1、专业英语八级-阅读理解(五)及答案解析 (总分：20.00，做题时间：90分钟)一、Text A(总题数：1，分数：5.00)FRANKFURTI bumped down in Frankfurt at 10:55 AM. A German landing, I thoughtunsubtle and punctual.The sky was clear, an un-German sky, and the colors that assailed me were pink (Deutsche Telekom), yellow (Lufthansa) and gray: cool colors
2、 at some remove from Caspar David Friedrichs ecstatic dusks in the forests of Gothic gloom.Friedrichs passionate romanticism is under control these days in a Germany that has become reassuring to the point of dullness. Europes most powerful nation is electing its leader Sundayand nobody really cares
3、Welcome to the most boring German election ever, former foreign minister Joschka Fischer told me by way of greeting.That was enough to compel me to write about the miracle of German dullness. It is the cause for hope, a commodity the commodity-rich Middle East does not trade in.The drudgery is also
4、 the cause for concern: more on that later.Lest anyone forget, the world spent a goodly chunk of the last century agonizing over the German question, ruining the proximity of the Polish border to Berlin, digesting the crime. Its just 20 years since this country was made whole and, with it, Europe. N
5、ow mighty Germany chooses its chancellor and, for all people seem to care, the election might be for the Wurzburg city council.Its not true that everything changes so that everything can remain the same. The German demon got extirpated by American tutelage, European convergence and the rule of law.M
6、odern Germany, the Johnny-come-lately of European powers, settled down. The German frisson faded to a yawn.Perhaps Barbel Bohley, the former East German dissident, summed up the experience, and let-down, of unification best: We wanted justice and we got the rule of law. Another protest leader, Joach
7、im Gauck, ran her close: We dreamed of paradise and woke up in North-Rhine Westphalia.Such is the way of adrenalin. It dissipates.And along comes Angela Merkel, the adrenalin-free Ossi, who has been a chancellor of unmemorable steadiness, and who, barring an upset, will be re-elected as the head of
8、her center-right Christian Democratic Union.Merkel has been a leader in the image of a settled Germany. Everything about her screams drama overBrandt on his knees in the Warsaw ghetto; chain-smoking Schmidt (a politician with vision needs to see an ophthalmologist) fighting the fight for medium-rang
9、e U.S. missiles; Kohl clasping Mitterrands hand at Verdun and later inhaling unification with unabashed appetite. Every risk-averse fiber in Merkels body proclaims the social-market consensus has prevailed, even through financial crisis.The extent of discord may be measured by the fact that Merkels
10、chief opponent is also her foreign minister in the governing Grand Coalition: Frank-Walter Steinmeier, the Social Democrat leader. Hes a likeable technocrat who always seems to be wondering how he ever ended up as a politician.None of the above should suggest theres nothing at stake. There is: a lit
11、tle. If Merkel gets her favored optiona center-right coalition with the liberal Free Democratstax cuts, nuclear power and support for the Afghan mission (Germany has sent more than 4,000 troops) will get a boost. If not, well, more of the same is in order. My sense is most Germans feel market reform
12、s of recent years have gone far enough.Germans are hunkered down, not unhappy but uninspired. This has been a campaign of astonishing intellectual nullity, l spoke of hope and concern: The former springs from Germanys absorption of its eastern third and passage into normality, the latter from the co
13、untrys numbness.Nothingnot the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Wall, not the faltering direction of the European Union (once a German obsession, now a sideshow), not financial Armageddonseems able to stir Germans from contemplation of their navels. This is bad for Europe. The world wanted a bori
14、ng Germany for a while, but not to this degree, and anyway that time has passed.Perhaps the center-right option would be a better outcome if only because the Social Democrats need time in the wilderness to resolve their relationship with the Left party. The Grand Coalition is an idea-dampening sopor
15、ific. Prescription for more than four years is ill-advised.Germany is in political transition. If the East has been economically absorbed, its political legacy, in the form of the Left party, has proved inhibiting, even paralyzing.History moves in broad sweeps murky to its hindsight-deprived actors.
16、 We can say this: The eruption into the heart of Europe of a German nation state upended the Continent from 1871 to 1945 and a full normalization of Germany has taken from 1945 to the present. The long arc has been painful but hopeful.The demon of instability, German-prodded, moved to the Middle Eas
17、t, where another modem nation state, Israel, in turn upended the order of things. Perhaps after 74 years (1871-1945), we will see glimmerings of a new, more peaceful regional order there. Hope is almost as stubborn as facts.（分数：5.00）(1).Which of the following is true about the German election?（分数：1.
18、00）A.People are enthusiastic about it.B.It is hard to say who will win it.C.People are eager for its result.D.No one cares about it.(2).The following are the authors impressions of Germany EXCEPT _.（分数：1.00）A.punctualB.hopelessC.dullD.stable(3).What is the authors attitude toward Germany?（分数：1.00）A.
19、reservedB.neutralC.pessimisticD.optimistic(4).According to the author, who will win the election?（分数：1.00）A.Barbel BohleyB.Joachim GauckC.Angela MerkelD.Frank-Walter Steinmeier(5).The purpose in writing the passage is _.（分数：1.00）A.to explain why Germany is hopefulB.to predict the result of German el
20、ectionC.to analyze the current situation of GermanyD.to draw an analogy between Germany and the Middle East二、Text B(总题数：1，分数：5.00)When scientists at the Australian Institute of Sport recently decided to check the Vitamin D status of some of that countrys elite female gymnasts, their findings were fa
21、irly alarming. Of the 18 gymnasts tested, 15 had levels that were below current recommended guidelines for optimal bone health, the studys authors report. Six of these had Vitamin D levels that would qualify as medically deficient. Unlike other nutrients, Vitamin D can be obtained by exposure to ult
22、raviolet radiation from sunlight, as well as through foods or supplements. Of course, female gymnasts are a unique and specialized bunch, not known for the quality or quantity of their diets, or for getting outside much.But in another study presented at a conference earlier this year, researchers fo
23、und that many of a group of distance runners also had poor Vitamin D status. Forty percent of the runners, who trained outdoors in sunny Baton Rouge, Louisiana, had insufficient Vitamin D. It was something of a surprise, says D. Enette LarsonoMeyer, an assistant professor in the Department of Family
24、 and Consumer Sciences at the University of Wyoming and one of the authors of the study.Vitamin D is an often overlooked element in athletic achievement, a sleeper nutrient, says John Anderson, a professor emeritus of nutrition at the University of North Carolina and one of the authors of a review a
25、rticle published online in May about Vitamin D and athletic performance. Vitamin D once was thought to he primarily involved in bone development. But a growing body of research suggests that its vital in multiple different bodily functions, including allowing body cells to utilize calciul-n (which i
26、s essential for cell metabolism), muscle fibers to develop and grow normally, and the immune system to function properly. Almost every cell in the body has receptors for Vitamin D, Anderson says. It can up-regulate and down-regulate hundreds, maybe even thousands of genes, Larson-Meyer says. Were on
27、ly at the start of understanding how important it is.But many of us, it seems, no matter how active and scrupulous we are about health, dont get enough Vitamin D. Nowadays, many people arent going outside very much, Johnson says, and most of us assiduously apply sunscreen and take other precautions
28、when we do. The Baton Rouge runners, for instance, most likely ran early in the morning or late in the day, Larson-Meyer says, reducing their chances of heat stroke or sunburn, but also reducing their exposure to sunlight.Meanwhile, dietary sources of Vitamin D are meager. Cod-liver oil provides a w
29、hopping dose. But a glass of fortified milk provides a fraction of what scientists now think we need per day. (A major study published online in the joumal Pediatrics last month concluded that more than 60 percent of American children, or almost 51 million kids, have insufficient levels of Vitamin D
30、 and another 9 percent, or 7.6 million children, are clinically deficient, a serious condition. Cases of childhood rickets, a bone disease caused by lack of Vitamin D, have been rising in the U.S. in recent years.)Although few studies have looked closely at the issue of Vitamin D and athletic perfor
31、mance, those that have are suggestive. A series of strange but evocative studies undertaken decades ago in Russia and Germany, for instance, hint that the Eastern Bloc nations may have depended in part on sunlamps and Vitamin D to produce their preternaturally well-muscled and world-beating athletes
32、 In one of the studies, four Russian sprinters were doused with artificial, ultraviolet light. Another group wasnt. Both trained identically for the 100-meter dash. The control group lowered their sprint times by 1.7 percent. The radiated runners, in comparison, improved by an impressive 7.4 percen
33、t.More recently, when researchers tested the vertical jumping ability of a small group of adolescent athletes, Larson-Meyer says, they found that those who had the lowest levels of Vitamin D tended not to jump as high, intimating that too little of the nutrient may impair muscle power. Low levels mi
34、ght also contribute to sports injuries, in part because Vitamin D is so important for bone and muscle health. In a Creighton University study of female naval recruits, stress fractures were reduced significantly after the women started taking supplements of Vitamin D and calcium.A number of recent s
35、tudies also have shown that, among athletes who train outside year-round, maximal oxygen intake tends to be highest in late summer, Johnson says. The athletes, in other words, are fittest in August, when ultraviolet radiation from the sun is near its zenith. They often then experience an abrupt drop
36、 in maximal oxygen intake, beginning as early as September, even though they continue to train just as hard. This decline coincides with the autumnal lengthening of the angle of sunlight. Less ultraviolet radiation reaches the earth and, apparently, sports performance suffers.（分数：5.00）(1).People can
37、 get vitamin D from the following EXCEPT _.（分数：1.00）A.Sunlight.B.Cod-liver oil.C.Medium exercise.D.Supplements of Vitamin(2).Vitamin D is important in the following EXCEPT _.（分数：1.00）A.developing stronger bonesB.allowing body cells to metabolizeC.allowing body cells to make use of calciumD.allowing
38、the immune system to function properly(3).When can we get the most Vitamin D?（分数：1.00）A.At noon.B.In August.C.In September.D.All the year roun(4).What does the passage mainly tell us?（分数：1.00）A.Vitamin D is important in our life.B.Many of us are lacking in VitaminD.C.Vitamin D can improve our athlet
39、ic performance.D.There is little research about Vitamin D and athletic performanc(5).Which of the following is the best title for this passage?（分数：1.00）A.Where Can We Get Vitamin D?B.Do You Have Enough Vitamin D?C.What Are the Functions of Vitamin D?D.Can Vitamin D Improve Your Athletic Performance?
40、三、Text C(总题数：1，分数：5.00)Whats done cannot be undone, moaned Lady Macbeth in her famous sleepwalking scene. If she woke up in the 21st century, she would be pleased to discover that whatever can be done can be undone, too.Or perhaps it just seems that way in the new social spaces we are carving for ou
41、rselves online. On popular web sites devoted to social networking, innovative verbs have been springing up to describe equally innovative forms of interactions: you can friend someone on Facebook; follow a fellow user on Twitter; or favorite a video on YouTube. Change your mind? You can just as easi
42、ly unfriend, unfollow or unfavorite with a click of the mouse.The recent un-trend has also seeped into the world of advertising. KFC is marketing its new Kentucky Grilled Chicken with the tagline UNthink: Taste the UNfried Side of KFC. The cellphone company MetroPCS challenges you to Unlimit Yoursel
43、f, while its competitor Boost Mobile wants you to get UNoverageD and UNcontractD (ridding yourself of burdensome overage fees and contracts). Even victims of the financial downturn can seek solace in un-: ABC broadcast a special report in May telling viewers how to get Un-Broke.Where did all of this
44、 un- activity come from? Ever since Old English, the un- prefix has come in two basic flavors. It can be used like the word not to negate adjectives (unkind, uncertain, unfair) and the occasional noun (unreason, unrest, unemployment). Or it can attach to a verb to indicate the reversal of an action
45、unbend, unfasten, unmask). Both kinds of un-are ripe for creating new words. The negative variety of the prefix has been particularly fertile for spinning off nouns, at least since 7-Up first branded itself as the Un-Cola in the late 1960s. In the business world we now find unconferences and unmark
46、eting, predicated on the notion that we need to rethink traditional models of conferences and marketing. And beware of unnovation, the opposite of innovation.But its the reversible un- that has really been getting a workout lately, even more so than its semantic sibling de- (as in declutter or defra
47、gment). Our expectations that any action can be taken back have been primed by a few decades of personal computing, which injected the founding metaphor of undoing into the common consciousness. An early glimmer of our Age of Undoing appeared in a prescient 1976 research report by Lance A. Miller an
48、d JohnC. Thomas ofI. B.M., drably titled Behavioral Issues in the Use of Interactive Systems. It would be quite useful, Miller and Thomas observe, to permit users to take back at least the immediately preceding command (by issuing some special undo command). Useful indeed!The undo command would become a crucial feature of text editors and word processors in the PC era, assigned the now-familiar keyboard shortcut of Control-Z by programmers at the research center Xerox PAR C. In the software of the 80s, some undo commands became multilevel, all
