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Passage 25
"Opinion" is a word that is used carelessly today. It is used to refer to matters of taste, belief, and judgment. This casual use would probably cause little confusion if people didn’t attach too much importance to opinion. Unfortunately, most to attach great importance to it. "I have as much right to my opinion as you to yours, '' and ''Everyone’s entitled to his opinion, '' are common expressions. In fact, anyone who would challenge another's opinion is likely to be branded intolerant.
Is that label accurate? Is it intolerant to challenge another's opinion? It depends on what definition of opinion you have in mind. For example, you may ask a friend ''What do you think of the new Ford cars?" And he may reply, "In my opinion, they're ugly." In this case, it would not only be intolerant to challenge his statement, but foolish. For it's obvious that by opinion he means his personal preference, a matter of taste. And as the old saying goes, ''It's pointless to argue about matters of taste."
But consider this very different use of the term, A newspaper reports that the Supreme Court has delivered its opinion in a controversial case. Obviously the justices did not shale their personal preferences, their mere likes and dislikes, They stated their considered judgment, painstakingly arrived at after thorough inquiry and deliberation.
Most of what is referred to as opinion falls somewhere between these two extremes. It is not an expression of taste. Nor is it careful judgment. Yet it may contain elements of both. It is a view or belief more or less casually arrived at, with or without examining the evidence.
Is everyone entitled to his opinion? Of course, this is not only permitted, but guaranteed. We are free to act on our opinions only so long as, in doing so, we do not harm others.
1 Which of the following statements is TRUE, according to the author?
A) Everyone has a right to hold his own opinion.
B) Free expression of opinions often leads to confusion.
C) Most people tend to be careless in forming their opinions.
D) Casual use of the word "opinion" often brings about quarrels.
2. According to the author, who of the following would be labored as intolerant?
A) Someone who turns a deaf ear to others' opinions.
B) Someone who can't put up with others' tastes.
C) Someone who values only their own opinions.
D) Someone whose opinion harm. other people.
3. The new Ford cars are cited as an example to show that ________.
A) it is foolish to criticize a famous brand
B) one should not always agree to others' opinions
C) personal tastes are not something to be challenged
D) it is unwise to express one's likes and dislikes in public
4. Considered judgment is different from personal preference in that ________.
A) it is stated by judges in the court
B) it reflects public like and dislikes
C) it is a result of a lot of controversy
D) it is based on careful thought
5. As indicated in the passage, being free to act on one's opinion ________.
A) means that one can ignore other people's criticism
B) means that one can impose his pre6ereaccs on others
C) doesn't mean that one has the right to do things at will
D) doesn't mean that one has the right to charge others without evidence
Passage 27
All food chains begin with the sun, and all food chains become broken up if one of the links disappears.
All life depends on energy from sunlight. Only plants can use this energy directly. Their leaves are little factories that use sunlight to make food from water and things in the soil and air. Plants in turn serve as food for all other living things. Animals can only use the sun’s energy after it has been changed into food by plants. Some animals feed directly on plants, others eat smaller animals. Meat-eating animals are only eating plants indirectly.
What about human beings? We are members of many food chains. We eat vegetable and fruit. We also eat meat and drink milk. This means the sun’s energy passes through plant to animal before it reaches us.
Nature is a great thing. Any food chain always produces enough for each of its members if it is left alone. When there isn’t enough food for any link in the chain, some of its members die off. So the balance is always kept.
1.If one of it’s members dies off, any food chain will________.
A. come off
B. become better
C. fall apart
D. come into being
2.Which of the following is true?
A. All animals feed on plants indirectly
B. Some animals can use energy from sunlight directly
C. The sun’s energy can reach human beings directly
D. Plants can use the sun’s energy directly
3.What do you learn about the food chain?
A. It is a chain made of food for animals and plants
B. It is a short chain to be easily broken up.
C. It refers to the relationship among living things in nature.
D. It is a chain for feeding plants and animals
4.According to the passage, we may conclude that it is important to __________.
A. keep the balance of nature
B. make full use of the sun’s energy
C. plant a lot of vegetables and fruit trees
D. protect meat-eating animals
5.Which of the following is the best title for this passage?
A. Energy from Sunlight
B. Plants and Animals
C. Food Chains
D. The Making of Food
Passage 26
When I told my family that I was thinking of taking a cooking job, the roars of laughter were rather discouraging. No one believed that I could cook at all, as I had never had a chance to practise at home. Our cook had ruled in the kitchen for thirty years and had an annoying tendency to regard the pans, stove and all the kitchen fittings as her own property.
I once crept down there when I thought she was asleep in her room to try out an omelette(炒蛋). Noiselessly I removed a frying pan from its hook and the eggs from their cupboard. It was the pop of the gas that woke her, I think, for I was just breaking the first egg when a pair of slippered feet moved round the door and a shriek(尖叫声) of horror caused me break the egg on the floor. This disaster upset her so much that she locked herself in the storeroom with all the food and we had to make our Sunday dinner of bananas.
If the family weren’t going to be helpful, I would look for a job all by myself and not tell them about it till I’d got one. I had seen an agency in a local paper, so as soon as there was no one about to say “Where are you going?” I rushed out of the house in search of it.
I sat on the edge of a chair and could see my nose shining out of the corner of my eye. I thought perhaps it was a good thing; it might look more earnest. The woman at the desk examined me through her glasses. Having asked me a few questions, she told me that it would be difficult to get a job without experience. “But”, she said, “I’ve got someone who needs a cook badly.” She wrote down a number, and my spirits went up as I took the slip of paper she held out to me, saying: “Ring up this lady. She wants a cook. You would have to start tomorrow by cooking dinner for ten people. Could you manage that?”
“Oh yes,” said I—never having cooked for more than four in my life.
1. Which of the following best describes the response of the author’s family to her plan of taking a cooking job?________________.
A. Pleased
B. Doubtful
C. Uncomfortable
D. Positive
2. One reason for the author’s lack of practice in cooking was that_____________.
A. no one in her family would like her to practise cooking
B. everything in the kitchen was property belonging to the cook
C. the cook would never allow her to do any cooking
D. she was not yet born when the cook came to the house
3. The cook felt uncomfortable when__________.
A. she heard a shriek of horror
B. she heard the sound of a pair of slipped feet moving round the door
C she saw the author enter the kitchen
D she saw the author break an egg on the floor
4. The family had to have bananas for dinner that Sunday because _________
A. the cook was on strike
B. they preferred bananas to omelette
C. the author cooked so badly
D. no one in the family had cooking ability
5. When there was no one about, the author rushed out of the house because__________.
A. she was independent in searching for a cooking job
B. she wouldn’t answer the question her family would ask
C. that was the only chance for her to leave the house
D. she didn’t want to reveal what she was going to do
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