Reading comprehension. Almost a decade ago, the federal government dropped $
题型：湖南省模拟题难度：来源：
| Reading comprehension. |
Almost a decade ago, the federal government dropped $100 million for an Earth-monitoring satellite that
never made it into space. Today it sits in a closet in Maryland. Cost to taxpayers for storing it: $1 million a
year. And that"s just what"s hiding in one closet. Who knows what"s in the rest of them?
Because we think the government should be held to at least the same standards as a publicly traded
company, and because as taxpayers, we"re America"s shareholders, we performed an audit (财务检查) of
sorts of the federal books. We"re not economists, but we do have common sense. We tried to be apolitical
(无关政治的) and got help from Congressional staffers from both parties, as well as various watchdog
groups and agencies. In the end, we found that the federal government wastes nearly $1 trillion every year.
That"s roughly equal to the amount collected annually by the Internal Revenue Service in personal income
taxes. Put another way, it"s also equal to about one-third of the country"s $2.9 trillion total annual budget.
And reclaiming that lost trillion (三十亿) could help wipe out the country"s annual budget deficit (赤字),
improve education, and provide health insurance for those who don"t have it.
So how do you define "waste"? David Walker of the Government Accountability Office (GAO), a federal
watchdog agency, calls it "the government"s failure to give taxpayers the most for their money." For our part,
we used the kind of household test you would use on a piece of meat sitting in your refrigerator: If it smells
rotten, it"s waste. And there is plenty to sniff out (闻出). Our government regularly pays for products and
services it never gets, wildly overpays companies to do things it could do more cheaply itself, loses money
completely due to lax (松弛的) accounting and oversight, fails to collect what it"s owed, and put forward
unnecessary programs.
How exactly does the federal government waste your hard-earned tax dollars? We"ve identified what we
consider ten of the worst ways. |
| 1. The underlined sentence in Paragraph l really means _____. |
| [ ] |
A. there are many other closets
B. there are some other satellites
C. there is something else in the closets
D. the waste may be quite amazing |
| 2. Which of the following statements may be right? |
| [ ] |
A. The country"s annual budget is usually decided by the public.
B. The government failed in launching the satellite.
C. The government is only wasting money in space experiments.
D. The amount collected annually in personal income taxes is equal to the country"s budget. |
| 3. Which of the following can best describe the feeling of the author? |
| [ ] |
A. Annoyed.
B. Calm
C. Surprised
D. Not concerned. |
| 4. The best title for the passage would be _____. |
| [ ] |
A. Protecting Our Rights!
B. Our Country Is In Danger!
C. The Government Is Wasting Our Tax Dollars!
D. How to Prevent Government from Wasting Money! |
| 5. What might be talked about if the passage is continued? |
| [ ] |
A. Listing how the government is wasting taxes.
B. Presenting people"s feelings against the government"s wasting taxes.
C. Giving suggestion to help the government solve the financial problem.
D. The government"s taking some steps to stop wasting taxes. |
答案
| 1-5: DBACA |
举一反三
| 阅读理解。 |
"Pay has little to do with motivation in the workplace". That"s the argument put forward by best-selling
author Daniel Pink in his new book, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us. "Pay for
performance is supposed to be a folk tale," he says.
Daniel argues that, if employees receive a basic level of payment, three other factors matter more than
money: a sense of independence, of mastery over one"s labor, and of serving a purpose larger than oneself.
For example, in 2008 at the offices of Best Buy"s Richfield, salaried workers there were allowed to organize
their own work day, putting in only as many hours as they felt necessary to get their jobs done. Productivity
increased by 35% according to The Harvard Business Review.
But the managers at Goldman Sachs aren"t exactly making some efforts to adjust. Like others on Wall
Street, the banking giant argues that fat bonuses (extra rewards) are essential to make its numbers. "That"s
exactly the attitude that leads to the recent financial crisis in the United States," responds Daniel, "as managers
always focus on short-term rewards that encourage cheating, shortcuts, and dishonest behavior."
Moreover, the 45-year-old author and former Al Gore speechwriter refers to social-science experiments
and experiences at such workplaces as Google and 3M. In one 2005 experiment he describes, economists
working for the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston tested the power of incentives (激励) by offering cash
rewards to those who did wellin games that included reciting a series of numbers and throwing tennis balls
at a target. The researchers" finding: Over and over, higher incentives led to worse performance-and those
given the highest incentives did the poorest job.
From this and other cases, Daniel draws a conclusion that monetary incentives remove the element of
play and creativity, transforming "an interesting task into a dull one." It"s even possible, he adds, for oversized
rewards to have dangerous side effects, like those of a drug dependency in which an addicted requires ever
larger amounts. He refers to scientific testing that shows the promise of cash rewards increase a chemical in
the brain similar to that brought on by cocaine or nicotine.
Daniel, however, is also aware that his company examples-no GE, no IBM, no Microsoft-hardly represent
the commanding heights of the economy. But he thinks his approach will catch on, even in the biggest
companies. "Managers tend to be realistic, and in time they will respond," he says. |
| 1. In his book, Drive: The Surprising Truth About What Motivates Us, Daniel Pink is promoting the idea that |
| [ ] |
A. it is a money-driven society
B. all workers are not driven by money
C. money plays a key role in management
D. pay has nothing to do with workplaces |
| 2. In Daniel"s point of view, many Wall Street managers are _____. |
| [ ] |
A. dishonest
B. considerate
C. short-sighted
D. ridiculous |
| 3. In paragraph 5, the example of drug-taking is given to show _____. |
| [ ] |
A. money is as addictive as cocaine or nicotine
B. big rewards bring about dangerous side effect
C. nicotine and money bring the same chemical
D workers do not need the incentives of money at all |
| 4. We can learn from the last paragraph that _____. |
| [ ] |
A. Daniel"s approach will be popular in a wider field
B. realistic managers will first consider Daniel"s approach
C. Daniel"s approach meets the demand of economic crisis
D. GE, IBM and Microsoft will join in Daniel"s approach next |
| 阅读理解。 |
What is Bay? The simple answer is that it is a global trading platform where nearly anyone can trade
practically anything. People can sell and buy all kinds of products and goods. Including cars, movies and
DVDs, sporting goods, travel tickets, musical instruments, clothes and shoes-the list goes on and on.
The idea came from Peter Omidyar, who was born in Paris and moved to Washington when he was
still a child. At high school, he became very interested in computer programming and after graduating from
Tuft University in 1988, he worked for the next few years as a computer engineer. In his free time he started
Bay as a kind of hobby, at first offering the service free by word of" mouth. By 1996 there was so much
traffic on the website that he had to upgrade (升级) and he began charging a fee to members. Joined by a
friend, Peter Skill, and in 1998 by his capable CEO, Meg Whitman, he has never looked back. Even in the
great. com crashes of the late 1990s, abay has gone from strength to strength. It is now one of the ten most
visited online shopping websites on the Intemet.
EBay sells connections, not goods, putting buyer and seller into contact with each other. All you have to
do is lake an e-photo, write a description, fill out a sales form and you are in business:the world is your market
place. Of course for each item (商品) sold eBay gets a percentage and that is great deal of money. Every day
there are more than sixteen million items listed on eBay and eighty percent of the items are sold. |
| 1. We learn from the text that eBay provides people with _____. |
| [ ] |
A. a way of buying and selling goods
B. a website for them to upgrade
C. a place to exhibit their own photos
D. a chance to buy things at low prices |
| 2. Why did Peter create eBay after graduating from university? |
| [ ] |
A. For fun.
B. To make money.
C. For gathering the engineers.
D. To fulfill a task of his company. |
| 3. From "he has never looked back" in Paragraph 2, we learn that Peter _____. |
| [ ] |
A. did not feel lonely
B. was always hopeful
C. did not think about the past
D. became more and more successful |
| 4. How does eBay make money from its website? |
| [ ] |
A. By bringing callers together.
B. By charging for each sale.
C. By listing items online.
D. By making e-photos. |
| 阅读理解。 |
Although the Queen of the UK is no longer responsible for governing the country, she carries out a great
many important tasks on behalf of the nation.
● Head of State
As Head of State, the queen goes on official state visits abroad. She also invites other world leaders to come
to the United Kingdom. During their visits, heads of states usually stay at Buckingham Palace, or sometimes at
Windsor Castle or Holy Rood-house in Edinburgh.
● Head of the Church of England
The Queen is Head of the Church of England, a position that all British monarchs have since it was founded
by Henry Ⅷ in the 1530s.
The Queen appoints archbishops and bishops on the advice of the Prime Minister. The spiritual leader of the
Church of England is the Archbishop of Canterbury.
● Government Duties
Every day, "red boxes" are delivered to.the Queen"s desk, full of documents and reports from govemment
ministers and Commonwealth officials. They must all be read and, if necessary, signed by the Queen.
● The Representative of the Nation
The Queen represents the nation at times of great celebration or sorrow. One example of this is the
Remembrance Day ceremony at the cenotaph monument in Whitehall. The Queen lays a wreath there each year
to honor the members of the armed forces who have died fighting for their country.
● Royal Garden Parties
At least three Royal Garden Parties are held at Buckingham Palace each year and about 8,000 guests attend
each one.
● Visits
Alongside her other duties, the Queen spends a huge amount of time traveling around the country and visiting
hospitals, schools, factories and other places and organizations. |
| 1. Which of the following is NOT the Queen"s job? |
| [ ] |
A. Paying official state visits to other countries.
B. Appointing bishops.
C. Inviting foreign leaders to visit the UK.
D. Making laws for the country. |
| 2. When foreign leaders visit the UK, they don"t stay in ____. |
| [ ] |
A. Holy Roodhouse in Edinburgh
B. Whitehall
C. Windsor Castle
D. Buckingham Palace |
| 3. The underlined word "monarchs" in the passage most probably refers to ____. |
| [ ] |
A. kings or queens
B. prime ministers
C. archbishops
D. the Queen"s family |
| 4. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage? |
| [ ] |
A. The prime minister is the representative of the nation.
B. The Church of England was founded by Henry Ⅷ.
C. The spiritual leader of the Church of England is the Queen.
D. The Queen signs all the documents and reports from the government. |
| 5. From the passage, we know that ____. |
| [ ] |
A. Royal Garden Parties are held at Whitehall each year
B. the Queen and the Prime Minister govern the nation together
C. the Queen takes advice of the Prime Minister on appointing archbishops
D. the Prime Minister spends much time traveling around the country |
| 阅读理解。 |
The man who brings my milk used to knock for his money for the week"s milk while I was eating breakfast
on Saturday morning. Just lately he has been arriving before I get up. Workforce shortages mean that four men
are sharing five rounds, so he has to start earlier.
Delivering milk to people"s homes is hardly good business, especially when the customer may have a choice
of two or three firms serving a single road. In spite of my local difficulties, however, labor troubles are not as
great as a few years ago. There are enough men prepared to make an early moming start for the sake of an
open-air job with a fair measure of freedom. If they did stop calling, women would find it hard work to collect
all the milk they need from self-service stores. Dairies (乳品业) know that stopping deliveries in the United
States resulted in falling sales.
Marketing ideas have included introducing extra lines, in addition to dairy products, which the milkmen can
carry to increase business. One dairyman said, "It won"t be long before the milkman delivers more bread than
milk." Some milkmen deliver potatoes, and it seems as though variety will be limited only by the size of the
trucks.
So the milkman is likely to remain a familiar figure, and the dairy products he sells are unlikely to change
very much in this decade. Flavored milk is popular on the Continent. In Britain those who like it buy plain milk
and add their own flavoring. Even the returnable bottle continues to be used. As long as it has a reasonable life-
30 to 40 trips are usual-the cost of collection and cleaning is worthwhile. |
| 1. The milkmen now start earlier on their delivery rounds than be- fore because _____. |
| [ ] |
A. there is an increasing demand for milk delivery
B. they hope to reach the customers" home in time
C. they have to collect the money for the week"s milk house to house
D. dairies are short of deliverymen and the companies worry about falling sales |
| 2. Why are there enough men prepared to make an early morning start? |
| [ ] |
A. Because they can enjoy a certain amount of freedom in the fresh air.
B. Because they like working outdoors and breathing the air freely.
C. Because they can enjoy a great amount of freedom outdoors.
D. Because they like walking freely in the fresh air. |
| 3. Which of the following statements is NOT true? |
| [ ] |
A. One of the marketing ideas is variety.
B. The milkman now delivers more bread than milk.
C. Milkmen have taken over many rounds given up by bakeries.
D. Some milkmen deliver potatoes in addition to dairy products. |
| 4. According to the passage, in this decade ____. |
| [ ] |
A. milkmen will disappear very soon
B. flavored milk will become popular in Britain
C. people will buy milk from self-service stores
D. there will be little change in the dairy business |
| 5. It can be inferred from the passage that ____. |
| [ ] |
A. the British people seldom buy plain milk
B. the returnable bottles are no longer used
C. collection and cleaning of the retumable bottles cost nothing
D. the returnable bottles won"t be thrown away until they are used dozens of times |
| 阅读理解。 |
Making an advertisement for television often costs more than a movie. For example, a two-hour movie
costs $6 million to make. A TV commercial (商业广告) can cost more than $6,000 a second. And that does
not include cost of paying for air time (电视节目开始的时间). Which is more valuable, the program or the
ad? In terms of money-and making money is what television is all about, the commercial is by far the more
important.
Research, market testing, talent, time and money-all come together to make us want to buy a product. No
matter how bad we think a commercial is, it works. The sales of Charm went up once the ads began. TV
commercials actually buy their way into our head. We, in turn, buy the product.
And the ads work because so much time and attention are given to them. Here are some rules of commercial
ad making. If you want to get the lower-middle-class buyer, make sure the announcer has a tough, manly
voice. Put some people in the ad who work with their hands. If you want to sell to upper-class audience (观
众), make sure that the house, the furniture, and the hair style are the types that the group identifies (识别)
with. If you want the buyer to feel superior (胜过) to the character selling the product, then make that person
so sfupid or silly that everyone will feel great about himself or herself.
We laugh at commercials. We don"t think we pay that much attention to them. But facts show we are
kidding ourselves. The making of a commercial that costs so much money is not kid stuff. It"s big, big
business. And it"s telling us what to think, what we need, and what to buy. To put it simply, the TV
commercial is a form of brainwashing (洗脑). |
| 1. TV commercials are more important than other programs to television because ____. |
A. they bring in great profits
B. they require a lot of money to make
C. they are not difficult to produce
D. they attract more viewers than other programs |
| 2. The purpose of all the efforts made in turning out TV commercials is ____. |
A. to persuade people to buy the product
B. to show how valuable the product is
C. to test the market value of the product
D. to make them as interesting as TV movies |
| 3. From the rules set for making commercial ads, we can see that ____. |
A. the lower-middle-class buyer likes to work with his hand
B. the more stupid the characters, the more buyers of the product
C. ad designers attract different people with different skills
D. an upperclass buyer is more interested in houses and furniture than a lower-middle-class buyer |
| 4. It is believed by the writer that ____. |
A. few people like to watch TV commercials
B. TV commercials are a good guide to buyers
C. TV commercials often make people laugh
D. people do not think highly of TV commercials |
最新试题
热门考点