Part I Read and Know
In this part, you will read some questions about your abilities or personalities. Read as fast as you can and choose the answer that you think best describes yourself.
Are You Charismatic?
Charisma is the magnetic power that attracts people to you. It won’t affect the quality of your work or provide you with wonderful original ideas, but it remains one of the most vital talents if you want to make it big in life. If people who don’t even understand what you’re talking about believe that you are a genius, you will have made it. The following test will decide whether you’ve got what it takes. 1) Do people find themselves attracted to you? A. Yes, it can be embarrassing sometimes. B. No, no more than other people. C. I suppose they do a bit.
2) Do you find that people agree with you regardless of the quality of your arguments? A. No, never. B. Not that often. C. All the time.
3) Would you find it easy to attract followers? A. No, not at all. B. Not very easy.
C. Yes, it’s really no problem.
4) Do you find casual acquaintances open up and tell you their life stories in intimate detail? A. Occasionally. B. Never.
C. Happens all the time. Sometimes I just can’t get away.
Part II Read and Reason
In this part, you will read texts of different forms and genres. Read the instructions carefully and answer the questions based on your comprehension, analysis and inferences of the texts.
1. Among the four statements below, one statement is the main point, and the other three are specific support for the point. Identify the main point with P and the specific support with S. ___A. Hungry bears searching for food often threaten hikers. ___B. Hiking on that mountain trail can be very dangerous.
___C. Severe weather develops quickly, leaving hikers exposed to storms and cold. ___D. When it rains, the trail, which is very steep at some points, becomes slippery.
2. Read the following cartoon. Put a tick by the three statements that are most logically based on the information suggested by the cartoon.
___A. Lucy has just criticized the boy, Linus. ___B. Linus feels Lucy’s criticism is valid.
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___C. Lucy feels very guilty that Linus has taken her criticism badly.
___D. Lucy doesn’t seem to realize that people may accept constructive criticism but reject destructive criticism.
___E. The cartoonist believes we should never criticize others.
___F. The cartoonist believes it’s best to criticize others in a constructive way.
3. Read an extract of an advertisement. Choose the answer which you think fits each question best according to the text.
Young Environmental Journalist Competition
How to Enter:
☆ If you’re aged 16-25, we’re looking for original articles of 1,000 words (or less) with an environmental or conservation theme. The closing date for entries is 30 December, 2015.
☆ Your article should show proof of investigative research, rather than relying solely on information from the Internet and phone interviews. You don’t have to go far. A report on pollution in a local stream would be as valid as a piece about the remotest rain forest.
☆ Your article should show you are passionate and knowledgeable about environmental issues. It should also be objective and accurate, while being creative enough to hold the reader’s interest. We are not looking for “think pieces” or opinion columns.
☆ Your aim should be to advance understanding and awareness of environmental issues. You should be able to convey complex ideas of readers of this general interest magazine in an engaging and authoritative manner.
☆ Facts or information contained in short-listed articles will be checked. ☆ Read the rules carefully.
1) Before entering for the competition, young people must have_______. A. conducted some relevant research in their local area B. gained a qualification in experimental research
C. uncovered some of the evidence in the research by themselves D. consulted a number of specialists on the subject under research 2) The articles submitted must_______. A. focus on straightforward concepts B. include a range of views C. be accessible to non-specialist D. reveal the writer’s standpoint
4. Read the passage below. Then choose the best answer to each question that follows
(1) Johnny Appleseed, one of the gentlest and most beloved of American folk heroes, was born in 1774 in Leominster, Massachusetts. (2) His real name was John Chapman. (3) Chapman’s early life was full of misfortune. (4) First, his father left home to fight in the Revolutionary War. (5) Then John’s mother and baby brother died before John’s second birthday. (6) However, John’s fortunes improved when his father returned and remarried, and by the time John was in his teens, he had ten brothers and sisters. (7) As a young man, John began traveling west on foot, stopping to clear land and plant the apple seeds he always carried with him. (8) Settlers who followed John’s path were delighted to find young apple orchards dotting the landscape.
(9) John was a friendly fellow who often stopped to visit with families along his way, entertaining them with stories of his travels. (10) Tales of his exploits followed him through Pennsylvania, Ohio, and
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Indiana. (11) Many of the stories were true. (12) For instance, John really did travel barefoot through the snow, lived on the friendliest of terms with Indian tribes, and refused to shoot any animal. (13) Other tales about John, however, were exaggerations. (14) Settlers said, for example, that he slept in the treetops and talked to the birds or that he had once been carried off by a giant eagle. (15) Johnny Appleseed never stopped traveling until his death in Fort Wayne, Indiana, in 1845. 1) Sentence 1 is a statement of_______. A. fact B. opinion C. fact and opinion
2) The details in sentences 4 and 5 support the point or points in _______. A. sentence 1 B. sentence 2 C. sentence 3 D. sentence 6
3) The relationship between sentences 3 and 6 is one of _______. A. contrast B. addition C. cause and effect D. comparison
4) We can conclude that Johnny Appleseed _______. A. provided apples for numerous settlers B. was quickly forgotten by the settlers C. grew wealthy by selling his apple trees D. left home because of problems with his family 5) The passage suggests that Johnny Appleseed _______. A. grew weary of traveling
B. had great respect for other people and animals C. lived a very short but rich life
D. planted many trees other than apple trees 6) The tone of the passage is _______. A. pessimistic
B. bitter and impassioned C. amused and excited
D. straightforward with a touch of admiration 7) Which is the most appropriate title for this selection? A. The Planting of American Apple Orchards B. Folk Heroes of America C. Settlers Recall Johnny Appleseed D. The Life and Legend of John Chapman
5. Read the passage below. Then choose the best answer to each question that follows.
(1) Television has transformed politics in the United States by changing the way in which information is disseminated, by altering political campaigns, and by changing citizens’ patterns of response to politics. (2) By giving citizens independent access to the candidates, television diminished the role of the political party in the selection of the major party candidates. (3) By centering politics on the person
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of the candidate, television accelerated the citizens’ focus on character rather than issues.
(4) Television has altered the forms of political communication as well. (5) The messages on which most of us rely are briefer than they once were. (6) The stump speech, a political speech given by traveling politicians and lasting 11/2 to 2 hours, which characterized nineteenth-century political discourse, has given way to the 30-second advertisement and the 10-second “sound bite” in broadcast news. (7) Increasingly the audience for speeches is not that standing in front of the politician but rather the viewing audience who will hear and see a snippet of the speech on the news.
(8) In these abbreviated forms, much of what constituted the traditional political discourse of earlier ages has been lost. (9) In 15 or 30 seconds, a speaker cannot establish the historical context that shaped the issue in question, cannot detail the probable causes of the problem, and cannot examine alternative proposals to argue that one is preferable to others. (10) In snippets, politicians assert but do not argue. (11) Because television is an intimate medium, speaking through it requires a changed political style that was more conversational, personal, and visual than that of the old-style stump speech. (12) Reliance on television means that increasingly our political world contains memorable pictures rather than memorable words. (13) Schools teach us to analyze words and print. (14) However, in a world in which politics is increasingly visual, informed citizenship requires a new set of skills.
(15) Recognizing the power of television’s pictures, politicians craft televisual, staged events, called pseudo-event, designed to attract media coverage. (16) Much of the political activity we see on television news has been crafted by politicians, their speechwriters, and their public relations advisers for televised consumption. (17) Sound bites in news and answers to questions in debates increasingly sound like advertisements.
1) What is the main idea of the passage?
A. Citizens in the United States are now more informed about political issue because of television coverage.
B. Citizens in the United States prefer to see politicians on television instead of in person.
C. Politics in the United States has become substantially more controversial since the introduction of television.
D. Politics in the United States has been significantly changed by television. 2) The word “disseminated” in sentence 1 is closest in meaning to_______. A. analyzed B. discussed C. spread D. stored
3) It can be inferred that before the introduction of television, political parties _______. A. had more influence over the selection of political candidates B. spent more money to promote their political candidates C. attracted more members D. received more money
4) The author mentions the “stump speech” in sentence 6 as an example of _______. A. an event created by politicians to attract media attention B. an interactive discussion between two politicians
C. a kind of political presentation typical of the nineteenth century D. a style of speech common to televised political events 5) The word “that” in sentence 7 refers to _______.
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A. audience B. broadcast news C. politician D. advertisement
6) According to the passage, as compared with televised speeches, traditional political discourse was more successful at _______.
A. allowing news coverage of political candidates B. placing political issues within a historical context C. making politics seem more intimate to citizens
D. providing detailed information about a candidate’s private behavior
7) The author states that “politicians assert but do not argue” in sentence 9 in order to suggest that politicians _______.
A. make claims without providing reasons for the claims B. take stronger positions on issues than in the past C. enjoy explaining the issue to broadcasters
D. dislike having to explain their own positions on issues to citizens 8) The purpose of paragraph 4 is to suggest that_______.
A. politicians will need to learn to become more personal when meeting citizens
B. politicians who are considered very attractive are favored by citizens over politicians who are less attractive
C. citizens tend to favor a politician who analyzed the issue over one who did not
D. citizens will need to learn how to evaluate visual political images in order to become better informed
9) Which of the following statements is supported by the passage?
A. Political presentations today are more like advertisements than in the past. B. Politicians today tend to be more familiar with the views of citizens than in the past. C. Citizens today are less informed about a politician’s character than in the past. D. Political speeches today focus more on details about issues than in the past.
Part III Read and Question
In this part, you will read about related or contradictory views on a variety of issues. You will be required to identify the writer’s position and evaluate the effectiveness of the writer’s arguments. Read the following two passages and answer the questions.
Passage A
While On the origin of Species created a great stir when it was published in 1859, Darwinian thought was almost completely out of vogue by the turn of the twentieth century. It took Ronald Fisher’s “Great Synthesis” of the 1920s, which combined the genetic work of Gregor Mendel with Darwin’s ideas about natural selection, and Theodosius Dobzhansky’s “Modern Synthesis” of the 1930s, which was built upon Fisher’s work with genetics within a species by focusing on how genetic variation could cause the origin of a new species, to begin to rehabilitate Darwin.
Yet, what is remarkable is how very prescient Darwin, working without knowledge of the mechanisms of heredity, proved to be. As prominent biologist Ernst Mayr notes, what made Darwinian theory so remarkable was his emphasis on “population thinking”. This contrasts to Jean-Baptiste Lamarck’s theory of evolution, popular throughout the nineteenth century, which posited that individuals changed personal actions and will. Lamarckian theory is often exemplified by a giraffe constantly reaching up to
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2015年“‘外研社杯’全国英语阅读大赛”样题（紧凑排版）
