1、专业英语八级（阅读）练习试卷 26及答案与解析 0 FRANKFURT I bumped down in Frankfurt at 10:55 AM. A German landing, I thought unsubtle 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 at some remove from Caspar David
2、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 Sunday and nobody really cares. “Welcome to the most boring Ge
3、rman 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 the cause for concern: mor
4、e 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. Now mighty Germany chooses
5、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. Modern Germany, the Johnn
6、y-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, Joachim Gauck, ran her clo
7、se: “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 her center-right
8、Christian Democratic Union. Merkel has been a leader in the image of a settled Germany. Everything about her screams drama over Brandt on his knees in the Warsaw ghetto; chain-smoking Schmidt (“a politician with vision needs to see an ophthalmologist“) fighting the fight for medium-range U.S. missil
9、es; 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 chief oppone
10、nt 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 little. If Mer
11、kel gets her favored option a center-right coalition with the liberal Free Democrats tax 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 reforms of rece
12、nt 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 countrys n
13、umbness. Nothing not 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 Armageddon seems able to stir Germans from contemplation of their navels. This is bad for Europe. The world wanted a boring Ge
14、rmany 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 soporific
15、. 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. W
16、e 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 Ea
17、st, 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. 1 Which of the following is true about the German election? （ A） People ar
18、e 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 _. （ A） punctual （ B） hopeless （ C） dull （ D） stable 3 What is the authors attitude toward Germany? （ A） re
19、served （ B） neutral （ C） pessimistic （ D） optimistic 4 According to the author, who will win the election? （ A） Barbel Bohley （ B） Joachim Gauck （ C） Angela Merkel （ D） Frank-Walter Steinmeier 5 The purpose in writing the passage is _. （ A） to explain why Germany is hopeful （ B） to predict the resul
20、t of German election （ C） to analyze the current situation of Germany （ D） to draw an analogy between Germany and the Middle East 5 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
21、fairly 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
22、 ultraviolet 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, researche
23、rs found 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
24、 Family 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
25、a review article 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-
26、n (which is 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
27、 says. “Were only 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
28、 other precautions 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-
29、liver oil provides a whopping 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 “insuffici
30、ent“ levels of Vitamin D 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 Vi
31、tamin D and athletic performance, 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
32、 and world-beating athletes. 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
33、by an impressive 7.4 percent. 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 impa
34、ir muscle power. Low levels might 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 an
35、d calcium. A number of recent studies 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
36、 then experience an abrupt drop 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
37、suffers. 6 People can get vitamin D from the following EXCEPT _. （ A） Sunlight. （ B） Cod-liver oil. （ C） Medium exercise. （ D） Supplements of Vitamin 7 Vitamin D is important in the following EXCEPT _. （ A） developing stronger bones （ B） allowing body cells to metabolize （ C） allowing body cells to
38、make use of calcium （ D） allowing the immune system to function properly 8 When can we get the most Vitamin D? （ A） At noon. （ B） In August. （ C） In September. （ D） All the year roun 9 What does the passage mainly tell us? （ A） Vitamin D is important in our life. （ B） Many of us are lacking in Vitam
39、in D. （ C） Vitamin D can improve our athletic performance. （ D） There is little research about Vitamin D and athletic performanc 10 Which of the following is the best title for this passage? （ A） Where Can We Get Vitamin D? （ B） Do You Have Enough Vitamin D? （ C） What Are the Functions of Vitamin D?
40、 （ D） Can Vitamin D Improve Your Athletic Performance? 专业英语八级（阅读）练习试卷 26答案与解析 【知识模块】 阅读 1 【正确答案】 D 【试题解析】 此题是事实题。由第三段可知，无人在乎此次大选。 【知识模块】 阅读 2 【正确答案】 B 【试题解析】 此题是推断题。全文主题是德国是一个充满希望的 国家，故选项 B不是作者对德国的印象。 【知识模块】 阅读 3 【正确答案】 D 【试题解析】 此题是推断题。作者认为德国是一个充满希望的国家，因此对德国持乐观态度。 【知识模块】 阅读 4 【正确答案】 C 【试题解析】 此题是推断题。
41、作者认为 Angela Merkel将赢得大选。 【知识模块】 阅读 5 【正确答案】 A 【试题解析】 此题是推断题。全文在谈论为什么作者认为德国是一个充满希望的国家。 【知识模块】 阅读 【知识模块】 阅读 6 【正确答案】 C 【试题解析】 此题是事实题。由第一段可知，维生素 D可通过晒太阳、饮食和补充剂来获取。 【知识模块】 阅读 7 【正确答案】 B 【试题解析】 此题是事实题。由第三段可知，维生素 D有利于钙的吸收，而钙是细胞新陈代谢所必需的。 【知识模块】 阅读 8 【正确答案】 B 【试题解析】 此题是事实题。由最后一段可知，八月份太阳中紫外线最多，故维D的摄入也最多。 【知识模块】 阅读 9 【正确答案】 C 【试题解析】 此题是主旨大意题。综合全文 可知， C为正确答案。 【知识模块】 阅读 10 【正确答案】 D 【试题解析】 此题是推理概括题。综合全文可知， D为正确答案。 【知识模块】 阅读
