英语报刊选读专升本.docx

1、英语报刊选读专升本平顶山学院补考课程：英语报刊选读(专升本)总时长：120分钟1. (阅读理解题)California Condors Shocking RecoveryCaliforniacondors areNorth Americas largest birds, with wind-length of up to 3 meters. In the 1980s, electrical lines and lead poisoning(铅中毒) nearly drove them to dying out. Now, electric shock training and medical

2、treatment are helping to rescue these big birds.In the late 1980s, the last few condors were taken from the wild to be bred(繁殖).Since 1992,there have been multiple reintroductions to the wild, and there are now more than 150 flying overCaliforniaand nearbyArizona,Utahand Baja inMexico.Electrical lin

3、es have been killing them off. “As they go in to rest for the night, they just dont see the power lines,” says Bruce Rideout of San Diego Zoo. Their wings can bridge the gap between lines, resulting in electrocution(电死) if they touch two lines at once.So scientists have come up with a shocking idea.

4、 Tall poles, placed in large training areas, teach the birds to stay clear of electrical lines by giving them a painful but undeadly electric shock. Before the training was introduced, 66% of set-free birds died of electrocution. This has now dropped to 18%. Lead poisoning has proved more difficult

5、to deal with. When condors eat dead bodies of other animals containing lead, they absorb large quantities of lead. This affects their nervous systems and ability to produce baby birds, and can lead to kidney(肾) failures and death. So condors with high levels of lead are sent to Los Angeles Zoo, wher

6、e they are treated with calcium EDTA, a chemical that removes lead from the blood over several days. This work is starting to pay off. The annual death rate for adult condors has dropped from 38% in 2000 to 5.4% in 2011. Rideouts team thinks that theCaliforniacondors average survival time in the wil

7、d is now just under eight years. “Although these measures are not effective forever, they are vital for now,” he says. “They are truly good birds that are worth every effort we put into recovering them. ”(1).(单选题) California condors attract researchers interest because they . ( )(本题3.0分)A. are activ

8、e at nightB. had to be bred in the wildC. are found on in CaliforniaD. almost died out in the 1980s答案:D解析:无(2).(单选题) Researchers have found electrical lines are .( )(本题3.0分)A. blocking condors journey homeB. big killers of Califorbnia condorsC. rest places for condors at nightD. used to keep condors

9、 away答案:B解析:无(3).(单选题) According to Paraghaph 5 ,lead poisoning .( )(本题3.0分)A. makes condors too nervous to flyB. has little effect on condors kidneysC. can hardly be gotten rid of form condors bloodD. makes it different for condors to produce baby birds答案:D解析:无(4).(单选题) The passage shows that .( )(

10、本题3.0分)A. the average survival time of condors is satisfactoryB. Rideouts research interest lies in electric engineeringC. the efforts to protect condors have brought good resultsD. researchers have found the final answers to the problem答案:C解析:无2. (阅读理解题)Not so long ago, most people didnt know who S

11、helly Ann Francis Pryce was going to become. She was just an average high school athlete. There was every indication that she was just another American teenager without much of a future. However, one person wants to change this. Stephen Francis observed then eighteen-year-old Shelly Ann as a track m

12、eet and was convinced that he had seen the beginning of true greatness. Her time were not exactly impressive, but even so, he seemed there was something trying to get out, something the other coaches had overlooked when they had assessed her and found her lacking. He decided to offer Shelly Ann a pl

13、ace in his very strict training seasons. Their cooperation quickly produced results, and a few year later at Jamaicas Olympic games in early 2008, Shelly Ann, who at that time only ranked number 70 in the world, beat Jamaicas unchallenged queen of the sprint(短跑).“Where did she come from?” asked an a

14、stonished sprinting world, before concluding that she must be one of those one-hit wonders that spring up from time to time, only to disappear again without signs. But Shelly Ann was to prove that she was anything but a one-hit wonder. At theBeijingOlympic she swept away any doubts about her ability

15、 to perform consistently by becoming the first Jamaican woman ever to win the 100 meters Olympic gold. She did it again one year on at the World Championship in Briton, becoming world champion with a time of 10.73- the fourth record ever.Shelly-Ann is a little woman with a big smile. She has a menta

16、l toughness that did not come about by chance. Her journey to becoming the fastest woman on earth has been anything but smooth and effortless. She grew up in one ofJamaicas toughest inner-city communities known as Waterhouse, where she lived in a one-room apartment, sleeping four in a bed with her m

17、other and two brothers. Waterhouse, one of the poorest communities inJamaica, is a really violent and overpopulated place. Several of Shelly-Anns friends and family were caught up in the killings; one of her cousins was shot dead only a few streets away from where she lived. Sometimes her family did

18、nt have enough to eat. She ran at the school championships barefooted because she couldnt afford shoes. Her mother Maxime, one of a family of fourteen, had been an athlete herself as a young girl but, like so many other girls in Waterhouse, had to stop after she had her first baby. Maximes early ent

19、ry into the adult world with its responsibilities gave her the determination to ensure that her kids would not end up in Waterhouses roundabout of poverty. One of the first things Maxime used to do with Shelly-Ann was taking her to the track, and she was ready to sacrifice everything.It didnt take l

20、ong for Shelly-Ann to realize that sports could be her way out of Waterhouse. On a summer evening inBeijingin 2008, all those long, hard hours of work and commitment finally bore fruit. The barefoot kid who just a few years previously had been living in poverty, surrounded by criminals and violence,

21、 had written a new chapter in the history of sports.But Shelly-Anns victory was far greater than that. The night she won Olympic gold inBeijing, the routine murders in Waterhouse and the drug wars in the neighbouring streets stopped. The dark cloud above one of the worlds toughest criminal neighbour

22、hoods simply disappeared for a few days.“I have so much fire burning for my country,”Shelly said. She plans to start a foundation for homeless children and wants to build a community centre in Waterhouse. She hopes to inspire the Jamaicans to lay down their weapons. She intends to fight to make it a

23、 womans as well as a mans world.As Muhammad Ali puts it,“Champions arent made in gyms. Champions are made from something they have deep inside them. A desire, a dream, a vision.”One of the things Shelly-Ann can be proud of is her understanding of this truth.(1).(单选题) Why did Stephen Francis decide t

24、o coach Shelly-Ann?( )(本题3.0分)A. He had a strong desire to free her family from trouble.B. He sensed a great potential in her despite her weaknesses.C. She had big problems maintaining her performance.D. She suffered a lot of defeats at the previous track meets.答案:B解析:无(2).(单选题) What did the sprinti

25、ng world think of Shelly-Ann before the 2008 Olympic Games?( )(本题3.0分)A. She would become a promising star.B. She badly needed to set higher goals.C. Her sprinting career would not last long.D. Her talent for sprinting was known to all.答案:C解析:无(3).(单选题) What made Maxime decide to train her daughter

26、on the track?( )(本题3.0分)A. Her success and lessons in her career.B. Her interest in Shelly-Anns quick profit.C. Her wish to get Shelly-Ann out of poverty.D. Her early entrance into the sprinting world.答案:C解析:无(4).(单选题) What can we infer from Shelly-Anns statement underlined in Paragraph 5?( )(本题3.0分

27、)A. She was highly rewarded for her efforts.B. She was eager to do more for her country.C. She became an athletic star in her country.D. She was the envy of the whole community.答案:B解析:无(5).(单选题) By mentioning Muhammad Alis words, the author intends to tell us that .( )(本题3.0分)A. players should be hi

28、ghly inspired by coachesB. great athletes need to concentrate on patienceC. hard work is necessary in ones achievementsD. motivation allows great athletes to be on the top答案:D解析:无(6).(单选题) What is the best title for the passage?( )(本题3.0分)A. The Making of a Great AthleteB. The Dream for Championship

29、C. The Key to High PerformanceD. The Power of Full Responsibility答案:A解析:无3. (阅读理解题)In the depths of the French Guianese rainforest, there still remain unusual groups of indigenous(土著的) people. Surprisingly, these people live largely by their own laws and their own social customs. And yet, people in

30、this area are in fact French citizens because it has been a colony(殖民地) of the French Republic since 1946. In theory, they should live by the French law is often ignored or unknown, thus making them into an interesting area of “lawlessness” in the world.The lives of these people have finally been re

31、corded thanks to the effects of a Frenchman form Paris called Gin. Gin spent five months in early 2015 exploring the most remote corners of this area, which sits on the edge of the Amazon rainforest, with half its population of only 250,000 living in its capital, Cayenne.“I have a special love for t

32、he French Guianese people. I have worked there on and off for almost ten years,” says Gin. “Ive been able to keep firm friendships with them. Thus I have been allowed to gain access to their living environment. I dont see it as a lawless land. But rather I see it as an area of freedom.”“I wanted to show the audience a photographic record touching upon the uncivilized life,” continues Gin. “I prefer to work in black an