成人高等教育公共英语综合能力自测 11

Directions: In this part of the test, there are three passages. Each passage is followed by five questions. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. You are required to choose the best answer.

Passage A

A team of engineers and atmospheric scientists at Harvard University has calculated the increased amount of methane(甲烷) being expelled into the atmosphere due to increases in rice farming in sub­-Saharan Africa. In their paper published in Nature Climate Change, the group describes how they recalculated methane emissions due to recent increases in rice production, and what they found.

Previous research has shown that methane is the second most important greenhouse gas behind carbon dioxide—it has been found to have more radiative properties than CO2, which means that even though far less of it is emitted into the atmosphere, it still plays a major role in global warming. It has shown that agriculture activities from crops and livestock combined account for approximately 25% of all human-­caused methane emissions into the atmosphere. Waste disposal and fossil fuel production account for most of the rest. The research has also shown that growing rice in sub-­Saharan Africa doubled in production from 2008 to 2018—a good trend for feeding people but not so good for the environment. Growing rice releases very large amounts of methane into the atmosphere.

In this new effort, the researchers started with numbers representing Africa's total greenhouse gas emissions prior to 2008 and then added in the amount that has been emitted due to factors involved in growing rice, such as irrigating, burning fields, and harvesting. As part of that effort, they assessed the rice-­growing extent, which included more accurately outlining rice­growing land and the number of days rice fields in Africa emit methane. They then used what they had learned to calculate new estimates of methane emissions into the atmosphere for all of Africa.

The research team found that the increase in rice production in Africa accounted for approximately 31% of the increases in methane emissions for all of Africa from 2006 to 2017, and 7% of the global rise in methane emissions for the same period.

41、What's the primary focus of the passage?

Directions: In this part of the test, there are three passages. Each passage is followed by five questions. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. You are required to choose the best answer.

Passage B

The ever­-popular fashion doll Barbie has been everything from a construction worker to a medical doctor, symbolising careers that children can desire to one day hold. But no previous studies have analysed Barbie medical professional dolls to determine the kinds of professions they hold and their professional accuracy.

To fill this knowledge gap, researcher Katherine Klamer set out to identify the kinds of medical fields that Barbie dolls worked in and to determine whether they met clinical safety standards. Her findings are based on an analysis of 92 Barbie career dolls.

Barbie medical professional dolls largely treated children, with only three dolls working with adult patients. They often came with items, such as laboratory coats, stethoscopes(听诊器), and glasses. However, no doll fully met professional safety standards for their respective fields. For example, 98% of the Barbie doctor dolls came with stethoscopes, but only 4% had face masks and none had disposable gloves. More than two-­thirds of Barbie female medical professional dolls also wore loose hair, and more than half wore high­heeled shoes even in settings where this would be discouraged or actively prohibited for safety reasons.

 “As a surgeon in a decidedly male­-dominated field, I believe that Barbies should represent a more diverse field of medical professions and that safety comes before fashion,” says Katherine. She notes that female medical students are still discouraged from pursuing surgical careers, and says perhaps a childhood of playing with a neurosurgeon(神经外科医生) Barbie could arouse girls against sexist career assumptions and advice. “For young girls' sakes as much as her own, Barbie must keep shattering_glass_ceilings,” she says.

“I encourage the creation of a surgeon Barbie, and would be happy to advise on making sure the doll is realistic and fun,” she adds. “Barbies can be inspirational to young girls' views of surgeons, rather than allowing these careers to be aspirational,” she concludes.

46、What's the purpose of Katherine Klamer's research on Barbie professional dolls?

 Passage C

A plastic bag, a dirty pizza box, paper napkins, and a soda can—a single takeout meal can feel like a game of recycling. Recycling can be complicated, and the rules outlining how to do it vary from city to city, which might be one reason why only about 32 percent of our trash gets recycled.

Don't be fooled by the triangle made of interlocking arrows imprinted on plastic. Those triangles don't necessarily mean that an item is recyclable—they simply indicate its “resin code(塑料分类标志),” one of seven categories that denote the type of plastic it's made of. Only some of these categories are fit for the recycling bin. “Plastic is extraordinarily requiring much care,” says Darby Hoover, a recycling expert. “When you make a plastic package or item, you add dyes(染色), and additives(添加剂) that change its properties to make it as rigid or as flexible as you need it to be. And all those little additives affect its melting point and ability to be recycled.”

“One of the biggest problems is called ‘wish­-cycling’, where we wish something could be recycled so we put it in the recycling bin and cross our fingers,” says Hoover. But it's_a_waste_of_time,_she notes. At best it simply finds its way to a landfill. At worst, it jams up recycling machinery and has to be removed by hand, a process that slows down operations.

One change you can make to increase the odds of your recycling getting recycled is to make sure you keep your bin free of contamination from food, dirt, or chemicals. Paper, for example, is best processed when it's clean, and any food particles or moisture on other recycled items could mean that paper never gets recycled. That's why greasy pizza boxes, for example, typically go in the trash instead.

51、What is the primary focus of the passage?

Directions: In this part of the test, there are ten blanks. You are required to choose one word for each blank from a list of choices given in the word bank below to complete the passage. Read the passage carefully before making your choices. Each choice in the bank is identified by a letter. You MAY NOT USE ANY OF THE WORDS in the word bank MORE THAN ONCE.

56~65

[A]  gaining

[B] payment

[C] strange

[D]   replaced

[E] forgetting

[F]  with

[G]  increasing

[H]  refused

[I]  mate

[J] about

[K] interested

[L] supported

For many book writers, artificial intelligence (AI) is a threat to their jobs and the very idea of creativity. More than 10，000 writers and others (56) an open letter about the issue from the Authors Guild this summer. The letter urged AI companies not to use copyrighted work without permission or （57）．

Phillips is a writer. “I'm frightened by artificial intelligence, but also （58）  in it,” she explained. Phillips said there is a hope in AI for （59） all knowledge, the understanding of everything. But at the same time, there is an “inherent terror” in being （60） by nonhuman intelligence. Doherty, vice director of a publishing house, stated that they have been receiving a/an （61） number of book proposals that feature AI.

Writers are also using AI to address the most human questions. In Sierra's book, the title character is an AI （62） designed for a human male. For her, the book was a way to explore the character's “urgent desire to please”. She said the robot mate permitted the writer “to explore desire, respect, and longing in ways that felt very new and （63） to me.” Some writers are not just writing （64） AI. Earlier this year, Stephen used AI to write short stories （65） the help of an AI program.

After a really long day at work, we are often too hungry to think by the time we get home.

It was reported in 2021 that the British people spent an average of ￡641 per year on takeaway.

In truth, we are tired and access is so easy.

So takeaways have gone from being an occasional treat to a way of life.