短語劃有底橫線,請為每處劃線部分確定1個意義最為接近的選項。
1. Rumors began to circulate about his financial problems.
A. send B. hear C. confirm D. spread
2. The contract between the two companies will expire soon.
A. shorten B. start C. end D. resume
3. I have little information as regards her fitness for the post.
A. about B. at C. with D. from
4. She gets aggressive when she is drunk.
A. worried B. offensive C. sleepy D. anxious
5. He was tempted by the high salary offered by the company.
A. taught B. kept C. changed D. attracted
6. As a politician, he knows how to manipulate public opinion.
A. express B. divide C. voice D. influence
7. These animals migrate south annually in search of food.
A. explore B. travel C. inhabit D. prefer
8. The rules are too rigid to allow for humane error.
A. general B. inflexible C. complex D. direct
9. There was something peculiar in the way he smiles.
A. different B. strange C. wrong D. funny
10. Come out, or I’ll bust the door down.
A. shut B. set C. beat D. break
11. The police will need to keep a wary eye on this area of town.
A. cautious B. naked C. blind D. private
12. She came across three children sleeping under a bridge.
A. passed by B. took a notice of
C. woke up D. found by chance
13. Make sure the table is securely anchored.
A. repaired B. cleared C. fixed D. booked
14. He paused, waiting for her to digest the information.
A. withhold B. understand C. exchange D. contact
15. It seemed incredible that he had been there a week already.
A. right B. obvious C. unclear D. unbelievable
第2部分:閱讀判斷(第16-22題,每題1分,共7分)
Promising Results from Cancer Study
A new experimental vaccine (疫苗) has shown promising results in the fight against lung cancer. In a small Texas-based study, a vaccine developed by scientists at Baylor University Medical Centre in Dallas, USA, cured lung cancer in some patients and slowed the progress of the disease in others.
Researchers have reported encouraging findings from this small study. Forty-three patients suffering from lung cancer were involved in these trials. Ten of these patients were in the early stages and thirty-three in the advanced stages of the disease. They were injected with the vaccine every two weeks for three months, and were carefully monitored for three years. In three of the patients in the advanced stages of cancer, the disease disappeared and in the others, it did not spread for five to twenty-four months. However, no great difference was seen in the patients in the early stages of the illness.
This new vaccine uses the patients’ own immune system. It is made specifically for each patient and is injected into the arm or leg. It stimulates the body's immune system, which then recognizes that the cancer cells are harmful, and attacks and destroys them.
The vaccine could be effective against other forms of cancer. It offers great hope for the treatment of cancer in general, although further studies are needed before such treatment can be widely used.
16. The vaccine cured all the participants in the trial.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Not mentioned
17. Over forty people participated in the study.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Not mentioned
18. Patients in the early stages of the disease recovered more quickly in the trial.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Not mentioned
19. All the patients were from Dallas.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Not mentioned
20. Every patient was injected with the same vaccine.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Not mentioned
21. The vaccine activates the immune system.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Not mentioned
22. The vaccine may be useful for treating other cancers.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Not mentioned
第3部分:概括大意與完成句子(第23-30題,每題1分,共8分)
下面的短文后有2項測試任務(wù):(1)第23~26題要求從所給的6個選項中為指定段落每段選擇1個最佳標題;(2)第27~30題要求從所給的6個選項中為每個句子確定一個最佳選項。
Organic Food: Why?
1. Europe is now the biggest market for organic food in the world, expanding by 25 percent a year over the past 10 years. So what is the attraction of organic food for some people? The really important thing is that organic sounds more “natural”. Eating organic is a way of defining oneself as natural, good, caring, different from the junk-food-eating masses.
2. Unlike conventional farming, the organic approach means farming with natural rather than man-made, fertilisers and pesticides. Techniques such as crop rotation improve soil quality and help organic farmers compensate for the absence of man-made chemicals. As a method of food production, organic is, however, inefficient in its use of labour and land; there are severe limits to how much food can be produced. Also, the environmental benefits of not using artificial fertiliser are tiny compared with the amount of carbon dioxide emitted by transporting food.
3. Organic farming is often claimed to be safer than conventional farming. Yet studies into organic farming worldwide continue to reject this claim. An extensive review by the UK Food Standards Agency found that there was no statistically significant difference between organic and conventional crops. Even where results indicated there was evidence of a difference, the reviewers found no sign that these differences would have any noticeable effect on health
4. The simplistic claim that organic food is more nutritious than conventional food was always likely to be misleading. Food is a natural product, and the health value of different foods will vary for a number of reasons, including freshness, the way the food is cooked, the type of soil it is grown in, the amount of sunlight and rain crops have received, and so on. Likewise, the flavour of a carrot has less to do with whether it was fertilised with manure or something out of a plastic sack than with the variety of carrot and how long ago it was dug up.
5. The notion that organic food is safer than “normal” food is also contradicted by the fact that many of our most common foods are full of natural toxins. As one research expert says: “People think that the more natural something is, the better it is for them. That is simply not the case. In fact, it is the opposite that is true: the closer a plant is to its natural state, the more likely it is that it will poison you. Naturally many plants do not want to be eaten, so we have spent 10,000 years developing agriculture and breeding out harmful traits from crops.”
A. Factors that affect food health value
B. Main reason for the popularity of organic food
C. Testing the taste of organic food
D. Research into whether organic food is better
E. Necessity to remove hidden dangers from food
F. Description of organic farming
23. Paragraph 1
24. Paragraph 2
25. Paragraph 3
26. Paragraph 4
27. Techniques of organic farming help .
28. There is no convincing evidence to .
29. The weather conditions during the growth of crops .
30. The closer a plant is to its natural state, the less suitable it is to .
A. affect their nutritional content
B. poison you
C. improve soil quality
D. be eaten
E. show that organic crops are safer than conventional ones
F. be specially trained
第4部分:閱讀理解(第31-45題,每題3分,共45分)
下面有3篇短文,每篇短文后有5道題。請根據(jù)短文內(nèi)容,為每題確定1個最佳選項。
第一篇“Don’t Drink Alone” Gets New Meaning
In what may be bad news for bars and pubs, a European research group has found that people drinking alcohol outside of meals have a significantly higher risk of cancer in the mouth and neck than do those taking their libations with food. Luigino Dal Maso and his colleagues studied the drinking patterns of 1,500 patients from four cancer studies and another 3, 500 adults who had never had cancer.
After the researchers accounted for the amount of alcohol consumed, they found that individuals who downed a significant share of their alcohol outside of meals faced at least a 50 to 80 percent risk of cancer in the oral cavity, pharynx, and esophagus, when compared with people who drank only at meals. Consuming alcohol without food also increased by at least 20 percent the likelihood of laryngeal cancer. “Roughly 95 percent of cancers at these four sites traced to smoking or drinking by the study volunteers,” Dal Maso says. The discouraging news, his team reports, is that drinking with meals didn’t eliminate cancer risk at any of the sites.
For their new analysis, the European scientists divided people in the study into four groups, based on how many drinks they reported having in an average week. The lowest-intake group included people who averaged up to 20 drinks a week. The highest group reported downing at least 56 servings of alcohol weekly for an average of eight or more per day. Cancer risks for the mouth and neck sites rose steadily with consumption even for people who reported drinking only with meals. For instance, compared with people in the lowest-consumption group, participants who drank 21 to 34 alcohol servings a week at least doubled their cancer risk for all sites other than the larynx. If people in these consumption groups took some of those drinks outside meals, those in the higher consumption group at least quadrupled their risk for oral cavity and esophageal cancers.
People in the highest-consumption group who drank only with meals had 10 times the risk of oral cancer, 7 times the risk of pharyngeal cancer, and 16 times the risk of esophageal cancer compared with those who averaged 20 or fewer drinks a week with meals. In contrast, laryngeal cancer risk in the high-intake, with-meals-only group was only triple that in the low-intake consumers who drank with meals.
“Alcohol can inflame tissues. Over time, that inflammation can trigger cancer.” Dal Maso says. He suspects that food reduced cancer risk either by partially coating digestive-tract tissues or by scrubbing alcohol off those tissues. He speculates that the reason laryngeal risks were dramatically lower for all study participants traces to the tissue’s lower exposure to alcohol.
31. Who are more likely to develop cancer in the mouth and neck?
A. People who drink alcohol at meals.
B. People who never drink alcohol.
C. People who drink alcohol outside of meals.
D. People who drink alcohol at bars and pubs.
32. Which of the following is NOT the research finding about “drinking with meals”?
A. It lowers cancer risk compared with drinking without food.
B. It may be a cause of cancer.
C. It does not eliminate cancer risk at any of the sites.
D. It increases by 20 percent the risk of cancer in all the four sites.
33. How many drinks do the lowest-intake group average per week?
A. 21. B. 20. C. 34. D. 56.
34. Which of the four cancers has the lowest risk?
A. Oral cancer. B. Laryngeal cancer.
C. Pharyngeal cancer. D. Esophageal cancer.
35. According to the last paragraph, tissue’s lower exposure to alcohol
A. reduces the risk of laryngeal cancer.
B. explains why inflammation triggers cancer.
C. accounts for why food can coat digestive-tract tissues.
D. is the reason why food can scrub alcohol off tissues.
第二篇The World’s Best-Selling Medicine
Since ancient times, people all over the world have used willow to stop pain. The willow tree contains salicylic acid (水楊酸). This stops pain, but there is one problem. Salicylic acid also hurts the stomach. In 1853, a French scientist made a mixture from willow that did not hurt the stomach. However, his mixture was difficult to make, and he did not try to produce or sell it.
In 1897, in Germany, Felix Hoffmann also made a mixture with salicylic acid. He tried it himself first and then gave it to his father because his father was old and in a lot of pain. His father’s pain went away, and the mixture did not hurt his stomach.
Hoffmann worked for Bayer, a German company. He showed his new drug to his manager, who tested the drug and found that it worked well. Bayer decided to make the drug. They called it aspirin and put the Bayer name on every pill.
Aspirin was an immediate success. Almost everyone has pain of some kind, so aspirin answered a true need. Aspirin was cheap, easy to take, and effective, it also lowered fevers. Aspirin was a wonder drug.
At first, Bayer sold the drug through doctors, who then sold it to their patients. In 1915, the company started to sell aspirin in drugstores. In the United States, Bayer had a patent on the drug. Other companies could make similar products and sell them in other countries, but only Bayer could make and sell aspirin in the United States. In time, Bayer could no longer own the name aspirin in the United States. Other companies could make it there, too. However, Bayer aspirin was the most well known, and for many years, it was the market leader.
By the 1950s, new painkillers were on the market. Aspirin was no longer the only way to treat pain and reduce fever. Bayer and other companies looked for other drugs to make. However, in the 1970s they got a surprise. Doctors noticed that patients who were taking aspirin had fewer heart attacks than other people. A British researcher named John Vane found the reason aspirin helped to prevent heart attacks. In 1982, he won the Nobel Prize for his research. Doctors started to tell some of their patients to take aspirin every day to prevent heart attacks. It has made life better for the many people who take it. It has also made a lot of money for companies like Bayer that produce and sell it!
36. Why didn't the French scientist continue to make the medicine that stopped pain?
A. It didn't work well.
B. It hurt the stomach.
C. It was hard to make.
D. It was not cost-effective.
37. Why was Felix Hoffmann looking for a painkiller?
A. His company told him to do that.
B. He wanted to make a lot of money.
C. His father was in pain.
D. He suffered from headache.
38. Bayer started making aspirin because
A. it helped prevent heart attacks.
B. other companies were making it.
C. the manager was a scientist.
D. it worked well in stopping pain.
39. Bayer aspirin was
A. the only drug with the name “aspirin”.
B. the first aspirin sold in the United States.
C. not sold in drugstores in 1915.
D. not easy to find in drugstores.
40. What has happened to aspirin since new painkillers came on the market?
A. Companies have stopped selling it.
B. It has become the best-selling painkiller.
C. Its new use has been discovered.
D. Doctors have sold it to patients.
第三篇On the Trail of the Honey Badgers
On a recent field trip to the Kalahari Desert, a team of researchers learnt a lot more about honey badgers (獾). The team employed a local wildlife expert, Kitso Khama, to help them locate and follow the badgers across the desert. Their main aim was to study the badgers’ movements and behaviour as discreetly (謹慎地) as possible, without frightening them away or causing them to change their natural behaviour. They also planned to trap a few and study them close up before releasing them. In view of the animal’s reputation, this was something that even Khama was reluctant to do.
“The problem with honey badgers is they are naturally curious animals, especially when they see something new,” he says. “that, combined with their unpredictable nature, can be a dangerous mixture. If they sense you have food, for example, they won’t be shy about coming right up to you for something to eat. They’re actually quite sociable creatures around humans, but as soon as they feel they might be in danger, they can become extremely vicious (兇惡的). Fortunately this is rare, but it does happen.”
The research confirmed many things that were already known. As expected, honey badgers ate any creatures they could catch and kill. Even poisonous snakes, feared and avoided by most other animals, were not safe from them. The researchers were surprised, however, by the animal’s fondness for local melons, probably because of their high water content. Previously researchers thought that the animal got all of its liquid requirements from its prey (獵物). The team also learnt that, contrary to previous research findings, the badgers occasionally formed loose family groups. They were also able to confirm certain results from previous research, including the fact that female badgers never socialized with each other.
Following some of the male badgers was a challenge, since they can cover large distances in a short space of time. Some hunting territories cover more than 500 square kilometers. Although they seem happy to share these territories with other males, there are occasional fights over an important food source, and male badgers can be as aggressive towards each other as they are towards other species.
As the badgers became accustomed to the presence of people, it gave the team the chance to get up close to them without being the subject of the animal’s curiosity — or their sudden aggression. The badgers’ eating patterns, which had been disrupted, returned to normal. It also allowed the team to observe more closely some of the other creatures that form working associations with the honey badger, as these seems to adopt the badgers’ relaxed attitude when near humans.
41. Why did the wildlife experts visit the Kalahari Desert?
A. To observe how honey badgers behave.
B. To find where honey badgers live.
C. To catch some honey badgers for food.
D. To find out why honey badgers have a bad reputation.
42. What does Kitso Khama say about honey badgers?
A. They show interest in things they are not familiar with.
B. They are always looking for food.
C. They do not enjoy human company.
D. It is common for them to attack people.
43. What did the team find out about honey badgers?
A. There were some creatures they did not eat.
B. They may get some of the water they needed from fruit.
C. They were afraid of poisonous creatures.
D. Female badgers did not mix with male badgers.
44. Which of the following is a typical feature of male badgers?
A. They don’t run very quickly.
B. They defend their territory from other badgers.
C. They hunt over a very large area.
D. They are more aggressive than females
45. What happened when honey badgers got used to humans around them?
A. They lost interest in people.
B. They became less aggressive towards other creatures.
C. They started eating more.
D. Other animals started working with them.
第5部分:補全短文(第46-50題,每題2分,共10分)
下面的短文有5處空白,短文后有6個句子,其中5個取自短文,請根據(jù)短文內(nèi)容將其分別放回原有位置,以恢復文章面貌。
The Tough Grass that Sweetens Our Lives
Sugar cane was once a wild grass that grew in New Guinea and was used by local people for roofing their houses and fencing their gardens. Gradually a different variety evolved which contained sucrose and was chewed on for its sweet taste. Over time, sugar cane became a highly valuable commercial plant, grown throughout the world. 46.
Sugar became a vital ingredient in all kinds of things, from confectionery to medicine, and, as the demand for sugar grew, the industry became larger and more profitable. 47. Many crops withered and died, despite growers’ attempts to save them, and there were fears that the health of the plant would continue to deteriorate.
In the 1960s, scientists working in Barbados looked for ways to make the commercial species stronger and more able to resist disease. They experimented with breeding programmes, mixing genes from the wild species of sugar cane, which tends to be tougher, with genes from the more delicate, commercial type. 48. This sugar cane is not yet ready to be sold commercially, but when this happens, it is expected to be incredibly profitable for the industry.
49. Brazil, which produces one quarter of the world's sugar, has coordinated an international project under Professor Paulo Arrudo of the Universidade Estaudual de Campinas in Sao Paulo. Teams of experts have worked with him to discover more about which parts of the genetic structure of the plant are important for the production of sugar and its overall health.
Despite all the research, however, we still do not fully understand how the genes function in sugar cane. 50. This gene is particularly exciting because it makes the plant resistant to rust, a disease which probably originated in India, but is now capable of infecting sugar cane across the world. Scientists believe they will eventually be able to grow a plant which cannot be destroyed by rust.
A. Eventually, a commercial plant was developed which was 5 percent sweeter than before, but also much stronger and less likely to die from disease.
B. Unfortunately, however, the plant started to become weaker and more prone to disease.
C. One major gene has been identified by Dr Angelique D'Hont and her team in Montpelier, France.
D. The majority of the world's sugar now comes from this particular commercial species.
E. Sugar cane was now much vigorous and the supply of sugar is therefore more guaranteed.
F. Since the 1960s, scientists have been analysing the mysteries of the sugar cane's genetic code.
第6部分:完形填空(第51-65題,每題1分,共15分)
下面的短文有15處空白,請根據(jù)短文內(nèi)容為每處空白確定1個最佳選項。
Exercise
Whether or not exercise adds to the length of life, it is common experience that a certain amount of regular exercise (51) health and contributes a feeling of well-being. Furthermore, exercise (52) involves play and recreation (娛樂), and relieves nervous tension and mental fatigue in so (53) , is not only pleasant but beneficial.
How much and what kind of exercise one should (54) merits careful consideration. The growing child and the normal young man and young woman thrill (興奮) with the exhilaration of strenuous sports. They fatigue to the (55) of exhaustion but recover promptly with a period of rest. But not so with those of middle age and beyond. For them moderation is (56) vital importance.
Just how much exercise a person of a given age can safely take is a question hard to (57) . Individual variability is too great to permit generalization. A game of tennis may be perfectly safe for one person of forty but folly (愚蠢) for another. The safe (58) for exercise depends on the condition of the heart, the condition of the muscles, the (59) of exercise, and the regularity with which it is taken. Two general suggestions, however, will (60) as sound advice for anyone. The first is that the (61) of the heart and general health should be determined periodically by careful, thorough physical examinations. The other is that exercise should be kept (62) the point of physical exhaustion.
What type of exercise one should (63) depends upon one's physical condition. Young people can safely enjoy competitive sports, but most older persons do better to limit themselves to less strenuous (64) . Walking, swimming and skating are among the sports that one can enjoy and safely (65) in throughout life. Regularity is important if one is to get the most enjoyment and benefit out of exercise.
51. A. damages B. enjoys C. provides D. improves
52. A. which B. where C. when D. why
53. A. doing B. playing C. making D. treating
54. A. develop B. go C. use D. take
55. A. point B. place C. position D. part
56. A. to B. below C. of D. on
57. A. raise B. answer C. beg D. discuss
58. A. approach B. distance C. period D. limit
59. A. variation B. method C. process D. type
60. A. refer B. regard C. serve D. treat
61. A. size B. shape C. condition D. attack
62. A. below B. above C. against D. beside
63. A. endure B. choose C. study D. produce
64. A. activities B. efforts C. jobs D. lives
65. A. compete B. get C. participate D. give
參考答案
第1部分:詞匯選項
1. D. spread
2. C. end
3. A. about
4. B. offensive
5. D. attracted
6. D. influence
7. B. travel
8. B. inflexible
9. B. strange
10. D. break
11. A. cautious
12. D. found by chance
13. C. fixed
14. B. understand
15. D. unbelievable
第2部分:閱讀判斷
16-22 BABCBAA
第3部分:概括大意與完成句子
23-26 BFDA 27-30 CEAD
第4部分:閱讀理解
31-35 CDBBA 36-40 CCDBC 41-45 AABCA
第5部分:補全短文
46-50 DBAFC
第6部分:完形填空
51-55 DAADA 56-60 CBDDC 61-65 CABAC