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。请根据短文内容，为每题确定1个最佳选项。
第一篇 The National Park Service
America's national parks are like old friends. You may not see them for years at a time, but just knowing they're out there makes you feel better. Hearing the names of these famous old friends-Yosemite, Yellowstone, Grand Canyon - revives memories of visits past and promotes dreams of those still to come.
From Acadia to Zion, 369 national parks are part of a continually evolving system. Ancient fossil beds, Revolutionary War battlefields, magnificent mountain ranges, and monuments to heroic men and women who molded this country are all a part of our National Park System (NPS). The care and preservation for future generations of these special places is entrusted to the National Park Service. Uniformed Rangers, the most visible representatives of the Service, not only offer park visitors a friendly wave, a helpful answer, or a thought-provoking history lesson, but also are skilled rescuers, firefighters, and dedicated resource protection professionals. The National Park Service ranks also include architects, historians, archaeologists, biologists, and a host of other experts who preserve and protect everything from George Washington's teeth to Thomas Edison's wax recordings.
Modern society has brought the National Park Service both massive chalienges and enormous opportunities. Satellite and computer technologies are expanding the educational possibilities of a national park beyond it's physical boundaries. Cities struggling to revive their urban cores are turning to the Park Service for expert assistance to preserve their cultural heritage, create pocket parks and green spaces, and re-energize local economies. Growing communities thirsty for recreational outlets are also working with the NPS to turn abandoned railroad tracks into bike and biking trails, as well as giving unused federal property new life as recreation centers.
To help meet these challenges and take advantage of these opportunities, the National Park Service has formed partnerships - some dating back 100 years, some only months old - with other agencies, state and local governments, corporations, American Indian tribes and Alaska Natives, Park Friends groups, cooperating associations, private organizations, community groups and individuals who share the National Park ethic.
National Park Week 1996 is a celebration of these partnerships.
31. Why are America's national parks like old friends?
A. Because they are always out there.
B. Because they are very old.
C. Because they make people feel better.
D. Because they are very famous.
32. Which of the following statements is true about uniformed rangers?
A. They take tourists to national parks.
B. They always act as tourist guides.
C. They help set up new national parks.
D. They protect the National Park System.
33. The National Park Service does all of the following EXCEPT
A. offering help to visitors.
B. molding the Nation.
C. keeping people better informed of the National Park System.
D. helping preserve the cultural heritage.
34. What is this passage about?
A. It is about the American National Parks.
B. It is about the National Park Service.
C. It is about the National Park Service partnerships.
D. It is about the care and preservation of the National Parks in America.
35. What will the paragraph following this passage most probably discuss?
A. The pocket parks in America.
B. The preparations made for the celebration of National Park Week 1996.
C. The work that has been done by the partners.
D. The preservation of national resources in America.
第二篇 A Letter from Alan
I have learnt of a plan to build three hundred houses on the land called Parson's Place by the football ground. Few people know about this new plan to increase the size of our town. For me, Parson's Place is special because it is a beautiful natural area where local people can relax -the small wood has many unusual trees and the stream is popular with fishermen and bird-watchers. It's very quiet because
there are few houses or roads nearby. I think that losing this area will be terrible because we have no other similar facilities in the neighbourhood.
I am also against this plan because it will cause traffic problems. How will the people from the new houses travel to work? The motorway and the railway station are on the other side of town. Therefore, these people will have to drive through the town centre every time they go anywhere.
The roads will always be full of traffic,there will be nowhere to park and the tourists who come to see our lovely old buildings will leave. Shops and hotels will lose business. If the town really needs more homes, the empty ground beside the railway station is a more suitable place.
No doubt the builders will make a lot of money by selling these houses. But,in my opinion,the average person will quickly be made poorer by this plan. As well as this,we will lose a very special place and our town will be much less pleasant.
I am going to the local government offices on Monday morning to protest about this plan and I hope that your readers will join me there. We must make them stop this plan before it is too late.
36. Why has Alan written this letter'?
A. To perersuade the government to build new houses.
B. To protest about a new motorway near the town.
C. To encourage more people in the town to use Parson's Place.
D. To inform other people about the builders' plans.
37. Why is Persian's Place particularly important,in Alan's opinion?
A. Because it is near the football ground.
B. Because lots of people live near it.
C. Because it is a place near the town where people can enjoy nature.
D. Because local people can get there easily by car from the town.
38. What will cause traffic jams?
A. A building on Parson's Place.
B. Building near the railway station.
C. Tourists in the narrow streets.
D. People going to the shops and hotels.
39. Alan says that ordinary people who live in the town will probably soon
A. open new shops and hotels
B. choose to live near the station
C. be able to buy new homes
D. have less money
40. Which of these posters has Alan made?
A. Save Our Sports Ground
B. Say No to Houses on Parson's Place
C. We Need Homes Not Hotels
D. Use the Train Not the Road
第三篇 The Changing Middle Class
The United States perceives itself to be a middle-class nation, However, middle class is not a real designation,nor does it carry privileges. It is more of a perception, which probably was as true as it ever could be right after World War II. The economy was growing,more and more people owned their own homes,workers had solid contracts with the companies that employed them, and nearly everyone whowanted a higher education could have one. Successful people enjoyed upward social mobility. They may have started out poor,but they could become rich. Successful people also found that they had greater geographic mobility. In other words,they found themselves moving to and living in a variety of places.
The middle class collectively holds several values and principles. One strong value is the need to earn enough money to feel that one can determine one's own economic fate. In addition,middle class morality embraces principles of individual responsibility, importance of family, obligations to others,and believing in something outside oneself.
But in the 1990s those in the middle class found that there was a price for success. A U. S. News & World Report survey in 1994 indicated that 75 percent of Americans believed that middle class families could no longer make ends meet. Both spouses now worked,as did some of the children; long commutes became routine; the need for child care put strains on the family; and public schools were not as good as they once were. Members of the middle class were no longer financing their lifestyles through earnings but were using credit to stay afloat. The understanding of just what middle class meant was changing.
41. The information in this passage deals with
A. an individual
B. a social and economic group
C. a political organization
D. government
42. A common middle class value is that
A. people should always have fun
B. children should be seen and not heard
C. debt is nothing to worry about
D. the family is very important
43. In the years after World War II,the middle class could be defined as
A. overburdened and in debt
B. hard working and suspicious
C. prosperous and optimistic
D. young and foolish
44. The phrase "In other words" in the first paragraph means that the following statement is
A. an exception to the previous idea
B. a denial of the previous idea
C. a restatement of the previous idea
D. a contrasting idea
45. The word collectively means
A. as a group
B. hesitatingly
C. unknowingly
D. weakly
