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Part IV Reading Comprehension (Reading in Depth) (25 minutes)
Section A
Directions: In this section, there is a passage with ten blanks. You are required to select one word for each blank from a list of choices given in a word bank following the passage. Read the passage through carefully before making your choices. Each choice in the bank is identified by a letter. Please mark the corresponding letter for each item on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once.
Questions 47 to 56 are based on the following passage.
So many people use the cell phone so frequently every day. But __47__ little is certain about the health effects of its use. Manufacturers __48__ that cell phones meet government standards for safe radio-frequency radiation emission. but enough studies are beginning to document a possible __49__ in rare brain tumors（肿瘤），headaches and behavioral disorders in children to cause concern. So far, the evidence isn't __50__ on whether the use of cell phones __51__ to any increased risk of cancer. In a new trial, researchers asked 47 volunteers to __52__ in a project to measure glucose（葡萄糖）consumption in the brain by scanning the brain to see how cells use energy. For both 50-minute scans, the volunteers had a cell phone __53__ to each ear. During the first scan, the devices were turned off, but for the second scan, the phone on the right ear was __54__ on and received a recorded-message call. although the volume was muted（消音）so the noise wouldn't bias the results. The results of the second scan showed that the __55__ of the brain nearest to the device had higher rates of glucose consumption than the rest of the brain. The study shows that cell phones can change brain activity, and __56__ a whole new avenue for scientific inquiry, though it doesn't say anything about whether cell-phone radiation can cause cancer.
注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。
A. conclusive B. contributes C. derive D. expresses
E. fixed F. immensely G. increase H. maintain
I. mission J. participate K. particular L. provides
M. regions N. surprisingly O. switched
Section B
Directions: There are 2 passages in this section. 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 mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.
Passage One
Questions 57 to 61 are based on the following passage.
It's no secret that some of the resolutions that many of us vowed to pursue in the new year-eat healthy, lose weight, quit smoking, save more money一have already fallen by the wayside.
Many of them are likely the same resolutions that we abandoned last January. And it's a good thing for those who sell health club memberships, quit-smoking programs and other products that help us think we can improve our lives.
Many gyms see new memberships double in January, making up for the third of their members who do not renew each year.
And many who sign up in January will be no-shows by February.
"If I try one quick fix and it doesn't work, I may be more likely to try the next quick fix," Lisa Lahey, who coaches executives how to sustain behavior change, told The Times.
The Biggest Loser Resort at Fitness Ridge doesn't offer any quick fixes, just a 12-hour schedule full of exercise, a 1 200-calories-a-day diet and a fee of $2000 a week. The resort teaches its clients that "weight management" is a combination of fitness, diet and emotional health.
"Given my recent weight gain, and the fact that I was turning 50," Jennifer Conlin wrote in The Times,'' I wanted to start a program that would make 2012 the year I finally got in shape."
"For years, the advice to the overweight people has been that we simply need to eat less and exercise more," Tara Parker-Pope wrote. "White there is truth to this guidance, it fails to take into account that the human body continues to fight against weight loss long after dieting has stopped. This translates into a sobering（令人清醒的）reality: once we become fat, most of us, despite our best efforts, will probably stay fat."
Of course this revelation（揭示）, it proven true by further study, is not good news for the weight-loss industry. But chances are it won't have much impact on the human tendency to resolve to get to the gym more and avoid chocolate cake when the clock strikes midnight on December 31.
注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答
57. What do we learn from the first paragraph about new year resolutions?
A) They are hard to sustain. C) They help shed bad habits.
B) They test one's strength. D) They promise a good year.
58. Who do new year resolutions eventually benefit?
A) Society in general. C) Health club members.
B) Business executives. D) Health industries.
59. What is special about the Biggest Loser Resort's weight management program?
A) It gives top priority to emotional health.
B) It does not resort to any quick fixes.
C) It focuses on one's behavior change.
D) It is not cheap but extremely effective.
60. What happens when people stop dieting?
A) They regain their appetite. C) Their weight bounces back.
B) They usually stay in shape. D) Their health is likely to fail
61. What do people tend to do about new year resolutions?
A) They keep making them year after year.
B) They abandon them once progress is made.
C) They keep trying until they finally succeed.
D) They make them for the sake of making them.
Passage Two
Questions 62 to 66 are based on the following passage.
When University of California-Berkeley released a study this month showing alarmingly high teacher turnover (人员流动) rates at Los Angeles charter schools, I wasn't surprised.
That's not a slam at local charter schools. It's just that the study echoed something I'd observed many times, starting with my niece.
Bright and cheerful, my niece longed to teach high-needs children. She started out in the San Francisco public schools, where she was assigned to the district's toughest elementary school. Fifth-graders threw chairs across the room-and at her. Parents refused to show up for conferences.
She wasn't willing to deal with this level of indifference and teacher abuse, so she switched to a highly regarded charter elementary school in the Bay Area where she poured her energy into her job and it showed. Her students' test scores were as high as those in a nearby wealthy school district, despite the obstacles these children faced.
Yet by her fourth year, my niece was worn out, depleted (耗尽) of the energy it took to work with a classroom of sweet but deeply needy children who pleaded to stay in her classroom when it was time to leave. The principal's offer of a $10000 raise couldn't stop her from giving notice. She went to work at that wealthy school district next door- for less money.
Over the years, I've met many impassioned (充满激情的) teachers at charter schools, only to call them the next year and find they've left. The authors of the Berkeley study theorize that the teachers leave because of the extraordinary demands; long hours, intense involvement in students' complicated lives, continual searches for new ways to raise scores. Even the strongest supporters of the reform movement concede that the task of raising achievement among disadvantaged students is hard work.
It's unlikely that we can build large-scale school reform on a platform of continual new demands on teachers-more time, more energy, more devotion, more responsibility-even if schools find ways to pay them better. This is the bigger challenge facing schools. We need a more useful answer to the Berkeley study than "Yeah, it's really hard work."
注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。
62. Why wasn't the author surprised at the high teacher turnover rates at Los Angeles charter schools?
A) She had participated in the Berkeley study.
B) She had noticed the phenomenon repeatedly.
C) She had been involved in the local school reform.
D) She had been informed of the problem by her niece.
63. What do we learn about the students in the public school the author's niece taught?
A) They were undisciplined.
B) They were tough and strong.
C) Many of them enjoyed less parental care.
D) Many of them dropped out of school halfway.
64. What does the author say about her niece's work in the charter elementary school?
A) It won high praise from her school and colleagues.
B) It was cited by the Berkeley study as an example.
C) It contributed to the success of the school reform.
D) It was well received by the disadvantaged children.
65. Why were the teacher turnover rates so high according to the Berkeley study?
A) The students were indifferent to learning.
B) Teachers' salary was not high enough.
C) Teachers' work was too demanding.
D) Jobs elsewhere were more meaningful.
66. What is the author's comment on the current school reform movement?
A) It will give rise to more problems.
B) It is not likely to be successful.
C) It will have a positive impact on education.
D) It demands the local authorities' support.
