第4部分：閱讀理解（第31—45題，每題3分，共45分）
下面有3篇短文，每篇短文后有5道題，每道題后面有4個選項。請根據(jù)文章的內(nèi)容，從每題所給的4個選項中選擇1個答案，涂在答題卡相應的位置上。
第一篇 New Foods and the New World
In the last 500 years, nothing about people – not their clothes, ideas, or languages – has changed as much as what they eat. The original chocolate drink was made from the seeds of the coca tree (可可樹)by South American Indians. The Spanish introduced it to the rest of the world during the 1500’s. And although it was very expensive, it quickly became fashionable. In London, shops where chocolate drinks were served became important meeting places. Some still exist today.
The potato is also from the New World. Around 1600, the Spanish brought it from Peru to Europe, where it soon was widely grown. Ireland became so dependent on it that thousands of Irish people starved when the crop failed during the “Potato Famine(饑荒)” of 1845-1846, and thousands more were forced to leave their homeland and move to America.
There are many other foods that have traveled from South America to the Old World. But some others went in the opposite direction. Brazil is now the world’s largest grower of coffee, and coffee is an important crop in Colombia and other South American countries. But it is native to Ethiopia, a country in Africa. It was first made into a drink by Arab during the 1400’s.
According to an Arabic legend, coffee was discovered when a person name Kaldi noticed that his goats were attracted to the red berries on a coffee bush. He tried one and experienced the “wide-awake” feeling that one-third of the world’s population now starts the day with.
31. According to the passage, which of the following has changed the most in the last 500 years?
A. Food
B. Clothing
C. Ideology.
D. Language.
32. “Some” in the last sentence of the first paragraph refers to
A. some cocoa trees.
B. some chocolate drinks.
C. some shops.
D. some south american indians.
33. Thousands of Irish people starved during the “Potato Famine” because
A. they were so dependent on potatoes that they refused to eat anything else.
B. they were forced to leave their homeland and move to america.
C. the weather conditions in ireland were not suitable for growing potatoes.
D. the potato harvest was bad.
34. Which country is the largest coffee producer?
A. Brazil.
B. Colombia.
C. Ethiopia.
D. Egypt.
35. Which of the following statements is NOT true, according to the passage?
A. One third of the world’s population drinks coffee.
B. Coffee is native to Colombia.
C. Coffee can keep one awake.
D. Coffee drinks were first made by Arabs.
第二篇 Please Fasten Your Seatbelts
Severe turbulence (湍流) can kill aircraft passengers. Now, in test flights over the Rocky Mountains, NASA (美國航空航天局) engineers have successfully detected clear-air turbulence up to 10 seconds before an aircraft hits it.
Clear-air turbulence often catches pilots by surprise. Invisible to radar, it is difficult to forecast and can hurl (用力拋出去) passengers about the cabin. In December 1997, one passenger died and a hundred others were injured when unexpected rough air caused a United Airlines flight over the Pacific to drop 300 metres in a few seconds.
However, passengers can avoid serious injury by fastening their seatbelts. “It is the only antidote (對策) for this sort of things,” says Rod Bogue, project manager at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards, California.
The centre’s new turbulence detector is based on lidar, or laser radar, Laser pulses are sent ahead of the plane and these are then reflected back by particles in the air. The technique depends on the Doppler effect. The wavelength of the light shifts according to the speed at which the particles are approaching. In calm air, the speed equals the plane’s airspeed. But as the particles swirl (打漩) in rough air, their speed of approach increases or decreases rapidly. The rate of change in speed corresponds to the severity (激烈程度) of the turbulence.
In a series of tests that began last month, a research jet flew repeatedly into disturbed air over the mountain ridges (山脈) near Pueblo, Colorado. The lidar detector spotted turbulence between 3 and 8 kilometres ahead, and its forecasts of strength and duration corresponded closely with the turbulence that the plane encountered.
Bogue says that he had “ a comfortable amount of time” to fasten his seatbelt. The researchers are planning to improve the lidar’s range with a more powerful beam. The system could be installed on commercial aircraft in the next few years.
下面有3篇短文，每篇短文后有5道題，每道題后面有4個選項。請根據(jù)文章的內(nèi)容，從每題所給的4個選項中選擇1個答案，涂在答題卡相應的位置上。
第一篇 New Foods and the New World
In the last 500 years, nothing about people – not their clothes, ideas, or languages – has changed as much as what they eat. The original chocolate drink was made from the seeds of the coca tree (可可樹)by South American Indians. The Spanish introduced it to the rest of the world during the 1500’s. And although it was very expensive, it quickly became fashionable. In London, shops where chocolate drinks were served became important meeting places. Some still exist today.
The potato is also from the New World. Around 1600, the Spanish brought it from Peru to Europe, where it soon was widely grown. Ireland became so dependent on it that thousands of Irish people starved when the crop failed during the “Potato Famine(饑荒)” of 1845-1846, and thousands more were forced to leave their homeland and move to America.
There are many other foods that have traveled from South America to the Old World. But some others went in the opposite direction. Brazil is now the world’s largest grower of coffee, and coffee is an important crop in Colombia and other South American countries. But it is native to Ethiopia, a country in Africa. It was first made into a drink by Arab during the 1400’s.
According to an Arabic legend, coffee was discovered when a person name Kaldi noticed that his goats were attracted to the red berries on a coffee bush. He tried one and experienced the “wide-awake” feeling that one-third of the world’s population now starts the day with.
31. According to the passage, which of the following has changed the most in the last 500 years?
A. Food
B. Clothing
C. Ideology.
D. Language.
32. “Some” in the last sentence of the first paragraph refers to
A. some cocoa trees.
B. some chocolate drinks.
C. some shops.
D. some south american indians.
33. Thousands of Irish people starved during the “Potato Famine” because
A. they were so dependent on potatoes that they refused to eat anything else.
B. they were forced to leave their homeland and move to america.
C. the weather conditions in ireland were not suitable for growing potatoes.
D. the potato harvest was bad.
34. Which country is the largest coffee producer?
A. Brazil.
B. Colombia.
C. Ethiopia.
D. Egypt.
35. Which of the following statements is NOT true, according to the passage?
A. One third of the world’s population drinks coffee.
B. Coffee is native to Colombia.
C. Coffee can keep one awake.
D. Coffee drinks were first made by Arabs.
第二篇 Please Fasten Your Seatbelts
Severe turbulence (湍流) can kill aircraft passengers. Now, in test flights over the Rocky Mountains, NASA (美國航空航天局) engineers have successfully detected clear-air turbulence up to 10 seconds before an aircraft hits it.
Clear-air turbulence often catches pilots by surprise. Invisible to radar, it is difficult to forecast and can hurl (用力拋出去) passengers about the cabin. In December 1997, one passenger died and a hundred others were injured when unexpected rough air caused a United Airlines flight over the Pacific to drop 300 metres in a few seconds.
However, passengers can avoid serious injury by fastening their seatbelts. “It is the only antidote (對策) for this sort of things,” says Rod Bogue, project manager at NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center in Edwards, California.
The centre’s new turbulence detector is based on lidar, or laser radar, Laser pulses are sent ahead of the plane and these are then reflected back by particles in the air. The technique depends on the Doppler effect. The wavelength of the light shifts according to the speed at which the particles are approaching. In calm air, the speed equals the plane’s airspeed. But as the particles swirl (打漩) in rough air, their speed of approach increases or decreases rapidly. The rate of change in speed corresponds to the severity (激烈程度) of the turbulence.
In a series of tests that began last month, a research jet flew repeatedly into disturbed air over the mountain ridges (山脈) near Pueblo, Colorado. The lidar detector spotted turbulence between 3 and 8 kilometres ahead, and its forecasts of strength and duration corresponded closely with the turbulence that the plane encountered.
Bogue says that he had “ a comfortable amount of time” to fasten his seatbelt. The researchers are planning to improve the lidar’s range with a more powerful beam. The system could be installed on commercial aircraft in the next few years.