1、专业英语八级（阅读）练习试卷 23及答案与解析 0 If Najibullah Zazi is everything the FBI says he is, then the Afghan-born Denver airport-shuttle-bus driver represents a new kind of menace for the U.S His arrest is a double blessing: it may have thwarted a terrorism plot, and it could give counter terrorism officials a go
2、ldmine of information on al-Qaeda, the Taliban and the state of the global jihad. It may be weeks before we know if Zazi is indeed a terrorist. Although the FBI believes he and others were plotting to bomb targets in the U.S., Zazi has been charged only with lying to the authorities. He and his fath
3、er Mohammed have denied involvement in any terrorism plot. The FBI is working to build a stronger case against the pair, and terrorism-related charges are expected imminently. But if it turns out the FBIs suspicions are accurate, then counter terrorism experts will be especially interested in Zazi n
4、ot least because of his origins. Afghans “have not been a major component of the transnational jihadi network,“ says Kamran Bokhari, director of Middle East analysis at the intelligence firm Stratfor. Afghan jihadis have tended to join the Taliban, which has traditionally limited its attentions to A
5、fghanistan and northern Pakistan. But Robert Grenier, a former CIA station chief in Pakistan, believes the Talibans worldview has changed a great deal since the government it ran was overthrown by the U.S.-led invasion in 2001. “The Afghan Taliban see themselves quite differently now from 9/11: many
6、 of the leaders now see themselves as part of the global jihad,“ says Grenier, who now heads the consulting firm ERG Partners. So it wouldnt be a surprise if the Taliban decided to mount a plot against targets in the U.S. “There are probably people in the Taliban who are saying, To get rid of the U.
7、S., its not enough to fight them here,“ says Lawrence Korb, a national-security expert at the Center for American Progress. After all, he points out, al-Qaedas rationale for attacks on the U.S. was “to get us out of Saudi Arabia.“ Nor is the sentiment restricted to the ranks of the Taliban. “Lots of
8、 Afghans see the U.S. presence as an occupation, and I can easily see how some of them would be motivated to strike at the U.S. wherever they can,“ Grenier says. Korb points out that there is a great deal of anger among Afghans over U.S. policies in their country. “There are people who feel we didnt
9、 keep our promises President Bush talked of a Marshall Plan for Afghanistan,“ he says. “Some Afghans now wonder if were not just like the Soviets.“ Its hard to know if the Taliban has been specifically recruiting Afghans for international operations. If Zazi turns out to be linked to a terrorism plo
10、t, he may be no more than “an instrument of opportunity, someone who got in touch with them, who shared their ideology, and whom they thought they could use,“ says Bokhari. Apart from Zazis Afghan background, counter terrorism experts will be especially keen to know about his associations in Pakista
11、n. The FBI says Zazi has admitted he spent time at an al-Qaeda camp in Pakistan in 2008, receiving training in weapons and explosives. If that is true, then Zazi could be a very valuable source of information on how al-Qaeda trains jihadis now. What U.S. counter terrorism officials know about jihadi
12、 training camps is based mostly on intelligence gleaned after al-Qaedas.bases in Afghanistan were overrun in 2001. Relatively little is known about the camps in Pakistan, which are located close to the border with Afghanistan. “If Zazi met or trained with terrorists along the Afghan-Pakistan border,
13、 any insights we glean could add considerably to our ever expanding base of knowledge on al-Qaeda or other terrorist groups,“ says a U.S. counter terrorism official. “Thats a good thing for us and very bad thing for our enemies.“ 1 Which of the following is NOT true about Zazi? （ A） He is a terroris
14、t. （ B） He was born in Afghan. （ C） He was once in Pakistan. （ D） He is a driver at Denver airport. 2 What does “menace“ mean in Paragraph 1? （ A） blessing （ B） benefit （ C） threat （ D） intelligence 3 Which of the following is NOT true about the Taliban? （ A） The Taliban and the global jihad are sep
15、arate terrorist groups. （ B） The Afghan jihadis wanted to become members of the Taliban. （ C） The Taliban is becoming a major composite of the global jihad. （ D） The Taliban tend to regard themselves as part of the global jiha 4 What can be inferred from Zazis arrest? （ A） It may have prevented a te
16、rrorism attack. （ B） It might greatly benefit U.S. Intelligence. （ C） It might force U.S. to change its policies in Afghan. （ D） It may prove Afghans malicious attitude toward U.S 5 Zazis issue shows the following EXCEPT _. （ A） Afghans are angry with U.S. policies. （ B） The Taliban are not alone in
17、 fighting against the U.S （ C） The Taliban is training Afghans to attack U.S. targets. （ D） The Taliban may make use of Afghans hatred to U.S 5 Throughout the U.S. students are getting out their No. 2 pencils, ready endure a stress- packed four hours of bubbling in answers for the Dec. 12 administra
18、tion of the ACT, part of some 1.5 million expected to take the test this school year. Standardized tests have been a scourge of student life in America for more than 50 years, but its fair to say theyre more pressure-packed and ubiquitous than ever before. The ACT and its counterpart, the SAT, have
19、become one of the largest determining factors in the college-admissions process, particularly for elite schools. At least this years applicants should be familiar with the format by now: students in the U.S. are taking more standardized tests than ever before, and at ages long before college beckons
20、. The earliest record of standardized testing comes from China, where hopefuls for government jobs had to fill out examinations testing their knowledge of Confucian philosophy and poetry. In the Western world, examiners usually favored giving essays, a tradition stemming from the ancient Greeks affi
21、nity for the Socratic method. But as the Industrial Revolution (and the progressive movement of the early 1800s that followed) took school-age kids out of the farms and factories and put them behind desks, standardized testing emerged as an easy way to test large numbers of students quickly. In 1905
22、, French psychologist Alfred Binet began developing a standardized test of intelligence, work that would eventually be incorporated into a version of the modem IQ test, dubbed the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test. By World War I, standardized testing was standard practice: aptitude quizzes called Ar
23、my Mental Tests were conducted to assign U.S. servicemen jobs during the war effort. But grading was done manually at first, an arduous task that undermined standardized testings goal of speedy mass assessment. It would take until 1936 for the first automatic test scanner was developed, a rudimentar
24、y computer called the IBM 805. It used electrical current to detect marks made by special pencils on tests, giving rise to the now-ubiquitous bubbling-in of answers. (Modem optical scanners opt to use simple No. 2 pencils, as their darker lead is most scanner-friendly.) The SAT and the ACT are by fa
25、r the most famed standardized tests today. The SAT came first, founded in 1926 as the Scholastic Aptitude Test by the College Board, a non-profit group of universities and other educational organizations. The original test lasted 90 minutes, with 315 questions testing knowledge of definitions, basic
26、 math and even an early iteration of its famed fill-in-the-blank analogies (e.g. blue: sky:_:grass). By 1930, the test grew and assumed its now-familiar form, with separate verbal and math tests. By the end of World War II, the test was accepted by enough universities that it became a standard right
27、-of-passage for college-bound high school seniors. It remained largely unchanged (save the occasional tweak) until 2005, when the analogies were done away with and a writing section was added. (That extra section is graded separately from the verbal test, boosting the elusive perfect SAT score from
28、1600 to 2400.) In 1959, an education professor at the University of Iowa named Everett Franklin Lindquist (who later pioneered the first generation of optical scanners and the development of the GED test) developed the ACT test as a competitor to the SAT. Originally an acronym for American College T
29、esting, the exam also included a section to guide students toward a course of study by asking questions about their interests. In addition to math, reading and English skills, the ACT assesses students on their knowledge of scientific facts and principles; the test scored on a scale of 36. Both the
30、ACT and SAT have found their niche. The ACT is more commonly accepted in the Midwest and South, while schools on the coast show a preference for the SAT. Students also show a propensity for one test or the other: the SAT is geared toward testing logic, while the ACT is considered more a test of accu
31、mulated knowledge. One thing both tests have in common? Their names no longer have any official meaning. Any pretense of the letters standing for acronyms was dropped decades ago. Theyre now simply the ACT and SAT. In the 21st century, however, the SAT and ACT are just part of a gauntlet of tests st
32、udents may face before reaching college. The College Board also offers SAT II tests, designed for individual subjects ranging from Biology to Geography. The marathon, four-hour Advanced Placement examinations which some universities accept for students who want to opt out of introductory college-lev
33、el classes remain popular: nearly 350,000 took the AP U.S. History test last year, the most popular subject test offered. Theres also the PSAT, taken in the junior year as preparation for the full-blown SAT and as an assessment for the coveted National Merit Scholarships. And weve still only covered
34、 high school one of the main criticisms of President Bushs 2001 “No Child Left Behind“ education reform was its expansion of state-mandated standardized testing as means of assessing school performance. Now most students are tested each year of grade school as well. That means that by the time they
35、graduate to collegewhere the essay, the experiment and the case study still rule the reprieve from bubble-filling and time limits is a welcome one, indeed. 6 What does “scourge“ mean in Paragraph 1? （ A） part （ B） composite （ C） way （ D） suffering 7 Which of the following is NOT true about standardi
36、zed testing? （ A） It originated from China. （ B） It is favored by colleges as well as students. （ C） It became the usual way of testing by World WarI. （ D） It plays an important role in college admission process. 8 Which of the following is NOT true about SAT and ACT? （ A） The two tests score on dif
37、ferent scales. （ B） The two tests are focused on different subjects. （ C） The ACT stands for American College Testing. （ D） The ACT was designed to compete against the SAT. 9 It can be inferred from the last paragraph that _. （ A） Standardized testing is very popular in the States. （ B） Standardized
38、 testing is used to assess school performance. （ C） Standardized testing is efficient in choosing elite students. （ D） People dislike the practice of assessing schools by means of standardized testin 10 What is the authors attitude towards standardized testing? （ A） Neutral. （ B） Approving. （ C） Dis
39、approving. （ D） Sympatheti 专业英语八级（阅读）练习试卷 23答案与解析 【知识模块】 阅读 1 【正确答案】 A 【试题解析】 此题是事实题。虽然 FBI认为 Zazi是一名恐怖分子，但还需几个星期来证明这一推测。 【知识模块】 阅读 2 【正确答案】 C 【试题解析】 此题是词义理解题。由第一段大意可知， C应为正确答案。 【知识模块】 阅读 3 【正确答案】 A 【试题解析】 此题是事实题。由第三段可知，塔利班已成为吉哈德组织的一部分。 【知识模块】 阅读 4 【正 确答案】 B 【试题解析】 此题是推理概括题。由全文可知， Zazi的被捕对美国情报局是一大利好
40、。 【知识模块】 阅读 5 【正确答案】 C 【试题解析】 此题是事实题。由第六段可知，对于塔利班是否训练阿富汗人袭击国际目标，美方尚不得而知。 【知识模块】 阅读 【知识模块】 阅读 6 【正确答案】 D 【试题解析】 此题是词义理解题。结合上下文可知，标准化测试对学生来说是一种痛苦。 【知识模块】 阅读 7 【正确答案】 B 【试题解析】 此题是事实题 。由第一、二、三段可知，选项 B是正确答案。 【知识模块】 阅读 8 【正确答案】 C 【试题解析】 此题是事实题。由第四、五段可知， ACT就是 ACT，已不代表任何名称。 【知识模块】 阅读 9 【正确答案】 D 【试题解析】 此题是推断题。人们批评美国前总统布什 2001年教育改革中将标准化测试作为衡量学校的一种方式。 【知识模块】 阅读 10 【正确答案】 C 【试题解析】 此题是推理概括题。由全文最后一句可知，作者对标准化测试持不赞成态度。 【知识模块 】 阅读
