2015年学位英语考试冲刺试题及答案（第六套）
Part I Reading Comprehension (30 % )
Directions: There are three passages in this part. Each passage is followed by some questions or un-finished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. You should decide on the best choice and blacken the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet.
Passage 1
It seems like every day there's some new research about whether our favorite drinks are good for us. (76) One day, science says a glass of red wine a day will help us live longer. The next day, may-be not. It seems journalists are pretty interested in wine research and the same might be said for coffee. Now, there's been a lot of research into whether coffee's good for our health. "The results have re-ally been mixed," admits Neal Freedman who led the coffee study and published his findings in am edical journal recently. "There's been some evidence that coffee might increase the risk of certain diseases and there's also been maybe more recent evidence that coffee may protect against other diseases as well. "
Freedman and his colleagues undertook the biggest study yet to look at the relationship between coffee and health. They analyzed data collected from more than 400,000 Americans ages 50 to 71 participating in the study. "We found that the coffee drinkers had a modestly lower risk of death than those no-drinkers," he said. Here's what he means by "modestly": those who drank at least two or three cups a day were about 10 percent or 15 percent less likely to die for any reason during the 13years of the study. When the researchers looked at specific causes of death, coffee drinking appeared to cut the risk of dying from heart disease, lung disease, injuries, accidents and infections.
Now, Freedman stressed that the study doesn't prove coffee can make people live longer. A study he this can never prove a cause-and-effect relationship. (77) All it can really do is to point researchers in the right direction for further investigation. And even if it turns out that coffees really good for you, scientists have no idea why.
1. According to the first paragraph, reporters would like to know the research findings of__________.
A. tea
B. beer
C. alcohol
D. coffee
2. According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?
A. Freedman and his colleagues hired 400,000Americans to collect data.
B. About four hundred thousand Americans worked for Freedman's team full time for 13 years.
C. People who took part in Freedman's research are about 50 to 70 years old.
D. People who are 50 to 70 years old. seldom drink coffee.
3. According to the author, scientists
A. have already proved that coffee is good for human health
B. have a long way to go before they find a way to study coffee
C. have avoided the cause-and-effect approach to study coffee
D. are still unable to figure out why coffee is good for us
4. The word "mixed" in the first paragraph means
A. both good and bad
B. put together
C. both sharp and soft
D. confused
5. Which of the following is an appropriate tide for this passage?
A. Can Beer Help You Live Longer?
B. Can Coffee Help You Live Longer?
C. Can Wine Help You Live Longer?
D. Can Tea Help You Live Longer?
Passage 2
Washington Irving was America's first man of letters to be known internationally. His works were received enthusiastically both in England and in the United States. He was, in fact, one of the most successful writers of his time in the country, and at the same time winning the admiration of fellow writers like Scott in Britain and Poe and Hawthorne in the United States. (78) The respect in which he was held partly owing to the man himself, with his warm friendliness, his good sense, his urbanity, his gay spirits, his artistic integrity~ his love of both the Old World and the New. Thackeray de-scribed Irving as "a gendeman, who, though himself born in a very high sphere, was most finished, polished, witty; socially the equal of the most refined Europeans. " (79) In England he was grated an honorary degree from Oxford--an unusual honor for aeitiaen of a young, uncultured nation-and he received the medal of the Royal Society of Literature. America made him ambassador to Spain.
Irving's background provides little to explain his literary achievements. As gifted but delicate child, he had little schooling. He studied law, but without zeal, and never did practice seriously. He was immune to his strict Presbyterian home environment, frequenting both social gatherings and the theater.
6. The main point of the first paragraph is that Washington Irving was
A. America's first man of letters
B. a writer who had great success both in and outside his own country
C. a man who was able to move from literature to polities
D. a man whose personal charm enabled him to get by with basically inferior work
7. What is implied by the mention of Scott, Poe and Hawthorne?
A. Irving enjoyed great popular admiration.
B. Scott, Poe and Hawthorne were primarily responsible for Irving's success.
C. Irving's work was not only popular, but also of high literary quality.
D. More Americans than Britons admired Irving.
8. Which of the following best describes the effect of Irving's Presbyterian background on his life?
A. It fostered his love for the theater.
B. It developed his skill in business.
C. It prompted his interest in law.
D. It had almost no effect on his life.
9. Which of the following best describes the effect of Irving's personal qualities on his literary Success ?
A. His personal qualities were entirely responsible for his literary success.
B. His personal qualities were primarily responsible for his literary success.
C. His personal qualities had some effects on his literary success.
D. His personal qualities had no effects on his literary success.
10. Why might Irving's literary ability have been surprising to the English?
A. They feared competition from American writers.
B. They did not expect the United States to produce good writers.
C. They disapproved of the language American writers used.
D. They thought of the United States as a purely commercial power.
Passage 3
(80) As the Titanic was sinking and women and children climbed into lifeboats, the musicians from the ship's band stood and played. They died when the ship went down. Men stood on the deck and smoked cigarettes. They died, too. This behavior is puzzling to economists, who like to believe that people tend to act in their own self-interest. "There was no pushing," says David Savage, an economist at Queensland University in Australia who has studied witness reports from the survivors. It was " very, very orderly behavior. "
Savage has compared the behavior of the passengers on the Titanic with those on the Lusitania, another ship that also sank at about the same time. But when the Lusitania went down, the passengers panicked (恐慌). There were a lot of similarities between these two events. These two ships were both luxury ones, they had a similar number of passengers and a similar number of survivors.
The biggest difference, Savage concludes, was time. The Lusitania sank in less than 20 minutes. But for the Titanic, it was two-and-a-half hours. "If you've got an event that lasts two-and-a-half hours, social order will takeover and everybody will behave in a social manner," Savage says. "If you're going down in under 17 minutes, basically it's instinctual. " On the Titanic, social order ruled, and it was women and children first. On the Lusitania, instinct won out. The survivors were largely the people who could swim and get into the he boats.
Yes, we're self-interested, Savage says. But we're also part of a society. Given time, social norms(规范)can beat our natural self-interest. A hundred years ago, women and children always went first. Men were stoic (坚忍的). On the Titanic, there was enough time for these norms to become forceful.
11. According to the author, economists were confused because__________.
A. people's behavior was disorderly on the Titanic
B. people did not act in their own interest on the Titanic
C. most men did not act in their own interest on the Lusitania
D. women and children could not climb into the lifeboats
12. The expression "won out" in the third paragraph is closest in meaning to__________.
A. took the upper hand
B. went out of control
C. ran wild
D. shut down
13. According to David Savage, __________was a critical factor in determining people's behavior in the sinking of these two ships.
A. social order
B. place
C. instinct
D. time
14. According to the passage, which of the following is NOT TRUE?
A. Both ships were expensive ones.
B. A similar number of women and children from both ships survived
C. About the same number of people from each ship died.
D. Both ships had a similar number of passengers.
15. Which of the following is an appropriate tide for this passage?
A. Why Didn't Musicians Play on the Lusitania?
B. Why Did Musicians Play on the Titanic?
C. Why Didn't Passengers Panic on the Titanic?
D. Why Did Men Smoke on the Titanic?
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