大学英语(三)综合复习资料

I. Reading Comprehension Passage 1

I arrived in the United States on February 6,1966, but I remember my first day here very clearly. My friend was waiting for me when my plane landed at Kennedy Airport at three o’clock in the afternoon. The weather was very cold and it was snowing, but I was too excited to mind. From the airport, my friend and I took a taxi to my hotel. On the way, I saw the skyline of Manhattan for the first time and I stared in astonishment at the famous skyscrapers and their man-made beauty. My friend helped me unpack at the hotel and then left me because he had to go back to work. He promised to return the next day. Shortly after my friend had left, I went to a restaurant near the hotel to get something to eat. Because I couldn’t speak a word of English, I couldn’t tell the waiter what I wanted. I was very upset and started to make some gestures, but the waiter didn’t understand me. Finally, I ordered the same thing the man at the next table was eating. After dinner, I started to walk along Broadway until I came to Times Square with its movie theatres, neon lights，and huge crowds of people. I did not feel tired, so I continued to walk around the city. I wanted to see everything on my first day. I knew it was impossible, but I wanted to try.

When I returned to the hotel, I was exhausted, but I couldn’t sleep because I kept hearing the fire and police sirens during the night. I lay awake and thought about New York. It was a very big and interesting city with many tall buildings and big cars, and full of noise and busy people. I also decided right then that I had to learn to speak English.

1. February 6,1966 a day unforgettable to the writer because _______. A. it was his first day in New York B. it was very clear that day

C. that day he took a plane and landed at Kennedy Airport D. it was snowing and cold that day 2. On the way to his hotel, the writer ______. A. was silent all the time

B. kept talking to his friend

C. looked out of the window with great interest D. showed his friend something he brought with him

3. He did not have what he really wanted, because ______. A. he only made some gestures B. he did not order at all

C. he could not make himself understood D. the waiter was unwilling to serve

4. After dinner, he ______.

A. walked back to the hotel right away B. had a walking tour about the city C. went to the movies

D. did some shopping on Broadway 5. That night he could not sleep, because ______.

A. he did not know what to do the next day B. he was not tired at all C. he kept hearing the fire and police sirens D. he was thinking about this great city Passage 2

A man may usually be known by the books he reads as well as by the company he

keeps; for there is a companionship of books as well as of men. And one should always live in the best company, whether it be of books or of men. A good book may be among the best of friends. It is the same today as it always was,

and it will never change. It is the most patient and cheerful of companions. It does not turn its back upon us in times of misfortune or suffering. It always receives us with the same kindness, amusing and instructing us in youth, and comforting us in age.

A good book is often the best container of a life, containing the best that life could

think out, for the world of a man’s life is, for the most part, but the world of his thoughts. Thus the best books are treasuries of good words and

golden thoughts, which, remembered and cared about, become our lasting companions and comforters.

Books possess an essence of immortality. They are by far the most lasting products of

human effort. Temples and statues decay, but books survive. Time is of no account with great thoughts, which are as fresh today as when they first

passed through their author’s minds, ages ago. What was then said and thought still speaks to us as vividly as ever from the printed page.

The great and good do not die even in this world. Well preserved in the books, their

spirits walk abroad. The book is a living voice. It is an intellect to which one still listens. Hence we ever remain under the influence of the great men of the past. The imperial intellects of the worlds are as much alive now as they were ages ago.

6. The relationship between a man’s friends and his books is that _______. A. his books are as good as his friends B. his books are better than his friends C. his books are not as good as his friends D. his books are worse than his friends

7. A good book is our best friend because it is ______. A. always silent

B. most beautifully printed

C. most patient and cheerful D. the best listener

8. According to the author, the world of man’s life is the world of ______. A. his will

B. his behaviors C. his opinions D. his thoughts

9. For books the effect of time is ______.

A. to make a book disappear as time goes by B. to decide the content of a book

C. to separate the bad books from the good ones D. to find the practical use of books

10. “Their spirits walk abroad” means that ______. A. the author’s thoughts are widespread B. the author goes abroad with his book C. the author of a book will never die

D. readers can read books of other countries Passage 3

Pigeons have been used as messengers for 500 years, because of their special ability to

find home. The mystery of the homing pigeon is on how it navigates and how it finds home. We now know that there are two ways that pigeons tell

directions. First, they use the sun. Just getting rough directions from the

sun is easy. However, getting accurate directions from the sun takes more care. To tell direction accurately from the sun, one needs to know the exact time. All plants and animals seem to have built-in clocks. Usually these biological clocks are

not quite exact in measuring time. However, they work pretty well, because they are “reset” every day, maybe when the sun gets up.

Do pigeons use their biological clocks to help them find direction from the sun? We

can experiment to find out. We can keep pigeons in a room lighted only by lamps. And we can time the lighting to make their artificial “days” start at some different time from the real outside day. After a while we have shifted their clocks. Now we take them far away from home and let them go on a sunny day. Most of them start out as if they know just which way to go, but choose a wrong direction. They have picked a direction that would be correct for the position of the sun and the time of day according to their shifted clocks.

The above experiment shows that homing pigeons can tell directions by the sun. What happens when the sky is darkly overcast by clouds and no one can see where the sun is? The pigeons still find their way home. So it seems that pigeons also have some extra sense of direction from the earth’s magnetic field when they cannot see the sun.

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