82. The purpose of Professor Reason’s research is ______.

A. to show the difference between men and women in their reasoning

B. to classify and explain some errors in human actions

C. to find the causes which lead to computer failures

D. to compare computer functions with brain workings

78. It can be concluded that the passage is most probably part of a(n)______.

A. horror story　 　　　　　 B. news report　　　　　　　　　　 C. research paper　 D. article of popular science

答案 75. C76. C　 77. D　 78. D

第31题(2002年普通高等学校夏季招生考试英语上海卷)

Professor Reason recently persuaded 35 people to keep a diary of all their absent-minded actions for two weeks. When he came to analyse their embarrassing errors，he was surprised to find that nearly all of them fell into a few groups.

One of the women，for instance，on leaving her house for work one morning threw her pet dog her ear-rings and tried to fix a dog biscuit on her ear. “The explanation for this is that the brain is like a computer，”explains the professor. “People programme themselves to do certain activities regularly. It was the woman’s custom every morning to throw her dog two biscuits and then put on her ear-rings. But somehow the action got reversed(颠倒)in the programme. ”About one in twenty of the incidents the volunteers reported were there“programme assembly failures. ”

Twenty percent of all errors were“test failures”--primarily due to not verifying the progress of what the body was doing. A man about to get his car out of the garage passed through the back yard where his garden jacket and boots were kept，put them on--much to his surprise. A woman victim reported：“I got into the bath with my socks on. ”

The commonest problem was information“storage failures”. People forgot the names of people whose faces they knew，went into a room and forgot why they were there，mislaid something，or smoked a cigarette without realizing it.

The research so far suggests that while the“central processor”of the brain is liberated from second-to-second control of a well-practised routine，it must repeatedly switch back its attention at important decision points to check that the action goes on as intended. Otherwise the activity may be“captured” by another frequently and recently used programme，resulting in embarrassing errors.

77. In writing the passage，the author intends to ______.

A. give an accurate description of the possible disaster in the future

B. prove that humans will sooner or later be destroyed

C. tell the historical development of the Earth

D. warn of a possible disaster in the future

76. Why does the author mention dinosaurs at the end of the passage?

A. Because they could only live in the warm climate.

B. Because they once dominated the earth.

C. Because their extinction indicates future disasters.

D. Because dinosaurs and humans never live in the same age.

75. Which of the following is NOT TRUE according to the author’s description of the disaster in 2094?

A. The whole world becomes extremely cold. 　　 B. All the coastal cities in Africa are destroyed.

C. The whole mankind becomes extinct. 　　　　　 D. The visit of the comet results in wars.

59. What would be the best title for the passage?

A. The Greatest killer in the West　　　　　　　　 B. Heart Disease：Treat or Prevent

C. Modern Technollgy and Heart Surgery

D. Heart Surgery:Advantages and Disadvantages

答案 56. C　 57. C　 58. A　 59. B

第30题(2002年普通高等学校夏季招生考试英语上海卷)

July 1994 Jupiter，the largest planet in our solar system，was struck by 21 pieces of a comet(彗星). When the fragments(碎片)landed in the southern part of the giant planet，the explosions were watched by scientists here on earth. But what if our own planet was hit by a comet?

The year is 2094. It has been announced that a comet is heading towards the Earth. Most of it will miss our planet，but two fragments will probably hit the southern part of the Earth. The news has caused panic.

On 17 July，a fragment four kilometers wide enters the Earth’s atmosphere with a huge explosion. About half of the fragment is destroyed. But the major part survives and hits the South Atlantic at 200 times the speed of sound. The sea boils and an enormous wave is created and spreads. The wall of water rushes towards southern Africa at 800 kilometres an hour. Cities on the African coast are totally destroyed and millions of people are drowned. The wave moves into the Indian Ocean and heads towards Asia.

Millions of people are already dead in the southern part of the Earth，but the north won’t escape for long. Tons of broken pieces are thrown into the atmosphere by the explosions. As the sun is hidden by clouds of dust，temperatures around the world fall to almost zero. Crops are ruined. Wars break out as countries fight for food. A year later civilization has collapsed. No more than 10 million people have survived.

Could it really happen? In fact，it has already happened more than once in the history of the Earth. The dinosaurs(恐龙)were on the Earth for over 160 million years. Then 65 million years ago they suddenly disappeared. Many scientists believe that the Earth was hit by a space fragment. The dinosaurs couldn’t survive in the cold climate that followed and they became extinct. Will we meet the same end?

58. The author would agree that ______.

A. more money should be spent on the prevention of heart disease

B. heart surgery has helped most patients improve their conditions

C. modern technology has made heart surgery more risky than before

D. the public have known a great deal about the causes of heart disease

57. “To do this”(in Paragraph 3) means ______.

A. to help patients recover

B. to increase the number of heart surgeries

C. to get back the money spent on the equipment

D. to buy new equipment for the treatment of heart disease

56. What effect has modern technology had on medicine?

A. It has reduced the costs of medical treatment.

B. It has helped save the lives of most patients.

C. It has encouraged doctors to do more heart surgeries.

D. It has helped educate people about the prevention of heart disease.

63. What is the best title for this news story?

A. Organic food -healthy, or just for the wealthy?

B. The making of organic food in Britain　　　　　　 C. Organic food-to import or not?

D. Good qualities of organic food

答案 60. C　　 61. B　　 62. A　 　63. A

第29题(2002年普通高等学校夏季招生考试英语北京卷)

One of the greatest killers in the Western world is heart disease. The death rate (率) from the disease has been increasing at an alarming speed for the past thirty years. Today in Britain，for example，about four hundred people a day die of heart disease. Medical experts know that people can reduce their chances of getting heart disease by exercising regularly，by not smoking，by changing their diets，and by paying more attention to reducing stress(压力)in their work.

However，Western health-care systems are still not paying enough attention to the prevention of the disease. There is a need for more programs to educate the public about the causes and prevention of heart disease. Instead of supporting such programs，however，the U. S.　 health-care system is spending large sums of money on the surgical(外科的)treatment of the disease after it develops. This emphasis(强调)on treatment clearly has something to do with the technological advances that have taken place in the past ten to fifteen years. In this time，modern technology has enabled doctors to develop new surgical techniques.　 Many operations that were considered impossible or too risky(有风险的)a few years ago are now performed every day in U. S.　 hospitals. The result has been a huge increase in heart surgery.

Although there is no doubt that heart surgery can help a large number of people，some people point out that the emphasis on the surgical treatment of the disease has three clear disadvantages. First，it attracts interest and money away from the question of prevention.　 Second，it causes the costs of general hospital care to rise. After hospitals buy the expensive equipment that is necessary for modern heart surgery，they must try to recover the money they have spent. 　To do this，they raise costs for all their patients，not just those patients whose treatment requires the equipment. The third disadvantage is that doctors are encouraged to perform surgery－even on patients for whom an operation is unnecessary-because the equipment and expert skills are there. A government office recently stated that major heart surgery was often performed even though its chances of success were low. In one type of heart surgery，for example，only 15 percent of patients improved their conditions after the surgery. However，more than 100，000 of these operations are performed in the United States every year.