3份研究生英语阅读练习题(附答案)

2021年1月22日发(作者：王泽)

Part I Reading Comprehension (20%)


Directions:
Each
of
the
following
passage
below
is
followed
by
some
questions.
For
each
question
there
are
four
answers
marked A, B, C and D. Read the passage carefully and choose the best answer to each of the questions. Then mark your answer
on the ANSWER SHEET.


Questions 1 to 5 are based on the following passage
：




In 1993, New York State ordered stores to charge a deposit on beverage containers. Within a year, consumers had returned
millions of aluminum cans and glass and plastic bottles. Plenty of companies were eager to accept the aluminum and glass as
raw materials for new products, but because few could figure out what to do with the plastic, much of it wound up buried in
landfills The problem was not limited to New York. Unfortunately, there were too few uses for second-hand plastic.



Today, one out of five plastic soda bottles is recycled in the United states. The reason for the change is that now there are
dozens of companies across the country buying discarded plastic soda bottles and turning them into fence posts, paint brushes,
etc.



As the New York experience shows, recycling involves more than simply separating valuable materials from the rest of the
rubbish. A discard remains a discard until somebody figures out how to give it a second life- and until economic arrangements
exist to give that second life value. Without adequate markets to absorb materials collected for recycling, throwaways actually
depress prices for used materials.



Shrinking
landfill
space,
and
rising
costs
for
burying
and
burning
rubbish
are
forcing
local
governments
to
look
more
closely
at
recycling
In
many
areas,
the
East
Coast,
especially,
recycling
is
already
the
least
expensive
waste- management
option. For every ton of waste recycled, a city avoids paying for its disposal, which, in parts of New York, amounts to savings
of more than $$ 100 per ton. Recycling also stimulates the local economy by creating jobs and trims the pollution control and
energy costs of industries that make recycled products by giving them a more refined raw material

regulation was issued by New York State concerning beverage containers?

A) Beverage companies should be responsible for collecting and reusing discarded plastic soda bottles.

B)
Throwaways should be collected by the state for recycling.

C)
A fee should be charged on used containers for recycling.

D)
Consumers had to pay for beverage containers and could get their money back on returning them.
returned plastic bottles in New York used to _________.

A)
end up somewhere underground.

B)
Be turned into raw materials.

C)
Have a second- life value.

D)
Be separated form other rubbish.
key problem in dealing with returned plastic beverage containers is ______.

A)
to sell them at a profitable price.

B)
How to turn them into useful things.

C)
How to reduce their recycling costs.

D)
To lower the prices for used materials.
ing has become the first choice for the disposal of rubbish because _____.

A)
local governments find it easy to manage.

B)
Recycling has great appeal for the jobless.

C)
Recycling causes little pollution.


D)
Other methods are more expensive.


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can be concluded from the passage that _______.

A)
rubbish is a potential remedy for the shortage of raw materials.

B)
Local governments in the US

can expect big profits from recycling.

C)
Recycling is to be recommended both economically and environmentally.

D)
Landfills will still be widely used for waste disposal.


Questions 6 to 10 are based on the following passage:




With
the
possible
exception
of
equal
rights,
perhaps
the
most
controversial
issue
across
the United
States
today
is
the
death penalty. Many argue that it is an effective deterrent to murder, while others maintain there is no convincing evidence that
the death penalty reduces the number of murders.




The
principal
argument
advanced
by
those
opposed
to
the
death
penalty,
basically,
is
that
it
is
cruel
and
inhuman
punishment, that it is the mark of a brutal society, and finally that it is of questionable effectiveness as a deterrent to crime
anyway.




In our opinion, the death penalty is a necessary evil. Throughout recorded history there have always been those extreme
individuals
in
every
society
who
were
capable
of
terribly
violent
crimes
such
as
murder.
But
some
are
more
extreme
than
others.




For example, it is one thing to take the life of another in a fit of blind rage, but quite another to coldly plot and carry out
the murder of one or more people in the style of a butcher. Thus, murder, like all other crimes, is a matter of relative degree.
While it could be argued with some conviction that the criminal in the first instance should be merely isolated from society,
such should not be the fate of the latter type murderer.




The value of the death penalty as a deterrent to crime may be open to debate. But the overwhelming majority of citizens
believe that the death penalty protects them. Their belief is reinforced by evidence which shows that the death penalty deters
murder.
For
example,
from
1954
to
1963,
when
the
death
penalty
was
consistently
imposed
in
California,
the
murder
rate
remained between three and four murders for each 100,000 population. Since 1964 the death penalty has been imposed only
once, and the murder rate has risen to 10.4 murders for each 100,000 population. The sharp climb in the state's murder rate,
which began when executions stopped, is no coincidence. It is convincing evidence that the death penalty does deter many
murderers. If the bill reestablishing the death penalty is vetoed, innocent people will be murdered-some whose lives may have
been saved if the death penalty were in effect. This is literally a life or death matter. The lives of thousands of innocent people
must be protected.
6. The principal purpose of this passage is to _______.

A. criticize the government


B. argue for the value of the death penalty

C. speak for the majority

D. initiate a veto
7. The passage attempts to establish a relationship between _______.

A. the importance of equal rights and that of the death penalty

B. executions and murders

C. the murder rate and the imposition of the death penalty

D. the effects of execution and the effects of isolation
8. The author's response to those who urge the death penalty for all degrees of murder would most likely be _______.

A. supportive





B. hostile




C. rigative





D. friendly
9. In the passage the author is primarily concerned with _______.

A. supporting a position














B. describing an event

C. analyzing a problem objectively




D. settling a dispute

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10. It can be inferred that the author thinks that _______.

A. the veto of the bill reestablishing the death penalty is of little importance

B. the value of the death penalty as a deterrent to crime is not to be debated

C. the death penalty is the most controversial issue in the United States today

D. the second type murderers (in Paragraph 4) should be sentenced to death



Questions 11 to 15 are based on the following passage:





The competition among producers of personal computer is essentially arace to get the best, most innovative products to
the marketplace. Marketers in this environment frequently have to make a judgement as to their competitors' role when making
marketing
strategy
decisions.
If
major
competitors
are
changing
their
products,then
a
marketer
may
want
to
follow
suit
to
remain competive. Apple Computer, introduced two new, faster personal computers, the Mackintosh II and Mackintosh
SE, in anticipation of the introduction of a new PC by IBM, one of Apple's major competitors.




Apple's new computers are much faster and more powerful than its earlier models. The improved Mackintosh is able to
run programs that previously were impossible to run on an Apple PC, including IBM- compatibal programs. This compatibility
feature illustrates computer manufacturers' new attitude of giving customers the features they want. Making Apple computers
captible of runing IBM software is Apple's effort at making the Mackintosh compatible with IBM computers and thus more
popular in office, where Apple hopes to increase of the Apple can also add accessories to make their machines
specialize in specific uses, such as engineering and writing.





The new computers represent a big improvement over past models, but they also cost much more. Company officials do
not think the higher price will slow down buyers who want to step up to a more powerful computer. Apple wants to stay in
high-price end of the personal computer market to finance research for even faster, more sophisticated computers.





Even
though
Apple
and
IBM
are
major
competitors,
both
companies
realize
that
their
competitor's
computers
have
certain
features
that
their
own
models
do
not.
The Apple
line
has
always
been
popular
for
its
sophisticated
color
graphics,
whereas
the
IBM
machines
have
always
been
favored
in
offices.
In
the
future,
there
will
probably
be
more
compatibility
between the two companies' products, which no doubt will require that both Apple and IBM change marketing strategies.

ing
to
the
passage,
Apple
Computer,
Inc,
has
introduced
the
Mackintosh
II
and
the
Mackintosh
SE
because
___________.

A)IBM is changing its computer models cintinuously

B)it wants to make its machines specialize in specific uses

C)it wants to stay ahead of IBM in the competitive computer market

D)it expects its major competitor IBM to follow its example
hopes to increase Mackintosh sales chiefly by _________.

A)making its new models capable of running IBM software

B)improving the color graphics of its new models

C)copying the marketing stratefies of IBM


D)giving the customers what they want
sells its new computer model at a high price because_______.

A)they have new features and functions

B)they are more sophisticated than other models


C)they have new accessories attached


D)it wants to accumulate funds for future research
can be inferred from the passage that both Apple and IBM try to gain a competitive advantage by_______.

A)copying each other's technology

B)incorporating features that make their products distinctive

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