1、阅读理解专项训练（十五） Main idea15 RALOALTO, California“Switching off the television may help prevent children from getting fattereven if they do not change their diet or increase the amount they exercise,” US researchers said last week.A study of 192 third and forth grades, generally aged eight and nine, fou
2、nd that children who cut the number of hours spent watching television gained nearly two pounds (0.91kg) less over a one-year period than those who did not change their television diet.“The findings are important because they show that weight loss can only be the result of a reduction in television
3、view and not any other activity,” said Thomas Robison, a pediatrician() at Stanford University.In the study, presented this week to the Pediatric Academic Societies annual meeting () in San Francisco, the researchers persuaded about 100 of the students to reduce their television viewing by one-quart
4、er to one third.Children watching fewer hours of television showed a pretty smaller increase in waist size and had less body fat than other students who continued their took part in any extra exercise.“One explanation for the weight loss could be the children unstuck to the television may simply hav
5、e been moving around more and burning off calories,” Robinson said.“Another reason might be due to eating fewer meals in front of the television. Some studies have suggested that eating in front of the TV encourages people to eat more,” Robison said.The author tried to tell us in the first two parag
6、raphs that _A children will get fatter if they eat too much B Children will get thinner if they eat less C children will get fatter if they spend less time watching TV D children will get fatter if they spend more time watching TV 16 During the summer you should be even more careful than usual of th
7、e foods you prepare. Foods spoil faster in hot weather than in cold weather. When you are shopping , purchase frozen and refrigerated foods, dont make long stops on your way home because frozen foods could become soft or warm. Using insulated (密封的) bags helps keep food cold until you arrive home. Mi
8、ld or milk products should be refrigerated immediately. When camping or picnicking or at any time when refrigeration isnt available, use special dry foods. Above all , if a food doesnt seem to be normal in odor(气味) or appearance, discard (抛弃) it immediately. Dont taste it. What is the main idea of t
9、he passage? A How to store frozen and refrigerated foods B How to keep keep food from spoiling (变坏) during the summer? C How to select fresh food? D How to prepare summer food17 A new era(纪元) is upon us. Call it what you will: the service economy, the information age, the knowledge society. It all t
10、ranslates to be a basic change in the way we work. Already we are there now. The percentage of people who earn their living by making things has fallen fortunately in the Western World. Today the major of jobs in America, Europe and Japan (two thirds or more in many of these countries) are in the se
11、rvice industry, and the number in on the rise. More women are in the workforce than ever before. There are more part-time jobs. More people are self-employed. But the wildness of the economic change cant be measured by numbers alone, because it also is giving rise to a radical(根本的、彻底的) new way of th
12、inking about the nature of work itself. Long-held views about jobs and careers, the skills to succeed, even the relation between individuals and employersall these are being challenged.We have only to look behind us to get some sense of what may lie ahead. No one looking ahead 20 years possible coul
13、d have foreseen the ways in which a single invention, the chip(芯片), would change our world thanks to its use in personal computers, digital biotechnology(数码生物技术), artificial (人工的) intelligence or even some still unimagined technology could produce a similar wave of unexpected changes. But one thing
14、is certain: information and knowledge will become even more important ,and the people who have it , whether they work in manufacturing (制造业) or services, will have the advantage and produce the wealth. Computer knowledge will become as basic a requirement as the ability to read and write. The abilit
15、y to solve problems by using information instead of performing regular work will be valued above all else. If you look forward 10 years, information services will be predominant(占优势). It will be the way you do your job. Which of the following can be the vest title of the passage?A. Computer and Know
16、ledge Society. B. Service Industry in the Modern SocietyC. Characteristics of the new Era D. Fast Development of Information Technology18 It is commonly believed in the United States that school is where people go to get an education. Nevertheless, it has been said that today children interrupt thei
17、r education to go to school. The difference between schooling and education implied by this remark is important.Education is much more open-ended and all-inclusive than schooling. Education knows not limits. It can take place anywhere, whether in the school or on the job, whether in a kitchen or on
18、a tractor. It includes both the formal learning that takes place in schools and the whole universe of informal learning . The agent(doer) of education can vary from respected grandparents to the people arguing about politics on the radio, from a child to a famous scientist. Whereas schooling has a c
19、ertain predictability（可预料性）, education quite often produces surprises. A chance conversation with a strange may lead a person to discover how little is know of other religious (宗教) . People receive education from infancy(婴幼儿) on. Education, then , is a very broad, inclusive term. It is a lifelong pr
20、ocess ,a process that starts long before the start of school, and one that should be a necessary of ones entire life.Schooling, on the other hand, is a specific, formalized process, whose general pattern varies little from one setting to the next. Throughout a country, children arrive school at abou
21、t the same time, take the assigned () seats, are taught by the adult, use similar textbooks, do homework, take exams, and so on. The pieces of reality that are to be learned, whether they are the alphabet or an understanding of the workings of government, have been limited by the subjects being taug
22、ht. For example, high school students know that they are likely to find out in their classes the truth about political problems in their society or what the newest filmmakers are experimenting with. There are clear undoubtful conditions surrounding the formalized of schooling.What is the main idea o
23、f this passage?A. The best schools teach a variety of subjects.B. Education and schooling are quite different experiences.C. The more years students go to schools, the better their education.D. Students benefit from schools, which require bong hours and homework.19 Since the beginning of time, man h
24、as invented many interesting things. Some of these inventions, like numbers , the alphabet and the radio, have certainly changed history. Since 1946, one of the most important inventions has been the computer. It will change all our lives.At one time it was as large as a room, and quite difficult an
25、d slow to operate. But , since the invention of the silicon ship (),which is really a very very small electric circuit(), computers have been greatly improved. They have become smaller, easier to use, and faster; they can store a lot more information. Some computer are made as well as television set
26、s. Simple computers can be made smaller than a book. And computers are getting smaller all the time.There are several reasons why the computer is useful to us. Firstly, it can store a very very large quantity of information in its memory. Secondly, the computer can operate very quickly thousands of
27、times faster than a humanand it will not tire. Thirdly, modern computers can be built into other kinds of machines, like radios, cars, planes and so on. They can do many kinds of work.Soon, almost everyone , either at home or at work, will use some kind of computer. the lives of all of us will be ch
28、anged by this invention.The main idea of this passage is _A. how the computer came into beingB. that computers ate getting smaller and smaller all the timeC. that the computer will change the lives of all of usD .that modern computers can be built into other machine20 The computer is an electronic m
29、achine. It is a machine that solves problems as much as you do. As an example, Lets trace the way you would add two numbers. Then, lets see how a computer would do it.Step1. You collect information. That is, you either see or hear the numbers to be added.Step2. You find a method to solve the problem
30、. In this case, you remember how to do addition.Step 3 You bring together the information (the two numbers), and the method(addition)Step 4 You perform the operation, adding the two numbers.Step5 You report the results of your work, either by writing down the answer or by saying it aloud.All compute
31、r go through five similar steps.Step 1 The computer receives information, or data, from the outside. It changes the data into electric language, called input.Step 2 The computer has been given a program contain instructions for solving the problem. The instructions ate found in the storage or memory
32、.Step 3 The computer bring together the data from the input and the instructions from the storage. This is done by the computers control.Step 4 The computer goes through the steps of the instructions on the data; this is called processing.Step 5 The computer changes the result from electric language
33、 to human language. It presents the results in print or sound, called output.Sometimes the five parts of a computer input, storage, control, processor , and outputare together in one large unit. Other times they are far apart and connected by wires. Often, large computers have one control and proces
34、sing unit, with a number of separate memory, input, and output device.What does the passage mainly tell us?A The computer is an electric machine. B Computer solve problems in the same way as people do C How we add two numbers D Computers have five parts together in one unit.21Astronomers have spent
35、hundreds of years searching for signs of life on other planets, using telescopes. When they saw the geography of Mars (火星), they thought they could see canals and that this might be evidence of intelligent life on the planet. More recently, however, spacecraft have been sent there to analyse (分析) th
36、e soil for signs of life. The result were negative and astronomers now feel certain that no life exist on the surface of any craft far beyond our solar system （太阳系）I not realistic because of the huge distances.Unless life comes and visit us, the only way we likely to know of its existence is from ra
37、dio message. Listening for intelligent extraterrestrial (外星的) or E.T. life is not a new idea, but the techniques now being used offer a much better chance off success than before. Looking for evidence of life in other solar systems now means using special radio receivers called radio telescopes to l
38、isten out for message. The idea is that intelligent forms of life would have discovered radio waves and would, like us, be using them to communicate.Through its research work, NASA(美国国家航空航天局) has develop two means of systematically searching for E.T. life. The first method is to select the closest 8
39、00 stars like our sun and to direct a radio telescope to scan each of one them for electromagnetic (电磁) wave. The second way is to survey the entire sky, listening for continuous signals which may come from extraterrestrial life. Scientists are looking in the 100-10,000 MegaHetz(兆赫) frequency rangea
40、 range where there are fewer natural radio signals which could interfere (干扰) with transmission (传输). By looking signals in these specific regions, scientists can avoid any confusion that might be caused by receiving a natural radio signal rather than one sent by intelligent life. NASAs search in sp
41、ace has already resulted in some discoveries including new equipment which may help in the development of new communication and medical technologies.All this , as well as the chance of discovering, has made us feel confident that maybe we are not alone in the universe!What is the main idea of the pa
42、ssage?A Astronomers now feel certain that no life exists on the surface of any other planet in our solar system.B It is realistic to send a spacecraft far beyond our solar system to search for E.T. life.C There Is no E.T. life on Mars.D Using radio telescopes to listen out for message from E.T. life , scientists have discovered that the new equipment nay help in the development of new communication and medical technologies.Keys to the exercises15. D 16. B 17. C 18. B 19. C 20. B 21. D