BB阅读理解题库

bb-unit1

Faces, like fingerprints, are unique. Did you ever wonder how it is possible for us to recognize people. Even a skilled writer probably could not describe all the features that make one face different from another. Yet a very young child -- or even an animal, such as a pigeon -- can learn to recognize faces, we all take this ability for granted.

      We also tell people apart by how they behave. When we talk about someone’s personality, we mean the ways in which he or she acts, speaks thinks and feels that make that individual different from others.

      Like the human face, human personality is very complex. But describing someone’s personality in words is somewhat easier than describing his face. If you were asked to describe what a “nice face” looked like, you probably would have a difficult time doing so. But if you were asked to describe a “nice person”, you might begin to think about someone who was kind considerate, friendly, warm, and so forth.

       There are many words to describe how a person thinks, feels and acts. Gordon Allport, an American psychologist, found nearly 18,000 English words characterizing differences in people’s behavior. And many of us use this information as a basis for

describing, or typing, his personality. Bookworms, conservatives, military types -- people are described with such terms.

      People have always tried to “type” each other. Actors in early Greek drama wore masks to show the audience whether they played the villain’s（坏人）or the hero’s role. In fact, the words “person” and “personality” come from the Latin persona, meaning “mask”. Today, most television and movie actors do not wear masks. But we can easily tell the “good guys” from the “bad guys” because the two types differ in appearance as well as inactions.

 

By using the example of finger prints, the author tells us that ___________.

A.people can learn to recognize faces

B.people have different personalities

C.people have difficulty in describing the features of finger prints

D.people differ from each other in facial features

 

Which of the following is the major point of the passage?

A. Why it is necessary to identify people’s personality

B. Why it is possible to describe people

C.  How to get to know people

D. How best to recognize people

 

According to this passage, some animals have the gift of __________.  

A. telling people apart by how they behave

B.  typing each other

C. telling good people from had people

D. recognizing human faces

 

According to the passage, it is possible for us tell one type of person from another because __________.

A. people differ in their behavioral and physical characteristics

B. human fingerprints provide unique information

C.  people’s behavior can be easily described in words

D. human faces have complex features

 

Who most probably knows best how to describe people’s personality?

A. The ancient Greek audience

B. The movie actors

C. Psychologists

D.  The modern TV audience

 

Bb-unit2

After the violent earthquake that shook Los Angeles in 1994, earthquake scientists had good news to report: The damage and death toll（死亡人数）could have been much worse.

    More than 60 people died in this earthquake. By comparison, as earthquake of similar intensity that shook America in 1988 claimed 25,000 victims:

    Injuries and deaths were relatively less in Los Angeles because the quake occurred at 4:31 a.m. on a holiday, when traffic was light on the city’s highways. In addition, changes made to the construction codes in Los Angeles during the last 20 years have strengthened the city’s buildings and highways, making them more resistant to quakes.

   Despite the good news, civil engineers aren’t resting on their successes. Pinned to their drawing boards are blueprints（蓝图）for improved quake-resistant buildings. The new designs should offer even greater security to cities where earthquakes often take place.

    In the past, making structures quake-resistant meant firm yet flexible materials, such as steel and wood, that bend without breaking. Later, people tried to lift a building off its foundation, and insert rubber and steel between the building and its foundation to reduce the impact of ground vibrations. The most recent designs give buildings brains as well as concrete and steel supports. Called smart buildings, the structures respond like living organisms to an earthquake’s vibrations. When the ground shakes and the building tips forward, the computer would force the building to shift in the opposite direction.

    The new smart structures could be very expensive to build. However, they would save many lives and would be less likely to be damaged during earthquakes.

 

One reason why the loss of lives in the Los Angeles earthquake was comparatively low is that ___________.

A. new computers had been installed in the buildings

B. it occurred in the residential areas rather than on the highways

C. large numbers of Los Angeles residents had gone for a holiday

正确D. improvements had been made in the construction of buildings and highways