2015大学英语四级考试阅读180篇

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2015年12月英语四级阅读the motor vehicles

2015年12月英语四级阅读the motor vehicles 以下是一篇关于机动车的文章：The Motor Vehicles Act of 1988 was passed in order to control and regulate the use of motor vehicles on the roads of the United Kingdom. The Act sets out the requirements for obtaining a driving license, the rules of the road, and the penalties for traffic violations.Under the Act, a person must be at least 17 years old to obtain a full driving license. However, young people between the ages of 14 and 17 can obtain a restricted driving license, which allows them to drive under certain conditions, such as with an adult present and during daylight hours.In order to obtain a driving license, a person must pass a driving test. The test includes demonstrating the ability to drive safely and legally on the roads, as well as knowledge of the rules of the road and traffic signs. The test is conducted by the local driving examiner, and failure to pass the test may result in additional attempts or the requirement to take a refresher course before re-trying the test.The Motor Vehicles Act also sets out the requirements for vehicle registration and inspection. All motor vehicles must be registered with the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) and must undergo regular inspections to ensure they meet safety and emission standards. Failure to comply with these requirements can result in fines or other penalties.In summary, the Motor Vehicles Act of 1988 is designed to ensure the safety of all road users in the United Kingdom by regulating the use of motor vehicles on the roads. It sets out the requirements for obtaining a driving license, the rules of the road, and the penalties for traffic violations. It also requires vehicle registration and inspection to ensure that motor vehicles meet safety and emission standards.。

2015年12月四级阅读真题答案完整版

2015年12月四级阅读真题答案完整版2015年12月四级阅读真题答案完整版下面是店铺整理的2015年12月四级阅读真题答案完整版，希望对大家有帮助。

2015年12月四级阅读真题答案完整版1：36. N) saw37. F) decades38. H) globally39. D) chances40. J) occurs41. A) additional42. B) associated43. G) experiences44. M) reduce45. K) populationsHow to Eat Well46. Cooking benefits people in many ways and enables them to connect with one another.答案：D Shouldn't preparing—and consuming—food be a source of comfort, pride, health, well-being, relaxation, sociability?…47. Abundant information about cooking is available either online or on TV.答案：B It's not because fresh ingredients are hard to come by…48. Young people do less cooking at home than the elderly these days.答案：F. Perhaps a return to real cooking needn't be far off…49. Cooking skills can be improved with practice.答案：O. You don't have to hit the grocery store daily, nor do you need an abundance of skill…50. In the mid-20th century, most families ate dinner at home instead of eating out.答案：G. Back in the 1950s most of us grew up in households where Mom cooked virtually everynight…51. Even those short of time or money should be encouraged to cook for themselves and theirfamily答案：E. When I talk about cooking, I'm not talking about creating elaborate dinner parties or three-day science projects.…52. Eating food not cooked by ourselves can cause serious consequences.答案：J. There have been half-hearted but well-publicized efforts by some food companies toreduce calories in their processed food, but….53. To eat well and still save money, people should buy fresh food and cook it themselves.答案：M. To those Americans for whom money is a concern…54. We get a fairly large portion of calories from fast food and snacks.答案：C. And yet we aren't cooking…55. The popularity of TV led to the popularity of frozen food.答案：H. Although frozen dinners were invented in the '40s, their popularity didn't boom untiltelevisions became popular a decade or so later…DBFOGEJMCH56. A) It is disappearing.57. B) electronically.58. D) Spending money is so fast and easy.59. A) It represents a change in the modern world.60. C) He feels reluctant to part with the traditional wallet.61. A) They are culture-related.62. C) They get less sleep on public holidays.63. C) The World Cup.64. B) They want to get sufficient sleep.65. B) Few people really know the importance of sleep.。

英语四级作文2015真题

英语四级作文2015真题2015年英语四级作文题目，The Importance of Reading。

范文：The Importance of Reading。

Reading plays a crucial role in our lives. It not only broadens our knowledge, but also enriches our experience, enhances our imagination and improves our language skills. In today’s fast-paced society, the importance of reading cannot be overstated.First and foremost, reading is the most direct and effective way to acquire knowledge. By reading books, newspapers, magazines and websites, we can learn about different cultures, history, science, technology and many other subjects. This helps us to broaden our horizons and understand the world around us. In addition, reading can provide us with valuable information that can be applied toour daily lives and careers. For example, a business professional can gain insights into the latest industry trends and developments by reading relevant publications, while a student can improve their academic performance by reading textbooks and reference materials.Furthermore, reading is an excellent way to stimulate our imagination and creativity. When we read fiction, we are transported to different worlds and times, and are able to experience the lives and emotions of the characters. This not only provides us with entertainment, but also helps us to develop empathy and understanding for others. Moreover, reading can inspire us to think critically and come up with new ideas. By exposing ourselves to different perspectives and viewpoints, we can expand our thinking and problem-solving abilities.Another important benefit of reading is that it can improve our language skills. Whether we are reading in our native language or a foreign language, we are constantly exposed to new vocabulary, sentence structures and writing styles. This can help us to expand our vocabulary, improveour grammar and syntax, and enhance our writing and communication skills. In addition, reading can help us to develop a better understanding of the nuances of language, such as tone, mood and figurative language, which can enrich our own writing and speaking.In conclusion, reading is an essential part of our lives. It provides us with knowledge, stimulates our imagination and creativity, and improves our language skills. Therefore, we should make an effort to cultivate the habit of reading and encourage others to do the same. By doing so, we can continue to learn, grow and develop throughout our lives.仿写：The Importance of Critical Thinking。

2015年12月四级真题第一套阅读理解及答案(word)

2015年12月四级真题第一套阅读理解及答案Section CDirections: There are 2 passages in this section. 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 Answer Sheet 2with a single line through the centre.Passage OneQuestions 56 to 60 are based on the following passage.Could you reproduce Silicon Valley elsewhere, or is there something unique about it?It wouldn’t be surprising if it were hard to reproduce in other countries, because you couldn’t reproduce it in most of the US either. What does it take to make a Silicon Valley?It’s the right people. If you could get the right ten thousand people to move from Silicon Valley to Buffalo, Buffalo would become Silicon Valley.You only need two kinds of people to create a technology hub (中心): rich people and nerds (痴迷科研的人).Observation bears this out. Within the US, towns have become startup hubs if and only if they have both rich people and nerds. Few startups happen in Miami, for example, because although it’s full of rich people, it has few nerds. It’s not the kind of place nerds like.Whereas Pittsburgh has the opposite problem: plenty of nerds, but no rich people. The top US Computer Science departments are said to be MIT, Stanford, Berkeley, and Carnegie-Mellon. MIT yielded Route 128. Stanford and Berkeley yielded Silicon Valley. But what did Carnegie-Mellon yield in Pittsburgh? And what happened in Ithaca, home of Cornell University, which is also high on the list?I grew up in Pittsburgh and went to college at Cornell, so I can answer for both. The weather is terrible, particularly in winter, and there’s no interesting old city to make up for it, as there is in Boston. Rich people don’t want to live in Pittsburgh or Ithaca. So while there’re plenty of hackers (电脑迷) who could start startups, there’s no one to invest in them.Do you really need the rich people? Wouldn’t it work to have the government invest in the nerds? No, it would not. Startup investors are a distinct type of rich people. They tend to have a lot of experience themselves in the technology business. This helps them pick the right startups, and means they can supply advice and connections as well as money. And the fact that they have a personal stake in the outcome makes them really pay attention.56. What do we learn about Silicon Valley from the passage?A) Its success is hard to copy anywhere else.B) It is the biggest technology hub in the US.C) Its fame in high technology is incomparable.D) It leads the world in information technology.57. What makes Miami unfit to produce a Silicon Valley?A) Lack of incentive for investment. B) Lack of the right kind of talents.C) Lack of government support. D) Lack of famous universities.58. In what way is Carnegie-Mellon different from Stanford, Berkeley and MIT?A) Its location is not as attractive to rich people.B) Its science departments are not nearly as good.C) It does not produce computer hackers and nerds.D) It does not pay much attention to business startups.59. What does the author imply about Boston?A) It has pleasant weather all year round.B) It produces wealth as well as high-tech.C) It is not likely to attract lots of investors and nerds.D) It is an old city with many sites of historical interest.60. What does the author say about startup investors?A) They are especially wise in making investments.B) They have good connections in the government.C) They can do more than providing money.D) They are rich enough to invest in nerds.Passage TwoQuestions 61 to 65 are based on the following passage.It’s nice to have people of like mind around. Agreeable people boost your confidence and allow you to relax and feel comfortable. Unfortunately, that comfort can hinder the very learning that can expand your company and your career.It’s nice to have people agree, but you need conflicting perspectives to dig out the truth. If everyone around you has similar views, your work will suffer from confirmation bias (偏颇).Take a look at your own network. Do your contacts share your point of view on most subjects? If yes, it’s time to shake things up. As a leader, it can be challenging to create an environment in which people will freely disagree and argue, but as the saying goes: From confrontation comes brilliance.It’s not easy for most people to actively seek conflict. Many spend their lives trying to avoid arguments. There’s no need to go out and find people you hate, but you need to do some self-assessment to determine where you have become stale in your thinking. You may need to start by encouraging your current network to help you identify your blind spots.Passionate, energetic debate does not require anger and hard feelings to be effective. But it does require moral strength. Once you have worthy opponents, set some ground rules so everyone understands responsibilities and boundaries. The objective of this debating game is not to win but to get to the truth that will allow you to move faster, farther, and better.Fierce debating can hurt feelings, particularly when strong personalities are involved. Make sure you check in with your opponents so that they are not carrying the emotion of the battles beyond the battlefield. Break the tension with smiles and humor to reinforce the idea that this is friendly discourse and that all are working toward a common goal.Reward all those involved in the debate sufficiently when the goals are reached. Let your sparring partners (拳击陪练) know how much you appreciate their contribution. The more they feel appreciated, the more they’ll be willing to get into the ring next time.61. What happens when you have like-minded people around you all the while?A) It will help your company expand more rapidly.B) It will create a harmonious working atmosphere.C) It may prevent your business and career from advancing.D) It may make you feel uncertain about your own decisions.62. What does the author suggest leaders do?A) Avoid arguments with business partners.B) Encourage people to disagree and argue.C) Build a wide and strong business network.D) Seek advice from their worthy competitors.63. What is the purpose of holding a debate?A) To find out the truth about an issue. B) To build up people’s moral strength.C) To remove misunderstandings. D) To look for worthy opponents.64. What advice does the author give to people engaged in a fierce debate?A) They listen carefully to their opponents’ views.B) They show due respect for each other’s beliefs.C) They present their views clearly and explicitly.D) They take care not to hurt each other’s feelings.65. How should we treat our rivals after a successful debate?A) Try to make peace with them. B) Try to make up the differences.C) Invite them to the ring next time. D) Acknowledge their contribution.答案56A57B58A59D60C61C62B63A64D65D。

2015年6月英语四级阅读真题及答案

2015年6月大学英语四级阅读真题与答案文章来源：文都教育Passage OneQuestions56to60are based on the following passage.Across the rich world,well-educated people increasingly work longer than the less-skilled.Some65%of American men aged62-74with a professional degree are in the workforce,compared with32%of men with only a high-school certificate.This gap is part of a deepening divide between the well-educated well-off and the unskilled poor.Rapid technological advance has raised the incomes of the highly skilled while squeezing those of the unskilled.The consequences,for individuals and society,are profound.The world is facing an astonishing rise in the number of old people.And they will live longer than ever before.Over the next20years the global population of those aged65or more will almost double,from600million to1.1billion.The experience of the20th century,when greater longevity(长寿)translated into more years in retirement rather than more years at work,has persuaded many observers that this shift will lead to slower economic growth,while the swelling ranks of pensioners will create government budget problems.But the notion of a sharp division between the working young and the idle old misses a new trend,the growing gap between the skilled and the unskilled. Employment rates are falling among younger unskilled people,whereas older skilled folk are working longer.The divide is most extreme in America,where well-educated baby-boomers(二战后生育高峰期出生的美国人)are putting off retirement while many less-skilled younger people have dropped out of the workforce.Policy is partly responsible.Many European governments have abandoned policies that used to encourage people to retire early.Rising life expectancy(预期寿命),combined with the replacement of generous defined-benefit pension plans with less generous defined-contribution ones,means that even the better-off must work longer to have a comfortable retirement.But the changing nature of work also plays a big role.Pay has risen sharply for the highly educated,and those people continue to reap rich rewards into old age because these days the educated elderly are more productive than the preceding generation.Technological change may well reinforce that shift:the skills that complement computers,from management knowhow to creativity,do not necessarily decline with age.注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。

2015年6月四级考试阅读真题（ReapingtheRewardsofRisk-Taking）

2015年6⽉四级考试阅读真题（ReapingtheRewardsofRisk-Taking）Directions: In this section, you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached to it. Eachstatement contains information given in one of the paragraphs. Identify the paragraph from which theinformation is derived. You may choose a paragraph more than once. Each paragraph is marked with aletter. Answer the questions by marking the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2.Reaping the Rewards of Risk-TakingA）Since Steve Jobs resigned as chief executive of Apple , much has been said about him as a peerlessbusiness leader who has created immense wealth for shareholders, and guided the design of hitproducts that are transforming entire industries, like music and mobile communications.B）All true, but let’s think different, to borrow the Apple marke ting slogan of years back. Let’s look atMr. Jobs as a role model.C）Above all, he is an innovator（创新者）. His creative force is seen in products such as the iPod,iPhone, and iPad, and in new business models for pricing and distributing music and mobile softwareonline. Studies of innovation come to the same conclusion: you can’t engineer innovation, but you canincrease the odds of it occurring. And Mr. Jobs' career can be viewed as a consistent pursuit ofimproving those odds, both for himself and the companies he has led. Mr. Jobs , of course, hasenjoyed singular success. But innovation, broadly defined, is the crucial ingredient in all economicprogress- higher growth for nations, more competitive products for companies, and more prosperouscareers for individuals.And Mr. Jobs, many experts say, exemplifies what works in the innovationgame.D）“We can look at and learn from Steve Jobs what the essence of American innovation is,” says J ohnKao, an innovation consultant to corporations and governments. Many other nations, Mr. John Kaonotes, are now ahead of the United States in producing what are considered the raw materials ofinnovation.These include government financing for scientific research , national policies to supportemerging industries, educational achievement, engineers and scientists graduated, even the speeds ofculture of other countries doesn’t support the kind of innovation that Steve Jobsexemplifies, as America does,” Mr. Jo hn Kao says. F）Workers of every rank are told these days that wide-ranging curiosity and continuous learning are vitalto thriving in the modern economy. Formal education matters, career counselors say, but real-lifeexperience is often even more valuable.G）An adopted child, growing up in Silicon Valley, Mr. Jobs displayed those traits early on. He wasfascinated by electronics as a child, building Heathkit do-it-yourself projects, like radios. Mr. Jobsdropped out of Reed College after only a semester and traveled around India in search of spiritualenlightenment, before returning to Silicon Valley to found Apple with his friend, Stephen Wozniak,an engineering wizard（奇才）. Mr. Jobs was forced out of Apple in 1985, went off and founded twoother companies, Next and Pixar, before returning to Apple in 1996 and becoming chief executive in1997.H）His path was unique, but innovation experts say the pattern of exploration is not unusual. “ It’s oftenpeople like Steve Jobs who can draw from a deep reservoir ofdiverse experiences that often generatebreakthrough ideas and insights,” says Hal Gregersen, a professor at the European Institute ofBusiness Administration.I）Mr. Gregersen is a co-author of a new book, The Innovator’s DNA, which is based on an eight-yearstudy of 5 000 entrepreneurs（创业者）and executives worldwide. His two collaborators and co-authorsare Jeff Dyer, a professor at Brigham Young University, and Clayton Christensen, a professor at theHarvard Business School, whose 1997 book The Innovator’s Dilemma po pularized the concept of“disruptive（颠覆性的）innovation.”J）The academics identify five traits that are common to the disruptive innovators: questioning,experimenting, observing, associating and networking. Their bundle of characteristics echoes theceaseless curiosity and willingness to take risks noted by other experts. Networking, Mr. HalGregersen explains, is less about career-building relationships than a consistent search for new ideas.Associating, he adds, is the ability to make idea-producing connections by linking concepts fromdifferent disciplines.K）“Innovators engage in these mental activities regularly,” Mr. Gregersen says. “ It’sa habit for them. ”Innovative companies, according to the authors, typically enjoyhigher valuations in the stock market,which they call an “innovation premium （溢价）．”It is calculated by estimating the share of a company’s value that cannot be accounted for by its current products and cash flow. The innovationpremium tries to quantify（量化）investors' bets that a company will do even better in the futurebecause of innovation.L）Apple, by their calculations, had a 37 percent innovation premium during Mr.Jobs' first term withthe company. His years in exile resulted in a 31 percent innovation discount. After his return, Apple’s fortunes improved gradually at first, and improved markedly starting in 2005, yielding a 52 percentinnovation premium since then.M）There is no conclusive proof, but Mr. Hal Gregersen says it is unlikely that Mr.Jobs could havereshaped industries beyond computing. as he has done in his second term at Apple, without theexperience outside the company, especially at Pixar-the computer-animation（动画制作）studio thatcreated a string of critically and commercially successful movies, such as “Toy Story" and “ Up. ”N）Mr. Jobs suggested much the same thing during a commencement address to the graduating class atStanford University in 2005. “ It turned out that getting fired from Apple was the best thing that couldhave ever happened to me,”he told the students. Mr. Jobs also spoke of perseverance（坚持）and willpower.“ Sometimes life hits you in the head with a brick ,” he said. “Don’t lose faith. ”O）Mr. Jobs ended his commencement talk with a call to innovation, both in one’s choice of work and in one’s life. Be curious, experiment, take risks, he said to the students. His advice was emphasized bythe words on the back of the final edition of The Whole Earth Catalog, which he quoted:“Stayhungry. Stay foolish. ”“And,”Mr. Jobs said,“I have always wished that for mys elf. And now, asyou graduate to begin anew, I wish that for you. ”46. Steve Jobs called on Stanford graduates to innovate in his commencement address.47. Steve Jobs considered himself lucky to have been fired once by Apple.48.Steve Jobs once ⼭ed computers to make movies that were commercial hits.49. Many governments have done more than the US government in providing the rawmaterials forinnovation.50. Great innovators are good at connecting concepts from various academic fields.51. Innovation is vital to driving economic progress.52. America has a social environment that is particularly favorable to innovation.53. Innovative ideas often come from diverse experiences.54. Real-life experience is often more important than formal education for careersuccess.55. Apple’s fortunes suffered from an innovation discount during Jobs’ absence.。

2015年英语四级阅读练习及答案(3)

2015年英语四级阅读练习及答案(3)Section CDirections: There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some q uestions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A ), B．, C．andD．. You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding let ter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.Passage OneQuestions 56 to 60 are based on the following passage.Educators today are more and more often heard to say that computer literacy is absol utely necessary for college students. Many even argue that each incoming freshman should have permanent access to his or hcr own microcomputer. What advantages do computers offer the college students?Any student who has used a word processor will know one compelling reason to use a computer: to write papers. Although not all students feel comfortable composing on a w ord processor, most find revising and editing much easier on it. One can alter, insert, or delete just by pressing a few keys, thus eliminating the need to rewrite or re-type. Further more, since the revision process is less burdensome, students are more likely to revise as often as is necessary to end up with the best paper possible. For these reasons, many fres hman English courses require the use of a word processor.Computers are also useful in the context of language courses, where they are used to drill students in basic skills. Software programs reinforce ESL(English as a Second Langua ge ) instruction, as well as instruction in French, German, Spanish, and other languages. By using these programs on a regular basis, students can improve their proficiency in a la nguage while proceeding at their own pace.Science students take advantage of computers in many ways. Using computer graphic capabilities, for example, botany students can represent and analyze different plant growth patterns. Medical students can learn to interpret computerized images of internal body stru ctures. Physics students can complete complex calculations farmore quickly than they could without the use of computer.Similarly, business and accounting students find that computer spreadsheet programs a re all but indispensable to many aspects of their work, while students pursuing careers in graphic arts. marketing, and public relations find that knowledge of computer graphic is i mportant. Education majors learn to develop grading systems using computers, while social science students use computers for analyzing and graphically displacing their research res ults.It is no wonder, then, that educators support the purchase and use of microcomputers by students. A versatile tool, the computer can help students learn. And that is, after all, the reason for going to college.56. The word "literacy" (Line 1, Paragraph 1) means__________.A．the ability to read and writeB．the ability to useC．literatureD．the knowledge of language57. The main purpose of this passage is to __________.A．persuade the educators to increase computer use in their own classroom B．analyze advantages and disadvantages of computer use among college students C．identify some of the ways that computers benefit college studentsD．describe how computers can be used to teach foreign languages58. According to the author, a word processor can be used to __________.A．revise papersB．retype papersC．reduce the psychological burden of writing papersD．improve the writing skills of a student59. In this passage, the writer's argument is developed primarily through the use of _____ _____.A．cause-effect analysisB．comparison and contrastC．inductionD．examples60. According to the author, the reason for students to go to college is__________. A．to learn somethingB．to perfect themselvesC．to improve computer skillsD．to make the best use of computers【参考译文】[56]现在，越来越多的教育专家认为大学生一定要懂电脑。

2015年6月大学英语四级仔细阅读真题和答案

2015年6月大学英语四级仔细阅读真题和答案来源：文都教育2015年6月大学英语六级考试已经结束，文都教育考后整理了仔细阅读题目的参考答案，供大家参考。

Passage TwoQuestions 61-65 are based on the following passage.Some of the world’s most significant problems never hit headlines.One example comes from agriculture. Food riots and hunger make news. But the trend lying behind these matters is rarely talked about. This is the decline in the growth in yields of some of the world’s major crops.A new study by the University of Minnesota and McGill University in Montreal looks at where, and how far, this decline is occurring.The authors take a vast number of data points for the four most important crops: rice, wheat corn and soybeans(大豆). They find that on between 24% and 39% of all harvested areas, the improvement in yields that tood place before the 1980s slowed down in the 1990s and 2000s.There are two worrying features of the slowdown. One is that it has been particularly sharp in the world’s most populous(人口多的) countries, India and China. Their ability to feed themselves has been an important source of relative stability both within the countries and on world food markets. That self-sufficiency cannot be taken for granted if yields continue to slow down or reverse.Second, yield growth has been lower in wheat and rice than in corn and soyabeans. This is problematic because wheat and rice are more important as foods, accounting for around half of all calories consumed. Corn and soyabeans are more important as feed grains. The authors note that “we have preferentially focused our crop improvement efforts on feeding animals and cars rather than on crops that feed people and are the basis of food security in much of the world.”The report qualifies the more optimistic findings of another new paper which suggests that the world will not have to dig up a lot more land for farming in order to feed 9 billion people in 2050, as the Food and Agriculture Organisation has argued.Instead, it says, thanks to slowing population growth, land currently ploughted up for crops might be able to revert(回返)to forest or wilderness. This could happen. The trouble is that the forecast assumes continued improvements in yields, which may not actually happen.注意:此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。

2015年大学英语四级阅读理解题及解析

2015年大学英语四级阅读理解题及解析Merchant and passenger ships are generally required to have a life preserver for every person aboard and in many cases, a certain percentage of smaller sizes for children. According to United States requirements, life preservers must design, reversible capable of being quickly adjusted to fit the uninitiated individual, and must be so designed as to support the wearer in the water in an upright or slightly backward position.Sufficient buoyancy(浮力) to support the wearer should be retained by the life preserver after 48 hours in the water, and it should be reliable even after long period of storage. Thus it should be made of materials resistant to sunlight, gasoline, and oils, and it should be not easily set on fire.?The position in which the life preserver will support a person who jumps or falls into the water is most important, as is its tendency to turn the wearer in the water from a face-down position to an upright or slightly backward position, with his face clear of the water, even when the wearer is exhausted or unconscious.The method of adjustment to the body should be simple, and self-evident to uninitiated persons even in the dark under the confused conditions, which follow a disaster. Thus, the life be reversible that it is nearly impossible to get it on wrong. Catches, straps, and ties should be kept to a minimum. In addition, the life preserver must be adjustable to the wide variety of shapes and sizes of wearers, since this greatly affects the position of floating and the self-righting qualities. A suitable life also be comfortable to wear at all times, in and out of the water, not so heavy as to encourage to take it off on shipboard while the ship is in danger, nor so burdensome that it hinders a person in the water whiletrying to swim.1. The passage is mainly about____.A) the uses of life preserversB) the design of life preserversC) the materials for life preserversD) the buoyancy of life preservers2. According to the passage, a life be first of all ____.A) adjustable B) comfortable C) self-evident D) self-righting3. United States Coast Guard does NOT require the life preserver to be made ____.A) with as few strings as possibleB) capable of being worn on both sidesC) according to each wearer's sizeD) comfortable and light to wear4. By “the uninitiated individual” (Para. 1, Line. 4) the author refers to the person ____.A) who has not been instructed how to use a life preserverB) who has a little experience in using a life preserverC) who uses a life preserver without permissionD) who becomes nervous before a disaster5. What would happen if a person were supported by the life preserver in a wrong position?A) The waves would move him backwards.B) The water would choke him.C) He would immediately sink to the bottom.D) He would be exhausted or unconscious.答案与解析：1. B文章主要讲述了救生衣的设计。

2015年6月英语四级考试真题及答案 (1)

2015年6月大学英语四级考试真题Part Ⅲ Reading Comprehension ( 40 minutes)Section AQuestions 36 to 45 are based on the following passage.The U.S. Department of Education is making efforts to ensure that all students have equal access to a quality education. Today it is 36 the launch of the Excellent Educators for All Initiative. The initiative will help states and school districts support great educators for the students who need them most. "All children are 37 to a high-quality education regardless of their race, zip code or family income. It is 38 important that we provide teachers and principals the support they need to help students reach their full 39 ," U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said." Despite the excellent work and deep 40 of our nation's teachers and principals, students in high-poverty, high- minority schools are unfairly treated across our country. We have to do better. Local leaders and educators will 41 their own creative solutions, but we must work together to 42 our focus on how to better recruit, support and 43 effective teachers and principals for all students, especially the kids who need them most."Today's announcement is another important step forward in improving access to a quality education, a 44 of President Obama's year of action .Later today, Secretary Duncan will lead a roundtable discussion with principals and schoolteachers from across the country about the 45 of working in high-need schools and how to adopt promising practices for supporting great educators in these schools.A. AnnouncingB. beneficialC. challengesD. commitmentE. componentF. contestsG. criticallyH. developI. distributing J. enhance K. entitled L. potentialM. properly N. qualified O. retainSection BDirections: In this section, you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached to it. Each statement contains information given in one of the paragraphs. Identify the paragraph from which the information is derived. You may choose a paragraph more than once. Each paragraph is marked with a letter. Answer the questions by marking the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2.The Changes Facing Fast FoodA） Fast-food firms have to be a thick-skinned bunch. Health experts regularly criticize them severely for selling food that makes people fat. Critics even complain that McDonald's, whose logo symbolizes calorie excess, should not have been allowed to sponsor the World Cup. These are things fast-food firms have learnt to cope with. But not perhaps for much longer. The burger businessfaces more pressure from regulators at a time when it is already adapting strategies in response to shifts in the global economy.B) Fast food was once thought to be recession-proof. When consumers need to cut spending, the logic goes, cheap meals like Big Macs and Whoppers become even more attractive. Such "trading down” proved true for much of the latest recession, when fast-food companies picked up customers who could no longer afford to eat at casual restaurants. Traffic was boosted in America, the home of fast food, with discounts and promotions, such as $1 menus and cheap combination meals.C) As a result, fast-food chains have weathered the recession better than their more expensive competitors. In 2009 sales at full-service restaurants in America fell by more than 6% , but total sales remained about the same at fast-food chains. In some markets, such as Japan, France and Britain, total spending on fast food increased. Same-store sales in America at McDonald's, the world's largest fast-food company, did not decline throughout the downturn. Pan era Bread, an American fast-food chain known for its fresh ingredients, performed well, too, because it offers higher-quality food at lower prices than restaurants.D) But not all fast-food companies have been as fortunate. Many, such as Burger King, have seen sales fall. In a severe recession, while some people trade down to fast food, many others eat at home more frequently to save money. David Palmer, an analyst at UBS, a bank, says smaller fast- food chains in America, such as Jack in the Box and Carl's Jr., have been hit particularlyhard in this downturn because they are competing with the global giant McDonald's, which increased spending on advertising by more than 7% last year as others cut back.E） Some fast-food companies also sacrificed their own profits by trying to give customers better value. During the recession companies set prices low, hoping that once they had tempted customers through the door they would be persuaded to order more expensive items. But in many cases that strategy did not work. Last year Burger King franchisees (特许经营人)sued (起诉)the company over its double-cheeseburger promotion, claiming it was unfair for them to be required to sell these for $1 when they cost$1.10 to make. In May a judge ruled in favor of Burger King. Nevertheless, the company may still be cursing its decision to promote cheap choices over more expensive ones because items on its "value menu" now account for around 20% of all sales, up from 12% last October.F） Analysts expect the fast-food industry to grow modestly this year. But the downturn is making companies rethink their strategies. Many are now introducing higher-priced items to entice (引诱)consumers away from $1 specials.KFC, a division of Yum! Brands, which also owns Taco Bell and Pizza Hut, has launched a chicken sandwich that costs around $5.And in May Burger King introduced barbecue (烧烤)pork ribs at $7 for eight.G）Companies are also trying to get customers to buy new and more items, including drinks. McDonald’s started selling better coffee as a challenge to Starbucks. Its " Mc Cafe" line now accounts for an estimated 6% of salesin America. Starbucks has sold rights to its Seattle's Best coffee brand to Burger King, which will start selling it later this year.H) As fast-food companies shift from "super size" to "more buys", they need to keep customer traffic high throughout the day. Many see breakfast as a big opportunity, and not just for fatty food. McDonald’s will start selling porridge (粥)in America next year. Breakfast has the potential to be very profitable, says Sara Senator of Bernstein, a research firm, because the margins can be high. Fast-food companies are also adding midday and late-night snacks, such as blended drinks and wraps. The idea is that by having a greater range of things on the menu, "we can sell to consumers products they want all day," says Rick Carlucci., the .chief financial officer of Yum ! Brands.I) But what about those growing waistlines? So far, fast-food firms have cleverly avoided government regulation. By providing healthy options, like salads and low-calorie sandwiches, they have at least given the impression of doing something about helping to fight obesity (肥胖症).These offerings are not necessarily loss-leaders, as they broaden the appeal of outlets to groups of diners that include some people who don't want to eat a burger. But customers cannot be forced to order salads instead of fries.J)In the future, simply offering a healthy option may not be good enough."Every packaged-food and restaurant company I know is concerned about regulation right now," says Mr. Palmer of UBS. America’s health-reform bill, which Congress passed this year, requires restaurant chains with 20 or more outlets to put the calorie-content of items they serve on the menu. A studyby the National Bureau of Economic Research, which tracked the effects on Starbucks of a similar calorie-posting law in New York City in 2007, found that the average calorie-count per transaction fell 6% and revenue increased 3% at Starbucks stores where a Dunlin Donuts outlet was nearby--a sign, it is said, that menu-labeling could favor chains that have more healthy offerings.K) In order to avoid other legislation in America and elsewhere, fast-food companies will have to continue innovating (创新).Walt Riker of McDonald's claims the change it has made in its menu means it offers more healthy items than it did a few years ago."We probably sell more vegetables, more milk, more salads, more apples than any restaurant business in the world," he says. But the recent proposal by a county in California to ban McDonald's from including toys in its high-calorie” Happy Meals", because legislators believe it attracts children to unhealthy food, suggests there isa lot more left to do.46.Some people propose laws be made to stop McDonald's from attaching toys to its food specials for children.47. Fast-food fins may not be able to cope with pressures from food regulation in the near future.48. Burger King will start to sell Seattle's Best coffee to increase sales.49. Some fast-food firms provide healthy food to give the impression they are helping to tackle the obesity problem.50. During the recession, many customers turned to fast food to save money.51. Many people eat out less often to save money in times of recession.52. During the recession, Burger King's promotional strategy of offering low-priced items often proved ineffective.53. Fast-food restaurants can make a lot of money by selling breakfast.54. Many fast-food companies now expect to increase their revenue by introducing higher-priced items.55. A newly-passed law asks big fast-food chains to specify the calorie count of what they serve on the menu.Section CPassage OneQuestions 56 to 60 are based on the following passage.If you think a high-factor sunscreen (防晒霜)keeps you safe from harmful rays, you may be wrong. Research in this week's Nature shows that while factor 50 reduces the number of melanomas(黑瘤)and delays their occurrence, it can't prevent them. Melanomas are the most aggressive skin cancers. You have a higher risk if you have red or blond hair, fair skin, blue or green eyes, or sunburn easily, or if a close relative has had one. Melanomas are more common if you have periodic intense exposure to the sun. Other skin cancers are increasingly likely with long-term exposure.There is continuing debate as to how effective sunscreen is in reducing melanomas the evidence is weaker than it is for preventing other types of skin cancer. A 2011 Australian study of 1,621 people found that people randomly selected to apply sunscreen daily had half the rate of melanomas of people who used cream as needed. A second study, comparing 1,167 people with melanomas to 1,101 who didn't have the cancer, found that using sunscreen routinely, alongside other protection such as hats, long sleeves or staying in the shade, did give some protection. This study said other forms of sun protection not sunscreen seemed most beneficial. The study relied on people remembering what they had done over each decade of their lives, so it's not entirely reliable. But it seems reasonable to think sunscreen gives people a false sense of security in the sun.Many people also don't use sunscreen properly applying insufficient amounts, failing to reapply after a couple of hours and staying in the sun too long. It is sunburn that is most worrying recent research shows five episodes of sunburn in the teenage years increases the risk of all skin cancers.The good news is that a combination of sunscreen and covering up can reduce melanoma rates, as shown by Australian figures from their slip-slop-slap campaign. So if there is a heat wave this summer, it would be best for us, too, to slip on a shirt, slop on (抹上)sunscreen and slap on a hat.56. What is people's common expectation of a high-factor sunscreen?A. It will delay the occurrence of skin cancer.B. It will protect them from sunburn.C. It will keep their skin smooth and fair.D. It will work for people of any skin color.57. What does the research in Nature say about a high-factor sunscreen?A. It is ineffective in preventing melanomas.B. It is ineffective in case of intense sunlight.C. It is ineffective with long-term exposure.D. It is ineffective for people with fair skin.58. What do we learn from the 2011 Australian study of 1,621 people?A. Sunscreen should be applied alongside other protection measures.B High-risk people benefit the most from the application of sunscreen.C. Irregular application of sunscreen does women more harm than good.D. Daily application of sunscreen helps reduce the incidence of melanomas.59. What does the author say about the second Australian study?A. It misleads people to rely on sunscreen for protection.B. It helps people to select the most effective sunscreen.C. It is not based on direct observation of the subjects.D. It confirms the results of the first Australian study.60. What does the author suggest to reduce melanoma rates?A. Using both covering up and sunscreen.B. Staying in the shade whenever possible.C. Using covering up instead of sunscreen.D. Applying the right amount of sunscreen.Passage TwoQuestions 61 to 65 are based on the following passage.Across the rich world, well-educated people increasingly work longer than the less-skilled.Some65% of American men aged 62 -74 with a professional degree are in the workforce, compared with32% of men with only a high-school certificate. This gap is part of a deepening divide between the well-educated well-off and the unskilled poor. Rapid technological advance has raised the incomes of the highly skilled while squeezing those of the unskilled. The consequences, for individuals and society, are profound.The world is facing an astonishing rise in the number of old people, and they will live longer than ever before. Over the next 20 years the global population of those aged 65 or more will almost double, from 600 million to 1.1 billion. The experience of the 20th century, when greater longevity (长寿)translated into more years in retirement rather than more years at work, has persuadedmany observers that this shift will lead to slower economic growth, while the swelling ranks of pensioners will create government budget problems. But the notion of a sharp division between the working young and the idle old misses a new trend, the growing gap between the skilled and the unskilled. Employment rates are falling among younger unskilled people, whereas older skilled folk are working longer. The divide is most extreme in America, where well-educated baby-boomers (二战后生育高峰期出生的美国人)are putting off retirement while many less-skilled younger people have dropped out of the workforce.Policy is partly responsible. Many European governments have abandoned policies that used to encourage people to retire early. Rising life expectancy (预期寿命), combined with the replacement of generous defamed-benefit pension plans with less generous defined-contribution ones, means that even the better-off must work longer to have a comfortable retirement. But the changing nature of work also plays a big role. Pay has risen sharply for the highly educated, and those people continue to reap rich rewards into old age because these days the educated elderly are more productive than the preceding generation. Technological change may well reinforce that shift: the skills that complement computers, from management knowhow to creativity, do not necessarily decline with age.61. What is happening in the workforce in rich countries?A. Younger people are replacing the elderly.B. Well-educated people tend to work longer.C. Unemployment rates are rising year after year.D. People with no college degree do not easily find work.62. What has helped deepen the divide between the well-off and the poor?A. Longer life expectancies.B. A rapid technological advance.C. Profound changes in the workforce.D. A growing number of the well-educated.63. What do many observers predict in view of the experience of the 20th century?A. Economic growth will slow down.B Government budgets will increase.C. More people will try to pursue higher education.D. There will be more competition in the job market.64. What is the result of policy changes in European countries?A. Unskilled workers may choose to retire early.B. More people have to receive in-service training.C. Even wealthy people must work longer to live comfortably in retirement.D. People may be able to enjoy generous defined-benefits from pension plans.65. What is characteristic of work in the 21st century?A. Computers will do more complicated work.B. More will be taken by the educated young.C. Most jobs to be done will be the creative ones.D. Skills are highly valued regardless of age.Part Ⅳ Translation ( 30 minutes)Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to translate a passage from Chinese into English. You should write your answer on Answer Sheet 2.中国是世界上最古老的文明之一。

2015年12月英语四级阅读答案解析

2015年12月英语四级阅读答案解析2015年12月英语四级阅读答案解析【阅读】选词填空第一篇For manyAmericans, 2013 ended with an unusually bitter cold snap. LateNovember and December saw early snow and bone-chilling temperaturesin much of the country, part of a year when—for the first time intwo decades—record-cold days will likely turn out to haveoutnumbered record-warm ones. But the U.S. was the exception:November was the warmest ever globally, and the provisional dataindicates that 2013 is likely to have been the fourth-hottest yearon record.Enjoy thesnow now, because chances are good that 2014 will be evenhotter—perhaps the hottest year since records have been kept.That’s because,scientists are predicting, 2014 wi ll be an El Niño year.El Niño,Spanish for “the child”, occurs when surface ocean waters in thesouthern Pacific become abnormally warm. So large is the Pacific,covering 30% of the planet’s surface, that the specific energygenerated by its warming is enough to touch off a series of weatherchanges around the world. El Niño are associated with abnormallydry conditions in the Southeast Asia and Australia. They can leadto extreme rain in parts of North and South America, even assouthern Africa experiences dry weather. Marine life may beaffected too: El Niño the rising of the cold, nutrient-rich waterthat supports large fish populations, and the unusually warm oceantemperatures can destroy coral.参考答案36. N. saw 第一空显然缺少谓语，优先考虑动词，结合语义并根据Late November andDecember可以推出应选择过去式动词，故答案锁定saw.37. F. decades 根据two，首选复数名词，结合语义，“for the first time in the two decades”,二十年来头一次。

2015年6月大学英语四级阅读答案解析甄选

2015年6月大学英语四级阅读答案解析来源：文都教育四六级考试采取“多题多卷”模式，试题顺序不统一，请依据试题进行核对。

Part ⅢReading Comprehension (40 minutes)Section ADirections: In this section, there is a passage with ten blanks. You are required toselect one word for each blank from a list of choices given in a wordbank following the passage. Read the passage through carefully beforemaking your choices. Each choice in the bank is identified by a letter.Please mark the corresponding letter for each item on Answer Sheet 2with a single line through the centre. You may not use any of the words inthe bank more than once.Question 36 to 45 are based on the following passage.It’s our guilty pleasure: Watching TV is the most common everyday activity,after work and sleep, in many parts of the world. Americans view five hours of TV each day, and while we know that spending so much time sitting ___36___ can lead to obesity(肥胖症) and other diseases, researchers have now quantified just how___37___being a couch potato can be.In an analysis of data from eight large ___38___published studies, a Harvard-led group reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association that for every two hours per day spent channel ___39___,the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes(糖尿病)rose 20% over 8.5 years, the risk of heart disease increased 15% over a ___40___, and the odds of dying prematurely___41___ 13% during a seven-year follow-up.All of these___42____are linked to a lack of physical exercise. But compared with other sedentary(久坐的)activities, like knitting ,viewing TV may be especially__43___at promoting unhealthy habits. For one, the sheer number of hours we pass watching TV dwarfs the time we spend on anything else. And other studies have found that watching ads for beer and popcorn may make you more likely to ___44___them.Even so, the authors admit that they didn’t compare different sedentary activities to ___45___whether TV watching was linked to a greater risk of diabetes,heart disease or clearly death compared with, say, reading.注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。

2015年6月英语四级考试长篇阅读原文及答案

2015年6月大学英语四级考试长篇阅读原文及答案来源：文都教育2015年6月13日英语四级考试已经结束，本次考试为多题多卷，文都四六级考试网收集整理了不同版本试题及参考答案，供考生参考，下面是英语四级长篇阅读原文及答案。

Section BDirections:In this section,you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached to it. Each statement contains information given in one of the paragraphs.Identify the paragraph from which the information is derived.You may choose a paragraph more than once.Each paragraph is marked with a letter.Answer the questions by marking the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet2.Essay-Grading Software Offers Professors a Break[A]Imagine taking a college exam,and,instead of handing in a blue book and getting a grade from a professor a few weeks later,clicking the“send”button when you are done and receiving a grade back instantly,your essay scored by a software program.And then,instead of being done with that exam,imagine that the system would immediately let you rewrite the test to try to improve your grade.[B]EdX,the nonprofit enterprise founded by Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology(MIT)to offer courses on the Internet,has just introduced such a system and will make its automated(自动的)software available free on the Web to any institution that wants to use it.The software uses artificial intelligence to grade student essays and short written answers, freeing professors for other tasks.[C]The new service will bring the educational consortium(联盟)into a growing conflict over the role of automation in education.Although automated grading systems for multiple-choice and true-false tests are now widespread,the use of artificial intelligence technology to grade essay answers has not yet received widespread acceptance by educators and has many critics.[D]Anant Agarwal,an electrical engineer who is president of EdX,predicted that theinstant-grading software would be a useful teaching tool,enabling students to take tests and write essays over and over and improve the quality of their answers.He said the technology would offer distinct advantages over the traditional classroom system,where students often wait days or weeks for grades.“There is a huge value in leaning with instant feedback,”Dr.Agarwal said.“Students are telling us they learn much better with instant feedback.”[E]But skeptics（怀疑者）say the automated system is no match for live teachers.One longtime critic,Les Perelman,has drawn national attention several times for putting together nonsense essays that have fooled software grading programs into giving high marks.He has also been highly critical of studies claiming that the software compares well to human graders.[F]He is among a group of educators who last month began circulating a petition（呼吁）opposing automated assessment software.The group,which calls itself Professsionals Against Machine Scoring of Student Essays in High-Stakes Assessment,has collected nearly2,000signatures, including some from famous people like Noam Chomsky.[G]“Let’s face the realities of automatic essay scoring,”the group’s statement reads in part.“Computers cannot‘read’.They cannot measure the essentials of effective written communication: accuracy,reasoning,adequacy of evidence,good sense,ethical(伦理的)position,convincing argument,meaningful organization,and clarity,among others.”.[H]But EdX expects its software to be adopted widely by schools and universities.It offers free online classes from Harvard,MIT and the University of Californian-Berkeley;this fall,it will add classes from Wellesley,Georgetown and the University of Texas.In all,12universities participate in EdX,which offers certificates for course completion and has said that it plans to continue to expand next year,including adding international schools.[I]The EdX assessment tool requires human teachers,or graders,to first grade100essays or essay questions.The system then uses a variety of machine-learning techniques to train itself to be able to grade any number of essays or answers automatically and almost instantly.The software will assign a grade depending on the scoring system created by the teacher,whether it is a letter grade or numerical(数字的)rank.[J]EdX is not the first to use the automated assessment technology,which dates to earlycomputers in the1960s.There is now a range of companies offering commercial programs to grade written test answers,and four states—Louisiana,North Dakota,Utah and West Virginia—are using some form of the technology in secondary schools.A fifth,Indiana,has experimented with it.In some cases the software is used as a“second reader,”to check the reliability of the human graders.[K]But the growing influence of the EdX consortium to set standards is likely to give the technology a boost.On Tuesday,Stanford announced that is would work with EdX to develop a joint educational system that will make use of the automated assessment technology.[L]Two start-ups,Coursera and Udacity,recently founded by Stanford faculty members to create “massive open online courses,”or MOOCs,are also committed to automated assessment systems because of the value of instant feedback.“It allows students to get immediate feedback on their work,so that learning turns into a game,with students naturally gravitating(吸引)toward resubmitting the work until they get it right,”said Daphne Koller,a computer scientist and a founder of Coursera.[M]Last year the Hewlett Foundation,a grant-making organization set up by one of the Hewlett-Packard founders and his wife,sponsored two$100,000prizes aimed at improving software that grades essays and short answers.More than150teams entered each category.A winner of one of the Hewlett contests,Vik Paruchuri,was hired by EdX to help design its assessment software.[N]“One of our focuses is to help kids learn how to think critically,”said Victor Vuchic,a program officer at the Hewlett Foundation.“It’s probably impossible to do that with multiple-choice tests. The challenge is that this requires human graders,and so they cost a lot more and they take a lot more time.”[O]Mark D.Shermis,a professor at the University of Akron in Ohio,supervised the Hewlett Foundation’s contest on automated essay scoring and wrote a paper about the experiment.In his view,the technology—though imperfect—has a place in educational settings.[P]With increasingly large classes,it is impossible for most teachers to give students meaningful feedback on writing assignments,he said.Plus,he noted,critics of the technology have tended tocome from the nation’s best universities,where the level of teaching is much better than at most schools.[Q]“Often they come from very famous institutions where,in fact,they do a much better job of providing feedback than a machine ever could,”Dr.Shermis said.“There seems to be a lack of appreciation of what is actually going on in the real world.”注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。

2015年12月英语四级英语阅读

There are three kinds of goals: short-term,medium-range and long-term goals. Short-range goals are those that usually deal with current activities,which we can apply on a daily basis.Such goals can be achieved in a week or less,or two weeks,or possible months.It should be remembered that just as a building is no stronger than its foundation ,out long-term goals cannot amount to very munch without the achievement of solid short-term goals.Upon completing our short-term goals,we should date the occasion and then add new short-term goals that will build on those that have been completed.The intermediate goals bukld on the foundation of the short-range goals.They might deal with just one term of school or the entire school year,or they could even extend for several years.Any time you move a step at a time,you should never allow yourself to become discouraged or overwhelmed. As you complete each step,you will enforce the belief in your ability to grow adn succeed.And as your list of completion dates grow,your motivation and desire will increase.Long-range goals may be related to our dreams of the future. They might cover five years or more. Life is not a static thing.We should never allow a long-term goal to limit us or our course of action.1.Our long-term goals mean a lot______.A.if we complete our short-range goalsB.if we cannot reach solid short-term goalsC.if we write down the datesD.if we put forward some plans2.New short-term goals are bulid upon______.A.two yearsB.long-term goalsC.current activitiesD.the goals that have been completed3.When we complete each step of our goals ,______.A.we will win final successB.we are overwhelmedC.we should build up confidence of successD.we should strong desire for setting new goals4.Once our goals are drawn up,_______.A.we should stick to them until we complete themB.we may change our goals as we have new ideas and opportunitiesC.we had better wait for the exciting news of successD.we have made great decision5.It is implied but not stated in the passage that ______.A.those who habe long-term goals will succeedB.writing down the dates may discourage youC.the goal is only a guide for us to reach our desinationD.every should have a goal答案：a d c b cThe economy of the United states after 1952 was the econnomy of a well-fed,almost fully employed people. Despit occasional alarms, the country escaped any postwar depression and lived in a state of boom. A n economic survey of the year 1955, a typical year of the 1950’s, may be typical as illustrating the rapid economic growth of the decade. The national output was value at 10 percent above that of 1954 (1955 output was estimated at 392 billion dollars). The production of manufacturers was about 40 percent more than it had averaged in the years immediately following World War 2. The country’s business spent about 30billion dollars for new factories and machinery. National income available for spending was almost a third greater than it had been it had been in 1950. Consumers spent about 256 billion dollars; that is about 700 million dollars a day ,or about twenty-five million dollars every hour , all round the clock. Sixty-five million people held jobs and only a little more thantwo million wanted jobs but could not find them . Only agriculture complained that it was not sharing in the room. To some observers this was an ominous echo of the mid-1920’s . As farmer’s shre of their products declined , marketing costs rose. But there were , among the observers of the national economy, a few who were not as confident as the majority . Those few seemed to fear that the boom could not last and would eventually lead to the oppsite-depression.1. What is the best title of the passage?a. The Agriculatural Trends of 1950’sb. The Unemployment Rate of 1950’sc. U.S. Economy in the 50’sd. The Federal Budget of 19522. In Line 3, the word “boom” could best be replaced by______.a. nearby explosionb. thunderous noisec. general public supportd. rapid economic growth3. It can be inferred the national from the passage that most people in the United States in 1955 viewed the national economy with an air of _________.a. confidenceb. confusionc. disappointmentd. suspicion4. Which of the following were LEAST satisfied with the national economy in the 1950’s?a. Economistsb. Frmaersc. Politiciansd. Steelworkers5. The passage states that incom available for spending in the U.S. was greater in 1955 than in 1950 . How much was it ?a. 60%b. 50%c. 33%d. 90%答案：c d a b cTrees should only be pruned when there is a good and clear reason for doing so and , fortunately,the number of such reasons is small. Pruning involves the cutting away of obergrown and unwanted branches, and the inexperienced gardener can be encouragedby the thought that more damage results from doing it unnecessarily than from leaving the tree to grow in its own way.First, pruning may be done to make sure that trees have a desired shape or size. The object may be to get a tree of the right height, and at the same time to help the growth of small side branches which will thicken its appearance or give it a special shape. Secondly, pruning may be done to make the tree healthier. You may cut diseaed or dead wood, or branches that are rubbing against each other and thus cause wounds. The health of a tree may be encouraged by removing branches that are blocking up the centre and so preventing the free movement of air.One result of pruning is that an open wound is left on the tree and this provides an easy entry for disease, but itis a wound that will heal. Often there is a race between the healing and the desease as to whether the tree will live or die, so that there is a period when the tree is at risk. It should be the aim of every gardener to reduce which has been pruned smooth and clean, for healing will be slowed down by roughness. You should allow the cut surface to dry for a few hurs and then paint it with one of the substances available from garden shops produced especially for this purpose. Pruning is usually without interference from the leaves and also it is very unlikely that the cuts yu make will bleed. If this does happen,it is, of course,impossible to paint them properly.1.Pruning should be done to ______.a.make the tree grow tallerb.improve the shape of the treec.get rid of the small branchesd.make the small branches thicker2.Trees become unhealthy if the gardener ______.a.allows too many branches to grow in the middleb.does not protect them from windc.forces them to grow too quicklyd.damages some of the small side branches3.Why is a special substance painted on the tree?a.To make a wound smoothb.To prevent disease entering a woundc.To cover a rough surfaced.To help a wound to dry4.A good gardener prunes a tree______.a.at intervals throughout the yearb.as quickly as possiblec.occasionally when necessaryd.regular every winter5.What was the author's purpose when writing this passage?a.To give pratical instruction for pruning a tree.b.To give a general description of pruningc.To explain how trees develop diseasesd.To discuss different methods of pruning.答案：b a b c aOn Thursday afternoon Mrs. Carke, dressed for going out, took her handbag with her money and her key in it, pulled the door behind her to lock it and went to the over 60s Club. She always went there on Thursdays. It was a nice outing for an old woman who lived alone.At six o'clock she cane home, let herself in and at once smelt cigarette smoke. Cigarette smoke in her house? How? How? Had someone got in? She checked the backdoor and the windows. All were locked or fastened, as usual. There was no sign of forced entry.Over a cup of tea she wondered whether someone might have a key that fitted her front door-"a master key"perhaps. So she stayed at home the following Thursday. Nothing happened. Was anyone watching her movements? On the Thursday after that she went out at her usual time,dressed as usual, but she didn't go to the club. Instead she took a short cut home again, letting herself in through her garden and the back door. She settled down to wait.It was just after four o'clock when the front door bell rang.Mrs. Clarke was making a cup of tea at the time. The bell rang again, and then she heard her letter-box being pushed open. With the kettle of boiling water in her hand, she moved quietly towards the front door. A long piece of wire appeared through the letter-box, and then a hand. The wire turned and caught around the knob on the door-lock. Mrs. Clarke raised the kettle and poured the water over the hand. There was a shout outside, and the skin seemed to drop off the fingers like a glove. The wire fell to the floor, the hand was pulled back, and Mrs. Clarke heard the sound of running feet.1.Mrs. Clarke looded forward to Thursday because_______.a.she worked at a club on the dayb.she said visitors on Thursdaysc.she visited a club on Thursdayd.a special visitor came on Thursday2.If someone had made a forced entery,_______.a.Mrs.Clarke would have found a broken door or windowb.he or she was still in the housec.things would have been thown aboutd.he or she would have needed a master key3.On the third Thursday Mrs. Clarke went out_______.a.because she didn't want to miss the club againb.to see if the thief was hnging about outsidec.to the club but then changed her mindd.in an attempt to trick the thief4.The lock on the front door was one which_______.a.needed a piece of wire to open itb.could he opened from inside without a keyc.could't be opened without a keyed a knob instead of a key5.The wire feel to the floor_______.a.because Mrs.Clarke refused to open the doorb.when the man's glove dropped offc.because it was too hot to holdd.because the man justwanted to get away答案：c a d b dPassage 1In the old days,children were familiar with birth and death as part of life. This is perhaps the first generation of American youngsters (年轻人)who have never been close by during the birth of a baby and have never experienced the death of a family member.Nowadays when people grow old, we often send them to nursing homes. When they get sick，we transfer them to a hospital, where children are forbidden to visit terminally ill patients—even when those patients are their parents. This deprives (剥夺)the dying patient of significant family members during the last few days ofhis life and it deprives the children of an experience of death, which is an important learning experience.Some of my colleagues and I once interviewed and followed approximately 500 terminally ill patients in order to find out what they could teach us and how we could be of more benefit,not just to them but to the members of their families as well. We were most impressed by the fact that even those patients who were not told of their serious illness were quite aware of its potential outcome.It is important for family members, and doctors and nurses to understand these patients'communications in order to truly understand their needs，fears，and fantasies (幻想). Most of our patients welcomed another human being with whom they could talk openly, honestly，and frankly about their trouble. Many of them shared with us their tremendous need to be informed, to be kept up-to-date on their medical condition，and to be told when the end was near. We found out that patients who had been dealt with openly and frankly were better able to cope with the approach of death and finally to reach a true stage of acceptance prior to death.It may be concluded from the passage that__.A. dying patients are afraid of being told of the approach of deathB. dying patients should be truthfully informed of their conditionC. most doctors and nurses understand what dying patients needD. most patients are unable to accept death until it is obviously inevitable【讲解答案】B推理题。

2015年大学四级英语阅读理解练习题

2015年大学四级英语阅读理解练习题Passage oneEarly one morning, more than a hundred years ago, an American inventor called Elias Howe finally fell asleep. He had been working all night on the design of a sewing machine but he had run into a very difficult problem: It seemed impossible to get the thread to run smoothly around the needle.Though he was tired, Howe slept badly. He turned and turned. Then he had a dream. He dreamt that he had been caught by terrible savages whose king wanted to kill him and eat him unless he could build a perfect sewing machine. When he tried to do so, Howe ran into the same problem as before. The thread kept getting caught around the needle.The king flew into the cage and ordered his soldiers to kill Howe. They came up towards him with their spears raised. But suddenly the inventor noticed something. There was a hole in the tip of each spear. The inventor awoke from the dream, realizing that he had just found the answer to the problem. Instead of trying to get the thread to run around the needle, he should make it run through a small hole in the center of theneedle. This was the simple idea that finally made Howe design and build the first really practised sewing machine.Elias Howe was not the only one in finding the answer to his problem in this way.Thomas Edison, the inventor of the electric light, said his best ideas came into him in dreams. So did the great physicist Albert Einstein. Charlotte Bronte also drew in her dreams in writing Jane Eyre.To know the value of dreams, you have to understand what happens when you are asleep. Even then, a part of your mind is still working. This unconscious(无意识的), but still active part understands your experiences and goes to work on the problems you have had during the day. It stores all sorts of information that you may have forgotten or never have really noticed. It is only when you fall asleep that this part of the brain can send messages to the part you use when you are awake. However, the unconscious part acts in a special way. It uses strange images which the conscious part may not understand at first. This is why dreams are sometimes called “secret messages to ourselves”.1.According to the passage, Elias Howe was________.A. the first person we know of who solved problems in his sleepB. much more hard-working than other inventorsC. the first person to design a sewing machine that really worked2.The problem Howe was trying to solve was________.A. how to prevent the thread from getting caught around the needleB. how to design a needle which would not breakC. where to put the needle3.Thomas Edison is spoken of because________.A. he also tried to invent a sewing machineB. he got some of his ideas from dreamsC. he was one of Howe’s best friends4.Dreams are sometimes called“secret messages to ourselves” because___.A. strange images are used to communicate ideasB. images which have no meaning are usedC. we can never understand the real meaningPassage twoThe greatest recent changes have been in the lives of women. During the twentieth century there was an unusualshortening of the time of a woman’s life spent in caring for children. A woman marrying at the end of the 19th century would probably have been in her middle twenties, and would be likely to have seven or eight children, of whom four or five lived till they were five years old. By the time the youngest was fifteen, the mother would have been in her early fifties and would expect to live a further twenty years, during which custom, chance and health made it unusual for her to get paid work. Today women marry younger and have fewer children. Usually a woman’s youngest child will be fifteen when she is forty-five and is likely to take paid work until retirement at sixty. Even while she has the care of children ,her work is lightened by household appliances（家用电器）and convenience foods.This important change in women’s way of life has only recently begun to have its full effect on women’ s economic position. Even a few years ago most girls left school at the first opportunity and most of them took a full-time job. However, when they married, they usually left work at once and never returned to it. Today the school-leaving age is sixteen, many girls stay at school after that age ,and though women tend to marry younger ,more married women stay at work at least until shortly before their first child is born. Many more after wads,return to full or part-time work. Such changes have led to a new relationship in marriage, with both husband and wife accepting a greater share of the duties and satisfaction of family life, and with both husband and wife sharing more equally in providing the money and running the home, according to the abilities and interest of each of them.5.We are told that in an average family about 1990________.A. many children died before they were fiveB. the youngest child would be fifteenC. seven of eight children lived to be more than fiveD. four or five children died when they were five6. When she was over fifty, the late 19th centurymother________.A. would expect to work until she diedB. was usually expected to take up paid employmentC. would be healthy enough to take up paid employmentD. was unlikely to find a job even if she is now likely7. Many girls, the passage says, are now likely to ________.A. marry so that they can get a jobB. leave school as soon as they canC. give up their jobs for good after they are marriedD. continue working until they are going to have a baby8. According to the passage, it is now quite usual for women to ________.A. stay at home after leaving schoolB. marry men younger than themselvesC. start working again later in lifeD. marry while still at schoolPassage threeSwimming is one of those activities that can be learned early in life. Little children can learn to swim as soon as they walk. In fact, you need the same skills in walking as in swimming. However, I believe that five is the best age to learn. By five or six, a child knows fear of water, a very important thing to know. It's wise to be afraid, to recognize true danger. Young ones understand that the water can sometimes be very dangerous.To really benefit from swimming, every swimmer should learn, as soon as possible, these four basic strokes; butterfly, backstroke, breastroke, and crawl. I feel that one of these-thebreaststroke-is different from the others, since some young swimmers use this stroke naturally, without any training.In swimming there are certain rules every swimmer should follow:1. Never swim alone! No matter how good you are in the water, don't risk drowning by swimming alone. If you swim by yourself , with no life guards or friends with you, you may get into trouble.2. Don't go beyond your abilities. Most swimmers know enough not to swim too far from the bank or the beach, Showing off by doing dangerous tricks is no good.Swim safely and you will continue to swim and alive.3. Don't smoke. Swimming depends on a healthy body; good lungs are part of it.4. Work at any activity that builds muscles.9. Little children can learn to swim as soon as _____.A. they can talkB. they start walkingC. they have no fear of the waterD. they are five or six years old10. The author believes that fear of water is_____.A. stupidB. sensibleC. dangerousD. not smart11. The stroke that some young swimmers use first is_____.A. Picture (1)B. Picture (2)C. Picture (3)D. Picture (4)12. According to the passage, you should not swim alone because_____.A. the water is too coldB. your parents would not be happyC. something in the water might attackD. you might drownPassage fourAmericans spend their free time in various ways.America is a country of sports—of hunting, fishing and swimming, and of team sports like baseball and football. Millions of Americans watch their favorite sports on television. They also like to play in community orchestras(管弦乐队),make their own films or recordings, go camping ,visit museums, attend lectures, travel, garden, read, and join in hundreds of other activities. The people also enjoy building things for their homes, sewing their own clothes, even making their own photographs. They do these things for fun as well as for economy.But as much as Americans enjoy their free time, the country is at the same time a"self-improvement" country. More than 25 million adults continue their education, chiefly by going to school in the evening, during their own free time, at their own expense. Added to the time spent on personal activities, Americans a1so devote a great amount of their time to the varied needs of their communities. Many hospitals, schools, libraries, museums, parks, community centers, and organizations that assist the poor depend on the many hours citizens devote to these activities, often without any pay. Why do they do it?There are several answers. The idea of cooperating and sharing responsibility with one another for the benefit of all is as old as the country itself.When the country was first founded in 1776,it was necessary for the settlers to work together to live. They had crossed dangerous seas and risked all they had in their struggle for political and religious freedom. There remains among many Americans a distrust of central government. People still prefer to do things themselves within their communities, rather than give the government more control.Sometimes people offer their time because they wish to accomplish something for which no money is paid, to dosomething that will be of benefit to the entire community. It is true that some people use their leisure because they are truly interested in the work; or they are learning from the experience.No matter what the reason is, hundreds of thousands of so called leisure hours are put into hard, unpaid work on one or another community need.13. This passage is mainly about ________ .A. why America is a country of sportsB. how Americans spend their free timeC. why America is a "self-improvement" country14. The writer mentions the foundation of the country in order to indicate ________.A. the early history of AmericaB. the American people's determination to liveC. the reason for Americans' willingness to cooperate and share responsibility15.Which of the following best explains the meaning of the underlined word “leisure"【】A. work timeB. energyC. spare time16.What can we infer from the text【】A. The first settlers left their hometown for political and religious reasons.B. Many Americans don′t trust the central government.C. American people enjoy building things for their homes just for fun.Passage fivePersonal computers and the Internet give people new choices about how to spend their time.Some may use this freedom to share less time with certain friends or family members, but new technology will also let them stay in closer touch with those they care most about. I know this from personal experience.E-mail makes it easy to work at home, which is where I now spend most weekends and evenings. My working hours aren’t necessarily m uch shorter than they once were but I spend fewer of them at the office. This lets me share more time with my young daughter than I might have if she’d been born before electronic mail became such a practical tool.The Internet also makes it easy to share thoughts with a group of friends. Say you do something fun see a great movieperhaps-and there are four or five friends who might want to hear about it. If you call each one, you may tire of telling the story.With E-mail, you just write one note about your experience, at your convenience, and address it to all the friends you think might be interested. They can read your message when they have time, and read only as much as they want to. They can reply at their convenience, and you can read what they have to say at your convenience.E-mail is also an inexpensive way stay in close touch with people who live far away. More than a few parents use E-mail to keep in touch, even daily touch, with their children off at college.We just have to keep in mind that computers and the Internet offer another way of staying in touch. They don’t take the place of any of the old ways.17. The purpose of this passage is to ________.A. explain how to use the InternetB. describe the writer’s joy of keeping up with the latest technologyC. tell the merits(价值) and usefulness of the InternetD. introduce the reader to basic knowledge about personal computers and the Internet18. The use of E-mail has made it possible for the writer to________.A. spend less time workingB. have more free time with his childC. work at home on weekendsD. work at a speed comfortable to him19. According to the writer, E-mail has an obvious advantage over the telephone because the former helps one ________.A. reach a group of people at one time convenientlyB. keep one’s communication as personal as possibleC. pass on much more information than the laterD. get in touch with one’s friends faster than the later20. The best title for this passage is ________.A. Computer: New Technological AdvancesB. Internet: New Tool to Maintain Good FriendshipC. Computers Have Made Life EasierD. Internet: a Convenient Tool for Communication答案：CABA DDDC BBAD BCCA CBAD。

2015年6月英语四级阅读理解练习及解析

2015年6月英语四级阅读理解练习及解析1 There are people in Italy who can’t stand soccer. Not all Canadians love hockey.A similar situation exists in America, where there are those individuals you may be one of them who yawn or even frown when somebody mentions baseball. 『Baseball to them means boring hours watching grown men in funny tight outfits standing around in a field staring away while very little of anything happens.』① They tell you it’s a game better suited to the 19th century, slow, quiet, gentlemanly. These are the same people you may be one of them who love football because there’s the sport that glorifies “the hit”.By contrast, baseball seems abstract, cool, silent, still.On TV the game is fractured into a dozen perspectives, replays, close ups. The geometry of the game, however, is essential to understanding it. You will contemplate the game from one point as a painter does his subject; you may, of course, project yourself into the game. It is in this projection that the game affords so much space and time for involvement. The TV won’t do it for you.Take, for example, the third baseman. You sit behind the third base dugout and you watch him watching home plate. His legs are apart, knees flexed. His arms hang loose. He does a lot of this. The skeptic still cannot think of any other sports so still, so passive. 『But watch what happens every time the pitcher throws: the third baseman goes up on his toes, flexes his arms or bring the glove to a point in front of him, takes a step right or left, backward or forward, perhaps he glances across the field to check his first baseman’s position.』② Suppose the pitch is a ball. “Nothing happened,” you say. “I could have had my eyes closed.”The skeptic and the innocent must play the game. And this involvement in the stands is no more intellectual than listening to music is. Watch the third baseman. Smooth the dirt in front of you with one foot; smooth the pocket in your glove; watch the eyes of the batter, the speed of the bat, the sound of horsehide on wood. If football is a symphony of movement and theatre, baseball is chamber music, a spacious interlocking of notes, chores and responses.1. The passage is mainly concerned with ______.A. the different tastes of people for sportsB. the different characteristics of sportsC. the attraction of footballD. the attraction of baseball2. Those who don’t like baseball may complain that ______.A. it is only to the taste of the oldB. it involves fewer players than footballC. it is not exciting enoughD. it is pretentious and looks funny3. The author admits that ______.A. baseball is too peaceful for the youngB. baseball may seem boring when watched on TVC. football is more attracting than baseballD. baseball is more interesting than football4. By stating “I could have had my eyes closed. ” the author means (4th paragraph last sentence):A. The third baseman would rather sleep than play the game.B. Even if the third baseman closed his eyes a moment ago, it could make no different to the result.C. The third baseman is so good at baseball that he could finish the game with eyes closed all the time and do his work well.D. The consequent was too bad he could not bear to see it.5. We can safely conclude that the author ______.A. likes footballB. hates footballC. hates baseballD. likes baseball词汇与短语1. dugout n. 棒球场边供球员休息的地方2. pitcher n. 投手3. symphony n. 交响乐4. chamber n. 室内5. contemplate vt.沉思，注视长难句解析①【解析】此句的主干是“Baseball?means?watching?”，其中“in funny tight outfits”用来修饰“grown men”,“standing?”和“staring”用来做“grown men”的定语。

2015最新英语四级阅读练习及答案

2015年英语四级阅读练习及答案(38)1. Three Kinds of FatigueFatigue is one of the most common complaints brought to doctors, friends, and relatives. You#39;d think in this era of labor-saving devices and convenient transportation that few people would have reason to be so tired. But probably more people complain of fatigue today than in the days when hay was baled by hand and laundry scrubbed on a washboard.The causes of modern-day fatigue are diverse and only rarely related to excessive physical exertion. The relatively few people who do heavy labor all day long almost never complain about being tired, perhaps because they expect to be. Today, physicians report, tiredness is more likely a consequence of under-exertion than of wearing yourself down with over-activity. In fact, increased physical activity is often prescribed as a cure for lowering energy.Physical. This is the well-known result of overworking your muscles to the point where metabolic (新成代谢的) waste products—carbon dioxide and lactic acid (乳酸)—accumulate in our blood and reduce your strength. Your muscles can#39;t continue to work efficiently in a bath of these chemicals. Physical fatigue is usually a pleasant tiredness, such as that which you might experience after playing a hard set of tennis, chopping wood, or climbing a mountain. The cure is simple and fast: You rest, giving your body a chance to get rid of accumulated wastes and restore muscle fuel.Pathological (病理的). Here fatigue is a warning sign or consequence of some underlying physical disorder, perhaps the common cold or flu or something more serious like diabetes or cancer. Usually other symptoms besides fatigue are present that suggest the true cause.Even after an illness has passed, you#39;re likely to feel dragged out for a week or more. Take your fatigue as a signal to go slow while your body has a chance to recover fully even if all you had was a cold. Pushing yourself to resume full activity too soon could lead to a relapse (旧病复发) and almost certainly will prolong our period of fatigue.Even though illness is not frequent cause of prolonged fatigue, it#39;s very important that it not be overlooked. Therefore, anyone who feels drained of energy for weeks on end should have a thorough physical check-up. But even ifnothing shows up as a result of the various medical tests, that doesn#39;t mean there#39;s nothing wrong with you.Psychological. Emotional problems and conflicts, especially depression and anxiety, are by far the most common causes of prolonged fatigue. Fatigue may represent a defence mechanism that prevents you from having to face the true cause of your depression, such as the fact that you hate your job. It is also your body#39;s safety mechanism for expressing repressed emotional conflicts, such as feeling trapped in an ungrateful role or an unhappy marriage. When such feelings are not expressed openly, they often come out as physical symptoms, with fatigue as one of the most common manifestations. "Many people who are extremely fatigued don#39;t even know they#39;re depressed," Dr. Bulette says. "They#39;re so busy distracting themselves or just worrying about being tired that they don#39;t recognize their depression. "There is a great deal you can do on your own to deal with both severe prolonged fatigue and those periodic washed-out feelings. Vitamins and tranquilizers (镇静剂) are almost never the right answer, sleeping pills and alcohol are counterproductive, and caffeine is at best a temporary solution that can backfire with abuse and cause life-disrupting symptoms of anxiety. Instead, you might try: DietIf you eat a small breakfast or none at all, you#39;re likely to experience mid-morning fatigue, the result of a drop in blood sugar, which your body and brain depend on for energy. For peak energy in the morning, be sure to eat a proper breakfast, low in sugar and fairly high in protein, which will provide a steady supply of blood sugar throughout the morning. Coffee and a doughnut are almost worse than nothing, providing a brief boost and then letting you down with a thud.ExerciseContrary to what you may think, exercise enhances, rather than saps, energy. Regular conditioning exercises, such as jogging, cycling, or swimming, help you to resist fatigue by increasing your body#39;s ability to handle more of a work load. You get tired less quickly because your capability is greater.Exercise also has a well-recognized tranquilizing effect, which helps you work in a more relaxed fashion and be less dragged down by the tensions ofyour day. At the end of a day exercise can relieve accumulated tensions, give you more energy in the evening, and help you sleep more restfully.SleepIf you know you#39;re tired because you haven#39;t been getting enough sleep, the solution is simple: Get to bed earlier. There#39;s no right amount of sleep for everyone, and generally sleep requirements decline with age. Find the amount that suits you best, and aim for it. Insomnia(失眠) and other sleep disorders should not be treated with sleeping pills, alcohol, or tranquilizers, which can actually make the problem worse. Know yourselfTry to schedule your most difficult jobs for the time of day when you#39;re at your peak. Some are "morning people" who tire by mid-afternoon; others do their best work in the evening. Don#39;t overextend yourself, trying to climb the ladder of success at a record pace or to meet everyone#39;s demands or expectations. Decide what you want to do and what you can handle comfortably, and learn to say no to additional requests. Recognize your energy cycles and plan accordingly. Many women have a low point premenstrually, during which time extra sleep may be needed and demanding activities are particularly exhausting. , Take breaksNo matter how interesting or demanding you work, you#39;ll be able to do it with more vigor if now and again you stop, stretch, and change the scenery. Instead of coffee and a sweet roll on your break, try meditation, yoga, callisthenics(健美操) , or a brisk walk. Even running up and down the staircase can provide refreshment from a sedentary(久坐的) job. If your job is physically demanding, relax in a quiet place for a while. The do-something-different rule also applies to vacation; "getting away from it all" for a week or two or longer can be highly revitalizing, helping you to put things in perspective and enabling you to take your job more in stride upon your return.1. According to the passage, it is hard for people to find causes of tiredness when they are leading a comfortable and convenient life.2. Causes of certain types of fatigue are discussed and some suggestions are put forward in the passage.3. Most people don#39;t want to talk about their unhappy feelings with others.4. Physical fatigue is good because it brings us a lot of pleasure.5. Psychological fatigue is the likely response of our body to emotional problems and conflicts.6. Coffee and a doughnut make the satisfying breakfast as they provide people with the desired energy.7. When you have a prolonged fatigue, it is necessary to have a thorough physical check-up even if there is nothing wrong with you.8. No matter how interesting or demanding your work, you need to______.9. From the passage, it can be seen that the author#39;s attitudes towards the approach to dealing with modern-fatigue is______.10. According to physicians#39; report, tiredness more probably results from______.答案：1. N2. Y3. NG4. N5. Y6. N7. N8. take breaks9. positive 10.under-exertion2.In the United States, it is not 11 to telephone someone very early in the morning. If you telephone him early in the day, while he is shaving or having breakfast, the time of the call shows that the matter is very important and requires immediate attention. The same meaning is attached to telephone calls made after 11: 00 p. m. . If someone receives a call during sleeping hours, he 12 it's a matter of life and death. The time chosen for the call 13 its importance.In 14 life, time plays a very important part. In the U. S. A. , guests tend to feel they are not highly regarded if the 15 to a dinner party is extended only three or four days before the party date. But it is not true in all countries. In other areas of the world, it may be considered foolish to make an appointment too far in 16 because plans which are made for a date more than a week away tend to be forgotten.The meaning of time differs in different parts of the world. Thus, misunderstandings17 between people from cultures that treat time differently.Promptness is valued 18 in American life, for example. If people are not prompt, they may be regarded as impolite or not fully responsible. In the U. S. no one would think of keeping a business 19 waiting for an hour, it would be too impolite. A person who is 5 minutes late is 20 to make a short apology. If he is less than 5 minutes late, he will say a few words of explanation, though perhaps he will not completethe sentence.A. highlyB. engagementC. customaryD. socialE. informF. invitationG. advanceH. absenceI. heavily J. associate K. expected L. assumesM. habitual N. arise O. communicates答案：11. C 12. L 13. O 14. D 15. F 16. G 17. N 18. A 19. J 20. KHow to Deal With Difficult PeopleIn New York City one day, a businesswoman got into a taxi. Because it was rush hour and she was hurrying for a train, she suggested a route. "I#39;ve been a cabby(车夫) for 15 years!" the driver yelled. "You think I don#39;t know the best way to go?"The woman tried to explain that she hadn#39;t meant to offend him, but the driver kept yelling. She finally realized he was too upset to be reasonable. So she did the unexpected. "You know, you#39;re right," she told him. "It must seem dumb for me to assume you don#39;t know the best way through the city. "Taken aback, the driver flashed his rider a confused look in the rear-view mirror, turned down the street she wanted and got her to the train on time. "He didn#39;t say another word the rest of the ride," she said, "until I got out and paid him. Then he thanked me. "When you encounter people like this cab driver, there#39;s an irresistible urge to dig in your heels. This can lead to prolonged arguments, soured friendships, lost career opportunities and broken marriages. As a clinical psychiatrist, I#39;ve discovered one simple but extremely unlikely principle that can prevent virtually any conflict or other difficult situation from becoming a recipe for disaster.The key is to put yourself in the other person#39;s shoes and look for the truth in what that person is saying. Find a way to agree. The result may surprise you.Sulkers Steve#39;s 14-year-old son, Adam, had been irritable for several days. When Steve asked why, Adam snapped, "Nothing#39;s wrong! Leave me alone!" and stalked off to his room.We all know people like this. When there#39;s problem, they may sulk(生闷气) or act angry and refuse to talk.So what#39;s the solution? First, Steve needs to ask himself why Adam won#39;t talk. Maybe the boy is worried about something that happened at school. Or he might be angry at his dad but afraid to bring it up because Steve gets defensive whenever he is criticized. Steve can pursue these possibilities the next time they talk by saying, "I noticed you#39;re upset, and I think it would help to get the problem out in the open. It may be hard because I haven#39;t always listened very • 58 •well. If so, I feel bad because I love you and don#39;t want to let you down. "If Adam still refuses to talk, Steve can take a different tack: "I#39;m concerned about what#39;s going on with you, but we can talk things over later, when you#39;re more in the mood. "This strategy allows both sides to win: Steve doesn#39;t have to compromise on the principle that ultimately the problem needs to be talked out and resolved. Adam saves face by being allowed to withdraw for a while.Noisy critics. Recently, I was counselling a businessman named Frank who lends to be overbearing(专横的) when he#39;s upset. Frank told me that I was too absent-minded with money and that he shouldn#39;t have to pay at each of our sessions. He wanted to be billed monthly.I felt annoyed because it seemed Frank always had to have things his way.I explained that I had tried monthly billing, but it hadn#39;t worked because some patients didn#39;t pay. Frank argued that he had impeccable (无可挑剔的) credit and knew much more about credit and billing than I did.Suddenly I realized I was missing Frank#39;s point. "You are right," I said. " I#39;m being defensive. We should focus on the problems in your life and not worry so much about money. "Frank immediately softened and began talking about what was really bothering him, which were some personal problems. The next time we met, he handed me a check for 20 sessions in advance!There are times, of course, when people are unreasonably abusive and you may need to just walk away from the situation. But if the problem is one that you want solved, it#39;s important to allow the other person to keep some self-esteem. There#39;s nearly always a grain of truth in the otherperson#39;s point of view. If you acknowledge this, he or she will be less defensive and more likely to listen to you.Complainers. Brad is a 32-year-old Detroit chiropractor (按摩师) who recently described his frustration with a patient of his: "I ask Mr. Barry,#39;How are you doing?#39; and he dumps out his whole life story-his family problems and his financial difficulties. I give him advice, but he ignores everything I tell him. "Brad needs to recognize that habitual complainers usually don#39;t want advice. They just want someone to listen and understand. So Brad might simply say : "sounds like a rough week, It#39;s no fun to have unpaid bills, people nagging you, and this pain besides. " The complainer will usually run out of gas and stop complaining. The secret is not to give advice. Just agreeing and validating a person#39;s point of view will make that person feel better.Demanding friends. Difficult people aren#39;t always -, angry or just complaining. Sometimes they are difficult because of the demands they place upon us. Maybe a friend puts you on the spot with a request to run an errand for him while he#39;s out of town. If you have a crowded schedule, you may agree but end up angry and resentful. Or if you say no in the wrong way, your friend may feel hurt and unhappy. The problem is that, caught off guard, youdon#39;t know how to deal with the situation in a way that avoids bad feelings.One method I#39;ve found helpful is "punting". You#39;re punting when you tell the person you need to think about the request and that you#39;ll get back about it. Say a colleague calls and pressures me to give a lecture at his university. I#39;ve learned to say, "I#39;m flattered that you thought of me. Let me check my schedule, and I#39;ll call you back. "This gives me time to deal with any feelings of guilt if I have to say no. Suppose I decide it is better to decline; punting allow me to plan what I will say when I call back, "I appreciate being asked," I might indicate, "but I findI#39;m over-committed right now. However, I hope you#39;ll think of me in the future. "Responding to difficult people with patience and empathy can be tough, especially when you feel upset. But the moment you give up your need to control or be right, the other person will begin relaxing and start listening to you. The Greek philosopher Epictetus understood this when he said nearly 2, 000 years ago, "If someone criticizes you, agree at once. Mention that if only the other person knew you well, there would be more to criticize than that !"Real communication results from a spirit of respect for yourself and for the other person. The benefits can be amazing.1. The principle the writer has discovered to stop any conflict from going worse is to find a way to agree.2. The taxi driver thanked the businesswoman because she was very polite to him.3. Difficult people mentioned in the passage include those who give occasional complaints.4. One way to deal with the person who is unreasonably abusive is to walk away from the situation.5. If Mr. Barry had followed Brad#39;s advice, he would have solved all his personal problems.6. What habitual complainers need is a good listener.7. It will end up in unhappiness whether you have satisfied your friend#39;s request or not.8. You will be rewarded with a real communication if you______for others.9. A difficult person can become a relaxing and good conversational partner if you______your control.10. According to the author, one effective way to deal with a demanding friend is______.答案：1. Y2. N3. N4. Y5. NG6. Y7. N8. show respect9. give up 10. puntingReading Comprehension (Reading in Depth) (25 minutes)Directions: In this passage there are ten blanks. You are required to select one word for each blank from a list of choices given in a word bank following the passage. Read the passage through carefully before making your choices. Each choice in the bank is identified by a letter. Please mark the corresponding letter for each item on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once.Questions 1 to 10 are based on the following passage.Looking back on years of living in a working-class home in the North of England, I should say that a good living room must 11 three principal things: homeliness, warmth and plenty of good food. The living-room is the warm heart of the family and 12 often slightly stuffy to a middle-class visitor. It is not a social centre but a family center; little entertaining goes on there or in the front room, if there 13 to be one; you do not entertain in anything approaching the middle-class 14 The wife#39;s social life outside her 15 family is found over the washing-line, at the little shop on the corner, visiting relatives at a moderate 16 occasionally, and perhaps now and again a visit with her husband to his pub or club. Apart from these two places, he has just his work and his football matches. They will have, each of them, friends at all these places, who may well not know what the inside of their house is like, having never "stepped across the threshold," as the old 17 phrase has it. The family hearth is 18 for the family itself, and those who are "something to us"(another favorite formula) and who look in for a talk or just to sit. Much of the free time of a man and his wife will 19 be passed at that hearth. Just staying in is still one of the most common leisure-time 20A. happensB. professionsC. senseD. neverthelessE. fashionedF. distanceG. immediateH. usuallyI. occupations J. preserved K. imitate L. provideM. therefore N reserved 0. contribute答案：11. L 12. M 13. A 14. C 15. G 16. F 17. E 18. N 19. H 20. IReading Comprehension (Skimming and Scanning) (15 minutes)Directions: In this passage, you will have 15 minutes to go over the passage quickly and answer the questions on Answer Sheet 1.How to Buy a Used CarNearly everybody buys a used car sooner or later, as a primary vehicle or as a second car. Indeed, three out of four sales today are used cars, andthey#39;re not cheap junkers either—the average price now is $ 5500, about half what a new car costs. Make the wrong selection and a major investment can be lost the moment you drive off the lot.There is far less chance of this happening to you if you know: when to buy, where to buy, how to examine the car, how to conduct your own road test, and how to bargain over the price.When to buyShop during the day. Lighting makes cars gleam like jewels at night. In daylight they look dull, but realistic.Don#39;t shop in the rain. It can mask liquids that might be leaking. If possible, shop in the winter when supplies are high and demand is low.Where to buyShop the suburbs. In more affluent neighbourhoods cars are more likely to have been well cared for.A private owner normally sells a car for less than a dealer does, but almost always "as is," with no guarantee. That#39;s an acceptable risk if whatyou#39;re looking for is a cheap second car to "drive to the station. "Even though a used-car dealer generally charges more, you can often get some type of limited guarantee. This is often a 50-50 plan, in which you each pay half on repairs for a period that may range from 30 days to a year. Ask the dealer about the availability of an optional service policy.Used-car dealers often claim to have gone over the car, and many have. But remember that small dealers often buy cars that are auctioned (拍卖) because nobody else wants them.Some experts feel that a new-car dealer is the best place to buy a secondhand car, especially if you#39;re laying out a large sum for a late model. Some of these dealers offer extensive guarantees, such as one on the "drive train," which covers any problems with engine, transmission(变速器) ，drive shaft and differential (差速器). Expect to pay for this, as well as for the markup. But if you shop soon after the new models have arrived, when a dealer has a lot of trade-ins tying up his profits, he might deal. The visual examinationYou#39;ve found your dream car, and can hardly wait to get in and roar away. Wait.First, look for any flaws or ripples(划痕) in the body that might indicate a past accident. To see if a car has been repainted, look under the rubber seals around the door or under the chrome trim. Repainting may mask deep flaws.Check the odometer (计程器) for total mileage, and then compare that figure with any stickers still attached to door posts. It#39;s illegal to change odometer readings, but it happens. If there are no stickers, be a little suspicious. Check pedals and controls: wear on these parts should agree with the mileage. If they are brand new, be suspicious. If they are worn out, beware.Check that the doors, hood and trunk all open smoothly and close with solid sound. Sight along the sides of the car from 30 feet away to be sure that the rear and front wheels line up.Look under the car for fluid leaks. Except for condensation from a working air conditioner on a hot day, no car should ever drip anything, any time.Now sit in the driver#39;s seat and try the controls. The car should fit you—it should be comfortable. Check seat adjustment, door locks,window-raising mechanisms, horn, lights, directional signals, radio—all accessories.Start the engine. It should turn over quickly and then settle down to a rather fast idle. Give the engine a moment or two before you press the accelerator a bit. Watch for smoke from the rear. Blue smoke might mean a complete engine overhaul (大修) , black a maladjusted carburettor (化油器). • 2 •White smoke can be.ignored if the engine is cold, but once it is warmed up, white smoke can mean a leaking head gasket (垫圈) : expensive. Reject this car.After the engine has warmed, shut it off, and then go wipe your finger inside the tailpipe (making sure it#39;s not too hot). The residue should bewhitish-gay. If you get a black, oily mark, refuse the car—it#39;s probably an oil burner.Restart the engine and check the oil in an automatic transmission. It should be clean and clear, with no burned odor. The test driveThe salesman may try to convince you that a short drive around the block is enough. Wrong. Make it clear that you plan to road test the car, and if heisn#39;t happy with this look elsewhere.The test route you have mapped out should include dry city streets, a freeway, a hill, a bumpy road and an empty parking lot. All gauges(计量器) should read steady and normal throughout the test, especially oil pressure and engine heat. If not, don#39;t buy the car.Drive to a traffic-free city street on your predetermined route and then accelerate smoothly to about 35 miles per hour. The automatic transmission should shift without jerking and with no noise.Slow to about 7 m. p. h. by gently applying the brakes. There should be no noise, no sharp sound or grinding. The car should slow in a straight line, with no pulling to the right or left.Pick up speed to about 15; then making certain nobody is behind you, hit the brakes hard! The car should come to an immediate stop without making noise or swerving.In an empty, level parking lot, brake to a complete stop. Shift into reverse and back up at about 4 m. p. h. , brake to a halt, shift into forward, etc. Do this four or five times to test the transmission. All shifting should be smooth, with no noise or hesitation.Accelerate up a hill to about 40 m. p. h. The car should not labour. If it does, you could have a rotten transmission. Go back down the hill. Stop halfway, shift into neutral and set the parking brake. The car should remain stationary when you take your foot off the brake pedal.Drive the car over the bumpy road, up a hill, and on the highway. Rarely will a car be perfect. However by now you should have a pretty good idea what needs to be done. How to bargainUse what you#39;ve learned from the visual exam, test drive and outside mechanic to get the price down. Have a maximum figure in mind, based on your inspection and on current prices from a used-car guide. Start your bidding lower than that. When you have nearly arrived at a price, get the seller to throw in certain repairs. It may be cheaper for him than further price cuts.1. Following the instructions here will help you make a good selection when buying a used car.2. Winter is a good time for purchasing a car because there is little rain in winter.3. You are more likely to pay less to a private owner for a car of poor quality.4. Refuse the car if you find any signs of a past accident in the visual examination.5. Don#39;t buy the car if there is white smoke coming out of the rear because it is probably an oil burner.6. At certain speeds in the tests, a good car should not make any noise when the driver brakes either hard or gently.7. If you are patient and careful enough, you will certainly find a perfect used car.8. The last step before you make a decision to buy a car is______.9. Besides all gauges, the two very important systems mainly examined in the test drive are______.10. According to some experts, the best place to buy a second-hand caris______.答案：I. Y 2. N 3. Y 4. NG 5. N 6. Y 7. N8. to bargain over the price 9. brake and transmission 10. a new-car dealerA growing world population and the discoveries of science may 11 this pattern of distribution in the future. As men slowly learn to master diseases, control floods, prevent famines, and stop wars, fewer people die every year; and in 12 the population of the world is 13 increasing. In 1925 there were about 2,000 million people in the world; by the end of the century there may well be over 4,000 million.When numbers rise the 14 mouths must be fed. New lands must be I bought under cultivation, or land already farmed made to 15 larger crops. In some areas the accessible land is largely so intensively 16 that it will be difficult to make it provide more food. In some areas the population is so dense that the land is parceled out in units too 17 to allow for much improvement in farming methods. Were a larger part of this farming population drawn off into industrial occupations, the land might be farmed much more productively by modern methods.There is now a race for science, technology, and industry to keep the 18 of food rising faster than the number of people to be fed. New strains of crops are being developed which will thrive in 19 climates; irrigation and dry-farming methods bring poor lands under the plough, dams hold back the waters of great rivers to 20 water for the fields in all seasons and to provide electric power for new industries; industrial chemistry provides fertilizers to suit particular soils; aero planes spray crops to destroy insects and many plant diseases.A. ensureB. violentlyC. alterD. harmfulE. cultivatedF. uniqueG. transplantedH. yieldI. consequenceJ. outputK. extraL. steadilyM. tinyN. unfavorableO. produce答案：11. C 12. I 13. L 14. K 15. H 16. E 17. M 18. J 19. N 20. AThe process of perceiving others is rarely translated (to ourselves or others) into cold, objective terms. "She was 5 feet 8 inches tall, had fair hair, and wore a colored skirt. " More often, we try to get inside the other person to pinpoint (强调) his or her attitudes, emotions, motivations, abilities, ideas, and characters. Furthermore, we sometimes behave as if we can accomplish this difficult job very quickly—perhaps with a two-second glance.。

2015大学英语四级阅读理解文章精练(完整资料).doc

【最新整理，下载后即可编辑】2015大学英语四级阅读理解文章精练－4【大学英语四级阅读理解文章精练－4】Now let us look at how we read. When we read a printed text, our eyes move across a page in short, jerky movement. We recognize words usually when our eyes are still when they fixate. Each time they fixate, we see a group of words. This is known as the recognition span or the visual span. The length of time ofr which the eyes stop ---the duration of the fixation ----varies considerably from person to person. It also vaies within any one person according to his purpose in reading and his familiarity w ith the text. Furthermore, it can be affected by such factors as li ghting and tiredness.Unfortunately, in the past, many reading improvement course s have concentrated too much on how our eyes move across the printed page. As a result of this misleading emphasis on the pu rely visual aspects of reading, numerous exercises have been devised to train the eyes to see more words at one fixation. For ins tance, in some exercises, words are flashed on to a screen for, s ay, a tenth or a twentieth of a second. One of the exercises has required students to fix their eyes on some central point, taking in the words on either side. Such word patterns are often const ructed in the shape of rather steep pyramids so the reader takes in more and more words at each successive fixation. All these exercises are very clever, but it’s one thing to improve a perso n’s ability to see words and quite another thing to improve his ability to read a text efficiently. Reading requires the ability to u nderstand the relationship between words. Consequently, for these reasons, many experts have now begun to question the usefulne ss of eye training, especially since any approach which trains a person to read isolated words and phrases would se em unlikely to help him in reading a continuous text.Q:1. The time of the recognition span can be affected by thefollowing facts except ________ .A. one’s familiarity with the textB. one’s purpose in readingC. the length of a group of wordsD. lighting and tiredness2. The author may believe that reading ______.A. requires a reader to take in more words at each fixationB. requires a reader to see words more quicklyC. demands an deeply-participating mindD. demands more mind than eyes3 What does the author mean by saying “but it’s one thi ng to improve a person’s ability to see words and quite anothe r thing to improve his ability to read a text efficiently.” in the second parapraph?A. The ability to see words is not needed when an efficient reading is conducted.B. The readin g exercises mentioned can’t help to improve both the ability to see and to comprehend words.C. The reading exercises mentioned can’t help to improve an efficient reading.D. The reading exercises mentioned has done a great job to improve one’s ability to see words.4. Which of the following is NOT true?A. The visual span is a word or a group of words we see each time.B. Many experts began to question the efficiency of eye trai ning.C. The emphasis on the purely visual aspects is misleading.D.The eye training will help readers in reading a continuous text.5. The tune of the author in writing this article is _______ _A criticalB neutralC prssimisticD optimistic【答案及详解】答案：CCCDA解题思路1 C。

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大学英语四级考试阅读180篇
北京·广州·上海·西安
大学英语四级考试·阅读180篇
编著:中公教育大学英语四级考试用书编写组
责任编辑:夏
丹吴淑娅装帧设计:中公教育图书设计中心
出
版:世界图书出版公司北京公司出版人:张跃明发
行:世界图书出版公司北京公司(地址:北京朝内大街137号邮编:100010电话:64077922)销
售:各地新华书店印
刷:北京中科印刷有限公司开
本:889mm ×1194mm 1/32印
张:18.5字
数:533千版次:2014年11月第1版2014年11月第1次印刷
ISBN 978-7-5100-8645-8
定
价:26.00元版权所有翻印必究图书在版编目(CIP)数据
大学英语四级考试·阅读180篇/中公教育大学英语四级考试用书编写组编著.—北京:世界图书出版公司北京公司,2014.9
ISBN 978-7-5100-8645-8
Ⅰ.①大…Ⅱ.①中…Ⅲ.①大学英语水平考试-阅读教学-自学参考资料Ⅳ.①H319.4中国版本图书馆CIP 数据核字(2014)第214188号
本书编委会
主编:王静
编者:孟凡爽雷蓓蓓
李梦洁贾晓云
胡小婧单庆芸
王媛。