1、公共英语(五级)2 及答案解析(总分：7.00，做题时间：120 分钟)一、Section II Use of E(总题数：1，分数：1.00)Walking like swimming, bicycling and running is an aerobic exercise, 【B1】 builds the capacity for energy output and physical endurance by increasing the supply of oxygen to skin and muscles. Such exercises may be a primary facto
2、r in the 【B2】 of heart and circulatory disease. As probably the least strenuous, safest aerobic activity, walking is the 【B3】 acceptable exercise for the largest number of people. Walking 【B4】 comfortable speed improves the efficiency of the cardio respiratory system 【B5】 stimulating the lungs and h
3、eart, but at a more gradual rate 【B6】 most other forms of exercise. In one test, a group of men 40 to 57 years of age, 【B7】 at a fast pace for 40 minutes four days a week, showed improvement 【B8】 to men the same age on a 30 minute, three-day-a-week jogging program in the same period. Their resting h
4、eart rate and body fat decreased 【B9】 These changes suggest 【B10】 of the important even vital benefits walking can 【B11】 about. Walking 【B12】 burns calories. It takes 3,500 calories to gain or 【B13】 one pound. Since a one-hour walk at a moderate pace will 【B14】 up 300 to 360 calories. By walking one
5、 hour every other day, you can burn up a-pound-and-a-half monthly, or 18 pounds 【B15】 providing there is no change in your intake of food. To 【B16】 weight faster, walk an hour every day and burn up 3 pounds a month, or 36 pounds a year. 【B17】 your age, right now is the time to give your physical wel
6、l being as much thought as you 【B18】 to pensions or insurance. Walking is a vital defense 【B19】 the ravages of degenerative diseases and aging. It is natures 【B20】 of giving you a tune-up. （分数：1.00）填空项 1:_填空项 1:_填空项 1:_填空项 1:_填空项 1:_填空项 1:_填空项 1:_填空项 1:_填空项 1:_填空项 1:_填空项 1:_填空项 1:_填空项 1:_填空项 1:_填空项
7、1:_填空项 1:_填空项 1:_填空项 1:_填空项 1:_填空项 1:_二、Section III Reading(总题数：3，分数：3.00)Professor Meredith Thring, Professor of Mechanical Engineering at Queen Mary College, London showed off his latest invention to the Press yesterday. It is a mechanical coal miner which, he claims, could solve Britains energy p
8、roblems within ten years. Not that he thinks the National Coal Board will be at all interested. “ I have taken my previous ideas of mechanical mining to previous Chairmen of the Board but each time nothing has happened,“ he said. “The Board are not thinking enough about the future. My latest idea wo
9、uld put the cost of coal down and produce twice as much with the same labour force. “ Professor Thring finished making his mechanical coal miner only on Sunday night. He showed the wooden model yesterday at Queen Mary College. It is rather like a giant ant, with a headlight, two TV camera “eyes“ , a
10、nd arms the same size and strength as human arms. This particular coal miner, however, would only be eighteen inches tall, which would enable it to mine much smaller areas of coal than those that can be mined by human beings. It would open up rich areas of coal in the Durham coal fields which have n
11、ot been workable since the last century. “ I would have thought the unions would be delighted with the mechanical coal miners,“ said Professor Thring. “ We would be employing as many miners as at present, with all their skills, but they would all be working on the surface. “ The human miner would in
12、 fact sit at the controls above ground. He would put his hands into “gloves“ and work the metal hands of the coal miner as if they were his own. The mechanical miner could go down as deep as 10,000 feet, and would cost 10,000. “ It will put the cost of coal down because the cost of the machines is g
13、oing to be very low in relation to the present cost of supplying fresh air to mines,“ said Professor Thring. “ There need to be no oxygen present, and this would mean there would be no risk of explosions. “ The Professor does his economic sums as follows. Britain needs each year as much energy as 35
14、0 million tons of coal would provide; and North Sea oil will only provide the same amount of energy as 150 million tons of coal for fifty years, while the cost of nuclear power is ten times greater than the cost of getting oil. “ We can get ten times as much coal as North Sea oil. We could have 250
15、million tons a year double the present amount for 200 years at least, and solve the energy crisis. The mechanical coal miner could be developed and active within six or seven years. “ Could be, certainly! But Professor Thring knows very well how much luck he will need to succeed, which is why he gav
16、e the public display of his latest invention yesterday, to try to get opinion-makers on his side. （分数：1.00）(1).Professor Thrings mechanical coal miner_.（分数：0.20）A.has already been seen by the Coal BoardB.is his first inventionC.looks like a TV cameraD.is not yet in production(2).What is Professor Th
17、rings invention?（分数：0.20）A.A kind of machine which miners ride on.B.A machine to supply fresh air to tunnels.C.A digging machine operated at a distance.D.A form of metal protective clothing.(3).What particular advantage does Professor Thrings coal miner have?（分数：0.20）A.It does not have to go deep un
18、derground.B.It can work in very narrow spaces.C.It can work in the open air.D.It is twice as strong as a human miner.(4).Why does Professor Thring think that the unions should be pleased about the mechanical coal miner?（分数：0.20）A.Because a lot more miners will be needed.B.Because miners will earn ov
19、er 10,000 a year.C.Because miners will not have to work underground any more.D.Because it will reduce the risk of explosions.(5).Professor Thring expects that the Coal Board will_.（分数：0.20）A.reject his ideaB.listen to the PressC.be unable to develop his inventionD.reduce coal outputGerman Chancellor
20、 Otto Von Bismarck may be most famous for his military and diplomatic talent, but his legacy includes many of todays social insurance programs. During the middle of the 19th century, Germany, along with other European nations, experienced an unprecedented rash of workplace deaths and accidents as a
21、result of growing industrialization. Motivated in part by Christian compassion for the helpless as well as a practical political impulse to undercut the support of the socialist labor movement, Chancellor Bismarck created the worlds first workers compensation law in 1884. By 1908, the United States
22、was the only industrial nation in the world that lacked workers compensation insurance. Americas injured workers could sue for damages in a court of law, but they still faced a number of tough legal barriers. For example, employees had to prove that their injuries directly resulted from employer neg
23、ligence and that they themselves were ignorant about potential hazards in the workplace. The first state workers compensation law in this country passed in 1911, and the program soon spread throughout the nation. After World War II, benefit payments to American workers did not keep up with the cost
24、of living. In fact, real benefit levels were lower in the 1970s than they were in the 1940s, and in most states the maximum benefit was below the poverty level for a family of four. In 1970, President Richard Nixon set up a national commission to study the problems of workers compensation. Two years
25、 later, the commission issued 19 key recommendations, including one that called for increasing compensation benefit levels to 100% of the states average weekly wages. In fact, the average compensation benefit in America has climbed from 55% of the states average weekly wages in 1972 to 97% today. Bu
26、t as most studies show, every 10% increase in compensation benefits results in a 5% increase in the numbers of workers who file for claims. And with so much more money floating in the workers compensation system, its not surprising that doctors and lawyers have helped themselves to a large slice of
27、the growing pie. （分数：1.00）(1).The worlds first workers compensation law was introduced by Bismarck_.（分数：0.20）A.to make industrial production saferB.to speed up the pace of industrializationC.out of religious and political considerationsD.for fear of losing the support of the socialist labor movement
28、(2).We learn from the passage that the process of industrialization in Europe_.（分数：0.20）A.was accompanied by an increased number of workshop accidentsB.resulted in the development of popular social insurance programsC.required workers to be aware of the potential dangers at the workplaceD.met growin
29、g resistance from laborers working at machines(3).One of the problems the American injured workers faced in getting compensation in the early 19 th century was that_.（分数：0.20）A.they had to have courage to sue for damages in a court of lawB.different states in the U. S. had totally different compensa
30、tion programsC.Americas average compensation benefit was much lower than the cost of livingD.they had to produce evidence that their employers were responsible for the accident(4).After 1972 workers compensation insurance in the U. S. became more favorable to workers so that_.（分数：0.20）A.the poverty
31、level for a family of four went up drasticallyB.there were fewer legal barriers when they filed for claimsC.the number of workers suing for damages increasedD.more money was allocated to their compensation system(5).The author ends the passage with the implication that_.（分数：0.20）A.compensation benef
32、its in America are soaring to new heightsB.the workers are not the only ones to benefit from the compensation systemC.people from all walks of life can benefit from the compensation systemD.money floating the compensation system is a huge drain on the U. S. economyWhen school officials in Kalkaska,
33、Michigan, closed classes last week, the media flocked to the story, portraying the towns 2,305 students as victims of stingy taxpayers. There is some truth to that; the property-tax rate here is one-third lower than the state average. But shutting their schools also allowed Kalkaskas educators and t
34、he states largest teachers union, the Michigan Education Association, to make a political point. Their aim was to spur passage of legislation Michigan lawmakers are debating to increase the states share of school funding. It was no coincidence that Kalkaska shut its schools two weeks after residents
35、 rejected a 28% property-tax increase. The school board argued that without the increase it lacked the $1.5 million needed to keep schools open. But the school system had not done all it could to keep the schools open. Officials declined to borrow against next years state aid, they refused to trim e
36、xtracurricular activities and they did not consider seeking a smaller perhaps more acceptable tax increase. In fact, closing early is costing Kalkaska a significant amount, including $600,000 in unemployment payments to teachers and staff and $250,000 in lost state aid. In February, the school syste
37、m promised teachers and staff two months of retirement payments in case schools closed early, a deal that will cost the district $275 ,000 more. Other signs suggest school authorities were at least as eager to make a political statement as to keep schools open. The Michigan Education Association hir
38、ed a public relations firm to stage a rally marking the school closings, which attracted 14 local and national television stations and networks. The president of the National Education Association, the MEAs parent organization, flew from Washington, D. C. , for the event. And the union tutored schoo
39、l officials in the art of television interviews. School supervisor Doyle Disbrow acknowledges the district could have kept schools open by cutting programs but denies the moves were politically motivated. Michigan lawmakers have reacted angrily to the closing. The state Senate has already voted to p
40、ut the system into receivership and reopen schools immediately; the Michigan House plans to consider the bill this week. （分数：1.00）(1).We learn from the passage that schools in Kalkaska, Michigan, are funded_.（分数：0.20）A.by both the local and state governmentsB.exclusively by the local governmentC.mai
41、nly by the state governmentD.by the National Education Association(2).One of the purposes for which school officials closed classes was_.（分数：0.20）A.to avoid paying retirement benefits to teachers and staffB.to draw the attention of local taxpayers to political issuesC.to make the financial difficult
42、ies of their teachers and staff known to the publicD.to pressure Michigan lawmakers into increasing state funds for local schools(3).The author seems to disapprove of_.（分数：0.20）A.the Michigan lawmakers endless debatingB.the shutting of schools in KalkaskaC.the involvement of the mass mediaD.delaying
43、 the passage of the school funding legislation(4).We learn from the passage that school authorities in Kalkaska are more concerned about_.（分数：0.20）A.a raise in the property-tax rate in MichiganB.reopening the schools there immediatelyC.the attitude of the MEAs parent organizationD.making a political
44、 issue of the closing of the schools(5).According to the passage, the closing of the schools developed into a crisis because of_.（分数：0.20）A.the complexity of the problemB.the political motives on the part of the educatorsC.the weak response of the state officialsD.the strong protest on the part of t
45、he students parents三、Part B Directions: I(总题数：1，分数：1.00)Supermarket shoppers have never been more spoilt for choice. But just when we thought traditional systems of selective farming had created the most tempting array of foods money can buy, we are now being presented with the prospect of genetical
46、ly created strains of cabbages, onions, tomatoes, potatoes and apples. It may not tickle the fancy of food purists but it fires the imagination of scientists. Last week they discovered that the classic Parisian mushroom contains just the properties that, when genetically mixed with a wild strain of
47、mushroom from the Sonora desert in California, could help it grow en masse while at the same time providing it with the resilience of the wild strain. 66. ( ) “We have found a way of increasing the success rate from 1% to 90%. “ This is just one of the many products that, according to skeptics, are
48、creating a generation of “ Frankenfoods“. The first such food that may be consumed on a wide scale is a tomato which has been genetically manipulated so that it does not soften as it ripens. 67. ( ) Critics say that the new tomato which cost $25 million to research is designed to stay on supermarket shelves for longer. It has a ten-day life span. Not surprisingly, the every hungry U. S.
