国家开放大学2023年秋季学期期末统一考试 英语阅读(2)试题（含答案）

试卷代号：22156　　考试时间：2024年1月

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Part I（30 points, 3 points each）

Passage 1 Chasing storms

At age six, Tim Samaras watched the movie The Wizard of Oz. In the movie, a tornado takes a farmhouse high up into the sky. Tim was amazed. He said to himself, "I'm going to see that tornado one day."From that time on, tornadoes were the focus of Samaras's life, and he became a storm chaser. Samaras never got a college degree but he became a tornado researcher and a brilliant engineer.

The United States has the most tornadoes in the world - about 1,200 every year. These are also the strongest tornadoes in the world. They happen in the central area of the United States known as Tornado Alley. There are a lot of tornadoes in this area because the land is flat and air conditions create powerful thunderstorms that develop into tornadoes.

Tornadoes are dangerous, sometimes very dangerous. The powerful winds in a tornado turn and twist. They can reach over 300 mph (480 km/h). Because they are so strong, they can tear up trees and pick up people and objects, like cars, and throw them hundreds of feet away. A powerful tornado can destroy thousands of homes and kill many people in its path. But we do not know enough about tornadoes. If we knew more, we could make better forecasts and give people more time to get away from tornadoes. We could save lives.

To try to help save lives, Samaras wanted to better understand tornadoes. He wanted to get more information about tornadoes for two reasons. The first reason was that scientists don't know much about tornadoes and how they are created. For this reason, Samaras designed special probes with cameras on them. Scientists are able to put these probes in the path of a tornado and look inside the tornado as it passes by. While scientists still don't have all the answers about tornadoes, these probes continue to give useful information.

The second reason that Samaras wanted to understand tornadoes was that he wanted to find out how powerful the winds are near the surface of a tornado. Samaras designed another piece of equipment, this time to measure a tornado's wind speed near the ground. Information about wind speed can help people build stronger homes in areas where there are tornadoes. For example,if people know they are living in an area with many tornadoes, they can build homes with stronger walls.

For 30 years, Samaras put himself in danger following more than 125 tornadoes. The people who worked with him thought he was one of the best and most careful storm chasers. On May 31, 2013, in Oklahoma, there was a huge tornado. It was the widest tornado ever seen. Tim, his son Paul, and Carl Young, a meteorologist, were chasing this tornado for research. Suddenly, the tornado changed its direction.Tim,Paul,Carl,and eight other people were killed when this happened. It was the first time a storm chaser and a meteorologist both died in a storm.

Tim Samaras died that day,but his inventions and equipment continue to be used by scientists. Even after death, Tim's life's work continues to increase our understanding of how tornadoes work.

Directions: Complete these sentences with the words or phrases in the box. Note that Three of the words from the box will not be used.

twist、forecasts、flat、destroy、path、focus、develop、brilliant

1. Tornadoes are powerful enough to ___ homes and throw parts of them everywhere.

标准答案：destroy

2. Meteorologists want to make better ___ of when tornadoes will hit the area.

标准答案：forecasts

3. Samaras was a ___ engineer who designed equipment to measure wind speed.

标准答案：brilliant

4. The winds of a tornado ___ around and make a huge funnel in the sky that is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom.

标准答案：twist

5. Tornadoes were all that Samaras thought about. They were the ___ of his life and work.

标准答案：focus

6. Tim Samaras dreamed of seeing a tornado when he was a child.

标准答案：T

7. Tornado Alley features high mountains and wet land that causes tornadoes.

标准答案：F

8. Samaras’s equipment helps scientists learn more about tornadoes.

标准答案：T

9. Samaras’s research can help people build safer houses in tornado areas.

标准答案：T

10. Samaras’s research stopped after he died in a tornado in 2013.

标准答案：F

Part II（30 points, 3 points each）

Passage 2 Live a little: Eat potatoes

Can you imagine life without French fries? Potatoes are very popular today. They are the fourth most important crop in the world, after wheat, rice, and corn. But in the past, potatoes were not always popular. People in Europe started to eat them only 200 years ago!

In the 1500s, the Spanish went to South America to look for gold. There, they found people eating potatoes. The people of Peru in South America had been eating potatoes for 7,000 years! The Spanish brought the potato back to Europe with them. But people in Europe did not like this strange vegetable. Some people thought that if you ate potatoes, your skin would look like the skin of a potato. Other people could not believe that you ate the underground part of the plant, so they ate the leaves instead. This made them sick because there is poison in the leaves. Others grew potatoes for their flowers. At one time in France, potato flowers were one of the most expensive flowers. Marie Antoinettel, the wife of King Louis XVI, wore potato flowers in her hair.

Around 1780, the people of Ireland started to eat potatoes. They found that potatoes had many advantages. The potato grew on poor land, and it grew well in their cold and rainy climate. It gave more food than any other plant, and it needed little work. All farmers had to do was to plant the potatoes, and then they could do other work on the farm. On a small piece of land, a farmer could grow enough potatoes to feed his family. A person could eat 8 to 10 pounds (3.62 to 4.53 kilograms) of potatoes a day, with some milk or cheese, and be very healthy. Soon, potatoes became the main food in Ireland. Then, in 1845, a disease killed all the potatoes in Ireland. Two million people died of hunger. Many Irish who did not die came to the United States at this time. Over a million Irish came to America; one of them was the great-grandfather of John F.Kennedy.

In other parts of Europe,people did not want to change their old food habits. Some preferred to die of hunger rather than eat potatoes. In 1774, King Frederick of Germany wanted to stop his people from dying of hunger. He understood that potatoes were a good food, so he told the people to plant and eat potatoes or else his men would cut off their noses. The people were not happy,but they had no choice, and so they started to eat potatoes. Today,people in many countries enjoy potatoes and various potato dishes.

Directions: Fill in each blank of the text summary with an appropriate word or phrase from the box. Please note that five words or phrases from the box will not be used.

a.important b. Spanish c. imagine d. underground e.invented f. recognized g. advantages h.feed i. poisonous j.dishes k. cut off l.introduced m. rather than n.healthy o. died of

You can't 11___ how potatoes are popular today. They are ranked the world's fourth largest food crop, following corn,wheat,and rice. In the past,it was not true. It is hard to believe that it has only been 12___ as food by most of the Western world for the past 200 years. Potatoes grew in South America seven thousand years ago, and they only became popular in other places two hundred years ago. Potatoes were 13___ to Europe in the second half of the 16th century by the 14___.But they did not want to eat this strange vegetable because they feared that their skin would look like the skin of a potato, so they ate the 15___ leaves instead, which would make them ill. In fact, nobody but the Irish were willing to eat this 16___ vegetable. They found many 17___ of planting potatoes, for example, they grew well in their climate, and needed little work. When potatoes first arrived in Germany, people there preferred to die 18___ eat them. In 1774, King Frederick ordered people to plant potatoes to save their lives, and threatened to 19___ the nose of anyone who didn't obey the order. Today, Germans eat more potatoes than people in any other countries. Among the potato 20___ , French fries are popular all over the world and commonly found in typical American fast-food restaurants.

11. 标准答案：c

12. 标准答案：f

13. 标准答案：l

14. 标准答案：b

15. 标准答案：i

16. 标准答案：d

17. 标准答案：g

18. 标准答案：m

19. 标准答案：k

20. 标准答案：j

Part III（20 points, 2 points each）

Passage 3

One of the major inventions of our time is the Internet which joints millions of computers throughout the world. Through the Internet we can change our information easily. Nowadays most people use e-mail to exchange views and ideas. Imagine being able to send a letter to someone, anywhere in the world, which includes pictures and sounds as well as written words, and not even have to put a stamp on it. With e-mail you can do just that. E-mail allows you to send messages quickly and easily to other people using computers rather than the postal service. To the Internet user, the ordinary post is known as "snail mail" because it is so much slower than e-mail, which can deliver its message to the other side of the world in seconds.

E-mail addresses are made up of two distinct parts,separated by the"@"sign. The first part of the address identifies the specific user. Many people use their names, or their initials or a nickname.After the @sign comes the host address or node name,which is the actual place where the user's electronic mailbox is situated.

When a new user joins the Internet for the first time, he or she will get an e-mail address that allows the user both to send and receive messages. Just as you need to put the correct address on an envelope to make sure it gets to the right place, so you must also put the correct e-mail address on your electronic correspondence. Computers are not as understanding as postmen and women, who can sometimes work out where a wrongly addressed letter is meant to go. If you make a slight mistake with your address,your message will simply be bounced right back to you.

E-mail has obvious advantages for schools and businesses that want to keep track of their messages. For example,it allows you to quote all or part of the message you are replying to, without having to type it all out again. The handy thing about this feature is that if you are answering questions, you can keep them in your reply. This saves the other person having to refer back to the original document when he or she gets your reply.

Another thing e-mail allows you to do is to forward a message on to someone else. If someone sends you a piece of information that you feel would be of interest to another person, you can send a copy of the message to him.

Again this is invaluable for large organizations that might have offices all over the world. For example. someone in the London office might send a query or a new idea to someone else in New York in the USA. He, realizing that this is something that another person in Sydney in Australia has been working on, passes the message on almost instantly.

If the Internet has any lasting effect on our lives, it may well be through the use of e-mail. As we have seen, there are many advantages that e-mail enjoys over snail mail in terms of speed and usefulness. It also has a big advantage over a message taken over the telephone - you cannot print out a telephone call. E-mail is easy to use and it saves time and money. It is a twenty-four-hour service that allows you to send information at any time of the day or night.

Directions: Read passage 3 carefully and then decide whether statements 21-30 are true or false. Write T for true and F for false against the number of the item on your answer sheet.

21. Through e-mail we can only send written words and pictures.

标准答案：F

22. When you use e-mail,you may have to wait longer if your message is going to a more distant land.

标准答案：F

23. In the e-mail address Cindy@online. sh. cn, the host address is online. sh.

标准答案：F

24. When a new user joins the Internet for the first time, he or she will get an e-mail address that allows the user both to send and receive messages.

标准答案：T

25. If you use a wrong e-mail address on your electronic correspondence,the letter will be returned to you immediately.

标准答案：T

26. E-mail can not help people keep track of their messages.

标准答案：F

27. If you want someone to read a piece of information you have just received, you may use the forward function and send a copy of the message to him.

标准答案：T

28. E-mail is valueless for large organizations that might have offices all over the world.

标准答案：F

29. One advantage e-mail has over a message taken over the telephone is that it can be printed out.

标准答案：T

30. When you send a message via e-mail,you may send it any time of the day or night.

标准答案：T

Part IV（20 points, 4 points each）

Passage 4

While radio broadcasting was still in its early stage, the wonder of television was already being developed. The first step towards its invention was taken in 1873 but the person responsible for developing it was John Logie Baird. In 1926 he gave the first demonstration of a television picture.

As a home entertainment, television rapidly became more popular than any other form. A news broadcast became more immediate when people could actually see the scene in question and the movements of the figures. Films could also be available. One of the advantages of travel programmes was the glimpse of far-away places which many viewers would not otherwise have seen. Though much of the entertainment was of a popular kind like competitions, some remarkable cultural programmes were also broadcast. Just as with radio in earlier days, a group of actors and actresses became familiar in every household. One of the most popular programmes on television was sport and an interesting result of the television broadcast was the increased attendance at the actual events. How far this was due to a growth interest in the game and how far out of the people's desire to appear on the screen is not clear.

Directions: Read Passage 4 and then try to give short answers to Questions 31-35. Write your answers on the Answer Sheet.

31. Why is John Logie Baird famous in the history of television?标准答案：He developed television and was the first person to demonstrate it.

32. Why did the television news attract more viewers than that broadcast on radio?

标准答案：Because a news broadcast became more immediate when people could actually see the scene in question and the movements of the figures.

33. Why were travel programmes so popular?

标准答案：People were able to see other parts of the world they would never themselves be able to visit.

34. In what way did actors benefit from television?

标准答案：They became well-known throughout the country.

35. What effect did sports programmes on television have?

标准答案：More people went to watch sports events when sports was shown on television.