第4部分：阅读理解(第31～45题，每题3分，共45分)
下面有3篇短文，每篇短文后有5道题，每道题后面都有4个选项。请仔细阅读短文并根据短文回答其后面的问题，从4个选项中选择1个最佳答案涂在答题卡相应的位置上。
第一篇
Weight on and off the Earth
We are so used to our life on the surface of the earth that it can be quite an effort for our mind to break free of all the ideas that we take for granted. Because we can feel that things are heavy, we think of "weight" as being a fixed quality in an object, but it is not really fixed at all. If you could take a one-pound packet of butter 4, 000 miles out from the earth, it would weigh only a quarter of a pound.
Why would things weigh only a quarter as much as they do at the surface of the earth if we took them 4,000 miles out into space? The reason is this: All objects have a natural attraction for all other objects; this is called gravitational attraction. But this power of attraction between two objects gets weaker as they get farther apart. When the butter was at the surface of the earth, it was 4,000 miles from the center. When we took the butter 4,000 miles out, it was 8,000 from the center, which is twice the distance. If you double the distance between two objects, their gravitational attraction decreases two times two'. If you treble the distance, it gets nine times weaker (three times three) and so on.
So this is one of the first things we need to remember: that the weight of an object in space is not the same as its weight on the surface of the earth.
What about the weight of our pound of butter on the surface of the moon? At the distance the pull of the earth is about 4,000 times smaller than it is here on the surface, so we can forget all about the earth-pull on our butter.
On the other hand, on the moon there will be an attraction between the butter and the moon: but the butter will weigh only about one-sixth as much as it does on the earth. This is because the moon is so much smaller than the earth. The amount of gravitational pull that a body produces depends on the amount of material in it. A packet of butter has a gravitational pull of its own; but this is very small in relation to the pull of something as large as the moon, or the earth, or the sun.
31 How much would four pounds of tea weigh if it was taken 4,000 miles out from the surface of the earth?
A I pound.
B 2 pounds.
C 3 pounds,
D 4 pounds.
3 We find it hard to break free from ideas connected with living on the earth because
A it demands too great an effort for us to do so.
B we are too familiar with the way things are to question the ideas.
C we have proved that those ideas are correct.
D we are so sure of ourselves that we never doubt anything on the earth.
33 According to the passage, "weight" should be understood in the sense that
A it is fixed if it is outside the earth's gravitational pull.
B it decreases four times when it is 4,000 miles from the earth's center.
C it varies with the change of the gravitational attraction between two objects.
D things increase in amount as they are closer to the earth's surface.
34 We do not feel the gravitational pull of a packet of butter because
A it is too small to have a gravitational pull of its own.
B its pull is so small that we tend to ignore it.
C its pull disappears in the presence of the earth's gravitation.
D it tends to melt and loses its gravitational pull.
35 The main idea of this passage is
A different weight systems in different places
B freedom from traditional ideas.
C traveling from the earth to the moon.
D the effect of gravitation on weight.
第二篇
Lifetime Employment in Japanese Companies
In most large Japanese companies, there is a policy of lifetime employment. What this means is that when people leave school or university to join an enterprise, they can expect to remain with that organization until they retire. In effect, the employee gets job security for life, and can only be fired for serious mistakes in work. Even in times of business recession, he or she is free from the fear of being laid off.
One result of this practice is that the Japanese worker identifies closely with his company and feels strong loyalty to it. By working hard for the company, he believes he is safeguarding his own future. It is not surprising that devotion to one's company is considered a great virtue in Japan. A man is often prepared to put his firm's interests before those of his immediate family.
The job security guaranteed by this system influences the way employees approach their work. They tend to think in terms of what they can achieve throughout their career. This is because they are not judged on how they are performing during a short period of time. They can afford to take a longer perspective than their Western counterparts.
This marriage between the employee and the company - the consequence of lifetime employment - may explain why Japanese workers seem positively to love the products their company is producing and why they are willing to stay on after work, for little overtime pay, to participate in earnest discussions about the quality control of their products.
36 Lifetime employment in the Japanese company means that the employee
A leaves his company only when business is bad.
B gets a job soon after he leaves school or university.
C can work there throughout his career.
D can have his serious mistakes in work corrected.
37 Which of the following statements is INCORRECT?
A Family and company interests are equally important
B The Japanese worker is very loyal to his company.
C One's future is guaranteed through hard work.
D Devotion to one's company is encouraged.
38 Lifetime employment influences one's
A achievements at work.
B performance at work.
C career options.
D attitude toward work.
39 The Japanese worker is fond of his company's products because of
A his marriage with the daughter of the president.
B the close link between him and his company.
C his willingness to work overtime,
D his active participation in quality control.
41 he passage mainly discusses
A how lifetime employment works in Japan.
B what benefits lifetime employment has brought to Japanese workers
C what lifetime employment is.
D how lifetime employment is viewed.
第三篇
Volcanoes
There are thousands of volcanoes (火山) all over the world. What makes volcanoes? What happens?
The inside of the earth is very hot. Because it is very, very hot, the rock has melted like ice. It has become liquid, like water. It is always boiling, like water in a kettle. If you have seen a kettle boiling, you know that the steam and boiling water try to get out. The very hot melted rock inside the earth also tries to get out. Usually it cannot because the outside of the earth is too thick and strong.
But in some places the outside of the earth is thin and weak. Sometimes a crack appears. The hot melted rock, which we call "lava" (熔岩), pushes out through the crack and bursts through. Steam and gas shoot up into the air and the hot melted lava pours out. Big pieces of rock may be thrown high into the air.
After a while the volcano becomes quiet again. The melted lava becomes hard. Later the same thing happens again and again. Each time more hot lava pours out on top of the cold lava and then becomes hard. In this way a kind of mountain is built up, with a hole down the middle. Perhaps the volcano will then be quiet. Perhaps it will start again hundreds of years later.
Vesuvius is the name of a very famous volcano in Italy. It first came to life many, many years ago. It was quiet for hundreds of years. Then in the year 79 it suddenly burst. A great cloud of smoke shot up into the sky with great burning rocks. Hot lava poured down its sides. About 3,000 people were killed.
This has happened again many times since that year. Sometimes no damage was caused, or only little damage. But there was serious damage in the years 472, 1631, 1794, 1861, 1872 and 1906. You can see that a volcano can stay alive for many years. There was also serious damage in 1914 but there has not been any since that year.
41 According to the passage, a volcano sends out
A boiling water.
B boiled water.
C melted rock.
D melted ice.
42 Lava bursts out where there is
A a crack in the earth.
B a mountain by the sea.
C a big fire.
D steam and gas.
43 When lava cools, it becomes
A liquid.
B water.
C smoke.
D hard.
44 According to the passage, Vesuvius has caused serious damage
A six times.
B seven times.
C eight times.
D nine times.
45 The phrase "stay alive" in the last paragraph can best be replaced by
A "burst out".
B "remain active".
C "come to life".
D "throw out lava".
