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　　SAT阅读练习题:Reading Comprehension Test 13

　　8 question 12 minutes

　　Could Washington, Madison, and the other framers of the

　　Federal Constitution revisit the earth in this year 1922,

　　it is likely that nothing would bewilder them more than

　　the recent Prohibition Amendment. Railways, steamships,

　　5 the telephone, automobiles, flying machines, submarines

　　– all these developments, unknown in their day, would

　　fill them with amazement and admiration. They would

　　marvel at the story of the rise and downfall of the

　　German Empire; at the growth and present greatness of

　　10 the Republic they themselves had founded. None of these

　　things, however, would seem to them to involve any

　　essential change in the beliefs and purposes of men as

　　they had known them. The Prohibition Amendment, on the

　　contrary, would evidence to their minds the breaking

　　15 down of a principle of government which they had deemed

　　axiomatic, the abandonment of a purpose which they had

　　supposed immutable.

　　1. It can be inferred that the paragraph is intended as

　　A. an introduction to a discussion of a constitutional amendment

　　B. a summary of social and political change since the writing of the Federal Constitution

　　C. an introduction to a history of the Constitution

　　D. a clarification of the author’s view of a controversy

　　E. a summation of a discussion on political history

　　2. The author apparently believes that the “principle of government” mentioned in the last sentence is

　　A. not implicit in the original Constitution

　　B. to be taken as true for all time

　　C. apparently violated by the Prohibition Amendment

　　D. an essential change in the beliefs of the American people

　　E. something that would bewilder Washington and Madison

　　I have previously defined a sanctuary as a place where man

　　is passive and the rest of Nature active. But this general

　　definition is too absolute for any special case. The mere

　　fact that man has to protect a sanctuary does away with his

　　5 purely passive attitude. Then, he can be beneficially active

　　by destroying pests and parasites, like bot-flies or

　　mosquitoes, and by finding antidotes for diseases like the

　　epidemic which periodically kills off the rabbits and thus

　　starves many of the carnivora to death. But, except in cases

　　10 where experiment has proved his intervention to be

　　beneficial, the less he upsets the balance of Nature the

　　better, even when he tries to be an earthly Providence.

　　3. The author implies that his first definition of a sanctuary is

　　A. totally wrong

　　B. somewhat idealistic

　　C. unhelpful

　　D. indefensible

　　E. immutable

　　4. The author’s argument that destroying bot-flies and mosquitoes would be a beneficial action is most weakened by all of the following except

　　A. parasites have an important role to play in the regulation of populations

　　B. the elimination of any species can have unpredictable effects on the balance of nature

　　C. the pests themselves are part of the food chain

　　D. these insects have been introduced to the area by human activities

　　E. elimination of these insects would require the use of insecticides that kill a wide range of insects

　　Paragraph one

　　That Priestley's contributions to the knowledge of chemical

　　fact were of the greatest importance is unquestionable; but

　　it must be admitted that he had no comprehension of the

　　deeper significance of his work; and, so far from

　　5 contributing anything to the theory of the facts which he

　　discovered, or assisting in their rational explanation,

　　his influence to the end of his life was warmly exerted in

　　favor of error. From first to last, he was a stiff adherent

　　of the phlogiston doctrine which was prevalent when his

　　10 studies commenced; and, by a curious irony of fate, the man

　　who by the discovery of what he called "dephlogisticated air"

　　furnished the essential datum for the true theory of

　　combustion, of respiration, and of the composition of water,

　　to the end of his days fought against the inevitable

　　15 corollaries from his own labors.

　　Paragraph two

　　It is a trying ordeal for any man to be compared with Black

　　and Cavendish, and Priestley cannot be said to stand on

　　their level. Nevertheless his achievements are truly

　　wonderful if we consider the disadvantages under which he

　　20 labored. Without the careful scientific training of Black,

　　without the leisure and appliances secured by the wealth of

　　Cavendish, he scaled the walls of science; and trusting to

　　mother wit to supply the place of training, and to ingenuity

　　to create apparatus out of washing tubs, he discovered more

　　25 new gases (including oxygen, which he termed

　　“dephlogisticated air”) than all his predecessors put

　　together had done.

　　5. Which pairing best reflects the main emphasis of the two passages? The first focuses mainly on Priestley’s

　　A. discoveries of chemical fact; the second on his ingenuity

　　B. discovery of “dephlogisticated air”; the second on his discoveries of gases

　　C. lack of theoretical understanding; the second on his lack of training

　　D. importance to future science; the second on his status in relation to his contemporaries

　　E. theoretical misconceptions; the second on his success in the face of disadvantage

　　6. It can be inferred that “dephlogisticated air” is

　　I a misnomer, but relating to something important

　　II a gaseous substance discovered by Priestley

　　II something not fully understood by Preistley

　　A. I only

　　B. II only

　　C. I and III

　　D. II and III

　　E. I, II and III

　　7. The metaphor “scaled the walls of science” conveys the idea that Priestley

　　A. climbed to the pinnacle of science

　　B. fought his way to the top

　　C. escaped the confines of traditional ideas

　　D. achieved success in a difficult endeavor

　　E. clawed his way up against opposition

　　8. The attitude of both the passages to Priestley’s scientific work could be described as

　　A. firm disapproval

　　B. wholehearted praise

　　C. qualified approval

　　D. determined neutrality

　　E. ambivalence

　本套SAT阅读练习题参考答案在下一页

参考答案

　　1.Correct Answer: A

　　Explanation:

　　The passage tells us that the framers of the Constitution would not have been so surprised at the changes in technology and other areas as they would have been by the Prohibition Amendment. It goes on to indicate that there is some fundamental change in principle involved in this amendment, but does not elaborate. We can conclude that the author is about to go into details of this amendment and why it is apparently so different. This is why we can say the passage is an introduction to a discussion of the amendment.

　　2.Correct Answer: C

　　Explanation:

　　The author refers to the breaking down of a principle that the founders would have thought “axiomatic”. Axiomatic means assumed to be true. It is the Prohibition Amendment that apparently breaks down or “violates” this principle, making C the correct answer. This principle would not have bewildered the founders; the amendment would (eliminating E). Similarly the amendment represents a change in belief (eliminating D). B is too strong because of the word “all”, and A can be ruled out because of “not”.

　　3.Correct Answer: B

　　Explanation:

　　The author says in sentence two that his previous definition was “too absolute”. Yet he admits that the less man “upsets the balance of Nature” the better. Hence his definition is not entirely right (because it is too idealistic) but it is not entirely wrong either. It is now easy to eliminate answers A, C, D, and E because they are strongly negative.

　　4.Correct Answer: D

　　Explanation:

　　In “except” questions find the true statements first. In this case find four statements that weaken the idea that destroying pests is beneficial. That means finding statements that show that it is not a good idea to destroy the pests. Answers A, B, C, and E give reasons why destroying these insects might be a mistake. D, however, is the right answer because it suggests that eliminating these insects might not be wrong, since they are not even natural inhabitants of the area.

　　5.Correct Answer: E

　　Explanation:

　　The main point of paragraph one is that, though Priestley made important contributions to factual knowledge, “he had no comprehension of the deeper significance of his work”, and. in fact, spent his life defending wrong ideas. This suggests that the first part of answer C and E could be right. The main point of paragraph two is that, though Priestley was not as great as some other scientists, he managed to make important discoveries that were “truly wonderful if we consider the disadvantages under which he labored”. This idea is most accurately conveyed in answer E.

　　6.Correct Answer: E

　　Explanation:

　　The words “dephlogisticated air” are placed in inverted commas because the name used by Priestley is misleading; its true nature and important role in combustion etc. had to be elucidated by others. Hence we can say that the substance was important but the name was a misnomer. (A misnomer is a wrong name.) Paragraph two clearly tells us that it was one of the gases discovered by Priestley. It is obvious from paragraph one that Preistley’s ideas about his discovery were in error, and that he had no real idea of the theoretical implications of this work. Thus all three statements are correct.

　　7.Correct Answer: D

　　Explanation:

　　We can eliminate answer A because “the pinnacle” implies the topmost point. Priestley made important discoveries but it is obvious that the author thinks there are other scientists who are more important, making “pinnacle” too strong. There is no suggestion of “fighting”, eliminating answer B. Similarly “opposition” is wrong in E. There is no mention that he escaped “traditional ideas”; in fact paragraph one suggests that he has hampered by his adherence to old ideas. This leaves us with the idea that scaling the walls of science means succeeding in doing something difficult.

　　8.Correct Answer: C

　　Explanation:

　　Both passages say both positive and negative things about Priestley. So we can eliminate the entirely positive (B), and the entirely negative (A). The authors cannot be described as neutral because they take a position (eliminate D). Both are rather firm in their attitudes so ambivalence is inappropriate (eliminate E). By saying “qualified approval” we mean that the authors approve up to a point. The word “qualified” is a favorite with examiners because students often misunderstand; used in this way it actually means “modified, moderated, or limited”.