廣東省普通高等教育專(zhuān)升本考試

英語(yǔ)考前押密試卷（一）

部分閱讀理解（共兩節(jié)，滿(mǎn)分40分）

節(jié)（共15小題；每小題2分，滿(mǎn)分30分）

Passage 1

Some people argue that the pressure on international sportsmen and sportswomen kills the essence of sport — the pursuit of personal excellence. Children kick a football around for fun. When they get older and play for local school teams, they will become competitive but they still enjoy playing. The individual representing his country cannot afford to think about enjoying himself, and he has to think only about winning. He is responsible for the entire nation’s hopes, dreams and reputation.

A good example is the FIFA World Cup. Football is the third most important sport in the world. Winning the World Cup is perhaps the summit of international sporting success. Mention Argentina to someone and the chances are that he’ll think of football. In a sense, winning the World Cup put Argentina on the map.

Some sports fans and supporters get quite unreasonable about the World Cup. People in England felt that their country was somehow important after they won in 1966.

So, am I arguing that international competition kills the idea of sport Certainly not! Do the Argentinean really believe that because eleven of their men proved the most skillful at football, their nation is in every way better than all others Not really. But it’s nice to know that you won and that in one way at least your country is the best.

1. What is the author’s main purpose in the passage

A. To explain the role of sport.

B. To compare Scotland with Argentina.

C. To show that Argentina is better than all others.

D. To prove that football is the world’s third most important sport.

2. In the second paragraph, the underlined word “summit” means “”.

A. award B. summary C. highest point D. mountaintop

3. According to the passage, Argentina is world-famous because of its .

A. obvious position on the map

B. success in the World Cup

C. excellence in the most important sports

D. large number of sports fans and supporters

4. If a sportsman only thinks about winning, he will .

A. fail to succeed B. lose enjoyment

C. be successful D. be unreasonable

5. What is the author’s attitude towards international games

A. Nations that meet on a football field are unlikely to meet on a battlefield.

B. Nations that win the World Cup are regarded as best in all aspects.

C. Nations that win in international games prove the best on the sports field at least.

D. Nations that give much attention to international competitions are world-famous in many ways.

Passage 2

If Confucius (孔子) were still alive today and could celebrate his September 28 birthday with a big cake, there would be a lot of candles. We’d need a fan or a strong wind to help him put them out. While many people in China will remember Confucius on his special day, few people in the United States will give him a passing thought. It’s nothing personal. Most Americans don’t even remember the birthdays of their own national heroes.

But this doesn’t mean that Americans don’t care about Confucius. In many ways he has become a bridge that foreigners must cross if they want to reach a deeper understanding of China.

In the past two decades, the Chinese studies programs have gained huge popularity in Western universities. More recently, the Chinese government has set up Confucius Institutes in more than 80 countries. These schools teach both Chinese language and culture. The main courses of Chinese culture usually included Chinese art, history and philosophy (哲學(xué)). Some social scientists suggest that Westerners should take advantages of the ancient Chinese wisdom to make up for the drawbacks of Westerners’ philosophy. Students in the United States, at the same time, are racing to learn Chinese. Businessmen who hope to make money in China are reading books about Confucius to understand their Chinese customers.

So the old thinker’s ideas are still alive and well. Today China attracts the West more than ever, and it will need more teachers to introduce Confucius and Chinese culture to the West. As for the old thinker, he will not soon be forgotten by people in the West, even if his birthday is.

6. Confucius’s birthday is mentioned in Paragraph 1 with the aim to .

A. provide some key facts about Confucius

B. arouse the readers’ interest in the subject

C. show great respect for the ancient thinker

D. prove the popularity of modern birthday celebrations

7. We can learn from Paragraph 3 that American students .

A. have a great interest in studying Chinese

B. compete with each other to study Chinese

C. try to get high scores in Chinese exams

D. cherish the chance of learning Chinese

8. The underline phrase “make up for” is similar in meaning to .

A. make use of B. compensate for C. clear up D. set off

9. The passage is likely to appear in .

A. a biography B. a history paper

C. a newspaper D. a philosophy textbook

10. Which one can be the best title of the passage

A. The Popularity of Chinese Old Wisdom

B. Huge Fans of the Chinese Language

C. Meaning of Chinese Culture for Westerners

D. Old Thinker with a Big Future

Passage 3

The way people hold the belief that a fun-filled, pain-free life equals happiness actually reduces their chances of ever attaining real happiness. If fun and pleasure are equal to happiness, then pain must be equal to unhappiness. But in fact, the opposite is true: more often than not, things that lead to happiness involve some pain.

As a result, many people avoid the very attempts that are the source of true happiness. They fear the pain inevitably (不可避免的) brought by such things as marriage, raising children, professional achievements, religious commitment (忠誠(chéng)), and self-improvement.

Ask a bachelor (單身漢) why he resists marriage even though he finds dating less and less satisfying. If he is honest he will tell you that he is afraid of making a commitment. For commitment is in fact quite painful. The single life is filled with fun, adventure and excitement. Marriage has such moments, but they are not its most distinguishing features.

Couples with infant children are lucky to get a whole night’s sleep or a three-day vacation. I don’t know any parent who would choose the word “fun” to describe raising children. But couples who decide not to have children never know the joys of watching a child grow up or of playing with a grandchild.

Understanding and accepting that true happiness has nothing to do with fun is one of the most liberating realizations. It liberates time: now we can devote more hours to activities that can genuinely increase our happiness. It liberates money: buying new cars or those fancy clothes that will do nothing to increase our happiness now seems pointless. And it liberates us from envy: we now understand that all those who are always having so much fun actually may not be happy at all.

11. According to the author, a bachelor resists marriage chiefly because .

A. he believes that life will be more cheerful if he remains single

B. he is reluctant to take on family responsibilities

C. he finds more fun in dating than in marriage

D. he fears it will put an end to all his fun, adventure and excitement

12. Raising children, in the author’s opinion is .

A. a moral duty B. a source of inevitable pain

C. a thankless job D. a rewarding task

13. From the last paragraph, we learn that envy sometimes comes from .

A. misunderstanding B. prejudice

C. hatred D. ignorance

14. To understand what true happiness is, one must .

A. have as much fun as possible during one’s lifetime

B. make every effort to liberate oneself from pain

C. be able to distinguish happiness from fun

D. put up with pain under all circumstances

15. What is the author trying to tell us

A. One must know how to attain happiness.

B. Happiness often