英语四级阅读理解全真模拟题(101-128).pdf
Passage 4On Thursday American Airlines and US Airwaysannounced an alliance to pool their frequent-flier programs,giving customers added incentives to fly one anothers skies.Then on Friday Delta and United delivered word of asort-of-but-not-quite coupling.These deals thrust themuch-scrutinized airline industry even more into the publicspotlight.Airline profits are at record highs.Business faresare climbing into the stratosphere,up 16 percent last yearalone.Now comes the consolidation sweeping the industry.The question is whether these deals will mean more choiceand more convenience,as the airlines argue,or lesscompetition or even higher prices.Clearly consumers can benefit from these tie-ups.Passengers flying American or US Airways,for instance,cannow use either carriers network of 72 worldwide clubs andlounges.They can combine their frequent-flier awards,allowing them not only to build up redeemable miles morequickly but also cash them in to more destinations.American can plug into US Airways deeper web ofconnections up and down the Eastern Seaboard;USAirways,with fewer routes to South America,the Caribbeariand Europe,will be able to offer a greater array ofinternational flights.In time,American and US Airwayshope to create the more ambitious partnership-aso-called code-sharing agreement that would allow the twocarriers to coordinate flight schedules without entering afull-fledged merger.The goal is seamless service-without having to change airlines.Price is a wild card in these alliances.Consumer groupsworry that they will reduce competition,translating in turninto higher fares.They could be right.Given the rapid trendtoward consolidation,many analysts foresee a day whenmost major hub airports will be dominated by a singleairline or consortium.A report last year by the GeneralAccounting Office found that ticket prices,in such cases,ranged from 45 to 65 percent higher than at cities wheretwo or more carriers competed.And just last week theTransportation Department announced it was investigatingallegations of price-fixing by the major airlines-aimed atkeeping smaller discount-carriers from intruding on theirturf-and the Justice Department has begun similar probes.The message?Airlines may yearn to merge-but winningapproval from skeptical authorities might be tougher thanthey expect.13.Judging from the passage,the frequent-flier program isone by whi ch.A)people who have built up a certain number of flyingmiles with an airline will get a free ticket.B)people who fly an airline frequently will get a discountC)people who have built up a certain number of flyingmiles with an airline will get a cash awardD)people who fly an airline frequently will get extraservice14.according to this passage,the federal governmentsattitude towards airline mergers is one ofA)encouragement B)restrictionC)prohibition D)approval15.The expression a wild card in the last paragraph mostprobably means.A)a chief concrn B)an important factorC)an unpredictable element D)a necessaryconsequence16.Which of the following statements is true?A)Airline mergers will give rise to intense com petition.B)Consumers benefit from airline mergers.C)Tie-ups between airlines seem to draw little publicattention.D)Ticket prices tend to be higher where there is only onecarrier.Passage 5A decade ago Susie Makinster learned she might have aliver problem.Her doctors told her not to worry.So shedidnt-until three years ago,when she was astonished tolearn she had tested positive for hepatitis(肝 炎)C,ablood-borne virus she had never heard of.Makinster,then45,had been living with an infection that would likely staywith her for life and that could eventually destroy her liverand cause her death.Yet she had no idea how or when shehad contracted the virus.Hepatitis C wasnt even discovered until 1989.Today anestimated 3.9 million Americans are infected,and most ofthem still dons know it.Like HIV,hepatitis C is a slowactingvirus that can be transmitted by shared needles and bloodtransfusions.But it is far more rampant.There is no vaccineto prevent its spread,and no reliable treatment.Some 75percent of people who contract the virus will carry it for life;20 percent will develop cirrhosis of the liver.Hepatitis C isnow the nations leading reason for liver transplantation,and the second leading cause of cirrhosis(after alcohol).Itwill kill roughly 10,000 Americans this year-and thatnumber is expected to triple over the next two decades,asmore past infections come to light.Says Surgeon GeneralDavid Satcher,This is a major public health crisis.Until treatment is less hit-or-miss,living with hepatitisC will be a matter of accommodation.Though most peoplewho contracted the virus become chronically infected,manynever develop advanced liver disease.Thats partly luck,but not entirely.Giving up alcohol brightens the prognosis,and many sufferers tout the benefits of reducing stress andgetting more rest.Getting vaccinated against hepatitis aand B is also a good idea,since a dual infection canaggravate the disease.And preventing further spreadrequires some precautions.Experts are divided on the needto practise safe sex,since the virus is normally only in theblood.But they stress the importance of covering openwounds and not sharing razors and toothbrushes.17.According to the passage,the leading cause for livercirrhosis is.A)too much drinking B)hepatitis CC)hepatitis A D)hepatitis B18.According to the passage,which of the followingstatements is true?A)No one who contracts hepatitis C can hope to livelong.B)More people have contracted hepatitis C than HIV.C)Alcohol is the chief cause for hepatitis C.D)Hepatitis C is sexually transmitted.19.The number of people who will die of hepatitis C intwenty years will be.A)20,000 B)10,000C)30,000 D)40,00020.The word accommodation in the last paragraph mostprobably means.A)careB)treatmentC)restD)adjustmentUnit 1 4Passage 1New and bizarre crimes have come into being with theadvent of computer technology.Organized crime too hasbeen directly involved;the new technology offers itunlimited opportunities,such as data crimes,theft ofsevices,property-related crimes,industrial sabotage,politically related sabotage,vandalism,crimes against theindividual and financially related crimes.Theft of data,or data crime,has attracted the interestof organized criminal syndicates.This is usually the theft orcopying of valuable computer program.An internationalmarket already exists for computerized data,andspecialized fences are said to be playing a key role in thisrapidly expanding criminal market,buyers for stolenprograms may range from a firms competitors to foreignnations.A competitor sabotages a companys computer systemto destroy or cripple the firms operational ability,thusneutralizing its competitive capability either in the private orthe government sector.This computer sabotage may alsobe tied to an attempt by affluent investors to acquire thevictim firm.With the growing reliance by firms oncomputers for their recordkeeping and daily operations,sabotage of their computers can result in internal havoc,after which the group interested in acquiring the firm caneasily buy it at a substantially lower price.Criminal groupscould also resort to sabotage if the company is a competitorof a business owned or controlled by organized crime.Politically motivated sabotage is on the increase;political extremist groups have sprouted on every continent.Sophisticated computer technology arms these groups withawesome powers and opens technologically advancednations to their attack.Several attempts have already beenmade to destroy computer facility at an air force base.Auniversity computer facility involved in national defencework suffered more than$2 million in damages as a resultof a bombing.Computer vulnerability has been amply documented.One congressional study concluded that neithergovernment nor private computer systems are adequatelyprotected against sabotage.Organized criminal syndicateshave shown their willingness to work with politicallymotivated groups.Investigators have uncovered evidenceof cooperation between criminal groups and foreigngovernments in narcotics.Criminal groups have takenattempts in assassinating political leaders.Computersare used in hospital life-support system,in laboratories,andin major surgery.Criminals could easily turn thesecomputers into tools of devastation.By sabotaging thecomputer of a life-support system,criminals could kill anindividual as easily as they had used a gun.By manipulatinga computer,they could guide awesome tools of terroragainst large urban centres,cities and nations couldbecome hostages.Homicide could take a new form.Thecomputer may become the hit man of the twentieth century.The computer opens vast areas of crime to organizedcriminal groups,both national and international.It calls onthem to pool their resources and increase their cooperativeefforts,because many of these crimes are to complex forone group to handle,especially those requiring a vasenetwork of fences.Although criminals have adapted tocomputer technology,law enforcement has not.Many stillthink in terms of traditional criminology.1.How many kinds of crimes are mentioned in the passage?A)7.B)8.C)9.D)10.2.What is the purpose of a competitor to sabotage acompanys computer?A)His purpose is to destroy or weaken the firmsoperational ability.B)His purpose is to weaken firms competitive capabilityand get it.C)His purpose is to buy the rivals company at arelatively low price.D)His purpose is to steal important data.3.Which of the following can be labelled as a politicallymotivated sabotage of a computer system?A)Sabotage of a university computer.B)Sabotage of a hospital computer.C)Sabotage of computer at a secret training base.D)Sabotage of a factory computer.4.What does the author mean by Homicide could take anew form?A)There is no need to use a gun in killing a person.B)criminals can kill whoever they want by a computer.C)The computer can replace any weapons.D)The function of a computer is just like a gun.Passage 2The banking revolution in America is as much aboutattitudes and assumptions as about size and structure.Forcenturies,Americans have distrusted banks.In the 1930s,Andrew Jackson denounced and destroyed the Second Bankof the United States,which existed to make the rich richerat the expense of farmers,mechanics and laborers.In the1930s,banks were blamed for helping cause the Depression.The wonder,then,is that the latest wave of bank mergers-the largest ever-has inspired little more than a bewilderedand,perhaps,irritated shrug from the public.As banks grow bigger,they seem less fearsome.Why?The answer is that banks have shrunk in power even as theyhave expanded in size.Traditionally,banking has been asimple business.Deposits come through one door,loans goout through another.Profits derive from the spreadbetween interest rates on deposits and loans.If savers andborrowers cannot go elsewhere,banks are powerful.And ifthere are other choices,banks are less powerful.And so itis.We inhabit an age of superabundant credit and itspurveyors.A century ago,matters were different.Smalldepositors could choose from only one or several localbanks;getting a loan meant winning the good graces of theneighborhood banker.Even big corporations depended on afew big banks or investment houses.John Reed or Hugh McColl-the heads of Citicorp andNations Bank-are not household names.In 1990,J.RMorgan was.As head of J.R Morgan&Co.,he controlledthrough stock and positions on corporate boards-a third ofU.S.railroads and 70 percent or the steel industry.Arailroad executive once cheerfully confessed hisdependence on Morgans capital:If Mr.Morgan were toorder me tomorrow to China or Siberia.I would go.No bankers today inspires such awe or fear.Time,technology and government restrictions weakened bankpower.In the 1920s,auto companies popularized car loans.National credit cards originated in 1950 with the DinnersClub care.In 1 933,the Glass-Steagal Act required banksand their investment houses to split.After World War 11,pensions and the stock market competed for consumersaving.As a result,banks command a shrinking share of thenations wealth:20 percent of assets of financial institutionsin 1997,down from 50 percent in 1950.5.Why are John Reed and Hugh McColl not as well-knownas J.R Morgan?A)John Reed and Hugh McColl are not as rich as J.RMorgan was.B)Banks are no longer as powerful as they were in J.RMorgans time.C)John Reed and Hugh McColl are not as capable as J.RMorgan was.D)The banks John Reed and Hugh McColl head aresmaller than Morgans.6.The word spread in Paragraph 2 most probablyme a n s.A)cover B)extent C)difference D)degree7.Which of the following statements is true?A)The recent bank mergers have given much shock tothe nation.B)People no longer distrust banks.C)No bank today can compare with J.R Morgans in size.D)It is easier to borrow money today than it was in thispast.8.What does the author chiefly talk about in the passage?A)Banking and investment.B)The credit market.C)The evolution of the banks.D)The shrinking power of the banks.Passage 3Brisk,cheerful and passionate about educating children,Nancy Ichinaga thinks social promotion is junk.Asprincipal of an elementary school for the past 23 years,Ichinaga has never passed kids on to the next grade just toprotect their self-esteem.The school is 51 percentAfrican-American,48 percent Latino and 75 percent belowthe poverty line.But last year,88 percent of its studentsread at or above grade level,and Ichinaga thinks herwillingness to hold kids back has much to do with thatsuccess.We dont promote so students can fail,she says.We make sure that they succeed.Our students self-esteemis good because theyre successful academically,notbecause weve tried to pump them up.Social promotion has been widespread in US school for atleast 20 years.Its rationale is to avoid damaging the pupilssense of self-worth and to assume that if promoted,thechild can catch up.But school officials and politicians areincreasingly ready to accept what traditionalists likeIchinaga have been saying all along-that social promotion,though well intended,has been as academic disaster.BillClinton is on record against it,as is the American Federationof Teachers.In New York City,schools chancellor Rudy Crewrecently unveiled a plan to phase it out.He told a reporter,This is not about being punitive with kids.It is about caringso much about children that you will not let them fail.To live up to that rhetoric,Crew and other reformersurgently need to show that kids who fail will get theacademic support they need.The model could be theChicago public school system,which abolished socialpromotion in 1996.Kids who fail are sent to summer school,where they get a second chance to pass.Most succeed andthose who dont are assigned to smaller classes andevaluated for leaning disabilities and other special need.The scary part is just how widespread social promotionhas become.In New York,Crew estimated that mor
