北京地区成人本科学士学位英语统一考试

2019年11月

Part I Reading Comprehension（30%）

Directions: There are three passages in this part. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. You should decide on the best choice and blacken the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet.

Passage 1

Questions 1 to 5 are based on the following passage:

There are more species（种类）of beetles（甲虫）than any other form of life. About 380,000 species of beetles are known to exist, and more are discovered all the time. (76) There are several theories about why there are so many beetles, but evidence shows that beetles have the lowest extinction rates of any animal ever.

One of the reasons beetles survive so well is their body design. Most beetle species have two pairs of wings. The front pair of a beetle's wings are hard and thick. These protect the rear set of wings and the beetle's stomach region. They are not used for flying. Indeed, some species of beetles have lost the ability to fly but they are still equipped with front wings.

Beetles can also eat a wide range of foods. Beetle species live all over the world, and they have many different types of food available to them. Most beetles are omnivores. That means they eat both plants and animals. The mixed diets help beetles adapt to many different environments.

Finally, beetles are good at moving quickly over long distances. Any change in an animal's environment can be dangerous to it, but some species can avoid dangerous environment changes by migrating to a new place. Research shows that beetles respond quickly to shifts in temperature. They can migrate to safer environments.

Beetles' bodies and habits help give them an edge over other creatures. (77) They are unlikely to die out. As a result, beetles make up nearly one quarter of all animal species. There are more types of beetles on Earth than there are types of plants. Some types of beetles that exist today were around during the Permian period of history, 284 million years ago. Beetles, clearly, are here to stay.

1.What is the passage mainly about?

A. Why beetles have two pairs of wings.

B. Why there are so many species of beetles.

C. Why there are different types of food for beetles.

D. Why beetles are good at moving long distances.

2.Beetles survive better than other animals because of their ______.

A. bodies and habits

B. stomach and diets

C. diets and ability to fly

D. ability to fly and migrate

3.Which of the following is NOT TRUE of beetles?

A. Some species have existed for 284 million years.

B. They live all around the world.

C. They have two pairs of wings to fly.

D. They are unlikely to die out.

4.The word “edge” in the last paragraph is closest in meaning to ______.

A. evidence

B. margin

C. survival

D. advantage

5.How many animal species are there according to the passage?

A. Around 1.52 million.

B. Around 380,000.

C. Around 284 million.

D. Not known.

Passage 2

Questions 6 to 10 are based on the following passage:

(78) For more than 60 years, Lego （乐高）bricks have sparked children's imaginations. Now, a new version of these toys is in the works. They're Lego Braille Bricks, and they're being tested around the world.

Lego Braille Bricks are designed to help people learn Braille. That's a system of writing in which letters are represented by raised dots. People who are blind or visually impaired（弱视的）use their fingertips to read.

According to the World Health Organization, 36 million people worldwide are blind. In the United States, it's estimated that only 10% of blind children learn Braille. Lego Braille Bricks can help change that. The small knobs on the bricks are arranged as Braille letters. Blind children can use these knobs to learn Braille.

Lego plans to launch Braille Bricks next year. (79) For some schools and institutions, they will be free. Each set will contain about 250 bricks. Along with the alphabet, the bricks will feature numbers and math symbols.

The Danish Association of the Blind was the first organization to come up with the idea of using Lego bricks to teach Braille. Thorkild Olesen is the president of the group. Olesen is blind. He says many teachers don't have the tools and skills to help kids learn Braille. So they teach with audio （声音的）tools, such as audio books. “Like any other people, we need to express ourselves in writing. Audio can never replace Braille. Braille is the single most important tool for us to learn to spell correctly and write like sighted people.”

“This is particularly critical when we know that Braille users often are more independent, have a higher level of education and better employment opportunities. We strongly believe, ” Olesen continues,“Lego Braille Bricks can help promote the level of interest in learning Braille.”

6.Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

A. Sparking Children's Imaginations

B. Lego Braille Bricks

C. Teaching Blind Children Braille

D. The Toy Industry

7.Lego Braille Bricks will be launched in ______.

A. 2019

B. 2020

C. 2021

D. 2022

8.The phrase “come up with” in Paragraph 5 probably means ______.

A. put forward

B. turn out

C. sum up

D. take over

9.According to Olesen, which of the following statements is NOT TRUE?

A. Teachers often use audio books to teach blind children.

B. Braille users often have better employment prospects.

C. There's no need for blind children to learn Braille.

D. Audio is helpful, but can never replace Braille.

10.According to the passage, which of the following statements about Lego Braille Bricks is NOT TRUE?

A. The idea was first proposed by the Danish Association of the Blind.

B. They are currently undergoing testing around the world.

C. They will be distributed for free to all blind children.

D. There are about 250 bricks in each set.

Passage 3

Questions 11 to 15 are based on the following passage:

In today's extremely connected world, (80) people appear to have more chances to get into contact with one another than ever. Yet societies known as “uncontacted peoples” remain in parts of the world. These are communities with little contact with the wider world. It is estimated that about one hundred groups of uncontacted peoples exist today. In general, these groups remain uncontacted by choice;because of this, it is impossible to know much about their societies.

For example, North Sentinel Island in the Indian Ocean is home to a group that clearly wishes to stay separate from the rest of the world. They are referred to as the North Sentinelese. North Sentinel Island is one of the Andaman Islands, which are part of India. While groups on other Andaman Islands have slowly accepted tourism and development, the North Sentinelese fire warning arrows from their beaches at any boat that approaches their land. Over many decades, gifts and other efforts from outsider have been rejected. From what little we know about their language, they have probably been isolated for tens of thousands of years.

Why might uncontacted peoples choose to remain isolated? Unfortunately, in many cases, these groups' past encounters with the outside world were violent. Former members of uncontacted groups have said that after friends and family were attacked or killed by outsiders, they avoided any kind of contact. Even peaceful contact can have disastrous effects. Many uncontacted groups have never been exposed to diseases, not even the common cold or flu. As a result, they often don't have immunity （免疫力）to these diseases, meaning that even minor contact with outsiders has resulted in deadly outbreaks. It's not surprising, then, that some groups prefer to keep to themselves.

11.What is the passage mainly about?

A. Societies known as “uncontacted peoples”.

B. The North Sentinelese.

C. Encounters with uncontacted peoples.

D. Contact with groups on the Andaman Islands.

12.What is TRUE of the majority of the Andaman Islands?

A. They have developed contact with the wider world.

B. They fire warning arrows at approaching boats.

C. They reject gifts from outsiders.

D. They are eager to develop tourism.

13.From which of the following do people know that the North Sentinelese have been separated for so many years?

A. Peaceful contact.

B. The warning arrows.

C. Their language.

D. Tourism.

14.How many reasons are given to explain the isolation of the “uncontacted peoples”?

A. One.

B. Two.

C. Three.

D. Four.

15.The expression keep to themselves in the last paragraph is closest in meaning to ______.

A. stay separated

B. guard secrets

C. stick closely

D. protect themselves