题目内容
Reading Comprehension
Section B
Directions:Read the following passages. Each passage is followed by several questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. Choose the one that fits best according to the information given in the passage you have just read.
Are organically grown foods the best food choices?The advantages claimed for such foods over conventionally (传统地) grown and marketed food products are now being debated. Supporters of organic foods—a term whose meaning varies greatly—frequently announce that such products are safer and more nutritious than others.
The growing interest of consumers in the safety and nutritional quality of the typical North American diet is a welcome development. However, much of this interest has been sparked by sweeping claims that the food supply is unsafe or inadequate in meeting nutritional needs. Although most of these claims are not supported by scientific evidence, the flood of written material advancing such claims makes it difficult for the general public to separate fact from fiction. As a result, claims that eating a diet consisting entirely of organically grown foods prevents or cures disease or provides other benefits to health have become widely publicized.
Almost daily the public is besieged by claims for “no-aging” diets, new vitamins and other wonder foods. There are numerous unproved reports that natural vitamins are superior to synthetic ones, that fertilized eggs are nutritionally superior to unfertilized eggs, that untreated grains are better than fumigated grains and the like.
One thing that most organically grown food products seem to have in common is that they cost more than conventionally grown foods. But in many cases consumers are misled if they believe organic foods can maintain health and provide better nutritional quality than conventionally grown foods. So there is real cause for concern if consumers,particularly those with limited incomes, distrust the regular food supply and buy only expensive organic foods instead.
1.The “welcome development” mentioned in paragraph 2 is an increase in ______.
A. attention to food safety and nutrition among north Americans
B. the nutritional quality of the typical North American diet
C. the amount of healthy food grown in North America
D. the number of consumers in North America
2. The author implies that there is cause for concern if consumers buy organic foods instead of conventionally grown foods because ______.
A. organic foods can be more expensive but are often not better than conventionally grown foods
B. many organic foods are actually less nutritious than similar conventionally grown foods
C. conventionally grown foods are more readily available than organic foods
D. too many farmers will stop using conventional methods to grow food crops
3.What is the author’s attitude toward the claims made by advocates of health foods?
A. Enthusiastic. B. Favorable. C. Neutral. D. Distrustful.
【小题1】A
【小题2】A
【小题3】D
【小题4】
【小题5】
解析
Welcome to my Message Board! | |
Subject Slimming down classics? | |
Mr. Handsome 2007-5-12&24 AM | Orion Books,which decides there is a market in creating cut-down classics(经典著作),is slimming down some novels by such great writers as L.Tolstoy,M.Mitchell and C.Bronte.Now,each of them has been whittled down to about 400 pages by cutting 30 to 40 per cent of the original,with words,sentences,paragraphs and,in a few cases,chapters removed.The first six shortened editions,all priced at £6.99 and advertised as great reads “in half the time”,will go on sale next month,with plans for 50 to 100 more to follow.The publishing house believes that modern readers will welcome the shorter versions. |
Mr. Edwards 2007-5-12 9:40 AM | Well,I’m publisher of Orion Group.Thanks for your attention,Mr.Handsome. I must say,the idea developed from a game of “shame”in my office.Each of us was required to confess(承认)to the most embarrassing blanks in his or her reading.I admitted that I had never read Anna Karenina and tried but failed to get through Gone with the Wind several times.One of my colleagues acknowledged skipping(跳读)Jane Eyre.We realised that life is too short to read all the books you want to and we never were going to read these ones. As a leading publishing house,we are trying to make classics convenient for readers but it’s not as if we’re withdrawing the original versions.They are still there if you want to read them. |
Ms.Weir 2007-5-12 11:35 AM | I’m director of the online bookclub www.lovereading.co.uk. Mr.Edwards,I think your shortened editions is a breath of fresh air.I’m guilty of never having read Anna Karenina,because it’s just so long.I’d much rather read two 300-page books than one 600-page book.I am looking forward to more shortened classics! |
Mr. Crockatt 2007-5-124:38 PM | I’m from the London independent bookshop Crockatt & Powell. In my opinion,the practice is completely ridiculous.How can you edit the classics?I’m afraid reading some of these books is hard work,and that is why you have to develop as a reader.If people don’t have time to read Anna Karenina,then fine.But don’t read a shortened version and kid yourself it’s the real thing. |
A.opposes the reading of original classics |
B.is embarrassed for cutting down classics |
C.thinks cut-down classics have a bright future |
D.is cautious in its decision to cut down classics |
A.make them easier to read |
B.meet a large demand in the market |
C.increase the sales of literary books |
D.compete with their original versions |
A.speaks highly of the cut-down classics |
B.shows gailty of the original classics |
C.feels guilty of not reading the classics |
D.disapproves of shortening the classics |
A.reading the classic works is a confusing attempt |
B.shortening the classics does harm to the original |
C.publishing the cub-down classics is a difficult job |
D.editing the classic works satisfies children’s needs |
Britain is set to face an increase in cold winters, with up to one-in-seven hitting the UK with longer periods of time when temperatures are below freezing, a study has suggested.The prediction was based on research that found out how low solar activity affected winter weather patterns.
However, the researchers were eager to stress that their findings did not suggest that the region was about to fall suddenly into a "little ice age".The findings appear in the journal Environmental Research Letters."We could get to the point where one-in-seven winters are very cold, as we had at the start of last winter and all through the winter before last," said co-author Mike Lockwood, professor of space environment physics at the University of Reading.
Using the Central England Temperature (CET) record, the world's longest instrumental data series that dates back to 1659, the team said that in general temperatures during recent winters had been obviously lower than the longer-term temperatures."The mean CET for December, January and February for the recent relatively cold winters of 2008 ~ 2009 and 2009~2010 were 3.50℃ and 2.53℃ respectively," they wrote."However, the mean value for the previous 20 winters had been 5.04℃.The series of lower winter temperatures in the UK during the last three years had raised questions about the probability of more similar, or even colder, winters occurring in the future."
Last year.Professor Lockwood and colleagues published a paper that found a link between fewer sunspots and atmospheric conditions that "blocked" warm westerly winds reaching Europe during winter months, opening the way for cold easterly winds from the Arctic and Russia to sweep across the region.Professor Lockwood, while acknowledging that there were a range of possible meteorological factors (气象因素) that could influence blocking events, said the latest study moved things forward by showing that there was "improvement in the predictive skill" when solar activity was taken into consideration.
【小题1】We can know from the second paragraph that _____.
A.research shows that Britain will soon fall into an ice age |
B.Mike Lockwood's research focuses on space environment physics |
C.it was quite cold in Britain over the entire winter last year |
D.so far one-in-seven winters have been very cold in Britain |
A.average | B.stable | C.ungenerous | D.changeable |
A.It was sunspots that blocked warm westerly winds reaching Europe. |
B.Meteorological factors hardly have any influence on blocking events. |
C.The latest study done by Professor Lockwood was of little practical value. |
D.Considering solar activity or not affects the accuracy of weather forecasting. |
A.Another big danger approaching the UK |
B.Research finds out solar activity is to blame for the cold |
C.UK faces more cold winters due to weaker solar activity |
D.Changes in weather patterns should be responsible for low solar activity |