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GWD-TN-15 Passage 4
题材类型：经济管理
结构类型：结论说明型
组织方式：总分，观点=>传统观点=>分析说明
主要对象：organization’s values
代表人物：
作者态度：大正小负
A pressing need in the study of organizations is for more research into how an organization’s values (an organization’s guiding principles and beliefs as perceived by its members) affect managerial decision-making. Traditional theories have been based on a “rational model,” which focuses on the decision-maker and either ignores the organizational value climate or conveniently assumes that the organization’s values are consistent or clearly prioritized. In reality, however, decisions are shaped not only by a manager’s own values, but also by those of the corporate culture and of organizational superiors. A recent study found that managers’ most stressful decisions involved “value contention” (conflicts among any of these sets of values). Furthermore, different types of organizational value systems were associated with different frequencies of contending values as well as with different types of managerial response. Explicit corporate values, for example, produced a greater percentage of decisions that were stressful due to value contention. Hidden values (those that an organization practices but does not acknowledge or which a superior furtively pursues in opposition to the values of the organization) produced a lower level of value contention. Although explicit values created more value contention, they were nonetheless more likely to produce flexible, well-reasoned decisions. Conversely, managers perplexed by hidden values reported feeling unable to identify an appropriate range of options.

35. The passage suggests that which of the following has resulted from the influence of the rational model (line 8) ? （信息题）
A.        It has deflected researchers’ attention from a critical factor affecting managerial decision-making.
B.        It has focused decision-making procedures on managers’ presumed ability to prioritize key corporate values.
C.        It has diverted attention from the need for orientation of nonsupervisory employees to organizational values.
D.        It has hampered communication between academic researchers and mangers of organizations.
E.        It has produced theories that are practicable for analyzing decision-making processes only in relatively large organizations.

36. The passage identifies which of the following as a way in which hidden corporate values affect managerial decision-making? （事实题）
A.        They tend to discourage consultation with organizational subordinates and superiors.
B.        They tend to undermine managers’ confidence in their own ability to determine the available alternatives.
C.        They tend to produce a heightened degree of value contention.
D.        They tend to produce a heightened degree of conflict among different levels of the organizational structure.
E.        They tend to cause greater anxiety among managers than do explicit corporate values.

37. According to the passage, value contention has been shown to affect managers by（事实题）
A.        decreasing their ability to conform to the values of the organization
B.        decreasing their ability to discern clearly the guiding principles and beliefs of the organization
C.        narrowing their range of options in the decision-making process
D.        increasing the frequency and intensity of conflicts with superiors and subordinates
E.        increasing the level of mental or emotional strain that accompanies the decision-making process

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GWD-TN-16 Passage 1
题材类型：社会科学•美国女人
结构类型：新老观点型
组织方式：总分，旧观点=>分析=>新观点
主要对象：age and gender
代表人物：Robertson
作者态度：大正小负
    In a 1984 book, Claire C, Robertson argued that, before colonialism, age was a more important indicator of status and authority than gender in Ghana and in Africa generally. British colonialism imposed European- style male dominant notions upon more egalitarian local situations to the detriment of women generally, and gender became a defining characteristic that weakened women’s power and authority.
    Subsequent research in Kenya convinced Robertson that she had overgeneralized about Africa. Before colonialism, gender was more salient in central Kenya than it was in Ghana, although age was still crucial in determining authority. In contrast with Ghana, where women had traded for hundreds of years and achieved legal majority (not unrelated phenomena), the evidence regarding central Kenya indicated that women were legal minors and were sometimes treated as male property, as were European women at that time. Factors like strong patrilinearity and patrilocality, as well as women’s inferior land rights and lesser involvement in trade, made women more dependent on men than was generally the case in Ghana. However, since age apparently remained the overriding principle of social organization in central Kenya, some senior women had much authority. Thus, Robertson revised her hypothesis somewhat, arguing that in determining authority in precolonial Africa age was a primary principle that superseded gender to varying degrees depending on the situation.

6. The primary purpose of the passage is to（内容性主题题）
A.        present evidence undermining a certain hypothesis
B.        describe a particular position and its subsequent modification
C.        discuss two contrasting viewpoints regarding a particular issue
D.        describe how a social phenomenon varied by region
E.        evaluate an assumption widely held by scholars

7. The passage indicates that Robertson’s research in Kenya caused her to change her mind regarding which of the following? （信息题）
A.        Whether age was the prevailing principle of social organization in Kenya before colonialism
B.        Whether gender was the primary determinant of social authority in Africa generally before colonialism
C.        Whether it was only after colonialism that gender became a significant determinant of authority in Kenyan society
D.        Whether age was a crucial factor determining authority in Africa after colonialism
E.        Whether British colonialism imposed European-style male-dominant notions upon local situations in Ghana

8. The passage suggests that after conducting the research mentioned in line 18, but not before, Robertson would have agreed with which of the following about women’s status and authority in Ghana? （信息题）
A.        Greater land rights and greater involvement in trade made women in precolonial Ghana less dependent on men than were European women at that time.
B.        Colonialism had a greater impact on the status and authority of Ghanaian women than on Kenyan women.
C.        Colonialism had less of an impact on the status and authority of Ghanaian women that it had on the status and authority of other African women.
D.        The relative independence of Ghanaian women prior to colonialism was unique in Africa.
E.        Before colonialism, the status and authority of Ghanaian women was similar to that of Kenyan women.

9. The author of the passage mentions the status of age as a principle of social organization in precolonial central Kenya in lines 24-26 most likely in order to（举例题）
A.        indicate that women’s dependence on men in precolonial Kenya was not absolute
B.        contrast the situation of senior women to that of less senior women in precolonial Kenyan society
C.        differentiate between the status and authority of precolonial Kenyan women and that of precolonial Ghanaian women
D.        explain why age superseded gender to a greater extent in precolonial Kenya than it did elsewhere in Africa
E.        identify a factor that led Robertson to revise her hypothesis about precolonial Africa

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GWD-TN-16 Passage 2
题材类型：自然科学•生命科学
结构类型：现象解释型
组织方式：总分，观点=>现象=>分析=>实验=>解释
主要对象：songbird
代表人物：
作者态度：大负小正
   Grassland songbirds often nest in the same grassland-wetland complexes as waterfowl, particularly in a certain part of those complexes, namely, upland habitats surrounding wetlands. Although some wildlife management procedures directed at waterfowl, such as habitat enhancement or restoration, may also benefit songbirds, the impact of others, especially the control of waterfowl predators, remains difficult to predict. For example, most predators of waterfowl nests prey opportunistically on songbird nests, and removing these predators could directly increase songbird nesting success. Alternatively, small mammals such as mice and ground squirrels are important in the diet of many waterfowl-nest predators and can themselves be important predators of songbird nets. Thus, removing waterfowl-nest predators could affect songbird nesting success through subsequent increases in small-mammal populations.
   In 1995 and 1996, researchers trapped and removed certain waterfowl-nest predators, primary raccoons and striped skunks, then observed subsequent survival rates for songbird nests. Surprisingly, they observed no significant effect on songbird nesting success. This may be due to several factors. Neither raccoons nor striped skunks consume ground squirrels, which are important predators of songbird nests. Thus, their removal may not have led to significant increases in populations of smaller predators. Additionally, both raccoons and striped skunks prefer wetlands and spend little time in upland habitats; removing these species may not have increased the nesting success of songbirds in the uplands enough to allow detection.

13. According to the passage, which of the following is true about the role played by ground squirrels in the ecology of grassland-wetland complexes? （事实题）
A.        While not important in the diet of raccoons or striped skunks, ground squirrels are a significant source of food for other waterfowl-nest predators.
B.        Whereas ground squirrels are typically important as predators of songbird nests, their opportunistic predation on waterfowl nests also has an observable effect on waterfowl nesting success.
C.        Although most waterfowl-nest predators prey on small mammals such as mice and ground squirrels, populations of ground squirrels tend to increase quickly enough to compensate for this level of predation.
D.        Although ground squirrels have been known to prey on songbird nests, a larger portion of their diets is usually provided by predation on waterfowl nests.
E.        Since larger predators tend to prefer small mammals to songbird eggs as a food source, a large population of ground squirrels plays an important role in controlling opportunistic predation on songbird nests.

14. Which of the following best describes the function of the sentence “Neither raccoons…songbird nests” (lines 34-37) in the context of the passage as a whole? （举例题）
A.        It raises questions about the validity of a theory described in the first paragraph.
B.        It points out an oversimplification that is inherent in the argument presented in the first paragraph.
C.        It introduces information that may help explain the results of the experiment that are presented earlier in the paragraph.
D.        It provides a specific example of the type of data collected in the experiment described earlier in the paragraph.
E.        It anticipates a potential objection to the conclusions drawn by the researchers involved in the experiment described earlier in the paragraph.

15. The primary purpose of the passage is to（内容性主题题）
A.        describe some procedures used for wildlife management and consider some problems associated with the execution of those procedures
B.        outline a problem related to a wildlife management procedure and offer potential explanations for the results of an experiment bearing on that problem
C.        present experimental results that illustrate the need for certain wildlife management procedures and point out some inconsistencies in those results
D.        argue that a certain procedure used for wildlife management should be modified because of its unintended consequences
E.        propose that further experiments be performed to assess the long-term effects of certain wildlife management procedures

16. The passage suggests that removing waterfowl-nest predators could possibly have a negative effect on songbird populations because（事实题）
A.        songbird populations could then grow to unsustainable numbers
B.        small-mammal population could then move out of the uplands into wetland areas
C.        competition among remaining waterfowl-nest predators could decrease significantly
D.        a resulting increase in waterfowl populations could crowd out songbird populations
E.        a resulting increase in small-mammal populations could increase small-mammal predation on songbirds

17. It can be inferred that the habitat preferences of raccoons and striped skunks affected the results of the experiment described in the passage for which of the following reasons? （事实题）
A.        Songbird nests in the wetlands are usually located in places that most waterfowl-nest predators cannot reach.
B.        Raccoons and striped skunks are not usually found in areas where songbird nests tend to be located.
C.        Mice and ground squirrels tend to avoid predation by raccoons and striped skunks by remaining exclusively in the uplands.
D.        The populations of small mammals in the wetlands are usually controlled by larger waterfowl-nest predators such as raccoons and striped skunks.
E.        The waterfowl on which raccoons and striped skunks prey in the wetlands compete with songbirds for food.

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GWD-TN-16 Passage 3
题材类型：社会科学•美国女人
结构类型：现象解释型
组织方式：总分，现象=>分析=>解释
主要对象：women’s movement
代表人物：Socialist
作者态度：大正小负
    In mid-February 1917 a women’s movement independent of political affiliation erupted in New York City, the stronghold of the Socialist party in the United states. Protesting against the high cost of living, thousands of women refused to buy chickens, fish, and vegetables. The boycott shut down much of the City’s foodstuffs marketing for two weeks, riveting public attention on the issue of food prices, which had increased partly as a result of increased exports of food to Europe that had been occurring since the outbreak of the First World War.
    By early 1917 the Socialist party had established itself as a major political presence in New York City. New York Socialists, whose customary spheres of struggle were electoral work and trade union organizing, seized the opportunity and quickly organized an extensive series of cost-of-living protests designed to direct the women’s movement toward Socialist goals. Underneath the Socialists’ brief commitment to cost-of-living organizing lay a basic indifference to the issue itself. While some Socialists did view price protests as a direct step toward socialism, most Socialists ultimately sought to divert the cost-of-living movement into alternative channels of protest. Union organizing, they argued, was the best method through which to combat the high cost of living. For others, cost-of-living or organizing was valuable insofar as it led women into the struggle for suffrage, and similarly, the suffrage struggle was valuable insofar as it moved United States society one step closer to socialism.
    Although New York’s Socialists saw the cost-of-living issue as, at best, secondary or tertiary to the real task at hand, the boycotters, by sharp contrast, joined the price protest movement out of an urgent and deeply felt commitment to the cost-of-living issue. A shared experience of swiftly declining living standards caused by rising food prices drove these women to protest. Consumer organizing spoke directly to their daily lives and concerns; they saw cheaper food as a valuable end in itself. Food price protests were these women’s way of organizing at their own workplace, as workers whose occupation was shopping and preparing food for their families.

25. The author suggests which of the following about the New York Socialists’ commitment to the cost-of-living movement? （信息题）
A.        It lasted for a relatively short period of time.
B.        It was stronger than their commitment to the suffrage struggle.
C.        It predated the cost-of-living protests that erupted in 1917.
D.        It coincided with their attempts to bring more women into union organizing.
E.        It explained the popularity of the socialist party in New York City.

26. It can be inferred from the passage that the goal of the boycotting women was the（信息题）
A.        achievement of an immediate economic outcome
B.        development of a more socialistic society
C.        concentration of widespread consumer protests on the more narrow issue of food prices
D.        development of one among a number of different approaches that the women wished to employ in combating the high cost of living.
E.        attraction of more public interest to issues that the women and the New York socialists considered important.

27. Which of the following best states the function of the passage as a whole? （内容性主题题）
A.        To contrast the views held by the Socialist party and by the boycotting women of New York City on the cost-of-living issue
B.        To analyze the assumptions underlying opposing viewpoints within the New York socialist party of 1917
C.        To provide a historical perspective on different approaches to the resolution of the cost-of-living issue.
D.        To chronicle the sequence of events that led to the New York Socialist party’s emergence as a political power
E.        To analyze the motivations behind the socialist party’s involvement in the women’s suffrage movement.

28. According to the passage, most New York socialists believed which of the following about the cost-of-living movement? （信息题）
A.        It was primarily a way to interest women in joining the socialist party.
B.        It was an expedient that was useful only insofar as it furthered other goals.
C.        It would indirectly result in an increase in the number of women who belonged to labor unions.
D.        It required a long-term commitment but inevitably represented a direct step toward socialism.
E.        It served as an effective complement to union organizing.

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GWD-TN-16 Passage 4
题材类型：经济管理
结构类型：现象解释型
组织方式：总分，现象=>分析=>解释
主要对象：acquisitions
代表人物：
作者态度：大负小正
    Findings from several studies on corporate mergers and acquisitions during the 1970’s and 1980’s raise questions about why firms initiate and consummate such transactions. One study showed, for example, that acquiring firms were on average unable to maintain acquired firms’ pre-merger levels of profitability. A second study concluded that post-acquisition gains to most acquiring firms were not adequate to cover the premiums paid to obtain acquired firms. A third demonstrated that, following the announcement of a prospective merger, the stock of the prospective acquiring firm tends to increase in value much less than does that of the firm for which it bids. Yet mergers and acquisitions remain common, and bidders continue to assert that their objectives are economic ones. Acquisitions may well have the desirable effect of channeling a nation’s resources efficiently from less to more efficient sectors of its economy, but the individual acquisitions executives arranging these deals must see them as advancing either their own or their companies’ private economic interests. It seems that factors having little to do with corporate economic interests explain acquisitions. These factors may include the incentive compensation of executives, lack of monitoring by boards of directors, and managerial error in estimating the value of firms targeted for acquisition. Alternatively, the acquisition acts of bidders may derive from modeling: a manager does what other managers do.

33. According to the passage, during the 1970’s and 1980’s bidding firms differed from the firms for which they bid in that bidding firms（事实题）
A.        tended to be more profitable before a merger than after a merger
B.        were more often concerned about the impact of acquisitions on national economies
C.        were run by managers whose actions were modeled on those of other managers
D.        anticipated greater economic advantages from prospective mergers
E.        experienced less of an increase in stock value when a prospective merger was announced

34. It can inferred from the passage that the author would be most likely to agree with which of the following statements about corporate acquisitions? （信息题）
A.        Their known benefits to national economies explain their appeal to individual firms during the 1970’s and 1980’s.
B.        Despite their adverse impact on some firms, they are the best way to channel resources from less to more productive sectors of a nation’s economy.
C.        They are as likely to occur because of poor monitoring by boards of directors as to be caused by incentive compensation for managers.
D.        They will be less prevalent in the future, since their actual effects will gain wider recognition.
E.        Factors other than economic benefit to the acquiring firm help to explain the frequency with which they occur.

35. The author of the passage implies that which of the following is a possible partial explanation for acquisition behavior during the 1970’s and 1980’s? （事实题）
A.        Managers wished to imitate other managers primarily because they saw how financially beneficial other firms’ acquisitions were.
B.        Managers miscalculated the value of firms that were to be acquired.
C.        Lack of consensus within boards of directors resulted in their imposing conflicting goals on managers.
D.        Total compensation packages for managers increased during that period.
E.        The value of bidding firms’ stock increased significantly when prospective mergers were announced.

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GWD-TN-17 Passage 1
题材类型：自然科学•生命科学
结构类型：结论说明型
组织方式：总分，结论=>解释说明
主要对象：pheromone
代表人物：
作者态度：大正小负
There is no consensus among researchers regarding what qualifies a substance as a pheromone. While most agree on a basic definition of pheromones as chemicals released by one individual of a species which, when detected by another individual of the same species, elicit a specific behavioral or physiological response, some researchers also specify that the response to pheromones must be unconscious. In addition, the distinction between pheromones and odorants—chemicals that are consciously detected as odors—can be blurry, and some researchers classify pheromones as a type of odorant. Evidence that pheromone responses may not involve conscious odor perception comes from the finding that in many species, pheromones are processed by the vomeronasal (or accessory olfactory) system, which uses a special structure in the nose, the vomeronasal organ (VNO), to receive chemical signals. The neural connections between the VNO and the brain are separate from those of the main olfactory system, whose processing of odorants triggers sensations of smell. But while the VNO does process many animal pheromone signals, not all animal pheromones work through the VNO. Conversely, not all chemical signals transmitted via the VNO quality as pheromones. For example, garter snakes detect a chemical signal from earthworms—one of their favorite foods—via the VNO, and they use this signal to track their prey.

7. It can be inferred from the passage that in classifying pheromones as a type of odorant, the researchers referred to in line 15 posit that（事实题）
A.        pheromones are perceived consciously
B.        most pheromones are processed by the VNO
C.        most chemical signals processed by the VNO are pheromones
D.        pheromone perception does not occur exclusively between members of the same species.
E.        pheromones do not always elicit a specific behavioral or physiological response

8. According to the passage, the fact that pheromones are processed by the VNO in many animal species has been taken as evidence of which of the following? （举例题）
A.        The accessory and main olfacstory systems are not separate
B.        Odorants and pheromones are not distinct types of chemicals.
C.        Odorants and pheromones both elicit a specific behavioral response.
D.        Pheromones do not trigger conscious sensations of smell.
E.        Pheromones aid animals in tracking prey.

9. The primary purpose of the passage is to（内容性主题题）
A.        compare and contrast the ways in which the vomeronasal organ and the main olfactory systern process chemicals.
B.        summarize the debate over the role the vomeronasal organ plays in odor perception
C.        present some of the issues involved in the debate over what constitutes a pheromone
D.        propose a new definition of pheromones based on recent research
E.        argue that pheromones should be classified as a type of odorant

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GWD-TN-17 Passage 2
题材类型：经济管理
结构类型：问题解决型
组织方式：总分，问题=>分析=>解决方案
主要对象：board performance
代表人物：
作者态度：大负小正
    Although recent censure of corporate boards of directors as “passive” and “supine” may be excessive, those who criticize board performance have plenty of substantive ammunition. Too many corporate boards fail in their two crucial responsibilities of overseeing long-term company strategy and of selecting, evaluating, and determining appropriate compensation of top management. At times, despite disappointing corporate performance, compensation of chief executive officers reaches indefensibly high levels, nevertheless, suggestions that the government should legislate board reform are premature. There are ample opportunities for boards themselves to improve corporate performance.
    Most corporate boards’ compensation committees focus primarily on peer-group comparisons. They are content if the pay of top executives approximates that of the executives of competing firms with comparable short-term earnings or even that of executives of competing firms of comparable size. However, mimicking the compensation policy of competitors for the sake of parity means neglecting the value of compensation as a means of stressing long-term performance. By tacitly detaching executive compensation policy from long-term performance, committees harm their companies and the economy as a whole. The committees must develop incentive compensation policies to emphasize long-term performance. For example a board’s compensation committee can, by carefully proportioning straight salary and such short-term and long-term incentives as stock options, encourage top management to pursue a responsible strategy.

14. According to the passage, the majority of compensation committees put the greatest emphasis on which of the following when determining compensation for their executives? （事实题）
A.        Long-term corporate performance
B.        The threat of government regulation
C.        Salaries paid to executives of comparable corporations
D.        The probable effect the determination will have on competitors
E.        The probable effect the economic climate will have on the company

15. The passage suggests which of the following about government legislation requiring that corporate boards undergo reform? （事实题）
A.        Such legislation is likely to discourage candidates from joining corporate boards.
B.        Such legislation is likely to lead to reduced competition among companies.
C.        The performance of individual companies would be affected by such legislation to a greater extent than would the economy as a whole.
D.        Such legislation would duplicate initiatives already being made by corporate boards to improve their own performance.
E.        Corporate boards themselves could act to make such legislation unnecessary.

16. Which of the following best describes the organization of the passage? （写法性主题题）
A.        A problem is acknowledged, the causes are explored, and a solution is offered.
B.        A question is raised, opposing points of view are evaluated, and several alternative answers are discussed.
C.        A means of dealing with a problem is proposed, and the manner in which a solution was reached is explained.
D.        A plan of action is advanced, and the probable outcomes of that plan are discussed.
E.        Two competing theories are described and then reconciled.

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GWD-TN-17 Passage 3
题材类型：社会科学•美国女人
结构类型：现象解释型
组织方式：总分，现象=>分析=>解释
主要对象：women in civil cases
代表人物：Dayton
作者态度：大负小正
    In colonial Connecticut between 1670 and 1719, women participated in one of every six civil cases, the vast majority of which were debt-related. Women’s participation dropped to one in ten cases after 1719, and to one in twenty by the 1770’s. However, as Cornelia Hughes Dayton notes in Women Before the Bar: Gender, Law, and Society in Connecticut, 1639-1789, these statistics are somewhat deceptive: in fact, both the absolute numbers and the percentage of adult women participating in civil cases grew steadily throughout the eighteenth century, but the legal activity of men also increased dramatically, and at a much faster rate. Single, married, and widowed women continued to pursue their own and their husbands’ debtors through legal action much as they had done in the previous century, but despite this continuity, their place in the legal system shifted dramatically. Men’s commercial interests and credit networks became increasingly far-flung, owing in part to the ability of creditors to buy and sell promissory notes (legal promises to pay debts). At the same time, women’s networks of credit and debt remained primarily local and personal. Dayton contends that, although still performing crucial economic services in their communities—services that contributed to the commercialization of the colonial economy—women remained for the most part outside the new economic and legal culture of the eighteenth century.

25. The passage is primarily concerned with（写法性主题题）
A.        reporting an author’s view of a phenomenon
B.        disputing the reasons usually given for an unexpected change
C.        evaluating the conclusions reached by an author
D.        assessing the impact of certain legal decisions.
E.        defending a controversial point of view

26. According to the passage, compared with women in eighteenth-century Connecticut, men were（取非题）
A.        more likely to rely on credit and go into debt
B.        more likely to pursue their families’ debtors
C.        more likely to participate in economic transactions outside their own communities
D.        less likely to perform economic services in their own communities.
E.        less likely to participate in civil cases that were not debt-related.

27. The passage suggests that which of the following best compares the economic concerns of women with those of men toward the close of the eighteenth Century in colonial Connecticut? （信息题）
A.        Both men and women had more economic responsibilities at the end of the century than they had had at the beginning of the century.
B.        Women’s economic activities had become less varied by the end of the century; men’s economic activities had become more varied.
C.        Women’s economic activities at the end of the century were similar to their activities at the beginning; men’s economic activities changed considerably.
D.        Women’s economic concerns at the end of the century were primarily familial; men’s economic concerns were primarily political.
E.        Women’s economic concerns at the end of the century were primarily personal; men’s economic needs were primarily familial.

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GWD-TN-17 Passage 4
题材类型：自然科学
结构类型：新老观点型
组织方式：总分，旧方法=>新方法=>新方法说明
主要对象：measure Mount Everest
代表人物：Chinese
作者态度：负评价
    In 1975 Chinese survey teams remeasured Mount Everest, the highest of the Himalayan mountains. Like the British in 1852, they used the age-old technique of “carrying in” sea level: surveyors marched inland from the coast for thousands of miles, stopping at increments of as little as a few feet to measure their elevation, and marking each increment with two poles. To measure the difference in elevation between poles, surveyors used an optical level—a telescope on a level base—placed halfway between the poles. They sighted each pole, reading off measurements that were then used to calculate the change in elevation over each increment. In sight of the peaks the used theodolites telescopes for measuring vertical and horizontal angles—to determine the elevation of the summit.
    The Chinese, however, made efforts to correct for the errors that had plagued the British. One source of error is refraction, the bending of light beams as they pass through air layers of different temperature and pressure. Because light traveling down from a summit passes through many such layers, a surveyor could sight a mirage rather than the peak itself. To reduce refraction errors, the Chinese team carried in sea level to within five to twelve miles of Everest’s summit, decreasing the amount of air that light passed through on its way to their theodolites. The Chinese also launched weather balloons near their theodolites to measure atmospheric temperature and pressure changes to better estimate refraction errors. Another hurdle is the peak’s shape. When surveyors sight the summit, there is a risk they might not all measure the same point. In 1975 the Chinese installed the first survey beacon on Everest, a red reflector visible through a theodolite for ten miles, as a reference point. One more source of error is the unevenness of sea level. The British assumed that carrying in sea level would extend an imaginary line from the shore along Earth’s curve to a point beneath the Himalaya. In reality, sea level varies according to the irregular interior of the planet. The Chinese used a gravity meter to correct for local deviations in sea level.

32. It can be inferred from the passage that refraction would be most likely to cause errors in measurements of a mountain’s elevation under which of the following conditions? （信息题）
A.        When there are local variations in sea level
B.        When light passes through humid air
C.        When theodolites are used relatively far from the mountain peak.
D.        When weather balloons indicate low air temperature and pressure.
E.        When sea level has been carried in to within five to twelve miles of the summit.

33. Which of the following best describes the purpose of the sentence in lines 23-25 (“The Chinese…the British”)? （举例题）
A.        Introduce a definition
B.        Signal a transition in focus
C.        Summarize the preceding paragraph
D.        Draw a contrast between two different theories.
E.        Present information that contradicts the preceding paragraph.

34. Which of the following is NOT mentioned as a possible source of error in surveying mountain elevation? （列举题）
A.        Mirages
B.        Refraction
C.        Inaccurate instruments
D.        Variations in sea level
E.        Uncertainty about the exact point to be measured

35. The primary purpose of the passage is to （写法性主题题）
A.        provide details about improvements to a process
B.        challenge the assumptions underlying a new method
C.        criticize the way in which a failed project was carried out
D.        call for new methods to solve an existing problem
E.        explain the theory behind a new technique

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GWD-TN-17 Passage 4
题材类型：自然科学
结构类型：新老观点型
组织方式：总分，旧方法=>新方法=>新方法说明
主要对象：measure Mount Everest
代表人物：Chinese
作者态度：负评价
    In 1975 Chinese survey teams remeasured Mount Everest, the highest of the Himalayan mountains. Like the British in 1852, they used the age-old technique of “carrying in” sea level: surveyors marched inland from the coast for thousands of miles, stopping at increments of as little as a few feet to measure their elevation, and marking each increment with two poles. To measure the difference in elevation between poles, surveyors used an optical level—a telescope on a level base—placed halfway between the poles. They sighted each pole, reading off measurements that were then used to calculate the change in elevation over each increment. In sight of the peaks the used theodolites telescopes for measuring vertical and horizontal angles—to determine the elevation of the summit.
    The Chinese, however, made efforts to correct for the errors that had plagued the British. One source of error is refraction, the bending of light beams as they pass through air layers of different temperature and pressure. Because light traveling down from a summit passes through many such layers, a surveyor could sight a mirage rather than the peak itself. To reduce refraction errors, the Chinese team carried in sea level to within five to twelve miles of Everest’s summit, decreasing the amount of air that light passed through on its way to their theodolites. The Chinese also launched weather balloons near their theodolites to measure atmospheric temperature and pressure changes to better estimate refraction errors. Another hurdle is the peak’s shape. When surveyors sight the summit, there is a risk they might not all measure the same point. In 1975 the Chinese installed the first survey beacon on Everest, a red reflector visible through a theodolite for ten miles, as a reference point. One more source of error is the unevenness of sea level. The British assumed that carrying in sea level would extend an imaginary line from the shore along Earth’s curve to a point beneath the Himalaya. In reality, sea level varies according to the irregular interior of the planet. The Chinese used a gravity meter to correct for local deviations in sea level.

32. It can be inferred from the passage that refraction would be most likely to cause errors in measurements of a mountain’s elevation under which of the following conditions? （信息题）
A.        When there are local variations in sea level
B.        When light passes through humid air
C.        When theodolites are used relatively far from the mountain peak.
D.        When weather balloons indicate low air temperature and pressure.
E.        When sea level has been carried in to within five to twelve miles of the summit.

33. Which of the following best describes the purpose of the sentence in lines 23-25 (“The Chinese…the British”)? （举例题）
A.        Introduce a definition
B.        Signal a transition in focus
C.        Summarize the preceding paragraph
D.        Draw a contrast between two different theories.
E.        Present information that contradicts the preceding paragraph.

34. Which of the following is NOT mentioned as a possible source of error in surveying mountain elevation? （列举题）
A.        Mirages
B.        Refraction
C.        Inaccurate instruments
D.        Variations in sea level
E.        Uncertainty about the exact point to be measured

35. The primary purpose of the passage is to （写法性主题题）
A.        provide details about improvements to a process
B.        challenge the assumptions underlying a new method
C.        criticize the way in which a failed project was carried out
D.        call for new methods to solve an existing problem
E.        explain the theory behind a new technique