2011年1月8日雅思(阅读)真题试卷(题后含答案及解析)

2011年1月8日雅思（阅读）真题试卷 (题后含答案及解析)

题型有：1.

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13 which are based on Reading Passage 1 below.Going BananasThe world’s favourite fruit could disappear forever in 10 years’ time.The banana is among the world’s oldest crops. Agricultural scientists believe that the first edible banana was discovered around ten thousand years ago. It has been at an evolutionary standstill ever since it was first propagated in the jungles of South-East Asia at the end of the last ice age. Normally the wild banana, a giant jungle herb called Musa acuminata, contains a mass of hard seeds that make the fruit virtually inedible. But now and then, hunter-gatherers must have discovered rare mutant plants that produced seedless, edible fruits. Geneticists now know that the vast majority of these soft-fruited plants resulted from genetic accidents that gave their cells three copies of each chromosome instead of the usual two. This imbalance prevents seeds and pollen from developing normally, rendering the mutant plants sterile. And that is why some scientists believe the world’s most popular fruit could be doomed. It lacks the genetic diversity to fight off pests and diseases that are invading the banana plantations of Central America and the smallholdings of Africa and Asia alike.In some ways, the banana today resembles the potato before blight brought famine to Ireland a century and a half ago. But “it holds a lesson for other crops, too”, says Emile Frison, top banana at the International Network for the Improvement of Banana and Plantain in Montpellier, France. “The state of the banana”, Frison warns, “can teach a broader lesson: the increasing standardisation of food crops round the world is threatening their ability to adapt and survive.”The first Stone Age plant breeders cultivated these sterile freaks by replanting cuttings from their stems. And the descendants of those original cuttings are the bananas we still eat today. Each is a virtual clone, almost devoid of genetic diversity. And that uniformity makes it ripe for disease like no other crop on Earth. Traditional varieties of sexually reproducing crops have always had a much broader genetic base, and the genes will recombine in new arrangements in each generation. This gives them much greater flexibility in evolving responses to disease - and far more genetic resources to draw on in the face of an attack. But that advantage is fading fast, as growers increasingly plant the same few, high-yielding varieties. Plant breeders work feverishly to maintain resistance in these standardised crops. Should these efforts falter, yields of even the most productive crop could swiftly crash. “When some pest or disease comes along, severe epidemics can occur,” says Geoff Hawtin, director of the Rome-based International Plant Genetic Resources Institute.The banana is an excellent case in point. Until the 1950s, one variety, the Gros Michel, dominated the world’s commercial banana business. Found by French botanists in Asia in the 1820s, the Gros Michel was by all accounts a fine banana, richer and sweeter than today’s standard banana and without the latter’s bitter aftertaste when green. But it was vulnerable to a soil fungus that produced a wilt

known as Panama disease. “Once the fungus gets into the soil it remains there for many years. There is nothing farmers can do. Even chemical spraying won’t get rid of it,” says Rodomiro Ortiz, director of the International Institute for Tropical Agriculture in Ibadan, Nigeria. So plantation owners played a running game, abandoning infested fields and moving to “clean” land - until they ran out of clean land in the 1950s and had to abandon the Gros Michel. Its successor, and still the reigning commercial king, is the Cavendish banana, a 19th-century British discovery from southern China. The Cavendish is resistant to Panama disease and, as a result, it literally saved the international banana industry. During the 1960s, it replaced the Gros Michel on supermarket shelves. If you buy a banana today, it is almost certainly a Cavendish. But even so, it is a minority in the world’s banana crop.Half a billion people in Asia and Africa depend on bananas. Bananas provide the largest source of calories and are eaten daily. Its name is synonymous with food. But the day of reckoning may be coming for the Cavendish and its indigenous kin. Another fungal disease, black Sigatoka, has become a global epidemic since its first appearance in Fiji in 1963. Left to itself, black Sigatoka - which causes brown wounds on leaves and premature fruit ripening - cuts fruit yields by 50 to 70 per cent and reduces the productive lifetime of banana plants from 30 years to as little as 2 or 3. Commercial growers keep Sigatoka at bay by a massive chemical assault. Forty sprayings of fungicide a year is typical. But despite the fungicides, diseases such as black Sigatoka are getting more and more difficult to control. “As soon as you bring in a new fungicide, they develop resistance,” says Frison. “One thing we can be sure of is that the Sigatoka won’t lose in this battle.” Poor farmers, who cannot afford chemicals, have it even worse. They can do little more than watch their plants die. “Most of the banana fields in Amazonia have already been destroyed by the disease,” says Luadir Gasparotto, Brazil’s leading banana pathologist with the government research agency EMBRAPA. Production is likely to fall by 70 per cent as the disease spreads, he predicts. The only option will be to find a new variety.But how? Almost all edible varieties are susceptible to the diseases, so growers cannot simply change to a different banana. With most crops, such a threat would unleash an army of breeders, scouring the world for resistant relatives whose traits they can breed into commercial varieties. Not so with the banana. Because all edible varieties are sterile, bringing in new genetic traits to help cope with pests and diseases is nearly impossible. Nearly, but not totally. Very rarely, a sterile banana will experience a genetic accident that allows an almost normal seed to develop, giving breeders a tiny window for improvement. Breeders at the Honduran Foundation of Agricultural Research have tried to exploit this to create disease-resistant varieties. Further backcrossing with wild bananas yielded a new seedless banana resistant to both black Sigatoka and Panama disease.Neither Western supermarket consumers nor peasant growers like the new hybrid. Some accuse it of tasting more like an apple than a banana. Not surprisingly, the majority of plant breeders have till now turned their backs on the banana and got to work on easier plants. And commercial banana companies are now washing their hands of the whole breeding effort, preferring to fund a search for new fungicides instead. “We supported a breeding programme for 40 years, but it wasn’t

able to develop an alternative to Cavendish. It was very expensive and we got nothing back,” says Ronald Romero, head of research at Chiquita, one of the Big Three companies that dominate the international banana trade.Last year, a global consortium of scientists led by Frison announced plans to sequence the banana genome within five years. It would be the first edible fruit to be sequenced. Well, almost edible. The group will actually be sequencing inedible wild bananas from East Asia because many of these are resistant to black Sigatoka. If they can pinpoint the genes that help these wild varieties to resist black Sigatoka, the protective genes could be introduced into laboratory tissue cultures of cells from edible varieties. These could then be propagated into new, resistant plants and passed on to farmers.It sounds promising, but the big banana companies have, until now, refused to get involved in GM research for fear of alienating their customers. “Biotechnology is extremely expensive and there are serious questions about consumer acceptance,” says David McLaughlin, Chiquita’s senior director for environmental affairs. With scant funding from the companies, the banana genome researchers are focusing on the other end of the spectrum. Even if they can identify the crucial genes, they will be a long way from developing new varieties that smallholders will find suitable and affordable. But whatever biotechnology’s academic interest, it is the only hope for the banana. Without it, banana production worldwide will head into a tailspin. We may even see the extinction of the banana as both a lifesaver for hungry and impoverished Africans and as the most popular product on the world’s supermarket shelves.Questions 1-3Complete the sentences below with NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS from the passage.Write your answers in boxes 1-3 on your answer sheet.

1． Banana was first eaten as a fruit by humans almost_____years ago.

正确答案：ten thousand

解析：题目答案一定为数字信息，同时根据顺序原则，答案应该出现在文章开头，于是定位于原文第一段第二句话“Agricultural scientists believe that the first edible banana was discovered around ten thousand years ago”，题目信息“eaten”对应原文中的“edible”，所以答案为ten thousand。

2． Banana was first planted in______.

正确答案：South-East Asia

解析：题目答案应该为一个地名，同时根据顺序原则，定位于第一段第三行中部“it was first propagated in the jungles of South‐East Asia…”，题目信息“planted”对应原文中的“propagated”，所以答案为South‐East Asia。

3． Wild banana’s taste is adversely affected by its______.

正确答案：hard seeds

解析：利用细节信息“wild banana’s taste”和顺序原则定位于第一段第四

行“Normally the wild banana…contains a mass of hard seeds that make the fruit virtually inedible”，题目信息“adversely affected”对应原文中的“virtually inedible”，所以答案为hard seeds或seeds。

Look at the following statements(Questions 4-10)and the list of people below.Match each statement with the correct person, A-F.Write the correct letter, A-F, in boxes 4-10 on your answer sheet..NB You may use any letter more than once.List of PeopleA Rodomiro OritzB David McLaughlinC Emile FrisonD Ronald RomeroE Luadir GasparottoF Geoff Hawtin

4． A pest invasion may seriously damage banana industry.

正确答案：F

解析：利用细节信息“pest invasion”定位于第三段倒数第二行Geoff Hawtin的观点“When some pest or disease comes along, severe epidemics can occur”，原文中的“severe epidemics can occur”对应题目信息“seriously damage banana industry”，所以答案为F。

5． The effect of fungal infection in soil is often long-lasting.

正确答案：A

解析：利用细节信息“fungal infection in soli”定位于原文第四段第五行Rodomiro Ortiz的观点“Once the fungus gets into the soil it remains there for many years”，原文中的“many years”对应题目信息“long‐lasting”，所以答案为A。

6． A commercial manufacturer gave up on breeding bananas for disease resistant species.

正确答案：D

解析：利用细节信息“a commercial manufacturer”定位于原文倒数第三段倒数第五行Ronald Romero的观点“We supported a breeding program for 40 years…”，题目信息“a commercial manufacturer”对应原文观点后面的“head of research at Chiquita, one of the Big Three companies that dominate the international banana trade”，所以答案为D。

7． Banana disease may develop resistance to chemical sprays.

正确答案：C

解析：利用细节信息“chemical sprays”定位于原文第五段倒数第七行Emile Frison的观点“As soon as you bring in a new fungicide, they develop resistance…”，原文中的“fungicide”对应题目信息“chemical sprays”，所以答案为C。

8． A banana disease has destroyed a large number of banana plantations.

正确答案：E

解析：利用细节信息“destroyed a large number of banana plantations”定位于原文第五段倒数第四行Luadir Gasparotto的观点“Most of the banana fields in Amazonia have already been destroyed by the disease”，所以答案为E。

9． Consumers would not accept genetically altered crop.

正确答案：B

解析：利用细节信息“consumers would not accept”定位于原文最后一段第三行提到的David McLaughlin的观点“there are serious questions about consumer acceptance”，题目中的“genetically altered crop”对应本段第一句中的GM（genetic modification的缩写），所以答案为B。

10． Lessons can be learned from bananas for other crops.

正确答案：C 解析：利用细节信息“lesson for other crops”定位于原文第二段第二行Emile Frison的观点“it holds a lesson for other crops, too”，所以答案为C。

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 1?In boxes 11-13 on your answer sheet writeTRUE if the statement agrees with the informationFALSE if the statement contradicts the informationNOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

11． Banana is the oldest known fruit. A．TRUE B．FALSE C．Not Given

正确答案：C

解析：利用细节信息“oldest known fruit”定位于原文第一段第一句话“The banana is among the world’s oldest crops”。根据原文这个信息来判断，题目可能为True，也可能为False，所以答案为Not Given。

12． Gros Michel is still being used a commercial product. A．TRUE B．FALSE C．Not Given

正确答案：B

解析：利用细节信息“Gros Michel”定位于原文第四段倒数第二、三句话“During the 1960s, it replaced the Gros Michel on supermarket shelves. If you buy a

banana today, it is almost certainly a Cavendish”。题目信息“still being used as a commercial product”与原文中的“it replaced the Gros Michel on supermarket shelves”以及“almost certainly a Cavendish”直接相反，所以答案为False。

13． Banana is the main food in some countries. A．TRUE B．FALSE C．Not Given

正确答案：A 解析：利用细节信息“main food”定位于原文第五段开头几句话“Half a billion people in Asia and Africa depend on bananas…Its name is synonymous with food…”。题目信息与原文是同义表达，所以答案为True。

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14-26 which are based on Reading Passage 2 below.Coastal Archaeology of BritainThe recognition of the wealth and diversity of England’s coastal archaeology has been one of the most important developments of recent years. Some elements of this enormous resource have long been known. The so-called ‘submerged forests’ off the coasts of England, sometimes with clear evidence of human activity, had attracted the interest of antiquarians since at least the eighteenth century, but serious and systematic attention has been given to the archaeological potential of the coast only since the early 1980s.It is possible to trace a variety of causes for this concentration of effort and interest. In the 1980s and 1990s scientific research into climate change and its environmental impact spilled over into a much broader public debate as awareness of these issues grew; the prospect of rising sea levels over the next century, and their impact on current coastal environments, has been a particular focus for concern. At the same time archaeologists were beginning to recognise that the destruction caused by natural processes of coastal erosion and by human activity was having an increasing impact on the archaeological resource of the coast.The dominant process affecting the physical form of England in the post-glacial period has been the rise in the altitude of sea level relative to the land, as the glaciers melted and the landmass readjusted. The encroachment of the sea, the loss of huge areas of land now under the North Sea and the English Channel, and especially the loss of the land bridge between England and France, which finally made Britain an island, must have been immensely significant factors in the lives of our prehistoric ancestors. Yet the way in which prehistoric communities adjusted to these environmental changes has seldom been a major theme in discussions of the period. One factor contributing to this has been that, although the rise in relative sea level is comparatively well documented, we know little about the constant reconfiguration of the coastline. This was affected by many processes, mostly quite localised, which have not yet been adequately researched. The detailed reconstruction of coastline histories and the changing environments available for human use will be an important theme for future research.So great has been the rise in sea level and the consequent regression of the coast that much of the

archaeological evidence now exposed in the coastal zone, whether being eroded or exposed as a buried land surface, is derived from what was originally terrestrial occupation. Its current location in the coastal zone is the product of later unrelated processes, and it can tell us little about past adaptations to the sea. Estimates of its significance will need to be made in the context of other related evidence from dry land sites. Nevertheless, its physical environment means that preservation is often excellent, for example in the case of the Neolithic structure excavated at the Stumble in Essex.In some cases these buried land surfaces do contain evidence for human exploitation of what was a coastal environment, and elsewhere along the modern coast there is similar evidence. Where the evidence does relate to past human exploitation of the resources and the opportunities offered by the sea and the coast, it is both diverse and as yet little understood. We are not yet in a position to make even preliminary estimates of answers to such fundamental questions as the extent to which the sea and the coast affected human life in the past, what percentage of the population at any time lived within reach of the sea, or whether human settlements in coastal environments showed a distinct character from those inland.The most striking evidence for use of the sea is in the form of boats, yet we still have much to learn about their production and use. Most of the known wrecks around our coast are not unexpectedly of post-medieval date, and offer an unparalleled opportunity for research which has as yet been little used. The prehistoric sewn-plank boats such as those from the Humber estuary and Dover all seem to belong to the second millennium BC; after this there is a gap in the record of a millennium, which cannot yet be explained, before boats reappear, but built using a very different technology. Boatbuilding must have been an extremely important activity around much of our coast, yet we know almost nothing about it. Boats were some of the most complex artefacts produced by pre-modern societies, and further research on their production and use make an important contribution to our understanding of past attitudes to technology and technological change.Boats needed landing places, yet here again our knowledge is very patchy. In many cases the natural shores and beaches would have sufficed, leaving little or no archaeological trace, but especially in later periods, many ports and harbours, as well as smaller facilities such as quays, wharves, and jetties, were built. Despite a growth of interest in the waterfront archaeology of some of our more important Roman and medieval towns, very little attention has been paid to the multitude of smaller landing places. Redevelopment of harbour sites and other development and natural pressures along the coast are subjecting these important locations to unprecedented threats, yet few surveys of such sites have been undertaken.One of the most important revelations of recent research has been the extent of industrial activity along the coast. Fishing and salt production are among the better documented activities, but even here our knowledge is patchy. Many forms of fishing will leave little archaeological trace, and one of the surprises of recent survey has been the extent of past investment in facilities for procuring fish and shellfish. Elaborate wooden fish weirs, often of considerable extent and responsive to aerial photography in shallow water, have been identified in areas such as Essex and the Severn estuary. The production of salt, especially in the late Iron Age and early

Roman periods, has been recognised for some time, especially in the Thames estuary and around the Solent and Poole Harbour, but the reasons for the decline of that industry and the nature of later coastal salt working are much less well understood. Other industries were also located along the coast, either because the raw materials outcropped there or for ease of working and transport: mineral resources such as sand, gravel, stone, coal, ironstone, and alum were all exploited. These industries are poorly documented, but their remains are sometimes extensive and striking.Some appreciation of the variety and importance of the archaeological remains preserved in the coastal zone, albeit only in preliminary form, can thus be gained from recent work, but the complexity of the problem of managing that resource is also being realised. The problem arises not only from the scale and variety of the archaeological remains, but also from two other sources: the very varied natural and human threats to the resource, and the complex web of organisations with authority over, or interests in, the coastal zone. Human threats include the redevelopment of historic towns and old dockland areas, and the increased importance of the coast for the leisure and tourism industries, resulting in pressure for the increased provision of facilities such as marinas. The larger size of ferries has also caused an increase in the damage caused by their wash to fragile deposits in the intertidal zone. The most significant natural threat is the predicted rise in sea level over the next century, especially in the south and east of England. Its impact on archaeology is not easy to predict, and though it is likely to be highly localised, it will be at a scale much larger than that of most archaeological sites. Thus protecting one site may simply result in transposing the threat to a point further along the coast. The management of the archaeological remains will have to be considered in a much longer time scale and a much wider geographical scale than is common in the case of dry land sites, and this will pose a serious challenge for archaeologists.Questions 14-16Choose the correct letter A, B, C orD.Write your answers in boxes 14-16 on your answer sheet.

14． What has caused public interest in coastal archaeology in recent years? A．The rapid development of England’s coastal archaeology B．The rising awareness of climate change C．The discovery of an underwater forest

D．The systematic research conducted on coastal archaeological findings

正确答案：B

解析：利用细节信息“public interest in costal archaeology”和顺序原则定位于原文第一段第四行“…had attracted the interest of antiquarians since at least the eighteenth century, but serious and systematic attention has been given…”。但是这种现象的原因并不位于第一段，而在第二段“It is possible to trace a variety of causes for this concentration of effort and interest”后面的信息。后面主要讲到人们开始关注“costal archaeology”是因为“climate change and its environmental impact”，因为“sea levels”上涨影响了“costal environments”，于是更多的人意识到“coastal erosion”和“human activity”对“archaeological resource of the coast”有破坏作

用，这些信息都与选项B“the rising awareness of climate change”相关，所以答案为B。

15． What does the passage say about the evidence of boats?

A．There’s enough knowledge of the boatbuilding technology of the prehistoric people.

B．Many of the boats discovered were found in harbors.

C．The use of boats had not been recorded for a thousand years D．Boats were first used for fishing.

正确答案：C

解析：利用细节信息“boats”定位于原文第六段，这里提及了大量“boats”方面的考古发现。选项A“There’s enough knowledge of the boatbuilding technology of the pre‐historic people”应该排除，因为其与原文内容“we still have much to learn about their production and use”直接相反。选项B“Many of the boats discovered were found in harbors”也可以排除，因为“harbor”在第七段才出现，而且也没有提及是否在“harbor”发现了大量的船。选项D“Boats were first used for fishing”也应该排除，因为“fishing”在第八段才提到，讲的是沿海人类的经济活动，并没提及船最初都是用作打渔的。所以答案为C。“The use of boats had not been recorded for a thousand years”对应原文第六段第五行“after this there is a gap in the record of a millennium…”。

16． What can be discovered from the air? A．Salt mines B．Roman towns C．Harbors D．Fisheries

正确答案：D

解析：利用细节信息“from the air”定位于原文第八段第四句“Elaborate wooden fish weirs, often of considerable extent and responsive to aerial photography in shallow water…”，原文中的“aerial photography”对应题目信息“discovered from the air”。原文信息“Elaborate wooden fish weirs”与选项D“fisheries”直接对应，所以答案为D。

Do the following statements agree with the information given in Reading Passage 2?In boxes 17-23 on your answer sheet writeTRUE if the statement agrees with the informationFALSE if the statement contradicts the informationNOT GIVEN if there is no information on this

17． England lost much of its land after the ice-age due to the rising sea level. A．TRUE B．FALSE

C．Not Given

正确答案：A

解析：利用细节信息“after the ice‐age”和“rising sea level”定位于原文第三段前两句话“…in the post‐glacial period…the rise in the altitude of sea level…The encroachment of the sea, the loss of huge areas of land now under the North Sea and the English Channel…”，题目信息“after the ice‐age”对应原文中的“post‐glacial period”，题目内容是原文的简单归纳，所以答案为True。

18． The coastline of England has changed periodically. A．TRUE B．FALSE C．Not Given

正确答案：B

解析：利用细节信息“the coastline of England”和顺序原则定位于原文第三段倒数第四行“the constant reconfiguration of the coastline”，题目信息“changed periodically”与原文中的“constant reconfiguration”直接相反，所以答案为False。

19． Coastal archaeological evidence may be well-protected by sea water. A．TRUE B．FALSE C．Not Given

正确答案：A

解析：利用细节信息“well‐protected by sea‐water”定位于原文第四段倒数第二行“its physical environment means that preservation is often excellent”，题目信息“well‐protected by sea‐water”对应原文中的“preservation is often excellent”。题目信息与原文是同义表达，所以答案为True。

20． The design of boats used by pre-modern people was very simple. A．TRUE B．FALSE C．Not Given

正确答案：B

解析：利用细节信息“the design of boats”和“pre‐modern people”定位于原文第六段倒数第四行“Boats were some of the most complex artefacts produced by pre‐modern societies”，题目信息“very simple”与原文中的“the most complex artefacts”直接相反，所以答案为False。

21． Similar boats were also discovered in many other European countries. A．TRUE B．FALSE

C．Not Given

正确答案：C

解析：原文没有找到“other European countries”和在其他欧洲国家发现类似船只的信息，所以答案为Not Given。

22． There are few documents relating to mineral exploitation. A．TRUE B．FALSE C．Not Given

正确答案：A

解析：利用细节信息“mineral exploitation”定位于原文第八段倒数第三行“mineral resources such as sand, gravel, stone, coal, ironstone, and alum were all exploited. These industries are poorly documented…”，题目信息“few documents”对应原文中的“poorly documented”，所以答案为True。

23． Large passenger boats are causing increasing damage to the seashore. A．TRUE B．FALSE C．Not Given

正确答案：A

解析：利用细节信息“large passenger boats”和顺序原则定位于原文最后一段倒数第十行“The larger size of ferries has also caused an increase in the damage caused by their wash to fragile deposits in the intertidal zone”，题目信息“passenger boats”对应原文中的“ferries”，题目信息“intertidal zone”对应原文中的“seashore”。题目与原文是同义表达，所以答案为True。

Choose THREE letters A-GWrite your answer in boxes 24-26 on your answer sheet.Which THREE of the following statements are mentioned in the passage?A How coastal archaeology was originally discoveredB It is difficult to understand how many people lived close to the sea.C How much the prehistoric communities understand the climate changeD Our knowledge of boat evidence is limited.E Some fishing ground was converted to ports.F Human development threatens the archaeological remains.G Coastal archaeology will become more important in the future.

24．

正确答案：B

解析：选项A“How coastal archaeology was originally discovered”应该排除，因为原文并没有到这方面的内容。选项B“It is difficult to understand how many

people lived close to the sea”是正确选项。该选项对应原文第五段第五行“We are not yet in a position to make even preliminary estimates of answers to such fundamental questions as the extent to which the sea and the coast affected human life in the past, what percentage of the population at any time lived within reach of the sea…”。题目信息“It is difficult to understand”对应原文中的“not yet in a position to make even preliminary estimates”，题目信息“how many people”对应原文中的“what percentage of the population”，题目“lived close to the sea”对应原文中的“within reach of the sea”。选项C“How much the prehistoric communities understand the climate change”应该排除，虽然原文开头提及“climate change”并多处提到“prehistoric communities”，但是却没有提及他们对气候变化的知识。选项D“Our knowledge of boat evidence is limited”是正确选项。该选项对应原文第六段第一句“…yet we still have much to learn about their production and use”，以及该段倒数第五行“…yet we know almost nothing about it”。选项E“Some fishing grounds were converted to ports”是错误选项，因为原文第七段提及“ports”，第八段提及“fishing”，但是却并没有“fishing grounds”转变成“ports”的信息。选项F“Human development threatens the archaeological remains”是正确选项。该选项对应原文最后一段，该段整体都在讲人类活动对“archaeological remains”的影响。选项G“Coastal archaeology will become more important in the future”是错误选项，因为原文并没有提到这方面的内容。所以24‐26题的正确答案为B、D、F。

25．

正确答案：D

26．

正确答案：F

You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 27-40 which are based on Reading Passage 3 below.Travel BooksThere are many reasons why individuals have traveled beyond their own societies. Some travelers may have simply desired to satisfy curiosity about the larger world. Until recent times, however, did travelers start their journey for reasons other than mere curiosity. While the travelers’ accounts give much valuable information on these foreign lands and provide a window for the understanding of the local cultures and histories, they are also a mirror to the travelers themselves, for these accounts help them to have a better understanding of themselves.Records of foreign travel appeared soon after the invention of writing, and fragmentary travel accounts appeared in both Mesopotamia and Egypt in ancient times. After the formation of large, imperial states in the classical world, travel accounts emerged as a prominent literary genre in many lands, and they held especially strong appeal for rulers desiring useful knowledge about their realms. The Greek historian Herodotus reported on his travels in Egypt and Anatolia in researching the history of the Persian wars. The Chinese envoy Zhang Qian described

much of central Asia as far west as Bactria(modern-day Afghanistan)on the basis of travels undertaken in the first century BCE while searching for allies for the Han dynasty. Hellenistic and Roman geographers such as Ptolemy, Strabo, and Pliny the Elder relied on their own travels through much of the Mediterranean world as well as reports of other travelers to compile vast compendia of geographical knowledge.During the postclassical era(about 500 to 1500 CE), trade and pilgrimage emerged as major incentives for travel to foreign lands. Muslim merchants sought trading opportunities throughout much of the eastern hemisphere. They described lands, peoples, and commercial products of the Indian Ocean basin from east Africa to Indonesia, and they supplied the first written accounts of societies in sub-Saharan west Africa. While merchants set out in search of trade and profit, devout Muslims traveled as pilgrims to Mecca to make their hajj and visit the holy sites of Islam. Since the prophet Muhammad’s original pilgrimage to Mecca, untold millions of Muslims have followed his example, and thousands of hajj accounts have related their experiences. East Asian travelers were not quite so prominent as Muslims during the postclassical era, but they too followed many of the highways and sea lanes of the eastern hemisphere. Chinese merchants frequently visited southeast Asia and India, occasionally venturing even to east Africa, and devout East Asian Buddhists undertook distant pilgrimages. Between the 5th and 9th centuries CE, hundreds and possibly even thousands of Chinese Buddhists traveled to India to study with Buddhist teachers, collect sacred texts, and visit holy sites. Written accounts recorded the experiences of many pilgrims, such as Faxian, Xuanzang, and Yijing. Though not so numerous as the Chinese pilgrims, Buddhists from Japan, Korea, and other lands also ventured abroad in the interests of spiritual enlightenment.Medieval Europeans did not hit the roads in such large numbers as their Muslim and east Asian counterparts during the early part of the postclassical era, although gradually increasing crowds of Christian pilgrims flowed to Jerusalem, Rome, Santiago de Compostela(in northern Spain), and other sites. After the 12th century, however, merchants, pilgrims, and missionaries from medieval Europe traveled widely and left numerous travel accounts, of which Marco Polo’s description of his travels and sojourn in China is the best known. As they became familiar with the larger world of the eastern hemisphere—and the profitable commercial opportunities that it offered—European peoples worked to find new and more direct routes to Asian and African markets. Their efforts took them not only to all parts of the eastern hemisphere, but eventually to the Americas and Oceania as well.If Muslim and Chinese peoples dominated travel and travel writing in postclassical times, European explorers, conquerors, merchants, and missionaries took center stage during the early modem era(about 1500 to 1800 CE). By no means did Muslim and Chinese travel come to a halt in early modern times. But European peoples ventured to the distant corners of the globe, and European printing presses churned out thousands of travel accounts that described foreign lands and peoples for a reading public with an apparently insatiable appetite for news about the larger world. The volume of travel literature was so great that several editors, including Giambattista Ramusio, Richard Hakluyt, Theodore de Bry, and Samuel Purchas, assembled numerous travel accounts and made

them available in enormous published collections.During the 1 9th century, European travelers made their way to the interior regions of Africa and the Americas, generating a fresh round of travel writing as they did so. Meanwhile, European colonial administrators devoted numerous writings to the societies of their colonial subjects, particularly in Asian and African colonies they established. By midcentury, attention was flowing also in the other direction. Painfully aware of the military and technological prowess of European and Euro-American societies, Asian travelers in particular visited Europe and the United States in hopes of discovering principles useful for the organization of their own societies. Among the most prominent of these travelers who made extensive use of their overseas observations and experiences in their own writings were the Japanese reformer Fukuzawa Yukichi and the Chinese revolutionary Sun Yat-sen.With the development of inexpensive and reliable means of mass transport, the 20th century witnessed explosions both in the frequency of long-distance travel and in the volume of travel writing. While a great deal of travel took place for reasons of business, administration, diplomacy, pilgrimage, and missionary work, as in ages past, increasingly effective modes of mass transport made it possible for new kinds of travel to flourish. The most distinctive of them was mass tourism, which emerged as a major form of consumption for individuals living in the world’s wealthy societies. Tourism enabled consumers to get away from home to see the sights in Rome, take a cruise through the Caribbean, walk the Great Wall of China, visit some wineries in Bordeaux, or go on safari in Kenya. A peculiar variant of the travel account arose to meet the needs of these tourists: the guidebook, which offered advice on food, lodging, shopping, local customs, and all the sights that visitors should not miss seeing. Tourism has had a massive economic impact throughout the world, but other new forms of travel have also had considerable influence in contemporary times.Questions 27-28Choose the correct letter A, B, C orD.Write your answers in boxes 27-28 on your answer sheet.

27． What were most people traveling for in the early days? A．Studying their own cultures B．Business

C．Knowing other people and places better D．Writing travel books

正确答案：C 解析：利用顺序原则定位于原文第一段第二、三句话“Some travelers may have simply desired to satisfy curiosity about the larger world. Until recent times, however, did travelers start their journey for reasons other than mere curiosity”，该信息直接对应选项C“knowing other people and places better”，为“curiosity”的同义替换，所以答案为C。

28． Why did the author say writing travel books is also “a mirror” for travelers themselves?

A．Because travelers record their own experiences.

B．Because travelers reflect upon their own society and life. C．Because it increases knowledge of foreign cultures.

D．Because it is related to the development of human society.

正确答案：B 解析：利用细节信息“mirror”和顺序原则定位于原文第一段最后一句话“they are also a mirror to the travelers themselves, for these accounts help them to have a better understanding of themselves”，该信息直接对应选项B“Because travelers reflect upon their own society and life”。

Complete the table below.Choose NO MORE THAN TWO WORDS from Reading Passage 3 for each answer.Write your answer in boxes 29-36 on your answer sheet.

29．

正确答案：Persian wars

解析：利用细节信息“classical Greece”，“Herodotus”，“Egypt and Anatolia”定位于原文第二段第六行“the Greek historian Herodotus reported on his travels in Egypt and Anatolia in researching the history of the Persian wars”，所以答案为Persian wars。

30．

正确答案：allies

解析：利用细节信息“Han Dynasty”，“Zhang Qian”，“Central Asia”定位于原文第二段倒数第四行“…searching for allies for the Han dynasty”，所以答案为allies。

31．

正确答案：geographical knowledge

解析：利用细节信息“Roman Empire”，“Ptolemy, Strabo, Pliny the Elder”，“Mediterranean”定位于原文第二段最后一句话“…to compile vast compendia of geographical knowledge”，所以答案为geographical knowledge。

32．

正确答案：pilgrimage

解析：利用细节信息“500 to 1500 CE”，“Muslims”，“From east Africa to Indonesia, Mecca”定位于原文第三段第一句话“…trade and pilgrimage emerged as major incentives for travel to foreign lands”，所以答案为pilgrimage。

33．

正确答案：India

解析：利用细节信息“5th to 9th centuries CE”和“Chinese Buddhists”定位于原文第三段倒数第三句话“…thousands of Chinese Buddhists traveled to India to study with…”，所以答案为India。

34．

正确答案：colonies

解析：利用细节信息“19th century”，”Colonial administrator”，“Asia, Africa”定位于原文第六段第二句话“European colonial administrators devoted numerous writings to the societies of their colonial subjects, particularly in Asian and African colonies they established”，所以答案为colonies。

35．

正确答案：organization 解析：利用细节信息“1900s”，“Sun Yat‐sen”，“Fukuzawa Yukichi”，“Europe and United States”定位于原文倒数第二段最后两句话“…in hopes of discovering principles useful for the organization of their own societies…”，所以答案为organization。

36．

正确答案：wealthy

解析：利用细节信息“20th century”，“Mass tourism”定位于原文最后一段第六行“The most distinctive of them was mass tourism, which emerged as a major form of consumption for individuals living in the world’s wealthy societies”，所以答案为wealthy。

Choose the correct letter A, B, C or D.Write your answers in boxes 37-40 on your answer sheet.

37． Why were the imperial rulers especially interested in these travel stories? A．Reading travel stories was a popular pastime.

B．The accounts are often truthful rather than fictional. C．Travel books played important role in literature. D．They desired knowledge of their empire.

正确答案：D

解析：利用细节信息“imperial rulers”定位于原文第二段第五行“they held

especially strong appeal for rulers desiring useful knowledge about their realms”，该信息直接对应选项D“they desired knowledge of their empire”， 所以答案为D。

38． Who were the largest group to record their spiritual trip during the postclassi-cal era?

A．Muslim traders B．Muslim pilgrims C．Chinese Buddhists

D．Indian Buddhist teachers

正确答案：B

解析：利用细节信息“postclassical era”定位于原文第三段第五、六句“…millions of Muslims have followed his example, and thousands of hajj accounts have related their experiences. East Asian travelers were not quite some prominent…”，该信息直接对应选项B“Muslim pilgrims”，所以答案为B。

39． During the early modern era, a large number of travel books were published to

A．meet the public’s interest.

B．explore new business opportunities. C．encourage trips to the new world. D．record the larger world.

正确答案：A

解析：利用细节信息“early modern era”定位于原文第五段第五行“…and European printing presses churned out thousands of travel accounts that described foreign lands and peoples for a reading public with an apparently insatiable appetite for news about the larger world”。B选项“explore new business opportunities”应该排除，因为这里并没有提及“商机”的信息。C选项“encourage trips to the new world”也应该排除，因为“trips to the new world”原文中并没有提及。D选项“record the larger world”也应该排除，因为“record the larger world”是书的内容而非出版的目的。所以答案为A“meet the public’s interest”，对应原文中的“for a reading public with insatiable appetite”。

40． What’s the main theme of the passage? A．The production of travel books B．The literary status of travel books

C．The historical significance of travel books D．The development of travel books

正确答案：D

解析：选项A“The production of travel books”是错误选项，因为文章并没有讲到书的制作过程。选项B“The literary status of travel books”也是错误选项，因为原文并没有讲到旅游书的文学地位这一方面的内容。选项C“Historical

significance of travel books”也是错误选项，因为原文并没有讲到travel books在历史上的巨大作用。选项D“The development of travel books”是正确选项，因为文章就是讲travel books的发展，从ancient times到modern era。所以答案为D。