大学英语六级模拟试题（五）

大学英语六级模拟试题（五）

Part II Reading Comprehension (35 minutes)

Directions: There are 4 reading passages in this part. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A., B., C. and D. You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the center.

Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage:

How often do you sit still and do absolutely nothing? The usual answer these days is never, or hardly ever. As the pace of life continues to increase, we are fast losing the art of relaxation. Once you are in the habit of rushing through life, being on the go from morning till night, it is hard to slow down and unwind. But relaxation is essential for a healthy mind and body.

Stress is a natural part of everyday life. There is no way to avoid it, since it takes many and varied forms—driving in traffic, problems with personal relationships are all different forms of stress. Stress, in fact, is not as bad as it is often reputed to be. A certain amount of stress is vital to provide motivation and give purpose to life. It is only when the stress gets out of control that it can lead to level performance and ill health.
The amount of stress a person can withstand depends very much on the individual. Some people thrive on stress, and such characters are obviously prime material for managerial responsibilities. Others crumple at the sight of unusual difficulties.

When exposed to stress, in whatever form, we react both chemically and physically. In fact we invoke the fight mechanism which in more primitive days made the difference between life or death. The crises we meet today are unlikely to be so extreme, but however minimal the stress, it involves the same response. All the energy is diverted to cope with the stress, with the result that other function, such as digestion, are neglected.

It is when such a reaction is prolonged, through continued exposure to stress, that health becomes endangered. Such serious conditions as high blood pressure, coronary heart disease all have established links with stress. The way stress affects a person also varies with the individual. Stress in some people produces stomach disorders, while others succumb to tension headaches. Since we cannot remove stress from our lives, we need to find ways to cope with it.

21. What is the main idea of the talk?

A. Both relaxation and stress are necessary for people to live a healthy and fulfilling life.

B. People often suffer unpleasant effects of stress without knowing why.

C.  People need stress to stimulate them in work.

D.  Continued stress may be harmful to peoples health.

22. What does the word “thrive” in the third paragraph mean?

A. succeedB. writheC. dependD. deal

23. The reason that many people find it hard to relax these days is that.

A. they are suffering from the effects of excessive stress

B.  they are working harder than they used to

C.  they are often too busy to find the time

D.  they have no idea what relaxation means to them

24. The pronoun“ it” in the last but one paragraph refers to .

A. crisisB. stressC. reactionD. ill health

25. Which of the following would the author most probably disagree?

A. It is very hard for a person rushing through life to slow down and relax.

B.  Stress as well as relaxation is essential for a healthy mind and body.

C.  Only the strong?willed people can cope with stress successfully.

D.  Stress that is considered unmanageable for some may be a stimulant for other people.

Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage:

Industry uses water for many different purposes. The uses are commonly divided into four categories: cooling water, process water, boiler feedwater, and sanitary and service water. Cooling water is water used only for cooling without coming into contact with the product of material being processed. Process water is water that comes into contact with material being processed. Boiler feedwater is water converted to steam. Sanitary and service water is that supplied for the personal use of the employees, for cleaning plants and equipment, and for the operation of valves and other apparatus.

About 90 percent of the water withdrawn by industry is used for cooling. Fuel?electric power plants use more cooling water than all other kinds of plants combined. One might suppose that the greatest amount of water used in the fuel?electric power production is used for boiler feedwater, but such use is dwarfed by the water needed for cooling condensers. Cooling water is also used to condense many products of oil refineries and chemical plants and to protect industrial equipment from excessive heat.

Most manufacturing plants use process water at some point in the course of their operation. In some plants the material being processed is in contact with water at almost every step in its conversion to the finished product. Water also serves as a solvent for chemicals in many chemical processes; and the food industry uses large quantities of water for cleaning, cooking, and canning vegetables and meats.

Another important use of water by industry is for disposal of its waste products. At one time, streamflows were adequate to dilute, dissolve, or carry away these wastes. However, some rivers in the United States are being progressively depleted by use and overloaded with wastes. This pollution not only upsets the delicate natural balance among plants, insects, and fish, but also poses problems of water quality for the people and industries downstream.

26．What does the passage mainly discuss?

A. Why does industry use the most water for cooling.

B. The conversion of raw material into finished products.

C. The disposal of waste products in industry.

D. Four basic categories of water used in industrial production.

27．Water used in industry to operate valves is called .

A. sanitation and service waterB. boiler feedwater

C. cooling waterD. process water

28．Which of the following is NOT mentioned as one of the functions of water used in industrial production?

A. coolingB. solvent for chemicals

C. carrier of waste productsD. cleaning

29．The greatest amount of cooling water is used in .

A. food industryB. fuel?electric power plant

C. chemical industryD. manufacturing industry

30. The word “depleted in the last paragraph most probably means .

A. used upB. pollutedC. flushedD. flooded

Questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage:

Some gay?bashers believe AIDS (艾滋病) is Gods way of punishing homosexuals (同性恋). Some Africans suspect it is just another of the white mans weapons of genocide (种族灭绝). Others suggested it was hatched in a biological?weapons laboratory. There has been no shortage of theories about the origins of the virus that caused the current worldwide AIDS epidemic (传染病), but most have ranged from truly bizarre to scientifically implausible at best.

African monkeys are almost certainly the source of the deadly virus. Just how the virus made the leap from its simian (猿猴的) host to people is still hotly debated, however, and the most likely explanations are far more complex, involving shifts in African society that turned an isolated disease into a plague.

Though researchers initially resisted the idea that human AIDS also came from African monkeys, that fact now seems well established. In 1991, convincing evidence was presented that the simian virus that infects sooty mangabbys, a type of monkey found in West Africa, carries virtually the same genetic material as HIV?2, one of the two strains of human AIDS virus.

One theory of how the virus traveled from monkeys to humans is based on reports that certain West Tribes injected monkey blood into their backs and thighs to heighten sexual arousal. Other researchers have referred to bizarre attempts by European doctors in the 1920s to boost the flagging (衰退的) powers of aging men with injections of monkey testicles(睾丸).

The most compelling explanation for the spread of the AIDS virus is cultural as well as biological. The actual transfer of the virus from monkeys to humans may have involved something as prosaic (平凡的) as a monkey bite or a monkey hunters nick on the hand while butchering his quarry (猎物). Some experts believe that AIDS might have died out with that hunter, or perhaps with his isolated village, had profound cultural changes not come to Africa. Over the last 30 years, the population of sub?Saharan Africa, the region hardest hit by AIDS, became increasingly urban. As in the United States, infection rates appear far higher in African cities than in rural areas. Urbanization brings many diverse people together. It appears that the AIDS virus is approximately 40 years old. That places its origin right at the beginning of the period of rapid African urban development. As with the history of plagues, tracing the precise movements of the AIDS virus through various populations is exceedingly difficult. In the end, the origin of AIDS is not the real problem; the real problem is where the disease is going.