Passage Three

　　Questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage.

　　It is hardly necessary for me to cite all the evidence of the depressing state of literacy. These figures from the Department of Education are sufficient: 27 million Americans cannot read at all, and a further 35 million read at a level that is less than sufficient to survive in our society.

　　But my own worry today is less that of the overwhelming problem of elemental literacy than it is of the slightly more luxurious problem of the decline in the skill even of the middle-class reader, of his unwillingness to afford those spaces of silence, those luxuries of domesticity and time and concentration, that surround the image of the classic act of reading. It has been suggested that almost 80 percent of America's literate, educated teenagers can no longer read without an accompanying noise(music)in the background or a television screen flickering (闪烁) at the corner of their field of perception. We know very little about the brain and how it deals with simultaneous conflicting input, but every common-sense intuition suggests we should be profoundly alarmed. This violation of concentration, silence, solitude (独处的状态)goes to the very heart of our notion of literacy; this new form of part-reading, of part-perception against background distraction, renders impossible certain essential acts of apprehension and concentration, let alone that most important tribute any human being can pay to a poem or a piece of prose he or she really loves, which is to learn it by heart. Not by brain, by heart; the expression is vital.

　　Under these circumstances, the question of what future there is for the arts of reading is a real one. Ahead of us lie technical, psychic (心理的), and social transformations probably much more dramatic than those brought about by Gutenberg, the German inventor in printing. The Gutenberg revolution, as we now know it, took a long time; its effects are still being debated. The information revolution will touch every fact of composition, publication, distribution, and reading. No one in the book industry can say with any confidence what will happen to the book as we've known it.

　　31.The picture of the reading ability of the American people, drawn by the author, is .

　　A) rather bleak C) very impressive

　　B) fairly bright D) quite encouraging

　　32.The author's biggest concern is .

　　A) elementary school children's disinterest in reading classics

　　B) the surprisingly low rate of literacy in the U.S.

　　C) the musical setting American readers require for reading

　　D) the reading ability and reading behavior of the middle class

　　33.A major problem with most adolescents who can read is .

　　A) their fondness of music and TV programs

　　B) their ignorance of various forms of art and literature

　　C) their lack of attentiveness and basic understanding

　　D) their inability to focus on conflicting input

　　34.The author claims that the best way a reader can show admiration for a piece of poetry or prose is .

　　A) to be able to appreciate it and memorize it

　　B) to analyze its essential features

　　C) to think it over conscientiously

　　D) to make a fair appraisal of its artistic value

　　35. About the future of the arts of reading the author feels .

　　A) upset C) alarmed

　　B) uncertain D) pessimistic

　　Passage Four

　　Questions 35 to 40 are based on the following passage.

　　For centuries, explorers have risked their lives venturing into the unknown for reasons that were to varying degrees economic and nationalistic. Columbus went west to look for better trade routes to the Orient and to promote the greater glory of Spain. Lewis and Clark journeyed into the American wilderness to find out what the U.S. had acquired when it purchased Louisiana, and the Appolo astronauts rocketed to the moon in a dramatic show of technological muscle during the cold war.

　　Although their missions blended commercial and political-military imperatives,the explorerss involved all accomplished some singificant science simply by going where no scientists had gone.

　　Today Mars looms(隐约出现)as humanity's next great terra incognita(未探明之地).And with doubtful prospects for a short-term financial return,with the cold war a rapidly fading memory and amid a growing emphasis on international cooperation in large space ventues,it is clear that imperatives other than profits or nationalism will have to compel human beings to leave their tracks on the planet's reddish surfface.Could it be that science,which has long played a minor role in exploration,is at last destined to take a leading role? The question naturally invites a couple of others:Are there experiments that only humans could do on Mars? Could those experiments provide insights profound enough to justify the expense of sending people across in terplanetary space?

　　With Mars the scientific stakes are arguably higher than they have ever been.The issue of whether life ever existed on the planet, and whether it persists to this day,has been highlighted by mounting evidence that the Red Planet had abundant stable,liquid water and by the continuing controversy over suggestions that bacterial fossils rode to Earth on a meteorite(陨石)from Mars .A more conclusive answer about life on Mars ,past or present ,would give researchers invaluable data about the range of conditions under which a planet can generate the complex chemistry that leads to life.If it could be established that life arose independently on Mars and Earth ,the finding would provide the first concrete clues in one deepest mysteries in all of science:the prevalence of life in the universe.

　　36.According to the passage,the chief purpose of explorers in going to unknown places in the past was _______.

　　A)to display their country's military might

　　B)to accomplish some significant science

　　C)to find new areas for colonization

　　D)to pursue commercial and state interests

　　37.At present ,a probable inducement for countries to initiate large-scale space ventures is _______.

　　A)International cooperation

　　B)scientific research

　　C)nationalistic reasons

　　D)long-term profits

　　38.What is the main goal of sending human missions to Mars?

　　A)To find out if life ever existed there.

　　B)To see if humans could survive there.

　　C)To prove the feasibiliy of large-scale space ventures.

　　D)To show the leading role of science in space exploration

　　39.By saying"With Mars the scientific stakes are arguably higher than they have ever been"(Line 1,Para .4),the author means that ______.

　　A)with Mars the risks involved are much greater than any previous space ventures

　　B)in the case of Mars ,the rewards of scientific exploration can be very high

　　C)in the case of Mars,much more research funds are needed than ever before

　　D)with Mars ,scientists argue ,the fundamental interests of science are at issue

　　40.The passage tells us that proof of life on Mars would _______.

　　A)make clear the complex chemistry in the development of life

　　B)confirm the suggestion that bacterial fossils travelled to Earth on a meteorite

　　C)reveal the kind of conditions under which life originates

　　D)provide an explanation why life is common in the universe

(责任编辑：杨琳)