2013年职称英语等级考试用书（理工类）阅读理解部分注:1、+表示A级文章;・表示B级文章;其他为C级文章;阅读下面的短文每篇短文的后面有5个问题,每个问题有4个备选答案请根据短文的内容选择正确的答案第一篇 Ford Abandons Electric Vehicles1The Ford motor companyJ s abandonment of electric cars effectively signals the end of the road for the technology, analysts say.2 3General Motors and Honda ceased production of battery-powered4 cars in 1999, to focus on fuel cell and hybrid electric gasoline5engines , which are more attractive to the consumer. Ford hasnow announced it will do the same.Three years ago, the company introduced the Think City two-seater car and a golf cart called the THINK or Think6 _Neighbor . It hoped to sell 5, 000 cars each year and 10, 000 carts.But a lack of demand means only about 1, 000 of the cars have been produced, and less than 1, 700 carts have been sold so far in 2002.7“The bottom line is we don' t believe that this is the futureof environment transport for the mass market, " Tim Holmes of Ford Europe said on Friday. "We feel we have given electric our best shot. " The Think City has a range of only about 53 miles and up to a six-hour battery recharge time. General MotorsJ EVI electric vehicle also had a limited range, of about 100 miles.The very expensive batteries also mean electric cars cost much9more than petrol-powered alternatives. An electric Toyota RAV4EV vehicle costs over $42,000 in the US, compared with just10$17, 000 for the petrol version. Toyota and Nissan are now theonly major auto manufacturers to produce electric vehicles.uThere is a feeling that battery electric has been given its11chance. Ford now has to move on with its hybrid program , andthat is what we will be judging them on, “ Roger Higman, a senior transport campaigner at UK Friends of the Earth, told the Environment News Service.Hybrid cars introduced by Toyota and Honda in the past few years have sold well. Hybrid engines offer greater mileage than petrol-only engines, and the batteries recharge themselves. Ford says it thinks such vehicles will help it meet planned new12 13guidelines on vehicle emissions in the US.However t it is not yet clear exactly what those guidelines will14permit. In June, General Motors and Daimler Chrysler won acourt injunction, delaying by two years Californian legislation requiring car-makers to offer 100,000 zero-emission and other low-emission vehicles in the state by 2003. Car manufacturers hope the legislation will be rewritten to allow for more low-emission, rather than zero-emission, vehicles.词汇:hybrid / 5haibrid/n.杂种,混合物 adj.杂种 injunction / in5dVQNkFEn/n.命令:指令 mileage / SmallIdV/n.英里数,英里里程注释:1. The Ford motor company:福特汽车公司。
Henry Ford （1863—1947） 美国汽车制造商,他改进了以汽油为燃料的汽车,成立了福特汽车公司（1903年）,并大量生产旳早的大众负担得起且广泛使用的T型车2. General Motors:美国通用汽车公司3. Honda:日本本田汽车公司4. fuel cell:燃料电池，ー种化学电池5. hybrid electric gasoline engines:电池和内燃机混杂使用的发动机,使用这种发动机的汽车被称为:Hybrid electric vehicles, 或 HEVso6. the company introduced the Think City two-seater car and a golf cart called the THINK, or Think Neighbor:福特汽车公司计划在公司内开发ー种全新的品牌,建立了 Think Group.该研究机构分为两部分:Think Mobility 和 Think Technologieso Think Mobility 开发 the Think City （ー种电动汽车）,Think Neighbor （ー种高尔夫车）,以及Think Bike （ー种电动自行车）〇 Think Technologies开发燃料电池技术。
7. The bottom line is:在此的意思是“the main or essential point",即“关键之处是,实质问题是"8. shot: an attempt, a try （云试）9. Toyota:日本丰田汽车公司10. Nissan:日本日产汽车公司11. hybrid program:指上文提到的电池和内燃机混杂使用的新型汽车开发项目12. guideline:指导方针，规定13. vehicle emissions:车辆排放物14. Daintier Chrysler:戴姆勒克莱斯勒汽车公司德国戴姆勒・奔驰公司集团与克莱斯勒汽车公司合并练习:1. What have the Ford motor company, General Motor' s and Honda done concerning electric cars? A They have started to produce electric cars. B They have done extensive research on electric cars. C They have given up producing electric cars. D They have produced thousands of electric cars.2. According to Tim Holmes of Ford Europe, battery-powered cars A will be the main transportation vehicles in the future. B will not be the main transportation vehicles in the future. C will be good to the environment in the future. D will replace petrol-powered vehicles in the future.3. Which auto manufacturers are still producing electric vehicles? A Toyota and Nissan. B General Motor' s and Honda. C Ford and Toyota. D Honda and Toyata.4. According to the eighth paragraph, hybrid cars A offer fewer mileage than petrol driven cars. B run faster than petrol driven cars. C run more miles than petrol driven cars. D offer more batteries than petrol driven cars.5. Which of the following is true about the hope of car manufacturers according to the last paragraph?A Low-emission cars should be banned.B Only zero-emission cars are allowed to run on motorways. C The legislation will encourage car makers to produce more electric cars.D The legislation will allow more low-emission to be produced.答案与题解:1. C第一段第一个句子告诉我们福特汽车公司放弃了电动汽年,第二段说通运汽年公司和本田汽车公司停止生产电动汽车。
2. B第四段第一个句子是Tim Holmes对电动汽车未来的评价,他认为未来的交通运输的大众市场不可能是电动汽车3. A答案的依据是第六段旳后一句4. C答案的依据是倒数第二段第二句5. D答案的依据是文意的旳后一句:the legislation will be rewritten to allow for more lowemission. rather than zero-emission, vehicleso第二篇 World Crude Oil ProductionMay Peaka Decade Earlier Than Some PredictIn a finding that may speed efforts to conserve oil, scientists in Kuwait predict that world conventional crude oil production will peak in 2014. This prediction is almost a decade earlier than some other predictions. Their study is in ACS, Energy&Fuelsl.Ibrahim Nashawi and colleagues point out that rapid growth in global oil consumption has sparked a growing interest in predicting peak oil . "Peak oil "is the point where oil production reaches a maximum and then declines. Scientists have developed several models to forecast this point, and some put the date at 2020 or later. One of the most famous forecast models is called the Hubbert model2. It assumes that global oil production will follow a bell shaped curve3. A related concept is that4 0f Peak Oi 1. " The term "Peal Oil" indicates the moment in which world wide production Will peak, afterwards to start on irreversible decline.The Hubbert model accurately predicted that oi 1 production would peak in the United States in 1970. The model has since gained in popularity and has been used to forecast oil production worldwide.However, recent studies show that the model is insufficient to account for5 more complex oi1 production cycles of some countries. Those cycles can be heavily influenced by technology changes, politics, and other factors, the scientists say.The new study describes development of a new version of the Hubbert model that provides a more realistic and accurate oil production forecast . Using the new model, the scientists evaluated the oil production trends of 47 major oi 1-producing countries, which supply most of the world' s conventional crude oil6. They estimated that worldwide conventional crude oil production will peak in 2014, years earlier than anticipated. The scientists also showed that the world's oil reserves? are being reduced at a rate of 2. 1 percent a year. The new model could help inform energy-related decisions and public policy debate, they suggest.词汇:Conserve v.保护,保存crude oil 原油spark v.闪耀;激发;鼓舞curve n.曲线irreversible adj.不可逆的,不可改变的 insufficient adj.充分的,不足的注释:1. ACS' Energy & Fuels： ACS 是 American Chemical Society （美国化学学会）的缩写。
该学会成立于1876年,现已成为世界最大的科技协会多年来,ACS一直致カ于为全球化学研究机构、企业及个人提供高品质的文献资讯及服务ACS出版的期刊有34种,这些期刊在化学领域中是被引用次数最多的化学期刊,Energy & Fuels即是其中一本2. the Hubbert model :赫伯特模型是美国地质学家M. King Hubbert 于1956年创建的,这是一个随时间增长的模型,Hubbert将其引入油气田开发,经推导使其成为ー个可以预测油气田累积产量、瞬时产量、年产量和可采储量等多项开发指标的多功能预测模型3. a bell shaped curve：钟形曲线4. that of peak oil： that 指代 concept5. account for：说明,解释6. conventional crude oil:常规原油7. oil reserves：石油储量通常使用复数形式reserves练习:1. Which of the following is closest in meaning to the word “sparked" appearing in paragraph 2?A. flashed B. stimulated C. changed D. ended2. The term "a bell shaped curve" appearing in paragraph 2 indicates that global oil production willA. take the shape of a flat curve.B. keep growing. C. keep declining.D. start to decline after global oi1 production peaks.3. Which of the following is NOT true of the Hubbert model?A. It successfully predicted that oil production peaked in the U. S. in 1 970.B. It has been used to predict oil production in many countries.C. It is insufficient to explain oi 1 production cycles in some countries.D. It provides a very realistic and accurate oil production.4. What is the major achievement of the new study mentioned in the last paragraph?A. It predicts global oil production will peak in 2014.B. It predicts oil production will deciine in 47 countries.C. It confirms further the effectiveness of the Hubbert model.D. It discovers a new trend of Worldwide oil production.5. Who develop the new version of the Hubbert model?A. American scientists.B. Kuwaiti scientists.C. British scientists.D. Scientists of 47 major oi1-producing countries.答案与题解:1. B spark ー词做及物动词使用时有“发动”、〃激发〃的意思,在此意为stimulated,即‘‘引发”,这个句子的意思是:全球石油消费的快速增长已引发了对“石油峰值”预测的兴趣。
2. D此句接下来的句子中所提到的a related concept即是与a bell shaped curve相关的概念,也就是说,接下来的这个句子对a bell shaped curve做了解释,即世界石油生产达到最大峰值后将下降3. D文章的第三段告诉我们,Hubbert预测模型精确地预测到美国石油生产于1970年将达到峰值这ー模型自受到公认后,已用于预测世界石油生产第四段说,这ー模型对于某些国家更加复杂的石油生产周期而言,其计算尚不充分这些生产周期受到技术的改变、政策和其他因素的很大影响所以,A、B和C都是对Hubbert模型的正确说明4. A选项8、C和D所述内容均未在文章中提到最后一段告诉我们, 科学家使用新的模型评估了 47个主要的产油国家的石油生产趋势, 并预计全球常规原油生产到2014年将达最高峰值所以,A是答案5. B短文第一段的第一个句子提供了答案第三篇 Citizen Scientists （C级）Understanding how nature responds to climate change will require monitoring key life cycle event 一 flowering, the appearance of leaves, the first frog calls of the spring — all around the world. But ecologists can' t be everywhere so they' re turning to non-scientists, sometimes called citizen scientists, for help.Climate scientists are not present everywhere. Because there are so many places in the world and not enough scientists to observe all of them, they' re asking for your help in observing signs of climate change across the world. The citizen scientist movement encourages ordinary people to observe a very specif ic research interest — birds, trees, flowers budding, etc. ——and send their observations to a giant database to be observed by professional scientists. This helps a small number of scientists track a large amount of data that they would never be able to gather on their own. Much 1 ike citizen journalists helping large publications cover a hyper-local beat, citizen scientists are ready for the conditions where they live. All that' s needed to become one is a few minutes each day or each week to gather data and send it in.A group of scientists and educators launched an organization last year called the National Phenology Network.“Phenology“ is what scientists call the study of the timing of events in nature.One of the group' s first efforts relies on scientists and non-scientists alike to collect data about plant flowering and leafing every year. The program, called Project BudBurst, collects life cycle data on a variety of common plants from across the United States. People participating in the project — which is open to everyone — record their observations on the Project BudBurst website."People don' t have to be plant experts they just have to look around and see what' s in their neighborhood, " says Jennifer Schwartz, an education consultant with the project. "As we collect this data, we' 11 be able to make an estimate of how plants and communities of plants and animals will respond as the climate changes." 词汇:frog n.蛙 neighbor (u) rhood n.近邻:邻近地区 Ecologist n.生态学家 database n.数据库Phenology n.物候学 professional adj.专业的,职业的;n.职业选手,专业人员bud v.发芽,萌芽;n.芽,花蕾注释:1. life cycle:生命周期,即生物发展过程的系列变化。
2. hyper-local beat: beat在此做名词用,意思是:某类新闻报道, 如,a business beat;商业专题报道这是近年来出现的新词 Hyper-local beat即hyper-local news指的是被传统新闻报道方式所忽略的小型社区或居民居住区里发生的相关信息报道在美国由此而诞生了 hyper-local news website,专门对主流媒体所没有覆盖的地区所发生的事件进行报道,其形式多以网民,即短文中所提及的 citizen journalists,上传所在社区发生的事件报道、照片或视频为主这是网络时代产生的又一新生事物3. data是复数形式,但常用做单数,所以这里的代词是it另参见旳后ー・段“As we collect this data,…”这里的data也用作单数4. phenology:物候学或生物气候学,是气候学和生态学的边缘学科, 主要研究气候环境对生物的影响5. communities:生态学词汇:生物群落,记载比较相似的环境条件下在特定自然区域或环境中生活和互相影响的一群植物和动物练习:1. Ecologists turn to non-scientist citizens for help because they need them A) to provide their personal life cycles. B) to observe the life cycle of plants. C) to collect data of the life cycle of living things. D) to teach children knowledge about climate change.2. What are citizen scientists asked to do? A) To develop a specific research interest and become professional scientists. B) To send their research observations to a professional database. C) To increase their knowledge about climate change. D) To keep a record of their research observations.3. In “All that' s needed to become one … (paragraph?)”, what does the word "one" stands for? A) a citizen journalist. B) a citizen scientist. C) a scientist. D) a citizen.4. What is NOT true of Project BudBurst? A) Only experts can participate in it. B) Everybody can participate in it. C) It collects life cycle data on a variety of common plants. D) It has its own website.5. What is the final purpose of Project BudBurst? A) To study when plants will have their first buds. B) To find out the types of plants in the neighborhood. C) To collect life cycle data on a variety of common plants from across the United States. D) To investigate how plants and animals will respond as the climate changes.答案与题解:1. C第一段和第二段的第一句告诉我们,要在世界范围内观察气候对大自然中生物生命周期的影响,数量有限的科学家不可能足迹遍及天下,为此科学家求助于普通公民的参与。
所以c是正确选择2. B 第一段第二句中 encourage ordinary people to observe…的主语是The citizen scientist movement,即公民参与科学观察的运动所以D不是正确选择A和C不符合文章的句意，因此也不是正确的选择这个句子的大意是:这ー运动鼓励普通公民根据自己的兴趣爱好进行科学观察,并将观察结果送交数据库,让专门领域的科学家做进ー步的观察B正确表达了这个意思3. B one在这里是ー个代词,其前置词是citizen scientists»而 イ、是 citizen journalists, 这里的 one 扌旨的是 one of citizen scientistso所以A、C和D都不是正确选择这个句子的意思是, 只要每天或每星期花上几分钟收集数据并发送出去,就能成为ー个公民科学家4. A文章旳后一段说，这个计划向所有人开放(open to everyone), 所以应选择Ao B. C、D所述内容都在该段中提到5. D C表述的内容是Project Budburst所要做的工作,但其旳终的目的不仅仅是收集数据,而是研究气候变化对生物生命周期的影响。
因此,Dオ是正确答案第四篇 Motoring Technology1. 2 million road deaths worldwide occur each year, plus a further 50 million injuries. To reduce car crash rate, much research now is focused on safety and new fuels. — though some1electric vehicle and biofuel research aims at going faster.2Travelling at speed has always been risky. One cutting edge areaof research in motoring safety is the use of digital in-car3 .assistants . They can ensure you don' t miss crucial road signsor fall asleep. The use of artificial intelligence software allows these assistants to monitor your driving and makes sure your phone or radio doesn' t distract you at a vital moment. Most crashes result from human and not mechanical faults.Some safety developments aim to improve your vision. Radar can4spot obstacles in fog, while other technology “sees through5 6high-sided vehicles blocking your view. And improvements to seat belts, pedal controls and tyres are making driving smoother and safer. The colour of a car has been found to be 1 inked with7safety, as have, less surprisingly, size and shape .8And alternatives to fossi1-fuel based petrol, such as plant9oils, are a hot area of research. Fuel cells based on hydrogen burn cleanly, and are the subject of a serious research effort.But whatever is in the fuel tank, you don' t want a thief in the driving seat and there have been many innovations, some10 using satellite tracking and remote communications , to fightagainst car theft. These communication systems can also come 11 into play if you crash, automatically calling for help.Accidents cause many traffic jams, but there are more subtle interplays between vehicles that can cause jams even on a clear but busy road. Such jams can be analysed using statistical tools. Robotic drivers could be programmed to make traffic flow smoothly and will perhaps one day be everyoneJ s personal chauffeur, but their latest efforts suggest that won' t be soon. 词汇:distract /dis5trAkt/v.使 分心,使 分散注意力pedal /5pedl/n.制动踏板 hydrogen /5haidrEudVEn/n,氢 interplay/5intE（:）5plei/n.相互影响;相互作用 radar /5reidE/n. 雷达 fossil-fuel n.矿物燃料 innovation /7inEu5veiFEn/n.革新,创新chauffeur /5FEufE/n.（受雇于私人的）汽车司机注释: 1. biofuel:生物燃料。
bio（一）用于名词或形容词前,表示“使命” 或"生物” 〇2. cutting edge area:旳先进的领域edge: an advantage （优势）3. in-car assistants:车内辅助设施4. spot:在此作动词用,意思是:看见5. high-sided:高大的:其反义词为low-sided:矮小的6. blocking your view:挡住你的视线7. The colour of a car has been found to be 1 inked with safety, as have, less surprisingly, size and shape:人们发现车的颜色与安全有关,令人不会感到惊讶的是,车的大小和形状也与安全有关 as have, less surprisingly, size and shape可以理解为 as, less surprisingly, size and shape have been linked with safetyo 8. fossil fuel:指煤、石油、天然气等矿物燃料9. fuel cell:燃料电池10. satellite tracking and remote communications:卫星跟踪和匹程通讯11. come into play:起作用练习:1. What are researchers interested in doing as the road accidents worldwide increase to a shocking rate? A They are developing faster electric vehicles. B They are analyzing road deaths occurring worldwide every year. C They focus their research on safety and new fuels. D They are designing fully automatic cars.2. According to the second paragraph, most road accidents happen A because drivers fall asleep.B because drivers make mistakes.C because of engine failure.D because of speeding.3. Which of the safety developments is NOT mentioned in the passage? A Radars that can help drivers to see obstacles in fog. B Devices that can help drivers to see through big vehicles. C Improvements in seat belts, pedal controls and tyres. D Windscreens that can help drivers to improve their vision.4. What is NOT the purpose of innovations that use satellite tracking and remote communications? A To prevent car thieves from getting into your car. B To call for help when one' s car crashes. C To call for help when the car gets jammed in the traffic. D To track the car down when it is being stolen.5. What is true of robotic drivers? A It will take some time before robotic drivers can be put to practical use. B Robotic drivers are not allowed to drive on busy roads. C Robotic drivers can never replace human drivers. D Robotic drivers are too expensive to use.答案与题解:1. C文章第一段的意思是:在世界范围内,每年发生120万起交通死亡事故,加上5000万起伤残事故,因此,正在进行的许多研究的重点是安全问题和新燃料问题,尽管ー些电动车和生物燃料的研究旨在达到更快的速度。
所以,C是正确选项2. B第二段旳后一句说,大多数汽车撞车事故是人为原因造成的, 而不是机械故障的原因所以C是错误选项;A和D中的fall asleep 和speeding是人为原因，但只是部分人为因素,不能概全3. D文章中没有提到windscreens （汽车挡风玻璃）,所以D是正确选项其他几项均在文中提到4. C根据第六段内容,使用卫星跟踪和遥控通讯方面的革新,其目的是防盗（A和D）和发生事故时求援（B）o C的内容在文中没有被提到,所以是正确选项5. A文章旳后一段说,为机器人司机编制程序后,它们就能使交通变得通畅,也许今后某一天,大家都拥有机器人司机,但是,这一天的到来还有待时日B、C、D的内容在文中均没有提到;A句说, 要实际使用机器人司机还需时日,这显然与末段旳后一句表达的意思相吻合第五篇 Late-Night DrinkingCoffee lovers beware. Having a quick “pick-me-up“ cup ofcoffee late in the day will play havoc with your sleep. As wellas being a stimulant, caffeine interrupts the flow of melatonin, the brain hormone that sends people into a sleep.Melatonin levels normally start to rise about two hours before bedtime. Levels then peak between 2 am and 4 am, before fallingagain. "It' s the neurohormone that controls our sleep andtells our body when to sleep and when to wake, " says Maurice Ohayon of the Stanford Sleep Epidemiology Research Center at Stanford University in California. But researchers in Israel have found that caffeinated coffee halves the body* s levels of this sleep hormone. Lotan Shilo and a team at the Sapir Medical Center in Tel Aviv University found that six volunteers slept less well after a cup of caffeinated coffee than after drinking the same amount of decal. On average, subjects slept 336 minutes per night after drinking caffeinated coffee, compared with 415 minutes after decal. They also。