Reading Comprehension
Read the following two texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D. The panoramic View of the United States
On a topographic map of the United States, the mountains look like jagged masses, the plains like vast open flat spaces, and the rivers like meandering thread. Today, highways and railways crisis-cross the land, making travel easy. But only a few generations ago,the topographic features on the map represented great dangers and difficulties. Today ‘s visitors, riding over a good road in the Cascade Mountains in the west coast states of oregon and Washington may see marks on the rocks made by ropes where pioneer settlers painfully lowered their hours and wagons down cliffs to reach the fertile river valley far below. In the Sierra Nevada Mountain of California, the main route now runs through a mountain pass which was once too narrow for a wagon to go through. pioneer families reaching that pass had to take their wagons apart piece by piece, carry them through, and then, reassemble them on the other side.
Modern means of communication and transportation have enabled man to overcome these obstacles. poles and wire now carry electrical power and telephone communication over ridges that are so deep in snow that only persons wearing snowshoes or skis can reach them. Railroads run along the sides or mountains or in tunnels through the burning heat of deserts.
Much of the geography and history of the United States was determined some 10.000 to 25.000 years ago. At that time, the northern ice cap flowed over the North American continent and ground into it a number of major changes. These ice flows determined the size and drainage of the great lakes. They changed the direction of the Mississippi River. They pushed soil off a huge part of Canada into the United States, thus created the northern part of the Central Agricultural Basin--one of the richest farming areas in the world.
on the Atlantic shore of the United States, much of the northern coast is rocky and uninviting, but the middle and southern Atlantic coast rises gently from the sea. It starts as low, wet ground and sandy flats, but then becomes a rolling coastal lowland somewhat like that of northern and western Europe. The Appalachians, which run roughly parallel to East Coast, are old mountains with many coat-rich valleys between them. To the west of the Appalachians lie plateaus built up over the centuries from bits of stone that were washed down fro the mountains and then cut into small hills by streams. Beyond is the great Central Lowland that, in its configuration, resembles the plains of Eastern Europe, or Manchuria, or the Great plains of Australia, or certain plains in Africa or South America.
North of the Central Lowland, extending for almost 1.600 kilometers, are the five Great Lakes which the United States shares with Canada. The lakes, estimated to contain about half of the world’s fresh water, were gauged out of the land by the ice that once covered the northern United States.
West of it are the Great plains, likened to the flat top of a table which is slightly titled upward to the west. They are stopped by the Rocky Mountains, the backbone of the continent. The Rockies are considered young mountains: of the same age as the Alps in Europe, the Himalayas in Asia. Like these ranges, they are high, rough and irregular in shape.
1. The title of the passage “the panoramic view of the united states” means _____.
A. the over-all view of the United States
B. the mountainous view of the united states
C. the views of great plains of the United States
D. the coastal view of the United States
2. What happened to the early pioneer settlers when they tried to go through the mountains to the valleys?
A. they had roads as good as today’s
B. they met a lot of difficulties
C. they had to use ropes
D. they had to use narrower wagons
3. Today, those obstacles in the mountains areas are overcome _____.
A. by using snowshoes and skins
B. by using ropes and wagons
C. by using modern means of communication and transportation
D. taking the wagons apart piece by piece and reassembling them
4. The direction of the Mississippi River was changed by _____.
A. the ice flows some 10.000 to 25.000 years ago
B. the drainage of the Great Lakes
C. the soil that was pushed off from parts of Canada into the United States
D. by the size of the Great Lakes
5. Which mountain range is considered the backbone of the American continent?
A. the Alps
B. the Appalachians
C. the Sierra Nevada Mountains
D. the Rockies
解析：
1. A
這個問題問我們文章題目的意思是什么。我們知道，文章的題目在很大程度上是文章主旨的體現(xiàn)。雖然在文章的題目中有一個詞panoramic考生可能不是很熟悉，但是只要能把握作者的寫作意圖，把握文章的中心思想，我們就可以基本上猜測出這個詞的意思是“全景的，總體的”。因為本位講述的是美國的地理狀況，其中包括海岸，山脈和平原等，也就是對這些美國的一個總覽。我們也可以用排除法。B ,C, D選項中分別說文章的意思是“對美國山脈平原和海岸的觀覽”，而全文的內(nèi)容涉及了這三個方面，所以應(yīng)該是全景的觀覽。
2. B
從第一段的描述中我們可以知道，早期的墾荒者沒有我們今天這么好的道路，他們在穿越山脈和峽谷時經(jīng)歷了常人難以想象的困難。他們必須把馬匹和火車沿著山崖放低以到達(dá)遠(yuǎn)方肥沃的流域。當(dāng)經(jīng)過特別狹窄的道路時，他們必須把馬車拆卸成一個個小塊，帶著他們繼續(xù)前進(jìn)，然后在路的另一頭再將馬車組裝起來。所以，早期的墾荒者穿過山脈和峽谷時遇到了許多困難。
3. C
第二段的第一句話： Modern means of communication and transportation have enabled man to overcome these obstacles. 現(xiàn)代的工具和交通方式已使人們解決了這些障礙。所以我們可以知道，山脈地區(qū)的障礙時由現(xiàn)代的通訊和交通方式解決的。
4. A
第三段開頭告訴我們，在10，000 到25，000年前，北部的冰流在北美大陸帶來許多大的變化。變化之一就是冰流改變了密西西比河的流向。所以，密西西比河河流的改變是由10，000 到25，000 年前的冰流引起的。
5. D
文末有這樣的一句話：They are stopped by the Rocky Mountains, the backbone of the continent.(大平原)被大陸的“脊椎”落磯山脈所阻斷。這里的the backbone of the continent是Rocky Mountains的定語，由此我們可以得出，落磯山脈被看作是美國大陸的“脊椎”。
Read the following two texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D. The panoramic View of the United States
On a topographic map of the United States, the mountains look like jagged masses, the plains like vast open flat spaces, and the rivers like meandering thread. Today, highways and railways crisis-cross the land, making travel easy. But only a few generations ago,the topographic features on the map represented great dangers and difficulties. Today ‘s visitors, riding over a good road in the Cascade Mountains in the west coast states of oregon and Washington may see marks on the rocks made by ropes where pioneer settlers painfully lowered their hours and wagons down cliffs to reach the fertile river valley far below. In the Sierra Nevada Mountain of California, the main route now runs through a mountain pass which was once too narrow for a wagon to go through. pioneer families reaching that pass had to take their wagons apart piece by piece, carry them through, and then, reassemble them on the other side.
Modern means of communication and transportation have enabled man to overcome these obstacles. poles and wire now carry electrical power and telephone communication over ridges that are so deep in snow that only persons wearing snowshoes or skis can reach them. Railroads run along the sides or mountains or in tunnels through the burning heat of deserts.
Much of the geography and history of the United States was determined some 10.000 to 25.000 years ago. At that time, the northern ice cap flowed over the North American continent and ground into it a number of major changes. These ice flows determined the size and drainage of the great lakes. They changed the direction of the Mississippi River. They pushed soil off a huge part of Canada into the United States, thus created the northern part of the Central Agricultural Basin--one of the richest farming areas in the world.
on the Atlantic shore of the United States, much of the northern coast is rocky and uninviting, but the middle and southern Atlantic coast rises gently from the sea. It starts as low, wet ground and sandy flats, but then becomes a rolling coastal lowland somewhat like that of northern and western Europe. The Appalachians, which run roughly parallel to East Coast, are old mountains with many coat-rich valleys between them. To the west of the Appalachians lie plateaus built up over the centuries from bits of stone that were washed down fro the mountains and then cut into small hills by streams. Beyond is the great Central Lowland that, in its configuration, resembles the plains of Eastern Europe, or Manchuria, or the Great plains of Australia, or certain plains in Africa or South America.
North of the Central Lowland, extending for almost 1.600 kilometers, are the five Great Lakes which the United States shares with Canada. The lakes, estimated to contain about half of the world’s fresh water, were gauged out of the land by the ice that once covered the northern United States.
West of it are the Great plains, likened to the flat top of a table which is slightly titled upward to the west. They are stopped by the Rocky Mountains, the backbone of the continent. The Rockies are considered young mountains: of the same age as the Alps in Europe, the Himalayas in Asia. Like these ranges, they are high, rough and irregular in shape.
1. The title of the passage “the panoramic view of the united states” means _____.
A. the over-all view of the United States
B. the mountainous view of the united states
C. the views of great plains of the United States
D. the coastal view of the United States
2. What happened to the early pioneer settlers when they tried to go through the mountains to the valleys?
A. they had roads as good as today’s
B. they met a lot of difficulties
C. they had to use ropes
D. they had to use narrower wagons
3. Today, those obstacles in the mountains areas are overcome _____.
A. by using snowshoes and skins
B. by using ropes and wagons
C. by using modern means of communication and transportation
D. taking the wagons apart piece by piece and reassembling them
4. The direction of the Mississippi River was changed by _____.
A. the ice flows some 10.000 to 25.000 years ago
B. the drainage of the Great Lakes
C. the soil that was pushed off from parts of Canada into the United States
D. by the size of the Great Lakes
5. Which mountain range is considered the backbone of the American continent?
A. the Alps
B. the Appalachians
C. the Sierra Nevada Mountains
D. the Rockies
解析：
1. A
這個問題問我們文章題目的意思是什么。我們知道，文章的題目在很大程度上是文章主旨的體現(xiàn)。雖然在文章的題目中有一個詞panoramic考生可能不是很熟悉，但是只要能把握作者的寫作意圖，把握文章的中心思想，我們就可以基本上猜測出這個詞的意思是“全景的，總體的”。因為本位講述的是美國的地理狀況，其中包括海岸，山脈和平原等，也就是對這些美國的一個總覽。我們也可以用排除法。B ,C, D選項中分別說文章的意思是“對美國山脈平原和海岸的觀覽”，而全文的內(nèi)容涉及了這三個方面，所以應(yīng)該是全景的觀覽。
2. B
從第一段的描述中我們可以知道，早期的墾荒者沒有我們今天這么好的道路，他們在穿越山脈和峽谷時經(jīng)歷了常人難以想象的困難。他們必須把馬匹和火車沿著山崖放低以到達(dá)遠(yuǎn)方肥沃的流域。當(dāng)經(jīng)過特別狹窄的道路時，他們必須把馬車拆卸成一個個小塊，帶著他們繼續(xù)前進(jìn)，然后在路的另一頭再將馬車組裝起來。所以，早期的墾荒者穿過山脈和峽谷時遇到了許多困難。
3. C
第二段的第一句話： Modern means of communication and transportation have enabled man to overcome these obstacles. 現(xiàn)代的工具和交通方式已使人們解決了這些障礙。所以我們可以知道，山脈地區(qū)的障礙時由現(xiàn)代的通訊和交通方式解決的。
4. A
第三段開頭告訴我們，在10，000 到25，000年前，北部的冰流在北美大陸帶來許多大的變化。變化之一就是冰流改變了密西西比河的流向。所以，密西西比河河流的改變是由10，000 到25，000 年前的冰流引起的。
5. D
文末有這樣的一句話：They are stopped by the Rocky Mountains, the backbone of the continent.(大平原)被大陸的“脊椎”落磯山脈所阻斷。這里的the backbone of the continent是Rocky Mountains的定語，由此我們可以得出，落磯山脈被看作是美國大陸的“脊椎”。