Ⅲ、Reading Comprehension（30 points，2 points for each item）

　　从下列每篇短文的问题后所给的四个选择项中选出一个更佳答案。

　　Passage One

　　Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage.

　　Space is a dangerous place，not only because of meteors （流星） but also because of rays from the sun and other stars. The atmosphere again acts as our protective blanket on earth. Light gets through，and this is essential for plants to make the food which we eat. Heat，too，makes our environment endurable. Various kinds of rays come through the air from outer space， but enormous quantities of radiation from the sun are screened off. As soon as men leave the atmosphere they are exposed to this radiation but their spacesuits or the walls of their spacecraft， if they are inside，do prevent a lot of radiation damage.

　　Radiation is the greatest known danger to explorers in space. The unit of radiation is called “rem”。Scientists have reason to think that a man can put up with far more radiation than 0.1 rem without being damaged；the figure of 60 rems has been agreed on. The trouble is that it is extremely difficult to be sure about radiation damage —— a person may feel perfectly well，but the cells of his or her sex organs may be damaged，and this will not be discovered until the birth of deformed （畸形的）children or even grandchildren. Missions of the Apollo flights have had to cross belts of high amount of rems. So far，no dangerous amounts of radiation have been reported，but the Apollo missions have been quite short. We simply do not know yet how men are going to get on when they spend weeks and months outside the protection of the atmosphere，working in a space laboratory. Drugs might help to decrease the damage done by radiation，but no really effective ones have been found so far.

　　21. According to the first paragraph， the atmosphere is essential to man in that .

　　A. it protects him against the harmful rays from space

　　B. it provides sufficient light for plant growth

　　C. it supplies the heat necessary for human survival

　　D. it screens off the falling meteors 「」

　　22. We know from the passage that .

　　A. exposure to even tiny amounts of radiation is fatal

　　B. the effect of exposure to radiation is slow in coming

　　C. radiation is avoidable in space exploration

　　D. astronauts in spacesuits needn't worry about radiation damage 「」

　　23. The harm radiation has done to the Apollo crew members .

　　A. is insignificant　B. seems overestimated

　　C. is enormous　　 D. remains unknown 「」

　　24. It can be inferred from the passage that .

　　A. the Apollo mission was very successful

　　B. protection from space radiation is no easy job

　　C. astronauts will have deformed children or grandchildren

　　D. radiation is not a threat to well-protected space explorers 「」

　　25. The best title for this passage would be .

　　A. The Atmosphere and Our Environment

　　B. Research on Radiation

　　C. Effects of Space Radiation

　　D. Importance of Protection Against Radiation 「」

　　Passage Two

　　Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage.

　　For some time past it has been widely accepted that babies — and other creatures — learn to do things because certain acts lead to “rewards” ；and there is no reason to doubt that this is true. But it used also to be widely believed that effective rewards，at least in the early stages，had to be directly related to such basic physiological （生理的）“ drives ” as thirst or hunger. In other words，a baby would learn if he got food or drink or some sort of physical comfort，not otherwise.

　　It is now clear that this is not so. Babies will learn to behave in ways that produce results in the world with no reward except the successful outcome.

　　Papousek began his studies by using milk in the normal way to “ reward ” the babies and so teach them to carry out some simple movements，such as turning the head to one side or the other. Then he noticed that a baby who had had enough to drink would refuse the milk but would still go on making the learned response with clear signs of pleasure. So he began to study the children's responses in situations where no milk was provided. He quickly found that children as young as four months would learn to turn their heads to right or left if the movement “ switched on ” a display of lights — and indeed that they were capable of learning quite complex turns to bring about this result，for instance，two left or two right，or even to make as many as three turns to one side.Papousek's light display was placed directly in front of the babies and he made the interesting observation that sometimes they would not turn back to watch the lights closely although they would “ smile and bubble ” when the display came on. Papousek concluded that it was not primarily the sight of the lights which pleased them，it was the success they were achieving in solving the problem，in mastering the skill，and that there exists a fundamental human urge to make sense of the world and bring it under intentional control.

　　26. According to the author， babies learn to do things which .

　　A. are directly related to pleasure

　　B. will meet their physical needs

　　C. will bring them a feeling of success

　　D. will satisfy their curiosity 「」

　　27. Papousek noticed in his studie that a baby .

　　A. would make learned responses when it saw the milk

　　B. would carry out learned movements when it had enough to drink

　　C. would continue the simple movements without being given milk

　　D. would turn its head to right or left when it had enough to drink 「」

　　28. In Papousek's experiment babies make learned movements of the head in order to .

　　A. have the lights turned on　　B. please their parents

　　C. be rewarded with milk　　　D. be praised 「」

　　29. The babies would “ smile and bubble ” at the lights because .

　　A. the lights were directly related to some basic “ drives ”

　　B. the sight of the lights was interesting

　　C. they need not turn back to watch the lights

　　D. they succeeded in “switching on” the lights 「」

　　30. According to Papousek， the pleasure babies get in achieving something is a reflection of .

　　A. a basic human desire to understand and control the world

　　B. the satisfaction of certain physiological needs

　　C. their strong desire to solve complex problems

　　D. a fundamental human urge to display their learned skills 「」

　　Passage Three

　　Questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage.

　　Psychologists take opposing views of how external rewards，from warm praise to cold cash，affect motivation and creativity. Behaviorists，who study the relation between actions and their consequences，argue that rewards can improve performance at work and school. Cognitive （认知学派的）researchers，who study various aspects of mental life，maintain that rewards often destroy creativity by encouraging dependence on approval and gifts from others.

　　The latter view has gained many supporters，especially among educators. But the careful use of small monetary （金钱的）rewards sparks creativity in grade school children，suggesting that properly presented inducements （刺激）indeed aid inventiveness，according to a study in the June Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

　　“If kids know they're working for a reward and can focus on a relatively challenging task，they show the most creativity，”says Robert Eisenberger of the University of Delaware in Neward. “ But it's easy to kill creativity by giving rewards for poor performance or creating too much anticipation for rewards. ”

　　A teacher who continually draws attention to rewards or who hands out high grades for ordinary achievement ends up with uninspired students，Eisenberger holds. As an example of the latter point，he notes growing efforts at major universities to tighten grading standards and restore failing grades.

　　In earlier grades，the use of so — called token economies，in which students handle challenging problems and receive — based points toward valued rewards， shows promise in raising effort and creativity，the Delaware psychologist claims.

　　31. Psychologists are divided with regard to their attitudes toward .

　　A. the choice between spiritual encouragement and monetary rewards

　　B. the amount of monetary rewards for student creativity

　　C. the study of relationship between actions and their consequences

　　D. the effects of external rewards on students performance 「」

　　32. What is the response of many educators to external rewards for their students？

　　A. They have no doubts about them.

　　B. They have doubts about them.

　　C. They approve of them.

　　D. They avoid talking about them. 「」

　　33. Which of the following can best raise students creativity according to Robert Eisenberger？

　　A. Assigning them tasks they have not dealt with before.

　　B. Assigning them tasks which require inventiveness.

　　C. Giving them rewards they really deserve.

　　D. Giving them rewards they anticipate. 「」

　　34. It can be inferred from the passage that major universities are trying to tighten their grading standards because they believe .

　　A. rewarding poor performance may kill the creativity of students

　　B. punishment is more effective than rewarding

　　C. failing uninspired students helps improve their overall academic standards

　　D. discouraging the students anticipation for easy rewards is a matter of urgency 「」

　　35. The phrase “ token economies ” （Line 1， Para. 5） probably refers to .

　　A. ways to develop economy

　　B. systems of rewarding students

　　C. approaches to solving problems

　　D. methods of improving performance 「」

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