第45篇

　　The word religion is derived from the Latin noun religio， which denotes both earnest observance of ritual obligations and an inward spirit of reverence. In modern usage， religion covers a wide spectrum of meaning that reflects the enormous variety of ways the term can be interpreted. At one extreme， many committed believers recognize only their own tradition as a religion， understanding expressions such as worship and prayer to refer exclusively to the practices of their tradition. Although many believers stop short of claiming an exclusive status for their tradition， they may nevertheless use vague or idealizing terms in defining religion for example， true love of God， or the path of enlightenment. At the other extreme， religion may be equated with ignorance， fanaticism， or wishful thinking.

　　By defining religion as a sacred engagement with what is taken to be a spiritual reality， it is possible to consider the importance of religion in human life without making claims about what it really is or ought to be. Religion is not an object with a single， fixed meaning， or even a zone with clear boundaries. It is an aspect of human experience that may intersect， incorporate， or transcend other aspects of life and society. Such a definition avoid the drawbacks of limiting the investigation of religion to Western or biblical categories such as monotheism (belief in one god only) or to church structure， which are not universal. For example， in tribal societies， religion unlike the Christian church usually is not a separate institution but pervades the whole of public and private life. In Buddhism， gods are not as central as the idea of a Buddha. In many traditional cultures， the idea of a sacred cosmic order is the most prominent religious belief. Because of this variety， some scholars prefer to use a general term such as the sacred to designate the common foundation of religious life.

　　Religion in this understanding includes a complex of activities that cannot be reduced to any single aspect of human experience. It is a part of individual life but also of group dynamics. Religion includes patterns of behavior but also patterns of language and thought. It is sometimes a highly organized institution that sets itself apart from a culture， and it is sometimes an integral part of a culture. Religious experience may be expressed in visual symbols， dance and performance， elaborate philosophical systems， legendary and imaginative stories， formal ceremonies， and detailed rules of ethical conduct and law. Each of these elements assumes innumerable cultural forms. In some ways there are as many forms of religious expression as there are human cultural environments.

　　1.What is the passage mainly concerned about?

　　A.Religion has a variety of interpretation.

　　B.Religion is a reflection of ignorance.

　　C.Religion is not only confined to the Christian categories.

　　D.Religion includes all kinds of activities.

　　2.What does the word observance probably convey in Para. 1?

　　A.notice

　　B.watching

　　C.conformity

　　D.experience

　　3.According to the passage what people generally consider religion to be?

　　A.Fantastic observance

　　B.Spiritual practice

　　C.Individual observance of tradition

　　D.A complex of activities

　　4.Which of the following is not true?

　　A.It is believed by some that religion should be what it ought to be.

　　B.The path of enlightenment is a definition that the author doesnt agree to.

　　C.According to the author， the committed believers define religion improperly.

　　D.The author doesnt speak in favor of the definition of the sacred。

　　5.Which of the following is religion according to the passage?

　　A.Performance of human beings.

　　B.Buddha， monotheism and some tribal tradition.

　　C.Practice separated from culture.

　　D.All the above.

　　答案：ACBDB

　　1

　　第46篇

　　You stare at waterfall for a minute or two， and then shift your gaze to its surroundings. What you now see appears to drift upward.

　　These optical illusions occur because the brain is constantly matching its model of reality to signals from the bodys sensors and interpreting what must be happeningthat your brain must have moved， not the other; that downward motions is now normal， so a change from it must now be perceived as upward motion.

　　The sensors that make this magic are of two kinds. Each eye contains about 120 million rods， which provide somewhat blurry black and white vision. These are the windows of night vision; once adapted to the dark， they can detect a candle burning ten miles away.

　　Color vision in each eye comes from six to seven million structures called cones. Under ideal conditions， every cone can see the entire rainbow spectrum of visible colors， but one type of cone is most sensitive to red， another to green， a third to blue.

　　Rods and cones send their messages pulsing an average 20 to 25 times per second along the optic nerve. We see an image for a fraction of a second longer than it actually appears. In movies， reels of still photographs are projected onto screens at 24 frames per second， tricking our eyes into seeing a continuous moving picture.

　　Like apparent motion， color vision is also subject to unusual effects. When day gives way to night， twilight brings what the poet T.S. Eliot called the violet hour. A light levels fall， the rods become progressively less responsive. Rods are most sensitive to the shorter wavelengths of blue and green， and they impart a strange vividness to the gardens blue flowers.

　　However， look at a white shirt during the reddish light of sunset， and youll still see it in its true colorwhite， not red. Our eyes are constantly comparing an object against its surroundings. They therefore observe the effect of a shift in the color of illuminating on both， and adjust accordingly.

　　The eyes can distinguish several million graduations of light and shade of color. Each waking second they flash tens of millions of pieces of information to the brain， which weaves them incessantly into a picture of the world around us.

　　Yet all this is done at the back of each eye by a fabric of sensors， called the retina， about as wide and as thick as a postage stamp. As the Renaissance inventor and artist Leonardo da Vinci wrote in wonder， Who would believe that so small a space could contain the images of all the universe?

　　1.Visual illusions often take place when the image of reality is ___.

　　A.matched to six to seven million structures called cones.

　　B.confused in the bodys sensors of both rods and cones.

　　C.interpreted in the brain as what must be the case.

　　D.signaled by about 120 million rods in the eye.

　　2.The visual sensor that is capable of distinguishing shades of color is called ___.

　　A.cones

　　B.color vision

　　C.rods

　　D.spectrum

　　3.The retina send pulses to the brain ___.

　　A.in short wavelengths

　　B.as color pictures

　　C.by a ganglion cell

　　D.along the optic nerve.

　　4.Twenty-four still photographs are made into a continuous moving picture just because ___.

　　A.the image we see usually stays longer than it actually appears.

　　B.we see an object in comparison with its surroundings.

　　C.the eyes catch million pieces of information continuously.

　　D.rods and cones send messages 20 to 25 times a second.

　　5.The authors purpose in writing the passage lies in ___.

　　A.showing that we sometimes are deceived by our own eyes.

　　B.informing us about the different functions of the eye organs.

　　C.regretting that we are too slow in the study of eyes.

　　D.marveling at the great work done by the retina.

　　答案：CADAB

　　2

　　第47篇

　　Art is considered by many people to be little more than a decorative means of giving pleasure. This is not always the case， however; at times， art may be seen to have a purely functional side as well. Such could be said of the sandpaintings of the Navaho Indians of the American Southwest; these have a medicinal as well as an artistic purpose.

　　According to Navaho traditions， one who suffers from either a mental or a physical illness has in come way disturbed or come in contact with the supernaturalperhaps a certain animal， a ghost， or the dead. To counteract this evil contact， the ill person or one of his relatives will employ a medicine man called a singer to perform a healing ceremony which will attract a powerful supernatural being.

　　During the ceremony， which may last from 2 to 9 days， the singer will produce a sandpainting on the floor of the Navaho hogan. On the last day of the ceremony， the patient will sit on this sandpainting and the singer will rub the ailing parts of the patients body with sand from a specific figure in the sandpainting. In this way the patient absorbs the power of that particular supernatural being and becomes strong like it. After the ceremony， the sandpainting is then destroyed and disposed of so its power will not harm anyone.

　　The art of sandpainting is handed down from old singer to their students. The material used are easily found in the areas the Navaho inhabit; brown， red， yellow， and white sandstone， which is pulverized by being crushed between 2 stones much as corns is ground into flour. The singer holds a small amount of this sand in his hand and lets it flow between his thumb and fore-finger onto a clean， flat surface on the floor. With a steady hand and great patience， he is thus able to create designs of stylized people， snakes and other creatures that have power in the Navaho belief system. The traditional Navaho does not allow reproduction of sandpaintings， since he believes the supernatural powers that taught him the craft have forbidden this; however， such reproductions can in fact be purchased today in tourist shops in Arizona and New Mexico. These are done by either Navaho Indians or by other people who wish to preserve this craft.

　　1.The purpose of the passage is to ___.

　　A.discuss the medical uses of sandpaintings in medieval Europe.

　　B.study the ways Navaho Indians handed down their painting art.

　　C.consider how Navaho singer treat their ailments with sandpaintings.

　　D.tell how Navaho Indians apply sandpainting for medical purposes.

　　2.The purpose of a healing ceremony lies in ___.

　　A.pleasing the ghosts

　　B.attracting supernatural powers

　　C.attracting the ghosts

　　D.creating a sandpainting

　　3.The singer rubs sand on the patient because ___.

　　A.the patient receives strength from the sand

　　B.it has pharmaceutical value

　　C.it decorates the patient

　　D.none of the above

　　4.What is used to produce a sandpainting?

　　A.Paint

　　B.Beach sand

　　C.Crushed sandstone

　　D.Flour

　　5.Which of the following titles will be best suit the passage?

　　A.A New Direction for Medical Research

　　B.The Navaho Indians Sandpainting

　　C.The Process of Sandpainting Creation

　　D.The Navaho Indians Medical History

　　答案：DBACB

　　3

　　第48篇

　　With the start of BBC World Service Television， millions of viewers in Asia and America can now watch the Corporations news coverage， as well as listen to it.

　　And of course in Britain listeners and viewers can tune into two BBC television channels， five BBC national radio services and dozens of local radio stations. They are brought sport， comedy， music， news and current affairs， education， religion， parliamentary coverage， childrens programs and films for an annual license fee of 83 per household.

　　It is a remarkable record， stretching back over 70 yearsyet the BBCs future is now in doubt. The Corporation will survive as a publicly-funded broadcasting organization， at least for the time being， but its role， its size and its programs are now the subject of a nationwide debate in Britain.

　　The debate was launched by the government， which invited anyone with an opinion of the BBCincluding ordinary listeners and viewersto say what was good or bad about the Corporation， and even whether they thought if it was worth keeping. The reason for its inquiry is that the BBCs royal charters runs out in 1996 and it must decide whether to keep the organization as it is or to make changes.

　　Defenders of the Corporationof whom there are manyare fond of quoting the American slogan If it aint broke， dont fix it. The BBC aint broke， they say， by which they mean it is not broken (as distinct from the word broke， meaning having no money)， or why bother to change it?

　　Yet the BBC will have to change， because the broadcasting world around it is changing. The commercial TV channelsITV and Channel 4were required by the Thatcher Governments Broadcasting Act to become more commercial， competing with each other for advertisers， and cutting costs and jobs. But it is the arrival of new satellite channelsfunded partly by advertising and partly by viewers subscriptionswhich will bring about the biggest change in the long term.

　　1.The world famous BBC now is confronted with ___.

　　A.the problem of news coverage

　　B.an uncertain prospect

　　C.inquiries by the general public

　　D.shrinkage of audience

　　2.In the passage， which of the following about the BBC is not mentioned as the key issue?

　　A.Extension of its TV service to Far East.

　　B.Programs as the subject of a nation-wide debate.

　　C.Potentials for further international co-operations.

　　D.Its existence as a broadcasting organization.

　　3.The BBCs royal charter (Paragraph 4) represents ___.

　　A.the financial support from the royal family

　　B.the privileges granted by the Queen

　　C.a contract with the Queen

　　D.a unique relationship with the royal family

　　4.The word broke in If it aint broke， dont fix it means ___.

　　A.broke down

　　B.bankrupt

　　C.fragmented

　　D.penniless

　　5.The first and foremost reason why the BBC has to read just itself is no other than ___.

　　A.the emergence of commercial TV channels

　　B.the enforcement of Broadcasting Act by the government

　　C.the urgent necessity to reduce costandjob expenses

　　D.the challenges of new satellite channels

　　答案：BCCDD

　　4