Beauty has always been regarded as something praise worthy. Almost everyone thinks attractive people are happier and healthier, have better marriages and have more respectable（体面的）jobs. Personal advisors give them better advice for finding jobs. Even judges are softer on attractive defendants（被告）. But in the executive（主管的）circle, beauty can become a liability.

　　While attractiveness is a positive factor for a man on his way up the executive ladder, it is harmful to a woman.

　　Handsome male executives were considered having more honesty than plainer men; effort and ability were thought to lead to their success.

　　Attractive female executives were considered to have less honesty than unattractive ones;their success was connected not with ability but with factors such as luck.

　　All unattractive women executives were thought to have more honesty and to be more capable than the attractive female executives. Interestingly, though, the rise of the unattractive overnight successes was connected more to personal relationships and less to ability than that of the attractive overnight successes.

　　Why are attractive women not thought to be able? An attractive woman is considered to be more feminine（柔弱）has an advantage in traditionally female jobs, but an attractive woman in a traditionally manly position appears to lack the “manly” qualifies required.

　　This is true even in politics, “When the only clue is how he or she looks, people treat men and women differently,” says Anne Bowman, who recently published a study on the effects of attractiveness on political candidates（候选人）. She asked 125 undergraduate students to rank two groups of photographs, one of men and one of women, in order of attractiveness. The students were told the photographs were of candidates for political offices. They were asked to rank them again, in the order they would vote for them.

　　The results showed that attractive males completely defeated unattractive men, but the women who had ranked most attractive unchangeably received the fewest votes.

(1) The word “liability” most probably means ________.

[　　]

(2) Bowman's experiment shows that when it comes to politics, attractiveness ________.

[　　]

A．turns out to be a disadvantage to men

B．is more of a disadvantage than an advantage to women

C．has as little effect on men as on women

D．affects men and women alike

(3) It can be inferred from the passage that people's views on beauty are often ________.

[　　]

(4) The author writes this passage to ________.

[　　]

A．give advice to job-seekers who are attractive

B．discuss the disadvantages of being attractive

C．demand equal rights for women

D．state the importance of appearance

　　In 1931, it was discovered that some unknown substance present only in certain foods was necessary for good health. This substance was what is now called “Vitamin A”.

　　Vitamin A's biggest job is to keep the eyes going. Without it, people and animals get “night blindness” and eye problems. Lack of Vitamin A for a long time can even cause total blindness, particularly among children. This had a chance to be tested in Denmark during World Was I. Because of food shortage, many children had to eat man-made butter and skim milk（脱脂奶）, which contains no Vitamin A. Soon, they developed eye diseases. It was after they were given real butter and whole milk that they had no eye problems.

　　After Vitamin A was discovered, it took more than thirty years of experiments for scientists to be able to get a small amount of pure Vitamin A. Vitamin A is manufactured and is used successfully to treat a number of diseases. You can easily get enough Vitamin A by eating a variety of food. Good sources of Vitamin A are liver（肝脏） from some animals and dairy products such as milk and cream. Not only many vegetables contain carotene（胡萝卜素）, from which your liver can make its own Vitamin A, some fruits also provide carotene which helps your liver to supply Vitamin A. As long as you are getting Vitamin A from food you won't need to take any extra in the form of liquid or pills.

(1)According to the passage, if Vitamin A is not provided enough, which of the following are likely to be affected most se riously?

[　　]

(2) Vitamin A is a very. important substance mainly because it _______.

[　　]

A．is hard to made

B．helps to keep one's eyes healthy

C．can make butter more delicious

D．can not be produced in large quantity

(3) What made the children in Denmark get eye diseases during World War I?

[　　]

A．The war they experienced.

B．Their poor housing conditions.

C．The experiments on food.

D．The lack of Vitamin A in their food.

(4) According to the text, the following are all good sources of Vitamin A except _______.

[　　]

(5) Which of the following could be the best title of the passage?

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　　Farmer Ed Rawlings smiles as he looks at his orange trees. The young oranges are growing well in Florida's weather. Warm sunshine and gentle rains, along with Ed Rawlings's expert care, will produce a good crop of oranges this year.

　　But Ed has to fight against Florida's changeable winter weather. In January and February, temperatures can destroy Ed's entire crop. Having farmed in Florida for the past 35 years, Ed Rawlings is prepared for the frosts（霜）. When temperatures drop below freezing, Ed tries to save his crop by watering his orange trees. The water freezes and forms a thin layer（层）of ice on the trees, Strange as it may sound, this thin layer of ice actually keeps the fruit warm.

　　What happens is simple. When the trees are watered, the water loses heat and becomes ice. The warmth of the heat it loses is sucked in by the fruit and keeps its temperature at a safe level. Ed Rawlings has effectively used this method（方法）to save many orange trees.

　　But Ed still faces some difficulties. The trees should be watered at the exact moment the temperature drops to the freezing point. Also, just the right quantity of water must by used. Too much water can form a thick layer of ice that will break the tree branches. Another difficulty is that wind blows away the heat. So Ed has to worry about not only when but also how often his trees should be watered and how much water should be used.

　　Computer technology may help Ed Rawlings with some of these worries. With equipment, air and soil temperatures and wind speed can be measured. The information is fed into a computer which can tell when temperatures drop to freezing. The computer can correctly decide the quantity of water to be used and how frequently the trees should be watered. Ed Rawlings will find looking after his orange trees a lot easier with the help ora computer, and we'll all have the benefits (or advantages) of a computer age oranges.

(1) The passage is mainly about ________.

[　　]

A．a farmer's expert care for his orange trees

B．the different uses of computers

C．growing oranges in Florida's changeable weather

D．different ways of frost protection

(2) In the writer's eyes, computers________.

[　　]

A．are too expensive for small farmers

B．can be a valuable tool for the farmer

C．can be used to help oranges grow bigger

D．cannot take the place of the farmer's experience and judgement

(3) Which of the following is NOT necessary for Ed Rawlings to do?

[　　]

A．He should water the orange trees as soon as the temperature drops to the freezing point.

B．He should decide the quantity of water for the orange trees.

C．He has to water the orange trees more often in January and February.

D．He has to judge how often he should water the orange trees.

(4) According to the passage, the computer technology can________

[　　]

A．get rid of the need for frost protection

B．help the farmer get a better harvest

C．tell the farmer why outdoor temperature changes

D．prevent the temperature from dropping to the freezing point

　　Scientists used to explore（探索）on the surface of the ocean. Now they are exploring below the surface, too. They want to know about ocean water and the plant and animal life deep in the ocean.

　　In 1934 the scientist William Beebe dived 3,000 feet below the surface in a hollow（中间空的）steel ball. In 1935 August Piccard dived 10,330 feet. In 1960 his son Jean dived to a depth of 35,800 feet.

　　All these early dives were deep. But the divers could not stay down for very long. They had to come back up to the surface after a few seconds. Scientists needed to stay down longer to study life below the surface. Gradually they succeeded. Cousteau, a Frenchman, was able to keep men down to a depth of 36 feet for one month and to a depth of 90 feet for a week.

　　Now scientists are developing even better equipment. With this new equipment, men can stay below the surface for days or even weeks. In 1962 Cousteau set up a research station 35 feet below the surface. Then in 1964 he set up another station on the ocean floor of the Red Sea. This was the first undersea station to operate without help from the surface.

　　Many countries are now studying undersea living. The former Soviet Union had an undersea laboratory in the Crimean Sea. The United States has a laboratory 50 feet down on the ocean floor off the Virgin Islands. In 1970 five men lived there for two weeks. Then a team of five women scientists stayed in the laboratory. Next came other teams of men. All were there to explore the ocean depths and to make plans for the use of its resources, Scientists hope to find enough mineral, vegetables, and animal wealth there to provide for the entire world.

(1) Who made the deepest dive?

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(2) Who set up the first undersea station?

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(3) Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

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A．Nobody can stay below the surface of the ocean.

B．The early divers could not stay below the surface of the ocean for very long.

C．The only purpose of setting up undersea laboratories is to make plans for the use of the resources in the ocean.

D．Up to now only five women scientists have stayed in the undersea laboratory.

　　Reading is thought to be a kind of conversation between the reader and the text. The reader puts questions, as it were, to the text and gets answers. In the light of these he puts further questions, and so on.

　　For most of the time this “conversation” goes on below the level of consciousness（知觉）. At times, however, we become aware of it. This is usually when we are running into difficulties, when mismatch is occurring between expectations and meaning. When successful matching is being experienced, our questioning of the text continues at the unconscious level.

　　Different people converse with the text differently. Some stay very close to the words on the page; others take off imaginatively from the words, interpreting, criticizing, analyzing and examining. The former represents a kind of comprehension, which is written in the text. The latter represents higher levels of comprehension. The balance between these is important, especially for advanced readers.

　　There is another conversation which from our point of view is equally important, and that is to do not with what is read but with how it is read. We call this a “process” conversation as opposed to a “content” conversation. It is concerned not with meaning but with the strategies（策略）we employ in reading. If we are advanced readers our ability to hold a content conversation with a text is usually pretty well developed. Not so our ability to hold a process conversation. It is precisely this kind of conversation that is of importance when we are seeking to develop our reading to meet the new demands being placed upon us by studying at a higher level.

(1) Reading as a kind of conversation between the reader and the text becomes conscious only when ________.

[　　]

A．the reader's expectations agree with what is said in the text

B．the reader has trouble understanding what the author says

C．the reader asks questions and gets answers

D．the reader understands a text very well

(2) At a lower level of comprehension, readers tend to

[　　]

A．read a text slowly

B．read without thinking hard

C．interpret a text in their own way

D．concentrate on the meaning of words only

(3) A “process” conversation has to do with________.

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A．the application of reading strategies

B．matching our expectations with the meaning of a text

C．the development of our ability to check the details

D．determining the main idea of a text

(4) According to the passage, it is of great importance for readers at a higher level to maintain a balance between ________.

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A．conscious and unconscious levels of comprehension

B．the readers' expectations and the meaning of a text

C．lower and higher level of comprehension

D．interpreting and criticizing a text

　　Some people take lots of exercise. Others keep to strict diets. But according to recent research, the best way to live a long and happy life is simple--Get a dog.

　　We have known for many years that the company（作伴）of a pet can increase well-being in a number of ways, says Dr. Bonnie Beaver, an animal behaviors specialist at Texas University.

　　“For example, the survival（生存）rates of heart attack victims（受害者）with pets are much greater than those of people without pets.”

　　According to Dr. Beaver, pet owners are less likely to need a doctor. They recover more quickly when they do get ill. They have lower blood pressure, take more exercise and are more socially active.

　　Above all, they are happier.Seventy percent of the families, Dr. Beaver surveyed（调查员）said that their family environment was happier after they got a pet. And this is what Dr.Beaver and other researchers are trying to achieve. They want to find a scientific link between human happiness and a long life.

　　There is no final answer to this question yet, but it seems to be something to do with emotional ties. People with someone or something live longer. “There are many forms of animal--human relationship and some are very helpful,” says Dr.Beaver. It seems that the more lovely an animal is, the more it benefits our health. As the saying goes, “If you want to be loved, get a dog.”

　　Pet ownership benefits men and women equally. Other life experiences divide the sexes： “Women are more sensitive to bad marriages than their husbands because they work harder at their relationships”, says Dr. Janice Glaser of Ohio State University.

　　The message seems to be that a woman is better off with a good dog than a bad husband. Yet in some ways, men are similar to dogs. They like getting dirty and making a mess. They forget birthdays. They can disappear for days. How can they be better trained?

(1) According to the author, the company of a pet does good to a person in the following ways except ________.

[　　]

A．having less chance of dying of heart attacks

B．being more active in society

C．having their family environment improve

D．being better off than others

(2) It can be inferred from the article that ________.

[　　]

A．a woman may prefer to have the company of a good dog than that of a bad husband

B．scientists are sure about the relationship between happiness and a long life

C．all life experience have different effect on men and women

D．women can benefit more from owning a pet than men can

(3) In what kind of tone do you think the author write the passage?

[　　]

(4) Which of the following do you think would be the best title of the passage?

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A．Relationship between Humans and Pets.

B．Four Legs Good, Two Legs Bad.

C．Want to Be Loved? Get a Dog.

D．Pets and Family Life.