2017“外研社杯”全国英语阅读大赛初赛（90min）
Part I Read and Know
In Part I, you will read short texts of various kinds. Read the instructions carefully and answer the questions. (Time suggested: 20 minutes)
Questions 1-3 (Suggested completion time: 3 minutes)
Directions: Read the following quotes. Match the quotes with the people. Please note there are three extra options you do not need. A. William Shakespeare _____1. Fair is foul, and foul is fair: Hover through the fog B. Nelson Mandela and filthy air. C. Thomas A. Edison _____2. I haven’t failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that D. Steve Jobs won’t work. E. Mark Zuckerberg _____3. Design is not just what it looks like and feels like. F. Lucius Annaeus Seneca Design is how it works. Questions 4 (Suggested completion time: 2 minutes)
Directions: Read the text, and answer the question according to the text.
A few intuitive, sensitive visionaries may understand and comprehend XXXX (the book title), XXXX (the author)’s new and mammoth volume, without going through a course of training or instruction, but the average intelligent reader will glean little or nothing from it—even from careful perusal, one might properly say study, of it—save bewilderment and a sense of disgust. It should be companioned with a key and a glossary like the Berlitz books... 4. Which of the following works does the book review address? A. Ulysses
B. The Odyssey
C. In Search of Lost Time
D. One Hundred Years of Solitude
Question 5 (Suggested completion time: 2 minutes)
Directions: Read the text and answer the question according to the text.
I like the fact that the study focuses on a French classroom, which receives less attention in Second Language Acquisition research than other foreign language classrooms.
However, for reasons that I elaborate on below, I do not recommend this manuscript for publication. I recommend that the author consults the Journal of Language, Identity, and Education. That journal might be a better fit for this paper. 5. The text could best be described as __________. A. a conclusion B. a summary C. a review D. a pledge
Question 6 (Suggested completion time: 2 minutes)
Directions: Read the text, and answer the question according to the text.
My Lord,
I have been lately informed, by the proprietor of The World, that two papers, in which my Dictionary is recommended to the public, were written by your lordship. To be so distinguished is an honor which, being very little accustomed to favors from the great, I know not well how to receive, or in what terms to acknowledge.
Seven years, my lord, have now passed, since I waited in your outward rooms, or was repulsed from your door; during which time I have been pushing on my work through difficulties, of which it is useless to complain, and have brought it, at last, to the verge of publication, without one act of assistance, one word of encouragement, or one smile of favor. Such treatment I did not expect, for I never had a patron before.
6. This text is taken from a letter which showed the writer’s __________ the Lord. A. gratitude towards B. indifference to C. contempt for D. respect for
Question 7 (Suggested completion time: 2 minutes)
Directions: Read the text and answer the question according to the text.
Because of social media, words are moving around the world within weeks and months, whereas in the past, it could take a few years, says Julie Coleman, author of The Life of Slang. “It’s not necessarily that language is changing more quickly, but technologies have developed and they allow the transmission of slang terms to pass from one group to another much more quickly.”
7. The main purpose of the text is to ________. A. explain the quick migration of slang
B. imply the unnecessary change of language C. exemplify the advancement of technology D. introduce the book The Life of Slang
Questions 8 (Suggested completion time: 2 minutes)
Directions: Read the text, and answer the question according to the text.
When hunting raccoons for fur was a popular sport, hunting dogs were used to sniff them out of trees. As they are XXXX animals, the hunting party had to work at night, and the dogs would sometimes end up choosing the wrong tree, or as the idiom goes, “bark up the wrong tree.” The term was first printed in a book by Davy Crockett in 1833.
8. Which word is the best substitution for the missing word XXXX? A. solitary B. aggressive C. nocturnal D. herbivorous
Question 9 (Suggested completion time: 2 minutes)
Directions: Read the details about a euphemism, and answer the question according to the details.
? It was first used by British journalists in 1967 to describe a state of alcohol intoxication exhibited by Labour Cabinet Minister George Brown. ? It is now used as a stock phrase. The Guardian describes it as having joined those “that are part of every journalist’s vocabulary.” ? In fact, one source cautions professional British journalists against its use “even if the journalist meant it literally.” 9. The euphemism described above most probably refers to __________. A. people with special needs B. downright overwrought C. tired and emotional D. mentally challenged
Question 10 (Suggested completion time: 5 minutes)
Directions: The bar chart shows the share of UN procurement from Global Compact members from 2010 to 2014. Answer the question according to the information in the chart.
Source: 2014 Annual Statistical Report on United Nations Procurement, the United Nations Office for Project Services, 2015
10. Choose the INCORRECT description of the chart.
A. The share of UN procurement volume from Global Compact members grew steadily over the
five years in terms of absolute volume.
B. In 2013, the total procurement volume dropped noticeably, and so did the procurement from
Global Compact members.
C. In 2014, the total procurement volume increased greatly, causing a drop in the share of
procurement from Global Compact members.
D. The proportion of procurement from Global Compact members was not in line with the
general trend of procurement from Global Compact members.
Part II Read and Reason
In Part II, you will read short texts on different subjects. Read the instructions carefully and answer the questions based on logical inference and reasoning. (Time suggested: 40 minutes)
Question 11 (Suggested completion time: 3 minutes)
Directions: Read the following definition of a logical fallacy. Answer the question according to the definition.
Confusion of “Necessary” with “Sufficient” Condition
A causal fallacy. You commit this fallacy when you assume that a necessary condition
of an event is sufficient for the event to occur. A necessary condition is a condition
that must be present for an event to occur. A sufficient condition is a condition or set of conditions that will produce the event. A necessary condition must be there, but it
alone does not provide sufficient cause for the occurrence of the event. Only the sufficient grounds can do this. In other words, all of the necessary elements must be
there.
11. Which of the following provides a typical example of Confusion of “Necessary” with “Sufficient” Condition?
A. You said that I would have to run the mile in less than six minutes to be on the track team,
and I did. So why did I get cut from the team?
B. Dina has to be rich or at least to be an heiress. She after all belongs to the Alpha Phi Lambda
sorority which is the richest sorority on campus.
C. It’s supposed to be in the low twenties tonight, so surely we’re not going to the football
game, are we?
D. To see viruses, one must have a microscope. This follows if William Carroll said he saw
viruses, he must have used a microscope.
Question 12 (Suggested completion time: 3 minutes)
Directions: Read the definition of one type of logical fallacy. Answer the question according to the definition.
Texas Sharpshooter Fallacy Texas Sharpshooter fallacy is an informal fallacy which occurs when someone jumps to the conclusion that a cluster in some data must be the result of a cause, usually one that it is clustered around.
12. Which of the following provides a typical example of Texas Sharpshooter fallacy? A. I won’t pay the parking ticket because the traffic sign here says “Fine for Parking”!
B. Cola is healthy because it sells best among the top five healthiest countries in the world. C. We can’t exploit the outer space because many people on Earth hardly make ends meet. D. Nobody at school can speak French because neither teachers nor the principal can speak it. Questions 13-14 Reasoning. (Suggested completion time: 8 minutes)
In a swimming competition, Matt, Alen and Johnson won a medal respectively: the gold medal, the silver medal and the bronze medal. The coach made a guess: “Matt won the gold medal, Alen didn’t win the gold medal and Johnson didn’t win the bronze medal.” Unfortunately, only one of them is right.
13. Who won the gold medal, who won the silver, and who won the bronze medal? A. Matt: gold medal; Johnson: silver medal; Alen: bronze medal. B. Alen: gold medal; Johnson: silver medal; Matt: bronze medal. C. Johnson: gold medal; Alen: silver medal; Matt: bronze medal. D. Matt: gold medal; Alen: silver medal; Johnson: bronze medal.
14. Richard: The national budget should provide significant increases in all levels of education in
the upcoming year.
Natalie: That’s not fair. A reduction in defense spending in peacetime may bring us excessive
risks. We can’t afford it. Which of the following is the best interpretation of Natalie’s argument? A. Funds saved from defense have been diverted to all levels of education.
B. Highlighting spending on education dangerously impacts on spending on the military. C. The size of the military budget reflects a state’s ability to fund educational activities. D. Compared with military spending, investing in education will create a financial crisis. Questions 15-16 (Suggested completion time: 5 minutes)
Directions: Read the text and decide whether the statements are True or False according to the text.
Questions
Questions define tasks, express problems, and delineate issues. They drive thinking forward. Answers, on the other hand, often signal a full stop in thought. Only when an
“外研社杯”全国英语阅读大赛初赛样题
