大学生英语竞赛C类阅读理解专项强化真题试卷17

Wine can be made with red grapes or white grapes, and, especially in the case of red wines, a number of doctors have reported that a moderate amount of wine has certain health benefits. This may be one of the reasons why the number of people drinking wine has risen over the past years. As new wine-shoppers browse the shelves of their local markets, they face a tough decision. Should they buy a wine with a cork or a screw top? And shoppers are not alone in their dilemma. Wineries are also facing tough choices in the best way to seal their products. The root of the problem lies in “ cork taint“. Cork taint refers to a problem with wine that has been sealed with a bad cork. Traditionally, all corks are made from a special oak tree that grows around the Mediterranean. In the process of making the corks and sealing wine bottles, a certain type of mold may start to grow on some corks. Over time, this mold can produce a chemical that makes the wine inside the bottle taste musty. In fact, the human tongue is so sensitive to this particular compound that people can taste it even diluted up to six parts per trillion! [*] How big is the problem of cork taint? Some experts from the wine industry claim cork taint affects one out of every ten bottles of wine. And as one spokesperson for an American winery says, “ No other packaging industry in the world would put up with that kind of failure rate. “ Some wine makers see a possible solution to the problem of cork taint through adopting the tried and true method of sealing bottles with screw tops. However, many wineries are still playing it safe and sticking to corks for two reasons. First, there is the old belief among cork users that small amounts of oxygen are able to penetrate corks. This oxygen, they say, is necessary for the proper aging of fine wines, especially those aged 10 years or more. Screw tops do not allow for any oxygen to get into the bottles after they are sealed. Another problem arises from the image screw tops have with the public. In most people’s minds, screw tops are only found on cheap, low-quality wines. It will take a lot of efforts from wineries to re-educate the public if they want to change the image of screw tops. In addition, there is the problem of losing the romantic, elegant mood produced by the ceremonial popping of the cork. Consumers don’t seem to feel the same thrill when unscrewing a top. Questions 71—75 Complete the summary with words from the passage, changing the form when necessary, with only one word for each blank. The wine industry is facing a 【R1】______. What is the best way to seal wine bottles? Many people think that it is only proper for wine 【R2】______to be sealed with corks. They believe that oxygen needs to be able to 【R3】______the cork. Other experts, however, suggest that wineries change to screw tops. Using corks can lead to cork taint, a bad taste in the wine caused by 【R4】______. However, it is unlikely that the public will accept this solution. They will most likely 【R5】______to buying wine with corks for the romantic and elegant mood it brings.

[*] Like people, each country has unique characteristics. Many countries are known by the products they produce. These products are anything from foods and minerals to plants and buildings. Here are what a few countries are known for. Sri Lanka is well known for its Ceylon tea. The country exports more black tea than any other nation. Ceylon was the country’s name when it was a British colony. In the 19th century, Sri Lanka was famous for its coffee. But most of its coffee plantations were destroyed by insects in the 1870s. It was during this time Britain started the tea plantations. When people think of Bulgaria, they often say “ Rosova Dolina,“ which means “ the valley of roses. “ During the rule of the Turkish Empire, the Bulgarian rose became widely popular. Bulgaria produces 80 percent of the world’s roses. Bulgaria also produces rose oil and rose perfume. The country even has rose juice. In fact, people long ago believed that the Greek gods gained immortality by drinking elixir made with roses. To make one 500-milliter bottle of rose juice, 50 roses are needed. Ghana’s cacao beans were used to make drinks for the rich during ancient times in Central A-merica. Later, a special kind of cacao was brought to Ghana from Brazil in 1824. Known as the po-rastero cacao, it made up 80—90 percent of all cacao produced. The cacao is flat and dark purple. It has a bitter and sour taste. Ghana’s chocolate has also gained international acclaim. It is difficult to say where cheese first came from. What we do know is that the Swiss made cheese long before Jesus was born. Cheese then was used as currency in Switzerland and represented social status and wealth. In the fourth century, cheese was internationally introduced and quickly became popular. There is an unusual story about how fondue came about. Long ago, the Swiss living on the mountains were confined to their homes because of a large snowstorm. Cheese, wine and bread were the last food they had left. They melted the cheese with wine and ate the bread with it. Farmlands are plentiful in Argentina, so the country can grow many kinds of crops. The crops are used to feed its numerous livestock. The invention of refrigerator ships has made exporting of meats safer and easier. Argentina jumped at the opportunity to increase meat exports. Without refrigerator ships, the meat could get contaminated while travelling long distances. Questions 71—75 Complete the summary with words from the passage, changing the form where necessary, with only one word for each blank. [*] Countries throughout the world are famous for the【R1】______products they produce. Sri Lanka, a former【R2】______of the British empire , exports more black tea than any other country in the world. Bulgaria and Ghana account for at least eighty percent of the world’s roses and cacao markets respectively. The Swiss have long been associated with cheese, and actually used it as【R3】______ in the old days. At that time cheese was supposed to【R4】______social status and wealth. Argentina has plenty of farmland that can grow a variety of crops to feed livestock, its chief exports. Thanks to refrigerator ships, the meats can avoid【R5】______on the long journey to other countries.

What can we do to stay well? It’s a good idea to exercise, eat fruit, vegetables, and drink lots of water. We also know things not to do: it’s a bad idea to eat a lot of junk food or to be a couch potato. It’s a terrible idea to smoke. However, there is a lot of new information about health, some of which is surprising. [*] Several beverages are good for the health. Orange juice has vitamin C. Milk has calcium. Black tea and green tea are good for health too because they have antioxidants that fight diseases such as cancer and heart disease. But most people don’t know a-bout cocoa. They enjoy the sweet, chocolaty beverage, but they don’t know that it has more antioxidants than tea! Too much stress is not good for physical health because it makes your blood pressure go up. Now we know more. Some stress is chronic, which means that it lasts a long time—for many months or years. Chronic stress can make people old. As people get older, they get gray hair and wrinkles in their skin, and their eyesight and hearing become worse. This is normal. But chronic stress makes people age faster. A scientist at the University of California studies stress. She can now identify how stress makes people age. It can damage the body’s DNA. The lesson from this is clear. We need to learn to relax. One easy and cheap way to help both your physical and mental health is just to sleep eight hours or more every night, but more and more people are not sleeping enough. According to the World Health Organization, over half the people in the world may be sleep-deprived, which means they don’t get enough sleep. Sleep-deprived people often have medical problems, such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart problems. It is also more difficult for them to make decisions. But there is another reason. A new study from Germany found that sleep makes people smarter. The study shows that the brain continues to work during sleep and helps the sleeper to work on problems. You didn’t do your homework last night? Maybe your brain can tell your teacher that you were working hard in your sleep! How many languages do you speak? A study from a university in Canada found something interesting. Bilingual people, who speak two languages very well, do better on tests than people who speak only one language. It seems to be mental exercise to hold two languages in your brain. Ellen Bialystock of York University says it’s “like going to a brain gym“. Questions 71—75 Complete the summary with words from the passage, changing the form where necessary with no more than three words for each blank. Scientists now have new information about other ways to【R1】______. Some are quite surprisingly unknown to us before. Normally, in order to have good physical and mental health, we know we should eat right, relax, sleep, and exercise both the body and【R2】______. Hot chocolate is now found to contain more antioxidants which are capable of fighting certain diseases. Research shows that we can slow down our ageing process by learning to【R3】______. It is also important to get enough sleep because lack of sleep will certainly lead to medical problems or make us less smart. Meanwhile,【R4】______ people are reported to behave better on tests than monolingual ones because they benefit from【R5】______by holding two languages.