第四部分：阅读理解（每题3分，共45分， 建议４０分钟以内完成）
下面有3篇短文，每篇短文后有5道题，每道题后面有4个选项。请仔细阅读短文并根据短文回答其后面的问题，从4个选项中选择1个最佳答案涂在答题卡相应的位置上。
Ford Abandoned Electric Vehicle
The Ford motor company’s abandonment of electric cars effectively signals the end of the road for the technology，analysts say．
General Motors。and Honda’ceased production of battery．powered cars in 1 999, to focus on fuel cell and hybrid electric gasoline engines, which are more attractive to the consumer．Ford has now announced it will do the same．
Three years ago．the company introduced the Think City two—seater car and a golf cart called the THINK, or Think Neighbor．It hoped to sell 5，000 cars each year and 10，000 carts．But a lack of demand means only about l，000 of the cars have been produced，and less than 1。700 carts have been sold so far in 2002．
“The bottom line is we don’t believe that this is the future of environment transport for the mass market．”Tim Holmes of Ford Europe said on Friday．“We feel we have given electric our best shot”
The Think City has a range of only about 53 miles and up to a six-hour battery recharge time．General Motors’EVI electric vehicle also had a limited range。of about 100 miles．
The very expensive batteries also mean electric cars cost much more than petrol-powered alternatives．An electric Toyot~RAV4 EV vehicle costs over$42，000 in the US, compared with just $17，000 for the petrol version．Toyota and Nissan…are now the only major auto manufacturers to produce electric vehicles．
“There is a feeling that battery electric has been given its chance．Ford now has to move on with its hybrid program“，and that is what we will be judging them on，”Roger Higman，a senior transport campaigner at UK Friends of the Earth，told the Environment News Service．
Hybrid cars introduced by Toyota and Honda in the past few years have sold well．Hybrid engines Offer Greater mileage than petrol—only engines , and the batteries recharge themselves. Ford says it thinks such vehicles will help it meet planned new guidelines“on vehicle emissions” in the U.S.
However, it is not yet clear exactly what those guidelines will permit．In June，General Motors and Daimler Chrysler won a court injunction，delaying by two years Californian legislation requiring car—makers to offer 100，000 zero-emission and other low—emission vehicles in the state by 2003．Car manufacturers hope the legislation will be rewritten to allow for more low--emission，rather than zero—emission，vehicles．
1.What have the Ford motor company．General Motor’s and Honda done concerning electric cars?
A)They have started to produce electric cars．
B)They have done extensive research on electric Cars
C)They have given up producing electric cars．
D)They have produced thousands of electric Cars
2.According to Tim Holmes of Ford Europe，battery-powered cars
A)will be the main transportation vehicles in the future
B)will not be the main transportation vehicles in the future．
C)will be good to the environment in the future
D)will replace petrol—powered vehicles in the future．
3. Which auto manufacturers are still producing electric vehicles?
A)Toyota and Nissan
B)General Motor’s and Honda
C)Ford and Toyota
D)Honda and Toyota
4.According to the eighth paragraph，hybrid cars
A)offer fewer mileage than petrol driven cars
B)run faster than petrol driven cars
C)run more miles than petrol driven cars
D)offer more batteries than petrol driven cars
5.Which of the following is true about the hope of car manufacturers according to the last paragraph?
A)Low-emission cars should be banned．
B)Only zero-emission cars are allowed to run on motorways．
C)The legislation will encourage car makers to produce more electric cars．
D)The legislation will allow more 10w．emission to be produced．
Some things we know about language
Many things about language are a mystery, and many will always remain so．But some
things we do know．
First，we know that all human beings have a language of some sort．There is no race of men anywhere on earth so backward that it has no language，no set of speech sounds by which the people communicate with one mother．Furthermore，in historical times，there has never been a race of men without a language．
Second，there is no such thing as a primitive language．There are many people whose
cultures are undeveloped，who are，as we say，uncivilized。but the languages they speak are not primitive．In all known 1anguages we can see complexities that must have been tens of thousands of years in developing．
This has not always been well understood；indeed, the direct contrary has often been stated． Popular ideas of the 1anguage of the American Indians will illustrate．Many people have supposed that the Indians communicated in a very primitive system of noises．Study has proved this to be nonsense．There are，or were，hundreds of American Indian languages，and a11 of them rum out to be very complicated and very old. They are certainly different from the languages that most of us are familiar with，but they are no more primitive than English and Greek．
A third thing we know about language is that all languages are perfectly adequate．That is．each one is a perfect means of expressing the culture of the people who speak the language．
Finally, we know that language changes．It is natural and normal for language to change； the only languages which do not change are the dead ones．This is easy to understand if we look backward in time．Change goes on in all aspects of language．Grammatical features change as do speech sounds，and changes in vocabulary are sometimes very extensive and may occur very rapidly．Vocabulary is the least stable part of any language.
练习：
1.In the second paragraph the author thinks that
A)some backward race doesn’t have a language of its own．
B)some race in history didn’t possess a language of its own．
C)any human race，whether backward or not，has a language．
D)some races on earth call communicate without language．
2.According to the author, people of undeveloped cultures can have languages．
A)complicated
B)uncivilized
C)primitive
D)well-known
3.The author has used American Indian languages as all example to show that they are
A)just as old as some well-known languages．
B)just as sophisticated as some well-known languages．
C)more developed than some well-known languages．
D)more complex than some well-known languages．
4.Which of the following statements is INCORRECT?
A)A language is a means of expressing a particular culture．
B)AU languages Can well express their respective cultures．
C)American Indian languages are as sophisticated as English．
D)Some languages are better than other languages．
5.According to the author, language changes are most likely to occur in
A)grammar．
B)pronunciation．
C)vocabulary．
D)intonation．
Florida Hit by Cold Air mass
In January, 2003，the eastern two．thirds of the United States was at the mercy of a bitterly cold air mass that has endangered Florida’s citrus trees，choked northern harbors with ice and left bewildered residents of North Carolina’s Outer Banks digging out of up to a foot of snow．
The ice chill deepened as temperatures fell to the single digits。in most of me。South,with all unfamiliar dip below the freezing mark as far south as parts of interior South Florida．Temperatures in Florida plunged，with West Palm Beach dropping to a record low of 2 degrees．
“We couldn’t believe how cold it was，”said Martin King，who arrived this week in Orlando。from England．“We brought shorts，T?shirt，and I had to go out and buy another coat．”
The temperature plunge posed a threat to Florida’s US$9.1 billion-a-year citrus crop．More of which is still on the trees．Growers were hurrying to harvest as much of the fruit as possible before it was damaged by cold．
“Time is of the essenceⅢin getting fruit to the plant，”said Tom Rogers，a citrus grower who expected to see damage to oranges and grapefruit at that time．
In Florida，Governor Jeb Bush signed an emergency order to eliminate the weight limit Oil trucks SO citrus growers could get as much fruit to market as possible．
Casey Pace，a spokeswoman for Florida Citrus Mutual，said growers had sprayed trees with sprinklers。which created a layer of ice and helped maintain a temperature near freezing．Citrus trees are considered in danger of damage if the temperature drops below minus 2 degrees Celsius for four hours or more．Snow ranging from a dusting to up to 30 centimeters “blanketed“ the Carolinas，Tennessee and parts of Virginia．
练习：
1.Which．of the following statements is not meant in the first two paragraphs?
A)The cold air mass was a threat to Florida’s citrus crop．
B)The temperature in the United States except the South dropped below the freezing mark．
C)The northern harbors were blocked with ice．
D)The eastern two thirds of the United States was hit by cold air mass．
2.According to the second paragraph，in which area(s)did the temperature fall below zero?
A)Most of the South．
B)Parts of interior South Florida．
C)West Palm Beach．
D)All of the above．
3.King’s statement that “we brought shorts，T-shirt，and I had to go out and buy another coat．”shows that
A)he was caught by the sudden cold．
B)he needed formal clothes．
C)fashion in Florida is tempting．
D)Florida is hot compared with England．
4.Governor Jeb issue the emergency order because he
A)thought speed limit for trucks was unreasonable．
B)tried to improve the traffic condition of the expressways．
C)wanted to encourage trucks to transport as much fruit to market as possible
D)wanted to stop trucks from carrying too much fruit to market．
5.Which statement is NOT true according to the last paragraph?
A)Sprinklers were used to protect citrus trees from being damaged．
B)Citrus trees would be damaged if the temperature drops below minus 2~C for four hours．
C)The Carolinas，Tennessee and parts of Virginia were covered with snow．
D)Florida Citrus Mutual sprayed trees with sprinklers for citrus growers．
