III. Reading Comprehension

Section A

Directions: For each blank in the following passages there are four words or phrases marked A, B, C and D. Fill in each blank with the word or phrase that best fits the context.

Many of us have found ourselves trying to explain to friends and colleagues, “No, business travel isn’t as fun and fascinating as it seems.” Finally, there could be ___51___ to back this up. Researchers at the University of Surrey, in Britain, and Linnaeus University, in Sweden, have published a new study highlighting what they call “a ___52___ side of hypermobility(常飞行)”.

The study, which combines existing research on the ___53___ of frequent travel, finds three types of consequence: physiological, psychological and emotional, and social. The physiological ones are the most obvious. Jet lag is the suffering travellers know best, although they may not ___54___ some of its more terrible potential effects, like speeding ageing or increasing the risk of heart attack and stroke. Then there’s the danger of deep-vein thrombosis(深静脉血栓), ___55___ to germs and radiation. And finally, of course, business travellers tend to get less exercise and eat less healthily than people who stay in place.

The psychological and emotional damage of business travel is more abstract, but just as real. Frequent flyers experience “travel disorientation” from ___56___ places and time zones so often. They also ___57___ mounting stress, given that “time spent travelling will rarely be balanced through a reduced workload, and that there may be anxieties ___58___ with work continuing to pile up while being away”. ___59___ the absence from family and friends, “hypermobility is frequently a/an ___60___ experience,” the authors write. The accumulated impact can be astonishing and great.

Finally, there are the ___61___ effects. Marriages suffer from the time apart, as does children’s behaviour. What is more, relationships tend to become more ___62___, as the partner who stays at home is forced to take on more ___63___ duties. There’s a gender inequality here, since most business travellers are men. Friendships also suffer, as business travellers often “sacrifice local collective activities and instead ___64___ their immediate families when returning from trips”.

Of course, these impacts are moderated by the fact that they fall disproportionately on a small part of the population that is already doing rather well. The “mobile elite(精英)” tend to have higher incomes and ___65___ to better health care than the population at large.

So these may be problems of the 1% (or the 3%, or the 5%). But they’re real enough regardless. By all means feel jealous of acquaintances' Instagram photos of exotic meals and faraway attractions. But harbour a small amount of concern as well.

51. A. travel B. proof C. damage D. consequence

52. A. brighter B. wiser C. darker D. lazier

53. A. effects B. benefits C. limits D. costs

54. A. impose B. foresee C. declare D. memorize

55. A. connection B. adaptation C. exposure D. familiarity

56. A. changing B. leaving C. taking D. pursuing

57. A. handle B. relieve C. suffer D. lay

58. A. infected B. associated C. greeted D. packed

59. A. Due to B. According to C. Regardless of D. In case of

60. A. surprising B. relaxing C. fulfilling D. isolating

61. A. cultural B. conscious C. social D. negative

62. A. unequal B. invisible C. pleasant D. permanent

63. A. personal B. related C. professional D. domestic

64. A. prioritize B. mobilize C. seek D. support

65. A. devotion B. objection C. response D. access

Section B

Directions: Read the following passages. Each passage is followed by several questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. Choose the one that fits best according to the information given in the passage you have just read.

(A)

In a class this past December, after I wrote some directions on the board for students about their final examination, one young woman quickly took a picture of the board using her smart phone. When I looked in her direction, she apologized, “Sorry. Was it wrong to take a picture?”

“I can’t read my own handwriting,” the young woman explained. “It’s best if I take a picture of your writing so I can understand the notes.”

That remark started a class-wide conversation about taking a picture instead of taking notes. For those in the photo-taking camp, motivations extended beyond their inability to comprehend their own handwriting. Some took pictures of notes because they knew their phone was a safe place to store material. They might lose paper, they reasoned, but they wouldn’t lose their phones. Some took photos because they wanted to record exactly the manner in which I had noted information on the board. Others told me that during class they liked to be able to listen to the discussion attentively.

Yet the use of cameras as note takers, though it may be convenient, does raise significant questions for the classroom. Is a picture an effective replacement for the process of note-taking?

Instructors encourage students to take notes because the act of doing so is more than merely recording necessary information—it helps prepare the way for understanding. Encouraging students to take notes may be an old-fashioned instructional method, but just because a method has a long history doesn’t mean it’s out of date. Writing things down engages a student’s brain in listening, visual, and kinesthetic(触觉的) learning—a view supported by a longstanding research. The act of writing down information enables a person to begin committing it to memory, and to process and combine it, establishing the building blocks of learning new concepts.

Taking a picture does indeed record the information, but it deletes some of the necessary mental engagement that taking notes employs. So can the two be equally effective?

66. The woman apologized in the class because she_________.

A. had the bad handwriting B. missed the teachers’ directions

C. took a picture of the board D. disturbed other students’ learning

67. According to the passage, which of the following may NOT explain students’ reluctance to take notes?

A. They lack proper techniques for taking notes.

B. They want to listen more attentively in class.

C. They believe smart phones are much safer for storing notes.

D. They want to have the exact version of the notes on the board.

68. According to the passage, taking notes by hand__________.

A. requires students to think independently

B. helps students actively participate in learning

C. proves to be an old and useless learning method

D. seems unsuitable for students to learn new ideas

69. What is the main idea of this passage?

A. The traditional way of note-taking should be replaced.

B. A modern way of note-taking is catching on.

C. Note-taking by hand is not out of date.

D. A picture is worth a thousand words.