2016年公共英语二级阅读理解专项训练题

　　In the 1900's, American townspeople usually washed and brushed their teeth and combed their hair in the kitchen. Or they kept a water pitcher (大水罐)and a wash basin in their rooms and took care of these things there.

　　The bathtub was a wash tub(澡盆)filled with water from the stove. If you were small enough you could sit down by drawing your knees to your chest. Otherwise, you washed yourself standing up. Often all the women and girls in the family bathed together. Then the men and boys did. In most families this was Saturday night because Sundays they went to church.

　　A small number of families did have running water. But that depended on whether there was a water system where they lived and on whether they could afford the plumbing(水管设施). Some people had bathtubs in their homes as early as 1895. But many others did not have their first bath in a bathtub until 1910 or later when they were fifteen or sixteen ?years old.?

　　56?In the first paragraph, "took care of" means "".

　　[A] kept [B] looked after [C] used [D] kept and used

　　57. In order to use the water from the stove, there be a pipe connecting the tub with the stove.

　　[A] must [B] seemed to [C] needn't [D] should

　　58. Which of the following statements is true?

　　[A] Males and females in the family took turns using the bathtub.

　　[B] Some bathtubs were big enough for many people to bathe in at the same time.

　　[C] All the women and girls of a family could bathe together standing up in the tub.

　　[D] When several family members bathed together, they did not use the bathtub.

　　59. Americans owned a bathtub as early as 1895.

　　[A] Many [B] Not all [C] All [D] Few

　　60. We can infer(推断)that the plumbing at that time.

　　[A] cost little

　　[B] was more expensive than a water system

　　[C] was too expensive for every family to afford

　　[D] was not necessary

　　CARIFF, Wales poets, singers and musicians from across the globe gathered Wales to celebrate the tradition(传统)of storytelling. "It might seem strange that people still want to listen to instead of watching television, but this is an unusual art form whose time has come again, "said David Amibrose, director of Beyond the Border, an international storytelling festival(节)in Wales.

　　"Some of the tales, like those of the Inuit from Canada, are thousands years old. So our storytellers have come from distant lands to connect us with the distance of time. " he said early this month. Two Inuit women, both in their mid 60s, are among the few remaining who can do Kntadjait, or throat singing, which has few words and much sound.

　　Their art is governed by the cold of their surroundings, forcing them to say little but listen attentively. Ambrose started the festival in 1993, after several years of working with those reviving (coming back into use or existence)storytelling in Wales.

　　"It came out of a group of people who wanted to reconnect with traditions and as all the Welsh are storytellers, it was in good hands here." Ambrose said.

　　61. Ambrose believes that the art of storytelling.

　　[A] will be more popular than TV [B] will be popular again

　　[C] started in Wales [D] are in the hands of some old people

　　62. From the tales told by the Inuit, people can learn.

　　[A] about their life as early as thousands of years ago

　　[B] why they tell the stories in a throat singing way

　　[C] how cold it has been where the Inuit live

　　[D] how difficult it is to understand the Inuit

　　63. According to the writer, which of the following is not true?

　　[A] Storytelling once stopped in Wales.

　　[B] Storytelling has a long history in Wales.

　　[C] Storytelling is always well received in Wales.

　　[D] Storytelling did not come back until 1993 in Wales.

　　64. The underlined phrase in good hands means.

　　[A] controlled by rich people [B] grasped by good storytellers

　　[C] taken good care of [D] protected by kind people

　　Greek soldiers sent messages by turning their shields(盾)toward the sun. The flashes reflected light could be seen several miles away. The enemy did not know what the flashes meant, but other Greek soldiers could understand the messages.

　　Roman soldiers in some places built long rows of signal towers. When they had a message to send, the soldiers shouted it from tower to tower. If there were enough towers and enough soldiers with loud voices, important news could be sent quickly over distance.

　　In Africa, people learned to send messages by beating on a series of large drums(鼓). Each drum was kept within hearing distance of the next one. The drum beats were sent out in a special way that all the drummers understood. Though the messages were simple, they could be sent at great speed for hundreds of miles.

　　In the eighteenth century, a French engineer found a new way to send short messages. In this way, a person held a flag in each hand and the arms were moved to various positions representing different letters of the alphabet. It was like spelling out words with flags and arms.

　　Over a long period of time, people sent messages by all these different ways. However, not until the telephone was invented in America in the nineteenth century could people send speech sounds over a great distance in just a few seconds.

　　65. According to this passage, the Roman way of communication depended very much upon .

　　[A] fine weather [B] high tower

　　[C] the spelling system [D] arm movements

　　66. Which of the following statements is true?

　　[A] Neither the Greek soldiers nor their enemy could understand the message.

　　[B] African soldiers shouted from tower to tower to pass message.

　　[C] Telephone was invented by a French engineer.

　　[D] Only by using telephone could people send speech sounds quickly.

　　67. The African way of communication sent messages.

　　[A] in a special way [B] over a very short distance

　　[C] by a musical instrument [D] at a rather slow speed

　　68. The way of communication made use of visible signs.