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四、Reading Comprehension(60 points)
36、There has been a boom in“karaoke”in Japan．Many people，no matter what their age orgender，go there often to enjoy singing out loud，to seek relief from daily stress or just for fun．The“kara”of kara-oke means“empty”．while the“oke’’is a Japanese abbreviation of theEnglish word，“0rchestra．”These two words coming together mean an orchestra without a sinG—er，karaoke systems ate widespread in many countries nowadays．“karaoke bars’’are wellknown by Americans，but actuany we have few karaoke bars in Japan．What we call“karaokebox”is more popular in Japan．
　　To relish karaoke is not difficult at all．All you have to do is to find some friends to gowith you．After you have settled into the room and gotten something to eat or drink，you are al-ready to sing．You look up one of the songbooks and choose a song you wish to sing in two dif-ferent ways：either by the singer's name or title of the song．Then enter the code numbers ofthe song into the remote contr01．Soon your music will start．Some karaoke sets even have avoice change system．You can change your voice from a woman’s to a man’s，or a man’s to awoman’s．This is very interesting．But the important thing here is you should listen to otherpeople singing at the sanle time．Usually people like to have audiences，and you want them tolisten to you while you are singing，too．You can feel like a real singer if you have someone tolisten to you，and that’s what people like when doing karaoke．
　　Since you will have your own room and there will be no unfamiliar people watching you，you will feel more comfortable singing in a karaoke box than singing in front of many people，like in karaoke bars．You Call spend the time in a more relaxed atmosphere，which is more en．joyable．
　　Once you have experienced karaoke，you might want to go again and again，though somepeople would not like singing in front of people even if they were friends or family．But you can still have a jot of．fun there，even if you don't sing．We make jokes and we talk as if we were athome．I personally like karaoke very much．I like singing and I have so much fun every time I go．I thilnk we are seeking a way to express ourselves to people whom ，we like．
根据以上内容，回答36-55题。
In Japanese，the word“Karaoke”come from“kara”and“oke．”What do these words mean?
A．Sing and together．
B．Sing and have fun．
C．Orchestra and singer．
D．Empty and Orchestra．


37、 What does the writer say is the important tlling to do to enjoy karaoke?
A．Enter the code number．
B．Choose many different types of music．
C．Listen to others singing so everyone has an audience．
D．Change your voice from a woman to a man or vice—versa．


38、 What is the advantage of a Japanese Karaoke box over a Karaoke bar?
A．There are no unfamiliar people watching you so you won't feel nervous．
B．It is more technologically advanced．
C．The employees are friendlier．
D．The food is better．


39、 How would you describe the writer's attitude toward Karaoke?
A．She often goes，and likes it sometimes and sometimes not．
B．She thinks it is not only fun，but stress relieving as well．
C．She has：not tried it herself SO has no attitude about it．
D．She feels it is a，waste of time．

40、As you are students of English，it's very possible that you’ll be interested in England．
　　That's where the language was first spoken．But England is often called by other nalTles．This often Confuses people．and l wonder if you know what these natnes mean．So,now Iwould like to tell you about mis matter of names．I believe that you．have heard people use thenames England，Britain or Great Britain．Let's see what each of these names means．
　　If you look at a map of Europe．you’11 see a group of islands-one larger island off thenorthwest coast，one smaller and many tiny ones．These make up what is called the British Isles(不列颠群岛)．The largest island of the British Isles is Britain．It is also called Great Brit—ain．The smaller island is keland(爱尔兰)．
　　Britain is divided into three parts：Scotland，Wales and England．But sometimes the Word“England”is used instead of“Britain”．Why so?
　　In ancient times，what is Britain now used to be three different countries，People in these different countries spoke different language．Over many years the three countries became one．England is the largest and richest of the three and it has the most people．So the English people take it for granted that their own name stands for the whole island．
　　There’s another thing that confuses people：sometimes you may hear people say＂the Untied Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland＂。That is official name of the country．Northern Ireland is only one sixth of the island of Ireland．The rest of the island is an independent state ,called the Republic of Ireland．So we have the names of"England＂，"Britain"， "Great Britain"，and"the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland"． Now do you know what each of them means?
根据以上内容，回答40-59题。
English was first spoken in__________．
A． Britain
B．England
C．Great Britain
D．Ireland


41、 According to the passage，which of the following statements is true?
A．Wales is the richest of the three．
B．Scotland is the largest of the three．
C．Sometimes English is used instead of：Britain．
D．Britain is the only name of the largest island of British Isles．


42、 The United Kingdon of Great Britain and．Northern Ireland is__________．
A．part of Britain
B．part of．British Isles
C．the official name of the whole country England
D．the largest country of all mentioned in the passage


43、 Wich of the following is an independent country?
A．Wales
B．Scotland
C．Northern Ireland
D．The Republic of Ireland

44、Space is a dangerous place，not only because of meteors but also because of rays from the sun and other stars．The atmosphere again acts as our protective blanket on earth．Light gets through，and this is essential for plants to make the food which we eat．Heat，too，makes our environment endurable．Various kinds of rays come through the air from outer space，but enormous quantities of radiation：from the sun are screened off．As soon as men leave the atmosphere they are exposed to this radiation but their spacesuits or the walls of their spacecraft。if they are inside，do prevent a lot of radiation damage．
　　Radiation is the greatest known danger to explorers in space．The unit of radiation is called “rem”．Scientists have reason to think that a man can put up with far more radiation than 0.1ream without being damaged；the figure of 60 reins has been agreed on．The trouble is that it isextremely difficult to be sure about radiation damage--a person may feel perfectly well，but theCells of his or her sex organs may be damaged，and this will not be discovered until the birth ofdeformed(畸形的)children or even grandchildren．Missions of the Apollo flights have had tocross belts of high radiation and，during the outward and return joumeys，the Apollo crew ac—cumulated a large amount of reams．So far，no dangerous amounts of radiation have been repor-ted，but the Apollo missions have been quite short．We simply do not know yet how men aregoing to get on when they spend weeks and months outside the protection of the atmosphere，working in a space laboratory．Drugs might help to decrease the damage done by radiation，butno really effective ones have been found so far．
根据以上内容，回答44-63题。
According to the first paragraph，the atmosphere is essential to man in that_________．
A．it supplies the heat necessary for human survival
B．it provides sufficient light for plant growth
C．it protects him against the harmful rays from space
D．it screens off the falling meteors


45、 We know from the passage that________．
A．the effect of exposure to radiation is slow in coming
B．exposure to even tiny amounts of radiation is fatal
C．radiation is avoidable in space exploration
D．astronauts in spacesuits needn’t worry about radiation damage