1、专业英语八级（阅读）-试卷137及答案解析 (总分：44.00，做题时间：90分钟)一、READING COMPREHENSIO(总题数：11，分数：44.00)1.PART II READING COMPREHENSION_2.SECTION A MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONSIn this section there are several passages followed by fourteen multiple-choice questions. For each multiple-choice question, there are four suggested
2、 answers marked A , B, C and D. Choose the one that you think is the best answer._Cruelty to animals, it is said, is often a precursor to graver crimes. So would there not be some usefulness to a registry of individuals convicted of felony animal abuse? Legislators in California want the Golden Stat
3、e to be the first to establish such a recordjust as California was the first in the nation to create a registry of sex offenders. The goal of the registry, which would list crimes against both pets and farm animals, is to make it easier for shelters and animal-adoption groups to identify people who
4、shouldnt be allowed access to animals. It would also be a boon to law enforcement because animal abuse, the bills authors say, often escalates to violence against people. Abuses covered in the bill would include the malicious and intentional maiming, mutilation, torture, wounding or killing of a liv
5、ing animal. It would also target pet hoarders and operators of animal-fighting rings (such as dog-baiting and cockfighting) who have felony convictions. We think California is primed for this kind of a bill, says state senate majority leader Dean Florez, who introduced the bill in late February. Wev
6、e progressed to the point where we as a legislature are moving in a direction of this bill, which is ultimately, how do we in essence prevent repeat offenses when it comes to cruelty to animals in the state of California? It is an issue that, Florez says, Californians care for deeply. About 60% of C
7、alifornia residents own pets, he says; add in farm animals, and 80% of the population has some kind of ownership of animals. The bills biggest stumbling block may be the funding it would require. Created with the assistance of the Animal Legal Defense Fund, the bill would raise the approximately $50
8、0,000 to $1 million necessary for its launch through a 2- or 3-cent tax per pound of pet food, says Florez, a Democrat who is chairman of the Food and Agriculture Committee. He estimated that after its launch, the project could cost between $300,000 to $400,000 a year to maintain. Yet even that rela
9、tively small amount has some organizations, including a national pet-product trade group and even the Humane Society, raising concerns. Jennifer Fearing, California senior state director and chief economist for the US Humane Society, supports the measures aims but worries about whether it can get pa
10、ssed. Says Fearing: I would be shocked if this legislature is prepared to enact any tax this year, much less one levied on pet owners who are struggling to care for their animals, when many of them are dropping them off at shelters. Ed Rod, vice President of government affairs for the American Pet P
11、roducts Association, says the proposal is inherently inequitable. Youre looking at pet owners paying for something thats really going to benefit everyone, says Rod. And animal abuse certainly affects pets, but it also affects agricultural animals as well, and in this case I dont believe there is any
12、 provision to impose a fee on livestock feed. The goal we support, certainly, but we think this is kind of a blunt instrument to reach that goal. There may be other ways to fund the registry. Fearing says the Humane Society supported a similar law in Tennessee that called for those convicted of anim
13、al abuse to pay $50 toward the cost of an animal-abusers registry. The bill, however, was defeated. Florez says having offenders pay a fee toward the operation of the registry is also under consideration in the California legislation. Even if those convicted of animal-abuse felonies were charged a f
14、ee, however, that may not be enough to cover the cost of the registry, since only a small percentage of animal-abuse cases result in felony charges, according to Madeline Bernstein, president of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Los Angeles. The bottom line is that there arent a l
15、ot of felony convictions for animal abuse in the state of California, says Bernstein. The proposal also puts an added burden on local policeoperating at a time of state funding cutsby requiring them to gather registry information on convicted felons and transfer the information to the Department of
16、Justice within three days of collection. Despite the obstacles, Florez expects to push the legislation as far as it can go. Could he get the two-thirds majority required to turn the bill into lawparticularly from the Republican minority that pledged not to raise taxes? In this case, he says, the iss
17、ue is simple. Do Republican members really want to be seen on the side of animal abuse? I dont think they do.（分数：8.00）(1).If the bill were passed, which of the following actions would be registered for animal abuse?（分数：2.00）A.Lions in the zoo were safely locked in the cage for the safety of the visi
18、tors.B.The researcher dissected the dead sheep to make clear the tissue pattern.C.The tamer beat the beast to treat its infectious disease.D.The researcher pinned tightly the belly of the bird to observe its response.(2).All of the following account for Californias being first to register for animal
19、 abuse EXCEPT that _.（分数：2.00）A.the majority of its residents own animals themselvesB.it is primed to raise sufficient funding for this billC.it has the experience of being first to register for sex offendersD.its residents cared the issue of cruelty to animals very much(3).Which of the following st
20、atements is CORRECT about Jennifer Fearings opinion?（分数：2.00）A.Registry for animal abuse is by no means feasible in essence.B.The funding will be enough as long as there are less felony convictions.C.There is still no sufficient funding even if the offenders pay the fee of the registry.D.We should s
21、eek the offenders instead of the pet owners to pay the cost of the registry.(4).Which of the following best describes the authors development of the passage?（分数：2.00）A.Background informationintroducing the issuedescribing its current situation.B.Introducing the issuedescribing its current situationc
22、iting ways to solve the issue.C.Describing its current situationoffering the reasonsciting ways to solve the issue.D.Introducing the issuegiving the background informationdescribing its current situation.You and I, and everyone else in America, own the most stunning oceanfront property, the most ama
23、zing mountain ranges, the highest free-falling waterfall on the continent, and the most spectacular collection of geothermal features on the planet. I knew the national parks were beautiful and that there must be interesting human stories behind their creation. But I was unprepared for how they touc
24、hed some of the deepest emotions Ive ever felt. The parks can be simultaneously humbling and ennobling. Were aware of our insignificance, yet we feel part of the larger order of things. Its a spiritual, transcendental experiencegives it whatever name you want. Its why people sometimes use biblical r
25、eferences to describe Yosemite, first set aside in 1864, or Yellowstone, our first truly national park, or the Grand Canyon, essentially a geological library and the greatest canyon on the face of the earth. My crew and I have been literally brought to tears as we worked on this project, as have man
26、y other people over the years. As one man encountering Yosemite Falls for the first time said to his companions, Now let me die, for I am happy. The historical figures we studied, the consultants who helped us understand those men and women, and the people weve been sharing the parks with today have
27、 all had that moment when suddenly they felt connected to everything else in the universe. That isnt bad for a days work. The real secrets of the parks are their little-known places and unseen wonders. When we were floating down the Colorado River during filming and going over those dramatic rapids,
28、 every little side canyon that we didnt have the benefit of seeing from the rim of the Grand Canyon had its own wonders. The way the light struck in the back, the way the water fell, the way new waterfalls sprouted up in the spring because the melting snow needed a place to gofor me, the most marvel
29、ous point about the parks is their hidden and beautiful layers. Every park is like an onion. The layers are sometimes very subtle, and each layer takes time to explore. A very nice old ranger at Zion told us, You could be a ranger here if you knew the answer to three questions: Wheres the bathroom?
30、How far is it to Las Vegas? And whats the fastest way out of here? But the tourist who has the casual windshield experience by driving to Yosemites Inspiration Point can still take a picture that looks awfully like an Ansel Adams shot. The person who parks the car and hikes half a mile in has a bett
31、er experience than the person who drives through. The person who hikes two miles in gets an even better experience. And the person who backpacks in and spends two weeks immersed in the high country is, of course, delivered an ecstatic religious experience on the par of naturalist John Muirs. Muir wa
32、s, to me, the most colorful character in the history of the parks. A Scottish-born wanderer, he fell in love with Yosemite when he first walked into it, and for a while he worked there at a sawmill. Muir could have become a titan of industry, but the backpack of civilization slipped off him, to para
33、phrase Ralph Waldo Emerson. He became an apostle, a prophet, of a new kind of Americanism. Muir woke us up to the fact that all this beauty would be lost to development unless it was championed. The man did unbelievably bizarre and rapturous things in Californias High Sierra in the name of the natio
34、nal parks. He would claw his way up into a big pine tree in the middle of a raging thunderstorm to find out what a tree felt like during a storm. He would soak sequoia cones in water and drink the purple liquid that seeped out so he could become tree-wise and sequoical, as he put it. He would watch
35、a lichen on a rock for an entire day; he would contemplate the life of a raindrop. He would climb mountains with very little equipment to speak of, except perhaps for nails hammered into the soles of his shoes, and he would think nothing of covering 50 miles in a two-day excursion with just crackers
36、, oatmeal, and tea for nourishment. Everywhere he turned, Muir believed he was witnessing the work and presence of God. So enspirited was he that I think he must have struck people, as William Cronon, the historian, says in our film, as an ecstatic holy man.（分数：6.00）(1).Which of the following can we
37、 infer from the fifth paragraph?（分数：2.00）A.People who hike more in the park will be more attracted by it.B.People will find the same scenery after hiking more than two weeks.C.People who stay longer in the park will have more experience than the one staying shorter.D.People only have to know three q
38、uestions to fully understand the park.(2).All of the following statements show the Americanism characteristic of Muir EXCEPT that _.（分数：2.00）A.he pursued what he liked freely regardless of its oddityB.he observed the nature in such a religious wayC.he dared to explore the presence of God fearlesslyD
39、.he worked successfully at a sawmill in the parks(3).Why does the author quote the example of naturalist John Muir?（分数：2.00）A.Because he was one of the most famous persons in the history of national parks.B.Because he had done many strange and ecstatic behaviors in the name of national parks.C.Becau
40、se his holy behaviors reflected the breathtaking charisma of the national parks.D.Because he was more immersed in the natural beauty rather than industrial profit.Despite the clear-cut technological advantages, the railroad didnt become the primary means of transportation for nearly 20 years after t
41、he first pioneering American railroads were introduced in the early 1830s. Besides the stiff competition of water transport, an important hindrance to railroad development was public antipathy, which had its roots in ignorance, conservatism, and vested interest. People thought that speeds of 20 to 3
42、0 miles per hour would be physically harmful to passengers. Many honestly believed that the railroad would prove to be impractical and uneconomical and would not provide service as dependable as that of the waterways. Unsurprisingly, the most vigorous opposition to railroads came from groups whose e
43、conomic interests suffered from the competition of the new industry. Millions of dollars had been spent on canals, rivers, highways, and plank roads, and thousands of people depended on these transportation enterprises for their livelihood. Tavern keepers feared their businesses would be ruined, and
44、 farmers envisioned the market for hay and grain disappearing as the iron horse replaced the flesh-and-blood animal that drew canal boats and pulled wagons. Competitive interests joined to embarrass and hinder the railroads, causing several states to limit traffic on them to passengers and their bag
45、gage or to freight hauled only during the months when canal operations ceased. One railroad company in Ohio was required to pay for any loss in canal traffic attributed to railroad competition. Other railroads were ordered to pay a tonnage tax to support the operation of canals. These sentiments, ho
46、wever amusing today, were seriously espoused by national leaders, as seen in a 1829 letter from Martin Van Buren, then governor of New York, to President Andrew Jackson. Despite the opposition of those who feared the railroads, construction went on. In sections of the country where canals could not
47、be built, the railroad offered a means of cheap transportation for all kinds of commodities. In contrast to the municipality that wished to exclude the railroad, many cities and towns, as well as their state governments, did much to encourage railroad construction. And the federal government provide
48、d tariff exemptions on railroad iron. By 1840, railroad mileage in the United States was within 1,000 miles of the combined lengths of all canals, the volume of goods carried by water still exceeded that transported by rail. After the depression of the early 1840s, rail investments continued, mostly government assisted, and by 1850, the country had 9,000 miles of railroads, and the railroads superiority was clear. With the more than 20,000 miles of rails added to the transportation system between 1850 and 1
