2018年湖北成人学位英语考试冲刺试题及答案二
二、阅读理解(21-40)
Where do pesticides(杀虫剂fit into the picture of environmental disease? We have seen that they now pollute soil, water, and food, that they have the power to make our streams fishless and our gardens and woodlands silent and birdless. Man, however much he may like to pretend the contrary, is part of nature. Can he escape a pollution that is now so thoroughly distributed throughout our world?
We know that even single exposures to these chemicals, if the amount is large enough, can cause extremely severe poisoning. But this is not the major problem. The sudden illness or death of farmers, farm workers, and others exposed to sufficient quantities of pesticides is very sad and should not occur. For the population as a whole, we must be more concerned with the delayed effects of absorbing small amounts of the pesticides that invisibly pollute our world.
Responsible public health officials have pointed out that the biological effects of chemicals are cumulative over long periods of time, and that the danger to the individual may depend on the sum of the exposures received throughout his lifetime. For these very reasons the danger is easily ignored. It is human nature to shake off what may seem to us a threat of future disaster. "Men are naturally most impressed by diseases which have obvious signs," says a wise physician, Dr.Rene Dubos, "yet some of their worst enemies slowly approach them unnoticed."
21. Which of the following is closest in meaning to the sentence "Man, ... is part of nature."(Line 3,Para.1)?
A. Man appears indifferent to what happens in nature.
B. Man acts as if he does not belong to nature.
C. Man can avoid the effects of environmental pollution.
D. Man can escape his responsibilities for environmental protection.
答案: B
详解：B)。词汇题。答题关键在于正确理解"like to pretend the contrary"几个词的含义，这几个词字面原意为：喜欢假装相反。把它与原句结合起来看，这一句的意思是：人类，尽管常常表现得恰好相反，却是自然的一部分。据此句意来套四个选择项，就可看出B)(人类表现得好像他不属于自然是正确答案。
22. What is the author's attitude towards the environmental effects of pesticides?
A. Pessimistic.
B. Indifferent.
C. Defensive.
D. Concerned.
答案: D
详解：D)。观点题。本文就作者对杀虫剂的环境后果的态度提问。纵观全文可知，作者在文中一一描述了杀虫剂明显和潜在的两方面危险，提醒人们重视其缓慢的长期效应，可见作者对这一问题是“关切的”D)项)，而非是“漠不关心的”B)项)。同时，作者在文中并未悲天悯人，认为杀虫剂的危害已不可救药，所以A)项“悲观的”也不符合题意。而C)项“防御性的”，在文中并无根据，因为在文中作者并未提出该怎样解决杀虫剂的环境后果问题，因此只有D)是符合题意的正确答案。
23. In the author's view, the sudden death caused by exposure to large amounts of pesticides _____.
A. is not the worst of the negative consequences resulting from the use of pesticides
B. now occurs most frequently among all accidental deaths
C. has sharply increased so as to become the center of public attention
D. is unavoidable because people can't do without pesticides in farming
答案: A
详解：A)。推断题。本题的答案主要见于第二段。从"But this is not the major problem".(但这并不是主要问题及"..., we must be more concerned with the delayed effects...，(我们必须更关切由于小剂量地吸收无形中污染了我们世界的杀虫剂而造成的延迟的后果”我们可从中推断出作者认为“由于大剂量吸入杀虫剂而突然致死”还不是糟糕的情况，故A)是正确的。而B)、C)、D)项的内容在文中均未提及，所以无法判断是否是作者的观点，因而不能入选正确答案。
24. People tend to ignore the delayed effects of exposure to chemicals because _____.
A. limited exposure to them does little harm to people's health
B. the present is more important for them than the future
C. the danger does not become apparent immediately
D. humans are capable of withstanding small amounts of poisoning
答案: C
详解：C)。推断题。本题可用筛选法，一一排除错误答案。人们容易忽视吸入有毒化学物质所带来的延迟后果，到底是因为什么呢?先看A)：有限的吸收不会给人类健康带来危害。根据第三段内容可知，有毒化学物质的生物效果是累积的，而且累积越多，危险越大，因此，即使是有限的吸收，也会有潜伏的危险，可见A)项内容错误。同样D)项“人类能经受住小剂量有毒物质危害”显然也不对。再看B)：现在比将来重要。根据后一段第三句，人类的本性是会忽略将来的危险的，但这并不等于说现在就更重要，所以B)项也没有正确解释本题中的原因。只有C)项“危险并没有立刻显示出来”，符合原文意旨，特别是后一句的句意，所以C)是正确答案。
25. It can be concluded from Dr.Dubos'remarks that _____.
A. people find invisible diseases difficult to deal with
B. attacks by hidden enemies tend to be fatal
C. diseases with obvious signs are easy to cure
D. people tend to overlook hidden dangers caused by pesticides
答案: D
详解：D。推断题。本题关键在于正确理解Dr.Dubos的评论。原句意为：人类很自然地容易对那些具有征兆的疾病印象深刻，然而有些致命的疾病却是慢慢地毫无察觉地击中他们的。据此句意，可以容易地推断出D)为正确答案。
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