学位英语

第4部分：阅读理解(第31~45题，每题3分，共45分)

下面有3篇短文，每篇短文后有5道题。请根据短文内容，为每题确定1个最佳选项。

第一篇

The Development of Ballet

Ballet is a dance form that has a long history. The fact that it survives to this day shows that it has adjusted as times have changed.

Ballet began in the royal courts during the Renaissance. At that time it became common for kings and queens, as well as other nobility(贵族), to participate in pageants that included music, poetry, and dance. As these entertainments moved from the Italian courts to the French ones, court ladies began participating in them. Though their long dresses prevented much movement, they were able to perform elaborate(复杂的) walking patterns. It was not until the 1600s that women dancers shortened their skirts, changed to flat shoes, and began doing some of the leaps and turns performed by men.

It was also in the 1600s that professional ballet began. King Louis XIV of France, himself a devoted dancer, founded the Royal Academy of Dance. The five basic feet positions from which all ballet steps begin were finalized. In the late 1700s another important change occurred. Ballet began to tell a story on its own. It was no longer simply dance to be performed between acts of plays. Elaborate wigs(假发) and costumes were eliminated. By the early 1800s dancers learned to rise on their toes to make it appear that they were floating.

Classical ballet as we know it today was influenced primarily by Russian dancing. The Russians remained interested in ballet when it declined in other European countries in the mid-1800s. One of the most influential figures of the early 20th century was Sergei Diaghilev. His dance company, the Ballets Russes, brought a new energy and excitement to ballet. One of his chief assistants, George Balanchine, went on to found the New York City Ballet in 1948 and to influence new generations of dancers.

31. This passage deals mainly with .

A. famous names in ballet

B. Russian ballet

C. how ballet has developed

D. why ballet is no longer popular

32. The word “pageants” in Paragraph 2 means .

A. dances B. instruction

C. royal courts D. big shows

33. Professional ballet was first performed in .

A. France B. Italy

C. Russia D. America

34. Who had an important influence on early ballet?

A.Balanchine B.Louis XIV

C.Antoinette D. Diaghilev

35. we can conclude from this passage that ballet .

A. will continue to change

B. is a dying art

C. is currently performed only in Russia

D. is often performed by dancers with little training

参考答案：CDABA

第二篇

An Expensive Mistake

Is there water on the planet Mars? Is there life on Mars? Was there ever life on Mars? Scientists from NASA wanted to know the answers to these questions. They built a spacecraft to travel around Mars and get information. The spacecraft was called the Mars Climate Orbiter.

The Mars Climate Orbiter left for Mars on December 1998. The trip took nine and a half months. At first, everything was fine. However, when the Orbiter got near Mars, something terrible happened. The spacecraft didn’t go to the right place. It went too close to Mars. It was too hot for the Orbiter there. The spacecraft couldn’t function correctly. Suddenly, it stopped sending messages to NASA. The Orbiter was lost.

How could this terrible thing happen? How did the Orbiter get closer to Mars than the scientists planned? Finally, they found the answer. Two teams of scientists worked together on the Orbiter. One team was in England, and one team was in the United States. There were many similarities in the way they worked, but there was one important difference: The teams used different guidelines for measuring things. The United States team used the metric system (公制). The other team used the English system.

Because they used different systems, the scientists made a mathematical mistake. The Orbiter's orbit (the shape and pattern of its path) around Mars was not correct. The scientists put the Orbiter on the wrong path. The Orbiter got too close and too hot, and it stopped functioning.

Why didn't anybody see the mistake before it was too late? Many things contributed to the problem. One thing was that NASA scientists and mathematicians were working on two other spacecrafts at the same time. This was a challenge, and they were very tired from working long hours.

The Mars Climate Orbiter cost $94 million to build. It also cost a lot of money to try to find the lost Orbiter in space. In addition, NASA’s research on the cause of the problem was very expensive. This wasn't the first time that two different measurement systems caused mistakes in scientific projects. However, the Mars Climate Orbiter was definitely the most expensive mistake of all!

36. NASA built the Mars Climate Orbiter to get information about .

A. possible life on Mars

B. the size of Mars

C. the shape of Mars

D. the atmosphere of Mars

37. How long did it take the Orbiter to get close to Mars?

A. One year

B. Less than one year

C. About two and a half year

D. More than three years

38. When did the Orbiter’s problem begin?

A. Right after it left for Mars

B. When it got near Mars

C. Right after it landed on Mars

D. When it returned to Earth

39. What caused the Orbiter’s problem?

A. Scientists used wrong guidelines of mathematics.

B. Scientists used wrong building materials.

C. Scientists used different operating systems.

D. Scientists used different measurement systems.

40. Why didn’t NASA scientists identify the problem before the Orbiter left for Mars?

A. They didn’t know the English system.

B. They were sure of the success of the trip.

C. They didn’t get enough research funding.

D. They were tired from working long hours.

参考答案：ABBDD

第三篇

Operation Migration

If you look up at the sky in the early fall in the northern part of North America, you may see groups of birds. These birds are flying south to places where they can find food and warmth for the winter. They are migrating(迁徙). The young birds usually learn to migrate from their parents. They follow their parents south.In one unusual case, however, the young birds are following something very different. These birds are young whooping cranes, and they are following an airplane!

The whooping crane is the largest bird that is native to North America. These birds almost disappeared in the 1800s. By 1941, there were only about 20 cranes alive. In the 1970s, people were worried that these creatures were in danger of disappearing completely. As a result, the United States identified whooping cranes as an endangered species that they needed to protect.

Some researchers tried to help. They began to breed whooping cranes in special parks to increase the number of birds. This plan was successful. There were a lot of new baby birds. As the birds became older, the researchers wanted to return them to nature. However, there was a problem: These young birds did not know how to migrate. They needed human help.

In 2001, some people had a creative idea. They formed an organization called Operation Migration. This group decided to use very light airplanes, instead of birds, to lead the young whooping cranes on their first trip south. They painted each airplane to look like a whooping crane. Even the pilots wore special clothing to make them look like cranes. The cranes began to trust the airplanes, and the plan worked.

Today, planes still lead birds across approximately 1,200 miles (1,931 kilometers), from the United States-Canadian border to the Gulf of Mexico. They leave the birds at different sites. If a trip is successful, the birds can travel on their own in the future. Then, when these birds become parents, they will teach their young to migrate. The people of Operation Migration think this is the only way to maintain the whooping crane population.

Operation Migration works with several other organizations and government institutes. Together, they assist hundreds of cranes each year. However, some experts predict that soon, this won’t be necessary. Thanks to Operation Migration and its partners, the crane population will continue to migrate. Hopefully, they won’t need human help any more.

41. Whooping cranes migrate in winter to .

A. find warmth and food

B. raise baby whooping cranes

C. get human help

D. lay eggs

42. whooping cranes are native to .

A. North America

B. Mexico

C. South America

D. the Persian Gulf

43. Operation Migration aims to .

A. teach adult cranes how to fly

B. breed cranes in special parks

C. lead young cranes on their first trip south

D. transport cranes to the North

44. The distance covered by the young whooping cranes on their trip south is .

A.120 miles

B.1,931 miles

C.1,200 miles

D.2,000 miles

45. If Operation Migration is successful , whooping cranes will .

A. learn to migrate on their own

B. follow airplanes south every year

C. live in Canada all year round

D. be unable to fly back

参考答案：AACCA

（责任编辑：vstara）

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