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2014年9月全國英語等級考試二級真題(閱讀)

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轉眼2016下半年公共英語考試即將來臨,不少同學也正在準備2016下半年公共英語考試,但也有不少同學表示在網上買的真題沒有2014-2016年的真題,下面yjbys網小編將公共英語考試的歷年真題都進行彙總。2016年3月的PETS真題已經整理出來,今天再將2014年9月的PETS-2級真題整理好,提前助大家順利備考、複習。

2014年9月全國英語等級考試二級真題(閱讀)

  閱讀理解A:

閱讀下列短文,從每題所給的A、B、C.和D.四個選項中,選出最佳選項,並在答題卡上將該項塗黑。

Text 1

The first time I heard the actual London Bridge was in Lake Havasu City, Arizona, I thought it was a joke. A stupid joke at that. I mean, what sort of moron would take a perfectly good, perfectly famous bridge and move it halfway around the world to some no-name town in northwest Arizona? Back in 1962 when all this started, Lake Havasu City was nothing. A couple of shops, a couple of homes, and no tourism at all.

It turns out Robert McCulloch is the moron in question, and he wasn' t quite the moron I thought he was. His 2.45 million dollar investment( 投資 ) in the 130-year-old bridge--which the British government was selling because it was about to fall into the Thames (泰晤士河)--ended up being the investment of a lifetime. You see McCulloch was a real businessman, among other things, and his money paid off big. He turned Lake Havasu into one of the most visited tourist at- tractions in Arizona.

It took nine long years to take down the bridge, ship it brick by brick to the middle of no- where, and build it up again. When it finally did open up in 1971, it was a huge deal covered by the international press.

The bridge is now a popular tourist attraction, and there' s even a mini "English Village" at the foot of the bridge with souvenirs( 紀念品 ) and real British food so you can have a good old time.

Nowadays Lake Havasu is a busy town with a population of about 56,000 citizens and another2.5 million visitors each year. Most of that is during spring break when the town overflows with energetic boys and girls. Even MTV and the Girls Gone Wild people get in on the action. All thanks to that little bridge.

I don' t know about you, but I' m saving my pennies. When the French get sick of that Eiffel tower, I' ll be the first to put money on it. It' ll look great in my backyard.

56. The underlined word "moron" in the first paragraph means________.

A. a brave person

B. a foolish person

C. a famous person

D. a strange person

57. Why did the British government put the London Bridge up for sale?

A. It polluted the Thames.

B. It was no longer popular.

C. It was going to fall down.

D. It could bring them the needed money.

58. What was Lake Havasu City like before 19627________.

A. It was a good place for investment.

B. It was known for its English Village.

C. It was a small town with no tourism.

D. It had a population of 56,000 citizens.

the last paragraph, the author tries to be________.

A. polite

B. friendly

C. practical

D. humorous

閱讀理解B:

Studies over the past decade at the University of Utah show that hands-free cellphones are just as harmful to drivers as hand-held ones because it is the conversation, not the phone, that is distracting(分散) their attention. "Even though your eyes are looking right at something, when you are on the cellphone, you are not as likely to see it," says Professor David Strayer. "Ninety- nine percent of the time, it' s not that critical(危機的), but that 1% could be the time a child runs into the street," he adds.

Dr. Strayer' s studies have also found that talking on a cellphone is far more distracting than talking with a passenger. Listening to the radio, to music or to a book on tape also isn' t as distracting, because it doesn' t require the same level of interaction as a conversation. But even drivers may miss some details of a book on tape if their attention is focused on driving tasks. some people can train themselves to pay extra attention to things that are important--like police officers learn to search faces in crowds.

And the Utah researchers have found a rare group of "super-taskers"--about 2.5 % of the pop-ulation--who seem able to attend to more than one thing with ease.

Many more people think they can effectively do several things at the same time, but they are really turning their attention rapidly between two things and not getting the full effect of either. Clearly, it is easier to put some tasks together than others. "Not all distractions are the same," says Dr. Strayer. Things like cleaning and working out can be done automatically(自動的) while the mind is focused elsewhere. But doing homework and texting at the same time isn' t possible. Even talking and watching TV is difficult. "Just try talking with your wife while watching football. It' s impossible," jokes Dr. Strayer.

60. What is the first paragraph mainly about?

A. The harm in using phones while driving.

B. The advantages of hand-held phones.

C. The danger of running in the street.

D. The causes of road accidents.

61. What does the example of police officers in Paragraph 2 show?A. Searching for faces require more attention than driving.

B. Talking to a crowd calls for a high level of attention.C. one' s attention can be easily distracted in crowds.

D. The ability to attend to two tasks can be trained.

62. "Super-taskers" can be best described as people who can________.

A. do several things effectively at the same time

B. turn their attention rapidly to two things

C. handle all difficult tasks with ease

D. pay full attention to one task

h of the following can you do while talking on the phone?

g homework.

B. Writing a letter.

C. Working out.

D. Watching TV.

閱讀理解C:

Young women who take part in beauty contests(比賽) are helping to keep alive an outdated o-pinion of women : that a woman' s most important value is how she looks.

Women have been working very hard through the years to change their image (形象). They have been trying to prove that the value of a woman does not lie only in her beauty. The world is just beginning to recognize that women are as smart, wise and strong in personality as men are, and that there are qualities more important than looks when judging people. When women take part in beauty contests for top prizes, they encourage people to value them for their beauty alone. It is un- fair to say that beauty alone determines one' s worth.

Beauty contests not only encourage spectators(觀眾) to judge women by their appearance, but they encourage this idea in the contestants as well. These young women spend months losing weight to be the "right" size and learning how to dress, wear makeup, and walk just right so that some judges will consider them beautiful. I think it' s great for a woman to feel good about her appear- ance, but looks shouldn't be sought after in an extreme or unreasonable way. There are too many other, more important, things in a young woman' s life: learning, developing friendships and preparing for their future work and perhaps a family.

As long as there are beauty contests, women won't be fully recognized as well-rounded human beings.

64. According to the text, women have tried to change their image by_______.

A. proving they are as good as men

B. paying attention to their clothes

C. winning more beauty contests

D. encouraging people to value their beauty

65. What do women usually do in preparation for beauty contests?

A. Leam about their personality.

B. Do everything for their bodies.

C. Choose the right size dresses.

D. Develop friendship with spectators.

can we infer from the text?

A. Looks determine everything.

B. Wisdom carries much weight.

C. Spectators should have their voices heard.

D. Qualities other than looks are more important.

67. According to the author, beauty contests are

A. disrespectful to womenB. unpleasant to contestants

C. necessary for modem society D. helpful in improving women' s image

閱讀理解D:

It is late at night and you are still awake. Should you take a sleeping pill( 藥片) ? People who take medicine often come to depend on it. so you lie awake knowing that the new work day will soon arrive. If this happens to you for at least one month, you may have insonmia, or sleeping problems, at an early stage. There are millions of you.., us... around the world.

A new study led by Eric Nofzinger and Daniel Buysse of the University of Pittsburgh Medical School has found that you might fall asleep quicker and stay asleep longer if you try "cerebral hypo- thermia", which just means cooling down your brain. They examined twelve people who had in- somnia and twelve others who had no sleep problems. Each of them wore a soft plastic cap on their heads at bed time.

The caps had tubes(軟管 ) inside filled with water. The researchers moved the water through the tubes and then changed the temperature of the water. As other studies showed that people who had trouble sleeping often had more chemical reactions ( 反應) in the front of their brains, the researchers thought lowering the temperature of the brain might help.

For the first two nights of testing, the patients wore no water caps. During the next two nights, the caps were worn, but the water was not cooled. Then the researchers cooled the water a little for two nights. on the final two nights of the study, the temperature of the water was made much cooler.

The researchers found that the water caps did not help the insomnia patients until the tempera- ture was about 140C. Most of the patients fell asleep faster and slept better when the coolest water was moving around their heads,

68. People might suffer from an early stage of insomnia if they

A. become dependent on drugs

B. need to take medicine before sleep

C. stay up late worrying about their jobs

D. have difficulty falling asleep over a month

69. How can people' s sleeping be improved according to the study?

A. Control the brain temperature.

B. Put plastic caps on at the right time.

C. Wear caps made of proper materials.D. Limit the cups of water taken in each day.

70. How many days did the researchers test insomnia patients?

A. Two days.

B. Four days.

C. Six days.

D. Eight days.

71. What might be the best title for the text?

A. How Researchers Discovered a New Use of Water

B. How Cooling the Brain May Help People Sleep

C. What People Need for a Good Night' s Sleep

D. What Happens in the Human Brain at Night

閱讀理解E:

Eating Etiquette

What should you do or not do when you are eating in Britain?

The British generally pay a lot of attention to good table manners. Even young children are expected to eat properly with knives and forks.

We eat most of our food with cutlery. The foods we don' t eat with a knife, fork or spoon in- clude sandwiches and fruit.

Things you should do

If you cannot eat a certain type of food or have some special needs, tell your host several days before the dinner party.

If you are a guest, it is polite to wait until your host starts eating or invites you to do so. It shows consideration.

Always chew(咀嚼) and swallow(吞噬 ) all the food in your mouth before taking more or taking a drink.

Always say thank you when served something. It shows your gratefulness.

You may eat things like chicken with your fingers if you are having a picnic with friends or in very informal settings. Otherwise always use a knife and fork.

When eating bread rolls, break off a piece before buttering. Eating it whole shows poor formal dining occasions (場合) it is good manners to take some butter from the butter dish with your bread knife and put it on your side plate. Then butter pieces of the roll using this butter.

This prevents the butter in the dish getting full of small pieces of bread as it is passed around. In a restaurant, it is normal to pay for your food by putting your money on the plate the bill comes on.

72. Who will find the text most helpful?

A. Host families.

B. British travelers.

C. Newcomers in Britain.

D. Waiters in a restaurant.

73. Which of the following can be considered proper table manners in Britain?

A. Cutting butter into small pieces.

B. Eating fruits with a knife and fork.

C. Waiting for the hosts to start first.

D. Taking a drink while having food.

74. When eating bread rolls in formal settings, you are advised to eat them

butter

B. piece by piece

C. with your fingers

D. on your side plate

75. The underlined word "cutlery" in the text refers to

A. salt

B. knife, fork or spoon

C. drinks

D. butter, cheese or cream

  參考答案:

閱讀理解 Text l

第一次聽說真正的倫敦塔橋是在美國的亞利桑那州的哈瓦索湖城,我認為這是一個笑話。一個非常愚蠢的笑話。我的意思是一座完美絕倫的著名塔橋怎麼會從倫敦被移至有半個地球之遠的美國西北部的亞利桑那州——還是一個沒有什麼名氣的小鎮,這是多麼傻的一個人!追溯至l962年,哈瓦索湖城不名一文,當時只是一個只有幾家商店,幾戶人家,根本談不上旅遊的一個小鎮。

事實證明,羅伯特·麥卡洛克在這件事情上並不是我當初所認為的那樣——是一個花了245萬美元買下了這座擁有l30年歷史的塔橋的傻子。因為當初的倫敦塔橋快要沉入泰晤士河.所以英國政府決定出售它。從這件事上,你就會發現麥卡洛克是一個真正的商人,他的投資得到巨大的回報。他把哈瓦索湖城變成了亞利桑那州的一個最有吸引力的旅遊景點之一。

拆卸倫敦塔橋用了9年的時間,隨後用船裝運每一塊磚石抵達哈瓦索湖城,倫敦塔橋在那兒重新建起,工程於1971年結束。這起事件曾被國際新聞大肆報道。

現在位於哈瓦索湖城的倫敦塔橋是一個很受歡迎的旅遊景點,在大橋的底端還有一座迷你的“英國村”,在那兒你可以買到紀念品,甚至能品嚐到地道的英國菜,你還可以度過一段懷舊的快樂時光。

如今,哈瓦索湖城已成為一座擁有5.6萬市民的繁華小鎮,每年都有250萬名遊客到此旅遊。尤其是每年春假期間,鎮中到處都是青春洋溢的年輕遊客。甚至狂野女孩的MTV也在此拍攝。所有這一切都歸功於這座倫敦塔橋。

我不瞭解你,但是我是一個節儉之人。但是如果法國人對埃菲爾鐵塔厭煩想出售的話,我會是第一個出錢買下它的人,從而使它在我的後花園裡大發光彩。

56.B【精析】語義題。題幹意為“在第一段中,加下劃線的單詞moron是什麼意思?”。根據上下文和常識,我們知道倫敦塔橋是屬於英國的,怎麼可能在美國的亞利桑那州出現呢,這是多麼傻的一個人。故B正確。

57.C【精析】細節題。題幹意為“為什麼英國政府要出售倫敦塔橋?”。根據第二段第二句中間部分表述:英國政府因為倫敦塔橋沉陷,所以出售。在文中可以找到原句。故C正確。

58.C【精析】細節題。題幹意為“1962年前哈瓦索湖城是什麼樣子的?”。根據第一段的最後一句話可以得知,當時只有幾家商店、幾戶人家,沒有旅遊業。故C正確。

59.D 【精析】推理題。題千意為“最後一段作者試圖表現得________。”。根據最後一段,我們可以看出作者非常幽默,法國人不可能對菲爾鐵塔厭煩,還有個人也沒有那麼多錢去購買埃菲爾鐵塔,這一切都是作者的想象和幽默。故D正確。

閱讀理解 Text 2

在過去的十年中,猶他州大學進行的一項研究表明:司機開車時,擴音電話和手拿電話對司機的危害一樣大,因為分散他們注意力的不是是否手拿手機,而是電話內容。大衛·斯特雷耶教授說:“當你接電話時,即使你的眼睛是看著某個物體的,但是你的注意力不在,所以你視若無睹。…‘也就是說,在你接電話的99%的時間裡都是不危急的,但是還有1%的時間恰好是一個孩子衝向馬路的時間。”他補充道。

斯特雷耶教授的研究還發現打電話時所分散的注意力遠遠超過和乘客講話時所分散的注意力。在開車時聽收音機、音樂或者聽磁帶評書也比不上打電話時所分散的.注意力,因為這些活動不需要像打電話那樣互動。當然,司機集中精力開車時,也可能會錯過一些評書細節。有一些人通過訓練能夠分出額外的注意力在一些重要的事情上——警官們就學會了邊開車邊在人群中尋找目標。

猶他州大學的調查者們發現了一小群“超級任務者”——約佔人口2.5%,這類人能夠很輕鬆地把注意力放在幾件事情上。

很多人認為他們能在同一時間有效地做幾件事,實際上是他們的注意力在這幾件事情上快速轉換,而不是在每一件事情上能同時投入全部注意力。顯然,把一些任務放在一起注意比其他方法更容易。斯特雷耶教授說:“不是所有干擾都是一樣的。”當你的注意力在其他事情上時,也能自動地做像打掃衛生和鍛鍊這樣的事情。但是同時既做家庭作業和測試是不可能的。甚至邊講話邊看電視也是一件困難的事。“你只要試試在看足球比賽時和妻子講話,你就會發現這是不可能辦到。”斯特雷耶教授開玩笑說道。

60.A【精析】主旨題。題幹意為“第一段主要講什麼?”。從文章第一段第一句話可以看出,這是一句主題句,概述了第一段的內容:開車打電話是有危險的。故A正確。

61.D【精析】推理題。題幹意為“第二段中警官的例子說明什麼?”。從文章第二段最後一句話“some people can train themselves to payextra attention to things that are important--like police officers learnto search faces in crowds.”可以得知,這種能力是通過“train them—selves”獲得的。故D正確。

62.A【精析】推理題。題幹意為“ers最適合被描述成能幹什麼的人?”。從文章內容來看,在第三段“seem able to attend tomore than one thing with ease”,有能力輕鬆地把注意力放在幾件事情上的人。放A正確。

63.C【精析】推理題。題幹意為“在你講電話時能做哪件事?”。從文章最後一段的第四句可知,當你的注意力在其他事情上時,也能自動地做像打掃衛生和鍛鍊這樣的事情。故C正確。

閱讀理解 Text3 試題答案及解析

年輕的女性參加選美比賽使得人們一直認為:一個女性最重要的就是外貌。

多年來女性一直努力工作去改變她們的形象。她們一直試圖去證明女性的價值不僅只侷限於美貌。全世界開始認同,在評價人們的時候,女性像男性那樣,通過對個性方面如聰明、智慧以及強大來說明這些品質比外貌更重要。當女性參加選美比賽爭奪冠軍時,她們鼓勵人們單從外貌去評價。而通過外貌決定一個人的價值這是不公平的。

選美比賽不但鼓勵觀眾以貌取人,而且還把這種觀念傳遞給了參賽者。這些年輕的參賽者們為了達到評委們所說的漂亮,花數月時間去減肥,以期達到所謂的標準身材,並且學習如何穿衣、化妝、走臺步。我認為對女性來說感覺自己長得不錯是很棒的,但並不是要用極端或不合理的方式去追求外貌美。在年輕女性的一生中有著很多的其他重要事情要做:學習、交友、為未來的工作或家庭做準備。

只要有選美比賽存在,女性就不可能被作為一個全面發展的人來評價。

64.A【精析】推理題。題幹意為“根據文章,女性試圖通過什麼去改變她們的形象?”。由文章第二段第一句和第二句,可以推斷出女性通過證明和男性一樣通過品質來判斷自身價值,從而來改變女性的形象。故A正確。

65.B【精析】細節題。題幹意為“女性常常做什麼來為選美比賽做準備?”。依據第三段第二句文章所陳述的“These young womenspend months losing weight to be the‘right’size and learning how todress,wear makeup,and walk just fight…”,故B正確。

66.D【精析】推理題。題幹意為“從文章我們能推理出什麼?”。根據文章內容,我們可以推斷出作者是不贊成選美比賽的,因為選美比賽都是以貌取人,而不是根據品質評價女性。故D正確。

67.A【精析】推理題。題幹意為“根據作者,選美比賽是________”。根據文章最後一段,作者認為只要有選美比賽存在,女性就不可能被作為一個全面發展的人來看待。所以這是一種不尊重女性

的行為,故A正確。

閱讀理解 Text4

夜已深,你仍然醒著。你應該吃一片安眠的藥嗎?經常吃安眠的藥的人會逐漸依賴藥物,因此你會躺在床上夜不能寐等待著新一天的工作的到來。如果這種情況你持續至少一個月的時間的話,你可能患上初期的失眠症或者是睡眠障礙。在世界上有上百萬的人面臨這樣的問題。

匹茲堡醫學院的埃裡克·諾夫辛格和丹尼爾·伯伊斯實施了一項新研究,研究發現如果你嘗試“頭部低溫療法”——降低大腦的溫度,你有可能更快速地入睡並保持長時間的睡眠。他們對l2個有失眠症和l2個沒有睡眠障礙的人進行試驗。給他們每一個人在睡覺的時候都戴上一個柔軟的塑料帽子:

帽子裡有注滿水的軟管。研究者們通過軟管讓水在裡面流動,然後改變水的溫度。通過其他的研究表明患有失眠症的患者在他們的大腦前部分有更多的化學反應,所以研究者認為降低大腦溫度對睡眠有幫助。

在測試開始後頭兩個晚上,病人們戴著沒有注水的帽子睡覺;在接下來的兩個晚上。病人們戴上了注水後的帽子,但水溫沒有降低;又過了兩晚上,研究者們降低了一點帽子裡的水溫;在實驗的最後兩個晚上,水溫被降得更低了。

研究者們發現直到水的溫度降至l4℃才對那些有失眠症的患者有幫助。絕大多數患者在最冷的水在他們頭周圍流動時,他們的睡眠速度更快且睡眠狀態更好。

68.D【精析】細節題。題幹意為“人們可能患上了早期失眠症,假如他們…”。從文章第一段倒數第二句話“If this happens to you for alleast one month,you may have…”可以得知,有這種症狀至少一個月。故D正確。

69.A【精析】推理題。題幹意為“根據這項研究,人們的睡眠如何得以改善?”。由文章所提到的cerebral hypothermia(頭部低溫療法)這個實驗推理得知。故A正確。

70.D【精析】推理題。題幹意為“研究者們對失眠病人一共測試了多少天?”。由文章第四段,一共是分四個兩晚上進行的實驗,也就是說一共實驗八天。故D正確。

71.B【精析】推理題。題幹意為“這篇文章的標題是什麼?”。根據文中的實驗過程及結果,我們可以推出降低大腦溫度對睡眠有幫助。故B正確。

閱讀理解 Text 5

Text 5就餐禮儀在英國就餐時什麼該做什麼不該做?英國人一般比較注重餐桌禮儀,甚至是小孩子也被要求正確使用刀又。

我們吃的絕大部分食物需要用餐具,但是三明治和水果我們不能使用刀叉或勺子。

你應該做的:

如果你不能吃某種食物或有一些特別需求,一定要在宴會開始的前幾天告知主人。

假如你去做客,讓主人先吃或等主人邀請後再吃,這是禮貌。這也是對主人的一種尊重。

在拿取更多的食物或喝飲料之前要咀嚼和吞嚥掉你嘴裡的所有食物。

在別人為你服務時.總是說謝謝,表明你的感激之情。

如果你正和一群朋友野餐或在一個不是很正式的環境下用餐,你可以用手拿著吃一些東西,像雞肉。如果是正式場合,一定要用刀叉。

在正式場合吃麵包卷時,一定要先撕開面包後再塗黃油。把麵包卷整個吃下會讓人覺得你的品位很差。在正式場合,正確的禮儀是用你的麵包刀從黃油碟子裡取黃油,然後放在你盤子的一邊,然後用撕下的麵包捲來蘸黃油。這樣避免了黃油盤子裡到處都是麵包屑。在餐館內,吃完飯結賬時,把錢放在盤子裡是正常的。

72.C【精析】推理題。題幹意為“誰將會發現這篇文章特別有用?”。由文章來看,文章是給剛到英國,還不是很瞭解英國的人看的。故C正確。

73.C【精析】細節題。題幹意為“下面哪項被認為在英國是恰當的餐桌禮儀?”。由第四段中“If you are a guest,it is polite to wait untilyour host starts eating of invites you to do so.”可知,假如你去做客,讓主人先吃或等主人邀請後再吃,這是禮貌。故C正確。

74.B【精析】細節題。題幹意為“在正式場合中吃麵包卷,你被建議怎麼吃才禮貌?”。從文章第八段第一句“When eating bread rolls,break off a piece before buttering.”可知,吃麵包卷時,應該撕下一片然後蘸黃油吃。故B正確。

75.B【精析】語義題。題幹意為“文中加下劃線的單詞cutlery指什麼?”。從文章第二段“We eat most of our food with oods we don’t eat with a knife,fork or spoon including sandwichesand fruit.”可知,前後兩句是對比關係,所以得出結論cutlery是餐具的意思,故B正確。