Part Ⅲ Reading Comprehension 

Directions: There are 4 passages in this part. Each passage is followed by some questions or incomplete statements. For each of them there are 4 choices marked A, B, C and D. You should decide on the best choice, and mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet.

Passage 1 

If you own a car, you are probably considering buying some kind of car insurance (保险). However, when you are actually purchasing car insurance, it can be difficult for you to decide which is your best choice. The ideal buying process is to first research and decide, then purchase. 

Research first 

Before buying car insurance, you should find out the purpose of your purchase and how the insurance meets your needs. 

Decide on suitable Car Insurance Policies (保单) 

A neglected part of car insurance is the part which covers medical bills. Medical payments can add up very quickly in an accident situation, and the insurance should cover the bills incurred (招致) both by you and by the passengers in your car. Make sure you know the full value that your insurance covers. 

Purchase the best Car Insurance for your needs 

You have a number of choices when it comes to the actual purchase of the car insurance. Each has advantages and disadvantages, and these may be influenced by your individual taste and previous buying experience. Insurance companies may offer you good advice, but prices on the Internet are often better.

1. According to the first paragraph, when buying car insurance, one should first ______.

 A decide on the number of policies to purchase

 B do careful research on the different choices

 C choose the best insurance company

 D look for the lowest insurance rate

答案:B

[解析] 事实细节题。根据第一段最后一句“The ideal buying process is to first research and decide，then purchase．”可知B为正确答案。

2. The purpose of research is to find out whether the car insurance ______.

 A includes all the advantages

 B best meets your needs

 C offers the best rate

 D is easy to purchase

答案:B

[解析] 事实细节题。根据第二段可知研究的目的是为了让你买的汽车保险满足你的需要，因此应该选B。

3. When buying car insurance, people often neglect ______.

 A the damage to the car

 B the bills paid by the passengers

 C the part covering the medical bills

 D the background of the insurance company

答案:C

[解析] 事实细节题。根据第三段第一句话“A neglected part of car insurance is the part which covers medical bills．”可知C为正确答案。

4. According to the last paragraph, your choice of car insurance may also be influenced by ______.

 A your driving habits

 B the kind of car to be insured

 C the attitude of your family members

 D your own taste and buying experience

答案:D

[解析] 事实细节题。根据第四段第二句话“...and these may be influenced by your individual taste and previous buying experience．”可知D为正确答案。

5. Which of the following might be the best title of the passage?

 A Medical Bills Covered in Car Insurance

 B Importance of Buying Car Insurance

 C Advice on Buying Car Insurance

 D Advantages of Car Insurance

答案:C

[解析] 主旨大意题。通过对文章的阅读可知作者主要介绍了买汽车保险的一些建议。故选C。

Passage 2 

I suppose that the most basic and powerful way to connect to another person is to listen. Just listen. Perhaps the most important thing we ever give each other is our attention, and especially if it"s given from the heart. When people are talking, there"s no need to do anything but receive them. Listen to what they"re saying. Care about it. Most times caring about it is even more important than understanding it. Most of us don"t value ourselves or our love enough to know this. It has taken me a long time to believe in the power of simple saying "I"m so sorry." when someone is in pain. 

One of my patients told me that when she tried to tell her story people often interrupted to tell her that they once had something just like that happening to her. Subtly, her pain became a story about themselves. Eventually she stopped talking to most people. We connect through listening. When we interrupt what someone is saying to let them know that we understand, we move the focus of attention to ourselves. When we listen, they know we care. 

I have ever learned to respond to someone crying by just listening. In the old days I used to reach for the handkerchiefs, until I realized that passing a person a handkerchief may be just another way to shut him down, to take them out of their experience of sadness. Now I just listen. When they have cried all they need to cry, they find me there with them. 

This simple thing has not been that easy to learn. It certainly went against everything I had been taught since I was very young. I thought people listened only because they were too shy to speak or did not know the answer. But now I know that a loving silence often has far more power to heal than the kindest words.

1. What does the author value most in the communication with each other?

 A Deep understanding.

 B Saying "I"m sorry".

 C Attention from heart.

 D Doing nothing.

答案:C

[解析] 事实细节题。题干问：作者认为在交流中，下列哪项最为重要。从第一段第三句“...is our attention, and especially if it"s given from the heart．”和倒数第二、三句“Most times caring about it is even more important than understanding it. Most of us don"t value ourselves or our love enough to know this．”可知，来自内心的关心比理解他们所说的更为重要。所以答案为C。

2. The woman"s patient stopped telling her story to most people because ______.

 A she didn"t get enough respect from others

 B she was discouraged by being often interrupted

 C people often told her their own opinions

 D people couldn"t understand her sad situation

答案:B

[解析] 事实细节题。题干问：这位女病人不再向别人讲述自己的故事的原因是什么。从第二段的内容可知，这位女病人之所以不再向别人倾诉是因为她总是被打断。故选B项。

3. If you hand a handkerchief to someone crying, you may ______.

 A hurt his feelings

 B make him embarrassed

 C encourage him to continue to cry

 D stop him from letting out his sorrow

答案:D

[解析] 推理判断题。题干问：如果别人在哭的时候你向他递手绢的话，那会怎么样。从第三段第二句中的“...until I realized that passing a person a handkerchief may be just another way to shut him down, to take them out of their experience of sadness．”可知，你在试图阻止他，让他无法继续排解他的忧伤。所以此处应选D。

4. It can be inferred from the passage that while communicating, ______.

 A listening is a perfect way to respond to others

 B people keep silent because they don"t know the answer

 C keeping silent means being too shy to speak

 D it is easy to form the habit of listening silently

答案:A

[解析] 推理判断题。选项B意为“交流时人们保持沉默是因为他们不知道怎样回答”；选项C表示“保持沉默是因为太害羞”；选项D表示“养成安静倾听的习惯很容易”，都与原文不符。另由文章第三段第一句及下文作者的思考可知，只有A正确，与全文主题一致。

5. Which of the following might be the author"s opinion about communication?

 A Keep silent.

 B Just listen.

 C Be careful.

 D Tell your own story.

答案:B

[解析] 主旨大意题。通读全文，尤其是第一段第一、二句以及第三段的第三句“Now I just listen”可知，作者认为在交流的时候倾听更为重要，所以应选B。

Passage 3 

Believe it or not, optical illusion (错觉) can cut highway crashes (撞毁). Japan is a case in point. It has reduced automobile crashes on some roads by nearly 75 percent using a simple optical illusion. Bent strips, called chevrons (人字形), painted on the roads make drivers think that they are faster than they really are, and thus drivers slow down. 

Now the American Automobile Association Foundation for Traffic Safety in Washington D. C. is planning to repeat Japan"s success. Starting next year, the Foundation will paint chevrons and other patterns of strips on selected roads around the country to test how well the patterns reduce highway crashes. 

Excessive speed plays a major role in as much as one fifth of all fatal (致命) traffic accidents, according to the Foundation. To help reduce those accidents, the Foundation will carry its tests in areas where speed-related hazards (危险) are the greatest—curves (弯), exit slopes, traffic circles, and bridges. 

Some studies suggest that straight, horizontal bars (水平障碍物)painted across roads can initially (最初) cut the average speed of drivers in half. However, traffic often returns to full speed within months as drivers become used to seeing the painted bars. 

Chevrons, scientists say, not only give drivers the impression that they are driving faster than they really are, but also make a lane (车道) appear to be narrower. The result is a longer lasting reduction in highway speed and the number of traffic accidents.

1. The passage mainly discusses ______.

 A a new way of highway speed control

 B a new pattern for painting highways

 C a new way of training drivers

 D a new type of optical illusion

答案:A

[解析] 主旨大意题。通读全文，我们可以知道，在高速公路上画各种线是为了让司机觉得车速过快，从而达到控制车速的目的。因此全文都在讲关于高速路上控制车速的方法。

2. On roads painted with chevrons, drivers tend to feel that ______.

 A they should avoid speed-related hazards

 B they are driving in the wrong lane

 C they should slow down their speed

 D they are coming near to the speed limit

答案:C

[解析] 事实细节题。由第一段第四句“But stripes, called chevrons(人字形)，painted on the roads make drivers think that they are driving faster than they really are, and thus drivers slow down”．可知C项正确。

3. The advantage of chevrons over straight, horizontal bars is that the former ______.

 A can keep drivers awake

 B can cut road accidents in half

 C will look more attractive

 D will have a longer effect on drivers

答案:D

[解析] 推理判断题。由最后两段对比可知，人字形线比直线、水平线对控制车速有更长久的影响。

4. The American Automobile Association Foundation for Traffic Safety plans to ______.

 A try out the Japanese method in certain areas

 B change the road signs across the country

 C replace straight, horizontal bars with chevrons

 D repeat the Japanese road patterns

答案:A

[解析] 事实细节题。由文章第二段内容“...the Foundation will paint chevrons and other patterns of stripes on selected roads around the country，”可知他们在精心挑选的几条路上试验日本的模式。

5. What does the author say about straight, horizontal bars painted across roads?

 A They are suitable only on broad roads.

 B They are falling out of use in the United States.

 C They are ignored in a long period of time.

 D They cannot be used successfully to traffic circles.

答案:C

[解析] 推理判断题。根据第四段第二句“However, traffic often returns to full speed within months as drivers become used to seeing the painted bars．”可知随着驾驶员对这些线越来越熟悉，交通很快又会返回全速的状态。

Passage 4 

When you were looking for a reliable, honest auto mechanic, how did you find him? Before you went into that restaurant you recently tried, how did you know that it served great food? If you"re like most everyone on the planet, you want to lower your risk of a big ugly surprise so you asked people you trust to refer you to a business they trust. 

We all rely on our friends and associates to recommend going—or not going—to a particular business. Marketers call this friend-to-friend endorsement (认可) of a business "word-of-mouth advertising". It is the most powerful form of advertising. It is also the most difficult to create. 

When you do a great job for your customers or a rotten job, people are going to talk about your business. Unfortunately, because we humans seem to feel negative emotions more intensely than positive ones, we"re more inclined to tell more of our friends about bad experiences with a business than positive ones. Understand this: Customers believe their own experience. You can"t make them believe that your company is wonderful when they felt they were treated badly. 

So, to get positive word-of-mouth going for your business, especially from your demanding customers in this service-based economy, you"ve got to do a really outstanding job for everyone, exactly. 

And when you do, you build a great reputation. That takes time. But it forges a link with your customers and prospective customers in a way that no advertising and no promotional coupon (优惠券) ever could. 

The good news is that because there are so many different businesses chasing after your customers" money, people want to know whom they can trust. So people are going to be talking about you. Create a free sales force for your business—an army of delighted customers who tell everyone they know how good your company is to do business with. That"s a great antidote (解毒剂) to defection.

1. What is the main topic of this passage?

 A A person should rely on his friends for a business.

 B A good name will bring you money.

 C A company can make customers believe that it"s wonderful.

 D A company should advertise everything to survive.

答案:B

[解析] 主旨大意题。本文的主要内容是关于口头广告(word-of-mouth advertising)的。说明了一个好的口碑对一家公司来说是多么的重要，也就是一个好名声(good name)对于公司的重要性，一般说来，对于公司，好名声会带来好的经济效益。故B正确。

2. According to the author, whether we"ll go to a place or not depends on ______.

 A media advertising

 B department store display window

 C word-of-mouth advertising

 D the business fame

答案:C

[解析] 推理判断题。由题干关键词go to...or not定位至第二段第一句“We all rely on our friends and associates to recommend going—or not going—to a particular business．(我们信赖我们的朋友和同事来推荐去还是不去一家特定的商店)”。接下来第二句“Marketers call this friend-to-friend endorsement of a business "word-of-mouth advertising"．(市场营销人员把这种行为叫作‘口头广告’)”，也就是“word-of-mouth advertising”，即C所给答案是作者所认为的去不去一个地方的依据。A．媒体广告、B．商店橱窗广告、D．商业名声，这些都不是。

3. Why are we more likely to tell more of our friends about unsatisfied experiences with a business than satisfied ones?

 A Because we aren"t inclined to have a negative feeling.

 B Because we often feel negative emotions more intensely.

 C Because we seem to feel more intensely.

 D Because we often hear people express their negative emotions.

答案:B

[解析] 事实细节题。由题干关键词experiences with a business定位至第三段第二句“Unfortunately, because we humans seem to feel negative emotions more intensely than positive ones... bad experiences with a business than positive ones．”可知，我们更倾向于诉说不好的经历是因为我们对消极的情感感受更强烈，B最接近此意。A．我们不易产生消极的情感，这与文章中所表达的我们对消极的情感感受更强烈相矛盾；C．我们好像感觉很强烈，没有说对什么感觉很强烈；D．我们经常听到人们表达他们消极的情感，这一点文章中并未提及，只是说人们易产生消极的情感。

4. According to the author, when you do a really outstanding job in service, you will ______.

 A build a bad reputation

 B break the link with your customer

 C get a positive word-of-mouth advertising for your business

 D earn big money

答案:C

[解析] 推理判断题。由题干关键词outstanding job定位至第四段“So, to get positive word-of-mouth going for your business, especially from your demanding customers in this service-based economy, you"ve got to do a really outstanding job...”可知，为你的生意获得好的口头评价，特别是在服务为基础的经济社会里，从高要求的顾客那里获得这种好的口头评价，你必须要做出突出的工作。由此可推断C为正确答案。A“建立一个坏名声”和B“破坏和顾客的关系”与文章内容相反；D“赚大钱”文中并未提及。

5. What"s the meaning of the word "defection" (Last Line, Para. 6) ?

 A Customers" betrayal.

 B Service defects.

 C Customers" protection.

 D Service advertising.

答案:A

[解析] 词语理解题。从上文中我们可以感觉到这篇文章讨论的内容是有关如何留住顾客的问题，这一句中有个词是antidote，有“解毒剂和矫正方法”之意，所以可以判断defection应该与“留住顾客”意思相反。从这四个选项中来看，只有A表示“顾客离去”的意思，所以选A。B“服务缺陷”、C“顾客的保护”、D“服务广告”，这些都与文章中的上下文意思不相符。