2023年西南大學免師教育公共英語平時作業(yè)英語閱讀作業(yè)及答案EveryonehasheardoftheSanAndreasfault

Passage1

EveryonehasheardoftheSanAndreasfau1t（斷

層），whichconstantlythreatensCa1ifomiaandtheWestCoast

withearthquakes.Buthowmanypeopleknowaboutthe

equallyseriousNewMadridfaultinMissouri??*aBe

tweenDecemberof1811andFebruaryof1812,threemajo

rearthquakesoccurred,a11centeredaroundthetownofN

ewMadrid,Missouri,ontheMississippiRiver.Property

damagewassevere.Buildingsintheareawerea1mostd

estroyed.Wholeforestsfellatonce,andhugec

racksopenedintheground,a1lowingsme11ofsulfur（硫磺）

tofilterupwards

TheMississippiRiveritselfcompletelychangedch

aracter,developingsuddenrapidsandwhir1poo1s.Severa

1timesitchangeditscourse,andonce,accordingtosomeobserv

ers,itactual1yappearedtorunbackwards.Fewpeople

werekiliedintheNewMaridearthquakes,probablysimp1

ybecausefewpeople1ivedintheareain1811;but

theseverityoftheearthquakesareshownbythefact

thattheshockwavesrangbellsinchurchtowersi

nChar1eston,SouthCaro1ina,onthecoast.Buildings

shookinNewYorkCity,andc1ockswerstoppedinWas

hington,D.C.ScientistsnowknowthatAmerica7stwomajorf

aultsareessentia1lydifferent.TheSanAndreasisahor

izonta1boundarybetweentwomajorlandmassesthatare

slowlymovinginoppositedirections.Ca1ifomiaearthquakes

resultwhenthemovementofthesetwomassessuddenly1

urches（傾斜）forward.

4TheNewMadridfault,ontheotherhand,isa

verticalfault;atsomepoints,possib1yhundredsofmillionsofy

earsago,rockwaspusheduptowardthesurface,probablybyv

olcanoesunderthesurface.Suddenly,thevo1canoesc

ooledandtherockco11apsed,leavinghugecracks.Evennow,th

erockcontinuestosett1edownwards,andsuddensink

ingmotionstrigger（觸發(fā)）earthquakesintheregio

n.Thefau1titself,alargecrackinthislayerofrock,w

ithdozensofothercracksthatsplitofffromit,extends

fromnortheastArkansasthroughMissouriandintosouth

em111inoisa

ScientistswhohavestudiedtheNewMadridfa

ultsaytherehavebeennumeroussma11erquakesinthe

areasincel811；thesesmailerquakesindicatethatlargerone

sareprobablycoming,butthescientistssayhavenomethodof

predictingwhenalargeearthquakewi11occurA1A.Th

ispassageismain1yaboutA.theNewMad

ridfaultinMissouri

B.thecausesoffaults

C.theSanAndreasandtheNewMadridfau1ts

D.currentscientificknow1edgeaboutfau1tA2.TheN

ewMadridfau1tisA

A.averticalfauIt

B.ahorizonta1fault

C.amoreseriousfauItthantheSanAndreasfault

D.responsibleforformingtheMississippiRivera3.Wemayco

nc1udefromthepassagethatAA.Californiawi11be

comeanislandinfuture

B.theNewMadridfaultwi11eventuallydevelopamountainrange

inMissouri

C.itisprobablyasdangerousto1iveinMissouriasin

California

D.Abigearthquakewi11occurtoCalifbrniasoon

A4.Thispassageimp1iesthat.

A.horizonta1fauItsaremoredangerousthanvertica1faults.

B.Verticalfaultsaremoredangerousthanhorizonta1f

au1ts

C.Californiawi11breakintopiecesbyaneventua1earthqu

ake

D.Earthquakesoccuronlyaroundfaultareas

5.Asusedinthefirstsentenceofthefourthparagraph,

thewordessential1y

means>A.greatly

B.basical1y

C.extremely

D.necessari1y

Passage2

In1960—1961,Chad（乍得）harvested9800tonsofcotton

seedforthefirsttimeinitshistory,andputouttheflag

alittletoosoon.Theeffortsoftheauthoritiestogetthepeasa

ntsbacktowork,astheyhads1ackedoff（松懈）a

greatdealthepreviousyearduringindependencece1

ebrations,large1ycontributedtoit.A1so,rainswere

wellspaced,andcontinuedthroughthewho1emonthof

October.Ifthe1961-1962totalisbacktotheregionof

45000tons,itismost1ybecauseeffortssiackenedagainand

sowingwasstartedtoolate.

TheaveragedateofsowingisaboutJuly1st.Ift

hisdateissimplymovedupfifteenortwentydays,30000to

60000tonsofcottonaregained,dependingontheyear.

ThepeasantinChadsowshismillet（小米）first,anditi

shardtocriticizethisinstinctiveprioritygiventohi

sdailybread.Anessentia1reasonforhislatenesswithsow

ingcottonisthatatthetimewhenheshou1d1ea

vetopreparethefieldshehasjustbarelyso1dthecottono

fthepreviousseason.Theworkrequiredtosow,ingreat

heat,ispsycho1ogicallyfarmoredifficultifonerspocketsare

fu11ofmoney.Thedateofcottonsalesshouldtherefore

bemovedforwardasmuchaspossible,andpurchasesof

equipmentanddraughtanimaIsencouraged.AAPeasants

shou1dalsobeencouragedtosavemoney,tohelpt

hemthroughthedifficu1tperiodbetweenharvests.

Ifnecessarytheyshou1dbeforcedtodoso,byhavingth

epaymentsforcottongiventothemininsta11ments

(分期付款).Thelastpaymentwouldbemadeafterprooftha

tthepeasanthasp1antedbeforethedeadline,thedatebeing

advaneedtotheendofJune.Thosewhohavedonesow

ouldreceiveextramoneywhereasthe1astplanterswou1d

notreceivetheirlastpaymentunti11aterA

0nlythefirststepsarehard,becauseoneeworkhassta

rtedthepeasantscontinuewi11ing1yontheirway.Educat

iona1campaignsamongthepeasantswillplayaness

entia1roleinthisbasicadvance,ear1ysowing,onwhic

halltheothersdepend.11isnotamatterofcontroll

ingthepeasants.Eachpeasantwi11remainmast

erofhisfieIds.Onecou1d,however,suggesttheneedforthe

timebeingofkindbutfirmrule,which,aslongasitca

nnotberealizedbythepeople,shou1dat1eastbefor

thepeop1eAA6.In1960-1961,Chadhadagoodharvestof

cottonbecauseqA.thegovernmentgreatlyencouraged

peasants

B.rainsfavoredthegrowthofcotton

C.BothA)andB)

D.Chadgainedindependenceinthepreviousyear

7.We1earnfromthepassagethatthedateofsowingcotton

isusually___AA.onJune15th

B.onJuly1st

C.onJuly15th

D.onJuly20thA8.Asusedinthethirdsentenceof

thesecondparagraph,dai1ybreadreferstoqA.break

fast

B.breadandbutter

C.mi1let

D.rice

9.Inordertohe1pthemthroughthedifficu1ttime

betweenharveststhepeasantshavetoaA.beencouragedt

osavemoney

B.se11cottoninadvance

C.sowcottonintime

D.p1antmilletfirst610.Whichofthefol1owingisNOT

true?^A.Educationalcampaignsareveryimportanttoearlyso

wing.

B.Peasantsshouldremainthemastersoftheirfields.

C.Ofalltheadvancestha11hewriterhopesfor,ear1

ysowingisthemostimportant.

D.Governmentmightaswel1makegoodandfirmru1e

forpeasants.

Passage3

Formostpeop1elearningtodrive,thedrivingtesta

risesaheadasamajorbarrier.Itisa1soageneralsourceof

conversationwheneverdriversaregatheredtogether.There

areprobab1ymoretallstoriesaboutthedriving

testthanaboutanyothermotoringsubjects；themostremarkab

1ethingaboutthosestoriesisthenumberoftimesthe

o1donesappearagain,yearsaftertheywerefirsthear

d,innewandexaggeratedforms.

A11drivingexaminershavehadtopassaverystr

ictselectionprocess,followedbyatleastsixweeks't

raining.InthecourseofthistrainingtheDepartmentm

akessurethattheirdrivingisofaconsistent1yhigh

standard.

Drivingtestcentersarechosenwithequalcare.Itw

ouIdbenicetohavecentersandexaminerstownbytown.But

thisisjustnotpossib1e,becausethecentershavetobeat

p1aceswherethereisenoughparkingspaceforcandidates

（考生）andwherethereareenoughtestroutes.Routesa

recareful1ychosentomakesurethattheyareallroughlyc

omparable-theproportionofrightandleftturns,hi11

s,pedestrian（行人）crossingsandsoon.Theobjectof

a11thisistomakesure,asfaraspossible,thata11

candidatesinthedrivingtesthavetocopewiththesamesort

ofconditionswhethertheytakethetestinNewYorkor

California.

Theworkthatexaminersdoinactuallycarrying

outtestsischeckedcontinuouslybysupervisingexamin

ers.Thisistomakeassureaspossiblethateverycandi

dateforthedrivingtesthasaproperandequa1chanceofs

howingtheexaminer,inthewordsoftheRegu1ations,

"thatheiscompetenttodrivewithoutdangertoandwith

dueconsiderationforotherusersoftheroad."Thisisa111

hattheexaminerisconcernedwith.

11.Itcanbeleamedfromthepassagethat.

A.wheneverpeop1e1eamingtodrivegettogether,they

oftentalkaboutthedrivingtest

B.newandexaggeratedstoriesaboutthetestarealwaysa

ppearing

C.therearemoretalistoriesaboutthedrivingtestthan

anyothersubject

D.thesamestoriesaboutthetestreappearyearslater

12.Accordingtothepassage,drivingexaminers.

A.aretrainedforsixweeks,thenhaveadifficuItseie

ctioninterview

B.aregivenregulardrivingteststhemselvesbys

upervisingexaminers

C.sometimeshavemorethansixweeks*training

D.aretestedduringthese1ectionprocesstoseeift

heirdrivingisofahighstandard

13.Thereisn'tatestcenterineverytownbecause_____

A.someexaminerscangotooccasiona1centers

fromthepermanentcenters

B.routesandconditionshavetobethesameeverywhere

C.therehastobeenoughparkingspaceforthecandidate

sandtheexaminers

D.noteverytowncouldprovideenoughtestroutescloseto

permanentcenters

14.Wecanjudgefromthispassagethat.

A.thedetai1edrecordsarecheckedaftereachtestbya

supervisingexaminer

B.sometimescandidatesaretestedbyasupervisingexamin

er

C.it'struethatsomeexaminersneverpassanyoneo

nThursdayafternoons

D.examinersareonlyconcernedwithacandidatersabi1it

ytodrive

15.Itcanbeinferredfromthispassagethat.

A.testrouteshaverough1ythesameconditionseverywhere

B.candidatedriverspassthetest

C.a11candidatesaretreatedequa11ybytheexaminersd

uringthetest

D.sometestcentersdonothaveenoughparkingspace

Passage4

Weal1listentomusicaccordingtoourseparateca

pacities.But,forthesakeofana1ysis,thewholeliste

ningprocessmaybecomec1earerifwebreakitupintoits

componentparts,sotospeak.Inacertainsensewea111isten

tomusiconthreeseparateplanes.Forlackofabe11ertermino

logy,onemightnamethese:(1)thesensuousplane,(2)thee

xpressiveplane,(3)thesheerlymusicalplane.

Thesimplestwayoflisteningtomusicisto1istenfor

thesheerpleasureofthemusicalsounditse1f.Thatisthe

sensuousplane.Itisthep1aneonwhichwehearmusic

withoutthinking,withoutconsideringitinanyway.One

turnsontheradiowhi1edoingsomethingelseandabsent-mi

nded1ybathesinthesound.Akindofbrainlessbutattract

ivestateofmindisengenderedbythemeresoundappe

a1ofthemusic.

Yes,thesoundappealofmusicisapotentandprimitivef

orce.Thisappealtoeverynormalhumanbeingisseif—

evident.Thesensuousplaneisanimportantoneinmusic,av

eryimportantone,butitdoesnotconstitutethewho1est

ory.

Thereis,however,suehathingasbecomingmores

ensitivetothedifferentkindsofsoundstuffasuse

dbyvariouscomposers.Fora11composersdonotusethat

soundstuffinthesameway.Don'tgettheideathatthev

a1ueofmusiciscommensuratewithitssensuousappea

1orthatthe1ove1iestsoundingmusicismadebythe

greatestcomposer.Ifthatwereso,Ravelwouldbeagreate

rcreatorthanBeethoven.Thepointisthattheso

undelementvarieswitheachcomposer,thathisusageofs

oundformsanintegralpartofhisstyleandmustbetak

enintoaccountwhen1istening.Thelistenercansee,therefore,

thatamoreconsciousapproachisva1uab1eevenon

thisprimaryp1aneofmusiclistening.

Thesecondplaneonwhichmusicexistsiswhat

Ihaveca11edtheexpressiveone.Myownbe1iefis

thata1Imusichasanexpressivepower,somemoreands

ome1ess,butthata11musichasacertainmeaningbehi

ndthenotesandthatthemeaningbehindthenotescons

titutes,afteralLwhatthepieceissaying,whatthepiece

isabout.Thiswholeprob1emcanbestatedquitesimplyb

yasking,“Isthereameaningtomusic?”Myanswertothat

wouldbe,uYes."And"Canyoustateinsomanywordswha11he

meaningis?”MyanswertothatwouIdbe,6tNo.9,Therein

liesthediffieuIty.

Simple-mindedsouIswillneverbesatisfiedwitht

heanswertothesecondofthesequestions.Theyalways

wantmusictohaveameaning,andthemoreconcreteitis

thebetterthey1ikeit.Themorethemusicremindst

hemofatrain,astorm,afunera1,oranyotherfami

liarconeeptionthemoreexpressiveitappearstobetothem.

Thispopu1arideaofmusic'smeaning,stimulatedandabe

ttedbytheusua1runofmusica1commentator,

shouldbediscouragedwhereverandwheneveritismet.

Musicexpresses,atdifferentmoments,serenityorexub

erance,regretortriumph,furyordelight.Itexpressese

achofthesemoods,andmanyothers,inanumberles

svarietyofsubt1eshadingsanddifferences.Itmayevene

xpressastateofmeaningforwhichthereexistsno

adequatewordinanylanguage.Inthatcase,musiciansof

ten1iketosaythatithasonlyapure1ymusicalmeanin

g.

Whi1elistening,eachlistenerfee1sforhimse1fthe

specificexpressivequalityofathemeor,similar1y,an

entirepieceofmusic.Andifitisagreatworko

fart,don'texpectittomeanexactlythesamethingtoyou

eachtimeyoureturntoit.

Themesorpiecesneednotexpressonlyoneemotion,ofc

ourse.TakesuchathemeasthefirstmainoneoftheNint

hSymphony,forexample.Itisc1earlymadeupofdiffer

entelements.Itdoesnotsayonlyonething.

Now,perhaps,thereaderwi11knowbetterwhatImean

whenIsaythatmusicdoeshaveanexpressivemean

ingbutthatwecannotsayinsomanywordswhatthatm

eaningis.

Thethirdplaneonwhichmusicexistsisthesheer1ym

usica1plane.Besidesthepleasurablesoundofmusican

dtheexpressivefeelingthatitgivesoff,musicdoesexist

intermsofthenotesthemselvesandoftheirmanipu1ati

on.Most1istenersarenotsufficientlyconsciousofthist

hirdp1ane.

Itisveryimportantfora11ofustobeeomemore

alivetomusiconitssheerlymusicalplane.Afterall,anactua1m

usica1materialisbeingused.Theinte1ligentlistener

mustbepreparedtoincreasehisawarenessofthemusica1

materia1andwhathappenstoit.Hemusthearthe

melodies,therhythms,theharmonies,thetoneco1orsina

moreconsciousfashion.Butaboveallhemust,inorderto

followthelineofthecomposer'sthought,knowsomet

hingoftheprinciplesofmusicalform.Listeningto

a11oftheseelementsislisteningonthesheerlymusica1p

1ane.

Ihavesplitupmechanica11ythethreehypothetical,separate

p1anesonwhichwe1istenmerelyforthesakeofgreaterc1arit

y.Actually,weneverlistenononeortheotherofthet

hreeplanes.Whatwedoistocorre1atethem——listeningin

a11threewaysatthesametime.Ittakesnomentalef

fort,forwedoitinstinctively.

Inasense,theidea11istenerisbothinsideandout

sidethemusicatthesamemoment,judgingitandenjoyingit,

wishingitwouldgoonewayandwatchingitgoanother---

aImost1ikethecomposeratthemomenthecomposesit；

becauseinordertowritehismusic,thecomposermusta

1sobeinsideandoutsidehismusic,carriedawaybyita

ndyetcold1ycritica1ofit.Asubjectiveattitudei

simpliedinbothcreatingandlisteningtomusic.

Whatthe1istenershou1dstrivefor,thenisamoreact

ivekindoflistening.Whetheryou1istentoMozartorDuke

E11ington,youcandeepenyourunderstandingofmus

iconlybybeingamoreconsciousandaware1istener

notsomeonewhoisjust1ist