高职升本科《英语综合》辅导 Reading Comprehension 阅读理解
旅游学院英语系
Americans’ view, all these activities are generally fun and relaxing, or are worth the discomfort they may cause because they contribute to health and physical fitness. Much American recreation is highly organized. There are classes, clubs, leagues, newsletters, contests, exhibitions and conventions centered on hundreds of different recreational activities. People interested in astronomy, bird watching, cooking, dancing, ecology, fencing, gardening, and hiking – and on and on – can find a group of like-minded people with whom to meet, learn, and practice or perform.
In America, recreation is a big business. Many common recreational activities require supplies and equipment that can be quite costly. Recreational vehicles (used for traveling and usually including provisions for sleeping, cooking, and bathing) can cost as much as $35,000. In 1984, Americans owned approximately 3,982,000 recreational vehicles, valued at about $7,733 million. Jogging shoes, hiking boots, fishing and camping supplies, cameras, telescopes, and bowling balls are not low-cost items. Beyond equipment, there is clothing. The fashion industry has successfully persuaded many Americans that they must be properly dressed for jogging, playing tennis, skiing, swimming, and so on. Fashionable outfits for these and other recreational activities can be surprisingly expensive. (337 words)
1. According to the passage, what is Americans' attitude towards recreation? A. Absent-minded. B. Serious. 2. How often do Americans bowl?
A. Every day. B. Twice a week. C. Three times a week. D. Once a week.
3. Americans take to skiing and hunting in spite of discomfort because _____. A. they are highly organized
B. they are adventurous and exciting activities C. they are instructive and funny D. they are beneficial to their health
4. All of the following are true of American recreation EXCEPT ______. A. Americans spend a lot of money on recreational vehicles and outfits B. Most Americans approach recreation with a high degree of spontaneity C. Americans play bridge at least eight times a month
D. Americans take to recreational activities not only for fun and relaxation but also
for physical fitness
C. Critical. D. Skeptical.
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高职升本科《英语综合》辅导 Reading Comprehension 阅读理解
旅游学院英语系
5. It can be inferred from the passage that ______.
A. foreign visitors are interested in the way Americans approach recreation B. foreign visitors are quite surprised about the way Americans approach recreation C. foreign visitors are crazy about the way Americans approach recreation D. Americans take to recreation because they can make a profit from it
Passage 11
What seems distinctive about American interests in sport is that it is not confined to social classes. People in all walks of life are represented among ardent sports fans. The collective audience for sports events is enormous.
Sports are associated with educational institutions in a way that is unique. Junior and senior high schools have coaches as faculty members, and school athletic teams compete with each other in an array of sports. Each team's entourage included a marching band (especially associated with football, as Americans and Canadians call the game played with oblong-shaped ball) and a group of cheerleaders. In some smaller American communities, high school athletics are a focal point of the townspeople's activities and conversations.
Nowhere else in the world are sports associated with colleges and universities in the way they are in the States. College sports, especially football, are conducted in an atmosphere of intense excitement and pageantry. Games between teams classified as \football powers\attract nationwide television audiences that number in the millions. There is a whole industry built on the manufacture and sale of badges, pennants, T-shirts, blankets, hats, and countless other items bearing the totem and colors of various university athletic teams. Football and basketball coaches at major universities are paid higher salaries than the presidents of their institutions. Athletic department budgets in the millions of dollars.
Said a recently-arrived foreign student in Iowa City, ―It looks like that the most important part of the University (of Iowa) is the most important thing in the whole town.‖
Sports are a very frequent topic of conversation, especially among males. \talk\about sports is self-interesting, but not too personal. Participants can display their knowledge of athletes and statistics without revealing anything considered private.
In some social circles, associating with athletes is a way to achieve social
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高职升本科《英语综合》辅导 Reading Comprehension 阅读理解
旅游学院英语系
recognition. A person who knows a local sports hero personally, or who attends events where famous athletes are present, is considered by some people to have accomplished something worthwhile.
Expressions from sports are extraordinarily common in everyday American speech. Baseball is probably the source of more idiomatic expressions than any other sport. That fact disadvantages foreign visitors in communicating with Americans because most of them come from countries where baseball is not played. (375 words)
1. Sports are associated with American high schools in that _____. A. all the students take part in different sports
B. high school athletics are the hot issue in most American communities C. coaches work in high schools as faculty members D. sports is not confined to faculty members
2. In the U. S., colleges are related to sports in a unique way because ______. A. college games between teams appeal to millions of people
B. football coaches at universities are paid higher salaries than college presidents C. athletic departments gain a net profit of millions of dollars D. college sports games are the most important events 3. It can be inferred from the passage that ______. A. all the Americans like to talk about sports
B. American college students are crazy about games between colleges C. men are more interested in sports than women in the U.S.
D. Americans like to have \
privacy
4. According to the passage, is the most important source of idiomatic expressions in the U.S.
A. football B. basketball C. baseball D. boxing 5. Which of the following is probably the best title for the passage? A. American Excitement
B. Sports and Idiomatic Expressions
C. American Sports and Educational Institutions D. Social Classes and Sports
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高职升本科《英语综合》辅导 Reading Comprehension 阅读理解
旅游学院英语系
Passage12
Developing countries are unusually vulnerable to cigarette advertising. Until recently, some of them sold tobacco only through government monopolies, with little or no attempt at persuasion. And because most of these countries don’t have effective anti-smoking campaigns, many of their people are surprisingly innocent of the link between tobacco and disease. In Manila, we even found cigarettes sold at a snack bar operated by the local Boy Scouts.
Many governments, moreover, are reluctant to wage anti-smoking wars because they’re addicted to tobacco taxes. Argentina gets 22.5 percent of all its tax revenue from tobacco; Malawi, 16.7 percent.
Into this climate of naivety and neglect, American tobacco companies have unleashed not only the marketing wizardry (魔术) that most of us take for granted, but other tactics they wouldn’t dare use here.
Tobacco spokesmen insist that cigarette advertising draws only people who already smoke. But an ad executive; who worked until recently on the Philip Morris account, speaking on condition of anonymity, disagrees. ―You don’t have to be a brain surgeon to figure out what’s going on. Just look at the ads. It’s ludicrous for them to deny that a cartoon character like Joe Camel isn’t attractive to kids.‖
Dr. John L. Clowe, president of the American Medical Association, says, ―It is clear that advertising fosters tobacco use among children. And, despite tobacco-industry denials, ads like Joe Camel are especially appealing to adolescents, equating smoking with sexual prowess, athleticism, even success.‖
Numerous independent studies support this view. Time and again they have shown that cigarette advertising creates an environment in which young people are more likely to smoke .That may explain why the U.S. Centers for Disease Control found that smokers between ages 12 and 18 prefer Marlboro, Newport and Camel —three of the most advertised brands. (298 words)
1. People in developing countries are easily influenced by cigarette advertising because .
A. they don’t know the relationship between tobacco and disease B. they have a strong inclination to smoke
C. they have been forbidden to smoke by the governments D. there were no institutions which persuade them not to smoke
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