Her new kitchen cabinets and wall-to-wall carpeting.
The Ouchidas are victims of indoor air pollution, which is not given sufficient
attention partly because of the nation’s drive to save energy. The problem itself isn’t new.
“The indoor environment was dirty long before energy conservation came along,” says
Moschandreas, a pollution scientist at Geomet Technologies in Maryland. “Energy
conservation has tended to accentuate the situation in some cases.”
The problem appears to be more troublesome in newly constructed homes rather than
old ones. Back in the days when energy was cheap, home builders didn’t worry much
about unsealed cracks. Because of such leaks, the air in an average home was replaced by
fresh outdoor air about once an hour. As a result, the pollutants generated in most
households seldom build up to dangerous levels.
31. It can be learned from the passage that the Ouchidas house ________.
A) is well worth the money spent on its construction
B) is almost faultless from the point of energy conservation
C) failed to meet energy conservation standards
D) was designed and constructed in a scientific way
32. What made the Ouchidas’ new house a horrible dream?
A) Lack of fresh air.
B) Poor quality of building materials.
C) Gas leakage in the kitchen.
D) The newly painted walls.
33. The word “accentuate” (Line 4, Para. 3) most probably means “________”.
A) relieve
B) accelerate
C) worsen
D) improve
34. Why were cracks in old houses not a big concern?
A) Because indoor cleanliness was not emphasized.
B) Because energy used to be inexpensive.
C) Because environmental protection was given top priority.
D) Because they were technically unavoidable.
35. This passage is most probably taken from an article entitled “________”.
A) Energy Conservation
B) Houses Building Crisis
C) Air Pollution Indoors
D) Traps in Building Construction
Passage Four
Questions 36 to 40 are based on the following passage.
In 1993. New York State ordered stores to charge a deposit on beverage (饮料)
containers. Within a year. Consumers had returned millions of aluminum cans and glass
and plastic bottles. Plenty of companies were eager to accept the aluminum and glass as
raw materials for new products. But because few could figure out what to do with the
plastic, much of it wound up buried in landfills (垃圾填埋场). The problem was not
limited to New York. Unfortunately, there were too few uses for second-hand plastic.
Today, one out of five plastic soda bottles is recycled (回收利用) in the United
States. The reason for the change is that now there are dozens of companies across the
country buying discarded plastic soda bottles and turning them into fence posts, paint
brushes, etc.
Shrinking landfill space, and rising costs for burying and burning rubbish are forcing
local governments to look more closely at recycling. In many areas, the East Coast
especially, recycling is already the least expensive waste-management option. For every
ton of waste recycled, a city avoids paying for its disposal, which, in parts of New York,
amounts to saving of more than $100 per ton. Recycling also stimulates the local
economy by creating jobs and trims the pollution control and energy costs of industries
that make recycled products by giving them a more refined raw material.
36. What regulation was issued by New York State concerning beverage containers?
A) Beverage companies should be responsible for collecting and reusing discarded
plastic soda bottles.
B) Throwaways should be collected by the state for recycling.
C) A fee should be charged on used containers for recycling.
D) Consumers had to pay for beverage containers and could get their money back
on returning them.
37. The returned plastic bottles in New York used to ________.
A) end up somewhere underground
B) be turned into raw materials
C) have a second-life value
D) be separated from other rubbish
38. The key problem in dealing with returned plastic beverage containers is ________.
A) to sell them at a profitable price
B) how to turn them into useful things
C) how to reduce their recycling costs
D) to lower the prices for used materials
39. Recycling ahs become the first choice for the disposal of rubbish because ________.
A) local governments find it easy to manage
B) recycling ahs great appeal for the jobless
C) recycling causes little pollution
D) other methods are more expensive
40. It can be concluded from the passage that ________.
A) rubbish is a potential remedy for the shortage of raw materials
B) local governments in the U.S. can expect big profits from recycling
C) recycling is to be recommended both economically and environmentally
D) landfills will still be widely used for waste disposal
Part III Vocabulary and Structure (20 minutes)
Directions: There are 30 incomplete sentences in this part. For each sentence there are
four choices marked A), B), C) and D). Choose the ONE that best completes
the sentence. Then mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a
single line through the center.
41. It is important that the hotel receptionist ________ that guests are registered
correctly.
A) has made sure
B) made sure
C) must make sure
D) make sure
42. I suggested he should ________ himself to his new conditions.
A) adapt
B) adopt
C) regulate
D) suit
43. I’ll never forget ________ you for the first time.
A) to meet
B) meeting
C) to have met
D) having to be meeting
44. Cancellation of the flight ________ many passengers to spend the night at the
airport.
A) resulted
B) obliged
C) demanded
D) recommended
45. That young man still denies ________ the fire behind the store.
A) start
B) to start
C) having started
D) to have started
46. ________ in a recent science competition, the three students were awarded
scholarships totaling $21,000.
A) Judged the best
B) Judging the best
C) To be judged the best
D) Having judged the best
47. Without proper lessons, you could ________ a lot of bad habits when playing the
piano.
A) keep up
B) pick up
C) draw up
D) catch up
48. Everything we eat and drink contains some salt; we can meet the body’s need for it
from natural sources without turning ________ the salt bottle.
A) up
B) to
C) on
D) over
49. He always did well at school ________ having to do part-time jobs every now and
then.
A) in spite of
B) regardless of
C) on account of
D) to case of
50. ________ receiving financial support from family, community or the government is
allowed, it is never admired.
A) As
B) Once
C) Although
D) Lest
51. All the key words in the article are printed in ________ type so as to attract readers’
attention.
A) dark
B) dense
C) black
D) bold
52. The basic features of the communication process are identified in one question: Who
says ________ through what channel to whom?