一、阅读的篇章一般是400-500 之间的一篇文章。涉及社会生活的各种普遍话题。比如生活、文化、科技、历史、社会等等。近些年来，介绍科技发展、发明、普及的文章在阅读题目中占了相当大的比重。有些同学一般不是很喜欢做这类的文章，觉得它枯燥无味。但是，这类体型却非常容易出题，因为考试是客观选择性试题，所以，语言强调中性（稍乐观）的语气，容易判断是非。比如与环境保护有关的题目，一般是积极支持环境保护，因为这是一般人的共识。所以不积极支持的语气或选项一般不会是答案的。强调中性客观的语气就意味着注意一些词语的词性、语态、时态。下面简要阐释一下：
　　1.极大的关注副词在决定语气中的作用。
　　体现绝对语气的副词如“all, always, too, no, not at all, only, absolutely, extremely, totally, forever,”等等决定了这句话的绝对、不客观的语气。一定不会是答案（除非原文中有此句话）。
　　2.体现绝对偏执意味的代词。如“ nobody, no one, everybody, everyone, anybody, anyone, anywhere, everywhere, all, most, none, everything” 等等决定了这句话的绝对、不客观的语气。一定不会是答案（除非原文中有此句话）。
　　3.体现绝对偏执意味的形容词， 一般最要关注的是最高级， 比如“the most, the best”; 有些形容词本身就有唯一的含义“ideal, super, absolute, every, all” 决定了这句话的绝对、不客观的语气。一定不会是答案（除非原文中有此句话）。
　　4.情态动词的重要意义。
　　表示命令的强迫性的语气， 如，“must(命令之意，或猜测)，will, should, 决定了这句话的绝对、不客观的语气。一定不会是答案（除非原文中有此句话）。
　　5． 稍稍注意一下个别的句式。 如“A is B” or “A does B”格式语气绝对
　　Questions:
　　Which of the following can best summarize the gist of the passage?
　　A. Schools limit creativity and genius (A does B) and should (绝对语气)be abolished
　　B. Schools should （绝对）be designed to encourage creativity.
　　C. All (绝对) explorers are geniuses. （A is B）
　　D.Schools cannot meet the demands of both geniuses and society at the time.
　　d 是答案。以为它是对A does B 这个绝对语气的纠正。
　　当然体现客观语意的词语非常值得关注，因为期间很可能隐含我们需要的答案：
　　1．can, could, might, would, has to, may, 等情态动词。some, someone, somewhere, 等代词（注意， 当我们说 All are not my friends 的时候，意思是“不是所有的人都是我的朋友”）。
　　2．however, but, nonetheless, whereas, actually, as a matter of fact, in fact, in effect, 等连接副词或副词词组的时候。它们所引导的句子一定是事实， 也就是说很可能就是我们要寻找的答案。
　　3．如果一个绝对的句子紧跟一个纠正它的句子，那么答案很可能就在纠正句中。
　　二、对每一段落的首句进行精读，特别注意文章首句或首句的纠正句。它们决定了：
　　文章的文体
　　文章的时态
　　文章的语态
　　那么我们在上面讨论的重点都在阅读中成为重点关注的对象。
　　They used to call Antarctica “a continent for science”. Scientists and technologists may dream on, but the world is fast closing in. The number of tourists visiting the continent has increased tenfold in the past decade. This Antarctic summer some 8,000 people are expected to claim ashore.
　　What does the paragraph of this passage suggest but does not state?
　　A. Antarctica is no longer “ a continent for science”. 答案是A.used to 意思是no longer now.
　　b.Scientists and technologists have too many dreams.
　　c.Antarctica is an ideal tourist site.
　　d.This summer some 8,000 scientists and tourists (和原文的people 不是一个概念)will come to Antarctica.
　　Further practice: （黑体字为答案）
　　1． 同义词解释能力
　　Three years ago, it seemed briefly that Antarctica’s problems were solved. It was declared a “world park” with a new environmental protocol. But the protocol（草案）, with its new rules on waste disposal, emergency planning and environmental impact assessment, has never been brought into effect. Ten countries, just over a third of the Antarctic Treaty nations, have ratified the protocol.
　　What do we learn about the protocol about Antarctica?
　　A.It forbids all tourists from visiting Antarctica.
　　B.It allows everyone in the world to visit Antarctica.
　　C.It was carried out 3 years ago.
　　D.It has never been put into practice. 几乎和原文句型一样，只是同义词组的置换
　　The protocol and its supplement would go a long way to prevent such accidents by imposing better environmental planning, reporting practices and legal responsibilities. Antarctica is a large place and it will take more than one oil spell to do serious damage. But if scientists cannot keep their own bases clean, what hope do they have of imposing high standards on others?
　　What can we infer from the paragraph?
　　A.The environmental problems of Antarctica cannot be solved in one day.
　　B.The damage to the environment of Antarctica done by one oil spill was minor.
　　C.We need a lot of oil spills to do the environment of Antarctica any harm.
　　D.Tourists are more responsible for the protection of the environment of Antarctica.
　　Many teachers believe that the responsibility for learning lies with the student. If a long reading assignment is given, instructors expect students to be familiar with the information in the reading even if they do not discuss it in class or give an examination. (Courses are not designed merely for students to pass exams.) The ideal student is considered to be one who is motivated to learn for the sake of learning, not the one interested only in getting high grades. Grade-conscious students may be frustrated with teachers who do not believe it is necessary to grade every assignment. Sometimes homework is returned with brief written comments but without a grade. Even if a grade is not given, the student is responsible for learning “the material assigned”.
　　“Courses are not designed merely for students to pass exams”. This means ____.
　　A.Teachers want students to fail exams.
　　B.Teachers care only about exam grades.
　　C.Teachers have no time to correct students’ papers.
　　D.Teacher believe that passing exams is not the only purpose of a course.
　　One should be wary, however, of assuming that silent reading came about simply because reading aloud is a distraction to others. Examination of factors related to the historical development of silent reading reveals that it became the usual mode of reading for most adults reading tasks mainly because the tasks themselves changed in character.
　　Why did silent reading become a fashion?
　　A.A change in the status of literate people.
　　B.A change in the nature of reading.
　　C.An increase in the number of books.
　　D.An increase in the average age of readers.
　　Let us suppose that you are in the position of a parent. Would you allow your children to read any book they wanted to without first checking its contents? Would you take your children to see any film without first finding out whether it is suitable for them? If your answer to these questions is ‘yes”, then you are either extremely permissive, or just plain irresponsible. If your answer is “no”, then you are exercising your right as a parent to protect your children from what you consider to be undesirable influences. In other words, by acting as censor yourself, you are admitting that there is a strong case for censorship.
　　According to this passage, a responsible parent will ___.
　　A.refuse the censorship over works of art.
　　B.agree to expose censorship over books.
　　C.prevent his/her children from reading books.
　　D.not allow his/her children to see films.
　　When discussing censorship, therefore, we should not confine our attention to great masterpieces, but those which make up the bulk of the entertainment industry.
　　The word “confine” in the last paragraph is closest in meaning to ______.
　　A. restrain B. concentrate C. limit D. direct
　　There are serious disadvantages in the life of a television reporter. One is that he never goes deeply into any one subject ----he may be expert at mastering a brief in a short time and “getting up” a subject, but a week later he is on to the next subject, and a week later still he is no to the subject after that. He seldom grapples with a full-scale investigation of any one thing. He has to be able to forget what he was working on a few weeks before, otherwise his mind would become a chaos. This suits some people every well, but it does not suit others, and it does not suit me.
　　The word “brief” in this paragraph is closest in meaning to ____.
　　A. shorts B. outline C. advice D. instruction
　　The business world has abundant examples of firms that were once successful but that failed to continue satisfying consumer demands. Competition assures that, over the long run, firms that satisfy consumer demands will be successful and those that do not will be replaced.
　　The word “assures” in this paragraph is the same as ____.
　　A. evidences B. proves C. promises D. guarantees
　　Even allowing for all these factors. However, the partners of women who were suffering from perinatal(围产期的) depression were significantly more likely to become depressed themselves, the researchers report in an American journal. Ten percent of women who were depressed had depressed partners. For the healthy women, the figure was only 2.6 per cent.
　　Which of the following statements is Not true?
　　A.Ten per cent of women who were depressed had depressed partners.
　　B.2.6 per cent of healthy women were depressed.
　　C.Special attention should be paid to families in which both the father and the mother were depressed.
　　D.Primary schoolchildren whose parents were both depressed couldn’t get along well with their peers.
　　2. 精读中心句。
　　Urban life has always involved a balancing of opportunities and rewards against dangers and stress; its motivating force is, in the broadest sense, money. Opportunities to make money mean competition and competition is stressful; it is often at its most intense in the largest cities, there opportunities are greatest. The presence of huge numbers of people inevitably involves more conflict, more traveling, the overloading of public services and exposure to those deviants and criminals who are drawn to the rich pickings of great cities. Crime has always flourished in the relative anonymity of urban life, but today’s ease of movement makes its control more difficult than ever; there is much evidence that its extent has a direct relationship to the size of communities. City dwellers may become trapped in their homes by the fear of crime around them.
　　1.Why do the people living in cities cause great stress according to the author?
　　A.Because there are so many people who are anxious to succeed.
　　B.Because there are so many people who are in need of help.
　　C.Because city dwellers are inherently more aggressive than the countrymen.
　　D.Because there are more people in the cities who are likely to commit crimes.
　　2.The author thinks that crime is increasing in cities because ___.
　　A.people do not communicate with their neighbors.
　　B.criminals are difficult to trace in large populations.
　　C.people felt anonymous there.
　　D.the trappings of success are attractive to criminals.： [NextPage]

　　Present-day architecture and planning have enormously worsened the human problems of urban life. Old-established neighborhoods have been ruthlessly swept away, by both pubic and private organizations, usually to be replaced by huge, ugly, impersonal structures. People have been forced to leave their familiar homes, usually to be rehoused in tower blocks which are drab, inconvenient, and fail to provide any setting for human interaction or support. This destruction of established social structures is the worst possible approach to the difficulties of living in a town or city. Instead, every effort should be made to conserve the human scale of the environment, and to retain familiar landmarks.
　　The author’s general argument is that urban life would be improved by ______.
　　A.moving people out of tower blocks.
　　B.restoring old buildings
　　C.building community centers.
　　D.preserving existing social structures.
　　Drunken driving ----- sometimes called America’s socially accepted form of murder -----has become a national epidemic. Every hour of every day about three Americans on average are hilled by drunken drivers, adding up to an incredible 250,000 over the past decade.
　　Why has drunken driving become a major problem in American society today?
　　A.Because most Americans are heavy drinkers.
　　B.Because Americans are now less shocked by road accidents.
　　C.Because accidents attract so much publicity.
　　D.Because drinking has become a socially encouraged habit in America.
　　Europe’s world status had drastically changed. Its individual nations, once great powers, were dwarfed --- politically and militarily by the United States and the former Soviet Union, numerically by India and China, economically by the United States, Japan, and any new economic powers that might emerge. Europe’s empires had been widely separated; and yet, like the rest of the world’s rich Northern Hemisphere, it could not shrug off the poor and hungry millions in the South. It is all the more reasonable, therefore, for Europe countries to come together ---- not merely to hold their own political and economic superpowers but also to maximize their power to meet their responsibilities in the world.
　　By saying that Europe could not “shrug off the poor and hungry millions in the South”, the author means _______.
　　A.Europe alone could not support the poor people in most third world countries.
　　B.Europe should not put away its responsibilities for supporting the poor nations.
　　C.Europe should not be arrogant towards the developing countries.
　　D.Europe should care more for its own poor people in its southern part.
　　3.体会段落大意
　　Paragraph One
　　Three Yale University professors agreed in a panel discussion tonight that the automobile was what one of them called "Public Health Enemy No. 1 in this country. "Besides polluting the air and congesting the cities, cars arc involved in more than half the disabling accidents and they contribute to heart disease "because we don't walk anywhere any more," said Dr. H. Richard Weinerman, professor of medicine and public health. Dr. Weinerman's sharp indictment of the automobile came in a discussion of human environment on Yale Reports, a radio program broadcast by Station WTIC in Hartford, Connecticut. The program opened a three-part series on "Staying Alive." "For the first time in human history, the problem of man's survival has to do with his control of man-made hazards," Dr. Weinerman said. "Before this, the problem had been the control of natural hazards."
　　Question
　　The main idea of the article is that 。
　　A. Americans are too attached to their cars
　　B. American cars are too fast
　　C. Automobiles endanger health
　　D. Automobiles are the main public transportation tools of USA.
　　Paragraph Two
　　Let us consider how voice training may contribute to personality development and an improved social adjustment. In the first place, it has been fairly well established that individuals tend to become what they believe other people think them to be. When people react more favorably toward us because our voices convey the impression that we arc friendly, competent, and interesting, there is a strong tendency for us to develop those qualities in our personality. If we are treated with respect by others, we soon come to have more respect for ourselves. Then, too, one's own consciousness of having a pleasant, effective voice of which he does not need to be ashamed contributes materially to a feeling of poise, self--confidence, and a just pride in himself A good. voice, like good clothes, can do much for an ego that otherwise might be inclined to droop.
　　Question
　　The passage is mainly concerned with .
　　A. The way to get self-confidence
　　B. The reflection of our personality
　　C. How to acquire a pleasant voice
　　D.Voice training and personality development
　　Paragraph three
　　Human beings have adapted to the physical world not by changing their physical nature, but by adjusting their society. Animals and plants have made adjustments, over long periods, by the development of radical changes in their very organisms. Hereditary differences meet needs of various environments. But among humans, differences in head form and in other physical features are not, in most cases, clearly adaptive. Nor is it clear that mental capacities of races are different. As far as we know, the races are equally intelligent and equally capable of solving their problems of living together. The varying ways of life, it seems, are social and learned differences and not physical and inherited differences. It stands to reason therefore, that man's adjustment to his surroundings should be studied in custom .and institution, not in anatomy and neural structure.
　　Question
　　The main point of the passage is
　　A) Animals and plants change their organisms to adapt to the physical world
　　B) Human beings not only change their organisms but also adjust their society to adapt to the physical world
　　C) Human beings adjust their society to adapt to the physical world
　　D) Animals and plants change their society to adapt to the physical world
　　Paragraph four
　　Albert Einstein once attributed the creativity of a famous scientist to the fact that he "never went to school, and therefore preserved the rare gift of thinking freely." There is undoubtedly truth in Einstein s observation; many artists and geniuses seem to view their schooling as a disadvantage. But such a truth is not a criticism of schools. It is the function of schools to civilize, not to train explorers. The explorer is always a lonely individual whether his or her pioneering be in art, music, science, or technology .The creative explorer of unmapped lands shares with the genius what William James described as the faculty of perceiving in an inhabitable way, so far as schools teach perceptual patterns they tend to destroy creativity and genius. But if schools could somehow exist solely to cultivate genius, then society would break down. For the social order demands unity and widespread agreement, both traits that are destructive to creativity.0There will always be conflict between the demands of society and the impulses of creativity and genius.
　　IV.Question
　　Which of the following can best summarize the gist of the passage?
　　A. schools limit creativity and genius and should be abolished
　　B. Schools should be designed to encourage creativity.
　　C. Explorers are geniuses.
　　D. Schools can not meet the demands of both geniuses and society at the same time.
　　4. 具体词汇和句子的理解
　　paragraph One
　　For the last 82 years. Sweden's Nobel Academy has decided who will receive the Nobel Prize in literature, thereby determining who will be elevated from the great and the near-great to the immortal. But today the Academy is coming under heavy criticism both from without and from within. Critics protest that the selection of the winners often has less to do with true writing ability than with the peculiar internal politics of the Academy and of Sweden itself. According to Ingmar Bjorksten, the cultural editor for one of the country's two major newspapers, the prize continues to represent "what people call a very Swedish exercise: reflecting Swedish tastes."
　　The Academy has defended itself against such charges of provincialism in its selection by asserting that its physical distance from the great literary capitals of the world actually serves to protect the Academy from outside influences. This may well be true, but critics respond that this very distance may also be responsible for the Academy's inability to perceive accurately authentic trends in the literary world.
　　Question
　　The word "provincialism" in the second paragraph might refer to
　　A. the location of the Academy
　　B. internal politics of the Academy
　　C. isolation from outside influences
　　D. genuine trends in the literary world
　　Paragraph Two
　　In late 1994 the panel of economists which The Economist polls each month said that America's inflation rate would average 3.5% in 1995. In fact, it fell to 2.6% in August, and is expected to average only about 3% for the year as a whole. In Britain and Japan inflation is running half a percentage point below the rate predicted at the end of last year. This is no flash in the pan. Over the past couple of years, inflation has been consistently lower than expected in Britain and America.
　　Question
　　The sentence "This is no flash in the pan" means that
　　A.The low inflation rate will last for some time
　　B. the inflation rate will soon rise
　　C. the inflation will disappear quickly
　　D. there is no inflation at present
　　Paragraph Three
　　In a market system individual economic units are free to interact among each other in the marketplace. It is possible to buy commodities from other economic units or sell commodities to them. In a market, transactions may take place via barter or money exchange. In a barter economy, real goods such as automobiles, shoes, pizzas are traded against each other. Obviously, finding somebody who wants to trade my old car in exchange for a sailboat may not always be an easy task. Hence, the introduction of money as a medium of exchange eases transactions considerably. In the modem market economy, goods and services are bought or sold for money.
　　Question
　　The word "real" could best be replaced by which of the following?
　　A. high quality B.concrete C. utter D. authentic