南京林业大学研究生英语期末试题(A)

47. Data from this group therefore gives some indication of what the similar population might be experiencing nationally.

A. sign B. privilege C. prize D. investigation 48. The data identifies a situation of unequal access to ICT hardware.

A. proves B. facilitates C. appeals to D. predicted

49. It is the potential of electronic communication which ICTs offer that open new possibilities for adult and continuing education.

A. advantage B. possibility C. inequality D. interaction

50. A slightly larger percentage of men are using the web for study: 15%, compared with 13% of women.

A. partial B. proportion C. number D. amount

PART III READING COMPREHENSION (20 points, 1 point each )

Directions: In this part of the test, there are four passages for you to read. Read each passage carefully and then do the questions that follow. Choose the best answer A, B, C or D and blacken the corresponding letter on your Answer Sheet. Passage One

Questions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.

Professor Smith recently persuaded 35 people, 23 of them women, to keep a diary of all their absent-minded actions for a fortnight. When he came to analyze their embarrassing lapses ( 差错) in a scientific report, he was surprised to find that nearly all of them fell into a few groupings, nor did the lapses appear to be entirely random (随机的).

One of the women, for instance, on leaving her house for work one morning threw her dog her earrings and tried to fix a dog biscuit on her ear. “The explanation for this is that the brain is like a computer,” explains the professor. \program themselves to do certain activities regularly. It was the woman's custom every morning to throw her dog two biscuits and then put on her earrings. But somehow the action got reversed in the program,\incidents the volunteers reported were these \

Altogether the volunteers logged 433 unintentional actions that they found themselves doing -- an average of twelve each, There appear to be peak periods in the day when we are at our zaniest (荒谬可笑的). These are two hours some time between eight a.m. and noon, between four and six p.m. with a smaller peak between eight and ten p.m. \when a changeover in brain 'programs' occurs, as for instance between going to and from work.\Women on average reported slightly more lapses -- 12.5 compared with 10.9 for men m probably because they were more reliable reporters.

A startling finding of the research is that the absent-minded activity is a hazard of doing things in which we are skilled. Normally, you would expect that skill reduces the number of errors we make. But trying to avoid silly slips by concentrating more could make things a lot worse m

even dangerous.

51. In his study Professor Smith asked the subjects_____. A) to keep track of people who tend to forget things B) to report their embarrassing lapses at random C) to analyze their awkward experiences scientifically D) to keep a record of what they did unintentionally 52. Professor Smith discovered that_____.

A) certain patterns can be identified in the recorded incidents

B) many people were too embarrassed to admit their absent-mindedness C) men tend to be more absent-minded than women D) absent-mindedness is an excusable human weakness

53. \A) often fail to program their routines beforehand B) tend to make mistakes when they are in a hurry C) unconsciously change the sequence of doing things D) are likely to mess things up if they are too tired 54. We learn from the third paragraph that_____.

A) absent-mindedness tends to occur during certain hours of the day B) women are very careful to perform actions during peak periods C) women experience more peak periods of absent-mindedness D) men's absent-mindedness often results in funny situations 55. It can be concluded from the passage that_____.

A) people should avoid doing important things during peak periods of lapses B) hazards can be avoided when people do things they are good at C) people should be careful when programming their actions D) lapses cannot always be attributed to lack of concentration

Passage Two

Questions 56 to 60 are based on the following passage.

Throughout the nation's more than 15,000 school districts, widely differing approaches to teaching science and math have emerged. Though there can be strength in diversity, a new international analysis suggests that this variability has instead contributed to lackluster (平淡的) achievement scores by U.S. children relative to their peers in other developed countries. Indeed, concludes William H. Schmidt of Michigan State University, who led the new analysis, \science.'' The reason, he said, \ The new analysis, released this week by the National Science Foundation in Arlington, Va., is based on data collected from about 50 nations as part of the Third International Mathematics

and Science Study.

Not only do approaches to teaching science and math vary among individual U.S. communities, the report finds, but there appears to be little strategic focus within a school district’s curricula, its textbooks, or its teachers' activities. This contrasts sharply with the coordinated national programs of most other countries.

On average, U.S. students study more topics within science and math than their international counterparts do. This creates an educational environment that \Schmidt notes.

For instance, eighth graders in the United States cover about 33 topics in math versus just 19 in Japan. Among science courses, the international gap is even wider. U.S. curricula for this age level resemble those of a small group of countries including Australia, Thailand, Iceland, and Bulgaria. Schmidt asks whether the United States wants to be classed with these nations, whose educational systems \our pattern of splintered (支离破碎的) visions\but which are not economic leaders.

The new report \the National Science Teachers Association in Arlington. \new National Science Education Standards provide that focused vision,\ Implementing the new science standards and their math counterparts will be the challenge, he and Schmidt agree, because the decentralized responsibility for education in the United States requires that any reforms be tailored and instituted one community at a time.

In fact, Schmidt argues, reforms such as these proposed national standards \impossible task, because even though they are intellectually coherent, each becomes only one more voice in the babble ( 嘈杂声).\

56. According to the passage, the teaching of science and math in America is A) focused on tapping students' potential B) characterized by its diversity C) losing its vitality gradually D) going downhill in recent years

57. The fundamental flaw of American school education is that ________. A) it lacks a coordinated national program B) it sets a very low academic standard for students C) it relies heavily on the initiative of individual teachers

D) it attaches too much importance to intensive study of school subjects

58. By saying that the U.S. educational environment is \Para. 5), the author means U.S. educational practice ________. A) lays stress on quality at the expense of quantity B) offers an environment for comprehensive education C) encourages learning both in depth and in scope

D) scratches the surface of a wide range of topics

59. The new National Science Education Standards are good news in that they will A) provide depth to school science education B) solve most of the problems in school teaching C) be able to meet the demands of the community D) quickly dominate U.S. educational practice

60. Putting the new science and math standards into practice will prove difficult because

________.

A) there is always controversy in educational circles

B) not enough educators have realized the necessity for doing so C) school districts are responsible for making their own decisions D) many schoolteachers challenge the acceptability of these standards.

Passage Three

Questions 61 to 65 are based on the following passage. In its 4.5 billion years, Earth has evolved from its hot, violent birth to the celebrated watery blue planet that stands out in pictures from space. But in a new book, two noted University of Washington astrobiologists say the planet already has begun the log process of devolving into a burned-out cinder, eventually to be swallowed by the sun.

By their reckoning, Earth’s “day in the sun” has reached 4:30 a.m., corresponding to its 4.5 billion-year age. By 5 a.m., the 1 billion-year reign of animals and plants will come to an end. At 8 a.m. the oceans will vaporize. At noon-after 12 billion year-the ever-expanding sun, transformed into a red gain, will engulf the planet, melting away any evidence it ever existed and sending molecules and atoms that once were Earth floating off into space.

“The disappearance of our plane is still 7.5 billion years away, bur people really should consider the fate of our world and have a realistic understanding of where we are going.” said UW astrophysicist Donald Brownlee. “We live in a fabulous place at a fabulous time. It’s a healthy thing for people to realize what a treasure this is in space and time , and fully appreciate and protect their environment as much as possible.”

The prospects of humans surviving by moving to some other habitable planet or moon aren’t good, Brownlee and Ward contend, because even if such a place were found, getting there would be a huge obstacle. Various probes sent into space could survive Earth’s demise, and just a few grams of material could arguably carry a DNA sample from every human, they say, but it’s not likely the human species itself will survive. Long before the planet’s final end, life will become quite challenging, and finally impossible, for humans.

As the sun gets hotter and grows in size, it will envelop Mercury and Venus. It is possible it will stop just short of Earth, the authors say, but the conditions still would make this a most inhospitable planet. More likely, though, the sun will consume earth as well, severing all the chemical bonds between molecules and sending its individual atoms out into space, perhaps eventually to form new planes. That would leave Mars as the nearest planet to the sun, and on Mars the fading sun’s glow would be like that of Earth’s moon.

That end is still some 7.5 billion years distant, but by then Earth will have faced a variety of