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2017公共英語考試二級考前閱讀練習
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Passage One
There are many different kinds of peaches (桃). One clear difference is the one between clingstone一fruit in which the flesh is stuck to the seed inside—and freestone一that in which the seed floats freely. Customers prefer freestone peaches because they don’t want to struggle to get the flesh away from the seed.
And that’s how it goes in stone fruit land. Plant breeders (培育者) are trying all the time to improve the old favorites. Frequently, the changes are designed to meet the demands of the growers or packers. One very delicious family of peach varieties has nearly disappeared because it forms a small “beak”at the bottom of the fruit. That little point is likely to break during packing and shipping, o-pening the door to spoilage (腐爛).
This is certainly not to say that the wants of customers are not important. In fact, they drive some of the most important changes. One thing customers like is red—lots of red. Peaches used to be prized for golden skin; now people are buying red, regarding it as a sign of ripeness.
But red has a hold on people. There’s a story told by those in the stone fruit industry about a marketing experiment. A group of people were given two peaches:one a fairly tasteless red variety, the other a great-tasting gold. Sitting around, tasting and talking about the fruit, the group all agreed that the gold was a much better peach and that was the one they would buy. Then, on the way out the door, they were offered boxes of peaches as a thank-you gift. One held the preferred golden fruit, the other the red. To a person, they picked the red fruit to take home. Red sells.
64.What does the word“stone” mean in the text?
[A] The hard seed inside a fruit.
[B] Containers that packers use.
[C] Small rocks found in the fields.
[D] Soft beaks at the bottom of the fruit.
65.Why do plant breeders try hard to improve peaches?
[A] To get better shaped fruit.
[B] To meet the needs of growers.
[C] To make peaches taste better.
[D] To have a better chance for prizes.
66.Why do people like to buy red fruit?
[A] They believe it is ripe.
[B] It sells cheaper than gold.
[C] It is usually more delicious.
[D] They know it is an improved variety.
67.What can we learn about the peach-tasting group in the last paragraph?
[A] They were experts on marketing.
[B] They took home golden peaches.
[C] They agreed about the taste of peaches.
[D] They said they would buy the red peaches.
答案與解析：
64. 選A。該題屬于推斷題。stone的本意是“石頭”，但結合本文關于桃子的描述，可以推斷出它指的是桃子中間的部分，Brthe hard seed in-side a fruit”。
65. 選B。該題屬于細節題。從文章第二段第二句“the changes are designed to meet the demands of the growers or packers”可得出答案。
66. 選A。該題屬于細節題。從文章第三段最后一句“now people are buying red, regarding it as a sign of ripeness”可以得出答案。
67. 選C。該題屬于細節題。此題可以用排除法解答，A選項中，他們并不是專家，而是被實驗者，B、D選項不符合文中的表達，可排除。
參考譯文：
桃子的種類繁多，它們之間一個明顯的區別是粘核桃和離核桃，前者指桃子果肉和內部的核緊密相連的品種，后者指果肉和核彼此脫離的種類。人們總是喜歡離核的桃子，因為他們懶得費力將果肉和桃核剝開。
在核果地帶總是這樣，作物培育者總是試圖改善桃子以迎合老顧客的需求，為迎合種植者和包裝商的需求而經常做出變動。一個美味的桃子家族因其底部長著小小的鳥嘴般的東西而幾近滅絕。那個小東西在包裝和運輸過程中可能會破裂，以至于腐爛。
這當然并不意味著顧客的需求是不重要的，其實，他們促使一些重大的變化發生。顧客喜歡滿是紅色的桃子。以前人們總是夸贊桃子擁有金黃色的`外表;例如，人們都買紅色的桃子，認為意味著成熟。
紅 色對人們有一定影響。核果工業人士曾講了個關于營銷實驗的故事。把兩種桃子發給一組人：一種是索然無味的紅色桃子，另一種是味道甜美的金色桃子。那組人圍 圈而坐，品嘗桃子，相互討論，都認為金色桃子比較美味，是他們買桃的選擇。然后，在出門時，有人送給他們幾箱桃子作為感謝禮物。一種是受人青睞的金色桃 子，另一種是紅色桃子。為了送人，他們選擇了紅色桃子，于是紅色桃子大賣。
Passage Two
Most of you would probably say that what makes you truly happy is your family and the love you share in your relationships, and I couldn’t agree more. But money comes into play in those relationships.
When I talk about money this way to a group, there is always someone who comes up to me and says, “Suze, you are so wrong. Money isn’t the key to life—this is!” At which point their wallet flies open and they show me a photo of their family.
That’s when things get interesting, because I start asking them questions: Did you take that photo with your own camera? It looks like a beautiful beach, was the photo taken on a family vacation? Do you hope to help those beautiful boys and girls go to college?
As their answers are “yes”, I ask them how they provide all of that for their family. That’s when they understand that I had it right.
I totally agree that family and friends are of great importance to our well being; without meaningful relationships, there’s no chance of ever being truly happy. That’s why, every Saturday night, I end my CNBC show with the following words:“People first. Then money. Then things.”
How we deal with the money we have also plays into our happiness. Over the past few decades (十年), the percentage of Americans who say they’re happy hasn’t changed much, while at the same time the average income has doubled. So we have more money, but we’re not much happier on average.
A paradox (悖論)? Far from it. My sense is that while we’re making more money, we arent’t making more of the money we make. We have to pay for a lot of things, and we have to worry about saving for retirement (退休) in a way that our parents and grandparents never did. And as many of you know, it’s really hard to increase your happiness when you’ve got a lot of money worries.
Do you agree, or am I way off base? I’d love to know what do you think about the money/happiness connection.
60.Why do people often show the author their family photos?
[A] They hope to show money is very important.
[B] They want to prove they can afford a holiday.
[C] They think a good family makes them truly happy.
[D] They believe a happy person considers people first.
61.Why did the authur ask the group questions in Paragraph 3 ?
[A] To persuade them to save for the future. '
[B] To ask for advice on holidays abroad.
[C] To know more about each person.
[D] To show them what he meant.
62.Which of the following arguments does the author want to make?
[A] Money is all that matters in our life.
[B] The richer we are, the happier we’ll be.
[C] Money makes a difference to the quality of our lives.
[D] True happiness is achievable from good relationships.
63.What does the underlined words “off base” in the last paragraph most probably mean?
[A] mistaken
[B] unprepared
[C] unnecessary
[D] misunderstood
答案與解析：
60. 選C。題干的意思為“為什么人們通常會把自己的全家福給作者看，”該題屬于細節題。
從文章意思可以得知，這些人是想反駁作者的觀點，證明家人是幸福的源泉。
61. 選D。題干的意思為“為什么作者問那些人第三段的問題?”該題屬于細節題。
作者是想證明自己的觀點，通過問問題明晰自己的觀點。
62. 選C。題干的意思為“以下哪句話是作者想表達的觀點?”該題屬于推理題。
本題沒有原文，但是作者的觀點非常明晰，錢在個人幸福中地位非常重要，可以改善我們的生活質量。
63. 選A。題干的意思為“最后一段下劃線詞'off base'最可能是什么意思?”該題屬于推理題。
從文章的句意理解來看，應該是錯誤的意思。
參考譯文：
我們中的大多數人通常會說家庭和家人的愛是真正使自己幸福的源泉，我也非常贊同此觀點，但是錢在這層關系中也非常重要。
每當我在對人們說起錢的時候，總會有人反駁道：“蘇斯，你錯了，錢不是生活中最重要的因素，這個才是!”邊說他們會打開出錢包給我看自己的全家福。
我開始問他們問題，事情就開始變得有趣了。我的問題是你是用自己的相機拍的'照嗎?這個沙灘真漂亮，當時你們全家在度假嗎?你希望幫這些漂亮的孩子上大學嗎?”
他們不停地點頭，這時我問他們那你們拿什么支付這些花費呢?”;這時，他們才意識到我的觀點是對的。
我也完全贊同家人和朋友對個人幸福來說至關重要，沒有家人和朋友，我們永遠都不會真正的快樂。這就是為什么每周六晚上，在CNBC節目結束時，我總會說人第一，錢第二，事情第三。”
我們如何花錢，對于幸福也很重要。在過去的十年里，美國人的收入翻倍了，但是說自己幸福的人卻沒有多大變化。難道在有了更多錢之后，我們沒有變得更幸福一點嗎?
這是一個悖論?其實并非如此。我認為，雖然我們在賺更多的錢，但我們并沒有更充分地利用這些錢。我們要支付的開銷太大了，還要擔憂自己退休后的積蓄，而我們的父母和祖父母從來沒有這樣擔憂過。有了這么多好擔心的錢，增強的幸福感從何而來呢?
你同意嗎?或者認為我的觀點大錯特錯?我非常想知道你對于錢和幸福之間關系的看法。
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