第4部分：阅读理解（第31-45题, 每题3分, 共45分）

下面有3篇短文,每篇短文后有5道题。请根据短文内容, 为每题确定1个最佳选项。

第一篇

Centers of the Great European Cities

The centers of the great cities ofEurope are meeting places by tradition people gatherthere to drink coffee and chat late into the night. A mixture of locals andtourists make for an exciting, metropolitan atmosphere.

Squares, plazas（广场）and arcades（拱廊）formthe heart of Europe's cities

Venice in Italy has the Piazza SanMarco-a beautiful square surrounded bysnacks, churches, restaurants and cafés.In Barcelona, Spain, La Bosqueria is a livelymarket with hundreds of stalls selling all kinds of goods. London's CoventGarden IS filled with fruit and vegetable stalls by day and musicians, acrobats（杂技演员）nd artists by night. The government buildingsat the center of many cities often are architecturally impressive· In London, theserve as a beautiful backdrop(背景)tothe coffee tables that line the streets and the banks of the Thames. . .

These vibrant（有活力的）hearts are the product of centuries ofevolution, social historian Joel Garreau told US News and World Report recently."The reason people think Veniceis so great today is you don't see all the mistakes," said Garreau. "those haveall been removed." Most European cities were laid out before the invention ofthe car, so bars, restaurants and caféswere near to people homes. Today the focus of many Europeans, life has movedaway from the centers. They live in the suburbs and Outskirts, driving tosupermarkets to get their supplies. But on a continent where people treasureconvention, there are still those who hold onto traditional ways, ling andshopping locally. These people, together with tourists, provide the citycenters with their reason for existence. 

Coffee culture plays a part inkeeping these city centers flourishing this is particularly true of Paris whose citizens arefamous enthusiastic conversationalists. This skill is developed over many hoursspent chatting over espressos（浓咖啡）andcigarettes.

Religion also plays a role indeveloping sociable atmosphere. People in Roman Catholic countries used tovisit the Church on an almost daily basis. Entire communities would gather inthe same building and then move out to the markets, cafes and bars in thesurrounding streets. An enormous example of this relationship between churchand society is the Duomo. The huge marble cathedral in Florence, Italyis surrounded by bakeries and coffee shops, and caters not only to the touristcrowds, but also the local community

31. Itcan be inferred from the first paragraph that each big city in Europe

　 A. has many large squares.

　 B. has many verymagnificent sky-scrapers.

　 C. has a center wheretourists meet their spouses.

　 D. draws tourists in largenumbers every year.

32. Whichstatement is NOT true of Covent Garden?

　 A. It is crowded with people.

　 B. It is located in London.

   C. Itis surrounded by shops, churches, restaurants and cafes

   D. Itis filled with stalls.

33. Whydo people think that Veniceis so great?

   A. Becauseit is a famous tourist attraction.

   B. Becauseyou can reach anywhere by boat.

   C. Becauseall the mistakes have been removed.

   D. Becauseit is well-known for its merchants.

34. Whatare Parisians famous for?

   A. Theirenthusiasm for conversation.

   B. Theirpursuit of independence.

   C. Theirability to keep the city flourishing.

   D. Theirdevotion to developing a multiple culture.

35. Thewriter cites the Duomo in the last paragraph as an example to illustrate that

   A. allchurches are magnificent.

   B. thereis a tight link between church and society.

   C. oldchurches are very popular.

   D. high-risechurches are impressive.

第二篇

Real-World Robots

When you think Of a robot, do youimagine a shiny ,metallic device having the same general shape as a human being,performing humanlike functions, and responding to your questions in a monotone（单调的）voice accentuated（强调）by high-pitched tones and beeps This is theway many of US imagine a robot, but in the real world a robot is not humanoidat all. Instead, a robot often is a voiceless box-shaped machine that efficientlycarries out repetitive or dangerous functions usually performed by humans. Today'srobot is more than an automatic machine that performs one task again and again.A modern robot is programmed with varying degrees of artificial intelligence, thatis, a robot contains a computer program that tells it how to perform tasksassociated with human intelligence, such as reasoning, drawing conclusions, andlearning from past.

A robot does not possess a humanshape for the simple reason that a two-legged robot has great difficultyremaining balanced. A robot does, however, move from place to place on wheelsand axles（轮轴）that roll and rotate. A robot evenhas limbs that turn round and move in combination with joints and motors. Tofind its way in its surroundings, a robot utilizes various built -in sensors. Antennaeattached to the robot's base detect anything they bump into. If the robotstarts to shake as it moves on an incline, a gyroscope（陀螺仪）inside it senses the vertical differential. Todetermine its distance from an object and how quickly it will reach the object,the robot bounces beams of laser. light and ultrasonic sound waves offobstructions（障碍物）in its path. These and other sensorsconstantly feed information to the computer, which then analyzes theinformation and corrects or adjusts the robot's actions. As science andtechnology advance the robot too will progress in its functions and use ofartificial intelligence programs.

36 The writer begins the passageby comparing

　A a real-life robot with a fictional robot.

　B the shape of a human being with a box.

　C an imaginary machine with a human.

　D a robot with a computer program.

37 The word "humanoid" inParagraph 1 means

　A lacking human feelings.

　B lacking human characteristics.

　C having a human form and characteristics

　D lacking human intelligence.

38 According to the firstparagraph, artificial intelligence is

　A the unnatural way in which robots move.

　B a voiceless, box-shaped machine that performs repetitive tasks

　C a computer program that imitates humanintellectual processes

　D a sensor that detects troubles in a robot.

39 The last paragraph suggeststhat future robots will

　A surpass human beings in intelligence.

　B be more humanlike in behavior and action.

　C use a laser to transmit information.

　D will perform very complicated householdjobs.

40 Another good title for thispassage would be

　A Robots: Taking the Place of Humans.

　B Artificial Intelligence Programs.

　C Modern-Day Sensors.

　D Today' S Robots and How They Function

第三篇

Why Humans Walk onTwo Legs

A team of scientists that studiedchimpanzees（黑猩猩）trained to use treadmills (跑步机) has gathered new evidence suggesting thatour earliest apelike ancestors started walking on two legs because it requiredless energy than getting around on all fours.

Michael Sockol, researcher of UCDavis, worked for two years to find an animal trainer willing to coax （劝诱) adult chimps to walk on two legs and towalk on all fours.

The five chimps also wore facemasks used to help the researchers measure oxygen consumption. While the chimpsworked out, the scientists collected data that allowed them to calculate whichmethod of locomotion（移动) used less energy and why. Theteam gathered the same information for four adult humans walking on a treadmill.

The researchers found that humanwalking used about 75 percent less energy and burned 75 percent fewer caloriesthan quadrupedal and bipedal walking in chimpanzees. They also found that forsome but not all of the chimps, walking on two legs was no more costly than onall fours.

"We were prepared to findthat all of the chimps used more energy walking on two legs-but that finding wouldn'thave been as interesting, Sockol said." What we found was much more telling.For three chimps, bipedalism was more expensive, but for the other two chimps,this wasn't the case. One spent about the same energy walking on two legs as onall fours. The other used less energy walking upright." These two chimpshad different gaits (步法) and anatomy (解剖) than 'their quadrupedal peers.

Taken together, the findingsprovide support for the hypothesis that anatomical (解剖学的) differences affecting gait existed amongour earliest apelike ancestors, and that these differences provided the geneticvariation which natural selection could act on when changes in the environmentgave bipeds an advantage over quadrupeds.

Fossil and molecular evidencesuggests the earliest ancestors of the human family  lived in forested areas in equatorial Africain the late Miocene era (中世纪)some 8 to 10 million years ago, when changes in climate may have increased thedistance between food patches. That would have forced our earliest ancestors totravel longer distances on the ground and favored those who could cover moreground using less energy.

"This isn't the complete answer,"Sockol said. "But it's a good piece of a puzzle humans have alwayswondered about: How and why did we become human? And why do we alone walk ontwo legs?"

41.Michael Sockol and his team were interested in

   A.where humans came from.

   B. howchimpanzees could be trained to use treadmills.

   C.when our earliest ancestors began to live in forested areas

   D. whyour apelike ancestors came to walk on two legs.

42. Thephrase "worked out' in paragraph 3 could be replaced by

   A.calculated.            B. exercised.

   C.understood.           D. planned.

43. Whatdid the researchers find in the experiment?

   A. Onechimp used about the same energy in walking on two legs as on all fours

   B. Humanwalking used more energy than bipedal walking in chimps.

   C. Twochimps used more energy walking on two legs.

   D.Three chimps used less energy walking on two legs.

44. Theword "quadrupeds" in paragraph 6 is a technical word for

   A.creatures with four feet.       B. creatures with two feet.

   C.creatures with six feet.       D.creatures with eight feet.

45. Whatdoes fossil and molecular evidence tell us about our earliest ancestors?

   A.They experienced more climate changes than we do today.

   B.They were forced to travel between food patches.

   C.They could cover more ground with less energy.

   D.They were much taller than modern man.

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