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北京地区成人本科学士学位英语统一考试

2013.11.2

Part I Reading Comprehension (30%)

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. Passage 1

Questions 1 to 5 are based on the following passage:

For 20 months the wrecked Costa Concordia has been lying on its side near the coast of Giglio, a small Italian island. But on Tuesday, as part of the largest salvage (打捞） operation ever conducted，the large ship was finally moved to the upright position. The next step is for the vessel to be removed from the area entirely.

The Costa Concordia is twice the weight of the Titanic. The ship itself didn’t budge (稍微移动）for the first three hours of the operation, Sergio Girotto told reporters. He and other engineers worked for 19 hours before Concordia was declared completely upright.

The Costa Concordia capsized on January 13, 2012，after its captain, Francesco Schettino，brought the ship too close to the shore. The ship hit coastal rocks, which caused serious damage and allowed water to pour in. (76) Most of the 4,200 people on board made it to land safely, but more than 30 people were killed in the disaster. Two people remain missing. The Concordia’s captain is currently on trial for causing a shipwreck and abandoning his ship.

The operation to right the ship is called parbuckling. While parbuckling is a standard operation to right capsized ships，it has never before been used on such a large ship. (77) Workers had been waiting for favorable weather conditions to undertake the operation. On Monday，authorities gave the final go-ahead.

The process was expected to take no more than 12 hours. But problems with the large system of steel chains caused delays. Engineers worked through the night using cables and metal water tanks to roll the ship onto special platforms.

The Concordia is expected to be pulled away from Giglio in the spring of 2014 and turned into scrap metal (废金属). The ship’s owner, Costa Cruises, will pay for the recovery, which has already cost more than $800 million.

1. Which of the following is the best title for the passage? A. Ship Safety Management

B. Shipwrecks: an Environmental Threat C. The Costa Concordia Disaster D. The Costa Concordia Salvage

2. The word “capsized” in the third paragraph is closest in meaning to A. turned over B. delayed

C. departed D. set sail

3 According to the passage, the Concordia’s captain has been charged with causing the crash and_______________. A. drug use B. alcohol abuse C. abandoning his post D. setting fire

4. According to the passage，which of the following statements is TRUE? A. The Costa Concordia is three times the weight of the Titanic.

B. Engineers in Italy have successfully righted the wrecked Concordia after an operation that lasted around 12 hours.

C. The salvage operation went ahead despite bad weather conditions.

D. As a common means of righting wrecked ships, parbuckling had never been carried out on a vessel of the Concordia’s size.

5. What will happen to the Concordia eventually? A. It will be pulled away to be broken up for scrap metal. B. It will be repaired and put into use again. C. It will be turned into a museum for tourists. D. It will be sunk to the ocean floor. Passage 2

Questions 6 to 10 are based on the following passage:

(78) Would you risk your life for a country that considered you a second-class citizen? Would you join a military that asked you to risk sacrificing your life but separated you from other soldiers because of the color of your skin? That is precisely what the Tuskegee Airmen did. They were brave, intelligent, African-American men and women who fought for the United States in World War II.

In 1940, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt agreed to allow African Americans to fly airplanes in the military. Before that, African Americans could only serve in the Armed Forces as part of the ground troops. The first African American airmen reported for duty in 1941. They began their training outside of Tuskegee, Alabama. (79) The soldiers were completely separated by race and the two races could not communicate. About 450 African American pilots finished the training. These men were the original Tuskegee Airmen.

The Tuskegee Airmen had an amazing record. They did not lose any of the bombers they were escorting (护航). When the war was over in 1945，the Tuskegee Airmen were heroes. But when they returned to America, they were appalled to find out that they were still treated like

second-class citizens. They faced the same segregation (种族隔离）and discrimination (歧视）as they had before they began their training.

Frederick Henry, one of the original Tuskegee Airmen, lives in Detroit, Michigan. Because he was from the North，he would often forget the segregation rules of the South. Once, Henry was on a bus alone with a white bus driver. Soon, after the two had talked for a while，a wave of other passengers came on the bus. A problem arose when some white passengers were still standing, which was against the rules. Henry was put off the bus, even though he was the first person to board the bus and had paid his fare.

One thing did change, however. In 1948，President Harry S. Truman signed an executive order prohibiting segregation in the military. Eventually, the Tuskegee Airmen were officially thanked for their amazing efforts in the war.

6. Which of the following is the best title for the passage? A. American Soldiers in World War II B. American Civil Rights Movement C. The Tuskegee Airmen

D. Racial Discrimination in the U. S.

7. What docs the word “appalled” in the third paragraph probably mean? A. Reluctant. B. Pleased. C. Shocked. D. Relieved, 8. It can be inferred from the passage that Henry ___________.

A. refused to give up his seat to a white passenger B. refused to pay his bus fare C. had a fight with the bus driver D. was the last person to board the bus. 9. In __________, President Harry S. Truman ordered to end military segregation. A. 1940 B. 1941 C. 1945 D. 1948

10. According to the passage, which of the following statements about the Tuskegee Airmen is TRUE?

A. In World War II，they never lost a bomber to enemy fire.

B. They were the first group of black soldiers ever trained by the ground troops. C. They were not subjected to racial discrimination in the army.

D. They were already soldiers in the ground troops before their training at Tuskegee began. Passage 3

Questions 11 to 15 are based on the following passage:

Coffee is a powerful drink. On a personal level, it helps keep us awake and active. (80) On a much general level, it has helped shape our history and continues to shape our culture.

Coffee plants grow wild in parts of Africa and were probably used by travelling tribes (部落）for thousands of years，but it wasn’t until the 1400s that people figured out they could roast its seeds. “Then it really took off,” said historian Mark Pendergrast—author of Uncommon Grounds: the History of Coffee and How It Transformed Our World. By the 1500s, the drink had spread to coffeehouses across the Arab world Within another 150 years, it took Europe by storm. “It actually had a major impact on the rise of business,” Pendergrast says. Coffeehouses became a spot not just to enjoy a cup but to exchange ideas.