2006年6月恩波英语四级模考（一）

　　Part Ⅱ Reading Comprehension (35 minutes)
　　Directions: There are 4 passages in this part. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the center.
　　Passage one:
　　Nuclear power’s danger to health, safety, and even life itself can be summed up in one word: radiation.
　　Nuclear radiation has a certain mystery about it, party because it cannot be detected by human senses. It can’t be seen or heard, or touched or tasted, even tough it may be all around us. There are other things like that. For example, radio waves are all around us but we can’t detect them, sense them, without a radio receiver. Similarly, we can’t sense radioactivity without a radiation detector. But unlike common radio waves, nuclear radiation is not harmless to human beings and other living things.
　　At very high levels, radiation can kill an animal or human being outright(全部地)by killing masses of cells in vital organs. But even the lowest level of radiation can do serious damage. There is no level of radiation that is completely safe. If the radiation does not hit anything important, the damage may not be significant. This is the case when only a few cells are hit, and if they are killed outright, your body will replace the dead cells with healthy ones. But if the few cells are only damaged, and if they reproduce themselves, you may be in trouble. They reproduce themselves in a deformed way. They can grow into cancer. Sometimes this does not show up for many years.
　　This is another reason for some of the mystery about nuclear radiation. Serious damage can be done without the victim being aware at the time that damage has occurred. A person can be irradiated and feel fine, then die of cancer five, ten, or twenty years later as a result. Or a child can be born weak or liable to serious illness as result of radiation absorbed by its grandparents.
　　Radiation can hurt us. We must know the truth.
　　11. According to the author, the danger of nuclear power lies in _______.
　　A. nuclear mystery
　　B. radiation detection
　　C. nuclear radiation
　　D. radiation level
　　12. What can we infer from the passage?
　　A. We can’t detect radioactivity even with modern equipment.
　　B. Only radiation at very high levels can kill an animal or human being.
　　C. If a few cells are only damaged healthy cells will take the place of dead ones
　　D. Radiation is harmful no matter what level it is.
　　13. The word “significant” in paragraph 3 has the similar meaning with________.
　　A. fatal
　　B. meaningful
　　C. harmful
　　D. remarkable
　　14. Radiation can hurt us in that it can_______.
　　A. affect the healthy growth of our offspring.
　　B. damage cells which grow into cancer years later.
　　C. kill large number of cells in main organs so as to cause death immediately.
　　D. all of the above
　　15. What’s the author’s main purpose in writing this passage?
　　A. Emphasizing the importance of protection of radiation.
　　B. Solving the mystery about radiation.
　　C. Discussing the cause of cancer.
　　D. Introducing the nuclear power.
　　Passage two:
　　A few years ago a young mother watched her husband diaper(给……换尿布) their firstborn son. “You done not have to be unhappy about it,” she protested. “You can talk to him and smile a little.” The father, who happened to be a psychologist, answered firmly, “He has nothing to say to me, and I have nothing to say to him.”
　　Psychologist now know how wrong that father was. From the moment of birth, a baby has a great deal to say to his parent and they to him. But a decade or so ago, these experts wear describing the newborn as a primitive creature who reacted only by reflex, a helpless victim of its environment without capacity to influence it. And mothers accepted the truth. Most thought (and some still do) that a new infant could see only blurry(模糊的) shadows, that his other senses were undeveloped, and that all he required was nourishment, clean diapers, and a warm bassinet.
　　Today university laboratories across the country are studying newborns in their first month of life. As a result, psychologists now describe the new baby as perceptive , with remarkable learning abilities and an even more remarkable capacity to shape his or her environment including the attitudes and actions of his parents. Some researchers believe that the neonatal period may even be the most significant four weeks in an entire lifetime.
　　Far from being helpless, the newborn knows what he likes and rejects what he doesn’t. He shut out unpleasant sensations by closing his eyes or averting his face. He is a glutton for novelty. He prefers animate things over inanimate and likes people more than anything.
　　When a more nine minutes out, an infant prefers a human face to a head-shaped outline. He makes the choice despite the fact that, with delivery room attendants masked and gowned, he has never seen a human face before. By the time he’s twelve hours old, his entire body moves in precise synchrony (同时发生) to the sound of a human voice, as if he were dancing. A non-human sound, such as a tapping noise, brings no such response.
　　16.The author points out that the father diapering his first-born son was wrong because________.
　　A. he believed the baby was not able to hear him
　　B. he thought the baby didn’t have the power of speech
　　C. he was a psychologist unworthy of his profession
　　D. he thought the baby was not capable of any response
　　17. According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?
　　A. A new infant can see only blurry shadows.
　　B. A new infant’s senses are undeveloped
　　C. All a new infant requires is nourishment, clean diapers, and a warm bassinet.
　　D. A new infant is actually able to influence his or her environment
　　18. What does the sentence “He is a glutton for novelty” probably mean?
　　A. The newborn is greedy for new food
　　B. The newborn tends to overeat
　　C. The newborn always loves things that are new to him
　　D. The newborn’s appetite is a constant topic in novels
　　19.According to the passage, it’s groundless to think that newborns prefer________.
　　A. a human face to a head-shaped outline
　　B. animate things to inanimate ones
　　C. human voice to non-human sounds
　　D. nourishment to a warm bassinet
　　20. What is the passage mainly discussing about?
　　A. What people know about newborns
　　B. How wrong parents are when they handle their babies
　　C. How much newborns have progressed in about a decade’s time
　　D. Why the first month of life is the most significant four weeks in a lifetime