公共英語三級考試試題：
Section II Reading
( 50 minutes)
Part A
Directions:
Read the following two texts. Answer the questions on each text by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark
your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1.
Text 1
Americans are getting ready for the biggest soccer event in the world. For the first time the world cup soccer competition will be held in the United States. While millions play the game around the world, soccer or football has only recently become popular here. It is only in the last 30 years that large numbers of young Americans became interested in soccer. Now it is the fastest growing sport in the country. A recent study found that almost 18 million young boys and girls play soccer in the United States.
The study also found that soccer is beginning to replace more traditional games like American football as the most popular sport among students. And so, when the world cup begins next week, more than one million Americans are expected to go and see the teams play. Organizers say this year' s world cup will be the biggest ever. All the seats at most of the 52 games have already been sold.
Soccer has been played in the United States for a little more than one hundred years. But how did the sport come to this country? And how long has it existed in other parts of the world? No one knows exactly where the idea for soccer came from, or when people began playing the game. Some scientists say there is evidence that ball games using the feet were played thousands of years ago. There is evidence that ancient Greeks and Romans and native American Indians all played games sim- ilar to soccer.
Most experts agree that Britain is the birthplace of modem soccer. They also agree that the British spread the game around the world. Unlike the game today, which uses balls of man-made material or leather, early soccer balls were often made of animal stomachs. The rules of early soccer games also differed from those we have today.
26. Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the text?
[A] Americans were preparing for the world cup when the author wrote this article.
[ B ] More younger Americans became interested in soccer in the last 30 years.
[ C] Soccer is the fastest developing sport in the world.
[ D ] The article was written before the world cup held in the United States.
27. Which was the most popular sport as a traditional game among students?
[ A ] Basketball.
[ B ] American football.
[C] Soccer.
[D] Tennis.
28. For how long has soccer been played in the United States?
[ A] About a hundred years.
[ B ] About fifty years.
[ C ] Only recently.
[ D ] About thirty years.
29. Who invented the modem soccer game?
[ A ] American Indians. [ B ] British.
[c] Geeks [D] Romans.
30. What is the author going to state in the next paragraph?
[A] There have been attempts to start a professional soccer organization in the U. S..
[ B ] In the 12th century soccer games in Britain often involved whole towns.
[C] Professional soccer grew quickly in Europe.
[D] Experts believed that the United States would win.
Text 2
The cohesiveness(內聚力 ) of a family seems to rely on members sharing certain routine prac- tices and events. For a growing share of the American labor force, however, working shifts beyond the normal daylight hours--what we here call "shift work"--makes the lives of families difficult.
Existing ch shows that both male and female shift workers express high levels of stress and a sense of conflict between the demands of work and family life. But shift work couples still maintain a traditional attitude to the meaning of marriage and the individual roles of husband and wife. They expressed a willingness to do "whatever it takes" to approximate their view of a proper marriage,in- cluding sacrificing sleep and doing conventional things at unconventional hours. For the majority of couples interviewed, even when wives worked outside their homes, a proper marriage is character- ized by a very clear division of roles: husbands are "providers" whose major responsibility is to sup- port the family ;wives arc "homemakers" who clean, cook, and care for husbands and children.
The women's definitions of a "good husband" are typified by the following wife's response:
I expect him to be a good provider, and be there when I need him, loyal about the same things as he would expect out of me,expect that I expect him to dominate over me. But in a manner of speak- ing, wben it' s time to be a man I expect him to stand up instead of sitting back expecting me to do husbands,a good wife is someone who is:
Understanding of what I feel go through at work. I need that respect at work,I hope I get it al work. I want my wife to realize what I expect at work. I don' t want her to give me a lot of shil when I come home from work because I don' t know if this makes much sense.
These views seemed critical to maintain the families of the shift workers.
31. Despite , shift work couples still hoped to maintain a stable life.
[ A ] traditional beliefs about marriage
[ B ] Jack of control over time
[ C ] a very clear division of roles
[ D ] the demands of work
32. From the selection, we can conclude that female shift workers were NOT satisfied with
[A] their work
[ B ] their children
[ C ] their husbands' inability to protect the family and provide companionship
[D] leisure activities
33. What is implied by the author?
[ A 1 Shift work had a direct effect on the attitudes and behavior of family members.
[ B ] Shift workers could live a normal life.
[ C] Shift work couples had unconventional ideas about marriage.
[ D ] Female shift workers were satisfied with the time spent together with their families.
34. In order to continue the marriages of the shift workers,
[ A] wives must learn to care for the children when their husbands are absent
[ B ] shift work couples must administer their time and activities
[ C ] wives mustn' t adapt their own feelings of boredom to their husbands'
[ D ] all of thesework
35. The best title for this paragraph is
[ A ] Constructing Family Life
[ B ] Managing Time and Activities
[ C ] The Meaning of Marriage
[ D ] Living a Normal Life
第二部分 閱讀
Part A
Text l
參考譯文
美國準備着迎接世界上最大的足球盛宴，他們有史以來第一次承辦了世界盃。當全世界有數以百萬計的人在踢足球時，這項運動在關國纔剛剛火熱起來。大批美國青年人對足球感興趣還是最近30年的事。但現在它是美國發展最快的運動。一項最近的調查顯示大約有一千八百萬的美國青年男女踢足球。
這項調查同樣表明，足球已經開始代替更多的傳統運動，比如橄欖球，成爲學生當中最流行的運動。因此，世界盃下週開賽時預計去看球的美國人超過一百萬。主辦方聲稱這一屆的世界盃會成爲歷史上最盛大的一屆。52場比賽中大部分場次的座位已全部售完。
足球在美國僅僅有一百多年的歷史，但這項運動是怎樣流傳到這個國家的?足球在世界其他地方存在多久了?沒有人確切地知道足球是從哪裏起源或是人們從什麼時候開始踢足球。某些科學家表示，有證據證明用腳玩的球類運動幾千年前就有了。現在也有證據顯示古希臘、古羅馬和美國土著印第安人玩類似於足球的運動。
大部分專家都承認英國是現代足球的發源地，他們同樣也認爲英國把足球傳播到了世界各地。不同的是，現在比賽中用的足球是人造材料或是皮革質地，而過去使用的球常常是用動物的胃做的。早期足球比賽的規則也與現在有所不同。
答案及解析
26.c【解析】是非題。見文中第一段第五旬提到，足球在美國是發展最快的運動，但沒有說在世界範圍內是發展最快的運動。故選C。
27.B 【解析】細節題。見第二段第一句，“…soccer is beginning to replace more traditional games like American football as the most popular sport among students.”可知“American football”是在青少年中最爲流行的傳統運動。故選B。
28.A【解析】細節題。見第三段第一句話。
29.B【解析】細節題。見最後一段第一句，英國是現代足球的發明者。
30.B【精析】推理題。文中最後一段講述了英國足球是現代足球的發明國，接下來就應該介紹一下足球在英國的發展才符合邏輯。故選B。
Text 2
參考譯文
一個家庭的內聚力似乎要依靠家庭成員們一起做一些常規的事情來維繫。然而由於美國勞動力人數的增多，在非正常工作時間的輪班工作，也就是我們通常所說的“換班工作”，使家庭生活面臨困境。
現有的調查表明男性和女性的倒班工人都承認壓力很大，工作和家庭生活的需求相互衝突。但是，從事換班工作的夫婦們仍然保持着對婚姻的意義和夫妻各自責任的傳統觀念。他們表示仍然願意“不惜一切代價”實現他們認爲正常的婚姻生活，譬如犧牲睡眠時間或是在非常規的時間去做一些慣例的事情。大多數接受採訪的夫婦，甚至是那些妻子在外工作的家庭都認爲，正常家庭生活的顯著特點還是清楚的分工：丈夫是家庭的“支撐者”，他們主要的責任是養活全家，而妻子仍然是“主婦”。她們負責打掃、做飯、照顧丈夫和孩子。
以下是一個妻子對“好丈夫”的定義，這代表了所有女人的看法：
我希望他能養家。在我需要的時候陪在我身邊，和我熱衷於相同的事物。希望他也願意支配我，就像我期望的那樣。這麼說吧，在需要他表現得像個男人的時候，我希望他挺身而出，而不是坐視不管，卻想讓我去處理一切。
丈夫們眼中的好妻子是這樣的：
她要理解我在工作中的感受。我需要在工作時受尊重，我希望能在工作中找到受尊重的感覺。我要我的妻子明白我對工作的期望。我可不想每天下班回家的時候，她嘮叨個沒完洇爲我也不知道這是否有意義。 以上的'觀點對於維護那些輪班工作的夫妻家庭是至關重要的。
答案及解析
31.B【解析】“shiftwork”意爲“working shifts beyond the normal daylighthours”。而A、C選項中“traditional beliefs about marmge”，“a veryclear division of roles”均爲“a stable life”的一部分，不符合題意。
32.c【解析】由文中“the women'S definitions of a good husband”可以看出C爲正確答案。
33.A【解析】由文章主旨句“shiftwork makes the lives of families difficult”可知選A。
34.D【解析】聯繫全文，知A、B、c三項均正確。
35.C【解析】先排除D項，因全文圍繞shiftwork展開，B項則太具體,A項則涵義過廣,全文切入點爲marriage。
The greenhouse effect might be causing the change, but it' s a cycle that' s been tracked for about a hundred years and in the past 20 years or so it just stopped cycling. And this is only affecting a small part of the world. People talk about greenhouse effect because they want to show how much concern they have about the future of the world. Don' t be as silly as them.
Kac:
Spring just hits here, too. It' s so nice--windows open, the fresh air of changing seasons just lights me up. When I was younger this was the season for walking through the melting snow and ice, across roadsides, through square acre forests among the fields, I got so excited to be out in the wild. It' s tough to be in the city this time of year. Maybe I' 11 go camping soon !
Sofia:
In the city you don't have seasons. Spring rain does not make man-made structure grow, and wet roads are not inconvenient for you because you can move around in your car. Summer' s heat is no longer a problem and air-conditioning makes your rooms cool as autumn. The colors of the city don't change because nature is not powerful enough to change them as she changes the color of woods. Winter snow leaves nothing white but muddy roads.
harno:
Snow in Georgia is a funny thing. We have been having 24 hours weather news on the TV for the past week, just because there is a threat of snow. Schools have closed based on these predic- tions, and all we got was rain. But the rule is that if it sticks to the ground, school is canceled. It would be a great excuse to get the day off. People rush to the grocery store to buy milk and bread-- I don't know why, but they do. When I was growing up here we used to get one or two big snow- falls a year, but there has not been any for the last few. Damn global wanning.
Maeland:
It' s been so nice. I am of the firm belief that in February we get the day like cool autumn season in November... In February it' s like a warm period that' s been getting stronger and longer every year since my boyhood, and it gets defeated by the final blowing snowstorm of March at least once, but any- one can survive(生存)those snowstorms, since we all know they' 11 be gone in a few days.
Now match each of the people (36-40) to the appropriate statement.
Note: there are two extra statements.
Statements
ifer
37. Kac
38. Soscia
39. Harno
[ A ] Future is bright.
[ B ] Man conquers nature.
[ C ] We can see the effect of the pollution on the climate.
[ D ] Human beings have to struggle hard against weather.40. Macland [ E ] The call of nature is there.
[ F ] He hates spring.
[ G ] Sometimes we worry too much about nothing.
PartB
參考譯文
下面幾段文字談論了氣候的變遷情況及各自對比的觀點。
詹尼弗：
溫室效應可能是造成這種變化的原因，但是這是一個追溯到l00年前的循環，並且在過去20年左右的時間裏，這種循環停止了，這隻影響了世界的一小部分，人們談論溫室效應是因爲他們想顯示自己有多關心世界的未來，不要像這些人一樣愚蠢。
凱樂：
春天也來到這裏了，這多美啊——打開窗戶，換季的新鮮空氣使我快樂。在我更小一些的時候，這個季節裏我常常踩着正在融化的冰雪，走過路邊，穿過田間大片大片的樹林，呆在野外我是如此的興奮。一年中的這個季節呆在城市裏是很難受的，或許我應該馬上去露營。
索西婭：
在城市裏，沒有四季的變換，春雨不會使人工建築生長，潮溼的路面也不會使你不便，因爲你坐在車裏移動，夏熱不再是問題，空調使你的房間像秋天一樣涼爽。城市的顏色也不會變化，因爲自然的力量不足以像改變樹林的顏色那樣來改變城市。冬雪沒有使任何東西變白，留下的只是泥濘的道路。
哈諾：
佐治亞下雪是很有趣的事情，就像上個禮拜，電視上每天有24小時天氣預報。就因爲可能會下雪。因爲這些預告，學校停課了，到最後卻只下了雨。但是如果堅持到底的話，規則就是取消上課了，這是放假的好
藉口。人們涌向雜貨店去買牛奶和麪包——我不知道爲什麼，但是他們這樣做了。在我成長的時候，這裏每年要下1—2場大雪，但是近幾年卻沒有下過一場。該死的全球變暖!
麥克蘭：
那多漂亮啊，我堅信在2月份我們擁有像秋天11月份那樣涼爽的天氣，從我的孩提時代起，二月份這個溫暖的時期變得一年比一年強，一年比一年長，這個時期最終在3月至少一次的暴風雪之中結束，但是任何一個人都會熬過這些暴風雪，因爲我們都知道它們只會持續幾天。
答案及解析
36.G 37.E 38.B 39.C 40.A
36——40題解析略。
Part C
Directions：
Reading the following text from which five sentences have se from the$enl,ences A—G the most suitable one tofill each numbered gap in the text(41一45)e are Two extra senteaces that you do not need to your answers on your ANSWER SHEET 1.
Everywhere you see kids bouncing a basketball or waving a tennis racquet(網球拍) these kids are getting younger and some countries，children Call compete on basketball，baseball，and volleyball teams starting at age nine. 41 And swimming and gymnastics classes begin at age four，to pmpare children for competition。
It’S true that a few of these kids will develop into highly skilled athletes and may even become members of the national Olympic teams. 42 This emphasis on competition in sports is haying serious negative effects.
Children who get involved in competitive sports at a young age often grow tired of their sport.
Many parents pressure their kids to choose one sport and devote all their time to it. 43 But66 percent of the young athletes wanted to play more than one sport for fun.
Another problem is the pmssure imposed by over—competitive parents and dren are not naturally fact，a rec：ent study by Paulo David found that most children don't even understand the idea of competition until they ale seven years old.
The third，and biggest，problem for young athletes is the lack of time to do their homework， have fun，be with friends--in short，time to be they ale forced to spend every aftemotm at sports practice，they often start to hate their chosen sport.A searchers found that 70 percent of kids who take part ill competitive sports before the age of twelve quit before they turn eighteen. Excessive competitive away all the enjoyment.
Need to remember the purpose of youth spons—to give kids a chance to have developing stron9，healthy bodies.
[A]Survey found that 79 percent of parents of young athletes wanted their children to concentrate on one sports
[B ]Many of them completely lose interest in sports.
[c]Very young kids don’t know why their parents are pushing them SO hard. The [d]young soccer organization has teams for children as young as five.
[e]children should have a regular time for sports.
[f] But what about the others，the average kids?
[g]Sports for children have two important purposes.
參考譯文
四下望望，你會看到孩子們打籃球或揮舞網球拍。這些孩子正變得越來越年輕。在一些國家，兒童從九歲開始就可以參加籃球、棒球和排球隊。少年足球組織有低至5歲的足球隊。爲了讓孩子準備競爭，從四歲起他們就可以上游泳和體操班。
確實，有些孩子會發展成高度熟練的運動員，甚至可能成爲國奧隊的成員。但是其他普通的孩子呢?這種對體育競爭的強調存在着嚴重的負面影響。
孩子年幼的時候參與競技體育會對其產生反感。許多父母迫使孩子們選擇一種運動並全身心投入其中。調查發現79%的年輕運動員家長希望他們的孩子能夠專心於從事一項體育運動。但是，66%的年輕運動員都想嘗試多種運動。
另一個問題是過度競爭的父母和教練對孩子們所施加的壓力。競爭不是孩子們的天性。事實上，保羅·戴維最近的一項研究發現，大多數孩子甚至直到七歲都不瞭解競爭的概念。幼小的孩童不懂爲什麼他們的父母把他們逼得那麼緊。
第三，也是最大的問題是，年輕的運動員們沒有時間做作業，玩耍，與朋友在一起。總之，時間應該屬於孩子。當他們被迫每天下午練習體育，他們往往開始懷恨自己選擇的運動。一個研究者發現，在十二歲之前參加競技體育的孩子們有70%會在十八歲前放棄。他們中的很多人失去了對運動的興趣。過度競爭奪走了所有的樂趣。
我們需要記住體育的目的——給孩子一個鍛鍊堅強體魄的機會。
答案及解析
41.D【解析】上一句說到“這些孩子正變得越來越年輕。在一些國家，兒童從九歲開始就可以參加籃球、棒球和排球隊”;下一句說到“爲了讓孩子準備競爭，從四歲起他們就可以上游泳和體操班。”所以空格處也要談有關低齡兒童和體育項目的內容，故選D。
42.F【解析】上一句說到“有些孩子會發展成高度熟練的運動員，甚至可能成爲國奧隊的成員”，其中a few是指出少部分孩子運動競技成績好，此處筆鋒一轉，轉向大多數其他孩子。故選F。
43.A【解析】上一句說到，“許多父母追使孩子們選擇一種運動並全身心投入其中”;後一句說到，“但是，66%的年輕運動員都想嘗試多種運動。”這說明父母和孩子對待體育活動的態度不同，A項所述內容正好與後面But一句形成轉折關係，進一步說明了父母的態度，故選A。
44.C【解析】上一句說到，“大多數孩子甚至直到七歲都不瞭解競爭的概念，”c項所述內容進一步說明幼小的孩子不明白競賽的含義，故選C。
45.B【解析】上一句說到，“在十二歲之前參加競技體育的孩子們有70%會在十八歲前放棄”，後一句說到，“過度競爭奪走了所有的樂趣”。因此，B項所述內容不僅補充前面的研究結果，且與後文形成遞進關係。故選B。
Part D
Directions：
Read thefollowing textfrom whwh lo words have been removed,Choosefrom the words A—-0 the most suitable one tofill each numbered gap in the text(46-55、e are FlvE extra words that you do not need t0 your answers on your ANSWER SHEET 1.
Just when you had figured out how to manage fat in your diet，researchers are now warning against another common mealtime pitfall(陷阱)--salt.
A study by researchers at the University of California，San Francisco(UCSF)，Stanford University and Columbia University shows that even a 46 decrease in daily salt intake(攝人) can lead to dramatic health authors 47 an annual drop of as many as l20，000 cases of heart disease,66,000 48 of stroke and 99，000 heart attacks 49 by high blood pressure after a 3-9—per—day reduction in salt.
The advantages，not surprisingly，were greater for African Americans，who ale more likely to high blood pressure than other ethnic groups，and for the elderly，since blood vessels stiffen with age，which Call lead to higher blood pressure
“Everyone in the consuming salt far in 51 of what is good for them，’’says lead author ten Bibbins Domingo of UCSF.“What we are suggesting is that a population
wide effort to reduce salt intake，even 52 ，will have health benefits.’’
The team conducted a computer—based analysis to determine the 53
of a 3-g--per day reduction in salt intake on rates of heart disease and also calculated the cost savings emerging from the amount of disease that would be 54 because of lower blood pressure. The conclusion：by cutting salt intake nationwide，the d save$10 billion to$24 billion 55 in health care costs.
[A]accidents[C]avoided[E]considerable
[G]documented[I]excess
[K]instances[M]revised
[O]undertakeannually caused develop dramatically
Part D
參考譯文
就在你瞭解如何控制飲食中的脂肪的時候，研究人員已經開始就飲食中另一個常見的健康威脅——鹽，提出警告。
一項由加州大學舊金山分校、斯坦福大學和哥倫比亞大學的研究人員進行的研究顯示，即便適量減少日常食鹽的攝入量對健康都可帶來極大的益處。研究的作者用文件展示了這一結果：每天減少3克食鹽的攝入量，每年由高血壓引起的心臟病患者可減少l20，000例，中風減少66。000例，心肌梗塞減少99，000例。
這樣的結果對於非洲裔的美國人無疑更有利，因爲他們比其他種族 更易患上高血壓，這對老年人也是個福音，因爲血管隨着年齡增長老化 僵硬，也會引起血壓升高。
“美國人食鹽的攝入量遠遠超過健康需要的標準。”這項研究的第一 作者，加州大學舊金山分校的柯爾斯頓·羅賓斯·多明戈說。“我們所 倡議的，是一場全民範圍的控鹽運動，即便是微量的，也會讓健康受益。” 研究團隊進行了一項電腦分析，來檢測每天減少3克食鹽攝入量對 心臟病患病率和死亡率的影響。他們還計算了這樣做能夠節省多少資 金，因爲它使得人們能夠避免由於血壓升高而患上其他疾病。得到的結 論是：通過全國範圍的控鹽運動，美國每年節省的醫療費用爲100億到 240億美元。
答案及譯文
46.L【解析】該處需填人形容詞，修飾後面的名詞decrease。意思爲：即便將日常食鹽的攝入量進行適量的減少都可帶來極大的健康 益處，形容詞considerable顯然不符合句意，因此填入形容詞 modest。
47.G【解析】此處需要填人動詞作句子的謂語，且用動詞的一般過去式。根據句意，該處應該填入動詞document的過去式，表示作者通過數據記錄減少食鹽攝入量後，心臟病、中風和心肌梗塞相應減少的病例。
48.K【解析】此處需要填入名詞，和前面的心臟病例(cases of heart disease)，本句的中風實例(instances of stroke)以及後面的心肌梗塞 (heart attacks)擔當同樣的句子成分，因此，應該填入名詞instanceso
49.D【解析】此處需要填入過去分詞作後置定語，因爲心肌梗塞(heart attacks)是由於高血壓引起的，分詞和它做修飾的名詞短語是被 動關係，所以填人過去分詞表被動，根據句意進一步推斷，該處填人caused。
50.F 【解析】此處需要填入動詞原形，和be likely to do構成固定搭配，意思是：很有可能做某事。填入動詞原形develop(發展，形成)，非洲裔的美國人比其他種族更易患上高血壓，正好符合原文意 思。
51.I 【解析】此處需要填入名詞，構成詞組in excess of，意思是：超過;較…更多。故選I項excess，這句話的意思是：美國人食鹽的攝入 量遠遠超過健康需要的標準。
52.N【解析】此處需要填入副詞修飾整個句子。在副詞分類中選中slightly(輕微地)最符合題意，強調即使是微量的減少食鹽攝入量，也會讓健康受益。
53.J 【解析】此處需要填入名詞。根據該句句意：研究團隊進行了一項電腦分析，來檢測每天減少3克食鹽攝入量對心臟病患病率和死亡率的影響，因此填入名詞impact，符合句意。
54.C【解析】此處需要填入過去分詞，由that引導的定語從句中缺少構成謂語的過去分詞，組成過去將來時的被動語態would be + v-ed，填入過去分詞avoided，意思是：通過血壓的降低，某些疾病將是可以避免的。
55.B【解析】此處填人副詞，annually(每年)作爲統計數據的時間單 位，意思是：通過全國範圍的控鹽運動，美國每年節省的醫療費用爲100億到240億美元。據此，可以判斷選擇B。
