2015年湖北成人学士学位英语考试真题及答案_第4页

　　Passage Three

　　What exactly is a lie? Is it anything we say which we know is untrue? Or is it something more than that? For example, suppose a friend wants to borrow some money from you, you say "I wish I could help you but I'm short of money myself." In fact, you are not short of money but your friend is in the habit of not paying his debts and you don't want to hurt his feeling by reminding him of this.Is this really a lie?

　　Professor Jerald Jellison of the University of Southern California has made a scientific study of lying.

　　According to him, women are better liars than men, particularly when telling a "white lie".For instance, when a woman at a party tells another woman that she likes her dress, she really thinks it looks awful.

　　However, this is only one side of the story. Other researchers say that men are more likely to tell more serious lies, such as making a promise which they have no intention of fulfilling.This is the kind of lie politicians and businessmen are supposed to be particularly skilled at: the lie from which the liar hopes to profit or gain in some way.

　　Research has also been done into the way people's behavior changes in a number of small,apparently unimportant ways when they lie. It has been found that if they are sitting down at the time, they tend to move about in their chairs more than usual.To the trained observer they are saying "I wish I were somewhere else now" .They also tend to touch certain parts of the face more often, in particular the nose.

　　One explanation of this may be that lying causes a slight increase in blood pressure.The tip of the nose is very sensitive to such changes and the increased pressure makes it itch.

　　Another gesture which gives liars away is what the writer Desmond Morris in his book Man-watching calls "the mouth cover". He says there are several typical forms of this, such as covering part of the mouth with the fingers, touching the upper-lip or putting the hand at one side of the mouth.Such a gesture can be understood as an unconscious attempt on the part of the liar to stop himself or herself from lying.

　　Of course, such gestures as rubbing the nose or covering the mouth or moving about in a chair cannot be taken as proof that the speaker is lying. They simply tend to occur more frequently in this situation.It is not one gesture alone that gives the liar away but a whole number of things, and in particular the context in which the lie is told.

　　31.According to the passage, a "white lie" seems to be a lie (　　).

　　A.that other people believe

　　B.that other people don't believe

　　C.told in order to avoid offending someone

　　D.told in order to take advantage of someone

　　32.Research suggests that women (　　).

　　A.are better at telling less serious lies than men

　　B.generally lie far more than men do

　　C.often make promises they intend to break

　　D.lie at parties more often that men do

　　33.Researchers find that when a person tells lies (　　).

　　A.his blood pressure increases measurably

　　B.he looks very serious

　　C.he tends to make some small changes in his behavior

　　D.he uses his unconscious mind

　　34.One reason people sometimes rub their noses when they tell lies is that (　　).

　　A.they wish they were somewhere else

　　B.the nose is sensitive to physical changes caused by lying

　　C.they want to cover their mouths

　　D.they are trying to stop themselves from telling lies

　　35.Which of the following may best betray a liar?

　　A.The touching of the tip of one's nose.

　　B.The changes of one's behavior.

　　C."The mouth cover" gesture.

　　D.The circumstances in which his lie is told.

　　Passage Four

　　Throughout the past century humanity did everything in its power to control nature. We dammed earth's rivers, chopped down the forests and exhausted the soils. Burning up fuels, we pumped a great deal of greenhouse gases into the air, altering the chemistry of the atmosphere and warming the planet in just a few decades.And as our population began in the year 2000 above the 6 billion mark, still spreading across the continents, dozens of animal and plant species were dying out every, day, including the first primate(灵长类) to disappear in more than 100 years.

　　As the start of the 21st century there were unmistakable signs that nature was beginning to take its revenge. Melting ice in both poles of the earth suggested that the climate was changing rapidly. Weather was even more changeable than usual, giving some places too little rain and others too much.Fires raced across the dried American West last summer, and recent storms spread damages from Britain to China.No specific event could be directly blamed on global warming.Floods and drought will be more frequent and severe.Other sad signs from an overburdened planet include falling grain and fish harvests and fierce competition for scarce water supplies.

　　But there were also, in the year 2000, signs of great awareness.Connected by the Internet, hundreds of millions of people gathered for the 30th anniversary of Earth Day. Governments from Washington to Lima took steps to protect the large wild areas from development. Progress was made toward using more renewable energy from the wind and the sun, and new cars that used both gasoline and electricity spotted(显示) fuel-economy statistics.

　　The goal for the new century is "sustainable development" .Is that possible? It depends on how well we understand that humanity is part of nature, not lord and master.

　　36.What is the result of the human control over the nature?

　　A.Natural resources are being exhausted.

　　B.There is a global warming effect.

　　C.Species of animals and plants are reduced.

　　D.All of the above.

　　37.It can be inferred from the passage that scarce water supplies are directly caused by (　　).

　　A.less ice in both poles

　　B.the more changeable weather

　　C.something not mentioned in the text

　　D.the larger population

　　38.Which of the following is true according to the passage?

　　A.Ameriea suffered a lot from fires last summer.

　　B.The American government tried to stop development.

　　C.Humanity built many dams in the past century.

　　D.Dozens of animals and plants will no longer exist in more than 100 years.

　　39.The phrase " sustainable development" in the last paragraph probably means that economic development will (　　).

　　A.continue for a long time

　　B.be more profitable than before

　　C. support our growing population

　　D.make full use of natural resources

　　40.The main purpose of the author is to make us (　　).

　　A.see what damage humanity did to nature

　　B.fight with nature and control it

　　C.have more celebrations of Earth Day

　　D.aware of the importance of environment protection