PETS2是中下級，相當於普通高中優秀畢業生的英語水平(此級別筆試合格成績可替代自學考試專科階段英語(一)、文憑考試基礎英語考試成績)。以下是yjbys網小編整理的關於公共英語考試PETS二級閱讀練習，供大家備考。
There are many different kinds of peaches (桃). One clear difference is the one between clingstone一fruit in which the flesh is stuck to the seed inside—and freestone一that in which the seed floats freely. Customers prefer freestone peaches because they don’t want to struggle to get the flesh away from the seed.
And that’s how it goes in stone fruit land. Plant breeders (培育者) are trying all the time to improve the old favorites. Frequently, the changes are designed to meet the demands of the growers or packers. One very delicious family of peach varieties has nearly disappeared because it forms a small “beak”at the bottom of the fruit. That little point is likely to break during packing and shipping, o-pening the door to spoilage (腐爛).
This is certainly not to say that the wants of customers are not important. In fact, they drive some of the most important changes. One thing customers like is red—lots of red. Peaches used to be prized for golden skin; now people are buying red, regarding it as a sign of ripeness.
But red has a hold on people. There’s a story told by those in the stone fruit industry about a marketing experiment. A group of people were given two peaches:one a fairly tasteless red variety, the other a great-tasting gold. Sitting around, tasting and talking about the fruit, the group all agreed that the gold was a much better peach and that was the one they would buy. Then, on the way out the door, they were offered boxes of peaches as a thank-you gift. One held the preferred golden fruit, the other the red. To a person, they picked the red fruit to take home. Red sells.
does the word“stone” mean in the text?
[A] The hard seed inside a fruit.
[B] Containers that packers use.
[C] Small rocks found in the fields.
[D] Soft beaks at the bottom of the fruit.
do plant breeders try hard to improve peaches?
[A] To get better shaped fruit.
[B] To meet the needs of growers.
[C] To make peaches taste better.
[D] To have a better chance for prizes.
do people like to buy red fruit?
[A] They believe it is ripe.
[B] It sells cheaper than gold.
[C] It is usually more delicious.
[D] They know it is an improved variety.
can we learn about the peach-tasting group in the last paragraph?
[A] They were experts on marketing.
[B] They took home golden peaches.
[C] They agreed about the taste of peaches.
[D] They said they would buy the red peaches.
答案與解析：
1. 選A。該題屬於推斷題。stone的本意是“石頭”，但結合本文關於桃子的.描述，可以推斷出它指的是桃子中間的部分，Brthe hard seed in-side a fruit”。
2. 選B。該題屬於細節題。從文章第二段第二句“the changes are designed to meet the demands of the growers or packers”可得出答案。
3. 選A。該題屬於細節題。從文章第三段最後一句“now people are buying red, regarding it as a sign of ripeness”可以得出答案。
4. 選C。該題屬於細節題。此題可以用排除法解答，A選項中，他們並不是專家，而是被實驗者，B、D選項不符合文中的表達，可排除。
