PART VREADING COMPREHENSION
In this section there are four passages followed by questions or unfinished
statements, each withfour suggested answers marked A, B, C and D. Choose the one
that you think is the best answer.
TEXT A
Racket, din clamor, noise, whatever you want to call it, unwanted sound is
America's most widespread
nuisance. But noise is more than just a nuisance. It constitutes a real and
present danger to people's health. Day
and night, at home, at work, and at play, noise can produce serious physical
and psychological stress. No one is
immune to this stress. Though we seem to adjust to noise by ignoring it, the
ear, in fact, never closes and the
body still responds— sometimes with extreme tension, as to a strange sound in
the night.
The annoyance we feel when faced with noise is the most common outward
symptom of the stress building
up inside us. Indeed, because irritability is so apparent, legislators have
made public annoyance the basis of
many noise abatement programs. The more subtle and more serious health
hazards associated with stress
caused by noise traditionally have been given much less attention.
Nevertheless, when we are annoyed or made
irritable by noise, we should consider these symptoms fair warning that other
thing may be happening to us,
some of which may be damaging to our health.
Of many health hazards to noise, hearing loss is the most clearly observable
and measurable by health
professionals. The other hazards are harder to pin down. For many of us,
there may be a risk that exposure to the
stress of noise increases susceptibility to disease and infection. The more
susceptible among us may experience
noise as a complicating factor in heart problems and other diseases. Noise
that causes annoyance and irritability
in health persons may have serious consequences for these already ill in mind
or body.
Noise affects us throughout our lives. For example, there are indications of
effects on the unborn child when
mothers are exposed to industrial and environmental noise. During infancy and
childhood, youngsters exposed
to high noise levels may have trouble falling asleep and obtaining necessary
amounts of rest.
Why, then, is there not greater alarm about these dangers? Perhaps it is
because the link between noise and
many disabilities or diseases has not yet been conclusively demonstrated.
Perhaps it is because we tend to
dismiss annoyance as a price to pay for living in the modern world. It may
also be because we still think of
hearing loss as only an occupational hazard.
1.In Paragraph 1, the phrase "immune to" are used to mean ___.
A.unaffected by
B.hurt by
C.unlikely to be seen by
D.unknown by
2.The author's attitude toward noise would best be described as ___.
A.unrealistic
B.traditional
C.concerned
D.hysterical
3.Which of the following best states the main idea of the passage?
A.Noise is a major problem; most people recognize its importance.
B.Although noise can be annoying, it is not a major problem.
C.Noise is a major problem and has not yet been recognized as such.
D.Noise is a major problem about which nothing can be done.
4.The author condemns noise essentially because it ___.
A.is against the law
B.can make some people irritable
C.is a nuisance
D.in a ganger to people's health
5.The author would probably consider research about the effects noise has on
people to be ___.
A.unimportant
B.impossible.
C.a waste of money
D.essential
