1、专业英语八级（阅读）模拟试卷 90及答案与解析 SECTION A MULTIPLE-CHOICE QUESTIONS In this section there are several passages followed by fourteen multiple-choice questions. For each multiple-choice question, there are four suggested answers marked A , B, C and D. Choose the one that you think is the best answer. 0 (1)Hum
2、ans are damaging the planet at an unprecedented rate and raising risks of abrupt collapses in nature mat could spur disease, deforestation or “dead zones“ in me seas, an international report said on Wednesday. (2)The study, by 1,360 experts in 95 nations, said a rising human population had polluted
3、or over-exploited two-thirds of the ecological systems on which life depends, ranging from clean air to fresh water, in me past 50 years. “At the heart of this assessment is a stark warning,“ said the 45-member board of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. “Human activity is putting such strain on t
4、he natural functions of Earth that the ability of me planets ecosystems to sustain future generations can no longer be taken for granted,“ it said. (3)Ten to 30 percent of mammal, bird and amphibian species were already threatened with extinction, according to the assessment, the biggest review of t
5、he planets life support systems. “Over the past 50 years, humans have changed ecosystems more rapidly and extensively than in any comparable time in human history, largely to meet rapidly growing demands for food, fresh water, timber, fibre and fuel,“ the report said. “This has resulted in a substan
6、tial and largely irreversible loss in the diversity of life on earth,“ it added. More land was changed to cropland since 1945, for instance, man in the 18m and 19th centuries combined. (4)“The harmful consequences of this degradation could grow significantly worse in me next 50 years,“ it said. The
7、report was compiled by experts, including from UN agencies and international scientific and development organizations. (5)UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said me study “shows how human activities are causing environmental damage on a massive scale throughout the world, and how biodiversity the very
8、basis for life on earth is declining at an alarming rate.“ The report said there was evidence mat strains on nature could trigger abrupt changes like the collapse of cod fisheries off Newfoundland in Canada in 1992 after years of over-fishing. (6)Future changes could bring sudden outbreaks of diseas
9、e. Warming of the Great Lakes in Africa due to an autism expert at the University of Utah, is skeptical. The findings. are most useful to researchers attempting to define the underlying developmental neuropathology of autism, she writes in a commentary on the San Diego study, rather than to physicia
10、ns trying to identify young children with autism. Thats because rapid head growth can signal other childhood maladies, including tumors and hydrocephalus, and often means nothing at all. Lainhart calculates that if doctors used head circumference as a screening test for autism, they would pick up 60
11、 healthy children for every autistic one. Courchesne concedes the point, but he still believes its prudent for pediatricians to monitor head growth. The worlds oldest measurement tool still has the power to amaze, he says. It may not provide a definitive diagnosis, but it is inexpensive, non-invasiv
12、e and objective and most of the concerns it raises can quickly be resolved. Where autism is concerned, thats still as good a goal as any. 1 The previous study of autism has shown the following EXCEPT that _. （ A） autistic children have extraordinarily large brains （ B） childrens medical records migh
13、t contain useful information （ C） biological treatment could be applied to cure autism （ D） we can guess some information from abnormal growth pattern 2 The word “haphazardly“ in the fourth paragraph probably means _. （ A） accidentally （ B） frequently （ C） orderly （ D） quickly 3 The attitude of Dr.
14、Lainhart towards the new findings is _. （ A） positive （ B） indifferent （ C） neutral （ D） negative 3 (1)Humans are damaging the planet at an unprecedented rate and raising risks of abrupt collapses in nature mat could spur disease, deforestation or “dead zones“ in me seas, an international report sai
15、d on Wednesday. (2)The study, by 1,360 experts in 95 nations, said a rising human population had polluted or over-exploited two-thirds of the ecological systems on which life depends, ranging from clean air to fresh water, in me past 50 years. “At the heart of this assessment is a stark warning,“ sa
16、id the 45-member board of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. “Human activity is putting such strain on the natural functions of Earth that the ability of me planets ecosystems to sustain future generations can no longer be taken for granted,“ it said. (3)Ten to 30 percent of mammal, bird and amphi
17、bian species were already threatened with extinction, according to the assessment, the biggest review of the planets life support systems. “Over the past 50 years, humans have changed ecosystems more rapidly and extensively than in any comparable time in human history, largely to meet rapidly growin
18、g demands for food, fresh water, timber, fibre and fuel,“ the report said. “This has resulted in a substantial and largely irreversible loss in the diversity of life on earth,“ it added. More land was changed to cropland since 1945, for instance, man in the 18m and 19th centuries combined. (4)“The h
19、armful consequences of this degradation could grow significantly worse in me next 50 years,“ it said. The report was compiled by experts, including from UN agencies and international scientific and development organizations. (5)UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said me study “shows how human activitie
20、s are causing environmental damage on a massive scale throughout the world, and how biodiversity the very basis for life on earth is declining at an alarming rate.“ The report said there was evidence mat strains on nature could trigger abrupt changes like the collapse of cod fisheries off Newfoundla
21、nd in Canada in 1992 after years of over-fishing. (6)Future changes could bring sudden outbreaks of disease. Warming of the Great Lakes in Africa due to(3)But thats only if you dont overdo it, and thats the part that often trips up peanut lovers. There are 14 grams of fat in one serving of peanuts,
22、which is only one ounce. A handful can have up to 200 calories. “The problem is that the portions need to be low so you dont overconsume the calories thats where the public has a disconnect,“ said Madelyn Fernstrom, director of the Weight Management Center at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Cen
23、ter. “Its a well-spent 200 calories if you can limit it to that. The problem is volume. Its very hard to have a small serving of peanuts, meaning a small handful.“ (4)When peanuts were out of favor in the last decade, American consumers seemed to overlook the respectable list of nutrients vitamin E,
24、 niacin, thiamin, riboflavin, vitamin B6, and minerals such as copper, phosphorous, potassium, zinc and magnesium. They also are a good source of fiber and protein. Peanuts also have a small amount of resveratrol, the antioxidant in red wine that has been linked to the “French Paradox“ a low inciden
25、ce of heart disease among the French, despite their love of cheese and other high-fat foods. Research at several universities suggests peanuts may help prevent heart disease, that they can lower bad cholesterol and that they can help with weight loss, possibly by making people feel satisfied so they
26、 eat less overall. One Harvard study showed an association between peanut butter consumption and a reduced risk of diabetes. Even the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has authorized a qualified health claim for peanuts and some tree nuts. Producers can say they may reduce their risk of heart diseas
27、e by eating 1.5 ounces daily. (5)Anna Resurreccion, a University of Georgia food scientist, has focused her research on the resveratrol found in peanuts. By subjecting the nuts to stress slicing the kernels, or subjecting them to ultrasound the resveratrol level greatly surpassed that found in red w
28、ine, she said. This development opens the door for new products, such as enhanced peanut butter that could offer even more health benefits and serve as a way to get resveratrol into childrens diets, she said. “Young children cant very well drink wine,“ Resurrecction said. “But most of them love pean
29、ut butter and peanut snack foods.“ 4 The rhetorical device in the sentence of the first paragraph “Peanuts, a dietary outcast during the fat-phobic 1990s, have made a comeback.“ is _. （ A） personification （ B） simile （ C） metaphor （ D） contrast 5 The relationship between the second and third paragra
30、phs is that _. （ A） they both describe the health benefits of peanuts （ B） the latter presents a striking contrast to the former （ C） the latter provides conclusive statement to the former （ D） me latter offers further supplementation to the former 6 Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the pa
31、ssage as health benefits of peanuts? （ A） To help with weight loss. （ B） To decrease harm of wine. （ C） To reduce risk of diabetes. （ D） To lower bad cholesterol. 6 (1)Yu Zhuoping hasnt taken a vacation in two years, nor does the 44-year-old take many weekends off. Instead he logs 12-hour days in a
32、soccer-pitch-size laboratory filled with flashing computer screens and disemboweled electric motors. Hes trying to build me future in the form of hydrogen-powered cars that can not only work, but can sell. Since Yus team of 28 Ph.D.-level scientists and 200 students at Shanghais Tongji University be
33、gan the work in 2002, theyve come out with two generations of cars built with Chinese technology. “Thats something that nobody thought we could do,“ he says, glancing out from under the silver hood of Start II, the projects newest prototype. “Now people say we wont be able to make mem marketable. So
34、 well just keep working.“ (2)In China such optimism is par for the course. Beijing is undaunted in its ambitions to become a world leader in hydrogen-fuel-cell-powered cars. The dream is not far-fetched. Making hydrogen cars a reality is only partly a matter of coming up with technological breakthro
35、ughs. It also involves replacing gasoline filling stations, refineries and internal-combustion engines with hydrogen equivalents. Chinas relative lack of development may thus be a virtue; the countrys leadership has a relatively clean slate upon which to build a hydrogen-car industry, should it choo
36、se to do so. (3)If the technology could be made cost-competitive with fossil fuels which many analysts predict will happen in the next two decades hydrogen cars would make sense as a national strategy. By marketing China the worlds biggest market for hydrogen cars, Beijing could attract investment i
37、n the latest technology and bootstrap a world-class Chinese auto industry, reducing Chinas demand for imported oil in the bargain. Of course, theres a sizable industry that is pushing the country in the opposite direction, toward fast growth using quick and dirty conventional technology and fuels an
38、d even fighting against tighter emissions controls than in the West. (4)Which strategy China chooses stands to have a huge impact on the country and on the rest of the world. At present, the Middle Kingdom is traversed by relatively few cars only about 20 million. That amounts to barely eight cars p
39、er 1,000 people, which is a far cry from the 100 in Brazil or the 940 in the United States. China is catching up quickly, however. At its current rate of growth, the country will surpass Japan and become the worlds second largest auto market by 2011, with annual sales of 5 million cars, says Yale Zh
40、ang, a research director for the consulting firm GSM worldwide. China, already the worlds second largest importer of oil, would have to double import every 7 or 8 years to keep all these wheels spinning, says James Brock, an energy consultant in Beijing. By steering China toward more fuel-efficient
41、hybrid cars as a precursor to a hydrogen-based auto industry, Beijing would take a giant step toward curbing green-house-gas emissions and reducing the worldwide demand of oil. It would also give the big carmakers an incentive to develop similar vehicles for the China market. (5)Beijing has already
42、begun to create an alternative-energy-vehicle fleet of buses. The central Yangtze port city of Wuhan runs several hybrid buses and, Wang Gang, the chief scientist in charge of Chinas electric-vehicles project, says, city officials are planning to buy more. Beijings public transportation armada inclu
43、des 120 pure-battery buses. Beijing and Shanghai plan to build hydrogen-fueling stations. That will help them when it comes time to convert the countrys 190,000 natural-gas taxis and buses, one of the worlds biggest natural-gas fleets, to hydrogen. (6)State-funded R on grounds there was no U.N. cons
44、ensus on the hot-button issue of whether stem-cell research was a valid medical pursuit or the destruction of human life. Opponents said the text was not legally binding and would have no impact on their scientists pursuit of stem cell research. (4)At the heart of the debate was so-called therapeuti
45、c cloning, in which human embryos are cloned to obtain stem cells used in medical studies and later discarded. (5)Many scientists, backed by governments including Belgium, Britain, Singapore and China, say the technique offers hope for a cure to some 100 million people with such conditions as Alzhei
46、mers, cancer, diabetes and spinal cord injuries. But the United States, Costa Rica, Italy and anti-abortion groups argued that this type of research, for whatever purpose, constitutes the taking of human lives. (6)The UN. debate began with a 2001 proposal by France and Germany for a binding global t
47、reaty banning the cloning of human beings, a plan that had broad international backing. But that effort failed last year after the Bush administration fought to broaden the ban to all cloning of human embryos, including therapeutic cloning. The assemblys treaty-writing legal committee, deeply divide
48、d, abandoned the idea of a treaty and decided instead to pursue a nonbinding declaration. Costa Rican Ambassador Bruno Stagno Ugarte praised the assembly vote as “a historic step“ mat recognized “that therapeutic cloning involves the creation of human life for the purpose of destroying it.“ U.S. env
49、oy Sichan Siv made only a brief comment welcoming the statement. (7)But British Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry, who voted “no“, lamented “the intransigence of those who were not prepared to recognize that other sovereign statesafter extensive dialogue and due democratic process may decide to permit strictly controlled applications of therapeutic cloning.“ “Therapeutic cloning research conducted under strict regulations will contribute to the enhancement of human dignity by relieving millions of people fr
