2011专四阅读真题及答案(共7页).doc

精选优质文档-倾情为你奉上READING COMPREHENSION                 25 MINIn this section there are four passages followed by questions or unfinished statements, each with four suggested answers marked A, B, C and D. Choose the one that you think is the best answer. Mark your answers on Answer Sheet Two.TEXT A We have a crisis on our hands. You mean global warming? The world economy? No, the decline of reading. People are just not doing it anymore, especially the young. Whos responsible? Actually, its more like, what is responsible? The Internet, of course, and everything that comes with itFacebook, Twitter(微博). You can write your own list.Theres been a warning about the imminent death of literate civilization for a long time. In the 20th century, first it was the movie, then radio, then television that seemed to spell doom for the written world. None did. Reading survived; in fact it not only survived, it has flourished. The world is more than literate than ever before there are more and more readers, and more and more books. The fact that we often get our reading material online today is not something we should worry over. The electronic and digital revolution of the last two decades has arguably shown the way forward for reading and for writing. Take the arrival of e-book readers as an example. Devices like Kindle make reading more convenient and are a lot more environmentally friendly than the traditional paper book. As technology makes new ways of writing possible, new ways of reading are possible. Interconnectivity allows for the possibility of reading experience that was barely imaginable before. Where traditional books had to make do with photographs and illustrations, an e-book can provide readers with an unlimited number of links: to texts, pictures, and videos. In the future, the way people write novels, history, and philosophy will resemble nothing seen in the past. On the other hand, there is the danger of trivialization. One Titter group is offering its follows single-sentence-long “digests” of the great novels. War and Peace in a sentence? You must be joking. We should fear the fragmentation of reading. There is the danger that the high-speed connectivity of the Internet will reduce our attention span that we will be incapable of reading anything of length or which requires deep concentration. In such a fast-changing world, in which really seems to be remade each day, we need the ability to focus and understand what is happening to us. This has always been the function of literature and we should be careful not to let it disappear. Our society needs to be able to imagine the possibility of someone utterly in tone with modern technology but able to make sense of a dynamic, confusing world. In the 15th century, Johannes Guttenbergs invention of the printing press in Europe had a huge impact on civilization. Once upon a time the physical book was a challenging thing. We should remember this before we assume that technology is out to destroy traditionally culture.1. Which of the following paragraph briefly reviews the historical challenges for reading?A. Paragraph One B. Paragraph TwoC. Paragraph ThreeD. Paragraph Four2. The following are all cited as advantages of e-books EXCEPT?A. multimodal contentB. environmental friendlinessC. conveniences for readersD. imaginative design3. Which of the following can best describe how the author feels toward single-sentence-long novels?A. IronicB. Worried C. SarcasticD. Doubtful4. According to the passage, people need knowledge of modern technology and _to survive in the fast-changing society.A. good judgmentB. high sensitivityC. good imaginationD. the ability to focus5. What is the main idea of the passage?A. Technology pushes the way forward for reading and writing.B. Interconnectivity is a feature of new reading experienceC. Technology is an opportunity and a challenge for traditional readingD. Technology offers a greater variety of reading practice.TEXT BI know when the snow melts and the first robins(知更鸟) come to call , when the laughter of children returns to the parks and playgrounds, something wonderful is about to happen. Spring cleaning. Ill admit spring cleaning is a difficult notion for modern families to grasp. Todays busy families hardly have time to load the dishwasher, much less clean the doormat. Asking the family to spend the weekend collecting winter dog piles from the melting snow in the backyard is like announcing there will no more Wi-Fi. It interrupts the natural order.“Honey, what say we spend the weekend beating the rugs, sorting through the boxes in the basement and painting our bedroom a nice lemony yellow?” I say.“Can we at least wait until the NBA matches are over?” my husband answers.But I tell my family, spring cleaning cant wait. The temperature has risen just enough to melt snow but not enough for Little League practice to start. Some flowers are peeking out of the thawing ground, but there is no lawn to seed, nor garden to tend, newly wakened from our winters hibernation(冬眠), yet still needing extra blankets at night, we open our window to the first fresh air floating on the breeze and all of the natural world demanding “Awake and be clean!” Biologists offer a theory about this primal impulse to clean out every drawer and closer in the house at springs first light, which has to do with melatonin, the sleepytime hormone(激素) our bodies produce when its dark. When springs light comes, the melatonin diminishes, and suddenly we are awakened to the dusty, virus-filled house weve been hibernating in for four months. I tell my family about the science and psychology of a good healthy cleaning at springs arrival. I speak to them about lifes greatest rewards waiting in the removal of soap scum from the bathtub, which hasnt been properly cleaned since the first snowfall. “Ill do it,” says the eldest child, a 21-year old college student who lives at home. “You will? Wow!” I exclaim. Maybe after all these years, hes finally grasped the concept. Maybe hes expressing his rightful position as eldest child and role model. Or maybe hes going to Florida for a break in a couple of weeks and hes being nice to me who is the financial-aid officer. No matter. Seeing my adult son willingly cleaning that dirty bathtub gives me hope for the future of his 12-year-old brother who, instead of working, is found to be sleeping in the seat of the window he is supposed to be cleaning.“Awake and be clean!” I say. 6. According to the passage, “spring cleaning is a difficult notion for modern families to grasp” means that spring cleaningA. is no longer an easy practice to understand.B. is no longer part of modern family in life.C. requires more family members to be involved.D. calls for more complicated skills and knowledge.7. Which of the following is LEAST likely to be included in family spring cleaning?A. Beating the rugs.B. Cleaning the window.C. Restoring Wi-Fi services.D. Cleaning the backyard.8. Why does the author say “spring cleaning cant wait”?A. Because there will be more activities when it gets warmer.B. Because the air is fresher and the breeze is lighter. C. Because the whole family is full of energy at spring time. D. Because the snow is melting and the ground is thawing. 9. Which of the following interpretations of the biologists theory about melatonin is INCORRECT?A. The production of melatonin in our bodies varies at different times.B. Melatonin is more likely to cause sleepiness in our bodies. C. The reduction of melatonin will cause wakefulness in our bodies. D. The amount of melatonin remains constant in out bodies.10. Which of the following can best sum up the authors overall reaction to her adult sons positive response to spring cleaning?A. Surprised and skeptical. B. Elated and hesitant.C. Relieved and optimistic.D. Optimistic and hesitant.TEXT CThese days lots of young Japanese do omiai, literally, “meet and look.” Many of them do so willingly. In todays prosperous and increasingly conservative Japan, the traditional omiai kekkon, or arranged marriage, is thriving. But there is a difference. In the original omiai, the young Japanese couldnt reject the partner chosen by his parents and their middleman. After World War II, many Japanese abandoned the arranged marriage as part of their rush to adopt the more democratic ways of their American conquerors. The Western renai kekkon, or love marriage, became popular, Japanese began picking their own mates by dating and falling in love. But the Western way was often wanting in an important respect: it didnt necessarily produce a partner of the right economics, social, and educational qualifications. “Todays young people are quite calculating,” says Chicko Akiyama, a social commentator. What seems to be happening now is a repetition of a familiar process in the countrys history, the “Japanization” of an adopted foreign practice. The Western ideal of marrying for love is accommodated in a new omiai in which both parties are free to reject the match. “Omiai is evolving into a sort of stylized introduction,” Mrs. Akiyama says. Many young Japanese now date in their early twenties, but with no thought of marriage. When they reach the agein the middle twenties for woman, the late twenties for menthey increasingly turn to omiai. Some studies suggest that as many as 40% of marriages each year are omiai kekkon. Its hard to be sure, say those who study the matter, because many Japanese couples, when polled, described their marriage as a love match even if it was arranged.These days, doing omiai often means going to a computer matching service rather than to a nakodo. The nakodo of tradition was an old woman who knew all the kids in the neighborhood and went around trying to pair them off by speaking to their parents; a successful match would bring her a wedding invitation and a gift of money. But Japanese today find its less awkward to reject a proposal partner if the nokodo is a computer.Japan has about five hundred computer matching services. Some big companies, including Mitsubishi, run one of for their employees. At a typical commercial service, an applicant pays $80 to $125 to have his or her personal data stored in the computer for two years and $200 or so more if a marriage results. The stored information includes some obvious items, like education and hobbies, and some no-so-obvious ones, like whether a person is the oldest child. (First sons, and to some extent first daughters, face an obligation of caring for elderly parents.)11. According to the passage, todays young Japanese preferA. a traditional arranged marriage.B. a new type of arranged marriage. C. a Western love marriageD. a more Westernized love marriage.12. Which of the following statements is CORRECT?A. A Western love marriage tends to miss some Japanese values.B. Less attention is paid to the partners qualification in arranged marriages.C. Young Japanese would often calculate their partners wealth.D. A new arranged marriage is a repetition of the older type.13. According to the passage, the figure 40% (Paragraph Five) is uncertain becauseA. There has been a big increase in the number of arranged marriages.B. Western love marriage still remains popular among young Japanese.C. Young Japanese start dating very early in their life in a Western tradition.D. The tendency for arranged marriages could be stronger than is indicated.14. One of the big difference between a traditional nakodo and its contemporary version lies in the wayA. Wedding gifts are presented.B. A proposed partner is refused.C. Formalities are arranged.D. The middleman/woman is chosen.15. What is the purpose of the last paragraph?A. to tell the differences between an old and modern nakodo.B. to provide some examples for the traditional nakodo.C. to offer more details of the computerized nakodo.D. to sum up the main ideas and provide a conclusion.TEXT DCordia Harrington was tired of standing up all day and smelling like French fries at night. She owned and operated three McDonalds shops in Illinois, but as a divorced mother of three boys, she yearned for a business that would provide for her children and let her spend more time with them. Her lucky moment came, strangely enough, after she was nominated in 1992 to on the McDonalds bun committee. “The company picked me up in a corporate jet to see bakeries around the world,” she recalls, “Every time I went to a meeting I loved it. This was global!”The experience opened her eyes to business possibilities. When McDonalds decided it wanted a new bun supplier, Harrington became determined to win the contract, even though she had no experience running a bakery.Harrington studied the bakery business and made sure she was never off executives radar, “If you have a dream, you cant wait for people to call you,” she says. “So Id visit a mill and send them photos of myself in a bakers hat and jacket, holding a sign that says I want to be your baker.” After four years and 32 interviews, her persistence paid off.Harrington sealed the deal with a handshake, sold her shops, and borrowed $13.5 million. She was ready to build the fastest, most automated bakery in the world.The Tennessee Bun Company opened ahead of schedule in 1997, in time for a slump in U.S. fast-food sales for MacDonalds. Before Harrington knew it, she was down to her last $20,000, not enough to cover payroll. And her agreement with MacDonalds required that she sell exclusively to the company, “I cried myself to sleep many nights,” she recalls, “I really did think, I am going to go bankrupt.”But Harrington worked out an agreement to supply Pepperidge Farm as well. “MacDonalds could see a benefit if our production went up and prices went down, and no benefit if we went out of business,” she says, “That deal saved us.”Over the next eight years, Harrington branched out even more: She started her own trucking business, added a cold-storage company, and now has three bakeries producing fresh buns and frozen dough all now known as the Bun Companies. Speed is still a priority: It takes 11 people at the main bakery to turn out 60,000 buns an hour for clients across 40 states, South American, and the Caribbean.Grateful for the breaks shes had, Harrington is passionate about providing opportunities to all 230 employees. “Financial success is the most fun when you can give it away,” She says.The current economy is challenging. Some of her clients sales have declined, but shes found new clients and improved efficiencies to help sustain the companys double-digit growth.Cordia Harrington doesnt have to stand on her feet all day anymore. Two