2013年职称英语考试理工类冲刺试卷及答案(4)

　　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

　　Thirst for Oil

　　Worldwide every day，we devour the energy equivalent of about 200 million barrels of Oil. Most of the energy on Earth comes from the Sun. In fact enough energy from the Sun hits the planet’s surface each minute to cover our needs for an entire year，we just need to find an efficient way to use it. So far the energy in oil has been cheaper and easier to get at. But as supplies dwindle，this will change，and we will need to cure our addiction to oil.

　　Burning wood satisfied most energy needs until the steam-driven industrial revolution，when energy-dense coal became the fuel of choice. Coal is still used，mostly in power stations，to cover one quarter of our energy needs，but its use has been declining since wc Started pumping up oil. Coal is the least efficient，unhealthiest and most environmentally damaging fossil fuel，but could make a comeback，as supplies are still plentiful(大量的); its reserves are five times larger than oil’s.

　　Today petroleum，a mineral oil obtained from below the surface of the Earth and used to produce petrol，diesel oil and various other chemical substances，provides around 40% of the world’s energy needs，mostly fuelling automobiles. The US consumes a quarter of all oil，and generates a similar proportion of greenhouse gas emissions.

　　The majority of oil Comes from the Middle East，which has half of known reserves（储量）. But other significant sources include Russia，North America，Norway，Venezuela and the North Sea. Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge could be a major new US source，to reduce reliance on foreign imports.

　　Most experts predict we will exhaust easily accessible reserves within 50 years，though opinions and estimates vary. We could fast reach an energy crisis in the next few decades，when demand exceeds supply. As conventional reserves become more difficult to access, others such as oil shales（泥板岩） and tar sands may be used instead. Petrol could also be obtained from coal.

　　Since we started using fossil fuels，we have released 400 billion tonnes2 of carbon，and burning the entire reserves could eventually raise world temperatures by 13℃. Among other horrors，this would result in the destruction of all rainforests and tile inching of all Arctic ice.

　　31. “...we will need to cure our addiction to oil.” Why does the author say so?

　　A. Most of the energy on Earth comes from the Sun.

　　B. Oil supply is increasing all the time.

　　C. Demand for oil is increasing all the time.

　　D. Oil supply is decreasing.

　　32. Which of the following statements is NOT meant by the author，according to the second paragraph?

　　A. Wood wets the fuel of choice before coal.

　　B. The use of coal is declining.

　　C. Coal is the most environmentally unfriendly fuel next to oil.

　　D. Coal reserves are plentiful and will be likely to become the major fuel of choice.

　　33. Which country is the biggest consumer of petroleum?

　　A. The United States.

　　B. Russia.

　　C. Norway.

　　D. Venezuela.

　　34. What do experts say about the earth’s fuel reserves?

　　A. The earth’s fuel reserves will be accessible for the next 50 years.

　　B. There will soon be an energy crisis.

　　C. Conventional reserves will soon become inaccessible.

　　D. Fuel demand will decline.

　　35. What is NOT the result of consuming fossil fuels according to the last paragraph?

　　A. Rainforests will be destroyed.

　　B. Arctic ice will be melted.

　　C. The earth’s temperature will be raised.

　　D. The sea level will go up.

　　第二篇

　　Motoring Technology

　　1.2 million road deaths worldwide occur each year, plus a further 50 million injuries. To reduce car crash rate, much research now is focused on safety and new fuels－though some electric vehicle and biofuel1 research aims at going faster.

　　Travelling at speed has always been risky. One cutting edge area of research in motoring safety is the use of digital in-car assistants. They can ensure you don’t miss crucial road signs or fall asleep. The use of artificial intelligence software allows these assistants to monitor your driving and makes sure your phone or radio doesn’t distract you at a vital moment. Most crashes result from human and not mechanical faults.

　　Some safety developments aim to improve your vision. Radar can spot obstacles in fog, while other technology “sees through” high-sided vehicles blocking your view. And improvements to seat belts, pedal controls and tyres are making driving smoother and safer. The colour of a car has been found to be linked with safety, as have, less surprisingly, size and shape.

　　And alternatives to fossil-fuel based petrol, such as plant oils, are a hot area of research. Fuel cells based on hydrogen burn cleanly, and are the subject of a serious research effort.

　　But whatever is in the fuel tank, you don’t want a thief in the driving seat and there have been many innovations, some using satellite tracking and remote communications, to fight against car theft. These communication systems can also come into play if you crash, automatically calling for help.

　　Accidents cause many traffic jams, but there are more subtle interplays between vehicles that can cause jams even on a clear but busy road. Such jams can be analysed using statistical tools. Robotic drivers could be programmed to make traffic flow smoothly and will perhaps one day be everyone’s personal chauffeur, but their latest efforts suggest that won’t be soon.

　　36. What are researchers interested in doing as the road accidents worldwide increase to a shocking rate?

　　A. They are developing faster electric vehicles.

　　B. They are analyzing road deaths occurring worldwide every year.

　　C. They focus their research on safety and new fuels.

　　D. They are designing fully automatic cars.

　　37. According to the second paragraph, most road accidents happen

　　A because drivers fall asleep.

　　B. because drivers make mistakes.

　　C. because of engine failure.

　　D. because of speeding.

　　38. Which of the safety developments is NOT mentioned in the passage?

　　A. Radars that can help drivers to see obstacles in fog.

　　B. Devices that can help drivers to see through big vehicles.

　　C. Improvements in seat belts, pedal controls and tyres.

　　D. Windscreens that can help drivers to improve their vision.

　　39. What is NOT the purpose of innovations that use satellite tracking and remote communications? A. To prevent car thieves from getting into your car.

　　B. To call for help when one’s car crashes.

　　C. To call for help when the car gets jammed in the traffic.

　　D. To track the car down when it is being stolen.

　　40. What is true of robotic drivers?

　　A. It will take some time before robotic drivers can be put to practical use.

　　B. Robotic drivers are not allowed to drive on busy roads.

　　C. Robotic drivers can never replace human drivers.

　　D. Robotic drivers are too expensive to use.

　　第三篇

　　Making Light of Sleep

　　All we have a clock located inside our brains. Similar to your bedside alarm clock, your internal clock runs on a 24-hour cycle. This cycle, called a circadian rhythm, helps control when you wake, when you eat and when you sleep.

　　Somewhere around puberty, something happens in the timing of the biological clock. The clock pushes forward, so adolescents and teenagers are unable to fall asleep as early as they used to. When your mother tells you it’s time for bed，your body may be pushing you to stay up for several hours more. And the light coming from your computer screen or TV could be pushing you to stay up even later.

　　This shift is natural for teenagers. But staying up very late and sleeping late can get your body’s clock out of sync with the cycle of light and dark5. It can also make it hard to get out of bed in the morning and may bring other problems，too. Teenagers are put in a kind of a gray cloud when they don’t get enough sleep，says Mary Carskadon，a sleep researcher at Brown University in Providence，RI .It affects their mood and their ability to think and learn.

　　But just like your alarm clock，your internal clock can be reset. In fact，it automatically resets itself every day. How? By using the light it gets through your eyes.

　　Scientists have known for a long time that the light of day and the dark of night play important roles in setting our internal clocks. For years，researchers thought that the signals that synchronize the body’s clock were handled through the same pathways that we use to see.

　　But recent discoveries show that the human eye has two separate light-sensing systems. One system allows us to see. The second system tells our body whether it’s day or night.

　　41 .The clock located inside our brains is similar to our bedside alarm clock because

　　A. it controls when we wake，when we eat and when we sleep.

　　B. it has a cycle of 24 hours.

　　C. it is a cycle also called circadian rhythm.

　　D. it can alarm any time during 24 hours.

　　42. What is implied in the second paragraph?

　　A. Young children’s biological clock has the same rhythm with that of the teenagers.

　　B. People after puberty begin to go to bed earlier due to the change of the biological clock.

　　C. Children before puberty tend to fall asleep earlier at night than adolescents.

　　D. Teenagers go to bed later than they used to due to the light from the computer screen.

　　43. In the third paragraph the author wants to tell the reader that

　　A. it is natural for teenagers to stay up late and get up late.

　　B. staying up late has a bad effect on teenagers’ ability to think and learn.

　　C. during puberty most teenagers experience a kind of gray cloud.

　　D. it is hard for teenagers to get out of bed in the morning.

　　44. Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the fourth and fifth paragraphs?

　　A. Our biological clock resets itself automatically.

　　B. light gets through our eyes and resets our biological clock.

　　C. Our internal clock as well as the alarm clock can be reset automatically.

　　D. Our internal clock, like the alarm clock, can be reset.

　　45. According to the last two paragraphs, what did the previous researchers think about the human eye’s light-sensing system?

　　A. The human eye had two light-sensing systems.

　　B. The human eye had one light-sensing system.

　　C. The human eye could sense the light of day more quickly than the dark of night.

　　D. The human eye could reset our internal clocks in accordance with the alarm clocks.