Wdebia英语四级快速阅读练习集.pdf

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1、Time will pierce the surface or youth,will be on the beauty of the ditch dug a shallowgroove;Jane will eat rare!A born beauty,anything to escape his sickle sweepShakespearePassage 1Beauty and Body Image in the MediaImages of female bodies are everywhere.Women-and their body parts-sell everything fro

2、m food to cars.Popular film and television actresses are becoming younger,taller and thinner.Some have even been known tofaint on the set from lack of food.Womens magazines are full of articles urging that if they can just lose thoselast twenty pounds,theyll have it all-the perfect marriage,loving c

3、hildren,great sex,and a rewarding career.Why are standards of beauty being imposed on women,the majority of whom are naturally larger and moremature than any of the models?The roots,some analysts say,are economic.By presenting an ideal difficult toachieve and maintain,the cosmetic and diet product i

4、ndustries are assured of growth and profits.And its no accident that youth is increasingly promoted,along with thinness,as an essential criterion of beauty.Ifnot all women need to lose weight,for sure theyre all aging,says the Quebec Action Network for WomensHealth in its 2001 report.And,according t

5、o the industry,age is a disaster that needs to be dealt with.The stakes are huge.On the one hand,women who are insecure about their bodies are more likely to buybeauty products,new clothes,and diet aids.It is estimated that the diet industry alone is worth anywhere between40 to 100 billion(U.S.)a ye

6、ar selling temporary weight loss(90 to 95%of dieters regain the lost weight).On theother hand,research indicates that exposure to images of thin,young,air-brushed female bodies is linked todepression,loss of self-esteem and the development of unhealthy eating habits in women and girls.The American r

7、esearch group Anorexia Nervosa&Related Eating Disorders,Inc.says that one out of every fourcollege-aged women uses unhealthy methods of weight control-including fasting,skipping meals,excessiveexercise,laxative(泻药)abuse,and selMnduced vomiting.The pressure to be thin is also affecting young girls:th

8、e Canadian Womens Health Network warns that weight control measures are now being taken by girls asyoung as 5 and 6.American statistics are similar.Several studies,such as one conducted by Marika Tiggemannand Levina Clark in 2006 titled Appearance Culture in Nine-to 12-Year-Old Girls:Media and Peer

9、Influenceson Body Dissatisfaction,indicate that nearly half of all preadolescent girls wish to be thinner,and as a resulthave engaged in a diet or are aware of the concept of dieting.In 2003,Teen magazine reported that 35 per cent ofgirls 6 to 12 years old have been on at least one diet,and that 50

10、to 70 per cent of normal weight girls believe theyare overweight.Overall research indicates that 90%of women are dissatisfied with their appearance in some way.Media activist Jean Kilbourne concludes that,“Women are sold to the diet industry by the magazines we read andthe television programs we wat

11、ch,almost all of which make us feel anxious about our weight.”Unattainable BeautyPerhaps most disturbing is the fact that media images of female beauty are unattainable for all but a very smallnumber of women.Researchers generating a computer model of a woman with Barbie-doll proportions,forexample,

12、found that her back would be too weak to support the weight of her upper body,and her body would betoo narrow to contain more than half a liver and a few centimeters of bowel.A real woman built that way wouldsuffer from chronic diarrhea(，慢才生腹泻)and eventually die from malnutrition.Jill Barad,Presiden

13、t of Mattel(which manufactures Barbie),estimated that 99%of girls aged 3 to 10 years old own at least one Barbie doll.Still,the number of real life women and girls who seek a similarly underweight body is epidemic,and they cansuffer equally devastating health consequences.In 2006 it was estimated th

14、at up to 450,000 Canadian womenwere affected by an eating disorder.The Culture of ThinnessResearchers report that womens magazines have ten and one-half times more ads and articles promoting weightloss than mens magazines do,and over three-quarters of the covers of womens magazines include at least

15、onemessage about how to change a womans bodily appearanceby diet,exercise or cosmetic surgery.Television and movies reinforce the importance of a thin body as a measure of a womans worth.Canadianresearcher Gregory Fouts reports that over three-quarters of the female characters in TV situation comedi

16、es areunderweight,and only one in twenty are above average in size.Heavier actresses tend to receive negativecomments from male characters about their bodies(How about wearing a sack?)and 80 per cent of thesenegative comments are followed by canned audience laughter.There have been efforts in the ma

17、gazine industry to buck(才氐制，反 抗)the trend.For several years the Quebecmagazine Coup de Pouce has consistently included full-sized women in their fashion pages and Chatelaine haspledged not to touch up photos and not to include models less than 25 years of age.In Madrid,one of the worldsbiggest fashi

18、on capitals,ultra-thin models were banned from the runway in 2006.Furthermore Spain has recentlyundergone a project with the aim to standardize clothing sizes through using a unique process in which a laserbeam is used to measure real life womens bodies in order to find the most true to life measure

19、ment.EthicsAnother issue is the representation of ethnically diverse women in the media.A 2008 study conducted by JuanitaCovert and Travis Dixon titled A Changing View:Representation and Effects of the Portrayal of Women ofColor in Mainstream Womens Magazines,found that although there was an increas

20、e in the representation ofwomen of colour,overall white women were overrepresented in mainstream womens magazines from 1999 to2004.Self-Improvement or Self-Destruction?The barrage of messages about thinness,dieting and beauty tells“ordinary women that they are always in needof adjustment-and that th

21、e female body is an object to be perfected.Jean Kilbourne argues that the overwhelming presence of media images of painfully thin women means that realwomens bodies have become invisible in the mass media.The real tragedy,Kilbourne concludes,is that manywomen internalize these stereotypes,and judge

22、themselves by the beauty industrys standards.Women learn tocompare themselves to other women,and to compete with them for male attention.This focus on beauty anddesirability effectively destroys any awareness and action that might help to change that climate.”注意：此部分试题请在答题卡1 上作答。1.Womens magazines ar

23、e full of articles to urge women to.A)eat less sweet food C)marry a rich husbandB)lose weight D)have at least two kids2.The cosmetic and diet product industries gain profits by.A)exaggerating the goodness about their productsB)targeting at children and femalesC)presenting an ideal image difficult to

24、 achieveD)distributing free samples from home to home3.Canadian Womens health Network warns that weight control measures are now being taken by girlsA)at age 5 or 6 C)at age 13 or 14B)at age 9 or 10 D)at age 16 or 174.In 2003,Teen magazine reported that percent of normal weight girls believe they ar

25、eoverweight.A)35 to 50 C)50 to 70B)50 D)905.Researchers found that a real woman with Barbie-doll proportions would.A)suffer from heart disease C)live a more rewarding lifeB)be very popular with males D)die from malnutrition6.Television and movies emphasize that a womans worth can be judged by.A)the

26、cosmetics she uses C)the thinness of her bodyB)the jewelry she wears D)the wealth of her husband7.Spain has recently undergone a project to.A)include full-sized women in its fashion magazinesB)standardize clothing sizesC)ban ultra-thin models from the runwayD)promote weight loss among men8.In mainst

27、ream womens magazines from 1999 to 2004,were overrepresented.9.Jean Kilbourne concludes that many women judge themselves by.10.The focus o n destroys any awareness and action that might help tochange the trend.1-7 BCACDCB8.overall white woman9.the beauty industrys standardslO.the beauty desirability

28、Passage 2Animals on the MoveIt looked like a scene from Jaws but without the dramatic music.A huge shark was lowly swimming throughthe water,its tail swinging back and forth like the pendulum of a clockSuddenly sensitive nerve ending in the sharks skin picked up vibrations of a struggling fish.The s

29、hark wasimmediately transformed into a deadly,efficient machine of death.With muscles taut,the shark knifed throughthe water at a rapid speed.In a flash the shark caught its victim,a large fish,in its powerful jaws.Then,jerking itshead back and forth,the shark tore huge chunks of flesh from its vict

30、im and swallowed them.Soon the action wasover。Moving to SurviveIn pursuing its prey,the shark demonstrated in a dramatic way the important role of movement,or locomotion,inanimals oLike the shark,most animals use movement to find food.They also use locomotion to escape enemies,find a mate,and explor

31、e new territories.The methods of locomotion include crawling,hopping,slithering,flying,swimming,or walking.,Humans have the added advantage of using their various inventions to move about in just about any kind ofenvironment.Automobiles,rockets,and submarines transport humans from deep oceans to as

32、far away as themoon.However,fbr other animals movement came about naturally through millions of years of evolution.One ofthe most successful examples of animal locomotion is that of the shark.Its ability to quickly zero in on its preyhas always impressed scientists.But it took a detailed study by Du

33、ke University marine biologists S.A.Wainwright,F.Vosburgh,and J.H.Hebrank to find out how the sharks did it.In their study the scientistsobserved sharks swimming in a tank at Marine land in Saint Augustine,Fla.Movies were taken of the sharksmovements and analyzed.Studies were also made of shark skin

34、 and muscle。Skin Is the KeyThe biologists discovered that the skin of the shark is the key to the animafs high efficiency in swimming throughthe water.The skin contains many fibers that crisscross like the inside of a belted radial tire.The fibers are calledcollagen fibers.These fibers can either st

35、ore or release large amounts of energy depending on whether the fibersare relaxed or taut.When the fibers are stretched,energy is stored in them the way energy is stored in the string ofa bow when pulled tight.When the energy is released,the fibers become relaxedoThe Duke University biologists have

36、found that the greatest stretching occurs where the shark bends its bodywhile swimming.During the bodys back and forth motion,fibers along the outside part of the bending bodystretch greatly.Much potential energy is stored in the fibers.This energy is released when the sharks body snapsback the othe

37、r way。As energy is alternately stored and released on both sides of the animals body,the tail whips strongly back andforth.This whip-like action propels the animal through the water like a living bullet。Source of EnergyWhat causes the fibers to store so much energy?In finding the answer the Duke Uni

38、versity scientists learned thatthe sharks similarity to a belted radial tire doesnt stop with the skin.Just as a radial tire is inflated by pressure,so,too,is the area just under the sharks collagen“radials”.Instead of air pressure,however,the pressure in the sharkmay be due to the force of the bloo

39、d pressing on the collagen fibers oWhen the shark swims slowly,the pressure on the fibers is relatively low.The fibers are more relaxed,and theshark is able to bend its body at sharp angles.The animal swims this way when looking around for food or justswimming.However,when the shark detects an impor

40、tant food source,some fantastic involuntary changes takeplaceoThe pressure inside the animal may increase by 10 times.This pressure change greatly stretches the fibers,enabling much energy to be stored。This energy is then transferred to the tail,and the shark is off.The rest of the story is predicta

41、ble。Dolphin Has Speed RecordAnother fast marine animal is the dolphin.This seagoing mammal has been clocked at speeds of 32 kilometers(20miles)an hour.Biologists studying the dolphin have discovered that,like the shark,the animaPs efficientlocomotion can be traced to its skin.A dolphins skin is made

42、 up in such a way that it offers very little resistanceto the water flowing over it.Normally when a fish or other object moves slowly through the water,the waterflows smoothly past the body.This smooth flow is known as laminar flow.However,at faster speeds the waterbecomes more turbulent along the m

43、oving fish.This turbulence muses friction and slows the fish down。In a dolphin the skin is so flexible that it bends and yields to the waviness of the water。The waves,in effect,become tucked into the skins folds.This allows the rest of the water to move smoothly by ina laminar flow.Where other anima

44、ls would be slowed by turbulent water at rapid speeds,the dolphin can racethrough the water at record breaking speedsoOther Animals Less EfficientNot all animals move as efficiently as sharks and dolphins.Perhaps the greatest loser in locomotion efficiency isthe slug.The slug,which looks like a snai

45、l without a shell,lays down a slimy trail over which it crawls.It uses somuch energy producing the slimy mucus and crawling over it that a mouse traveling the same distance uses onlyone twelfth as much energyoScientists say that because of the slugs inefficient use of energy,its lifestyle must be re

46、stricted.That is,theanimals are forced to confine themselves to small areas for obtaining food and finding proper living conditions.Have humans ever been faced with this kind of problem?1 .According to the passage,a shark can use movement to do something except 0 A to find food B to avoid being chas

47、ed by its enemies C to find a new place to live D to show its braveness2.Examples of automobiles,rockets and submarines are used to show that。A humans are the most clever living creatures in the world B human inventions enable us to travel in almost any kind of environment C humans are very successf

48、ul in inventing transportation tools D humans cant move like other animals in any circumstances3.What is the key to the sharks swift locomotion in water?A The skin.B The tail.C The muscle.D The jawo4.According to the Duke University scientists,when does the shark stretch its I*_ Ito the greatestexte

49、nt?A When moving its tail rapidly。B When finding its preyso C When staying without any movemento D When bending its body in swimmingo5.Why is the area just under the sharks collagen fibers similar to a belted radial tire?A Because it is also full of blood pressureo B Because it is also filled of air

50、 pressureo C Because it is also inflated by pressureo D Because it also can be used again and again6.A laminar flow is formed when a fish swims。A slowly through the water B rapidly through the water C against the current D at the fastest speed in water7.Consuming the equal amount of energy as a slug