2017年上半年公共英语考试已经于3月18、19日顺利开考，下面是小编整理的公共英语二级试题，希望能帮到大家!
短文理解
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的[A]、[B]、[C]和[D]四个选项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Text l
Almost every family buys at least one copy of a newspaper every day. Some people subscribe(订阅) to as many as two or three newspapers. But why do people read newspapers?
Five hundred years ago, news of important happenings--battles lost and won, kings or rulers overthrown (****) or killed--took months and even years to travel from one country to another. The news passed by word of mouth and was never accurate. Today we can read in our newspapers of important events that occur in far away countries on the same day they happen.
Apart from supplying news from all over the world, newspapers give us a lot of other useful information. There are weather reports, radios, television and film guides, book reviews, stories and, of course, advertisements. The bigger ones are put in by large companies to bring attention to their products. They pay the newspapers thousands of dollars for the advertising space, but it is worth the money, for news of their products goes into almost every home in the country. For those who produce newspapers, advertisements are also very important. Money earned from advertise- ments makes it possible for them to sell their newspapers at a low price and still make a profit.
Newspapers often have information on gardening, cooking and fashion as well as a small but very popular section on jokes and cartoons( 漫画 ).
21. What is the text about?
A. Advertisements are the most important part in newspapers.
B. It introduces newspapers past and today and its contents.
C. There is a lot of useful information on newspapers.
D. People like newspapers very much.
22. The habit of reading newspapers is________.
A. uncommon in the world
B. not popular in U. S. A.
C. widespread in the world
D. found among a few families
23. The section on jokes and cartoons is________.
A. read only by children
B. of no value
C. not helpful
D. read by many people
Text 2
"New York City is not America. " That's what American friends are sure to you when you ar- rive. "You must see Boston, visit Niagara Falls, go to Virginia, fly down to Florida, and so on; but first, of course, you will want to see New York. It is not the capital city of the United States(that is Washington, D.C. , where the President lives) or even the capital city of New York State(that is Albany), but many people call it 'the greatest city on earth'."
The five parts, or boroughs, of New York City are Manhattan, Queen, Bronz, Richmond and Brooklyn. Although Manhattan is not all of New York, it is the heart of the city. It is an island, which is only about 13 miles long and 2 miles wide. From the air its shape looks like a long finger, and from the sea it's just like the picture we all know. Those tall, straight buildings--the skyscrap- ers-packed so close together on that island of rocks are sometimes seen in the distance through a veil of early morning mist. You have imagined it so often that now it's difficult to believe this beautiful sight is real, and unless your heart is as hard as a stone, excitement will lake it beat a lit- tle faster.Perhaps "greatest", "tallest", "longest", "biggest", "brightest", are words you will find most often in the city guide books.
24.How many places in America are mentioned in this passage besides New York City?
A.6.
B.4.
C.7.
D.5.
25. Which of the following statements is NOT TRUE?
A. Manhattan is the centre of New York City.
B. New York City is made up of five parts.
C. New York looks like a long finger from the air.
D. Manhattan is an island.
26. In the second paragraph, "excitement will make it beat a little faster" here "it" refers to________.
A. this beautiful sight
B. you
C. your heart
D. New York City
Text 3
Pepys and his wife Jane had asked some friends to dinner on Sunday, September 2nd, 1666. They were up very late on the Saturday evening, getting everything ready for the next day, and while they were busy they saw the glow(微弱的光) of a fire start in the sky. By 3 o'clock on the Sunday moning, its glow had become so bright that Jane woke her husband to watch .it. Pepys slipped on his dressing-gown and went to the window to watch it. It seemed fairly far away, and after a time he went back to bed. When he got up in the morning, it looked, though the fire was dying down, as though he could still see some flames. So he set to work to tidy his room and put his things back where he wanted them.
While he was doing this, Jane came in to say that she had heard the fire was a bad one; hundreds of houses had been burned down in the night and the fire was still burning. Pepys went out to see for himself. He went to the Tower of London and climbed upon a high part of the build- ing so that he could see what was happening. From there, Pepys could see that it was, indeed, a bad fire and that even the houses on London Bridge were burning. The man of the Tower told him that the fire had started in a baker's shop in Pudding Lane(小巷) ; the baker's house had caught fire from the over-beated oven(烤箱)and then the flames had quickly spread to the other houses in the narrow lane. So the Great Fire of London, a fire that lasted nearly five days, destroyed most of the old city and ended, as it is said, at Pie Corner.
27. What is the passage about?
A. The Great Fire of London.
B. Who was the first to discover the fire.
C. What Pepys was doing during the fire.
D. The losses caused by the fire.
28.They were up very late because______.
A. it was Sunday morning
B. they were not very sleepy
C. they were preparing for the dinner
D. they saw the great fire start
29. In the sentence" Pepys slipped on his dressing-gown. "" slip on" means________.
A. to be wearing
B. to be pushing
C.to take off
D.to put on
30. Why did the flames spread quickly?
A. The oven became very hot.
B. The houses were close together.
C. The baker did nothing to stop it.
D. The baker's house was burning quickly.
答案及解析
21.B
【题型】主旨题
【解析】本文首先介绍了过去和现在的报纸，紧接着说了报纸的内容，可知选B是最符合题意的。
22.C
【题型】推断题
【解析】根据文章第一句Almost every family buys at least one copy of anewspaper every day.可知，看报纸的习惯在世界上很广泛。
23.D
【题型】细节题
【解析】由文章最后一段…but very popular section on jokes arid car-toons.可知，笑话和漫画很受欢迎，因此推断有很多人看。
24.A
【题型】细节题
【解析】除了New York City，文中还提到了Boston，Niagara Falls，Virginia，Washington，D.C.和Albany。一共6个地方。
25.C【题型】细节题
【解析】由文章第二段一、二、三句可知，A、B、D项均正确。由第四句From the air its shape looks like a long finger.可知是Manhattan lookslike a long finger from the air，而非New York。
26.C
【题型】语义题
【解析】由文中…and unless your heart is as hard as a stone，excitementwill make it beat a little faster.可知，it是指your heart。
27.A
【题型】主旨题
【解析】通过对文章的分析，可知本文记叙了伦敦的大火。而B、C、D三项文中只是提到，而非文章主旨，故不能选择。
28.C
【题型】细节题
【解析】题干问“他们晚上待到很晚是为了_______”。由第一段第二句They were up very late on the Saturday evening，getting everything readyfor the next day…可知是为第二天的宴会做准备。
29.D
【题型】语义题
【解析】由下文…and went to the window to watch it.可知要去窗户那儿看火光，要穿上睡衣才行。to be wearing表示穿着的状态;to takeoff“脱下”;to be pushing“正在推”，均不符合文义。
30.B
【题型】推断题
【解析】题干问“大火为什么迅速蔓延?”由文章第二段倒数第二句…and then the flames had quickly spread to the other houses in the narrowlane.中的“narrow lane”可推知，这是一个狭窄的小巷，房子一定挨得很紧。
补全文章
There is distinction between reading for information and reading for understanding.31 The first sense is the one in which we read newspapers, magazines, or anything else.32Such materials may increase our store of information, but they cannot improve our understanding. And clearly we don' t have any difficulty in .gaining the new information, for our understanding was equal to them before we started. Otherwise, we would have felt the shock of puzzlement.
The second sense is the one in which we read something that at first we do not completely un- derstand. Here the thing to be read is at the first sight better or higher than the reader. The writer is communicating something that can increase the reader' s understanding.33Otherwise one per- son could never learn from another. Here "learning" means understanding more, not remembering more information.
What are the conditions in this kind of reading? First, there is inequality in understanding.34Besides, his book must convey something he possesses and his potential readers lack. Sec-ond, the reader must be able to overcome this inequality in some degree. And he should always try to reach the same level of understanding with the writer. If the equality is approached, success of communication is achieved.
