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。

难度Ｂ／C级

 

Inspecting  a used car

   The scariest part of buying a used car is not being completely sure of what condition it’s in．A car that’s been in a major accident is always a bigger risk，but sellers often try to hide this information．Andrew Bleakley, evaluator-inspector, runs a mobile vehicle inspection service in Montreal．For about$80 he will perform a full, unbiased inspection on a used vehicle．In his 10 years as a professional inspector, Bleakley has seen a lot．He warns, “Watch out for dealer demonstration vehicles which are used．not new．They may have been in a collision．”He adds mat it is not uncommon in Ontario and Quebec especially for unscrupulous sellers to roll back the odometer or to even disengage it．Bleakley has special tools to check for this．

    Blealdey always recommends hiring an independent technician to inspect the condition of a used car before you buy it．The problem is finding someone qualified to do the inspection，which he says generally doesn’t mean just any mechanic，A thorough mechanical inspection includes checking the compression，all major systems，including the engine，electrical and charging systems，transmission and drive line，fluids，brakes，suspension，and steering．Essential，too，is all inspection of the car’s body and finally a road test．There are，however a few things everyone can do before buying a used car：

    Do a visual check of the car．Look at the right rear door hinges．If they are very worn．Or the door doesn’t close well，the car may have been used as a taxi．Holes in the roof could mean the car was used for deliveries．

    Check for oil 1eaks on the pavement．Note that 1eaks are not necessarily a significant

problem—it depends on the cause．

    Don’t assume that new-looking brake and accelerator pedals mean the car hasn’t been

 driven much．Resellers know people check these details and call buy new Pads for around $6.

    Copy down the vehicle identification number(VlN), a 17-character combination of

numbers and letters，from the vehicle’s dashboard．In Ontario，ask the dealer or seller for the Used Vehicle Information Package．this gives details of previous owners，any outstanding liens on the car, and the fair market value of the vehicle．  

 

练习：

1. According to the passage，in buying a second-hand vehicle it is most important to know

  A)how long it has been used．

  B)what color it is.

  C)whether it has been in a collision．

  D)whether it leaks oil．

 

2. All of the following are mentioned as tricks which dishonest second-hand Car dealers may play upon their customers EXCEPT

  A)To re-Paint the car

  B)To roll back the odometer．

  C)T0 replace the old pedal．

D)T0 disengage the odometer．

 

3. “An independent technician” in the first sentence of the second paragraph means

  A)a technician who checks a car free of charge．

  B)a technician who learned his trade all by himself．

  C)a technician who works for a particular car-dealer．

  D)a technician who runs his own inspection service．

 

4.According to Bleakley, before buying a used Car all the inspection work Can

  A)be done by a mechanic together with the dealer．

  B)only be done by a qualified mechanic．

  C)be done by the buyer himself．

  D)be done by a qualified mechanic together with the buyer．

 

5. According to the passage，from which of the following Call the buyer obtain reliable

information of the previous owner?

  A)The vehicle identification number．

  B)The unbiased inspector．

  C)The second．hand car dealer．

  D)The Used Vehicle Information Package．

 

难度Ｂ／A级

    Humans will continue to beat computers for years．but the machines are 1ikely to dominate in matches played over several games，according to the world’s top chess player．

    “We will not see a machine replacing a human being in our lifetime．Man will be able to beat a computer in at least one game for a very long time，”Kasparov told a press conference in Moscow a week after settling for a draw in a six．game match with the computer Deep Junior in New York．But while human intuition can provide an advantage in individual games．“Man will never be able to play 8 or 10 games in a row to an equal level，”Kasparov said．He gradually declines for a variety of external factors：the weather，a headache，family strains or whatever．”

    In his Man vs．Machine contest in the United States，Kasparov won the first game，but lost the third after committing a mid—game blunder．He then adopted a safety—first strategy, and in the sixth game passed up a chance to win by accepting a draw in a position some analysts said was favourable．

  Kasparov—watchers believe he was determined above all not to lose to Deep Junior because he was still smarting from a defeat to another computer, Deep Blue．in 1997．That 10ss clearly rankled Kasparov, and he said at the time that the computer had been receiving assistance from its human operators．

  The Russian，who has reigned undisputedly as the world’s top player since 1985，said he was“satisfied overall”with his result against Deep Junior．although“if I’d been in better shape and had more time to prepare the result might have been different．”He stressed the importance of psychology in chess between one human player and another, and described the “psychological discomfort”involved in adapting to a confrontation with a machine．In chess with humans． “you’re always attempting to impose your decisions on the personality of your rival．A game is always an exchange of errors，of imprecision．It’s psychology．There’s never complete exactitude or purity in a game of chess，”he said．“But playing against a machine，beyond a certain point，to win or even to save the game you have to play will absolute exactitude．which is not a human quality．Knowing this specificity of your rival creates a psychological discomfort which is very difficult to overcome．”

    Kasparov was at pains to stress that his l 997 defeat was an aberration：“The main thing was to show that what happened then had nothing to do with the fight between man and machine．Any impartial specialist can see that Deep Junior is much stronger than Deep Blue．The real battle begins now．”

 

练习：

1.According to Kasparov，

  A)humans can beat computers in individual games．

  B)computers will never take the place of human beings in games．

  C)human beings can never beat computers in individual or series games

  D)human intuition plays an important role in games．

2.In the contest with Deep Junior in the United States，Kasparov

  A)lost the game．

  B)won the game．

  C)settled for a draw．

  D)left the game unfinished．

3.Which of the following statements is true about Kasparov’S contest with Deep Blue in 19977

  A)He made up his mind to win Deep Blue．

  B)He was smart enough to have beaten Deep Blue．

  C)Deep Blue received human assistance．

D)Kasparov was unwilling to admit his defeat by Deep Blue．

4.According to Kasparov, a human VS machine chess game may involve all the following    qualities EXCEPT that

  A)it involves psychological discomfort in the mind of the human player．

  B) it demands the human player of absolute exactitude．

  C)it creates an exchange of errors between man and machine．

  D)it is difficult to overcome psychological discomfort．

5.Kasparov’s remarks on his 1997 defeat imply that

A)     man was no match to computer in intelligence．

B)Deep Blue was unbeatable．

C)Deep Blue also made blunders．

D)if he had made no blunders，he should have beaten Deep Blue．

 

难度Ｂ／Ａ级

Air Pollution Cloud Measured on Both Sides of Pacific

    Scientists watched closely last spring as a haze of pollution, which had been tracked by  satellite as it crossed the Pacific Ocean，settled over a large swath of North America from Calgary, Canada，into Arizona．Now it appears that，for the first time, researchers on both sides of  the Pacific took detailed measurements of the same plume，a cloud that contained Gobi desert dust as well as hydrocarbons from industrial pollution．

    Heather Price，a University of Washington doctoral student in chemistry, found that the amount of light reflected by the particles in the air was more than 550 percent greater than normal for that time of year．The mass of Asian air contained elevated levels of all pollutants measured．

Price said，“but the only thing that came close to being alarming was the level of particulate Matter.”

    The haze that settled across the western part of the country was widely reported by the news media，and it was measured as far inland as the ski slopes of Aspen, Colo.

Readings on the western side of the Pacific came from the Aerosol  Characterization Experiments, a project aimed at understanding how particles in the atmosphere affect Earth’s climate. Additional measurements were taken in the same region at the same time under a project sponsored by the National Aeronautics and Space  Administration．

    Knowing the pollution was approaching Washington state，Price loaded sensing equipment aboard a rented Beechcraft on April 1 4 and flew to Neah Bay on the state’s Northwest coast．Taking samples at various levels from 15，000 feet to 20，000 feet in altitude，she monitored

quantities of dust，ozone，carbon monoxide and hydrocarbons．“From my copilot’s seat．the dust

was thick enough to see with the naked eye．”Price said．

Now she’s trying to correlate her findings with those of the two research teams operating on the other side of the Pacific，where at one point the pollution plume was larger than Japan．The huge size of the cloud showed up clearly in satellite images that gave Price plenty of warning the haze was on its way．“You can see these two blobs coming out of the deserts of Mongolia and growing over Asia，then getting swept out over the ocean and finally setting over North America,”

she said. She intends to continue measuring air samples off the Washington coast and will be looking for air masses with evidence of pollution originating somewhere other than Asia. “We’d

like to see if we can get a signature of pollution coming from Europe because computer models suggest that European sources also can be transported across the Pacific，” she said．“However, we

expect that sources in Europe will contribute less than Asian sources．”

 

练习：

1.The haze of pollution mentioned in the first paragraph is a cloud

A)     of moisture over Calgary, Canada．

B)     developing over Pacific Ocean．

C)     of industrial pollutants．

D)     of desert dust and hydrocarbons．

 

2.One of the Prices’S findings (Paragraph 2)about the particles of the air is that

A)     they contain more pollutants than normal particles．

B)     they move much faster in high altitudes than in low altitudes．

C)     they are finer and lighter than normal particles．

D)     their ability to reflect light is much than stronger．

  

3.What did Price not do during her research?

A)     She rented a Beechcraft．

B)     She used her sensing equipment aboard the Beechcrah．

C)     She collected samples of pollutants on the Northwest coast for further tests．

D)     She tested quantities of chemicals in the air．

 

4.According to the last paragraph，which of the following statements about the two research

    teams is true?

A)     The two research teams whose findings Price correlates hers with are based in Asia．

B)     Price corrects some inaccurate data provided by the two teams operating in Asia．

C)     Price is working with the two research teams in Japan．

D)     The two teams in Asia volunteer to correlate their findings with Price’s．

 

5.Which of the statements is closest in meaning to the sentence“…，we expect that sources in

  Europe will contribute less than Asian sources．”?

A) Pollution is expected to be less serious in Europe than in Asia．

B) Pollution is studied in more depth in Europe than in Asia．

  C) Pollutants coming from Europe are not the main source of pollution in North America．

E)     Pollutants coming from Europe are the main source of pollution in North America．