2004年3月全国公共英语考试二级笔试真题2

第三部分 阅读理解 阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出最佳答案，并在答题卡1上将该项涂黑.

第一篇

After losing her job and home in 1984, Lynn Carr was living on the streets of St. Charles, Montana, with her five-year-old son. "We slept in our car for about a week," she said, "but then it was sold. "

As she moved from one friend' s house to another, Carr began working toward a high-school-equivalence diploma(高中同等学历证书), listening to self-help tapes and making cheesecakes.
After developing some new methods which she thought were pretty good, she offered her cakes to a restaurant. They sold out in a matter of hours.

The following year, she met a man at a church service and before long, they married. Carr began selling the cheesecakes out of their home. Later she opened a cheesecake company. As business became better and better, Carr didn't forget where she came from.

All the women she hires are mothers or high-school dropouts(退学者)--workers most other employers wouldn' t like to hire. Her dozen workers make 100 to 150 cakes a week and Carr owes her success to her employees. She says, "We're going to have a learning center and a day-care center in the company. Part of the workday will be spent studying for high-school-equivalence diplomas. "

Recently, a 33-year-old woman with three children to raise was referred to Cart. She hired her at once. “It has been a real blessing (恩赐), ” the woman said. 

56. The text suggests that Lynn Carr
[ A ] had to sell her car for a new one
[ B ] had few friends to turn to for help
[ C ] was once a school dropout herself
[ D ] didn't work hard enough to keep her job

57. Which of the following can be learned from the text?
[ A ] People like Lynn Carr' s cheesecakes very much.
[ B ] Lynn Carr' s cheesecakes are sold to high school dropouts.
[ C ] Lynn Cart learned to make cheesecakes by taking courses. 
[ D ] Without finishing high school, one cannot even make good cakes.

58. "Carr didn' t forget where she came from" (line 3, paragraph 3 ) means that Carr_______
[ A ] remembered what she used to be
[ B ] kept in mind her friends who had once helped her
[ C ] would not forget where her hometown was
[ D ] remembered all the places she had been to

59. According to the last two paragraphs, Lynn Carr is trying
[ A ] to turn her home into a learning center
[ B ] to hire more moms and high school dropouts
[ C ] to develop more new methods to make better cakes
[ D ]1 to help people who have the familiar background as she did

第二篇

The banana "tree" is actually not a real tree. This is because there is no wood in the stem(树干) rising above the ground. The stem is made up of leaves growing very close together, one in-side the other. The leaves spread out at the top of the stem and rise in the air, Banana plants need a lot of care and attention. They must be provided with water if the normal rainfall doesn't supply enough. The area around the plants must be kept free of weeds(杂草) and grass.

About nine or ten months after planting, a flower appears on the banana plant. This flower is at the end of a long stalk(茎), which grows from the base up through the center of the stem and turns downward when it comes out from the top. Small bananas form on this flower stalk as it grows downward. Bananas really grow upside down. As the small bananas form on the stalk, they point downward, but as they grow they turn and point upward.

Bananas are harvested while they are still green, Even when they are to be eaten where they　are grown, they are not allowed to ripen on the plant. A banana that turns yellow on the plant loses its taste. " 

60. The first paragraph in the text mainly discusses_______________.
[ A ] why the stem of the tree is wood
[ B ] how the banana grows on the stem
[ C ] why the banana tree is not a tree
[ D ] how the leaves grow out of the stem

61. The underlined word "it" ( line 3, paragraph 3) in the third paragraph refers to__________.
[ A ] the leaf [ B ] the stalk
[ C ] the stem [ D ] the plant

62. According to the text, where do bananas actually grow ?
[ A ] On the stem.
[ B ] On the leaves.
[ C ] On the flower stalk.
[ D ] On the base of the stem.

63. From the text we know when bananas are harvested, they are_____________.
[ A ] green and pointing upward
[ B ] yellow and pointing downward
[ C ] green and pointing downward
[ D ] yellow and pointing upward