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Section II: Reading Comprehension (40%)
Directions: There are five passages in this section. 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 your answer in the corresponding letter on your Answer Sheet with a single line through the center.
Passage 1
Do you think that all human beings have a "comfort zone" regulating the distance they stand from someone when they talk? This distance varies in interesting ways among people of different cultures.
Greeks, others of the Eastern Mediterranean and many of those from South America normally stand quite close together when they talk, often moving their faces even closer as they warm up in conversation. North Americans find this awkward and often back away a few inches. Studies have found that they tend to feel most comfortable at about 21 inches apart. In much of Asia and Africa, there is even more space between two speakers in conversation. This greater space subtly lends an air of dignity and respect. This matter of space is nearly always unconscious, but it is interesting to observe.
This difference applies also to the closeness with which people sit together, the extent to which they lean over one another in conversation, how they move as they argue or make emphatic point. In the United States, for example, people try to keep their bodies apart even in crowded elevator; in Paris they take is as it comes!
Although North Americans have a relatively wide "comfort zone" for talking, they communicate a great deal with their hands not only with gesture but also with touch. They put sympathetic hand on a person's shoulder to demonstrate warmth of feeling or an arm around him in sympathy, they nudge a man in the ribs to emphasize a funny story, they put an arm in reassurance or stroke a child's head in affection; they readily take someone's arm to help him cross a street or direct him along an unfamiliar route. To many people especially those from Asia or the Moslem countries such bodily contact is unwelcome, especially if inadvertently done with the left hand. The left hand carries no special significance in the U.S. Many Americans are simply left-handed and use that hand more.
31. In terms of bodily distance, North Americans ________.
A. are similar to South Americans
B. stand farthest apart
C. fill ill at ease when too close
D. move nearer during conversations
32. It can be inferred from the passage that in a crowded elevator, a Frenchman ________.
A. would behave in the same way as an American would
B. would make no particular effort to distant himself
C. would be afraid of bodily contact
D. would do his best to leave
33. An American puts his hand on another man's shoulder ________.
A. to show apathy
B. to show passion
C. to show friendliness
D. to disguise his feeling
34. The passage mainly concerns ________.
A. distance and contact
B. body language
C. cultural differences between the East and the West
D. hand signals
Passage 2
Until men invented ways of staying underwater for more than a few minutes, the wonders of the world below the surface of the sea were almost unknown. The main problem, of course, lies in air. How could air be supplied to swimmers below the surface of the sea? Pictures made about 2,900 years ago in Asia show men swimming under the surface with air bags tied to their bodies. A pipe from the bag carried air into the swimmer's mouth. But little progress was achieved in the invention of diving devices until about 1490, when the famous Italian painter, Leonardo da Vinci designed a complete diving suit.
In 1680, an Italian professor invented a large air bag with a glass window to be worn over the diver's head. To "clean" the air a breathing pipe went from the air bag, through another bag to remove moisture, and then again to the large air bag. The plan did not work but it gave late inventors the idea of moving air around in diving devices
In 1819, a German, Augustus Siebe, developed a way of forcing air into the head covering by a machine operated above the water. Finally, in 1837, he invented the "hard-hat suit" which was to be used for nearly a century. It had a metal covering for the head and an air pipe attached to machine above the water. It also had small openings to remove unwanted air. But there were two dangers to the diver inside the "hard-hat suit". One was the sudden rise to the surface, caused by too great supply of air. The other was the crushing of the body, caused by a sudden diving into deep water. The sudden rise to the surface could kill the diver; a sudden dive could force his body up into the helmet, which could also result in death.
Gradually the "hard-hat suit" was improved so that the diver could be given a constant supply of air. The diver could then move around under the ocean without worrying about the air supply.
During the 1940s diving underwater without a special suit became popular. Instead, dive used a breathing device and a small covering made of rubber and glass over parts of the face. To improve the swimmer's speed another new invention was used: a piece of rubber shaped like giant foot, which was attached to each of the diver's own feet. The manufacture of rubber breathing pipes made it possible for divers to float on the surface of the water, observing the marine life underneath them. A special rubber suit enabled them to stay in cold water for long periods, collecting specimens of animal and vegetable life that had never been obtained in the past.
The most important advance, however, was the invention of a self-contained underwater breathing apparatus, which is called a "scuba".
Invented by two Frenchmen, Jacques Cousteau and Emile Gagnan, the scuba consists of mouthpiece joined to one or two tanks of compressed air which are attached to the diver's back. The scuba makes it possible for a diver to work 200 feet underwater or even deeper for several hours. As a result, scientists can now move around freely at great depths, learning about the wonders of the sea.
35. The main progress mentioned in this passage was ________.
A. an Italian professor invented a large air bag
B. men invented the best diving devices
C. an Italian painter designed a complete diving suit
D. an air bag
36. An invention of an Italian professor ________.
A. worked out very well
B. can "clean" the air
C. inspired later inventions
D. was used to remove moisture
37. Siebes' invention was not a perfect one, because ________.
A. too small a supply of air could result in a sudden rise to the surface
B. a sudden dive into deep water could cause the crushing of the body
C. the air pipe attached to a machine could be above the surface
D. both A and B
38. The word "scuba" is ________.
A. a certain diver's name
B. an original English word
C. named by the inventor
D. an acronym
部分参考答案：
31. 选C。文中说北美人靠的太近会感觉不自在,原文中的awkward和选项中的ill at ease意思相近。
32. 选B。文中提到美国人即使在巴黎的电梯上也会有意的与他人隔开一定距离，可以推出法国本地人不这么做。
33. 选C。从原文They put sympathetic hand on a person's shoulder to demonstrate warmth of feeling or an arm around him in sympathy中可知，美国人把手放在对方肩上，是表示同情和友好。A项apathy指冷淡，B项指表达激情，D项指掩饰自己的感情，均与文意不符。
34. 选A。文中主要讲了不同文化之间人们交流相隔的距离不同。
35. 选B。这里的main progress（即最大的进步）当是两个法国人发明的斯库巴潜水装置
36. 选C。文中提到了，意大利教授的发明虽未成功，但激发了后人的灵感。