大学英语四级考试快速阅读练习集锦.pdf

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1、Passage 1Beauty and Body Image in the MediaImages of female bodies are everywhere.Women-and their body partssell everything from foodto cars.Popular film and television actresses are becoming younger,taller and thinner.Some haveeven been known to faint on the set from lack of food.Womens magazines a

2、re full of articlesurging that if they can just lose those last twenty pounds,theyll have it all一the perfect marriage,loving children,great sex,and a rewarding career.Why are standards of beauty being imposed on women,the majority of whom are naturally largerand more mature than any of the models?Th

3、e roots,some analysts say,are economic.Bypresenting an ideal difficult to achieve and maintain,the cosmetic and diet product industries areassured of growth and profits.And ifs no accident that youth is increasingly promoted,along with thinness,as an essentialcriterion of beauty.If not all women nee

4、d to lose weight,for sure theyre all aging,says the QuebecAction Network for Womens Health in its 2001 report.And,according to the industry,age is adisaster that needs to be dealt with.The stakes are huge.On the one hand,women who are insecure about their bodies are more likelyto buy beauty products

5、,new clothes,and diet aids.It is estimated that the diet industry alone isworth anywhere between 40 to 100 billion(U.S.)a year selling temporary weight loss(90 to 95%ofdieters regain the lost weight).On the other hand,research indicates that exposure to images of thin,young,air-brushed female bodies

6、 is linked to depression,loss of self-esteem and the developmentof unhealthy eating habits in women and girls.The American research group Anorexia Nervosa&Related Eating Disorders,Inc.says that one outof every four college-aged women uses unhealthy methods of weight control-including fasting,skippin

7、g meals,excessive exercise,laxative(泻药)abuse,and self-induced vomiting.The pressureto be thin is also affecting young girls:the Canadian Womens Health Network warns that weightcontrol measures are now being taken by girls as young as 5 and 6.American statistics aresimilar.Several studies,such as one

8、 conducted by Marika Tiggemann and Levina Clark in 2006titled Appearance Culture in Nine-to 12-Year-Old Girls:Media and Peer Influences on BodyDissatisfaction/9 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 o

9、f dieting.In 2003,Teen magazine reported that35 per cent of girls 6 to 12 years old have been on at least one diet,and that 50 to 70 per cent ofnormal weight girls believe they are overweight.Overall research indicates that 90%of women aredissatisfied with their appearance in some way.Media activist

10、 Jean Kilbourne concludes that,“Women are sold to the diet industry by themagazines we read and the television programs we watch,almost all of which make us feel anxiousabout our weight.”Unattainable BeautyPerhaps most disturbing is the fact that media images of female beauty are unattainable for al

11、l but avery small number of women.Researchers generating a computer model of a woman withBarbie-doll proportions,for example,found that her back would be too weak to support the weightof her upper body,and her body would be too narrow to contain more than half a liver and a fewcentimeters of bowel.A

12、 real woman built that way would suffer from chronic diarrhea(慢性月复泻)and eventually die fi*om malnutrition.Jill Barad,President 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

13、similarly underweight body is epidemic,and they can suffer equally devastating health consequences.In 2006 it was estimated that up to 450,000 Canadian women were affected by an eating disorder.The Culture of ThinnessResearchers report that womens magazines have ten and one-half times more ads and a

14、rticlespromoting weight loss than mens magazines do,and over three-quarters of the covers of womensmagazines include at least one message about how to change a womans bodily appearance一bydiet,exercise or cosmetic surgery.Television and movies reinforce the importance of a thin body as a measure of a

15、 womans worth.Canadian researcher Gregory Fouts reports that over three-quarters of the female characters in TVsituation comedies are underweight,and only one in twenty are above average in size.Heavieractresses tend to receive negative comments from male characters about their bodies(How aboutweari

16、ng a sack?),and 80 per cent of these negative comments are followed by canned audiencelaughter.There have been efforts in the magazine industry to buck(抵制,反抗)the trend.For several yearsthe Quebec magazine Coup de Pouce has consistently included full-sized women in their fashionpages and Chatelaine h

17、as pledged not to touch up photos and not to include models less than 25years of age.In Madrid,one of the worlds biggest fashion capitals,ultra-thin models were bannedfrom the runway in 2006.Furthermore Spain has recently undergone a project with the aim tostandardize clothing sizes through using a

18、unique process in which a laser beam is used to measurereal life womens bodies in order to find the most true to life measurement.EthicsAnother issue is the representation of ethnically diverse women in the media.A 2008 studyconducted by Juanita Covert and Travis Dixon titled“A Changing View:Represe

19、ntation andEffects of the Portrayal of Women of Color in Mainstream Womens Magazines“found thatalthough there was an increase in the representation of women of colour,overall white women wereoverrepresented in mainstream womens magazines from 1999 to 2004.Self-Improvement orSelf-Destruction?The barr

20、age of messages about thinness,dieting and beauty tells“ordinary“women that they arealways in need of adjustment一and that the female body is an object to be perfected.Jean Kilbourne argues that the overwhelming presence of media images of painfully thin womenmeans that real womens bodies have become

21、 invisible in the mass media.The real tragedy,Kilbourne concludes,is that many women internalize these stereotypes,and judge themselves bythe beauty industrys standards.Women learn to compare themselves to other women,and tocompete with them for male attention.This focus on beauty and desirability e

22、ffectively destroysany 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 are 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

23、)exaggerating the goodness about their productsB)targeting at children and femalesC)presenting an ideal image difficult to achieveD)distributing free samples from home to home3.Canadian Womens health Network warns that weight control measures are now being taken bygirls.A)at age 5 or 6 C)at age 13 o

24、r 14B)at age 9 or 10 D)at age 16 or 174.In 2003,Teen magazine reported that percent of normal weight girls believe theyare overweight.A)35 to 50 C)50 to 70B)50 D)905.Researchers found that a real woman with Barbie-doll proportions woul d.A)suffer from heart disease C)live a more rewarding lifeB)be v

25、ery popular with males D)die from malnutrition6.Television and movies emphasize that a womans worth can be judged by.A)the 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 fas

26、hion magazinesB)standardize clothing sizesC)ban ultra-thin models from the runwayD)promote weight loss among men8.In mainstream womens magazines from 1999 to 2004,were overrepresented.9.Jean Kilbourne concludes that many women judge themselves by10.The focus on destroys any awareness and action that

27、 mighthelp to change the trend.1-7 BCACDCB8.overall white woman9.the beauty industrys standards10.the beauty desirabilityPassage 2Animals on the MoveIt looked like a scene from Jaws but without the dramatic music.A huge shark was lowlyswimming through the water,its tail swinging back and forth like

28、the pendulum of a clock oSuddenly sensitive nerve ending in the sharks skin picked up vibrations of a struggling fish.Theshark was immediately transformed into a deadly,efficient machine of death.With muscles taut,theshark knifed through the water at a rapid speed.In a flash the shark caught its vic

29、tim,a large fish,inits powerful jaws.Then,jerking its head back and forth,the shark tore huge chunks of flesh from itsvictim and swallowed them.Soon the action was overoMoving to SurviveIn pursuing its prey,the shark demonstrated in a dramatic way the important role of movement,orlocomotion,in anima

30、lsoLike the shark,most animals use movement to find food.They also use locomotion to escapeenemies,find a mate,and explore new territories.The methods of locomotion include crawling,hopping,slithering,flying,swimming,or walkingoHumans have the added advantage of using their various inventions to mov

31、e about in just about anykind of environment.Automobiles,rockets,and submarines transport humans from deep oceans toas far away as the moon.However,for other animals movement came about naturally throughmillions of years of evolution.One of the most successful examples of animal locomotion is that o

32、fthe shark.Its ability to quickly zero in on its prey has always impressed scientists.But it took adetailed study by Duke University marine biologists S.A.Wainwright,F.Vosburgh,and J.H.Hebrank to find out how the sharks did it.In their study the scientists observed sharks swimming ina tank at Marine

33、 land in Saint Augustine,Fla.Movies were taken of the sharks movements andanalyzed.Studies were also made of shark skin and muscle oSkin Is the KeyThe biologists discovered that the skin of the shark is the key to the animafs high efficiency inswimming through the water.The skin contains many fibers

34、 that crisscross like the inside of abelted radial tire.The fibers are called collagen fibers.These fibers can either store or release largeamounts of energy depending on whether the fibers are relaxed or taut.When the fibers arestretched,energy is stored in them the way energy is stored in the stri

35、ng of a bow when pulled tight.When the energy is released,the fibers become relaxedoThe Duke University biologists have found that the greatest stretching occurs where the shark bendsits body while swimming.During the bodys back and forth motion,fibers along the outside part ofthe bending body stret

36、ch greatly.Much potential energy is stored in the fibers.This energy isreleased when the sharks body snaps back the other wayoAs energy is alternately stored and released on both sides of the animals body,the tail whipsstrongly back and forth.This whip-like action propels the animal through the wate

37、r like a livingbulletoSource of EnergyWhat causes the fibers to store so much energy?In finding the answer the Duke Universityscientists learned that the sharks similarity to a belted radial tire doesnt stop with the skin.Just asa radial tire is inflated by pressure,so,too,is the area just under the

38、 sharks collagen radials”.Instead of air pressure,however,the pressure in the shark may be due to the force of the bloodpressing on the collagen fibersoWhen the shark swims slowly,the pressure on the fibers is relatively low.The fibers are morerelaxed,and the shark is able to bend its body at sharp

39、angles.The animal swims this way whenlooking around for food or just swimming.However,when the shark detects an important foodsource,some fantastic involuntary changes take placeoThe pressure inside the animal may increase by 10 times.This pressure change greatly stretches thefibers,enabling much en

40、ergy to be stored oThis energy is then transferred to the tail,and the shark is off.The rest of the story is predictable oDolphin Has Speed RecordAnother fast marine animal is the dolphin.This seagoing mammal has been clocked at speeds of 32kilometers(20 miles)an hour.Biologists studying the dolphin

41、 have discovered that,like the shark,the animaPs efficient locomotion can be traced to its skin.A dolphins skin is made up in such away that it offers very little resistance to the water flowing over it.Normally when a fish or otherobject moves slowly through the water,the water flows smoothly past

42、the body.This smooth flowis known as laminar flow.However,at faster speeds the water becomes more turbulent along themoving fish.This turbulence muses friction and slows the fish downoIn a dolphin the skin is so flexible that it bends and yields to the waviness of the water。The waves,in effect,becom

43、e tucked into the skins folds.This allows the rest of the water to movesmoothly by in a laminar flow.Where other animals would be slowed by turbulent water at rapidspeeds,the dolphin can race through the water at record breaking speeds oOther Animals Less EfficientNot all animals move as efficiently

44、 as sharks and dolphins.Perhaps the greatest loser in locomotionefficiency is the slug.The slug,which looks like a snail without a shell,lays down a slimy trail overwhich it crawls.It uses so much energy producing the slimy mucus and crawling over it that amouse traveling the same distance uses only

45、 one twelfth as much energyoScientists say that because of the slugs inefficient use of energy,its lifestyle must be restricted.That is,the animals are forced to confine themselves to small areas for obtaining food and findingproper living conditions.Have humans ever been faced with this kind of pro

46、blem?1 .According to the passage,a shark can use movement to do something except。A to find foodB：to avoid being chased by its enemiesC to find a new place to liveD to show its braveness2.Examples of automobiles,rockets and submarines are used to show thatA humans are the most clever living creatures

47、 in the worldB human inventions enable us to travel in almost any kind of environmentC humans are very successful in inventing transportation toolsD 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

48、The jaw o4.According to the Duke University scientists,when does the shark stretch its I :一 Itothe greatest extent?A When moving its tail rapidlyoB When finding its preysoC When staying without any movementoD When bending its body in swimmingo5.Why is the area just under the sharks collagen fibers s

49、imilar to a belted radial tire?A Because it is also full of blood pressure oB Because it is also filled of air pressureoC Because it is also inflated by pressureoD Because it also can be used again and againo6.A laminar flow is formed when a fish swimsA slowly through the water B：rapidly through the

50、 waterC against the current D at the fastest speed in water7.Consuming the equal amount of energy as a slug does,a mouse can travelas long asit_oA one twelfth times.B the same.C 12 times.1.2 timeso8.A shark finds its prey by_o9.According to the passage,_ can be compared to the string of a bow fbr bo