试题库在线考试题库-历年真题模拟试题及答案-考博英语在线试题测试中心-希赛网

宁波大学

Directions: In the following text, some sentences have been removed. For Questions 41-45, choose the most suitable one from the list A-F to fit into each of the numbered blanks. There is one extra choice, which does not fit in any of the blanks. Mark your answers on the ANSWER SHEET. (10 points)(41) In the electroencephalographic sense we share it with all the primates and almost all the other mammals and birds: it may extend back as far as the reptiles.There is some evidence that the two types of sleep, dreaming and dreamless, depend on the life style of the animal, and that predators are statistically much more likely to dream than prey, which are in turn much more likely to experience dreamless sleep. (42) Dreamless sleep is much shallower, and we have all witnessed cats or dogs cocking their ears to a sound when apparently fast asleep. The fact that deep dream sleep is rare among prey today seems clearly to be a product of natural selection, and it makes sense that today, when sleep is highly evolved, the stupid animals are less frequently immobilized by deep sleep than the smart ones. But why should they sleep deeply at all? (43) Perhaps one useful hint about the original function of sleep is to be found in the fact that dolphins and whales and aquatic mammals in general seem to sleep very little. (44) Could it be that, rather than increasing an animal’s vulnerability, Ray Meddis of London University has suggested this to be the case. It is conceivable that animals that are too stupid to be quite on their own initiative are, during periods of high risk, immobilized by the implacable arm of sleep. The point seems particularly clear for the young of predatory animals. (45) A. In dream sleep, the animal is powerfully immobilized and remarkably unresponsive to external stimuli.B. There is, by and large, no place to hide in the ocean.C. This is an interesting notion and probably at least partly true.D. Sleep is very ancient.E. Why should a state of such deep immobilization ever have evolved?F. Deeply involved with this new technology is a breed of modern business people who have a growing respect for the economic value of doing business abroad.

Some pessimistic experts feel that the automobile is bound to fall into disuse. They see a day in the not-too-distant future when all autos will be abandoned and allowed to rust. Other authorities, however, think the auto is here to stay. They hold that the car will remain a leading means of urban travel in the foreseeable future.The motorcar will undoubtedly change significantly over the next 30 years. It should become smaller, safer, and more economical, and should not be powered by the gasoline engine. The car of the future should be far more pollution-free than present types.Regardless of its power source, the auto in the future will still be the main problem in urban traffic congestion. One proposed solution to this problem is the automated highway system.When the auto enters the highway system, a retractable arm will drop from the auto and make contact with a rail, which is similar to those powering subway trains electrically. Once attached to the rail, the car will become electrically powered from the system, and control of the vehicle will pass to a central computer. The computer will then monitor all of the car’s movements.The driver will use a telephone to dial instructions about his destination into the system. The computer will calculate the best route, and reserve space for the car all the way to the correct exit from the highway. The driver will then be free to relax and wait for the buzzer that will warn him of his coming exit. It is estimated that an automated highway will be able to handle 10,000 vehicles per hour, compared with the 1,500 to 2,000 vehicles that can be carried by a present day highway.36. One significant improvement in the future car will probably be ______.37. What is the author’s main concern?38. What provides autos with electric power in an automated highway system?39. In an automated highway system, all the driver needs to do is ______.40. What is the author’s attitude toward the future of autos?

Some houses are designed to be smart. Others have smart designs. An example of the second type of house won an Award of Excellence from the American Institute of Architects. Located on the shore of Sullivan’s Island off the coast of South Carolina, the award-winning cube-shaped beach house was built to replace one smashed to pieces by Hurricane Hugo 10 years ago. In September1989, Hugo struck South Carolina, killing 18 people and damaging or destroying 36,000 homes in the state.Before Hugo, many new houses built along South Carolina’s shoreline were poorly constructed, and enforcement of building codes wasn’t strict, according to architect Ray Huff, who created the cleverly-designed beach house. In Hugo’s wake, all new shoreline houses are required to meet stricter, better-enforced codes. The new beach house on Sullivan’s Island should be able to withstand a Category 3 hurricane with peak winds of 179 to 209 kilometers per hour.At first sight, the house on Sullivan’s Island looks anything but hurricane-proof. Its redwood shell makes it resemble “a large party lantern” at night, according to one observer. But looks can be deceiving. The house’s wooden frame is reinforced with long steel rods to give it extra strength.To further protect the house from hurricane damage, Huff raised it 2.7 meters off the ground on timber pilings — long, slender columns of wood anchored deep in the sand. Pilings might appear insecure, but they are strong enough to support the weight of the house. They also elevate the house above storm surges. The pilings allow the surges to run under the house instead of running into it. “These swells of water come ashore at tremendous speeds and cause most of the damage done to beach-front buildings,” said Huff.Huff designed the timber pilings to be partially concealed by the house’s ground-to-roof shell. “The shell masks the pilings so that the house doesn’t look like it’s standing with its pant legs pulled up,” said Huff. “In the event of a storm surge, the shell should break apart and let the waves rush under the house,” the architect explained.31. After the tragedy caused by Hurricane Hugo, new houses built along South Carolina’s shore line are required ______.32. The award-winning beach house is quite strong because ______.33. Huff raised the house 2.7 meters off the ground on timber pilings in order to ______.34. The main function of the shell is ______.35. It can be inferred from the passage that the shell should be ______.

A remarkable variety of insects live in this planet. More species of insects exist than all other animal species together. Insects have survived on earth for more than 300 million years, and may possess the ability to survive for millions more.Insects can be found almost everywhere — on the highest mountains and on the bottom of rushing streams, in the cold South Pole and in bubbling hot springs. They dig through the ground, jump and sing in the trees, and run and dance in the air. They come in many different colors and various shapes. Insects are extremely useful to humans, pollinating our crops as well as flowers in meadows, forests, deserts and other areas. But licks and some insects, such as mosquitoes and fleas, can transmit disease.There are many reasons why insects are so successful at surviving. Their amazing ability to adapt permits them to live in extreme ranges of temperatures and environments. The one place they have not yet been found to any major extent is in the open oceans. Insects can survive on a wide range, of natural and artificial foods — paint, pepper, glue, books, grain, cotton, other insects, plants and animals. Because they are small they can hide in tiny spaces.A strong, hard but flexible shell covers their soft organs and is resistant to chemicals, water and physical impact. Their wings give them the option of flying away from dangerous situations or toward food or males. Also, insects have an enormous reproductive capacity: An African ant queen can lay as many as 43,000 eggs a day.Another reason for their success is the strategy of protective color. An insect may be right before our eyes, but nearly invisible because it is cleverly disguised like a green leaf, lump of brown soil, gray lichen, a seed or some other natural object. Some insects use bright, bold colors to send warning signals that they taste bad, sting or are poison. Others have wing patterns that look like the eyes of a huge predator, bitter-tasting insects; hungry enemies are fooled into avoiding them.26. Insects can be found in large amounts in the following places EXCEPT ______.27. Insects protect themselves from chemicals by ______.28. Some insects disguise like natural objects so as to ______.29. The passage mentions that insects ______.30. The passage is mainly about ______.

By 1970, according to a World Wildlife Fund report, only about 4,500 tigers survived throughout the world-half of them in India. Mr. Foresters, who followed and counted tiger footprints, estimated that in May 1972 only about 1,800 tigers existed in India. Project Tiger Supported by W.W.F. was immediately launched. Nine tiger reserves were created, with armed guards protecting them.The project provided opportunities for researchers from India and abroad to study tigers in the reserves and gather previously unavailable information about their habits. Studies show that a male tiger may control a hunting territory of between 10 and 20 square kilometers, depending on its age, size and strength. The territory of male includes the smaller territories of three or four tigresses. A tiger marks the boundaries of its territories by spraying urine and other bodily liquids on bushes. But it tries to avoid territorial fights, being guided by the distinctive body smell of other tigers. Tigers fight to death only when a tigress is defending her young, or when a tiger is guarding a tigress from the attentions of other males.The popular image of the tiger is that of a merciless and unconquerable hunter. But studies show that it catches only one of 20 victims it tries to attack.Fears have recently developed that Project Tiger has been too successful. It has enabled the tiger population to double (by mid-80’s), but India’s human population has also grown out of control. Currently it is 750 million and likely to be 900 million by the end of the century. Land problem is becoming serious and many rural people feel bitter about the fact that some rich forests are reserved for tigers. A growing number of attacks by tigers on man has added to the hostility.21. The ultimate aim of Project Tiger is to ______.22. Studies have shown that ______.23. According to the passage, a tiger’s territory ______.24. Some people are afraid that Project Tiger ______.25. The author seems ______.

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