英语阅读理解(2000年到2007的)

Directions: There are 4 passages in this part. Each passage is followed by some

questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the center.

Passage One

Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage.

Unless we spend money to spot and prevent asteroids (小行星) now, one might crash into Earth and destroy life as we know it, say some scientists.

Asteroids are bigger versions of the meteoroids (流星) that race across the night sky. Most orbit the sun far from Earth and don‟t threaten us. But there are also thousands of asteroids whose orbits put them on a collision course with Earth. Buy $50 million worth of new telescopes right now. Then spend $10 million a year for the next 25 years to locate most of the space rocks. By the time we spot a fatal one, the scientists say, we‟ll have a way to change its course.

Some scientists favor pushing asteroids off course with nuclear weapons. But the cost wouldn‟t be cheap.

Is it worth it? Two things experts consider when judging any risk re: 1) How likely the event is; and 2) How bad the consequences if the event occurs. Experts think an asteroid big enough to destroy lots of life might strike Earth once every 500,000 years. Sounds pretty rare—but if one did fall, it would be the end of the world. “If we don‟t take care of these big asteroids, they‟ll take care of us,” says one scientist. “It‟s that simple.”

The cure, though, might be worse than the disease. Do we really want fleets of nuclear weapons sitting around on Earth? “The world has less to fear from doomsday (毁灭性的) rocks than from a great nuclear fleet set against them,” said a New York Times article.

21. What does the passage say about asteroids and meteoroids?

A) They are heavenly bodies different in composition. B) They are heavenly bodies similar in nature. C) There are more asteroids than meteoroids. D) Asteroids are more mysterious than meteoroids.

22. What do scientists say about the collision of an asteroid with Earth?

A) It is very unlikely but the danger exists.

B) Such a collision might occur once every 25 years.

C) Collisions of smaller asteroids with Earth occur more often than expected. D) It‟s still too early to say whether such a collision might occur.

23. What do people think of the suggestion of using nuclear weapons to alter the

courses of asteroids?

A) It sounds practical but it may not solve the problem. B) It may create more problems than it might solve.

C) It is a waste of money because a collision of asteroids with Earth is very

unlikely. D) Further research should be done before it is proved applicable. 24. We can conclude from the passage that ________.

A) while pushing asteroids off course nuclear weapons would destroy the world B) asteroids racing across the night sky are likely to hit Earth in the near future C) the worry about asteroids can be left to future generations since it is unlikely

to happen in our lifetime D) workable solutions still have to be found to prevent a collision of asteroids

with Earth 25. Which of the following best describes the author‟s tone in this passage?

A) Optimistic. B) Critical. C) Objective. D) Arbitrary.

Passage Two

Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage.

Believe it or not, optical illusion (错觉) can cut highway crashes.

Japan is a case in point. It has reduced automobile crashes on some roads by nearly 75 percent using a simple optical illusion. Bent stripes, called chevrons (人字形), painted on the roads make drivers think that they are driving faster than they really are, and thus drivers slow down.

Now the American Automobile Association Foundation for Traffic Safety in Washington D.C. is planning to repeat Japan‟s success. Starting next year, the foundation will paint chevrons and other patterns of stripes on selected roads around the country to test how well the patterns reduce highway crashes.

Excessive speed plays a major role in as much as one fifth of all fatal traffic

accidents, according to the foundation. To help reduce those accidents, the foundation will conduct its tests in areas where speed-related hazards are the greatest—curves, exit slopes, traffic circles, and bridges.

Some studies suggest that straight, horizontal bars painted across roads can initially cut the average speed of drivers in half. However, traffic often returns to full speed within months as drivers become used to seeing the painted bars.

Chevrons, scientists say, not only give drivers the impression that they are driving faster than they really are but also make a lane appear to be narrower. The result is a longer lasting reduction in highway sped and the number of traffic accidents.

26. The passage mainly discusses ________.

A) a new way of highway speed control B) a new pattern for painting highways C) a new approach to training drivers D) a new type of optical illusion

27. On roads painted with chevrons, drivers tend to feel that ________.

A) they should avoid speed-related hazards B) they are driving in the wrong lane C) they should slow down their speed D) they are approaching the speed limit

28. The advantage of chevrons over straight, horizontal bars is that the former

________.

A) can keep drivers awake B) can cut road accidents in half C) will have a longer effect on drivers D) will look more attractive

29. The American Automobile Association Foundation for Traffic Safety plans to

________.

A) try out the Japanese method in certain areas B) change the road signs across the country C) replace straight, horizontal bars with chevrons D) repeat the Japanese road patterns

30. What does the author say about straight, horizontal bars painted across roads?

A) They are falling out of use in the United States.

B) They tend to be ignored by drivers in a short period of time. C) They are applicable only on broad roads.

D) They cannot be applied successfully to traffic circles.

Passage Three

Questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage.

Amtrak (美国铁路客运公司) was experiencing a downswing in ridership (客运量) along the lines comprising its rail system. Of major concern to Amtrak and its advertising agency DDB Needham, were the long-distance western routes where ridership had been declining significantly.] At one time, trains were the only practical way to cross the vast areas of the west. Trains were fast, very luxurious, and quite convenient compared to other forms of transportation existing at the time. However, times change and the automobile became America‟s standard of convenience. Also, air travel had easily established itself as the fastest method of traveling great distances. Therefore, the task for DDB Needham was to encourage consumers to consider other aspects of train travel in order to change their attitudes and increase the likelihood that trains would be considered for travel in the west.

Two portions of the total market were targeted: 1) anxious fliers—those concerned with safety, relaxation, and cleanliness and 2) travel-lovers—those viewing themselves as relaxed, casual, and interested in the travel experience as part of their vacation. The agency then developed a campaign that focused on travel experiences such as freedom, escape, relaxation, and enjoyment of the great western outdoors. It stressed experiences gained by using the trains and portrayed western train trips as wonderful adventures.

Advertisements showed pictures of the beautiful scenery that could be enjoyed along some of the more famous western routes and emphasized the romantic names of some of these trains (Empire Builder, etc.). These ads were strategically placed among family-oriented TV shows and programs involving nature and America in order to most effectively reach target audiences. Results were impressive. The Empire Builder, which was focused on in one ad, enjoyed a 15 percent increase in profits on its Chicago to Seattle route.

31. What‟s the author‟s purpose in writing this passage?

A) To show the inability of trains to compete with planes with respect to speed

and convenience. B) To stress the influence of the automobile on America‟s standard of

convenience. C) To emphasize the function of travel agencies in market promotion.

D) To illustrate the important role of persuasive communication in changing

consumer attitudes.

32. It can be inferred from the passage that the drop in Amtrak ridership was due to

the fact that ________.

A) trains were not suitable for short distance passenger transportation B) trains were not the fastest and most convenient form of transportation C) trains were not as fast and convenient as they used to be

D) trains could not compete with planes in terms of luxury and convenience 33. To encourage consumers to travel by train, DDB Needham emphasized

________.

A) the freedom and convenience provided on trains B) the practical aspects of train travel C) the adventurous aspects of train trips D) the safety and cleanliness of train trips

34. The train ads were placed among family-oriented TV programs involving nature

and America because ________.

A) they could focus on meaningful travel experiences B) they could increase the effectiveness of the TV programs C) their profits could be increased by some 15 percent

D) most travel-lovers and nervous fliers were believed to be among the

audiences 35. According to the passage, the Empire Builder enjoyed an increase in ridership

and profits because ________.

A) the attractiveness of its name and route was effectively advertised B) it provided an exciting travel experience

C) its passengers could enjoy the great western outdoors

D) it was widely advertised in newspapers and magazines in Chicago and Seattle

Passage Four

Questions 36 to 40 are based on the following passage.

Why does cram go bad faster than butter? Some researchers think they have the answer, and it comes down to the structure of the food, not its chemical composition—a finding that could help rid some processed foods of chemical preservatives.

Cream and butter contain pretty much the same substances, so why cream should sour much faster has been a mystery. Both are emulsions—tiny globules (小球体) of one liquid evenly distributed throughout another. The difference lies in what‟s in the globules and what‟s in the surrounding liquid, says Brocklehurst, who led the

investigation.

In cream, fatty globules drift about in a sea of water. In butter, globules of a watery solution are locked away in a sea of fat. The bacteria which make the food go bad prefer to live in the watery regions of the mixture. “This means that in cream, the bacteria are free to grow throughout the mixture,” he says.

When the situation is reversed, the bacteria are locked away in compartments (隔仓室) buried deep in the sea of fat. Trapped in this way, individual colonies cannot spread and rapidly run out of nutrients (养料). They also slowly poison themselves with their waste products. “In butter, you get a self-limiting system which stops the bacteria growing,” says Brocklehurst.

The researchers are already working with food companies keen to see if their products can be made resistant to bacterial attack through alterations to the food‟s structure. Brocklehurst believes it will be possible to make the emulsions used in salad cream, for instance, more like that in butter. The key will be to do this while keeping the salad cream liquid and not turning it into a solid lump. 36. The significance of Brocklehurst‟s research is that ________.

A) it suggested a way to keep some foods fresh without preservatives B) it discovered tiny globules in both cream and butter

C) it revealed the secret of how bacteria multiply in cream and butter D) it found that cream and butter share the same chemical composition

37. According to the researchers, cream sours fast than butter because bacteria

________.

A) are more evenly distributed in cream B) multiply more easily in cream than in butter C) live on less fat in cream than in butter D) produce less waste in cream than in butter

38. According to Brocklehurst, we can keep cream fresh by ________.

A) removing its fat B) killing the bacteria C) reducing its water content D) altering its structure

39. The word “colonies” (Line 2, Para. 4) refers to ________.

A) tiny globules B) watery regions C) bacteria communities D) little compartments

40. Commercial application of the research finding will be possible if salad cream

can be made resistant to bacterial attack ________.

A) by varying its chemical composition B) by turning it into a solid lump C) while keeping its structure unchanged D) while retaining its liquid form

2000年6月大学英语四级(CET-4)真题试卷 Part III Reading Comprehension (35 minutes)

Directions: There are 4 passages in this part. Each passage is followed by some

questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the center.

Passage One

Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage.

Long after the 1998 World Cup was won, disappointed fans were still cursing the disputed refereeing (裁判) decisions that denied victory to their team. A researcher was appointed to study the performance of some top referees.

The researcher organized an experimental tournament (锦标赛) involving four youth teams. Each match lasted an hour, divided into three periods of 20 minutes during which different referees were in charge.

Observers noted down the referees‟ errors, of which there were 61 over the tournament. Converted to a standard match of 90 minutes, each referee made almost 23 mistakes, a remarkably high number.

The researcher then studied the videotapes to analyse the matches in detail. Surprisingly, he found that errors were more likely when the referees were close to the incident. When the officials got it right, they were, on average, 17 meters away from the action. The average distance in the case of errors was 12 meters. The research shows the optimum (最佳的) distance is about 20 meters.

There also seemed to be an optimum speed. Correct decisions came when the referees were moving at a speed of about 2 meters per second. The average speed for errors was 4 meters per second.

If FIFA, football‟s international ruling body, wants to improve the standard of refereeing at the next World Cup, it should encourage referees to keep their eyes on the action from a distance, rather than rushing to keep up with the ball, the researcher argues.

He also says that FIFA‟s insistence that referees should retire at age 45 may be

misguided. If keeping up with the action is not so important, their physical condition is less critical.

51. The experiment conducted by the researcher was meant to ________.

A) review the decisions of referees at the 1998 World Cup B) analyse the causes of errors made by football referees C) set a standard for football refereeing D) reexamine the rules for football refereeing

52. The number of refereeing errors in the experimental matches was ________.

A) slightly above average

B) higher than in the 1998 World Cup C) quite unexpected

D) as high as in a standard match

53. The findings of the experiment show that ________.

A) errors are more likely when a referee keeps close to the ball B) the farther the referee is from the incident, the fewer the errors C) the more slowly the referee runs, the more likely will errors occur D) errors are less likely when a referee stays in one spot

54. The word “officials” (Line 2, Para. 4) most probably refers to ________.

A) the researchers involved in the experiment B) the inspectors of the football tournament C) the referees of the football tournament D) the observers at the site of the experiment

55. What is one of the possible conclusions of the experiment?

A) The ideal retirement age for an experienced football referee is 45. B) Age should not be the chief consideration in choosing a football referee. C) A football referee should be as young and energetic as possible.

D) An experienced football referee can do well even when in poor physical

condition.

Passage Two

Questions 56 to 60 are based on the following passage.

While still in its early stages, welfare reform has already been judged a great success in many states—at least in getting people off welfare. It‟s estimated that more

than 2 million people have left the rolls since 1994.

In the past four years, welfare rolls in Athens Country have been cut in half. But 70 percent of the people who left in the past tow years took jobs that paid less than $6 an hour. The result: The Athens County poverty rate still remains at more than 30 percent—twice the national average.

For advocates (代言人) for the poor, that‟s an indication much more needs to be done.

“More people are getting jobs, but it‟s not making their lives any better,” says Kathy Lairn, a policy analyst at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities in Washington.

A center analysis of US Census data nationwide found that between 1995 and 1996, a greater percentage of single, female-headed households were earning money on their own, but that average income for these households actually went down. But for many, the fact that poor people are able to support themselves almost as well without government aid as they did with it is in itself a huge victory.

“Welfare was a poison. It was a toxin (毒素) that was poisoning the family,” says Robert Rector, a welfare-reform policy analyst. “The reform in changing the moral climate in low-income communities. It‟s beginning to rebuild the work ethic (道德观), which is much more important.”

Mr. Rector and others argued that once “the habit of dependency is cracked,” then the country can make other policy changes aimed at improving living standards. 56. From the passage, it can be seen that the author ________.

A) believes the reform has reduced the government‟s burden B) insists that welfare reform is doing little good for the poor C) is overenthusiastic about the success of welfare reform D) considers welfare reform to be fundamentally successful 57. Why aren‟t people enjoying better lives when they have jobs?

A) Because many families are divorced. B) Because government aid is now rare. C) Because their wages are low. D) Because the cost of living is rising.

58. What is worth noting from the example of Athens County is that ________.

A) greater efforts should be made to improve people‟s living standards B) 70 percent of the people there have been employed for two years C) 50 percent of the population no longer relies on welfare D) the living standards of most people are going down

59. From the passage we know that welfare reform aims at ________.

A) saving welfare funds B) rebuilding the work ethic C) providing more jobs D) cutting government expenses

60. According to the passage before the welfare reform was carried out, ________.

A) the poverty rate was lover

B) average living standards were higher C) the average worker was paid higher wages D) the poor used to rely on government aid

Passage Three

Questions 61 to 65 are based on the following passage.

Americans are pound of their variety and individuality, yet they love and respect few things more than a uniform, whether it is the uniform of an elevator operator or the uniform of a five-star general. Why are uniforms so popular in the United States? Among the arguments for uniforms, one of the first is that in the eyes of most people they look more professional than civilian (百姓的) clothes. People have become conditioned to expect superior quality from a man who wears a uniform. The television repairman who wears uniform tends to inspire more trust than one who appears in civilian clothes. Faith in the skill of a garage mechanic is increased by a uniform. What easier way is there for a nurse, a policeman, a barber, or a waiter to lose professional identity (身份) than to step out of uniform?

Uniforms also have many practical benefits. They save on other clothes. They save on laundry bills. They are tax-deductible (可减税的). They are often more comfortable and more durable than civilian clothes.

Primary among the arguments against uniforms is their lack of variety and the consequent loss of individuality experienced by people who must wear them. Though there are many types of uniforms, the wearer of any particular type is generally stuck with it, without change, until retirement. When people look alike, they tend to think, speak, and act similarly, on the job at least.

Uniforms also give rise to some practical problems. Though they are long-lasting, often their initial expense is greater than the cost of civilian clothes. Some uniforms are also expensive to maintain, requiring professional dry cleaning rather than the home laundering possible with many types of civilian clothes.

61. It is surprising that Americans who worship variety and individuality ________.

A) still judge a man by his clothes B) hold the uniform in such high regard

C) enjoy having a professional identity

D) will respect an elevator operator as much as a general in uniform 62. People are accustomed to think that a man in uniform ________.

A) suggests quality work B) discards his social identity C) appears to be more practical

D) looks superior to a person in civilian clothes 63. The chief function of a uniform is to ________.

A) provide practical benefits to the wearer B) make the wearer catch the pubic eye C) inspire the wearer‟s confidence in himself D) provide the wearer with a professional identity

64. According to the passage, people wearing uniforms ________.

A) are usually helpful

B) have little or no individual freedom C) tend to lose their individuality D) enjoy greater popularity

65. The best title for this passage would be ________.

A) Uniforms and Society

B) The Importance of Wearing a Uniform C) Practical Benefits of Wearing a Uniform D) Advantages and Disadvantages of Uniforms

Passage Four

Questions 66 to 70 are based on the following passage.

Since we are social beings, the quality of our lives depends in large measure on our interpersonal relationships. One strength of the human condition is our tendency to give and receive support from one another under stressful circumstances. Social support consists of the exchange of resources among people based on their interpersonal ties. Those of us with strong support systems appear better able to cope with major life changes and daily hassles (困难). People with strong social ties live longer and have better health than those without such ties. Studies over a range of illnesses, from depression to heart disease, reveal that the presence of social support helps people fend off (挡开) illness, and the absence of such support makes poor health more likely.

Social support cushions stress in a number of ways. First, friends, relatives, and co-workers may let us know that they value us. Our self-respect is strengthened when we feel accepted by others despite our faults and difficulties. Second, other people often provide us with informational support. They help us to define and understand our problems and find solutions to them. Third, we typically find social companionship supportive. Engaging in leisure-time activities with others helps us to meet our social needs while at the same time distracting (转移…注意力) us from our worries and troubles. Finally, other people may give us instrumental support—financial aid, material resources, and needed services—that reduces stress by helping us resolve and cope with our problems.

66. Interpersonal relationships are important because ________.

A) they are indispensable to people‟s social well-being B) they awaken people‟s desire to exchange resources C) they help people to cope with life in the information era D) they can cure a range of illnesses such as heart disease, etc 67. Research shows that people‟s physical and mental health ________.

A) relies on the social welfare systems which support them B) has much to do with the amount of support they get from others C) depends on their ability to deal with daily worries and troubles

D) is closely related to their strength for coping with major changes in their lives 68. Which of the following is closest in meaning to the word “cushions” (Line 1,

Para. 2)?

A) Adds up to. B) Does away with. C) Lessens the effect of. D) Lays the foundation for.

69. Helping a sick neighbor with some repair work is an example of ________.

A) instrumental support B) informational support C) social companionship

D) the strengthening of self-respect

70. Social companionship is beneficial in that ________.

A) it helps strengthen our ties with relatives B) it enables us to eliminate our faults and mistakes C) it makes our leisure-time activities more enjoyable

D) it draws our attention away from our worries and troubles

2001年1月大学英语四级(CET-4)真题试卷 Part II Reading Comprehension (35 minutes)

Directions: There are 4 passages in this part. Each passage is followed by some

questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the center.

Passage One

Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage.

Dogs are social animals and without proper training, they will behave like wild animals. They will soil your house, destroy your belongings, bark excessively, fight other dogs and even bite you. Nearly all behavior problems are perfectly normal dog activities that occur at the wrong time or place or are directed at the wrong thing. The key to preventing or treating behavior problems is learning to teach the dog to redirect its normal behavior to outlets that are acceptable in the domestic setting.

One of the best things you can do for your dog and yourself is to obedience train it. Obedience training doesn‟t solve all behavior problems, but it is the foundation for solving just about any problem. Training pens up a line of communication between you and your dog. Effective communication is necessary to instruct your dog about what you want it to do.

Training is also an easy way to establish the social rank order. When your dog obeys a simple request of “come here, sit,” it is showing obedience and respect for you. It is not necessary to establish yourself as top dog or leader of the pack (群) by using extreme measure. You can teach your dog its subordinate (从属的) role by teaching it to show submission to you. Most dogs love performing tricks for you to pleasantly accept that you are in charge.

Training should be fun and rewarding for you and your dog. It can enrich your relationship and make living together more enjoyable. A well-trained dog is more confident and can more safely be allowed a greater amount of freedom than an untrained animal.

21. Behavior problems of dogs are believe to ________.

A) be just part of their nature B) worsen in modern society C) occur when they go wild D) present a threat to the community

22. The primary purpose of obedience training is to ________.

A) teach the dog to perform clever tricks B) make the dog aware of its owner‟s authority C) provide the dog with outlets for its wild behavior D) enable the dog to regain its normal behavior

23. Effective communication between a dog and its owner is ________.

A) essential to solving the dog‟s behavior problems B) the foundation for dogs to perform tasks C) a good way to teach the dog new tricks D) an extreme measure in obedience training

24. Why do pet dogs love performing tricks for their masters?

A) To avoid being punished.

B) To show their affection for their masters. C) To win leadership of the dog pack. D) To show their willingness to obey.

25. When a dog has received effective obedience training, its owner ________.

A) can give the dog more rewards B) will enjoy a better family life C) can give the dog more freedom D) will have more confidence in himself

Passage Two

Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage.

Engineering students are supposed to be examples of practicality and rationality, but when it comes to my college education I am an idealist and a fool. In high school I wanted to be an electrical engineer and, of course, any sensible student with my aims would have chosen a college with a large engineering department, famous reputation and lots of good labs and research equipment. But that‟s not what I did.

I chose to study engineering at a small liberal-arts (文科) university that doesn‟t even offer a major in electrical engineering. Obviously, this was not a practical choice; I came here for more noble reasons. I wanted a broad education that would provide me with flexibility and a value system to guide me in my career. I wanted to open my eyes and expand my vision by interacting with people who weren‟t studying science or engineering. My parents, teachers and other adults praised me for such a sensible choice. They told me I was wise and mature beyond my 18 years, and I believed them.

I headed off to college sure I was going to have an advantage over those students who went to big engineering “factories” where they didn‟t care if you have values or were flexible. I was going to be a complete engineer: technical genius and sensitive humanist (人文学者) all in one.

Now I‟m not so sure. Somewhere along the way my noble ideals crashed into reality, as all noble ideals eventually do. After three years of struggling to balance math, physics and engineering courses with liberal-arts courses, I have learned there are reasons why few engineering students try to reconcile (协调) engineering with liberal-arts courses in college.

The reality that has blocked my path to become the typical successful student is that engineering and the liberal arts simply don‟t‟ mix as easily as I assumed in high school. Individually they shape a person in very different ways; together they threaten to confuse. The struggle to reconcile the two fields of study is difficult.

26. The author chose to study engineering at a small liberal-arts university because

he ________.

A) wanted to be an example of practicality and rationality B) intended to be a combination of engineer and humanist

C) wanted to coordinate engineering with liberal-arts courses in college D) intended to be a sensible student with noble ideals

27. According to the author, by interacting with people who study liberal arts,

engineering students can ________.

A) balance engineering and the liberal arts B) receive guidance in their careers C) become noble idealists D) broaden their horizons

28. In the eyes of the author, a successful engineering student is expected ________.

A) to have an excellent academic record B) to be wise and mature

C) to be imaginative with a value system to guide him D) to be a technical genius with a wide vision 29. The author‟s experience shows that he was ________.

A) creative B) ambitious C) unrealistic D) irrational

30. The word “they” in “... together they threaten to confuse.” (Line 3, Para. 5) refers

to ________.

A) engineering and the liberal arts B) reality and noble ideals C) flexibility and a value system D) practicality and rationality

Passage Three

Questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage.

Priscilla Ouchida‟s “energy-efficient” 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 double-paned (双层玻璃的) windows and several other energy-saving 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 wall-to-wall 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 in Maryland. “Energy conservation has tended to accentuate the situation in some cases.”

The problem appears to be more troublesome in newly constructed homes rather than 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 replaced by fresh outdoor air about once an hour. As a result, the pollutants generated in most households seldom build up to dangerous levels.

31. 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 from the point of energy conservation C) failed to meet energy conservation standards D) was designed and constructed in a scientific way 32. What made 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.

33. The word “accentuate” (Line 4, Para. 3) most probably means “________”.

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

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

A) Because indoor cleanliness was not emphasized. B) Because energy used to be inexpensive.

C) Because environmental protection was given top priority. D) Because they were technically unavoidable.

35. This passage is most probably taken from an article entitled “________”.

A) Energy Conservation B) Houses Building Crisis C) Air Pollution Indoors

D) Traps in Building Construction

Passage Four

Questions 36 to 40 are based on the following passage.

In 1993. New York State ordered stores to charge a deposit on beverage (饮料) containers. Within a year. Consumers had returned millions of aluminum cans and glass and plastic bottles. Plenty of companies were eager to accept the aluminum and glass as raw materials for new products. But because few could figure out what to do with the plastic, much of it wound up buried in landfills (垃圾填埋场). The problem was not limited to New York. Unfortunately, there were too few uses for second-hand plastic.

Today, one out of five plastic soda bottles is recycled (回收利用) in the United States. The reason for the change is that now there are dozens of companies across the country buying discarded plastic soda bottles and turning them into fence posts, paint brushes, etc.

Shrinking landfill space, and rising costs for burying and burning rubbish are forcing local governments to look more closely at recycling. In many areas, the East Coast especially, recycling is already the least expensive waste-management option. For every ton of waste recycled, a city avoids paying for its disposal, which, in parts of New York, amounts to saving of more than $100 per ton. Recycling also stimulates the local economy by creating jobs and trims the pollution control and energy costs of industries that make recycled products by giving them a more refined raw material.

36. What regulation was issued by New York State concerning beverage containers?

A) Beverage companies should be responsible for collecting and reusing

discarded plastic soda bottles. B) Throwaways should be collected by the state for recycling. C) A fee should be charged on used containers for recycling.

D) Consumers had to pay for beverage containers and could get their money

back on returning them. 37. The returned plastic bottles in New York used to ________.

A) end up somewhere underground B) be turned into raw materials C) have a second-life value D) be separated from other rubbish

38. The key problem in dealing with returned plastic beverage containers is

________.

A) to sell them at a profitable price B) how to turn them into useful things C) how to reduce their recycling costs D) to lower the prices for used materials

39. Recycling ahs become the first choice for the disposal of rubbish because

________.

A) local governments find it easy to manage B) recycling ahs great appeal for the jobless C) recycling causes little pollution D) other methods are more expensive

40. It can be concluded from the passage that ________.

A) rubbish is a potential remedy for the shortage of raw materials B) local governments in the U.S. can expect big profits from recycling C) recycling is to be recommended both economically and environmentally D) landfills will still be widely used for waste disposal

2001年6月大学英语四级(CET-4)真题试卷 Part II Reading Comprehension (35 minutes)

Directions: There are 4 passages in this part. Each passage is followed by some

questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four

choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the center.

Passage One

Questions 11 to 15 are based on the following passage.

People living on parts of the south coast of England face a serious problem. In 1993, the owners of a large hotel and of several houses discovered, to their horror, that their gardens had disappeared overnight. The sea had eaten into the soft limestone cliffs on which they had been built. While experts were studying the problem, the hotel and several houses disappeared altogether, sliding down the cliff and into the sea.

Erosion (侵蚀) of the white cliffs along the south coast of England has always been a problem but it has become more serious in recent years. Dozens of homes have had to be abandoned as the sea has crept farther and farther inland. Experts have studied the areas most affected and have drawn up a map for local people, forecasting the year in which their homes will be swallowed up by the hungry sea.

Angry owners have called on the Government to erect sea defenses to protect their homes. Government surveyors have pointed out that in most cases, this is impossible. New sea walls would cost hundreds of millions of pounds and would merely make the waves and currents go further along the coast, shifting the problem from one area to another. The danger is likely to continue, they say, until the waves reach an inland area of hard rock which will not be eaten as limestone is. Meanwhile, if you want to buy a cheap house with an uncertain future, apply to a house agent in one of the threatened areas on the south coast of England. You can get a house for a knockdown price but it may turn out to be a knockdown home.

11. What is the cause of the problem that people living on parts of the south coast of

England face?

A) The disappearance of hotels, houses and gardens. B) The experts‟ lack of knowledge. C) The rising of the sea level.

D) The washing-away of limestone cliffs.

12. The erosion of the white cliffs in the south of England ________.

A) will soon become a problem for people living in central England B) has now become a threat to the local residents C) is quickly changing the map of England D) can be stopped if proper measures are taken

13. The experts‟ study on the problem of erosion can ________.

A) lead to its eventual solution

B) provide an effective way to slow it down C) help to prevent it from worsening D) warn people whose homes are in danger

14. It is not feasible to build sea defenses to protect against erosion because

________.

A) it is too costly and will endanger neighbouring areas B) the government is too slow in taking action

C) they will be easily knocked down by waves and currents D) house agents along the coast do not support the idea

15. According to the author, when buying a house along the south coast of England,

people should ________.

A) be aware of the potential danger involved B) guard against being cheated by the house agent C) take the quality of the house into consideration D) examine the house carefully before making a decision

Passage Two

Questions 16 to 20 are based on the following passage.

Sport is not only physically challenging, but it can also be mentally challenging. Criticism from coaches, parents, and other teammates, as well as pressure to win can create an excessive amount of anxiety or stress for young athletes (运动员). Stress can be physical, emotional, or psychological, and research has indicated that it can lead to burnout. Burnout has been described as dropping or quitting of an activity that was at one time enjoyable.

The early years of development are critical years for learning abut oneself. The sport setting is one where valuable experiences can take place. Young athletes can, for example, learn how to cooperate with others, make friends, and gain other social skills that will be used throughout their lives. Coaches and parents should be aware, at all times, that their feedback to youngsters can greatly affect their children. Youngsters may take their parents‟ and coaches‟ criticisms to heart and find a flaw (缺陷) in themselves.

Coaches and parents should also be cautious that youth sport participation does not become work for children. The outcome of the game should not be more important than the process of learning the sport and other life lessons. In today‟s youth sport setting, young athletes may be worrying more about who will win instead of enjoying themselves and the sport. Following a game, many parents and coaches focus on the outcome and find fault with youngsters‟ performances. Positive

reinforcement should be provided regardless of the outcome. Research indicates that positive reinforcement motivates and has a greater effect on learning than criticism. Again, criticism can create high levels of stress, which can lead to burnout. 16. An effective way to prevent the burnout of young athletes is ________.

A) to make sports less competitive B) to make sports more challenging C) to reduce their mental stress D) to increase their sense of success

17. According to the passage sport is positive for young people in that ________.

A) it can help them learn more about society

B) it teaches them how to set realistic goals for themselves C) it enables them to find flaws in themselves D) it can provide them with valuable experiences

18. Many coaches and parents are in the habit of criticizing young athletes

________.

A) without realizing criticism may destroy their self confidence B) in order to make them remember life‟s lessons

C) believing that criticism is beneficial for their early development D) so as to put more pressure on them

19. According to the passage parents and coaches should ________.

A) help children to win every game

B) pay more attention to letting children enjoy sports C) enable children to understand the positive aspect of sports D) train children to cope with stress

10. The author‟s purpose in writing the passage is ________.

A) to persuade young children not to worry about criticism B) to stress the importance of positive reinforcement to children C) to discuss the skill of combining criticism with encouragement D) to teach young athletes how to avoid burnout

Passage Three

Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage.

Humanity uses a little less than half the water available worldwide. Yet

occurrences of shortages and droughts (干旱) are causing famine and distress in some areas, and industrial and agricultural by-products are polluting water supplies. Since the world‟ population is expected to double in the next 50 years, many experts think we are on the edge of a widespread water crisis.

But that doesn‟t have to be the outcome. Water shortages do not have to trouble the world—if we start valuing water more than we have in the past. Just as we began to appreciate petroleum more after the 1970s oil crises, today we must start looking at water from a fresh economic perspective. We can no longer afford to consider water a virtually free resource of which we can use as much as we like in any way we want. Instead, for all uses except the domestic demand of the poor, governments should price water to reflect its actual value. This means charging a fee for the water itself as well as for the supply costs.

Governments should also protect this resource by providing water in more economically and environmentally sound ways. For example, often the cheapest way to provide irrigation (灌溉) water in the dry tropics is through small-scale projects, such as gathering rainfall in depressions (凹地) and pumping it to nearby cropland. No matter what steps governments take to provide water more efficiently, they must change their institutional and legal approaches to water sue. Rather than spread control among hundreds or even thousands of local, regional, and national agencies that watch various aspects of water use, countries should set up central authorities to coordinate water policy.

21. What is the real cause of the potential water crisis?

A) The world population is increasing faster and faster.

B) Half of the world‟s water resources have been seriously polluted. C) Humanity has not placed sufficient value on water resources. D) Only half of the world‟s water can be used.

22. As indicated in the passage, the water problem ________.

A) has been exaggerated by some experts in the field

B) is underestimated by government organizations at different levels C) poses a challenge to the technology of building reservoirs D) is already serious in certain parts of the world 23. According to the author, the water price should ________.

A) correspond to its real value B) be reduced to the minimum C) stimulate domestic demand

D) take into account the occurrences of droughts

24. The author says that in some hot and dry areas it is advisable to ________.

A) build big lakes to store water B) construct big pumping stations

C) channel water from nearby rivers to cropland D) build small and cheap irrigation systems

25. In order to raise the efficiency of the water supply, measures should be taken to

________.

A) centralize the management of water resources

B) increase the sense of responsibility of agencies at all levels C) guarantee full protection of the environment

D) encourage local and regional control of water resources

Passage Four

Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage.

We can see how the product life cycle works by looking at the introduction of instant coffee. When it was introduced, most people did not like it as well as “regular” coffee, and it took several years to gain general acceptance (introduction stage). At one point, though, instant coffee grew rapidly in popularity, and many brands were introduced (stage of rapid growth). After a while, people became attached to one brand and sales leveled off (stage of maturity). Sales went into a slight decline (衰退) when freeze-dried coffees were introduced (stage of decline).

The importance of the product life cycle to marketers is this: Different stages in the product life cycle call for different strategies. The goal is to extend product life so that sales and profits do not decline. One strategy is called market modification. It means that marketing managers look for new users and market sections. Did you know, for example, that the backpacks that so many students carry today were originally designed for the military?

Market modification also means searching for increased usage among present customers or going for a different market, such as senior citizens. A marketer may re-position the product to appeal to new market sections.

Another product extension strategy is called product modification. It involves changing product quality, features, or style to attract new users or more usage from present users. American auto manufacturers are using quality improvement as one way to recapture world markets. Note, also, how auto manufacturers once changed styles dramatically from year to year to keep demand from falling.

26. According to the passage, when people grow fond of one particular brand of a

product, its sales will ________.

A) decrease gradually

B) remain at the same level C) become unstable D) improve enormously

27. The first paragraph tells us that a new product is ________.

A) not easily accepted by the public B) often inferior to old ones at first C) often more expensive than old ones D) usually introduced to satisfy different tastes

28. Marketers need to know which of the four stages a product is in so as to

________.

A) promote its production B) work out marketing policies C) speed up its life cycle D) increase its popularity

29. The author mentions the example of “backpacks” (Line 4, Para. 2) to show the

importance of ________.

A) pleasing the young as well as the old B) increasing usage among students C) exploring new market sections D) serving both military and civil needs

30. In order to recover their share of the world market, U.S. auto makers are

________.

A) improving product quality B) increasing product features C) modernizing product style

D) re-positioning their product in the market

2002年1月大学英语四级(CET-4)真题试卷 Part II Reading Comprehension (35 minutes)

Directions: There are 4 passages in this part. Each passage is followed by some

questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the centre.

Passage one

Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage.

Some pessimistic experts feel that the automobile is bound to fall into disuse. They see a day in the not-too-distant future when all autos will be abandoned and allowed to rust. Other authorities, however, think the auto is here to stay. They hold that the car will remain a leading means of urban travel in the foreseeable future. The motorcar will undoubtedly change significantly over the next 30 years. It should become smaller, safer, and more economical, and should not be powered by the gasoline engine. The car of the future should be far more pollution-free than present types.

Regardless of its power source, the auto in the future will still be the main problem in urban traffic congestion (拥挤). One proposed solution to this problem is the automated highway system.

When the auto enters the highway system, a retractable (可伸缩的) arm will drop from the auto and make contact with a rail, which is similar to those powering subway trains electrically. Once attached to the rail, the car will become electrically powered from the system, and control of the vehicle will pass to a central computer. The computer will then monitor all of the car‟s movements.

The driver will use a telephone to dial instructions about his destination into the system. The computer will calculate the best route, and reserve space for the car all the way to the correct exit from the highway. The driver will then be free to relax and wait for the buzzer (蜂鸣器) that will warn him of his coming exit. It is estimated that an automated highway will be able to handle 10,000 vehicles per hour, compared with the 1,500 to 2,000 vehicles that can be carried by a present-day highway. 21. One significant improvement in the future car will probably be ________.

A) its power source B) its driving system C) its monitoring system D) its seating capacity

22. What is the author‟s main concern?

A) How to render automobiles pollution-free. B) How to make smaller and safer automobiles. C) How to solve the problem of traffic jams. D) How to develop an automated subway system.

23. What provides autos with electric power in an automated highway system?

A) A rail. B) An engine.

C) A retractable arm. D) A computer controller.

24. In an automated highway system, all the driver needs to do is ________.

A) keep in the right lane B) wait to arrive at his destination

C) keep in constant touch with the computer center D) inform the system of his destination by phone 25. What is the author‟s attitude toward the future of autos?

A) Enthusiastic. B) Pessimistic. C) Optimistic. D) Cautious.

Passage Two

Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage.

Foxes and farmers have never got on well. These small dog-like animals have long been accused of killing farm animals. They are officially classified as harmful and farmers try to keep their numbers down by shooting or poisoning them.

Farmers can also call on the services of their local hunt to control the fox population. Hunting consists of pursuing a fox across the countryside, with a group of specially trained dogs, followed by men and women riding horses. When the dogs eventually catch the fox they kill it or a hunter shoots it.

People who take part in hunting think of as a sport; they wear a special uniform of red coats and white trousers, and follow strict codes of behavior. But owning a horse and hunting regularly is expensive, so most hunters are wealthy.

It is estimated that up to 100,000 people watch or take part in fox hunting. But over the last couple of decades the number of people opposed to fox hunting, because they think it is brutal (残酷的), has risen sharply. Nowadays it is rare for a hunt to pass off without some kind of confrontation (冲突) between hunters and hunt saboteurs (阻拦者). Sometimes these incidents lead to violence, but mostly saboteurs interfere with the hunt by misleading riders and disturbing the trail of the fox‟s smell, which the dogs follow.

Noisy confrontations between hunters and saboteurs have become so common that they are almost as much a part of hunting as the pursuit of foxes itself. But this year supporters of fox hunting face a much bigger threat to their sport. A Labour Party Member of the Parliament, Mike Foster, is trying to get Parliament to approve a new law which will make the hunting of wild animals with dogs illegal. If the law is passed, wild animals like foxes will be protected under the ban in Britain.

26. Rich people in Britain have been hunting foxes ________.

A) for recreation

B) in the interests of the farmers C) to limit the fox population D) to show off their wealth

27. What is special about fox hunting in Britain?

A) It involves the use of a deadly poison. B) It is a costly event which rarely occurs. C) The hunters have set rules to follow. D) The hunters have to go through strict training.

28. Fox hunting opponents often interfere in the game ________.

A) by resorting to violence B) by confusing the fox hunters C) by taking legal action D) by demonstrating on the scene

29. A new law may be passed by the British Parliament to ________.

A) prohibit farmers from hunting foxes B) forbid hunting foxes with dogs

C) stop hunting wild animals in the countryside D) prevent large-scale fox hunting

30. It can be inferred from the passage that ________.

A) killing foxes with poison is illegal B) limiting the fox population is unnecessary

C) hunting foxes with dogs is considered cruel and violent

D) fox-hunting often leads to confrontation between the poor and the rich

Passage Three

Questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage.

For an increasing number of students at American universities, Old is suddenly in. The reason is obvious: the graying of America means jobs, coupled with the aging of the baby-boom (生育高峰) generation, a longer life span means that the nation‟s elderly population is bound to expand significantly over the next 50 years. By 2050, 25 percent of all Americans will be older than 65, up from 14 percent in 1995. The change poses profound questions for government and society, of course. But it also

creates career opportunities in medicine and health professions, and in law and business as well. “In addition to the doctors, we‟re going to need more sociologists, biologists, urban planners and specialized lawyers,” says Professor Edward Schneider of the University of Southern California‟s (USC) School of Gerontology (老年学). Lawyers can specialize in “elder law,” which covers everything from trusts and estates to nursing-home abuse and age discrimination (歧视). Businessmen see huge opportunities in the elder market because the baby boomers, 74 million strong, are likely to be the wealthiest group of retirees in human history. “Any student who combines an expert knowledge in gerontology with, say, an MBA or law degree will have a license to print money,” one professor says.

Margarite Santos is a 21-year-old senior at USC. She began college as a biology major but found she was “really bored with bacteria.” So she took a class in gerontology and discovered that she lied it. She says, “I did volunteer work in retirement homes and it was very satisfying.”

31. “... Old is suddenly in” (Line 1, Para. 1) most probably means “________”.

A) America has suddenly become a nation of old people B) gerontology has suddenly become popular

C) more elderly professors are found on American campuses

D) American colleges have realized the need of enrolling older students 32. With the aging of America, lawyers can benefit ________.

A) from the adoption of the “elder law” B) from rendering special services to the elderly C) by enriching their professional knowledge

D) by winning the trust of the elderly to promote their own interests 33. Why can businessmen make money in the emerging elder market?

A) Retirees are more generous in spending money. B) They can employ more gerontologists.

C) The elderly possess an enormous purchasing power. D) There are more elderly people working than before.

34. Who can make big money in the new century according to the passage?

A) Retirees who are business-minded. B) The volunteer workers in retirement homes. C) College graduates with an MBA or law degree. D) Professionals with a good knowledge of gerontology.

35. It can be seen from the passage that the expansion of America‟s elderly

population ________.

A) will provide good job opportunities in many areas B) will impose an unbearable burden on society

C) may lead to nursing home abuse and age discrimination D) will create new fields of study in universities

Passage Four

Questions 36 to 40 are based on the following passage.

The decline in moral standards—which has long concerned social analysts—has at last captured the attention of average Americans. And Jean Bethke Elshtain, for one, is glad.

The fact the ordinary citizens are now starting to think seriously about the nation‟s moral climate, says this ethics (伦理学) professor at the University of Chicago, is reason to hope that new ideas will come forward to improve it.

But the challenge is not to be underestimated. Materialism and individualism in American society are the biggest obstacles. “The thought that „I‟m in it for me‟ has become deeply rooted in the national consciousness,” Ms. Elshtain says.

Some of this can be attributed to the disintegration of traditional communities, in which neighbors looked out for one another, she says. With today‟s greater mobility and with so many couples working, those bonds have been weakened, replaced by a greater emphasis on self.

In a 1996 poll of Americans, loss of morality topped the list of the biggest problems facing the U.S. and Elshtain says the public is correct to sense that: Data show that Americans are struggling with problems unheard of in the 1950s, such as classroom violence and a high rate of births to unmarried mothers.

The desire for a higher moral standard is not a lament (挽歌) for some nonexistent “golden age,” Elshtain says, nor is it a wishful (一厢情愿的) longing for a time that denied opportunities to women and minorities. Most people, in fact, favor the lessening of prejudice.

Moral decline will not be reversed until people find ways to counter the materialism in society, she says. “Slowly, you recognize that the things that matter are those that cant‟ be bought.”

36. Professor Elshtain is pleased to see that Americans ________.

A) have adapted to a new set of moral standards B) are longing for the return of the good old days C) have realized the importance of material things D) are awakening to the lowering of their moral standards

37. The moral decline of American society is caused manly by ________.

A) its growing wealth

B) the self-centeredness of individuals C) underestimating the impact of social changes D) the prejudice against women and minorities

38. Which of the following characterizes the traditional communities?

A) Great mobility.

B) Concern for one‟s neighbors. C) Emphasis on individual effort. D) Ever-weakening social bonds.

39. In the 1950s, classroom violence ________.

A) was something unheard of B) was by no means a rare occurrence C) attracted a lot of pubic attention D) began to appear in analysts‟ data

40. According to Elshtain, the current moral decline may be reversed ________.

A) if people can return to the “golden age” B) when women and mean enjoy equal rights C) when people rid themselves of prejudice D) if less emphasis is laid on material things

2002年6月大学英语四级(CET-4)真题试卷 Part II Reading Comprehension (35 minutes)

Directions: There are 4 passages in this part. Each passage is followed by some

questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the center.

Passage One

Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage.

In the 1960s, medical researchers Thomas Holmes and Richard Rahe developed a checklist of stressful events. They appreciated the tricky point that any major change can be stressful. Negative events like “serious illness of a family member” were high on the list, but so were some positive life-changing events, like marriage. When you take the Holmes-Rahe test you must remember that the score does not reflect how you

deal with stress—it only shows how much you have to deal with. And we now know that the way you handle these events dramatically affects your chances of staying healthy.

By the early 1970s, hundreds of similar studies had followed Holmes and Rahe. And millions of Americans who work and live under stress worried over the reports. Somehow, the research got boiled down to a memorable message. Women‟s magazines ran headlines like “Stress causes illness!” If you want to stay physically and mentally healthy, the articles said, avoid stressful events.

But such simplistic advice is impossible to follow. Even if stressful events are dangerous, many—like the death of a loved one—are impossible to avoid. Moreover, any warning to avoid all stressful events is a prescription (处方) for staying away from opportunities as well as trouble. Since any change can be stressful, a person who wanted to be completely free of stress would never marry, have a child, take a new job or move.

The notion that all stress makes you sick also ignores a lot of what we know about people. It assumes we‟re all vulnerable (脆弱的) and passive in the face of adversity (逆境). But what about human initiative and creativity? Many come through periods of stress with more physical and mental vigor than they had before. We also know that a long time without change or challenge can lead to boredom, and physical and metal strain.

21. The result of Holmes-Rahe‟s medical research tells us ________.

A) the way you handle major events may cause stress B) what should be done to avoid stress C) what kind of event would cause stress D) how to cope with sudden changes in life

22. The studies on stress in the early 1970‟s led to ________.

A) widespread concern over its harmful effects B) great panic over the mental disorder it could cause C) an intensive research into stress-related illnesses D) popular avoidance of stressful jobs

23. The score of the Holmes-Rahe test shows ________.

A) how much pressure you are under B) how positive events can change your life C) how stressful a major event can be D) how you can deal with life-changing events

24. Why is “such simplistic advice” (Line 1, Para. 3) impossible to follow?

A) No one can stay on the same job for long. B) No prescription is effective in relieving stress. C) People have to get married someday. D) You could be missing opportunities as well.

25. According to the passage people who have experienced ups and downs may

become ________.

A) nervous when faced with difficulties B) physically and mentally strained C) more capable of coping with adversity D) indifferent toward what happens to them

Passage Two

Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage.

Most episodes of absent-mindedness—forgetting where you left something or wondering why you just entered a room—are caused by a simple lack of attention, says Schacter. “You‟re supposed to remember something, but you haven‟t encoded it deeply.”

Encoding, Schacter explains, is a special way of paying attention to an event that has a major impact on recalling it later. Failure to encode properly can create annoying situations. If you put your mobile phone in a pocket, for example, and don‟t pay attention to what you did because you‟re involved in a conversation, you‟ll probably forget that the phone is in the jacket now hanging in you wardrobe (衣柜). “Your memory itself isn‟t failing you,” says Schacter. “Rather, you didn‟t give your memory system the information it needed.”

Lack of interest can also lead to absent-mindedness. “A man who can recite sports statistics from 30 years ago,” says Zelinski, “may not remember to drop a letter in the mailbox.” Women have slightly better memories than men, possibly because they pay more attention to their environment, and memory relies on just that. Visual cues can help prevent absent-mindedness, says Schacter. “But be sure the cue is clear and available,” he cautions. If you want to remember to take a medication (药物) with lunch, put the pill bottle on the kitchen table—don‟t leave it in the medicine chest and write yourself a note that you keep in a pocket.

Another common episode of absent-mindedness: walking into a room and wondering why you‟re there. Most likely, you were thinking about something else. “Everyone does this from time to time,” says Zelinski. The best thing to do is to return to where you were before entering the room, and you‟ll likely remember. 26. Why does the author think that encoding properly is very important?

A) It helps us understand our memory system better.

B) It enables us to recall something form our memory. C) It expands our memory capacity considerably. D) It slows down the process of losing our memory.

27. One possible reason why women have better memories than men is that

________.

A) they have a wider range of interests B) they are more reliant on the environment

C) they have an unusual power of focusing their attention D) they are more interested in what‟s happening around them 28. A note in the pocket can hardly serve as a reminder because ________.

A) it will easily get lost

B) it‟s not clear enough for you to read C) it‟s out of your sight

D) it might get mixed up with other things 29. What do we learn from the last paragraph?

A) If we focus our attention on one thing, we might forget another. B) Memory depends to a certain extent on the environment. C) Repetition helps improve our memory.

D) If we keep forgetting things, we‟d better return to where we were. 30. What is the passage mainly about?

A) The process of gradual memory loss. B) The causes of absent-mindedness. C) The impact of the environment on memory. D) A way if encoding and recalling.

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 traveling 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 form 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 ell 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

2003年1月大学英语四级(CET-4)真题试卷 Part II Reading Comprehension (35 minutes)

Directions: There are 4 passages in this part. Each passage is followed by some

questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the center.

Passage One

Questions 11 to 15 are based on the following passage.

Like many of my generation, I have a weakness for hero worship. At some point, however, we all begin to question our heroes and our need for them. This leads us to ask: What is a hero?

Despite immense differences in cultures, heroes around the world generally share

a number of characteristics that instruct and inspire people.

A hero does something worth talking about. A hero has a story of adventure to tell and a community who will listen. But a hero goes beyond mere fame.

Heroes serve powers or principles larger than themselves. Like high-voltage transformers, heroes take the energy of higher powers and step it down so that it can be used by ordinary people.

The hero lives a life worthy of imitation. Those who imitate a genuine hero experience life with new depth, enthusiasm, and meaning. A sure test for would-be heroes is what or whom do they serve? What are they willing to live and die for? If the answer or evidence suggests they serve only their own fame, they may be famous persons but not heroes. Madonna and Michael Jackson are famous, but who would claim that their fans find life more abundant?

Heroes are catalysts (催化剂) for change. They have a vision from the mountaintop. They have the skill and the charm to move the masses. They create new possibilities. Without Gandhi, India might still be part of the British Empire. Without Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr., we might still have segregated (隔离的) buses, restaurants, and parks. It may be possible for large-scale change to occur without leaders with magnetic personalities, but the pace of change would be slow, the vision uncertain, and the committee meetings endless.

11. Although heroes may come from different cultures, they ________.

A) generally possess certain inspiring characteristics B) probably share some weaknesses of ordinary people C) are often influenced by previous generations D) all unknowingly attract a large number of fans

12. According to the passage, heroes are compared to high-voltage transformers in

that ________.

A) they have a vision from the mountaintop B) they have warm feelings and emotions

C) they can serve as concrete examples of noble principles D) they can make people feel stronger and more confident

13. Madonna and Michael Jackson are not considered heroes because ________.

A) they are popular only among certain groups of people B) their performances do not improve their fans morally C) their primary concern is their own financial interests D) they are not clear about the principles they should follow

14. Gandhi and Martin Luther King are typical examples of outstanding leaders who

________.

A) are good at demonstrating their charming characters B) can move the masses with their forceful speeches C) are capable of meeting all challenges and hardships D) can provide an answer to the problems of their people 15. The author concludes that historical changes would ________.

A) be delayed without leaders with inspiring personal qualities B) not happen without heroes making the necessary sacrifices C) take place ff there were heroes to lead the people D) produce leaders with attractive personalities

Passage Two

Questions 16 to 20 are based on the following passage.

According to a survey, which was based on the responses of over 188,000 students, today‟s traditional-age college freshmen are “more materialistic and less altruistic (利他主义的)” than at any time in the 17 years of the poll.

Not surprising in these hard times, the student‟s major objective “is to be financially well off. Less important than ever is developing a meaningful philosophy of life.” It follows then that today the most popular course is not literature or history but accounting.

Interest in teaching, social service and the “altruistic” fields is at a low. On the other hand, enrollment in business programs, engineering and computer science is way up.

That‟s no surprise either. A friend of mine (a sales representative for a chemical company) was making twice the salary of her college instructors her first year on the job—even before she completed her two-year associate degree.

While it‟s true that we all need a career, it is equally true that our civilization has accumulated an incredible amount of knowledge in fields far removed from our own and that we are better for our understanding of these other contributions—be they scientific or artistic. It is equally true that, in studying the diverse wisdom of others, we learn how to think. More important, perhaps, education teaches us to see the connections between things, as well as to see beyond our immediate needs.

Weekly we read of unions who went on strike for higher wages, only to drive their employer out of business. No company; no job. How shortsighted in the long run!

But the most important argument for a broad education is that in studying the accumulated wisdom of the ages, we improve our moral sense. I saw a cartoon recently which shows a group of businessmen looking puzzled as they sit around a conference table; one of them is talking on the intercom (对讲机): “Miss Baxter,” he

says, “could you please send in someone who can distinguish right from wrong?”

From the long-term point of view, that‟s what education really ought to be about. 16. According to the author‟s observation, college students ________.

A) have never been so materialistic as today B) have never been so interested in the arts C) have never been so financially well off as today D) have never attached so much importance to moral sense

17. The students‟ criteria for selecting majors today have much to do with ________.

A) the influences of their instructors B) the financial goals they seek in life C) their own interpretations of the courses

D) their understanding of the contributions of others

18. By saying “While it‟s true that... be they scientific or artistic” (Lines 1-3, Para. 5),

the author means that ________.

A) business management should be included in educational programs B) human wisdom has accumulated at an extraordinarily high speed C) human intellectual development has reached new heights D) the importance of a broad education should not be overlooked 19. Studying the diverse wisdom of others can ________.

A) create varying artistic interests

B) help people see things in their right perspective C) help improve connections among people D) regulate the behavior of modern people

20. Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?

A) Businessmen absorbed in their career are narrow-minded. B) Managers often find it hard to tell right from wrong. C) People engaged in technical jobs lead a more rewarding life. D) Career seekers should not focus on immediate interests only.

Passage Three

Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage.

New technology links the world as never before. Our planet has shrunk. It‟s now a “global village” where countries are only seconds away by fax or phone or satellite

link. And, of course, our ability to benefit from this high-tech communications equipment is greatly enhanced by foreign language skills.

Deeply involved with this new technology is a breed of modern businesspeople who have a growing respect for the economic value of doing business abroad. In modern markets, success overseas often helps support domestic business efforts. Overseas assignments are becoming increasingly important to advancement within executive ranks. The executive stationed in another country no longer need fear being “out of sight and out of mind.” He or she can be sure that the overseas effort is central to the company‟s plan for success, and that promotions often follow or accompany an assignment abroad. If an employee can succeed in a difficult assignment overseas, superiors will have greater confidence in his or her ability to cope back in the United States where cross-cultural considerations and foreign language issues are becoming more and more prevalent (普遍的).

Thanks to a variety of relatively inexpensive communications devices with business applications, even small businesses in the United States are able to get into international markets.

English is still the international language of business. But there is an ever-growing need for people who can speak another language. A second language isn‟t generally required to get a job in business, but having language skills gives a candidate the edge when other qualifications appear to be equal

The employee posted abroad who speaks the country‟s principal language has an opportunity to fast-forward certain negotiations, and cam have the cultural insight to know when it is better to move more slowly. The employee at the home office who can communicate well with foreign clients over the telephone or by fax machine is an obvious asset to the firm.

21. What is the author‟s attitude toward high-tech communications equipment?

A) Critical. B) Prejudiced. C) Indifferent. D) Positive.

22. With the increased use of high-tech communications equipment, businesspeople

________.

A) have to get familiar with modern technology

B) are gaining more economic benefits from domestic operations C) are attaching more importance to their overseas business D) are eager to work overseas

23. In this passage, “out of sight and out of mind” (Lines 2-3, Para. 3) probably

means ________.

A) being unable to think properly for lack of insight B) being totally out of touch with business at home C) missing opportunities for promotion when abroad D) leaving all care and worry behind

24. According to the passage, what is an important consideration of international

corporations in employing people today?

A) Connections with businesses overseas. B) Ability to speak the client‟s language. C) Technical know-how. D) Business experience.

25. The advantage of employees having foreign language skills is that they can

________.

A) better control the whole negotiation process B) easily find new approaches to meet market needs C) fast-forward their proposals to headquarters D) easily make friends with businesspeople abroad

Passage Four

Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage.

In recent years, Israeli consumers have grown more demanding as they‟ve become wealthier and more worldly-wise. Foreign travel is a national passion; this summer alone, one in 10 citizens will go abroad. Exposed to higher standards of service elsewhere, Israelis are returning home expecting the same. American firms have also begun arriving in large numbers. Chains such as KFC, McDonald‟s and Pizza Hut are setting a new standard of customer service, using strict employee training and constant monitoring to ensure the friendliness of frontline staff. Even the American habit of telling departing customers to “Have a nice day” has caught on all over Israel. “Nobody wakes up in the morning and says, „Let‟s be nicer,‟” says Itsik Cohen, director of a consulting firm. “Nothing happens without competition.” Privatization, or the threat of it, is a motivation as well. Monopolies (垄断者) that until recently have been free to take their customers for granted now fear what Michael Perry, a marketing professor, calls “the revengeful (报复的) consumer.” When the government opened up competition with Bezaq, the phone company, its international branch lost 40% of its market share, even while offering competitive rates. Says Perry, “People wanted revenge for all the years of bad service.” The electric company, whose monopoly may be short-lived, has suddenly mopped requiring users to wait half a day for a repairman. Now, appointments are scheduled to the half-hour. The graceless El Al Airlines, which is already at auction (拍卖), has

retrained its employees to emphasize service and is boasting about the results in an ad campaign with the slogan, “You can feel the change in the air.” For the first time, praise outnumbers complaints on customer survey sheets. 26. It may be inferred from the passage that ________.

A) customer service in Israel is now improving B) wealthy Israeli customers are hard to please C) the tourist industry has brought chain stores to Israel D) Israeli customers prefer foreign products to domestic ones

27. In the author‟s view, higher service standards are impossible in Israel ________.

A) if customer complaints go unnoticed by the management B) unless foreign companies are introduced in greater numbers C) if there‟s no competition among companies D) without strict routine training of employees

28. If someone in Israel today needs a repairman in case of a power failure,

________.

A) they can have it fixed in no time

B) it‟s no longer necessary to make an appointment C) the appointment takes only half a day to make D) they only have to wait half an hour at most 29. The example of El A1 Airlines shows that ________.

A) revengeful customers are a threat to the monopoly of enterprises B) an ad campaign is a way out for enterprises in financial difficulty C) a good slogan has great potential for improving service D) staff retraining is essential for better service

30. Why did Bezaq‟s international branch lose 40% of its market share?

A) Because the rates it offered were not competitive enough. B) Because customers were dissatisfied with its past service. C) Because the service offered by its competitors was far better. D) Because it no longer received any support from the government.

2003年6月大学英语四级(CET-4)真题试卷 Part II Reading Comprehension (35 minutes)

Directions: There are 4 passages in this part. Each passage is followed by some

questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the centre.

Passage One

Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage.

On average, American kids ages 3 to 12 spent 29 hours a week in school, eight hours more that they did in 1981. They also did more household work and participated in more of such organized activities as soccer and ballet (芭蕾舞). Involvement in sports, in particular, rose almost 50% from 1981 to 1997: boys now spend an average of four hours a week playing sports; girls log hall that time. All in all, however, children‟s leisure time dropped from 40% of the day in 1981 to 25% “Children are affected by the same time crunch (危机) that affects their parents,” says Sandra Hofferth, who headed the recent study of children‟s timetable. A chief reason, she says, is that more mothers are working outside the home. (Nevertheless, children in both double-income and “male breadwinner” households spent comparable amounts of time interacting with their parents 19 hours and 22 hours respectively. In contrast, children spent only 9 hours with their single mothers.) All work and no play could make for some very messed-up kids. “Play is the most powerful way a child explores the world and learns about himself,” says T. Berry Brazelton, professor at Harvard Medical School Unstructured play encourages independent thinking and allows the young to negotiate their relationships with their peers, but kids ages 3 to 12 spent only 12 hours a week engaged in it.

The children sampled spent a quarter of their rapidly decreasing “free time” watching television. But that, believe it or not, was one of the findings parents might regard as good news. If they‟re spending less time in front of the TV set, however, kids aren‟t replacing it with reading. Despite efforts to get kids more interested in books, the children spent just over an hour a week reading. Let‟s face it, who‟s got the time?

21. By mentioning “the same time crunch” (Line 1, Para. 2) Sandra Hofferth means

________.

A) children have little time to play with their parents

B) children are not taken good care of by their working parents C) both parents and children suffer from lack of leisure time D) both parents and children have trouble managing their time

22. According to the author, the reason given by Sandra Hofferth for the time crunch

is ________.

A) quite convincing

B) partially true C) totally groundless D) rather confusing

23. According to the author a child develops better if ________.

A) he has plenty of time reading and studying B) he is left to play with his peers in his own way C) he has more time participating in school activities D) he is free to interact with his working parents

24. The author is concerned about the fact that American kids ________.

A) are engaged in more and more structured activities B) are increasingly neglected by their working mothers C) are spending more and more time watching TV D) are involved less and less in household work 25. We can infer from the passage that ________.

A) extracurricular activities promote children‟s intelligence B) most children will turn to reading with TV sets switched off C) efforts to get kids interested in reading have been fruitful D) most parents believe reading to be beneficial to children

Passage Two

Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage.

Henry Ford, the famous U.S. inventor and car manufacturer, once said, “The business of America is business.” By this he meant that the U.S. way of life is based on the values of the business world.

Few would argue with Ford‟s statement. A brief glimpse at a daily newspaper vividly shows how much people in the United States think about business. For example, nearly every newspaper has a business section, in which the deals and projects, finances and management, stock prices and labor problems of corporations are reported daily. In addition, business news can appear in every other section. Most national news has an important financial aspect to it. Welfare, foreign aid, the federal budget, and the policies of the Federal Reserve Bank are all heavily affected by business. Moreover, business news appears in some of the unlikeliest places. The world of arts and entertainment is often referred to as “the entertainment industry” or “show business.”

The positive side of Henry Ford‟s statement can be seen in the prosperity that business has brought to U.S. life. One of the most important reasons so many people

from all over the world come to live in the United States is the dream of a better job. Jobs are produced in abundance (大量地) because the U.S. economic system is driven by competition. People believe that this system crates more wealth, more jobs, and a materially better way of life.

The negative side of Henry Ford‟s statement, however, can be seen when the word business is taken to mean big business. And the term big business—referring to the biggest companies, is seen in opposition to labor. Throughout U.S. history working people have had to fight hard for higher wages, better working conditions, and the fight to form unions. Today, many of the old labor disputes are over, but there is still some employee anxiety. Downsizing—the laying off of thousands of workers to keep expenses low and profits high—creates feelings of insecurity for many. 26. The United States is a typical country ________.

A) which encourages free trade at home and abroad B) where people‟s chief concern is how to make money C) where all businesses are managed scientifically D) which normally works according to the federal budget

27. The influence of business in the U.S. is evidenced by the fact that ________.

A) most newspapers are run by big businesses

B) even public organizations concentrate on working for profits C) Americans of all professions know how to do business D) even arts and entertainment are regarded as business

28. According to the passage, immigrants choose to settle in the U.S., dreaming that

________.

A) they can start profitable businesses there B) they can be more competitive in business C) they will make a fortune overnight there D) they will find better chances of employment

29. Henry Ford‟s statement can be taken negatively because ________.

A) working people are discouraged to fight for their fights B) there are many industries controlled by a few big capitalists C) there is a conflicting relationship between big corporations and labor D) public services are not run by the federal government

30. A company‟s efforts to keep expenses low and profits high may result in

________.

A) reduction in the number of employees

B) improvement of working conditions

C) fewer disputes between labor and management D) a rise in workers‟ wages

Passage Three

Questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage.

Professor Smith recently persuaded 35 people, 23 of them women, to keep a diary of all their absent-minded actions for a fortnight. When he came to analyse their embarrassing lapses (差错) in a scientific report, he was surprised to find that nearly all of them fell into a few groupings, Nor did the lapses appear to be entirely random (随机的).

One of the women, for instance, on leaving her house for work one morning threw her dog her earrings and tried to fix a dog biscuit on her ear. “the explanation for this is that the brain is like a computer,” explains the professor. “People programme themselves to do certain activities regularly. It was the woman‟s custom every morning to throw her dog two biscuits and then put on her earrings. But somehow the action got reversed in the programme,” About one in twenty of the incidents the volunteers reported were these “programme assembly failures.” Altogether the volunteers logged 433 unintentional actions that they found themselves doing—an average of twelve each, There appear to be peak periods in the day when we are at our zaniest (荒谬可笑的). These are two hours some time between eight a.m. and noon, between four and six p.m. with a smaller peak between eight and ten p.m. “Among men the peak seems to be when a changeover in brain „programmes‟ occurs, as for instance between going to and from work.” Women on average reported slightly more lapses—12.5 compared with 10.9 for men—probably because they were more reliable reporters.

A startling finding of the research is that the absent-minded activity is a hazard of doing things in which we are skilled. Normally, you would expect that skill reduces the number of errors we make. But trying to avoid silly slips by concentrating more could make things a lot worse—even dangerous.

31. In his study Professor Smith asked the subjects ________.

A) to keep track of people who tend to forget things B) to report their embarrassing lapses at random C) to analyse their awkward experiences scientifically D) to keep a record of what they did unintentionally 32. Professor Smith discovered that ________.

A) certain patterns can be identified in the recorded incidents

B) many people were too embarrassed to admit their absent-mindedness

C) men tend to be more absent-minded than women D) absent-mindedness is an excusable human weakness

33. “Programme assembly failures” (Line 6, Para. 2) refers to the phenomenon that

people ________.

A) often fail to programme their routines beforehand B) tend to make mistakes when they are in a hurry C) unconsciously change the sequence of doing things D) are likely to mess things up if they are too tired 34. We learn from the third paragraph that ________.

A) absent-mindedness tends to occur during certain hours of the day B) women are very careful to perform actions during peak periods C) women experience more peak periods of absent-mindedness D) men‟s absent-mindedness often results in funny situations 35. It can be concluded from the passage that ________.

A) people should avoid doing important things during peak periods of lapses B) hazards can be avoided when people do things they are good at C) people should be careful when programming their actions D) lapses cannot always be attributed to lack of concentration

Passage Four

Questions 36 to 40 are based on the following passage.

It‟s no secret that many children would be healthier and happier with adoptive parents than with the parents that nature dealt them. That‟s especially true of children who remain in abusive homes because the law blindly favors biological parents. It‟s also true of children who suffer for years in foster homes (收养孩子的家庭) because of parents who can‟t or won‟t care for them but refuse to give up custody (监护) rights.

Fourteen-year-old Kimberly Mays fits neither description, but her recent court victory could eventually help children who do. Kimberly has been the object of an angry custody baffle between the man who raised her and her biological parents, with whom she has never lived. A Florida judge ruled that the teenager can remain with the only father she‟s ever known and that her biological parents have “no legal claim” on her.

The ruling, though it may yet be reversed, sets aside the principle that biology is the primary determinant of parentage. That‟s an important development, one that‟s long overdue.

Shortly after birth in December 1978, Kimberly Mays and another infant were mistakenly switched and sent home with the wrong parents. Kimberly‟s biological parents, Ernest and Regina Twigg, received a child who died of a heart disease in 1988. Medical tests showed that the child wasn‟t the Twiggs‟ own daughter, but Kimt only was, thus sparking a custody battle with Robert Mays. In 1989, the two families agreed that Mr. Mays would maintain custody with the Twiggs getting visiting fights. Those rights were ended when Mr. Mays decided that Kimberly was being harmed. The decision to leave Kimberly with Mr. Mays rendered her suit debated. But the judge made clear that Kimberly did have standing to sue (起诉) on her own behalf. Thus he made clear that she was more than just property to be handled as adults saw fit.

Certainly, the biological link between parent and child is fundamental. But biological parents aren‟t always preferable to adoptive ones, and biological parentage does not convey an absolute ownership that cancels all the rights of children. 36. What was the primary consideration in the Florida judge‟s ruling?

A) The biological link. B) The child‟s benefits. C) The traditional practice. D) The parents‟ feelings.

37. We can learn from the Kimberly case that ________.

A) children are more than just personal possessions of their parents B) the biological link between parent and child should be emphasized C) foster homes bring children more pain and suffering than care

D) biological parents shouldn‟t claim custody rights after their child is adopted 38. The Twiggs claimed custody rights to Kimberly because ________.

A) they found her unhappy in Mr. Mays‟ custody B) they regarded her as their property C) they were her biological parents D) they felt guilty about their past mistake 39. Kimberly had been given to Mr. Mays ________.

A) by sheer accident B) out of charity C) at his request D) for better care

40. The author‟s attitude towards the judge‟s ruling could be described as ________.

A) doubtful B) critical C) cautious D) supportive

2003年9月大学英语四级(CET-4)真题试卷 Part II Reading Comprehension (35 minutes)

Directions: There are 4 passages in this part. Each passage is followed by some

questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single ling through the centre.

Passage One

Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage.

A recent study, published in last week‟s Journal of the American Medical Association, offers a picture of how risky it is to get a lift from a teenage driver, Indeed, a 16-year-old driver with three or more passengers is three times as likely to have a fatal accident as a teenager driving alone, By contrast, the risk of death for drivers between 30 and 59 decreases with each additional passenger.

The authors also found that the death rates for teenage drivers increased dramatically after 10 p.m., and especially after midnight, with passengers in the car, the driver was even more likely to die in a late-night accident.

Robert Foss, a scientist at the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center, says the higher death rates for teenage drivers have less to do with “really stupid behavior” than with just a lack of driving experience. “The basic issue.” Be says, “is that adults who are responsible for issuing licenses fail to recognize how complex and skilled a task driving is.”

Both he and the author of the study believe that the way to mitigate (使…缓解) the problem is to have states institute so-called graduated licensing systems, in which getting a license is a multistage process. A graduated license requires that a teenager first prove himself capable of driving in the presence of an adult, followed by a period of driving with night of passenger restrictions, before graduating to full driving privileges.

Graduated licensing systems have reduced teenage driver crashes, according to recent studies. About half of the states now have some sort of graduated licensing system in place, but only 10 of those states have restrictions on passengers, California is the strictest, with a novice (新手) driver prohibited from carrying any passenger under 20 (without the presence of an adult over 25) for the first six months.

21. Which of the following situations is most dangerous according to the passage?

A) Adults giving a lift to teenagers on the highway after 10 p.m. B) A teenager driving after midnight with passengers in the car. C) Adults driving with three or more teenage passengers late at night. D) A teenager getting a lift from a stranger on the highway at midnight.

22. According to Robert Foss. The high death rate of teenage drivers is mainly due

to ________.

A) their frequent driving at night B) their improper way of driving C) their lack of driving experience D) their driving with passengers

23. According to Paragraph 3. which of the following statements is TRUE?

A) Teenagers should spend more time learning to drive. B) Driving is a skill too complicated for teenagers to learn.

C) Restrictions should be imposed on teenagers applying to take driving lessons. D) The licensing authorities are partly responsible for teenagers‟ driving

accidents. 24. A suggested measure to be taken to reduce teenagers‟ driving accidents is that

________.

A) driving in the presence of an adult should be made a rule B) they should be prohibited from taking on passengers C) they should not be allowed to drive after 10 p.m. D) the licensing system should be improved

25. The present situation in about half of the states is that the graduated licensing

system ________.

A) is under discussion B) is about to be set up C) has been put into effect D) has been perfected

Passage Two

Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage.

If you know exactly what you want, the best route to a job is to get specialized training. A recent survey shows that companies like graduates in such fields as

business and health care who can go to work immediately with very little on-the-job training.

That‟s especially true of booming fields that are challenging for workers. At Cornell‟s School of Hotel Administration, for example, bachelor‟s degree graduates get an average of four or five job offers with salaries ranging from the high teens to the low 20s and plenty of chances for rapid advancement. Large companies, especially, like a background of formal education coupled with work experience.

But in the long run, too much specialization doesn‟t pay off. Business, which has been flooded with MBAs, no longer considers the degree an automatic stamp of approval. The MBA may open doors and command a higher salary initially, but the impact of a degree washes out after five years.

As further evidence of the erosion (销蚀) of corporate (公司的) faith in specialized degrees, Michigan State‟s Scheetz cites a pattern in corporate hiring practices, although companies tend to take on specialists as new hires, they often seek out generalists for middle and upper-level management. “They want someone who isn‟t constrained (限制) by nuts and bolts to look at the big picture, “says Scheetz. This sounds suspiciously like a formal statement that you approve of the liberal-arts graduate. Time and again labor-market analysts mention a need for talents that liberal-arts majors are assumed to have: writing and communication skills, organizational skills, open-mindedness and adaptability, and the ability to analyze and solve problems, David Birch claims he does not hire anybody with an MBA or an engineering degree, “I hire only liberal-arts people because they have a less-than-canned way of doing things,” says Birch. Liberal-arts means an academically thorough and strict program that includes literature, history, mathematics, economics, science, human behavior—plus a computer course or two. With that under your belt, you can feel free to specialize, “A liberal-arts degree coupled with an MBA or some other technical training is a very good combination in the marketplace,” says Scheetz.

26. What kinds of people are in high demand on the job market?

A) Students with a bachelor‟s degree in humanities. B) People with an MBA degree front top universities. C) People with formal schooling plus work experience. D) People with special training in engineering.

27. By saying “... but the impact of a degree washes out after five years” (Line 3,

Para, 3), the author means ________.

A) most MBA programs fail to provide students with a solid foundation B) an MBA degree does not help promotion to managerial positions C) MBA programs will not be as popular in five years‟ time as they are now D) in five people will forget about the degree the MBA graduates have got

28. According to Scheetz‟s statement (Lines 4-5. Para. 4), companies prefer

________.

A) people who have a strategic mind B) people who are talented in fine arts C) people who are ambitious and aggressive D) people who have received training in mechanics

29. David Birch claims that he only hires liberal-arts people because ________.

A) they are more capable of handling changing situations B) they can stick to established ways of solving problems C) they are thoroughly trained in a variety of specialized fields D) they have attended special programs in management 30. Which of the following statements does the author support?

A) Specialists are more expensive to hire than generalists. B) Formal schooling is less important than job training. C) On-the-job training is, in the long run, less costly. D) Generalists will outdo specialists in management.

Passage Three

Questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage.

About six years ago I was eating lunch in a restaurant in New York City when a woman and a young boy sat down at the next table, I couldn‟t help overhearing parts of their conversation. At one point the woman asked: “So, how have you been?” And the boy—who could not have been more than seven or eight years old—replied. “Frankly, I‟ve been feeling a little depressed lately.”

This incident stuck in my mind because it confirmed my growing belief that children are changing. As far as I can remember, my friends and I didn‟t find out we were “depressed” until we were in high school.

The evidence of a change in children has increased steadily in recent years. Children don‟t seem childlike anymore. Children speak more like adults, dress more like adults and behave more like adults than they used to.

Whether this is good or bad is difficult to say, but it certainly is different. Childhood as it once was no longer exists, Why?

Human development is based not only on innate (天生的) biological states, but also on patterns of access to social knowledge. Movement from one social rote to another usually involves learning the secrets of the new status. Children have always been taught adult secrets, but slowly and in stages: traditionally, we tell sixth graders things we keep hidden from fifth graders.

In the last 30 years, however, a secret-revelation (揭示) machine has been installed in 98 percent of American homes. It is called television, Television passes information, and indiscriminately (不加区分地), to all viewers alike, be they children or adults. Unable to resist the temptation, many children turn their attention from printed texts to the less challenging, more vivid moving pictures.

Communication through print, as a matter of fact, allows for a great deal of control over the social information to which children have access. Reading and writing involve a complex code of symbols that must be memorized and practices. Children must read simple books before they can read complex materials. 31. According to the author, feeling depressed is ________.

A) a sure sign of a psychological problem in a child B) something hardly to be expected in a young child C) an inevitable has of children‟s mental development D) a mental scale present in all humans, including children

32. Traditionally, a child is supposed to learn about the adult world ________.

A) through contact with society B) gradually and under guidance C) naturally and by biological instinct D) through exposure to social information

33. The phenomenon that today‟s children seem adult like is attributed by the author

to ________.

A) the widespread influence of television B) the poor arrangement of teaching content C) the fast pace of human intellectual development D) the constantly rising standard of living

34. Why is the author in favor of communication through print for children?

A) It enables children to gain more social information. B) It develops children‟s interest in reading and writing. C) It helps children to memorize and practice more. D) It can control what children are to learn.

35. What does the author think of the change in today‟s children?

A) He feels amused by chair premature behavior. B) He thinks it is a phenomenon worthy of note. C) He considers it a positive development.

D) He seems to be upset about it.

Passage Four

Questions 36 to 40 are based on the following passage.

“Opinion” is a word that is used carelessly today. It is used to refer to matters of taste, belief, and judgment. This casual use would probably cause little confusion if people didn‟t attach too much importance to opinion. Unfortunately, most to attach great importance to it. “I have as much right to my opinion as you to yours,” and “Everyone‟s entitled to his opinion,” are common expressions. In fact, anyone who would challenge another‟s opinion is likely to be branded intolerant.

Is that label accurate? Is it intolerant to challenge another‟s opinion? It depends on what definition of opinion you have in mind. For example, you may ask a friend “What do you think of the new Ford cars?” And he may reply, “In my opinion, they‟re ugly.” In this case, it would not only be intolerant to challenge his statement, but foolish. For it‟s obvious that by opinion he means his personal preference, a matter of taste. And as the old saying goes, “It‟s pointless to argue about matters of taste.” But consider this very different use of the term, a newspaper reports that the Supreme Court has delivered its opinion in a controversial case. Obviously the justices did not shale their personal preferences, their mere likes and dislikes, they stated their considered judgment, painstakingly arrived at after thorough inquiry and deliberation.

Most of what is referred to as opinion falls somewhere between these two extremes. It is not an expression of taste. Nor is it careful judgment. Yet it may contain elements of both. It is a view or belief more or less casually arrived at, with or without examining the evidence.

Is everyone entitled to his opinion? Of course, this is not only permitted, but guaranteed. We are free to act on our opinions only so long as, in doing so, we do not harm others.

36. Which of the following statements is TRUE, according to the author?

A) Everyone has a right to hold his own opinion. B) Free expression of opinions often leads to confusion. C) Most people tend to be careless in forming their opinions. D) Casual use of the word “opinion” often brings about quarrels.

37. According to the author, who of the following would be labored as intolerant?

A) Someone who turns a deaf ear to others‟ opinions. B) Someone who can‟t put up with others‟ tastes. C) Someone who values only their own opinions. D) Someone whose opinion harms other people.

38. The new Ford cars are cited as an example to show that ________.

A) it is foolish to criticize a famous brand B) one should not always agree to others‟ opinions C) personal tastes are not something to be challenged D) it is unwise to express one‟s likes and dislikes in public

39. Considered judgment is different from personal preference in that ________.

A) it is stated by judges in the court B) it reflects public like and dislikes C) it is a result of a lot of controversy D) it is based on careful thought

40. As indicated in the passage, being free to act on one‟s opinion ________.

A) means that one can ignore other people‟s criticism B) means that one can impose his preferences on others C) doesn‟t mean that one has the right to do things at will

D) doesn‟t mean that one has the right to charge others without evidence

2003年12月大学英语四级(CET-4)真题试卷 Part II Reading Comprehension (35 minutes)

Directions: There are 4 passages in this part. Each passage is followed by some

questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the centre.

Passage One

Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage.

I‟m usually fairly skeptical about any research that concludes that people are either happier or unhappier or more or less certain of themselves than they were 50 years ago. While any of these statements might be true, they are practically impossible to prove scientifically. Still, I was struck by a report which concluded that today‟s children are significantly more anxious than children in the 1950s. In fact, the analysis showed, normal children ages 9 to 17 exhibit a higher level of anxiety today than children who were treated for mental illness 50 years ago.

Why are America‟s kids so stressed? The report cites two main causes: increasing physical isolation—brought on by high divorce rates and less involvement in community, among other things—and a growing perception that the world is a more dangerous place.

Given that we can‟t turn the clock back, adults can still do plenty to help the next generation cope.

At the top of the list is nurturing (培育) a better appreciation of the limits of individualism. No child is an island. Strengthening social ties helps build communities and protect individuals against stress.

To help kids build stronger connections with others, you can pull the plug on TVs and computers. Your family will thank you later. They will have more time for face-to-face relationships, and they will get more sleep.

Limit the amount of virtual (虚拟的) violence your children are exposed to. It‟s not just video games and movies; children see a lot of murder and crime on the local news.

Keep your expectations for your children reasonable. Many highly successful people never attended Harvard or Yale.

Make exercise part of your daily routine. It will help you cope with your own anxieties and provide a good model for your kids. Sometimes anxiety is unavoidable. But it doesn‟t have to ruin your life.

21. The author thinks that the conclusions of any research about people‟s state of

mind are ________.

A) surprising B) confusing C) illogical D) questionable

22. What does the author mean when he says, “we can‟t turn the clock back” (Line 1,

Para. 3)?

A) It‟s impossible to slow down the pace of change. B) The social reality children are facing cannot be changed. C) Lessons learned from the past should not be forgotten. D) It‟s impossible to forget the past.

23. According to an analysis, compared with normal children today, children treated

as mentally ill 50 years ago ________.

A) were less isolated physically B) were probably less self-centered C) probably suffered less from anxiety D) were considered less individualistic

24. The first and most important thing parents should do to help their children is

________.

A) to provide them with a safer environment B) to lower their expectations for them C) to get them more involved socially D) to set a good model for them to follow 25. What conclusion can be drawn from the passage?

A) Anxiety, though unavoidable, can be coped with. B) Children‟s anxiety has been enormously exaggerated. C) Children‟s anxiety can be eliminated with more parental care. D) Anxiety, if properly controlled, may help children become mature.

Passage Two

Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage.

It is easier to negotiate initial salary requirement because once you are inside, the organizational constraints (约束) influence wage increases. One thing, however, is certain: your chances of getting the raise you feel you deserve are less if you don‟t at least ask for it. Men tend to ask for more, and they get more, and this holds true with other resources, not just pay increases. Consider Beth‟s story:

I did not get what I wanted when I did not ask for it. We had cubicle (小隔间) offices and window offices. I sat in the cubicles with several male colleagues. One by one they were moved into window offices, while I remained in the cubicles, several males who were hired after me also went to offices. One in particular told me he was next in line for an office and that it had been part of his negotiations for the job. I guess they thought me content to stay in the cubicles since I did not voice my opinion either way.

It would be nice if we all received automatic pay increases equal to our merit, but “nice” isn‟t a quality attributed to most organizations. If you feel you deserve a significant raise in pay, you‟ll probably have to ask for it.

Performance is your best bargaining chip (筹码) when you are seeking a raise. You must be able to demonstrate that you deserve a raise. Timing is also a good bargaining chip. If you can give your boss something he or she needs (a new client or a sizable contract, for example) just before merit pay decisions are being made, you are more likely to get the raise you want.

Use information as a bargaining chip too. Find out what you are worth on the open market.

What will someone else pay for your services?

Go into the negotiations prepared to place your chips on the table at the appropriate time and prepared to use communication style to guide the direction of the interaction.

26. According to the passage, before taking a job, a person should ________.

A) demonstrate his capability B) give his boss a good impression C) ask for as much money as he can D) ask for the salary he hopes to get 27. What can be inferred from Beth‟s story?

A) Prejudice against women still exists in some organizations. B) If people want what they deserve, they have to ask for it. C) People should not be content with what they have got. D) People should be careful when negotiating for a job. 28. We can learn from the passage that ________.

A) unfairness exists in salary increases B) most people are overworked and underpaid C) one should avoid overstating one‟s performance D) most organizations give their staff automatic pay raises 29. To get a pay raise, a person should ________.

A) advertise himself on the job market

B) persuade his boss to sign a long-term contract C) try to get inside information about the organization

D) do something to impress his boss just before merit pay decisions 30. To be successful in negotiations, one must ________.

A) meet his boss at the appropriate time B) arrive at the negotiation table punctually

C) be good at influencing the outcome of the interaction D) be familiar with what the boss likes and dislikes

Passage Three

Questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage.

When families gather for Christmas dinner, some will stick to formal traditions dating back to Grandma‟s generation. Their tables will be set with the good dishes and silver, and the dress code will be Sunday-best.

But in many other homes, this china-and-silver elegance has given way to a stoneware (粗陶)-and-stainless informality, with dresses assuming an equally casual-Friday look. For hosts and guests, the change means greater simplicity and

comfort. For makers of fine china in Britain, it spells economic hard times.

Last week Royal Doulton, the largest employer in Stoke-on-Trent, announced that it is eliminating 1,000 jobs—one-fifth of its total workforce. That brings to more than 4,000 the number of positions lost in 18 months in the pottery (陶瓷) region. Wedgwood and other pottery factories made cuts earlier.

Although a strong pound and weak markets in Asia play a role in the downsizing, the layoffs in Stoke have their roots in earthshaking social shifts. A spokesman for Royal Doulton admitted that the company “has been somewhat slow in catching up with the trend” toward casual dining. Families eat together less often, he explained, and more people eat alone, either because they are single or they eat in front of television;

Even dinner parties, if they happen at all, have gone casual. In a time of long work hours and demanding family schedules, busy hosts insist, rightly, that it‟s better to share a takeout pizza on paper plates in the family room than to wait for the perfect moment or a “real” dinner party. Too often, the perfect moment never comes. Iron a fine-patterned tablecloth? Forget it. Polish the silver? Who has time?

Yet the loss of formality has its down side. The fine points of etiquette (礼节) that children might once have learned at the table by observation or instruction from parents and grandparents (“Chew with your mouth closed.” “Keep your elbows off the table.”) must be picked up elsewhere. Some companies now offer etiquette seminars for employees who may be competent professionally but clueless socially. 31. The trend toward casual dining has resulted in ________.

A) bankruptcy of fine china manufacturers B) shrinking of the pottery industry C) restructuring of large enterprises D) economic recession in Great Britain

32. Which of the following may be the best reason for casual dining?

A) Family members need more time to relax. B) Busy schedules leave people no time for formality. C) People want to practice economy in times of scarcity.

D) Young people won‟t follow the etiquette of the older generation. 33. It can be learned from the passage that Royal Doulton is ________.

A) a retailer of stainless steel tableware B) a dealer in stoneware C) a pottery chain store D) a producer of fine china

34. The main cause of the layoffs in the pottery industry is ________.

A) the increased value of the pound B) the economic recession in Asia C) the change in people‟s way of life D) the fierce competition at home and abroad

35. Refined table manners, though less popular than before in current social life

________.

A) are still a must on certain occasions B) axe bound to return sooner or later C) are still being taught by parents at home D) can help improve personal relationships

Passage Four

Questions 36 to 40 are based on the following passage.

Some houses are designed to be smart. Others have smart designs. An example of the second type of house won an Award of Excellence from the American Institute of Architects.

Located on the shore of Sullivan‟s Island off the coast of South Carolina, the award-winning cube-shaped beach house was built to replace one smashed to pieces by Hurricane (飓风) Hugo 10 years ago. In September 1989, Hugo struck South Carolina, killing 18 people and damaging or destroying 36,000 homes in the state. Before Hugo, many new houses built along South Carolina‟s shoreline were poorly constructed, and enforcement of building codes wasn‟t strict, according to architect Ray Huff, who created the cleverly-designed beach house. In Hugo‟s wake, all new shoreline houses are required to meet stricter, better-enforced codes. The new beach house on Sullivan‟s Island should be able to withstand a Category 3 hurricane with peak winds of 179 to 209 kilometers per hour.

At first sight, the house on Sullivan‟s Island looks anything but hurricane-proof. Its redwood shell makes it resemble “a large party lantern (灯笼)” at night, according to one observer. But looks can be deceiving. The house‟s wooden frame is reinforced with long steel rods to give it extra strength.

To further protect the house from hurricane damage, Huff raised it 2.7 meters off the ground on timber pilings—long, slender columns of wood anchored deep in the sand. Pilings might appear insecure, but they are strong enough to support the weight of the house. They also elevate the house above storm surges. The pilings allow the surges to run under the house instead of running into it. “These swells of water come ashore at tremendous speeds and cause most of the damage done to beach-front buildings,” said Huff.

Huff designed the timber pilings to be partially concealed by the house‟s

ground-to-roof shell. “The shell masks the pilings so that the house doesn‟t look like it‟s standing with its pant legs pulled up,” said Huff. In the event of a storm surge, the shell should break apart and let the waves rush under the house, the architect explained.

36. After the tragedy caused by Hurricane Hugo, new houses built along South

Carolina‟s shore line are required ________.

A) to be easily reinforced B) to look smarter in design C) to meet stricter building standards D) to be designed in the shape of cubes

37. The award-winning beach house is quite strong because ________.

A) it is strengthened by steel rods B) it is made of redwood C) it is in the shape of a shell D) it is built with timber and concrete

38. Huff raised the house 2.7 meters off the ground on timber pilings in order to

________.

A) withstand peak winds of about 200 km/hr B) anchor stronger pilings deep in the sand C) break huge sea waves into smaller ones D) prevent water from rushing into the house 39. The main function of the shell is ________.

A) to strengthen the pilings of the house B) to give the house a better appearance C) to protect the wooden frame of the house D) to slow down the speed of the swelling water

40. It can be inferred from the passage that the shell should be ________.

A) fancy-looking B) waterproof C) easily breakable D) extremely strong

2004年06月大学英语四级真题试卷A卷

Part II Reading Comprehension (35 minutes)

Directions There are 4 passages in this part. Each passage is followed by some questions or

unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the centre. Passage One

Questions 11 to 15 are based on the following passage.

You may be all these things at the office, and more. But when it comes to getting ahead, experts say, the ABCs of business should include a P, for politics, as in office politics.

Dale Carnegie suggested as much more than 50 years ago Hard work alone doesn‟t ensure career advancement. You have to be able to sell yourself and your ideas, both publicly and behind the scenes. Yet, despite the obvious rewards of engaging in office politics—a better job, a raise, praise—many people are still unable—or unwilling—to play the game.

People assume that office politics involves some manipulative (工于心计的) behavior, says Deborah Comer, an assistant professor of management at Hofstra University. But politics derives from the word ‟polite‟. It can mean lobbying and forming associations. It can mean being kind and helpful, or even trying to please your superior, and then expecting something in return. In fact, today, experts define office politics as proper behavior used to pursue one‟s own self-interest in the workplace. In many cases, this involves some form of socializing within the office environment—not just in large companies, but in small workplaces as well. The

are usually judged on is their ability to perform well on a consistent basis, says

Neil P. Lewis, a management psychologist. But if two or three candidates are up for a promotion, each of whom has reasonably similar ability, a manager is going to promote the person he or she likes best. It‟s simple human nature.

Yet, psychologists say, many employees and employers have trouble with the concept of politics in the office. Some people, they say, have an idealistic vision of work and what it takes to succeed. Still others associate politics with flattery (奉承), fearful that, if they speak up for themselves, they may appear to be flattering their boss for favors.

Experts suggest altering this negative picture by recognizing the need for some self-promotion.

11. Office politics (Line 2, Para. 4) is used in the passage to refer to . A) the code of behavior for company staff B) the political views and beliefs of office workers C) the interpersonal relationships within a company D) the various qualities required for a successful career

12. To get promoted, one must not only be competent but . A) give his boss a good impression B) honest and loyal to his company C) get along well with his colleagues D) avoid being too outstanding

13. Why are many people unwilling to play the game (Line 4, Para. 5) A) They believe that doing so is impractical. B) They feel that such behavior is unprincipled. C) They are not good at manipulating colleagues.

D) They think the effort will get them nowhere.

14. The author considers office politics to be . A) unwelcome at the workplace

B) bad for interpersonal relationships

C) indispensable to the development of company culture D) an important factor for personal advancement

15. It is the author‟s view that .

A) speaking up for oneself is part of human nature B) self-promotion does not necessarily mean flattery C) hard work contributes very little to one‟s promotion D) many employees fail to recognize the need of flattery Passage Two

Questions 16 to 20 are based on the following passage.

As soon as it was revealed that a reporter for Progressive magazine had discovered how to make a hydrogen bomb, a group of firearm (火器) fans formed the National Hydrogen Bomb Association, and they are now lobbying against any legislation to stop Americans from owning one.

The Constitution, said the association‟s spokesman, gives everyone the right to own arms. It doesn‟t spell out what kind of arms. But since anyone can now make a hydrogen bomb, the public should be able to buy it to protect themselves.

Don‟t you think it‟s dangerous to have one in the house, particularly where there are children

around The National Hydrogen Bomb Association hopes to educate people in the safe handling of this type of weapon. We are instructing owners to keep the bomb in a locked cabinet and the fuse (导火索) separately in a drawer.

Some people consider the hydrogen bomb a very fatal weapon which could kill somebody. The spokesman said, Hydrogen bombs don‟t kill people—people kill people. The bomb is for self-protection and it also has a deterrent effect. If somebody knows you have a nuclear weapon in your house, they‟re going to think twice about breaking in. But those who want to ban the bomb forAmerican citizens claim that if you have one locked in the cabinet, with the fuse in a drawer, you would never be able to assemble it in time to stop an intruder (侵入者).

Another argument against allowing people to own a bomb is that at the moment it is very expensive to build one. So what your association is backing is a program which would allow the middle and upper classes to acquire a bomb while poor people will be left defenseless with just handguns.

16. According to the passage, some people started a

A) block any legislation to ban the private possession of the bomb

B) coordinate the mass production of the destructive weapon

C) instruct people how to keep the bomb safe at home

D) promote the large-scale sale of this newly invented weapon

so as to .

17. Some people oppose the ownership of H-bombs by individuals on the grounds that .

A) the size of the bomb makes it difficult to keep in a drawer

B) most people don‟t know how to handle the weapon

C) people‟s lives will be threatened by the weapon

D) they may fall into the hands of criminals

18. By saying that the bomb also has a deterrent effect the spokesman means that it .

A) will frighten away any possible intruders

B) can show the special status of its owners

C) will threaten the safety of the owners as well

D) can kill those entering others‟ houses by force

19. According to the passage, opponents of the private ownership of H-bombs are very much worried that .

A) the influence of the association is too powerful for the less privileged to overcome

B) poorly-educated Americans will find it difficult to make use of the weapon

C) the wide use of the weapon will push up living expenses tremendously

D) the cost of the weapon will put citizens on an unequal basis

20. From the tone of the passage we know that the author is .

A) doubtful about the necessity of keeping H-bombs at home for safety

B) unhappy with those who vote ;against the ownership of H-bombs

C) not serious about the private ownership of H-bombs

D) concerned about the spread of nuclear weapons

Passage Three

Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage.

Sign has become a scientific hot button. Only in the past 20 years have specialists in language

study realized that signed languages are unique—a speech of the hand. They offer a new way to probe how the brain generates and understands language, and throw new light on an old scientific controversy whether language, complete with grammar, is something that we are born

with, or whether it is a learned behavior. The current interest in sign language has roots in the pioneering work of one rebel teacher at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., the world‟s only liberal arts university for deaf people.

When Bill Stokoe went to Gallaudet to teach English, the school enrolled him in a course in signing. But Stokoe noticed something odd among themselves, students signed differently from his classroom teacher.

Stokoe had been taught a sort of gestural code, each movement of the hands representing a word in English. At the time, American Sign Language (ASL) was thought to be no more than a form of pidgin English (混杂英语). But Stokoe believed the hand talk his students used looked richer. He wondered Might deaf people actually have a genuine language And could that language be unlike any other on Earth It was 1955, when even deaf people dismissed their signing as substandard. Stokoe‟s idea was academic heresy (异端邪说).

It is 37 years later. Stokoe—now devoting his time to writing and editing books and journals and to producing video materials on ASL and the deaf culture —is having lunch at a café near the Gallaudet campus and explaining how he started a revolution. For decades educators fought his idea that signed languages are natural languages like English, French and Japanese. They assumed language must be based on speech,

(调节) of sound. But sign language is based on

the movement of hands, of space. What I said, Stokoe explains, is that language is not mouth stuff—it‟s brain stuff.

21. The study of sign language is thought to be .

A) a new way to look at the learning of language

B) a challenge to traditional views on the nature of language

C) an approach to simplifying the grammatical structure of a language

D) an attempt to clarify misunderstanding about the origin of language

22. The present growing interest in sign language was stimulated by .

A) a famous scholar in the study of the human brain

B) a leading specialist in the study of liberal arts

C) an English teacher in a university for the deaf

D) some senior experts in American Sign Language

23. According to Stokoe, sign language is .

A) a substandard language

B) a genuine language

C) an artificial language

D) an international language

24. Most educators objected to Stokoe‟s idea because they thought .

A) sign language was not extensively used even by deaf people

B) sign language was too artificial to be widely accepted

C) a language should be easy to use and understand

D) a language could only exist in the form of speech sounds

25. Stokoe‟s argument is based on his belief that .

A) sign language is as efficient as any other language

B) sign language is derived from natural language

C) language is a system of meaningful codes

D) language is a product of the brain Passage Four

Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage.

It came as something of a surprise when Diana, Princess of Wales, made a trip co Angola in 1997, to support the Red Cross‟s campaign for a total ban on all anti-personnel landmines. Within hours of arriving in Angola, television screens around the world were filled with images of her comforting victims injured in explosions caused by landmines. I knew the statistics, she said. But putting a face to those figures brought the reality home to me; like when I met Sandra, a 13- year-old girl who had lost her leg, and people like her.

The Princess concluded with a simple message We must stop landmines. And she used every opportunity during her visit to repeat this message.

But, back in London, her views were not shared by some members of the British government, which refused to support a ban on these weapons. Angry politicians launched an attack on the Princess in the press. They described her as very ill -informed and a loose cannon (乱放炮的人).” The Princess responded by brushing aside the criticisms This is a distraction (干扰) we do not need. All I‟m trying to do is help.

Opposition parties, the media and the public immediately voiced their support for the Princess. To make matters worse for the government, it soon emerged that the Princess‟s trip had been approved by the Foreign Office, and that she was in fact very well-informed about both the situation in Angola and the British government‟s policy regarding landmines. The result was a severe embarrassment for the government. To try and limit the damage, the Foreign Secretary, Malcolm Rifkidnd, claimed that the Princess‟s views on landmines were not very different from government policy, and that it was working towards a worldwide ban. The Defence Secretary, Michael Portillo, claimed the matter was a misinterpretation .

For the Princess, the trip to this war-torn country was an excellent opportunity to use her popularity to show the world how much destruction and suffering landmines can cause. She said that the experience had also given her the chance to get closer to people and their problems.

26. Princess Diana paid a visit to Angola in 1997 .

A) to voice her support for a total ban of landmines

B) to clarify the British government‟s stand on landmines

C) to investigate the sufferings of landmine victims there

D) to establish her image as a friend of landmine victims

27. What did Diana mean when she said ... putting a face to those figures brought the reality home to me (Line 5, Para.1)

A) She just couldn‟t bear to meet the landmine victims face to face.

B) The actual situation in Angola made her feel like going back home.

C) Meeting the landmine victims in person made her believe the statistics.

D) Seeing the pain of the victims made her realize the seriousness of the situation.

28. Some members of the British government criticized Diana because .

A) she was ill-informed of the government‟s policy

B) they were actually opposed to banning landmines

C) she had not consulted the government before the visit

D) they believed that she had misinterpreted the situation in Angola

29. How did Diana respond to the criticisms

A) She paid no attention to them.

B) She made more appearances on TV.

C) She met the 13-year-old girl as planned.

D) She rose to argue with her opponents.

30. What did Princess Diana think of her visit to Angola

A) It had caused embarrassment to the British government.

B) It had brought her closer to the ordinary people.

C) It had greatly promoted her popularity.

D) It had affected her relations with the British government.

2004年06月大学英语四级真题试卷B卷

Part II Reading Comprehension (35 minutes)

Directions: There are 4 passages in this part. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the centre. Passage One

Questions 11 to 15 are based on the following passage.

Sign has become a scientific hot button. Only in the past 20 years have specialists in language study realized that signed languages are unique - a speech of the hand. They offer a new way to probe how the brain generates and understands language,

and throw new light on an old scientific controversy: whether language, complete with grammar, is something that we are born with, or whether it is a learned behavior. The current interest in sign language has roots in the pioneering

work of one rebel teacher at Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C., the worlds only liberal arts university for deaf people.

When Bill Stokoe went to Gallaudet to teach English, the school enrolled him in a course in signing. But Stokoe noticed something odd: among themselves, students signed differently from his classroom teacher.

Stokoe had been taught a sort of gestural code, each movement of the hands representing a word in English. At the time, American Sign Language (ASL) was thought to be no more than a form of pidgin English (混杂英语 ). But Stokoe believed the \"hand talk\" his students used looked richer. He wondered: Might deaf people actually have a genuine language? And could that lan-guage be unlike any other on Earth? It was 1955, when even deaf peopie dismissed their signing as \"substandard\". Stokoes

heresy (异端邪说 ).

It is 37 years later. Stokoe - now devoting his time to writing and editing books and journals and to producing video materials on ASL and the deaf culture - is having lunch at a caf6 near the Gallaudet campus and explaining how he started a revolution. For decades educators fought his idea that signed languages are natural languages like English, French and japanese. They assumed language must be based on speech, the modulation (调节) of sound. But sign language is based on the movement of hands, the

modulation of space. \"What I said,\" Stokoe explains, \"is that language is not mouth stuff- its brain stuff.\"

11. The study of sign language is thought to be

A) an approach to simplifying the grammatical structure of a language B) an attempt to clarify misunderstanding about the origin of language C) a challenge to traditional views on the nature of language D) a new way to took at the learning of language

12.The present growing interest in sign language was stimulated by A) a leading specialist in the study Of liberal arts B) an English teacer in a university for the deaf C) Some senior experts in American Sign Language D) a famous Scholar in thestudy of the human brain

13. According to Stokoe, sign language is

A) an international language C) an artificial language B) a substandard language D) a genuine language

14. Most educators objected to Stokoes idea because they thought A) a language should be easy to use and understand

B) sign language was tOO artificial to be widely accepted C) a language could only exist in the form of speech sounds D) sign language was not extensively used even by deaf people

15. Stokoes argument is based on his belief that A) language is a product of the brain

B) language is a system of meaningful codes C) sign language is derived from natural language D) sign language is as efficient as any other language Passage Two

Questions 16 to 20 are based on the following passage.

You may be all these things atthe office, and more. But when it comes to getting ahead, experts Say, the ABcs of business should include a P, for politics, as in office politics.

Dale Carnegie suggested asmuch more than 50 years ag Hard work alone doesnt ensure Career advancemen. You have to be able to sell yourself and your ideas, both publicly and behind thescefies. Yet, despite the ovious rewards Of engaging in office politics - a better job, a raise, praise- many people are still unable or unwilling - to \"play the game.\"

\"People assume that office politics involves some manipulative (工于心计的) behavior,\" says Deborah Comer, an assistant professor of management at Hofstra University. \"But politics derives from the word polite. It can mean lobbying and forming associations. It can mean being kind and helpful, or even trying, to please your superior, and thenexpecting something in return.\"

In fact, today, experts define office politics as proper behavior used to pursue ones own self-interest in the workplace. In many cases, this involves some form of socializing within the office environment - not just in large companies, but in small workplaces as well.

\"The first thing people are usually judged on is their ability to perform well on a consistent basis,\" says Neil P. Lewis, a management psychologist. \"But if two or three candidates are up for a promotion, each of whom has reasonably similar ability,

a manager is going to promote the person he or . Its simple human nature.\"

Yet, psychologists say, many employees and employers have trouble with the concept of politics in the office. Some people,

they say, have an idealistic vision of work and what it takes to succeed. Still others associate politics withfiattery 奉承), fearful that, if they speak up for themselves, they may appear to be flattering their boss for favors.

Experts suggest altering this negative picture by recognizing the need for some self-promotion.

16. \"Office politics\" (Line 2, Para. 4) is used in the passage to refer to A) the political views and beliefs of office workers B) the interpersonal relationships within a company C) the various qualities required for a successful career D) the code of behavior for company staff

17. To get promoted, one must not only be competent but A) avoid being too outstanding

B) get along well with his colleagues C) honest and loyal to his company D) give his boss a good impression

18. Why are many people unwilling to \"play the game\" (Line 4, Para. 5)? A) They are not good at manipulating colleagues. B) They feel that such behavior is unprincipled. C) They think the effort will get them nowhere. D) They believe that doing so is impractical.

19. The author considers office poetics to be . A) unwelcome at the workplace

B) bad for interpersonal relationships

C) an important factor for personal advancement D) indispensable to the development of company culture

20. It is the authors view that

A) self-promotion does not necessarily mean flattery

B) hard work contributes Very little to ones promotion C) many employees fail to recognize the need of flattery D) speaking up for oneself is part of human nature Passage Three

Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage.

It came as something of a surprise when Diana, Princess of Wales, made a trip co Angola in 1997, to support the Red Crosss campaign for a total ban on all anti-personnel landmines. Within hours of arriv!ng in Angola, television screens around the world were filled with images of her comforting victims injured in explosions caused by landmines. \"I knew the statistics,\"

she said. \"But putting a face to those figures brought the reality home to me; like when I met Sandra, a 13- year-old girl who had lost her leg, and people like her.\"

The Princess concluded with a simple message: \"We must stop landmines\". And she used every opportunity during her visit to repeat this message.

But, back in London, her views were not shared by some members of the British government, which refused to support a ban on these weapons. Angry politicians launched an attack On the Princess in the press. They described her as \"very ill -informed\" and a \"loose cannon (乱放跑的人) The Princess responded by brushing aside the Criticisms: \"This is a distraction ( 干扰) we do not need. All Im trying to do is help.\"

Opposition parties, the media and the public immediately voiced their Support for the Princess. To make matters worse for the government, it soon emerged that the Princesss trip had been approved by the Foreign Office, and that she was in fact very well-inf0rmed about both the situa-tion in Angola and the British governments policy regarding landmines. The result was a severe embarrassment for the government.

To try and limit the damage, the Foreign Secretary, Malcolm Rifkidnd, claimed that the Princesss views on landmines were not government policy, and that it was \"working towards\" a worldwide ban. The Defence Secretary, Michael Portillo, claimed the matter was \"a misinterpretation or misunderstanding.\" - For the Princess, the trip to this war-torn countrywas an excellent opportunity to use her popularity to show the world how

much destruction and suffering landmines can cause. She said that the experience had also given her the chance to get closer to people and their problems.

21. Princess Diana paid a visit to Angola in 1997 A) to clarify the British governments stand on landmines B) to establish her image as a friend of landmine victims C) to investigate the sufferings of landmine victims there D) to voice her support for a total ban of landmines [D]

22. What did Diana mean when she said \"... putting a face tO those figures brought the reality home to me\" (Line 5, Para. 1)?

A) Meeting the landmine victims in person made her believe the statistics. B) She just couldnt bear to meet the landmine victims face to face.

C) The actual situation in Angola made her feel like going back home.

D) Seeing the pain of the victims maher realize the seriousness of the situation.

23. Some members of the British government criticized Diana because A) she had not consulted the government before the visit B) she was ill-informed of the governments policy C) they were actually opposed to banning landmines

D) they believed that she had misinterpreted the situation in Angola

24. How did Diana respond to the criticisms? A) She made more :appearances on TV. B) She paid no attention to them. C) She rose to argue with her opponents. D) She met the 13-year-old girl as planned.

25. What did Princess Diana think of her visit to Angola? A) It had caused embarrassment to the British government. B) It had greatly promoted her popularity.

C) It had brought her closer to the ordinary people. D) It had affected her relations with the British government. Passage Four

Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage.

As soon as it was revealed that a reporter for Progressive magazine had discovered how to make a hydrogen bomb, a group

offirearm ( 火器 ) fans formed the National Hydrogen Bomb Association, and they are now lobbying against any legislation to stop Americans from owning one.

\"The Constitution,\" said the associations spokesman, \"gives everyone the right to own arms. It doesnt spell out what kind of arms. But since anyone can now make a hydrogen bomb, the public should be able to buy it to protect themselves.\"

\"Dont you think its dangerous to have one in the house, particularly where there are children around?\"

\"The National Hydrogen Bomb Association hopes to educate people in the safe handling of this type of weapon. We are

instructing owners to keep the bomb in a locked cabinet and the fuse (导火索 ) separately in a drawer.\"

\"Some people consider the hydrogen bomb a very fatal weapon which could kill somebody.\" The spokesman said, \"Hydrogen bombs dont kill people - people kill people. The bomb is for self-protection and it also has a deterrent effect. If somebody knows you have a nuclear weapon in your house, theyre going to think twice about breaking in.\" \"But those who want to ban the bomb for American citizens claim that ifyou have one locked in the cabinet, with the fuse in a drawer, you would never be able to assemble it in time to stop an intruder ( 侵入者）\" \"Another argument against allowing people to own a bomb is that at the moment it is very expensive to build one. So what your association is backing is a program which would allow the middle and upper classes to acquire a bomb while poor people will be with just handguns.\"

26. According to the passage, some people started a national association so as to A) instruct people how to keep the bomb safe at home

B) coordinate the mass production of the destructive weapon

C) promote the large-scale sale of this newly invented weapon

D) block any legislation to ban the private possession of the bomb [D]

27. Some people oppose the ownership of H-bombs by individuals on the grounds that A) they may fall into the hands of criminals

B) peoples lives will be threatened by the weapon

C) most people dont know how to handle the weapon

D) the size of the bomb makes it difficult to keep in a drawer

28. By saying that the bomb also has a deterrent effect the spokesman means that it A) can kill those entering others houses by force

B) will threaten the safety of the owners as well

C) will frighten away any possible intruders

D) can show the special status of its owners

29. According to the passage, opponents of the private ownership of H-bombs are very much worried that

A) the cost of the weapon will put citizens on an unequal basis

B) the wide use of the weapon will push up living expenses tremendously

C) poorly-educated Americans will find it difficult to make use of the weapon

D) the influence of the association is too powerful for the less privileged to overcome

30. From the tone of the passage we know that the author is A) not serious about the private ownership of H-bombs

B) concerned about the spread of nuclear weapons

C) doubtful about the necessity Of keeping H-bombs at home for safety

D) unhappy with those who vote against the ownership of H-bombs