ReadingComprehensionPractice__4.doc

Reading Comprehension Practice 4
Passage 1
Among Americans the words politics and politician long have been terms of reproach. Politics generally means "dirty" politics, whether the adjective is used or not. Politicians, then, are dirty politicians unless they are not politicians at all.
A well-known American once defined politicians as “a set of men who have interests aside from the interests of the people, and who, to say the most of them, are, taken as a class, at least one long step removed from honest men.” The author of this definition was Abraham Lincoln, and at the time he made it he was a twenty-eight-old member of the Illinois Legislature. He added: “I say this with the greater freedom because, being a politician myself, none can regard it as personal.”
After his death, Lincoln was hailed almost universally as a statesman, one of the greatest--if not the greatest--the country or the world has ever seen. To many of his admirers it seemed unthinkable that he had been at any time a practitioner of politics. He, after all, was “Honest Abe.” He must have been above that sort of thing.
But some of his acquaintances and friends had thought of him as a master of the politician's art. In time historians looked carefully into his political interests and techniques, noting for example the day-to-day attention that, as President, he gave to dividing the spoils of government jobs and patronage. The defenders of Lincoln do not infer, however, that he was a mere grubby spoilsman. "In being a competent politician," they concluded, “he became a statesman.”
1. Judging from this passage, most Americans _____.
A disapprove of politicians B. praise politicians C. envy politicians D. look up to politicians
2. According to Abraham Lincoln, politicians _____.
A. represent the interests of the people B. have the same interests as the people
C. take care of their own interests D. put the interests of the people above their own
3. Lincoln thought that his definition of politicians _______.
A. was made objectively B. was not intended to include himself personally
C. was made freely D. was intended for those dirty politicians only
4. Which of the following statements is NOT true?
A. Lincoln was first a dirty politician but then became a statesman.
B. Historians found that Lincoln was not above dirty politics after all.
C. Many of his admirers thought Lincoln was, after all, honest.
D. Lincoln took good care of the interests of his political friends.
5. The author's attitude towards Lincoln seems to be one of
A. mild criticism B. unqualified praise C. whitewashing D. objective comment

Passage 2
Who says English spelling is difficult? A computer analysis of 17,000 English words has shown that 84% are spelled according to a regular pattern and that only 3% are so unpredictable that they will have to be learned totally by rote. Yet a professor at Cambridge University once declared that: "I hold firmly to the belief that no one can tell how to pronounce an English word unless he has at some time or other heard it."
Believe it or not, English spelling was at one time virtually phonetic (语音的): even the "k" in "know" was pronounced. At that time, the Old English period, words which now look as if they should rhyme (押韵) (but don't), for instance, bough (大树枝)' cough, enough, thorough, and though, actually all had a different spelling and it was therefore natural that they should be pronounced differently (bob, couhe, puruh, peah).
It's really the French's (the Dutch's, too, but more about them later) fault that English spelling is so absurd (荒谬的), for in 1066 the Normans invaded England and brought with them their own language, Norman French. For the two centuries alter this disastrous (灾难的) invasion (入侵), poor old English was hardly ever written, because the language of the court, of law and of administration(管理) was French -- the Normans held all the positions of power. About 40% of the words in the Oxford English Dictionary derive from French. The problem is that tile English have always been hopeless at learning languages and they consequently mispronounced the majority of words, which were introduced by the Normans into the English language. The Norman were also responsible for the capital 'T' as in "I am" , and for introducing extra letters into existent words, such as the "u" in "tongue" and "guess".
6． The phrase" by rote" in Line 3. Para. 1, probably means______.
A. by spelling mechanically (机械的) B. by memorizing (记住) phonetically
C. by spelling phonetically D. by memorizing mechanically
7. We can learn from the passage that______.
A. 84% English words are irregularly spelled B. 3% English words are irregularly spelled
C. 97% English words are regularly spelled D. 26% English words are irregularly spelled
8. The cause of absurd English spelling is that______.
A. Britain was invaded by Normans B. old English was hardly ever written
C. extra letters were introduced into existent words D. the majority of words were mispronounced
9. During Norman invasion, written English was not used in the following fields except______.
A. court B. law C. school D. administration
10. Which is the best title for this passage?
A. Cause of Irregular English Spelling B. Regular Words in English
C. The Influence of French on English D. The History of English

Passage 3
Surfing the internet can be as addictive as drugs, alcohol or gambling (赌博), a researcher from University of Pittsburgh said last month.
In a study of almost 400 men and women in Canada, researchers found Internet addiction hooked people into spending 40 hours or more a week online, most often involved in role-playing games or engaged in chat room discussions.
One 17-year-old boy was so addicted (上瘾) to the Internet activities that his parents had to admit him to a drug/alcohol rehabilitation (康复) hospital for 10 days for treatment. One woman, described by friends, family and children as a perfect homemaker, wife and mother, became so addicted to the Internet that she would not cook, clean or do the laundry (洗熨衣物) and was neglecting her children and husband because she was spending as much as 12 hours a day talking to acquaintances on the Internet.
Finally her husband said, "Choose me or the computer~" She divorced him.
Psychologist Kimberly Young, assistant professor of psychology at the University of Pittsburgh's Bradford campus, found that 76 per cent of the subjects in the study spends an average of 40 hours a week on the Internet.
Of 396 people who met Young's criteria (标准) for addicted Internet users, 157 were men, 239 women. The men were younger with an average age of 29; the women average 43 years of age.
The largest group of addicted users of the Internet was people who were not working outside the home; that is, homemakers, students and those who were disabled or retired.
In a presentation at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association (协会) in Toronto, 82 percent of the addicted users said they had slowly drifted into their addictions.
11. According to the researcher in University of Pittsburgh, surfing the Internet can be_______.
A. alcoholic B. harmful C. exciting D. stimulating
12. Which of the following statements is not true according to the passage?
A. Many Internet surfers play games and chat online.
B. Some Internet surfer has to receive medical treatment to get over the addiction.
C. Nearly half of the Internet surfers spend almost 6 hours online every day.
D. Internet, sometimes, can exert influence more powerful than family.
13. It can be inferred from the passage the majority of addicted Internet users are ____.
A. young men B. middle-aged men C. young women D. middle-aged women
14. It is implied people who are likely to be addicted Internet users are usually______.
A. those who are busy with their work B. those who are not employed
C. those who want to escape from their boring life D. those who want to make friends
15. The writer's attitude towards surfing the Internet is_____.
A. appreciative B. satiric (讽刺的) C. critical D. solemn

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