1、大学英语大学英语作业题一Part I. Reading Comprehension (35 minutes)Questions 1 to 5 are based on the following passage: At this time the state of South Carolina was having hard times. Year after year the soil had been planted to the same crop. It was farmed by uneducated and careless slaves, and the planters kne
2、w little about soil conservation. Because the soil was beginning to wear out, crops were smaller. The younger people were not satisfied to raise cotton on the poor soil of the old South. Many of them moved westward and started cotton plantations in Alabama and Mississippi. Moreover, so much cotton h
3、ad been shipped to factories in England and New England that they had as much cotton as they could use. This brought the price of cotton down. More and more slaves were needed to work on the new and larger plantations, and higher and higher prices were demanded for them. Planters found their expense
4、s rising and their incomes from the sale of cotton reduced. Hard times had come to South Carolina.1. The best title of this passage is _D_. A) Ignorance of Planters About Farming B) Economic Rivalry in the South C) Deterioration of the Soil in South Carolina D) Economic Difficulties of South Carolin
5、a2. Which of the following sentences can best summarize the main idea of the passage? A A) Hard times had come to South Carolina planters. B) Planters found their expenses rising and their incomes from the sale of cotton reduced. C) Year after year the soil of South Carolina had been planted with th
6、e same crop. D) Because the soil was beginning to wear out, crops were smaller.3. In discussing the economy of South Carolina, one of the authors assumptions is that the reader understands _B_. A) the lack of knowledge on the part of planters and slaves B) farming methods in use at the time C) the l
7、aw of supply and demand D) why more slaves were needed4. Plantations grew in size in South Carolina mainly because _D_. A) demand for cotton had decreased B) planters grew rich C) places had to be found for young people D) soil was less productive5. The fact that cotton prices were falling is mentio
8、ned by the author to show that _C_. A) cotton shipments should have been regulated B) poorer soil produced poorer quality crops C) the planters were having hard times D) there were reasons why young people moved westwardQuestions 6 to 10 are based on the following passage: A unique laboratory at the
9、 University of Chicago is busy only at night. It is a dream laboratory where researchers are at work studying dreamers. Their findings have revealed that everyone dreams from three to seven times a night, although in ordinary life a person may remember none or only one of his dreams. While the subje
10、cts-usually students-are asleep, special machines record their brain waves and eye movements as well as the body movements that signal the end of a dream. Surprisingly, all subjects sleep soundly. Observers report that a person usually moves his body restlessly before a dream. Once the dream has sta
11、rted, his body relaxes and his eyes become more active, as if the curtain had gone up on a show. As soon as the machine indicates that the dream is over, a buzzer wakens the sleeper. He sits up, records his dream, and goes back to sleep-perhaps to dream some more. Researchers have found that if the
12、dreamer is wakened immediately after his dream, he can usually recall the entire dream. If he is allowed to sleep even five more minutes, his memory of the dream will have faded.6. According to the passage, researchers at the University of Chicago are studying _D_. A) the content of dreams B) the me
13、aning of dreams C) the process of sleeping D) dreamers while they dream7. Their findings have revealed that _A_. A) everyone dreams every night B) dreams are easily remembered C) dreams are likely to be frightening D) persons dream only one dream a night8. Just before a dream a sleeper will usually
14、_C_. A) relax B) lie perfectly C) give an uneasy movement D) make more eye movements9. In the dream laboratory, the dreamers are recorded _D_. A) as soon as the students wake in the morning B) at stated intervals during the night C) about five minutes after the end of each dream D) immediately after
15、 each dream10. A person is most likely to remember the dream that _C_. A) is of most interest to him B) occurs immediately after he goes to sleep C) occurs just before he wakes up D) both A) and B)Questions 11 to 15 are based on the following passage: The existence of oil wells has been well known f
16、or a long time. Some of the Indians of North America used to collect and sell the oil from the wells of Pennsylvania. No one, however, seems to have realized the importance of this oil until it was found that paraffin-oil could be made from it; this led to the development of the wells and to the mak
17、ing of enormous profits. When the internal combustion engine was invented, oil became of world-wide importance. What was the origin of the oil which now drives our motor-cars and aircraft? Scientists are confident about the formation of coal, but they do not seem so sure when asked about oil. They t
18、hink that the oil under the surface of the earth originated in the distant past, and was formed from living things in the sea. Countless billions of minute sea creatures and plants lived and sank to the sea bed. They were covered with huge deposits of mud, and by processes of chemistry, pressure and
19、 temperature were changed through long ages into what we know as oil. For these creatures to become oil, it was necessary that they should be imprisoned between layers of rock for an enormous length of time. The statement that oil originated in the sea is confirmed by a glance at a map showing the c
20、hief oilfields of the world; very few of them are far distant from the oceans of today. In some places gas and oil come up to the surface of the sea from its bed. The rocks in which oil is found are of marine origin too. They are sedimentary rocks, rocks which were laid down by the action of water o
21、n the bed of the ocean. Almost always their remains of shells, and other proofs of sea life, are found close to the oil. A very common sedimentary rock is called shale, which is a soft rock and was obviously formed by being deposited on the sea bed. And where there is shale there is likely to be oil
22、. There are four main areas of the world where deposits of oil appear. The first is that of the Middle East, and includes the regions near the Caspian Sea, the Black Sea, the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. Another is the area between North and South America, and the third, between Asia and Australia,
23、 includes the Islands of Sumatra, Borneo and Java. The fourth area is the part near the North Pole. When all the present oil-fields are exhausted, it is possible that this cold region may become the scene of oil activity. Yet the difficulties will be great, and the costs may be so high that no compa
24、ny will undertake the work. If progress in using atomic power to drive machines is fast enough, it is possible that oil-driven engines may give place to the new kind of engine. In that case the demand for oil will fall, the oilfields will gradually disappear, and the deposits at the North Pole may r
25、est where they are forever.11. Mineral oil didnt become very important until _A_. A) the internal combustion engine was invented B) the oil wells in Pennsylvania were developed C) American Indians began to collect and sell it D) oilfields were exhausted12. Scientists think that _B_. A) coal was form
26、ed from shale under the surface of the earth B) oil was formed from sea creatures caught between layers of rock C) oil was formed from large deposits of mud on the sea bed D) oil was formed from sea water by processes of chemistry, pressure and temperature13. Where there is shale, there is likely to
27、 be oil. The author says this in order to show that _D_. A) oil was first formed under sea B) shale is a sedimentary rock C) oil was made from shale D) shale is another form of oil14. The first three areas of oil deposits are mentioned in a single paragraph, whereas the fourth area is mentioned in a
28、 separate paragraph. This is because _A_. A) the fourth area has not been developed yet and may never be developed B) the fourth area is a long way from North America C) its oilfields are already exhausted D) the fourth area is a good place to develop atomic power15. Progress in using atomic power m
29、ay _C_. A) save all the trouble of drilling for oil B) give rise to a new kind of oil-driven engine C) reduce the cost of drilling near the North Pole D) make it necessary to drill near the North PoleQuestions 16 to 20 are based on the following passage: A very important world problem is the rapidly
30、 increasing pressure of population on land and on land resources. It is not so much the actual population of the world but its rate of increase which is important. It works out to be about 1.6 per cent per annum net increase. In terms of numbers this means something like forty to fifty-five million
31、additional people every year. Canada has a population of twenty million-rather less than six months climb in world population. Take Australia. There are ten million people in Australia. So, it takes the world less than three months to add to itself a population which peoples that vast country. Let u
32、s take our own crowded country-England and Wales: forty-five to fifty million people-just about a years supply. By this time tomorrow, and every day, there will be added to the earth about 120,000 extra people, just about the population of the city of York. This enormous increase of population will create immense problems. By A.D. 2000, unless something desperate happens, there will be as many as 7,000,000,000 people on
