大学英语B统考题库真题

第二部分 阅读理解

Passage 1

It was very cold last Sunday. Paul and his friends Allen, Bill and Betty went to the lake after breakfast. They began to skate on the ice. Paul skated better than his three friends. He skated fast and didn’t know a piece of ice was broken. He fell into the water. His friends were afraid and called for help. Just then two workers walked there and heard them. They ran there quickly and helped the boy come out of the water. Then they took him to a hospital. Paul and his parents thanked them very much.

1. When did the children go skating?

A. After breakfast. B. Before supper. C. After lunch. D. At lunch. 2. How many children skated on the lake?

A. Three. B. Four. C. Five. D. Six. 3. Who skated best of all the children?

A. Allen did. B. Paul did. C. Bill did. D. Worker did. 4. Why did Paul fall into the water?

A. Because he skated fast. B. Because he was not good at skating.

C. Because he didn’t know the ice there was broken. D. Because he skated slow. 5. Who helped Paul?

A. His friends. B. His parents. C. Two workers. D. Betty. Key: ABBCC

Passage 2

Why is it that the more connected we get, the more disconnected I feel? Every advance in communication technology is a step back from the closeness of human interaction. With e-mail and instant messaging over the Internet, we can communicate without seeing or talking to one another. With voice mail, you can conduct entire conversations without ever reaching anyone. If my mom has a question, I just leave the answer on her machine.

As almost every imaginable contact between human beings becomes automatic by machine, the alienation quotient goes up. You can’t even call a person to get the phone number of another person anywhere. Directory assistance is almost always fully automatic by machine. Pumping gas at the station? Why say good-morning to the worker when you … swipe （刷卡）your credit card at the pump and save yourself the bother of human contact? Placing money at the bank? … talk to a clerk who might live in the neighborhood when can just put your credit card into the ATM?

Pretty soon you won’t have the hard task of making eye contact at the grocery store. Some grocery chains are usually a self-scanner so you can check yourself out, avoiding those annoying clerks who look at you and ask how you are doing?

1. The writer’s attitude towards advances in communication technology may be described as ____?

A. critical B. unconcerned C. positive D. uninterested 2. If his mom has a question, he _______.

A. will find ways to reach her B. will locate her e-mail address

C. will try to get her a voice machine D. will leave her the answer through voice mail

3. Judging from the context, the word “alienation” in line 2, paragraph 2 means ______. A. relationship B. closeness C. strangeness D. stress

4. With the rapid development of high technology, people don’t need to _______. A. see or talk to one another B. say good morning to workers C. make eye contact with clerks D. completely rely on manpower 5. It can be inferred that the writer _________.

A. is pleased with the modern pace of life B. feels more separated from others C. doesn’t want anyone to bother him D. sings the praised of communication technology Key: ADCAB

Passage 3

There was once an ant that was very thirsty.

It ran here and there looking for some water but could not find any.

Then suddenly, when the ant was almost ready to die of thirst, a large drop of water fell on it. The ant drank the water, which saved its life.

The water was actually a tear from a young girl who was crying. Because of her sadness, the tear had magical qualities and suddenly the ant could speak the language of human beings.

The ant looked up and saw the young girl sitting in front of a huge pile of seeds. “Why are you sad?” asked the ant.

“I’m the prisoner of a giant.” the girl told the ant. “ He won’t let me go until I’ve made three separate heaps of grain, barley（大麦）and rye（黑麦）out of this huge pile of seeds in which they are all mixed together.”

“That will take you a month!” the ant said, looking at the huge pile of seeds.

“I know,” the girl cried, “and if I haven’t finished by tomorrow, the giant will eat me for his supper!”

“Don’t cry,” the ant said, “my friends and I will help you.”

Soon thousands of ants were at work, separating the three kinds of seeds.

The next morning, when the giant saw that the work had been done, he let the girl go. Thus it was one of her tears that saved her life. 1. What is an ant?

A. A small animal. B. An insect. C. A bird. D. A giant. 2. When did the drop of water fall on the ant?

A. When it was looking for food. B. When it saved the ant’s life. C. When it was nearly dying. D. When it looked up. 3. Why was the young girl crying?

A. Because of her sadness. B. Because she saw the ant.

C. Because the giant would let her go. D. Because the giant had given her an impossible job to do. 4. What would the giant do if the girl failed to do the work? A. He would eat her. B. He would let her go.

C. He would take her away. D. He would send her to prison. 5. Who or what saved the girl’s life?

A. The giant B. The ant C. The ant’s friends D. Her tears Key: BCDAD

Passage 4

My friend’s grandfather came to America from Eastern Europe. After being processed（移民入境检查）at Ellis Island, he went into a cafeteria in Lower Manhattan to get something to eat. He sat down at a table and waited for someone to take his order. But nobody came to him. Later a woman with a plate full of food sat down opposite him and told him how a cafeteria worked.

“Start out at the end,” she said. “Just go along the line and pick out what you want. At the other end he’ll tell you how much you have to pay.”

“I soon learned that’s how everything works in America,” the grandfather told my friend. “Life is like a cafeteria here. You can get anything you want only if you are willing to pay the money. You can even get success, but you’ll never get it if you wait for someone to bring it to you. You have to get up and get it yourself.”

1. Where do you think the old man came from?

A. Poland. B. Australia. C. Canada. D. Japan.

2. From the passage, we know if you want to get success in America, you should _________. A. get help from your friends B. try to get it by yourself C. know how a cafeteria works D. get up again if you fail 3. Which of the following is TRUE?

A. The old man sat down opposite the woman so that she could take his order. B. The old woman sat down opposite the old man so that she could serve him.

C. Although the woman didn’t know the old man, she told him how to get something to eat in the cafeteria.

D. Although the woman didn’t know the old man, she decided to pay the bill for him. 4. What does the word “it” in the third paragraph refer to?

A. The food served in the cafeteria. B. The success one wants to get. C. The bill one has to pay in the cafeteria. D. The plate used in the cafeteria. 5. Which is the best title for the passage?

A. From Eastern Europe to America B. Eating in an American Cafeteria C. How to Eat in a Cafeteria D. Life Is Like a Cafeteria in America Key: ABCBD

Passage 5

Three men traveling on a train began a conversation about the world’s greatest wonders.

“In my opinion,” the first man said, “the Egyptian pyramids（埃及金字塔）are the world’s greatest wonder. Although they were built thousands of years ago, they are still standing. And remember: the people who built them had only simple tools. They did not have the kind of machinery that builders and engineers have today.”

“I agree that the pyramids in Egypt are wonderful,” the second man said, “but I do not think they are the greatest wonder. I believe computers are more wonderful than the pyramids. They have taken people to the moon and brought them back safely. In seconds, they carry out mathematical calculations that would take a person a hundred years to do.”

He turned to the third man and asked, “What do you think is the greatest wonder in the world?”

The third man thought for a long time, and then he said, “Well, I agree that the pyramids are wonderful, and I agree that computers are wonderful, too. However, in my opinion, the most