大学英语四级阅读专项训练 学生版(6)

6

When Christopher Columbus landed on the then unnamed Costa Rica in 1502, he saw many Indians wearing gold earrings. So he thought the land must be rich in gold. He named the place Costa Rica, which means ―rich coast‖ in Spanish.

Though little gold was found, Costa Rica today is indeed rich with coffee and bananas. Coffee is the most important product in Costa Rica and most of it is exported (出口) to other countries like America and West Germany. Bananas are the country‘s second most important export.

Costa Ricans also grow many other crops such as fruits, corn and beans for their own use. Costa Ricans love colors and their houses are painted in bright colors.

Education is very important to the Costa Ricans. Almost every village has a school and education is a must for children between seven and fourteen years of age. Boys and girls go to separate (单独的) schools. Classes begin in March and end in November. The other three months of the year are harvest time and the children have to help their parents to pick coffee beans.

1. What‘s the main idea of the first paragraph?

A. How Columbus found Costa Rica.

B. How Costa Rica got its name.

C. What the Costa Ricans wore.

D. What language the Costa Ricans spoke.

2. The Costa Ricans may NOT paint their houses ______.

A. pink and red B. grey and black

C. blue and green D. yellow and orange

3. In Costa Rica, boys and girls between seven and fourteen ______.

A. must go to school

B. study in the same school

C. do not have to go to school at all

D. can choose to stop schooling at any time

4. From December to February, school children in Costa Rica ______.

A. have lessons every day

B. have their examinations

C. help their parents pick coffee beans

D. help their parents decorate their houses

5. This passage is mainly about ______.

A. Christopher Columbus B. Costa Rica

C. some products from Costa Rica

D. the education of Costa Rica

7

Christian Eijkman, a Dutch doctor, left the Netherlands for the island of Java. Many people on the island had a disease called beri. He was going there to try and find a cure.

At first, Eijkman thought some kind of germ (细菌) caused beri. He raised some chickens. He didn‘t eat them, but made experiments on them. The local people were quite surprised at that. One day he noticed that his chickens became sick when they were fed the food most Javanese ate — refined white rice. When he fed them with unrefined rice, also known as brown rice, they recovered. Eijkman realized that he had made an important discovery — that some things in food could prevent disease. These things were named vitamins. The Javanese were not getting enough vitamins because they had actually removed the part that contains vitamins. Later, other diseases were also found to be caused by the lack of vitamins in a person‘s food.

Today many people know the importance of vitamins and they make sure they have enough vitamins from the food they eat. If they don‘t, they can also take vitamin pills.

1. The underlined word ―cure‖ in Paragragh 1 probably means ______.

A. a medical treatment B. a kind of vitamin

C. a kind of germ D. a kind of rice

2. Christian Eijkman went to the island of Java to ______.

A. spend his holiday

B. find ways to grow better crops