Passage

　　Former US Vice President Al Gore,who came close to winning the presidency two years ago,said he will not run in 2004,and probably will not have another opportunity to seek the White House.

　　Though Gore would have been a frightening Democratic(民主党的) main runner,his decision to give up the 2004 race probably helped his party's chances in the general election against President George W.Bush,Democrats said.

　　Many did not want to see BushGore Ⅱ.

　　“The last campaign was an extremely difficult one,” Gore told CBS TV show “60 Minutes”on Sunday.

　　While saying he still had the energy and drive to run again,Gore recognied,“There are a lot of people within the Democratic Party who felt exhausted(by the 2000 race)…who felt like,OK,‘I don't want to go through that again.’And I'm frankly sensitive to that feeling.”

　　In nearly two doen interviews after Gore announced his plans,Democrats dutifully claimed their party had lost a top candidate,but one after another,they praised Gore for taking an early exit from a primary race he could have won,sparing them a repeat.

　　Gore,54,said he was making his decision“in the full understanding that it probably means that I will never have another opportunity to run for president.”

　　Party activists(激进主义分子)blamed Gore for losing despite a booming economy and eight years of a Democratic administration.Gore even lost his home state of Tennessee,a victory there would have given him the White House.

　　1.Which of the following can be the best title for this passage?

　　A.Gore Was Criticied B.Gore Decides Not to Fight Bush in 2004

　　C.Former US Vice President Al Gore D.Al Gore and Gorge Bush

　　2. Why do you think Gore has decides not to run in 2004 according to this passage?

　　A.Because he is quite old.

　　B.Because many people are against him.

　　C.Because he quite understands the feelings of a lot of Democratic members.

　　D.Because he doesn't want to be President of US.

　　3.What was Gore's feeling when he made his decision?

　　A.Delight. B.Sad. C.Regretful. D.Calm.

　　Passage

　　Priscilla—Ouchida's “energyefficient”house turned out to be a horrible dream.When she and her engineer husband married a few years ago,they built a $ 100,000,three-bedroom home in California.Tightly sealed to prevent air leaks,the house was equipped with small doublepaned(双层玻璃) windows and several other energysaving features.Problems began as soon as the couple moved in,however.Priscilla's eyes burned.Her throat was constantly dry.She suffered from headaches and could hardly sleep.It was as though she had suddenly developed a strange illness.

　　Experts finally traced the cause of her illness.The level of formaldehyde(甲醛) gas in her kitchen was twice the maximum allowed by federal standards for chemical workers.The source of the gas? Her new kitchen cabinets and walltowall carpeting.

　　The Ouchidas are victims of indoor air pollution,which is not given sufficient attention partly because of the nation's drive to save energy.The problem itself isn't new.“The indoor environment was dirty long before energy conservation came along，”says Moschandreas,a pollution scientist at Geomet Technologies inMaryland.“Energy conservation has tended to accentuate the situation in somecases.”

　　The problem appears to be more troublesome in newly constructed homes ratherthan old ones.Back in the days when energy was cheap,home builders didn't worry much about unsealed cracks.Because of such leaks,the air in an average home was repaced by fresh outdoor air about once an hour.As a result,the pollutants generated in most households seldom built up to dangerous levels.

　　1. It can be learned from the passage that the Ouchidas' house——

　　A.is well worth the money spent on its construction

　　B.is almost faultless form the point of energy conservation

　　C.failed to meet energy conservation standards

　　D.was designed and constructed in a scientific way

　　2. What make the Ouchidas' new house a horrible dream?

　　A.Lack of fresh air.B.Poor quality of building materials.

　　C.Gas leakage in the kitchen. D.The newly painted walls.

　　3. The word“accentuate”(Para.3) most probably means“.————“

　　A.relieve B.accelerate C.worsen D.improve

　　4.Why were cracks in old houses not a big concern?

　　A.Because indoor cleanliness was not emphasied.

　　B.Because energy used to be inexpensive.

　　C.Because environmental protection was given top priority.

　　D.Because they were technically unavoidable.

　　5.Thispassageismostprobably taken from an article entitled ————

　　A.Energy conservation B.House Building Crisis

　　C.Air Pollution Indoors D.Traps in Building Construction

　　参考答案：

　　Passage

　　1.该则新闻报道的所有内容都是围绕戈尔放弃2004年总统竞选决定这一中心来写的。答案为B。

　　2.作为现年54岁的戈尔年龄并不大，A是不对的;从“…their party had lost a top candidate”也可以判断出B是不正确的;从戈尔的话“…it probably means that I will never have another opportunity to run for president.”来分析，他还是很想当美国总统的。再说，又有谁不想当总统呢?从“There are a lot of people within the Democratic Party who felt exhausted( by the 2000 race)…who fell like,OK，‘I don't want to go through that again.’And I'm frankly sensitive to that feeling.”可以很清楚地推断出正确答案为C。

　　3.从好多人对戈尔的赞扬以及戈尔的话“…in the full understanding that…”可以看出戈尔做出的决定是通过深思熟虑的，因此，他也是很冷静的(calm)。答案为D。

　　Passage

　　1.推断题。本文第一段的首句是本文的主题句。“Pricilla这幢‘有效节能’的房子，结果却是一场噩梦。”从通篇的阐述分析，这栋房子确实无可指责，而问题在于良好的节能性使早已存在的室内环境污染得以显现，致使Ouchida身受其害。所以选项B“从节约能源方面看是完美无瑕的”正确。选项C“不能达到节约能量的标准”与此刚好相悖。文章没有涉及到建房所需费用值不值的问题。因此，选项A花在其建设上的钱比较值得”，不对。文章没有提到选项D“按科学的方法设计建造的”，故此项也不对。答案为B。

　　2.细节题。第三段的第二、三句：“厨房内甲醛气体的标准比联邦当局要求从事化学生产的标准的两倍还要高。气体来自哪里?厨房内的新柜子和铺满地板的地毯。”另外从最后一段的分析可看出，此类问题是由于新建房屋的密封性好所致。所以，选项A“缺乏新鲜空气”为正确答案。而选项B、C、D均与文章内容不符。答案为A。

　　3.词语题。这一段指出：The Ouchidas是室内空气污染的受害者，国家开展的节能运动使人们忽视室内空气污染问题，这是造成这种情况的部分原因。然后指出：室内空气污染问题早在节能运动前就存在，只是节能使这种问题在有些情况下变得更严重。据此，答案为C。

　　4.细节题。最后一段第二句明确指出：“因为在以前能源便宜时，房屋的建造者不必担心未封闭的裂缝。”应选择选项B。其他三项都不符合题意。答案为B。

　　5.主旨题。综观全文，尤其是作者在最后两段的分析，可以看出本文只是以节能所造成的问题为例，旨在阐述早已存在的室内空气污染问题。所以选项C为正确答案。实际上该题就是“Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?”的另一种表达形式。答案为C。