1、国家公共英语五级（阅读理解）练习试卷 1及答案与解析 Part A Directions: Read the following texts and answer the questions which accompany them by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1. 0 Most earthquakes occur within the upper 15 miles of the earths surface. But earthquakes can and do occur at all depths
2、 to about 460 miles. Their number decreases as the depth increases. At about 460 miles one earthquake occurs only every few years. Near the surface earthquakes may run as high as 100 in a month, but the yearly average does not vary much. In comparison with the total number of earthquakes each year,
3、the number of disastrous earthquakes is very small. The extent of the disaster in an earthquake depends on many factors. If you carefully build a toy house with an erect set, it will still stand no matter how much you shake the table. But if you build a toy house with a pack of cards, a slight shake
4、 of the table will make it fall. An earthquake in Agadir, Morocco, was not strong enough to be recorded on distant instruments, but it completely destroyed the city. Many stronger earthquakes have done comparatively little damage. If a building is well constructed and built on solid ground, it will
5、resist an earthquake. Most deaths in earthquakes have been due to faulty building construction or poor building sites. A third and very serious factor is panic. When people rush out into narrow streets, more deaths will result. The United Nations has played an important part in reducing the damage d
6、one by earthquakes. It has sent a team of experts to all countries known to be affected by earthquakes. Working with local geologists and engineers, the experts have studied the nature of the ground and the type of most practical building code for the local area. If followed, these suggestions will
7、make disastrous earthquakes almost a thing of the past. There is one type of earthquake disaster that little can be done about. This is the disaster caused by seismic sea waves, or tsunamis. (These are often called tidal waves, but the name is incorrect. They have nothing to do with tides.) In certa
8、in areas, earthquakes take place beneath the sea. These submarine earthquakes sometimes give rise to seismic sea waves. The waves are not noticeable out at sea because of their long wave length. But when they roll into harbors, they pile up into walls of water 6 to 60 feet high. The Japanese call th
9、em “tsunamis“, meaning “harbor waves“, because they reach a sizable height only in harbors. Tsunamis travel fairly slowly, at speeds up to 500 miles an hour. An adequate warning system is in use to warn all shores likely to be reached by the waves. But this only enables people to leave the threatene
10、d shores for higher ground. There is no way to stop the oncoming wave. 1 Which of the following CAN NOT be concluded from the passage? （ A） The number of earthquakes is closely related to depth. （ B） Roughly the same number of earthquakes occur each year. （ C） Earthquakes are impossible at depths ov
11、er 460 miles. （ D） Earthquakes are most likely to occur near the surfaces. 2 The destruction of Agadir is an example of _. （ A） faulty building construction （ B） an earthquakes strength （ C） widespread panic in earthquakes （ D） ineffective instruments 3 The United Nations experts are supposed to _.
12、（ A） construct strong buildings （ B） put forward proposals （ C） detect disastrous earthquakes （ D） monitor earthquakes 4 The significance of the slow speed of tsunamis is that people may _. （ A） notice them out at sea （ B） find ways to stop them （ C） be warned early enough （ D） develop warning syste
13、ms 5 Tsunamis is terrible because _. （ A） they attack harbors （ B） a warning system is developed （ C） there is no way to stop the oncoming wave （ D） they travel slowly 5 Why does the Western movie especially have such a hold on our imagination? Chiefly, I think, because it offers serious insights in
14、to the problem of violence such as can be found almost nowhere in our culture. One of the well-known peculiarities of modern civilized opinion is its refusal to acknowledge the value of violence. This refusal is virtue, but like many virtues it involves a certain willful blindness and it encourages
15、hypocrisy. We train ourselves to be shocked or bored by cultural images of violence, and our very concept of heroism tends to be a passive one: we are less drawn to the brave young men who kill large numbers of our enemies than to the heroic prisoners who endure torture without capitulating. And in
16、the criticism of popular culture, the presence of images of violence is often assumed to be in itself a sufficient ground for condemnation. These attitudes, however, have not reduced the element of violence in our culture but have helped to free it from moral control by letting it take on the aura o
17、f “emancipation“. The celebration of acts of violence is left more and more to the irresponsible. The gangster movie, with its numerous variations, belongs to a cultural “underground“ which glamorizes violence and sets it against all our higher social attitudes. It is more “modern“ genre than the We
18、stern movie, perhaps even more profound, because it confronts industrial society on its own ground the city and because, like much of our advanced art, it gains its effects by a gross insistence on its own narrow logic. But it is anti-social, resting on fantasies of irresponsible freedom. If we are
19、brought finally to acquiesce in the denial of these fantasies, it is only because they have been shown to be dangerous, not because they have given way to higher values of behavior. In war movies, to be sure. it is possible to present violence within a framework of responsibility. But there is the d
20、isadvantage that modern war is a co-operative enterprise in which violence is largely impersonal and heroism belongs to the group more than to the individual. The hero of a war movie is most often simply a leader, and his superiority is likely to be expressed in a denial of the heroic: you are not s
21、upposed to be brave, you are supposed to get the job done and stay alive (this too, of course, is a kind of heroic posture, but a new and “practical“ one). At its best, the war movie may represent a more civilized point of view than the Western, and if it was not continually marred by ideological se
22、ntimentality we might hope to find it developing into a higher form of dry. But it cannot supply the values we seek in the Western movies. These values are in the image of a single man who wears a gun on his thigh. The gun tells us that he lives in a world of violence, and even that he “believes in
23、violence“. But the drama is one of self restraint: the moment of violence must come in its own time and according to its special laws, or else, it is valueless. He is there to remind us of the possibility of style in an age which has put on itself the burden of pretending that style has no meaning,
24、and, in the midst of our anxieties over the problem of violence, to suggest that even in killing or being killed we are not freed from the necessity of establishing satisfactory models of behavior. 6 The reason given for our acceptance of a gangsters downfall is our bring convinced that _. （ A） his
25、behavior is wrong （ B） he is a threat to society （ C） his aspirations are unrealistic （ D） he represents a denial of freedom 7 Violence in modern societies is seen, it is claimed in paragraph 2, as _. （ A） a symbol of freedom （ B） something sacred （ C） morally controlled （ D） basic to our culture 8
26、The word “acquiesce“ (Line 10, Para. 2) is closest in meaning to _. （ A） acceptance （ B） refusal （ C） devotion （ D） giving up 9 War films present the hero as _. （ A） pragmatic （ B） impersonal （ C） un-heroic （ D） posturing 10 Tile image of the Western hero is intended to show us that _. （ A） violence
27、 need not cause us concern （ B） killing and death are not important （ C） our modern age is lacking in style （ D） there is always a need for standards 国家公共英语五级（阅读理解）练习试卷 1答案与解析 Part A Directions: Read the following texts and answer the questions which accompany them by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark you
28、r answers on ANSWER SHEET 1. 【知识模块】 阅读理解 1 【正确答案】 C 【 试题解析】 文章第一段说明了地震发生的种种特点。 A、 B、 D几种情况都被涉及在内。 其中 “At about 460 miles one earthquake Occurs only every few years ”一句说明在 460 miles 左右的深度地震发生的频率比较低，但并非不可能。所以 C选项在句义上有些绝对。 【知识模块】 阅读理解 2 【正确答案】 A 【试题解析】 文章第二段主要讲述地震和建筑的关系。 Agadir的例子主要为了说明地震对 不坚固的建筑危害更大。
29、【知识模 块】 阅读理解 3 【正确答案】 B 【试题解析】 文章第三段主要讲述 experts的作用。 “The experts have studied the nature of the ground and the type of most practical building code for the local area ”并且提出 suggestions。 【知识模块】 阅读理解 4 【正确答案】 C 【试题解析】 文章第四段中 “Tsunamis travel fairly slowly. An adequate warning system is in use to warn
30、 all shores likely to be reached by the waves ”说明Tsunamis的慢速度使人们有时间得 到预警而离开。 【知识模块】 阅读理解 5 【正确答案】 C 【试题解析】 文章第四段主要讲述 Tsunamis的一些特点。其中最令人们头疼的是它引起地 震，但 “There is no way to stop the oncoming wave ” 【知 识模块】 阅读理解 【知识模块】 阅读理解 6 【正确答案】 B 【试题解析】 从全文来看，作者并没有对暴力持否定态度，所以 A不对。 C明显不对。文 中讲到： But it is anti-social
31、， resting on fantasies of irresponsible freedom恰恰与 D相反。 第二段的最后一句话的意思是：如果我们否定这些行为的唯一原因只是这些行为看起来是 危险的。言外之意为对社会构成威胁。所以选 B。 【知识模块】 阅读理解 7 【正确答案】 A 【试题解析】 emancipation， freedom以及段落的整体意思都可说明暴力在现代社会中是自 由的象征。但作者在这一段中也阐述了暴力的不足，所以 B、 D是不对的。 C刚好与原文 意思相反。因此选 A。 【知识模块】 阅读理解 8 【正确答案】 A 【试题解析】 这个词所处的句子是一个条件关系的复合句。
32、后面给出可能的原因(暴力的 危险性以及被更高的价值所取代 )，所造成的合乎情理的结果可能是对暴力的否定，所以对 于 the denial of these fantasies的态度应该是认同或 者接受。而acceptance符合文章中人们对 否定暴力的总体态度。 【知识模块】 阅读理解 9 【正确答案】 A 【试题解析】 这道题容易断章取义而选错。原文中， violence是 impersonal而不是 hero，所 以不能选 B。根据文章，只要把任务完成，保住性命就可以了，我们可以看出这是比较实用 主义的，而且括号中的补充说明也提到了 practical，与pragmatic意思是相近的。所以选 A。 【知识模块】 阅读理解 10 【正确答案】 D 【试题解析】 最后一段 的最后一句为： suggest that even in killing or being killed we are not freed from the necessity of establishing satisfactory models of behavior可以引申出现代社会 还是需要一定的社会标准作为规范的。 【知识模块】 阅读理解
