Part 11 Reading Comprehension (40 points)

Directions: There are 4 passages in this part. Each of the passages is followed by 5 questions or unfin-ished statements. For each of them there are 4 choices marked A, B, C and D. Choose the best one and mark your answer on the ANSWER SHEET with a single line through the centre.

Passage 1

On November 19, 1863, Abraham Lincoln went to Gettysburg in Pennsylvania to speak at the National Soldiers Cemetery. The Civil War was still going on. There was much criticism of Presi-dent Lincoln at the time. He was not at all popular. He had been invited to speak at Gettysburg on-ly out of politeness. The principal speaker was to be Edward Everett, a famous statesman and speaker of the day. Everett was a handsome man and ve.ry popular everywhere.

It is said that Lincoln prepared his speech on the train while going to Gettysburg. Late that night, alone in his hotel room and tired out, he again worked briefly on the speech. The next day Everett spoke first. He spoke for an hour and 57 minutes. His speech was a perfect example of the rich oratory of the day. Then Lincoln rose. The crowd of 15,000 people at first paid little attention to him. He spoke for only nine minutes. At the end there was little applause. Lincoln turned to a friend and remarked,"I have failed again". On the train back to Washington, he said sadly, "That

speech was a fiat failure, and the people are disappointed".

Some newspapers at first criticized the speech, but little by little as people redid the speech they began to understand better. They began to appreciate its simplicity and its deep meaning. It was a speech which only Abraham Lincoln could have made.

Today, every American school child learns Lincoln' s Gettysburg Address by heart. Now eve-ryone thinks of it as one of the greatest speeches ever given in American history.

11. In 1863, Abraham Lincoln was__________.

A. very critical

B. unpopular

C. very popular

D. very courteous

12. Lincoln was invited to speak at the National Soldiers Cemetery because he was__________.

A. a famous speaker

B. a very handsome man

C. President of the country

D. a popular statesman

13. It can be inferred from the text that__________.

A. Lincoln prepared his speech very carefully before he went to Gettysburg

B. Lincoln was very busy at the time and didn' t have much time to prepare his speech

C. Lincoln' s speech was full of rich words

D. Lincoln' s speech was very long

14. It was a fact that Lincoln' s speech was__________.

A. an immediately success

B. warmly applauded

C. a total failure

D. not well-received at first

15. Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?

A. Lincoln' s Gettysburg Address has deep meaning.

B. Lincoln' s Gettysburg Address is simple in style.

C. Lincoln' s Gettysburg Address is memorized by every American school child.

D. Lincoln' s Gettysburg Address is the greatest speech ever delivered in the United States.

Passage 2

In what now seems like the prehistoric times of computer history, the early post-war era(战后时期), there was a quite widespread concern that computers would take over the world from man one day. Already today, less than forty years later, as computers are relieving us of more and more of the routine tasks in business and in our personal lives, we are facing with a less dramatic but also less foreseen problem. People tend to be over-trusting(过分信任) of computers and are reluctant to challenge their authority. Indeed, they behave as if they were hardly aware that wrong buttons may

be pushed, or that a computer may simply malfunction (失灵).

Obviously, there would be no point in investing(投入) in a computer if you had to check all its answers, but people should also rely on their own internal computers and cheek the machine when they have the feeling that something has gone wrong. Questioning and routine double checks must continue to be as much a part of good business as they were in pre-computer days. Maybe each computer should come with the following warning: for all the help this computer may pro-vide, it should not be seen as a substitute for fundamental thinking and reasoning skills.

16. What is the main purpose of this passage?

A. To look back to the early days of computers.

B. To explain what technical problems may occur with computers.

C. To discourage unnecessary investment in computers.

D. To warn against the blindness to the probable shortcomings of computers.

17. The passage recommends those dealing with computers to__________.

A. be reasonably doubtful about them

B. check all their answers

C. substitute them for basic thinking

D. use them for business purpose only

18. An "internal computer" ( Para. 2 ) is __________.

A. a computer used exclusively by one company for its own problems

B. a person' s store of knowledge and the ability to process it

C.the most up to date in home computer a company can buy

D. a computer from the post-war era which is very reliable

19. The passage suggests that the present day problem with regard to computers is__________.

A. challenging

B. psychological

C. dramatic

D. over-trusting

20. It can be inferred from the passage that the author would disapprove of__________.

A. computer science courses in high schools

B. businessmen and women who use pocket calculators

C. maintenance(持续不断) checks on computers

D. companies which depend entirely on computers

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