建行笔试英语阅读理解正文与参考答案

2010建行笔试英语阅读理解正文与参考答案

A
SOME of the concerns surrounding Turkey’s application to join the European Union, to be voted on by the EU’s Council of Ministers onDecember 17th, are economic-in particular, the country’s relative poverty. Its GDP per head is less than a third of the average for the 15 pre-2004 members of the EU. But it is not far off that of one of the ten new members which joined on May 1st 2004 (Latvia), and it is much the same as those of two countries, Bulgaria and Romania, which this week concluded accession talks with the EU that could make them full members on January 1st 2007.
　　Furthermore, the country’s recent economic progress has been, according to Donald Johnston, the secretary-general of the OECD, "stunning". GDP in the second quarter of the year was 13.4% higher than a year earlier, a rate of growth that no EU country comes close to matching. Turkey’s inflation rate has just fallen into single figures for the first time since 1972, and this week the country reached agreement with the IMF on a new three-year, $10 billion economic programme that will, according to the IMF’s managing director, Rodrigo Rato, "help Turkey... reduce inflation toward European levels, and enhance the economy’s resilience".
　　Resilience has not historically been the country’s economic strong point. As recently as 2001, GDP fell by over 7%. It fell by more than 5% in 1994, and by just under 5% in 1999. Indeed, throughout the 1990s growth oscillated like an electrocardiogram recording a violent heart attack. This irregularity has been one of the main reasons (along with red tape and corruption) why the country has failed dismally to attract much-needed foreign direct investment.
　　Its stock of such investment (as a percentage of GDP) is lower now than it was in the 1980s, and annual inflows have scarcely ever reached $1 billion (whereas Ireland attracted over $25 billion in 2003, as did Brazil in every year from 1998 to 2000).
　　One deterrent to foreign investors is due to disappear on January 1st 2005. On that day, Turkey will take away the right of virtually every one of its citizens to call themselves a millionaire. Six noughts will be removed from the face value of the lira; one unit of the local currency will henceforth be worth what 1m are now-ie, about ?0.53 ($0.70). Goods will have to be priced in both the new and old lira for the whole of the year, but foreign bankers and investors can begin to look forward to a time in Turkey when they will no longer have to juggle mentally with indeterminate strings of zeros.
　　Economist; 12/18/2004, Vol. 373 Issue 8406, p115-115, 2/5p
　　注(1)：本文选自Economist；12/18/2004, p115-115, 2/5p；
　　1.What is Turkey’s economic situation now?
　　[A] Its GDP per head is far lagging behind that of the EU members.
　　[B] Its inflation rate is still rising.
　　[C] Its economy grows faster than any EU member.
　　[D] Its economic resilience is very strong.
　　2.We can infer from the second paragraph that__________.
　　[A] Turkey will soon catch the average GDP level of the 15 pre-2004 EU members
　　[B] inflation rate in Turkey used to be very high
　　[C] Turkey’s economy will keep growing at present rate
　　[D] IMF’s economic program will help Turkey join the EU
　　3.The word “oscillated” (Line 3, Paragraph 3) most probably means_________.
　　[A] fell
　　[B] climbed
　　[C] developed
　　[D] swang
　　4.Speaking of Turkey’s foreign direct investment, the author implies that_________.
　　[A] it’s stock is far less than that of other countries
　　[B] it does not have much influence on Turkey’s economic progress
　　[C] steady GDP growth will help Turkey attract more foreign direct investment
　　[D] Turkey’s economic resilience relies on foreign direct investment
　　5.We can draw a conclusion from the text that__________.
　　[A] foreign investment environment in Turkey will become better
　　[B] Turkey’s citizens will suffer heavy loss due to the change of the face value of the lira
　　[C] the local currency will depreciate with the removal of six noughts from the face value
　　[D] prices of goods will go up

B
In the case of mobile phones, change is everything. Recent research indicates that the mobile phone is changing not only our culture, but our very bodies as well.
First. Let’s talk about culture. The difference between the mobile phone and its parent, the fixed-line phone, you get whoever answers it.
This has several implications. The most common one, however, and perhaps the thing that has changed our culture forever, is the “meeting” influence. People no longer need to make firm plans about when and where to meet. Twenty years ago, a Friday night would need to be arranged in advance. You needed enough time to allow everyone to get from their place of work to the first meeting place. Now, however, a night out can be arranged on the run. It is no longer “see you there at 8”, but “text me around 8 and we’ll see where we all are”.
Texting changes people as well. In their paper, “insights into the Social and Psychological Effects of SMS Text Messaging”, two British researchers distinguished between two types of mobile phone users: the “talkers” and the “texters”-those who prefer voice to text message and those who prefer text to voice.
They found that the mobile phone’s individuality and privacy gave texters the ability to express a whole new outer personality. Texters were likely to report that their family would be surprised if they were to read their texts. This suggests that texting allowed texters to present a self-image that differed from the one familiar to those who knew them well.
Another scientist wrote of the changes that mobiles have brought to body language. There are two kinds that people use while speaking on the phone. There is the “speakeasy”: the head is held high, in a self-confident way, chatting away. And there is the “spacemaker”: these people focus on themselves and keep out other people.
Who can blame them? Phone meetings get cancelled or reformed and camera-phones intrude on people’s privacy. So, it is understandable if your mobile makes you nervous. But perhaps you needn’t worry so much. After all, it is good to talk.

81 when people plan to meet nowadays, they
A．arrange the meeting place beforehand
B．postpone fixing the place till last minute
C．seldom care about when and where to meet
D．still love to work out detailed meeting plans.
82 According to the two British researchers, the social and psychological effect are mostly likely to be seen on
A．TALKERS
B．the "speakeasy"
C．the “spacemaker”
D．texters
83 We can infer from the passage that the texts sent by texters are
A．quite revealing
B．well written
C．unacceptable by others
D．shocking to others
84．according to the passage ,who is afraid of being heard while talking on the mobile
A．talkers
B．the speakeasy
C．the spacemaker
D．texters
85．an appropriate title for the passage might be
A．the SMS effect
B．cultural implication of mobile use
C． change in the use of the mobile
D．body language and the mobile phone!


C
Biologically, there is only one quality which distinguishes us from animals: the ability to laugh. In a universe which appears to be utterly devoid of humor, we enjoy this supreme luxury. And it is a luxury, for unlike any other bodily process, laughter does not seem to serve a biologically useful purpose. In a divide world, laughter is a unifying force. Human beings oppose each other on a great many issues. Nations may disagree about systems of government and human relations may be plagued by ideological factions and political camps, but we all share the ability to laugh. And laughter, in turn, depends on that most complex and subtle of all human qualities: a sense of humor Certain comic stereotypes have a universal appeal. This can best be seen from the world-wide popularity of Charlie Chaplin’s early films. The little man at odds with society never fails to amuse no matter which country we come from. As that great commentator on human affairs, Dr. Samuel Johnson, once remarked, ‘Men have been wise in very different modes; but they have always laughed in the same way.’

A sense of humor may take various forms and laughter may be anything from a refined tingle to an earth quaking roar, but the effect is always the same. Humor helps us to maintain a correct sense of values. It is the one quality which political fanatics appear to lack. If we can see the funny side, we never make the mistake of taking ourselves too seriously. We are always reminded that tragedy is not really far removed from comedy, so we never get a lop sided view of things.

This is one of the chief functions of satire and irony. Human pain and suffering are so grim; we hover so often on the brink of war; political realities are usually enough to plunge us into total despair. In such circumstances, cartoons and satirical accounts of somber political events redress the balance. They take the wind out of pompous and arrogant politicians who have lost their sense of proportion. They enable us to see that many of our most profound actions are merely comic or absurd. We laugh when a great satirist like Swift writes about war in Gulliver’s Travels. The Lilliputians and their neighbors attack each other because they can’t agree which end to break an egg. We laugh because we meant to laugh; but we are meant to weep too. It is too powerful a weapon to be allowed to flourish.

The sense of humor must be singled out as man’s most important quality because it is associated with laughter. And laughter, in turn, is associated with happiness. Courage, determination, initiative – these are qualities we share with other forms of life. But the sense of humor is uniquely human. If happiness is one of the great goals of life, then it is the sense of humor that provides the key.



1. The most important of all human qualities is
[A] a sense of humor.
[B] A sense of satire.
[C] A sense of laughter.
[D] A sense of history.
2. The author mentions about Charlie Chaplin’s early films because
[A] they can amuse people.
[B] Human beings are different from animals.
[C] They show that certain comic stereotypes have a universal appeal.
[D] They show that people have the same ability to laugh.
3. One of the chief functions of irony and satire is
[A] to show absurdity of actions.
[B] to redress balance.
[C] to take the wind out of politicians.
[D] to show too much grimness in the world.
4. What do we learn from the sentence ‘it is too powerful a weapon to be allowed to flourish in totalitarian regimes?’
[A] It can reveal the truth of political events with satire.
[B] It can arouse people to riot.
[C] It shows tragedy and comedy are related.
[D] It can make people laugh.
5. Who is Swift?
[A] A novelist.
[B] A poet.
[C] A dramatist.
[D] A essayist.