2013高考英语二轮阅读理解（四月）训练（4）及答案
The rise of multinational corporations (跨国公司), global marketing, new communications technologies, and shrinking cultural differences have led to an unparalleled increase in global public relations or PR.
Surprisingly, since modern PR was largely an American invention, the U.S. leadership in public relations is being threatened by PR efforts in other countries. Ten years ago, for example, the world’s top five public relations agencies were American-owned. In 1991, only one was. The British in particular are becoming more sophisticated and creative. A recent survey found that more than half of all British companies include PR as part of their corporate (公司的) planning activities, compared to about one-third of U.S. companies. It may not be long before London replaces New York as the capital of PR.
Why is America lagging behind in the global PR race? First, Americans as a whole tend to be fairly provincial and take more of an interest in local affairs. Knowledge of world geography, for example, has never been strong in this country. Secondly, Americans lag behind their European and Asian counterparts (相对应的人) in knowing a second language. Less than 5 percent of Burson-Marshall’s U.S. employees know two languages. Ogilvy and Mather has about the same percentage. Conversely, some European firms have half or more of their employees fluent in a second language. Finally, people involved in PR abroad tend to keep a closer eye on international affairs. In the financial PR area, for instance, most Americans read the Wall Street Journal. Overseas, their counterparts read the Journal as well as the Financial Times of London and The Economist, publications not often read in this country.
Perhaps the PR industry might take a lesson from Ted Turner of CNN (Cable News Network). Turner recently announced that the word “foreign” would no longer be used on CNN news broadcasts. According to Turner, global communications have made the nations of the world so interdependent that there is no longer any such thing as foreign.
51. According to the passage, U.S. leadership in public relations is being threatened because _______.
A. an unparalleled increase in the number of public relations companies
B. shrinking cultural differences and new communications technologies
C. the decreasing number of multinational corporations in the U.S.
D. increased efforts of other countries in public relations
52. London could soon replace New York as the center of PR because ________.
A. British companies are more ambitious than U.S. companies
B. British companies place more importance on PR than U.S. companies
C. British companies are heavily involved in planning activities
D. Four of the world’s top public relations agencies are British-owned
53. The word “provincial” in Para.3 most probably means“________.”
A. limited in outlook B) like people from the provinces
C. rigid in thinking D) interested in world financial affairs
54. We learn from the third paragraph that employees in the American PR industry ________.
A. speak at least one foreign language fluently
B. are ignorant about world geography
C. are not as sophisticated as their European counterparts
D. enjoy reading a great variety of English business publications
55. What lesson might the PR industry take from Ted Turner of CNN?
A. American PR companies should be more internationally-minded.
B. The American PR industry should develop global communications technologies.
C. People working in PR should be more fluent in foreign languages.
D. People involved in PR should avoid using the word “foreign”.
参考答案 51-55DBACA
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A
American society is not nap (午睡)-friendly. In fact, says David Dinges, a sleep specialist at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine,“There’s even a prohibition against admitting we need sleep”. Nobody wants to be caught napping or found asleep at work. To quote a proverb:“Some sleep five hours, nature requires seven, laziness nine and wickedness eleven.”
Wrong. The way not to fall asleep at work is to take naps when you need them.“We have to totally change our attitude toward napping,”says Dr. William Dement of Stanford University, the godfather of sleep research.
Last year a national commission led by Dement identified an“American sleep debt” which one member said was as important as the national debt. The commission was concerned about the dangers of sleepiness: people causing industrial accidents or falling asleep while driving. This may be why we have a new sleep policy in the White House. According to recent reports, President Clinton is trying to take a ha1f-hour snooze (瞌睡) every afternoon.
About 60 percent of American adults nap when given the opportunity. We seem to have“a mid afternoon quiet phase,” also called “a secondary sleep gate.” Sleeping 15 minutes to two hours in the early afternoon can reduce stress and make us refreshed. Clearly, we were born to nap.
We Superstars of Snooze don't nap to replace lost shut-eye or to prepare for a night shift. Rather, we “snack” on sleep, whenever, wherever and at whatever time we feel like it. I myself have napped in buses, cars, planes and on boats; on floors and beds; and in libraries, offices and museums.
4l. It is commonly accepted in American society that too much sleep is .
A. unreasonable B. criminal C. harmful D. costly
42. The research done by the Dement Commission shows that Americans ________.
A. don't like to take naps
B. are terribly worried about their national debt
C. sleep less than is good for them
D. have caused many industrial and traffic accidents
43. The purpose of this article is to .
A. warn us of the wickedness of napping
B. explain the danger of sleepiness
C. discuss the side effects of napping
D. convince the reader of the necessity of napping
44. The underlined phrase “American sleep debt” in Para. 3 is the result of .
A. the traditional misconception the Americans have about sleep
B. the new sleep policy of the Clinton Administration
C. the rapid development of American industry
D. the Americans' worry about the danger of sleepiness
45. The second sentence of the last paragraph tells us that it is .
A. preferable to have a sound sleep before a night shift
B. good practice to eat something light before we go to bed
C. essential to make up for cost sleep
D. natural to take a nap whenever we feel the need for it
参考答案 41-45 A C D A D
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B
Violin prodigies (神童), I learned, have come in distinct waves from distinct regions. Most of the great performers of the late 19th and early 20th centuries were born and brought up in Russia and Eastern Europe. I asked Isaac Stern, one of the world’s greatest violinists, the reason for this phenomenon.“It is very clear,” he told me. “They were all Jews (犹太人) and Jews at the time were severely oppressed and ill-treated in that part of the world. They were not allowed into the professional fields, but they were allowed to achieve excellence on a concert stage.” As a result, every Jewish parent's dream was to have a child in the music school because it was a passport to the West.
Another element in the emergence of prodigies, I found, is a society that values excellence in a certain field and is able to nurture (培育) talent. Nowadays, the most nurturing societies seem to be in the Far East. “In Japan, a most competitive society with stronger discipline than ours,”says Isaac Stern,“children are ready to test their limits every day in many fields, including music. When Western music came to Japan after World War II, that music not only became part of their daily lives, but it became a discipline as well.” The Koreans and Chinese, as we know, are just as highly motivated as the Japanese.
That's a good thing, because even prodigies must work hard. Next to hard work, biological inheritance plays an important role in the making of a prodigy. J. S. Bach, for example, was the top of several generations of musicians, and four of his sons had significant careers in music.
46. Jewish parents in Eastern Europe longed for their children to attend music school because .
A. it would allow them access to a better life in the West
B. Jewish children are born with excellent musical talent
C. they wanted their children to enter into the professional fields
D. it would enable the family to get better treatment in their own country
47. Nurturing societies as mentioned in the passage refer to societies that .
A. enforce strong discipline on students who want to achieve excellence
B. treasure talent and provide opportunities for its full development
C. encourage people to compete with each other
D. promise talented children high positions
48. Japan is described in the passage as a country that attaches importance to .
A. all-round development B. the learning of Western music
C. strict training of children D. variety in academic studies
49. Which of the following contributes to the emergence of musical prodigies according to the passage?
A. A natural gift. B. Extensive knowledge of music-
C. Very early training. D. A prejudice-free society.
50. Which of the following titles best summarizes the main idea of the passage?
A. Jewish Contribution to Music.
B. Training of Musicians in the World.
C. Music and Society.
D. The Making of Prodigies
参考答案 46-50 A B C A D
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C
Psychologist George Spilich and colleagues at Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland, decided to find out whether, as many smokers say, smoking helps them to“think and concentrate.” Spilich put young non-smokers, active smokers and smokers deprived (被剥夺) of cigarettes through a series of tests.
In the first test, each subject (试验对象) sat before a computer screen and pressed a key as soon as he or she recognized a target letter among a grouping of 96. In this simple test, smokers, deprived smokers and non-smokers performed equally well.
The next test was more complex, requiring all to scan sequences of 20 identical letters and respond the instant one of the letters transformed into a different one. Non-smokers were faster, but under the stimulation of nicotine, active smokers were faster than deprived smokers.
In the third test of short-term memory, non-smokers made the fewest errors, but deprived smokers committed fewer errors than active smokers.
The fourth test required people to read a passage, then answer questions about it. Non-smokers remembered l9 percent more of the most important information than active smokers, and deprived smokers bested those who had smoked a cigarette just before testing- Active smokers tended not only to have poorer memories but also had trouble separating important information from insignificant details.
“As our tests became more complex.” sums up Spilich,” non-smokers performed better than smokers by wider and wider margins”. He predicts, 'smokers might perform adequately at many jobs— until they got complicated. A smoking airline pilot could fly adequately if no problems arose, but if something went wrong, smoking might damage his mental capacity.”
5l. The purpose of George Spilich's experiments is .
A. to test whether smoking has a positive effect on the mental capacity of smokers
B. to show how smoking damages people's mental capacity
C. to prove that smoking affects people's regular performance
D. to find out whether smoking helps people's short-term memory
52. George Spilich's experiment was conducted in such a way as to .
A. compel the subjects to separate major information from minor details
B. put the subjects through increasingly complex tests
C. check the effectiveness of nicotine on smokers
D. register the prompt responses of the subjects
53. The underlined word “bested” in Para. 5 most probably means
A. beat B. envied
C. caught up with D. made the best of
54. Which of the following statements is true?
A. Active smokers in general performed better than deprived smokers.
B. Active smokers responded more quickly than the other subjects.
C. Non-smokers were not better than other subjects in performing simple tasks.
D. Deprived smokers gave the slowest responses to the various tasks.
55. We can infer from the last paragraph that .
A. smokers should not expect to become airline pilots
B. smoking in emergency cases causes mental illness
C. no airline pilots smoke during flights
D. smokers may prove unequal to handing emergency cases,
参考答案 51-55 A B A C D
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