2008年11月北京地区成人本科学士学位英语统考(A卷)题
2008-11-22
Directions: There are three passages in this part. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C, and D. You should decide on the best choice and blacken the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet.
Questions 1 to 5 are based on the following passage:
Scientists in India have invented a new way to produce electricity. Their invention does not get its power from oil, coal or other fuels. It produces electricity with the power of animals. India has about eighty million bullocks. They do all kinds of jobs. They work in the fields. They pull vehicles through the streets. They carry water containers. (76)Indian energy officials have been seeking ways to use less imported oil to provide energy. Scientists at the National Institute for Industrial Engineering in Bombay wondered whether the millions of bullocks could help. Many villages in India lack electricity, but they have many bullocks. And often the animals are not working. One job done by bullocks is to pump water out of the well. The animals do this by walking around and around in a circle. As they walk, they turn a heavy stick that makes the pump move. This simple technology is centuries old. Scientists thought that the same technology could be used to produce electricity. Bullocks walk in a circle only two or three times a minute. This is much too slow to produce electricity, but it can create enough power to turn a series of gears. A large gear sits next to a smaller gear. As the large gear turns, it causes the smaller gear to turn. That gear turns an even smaller one. Each gear moves faster because it is a little smaller. The smallest gear may turn extremely fast. (77)Clocks operate with gears. So do cars and so does the device invented by the Indian scientists to produce electricity.
According to the officials in the United Nations, the idea is being tested at several places in India. The device is easy to operate and repair. And it can be moved easily. It costs about three hundred and seven dollars now to make such a device, but production of large numbers of them could cut the cost of each to about two hundred dollars.
1. Who first thought of using bullocks to provide energy?
A Indian energy officials
B Scientists in India
C Officials in the United Nations
D Researchers in Europe.
2. Which kind of job that the bullocks do is NOT mentioned in the passage?
A Pulling vehicles
B Plowing fields
C Pumping water out if wells
D Carrying food baskets.
3. Why are bullocks used to provide energy in India?
A Because bullocks have long been used by Indian people
B Because bullocks walk slowly and are easy to control
C Because there are few non-working bullocks in India
D Because there is not enough oil in India
4. In the sentence “This simple technology is centuries old” in Paragraph One, “This simple technology” refers to _____. A using bullocks to produce energy
B using pumps to draw water out
C having bullocks walk around to make the pump move
D connecting gears of different sizes to produce electricity.
5. Which of the following is true about the device mentioned in the passage?
A It has a large gear and a smaller gear.
B It’s easy to use, but difficult to move.
C It’s quite cheap.
D It’s still being tested.
Questions 6 to 10 are based on the following passage:
On-the-job smoking is a hot issue for both smokers and non-smokers, and many managers now see smoking as a productivity problem. Although some people question whether smoking really affects one’s productivity, it has, in fact, been proven that a smoker costs a company more than a non-smoker. According to Professor William Weis, a smoking employee costs his or her employer about $ 5,700 more a year than a never-smoker. These costs include medical care, lost earnings and insurance. And absence due to smoking breaks is one of the productivity problems, yet it accounts for a great deal of employer costs.
(78) When the issue of smoking at the workplace is discussed, perhaps the most important problem is the health risk that smoking causes to both smokers and never-smokers. It has long been proven that smoking is linked to lung cancer. Now many health experts warn that passive smoking can cause lung cancer and other illnesses in healthy never-smokers. Passive smoking can be defined as exposure to second-hand tobacco smoke in enclosed areas. Anyone who has been with smokers indeed knows that their smoke can cause eye irritation, coughing, headaches and throat soreness. While eye irritation may seem a small thing to some smokers, it nevertheless is a problem that occurs every workday in offices and break-rooms and can lead to greater health problems. Employees who do not smoke should not be subjected to the risks of passive smoking and need to be able to work in a safe environment. Surgeon General Koop states that the right of the smoker stops at the point where his or her smoking increases the disease risk of those occupying the same environment.
