12月英语六级仔细阅读练习题及答案

　　Passage One

Questions 56 to 60 are based on the following passage.

In ancient Greece athletic festivals were very important and had strong religious associations. The Olympian athletic festival held every four years in honor of Zeus, king of the Olympian Gods, eventually lost its local character,became first a national event and then, after the rules against foreign competitors had been abolished, international.

No one knows exactly how far back the Olympic Games go, but some official records date from 776 B.C.

The games took place in August on the plain by Mount Olympus. Many thousands of spectators gathered from all parts of Greece, but no married woman was admitted even as a spectator. Slaves, women and dishonored persons were not allowed to compete. The exact sequence of events is. uncertain, but events included boy's gymnastics, boxing, wrestling, horse racing and field events, though there were fewer sports involved than in the modern Olympic Games.

On the last day of the Games, all the winners were honored by having a ring of holy olive laves placed on their heads. So great was the honor that the winner of the foot race gave his name to the year of his victory.

Although Olympic winners received no prize money, they were, in fact, richly rewarded by their state authorities.

How their results compared with modem standards, we unfortunately have no means of telling.

After an uninterrupted history of almost 1,200 years, the games were suspended by the Romans in 394 A.D.

They continued for such a long time because people believed in the philosophy behind the Olympics: the idea that a healthy body produced a healthy mind, and that the spirit of competition in sports and games was preferable to the competition that caused wars. It was over 1,500 years before another such international athletic gathering took place in Athens in 1896.

Nowadays, the Games are held in different countries in turn. The host country provides vast facilities, including a stadium, swimming pools and living accommodation, but competing countries pay their own athletes' expenses.

The Olympics start with the arrival in the stadium of a torch, lighted on Mount Olympus by the sun's rays. It is carded by a succession of runners to the stadium. The torch symbolized the continuation of the ancient Greek athletic ideals, and it bums throughout the Games until the closing ceremony. The well-known Olympic flag, however, is a modem conception: the five inter locking rings symbolize the uniting of all five continents participating in the Games.

56. The Olympic Games became an international event since the games__________.

A. lost the previous religious meanings

B. were accepted by all Greek people

C. allowed foreign athletes to compete in it

D. got official records and judge systems

57. Compared with the modem Olympic Games, the ancient ones __________.

A. covered every possible events for males

B. did not give due respect to women

acted people from different countries

D. had more sports events than the modem ones

58. In ancient Olympic Games, winners__________.

A. could not get any award in money form from organizers of the Games

B. could earn a lot of money through the award given by the organizers

C. could give his name to the year of his victory as a great honor

D. were honored by having a ring of olive leaves around their waists

59. According to the spirit of the ancient Olympic Games, __________.

A. wars between countries could be avoided through sports

B. competition in sports led to wars between countries

C. healthy mind could reinforce a healthy body

D. healthy mind could be fostered by a healthy body

60. When athletes arrive at the host country,__________.

A. the host country pays for their traveling expenses

B. they are always not satisfied with the living conditions

C. their countries have to pay for their expenditure

D. they use the training facilities immediately for adjustment.

　　Passage Two

Questions 61 to 65 are based on the following passage.

Now and again I have had horrible dreams, but not enough of them to make me lose my delight in dreams. To begin with, I like the idea of dreaming, of going to bed and lying still and then, by some queer magic, wandering into another kind of existence. As a child I could never understand why grown-ups took dreaming so calmly when they could make such a fuss about any holiday. This still puzzles me. I am mystified (迷惑的) by people who say they never dream and appear to have no interest in the subject. It is much more astonishing than if they said they never went out for a walk. Most people Or at least more Western Europeans do not seem to accept dreaming as part of their lives. They appear to see it as an irritating little habit, like sneezing or yawning.

I have never understood this. My dream life does not seem as important as my waking fife, if only because there is far less of it, but to me it is important. As if there were at least two extra continents added to the world, and lightning excursions running to them at any moment between midnight and breakfast. Then again, the dream fife,though queer and confusing and unsatisfactory in many respects, has its own advantages. The dead are there,smiling and talking. The part is there, sometimes all broken and confused but occasionally as fresh as a daisy. And perhaps, as Mr. Dunne tells us, the future is there too, winking at us. This dream life is often overshadowed (蒙上阴影) by huge mysterious anxieties, with luggage that cannot be packed and trains that refuse to be caught; and both persons and scenes there are not as dependable and solid as they are in waking life, so that Brown and Smith merge into one person while Robinson splits into two, and there are thick woods outside the bathroom door and the dining room is somehow 　　part of a theatre balcony; and there are moments of loneliness or terror in the dream word that are worse than anything we have known under the sun. Yet this other life has its interests, its happiness, its satisfactions, and at certain rare intervals, a serene glow or a sudden joy, like glimpses of another form of existence altogether, that we cannot match with open eyes. Silly or wise, terrible or excellent, it is a further helping of experience, a bonus after dark, another slice of life cut differently, for which, it seems to me, we are never sufficiently grateful. Only a dream! Why only? It was there and you had it.

"If there were dreams to sell," Beddoes inquires, "What would you pay?" I cannot say off hand, but certainly the price would be rather more than I could afford.

61. When the author was young, he thought that __________.

A. by dreaming people could live a better life indeed

B. he was puzzled by the mysterious quality of dreams

C. it was astonishing that adults loved holidays so much

D. it was a pity that adults could not enjoy dreams

62. According to the author, most Western Europeans __________.

A. have ignored the important aspects of dreams

B. don't know how to enjoy life in their dreams

C. value dreams very highly

D. think of sneezing when thinking of dreams

63. The advantageous aspect of dreams lies in __________.

A. the short moments it has relieved people from the burden of life

B. experiencing the impossible or unrealistic, even broken parts of life

C. the refreshing power it endows people when they wake up in the morning

D. the mystery it brings when in dream people can predict their future

64. In the author's opinion, we should thank a dream because__________.

A. it makes us enjoy a different life

B. we can avoid terrible things in real life

C. we can experience various emotions in dreams

D. it can help us regain the innocent moments of life

65. What can be inferred from the author's answer to Beddoes' question?

A. Dreams may be manufactured and sold in the near future.

B. The price of a dream is ridiculously higher than expected.

C. People are silly if they set a high value on dreams.

D. The value of dreams is greater than we've imagined.

　　Passage One

　　【参考译文】

在古希腊，运动节极其重要，并且具有很强的宗教意味。每四年举办一次的奥林匹亚运动节原本是纪念奥林匹亚众神之王宙斯的，最终却失去了其地方特性，首先成为国家级的赛事，[56]然后，在禁止外国参赛者参赛的规定被废除后，成了国际性赛事。没有人确切知道奥林匹亚运动会的历史有多久，但根据一些官方记录，可以追溯到公元前776年。

这一运动会是八月在奥林匹斯山旁的平原上进行的。成千上万的观众从希腊的四面八方聚集过来，[57]但是已婚女性是不准参加的，甚至是作为观众也不行。奴隶、女人及名声败坏的人不得参加比赛。赛程没有确切的顺序。比赛项目包括男子体操、拳击、摔跤、赛马以及田径，比起现代奥林匹克运动会，其所包含的运动要少一些。

在运动会最后一天，所有获胜者都会被授予荣誉——他们的头上将戴上由神圣的橄榄树叶编成的花环。甚至将用竞走获胜者的名字来命名他获胜的那一年，这可是无上的光荣。[58]尽管获胜者没有赛事奖金：但实际上他们会受到政府当局的丰厚奖赏。很可惜，他们所取得的成绩与现代标准相比如何，却是不得而知了。

这项运动会在持续进行了近1200年后，在公元394年被罗马人中断了。运动会之所以能延续这么久，是因为人们相信奥林匹克运动会所蕴含的理念：[59]有健康的身体才能有健全的精神，以及运动中所展现的'竞赛精神比引发战争的竞争更为可取。一直到1500多年后——1896年，才在雅典再次出现了如此国际性的运动聚会。