2013年在职工程硕士英语阅读理解练习及答案2

  

　　It is said that in England death is pressing, in Canada inevitable and in California optional Small wonder. Americans' life expectancy has nearly doubled over the past century. Failing hips can be replaced, clinical depression controlled, cataracts removed in a 30-minuts surgical procedure. Such advances offer the aging population a quality of life that was unimaginable when I entered medicine 50 years ago. But not even a great health-care system can cure death—and our failure to confront that reality now threatens this greatness of ours.

　　Death is normal; we are genetically programmed to disintegrate and perish, even under ideal conditions. We all understand that at some level, yet as medical consumers we treat death as a problem to be solved. Shielded by third-party payers from the cost of our care, we demand everything that can possibly be done for us, even if it's useless. The most obvious example is late-stage cancer care. Physicians—frustrated by their inability to cure the disease and fearing loss of hope in the patient—too often offer aggressive treatment far beyond what is scientifically justified.

　　In 1950, the U.S. spent 7 billion on health care. In 2002, the cost will be one hundred billion. Anyone can see this trend is unsustainable. Yet few seem willing to try to reverse it. Some scholars conclude that a government with finite resources should simply stop paying for medical care that sustains life beyond a certain age—say 83 or so. Former Colorado governor Richard Lamm has been quoted as saying that the old and infirm "have a duty to die and get out of the way", so that younger, healthier people can realize their potential.

　　I would not go that far. Energetic people now routinely work through their 60s and beyond, and remain dazzlingly productive. At 78, Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone jokingly claims to be 53. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor is in her 70s, and former surgeon general C.Everett Koop chairs an Internet start-up in his 80s. These leaders are living proof that prevention works and that we can manage the health problems that come naturally with age. As a mere 68-year-old, I wish to age as productively as they have.

　　Yet there are limits to what a society can spend in this pursuit. Ask a physician, I know the most costly and dramatic measures may be ineffective and painful. I also know that people in Japan and Sweden, countries that spend far less on medical care, have achieved longer, healthier lives than we have. As a nation, we may be overfunding the quest for unlikely cures while underfunding research on humbler therapies that could improve people's lives.

　　1. What is implied in the first sentence?

　　A. Americans are better prepared for death than other people.

　　B. Americans enjoy a higher life quality than ever before.

　　C. Americans are over-confident of their medical technology.

　　D. Americans take a vain pride in their long life expectancy.

　　2. The author uses the example of caner patients to show that .

　　A. medical resources are often wasted

　　B. doctors are helpless against fatal diseases

　　C. some treatments are too aggressive

　　D. medical costs are becoming unaffordable

　　3. The author's attitude toward Richard Lamm's remark is one of .

　　A. strong disapproval

　　B. reserved consent

　　C. slight contempt

　　D. enthusiastic support

　　4. In contrast to the U.S., Japan and Sweden are funding their medical care .

　　A. more flexibly

　　B. more extravagantly

　　C. more cautiously

　　D. more reasonably

　　5. The text intends to express the idea that .

　　A. medicine will further prolong people's lives

　　B. life beyond a certain limit is not worth living

　　C. death should be accepted as a fact of life

　　D. excessive demands increase the cost of health care

　　参考答案：CABDC

 

　　When school officials in Kalkaska, Michigan, closed classes last week, the media flocked to the story, portraying the town's 2,305 students as victims of stingy (吝啬的) taxpayers. There is some truth to that; the property-tax rate here is one-third lower than the state average. But shutting their schools also allowed Kalkaska's educators and the state's largest teachers' union, the Michigan Education Association, to make a political point. Their aim was to spur passage of legislation Michigan lawmakers are debating to increase the state's share of school funding.

　　It was no coincidence that Kalkaska shut its schools two weeks after residents rejected a 28 percent property-tax increase. The school board argued that without the increase it lacked the $1.5 million needed to keep schools open.

　　But the school system had not done all it could to keep the schools open. Officials declined to borrow against next year's state aid, they refused to trim extracurricular activities and they did not consider seeking a smaller—perhaps more acceptable—tax increase. In fact, closing early is costing Kalkaska a significant amount, including $ 600,000 in unemployment payments to teachers and staff and $ 250,000 in lost state aid. In February, the school system promised teachers and staff two months of retirement payments in case schools closed early, a deal that will cost the district $ 275,000 more.

　　Other signs suggest school authorities were at least as eager to make a political statement as to keep schools open. The Michigan Education Association. hired a public relations firm to stage a rally marking the school closings, which attracted 14 local and national television stations and networks. The president of the National Education Association, the MEA's parent organization, flew from Washington, D. C, for the event. And the union tutored school officials in the art of television interviews. School supervisor Doyle Disbrow acknowledges the district could have kept schools open by cutting programs but denies the moves were politically motivated.

　　Michigan lawmakers have reacted angrily to the closings. The state Senate has already voted to put the system into receivership (破产管理) and reopen schools immediately; the Michigan House plans to consider the bill this week.

　　1. We learn from the passage that schools in Kalkaska, Michigan, are funded .

　　A. mainly by the state government

　　B. exclusively by the local government

　　C. by the National Education Association

　　D. by both the local and state governments

　　2. One of the purposes for which school officials closed classes was .

　　A. to draw the attention of local taxpayers to political issues

　　B. to avoid paying retirement benefits to teachers and staff

　　C. to pressure Michigan lawmakers into increasing state funds for local schools

　　D. to make the financial difficulties of their teachers and staff known to the public

　　3. The author seems to disapprove of .

　　A. the shutting of schools in Kalkaska

　　B. the involvement of the mass media

　　C. the Michigan lawmakers' endless debating

　　D. delaying the passage of the school funding legislation

　　4. We learn from the passage that school authorities in Kalkaska are more concerned about .

　　A. making a political issue of the closing of the schools

　　B. the attitude of the MEA's parent organization

　　C. a raise in the property-tax rate in Michigan

　　D. reopening the schools there immediately

　　5. According to the passage, the closing of the schools developed into a crisis because of .

　　A. the strong protest on the part of the students' parents

　　B. the political motives on the part of the educators

　　C. the weak response of the state officials

　　D. the complexity of the problem

　　参考答案：DCAAB

 

　　In the United States, it is not customary to telephone someone very in the morning. If you telephone him early in the day, while he is shaving or having breakfast, the time of the call shows that the matter is very important and requires immediate attention. The same meaning is attached to telephone calls made after 11:00 p.m.. If someone receives a call during sleeping hours, he assumes it's a matter of life and death. The time chosen for the call communicates its importance.

　　In social life, time plays a very important part. In the U. S. A, guests tend to feel they

　　are not highly regarded if the invitation to a dinner party is extended only three or four days before the party date. But it is not true in all countries. In other areas of the world it may be considered foolish to make an appointment too far in advance because plans which are made for a date more than a week away tend to be forgotten. The meaning of time differs in different parts of the world. Thus, misunderstandings arise between people from cultures that treat time differently; promptness (准时) is valued highly in American life, for example. If people are not prompt, they may be regarded as impolite or not fully responsible. In the U. S. no one would think of keeping a business friend waiting for an hour; it would be too impolite. A person who is 5 minutes late is expected to make a short apology. If he is less than 5 minutes late, he will say a few words of explanation, though perhaps he will not complete the sentence.

　　1. The same meaning is attached to telephone calls made after 11:00 p.m." Here "attached" means .

　　A. taken

　　B. drawn

　　C. given

　　D. shown

　　2. Supposing one wants to make a telephone call at midnight, this would mean .

　　A. the matter is less important

　　B. the matter is somewhat important

　　C. the matter requires immediate attention

　　D. it is a matter of life and death

　　3. According to this passage, time plays an important role in .

　　A. everyday life

　　B. private life

　　C. communications

　　D. transmission

　　4. The best title for this passage is .

　　A. "The Voices of Time"

　　B. "The Saving of Time"

　　C. "The Importance of an Announcement"

　　D. "Time and Tide Wait for No Man"

　　5. According to the passage, the author of the article may agree with which of the follow statements?

　　A. It is appropriate to send your invitation cards three of four days before a dinner party date in the U. S..

　　B. It may be appropriate to send your invitation cards to your guests three or four days before a dinner party date in some cultures.

　　C. It is best for one to make telephone calls at night because it costs much less.

　　D. If one is less than 5 minutes late, he has to make a short apology.

　　参考答案：CDCAB

 

　　German Chancellor ( 首相 ) Otto Von Bismarck may be most famous for his military and diplomatic talent, but his legacy ( 遗产 ) includes many of today's social insurance programs. During the middle of the 19th century, Germany, along with other European nations, experienced an unprecedented rash of workplace deaths and accidents as a result of growing industrialization. Motivated in part by Christian compassion ( 怜悯 ) for the helpless as well as a practical political impulse to undercut the support of the socialist labor movement, Chancellor Bismarck created the world's first worker' s compensation law in 1884.

　　By 1908, the United States was the only industrial nation in the world that lacked workers' compensation insurance. America's injured workers could sue for damages in a court of law, but they still faced a number of tough legal barriers. For example, employees had to prove that their injuries directly resulted from employer negligence and that they themselves were ignorant about potential hazards in the workplace. The first state worker's compensation law in this country passed in 1911, and the program soon spread throughout the nation.

　　After World War II, benefit payments to American workers did not keep up with the cost of living. In fact, real benefit levels were lower in the 1970s than they were in the 1940s, and in most states the maximum benefit was below the poverty level for a family of four. In 1970, President Richard Nixon set up a national commission to study the problems of workers' compensation. Two years later, the commission issued 19 key recommendations, including one that called for increasing compensation benefit levels to 100 percent of the states' average weekly wages.

　　In fact, the average compensation benefit in America has climbed from 55 percent of the states' average weekly wages in 1972 to 97 percent today. But, as most studies show,

　　every 10 percent increase in compensation benefits results in a 5 percent increase in the numbers of workers who file for claims. And with so much more money floating in the workers' compensation system, it's not surprising that doctors, and lawyers have helped themselves to a large slice of the growing pie.

　　1. The world's first workers' compensation law was introduced by Bismarck .

　　A. for fear of losing the support of the socialist labor movement

　　B. out of religious and political considerations

　　C. to speed up the pace of industrialization

　　D. to make industrial production safer

　　2. We learn from the passage that the process of industrialization in Europe .

　　A. met growing resistance from laborers working at machines

　　B. resulted in the development of popular social insurance programs

　　C. was accompanied by an increased number of workshop accidents

　　D. required workers to be aware of the potential dangers at the workplace

　　3. One of the problems the American injured workers faced in getting compensation in the early 19th century was that .

　　A. they had to produce evidence that their employers were responsible for the accident

　　B. America's average compensation benefit was much lower than the cost of living

　　C. different states in the U. S. had totally different compensation programs

　　D. they had to have the courage to sue for damages in a court of law

　　4. After 1972, workers' compensation insurance in the U. S. became more favorable to workers so that .

　　A. the poverty level for a family of four went up drastically

　　B. more money was allocated to their compensation system

　　C. there were fewer legal barriers when they filed for claims

　　D. the number of workers suing for damages increased

　　5. The author ends the passage with the implication that .

　　A. compensation benefits in America are soaring to new heights

　　B. people from all walks of life can benefit from the compensations system

　　C. the workers are not the only ones to benefit from the compensation system

　　D. money floating in the compensation system is a huge drain on the U. S. economy

　　参考答案：BCADC