Farming was once the chief way of life in nearly every country. People cannot live without food, and nearly all their food comes from crops and animals raised on farms. Not many people farm for a living any more, but farming remains the most important work in the world.

    Before the nineteenth century, the typical American family lived on a small farm. They raised pigs, cattle, sheep, chickens, and planted corn, fruits, garden vegetables, and wheat. Everyone worked long and hard, but the results were often poor. Families barely harvested enough food for themselves. This situation began to change during the last half of the 1800's and it changed remarkably(明显地) in the next century.

Scientific methods and labor-saving machinery have made farming increasingly productive. The development of improved plant varieties and fertilizers has helped double and even triple the production of some major crops. More scientific animal care and animal raising have helped increase the amount of meat and products that animals produce. At the same time, the use of tractors and other modern farm equipment has sharply reduced the need for farm labor.

As farming has become less important as a way of life in the United States, it has become more important as a source which offers materials to industry. Today's successful farmers are experts not just in agriculture but also in accounting, marketing, and finance. Farms that are not run in a similar way have great difficulty surviving.

We are told in the first paragraph about ____.

A. the history of farming                       B. the importance of farming  

C. the development of farming                  D. the changes of farming

Which of the following describes American farming before the 19th century?

A. Farmers didn’t work hard on their farms.  

B. Farmers used tractors to help them.

C. Farming was the main way of living for most people.

D. Farmers could supply materials to industry.

Crop production has increased greatly now thanks to all the following EXCEPT __.

   A. scientific methods                 B. labor- saving machinery    

C. farmers’ hard work                 D. chemical fertilizers

The passage mainly talks about_____.

   A. the advantages of American farming              B. the changes in American farming 

C. the situation of American farms                  D. how rapidly farming has developed


D
We can achieve knowledge either actively or passively. We achieve it actively by direct experience, by testing and proving an idea, or by reasoning.
We achieve knowledge passively by being told by someone else. Most of the learning that takes place in the classroom and the kind that happens when we watch TV or read newspapers or magazines is passive. As we are used to passive learning, it’s not surprising that we depend on it in our everyday communication with friends and co-workers.
Unfortunately, passive learning has a serious problem. It makes us tend to accept what we are told even when it is nothing but hearsay and rumor (谣言).
Did you ever play the game Rumor? It begins when one person writes down a message but doesn’t show it to anyone. Then the person whispers it, word for word, to another person. That person, in turn, whispers it to still another, and so on, through all the people playing the game. The last person writes down the message word for word as he or she hears it. Then the two written statements are compared. Typically, the original message has changed.
That’s what happens in daily life. The simple fact that people repeat a story in their own words changes the story. Then, too, most people listen imperfectly. And many enjoy adding their own creative understanding to a story, trying to improve on it, stamping (打上标记) it with their own personal style. Yet those who hear it think they know.
This process is also found among scholars and authors: A statement of opinion by one writer may be re-stated as fact by another, who may in turn be quoted by yet another; and this process may continue, unless it occurs to someone to question the facts on which the original writer based his opinion or to challenge the explanation he placed upon those facts.          
48. According to the passage, passive learning may occur in _______.
A. doing a medical experiment                          B. solving a math problem
C. visiting an exhibition                                D. doing scientific reasoning
49. The author mentions the game Rumor to show that _____.
A. a message may be changed when being passed on
B. a message should be delivered in different ways
C. people may have problems with their sense of hearing
D. people tend not to believe in what they know as rumor
50. What can we infer from the passage?
A. Active learning is less important.
B. Passive learning may not be reliable.
C. Active learning occurs more frequently.
D. Passive learning is not found among scholars.   

As people slowly learn to cure diseases, control floods, prevent hunger, and stop wars, fewer people die every year. As a result, the population of the world is becoming larger. In 1925 there were about 2 billion people in the world; today there are over 6 billion.
When the number rises, extra mouths must be fed. New lands must be brought under development, or land already farmed must be made to produce more crops. In some areas the land is so over-developed that it will be difficult to make it provide more crops. In some areas the population is so large that the land is divided into too tiny units to make improvement possible with farming methods. If a large part of this farming population went into industrial work, the land might be farmed much more productively (多产地) with modern methods.
There is now a race for science, technology, and industry to keep the output of food rising faster than the number of people to be fed. New types of crops, which will grow well in bad weather, are being developed, so there are now farms beyond the Arctic Circle in Siberia and North America. Irrigation (灌溉) and dry-farming methods bring poor lands under the plough. Dams hold back the waters of great rivers, which can provide water for the fields in all seasons and provide electric power for new industries. Industrial chemistry provides fertilizer to suit different soils. Every year, some new methods are made to increase or to protect the food of the world.
【小题1】The author says that the world population is increasing because _____.

A.there are many rich valleys and large fields
B.farmers are producing more crops than before
C.people are living longer due to better living conditions
D.new lands are being made into farmlands
【小题2】The author says that in areas with large populations, land might be more productively farmed if _____.
A.the land was divided into smaller pieces
B.people moved into the countryside
C.industrial methods were used in farming
D.the units of land were much larger
【小题3】We are told that there are now farms beyond the Arctic Circle. This has been made    possible by _____.
A.growing new types of cropsB.irrigation and dry-farming means
C.providing fertilizersD.destroying pests and diseases
【小题4】 Why do some people use dams to hold back waters from great rivers?
A.To develop a new kind of dry-farming methods.
B.To prevent crops from floods.
C.To provide water and electricity in all seasons.
D.To water poor lands in bad weather.

We have proof that you become what you eat. When you know the effects of different types of food, you can use your knowledge well and eat what you want to become.

Food has an impact on our physical and mental health. Have you ever heard any of the following advice?

Lettuce (莴苣) or milk can make you sleepy.

To stop feeling sleepy you should eat peanuts or dried fish.

Everyone has their own advice to give, which they have read about or have been told by older relatives. Some of these pieces of advice seem to contradict each other.

Eating chocolate makes you fat and gives you spots.

Chocolate contains the essential minerals: iron and magnesium (镁).

What we need to figure out is what type of chocolate to eat to get the benefits and how much of it to eat. We can do this by reading the list of ingredients (原料) on the chocolate bar package. Exactly how much real chocolate is in there? And how much of that do we need to eat to get the benefits of the minerals it contains?

Future restaurants might be named after the physical or mental state they hope to create. Their menus will list the benefits of each dish and drink. Some restaurants have already started this concept, and list the nutritional (营养的) content of their dishes on the menus.

Let’s take the restaurant “Winners” as an example. Their menu would list dishes specifically designed to help you win sports competitions. Or you could choose the Go-faster salad, which is a large bowl of mixed raw vegetables in a light salad dressing, giving you energy without making you gain weight. And what kind of dishes do you think would be on the menu at the “Clever Café”?

So what’s going to happen to hamburgers and biscuits? Will the concept of eating food, because it’s tasty, go out of fashion? Of course not! Junk food is also changing. If ice-cream is not good for children, can’t we give them fat-free, sugar-free tofu ice-cream? Unhealthy food is going out of fashion, so brands are changing. We are told not to drink cola because of the sugar and caffeine content so cola companies are making sugar-free and caffeine-free drinks. We are told dried fruit is a healthier snack than biscuits so some biscuit companies are making biscuits with added vitamins.

1.By saying “you become what you eat”, the writer means that ________.

A.you will become your own food

B.you will know what food is good by its appearance

C.food has an effect on your health

D.you will know the effects of different types of food

2.What does the underlined word “contradict” mean in the text?

A.Oppose to                             B.Help with

C.Have influence on                       D.Benefit from

3.How can we eat chocolate properly, according to the passage?

A.To eat chocolate containing the essential minerals.

B.To read the list of ingredients on the package.

C.To get advice from others before eating real chocolate.

D.To learn how much chocolate we can consume before eating.

4.Which is true about the future restaurants?

A.The food in “Winners” can ensure you to win sports competitions.

B.They might list the nutritional content of their dishes on the menus.

C.Hamburgers will disappear in these restaurants.

D.The Go-faster salad helps you go faster.

5.The concept of eating tasty food will not go out of fashion because ________.

A.the junk food companies are changing their brand names

B.biscuit companies are making dried fruit

C.junk food will become healthier than before

D.Cola companies are still making cola

 

We can achieve knowledge either actively or passively(被动地). We achieve it actively by direct experience, by testing and proving an idea, or by reasoning.

We achieve knowledge passively by being told by someone else. Most of the learning that takes place in the classroom and the kind that happens when we watch TV or read newspapers or magazines is passive. Conditioned as we are to passive learning, it’s not surprising that we depend on it in our everyday communication with friends and co-workers.

Unfortunately, passive learning has a serious problem. It makes us tend to accept what we are told even when it is little more than hearsay and rumor(谣言).

Did you ever play the game Rumor? It begins when one person writes down a message but doesn’t show it to anyone. Then the person whispers it, word for word, to another person. That person, in turn, whispers it to still another, and so on, through all the people playing the game. The last person writes down the message word for word as he or she hears it. Then the two written statements are compared. Typically, the original message has changed.

That’s what happens in daily life. The simple fact that people repeat a story in their own words changes the story. Then, too, most people listen imperfectly. And many enjoy adding their own creative touch to a story, trying to improve on it, stamping(打上标记)it with their own personal style. Yet those who hear it think they know.

This process is also found among scholars and authors: A statement of opinion by one writer may be re-stated as fact by another, who may in turn be quoted by yet another; and this process may continue, unless it occurs to someone to question the facts on which the original writer based his opinion or to challenge the interpretation he placed upon those facts.

57. According to the passage, passive learning may occur in _______.

A. doing a medical experiment       B. solving a math problem

C. visiting an exhibition             D. doing scientific reasoning

58. The underlined word “it” in Paragraph 2 refers to _____.

A. active learning                                      B. knowledge

C. communication                               D. passive learning

59. The author mentions the game Rumor to show that _____.

A. a message may be changed when being passed on

B. a message should be delivered in different ways

C. people may have problems with their sense of hearing

D. people tend not to believe in what they know as rumor

60. What can we infer from the passage?

A. Active learning is less important.

B. Passive learning may not be reliable.

C. Active learning occurs more frequently.

D. Passive learning is not found among scholars.

 

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