1、雅思（阅读）模拟试卷 50及答案与解析 一、 Reading Module (60 minutes) 0 You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1 13 which are based on Reading Passage 1 below. GLASS CAPTURING THE DANCE OF LIGHT A Glass, in one form or another, has long been in noble service to humans. As one of the most widely used of manufac
2、tured materials, and certainly the most versatile, it can be as imposing as a telescope mirror the width of a tennis court or as small and simple as a marble rolling across dirt. The uses of this adaptable material have been broadened dramatically by new technologies: glass fibre optics more than ei
3、ght million miles carrying telephone and television signals across nations; glass ceramics serving as the nose cones of missiles and as crowns for teeth; tiny glass beads taking radiation doses inside the body to specific organs; even a new type of glass fashioned of nuclear waste in order to dispos
4、e of that unwanted material.B On the horizon are optical computers. These could store programs and process information by means of light pulses from tiny lasers rather than electrons. And the pulses would travel over glass fibres, not copper wire. These machines could function hundreds of times fast
5、er than todays electronic computers and hold vastly more information. Today fibre optics are used to obtain a clearer image of smaller and smaller objects than ever before even bacterial viruses. A new generation of optical instruments is emerging that can provide detailed imaging of the inner worki
6、ngs of cells. It is the surge in fibre optic use and in liquid crystal displays that has set the U.S. glass industry(a 16 billion dollar business employing some 150,000 workers)to building new plants to meet demand.C But it is not only in technology and commerce that glass has widened its horizons.
7、The use of glass as art, a tradition going back at least to Roman times, is also booming. Nearly everywhere, it seems, men and women are blowing glass and creating works of art. I didnt sell a piece of glass until 1975, Dale Chihuly said, smiling, for in the 18 years since the end of the dry spell,
8、he has become one of the most financially successful artists of the 20th century. He now has a new commission a glass sculpture for the headquarters building of a pizza company for which his fee is half a million dollars.D But not all the glass technology that touches our lives is ultra-modern. Cons
9、ider the simple light bulb; at the turn of the century most light bulbs were hand blown, and the cost of one was equivalent to half a days pay for the average worker. In effect, the invention of the ribbon machine by Corning in the 1920s lighted a nation. The price of a bulb plunged. Small wonder th
10、at the machine has been called one of the great mechanical achievements of all time. Yet it is very simple: a narrow ribbon of molten glass travels over a moving belt of steel in which there are holes. The glass sags through the holes and into waiting moulds. Puffs of compressed air then shape the g
11、lass. In this way, the envelope of a light bulb is made by a single machine at the rate of 66,000 an hour, as compared with 1,200 a day produced by a team of four glassblowers.E The secret of the versatility of glass lies in its interior structure. Although it is rigid, and thus like a solid, the at
12、oms are arranged in a random disordered fashion, characteristic of a liquid. In the melting process, the atoms in the raw materials are disturbed from their normal position in the molecular structure; before they can find their way back to crystalline arrangements the glass cools. This looseness in
13、molecular structure gives the material what engineers call tremendous formability which allows technicians to tailor glass to whatever they need.F Today, scientists continue to experiment with new glass mixtures and building designers test their imaginations with applications of special types of gla
14、ss. A London architect, Mike Davies, sees even more dramatic buildings using molecular chemistry. Glass is the great building material of the future, the “dynamic skin“, he said. Think of glass that has been treated to react to electric currents going through it, glass that will change from clear to
15、 opaque at the push of a button, that gives you instant curtains. Think of how the tall buildings in New York could perform a symphony of colours as the glass in them is made to change colours instantly. Glass as instant curtains is available now, but the cost is exorbitant. As for the glass changin
16、g colours instantly, that may come true. Mike Daviess vision may indeed be on the way to fulfilment.Adapted from Glass; Capturing the Dance of Light by William S. Ellis, National GeographicQuestions 1-5Reading Passage 1 has six paragraphs(A- F). Choose the most suitable heading for each paragraph fr
17、om the list of headings below. Write the appropriate numbers(/ X)in boxes 1 - 5 on your answer sheet. Paragraph A has been done for you as an example.NB There are more headings than paragraphs so you will not use all of them . You may use any heading more than once.Example AnswerParagraph A X List o
18、f Headingsi Growth in the market for glass craftsii Computers and their dependence on glassiii What makes glass so adaptableiV Historical development of glassV Scientists dreams cost millionsVi Architectural experiments with glassVii Glass art galleries flourishViii Exciting innovations in fibre opt
19、icsiX A former glass technologyX Everyday uses of glass 1 Paragraph B 2 Paragraph C 3 Paragraph D 4 Paragraph E 5 Paragraph F 5 The diagram below shows the principle of Comings ribbon machine. Label the diagram by selecting NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the Reading Passage to fill each numbered spac
20、e. Write your answers in boxes 6 - 8 on your answer sheet. 8 Look at the list below of the uses of glass. According to the passage, state whether these uses exist today , will exist in the future or are not mentioned by the writer. In boxes 9 - 13 write A if the uses exist today B if the uses will e
21、xist in the future C if the uses are not mentioned by the writer 9 dental fittings 10 optical computers 11 sculptures 12 fashions 13 curtains 13 Why some women cross the finish line ahead of men RECRUITMENTThe course is tougher but women are staying the distance, reports Andrew Crisp.A Women who app
22、ly for jobs in middle or senior management have a higher success rate than men, according to an employment survey. But of course far fewer of them apply for these positions. The study, by recruitment consultants NB Selection, shows that while one in six men who appear on interview shortlists get job
23、s, the figure rises to one in four women.B The study concentrated on applications for management positions in the $ 45,000 to $110,000 salary range and found that women are more successful than men in both the private and public sectors. Dr Elisabeth Marx from London-based NB Selection described the
24、 findings as encouraging for women, in that they send a positive message to them to apply for interesting management positions. But she added, We should not lose sight of the fact that significantly fewer women apply for senior positions in comparison with men. C Reasons for higher success rates amo
25、ng women are difficult to isolate. One explanation suggested is that if a woman candidate manages to get on a shortlist, then she has probably already proved herself to be an exceptional candidate. Dr Marx said that when women apply for positions they tend to be better qualified than their male coun
26、terparts but are more selective and conservative in their job search. Women tend to research thoroughly before applying for positions or attending interviews. Men, on the other hand, seem to rely on their ability to sell themselves and to convince employers that any shortcomings they have will not p
27、revent them from doing a good job.D Managerial and executive progress made by women is confirmed by the annual survey of boards of directors carried out by Korn/ Ferry/Carre/Orban International. This year the survey shows a doubling of the number of women serving as non-executive directors compared
28、with the previous year. However, progress remains painfully slow and there were still only 18 posts filled by women out of a total of 354 non-executive positions surveyed. Hilary Sears, a partner with Korn/Ferry, said, Women have raised the level of grades we are employed in but we have still not br
29、oken through barriers to the top. E In Europe a recent feature of corporate life in the recession has been the delayering of management structures. Sears said that this has halted progress for women in as much as delayering has taken place either where women are working or in layers they aspire to.
30、Sears also noted a positive trend from the recession, which has been the growing number of women who have started up on their own.F In business as a whole, there are a number of factors encouraging the prospect of greater equality in the workforce. Demographic trends suggest that the number of women
31、 going into employment is steadily increasing. In addition a far greater number of women are now passing through higher education, making them better qualified to move into management positions.G Organisations such as the European Womens Management Development Network provide a range of opportunitie
32、s for women to enhance their skills and contacts. Through a series of both pan-European and national workshops and conferences the barriers to women in employment are being broken down. However, Ariane Berthoin Antal, director of the International Institute for Organisational Change of Archamps in F
33、rance, said that there is only anecdotal evidence of changes in recruitment patterns. And she said, Its still so hard for women to even get on to shortlists there are so many hurdles and barriers. Antal a-greed that there have been some positive signs but said Until there is a belief a-mong employer
34、s, until they value the difference, nothing will change. Questions 14 - 19Reading Passage 2 has 7 paragraphs(A - G). State which paragraph discusses each of the points below. Write the appropriate letter(A - G)in boxes 14 - 19 on your answer sheet.Example AnswerThe salary range studied in the NB Sel
35、ection survey. B 14 The drawbacks of current company restructuring patterns. 15 Associatons that provide support for professional women. 16 The success rate of female job applicants for management positions. 17 Male and female approaches to job applications. 18 Reasons why more women are being emplo
36、yed in the business sector. 19 The improvement in female numbers on company management structures. 19 The author makes reference to three consultants in the Reading Passage. Which of the list of points below do these consultants make! In boxes 20-23 “write M if the point is made by Dr Marx S if the
37、point is made by Hilary Sears A if the point is made by Ariane Berthoin Antal 20 Selection procedures do not favour women. 21 The number of female-run businesses is increasing. 22 Male applicants exceed female applicants for top posts. 23 Women hold higher positions now than they used to. 23 Using N
38、O MORE THAN THREE WORDS answer the following questions. Write your answers in boxes 24 - 27 on your answer sheet. 24 What change has there been in the number of women in top management positions detailed in the annual survey? 25 What aspect of company structuring has disadvantaged women? 26 What inf
39、ormation tells us that more women are working nowadays? 27 Which group of people should change their attitude to recruiment? 27 You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 28 - 39 which are based on Reading Passage 3 below. Population viability analysis Part A To make political decisions about th
40、e extent and type of forestry in a region it is important to understand the consequences of those decisions. One tool for assessing the impact of forestry on the ecosystem is population viability analysis(PVA). This is a tool for predicting the probability that a species will become extinct in a par
41、ticular region over a specific period. It has been successfully used in the United States to provide input into resource exploitation decisions and assist wildlife managers and there is now enormous potential for using population viability to assist wildlife management in Australias forests. A speci
42、es becomes extince when the last individual dies. This observation is a useful starting point for any discussion of extinction as it highlights the role of luck and chance in the extinction process. To make a prediction about extinction we need to understand the processes that can contribute to it a
43、nd these fall into four broad categories which are discussed below. PartB A Early attempts to predict population viability were based on demographic uncertainty. Whether an individual survives from one year to the next will largely be a matter of chance. Some pairs may produce several young in a sin
44、gle year while others may produce none in that same year. Small populations will fluctuate enormously because of the random nature of birth and death and these chance fluctuations can cause species extinctions even if, on average, the population size should increase. Taking only this uncertainty of
45、ability to reproduce into account, extinction is unlikely if the number of individuals in a population is above about 50 and the population is growing. B Small populations cannot avoid a certain amount of inbreeding. This is particularly true if there is a very small number of one sex. For example,
46、if there are only 20 individuals of a species and only one is a male, all future individuals in the species must be descended from that one male. For most animal species such individuals are less likely to survive and reproduce. Inbreeding increases the chance of extinction. C Variation within a spe
47、cies is the raw material upon which natural selection acts. Without genetic variability a species lacks the capacity to e-volve and cannot adapt to changes in its environment or to new predators and new diseases. The loss of genetic diversity associated with reductions in population size will contri
48、bute to the likelihood of extinction. D Recent research has shown that other factors need to be considered. Australias environment fluctuates enormously from year to year. These fluctuations add yet another degree of uncertainty to the survival of many species. Catastrophes such as fire, flood, drou
49、ght or epidemic may reduce population sizes to a small fraction of their average level. When allowance in made for these two additional elements of uncertainty the population size necessary to be confident of persistence for a few hundred years may increase to several thousand. Part C Beside these processes we need to bear in mind the distribution of a population. A species that occurs in five isolated places each containing 20 individuals will not have the same probability of extinction as a species with a single population of 100 individuals in a
