Section C Reading in Depth
Read the following three passages carefully and then do the exercises below.
PASSAGE 1
Radio waves cannot penetrate water， so cannot be used for submarine communication.That is why the sea is probed by sonar， not radar. But， as people and their machines venture ever farther into the deep， ways of building underwater communications networks would be welcome. And researchers at Newcastle University， in England， led by Jeff Neasham， think they have just the thing to build them with： an acoustic “nanomodem”.
Existing underwater modems， which transmit and receive data via sound， are power⁃hungry （consuming up to two watts when receiving messages， and as much as 35W when transmitting） and expensive （costing between 5，000 and 15，000， or＄7，000 20，000）.Dr. Neasham's nanomodems consume only ten milliwatts when listening， and 1W when broadcasting. They cost about 50. They are also， being about the size of a matchbox， a tenth as big and heavy as the conventional variety. But they suffer from no diminution（减弱）in range. They are able， as an existing modem is， to broadcast over a distance of up to 2 km.That range can， moreover， be extended by deploying a number of them as a network in which each talks to its neighbors， recording messages and passing them on. Existing modems can do this too， in principle. In practice their cost restricts the size of the network.
Around 200 of Dr. Neasham's nanomodems are already being tested， in several projects.One， which started in January， is a whale watch organized by the Natural Environment Research Council， a British government agency. The plan is to survey sites where offshore wind farms might be built， to assess the risk of any development there interfering with local cetaceans （鲸类动物）.
Nanomodems can also be used on submarine drones （无人潜艇）， known as AUVs（autonomous underwater vehicles）. One such， the ecoSUB， made by ecoSUB Robotics， a British firm， is less than a metre long， weighs about 4 kg， and is intended to work in groups，called shoals， monitoring pipelines and other pieces of underwater infrastructure. Fitting a nanomodem to each drone in a shoal will let it talk to the others， permitting shoal members to coordinate their activities.
1. Why is it necessary to build underwater communications networks？
A. To explore the deep sea.
B. To penetrate water.
C. To save money.
D. To test efficiency.
2. What features nanomodems？
A. They are power⁃consuming， small and cheap.
B. They are expensive， small and weak.
C. They are cheap， small and powerful.
D. They are cheap， big and powerful.
3. How can an underwater communications network be built with nanomodems？
A. A powerful nanomodem can be installed record and pass the messages.
B. A certain number of nanomodems can be installed to record and pass the messages to their neighboring nanomodems.
C. A powerful nanomodem and a radar can be installed to record and pass the messages.
D. A certain number of nanomodems and sonars can be installed to record and pass the messages to their neighboring nanomodems.
4. What is the purpose for the Natural Environment Research Council to use nanomodems？
A. To find appropriate sites for wind plants without disturbing local cetaceans.
B. To find appropriate sites for wind plants with removing local cetaceans.
C. To find appropriate sites for wind farms with removing local cetaceans.
D. To find appropriate sites for wind farms without disturbing local cetaceans.
5. Why is ecoSUB used？
A. To monitor local cetaceans.
B. To monitor underwater infrastructures.
C. To monitor tidal waves.
D. To monitor shoals.
PASSAGE 2
Thomas Paine （or Pain， February 9， 1737 or January 29， 1736 June 8， 1809）， an English⁃American political activist， philosopher， political theorist， and revolutionary， was born in Thetford in the English county of Norfolk. Paine migrated to the British American colonies in 1774 with the help of Benjamin Franklin， arriving just in time to participate in the American Revolution. One of his most influential pamphlets is Common Sense， which was said by John Adams that “Without the pen of the author of Common Sense， the sword of Washington would have been raised in vain.”
Virtually every rebel read （or listened to a reading of） his powerful pamphlet Common Sense， proportionally the all⁃time best⁃selling American title， which crystallized the rebellious demand for independence from Great Britain. It was published in Philadelphia on January 10，1776， and signed anonymously “by an Englishman”. It became an immediate success， quickly spreading 100，000 copies in three months to the two million residents of the 13 colonies.In all about 500，000 copies total， including unauthorized editions， were sold during the course of the American Revolution. It was passed around， and often read aloud in pubs， contributing significantly to spreading the idea of republicanism， increasing enthusiasm for separation from Britain， and encouraging recruitment for the Continental Army. Paine provided a new and convincing argument for independence by advocating a complete break with history.Common Sense is oriented to the future in a way that compels the reader to make an immediate choice. It offers a solution for Americans disgusted with and alarmed at the threat of tyranny.It was a clear call for unity against the corrupt British court， so as to realize America's role in providing an asylum for liberty. Written in a direct and lively style， it denounced the decaying tyranny of Europe and hereditary monarchy as an absurdity. At a time when many still hoped for reconciliation with Britain， Common Sense demonstrated to many the inevitability of separation.
1. Born in Britain， Paine immigrated to America________
.
A. after the Civil War
B. before the War of Independence
C. before the Civil War
D. before World War Ⅰ
2. What was the main idea of Paine's Common Sense？
A. It definitely stated the urgent necessity of drafting the Constitution.
B. It definitely stated the urgent necessity of signing peace treaty with Britain.
C. It definitely stated the urgent necessity of independence of the American colonies from Britain.
D. It definitely stated the urgent necessity of declaration of war against Europe.
3. What was Americans' attitude toward Common Sense？
A. They were indifferent to the pamphlet.
B. They thought the pamphlet was ridiculous.
C. The pamphlet was quite popular.
D. The pamphlet was quite unpopular.
4. Paine， in his work of Common Sense， cared about________.
A. the present of Europe
B. the prospect of America
C. the past of America
D. the present of America
5. What was Paine's attitude toward the political system in Europe， according to Common Sense？
A. He denounced tyranny there.
B. He applauded republicanism there.
C. He applauded tyranny there.
D. He denounced republicanism there.
PASSAGE 3
The middle school in northern Manhattan is named after Booker T. Washington， a champion of education for African⁃Americans. But in a district where half the students are Hispanic and black， less than a quarter of the 852 students in this selective， high⁃performing school are from those groups.
Now Booker T.Washington on West 107th Street，also known as Middle School 54，is at the center of a debate over segregation （隔离） in New York City's public schools. In the absence of a coordinated policy by the education department， District 3—a diverse and highly segregated school district that covers the Upper West Side and Harlem—came up with its own desegregation plan for its middle schools， including M.S.54， which would require them to set aside seats for children with low test scores.
The plan is one of an increasing number of desegregation efforts around the city led by local education officials and parents. And while this plan has met with resistance， the city's desegregation efforts see a growing recognition across demographic （人口学的） lines that segregation is a problem that needs to， and can be， addressed.
“When you look at the history of desegregation， it was a policy implemented top down，” said Amy Stuart Wells， a professor at Teachers College at Columbia University， who characterized the last major efforts in the 1960s and 1970s as “paying lip service” （口惠而实不至） to diversity in curriculum and teaching practices within schools. “This is grass⁃roots. It's much more bottom up.”
The plan is intended to open the door at M.S. 54 and other selective middle schools to more black and Hispanic students， many of whom score below average on standardized state tests. “We're trying to capture the students in District 3 elementary schools who have been shut out of some of the highest⁃performing schools，” said Kimberly Watkins， president of the district's community education council， a parent group that advises on admissions policy.
But the district continues to try hard just how to do that.During a meeting on Wednesday night， the district superintendent introduced two alternative plans that would also set aside seats for low⁃performing students—not based solely on low test scores， but on a combination of test scores and grades， or test scores and the poverty of the students at their elementary school.
Josh Kross， 41， a father of three who is white， agreed that something must be done.When he attended an orientation for new families at M.S. 54， “It was all white people and a couple of Asian families，” he said. “There were no Hispanic families. There were no black families. It's offensive and it doesn't reflect the city.” But Mr. Kross said that the plans failed to address the real problem—the poor education that these children had received until this point—and instead proposed to drop them into middle schools that they could be ill prepared to handle. “The school system is horribly segregated and underserves the underserved， but this isn't the way to fix it，” he said.
Across the city， the desegregation efforts are driven by shifting demographics， as more white， middle⁃class families are choosing the city over the suburbs， and once poor and immigrant neighborhoods in Manhattan and swaths of Brooklyn and Queens are becoming well⁃behaved. “There are opportunities that didn't exist before to create more integrated schools，” said Pedro Noguera， an education professor at U. C.L.A.， where a 2014 report found that New York State has the most segregated public schools in the nation.
And they are a response to a widespread perception that the city education department has moved too slowly on school segregation， which Mayor Bill de Blasio has called an unavoidable byproduct of residential segregation. The new school's chancellor， Richard A.Carranza， telegraphed his support for District 3's plan.
Clara Hemphill， editor of the InsideSchools website， said she has heard from multiracial groups of parents working together to integrate schools in Jackson Heights in Queens， and Bedford⁃Stuyvesant and Crown Heights in Brooklyn. “We're sort of waking up to how bad it is，” she said.
1. What is the main purpose of Para. 1？
A. It is to show that many African American students enjoy good chances to receive qualified secondary education.
B. It is to show that many Hispanic American students enjoy good chances to receive qualified secondary education.
C. It is to show that many African American students and Hispanic American students fail to have chances to receive qualified secondary education.
D. It is to show that many African American students and Hispanic American students enjoy good chances to receive qualified secondary education.
2. The Middle School 54 made its own desegregation plan in order to________.
A. deny more African American and Hispanic American students
B. recruit more white students and African American students
C. deny more Hispanic students and white students
D. recruit more African American and Hispanic American students
3. Why did Mr. Kross say that the desegregation plan failed to solve the real problem？
A. Because the plan failed in providing good secondary education chances for students from some minority racial groups.
B. Because the plan failed in providing good secondary education chances for students from some minority racial groups.
C. Because the plan failed in providing good elementary education chances for students from some minority racial groups.
D. Because the plan failed in providing good elementary education chances for students from some minority racial groups.
4. The word “integrated” in the passage is closest in meaning to________？
A. mixed B.segregated
C. generalized C. classified
5. What is the prospect of the desegregation plan according to the passage？
A. There are no chances for the plan to be fulfilled.
B. There are good chances for the plan to be fulfilled.
C. It is hard to say.
D. There are gloomy chances for the plan to be fulfilled.