2016年英语六级考试阅读理解技巧训练：科技类

　　科技类

　　Passage 1

　　In the villages of the English countryside there are still people who remember the good old days when no one bothered to lock their doors. There simply wasn't any crime to worry about.

　　Amazingly, these happy times appear still to be with us in the world's biggest community. A new study by Dan Farmer, a gifted programmer, using an automated investigative program of his own called SATAN, shows that the owners of well over half of all World Wide Web sites have set up home without fitting locks to their doors.

　　SATAN can try out a variety of well-known hacking (黑客的) tricks on an Internet site with-out actually breaking in. Farmer has made the program publicly available, amid much criticism. A person with evil intent could use it to hunt down sites that are easy to burgle (闯入……行窃).

　　But Farmer is very concerned about the need to alert the public to poor security and, so far, events have proved him right. SATAN has done more to alert people to the risks than cause new disorder.

　　So is the Net becoming more secure? Far from it. In the early days, when you visited a Web site your browser simply looked at the content. Now the Web is full of tiny programs that automatically download when you look at a Web page, and run on your own machine. These programs could, if their authors wished, do all kinds of nasty things to your computer.

　　At the same time, the Net is increasingly populated with spiders, worms, agents and other types of automated beasts designed to penetrate the sites and seek out and classify information. All these make wonderful tools for antisocial people who want to invade weak sites and cause damage.

　　But let's look on the bright side. Given the lack of locks, the Internet is surely the world's biggest (almost) crime-free society. Maybe that is because hackers are fundamentally honest. Or that there currently isn't much to steal. Or because vandalism ( 恶意破坏) isn't much fun unless you have a peculiar dislike for someone.

　　Whatever the reason, let's enjoy it while we can. But expect it all to change, and security to become the number one issue, when the most influential inhabitants of the Net are selling services they want to be paid for. (2003年6月)

　　1. By saying “... owners of well over half of all World Wide Web sites have set up home without fitting locks to their doors" (Lines 3-4, Para. 2), the author means that _____.

　　A) those happy times appear still to be with us

　　B) there simply wasn't any crime to worry about

　　C) many sites are not well-protected

　　D) hackers try out tricks on an Internet site without actually breaking in

　　2. SATAN, a program designed by Dan Farmer can be used ____________.

　　A) to investigate the security of Internet sites

　　B) to improve the security of the Internet system

　　C) to prevent hackers from breaking into websites

　　D) to download useful programs and information

　　3. Farmer's program has been criticized by the public because .

　　A) it causes damage to Net browsers

　　B) it can break into Internet sites

　　C) it can be used to cause disorder on all sites

　　D) it can be used by people with evil intent

　　4. The author's attitude toward SATAN is _____.

　　A) enthusiastic B) critical

　　C) positive D) indifferent

　　5. The author suggests in the last paragraph that .

　　A) we should make full use of the Internet before security measures are strengthened

　　B) we should alert the most influential businessmen to the importance of security

　　C) influential businessmen should give priority to the improvement of Net security

　　D) net inhabitants should not let security measures affect their joy of surfing the Internet

　　Passage 2

　　Navigation computers, now sold by most carmakers, cost $2,000 and up. No surprise, then, that they are most often found in luxury cars, like Lexus, BMW and Audi. But it is a developing technology-meaning prices should eventually drop—and the market does seem to be growing.

　　Even at current prices, a navigation computer is impressive. It can guide you from point to point in most major cities with precise turn-by-turn directions—spoken by a clear human-sounding voice, and written on a screen in front of the driver.

　　The computer works with an antenna(天线)that takes signals from no fewer than three of the 24 global positioning system (GPS) satellites. By measuring the time required for a signal to travel between the satellites and the antenna, the car's location can be pinned down within 100 meters.

　　The satellite signals, along with inputs on speed from a wheel-speed sensor and direction from a meter, determine the car's position even as it moves. This information is combined with a map database. Streets, landmarks and points of interest are included.

　　Most systems are basically identical. The differences come in hardware—the way the computer accepts the driver's request for directions and the way it presents the driving instructions. On most systems, a driver enters a desired address, motorway junction or point of interest via a touch screen or disc. But the Lexus screen goes a step further: you can point to any spot on the map screen and get directions to it.

　　BMW's system offers a set of cross hairs (瞄准器上的十字纹) that can be moved across the map (you have several choices of map scale) to pick a point you'd like to get to. Audi's screen can be switched to TV reception.

　　Even the voices that recite the directions can differ, with better systems like BMW's and Lexus's having a wider vocabulary. The instructions are available in French, German, Spanish, Dutch and Italian, as well as English. The driver can also choose parameters for determining the route: fastest, shortest or no freeways (高速公路), for example.

　　1. We learn from the passage that navigation computers .

　　A) will greatly promote sales of automobiles B) may help solve potential traffic problems

　　C) are likely to be accepted by more drivers D) will soon be viewed as a symbol of luxury

　　2. With a navigation computer, a driver will easily find the best route to his destination .

　　A) by inputting the exact address B) by indicating the location of his car

　　C) by checking his computer database D) by giving vocal orders to the computer

　　3. Despite their varied designs, navigation computers used in cars .

　　A) are more or less the same price B) provide directions in much the same way

　　C) work on more or less the same principles

　　D) receive instructions from the same satellites

　　4. The navigation computer functions .

　　A)by means of a direction finder and a speed detector

　　B) basically on satellite signals and a map database

　　C) mainly through the reception of turn-by-turn directions

　　D) by using a screen to display satellite signals

　　5. The navigation systems in cars like Lexus, BMW and Audi are mentioned to show .

　　A) the immaturity of the new technology

　　B) the superiority of the global positioning system

　　C) the cause of price fluctuations in car equipment

　　D) the different ways of providing guidance to the driver

　　Passage 3

　　For centuries, explorers have risked their lives venturing into the unknown for reasons that were to varying degrees economic and nationalistic. Columbus went west to look for better trade routes to the Orient and to promote the greater glory of Spain. Lewis and Clark journeyed into the American wilderness to find out what the U.S. had acquired when it purchased Louisiana, and the Apollo astronauts rocketed to the moon in a dramatic show of technological muscle during the cold war.

　　Although their missions blended commercial and political-military imperatives, the explorers involved all accomplished some significant science simply by going where no scientists had gone before.

　　Today Mars looms (隐约出现) as humanity's next great terra incognita(未探明之地). And with doubtful prospects for a short-term financial return, with the cold war a rapidly fading memory and amid a growing emphasis on international cooperation in large space ventures, it is clear that imperatives other than profits or nationalism will have to compel human beings to leave their tracks on the planet's reddish surface. Could it be that science, which has long played a minor role in exploration, is at last destined to take a leading role? The question naturally invites a couple of others: Are there experiments that only humans could do on Mars? Could those experiments provide insights profound enough to justify the expense of sending people across interplanetary space?

　　With Mars the scientific stakes are arguably higher than they have ever been. The issue of whether life ever existed on the planet, and whether it persists to this day, has been highlighted by mounting evidence that the Red Planet had abundant stable, liquid water and by the continuing controversy over suggestions that bacterial fossils rode to Earth on a meteorite (陨石) from Mars. A more conclusive answer about life on Mars, past or present, would give researchers invaluable data about the range of conditions under which a planet can generate the complex chemistry that leads to life. If it could be established that life arose independently on Mars and Earth, the finding would provide the first concrete clues in one deepest mysteries in all of science: the prevalence of life in the universe.

　　1. According to the passage, the chief purpose of explorers in going to unknown places in the past was ____.

　　A) to display their country's military might B) to accomplish some significant science

　　C) to find new areas for colonization D) to pursue commercial and state interests

　　2. At present, a probable inducement for countries to initiate large-scale space ventures is .

　　A) International cooperation B) scientific research

　　C) nationalistic reasons D) long-term profits

　　3. What is the main goal of sending human missions to Mars?

　　A)To find out if life ever existed there.

　　B)To see if humans could survive there.

　　C)To prove the feasibility of large-scale space ventures.

　　D)To show the leading role of science in space exploration

　　4. By saying "With Mars the scientific stakes are arguably higher than they have ever been" (Para .4), the author means that .

　　A) with Mars the risks involved are much greater than any previous space ventures

　　B) in the case of Mars, the rewards of scientific exploration can be very high

　　C) in the case of Mars, much more research funds are needed than ever before

　　D) with Mars, scientists argue, the fundamental interests of science are at issue

　　5. The passage tells us that proof of life on Mars would .

　　A) make clear the complex chemistry in the development of life

　　B) confirm the suggestion that bacterial fossils traveled to Earth on a meteorite

　　C) reveal the kind of conditions under which life originates

　　D) provide an explanation why life is common in the universe