1、GMAT（ VERBAL）阅读练习试卷 4及答案与解析 1 Two recent publications offer different assessment of the career of the famous British nurse Florence Nightingale. A book by Anne Summers seeks to debunk the idealizations and present a reality at odds with Nightingales heroic reputation. According to Summers, Nightinga
2、les importance during the Crimean War has been exaggerated: not until near the wars end did she become supervisor of the female nurses. Additionally, Summers writes that the contribution of the nurses to the relief of the wounded was at best marginal. The prevailing problems of military medicine wer
3、e caused by army organizaitonal pratices, and the addition of a few nurses to the medical staff could be no more than symbolic. Nightingales place in the national pantheon, Summers asserts, is lrgely due to the propagandistic efforts of contemporary newspaper reporters. By contrast, the editors of a
4、 new volume of Nightingales letters view Nightingale as a person who significantly influenced not only her own age but also subsequenct generations. They highlight her ongoing efforts to reform sanitary conditions after the war. For example, when she learned that peacetime living conditions in Briti
5、sh barracks were so horrible that the death rate of enlisted men far exeeded that of neighboring civilian populations, she succeeded in persuading the government to establish a Royal Commission on the Health of the Army. She used sums raised through public contributions to found a nurses traning hos
6、pital in London. Even in administrative matters, the editors assert, her practical intelligence was formidable: as recently as 1947 the British Armys medical services were still using the cost-accounting system she had devised in the 1860s. I believe that the evidence of her letters supports continu
7、ed respect for Nightingales brilliance and creativity. When counseling a village schoolmaster to encourage children to use their faculties of observation, she sounds like a modern educator. Her insistence on classifying the problems of the needy in order to devise appropriate treatments is similar t
8、o the approach of modern social workers. In sum, although Nightingale may not have achieved all of her goals during the Crimean War, her breadth of vision and ability to realize ambitious projects have earned her an eminent place among the ranks of social pioneers. 1 The passage is primarily concern
9、ed with evaluating_ （ A） the importance of Florence Nightingales innovations in the field of nursing （ B） contrasting approaches to the writing of historical biography （ C） contradictory accounts of Florence Nightingales historical significance （ D） the quality of health care in nineteenth-century E
10、ngland （ E） the effect of the Crimean War on developments in the field of health care 2 According to the passage, the editors of Nightingales letters credit her with contributing to which of the following? （ A） Improving of the survival rate for soldiers in British Army hospitals during the Crimean
11、War （ B） The development of a nurses training curriculum that was far in advance of its day （ C） The increase in the number of women doctors practicing in British Army hospitals （ D） Establishment of the first facility for traiing nurses at a major British university （ E） The creation of an organiza
12、tion for monitoring the peacetime living conditions of British soldiers 3 The passage suggests which of the following about Nightingales relationship with the British public of her day? （ A） She was highly respected, her projects receiving popular and governmental support. （ B） She encountered resis
13、tance both from the army establishment and the general public. （ C） She was supported by the working classes and opposed by the wealthier classes. （ D） She was supported by the military establishment but had to fight the governmental bureaucracy. （ E） After intially being received with enthusiams, s
14、he was quickly forgotten. 4 The passage suggests which of the following about sanitary conditions in Britain after the Crimean War? （ A） While not ideal, they were superior to those in other parts of the world. （ B） Compared with conditions before the war, they had deteriorated. （ C） They were more
15、advanced in rural areas than in the urban centers. （ D） They were worse in military camps than in the neighboring civilian populations. （ E） They were unifromaly crude and unsatisfactory throughout England. 5 Which which of the following statements regarding the differing interpretations of Nighting
16、ales importance would the author most likely agree? （ A） Summers misunderstood both the importance of Nightingales achievements during the Crimean War and her subsequent influence on British policy. （ B） The editors of Nightingales letters made some valid points about her practical achievements, but
17、 they still exaggerated her influence on subsequent genrations. （ C） Although Summers account of Nightingales role in the Crimean War may be accurate, she ignored evidence of Nightingales subsequent achievement that suggests that her reputation as an eminent social reformer is welldeserved. （ D） The
18、 editors of Nightingales letters mistakenly propagated the outdated idealization of Nightingale that only impedes attempts to arrive at a balance assessment of her true role. （ E） The evidence of Nightingales letters supports Summers conclusions both about Nightingales activities and about her influ
19、ence. 6 Which of the following is an assumption underlying the authors assessment of Nightingales creativity? （ A） Educational philosophy in Nightingales day did not normally emphasize developing childrens ability to observe. （ B） Nightingale was the first to notice the poor living conditions in Bri
20、tish military barracks in peacetime. （ C） No educator before Nightingale had thought to enlist the help of village schoolmasters in introducing new teaching techniques. （ D） Until Nightingale began her work, there was no concept of organized help for the needy in nineteenth-century Britain. （ E） The
21、 British Armys medical services had no cost-accounting system until Nightingale devised one in the 1860s. 7 In the last paragraph, the author is primarily concerned with_ （ A） summarizing the arguments about Nightingale presented in the first two paragraphs （ B） refuting the view of Nightingales car
22、eer presented in the preceding paragraph （ C） analyzing the weaknesses of the evidence presented elsewhere in the passage （ D） citing evidence to support a view of Nightingales career （ E） correcting a factual error occurring in one of the works under review 8 A meteor stream is composed of dust par
23、ticles that have been ejected from a parent comet at a variety of velocities. These particles follow the same orbit as the parent comet, but due to their differeing velocities they slowly gain on or fall behind the disintegrating comet until a shroud of dust surrounds the entire cometary orbit. Astr
24、onomers have hypothesized that a meteor stream should broaden with time as the dust particles individual orbits are perturbed by planetary gravitational fields. A recent computer-modeling experimetn tested this hypothesis by tracking the influence of planetary gravitation over a projected 5,000-year
25、 period on the positions of a group of hypothetical dust particles. In the model, the particles were randomly distributed throughout a computer simulation of the orbit of an actual meteor stream, the Geminid. The researcher found, as expected, that the computer-model stream broadened with time. Cove
26、ntional theories, however, predicted that the distribution of particles would be increaingly dense toward the center of a meteor stream. Surpringly, the computer-model meteor stream gradually came to resemble a thick-walled, hollow pipe. Whenever the Earth passes through a meteor stream, a meteor sh
27、ower occurs. Moving at a little over 1,500,000 miles per day around its orbit, the Earth would take, on average, just over a day to cross the hollow, computer-model Geminid stream if the stream were 5,000 years old. Two brief periods of peak meteor activity during the shower would be observed, one a
28、s the Earth entered the thick-walled “pipe” and one as it exited. There is no reason why the Earth should always pass through the streams exact center, so the time interval between the two bursts of activity would vary from one year to the next. Has the predicted twin-peaked activity been observed f
29、or the actual yearly GEminid meteor shower? The Geminid data between 1970 and 1979 show just such a bifurcation, a secondary burst of meteor activity being clearly visible at an average of 19 hourse (1,200,000 miles) after the first burst. The time intervals between the bursts suggest the actual Gem
30、inid stream is about 3,000 years old. 8 The primary focus of the passage is on which of the following? （ A） Comparing two scientific theories and contrasting the predictions that each would make concerning a natural phenomenon （ B） Describing a new theoretical model and noting that it explains the n
31、ature of observations made of a particular natural phenomenon （ C） Evaluating the results of a particular scientific experiment and suggesting further areas for research （ D） Explaining how two different natural phenomena are related and demonstrating a way to measure them （ E） Analyzing recent data
32、 derived from observations of an actual phenomenon and constructing a model to explain the data 9 According to the passage, which of the following is an accurate statement concerning meteor streams? （ A） Meteor streams and comets start out with smiliar orbits, but only those of meteor streams are pe
33、rturbed by planetary gravittion. （ B） Meteor streams grow as dust particles are attracted by the gravitational fields of comets. （ C） Meteor streams are composed of dust particles derived from comets. （ D） Comets may be composed of several kinds of materials, while meteor streams consitst only of la
34、rge dust particles. （ E） Once formed, meteor streams hasten the further disintegration of comets. 10 The author states that the research described in the first paragraph was undertaken in order to_ （ A） determine the age of an actual meteor stream （ B） Identify the various structural features of met
35、eor streams （ C） explore the nature of a particularly interesting meteor stream （ D） test the hypothesis that meteor streams become broader as they age （ E） show that a computer model could help in explaining actual astronomical data 11 It can be inferred from the passage that which of the following
36、 would most probably be observed during the Earths passage through a meteor stream if the conventional theories mentioned in line 18 were_ （ A） Meteor activity would gradually increase to a single, intense peak, and then gradually decline. （ B） Meteor activity would be steady throughout the period o
37、f the meteor shower. （ C） Meteor activity would rise to a peak at the beginning and at the end of the meteor shower. （ D） Random bursts of very high meteor activity would be interspersed with periods of very little activity. （ E） In years in which the Earth passed through only the outer areas of a m
38、eteor stream, meteor activity would be absent. 12 According to the passage, why do the dust particles in a meteor stream eventually surround a comets orginla orbit? （ A） They are ejected by the comet at differing velocities. （ B） Their orbits are uncontrolled by planetary gravitational fields. （ C）
39、They become part of the meteor stream at different times. （ D） Their velocity slows over time. （ E） Their ejection velocity is slower than that of the comet. 13 The passage suggests that which of the following is a prediction concerning meteor streams that can be derived from both the conventional t
40、heories mentioned in line 18 and the new computer-derived theory? （ A） Dust particles in a meteor stream will usually be distributed evenly throughout any cross section of the steam. （ B） The orbits of most meteor streams should cross the orbit of the Earth at some point and give rise to a meteor sh
41、ower. （ C） Over time the distribution of dust in a meteor stream will usually become denser at the outside edges of the stream than at the center. （ D） Meteor showers caused by older by older meteor streams should be, on average, longer in duration than those caused by very young meteor streams. （ E
42、） The individual dust particles in older meteor streams should be, on average, smaller than those that compose younger meteor streams. 14 It can be inferred from the last paragraph of the passage that which of the following must be true of the Earth as it orbits the Sun? （ A） Most meteor streams it
43、encounters are more than 2,000 years old. （ B） When passing through a meteor stream, it usually passes near to the streams center. （ C） It crosses the Geminid meteor stream once every year. （ D） It usually takes over a day to cross the actual Geminid meteor stream. （ E） It accounts of msot of the gr
44、avitaitonal perturbation affecting the Geminid meteor stream. 15 Which of the following is an assumption underlying the last sentence of the passage? （ A） In each of the years between 1970 and 1979, the Earth took exactly 19 hours to cross the Geminid meteor stream. （ B） The comet associated with th
45、e Geminid meteor stream has totally disintegrated. （ C） The Geminid meteor stream should continue to exist for at least 5,000 years. （ D） The Geminid meteor stream has not broadended as rapidly as the conventiona ltheories would have predicted. （ E） The computer-model Geminid meteor stream provides
46、an accurate representation of the development of the actual Geminid stream. 16 Most large corporations in the United States were once run by individual capitalists who owned enough stock to dominate the board of directors and dictate company policy. Because putting such large amounts of (5) stock on
47、 the market would only depress its value, they could not sell out for a quick profit and instead had to concentrate on improving the long-term productivity of their companies. Today, with few exceptions, the stock of large United States corporations is held by large (10) institutions-pension funds,
48、for example-and because these institutions are prohibited by antitrust laws from owning a majority of a companys stock and from actively influencing a companys decision-making, they can enhance their wealth only by buying and selling (15) stock in anticipation of fluctuations in its value. A minorit
49、y shareholder is necessarily a short term trader. As a result, United States productivity is unlikely to improve unless shareholders and the managers of the companies in which they invest are encouraged to (20) enhance long-term productivity (and hence long-term profitability), rather than simply to maximize short- term profits. Since the return of the old-style capitalist is unlikely, todays short-term traders must be remade into (25) tomorrows long-term capitalistic investors. The legal limits that now prevent financial institu
