162. The noise was so _____ that only those with excellent hearing were aware of it.

　 A. dim　　 B. soft　　 C. faint　　 D. gentle

[答案]c. faint.

[注释]faint(=weak, indistinct; not clear)“微弱的，模糊的，不清楚的”。Dim(=not bright, not clearly to be seen)不亮的，看不清的；the dim light of a candle(微弱的烛光)。

161. In my opinion, you can widen the _____ of these improvements through your active participation.

　 A. dimension　　 B. volume　　 C. magnitude　　 D. scope

[答案]D. scope.

[注释]scope(=the area within the limits of a questions, subject ect. ; range)(活动)范围，机会，余地：The politics of a country would be outside the scope of a book for tourists.(一个国家的政治不属于旅游手册的内容范围之内。)

dimension尺寸，尺度；magnitude大小，数量；volume体积。均不切题，不能入选。

本题译文：依我看，通过你的积极参与，你能够扩大这些改进措施的范围。

160. While typing, Helen has a habit of stopping _____ to give her long and flowing hair a smooth.

　 A. occasionally　　 B. simultaneously

　 C. eventually　　　 D. directly

[答案]A. occasionally.

[注释]occasionally 偶尔。参阅137注释。Simultaniously同时地；　 directly直接

159. The lawyer was expected to _____ some proposals after reading all those documents.

　 A. come up with　　 B. put up with

　 C. look up to　　　 D. keep up with

[答案]A. come up with.

[注释]come up with提出。参阅，33。注释。Put up with忍受；keep up with跟上，与......保持一致；look up to尊敬。

158. _____ his knowledge of the mountainous country, John Smith was appointed as our guide.

　 A. In spite of　　　 B. On account of

　 C. Regardless of　　 D. Instead of

[答案]B. On account of

[注释]on account of(=because of)由于，因为。regardless of(=without worrying about)不顾；Regardless of danger, he climbed the tower.

157. Political parties often differ in their views on various _____ concerning their own countries.

　 A. ways　　 B. measures　　 C. issues　　 D. patterns

　[答案]c. issues.

[注释]issue此处意为“重大问题”。measure措施，虽然填入本题也说得过去，但不够贴切。pattern模式，图案，图样。与题意不符，不能入选。way 方法，方式。

156. Evidence obtained from observation and experiment is often used to _____ a scientific theory.

　 A. confirm　　 B. confine　　 C. conform　　 D. conceive

[答案]A. confirm.

[注释] confirm(=support; make certain; give proof of)证实，确实：1)Please confirm your telephone message in writing.(请把你电话中所说的话再用文字复述一篇。) 2)The king confirmed that the election would be on June 20th.(国王确认，这次选择将于六月二十日举行。)

confine...to把......限制于：Please confine your remarks to the subject we are talking about.(请把你的话限止于我们正在谈论的题目。)conform (to)使一致，符合，遵守。Conceive 1)想到，想出：He very quickly conceived a new plan.[注意]conceive of想象:They could not conceive of the possibility of failure.(他们不能想象失败的可能。)

155. Jack is good, kind, hard-working and intelligent. _____, I can't speak too highly of him.

　 A. As a result　　 B. By the way

　 C. On the whole　　 D. In a word

[答案]D. In a word.

[注释]in a word(=in short)总之，简言之。

本题是测试“过度词”，考生务必根据上下文的逻辑关系来选择适当的过渡词，使句子的意思前后连贯。

154. Because of the strong sun Mrs. William's new dining room curtains _____ from dark blue to gray within a year.

　 A. faded　　 B. fainted　　 C. paled　　 D. diminished

[答案]A. faded.

[注释]fade vt/vi褪色。Faint晕到，变得虚弱：He fainted from hunger. Diminish vt./vi.减少：1)His illness diminished his strength. 2)The campers' food supply diminished as the days wore on.(随着日子的缓缓消逝，野营者的食品供应日益减少。)pale变苍白。

153. I asked the tailor to make a small _____ to my trousers because they were too long.

　 A. change　　 B. variation　　 C. revision　　 D. alteration

　[答案]D alteration.

[注释]alteration 修正，更改，尤指部分的改变。Change改变，变化，可指表面的、本质的、内在的变化。Revision修订、修正，常指文章、词典、剧本等的修改、订正。Variation(形式、位置、条件的)变化、改变、变动：We need some variation in our daily routine.(我们的例行公事需要作些变动。)