成人英语三级

Part II Reading Comprehension (40 points]

Directions: There are 4 passages in this part. Each of the passages is followed by 5 questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are 4 choices marked A, B, C and D. Choose the best one and mark your answer on the ANSWER SHEET with a single line through the center.

Passage One

For any Englishman, there can never be any discussion as to who is the world’s greatest poet and dramatist. Only one name can possibly suggest itself to him: William Shakespeare. Every Englishman has some knowledge, however slight, of the work of this great writer. All of us use words, phrases and quotations from his writings that have become part of the common property of English-speaking people. Most of the time we are probably unaware of the source of the words we use, rather like the old lady who was taken to see a performance of Hamlet and complained that ‘it was full of well-known proverbs and quotations’!

Shakespeare, more perhaps than any other writer, made full use of the great resources of the English language. Most of us use about five thousand words in our normal employment of English;Shakespeare in his works used about twenty-five thousand! There is probably no better way for a foreigner (or an Englishman!) to appreciate the richness and variety of the English language than by studying the various ways Shakespeare used it. Such a study is well worth the effort (it is not, of course, recommended to beginners), even though some aspects of English usage, and the meaning of many words, have changed since Shakespeare’s day.

16. It can be inferred from the first two sentences of the passage that__________.

English people refused to talk about great Shakespeare

Shakespeare’s fame as the greatest writer is not debatable

it is not necessary to talk about Shakespeare’s works

Shakespeare’s name is so well-known among readers

17. According to the passage, many English words and expressions we use today are from ___________.

A. Englishmen B. English-speaking people

C. Shakespeare’s works D. Hamlet, the great tragedy

18. By mentioning the number of words used in Shakespeare’s works, this passage intends to illustrate Shakespeare’s __________.

A. cleverness in words B. brilliance in language

C. persuasive ability D. freedom of speech

19. To appreciate the richness of the English language, ___________ can read Shakespeare’s plays.

A. a foreigner B. an Englishman

C. one D. an English beginner

20. In this passage the author mainly intends to _____________.

A. prove that English language has become various

B. tell that English words have undergone great changes

C. indicate how much Englishmen love Shakespeare

D. show how great a writer Shakespeare was

Passage Two

Currently, the misuse of the internet exists, for instance, in modifying other people's bank account through the internet, stealing other’s data and information through the internet, doing illegal commerce of drugs or arms, spreading porn, violence, or even cult through the internet. All these exert very bad influence on social stability and communal health.

It is also true that, if a computer is connected with the internet, there is a possibility for it to be intruded into, however strong the anti-virus software and firewalls are. This explains why Microsoft and anti-virus software producers release security patches and virus-recognizing updates nearly every day. Though many people are struggling to reduce the damage of internet crimes, they still cause great damage and loss every year. For example, the notorious virus worm, Nimaya, which had been produced by a 20-year-old person in Wuhan of Central China, caused over 2 million computers to break down and incurred a loss of over 50 million dollars. The wizard producer made this virus just for around 15 thousand yuan. However, the effect of this virus and the loss caused by it are far beyond many people's imagination. Though the internet is good for us for the most part, it has some serious negative effect. In my opinion, it is the duty of our government to lay down relevant laws to prevent internet crimes and reinforce the proper use of the internet by young people.

21. From the beginning of this passage, we can infer that if there is a paragraph previous to this passage, it is most probably on __________.

A. how the internet is properly used

B. how the internet is developed

C. how the internet is invented

D. how powerful the internet is

22. According to the passage, Microsoft frequently releases security patches to _________.

A. to promote possible recurrence of safety problems

B. strengthen the functions of their software

C. keep up with the latest software development

D. prevent virus software from invading a computer

23. The twenty-year-old youth in Central China is said to be __________.

A. very clever B. really evil

C. quite promising D. abnormally powerful

24. According to the passage, the youth produced virus worm, Nimaya, for _________.

A. fun B. money

C. prize D. power

25. The author suggests that the government take up the responsibility of _________.

A. defending the young regularly B. giving guidance to the young

C. crushing down the crimes D. reducing the negative effects

Passage Three

The British people are great readers of newspapers. There are few homes to which one newspaper is not delivered every morning. Many households have two, or even three, newspapers every day. One newspaper may be delivered at the house, a member of the family may buy one at the station bookstall to read on the train as he goes to town, and someone else in the family may buy an evening newspaper later in the day.

Daily papers are those that are published daily from Monday to Saturday. There are the morning papers and the evening papers. The morning papers are on sale in the morning. The evening papers begin to appear during the morning, and new editions appear every two or three hours until the final edition comes out in the evening.

The London newspaper that is best known outside Great Britain is probably The Times. It began in 1785, and has a high reputation for reliable news and serious comment on the news. It calls itself an independent paper, which means that it does not give its support to a particular political party. Its leading articles give the opinions of its editorial staff, not those of the owners of the paper.

The Daily Express and the Daily Mail are also independent, though they are usually more sympathetic to Conservative than to socialist policies. The Daily Telegraph, also a serious paper with a high reputation, is not independent. It supports the Conservative Party.

Two popular papers are Daily Mirror and the Daily Sketch. These have many pages of photographs and numerous strip cartoons. Their makeup is more exciting than those of the serious papers. The news that appears on their pages is not always the most important news: it is the news that is most interesting to the man in the street.

26. Which of the following statements is true?

A. Important people in Britain read newspapers.

B. Readers of newspapers in Britain are great people.

C. A large number of British people read a lot of newspapers.

D. British people read great newspapers.

27. The Times claims to support _________.

A. the Conservative Party B. the Liberal Party

C. the Labour Party D. no political parties

28. The editors of The Times may __________ their boss upon political issues.

A. disagree with B. promise to support

C. negotiate with D. have to listen to

29. Which of the following is NOT a serious paper?

A. The Times B. Daily Mail

C. Daily Telegraph D. Daily Mirror

30. In the last line of the passage, “the man in the street” refers to _________.

A. the man working on the street B. the ordinary people

C. the man wandering on the street D. the man walking on the street

Passage four

There are two methods of fighting, the one by law, the other by force; the first method is that of men, the second of beasts; but as the first method is often insufficient, one must have recourse to the second. It is, therefore, necessary for a prince to know how to use both the beast and the man. This was covertly taught to the rulers by ancient writers, who related how Achilles and many other ancient princes were given Chiron the centaur to be brought up and educated under his discipline. The parable of this semi-animal, semi-human teacher is meant to indicate that a prince must know how to use both natures and that without one the other is not durable.

A prince, being thus obliged to know well how to act as a beast, must imitate the fox, and the lion, for the lion cannot protect himself from traps and the fox cannot defend himself from wolves. Those that wish to be only lions do not understand this. Therefore, a prudent ruler ought not to keep faith when by doing so it would be against his interest, and the reasons which bind himself no longer exist. If men were all good, this precept would not be a good one; but as they are bad, and would not observe their faith with you, so you are not bound to keep faith with them. Nor have legitimate grounds ever failed a prince who wishes to show colorable excuse for the nonfulfilment of his promise. Of this one could furnish an infinite number of examples, and show how many times peace has been broken, and how many promises rendered worthless, by the faithlessness of princes, and those that have best been able to imitate the fox have succeeded best. But it is necessary to be able to disguise this character well, and to be a great feigner and dissembler, and men are so simple and so ready to obey present necessities, that the one who deceives will always find those who allow themselves to be deceived.

31. The writer does not believe that ___________.

A. the truth makes men free B. people can protect themselves

C. princes are human D. leaders have to be consistent

32. "A prince" in the passage designates ____________.

A. anyone in power B. an elected official

C. an aristocrat D. a son of a king

33. The lion represents those who are ____________.

A. too trusting B. dependent on force

C. greedy and powerful D. lacking in intelligence

34. The fox, in the passage, is ____________.

A. admired for his trickery B. no match for the lion

C. pitied for his cunning D. considered worthless

35. The writer suggests that a successful leader must _____________.

A. be prudent and faithful 　B. cheat and lie

C. have principle to guide himself D. follow the truth

（责任编辑：lqh）

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