Unit5 Reading Passage One For Roy Johnson, a senior magazine editor, the latest indignity came after a recent dinner at a fancy restaurant in the wealthy New York City suburb where he and his family live. First the parking valet handed him the keys to his Jaguar instead of fetching the car. Then an elderly white couple came out and handed him the keys to their black Mercedes-Benz. “It took them a while to realize that I was not a valet,” says Johnson. “It didn’t matter that I was dressed for dinner and had paid a handsome price for the meal, just as he had. What mattered was that I didn’t fit his idea of someone who could be equal to him.” Such incidents, which are depressingly familiar to African-Americans of all ages, incomes and social classes, help explain why black and white attitudes often differ so completely. A recent survey found that 68 percent of blacks believe racism is still a major problem in America. Only 38 percent of white agreed. Many Americans find the gulf between blacks and whites bewildering. After all, official segregation is a bad memory and 40 years of laws, policies and court decisions have helped African-Americans make significant progress toward equal opportunity. Indeed, a black man born in Harlem could be the nation’s next president. But racism persists, utakable to every black but largely invisible to many whites. It is evident in the everyday encounters African-Americans have their racial prejudice and discrimination, like the valet parking incident. Such encounters often strike whites as trivial misunderstandings. But they remind blacks that they are often dismissed as less intelt, less industrious, less honest and less likely to succeed. Some insults are patently racism; others may be evidence of insensitivity or bad manners rather than racial prejudice. But the accumulation of insults feeds anger. “What is amazing to me is the number of whites who express surprise that any of this happens,” observes Mary Frances Berry, chairperson of the U.S. Commission of Civil Rights, who says she has been watched at shopping malls. 1. The world “valet” in the first paragraph most probably means______. A. a restaurant owner B. a driver of expensive cars C. a wealthy-looking gentleman D. a restaurant employee taking care of the cars of the diners 2. Roy Johnson was unfairly treated because______. A. his car was inferior in quality B. he forgot to wear paper clothes C. He failed to express himself clearly D. he is black 3. From the passage we can learn that _____. A. both blacks and whites are bewildered by racism B. examples of racism are common in the US C. some government officials have very bad memories D. a black man born in Harlem will be the next US president 4. It is implied in the passage that many white people deny the presence of racism in the US because _____. A. they tend to regard instances of racism as trivial misunderstandings B. they have never seen any instance of racism in their country C. they believe that black people are inherently less intelt and less industrious D. they have always treated black people as their equals 5. Judging from the context, the most possible explanations for Mary Frances Berry’s being watched at shopping malls is that_____. A. she was a national celebrity B. she didn’t fit people’s idea of an Afro-American woman C. many people nowadays are insensitive and rude D. she is black Passage Two Does a drink a day keep heart attack away? Over the past twenty years, numerous studies have found that moderate alcohol consumption -- say, one or two glasses of beers, wine or cocktails daily -- helps to pr coronary (冠状动脉的) heart disease. Last week a report in the “New England Journal of Medicine” added strong new evidence in support of that theory. More importantly, the work provided the first solid indication of how alcohol works to protect the heart. In the study, researchers from Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School compared the drinking habits of 340 men and women who had suffered recent heart attacks with those of healthy people of the same age and . The scientists found that people who sip one to three drinks a day are about half as likely to suffer heart attacks as nondrinkers are. The apparent source of the protection: those who drank alcohol had higher blood levels of high-density lipoproteins, the so-called good cholesterol, which is known to repel heart diseases. As evidence has mounted, some doctors have begun recommending a daily drink for patients of heart diseases. But most physicians are not ready to recommend a regular happy hour for everyone. The risks of no drinking are nothing compared with the ers of too much alcohol, including high blood pressure, strokes and liver troubles -- not to mention violent behavior and traffic accidents. Moreover, some studies suggest that even moderate drinking may increase the incidence of breast and colon cancer. Until there is evidence that the benefits of a daily dose of alcohol outweigh the risks, most people won’t be able to take a doctor’s prescription to the neighborhood bar or liquor store. 6. The medical article quoted in the passage demonstrates ____. A) the way in which alcohol can help the heart B) how a couple of cocktails daily can stop heart problems C) that reports on the advantages of alcohol were misguided D) why alcoholic drinks are erous to one’s health 7. Experiments show that nondrinkers had _________. A) larger amounts of good cholesterol C) higher blood pressure B) smaller amounts of good cholesterol D) lower blood pressure 8. What might be the meaning for the word “consumption” in the first paragraph? A) Product. B) Needs. C) Habit. D) Drinking. 9. According to the passage, moderate drinking _________. A) is recommended by most doctors for heart patients B) is still not medically advisable C) should be allowed on prescription D) is not related to liver problem 10. The main theme of the passage is _______. A) the change in recent drinking habits B) the connection between cancer and alcohol C) whether alcohol may be good for your health D) whether moderate drinkers outlive nondrinkers Passage Three One thing the tour books don’t tell you about London is that 2,000 of its residents are foxes. They ran away from the city about two centuries ago after developers and pollution moved in. But now that the environment is cleaner, the foxes have come home. “The number and variety of wild animals in areas is increasing,” says Gomer Jones. A survey of the wildlife in New York’s Central Park last year counted 14 species of mammals (哺乳动物). A similar survey conducted in the 1890s counted only five species. Several changes have brought wild animals to the cities. Foremost is that air and water quality in many cities have improved as a result of the 1970s pollution-control efforts. Meanwhile, rural areas have been built up, leaving many animals on the edges of suburbs. In addition, wildlife refuges (庇护所) have been created. The Greater London Council last year spent $750,000 to buy land to build 10 permanent wildlife refuges in the city. As a result, many birds are now living in the city. For peregrine falcons (游隼) cities are actually safer than rural cliff dwellings. By 1970 the birds had died out east of the Mississippi because of the DDT that had made their eggs too thin to support life. That year, scientist Tom Cade of Cornell University began raising the birds for release in cities, for cities afforded plenty of food. Cities can attract wild animals without turning them harmful. The trick is to create habitats where they can be self-sufficient but still be seen and appreciated. Such habitats can even be functional. In San Francisco, the local government is testing different kinds of rainwater control basins to see not only which ones retain the cleanest water but which will attract the most birds. 11. The passage is primarily concerned with _____________. A) wildlife returning to large cities C) wild animals living in zoos B) foxes returning to London D) a survey of wildlife in New York 12. It can be inferred from the passage that ______________. A) Londoners are putting more and more wild animals into their zoos B) Londoners are happy to see wild animals return to their city C) Londoners are trying to move wild animals back to the countryside D) Londoners have welcomed the wild birds, but found foxes a nuisance 13. According to the passage, the number of species of wildlife in New York’s Central Park _ ___________. A) is slowly decreasing B) competes favorably with other cities C) is on the same level as before D) has more than doubled in the twentieth century 14. Which of the following is NOT a reason that wildlife is returning to the cities? A) Air and water quality has improved in the cities. B) Wildlife is appreciated in the cities. C) Food is plentiful in the cities. D) Wildlife refuges have been built