大学英语三级考试阅读训练

College English2010.02College English大学英语三级考试阅读训练北 京何 珊Directions: There are 4 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions orunfinished statements.For each of them there are four choices marked A,B,C and D.Youshould decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter with a single line throughthe centre.Passage 11Thomas Alva Edison lit up the world with his invention of the electric light.Withouthim, the world might still be a dark place. However, the electric light was not his only in-vention. He also invented the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and over 1,200 otherthings. About every two weeks he created something new.2Thomas A. Edison was born in Milan, Ohio, on February 11, 1847. His family movedto Port Huron, Michigan, when he was seven years old. Surprisingly, he attended school foronly two months. His mother, a former teacher, taught him a few things, but Thomas wasmostly self-educated.His natural curiosity led him to start experimenting at a young agewith electrical and mechanical things at home.3When he was 12 years old,he got his first job.He became a newsboy on a train thatran between Port Huron and Detroit. He set up a laboratory in a baggage car of the train sothat he could continue his experiments in his spare time. Unfortunately, his first work expe-rience did not end well.Thomas was fired when he accidentally set fire to the floor of thebaggage car.4Thomas then worked for five years as a telegraph operator,but he continued to spendmuch of his time on the job conducting experiments. He got his first patent in 1868 for a voterecorder run by electricity. However, the vote recorder was not a success. In 1870, he soldanother invention, a stock-ticker, for $40,000. A stock-ticker is a machine that automaticallyprints stock prices on a tape. He was then able to build his first shop in Newark, New Jersey.5Thomas Edison was totally deaf in one ear and hard of hearing in the other,butthought of his deafness as a blessing in many ways.It kept conversations short,so that hecould have more time for work. He called himself a“two-shift man”because he worked 16out of every 24 hours. Sometimes he worked so intensely that his wife had to remind him tosleep and eat.6Thomas Edison died at the age of 84 on October 18, 1931, at his estate in West Orange,笤考试专栏笤45College English2010.02College EnglishNew Jersey. He left numerous inventions that improved the quality of life all over the world.1.Thomas Edison did things in this order that _.A. he became a telegraph operator, a newsboy, and then got his first patentB. he became a newsboy, got his first patent, and then became a telegraph operatorC. he got a patent, became a telegraph operator, and then became a newsboyD. he became a newsboy, a telegraph operator, and then got a patent2.Edison considered his deafness _.A. a disadvantageB. a blessingC. something from a priestD. a necessity3.Of all Edisons inventions, _ was probably the most important for civilization.A. the vote recorderB. the stock tickerC. the light bulbD. the motion picture camera4.The main idea of this passage is _.A. Thomas Edison was always interested in science and inventions, and he invented manyimportant things.B. Thomas Edison could not keep a job.C. Thomas Edison worked day and night on his experiments.D. Deaf people make good inventors because they can focus without the distraction of spokenconversation.Passage 21Sophia Fowler Gallaudet was the deaf wife of Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet, who foundedthe first permanent public school for the deaf in Hartford,Connecticut.She did not allowher deafness to prevent her from leading a full life. She was educated, raised a family, ran abusy household, and helped to found Gallaudet College.2Sophia Fowler was born deaf near Guilford, Connecticut, on March 20, 1798. At thattime, there were no schools for the deaf in America. However, Sophia had a good mind. Sheused her intellect and learned many skills by watching the people around her.She learnedto cook and sew, and became a modest, gay and charming young lady.3Sophia was nineteen years old when her parents learned that a school for the deaf hadbeen founded in Hartford, Connecticut. She entered the school in 1817 and stayed there un-til the spring of 1821.While she was there,the principal of the school,Thomas HopkinsGallaudet fell in love with her and asked her to marry him.Sophia did not hesitate,andmarried him in 1821.4As Mrs. Gallaudet, she continued to charm the people she met. She was eager to learn笤考试专栏笤46College English2010.02College Englishfrom every social situation. Through her contact with the many visitors to her home, she wasactually able to continue her education.5Thomas Hopkins Gallaudet died in 1851,leaving his wife to make a life without him.However, her eight children did not leave her without support. With the help of her grownchildren, she continued to keep house for those children that had not yet married.6I