2016公共英语二级阅读理解考试真题及答案
阅读理解
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C.和D.四个选项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Text 1
The first time I heard the actual London Bridge was in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, I thought it was a joke. A stupid joke at that. I mean, what sort of moron would take a perfectly good, perfectly famous bridge and move it halfway around the world to some no-name town in northwest Arizona? Back in 1962 when all this started, Lake Havasu City was nothing. A couple of shops, a couple of homes, and no tourism at all.
It turns out Robert McCulloch is the moron in question, and he wasn' t quite the moron I thought he was. His 2.45 million dollar investment 投资 in the 130-year-old bridge--which the British government was selling because it was about to fall into the Thames 泰晤士河--ended up being the investment of a lifetime. You see McCulloch was a real businessman, among other things, and his money paid off big. He turned Lake Havasu into one of the most visited tourist at- tractions in Arizona.
It took nine long years to take down the bridge, ship it brick by brick to the middle of no- where, and build it up again. When it finally did open up in 1971, it was a huge deal covered by the international press.
The bridge is now a popular tourist attraction, and there' s even a mini "English Village" at the foot of the bridge with souvenirs 纪念品 and real British food so you can have a good old time.
Nowadays Lake Havasu is a busy town with a population of about 56,000 citizens and another2.5 million visitors each year. Most of that is during spring break when the town overflows with energetic boys and girls. Even MTV and the Girls Gone Wild people get in on the action. All thanks to that little bridge.
I don' t know about you, but I' m saving my pennies. When the French get sick of that Eiffel tower, I' ll be the first to put money on it. It' ll look great in my backyard.
56. The underlined word "moron" in the first paragraph means________.
A. a brave person
B. a foolish person
C. a famous person
D. a strange person
57. Why did the British government put the London Bridge up for sale?
A. It polluted the Thames.
B. It was no longer popular.
C. It was going to fall down.
D. It could bring them the needed money.
58. What was Lake Havasu City like before 19627________.
A. It was a good place for investment.
B. It was known for its English Village.
C. It was a small town with no tourism.
D. It had a population of 56,000 citizens.
59.In the last paragraph, the author tries to be________.
A. polite
B. friendly
C. practical
D. humorous
参考译文
第一次听说真正的伦敦塔桥是在美国的亚利桑那州的哈瓦索湖城，我认为这是一个笑话。一个非常愚蠢的笑话。我的意思是一座完美绝伦的著名塔桥怎么会从伦敦被移至有半个地球之远的美国西北部的亚利桑那州——还是一个没有什么名气的小镇，这是多么傻的一个人!追溯至l962年，哈瓦索湖城不名一文，当时只是一个只有几家商店，几户人家，根本谈不上旅游的一个小镇。
事实证明，罗伯特·麦卡洛克在这件事情上并不是我当初所认为的那样——是一个花了245万美元买下了这座拥有l30年历史的塔桥的傻子。因为当初的伦敦塔桥快要沉入泰晤士河.所以英国政府决定出售它。从这件事上，你就会发现麦卡洛克是一个真正的商人，他的投资得到巨大的回报。他把哈瓦索湖城变成了亚利桑那州的一个最有吸引力的旅游景点之一。
拆卸伦敦塔桥用了9年的时间，随后用船装运每一块砖石抵达哈瓦索湖城，伦敦塔桥在那儿重新建起，工程于1971年结束。这起事件曾被国际新闻大肆报道。
现在位于哈瓦索湖城的伦敦塔桥是一个很受欢迎的旅游景点，在大桥的底端还有一座迷你的“英国村”，在那儿你可以买到纪念品，甚至能品尝到地道的英国菜，你还可以度过一段怀旧的快乐时光。
如今，哈瓦索湖城已成为一座拥有5.6万市民的繁华小镇，每年都有250万名游客到此旅游。尤其是每年春假期间，镇中到处都是青春洋溢的年轻游客。甚至狂野女孩的MTV也在此拍摄。所有这一切都归功于这座伦敦塔桥。
我不了解你，但是我是一个节俭之人。但是如果法国人对埃菲尔铁塔厌烦想出售的话，我会是第一个出钱买下它的人，从而使它在我的后花园里大发光彩。
答案与解析
56.B【精析】语义题。题干意为“在第一段中，加下划线的单词moron是什么意思?”。根据上下文和常识，我们知道伦敦塔桥是属于英国的，怎么可能在美国的亚利桑那州出现呢，这是多么傻的一个人。故B正确。
57.C【精析】细节题。题干意为“为什么英国政府要出售伦敦塔桥?”。根据第二段第二句中间部分表述：英国政府因为伦敦塔桥沉陷，所以出售。在文中可以找到原句。故C正确。
58.C【精析】细节题。题干意为“1962年前哈瓦索湖城是什么样子的?”。根据第一段的最后一句话可以得知，当时只有几家商店、几户人家，没有旅游业。故C正确。
59.D 【精析】推理题。题千意为“最后一段作者试图表现得________。”。根据最后一段，我们可以看出作者非常幽默，法国人不可能对菲尔铁塔厌烦，还有个人也没有那么多钱去购买埃菲尔铁塔，这一切都是作者的想象和幽默。故D正确。
Text 2
Studies over the past decade at the University of Utah show that hands-free cellphones are just as harmful to drivers as hand-held ones because it is the conversation, not the phone, that is distracting分散 their attention. "Even though your eyes are looking right at something, when you are on the cellphone, you are not as likely to see it," says Professor David Strayer. "Ninety- nine percent of the time, it' s not that critical危机的, but that 1% could be the time a child runs into the street," he adds.
Dr. Strayer' s studies have also found that talking on a cellphone is far more distracting than talking with a passenger. Listening to the radio, to music or to a book on tape also isn' t as distracting, because it doesn' t require the same level of interaction as a conversation. But even drivers may miss some details of a book on tape if their attention is focused on driving tasks. some people can train themselves to pay extra attention to things that are important--like police officers learn to search faces in crowds.
And the Utah researchers have found a rare group of "super-taskers"--about 2.5 % of the pop-ulation--who seem able to attend to more than one thing with ease.
Many more people think they can effectively do several things at the same time, but they are really turning their attention rapidly between two things and not getting the full effect of either. Clearly, it is easier to put some tasks together than others. "Not all distractions are the same," says Dr. Strayer. Things like cleaning and working out can be done automatically自动的 while the mind is focused elsewhere. But doing homework and texting at the same time isn' t possible. Even talking and watching TV is difficult. "Just try talking with your wife while watching football. It' s impossible," jokes Dr. Strayer.
60. What is the first paragraph mainly about?
A. The harm in using phones while driving.
B. The advantages of hand-held phones.
C. The danger of running in the street.
D. The causes of road accidents.
61. What does the example of police officers in Paragraph 2 show?A. Searching for faces require more attention than driving.
B. Talking to a crowd calls for a high level of attention.C. one' s attention can be easily distracted in crowds.
D. The ability to attend to two tasks can be trained.
62. "Super-taskers" can be best described as people who can________.
A. do several things effectively at the same time
B. turn their attention rapidly to two things
C. handle all difficult tasks with ease
D. pay full attention to one task
63.Which of the following can you do while talking on the phone?
A.Doing homework.
B. Writing a letter.
C. Working out.
D. Watching TV.
参考译文
在过去的十年中，犹他州大学进行的一项研究表明：司机开车时，免提电话和手拿电话对司机的危害一样大，因为分散他们注意力的不是是否手拿手机，而是电话内容。大卫·斯特雷耶教授说：“当你接电话时，即使你的眼睛是看着某个物体的，但是你的注意力不在，所以你视若无睹。…‘也就是说，在你接电话的99%的时间里都是不危急的，但是还有1%的时间恰好是一个孩子冲向马路的时间。”他补充道。
斯特雷耶教授的研究还发现打电话时所分散的注意力远远超过和乘客讲话时所分散的注意力。在开车时听收音机、音乐或者听磁带评书也比不上打电话时所分散的注意力，因为这些活动不需要像打电话那样互动。当然，司机集中精力开车时，也可能会错过一些评书细节。有一些人通过训练能够分出额外的注意力在一些重要的事情上——警官们就学会了边开车边在人群中寻找目标。
犹他州大学的调查者们发现了一小群“超级任务者”——约占人口2.5%，这类人能够很轻松地把注意力放在几件事情上。
很多人认为他们能在同一时间有效地做几件事，实际上是他们的注意力在这几件事情上快速转换，而不是在每一件事情上能同时投入全部注意力。显然，把一些任务放在一起注意比其他方法更容易。斯特雷耶教授说：“不是所有干扰都是一样的。”当你的注意力在其他事情上时，也能自动地做像打扫卫生和锻炼这样的事情。但是同时既做家庭作业和测试是不可能的。甚至边讲话边看电视也是一件困难的事。“你只要试试在看足球比赛时和妻子讲话，你就会发现这是不可能办到。”斯特雷耶教授开玩笑说道。
答案与解析
60.A【精析】主旨题。题干意为“第一段主要讲什么?”。从文章第一段第一句话可以看出，这是一句主题句，概述了第一段的内容：开车打电话是有危险的。故A正确。
61.D【精析】推理题。题干意为“第二段中警官的例子说明什么?”。从文章第二段最后一句话“some people can train themselves to payextra attention to things that are important--like police officers learnto search faces in crowds.”可以得知，这种能力是通过“train them—selves”获得的。故D正确。
62.A【精析】推理题。题干意为“Super.taskers最适合被描述成能干什么的人?”。从文章内容来看，在第三段“seem able to attend tomore than one thing with ease”，有能力轻松地把注意力放在几件事情上的人。放A正确。
63.C【精析】推理题。题干意为“在你讲电话时能做哪件事?”。从文章最后一段的第四句可知，当你的注意力在其他事情上时，也能自动地做像打扫卫生和锻炼这样的事情。故C正确。
Text3
Young women who take part in beauty contests比赛 are helping to keep alive an outdated o-pinion of women : that a woman' s most important value is how she looks.
Women have been working very hard through the years to change their image 形象. They have been trying to prove that the value of a woman does not lie only in her beauty. The world is just beginning to recognize that women are as smart, wise and strong in personality as men are, and that there are qualities more important than looks when judging people. When women take part in beauty contests for top prizes, they encourage people to value them for their beauty alone. It is un- fair to say that beauty alone determines one' s worth.
Beauty contests not only encourage spectators观众 to judge women by their appearance, but they encourage this idea in the contestants as well. These young women spend months losing weight to be the "right" size and learning how to dress, wear makeup, and walk just right so that some judges will consider them beautiful. I think it' s great for a woman to feel good about her appear- ance, but looks shouldn't be sought after in an extreme or unreasonable way. There are too many other, more important, things in a young woman' s life: learning, developing friendships and preparing for their future work and perhaps a family.
As long as there are beauty contests, women won't be fully recognized as well-rounded human beings.
64. According to the text, women have tried to change their image by_______.
A. proving they are as good as men
B. paying attention to their clothes
C. winning more beauty contests
D. encouraging people to value their beauty
65. What do women usually do in preparation for beauty contests?
A. Leam about their personality.
B. Do everything for their bodies.
C. Choose the right size dresses.
D. Develop friendship with spectators.
66.What can we infer from the text?
A. Looks determine everything.
B. Wisdom carries much weight.
C. Spectators should have their voices heard.
D. Qualities other than looks are more important.
67. According to the author, beauty contests are
A. disrespectful to womenB. unpleasant to contestants
C. necessary for modem society D. helpful in improving women' s image
2016公共英语二级阅读理解考试真题及答案
参考译文
年轻的女性参加选美比赛使得人们一直认为：一个女性最重要的就是外貌。
多年来女性一直努力工作去改变她们的形象。她们一直试图去证明女性的价值不仅只局限于美貌。全世界开始认同，在评价人们的时候，女性像男性那样，通过对个性方面如聪明、智慧以及强大来说明这些品质比外貌更重要。当女性参加选美比赛争夺冠军时，她们鼓励人们单从外貌去评价。而通过外貌决定一个人的价值这是不公平的。
选美比赛不但鼓励观众以貌取人，而且还把这种观念传递给了参赛者。这些年轻的参赛者们为了达到评委们所说的漂亮，花数月时间去减肥，以期达到所谓的标准身材，并且学习如何穿衣、化妆、走台步。我认为对女性来说感觉自己长得不错是很棒的，但并不是要用极端或不合理的方式去追求外貌美。在年轻女性的一生中有着很多的其他重要事情要做：学习、交友、为未来的工作或家庭做准备。
只要有选美比赛存在，女性就不可能被作为一个全面发展的人来评价。
答案与解析
64.A【精析】推理题。题干意为“根据文章，女性试图通过什么去改变她们的形象?”。由文章第二段第一句和第二句，可以推断出女性通过证明和男性一样通过品质来判断自身价值，从而来改变女性的形象。故A正确。
65.B【精析】细节题。题干意为“女性常常做什么来为选美比赛做准备?”。依据第三段第二句文章所陈述的“These young womenspend months losing weight to be the‘right’size and learning how todress，wear makeup，and walk just fight…”，故B正确。
66.D【精析】推理题。题干意为“从文章我们能推理出什么?”。根据文章内容，我们可以推断出作者是不赞成选美比赛的，因为选美比赛都是以貌取人，而不是根据品质评价女性。故D正确。
67.A【精析】推理题。题干意为“根据作者，选美比赛是________”。根据文章最后一段，作者认为只要有选美比赛存在，女性就不可能被作为一个全面发展的人来看待。所以这是一种不尊重女性的行为，故A正确。
Text 4
It is late at night and you are still awake. Should you take a sleeping pill 药片 ? People who take medicine often come to depend on it. so you lie awake knowing that the new work day will soon arrive. If this happens to you for at least one month, you may have insonmia, or sleeping problems, at an early stage. There are millions of you.., us... around the world.
A new study led by Eric Nofzinger and Daniel Buysse of the University of Pittsburgh Medical School has found that you might fall asleep quicker and stay asleep longer if you try "cerebral hypo- thermia", which just means cooling down your brain. They examined twelve people who had in- somnia and twelve others who had no sleep problems. Each of them wore a soft plastic cap on their heads at bed time.
The caps had tubes软管 inside filled with water. The researchers moved the water through the tubes and then changed the temperature of the water. As other studies showed that people who had trouble sleeping often had more chemical reactions 反应 in the front of their brains, the researchers thought lowering the temperature of the brain might help.
For the first two nights of testing, the patients wore no water caps. During the next two nights, the caps were worn, but the water was not cooled. Then the researchers cooled the water a little for two nights. on the final two nights of the study, the temperature of the water was made much cooler.
The researchers found that the water caps did not help the insomnia patients until the tempera- ture was about 140C. Most of the patients fell asleep faster and slept better when the coolest water was moving around their heads,
68. People might suffer from an early stage of insomnia if they
A. become dependent on drugs
B. need to take medicine before sleep
C. stay up late worrying about their jobs
D. have difficulty falling asleep over a month
69. How can people' s sleeping be improved according to the study?
A. Control the brain temperature.
B. Put plastic caps on at the right time.
C. Wear caps made of proper materials.D. Limit the cups of water taken in each day.
70. How many days did the researchers test insomnia patients?
A. Two days.
B. Four days.
C. Six days.
D. Eight days.
71. What might be the best title for the text?
A. How Researchers Discovered a New Use of Water
B. How Cooling the Brain May Help People Sleep
C. What People Need for a Good Night' s Sleep
D. What Happens in the Human Brain at Night
参考译文
夜已深，你仍然醒着。你应该吃一片安眠的药吗?经常吃安眠的药的人会逐渐依赖药物，因此你会躺在床上夜不能寐等待着新一天的工作的到来。如果这种情况你持续至少一个月的时间的话，你可能患上初期的失眠症或者是睡眠障碍。在世界上有上百万的人面临这样的问题。
匹兹堡医学院的埃里克·诺夫辛格和丹尼尔·伯伊斯实施了一项新研究，研究发现如果你尝试“头部低温疗法”——降低大脑的温度，你有可能更快速地入睡并保持长时间的睡眠。他们对l2个有失眠症和l2个没有睡眠障碍的人进行试验。给他们每一个人在睡觉的时候都戴上一个柔软的`塑料帽子：
帽子里有注满水的软管。研究者们通过软管让水在里面流动，然后改变水的温度。通过其他的研究表明患有失眠症的患者在他们的大脑前部分有更多的化学反应，所以研究者认为降低大脑温度对睡眠有帮助。
在测试开始后头两个晚上，病人们戴着没有注水的帽子睡觉;在接下来的两个晚上。病人们戴上了注水后的帽子，但水温没有降低;又过了两晚上，研究者们降低了一点帽子里的水温;在实验的最后两个晚上，水温被降得更低了。
研究者们发现直到水的温度降至l4℃才对那些有失眠症的患者有帮助。绝大多数患者在最冷的水在他们头周围流动时，他们的睡眠速度更快且睡眠状态更好。
答案与解析
68.D【精析】细节题。题干意为“人们可能患上了早期失眠症，假如他们…”。从文章第一段倒数第二句话“If this happens to you for alleast one month，you may have…”可以得知，有这种症状至少一个月。故D正确。
69.A【精析】推理题。题干意为“根据这项研究，人们的睡眠如何得以改善?”。由文章所提到的cerebral hypothermia头部低温疗法这个实验推理得知。故A正确。
70.D【精析】推理题。题干意为“研究者们对失眠病人一共测试了多少天?”。由文章第四段，一共是分四个两晚上进行的实验，也就是说一共实验八天。故D正确。
71.B【精析】推理题。题干意为“这篇文章的标题是什么?”。根据文中的实验过程及结果，我们可以推出降低大脑温度对睡眠有帮助。故B正确。
Text 5
Eating Etiquette
What should you do or not do when you are eating in Britain?
The British generally pay a lot of attention to good table manners. Even young children are expected to eat properly with knives and forks.
We eat most of our food with cutlery. The foods we don' t eat with a knife, fork or spoon in- clude sandwiches and fruit.
Things you should do
If you cannot eat a certain type of food or have some special needs, tell your host several days before the dinner party.
If you are a guest, it is polite to wait until your host starts eating or invites you to do so. It shows consideration.
Always chew咀嚼 and swallow吞噬 all the food in your mouth before taking more or taking a drink.
Always say thank you when served something. It shows your gratefulness.
You may eat things like chicken with your fingers if you are having a picnic with friends or in very informal settings. Otherwise always use a knife and fork.
When eating bread rolls, break off a piece before buttering. Eating it whole shows poor taste.on formal dining occasions 场合 it is good manners to take some butter from the butter dish with your bread knife and put it on your side plate. Then butter pieces of the roll using this butter.
This prevents the butter in the dish getting full of small pieces of bread as it is passed around. In a restaurant, it is normal to pay for your food by putting your money on the plate the bill comes on.
72. Who will find the text most helpful?
A. Host families.
B. British travelers.
C. Newcomers in Britain.
D. Waiters in a restaurant.
73. Which of the following can be considered proper table manners in Britain?
A. Cutting butter into small pieces.
B. Eating fruits with a knife and fork.
C. Waiting for the hosts to start first.
D. Taking a drink while having food.
74. When eating bread rolls in formal settings, you are advised to eat them
A.with butter
B. piece by piece
C. with your fingers
D. on your side plate
75. The underlined word "cutlery" in the text refers to
A. salt
B. knife, fork or spoon
C. drinks
D. butter, cheese or cream
参考译文
就餐礼仪在英国就餐时什么该做什么不该做?英国人一般比较注重餐桌礼仪，甚至是小孩子也被要求正确使用刀又。
我们吃的绝大部分食物需要用餐具，但是三明治和水果我们不能使用刀叉或勺子。
你应该做的：
如果你不能吃某种食物或有一些特别需求，一定要在宴会开始的前几天告知主人。
假如你去做客，让主人先吃或等主人邀请后再吃，这是礼貌。这也是对主人的一种尊重。
在拿取更多的食物或喝饮料之前要咀嚼和吞咽掉你嘴里的所有食物。
在别人为你服务时.总是说谢谢，表明你的感激之情。
如果你正和一群朋友野餐或在一个不是很正式的环境下用餐，你可以用手拿着吃一些东西，像鸡肉。如果是正式场合，一定要用刀叉。
在正式场合吃面包卷时，一定要先撕开面包后再涂黄油。把面包卷整个吃下会让人觉得你的品位很差。在正式场合，正确的礼仪是用你的面包刀从黄油碟子里取黄油，然后放在你盘子的一边，然后用撕下的面包卷来蘸黄油。这样避免了黄油盘子里到处都是面包屑。在餐馆内，吃完饭结账时，把钱放在盘子里是正常的。
答案与解析
72.C【精析】推理题。题干意为“谁将会发现这篇文章特别有用?”。由文章来看，文章是给刚到英国，还不是很了解英国的人看的。故C正确。
73.C【精析】细节题。题干意为“下面哪项被认为在英国是恰当的餐桌礼仪?”。由第四段中“If you are a guest，it is polite to wait untilyour host starts eating of invites you to do so.”可知，假如你去做客，让主人先吃或等主人邀请后再吃，这是礼貌。故C正确。
74.B【精析】细节题。题干意为“在正式场合中吃面包卷，你被建议怎么吃才礼貌?”。从文章第八段第一句“When eating bread rolls，break off a piece before buttering.”可知，吃面包卷时，应该撕下一片然后蘸黄油吃。故B正确。
75.B【精析】语义题。题干意为“文中加下划线的单词cutlery指什么?”。从文章第二段“We eat most of our food with cutlery.Thefoods we don’t eat with a knife，fork or spoon including sandwichesand fruit.”可知，前后两句是对比关系，所以得出结论cutlery是餐具的意思，故B正确。