清华2006考博英语

PartⅢReading Comprehension(40%)

Directions:There are 4 reading passage in this part.Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statement.For each of them there are four choices marked A,B, C and D.You should decide on the best choice and then mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet.

Questions 41 to 45 are based on the following passage:

Opinion polls are now beginning to show an unwilling general agreement that,whoever is to blame and whatever happens from now on,high unemployment is probably here to stay.This means we shall

have to find ways of sharing the available employment more widely.

But we need to go further.We must ask some fundamental question about the future of work.

Should we continue to treat employment as the norm?Should we not rather encourage many other ways

for self-respecting people to work?Should we not create conditions in which many of us can work for

ourselves,rather than for an employer?Should we not aim to revive the household and the neighbourhood,

as well as the factory and the office,as centers of production and work?

The industrial age has been the only period of human history in which most people’s work has taken

the form of jobs.The industrial age may now be coming to an end,and some of the changes in work

patterns which it brought many have to be reversed.This seems a discouraging thought.But,in fact,it

could offer the prospect of a better future for work.Universal employment,as its history shows,has not

meant economic freedom.

Employment became widespread when the enclosures of the 17th and 18th centuries made many people dependent on paid work by depriving them of the use of the land,and thus of the means to provide

a living for themselves.Then the factory system destroyed the cottage industries and removed work from

people’s homes.Later,as transport improved,first by rail and then by road,people traveled longer distances to their places of employment until,eventually,many people’s work lost all connection with

their home lives and the places in which they lived.

Meanwhile,employment put women at a disadvantage.It became customary for the husband to go out to paid employment,leaving the unpaid work of the home and family to his wife.

All this may now have to change.The time has certainly come to switch some effort and resources away from the impractical goal of creating jobs for all,to the urgent practical task of helping many peopl

to manage without full-time jobs.

41.What idea did the author derive from the recent opinion polls?

A.Available employment should be restricted to a small percentage of the population.

B.New jobs must be created in order to rectify high unemployment figures. C.Jobs available must be distributed among more people. D.The present high unemployment figures are a fact of life.

42.The passage suggests that we should now re-examine our thinking about work and. A.be prepared to admit that being employed is not the only kind of work B.create more factories in order to increase our productivity

C.set up smaller private enterprises so that we in turn can employ others D.be prepared to fill in time by taking up housework

43.The passage tells us that the arrival of the industrial age meant that. A.universal employment guaranteed prosperity B.economic freedom came within everyone’s reach C.patterns of work were fundamentally changed D.to survive,everyone has to find a job

44.As a result of the enclosures of the 17th and 18th centuries. A.people were no longer legally entitled to own land

B.people were forced to look elsewhere for means of supporting themselves C.people were not adequately compensated for the loss of their land D.people were badly paid for the work they managed to find. 45.It can be inferred from the passage that. A.the creation of jobs for all is impossible

B.we must make every effort to solve the problem of unemployment C.people should start to support themselves by learning a practical skill D.we should help people to get full-time job

Questions 46 to 50 are based on the following passage:

Various innovations have been introduced as ways to break off out system which forces students through a series of identical classrooms in which teachers do must of the talking and students have little

opportunity to respond.Among these innovations are team teaching and teacher aides,non-graded elementary and secondary schools,independent study,curricula focused on helping students discover

things for themselves rather than on trying to tell them everything,and schools designed for maximum

flexibility so that students can work alone,or in small groups,or take part in large group instruction via

diverse media.The aim of all these innovations is to adapt instruction more precisely to the needs of each

individual student.Many people whom have a strong dislike to organizing instruction scientifically and to

bringing new technology into the schools and colleges fail to realize that the present system is in many

respects mechanical and rigid.The vast differences in the ways students learn are disregarded when they

are taught the same thing,in the same way,at the same time.There is no escaping the evidence that manystudents themselves feel little enthusiasm and even outright hostility for the present way

schools and

collages are organized and instruction is handled.Many of them resent technology,but what they object

to is usually technology used as a means for handling a large number of students.Or it is programming

which merely reproduces conventional classroom responds and learns,reaching new plateaus from which

to climb to higher levels of understanding.Technological media can store information until it is needed or

wanted.They can distribute it over distances to reach the student where he happens to be.They can present the information to the student through various senses.They can give the student the opportunity to

react to the material in many ways.In short,the student’s opportunities for learning can be increased and

enhanced by using a wide range of instructional technology.All the available resources for instruction,

including the teacher,can work together to create conditions for maximum effective learning. 46.The author is mainly concerned with.

A.providing the possibility for students to take the courses they want B.making technology an active tool in the school C.relieving the teacher from routine duties D.meeting the needs of each student

47.It can be inferred from the article that a good educational system must. A.not depend on teachers

B.make use of varying methods of teaching C.place a renewed emphasis on science D.not organize their instruction

48.The author suggests that the basic role of the teacher in the educational system should be .

A.as a lecture

B.that of a technologist

C.as the source of knowledge

D.much more than that of classroom teaching

49.The negative reactions of students to technology are the result of. A.unknown factors

B.a general hostility toward education C.its misuse

D.its newness in the schools

50.All of the following are mentioned as a capability of technological media EXCEPT their ability to.

A.make it easier for students to obtain needed information B.provide many ways of teaching the same thing C.make learning easy and fun D.replace traditional reports

Questions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage:

Rubidium,potassium and carbon are three common elements used to date the history of Earth.The rates of radioactive decay of these elements are absolutely regular when averaged out over a period of

time;nothing is known to change them.To be useful as clocks,the elements have to be fairly common in

natural minerals,unstable but decay slowly over millions of years to form recognizable“daughter” products which are preserved minerals.

For example,an atom of radioactive rubidium decays to form an atom of strontium(another element)

by converting a neutron in its nucleus to a proton and releasing an electron,generating energy in the

process.The radiogenic daughter products of the decay-in this case strontium atoms-diffuse away and are

lost above a certain very high temperature.So by measuring the exact proportions of rubidium and strontium atoms that are present in a mineral,researchers can work out how long it has been since the

mineral cooled below that critical“blocking”temperature.The main peoblems with this dating method

are the difficulty in finding minerals containing rubidium,the accuracy with which the proportions of

rubidium and strontium are measured,and the fact that the method gives only the date when the mineral

last cooled below the blocking temperature.Because the blocking temperature is very high,the method is

used,mainly for recrystallized(igneous or metamorphic)rocks,not for sediments-rubidium-bearing minerals in sediments simply record the age of cooling of the rocks which were eroded to form the sediments,not the age of deposition of the sediments themselves.

Potassium decays to form(a gas)which is sometimes lost from its host mineral by escaping through pores.Although potassium-argon dating is therefore rather unreliable,it can sometimes be useful in dating sedimentary rocks because potassium is common in some minerals which from in sediments at low

temperatures.Assuming no argon has escaped,the potassium-argon date records the age of the sediments themselves.

Carbon dating is mainly used in archaeology.Most carbon atoms(carbon-12)are stable and do not change over time.However,cosmic radiation bombarding the upper atmospheres constantly interacting

with nitrogen in the atmosphere to create an unstable form of carbon,carbon-14. 51.What is the common feature of rubidium,potassium and carbon? A.They can e made into clocks. B.They are rich in content.

C.Their decay is slow but regular.

D.The products of their decay are the same.