1.阅读理解专项练习：

　　Passage One

　　Questions 1 to 5 are based on the following passage.

　　This year, a new minor has been added to the choices at our university. The minor is called Information Technology and is supported by 11 different departments, ranging from art to computer engineering. The possibilities of this minor are endless, because there are so many options to explore, and today's society is so enthralled with computers and new developments in technology. Even if your school does not have a minor that corresponds to the classes that I am taking, it would be a worthwhile endeavor to try to develop a program. Not only would you benefit from the information learned, but the rest of the students at your school would benefit also.

　　There are four main objectives of the minor. The first is to learn practical skills in computing, communications and networking, or data storage retrieval. The second is to understand the impact of information technology on social communities. The third is to gain know?鄄

　　ledge of how information technology can be used in imaginative ways. The fourth objective is to learn applications of information technology that contribute to the common good. These four objectives not only show that this program really teaches valuable information to the students, but also demonstrate that this minor can be complementary to any major.

　　I am a business student. The Information Technology minor is a great choice for me, because I learn how to use computer programs that I might be working with someday at my business and I understand how I can make my major, marketing, more desirable.

　　By using computers to design and implement marketing schemes, I can significantly improve my chances of landing an excellent career after college. The minor is also great for other majors such as art, which makes use of the multimedia design tools and knowledge of the World Wide Web.

　　1. The word "minor" in Line 1, Para.1 means "_________".

　　A) an event of little importance

　　B) a person who is below the age of 18

　　C) a smaller number

　　D) a course one may choose or give up in a

　　university

　　2. The passage is mainly about __________ .

　　A) the introduction of the Computer

　　Technology

　　B) the introduction of the Information

　　Technology minor

　　C) the introduction of various courses in an

　　electronic college

　　D) the introduction of required courses for a

　　typical student

　　3. For a university that does not provide the minor as introduced in the passage, who will benefit if it manages to develop a similar program? _________ .

　　A) All the students in the university

　　B) All the staff in the university

　　C) All the residents of a society

　　D) All the people whose major is Information Technology

　　4. Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?

　　A) The minor is of great importance to other required courses.

　　B) The minor is of great use in the future.

　　C) The minor has a great influence on our society.

　　D) The minor helps develop skills in management.

　　5. What is the author's overall attitude towards the new minor?

　　A) Neutral. B) Indifferent.

　　C) Critical. D) Positive.

　　Passage Two

　　Questions 6 to 10 are based on the following passage.

　　American scientist Morse Solomon has developed an unusual method to make meat softer. First, put a kilogram or more of firm meat in a container filled with water. Add a small amount of explosives. Then, mix carefully and explode.

　　No, Mister Morse is not attempting to destroy the meat. Instead, he is making it softer and also killing harmful bacteria. Mister Solomon is a meat scientist with the United States Agricultural Research Service. He began to explore the use of shock waves to soften meat ten years ago. His method is called the Hydrodynamic Pressure Process. The theory is simple. Shock waves from an explosion travel through water to the meat. The shock waves tear small pieces of muscle and other particles away from the meat. This makes the meat softer and easier to eat. The shock waves also reduce the amount of bacteria in the meat. The Department of Agriculture says the process could increase food safety for companies that sell meat. Uncooked meat may contain organisms such as the Escherichia coli bacteria, also known as E. coli. E. coli can make people sick if they eat meat that is not well cooked. The Hydrodynamic Pressure Process may help reduce concerns about harmful bacteria in meat.

　　Other American scientists attempted to improve the process. They used a thick-walled metal container that was buried in the ground. This device did not improve the quality of the meat as much as the simpler method. However, the scientists found there seemed to be fewer bacteria in the meat than before the process. Scientists had demonstrated that the Hydrodynamic Pressure Process could improve large pieces of meat. Next, they wanted to see if the process reduced bacteria levels in smaller pieces of ground beef that is used to make hamburgers. Their tests showed a reduction of bacteria in ground beef products. Other studies showed that ground beef containing E. coli had no measurable levels of the bacteria after the treatment.

　　The Hydrodynamic Pressure Process does not kill all bacteria in the meat, however. Mister Solomon says some good bacteria remain. The agricultural scientists say more studies are needed to see if the method could be used in the meat processing industry.

　　6. Which of the following titles best summarizes the main idea of the passage?

　　A) The Life of an American Scientist Morse Solomon.

　　B) The American Agricultural Research Service.

　　C) An Introduction to the American Meat Processing Industry.

　　D) An Introduction to the Hydrodynamic Pressure Process.

　　7. What makes meat softer and easier to eat?

　　A) Some explosives. B) Shock waves.

　　C) Certain organisms.D) Other particles.

　　8. The phrase "the simpler method" (Line5, Para.3) refers to __________ .

　　A) Thick-walled Containers Burying Method

　　B) Hydrodynamic Pressure Process

　　C) Bacteria-killing Method

　　D) Meat-improving Treatment

　　9. It had been proved that the Hydrodynamic Pressure Process _________ .

　　A) could improve smaller pieces of ground beef but not large pieces of meat

　　B) could improve large pieces of meat but not smaller pieces of ground beef

　　C) could improve large pieces of meat and reduce the bacteria in ground beef as well

　　D) could improve large pieces of meat but could not reduce the bacteria in ground beef

　　10. We can learn from the passage that the Hydrodynamic Pressure Process _______ .

　　A) proved to be a great success

　　B) turned out to be a failure

　　C) remains to be further studied

　　D) needs to be further tested

　　Passage Three

　　Questions 11 to 15 are based on the following passage.

　　People tend to be more impressed by evidence that seems to confirm some relationship. Thus many are convinced their dreams are prophetic (预言的) because a few have come true; they neglect or fail to notice the many that have not.

　　Consider also the belief that" the phone always rings when I'm in the shower." If it does ring while you are in the shower, the event will stand out and be remembered. If it doesn't ring, that nonevent probably won't even register.

　　People want to see order, pattern and meaning in the world. Consider, for example, the common belief that things like personal misfortunes, plane crashes, and deaths "happen in threes". Such beliefs stem from the tendency of people to allow the third event to define the time period. If three plane crashes occur in a month, then the period of time that counts as their "happening together" is one month; if three crashes occur in a year, the period of time is stretched. Flexible end points reinforce such beliefs.

　　We also tend to believe what we want to believe. A majority of people think they are more intelligent, more fair-minded and more skilled behind the wheel of an automobile than the average persons. Part of the reason we view ourselves so favorably is that we use criteria that work to our advantage. As economist Thomas Schelling explains, "Everybody ranks himself high in qualities he values: careful drivers give weight to care, skilled drivers give weight to skill, and those who are polite give weight to courtesy." This way everyone ranks high on his own scale.

　　Perhaps the most important mental habit we can learn is to be cautious in drawing conclusions. The "evidence" of everyday life is sometimes misleading.

　　11. In the first paragraph the author states that

　　________.

　　A) dreams cannot be said to be prophetic even though a few have come true

　　B) dreams are prophetic because some of them did come true

　　C) dreams may come true if clearly remember

　　D) dreams and reality are closely related

　　12. From Paragraph 3, we can learn that_____.

　　A) personal misfortunes tend to happen every now and then

　　B) personal misfortunes, plane crashes, and deaths usually happen together

　　C) misfortunes tend to occur in a certain pattern

　　D) misfortunes will never occur more than three times to a person in his lifetime

　　13. The word "courtesy" in the last second line, Para. 4 probably means _________ .

　　A) good manners B) appropriate speech

　　C) friendly relations D) satisfactory service

　　14. What can be inferred from the passage?

　　A) In a series of misfortunes the third one is usually the most serious.

　　B) Happenings that go unnoticed deserve more attention.

　　C) People tend to make use of evidence that supports their own beliefs.

　　D) Believers of misfortunes happening in threes are cautious in interpreting events.

　　15. It can be concluded from the passage that __________ .

　　A) there is some truth even in the wildest dreams

　　B) one should take notice of other people's merits

　　C) there is no order or pattern in world events

　　D) we should not base our conclusions on accidental evidence

　　2.阅读理解专项练习答案与详解：

　　1. D)。文中第一段"今年，我们大学的选修课增加了一门新的' minor '，叫作'信息技术'。这门选修课可能涵盖的内容是无穷无尽的。"所以"minor"应为副修课。

　　2. B)。文章的开头讲到了"我们大学的选修课增加了一门新的副修课，即'信息技术'"。文章第二段又表明"这门副修课"有四个主要目的。这四个目的不仅说明这门课程确实教给学生有价值的知识，而且表明这门课程可补充任何主修课。第二段又阐明了学商业的学生选择此课是伟大之举，因为今后工作可能用到计算机知识，所学专业也会变得更加有用。最后一段说明了毕业后能大大增加获得一份好工作的机会，并且说明了该副修课对其他专业也很有用。整篇文章都是介绍"信息技术"这门副修课的。

　　3. A)。文中第一段最后两句表明了"如果你们学校没有类似的选修课，努力去开设一门是很有价值的。不仅你会从学到的知识中受益，你们学校的其他学生也会受益。"

　　4. D)。选项A)是根据文章最后一句"这门选修课对其他主修课也很重要"。B)是根据第二段"选修课的四个主要目的"及文章的最后两段。C)是四个主要目的中的第二个，理解信息技术对社会群体的影响。D)项文中未提，或与短文观点相反。

　　5. D)。本题要求推断作者的观点。作者在文章一开始就阐明了该门副修课前途无量，并提出不具备开这门课条件的学校要努力开出类似的课程。在以下几段大谈该课之用途。可见作者对这门新课的态度是"肯定的，积极的"。

　　6. D)。文章第一、二段介绍了"水压法"极其简要原理，第三、四段提出对其进行改进的方法，并加以验证。故D)项正确。

　　7. B)。从第二段第三、四句，He began to explore the use of shock waves to soften.... His method is called the Hydrodynamic Pressure Process.可知他利用的是"冲击波"。虽然A)也提到了，但不全面。

　　8. B)。文中只提到了两种方法，一种是水压法，再一种就是this device--埋藏厚壁金属容器法。在第二段中间提到了水压法原理简单。故选B)。

　　9. C)。从第三段中间几句看，科学家们已经证明这种水压法对大块肉同样有用，从Their tests showed a reduction of bacteria in ground beef products.可知用这种方法可减少用来做牛肉饼的碎牛肉的细菌数量。

　　10. C)。文章第三段和最后一段指出，该方法虽有成效，但还不能杀死全部有害细菌，还需进行更多的研究，故C)项正确。

　　11. A)。根据第一段Thus...一句，可见作者不赞同那些因为少数梦变成了现实就认为梦就具有预言性的人，指出这些人忽视了还有许多梦并未变成现实这个事实。所以A)正确。

　　12. C)。根据第三段首句People want to see order, pattern and meaning in the world.和the common belief that things like personal misfortunes, plane crashes, and deaths "happen in threes".可知人们普遍认为：世界上所发生的事情总具有一定的规律性。所以C)正确。

　　13. A)。"courtesy"意思是"言谈举止谦恭有礼"，即使不认识这个词，也可以从句子Everybody ranks himself ... polite give weight to courtesy.中得知"courtesy"和" polite"有关。

　　14. B)。本题是一道推断题，根据第一、二段，作者推出人们常常因为几个梦变成现实而忽视许多梦并未变成现实这个事实。由此我们可以推断，作者认为那些没有被人们注意到的事情也应该引起人们的注意。所以B)符合题意。

　　15. D)。推断结论题。结论往往出现在最后一段，本题也不例外。根据文章最后一段的The "evidence" of everyday life is sometimes misleading.可知：我们不应将结论建立在偶然的证据基础上。因此D)正确。

　　(文/赵扬;英语通大学英语四级考试版2004年第1期;版权归英语辅导报社所有，独家网络合作伙伴新浪教育，未经许可，不得以任何形式进行转载。)