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.

　　For years scientists have been worried about the effects of air pollution on the earth’s natural conditions. Some believe the air inside many houses may be more dangerous than the air outside. It may be one hundred times worse.

　　Indoor air pollution can cause a person to feel tired, to suffer eye-pain, headache and other problems. Some pollutants（ 污染 物） can cause breathing disorders, diseases of blood and even cancer, Most scientists agree that every modern house has some kind of indoor pollution. People began to notice the problem in the early 1970s. It is that when builders began making houses and offices they did not waste energy. To do this they built buildings that limited the flow of air between inside and outside. They also began using manmade building materials. These materials are now known to let out harmful gases. As the problem became more serious, scientists began searching for a way to deal with it. They discovered a natural pollution control system for building— green plants. Scientists do not really know how plants control air pollution. They believe that a plant’s leaves absorb or take in the pollutants. In exchange the plant lets out oxygen through its leaves and through its tiny organizations on its roots. Scientists suggest that all buildings should have one large plant or several small plants inside for every nine square metres of space. Studies of different plants show that each absorbs different chemicals. So the most effective way to clean the air is to use different kinds of plants. Having green plants inside your house can make it a prettier and more healthy place.

　　Generally speaking, indoor air pollution may be more harmful than the air outside because ________.

　　A. the man - made building materials let out dangerous gases inside houses

　　B. there may be more harmful gases outside houses

　　C. the flow of air indoors is limited

　　D. indoor air pollution can make a person seriously ill

　　The most effective way to clean the air is to use different kinds of plants because________.

　　A. they may let out more oxygen which people need

　　B. they can absorb different kinds of the harmful indoor chemicals

　　C. they can take in all kinds of indoor pollutants

        D. they can make your house prettier and more healthy

A senior United Nations Children’s Fund(UNICEF) official on May 29 praised China for its remarkable achievements in children’s welfare.

A. H. M. Farook, UNICEF’s operations area officer for China and Mongolia said that China “can be very satisfied to tell the whole world what can be done with limited resources to help its children to grow healthily and happily.”

　　China’s child population makes up one-fifth of the world’s total. “The reason behind the tremendous(巨大的) achievement is China’s long tradition of caring for children both at home and in society,” he said.

　　“What’s more is that Chinese people have always given special attention to children who are in special need.” The UN official made the remarks when addressing a group of 50 children and staff from the Beijing Children’s Welfare Home at the Shangri-la Hotel, Beijing.

　　The hotel invited the orphans to share snacks, sing, dance and play games at a park inside the hotel for a “Share the Sunshine” party, as a prelude(前奏) to celebrations to mark the Children’s Day.

　　The Beijing children’s Welfare Home, set up soon after New China was founded in 1949, has at present more than 400 children.

　　A leading official of the welfare institution said that the children live a happy life and that the agency spends 400—500 yuan a month for an average orphan. An average Chinese workers earned 440 yuan a month during the first quarter this year.

　　Gu Xiaojin, deputy secretary-general of the China Youth Development Foundation(CYDF), said people from all walks of life have contributed to the welfare of the Chinese children.

　　She said that CYDF set up the Project Hope in 1989, which calls on people across the country to donate money to help poor children to continue their schooling.

　　By the end of last year, she said, CYDF had collected nearly 700 million yuan in donations, which has helped the establishment of 2, 074 Hope primary schools and enabled more than 1. 25 million dropouts to return to school classrooms.

　　Three “Hope Stars” also attended the party. They were model teenagers chosen among students who are economically supported by the Project Hope to further their nine-year compulsory studies in the poverty-stricken regions. They will be torchbearers for the Chinese Team for the up coming Atlanta Olympic Games this year.

1.Children can grow healthily and happily as long as _______.

A. parents take good care of them both at home and in society

B. the whole society care for children as well as their parents

C. Schools and teachers pay much attention to the growth of children

D. Chinese people always give special attention to children who are in special need

2.Every year the Beijing Children’s Welfare Home spends _______ on the orphans

A. 1, 920, 000 yuan 　　　　　 　　           B. 2, 160, 000 yuan

C. Over 2, 400, 000 yuan 　　　　　            D. 2, 200, 000 yuan or so

3.CYDF collected 700 million yuan with the purpose of _______.

A. reducing dropouts                                          

B. helping homeless orphans

C. supporting the Chinese Team for the coming Atlanta Olympic Games

D. establishing 2, 074 Hope primary schools all over the country

4.We can infer from the text that _______.

A. Every Chinese child has its own special need, so we should pay special attention to each.

B. All the children in the poverty-stricken regions of China are too poor to go to school.

C. Ever since liberation. the Chinese Communist Party has been concerned about the growth of the younger generation.

D. With the help of UNICEF officials, there are no more dropouts in China.

5.It is possible that this passage was written in _______.

A. 1992 　　　　  B. 1996 　　　　  C. 1998 　　　　   D. 2000

　Not everyone in the world requires the same amount of living space. The amount of space a person needs around him is a cultural (文化的) difference, not an economic one. Knowing your own psychological (心理的) space needs is important because they strongly affect your choices, including, for example, the number of bedrooms in the home. If you were brought up in a two-child family and both you and your sister or brother had your own bedrooms, the chances are if you have two children or more, that you also will offer separate bedrooms for them. In America, for example, they train people to want to have their own rooms by giving them their own rooms when they are babies. This is very unusual in the world. In many other countries, the baby sleeps in the same bed with his parents or in bed near them.

　　 The space in the home also shows a lot about psychological space needs. Some families gather closer to each other and the size of their house has nothing to do with it. Others have separate little corners where family members go to be alone.

　　 Although it is true that psychological space needs are not decided by economic reasons, they sometimes have to be changed a little because of economic pressure（压力）. It is almost impossible, however, to completely change your psychological space needs.

　1.The first sentence in Paragraph 1 “Not everyone in the world requires the same amount          of space” means “______”.

　　 A. Not two people need exactly the same amount of living space

　　 B. Living space requirements are not always the same

　　 C. The world requires the same amount of living space

　　 D. Nobody needs a required amount of living space

2.Some families gather closer to each other at home than others because ______.

　　 A. they have limited living space　　　

　　 B. they are brought up in a large family

　　 C. it satisfies（满足） their psychological space needs

　　 D. the children in the family sleep in the same bed with their parents

3.Which of the following is true according to the passage?

　　 A. Americans are trained to live in the large rooms at birth.

　　 B. Economic situation decides one's amount of space needs.

　　 C. People in different countries demand(need) different psychological space.

　　 D. Knowing your psychological space needs is important, as it has effect on your future.

4.The best title for this passage is ______.

　　 A. American Way of Living

　　 B. Psychological Space

　　 C. Space Needs in Different Countries

　　 D. Psychological Space and Economic Pressure

(The Guardian)：              More UK universities should be profiting from ideas

　　A repeated criticism of the UK's university sector is its noticeable weakness in translating new knowledge into new products and services.

　　Recently, the UK National Stem Cell Network warned the UK could lose its place among the world leaders in stem cell research unless adequate funding and legislation could be assured, despite an annual £40m spent by the Department of Health on all kinds of research.

　　However, we do have to challenge the unthinking complaint that the sector does not do enough in taking ideas to market. The most recent comparative data on the performance of universities and research institutions in Australia, Canada, USA and UK shows that, from a relatively weak starting position, the UK now leads on many indicators of commercialization activity.

　　When viewed at the national level, the policy interventions (interference) of the past decade have helped transformed the performances of UK universities. Evidence suggests the UK's position is much stronger than in the recent past and is still showing improvement. But national data masks the very large variation in the performance of individual universities. The evidence shows that a large number of universities have fallen off the back of the pack, a few perform strongly and the rest chase the leaders.

　　This type of uneven distribution is not strange to the UK and is mirrored across other economies. In the UK, research is concentrated: less than 25% of universities are receiving 75% of the research funding. These same universities are also the institutions producing the greatest share of PhD graduates, science citations, patents and license income. The effect of policies generating long-term resource concentration has also created a distinctive set of universities which are research-led and commercially active. It seems clear that the concentration of research and commercialization work creates differences between universities.

　　The core objective for universities which are research-led must be to maximize the impact of their research efforts. Their purpose is not to generate funds to add to the bottom line of the university or to substitute other income streams. Rather, these universities should be generating the widest range of social, economic and environmental benefits. In return for the scale of investment, they should share their expertise (expert knowledge or skill) in order to build greater confidence in the sector.

　　Part of the economic recovery of the UK will be driven by the next generation of research commercialization spilling out of our universities. On the evidence presented in my report, there are three dozen universities in the UK which are actively engaged in advanced research training and commercialization work.

　　If there was a greater coordination（协调）of technology transfer offices within regions and a simultaneous (happening at the same time) investment in the scale and functions of our graduate schools, universities could, and should, play a key role in positioning the UK for the next growth cycle.

1.What does the author think of UK universities in terms of commercialization?

A．They have lost their leading position in many ways.

B．They still have a place among the world leaders.

C．They do not regard it as their responsibility.

D．They fail to change knowledge into money.

2.What does the author say about the national data on UK universities’ performance in commercialization?

A．It masks the fatal weaknesses of government policy.

B．It indicates their ineffective use of government resources.

C．It does not rank UK universities in a scientific way.

D．It does not reflect the differences among universities.

3.We can infer from Paragraph 5 that “policy interventions (in Paragraph 4)” refers to _____.

A．concentration of resources in a limited number of universities

B．compulsory cooperation between universities and industries

C．government aid to non-research-oriented universities

D．fair distribution of funding for universities and research institutions

4.What dose the author suggest research-led universities do?

A．Fully use their research to benefit all sectors of society.

B．Generously share their facilities with those short of funds.

C．Advertise their research to win international recognition.

D．Spread their influence among top research institutions.