第4部分：阅读理解(第31—45题，每题3分，共45分)

　　下面有3篇短文，每篇短文后有5道题。请根据短文内容，为每题确定l个最佳选项。

　　31、根据材料，回答31-36问题。

　　Nap, Good or Bad?

　　American society is not nap (午睡) friendly. In fact, says David Dinges, a sleep specialist at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. "There's even a prohibition against admitting we need sleep. " Nobody wants to be caught napping or found asleep at work. To quote a proverb: "Some sleep five hours, nature requires seven, laziness nine and wickedness eleven. "

　　Wrong. The way not to fall asleep at work is to take naps when you need them. "We have to totally change our attitude toward napping," says Dr. William Dement of Stanford University, the godfather of sleep research.

　　Last year a national commission led by Dement identified an "American sleep debt" which one member said was as important as the national debt. The commission was concerned about the dangers of sleepiness: people causing industrial accidents or falling asleep while driving.This may be why we have a new sleep policy in the White House. According to recent reports,president Clinton is trying to take a half hour snooze (打瞌睡) every afternoon. About 60 percent of American adults nap when given the opportunity. We seem to have "a midafternoon quiet phase" also called "a secondary sleep gate". Sleeping 15 minutes to two hours in the early afternoon can reduce stress and make us refreshed. Clearly, we were born to nap.

　　We Superstars of Snooze don't nap to replace lost shut eye or to prepare for a night shift.

　　Rather, we "snack" on sleep, whenever, wherever and at whatever time we feel like it. I myself have napped in buses, cars, planes and on boats; on floors and beds; and in libraries,offices and museums.

　　It is commonly accepted in American society that too much sleep is______

　　A.unreasonable.

　　B.criminal.

　　C.harmful.

　　D.costly.

　　32、The research done by the Dement commission shows that Americans______

　　A.don't like to take naps.

　　B.are terribly worried about their national debt.

　　C.sleep less is good for them.

　　D.have caused many industrial and traffic accidents.

　　33、The purpose of this article is to_______

　　A.warn us of the wickedness of napping.

　　B.explain the danger of sleepiness.

　　C.discuss the side effects of napping.

　　D.convince the reader of the necessity of napping.

　　34、The "American sleep debt" (Line 1, Para. 3) is the result of_____

　　A.the traditiona! misconception the Americans have about sleep.

　　B.the new sleep policy of the Clinton Administration.

　　C.the rapid development of American industry.

　　D.the Americans' worry about the danger of sleepiness.

　　35、The author's attitude towards naps is_______

　　A.neutral.

　　B.positive.

　　C.negative.

　　D.objective.

　　36、根据材料，回答36-41问题。

　　Difficult to Have Hard Discoveries

　　If there is one thing scientists have to hear, it is that the game is over. Raised on the belief of an endless voyage of discovery, they recoil (畏缩) from the suggestion that most of the best things have already been located. If they have, today's scientists can hope to contribute no more

　　than a few grace notes to the symphony of science.

　　A book to be published in Britain this week, The End of Science, argues persuasively that this is the case. Its author, John Horgan, is a senior writer for Scientific American magazine,who has interviewed many of today's leading scientists and science philosophers. The shock of realizing that science might be over came to him, he says, when he was talking to Oxford mathematician and physicist Sir Roger Penrose.

　　The End of Science provoked a wave of denunciation ( 谴责 ) in the United States last year. "The reaction has been one of complete shock and disbelief," Mr. Horgan says.

　　The real question is whether any remaining unsolved problems, of which there are plenty, lend themselves to universal solutions. If they do not, then the focus of scientific discqvery is already narrowing. Since the triumphs of the 1960s -- the genetic code, plate tectonics (板块构造说), and the microwave background radiation that went a long way towards proving the Big Bang -- genuine scientific revolutions have been scarce. More scientists are now alive, spending more money on research, than ever. Yet most of the great discoveries of the 19th and 20th centuries were made before the appearance of state sponsorship, when the scientific enterprise was a fraction of its present size.

　　Were the scientists who made these discoveries brighter than today's? That seems unlikely.A far more reasonable explanation is that fundamental science has already entered a period of diminished returns. "Look, don't get me wrong," says Mr. Horgan. "There are lots of important things still to study, and applied science and engineering can go on for ever. I hope we get a cure for cancer, and for mental disease, though there are few real signs of progress. "

　　The sentence "most of the best things have already been located" could mean_______

　　A.most of the best things have already been changed.

　　B.most of the best things remain to be changed.

　　C.there have never been so many best things waiting to be discovered.

　　D.most secrets of the world have already been discovered.

　　37、John Horgan_______

　　A.has published a book entitled The End of Science.

　　II. has been working as an editor of Scientific American.

　　III. has been working many years as a literary critic.

　　IV. is working as a science writer.

　　B.land II

　　C.Ionly

　　D.land IV

　　E.I, Iland IV

　　38、There have not been many genuine scientific revolutions in the past few decades because____

　　A.there have been decreased returns in the research of fundamental science.

　　B.there are too many important things for scientists to study.

　　C.applied science and engineering take up too much time and energy.

　　D.today's scientists are not as intelligent as those in the past.

　　39、The term "the Big Bang" probably refers to_____

　　A.the genetic code theory.

　　B.a geological theory.

　　C.a theory of the origin of the universe.

　　D.the origin and the power of atomic energy.

　　40、The best title of this passage can be______

　　A.Great Scientific Discoveries Will Never Be Possible.

　　B.The Harsh Challenge Has to Be Met by Modern Scientists.

　　C.The State Sponsorship and Scientific Enterprise Are All in Vain.

　　D.The Chance for Great Scientific Discoveries Becomes Scarce.

　　41、根据材料，回答41-46问题。

　　How to Avoid Car Crimes

　　For more than 10 years there has been a bigger rise in car crime than in most other types of crime. An average of more than two cars a minute are broken into, "vandalized (破坏) or stolen in the UK. Car crime accounts for almost a third of all reported offences with no signs

　　that the trend is slowing down.

　　Although there are highly professional criminals involved in car theft, almost 90 percent of car crime is committed by the opportunist. Amateur thieves are aided by our carelessness. When the Automobile Association (AA) engineers surveyed one town centre car park last year, 10 percent of cars checked were unlocked, a figure backed up by a Home Office national survey that found 12 percent of drivers sometimes left their cars unlocked.

　　The vehicles are sitting in petrol stations while drivers pay for their fuel. The AA has discovered that cars are left unattended for an average of three minutes and sometimes much longer as drivers buy drinks, cigarettes and other consumer items and then pay at the counter.

　　With payment by credit card more and more common, it is not unusual for a driver to be out of his car as long as six minutes providing the car thief with a golden opportunity. In an exclusive AA survey, carried out at a busy garage on a main road out of London, 300 motorists were questioned over three days of the holiday period. 24 percent admitted that they "always" or "sometimes" leave the keys in the car. This means that nationwide, a million cars daily become easy targets for the opportunist thief.

　　The AA recommends locking up whenever you leave the car -- and for however short a period. A partially open sunroof or window is a further come-on to thieves.

　　Leaving valuables in view is an invitation to the criminal. A Manchester probationary (假释期) service research project, which interviewed almost 100 car thieves last year, found many would investigate a coat thrown on a seat. Never leave any documents showing your home address in the car. If you have a garage, use it and lock it -- a garaged car is at substantially less risk.

　　There are many other traps to avoid. The Home Office has found little awareness among drivers about safe parking. Most motorists questioned made no efforts to avoid parking in quiet spots away from street lights just the places thieves love. The AA advises drivers to park in places with people around -- thieves do not like audiences.

　　The passage seems to imply that payment by credit card______

　　A.is preferable for safe parking.

　　B.is now a common practice.

　　C.takes longer than necessary.

　　D.aids a car thief in a way.

　　42、Which of the following statements is correct?

　　A.In the UK, a million cars are stolen daily.

　　B.In the UK, there are amateur car thieves only.

　　C.There are more car crimes than any other type of offences.

　　D.One in ten drivers invites car theft due to carelessness.

　　43、The researches mentioned in the passage on car theft include all the following EXCEPT______

　　A.checking private garages.

　　B.interviewing motorists,

　　C.questioning car thieves.

　　D.examining parking lots.

　　44、The best way for a driver to avoid car theft is_______

　　A.leaving documents showing one's home address in the car.

　　B.locking one's car in a parking lot at any time.

　　C.not leaving the car unattended for longer than necessary.

　　D.not leaving a sunroof or window partially open.

　　45、In the last paragraph, the term "safe parking" means_____

　　A.not parking under street lights.

　　B.not parking in front of a theatre or cinema.

　　C.avoiding traps set by a possible car thief.

　　D.parking where a lot of people pass by.