Passage Three
Questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage

  It is hard to track the blue whale the ocean’s largest creature, which
has almost been killed off by commercial whaling and is now listed as an
endangered species. Attaching radio devices to it is difficult and visual
sightings are too unreliable to give real insight into its behavior.

  So biologists were delighted early this year when with the help of the
Navy they were able to track a particular blue whale for 43 days
monitoring its sounds. This was possible because of the Navy's formerly
top-secret system of underwater listening devices spanning the oceans.

   Tracking whales is but one example of an exciting new world just
opening to civilian scientists after the cold war as the Navy starts to
share and partly uncover its global network of underwater listening system
built over the decades to track the ships of potential enemies.

  Earth scientists announced at a news conference recently that they had
used the system for closely monitoring a deep-sea volcanic eruption (爆发)
for the first time and that they plan similar studies. Other scientists
have proposed to use the network for tracking ocean currents and measuring
changes in ocean and global temperatures.   The speed of sound in water is
roughly one mile a second-slower than through land but faster than through
air. What is most important different layers of ocean water can act as
channels for sounds focusing them in the same way a stethoscope (听诊器)
does when it carries faint noises from a patient’s chest to a doctor’s
ear. This focusing is the main reason that even relatively weak sounds in
the ocean especially low-frequency ones, can often travel thousands of
miles. 

31. The passage is chiefly about ____ .   
A an effort to protect an endangered marine species.   
B the civilian use of a military detection system.   
C the exposure of a U.S. Navy top-secret weapon.   
D a new way to look into the behavior of blue whales.

32. The underwater listening system was originally designed ____ .   
A to trace and locate enemy vessels   
B to monitor deep-sea volcanic eruptions   
C to study the movement of ocean currents 
D to replace the global radio communications network

33. The deep-sea listening system makes use of ____ .   
A the sophisticated technology of focusing sounds under water   
B the capability of sound to travel at high speed   
C the unique property of layers of ocean water in transmitting sound   
D low-frequency sounds travelling across different layers of water

34. It can be inferred from the passage that____.   
A new radio devices should be developed for tracking the endangered blue
whales   
B blue whales are no longer endangered with the use of the new listening
system   
C opinions differ as to whether civilian scientists should be allowed to
use military technology   
D military technology has great potential in civilian use

35. Which of the following is true about the U.S. Navy underwater
listening network﹖ 
A It is now partly accessible to civilian scientists.   
B It has been replaced by a more advanced system.   
C It became useless to the military after the cold war.   
D It is indispensable in protecting endangered species.   

Passage Four
Questions 36 to 40 are based on the following passage

  The fitness movement that began in the late 1960s and early 1970s
centered around aerobic exercise (有氧操). Millions of individuals became
engaged in a variety of aerobic activities and literally thousands of
health spas developed around the country to capitalize (获利) on this
emerging interest in fitness particularly aerobic dancing for females. A
number of fitness spas existed prior to this aerobic fitness movement
even a national chain with spas in most major cities. However their focus
was not on aerobics but rather on weight-training programs designed to
develop muscular mass strength and endurance in their primarily male
enthusiasts. These fitness spas did not seem to benefit financially from
the aerobic fitness movement to better health since medical opinion
suggested that weight-training programs offered few if any health
benefits. In recent years however weight training has again become
increasingly popular for males and for females. Many current programs
focus not only on developing muscular strength and endurance but on
aerobic fitness as well.

  Historically most physical-fitness tests have usually included measures
of muscular strength and endurance not for health-related reasons but
primarily because such fitness components have been related to performance
in athletics. However in recent years evidence has shown that training
programs designed primarily to improve muscular strength and endurance
might also offer some health benefits as well. The American College of
Sports Medicine now recommends that weight training be part of a total
fitness program for healthy Americans. Increased participation in such
training is one of the specific physical activity and fitness objectives
of Healthy People 2000 National Health Promotion and Disease Prevention
Objectives.

36. The word “spas”Line 3Para.1 most probably refers to ____.   
A sports activities
B places for physical exercise   
C recreation centers  
D athletic training programs.

37. Early fitness spas were intended mainly for ____.   
A the promotion of aerobic exercise   
B endurance and muscular development   
C the improvement of women's figures   
D better performance in aerobic dancing

38. What was the attitude of doctors towards weight training in health
improvement?   
A Positive.   
B Indifferent.   
C Negative.   
D Cautious.

39. People were given physical fitness tests in order to find out ____ .
A how well they could do in athletics                
B what their health condition was like   
C what kind of fitness center was suitable for them   
D whether they were fit for aerobic exercise

40. Recent studies have suggested that weight training ____ .   
A has become an essential part of people’s life.   
B may well affect the health of the trainees.   
C will attract more people in the days to come.    
D contributes to health improvement as well.