2012年4月全国自主考试英语阅读(一)真题及答案

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According to the last paragraph，why do people display different levels of mental health?

Unlike most of the other non-foolish holidays，the history of April Fool’s Day, sometimes called All Fool’s Day, is not totally dear．[(63)There really wasn’t a “First April Fool’s Day” that can be pinpointed on the calendar.][(64)Some believe it sort of evolved simultaneously in several cultures at the same time, from celebrations involving the first day of spring.]

     The closest point in time that can be identified as the beginning of this tradition was in 1582, in France. [(65)Prior to that year, the new year was celebrated for eight days, beginning on March 25. The celebration culminated on April 1.] With the reform of the calendar under Charles IX, the Gregorian calendar was introduced, and New Year’s Day was moved to January 1.

     [(66)However, communications being what they were in the days when news traveled by foot, many people did not receive the news for several years.][ (67)Others, the more obstinate crowd, refused to accept the new calendar and continued to celebrate the new year on April 1. ]These backward folk were labeled as “fools” by the general populace. They were subject to some ridicule, and were often sent on “fools errands” or were made the butt (笑柄) of other practical jokes.

 (From April Fool’s Day)

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According to the first paragraph，what are the major aspects of life that may influence one’s psychological well-being?

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On the north side of Trafalgar, famous for its Admiral Nelson，its fountains and its hordes of pigeons，there stands a long，low building in classic style．This is the National Gallery, (51) ______ contains Britain’s best-known collection of pictures. The collection was(52) ______ in 1824， with the purchase of thirty-eight pictures that(53) ______ Horgarth’s satirical series and Titian’s “Venus and Adonis”．

The National Gallery is rich (54) ______ paintings by Italian masters such as Raphael and Veronese，and it contains pictures representative of all European schools of art．Many visitors are especially attracted to Leonardo da Vinci’s “Virgin of the Rocks”．

On sunny days，students and (55) ______ young people are often to be seen (56) ______ a sandwich lunch on the portico (门廊) of the Gallery overlooking Trafalgar Square．(57) ______ to the Gallery is free，as is the case (58) ______ other British national galleries and museums， which are maintained by money voted by Parliament． Bequests of pictures have been made to the galleries，at times (59) ______ a generous scale，by private individuals.

Just behind the National Gallery stands the National Portrait Gallery, in which the visitors can see portraits of British monarchs (60) ______ the reign of Richards II (1377-1399)，and of historical celebrities such as Chaucer, Shakespeare，and Cromwell．Many of the pictures are by well-known artists.

 (From London Art Gallery)

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41．(tight) I used my thumbnail to ______ the screw on my lamp．

42．(accept)There was a general ______ that the defense budget would shrink．

43．(suspicion) The singer was rightly ______ of meeting me until I reassured him I was not

writing about him．

44．(time)The recent outbreaks of the flu are a ______ reminder that this disease is still a serious health hazard．

45．(rich) Overseas students from a wide range of countries provide the opportunity to exchange ideas and experiences，and ______ the intellectual and social life

of the schoo1．

46．(reason) The Industrial Revolution brought some relief to the city poor in the form of ______ well-built rows of small houses for laborers，especially in England．

47．(write) Unlike other belief systems，Greek culture recognized no single truth or code and produced no sacred， ______ text like the Bible．

48．(experienced) Men appear to shop differently from women simply because they’re men，rather than because they’re ______ shoppers．

49．(involve) Evidence of practical ______ in the subject is required and is normally determined by the submission of a portfolio of work at interview．

50．(similar)There is a strong ______ between a computer virus and a biological virus．

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To avoid the various foolish opinions to which mankind are prone， no superhuman genius is required．A few simple rules will keep you，not from all error, but from silly error．

If the matter is one that can be settled by observation，make the observation yourself． Aristotle could have avoided the mistake of thinking that(31)______， by the simple device of asking Mrs. Aristotle to keep her mouth open while he counted． I believe myself that hedgehogs eat black beetles，because(32) ______； but if I were writing a book on the habits of hedgehogs，I should not commit myself until(33) ______． Aristotle，however, was less cautious．Ancient and medieval authors knew all about unicorns and salamanders；not one of them thought it necessary to avoid dogmatic statements about them because(34) ______.

Many matters，however, are less easily brought to the test of experience．If, like most of mankind，(35) ______ there are ways in which you can make yourself aware of your own bias．If an opinion contrary to your own makes you angry, that is a sign that(36) ______．If some one maintains that two and two are five，or that Iceland is on the equator, you feel pity rather than anger, unless (37) ______ that his opinion shakes your own contrary conviction．The most savage controversies are those about matters as to which there is no good evidence either way．Persecution is used in theology, not in arithmetic，because (38) ______, but in theology there is only opinion．So whenever you find yourself getting angry about a difference of opinion，(39) ______； you will probably find，on examination，that (40) ______．It is a good way of riding yourself of certain kinds of biased opinions to become aware of those different from your own．

(From How to Avoid the Foolish Opinions)

[A] I have been told that they do

[B] be on your guard

[C] he had never seen one of them

[D] I had seen one enjoying this unappetizing diet

[E] you are subconsciously aware of having no good reason for thinking as you do

[F] man is a brief episode in the life of a small planet in a little comer of the universe

[G] you know so little of arithmetic or geography

[H] the question is one to which there is no demonstrably right answer

[I] women have fewer teeth than men

[J] your belief is going beyond what the evidence warrants

[K] in arithmetic there is knowledge

[L] you have passionate convictions on many such matters

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Geri’s experiences tell us about ______.

The third mistake Geri made was that she ______.

According to the passage，the Japanese consider it ______.

Passage 6

 Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage．

The word “gaffe” in the 4th paragraph can be replaced by ______.

The issue of veto power was heatedly discussed at the conference held in ______.

The UN Charter was officially effective on ______.

At the Dumbarton Oaks Conference.it was agreed that the permanently represented nations at the Security Council were ______.

The Moscow Declaration was signed by ______.

Passage 5

Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage．

    Early in World War II，the representatives of nine European governments fled to London．Nazi Germany had conquered much of Europe and had driven these leaders from their homelands．Representatives of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth nations met in London with the leaders of nine European nations．On June 1 2，1 94 1，all these nations signed a declaration pledging to work for a free world，where people could live in peace and security．This pledge，usually called the Inter-Allied Declaration, was the first step toward building the UN．

    On October 30，l 943，representatives of the United Kingdom，China，the Soviet Union, and the United States signed the Moscow Declaration on General Security．This declaration approved the idea of establishing an international organization for preserving world peace．

    From August to October 1944，representatives of the United Kingdom，China， the Soviet Union，and the United States held a series of meetings at the Dumbarton Oaks estate in Washington D.C.The four nations succeeded in drawing up a basic plan，though they could not agree on some important questions．The plan’s main feature Was a Security Council on which the United Kingdom，China, France，the Soviet Union, and the United States would be permanently

 represented．

   In February 1945，Roosevelt, Churchill，and Stalin met at Yalta in the Crimea． The three leaders announced that a conference of United Nations would open in San Francisco on April 25，1945．This conference would use the plan worked out at the Dumbarton Oaks Conference to help prepare a charter for the UN．

    Delegates from 50 nations met in San Francisco for the United Nations Conference on International Organization．The conference opened on April 25, 1945，13 days after the death of Roosevelt and 12 days before the surrender of Germany．Victory over Japan Was still four months away．

According to the passage，people’s characteristic mood levels may be affected ______.

Chronic stress may result from ______.

From the last paragraph，it can be inferred that ______.

People experience stress when ______.

The writer’s suggestion made in the last paragraph is basically ______.

Passage 4

Questions 16 to 20 are based on the following passage．

According to the passage，stamps can be classified ______.

One of the charms of stamp collecting is that it can be started ______.

According to the passage，the new stamps should avoid ______.

The critic，the publisher and the journalist are mentioned in the 2nd paragraph to show that they are ______.

The author’s attitude towards ambition as all ideal is ______.

Passage 3

Questions 11 to 15 are based on the following passage．

     Postage stamps are labels affixed to letters or parcels to indicate that a specified amount of postage has been prepaid for delivery．Stamps are usually issued by a government or an agency representing a government，such as a national post office．The collecting and study of postage stamps and related items such as postcards is known as philately, a word derived from Greek meaning，literally, “love of what is free of further tax．’’Stamp collecting is one of the most popular hobbies in the world．

     From the earliest years of the hobby，most philatelists have preferred to collect stamps by country，specializing in the issues of one or more nations．Since about the mid-1950s，however, many philatelists have become interested in topical collecting，acquiring stamps illustrating certain themes or subjects．Among the wide range of pictorials are stamps devoted to sports，art and music，aviation，birds and flowers，and telecommunications．

     One of the attractions of stamp collecting is the ease of starting a collection．With access to enough incoming mail，especially from abroad，a person call build a collection without any expense．Literally tens of thousands of stamps，however, including many of the older issues，are priced very cheaply．

    Little special equipment is required．A collector needs only an album to house the collection and a pair of stamp tongs with which to handle them．Stamps and accessories can be purchased easily．Nearly every city has one or more professional stamp dealers．Thousands of other dealers operate exclusively by mail or on the Internet．

     When collectors have accumulated a number of valuable stamps，they must take precautions for safe storage，preferably in a bank safety deposit box．If the stamps are in mint(崭新的)condition，they should not be overlapped；through changes in humidity, overlapping stamps may stick together and become seriously damaged．Collectors also should keep accurate written inventories of all their philatelic material．

In the 1st paragraph，“philately” is a term dealing with ______．

Such items as summer homes，European travel and BMWs are listed to prove that ______.

People tend not to make their ambitions fully known ______.

At the end of the passage，the two novelists are mentioned to emphasize ______.

The central argument made by John Locke is that ______.

Passage 2

Questions 6 to 10 are based on the following passage．

If ambition is to be well regarded，the rewards of ambition must be worthy of the sacrifices on ambition’s behalf. If the tradition of ambition is to have vitality, it should be widely shared，and it especially must be highly regarded by such people as the educated．who are themselves admired． However it is the educated who have claimed to have given up ambition as an ideal．What is odd is that they have perhaps benefited most from ambition，though the ambition may be more that of their parents and grandparents than of their own．

Certainly, people do not seem less interested in success now than formerly．In fact，the signs of success such as summer homes，European travel and BMWs have never ceased to be sought after．What has happened is that people cannot confess fully to their dreams，as easily and openly as once they could，lest they be thought to be aggressive，materialistic or vulgar．Instead，what has often confused us are those fine hypocritical spectacles：the critic of American materialism in possession of a Southampton summer home；the publisher of radical books who takes his meals every day in five-star restaurants；the journalist promoting participatory democracy in all phases of life，who sends his own children to expensive private schools．For such people and many more perhaps not so exceptional，the motto is，“Succeed at all costs but avoid appearing ambitious．’’

The author cites the example the two European thinkers’ writings to show that ______.

The 2nd paragraph is developed by ______.

Passage 1

Questions 1 to 5 are based on the following passage.

    People have thought very differently about children in different historical eras. In ancient Rome and throughout the Middle Ages, for example, childhood was brief: A boy or girl was considered an “infant” until the age of six, but soon afterward worked alongside adults in the fields, in the workshops, or at home. Children were thought to be born in a state of sin and were viewed as the property of their fathers. Such beliefs contributed to strict discipline of children and neglect of their special needs.

    These harsh attitudes softened during the Renaissance and Enlightenment as the humanistic spirit of the times caused a rediscovery of the special qualities of childhood. In paintings, for example, young children were depicted as playing and doing other childish things, rather than being shown as miniature adults. The importance of childhood as a unique period of development was understood more fully in the 17th and 18th centuries, as reflected in the writings of two important European thinkers: the English philosopher John Locke and the French philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau. John Locke argued that the newborn infant comes into the world with no inherited predispositions (天性), but rather with a mind as a “blank slate” that is gradually filled with ideas, concepts, and knowledge from experiences in the world. He concluded that the quality of early experiences, particularly how children are raised and educated, shapes the direction of a child’s life. Later, Jean Jacques Rousseau claimed that children at birth are innately good rather than evil, and that their natural tendencies should be protected against the corrupting influences of society. Rousseau’s attitude had an important influence on society, and inspired，for example，the novelists Charles Dickens and Victor Hugo，who decried(揭露)the exploitation of child labor and highlighted the need for educational and social reform．

It can be inferred that children in the Middle Ages ______．