2013年大学英语四级阅读理解练习(9)
2013年6月英语四级考试阅读真题及解析
2013年6月英语四级考试阅读真题及解析2013年上半年的四级考试已结束，以下是对四级阅读的解析及指导，希望能对即将参加四级考试的考生有所帮助。
这次四级仔细阅读考试出题上依旧遵循之前的基本原则：依照原文自然顺序出题、多以考察细节信息的理解为主、喜欢考察转折等重要逻辑现象处的信息、正确选项基本都是原文有明显来源的改写或是替换后的说法、错误选项迷惑性不强。
文章选自《洛杉矶时报》等欧美主流网站，话题与我们日常生活还是比较接近、不难看懂。
文字难度与近两年四级基本相近，但可以看出对考生的单词掌握和阅读长句的能力要求较高。
不过若是之前系统准备近些年四级阅读的同学，对这次四级阅读考试的文章应不会感觉特别吃力。
下面我们对这次四级考试的几篇典型的仔细阅读进行简单的解析，供大家参考和体会。
PassageOneJunk food is everywhere. We’re eating waytoo much of it. Most of us know what we’re doing and yet we do it anyway。
So here's a suggestion offered by tworesearchers at the Rand Corporation: Why not take a lesson from alcohol controlpolicies and apply them to where food is sold and how it’s displayed?"Many policy measures to controlobesity (肥胖症)assume that people consciously and rationally choose what and howmuch they eat and therefore focus on providing information and more access tohealthier foods," note the two researchers。
2013年12月英语四级阅读理解题
（一）As she walked round the huge department store,Edith reflected how difficult it was to choose a suitable Christmas present for her father.She wish that he was as easy to please as her mother, who was always delighted with perfume Besides,shoppong at this time of the year was a most disgreeableexperience :people trod on your toes,poked you with their elbows and almost knocked you overin their haste to get to a bargain ahead of you.Partly to have a rest, Edith paused in front of a counter where some attracive ties were on display. "They are real silk," the assistant assured her, trying to tempt her. "Worth double the price." But edit knew from past experience that her choice of ties hardly ever pleased her father.She moved on reluctantly and then quite by chance, stopped where a small crowd of man had gathered round a counter. She found some good quality pipes on sale-----and the prices were very reasonable. Edith did not hesitate for long : although her father only smoked a pipe occasionally, she knew that this was a present which was bund to please him.When she got home,with her small well-chosen present concealed in her handbag, her parents were already at the supper table. Her mother was in an especially cheerful mood, "Your father has at last to decided to stop smoking." She informed her daughter.1.Edith's father _______.a.did not like presentb.never got presentc.preferred tiesd.was difficult to choose a present for2.The assistant spoke to Edith because she seemed_______.a.attractiveb.interested in tiesc.tiredd.in need of comfort3.Edith stopped at the next counter_________.a.puroselyb.suddenlyc.unwillinglyd.accidentally4.Edith's father smoked a pipe_______.a.when he was obligedb.on social occasionsc.from time to timed.when he was delighted5.Shopping was very disagreeable at that time of the year because_______.a.coustomers trod on each other's toesb.coustomers poked each other with their elbowsc.customers knocked each otherd.customers were doing their shopping in a great hurry（二）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 ______。
专四阅读2013真题及答案
2013 年英语专业四级阅读理解2013 TEM4TEXT AThe art of public speaking began in ancient Greece over 2,000 years ago. Now, twitter, instant messaging, e-mail, blogs and chat forums offer rival approaches to communication—but none can replace the role of a great speech.The spoken word can handle various vital functions: persuading or inspiring, informing, paying tribute, entertaining, or simply introducing someone or something oraccepting something.Over the past year, the human v oice has helped guide us over the ups and downs of what was certainly a stormy time.Persuasion is used in dealing with or reconciling different points of view. When the leaders met in Copenhagen i n December 2009, persuasive words from activists encouraged them to commit themselves to firmer action.Inspirational speeches confront the emotions. They focus on topics and matters that are close to people's hearts. Duringwars, generals used inspiring speeches to prepare the troopsfor battle.A speech that conveys knowledge and enhances understanding can inform us. The information must be clear, accurate, and expressed in a meaningful and interesting way. When the H1N1 pandemic（流行病）was announced, the idea of “swine flu”（猪流感）scared many p eople. Informative speeches from World Health Organization officials helped people to keep their panic under control so they could take sensible precautions.Sad events are never easy to deal with but a speech that pays tribute to the loss of a loved one and gives praise for their contribution can be comforting. Madonna's speech about Michael Jackson, after his death, highlighted the fact that he willcontinue to live on through his music.It's not only in world forums where public speaking playsan important role. It can also be surprisingly helpful in thecourse of our own lives.If you’re taking part in a debate you need to persuade the listeners of the soundness of your argument. In sports, athletes know the importance of a pep talk（鼓舞士气的讲话）before a match to inspire teammates. You yourself may b e asked to do a presentation at college or work to inform the othersabout an area of vital importance.On a more personal level, a friend may be upset and needcomforting. Or you might be asked to introduce a speaker ata family event or to speak at a wedding, where your languagewill be needed to move people or make them laugh.Great speaking ability is not something we're born with.Even Barack Obama works hard to perfect every speech. For a brilliant speech, there are rules that you can put to good use. To learn those rules you have to practice and learn from some outstanding speeches in the past.81. The author thinks the spoken word is still irreplaceable becauseA. it has always been used to inspire or persuade people.B. it has a big role to play in the entertainment business.C. it plays important roles in human communication.D. it is of great use in everyday-life context.82. Which of the following statements is INCORRECT about the role of public speaking?A. Speeches at world forums can lead to effective solutions to world problems.B. Speeches from medical authorities can calm people downin times of pandemics.C. The morale of soldiers before a battle can be boosted bysenior officers' speeches.D. Speeches paying tribute to the dead can comfort themourners.83. Public speaking can play all the following roles EXCEPTA. to convince people in a debate.B. to inform people at a presentation.C. to advise people at work.D. to entertain people at a wedding.84. According to the passage, which of the following bestexplains the author's view on “great speaking ability”？A. It comes from observing rules.B. It can be perfected with easy effort.C. It can be acquired from birth.D. It comes from learning and practice.85. What is the main idea of the passage?A. Public speaking in international forums.B. The many uses of public speaking.C. Public speaking in daily life context.D. The rules of public speaking.TEXT BEvery business needs two things, says Skullcandy CEO RickAlden: inspiration and desperation. In 2001, Alden had both.He'd sold two snowboarding businesses, and he was desperately bored. But he had an idea: He wanted to make a new kind of headphone.“I kept seeing people missing their cell phone calls because they were listening to music,” he explains. Then I'm in a chairlift（索道）, I've got my h eadphones on, and I realize my phone is ringing. As 1 take my gloves off and reach for myphone, I think, “It can't be that tough to make headphoneswith two plugs, one for music and one for your cell phone.” Alden described what he wanted to a designer, perfected aprototype, and outsourced（外包）manufacturing overseas.Alden then started designing headphones into helmets, backpacks - anywhere that would make i t easy to listen to music while snowboa rding. “Selling into board and skate shops wasn't a big research effort,” he explains. “Those were the only guys I knew!”Alden didn’t want to be a manufacturer. And by outsourcing,he'd hoped he could get the business off the ground withoutdebt. But he w as wrong. So he asked his wife, “Can I put a mortgage（抵押贷款）on the house? She said, ‘What is the worst thing that can happen? We lose the house, we sell our cars,and we start all over again.’ I definitely married the right woman!”For the next two years, Alden juggled mortgage payments and payments to his manufacturers. “Factories won't ship your product till they get paid,” he says. “But it takes four or five months to get a mortgage company s o upset that they knock on your door. So we paid the factory fi rst.”Gradually, non-snowboarders began to notice the colorful headphones. In 2006, the company s tarted selling them in 1,400 FYE (For Your Entertainment) stores. “We knew that nine out often people walking into that store would be learning about Skullcandy for the first time. Why would they look at brandsthey knew and take home a new brand instead? We had agreed tobuy back anything we didn’t sell, but we were dealing withhuge numbers. It’d kill us to take back all the products.”Alden’s fears faded as S kullcandy became the No. 1 headphone seller in those stores and tripled its revenue to$120 million in one year. His key insight was that headphonesweren’t gadgets; they were a fashion accessory. “In the beginning,” he says, “that little white wire that said youhad an iPod—that was cool. But now wearing the white bud means you’re just like everyone else. Headphones occupy thiscritical piece of cranial real estate and are highly visible.”Today, Skullcandy is America's second-largest headphone supplier, after Sony. With 79 employees, the company i s bigger than Alden ever imagined.86. Alden came up with the idea of a new kind of headphone because heA. was no longer in snowboarding business.B. had no other business opportunities.C. was very fond of modern music.D. saw an inconvenience among mobile users.87. The new headphone was originally designed forA. snowboarders.B. motorcyclists.C. mountain hikers.D. marathon runners.88. Did Alden solve the money problem?A. He sold his house and his cars.B. Factories could ship products before being paid.C. He borrowed money from a mortgage company.D. He borrowed money from his wife's family.89. What did Alden do to promote sales in FYE stores?A. He spent more money on product advertising.B. He promised to buy back products not sold.C. He agreed to sell products at a discount.D. He improved the colour design of the product.90. Alden sees headphones asA. a sign of self-confidence.B. a symbol of status.C. part of fashion.D. a kind of device.TEXT CI was s tanding in my k itchen wondering what to have for lunch when my friend Taj called.“Sit down,” she said.I thought she was going to tell me she had just gotten thehaircut from hell. I laughed and said, “It can't be that bad.”But it was. Before the phone call, I had 30 years ofretirement saving in a “safe” fund with a brilliant financial guru（金融大亨）.When I put down t he phone, my s avings were gone. I felt as if I had died and, for some u nknown r eason, was still breathing.Since Bernie Madoff’s arrest on charges of running a $65 million Ponzi scheme, I’ve read many articles about how we investors should have known what was going on. I wish I could say I had reservations about Madoff before “the Call”, but I did not.On New Year’s Eve, three weeks after we lost our savings,six of us Madoff people gathered at Taj's house for dinner.As we were sitting around the table, someone asked, “If you could have your money b ack right now, but it would mean g iving up what you have learned by losing it, would you take the money or would you take what losing the money has given you?” My husband was still in financial shock. He said, “I just want the money b ack.” I wasn't certain where I stood. I knew that losing our money had cracked me wide open. I’d been walking around like what the Buddhists call a hungry ghost:always focused on the bite that was yet to come, not the onein my mouth. No matter how much I ate or had or experienced,it didn’t satisfy me, because I wasn’t really taking it in,wasn't absorbing it. Now I was f orced to pay attention.Still,I couldn't honestly say that if someone had offered me themoney back, I would turn it down.But the other four all said that what they were seeing about themselves was incalculable, and they didn’t think it would have become a pparent without the ground of financial stability being ripped out from underneath them.My friend Michael said, “I’d started to get complace nt. It’s as if the muscles of my heart started to atrophy（萎缩）. Now t hey’re awake, alive—and I don’t want to go back.”These weren’t just empty words. Michael and his wife needed to take in boarders to meet their expenses. Taj was so brokethat she was moving into someone’s garage apartment in three weeks. Three friends had declared bankruptcy and weren't sure where or how they were going to live.91. What did the author learn from Taj’s call?A. had got an awful haircut.B. They had lost their retirement savings.C. Taj had just retired from work.D. They were going to meet for lunch.92. How did the author feel in the following weeks?A. Angry.B. Disappointed.C. Indifferent.D. Desperate.93. According to the passage, to which was she “forced topay attention”?A. Her friends.B. Her husband.C. Her lost savings.D. Her experience.94. Which of the following statements is CORRECT about herfriends?A. Her friends valued their experience more.B. Her friends felt the same as she did.C. Her friends were in a better financial situation.D Her friends were more optimistic than she.95. What is the message of the passage?A. Desire for money is human nature.B. One has to be decisive during crises.C. Understanding gained is more important than money lost.D. It is natural to see varied responses to financial crises.TEXT DIn the 19th century, there used to be a model of how to bea good person. There are all these torrents of passion flowing through you. Your job, as captain of your soul, is to erectdams to keep these passions in check. Your job is to just sayno to laziness, lust, greed, drug use and the other sins.These days that model is out of fashion. You usually can’t change your behaviour by simply resolving to do something.Knowing what to do is not the same a s being able to do it. Your willpower is not like a dam that can block the torrent ofself-indulgence. It's more like a muscle, which tires easily. Moreover, you're a social being. If everybody around you is overeating, you’ll probably do so, too.The 19th-century character model was based on an understanding of free will. Today, we know that free will isbounded. People can change their lives, but ordering changeis not simple because many things, even within ourselves, are beyond our direct control.Much o f our behaviour, for example, is guided by unconscious habits. Researchers at Duke University calculated that morethan 40 percent of the actions we take are governed by habit,not actual decisions. Researchers have also come t o understand the structure of habits—cue, routine, reward.You can change your own personal habits. If you leave running shorts on the floor at night, that'll be a cue to gorunning in the morning. Don’t try to ignore your afternoonsnack craving. Every time you feel the cue for a snack, insert another routine. Take a walk.Their research thus implies a different character model,which is supposed to manipulate the neural（神经系统的）networks inside.To be an effective person, under this model, you are supposed to coolly examine your own unconscious habits, andthe habits of those under your care. You are supposed to devise strategies to alter the cues and routines. Every relationship becomes slightly manipulative, including your relationshipwith yourself. You're trying to arouse certain responses byimplanting certain cues.This is a bit disturbing, because the important habitualneural networks are not formed by mere routine, nor can theybe reversed by clever cues. They are burned in by emotion and strengthened by strong yearnings, like the yearnings for admiration and righteousness.If you think you can change your life in a clever way, theway an advertiser can get you to buy an air freshener, you’re probably wrong. As the Victorians understood, if you want tochange your life, don’t just look for a clever cue. Commit to some larger global belief.96. Which of the following is a key element in the19th-century character model?A. Passion.B. Action.C. Capability.D. Determination.97. The 19th-century model supposedly does not work becauseA. there were many other factors beyond one's control.B. it has worked unsatisfactorily most of the time.C. the comparison of free will to a dam is groundless.D. what one wishes to do should be considered carefully.98. What is the main implication of the research at Duke University?A. Habit is key to one's behaviour.B. One’s behaviour is difficult to change.C. Both habit and will power are important.D. Habit has an unidentified structure.99. According to the new character model, personal behaviour could be altered throughA. cues to stop all the former unconscious habits.B. cues to manipulate the habitual neural responses.C. techniques to devise different physical cues.D. techniques to supplement old routines.100. We learn from the passage that the new character modelA. stresses the neural and psychological aspects of habit change.B. can bring about changes in one's life like whatadvertisers do.C. has been used to change behaviour successfully.D. deals better with emotional aspects of behaviour.81—85 CACDB 86—90 DACBC 91—95 BDDAC 96—100DAACA。
2013年英语四级考试阅读习题及答案解析
2013年英语四级考试阅读习题及答案解析(1)Reading is thought to be a kind of conversation between the reader an d the text. The reader putsquestions, as it were, to the text and gets answers.In the light of these he puts __1__ questions, andso on.For most of the time this “conversation”goeson below the level of consciousness. At times,however, we become __2__ of it. This is usu allywhen we are running into difficulties, when mismatch is occurring between __3__ and meaning.When successful matching is being experienc ed, our question of the text continues at the unconscious level.Different people __4__ with the text differently. Some stay very clos e to the words on thepage, others take off imaginatively from the w ords, interpreting, criticizing, analyzing andexamining. The former repr esents a kind of comprehension which is __5__ in the text. Thelatter represents __6__ levels of comprehension. The balance between theseis important,especially for advanced readers.There is another conversation which from our point of view is __7__ important, and that isto do not with what is read but with how i t is read. We call this a “process”conversation as__8__ to a “c ontent”conversation. It is concerned not with meaning but with the__9__ we employ in reading. If we are an advanced reader our ability hold a process conversation with a text is usually pretty well__10__. Not so our ability to hold a content conversation.A)opposed B)converse C)equally D)writtenE)developed F)strategies G)compared H)awakeI)higher J)expectations K)deal L)absolutelyM)aware N)better O)further参考答案及解析:1. 选O )。
2013年12月大学英语四级考试阅读理解真题及答案详解(全套)
2013年12月大学英语四级考试阅读理解真题及答案（全套）幸福就好我亦安2013年12月大学英语四级考试阅读理解真题(一)【阅读】Sectio n CDirectio ns : There are 2 passages in this sect ion. Each passage is followed by some questi ons or unfini shed stateme nts. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresp onding letter on An swer Sheet 2 with a sin gle line through the cen tre.Passage OneQuesti ons 56 to 60 are based on the follow ing passage.In recent years, a growing body of research has shown that our appetite and food in take are in flue need by a large nu mber of factors besides our biological n eed forenergy, including our eating environment and our perception of the food in front of us.Studies have show n, for in sta nee, that eati ng in front of the TV (or a similardistract ion) can in crease both hun ger and the amount of food con sumed. Even simplevisual cues, like plate size and light ing, have bee n show n to affect portion size and con sumpti on.A new study suggested that our short-term memoryalso mayplay a role in appetite. Several hours after a meal, people's hunger levels were predicted not by how much they ' d eaten but rather by how much food they'd seen in front of them —in other words, how much they remembered eati ng.This disparity (盖弃) suggests the memory of our previous meal may have a bigger in flue nee on our appetite tha n the actual size of the meal, says Jeffrey M. Brun strom, a professor of experime ntal psychology at the Uni versity of Bristol."Hun ger isn't con trolled solely by the physical characteristics of a recent meal. Wehave identified an independent role for memory for that meal，" Brunstrom says."This shows that the relati on ship betwee n hun ger and food in take is more complex than we thought."These findings echo earlier research that suggests our percepti on of food can sometimes trick our body' s response to the food itself. In a 2011 study, for instanee, people who drank the same3S0-calorie (卡路里)milkshake on two separate occasions produced different levels of hunger-related hormones (荷尔蒙),depending on whetherthe shake' s label said it contained 620 or 140 calories. Moreover, the participants reported feeling more full when they thought they'd consumed a higher-calorie shake.What does this mean for our eat ing habits? Although it hardly seems practical to trick ourselves into eati ng less, the new findings do highlight the ben efits offocus ing on our food and avoidi ng TV and multitask ing while eat ing.The so-called min dful-eat ing strategies can fight distract ions and help us con trol our appetite, Brun strom says.注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。
2013年12月英语四级阅读真题及答案kj140331103107
Part ⅢReading Comprehension (40 minutes)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 Sheet 2.Is College a Worthy Investment?A）Why are we spending so much money on college? And why are we so unhappy about it? We all seem to agree that a college education is wonderful, and yet strangely we worry when we see families investing so much in this supposedly essential good. Maybe it’s time to ask a question that seems almost sacrilegious （大不敬的）：is all this investment in college education really worth it?B）The answer, I fear, is no. For an increasing number of kids, the extra time and money spent pursuing a college diploma will leave them worse off than they were before they set foot on campus.C）For my entire adult life, a good education has been the most important thing for middle-class households. My parents spent more educating my sister and me than they spent on their house, and they’re not the only ones…and, of course, for an increasing number of families, most of the cost of their house is actually the cost of living in a good school district. Questioning the value of a college education seems a bit like questioning the value of happiness, or fun.D）The average price of all goods and services has risen about 50 percent. But the price of a college education has nearly doubled in that time. Is the education that today’s students are getting twice as good? Are new workers twice as smart? Have they become somehow massively more expensive to educate?E）Perhaps a bit. Richard Vedder, an Ohio University economics professor, says, “I look at the data, and I see college costs rising faster than inflation up to the mid-1980s by 1 percent a year. Now I see them rising 3 to 4 percent a year over inflation. What has happened? The federal government has started dropping money out of airplanes.”Aid has increased, subsidized （补贴的）loans have become available, and “the universities have gotten the money.”Economist Bryan Caplan, who is writing a book about educa tion, agrees: “It’s a giant waste of resources that will continue as long as the subsidies continue.”F）Promotional literature for colleges and student loans often speaks of debt as an “investment in yourself.”But an investment is supposed to generate income to pay off the loans. More than half of all recent graduates are unemployed or in jobs that do not require a degree, and the amount of student-loan debt carried by households has increased more than five times since 1999. These graduates were told that a diploma was all they needed to succeed, but it won’t even get them out of the spare bedroom at Mom and Dad’s. For many, the most visible result of their four years is the loan payments, which now average hundreds of dollars a month on loan balances in the tens of thousands.G）It’s true about the money—sort of. College graduates now make 80 percent more than people who have only a high-school diploma, and though there are no precise estimates, the wage premium （高出的部分）for an outstanding school seems to be even higher. But th at’s nottrue of every student. It’s very easy to spend four years majoring in English literature and come out no more employable than you were before you went in. Conversely, chemical engineers straight out of school can easily make almost four times the wages of an entry-level high-school graduate.H）James Heckman, the Nobel Prize-winning economist, has examined how the returns on education break down for individuals with different backgrounds and levels of ability. “Even with these high prices, you’re still finding a high return for individuals wh o are bright and motivated,” he says. On the other hand, “if you’re not college ready, then the answer is no, it’s not worth it.” Experts tend to agree that for the average student, college is still worth it today, but they also agree that the rapid increase in price is eating up more and more of the potential return. For borderline students, tuition （学费）rise can push those returns into negative territory.I）Everyone seems to agree that the government, and parents, should be rethinking how we invest in higher education—and that employers need to rethink the increasing use of college degrees as crude screening tools for jobs that don’t really require college skills. “Employers seeing a surplus of college graduates and looking to fill jobs are just adding that requirement,”says Vedder. “In fact, a college degree becomes a job requirement for becoming a bar-tender.”J）We have started to see some change on the finance side. A law passed in 2007 allows many students to cap their loan payment at 10 percent of their income and forgives any balance after 25 years. But of course, that doesn’t control the cost of education; it just shifts it to taxpayers. It also encourages graduates to choose lower-paying careers, which reduces the financial return to education sti ll further. “You’re subsidizing people to become priests and poets and so forth,” says Heckman. “You may think that’s a good thing, or you may not.” Either way it will be expensive for the government.K）What might be a lot cheaper is putting more kids to work. Caplan notes that work also builds valuable skills—probably more valuable for kids who don’t naturally love sitting in a classroom. Heckman agrees wholeheartedly:“People are different, and those abilities can be shaped. That’s what we’ve learned, and public policy should recognize that.”L）Heckman would like to see more apprenticeship-style （学徒式）programs, where kids can learn in the workplace—learn not just specific job skills, but the kind of “soft skills,”like getting to work on time and getting along with a team, that are crucial for career success. “It’s about having mentors （指导者）and having workplace-based education,”he says. “Time and again I’ve seen examples of this kind of program working.”M）Ah, but how do we get there from here? With better public policy, hopefully, but also by making better individual decisions. “Historically markets have been able to handle these things,”says Vedder, “and I think eventually markets will handle this one. If it doesn’t improve soon, people are going to wake up and ask, ‘Why am I going to college?’”注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。
大学英语四级阅读理解训练
大学英语四级阅读理解训练（一）Classified advertising is that advertising which is grouped in certain secti ons of the paper and is thus distinguished from display advertising. Such groupings as “Help Wanted”,“Real Estate”,“Lost and Found” are made, the rate charged being less than for display advertising. Classified adverti sements are a convenience to the reader and a saving to the advertiser. The reader who is interested in a particular kind of advertisement finds alladvertisements of that type grouped for him. The advertisers may, on this account, use a very small advertisement if it were placed among larger ad vertisements in the paper. It is evident that the reader approaches the class ified advertisement in a different frame of mind from that in which he app roaches the other advertisements in the paper. He turns to a page of classif ied advertisements to search for the particularadvertisement that will meet his needs. As his attention is voluntary, the a dvertiser does not need to rely too much extent on display type to get the reader’s attention. Formerly all classified advertisements were of the sam e size and did not have display type. With the increase in the number of s uch advertisements, however, each advertiser within a certain group is co mpeting with others in the same group for the reader’s attention. In many cases, the result has been an increase in the size of the space used and the addition of headlines and pictures. In that way, the classified advertisement has in reality advertisement. This is particularly true of real estate adve rtising?1. All of the following facts are advantages of classified advertisement for advertisers EXCEPT that ____.A) classified advertisement charges less moneyB) it is easier to attract the attention of the target consumers C) it provides more information for the readers D) it does not have to rely too much on display type2. One of the examples given of types of classified advertisement is ____A) houses for saleB) people who are asking for help C) people who are lost D) job vacancie s3. What sort of attitude do people have when they look at classified adver tisement, according to the writer?A) They are in the frame of mind to buy anything. B) They are looking fo r something they need.C) They feel lost because there are so many advertisements. D) They feel the same as when they look at display advertisements.4．According to the passage, in which way have the classified advertise ments changed nowadays?A) They depend more on display type. B) More money is charged for the m. C) They are divided into more groups. D) They are less formal.5．Why have classified advertisements changed in appearance? A) Becau se people no longer want headlines and pictures. B) Because real estate a dvertising is particularly truthful now.C) Because the increase in the number of such advertisements means they have to be small now.D) Because there are more advertisements now and more competition am ong advertisers.答案与解析： 1. C分类广告的优越性不包括为读者提供更多的信息。
大学英语四级(阅读)练习试卷9(题后含答案及解析)
大学英语四级（阅读）练习试卷9(题后含答案及解析) 题型有： 4. Reading Comprehension (Reading in Depth)Part IV Reading Comprehension (Reading in Depth) (25 minutes)Section ADirections: In this section, there is a short passage with 5 questions or incomplete statements. Read the passage carefully. Then answer the questions or complete the statements in the fewest possible words.Would-be language teachers everywhere have one thing in common: they all want some recognition of their professional status and skills, and a job. The former requirements is obviously important on a personal level, but it is vital if you are to have any chance of finding work. Ten years ago, the situation was very different. In virtually every developing country, and in many developed countries as well, being a native English speaker was enough to get you employed as an English teacher. Now employers will only look at teachers who have the knowledge, the skills and attitudes to teach English effectively. The result of this has been to raise non-native English teachers to the same status as their native counterparts(相对应的人)--some- thing they have always deserved but seldom enjoyed. Non-natives are now happy-- linguistic discrimination(语言上的歧视) is a thing of the past. As ongoing research project, funded by the University of Cambridge, asked a sample of teachers, teacher educators and employers in more than 40 countries whether they regard the native/non-native speakers distinction as being at all important. “NO” was the answer. As long as candidates could teach and had the required level of English, it didn’t matter who they were and where they came from. Thus, a new form of discrimination--this time justified because it singled out the unqualified--liberated the lingusitically oppressed(受压迫的). But the Cambridge project did more than just that: it confirmed that the needs of native and non-native teachers are extremely similar.1．The selection of English teacher used to be mainly based on正确答案：whether or not one was a native speaker 涉及知识点：阅读2．What did non-native English teachers deserve but seldom enjoy?正确答案：The same situation as their native counterparts. 涉及知识点：阅读3．What kind of people can now find a job as an English teacher?正确答案：Ones who can teach and have the required English level. 涉及知识点：阅读4．What is the result of the “new form of discrimination”( Line 5, para. 4 )?正确答案：Non-native English teachers have been liberated. / It singled out the unqualified. 涉及知识点：阅读5．The phrase “the lingusitically oppressed”(Line 7, Para. 4) refers to those who were ____________.正确答案：qualified non-native English teachers 涉及知识点：阅读For many women choosing whether to work or not to work outside their home is a luxury: they must work to survive. Others face a hard decision. Perhaps the easiest choice has to do with economists. One husband said, “Marge and I decided after careful consideration that for her to go back to work at this moment was an extravagance(奢侈) we couldn’t afford,” With two preschool children, it soon became clear in their figuring that with babysitters(临时照看小孩的人), transportation, and increased taxes, rather than having more money, they might actually end up with less. Economic factors are usually the first to be considered, but they are not the most important. The most important aspects of the decision have to do with the emotional needs of each member of the family. It is in this area that husbands and wives find themselves having to face many confusing and conflicting feelings. There are many women who find that homemaking is boring or who feel imprisoned(被禁) if they have to stay home with a young child or several children. On the other hand, there are women who think that homemaking gives them the deepest satisfaction. From my own experiences, I would like to suggest that sometimes the decision to go hack is made in too much haste. There are few decisions that I now regret more. I wasn’t mature enough to see how much I could have gained at home. I regret my impatience to get on with my career. I wish I had allowed myself the luxury of watching the world through my little girl’s eyes.6．Which word in the first two paragraphs best explains why many women have to work?正确答案：Economics. 涉及知识点：阅读7．Why did Marge and her husband think it an extravagance for Marge to go back to work?正确答案：Because the increased cost will be more than Marge’s income. 涉及知识点：阅读8．What are the two major considerations in deciding whether women should go out to work?正确答案：Economic factors and emotional needs. 涉及知识点：阅读9．Some women would rather do housework and take care of their children than pursue their career because they feel __________________.正确答案：that homemaking gives them the deepest satisfaction 涉及知识点：阅读10．If given a second chance, the writer would probably choose to ___________________.正确答案：stay home 涉及知识点：阅读。
2013年英语专业四级真题及答案详解(含阅读理解).docx
TEST FOR ENGLISH MAJORS (2013)—GRADE FOUR—TIME LIMIT: 130 MINPART 1 DICTATION 15 MINListen to the following passage. Altogether the passage will be read to you four times: During the first reading, which will be read at normal speed, listen and try to understand the meaning. For the second and third readings, the passage will be read sentence by sentence, or phrase by phrase, with intervals of 15 seconds. The last reading will be read at normal speed again and during this time you should check your work. You will then be given 2 minutes to check through your work once more.PART 2 LITENING COMPREHENSION 20 MINSECTION A CONVERSATIONSIn this section, you will hear several conversations. Listen to the conversations carefully and then answer the questions that follow.Questions 1 to 3 are based on the following conversation. At the end of the conversation you will be given 15 seconds to answer the questions.1.According to the conversation, an example of“Christmas trimmings”could beA. presents.B. fruitsC. sauceD. meat2.A Christmas lunch would include all the following EXCECTA. roast turkeyB. sweet potatoesC. meatD. carrots3.Why did Helen come to Rob?s house?A. She wanted to talk to Bob.B. She had come to help Bob.C. She had been invited to lunch.D. She was interested in cooking.Questions 4 to 7 are based on the following conversation. At the end of the conversation you will be given 20 seconds to answer the questions.4.Why did the woman phone the club?A. She wanted to know more about it.B. She was a new comer and felt lonely.C. She wanted to learn a new language.D. She was interested in social activities.5.We learn from the conversation that the clubA. mainly organize language activities.B. accepts members from local students.C. has been set up for a long time.D. is increasing its membership.6.According to the conversation, the woman might come to practice German onA. Wednesday.B. Tuesday.C. Monday.D. Friday.7.What is the man going to do after the conversation?A. Call up the woman for her address.B. Wait for the woman to call him again.C. Mail the woman some information.D. Wait for the woman to pick up a form.Questions 8 to 10 are based on the following conversation. At the end of the conversation you will be given 15 seconds to answer the questions.8.According to the woman, what actually makes her job difficult?A. Difficult questions from interviewees.B. Embarrassing requests from interviewees.C. Lack of professional background.D. Lack of interviewing skills.9.The woman uses all the following adjectives when talking about attending job fairs EXCEPTA. prospective.B. useful.C. important.D. tiring.10. We learn from the conversation that the womanA. works better at job fairs.B. prefers honest people.C. often works on her own.D. is experienced in her work.SECTION B PASSAGESIn this section, you will hear several passages.Listen to the passages carefully and then answer the questions that follow.Questions 11 to 13 are based on the following passage. At the end of the passage you will be given 15 seconds to answer the questions.11. According to today?s weather forecast, which part of Europe has dry weather?A. Scandinavian mountain.B. Northwestern Europe.C. Northern Europe.D. Southern Europe.12. In which part of Europe does the weather stay both fine and cool?A. Southern Europe.B. Northern Europe.C. Eastern Europe.D. Northwestern Europe.13. In which region will the weather change tomorrow?A. Northern parts of the Mediterranean.B. Eastern parts of the Mediterranean.C. Central parts of the Mediterranean.D. Southern parts of the Mediterranean.Questions 14 to 17 are based on the following passage. At the end of the passage you will be given 20 seconds to answer the questions.14.According to the passage, what benefit can technology bring to people?A. Closer contact with modern devices.B. Greater changes in social organization.C. Better understanding of mass media.D. More useful information to better their life.15.The speaker questions about everybody?s access to technological advances. The main reason is16.According to the UN plan, all the following will be achieved within ten yearsEXCEPT A. giving everyone a radio or TV.B. starting to carry out the scheme in ten years.C. offering internet service to more people.D. providing more job opportunities.17.What could be topic of the passage?A. Growth in telecommunications.B. Technology and the developing world.C. Education and medical care.D. Building an information society.Questions 18 to 20 are based on the following passage. At the end of the passage you will be given 15 seconds to answer the questions.18. People in Latin America wear something ______ to express their hopes for wealth in the New Year.A. newB. redC. whiteD. yellow 19. Which of the following NewYear?s traditions signals friendship? A. Throwing old dishes. B.Wearing something red. C. Wearing something white. D. Eatinground fruits.20. Which of the following is NOT mentioned as one?s own New Year?s tradition?A. Watching TV at home.B. Going to bed early.C. Visiting friends.D. Running and shouting outside.SECTION C NEWS BROADCASTIn this section, you will hear several news items. Listen to the passages carefully and then answerthe questions that follow.Questions 21 to 22 are based on the following news. At the end of each news item, you will be given 10 seconds to answer the questions.21.What is happening to the schools in Fairfax County this school year?A. 15 schools have started social studies.B. 15 schools have used digital textbooks.C. Students are ready to use electronic resources.D. Digital textbooks are used for social studies.22. With digital textbooks, schools have saved about ______ million dollars.A.1B.2C.3D.4Questions 23 to 24 are based on the following news. At the end of each news item, you will be given 10 seconds to answer the questions.23. Who found the suspicious item at the airport?A. TSA agents.B. FBI agents.C. The police.D. Passengers.24.Which of the following statement is INCORRECT?A. The terminal was closed temporarily afterwards.B.There was a thorough search inside the airport.C. Passengers at the airport were safe and sound.D.The security authorities identified the explosives.Questions 25 to 26 are based on the following news. At the end of each news item, you will be given10 seconds to answer the questions.25. According to the news item, doctors use art therapy to treat the following problems EXCEPTA. alcohol abuse.B. smoking.C. depression.D. schizophrenia.26. Why did doctors introduce art therapy in the first place?A. To prevent patients from smoking.B. To better understand patients.C. To get patients occupied.D. To teach patients some skills.Questions 27 to 28 are based on the following news. At the end of each news item, you will be given10 seconds to answer the questions.27.What is the main purpose of the new rules?A. To reduce the number of pilots on duty.B. To prevent pilots from working overtime.C. To ensure an adequate amount of sleep.D. To fix the amount of work for each pilot.28.The Independent Pilots Association was unhappy about the new rules becausethey A. had only covered cargo plane pilots.B. had failed to cover all the pilots.C. would be put into effect in two years.D. would be too costly if implemented.Questions 29 to 30 are based on the following news. At the end of each news item, you will be given10 seconds to answer the questions.29.Why is increase in livestock production necessary?30.What does the word“challenge”mean in the news item?A. Balance between human survival and ecology.B. Conflict between less land and more production.C. Difference between present and future needs.D. Calls by environmental critics to consume less meat.PART 3 CLOZE 15 MINDecide which of the choices given below would best complete the passage if inserted in the correspondi ng blanks. Mark the best choice for each blank on Answer Sheet Two.Everyone knows that taxation is necessary in a modern state: without it, it (31) _____ not be possible to pay the soldiers and policemen who protect us; (32) _____ the workers in government offices who (33) _____ our health, our food, our water, and all the other things that we cannot do for ourselves. (34) _____ taxation, we pay for things that we need just (35) _____ we need somewhere to live and something to eat. But (36) _____ ever yone knows that taxation is necessary, different people have different ideas about (37)____ taxation should be arranged.In most countries, a direct tax on (38) _____, which is called income tax, (39) _____. It is arranged in such (40)______ that the poorest people pay nothing, and the percentage of tax grows (41) ____ as the taxpayer's inco me grows. In some countries, for example, the tax on the richest people (42)______ as high as ninety-five per c ent! (43) _____ countries with taxation nearly (44) _____ have indirect taxation too. Many things imported into the country have to pay taxes or“ duties. Of” course, it is the men and women who buy these imported thing s in the shops (45)______ really have to pay the duties, in the (46) ______ of higher prices. In some countries, (47) _____, there is a tax on things sold in the shops. If the most necessary things are taxed, a lot of money is (48) ____ but the poor people suffer most. If unnecessary things (49)___ jewels and fur coats are taxed, less m oney is obtained but the tax is (50) ______as the rich pay it.Probably this last kind of indirect tax, together with a direct tax on incomes which is low for the poor and highf or the rich, is the best arrangement.PART 4 GRAMMAR & VOCABULARY15 MINThere are thirty sentences in this section. Beneath each sentence there are four words or phrases marked A, B, C and D. Choose one word or phrase that best completes the sentence. Mark your answers on Answer Sheet Tw o.51.Facing the board of directors, hedidn?t deny ________ breaking theagreement. A. himB. itC. hisD. its52.Xinchun returned from aboard a different man. The italicized part functions as a (n) ______.A. appositive (同位语 )B. objectC.adverbialD. complement.53.Which of the following is a compound word (复合词 )? ______.A. Nonsmoker.B. Deadline.C. Meanness.D. Misfit.54.Which of the following sentences contains subjunctive mood? ______.A. Lucy insisted that her son get home before 5o?clock?B. She used to drive to work, but now she takes the city metro.C.Walk straight ahead, and don't turn till the second traffic lights. D.Paul will cancel his flight if he cannot get his visa by Friday.55.The following determiners(限定词 ) can be used with both plural and uncountablenouns EXCEPT ______.A. moreB.enough.C.many.D.such.56.Which of the italicized parts indicates CONTRAST? ______.A. She opened the door and quietly went in.B. Victoria likes music and Sam is fond of sports.C. Think it over again and you? ll get an answer.D. He is somewhat arrogant, and I don't like this.57.Which of the following CANNOT be used as a nominal substitute(名词替代词 )? ______.A. Much.B.Neither.C.One.D.Quarter.58.All the following sentences definitely indicate future time EXCEPT ______.A.Mother is to have tea with Aunt Betty at four.B.The President is coming to the UN next week.C.The school pupils will be home by now.D.He is going to email me the necessary information.59.Which of the following sentences is grammatically INCORRECT? ______.A. Politics are the art or science of government.60.Which of in the following phrases indicates a subject-predicate relationship? ______.A. The arrival of the touristsB. The law of NewtonC. The occupation of the islandD. The plays of Oscar Wilde61.Which of the following italicized parts serves as an appositive? ______.62.Which of the following is NOT an imperative sentence? ______.A. Let me drive you home, shall I?B. You will mind your own business!C. Come and have dinner with us.D.I wish you could stay behind. ,63.If it ______ tomorrow, the match would be put off.64.Which of the following sentences expresses a fact? ______.A. Mary and her son must be home by now.B.Careless reading must give poor results.C. It?s getting late, and I must leave now.D.He must be working late at the office.65.The following are all dynamic verbs(动态动词 ) EXCEPT ______.A. remain.B. turn.C.write. D.knock.66.____ to school life was less difficult than the pupil had expected.A.AdheringB.AdoptingC.AdjustingD.Acquainting67.He is fed up with the same old dreary routine, and wants to quit his job. The underlined part means _________.A. dullB.boring C.long D.hard68.At last night?s party Larry said something that I though was beyond me. Theunderlined part means ________.A. I was unable to doC. I was unable to stopB. I couldn?t understandD. I couldn?t tolerate69. The couple ______their old house and sold it for a vast profit.A. did forB. did inC.did withD. did up70. Sally contributed a lot to the project, but she never once accepted all the ____ for herself.A.creditB.attentionC.focusD.award71.The child nodded, apparently content with his mother?s promise. The underlinedpart means _________.A. as far as one has learntB.as far as one is concerned C.as far as one can seeD. as far as one is told72.The ________ that sport builds character is well accepted by people nowadays.A.issueB.argumentC.pointD.sentence73.Everyone in the office knows that Melinda takes infinite care over her work.The underlined part means ________.A. limitedB. unnecessaryC. overdueD. much74.The new measure will reduce the chance of serious injury in the event of an accident.The underlined part means _________.A. if an accident happensB. if an accident can be preventedC. before an accidentD. during an accident75.Traditionally, local midwives would ________ all the babies in the area.A. handleB. produceC. deliverD. help76.No food or drink is allowed on the premises. The underlined part means ________.A. propositionB. advertisementC. buildingD. street77.The court would not accept his appeal unless ________ evidence is provided.A.conclusiveB.definiteC.eventualD.concluding78.As soon as he opened the door, a ________ of cold air swept through the house.A. flowB. movementC. rushD. blast79.She really wanted to say something at the meeting, but eventually ________ from it.A. preventedB. refrainedC. limitedD.restricted80.The couple told the decorator that they wanted their bedroom gaily painted. The underlined part means ___ ______. A.brightlyB. light-heartedlyC. cheerfullyD. lightlyPART V READING COMPREHENSION25 MINIn this section there are four passages followed by questions or unfinished statements, each with four sug gested answers marked A, B, C and D. Choose the one that you think is the best answer. Mark your answers on Answer Sheet Two.TEXT AThe art of public speaking began in ancient Greece over 2,000 years ago. Now, twitter, instant messaging, e-mail, blogs and chat forums offer rival approaches to communication - but none can replace the role of a greatspee ch.The spoken word can handle various vital functions: persuading or inspiring, informing, paying tribute, enterta ining, or simply introducing someone or something or accepting something. Over the past year, the human voice has helped guide us over the ups and downs of what was certainly a stormy time.Persuasion is used in dealing with or reconciling different points of view. When the leaders met in Copenhagenin December 2009, persuasive words from activists encouraged them to commit themselves to fir mer action. Inspirational speeches confront the emotions. They focus on topics and matters that are close to pe ople's hearts. During wars, generals used inspiring speeches to prepare the troops for battle.A speech that conveys knowledge and enhances understanding can inform us. The information must be clear, a ccurate, and expressed in a meaningful and interesting way. （流行病） announced, the idea of“swineflu ” many people. Informative speeches from World Health Organization officials helped people to keep their panic under control so they could take sensible precautions.Sad events are never easy to deal with but a speech that pays tribute to the loss of a loved one and gives praise for their contribution can be comforting. Madonna's speech about Michael Jackson,after his death, highlighted the fact that he will continue to live on through his music.It's not only in world forums where public speaking plays an important role. It can also be surprisingly helpful in the course of our own lives.If you?re taking part in a debate you need to persuade the listeners of the soundness ofyour argument. In sports, athletes know the importance of a pep talk （鼓舞士气的讲话） before a match to inspire teammates. You yourself may be asked to do a presentation at college or work t o inform the others about an area of vital importance.On a more personal level, a friend may be upset and need comforting. Or you might beasked to introduce a speaker at a family event or to speak at a wedding, where your language will be needed to move people or make them laugh.Great speaking ability is not something we're born with. Even Barack Obama works hardto perfect every speech. For a brilliant speech, there are rules that you can put to good use. To learn those rules you have to practice and learn from some outstanding speeches in the past.81.The author thinks the spoken word is still irreplaceable because ______.A. it has always been used to inspire or persuade people.B. it has a big role to play in the entertainment business.C. it plays important roles in human communication.D. it is of great use in everyday-life context.82.Which of the following statements is INCORRECT about the role of public speaking? _____A. Speeches at world forums can lead to effective solutions to world problems.B. Speeches from medical authorities can calm people down in times of pandemics.C. The morale of soldiers before a battle can be boosted by senior officers' speeches.D. Speeches paying tribute to the dead can comfort the mourners.83. Public speaking can play all the following roles EXCEPT______.A. to convince people in a debate.B. to inform people at a presentation.C. to advise people at work.D. to entertain people at a wedding.84. According to the passage, which of the following best explains the author's view on ______“great speaking ability”?85.What is the main idea of the passage? ______.A. Public speaking in international forums.B. The many uses of public speaking.C. Public speaking in daily life context.D. The rules of public speaking.TEXT BEvery business needs two things, says Skullcandy CEO Rick Alden: inspiration and desperation. In 2001, Alden had both. He'd sold two snowboarding businesses, and he was desperately bored. But he had an idea: He wan ted to make a new kind of headphone. I kept seeing people missing their cell phone calls because they were list ening to music,” he explains. Then I'm in a chairlift, I've got my headphones on, and I realize my phone is rin ging. As 1 take my gloves off and reach for my phone, I think, “ It can't be that tough to make headphones with two plugs, one for music and one for your cell phone”. Alden described what he wanted to a designer, perfe cted a prototype, and outsourced（外包） manufacturing overseas.Alden then started designing headphones into helmets, backpacks - anywhere that would make it easy to listen to music while snowboarding. “Selling into board and skate shops wasn't a big research effort,” he explains. “Those were the only guys I knew!”Alden didn?t want to be a manufacturer. And by outsourcing, he'd hoped he could get thebusiness off the ground without debt. But he was wrong. So he asked his wife,“Can I puta （抵押贷款） on the house? She said, What is the worst thing that can happen? Welose the house, we sell our cars, and we start all over again?I. definitely married the rightwoman!”For the next two years, Alden juggled mortgage payments and payments to his manufacturers“.Factories won 't ship your product till they get paid,”he says.“But it takes four or five months to get a mortgage company so upset that they knock on your door. So we paid the factory first”.Gradually, non-snowboarders began to notice the colorful headphones. In 2006, the company started selling the m in 1,400 FYE (For Your Entertainment) stores.“ We knew that nine out often people walking into that store would be learning about Skullcandy for the first time. Why would they look at brands they knew and take hom e a new brand instead? We had agreed to buy back anything we didn?t sell, but we were dealing with huge num bers. It?d kill us to take back all the productsAlden?s fears faded as Skullcandy became the No. 1 headphone seller in those stores andtripled its revenue to $120 million in one year. His key insight was that headphones weren?tgadgets; they were a fashion accessory“. In the beginning,” he says,“ that little white wire that said youha d an iPod ---that was cool. But now wearing the white bud means you?re just like everyone else. Headphones occupy this critical piece of cranial real estate and are highly visible”.Today, Skullcandy is America's second-largest headphone supplier, after Sony. With 79 employees, the compan y is bigger than Alden ever imagined.86.Alden came up with the idea of a new kind of headphone because he ______.A. was no longer in snowboarding business.B. had no other business opportunities.C. was very fond of modern music.D. saw an inconvenience among mobile users.87.The new headphone was originally designed for ______.A. snowboarders.B. motorcyclists.C.mountain hikers. D.marathon runners.88.Did Alden solve the money problem? ______.A. He sold his house and his cars.B. Factories could ship products before being paid.C. He borrowed money from a mortgage company.D. He borrowed money from his wife's family.89.What did Alden do to promote sales in FYE stores? ______.A. He spent more money on product advertising.B. He promised to buy back products not sold.C. He agreed to sell products at a discount.D. He improved the colour design of the product.90.Alden sees headphones as ______.A. a sign of self-confidence.B. a symbol of status.C. part of fashion.D. a kind of device.TEXT CI was standing in my kitchen wondering what to have for lunch when my friend Taj called.“ Sit down, ” she said. I thought she was going to tell me she had just gotten the haircut from hell. Ilaughed and said,“It can't be that bad”.But it was. Before the phone call, I had 30 years of retirement saving in a“safe” fund witha brilliant financial guru （金融大亨） .When I put down the phone, my savings weregone. I felt as if I had died and, for some unknown reason, was still breathing. SinceBernie Madoff?s arrest on charges of running a $65 million Ponzi scheme, I'veread many articles about how we investors should have known what was going on. I wishI could say I had reservations about Madoff before“the Call” , but I did not.On New Year's Eve, three weeks after we lost our savings, six of us Madoff people gathered atTaj's house for dinner. As we were sitting around the table, someone asked,“If you could haveyour money back right now, but it would mean giving up what you have learned by losing it,would you take the money or would you take what losing the money has given you?”My husband was still in financial shock. He said, “ I just want the money back.” I wasn't certain where I sto od. I knew that losing our money had cracked me wide open.?dI been walking around like what the Buddhists call a hungry ghost: always focused on the bite that was yet to come, not the one in my mouth. No matter how much I ate or had or experienced, it didn?t satisfy me, because I wasn?t really taking it in, wasn't absorbing it. Now I was forced to pay attention. Still, I couldn't honestly say that if someone had offered me the money bac k, I would turn it down.But the other four all said that what they were seeing about themselves was incalculable, andthey didn?t think it would have become apparent without the ground of financial stability beingripped out from underneath them.My friend Michael said,I ?d started to get complacent. It?s as if the muscles of my heart started to atrophy（萎缩） . Now they?re awake, alive— and I don?t want to go back.”Theseweren?tjust empty words. Michael and his wife needed to take in boarders to meet their expenses. Taj was so broke tha t she was moving into someone?s garage apartment in three weeks. Three friends had declared bankruptcy andweren't sure where or how they were going to live.91.What did the author learn from Taj?s call?A. had got an awful haircut.B. They had lost their retirement savings.C. Taj had just retired from work.D. They were going to meet for lunch.92.How did the author feel in the following weeks?A. Angry.B.Disappointed.C.Indifferent.D.Desperate.93.According to the passage, to which was she“ forced to pay attention”?A. Her friends.B. Her husband.C.Her lost savings. D.Her experience.94.Which of the following statements is CORRECT about her friends?A. Her friends valued their experience more.B. Her friends felt the same as she did.C. Her friends were in a better financial situation.D Her friends were more optimistic than she.95.What is the message of the passage?A. Desire for money is human nature.B. One has to be decisive during crises.C. Understanding gained is more important than money lost.D. It is natural to see varied responses to financial crises.TEXT DIn the 19th century, there used to be a model of how to be a good person. There are all these torrents of passion flowing through you. Your job, as captain of your soul, is to erect dams to keep these passions in check. Your jo b is to just say no to laziness, lust, greed, drug use and the other sins.These days that model is out of fashion. You usually can?t change your behaviour by simply resolving to doso mething. Knowing what to do is not the same as being able to do it.Your willpower is not like a dam that can block the torrent of self-indulgence. It's more like a muscle, which ti res easily. Moreover, you're a social being. If everybody around you is overeating, you?ll probably do so, too. The 19th-century character model was based on an understanding of free will. Today, weknow that free will is bounded. People can change their lives, but ordering change is notsimple because many things, even within ourselves, are beyond our direct control.Much of our behaviour, for example, is guided by unconscious habits. Researchers atDuke University calculated that more than 40 percent of the actions we take are governed byhabit, not actual decisions. Researchers have also come to understand the structure of habits—cue, routine, reward.You can change your own personal habits. If you leave running shorts on the floor atnight, that'll be a cue to go running in the morning. Don?t try to ignore your afternoon snackcraving. Every time you feel the cue for a snack, insert another routine. Take a walk.Their research thus implies a different character model, which is supposed to manipulate。
2013年12月大学英语四级仔细阅读习题
2013年12月大学英语四级仔细阅读习题（一）Judging from recent surveys,most experts in sleep behavior agree that there is virtually an epidemic (流行病) of sleepiness in the nation. “I can't think of a single study that hasn't found Americans getting less sleep than they ought to,” says Dr. David. Even people who think they are sleeping enough would probably be better off with more rest.The beginning of our sleep-deficit (睡眠不足) crisis can betraced to the invention of the light bulb a century ago. From diary entries and other personal accounts from the 18th and 19th centuries, sleep scientists have reached the conclusion that the average person used to sleep about 9.5 hours anight. “The best sleep habits once were forced on us, when we had nothing to do in the evening down on t he farm, and it was dark.” By the 1950s and 1960s, that sleep schedule had been reduced dramatically, to between 7.5 and eight hours,and most people had to wake to an alarm clock. “People cheat on their sleep,and they don't even realize they're doing it,” says Dr. David. "They think they're okay because they can get by on 6.5hours, when they really need 7.5, eight or even more to feel ideally vigorous."Perhaps the most merciless robber of sleep,researchers say, is the complexity of the day. Whenever pressures from work,family, friends and community mount, many people consider sleep the least expensive item on his programme. 'In our society, you're considered dynamic if you say you only need 5.5 hours' sleep. If you've got to get 8.5 hours, people think you lack drive and ambition."To determine the consequences of sleep deficit,researchers have put subjects through a set of psychological and performance tests requiring them, for instance, to add columns of numbers or recall a passage read to them only minutes earlier. "We've found that if you're in sleep deficit, performance suffers," says Dr. David. “Short-term memory is weakened, as are abilities to make decisions and to concentrate.”1. People in the 18th and 19th centuries used to sleep about 9.5 hoursa night because theyhad _______ .A) no drive and ambition B) noelectric lightingC) the best sleep habits D)nothing to do in the evening2. According to Dr. David, Americans _______ .A) are ideally vigorous even under the pressure of lifeB) of ienneglect the consequences of sleep deficitC) do not know how to relax themselves properlyD) can get by on 6.5 hours of sleep3. Many Americans believe that _______ .A) sleep is the first thing that can be sacrificed when one is busyB) they need more sleep to cope with the complexities of everyday lifeC) to sleep is something one can do at any time of the dayD) enough sleep promotes people's drive and ambition4. The word “subjects” (Line 1, Para. 4) refers to______ .A) the performance tests used in the study of sleep deficitB) special branches of knowledge that are being studiedC) people whose behavior or reactions are being studiedD) the psychological consequences of sleep deficit5. It can be concluded from the passage that one should sleep as many hours as is necessary to ______ .A) improve one's memory dramaticallyB) be considered dynamic by other peopleC) maintain one's daily scheduleD) feel energetic and perform adequately2013年12月大学英语四级仔细阅读习题（二）We find that bright children are rarely held back by mixed-ability teaching. Onthe contrary, both their knowledge and experience are enriched. We feel thatthere are many disadvantages in streaming(把......按能力分班) pupils. It doesnot take into account the fact that children develop at different rates. It canhave a bad effect on both the bright and the not-so-bright child. After all, itcan be quite discouraging to be at the bottom of the top grade!Besides, it is rather unreal tograde people just according to their intellectual ability. This isonly one aspect of their totalpersonality. We are concerned to develop the abilities of all our pupils to thefull, not just their academic ability. We also value personal qualities andsocial skills, and we find that mixed-ability teaching contributes to all theseaspects of learning.In our classrooms, we work invarious ways. The pupils often work in groups: this gives them the opportunityto learn to co-operate, to share, and to develop leadership skills. They alsolearn how to cope with personal problems as well as learning how to think, tomake decisions, to analyse and evaluate, and to communicate effectively. Thepupils learn from each other as well as from the teacher.Sometimes the pupils work inpairs; sometimes they work on individual tasks and assignments, and they can dothis at their own speed. They also have some formal class teaching when this isappropriate. We encourage our pupils to use the library, and we teach them theskills they need in order to do this efficiently. An advanced pupil can doadvanced work: it does not matter what age the child is. We expect our pupilsto do their best, not their least, and we give them every encouragement toattain this goal.1. In the passage the author's attitude towards"mixed-ability teaching" is _______ .A) critical B)questioningC) approving D)objective2. By "held back" (Line I) the authormeans ______ .A) made to remain in the same classesB) forced to study in the lower classesC) drawn to their studiesD) prevented from advancing3. The author argues that a teacher's chief concernshould be the development of thestudent's _______ .A) personal qualities and social skillsB) total personalityC) learning ability and communicative skillsD) intellectual ability4. Which of the following is NOT MENTIONED in thethird paragraph?A) Group work gives pupils the opportunity tolearn to work together with others.B) Pupils also learn to develop their reasoningabilities.C) Group work provides pupils with theopportunity to learn to be capable organizers.D) Pupils also learn how to participate inteaching activities.5. The author's purpose in writing this passage isto _______ .A) argue for teaching bright andnot-so-bright pupils in the same classB) recommend pair work and group work forclassroom activitiesC) offer advice on the proper use of thelibraryD) emphasize the importance of appropriateformal classroom teaching2013年12月大学英语四级仔细阅读习题（三）What has thetelephone done to us, or for us, in the hundred years of its existence? A feweffects suggest themselves at once. It has saved lives by getting rapid word ofillness, injury, or fire from remote places. By joining with the elevator tomake possible the multi-story residence or office building, it has madepossible for better or worse -- the modem city. By bringing about a great leapin the speed and ease with which information moves from place to place, it hasgreatly accelerated the rate of scientific and technological changes and growthin industry. Beyond doubt it has seriously weakened if not killed the ancientart of letter writing. It has made living alone possible for persons withnormal social impulses (冲动) ; by so doing, it has played a role in one of thegreatest social changes of this century, the breakup of the multi-generationalhousehold. It has made the war chillingly more efficient than formerly.Perhaps, though not provably, it has prevented wars that might have arisen outof intemational misunderstanding caused by written communication. Or perhaps―again not provably―by magnifying (扩大) and extendingirrational personal conflicts based on voice contact, it hascaused wars.Certainly it has extended the scope of human conflicts, since it impartially (不偏不倚) disseminates (传播)the useful knowledge of scientists andthe nonsense of the ignorant, the affection of the affectionate and the malice (恶意) of the malicious.1. What is the main idea of this passage?A) Thetelephone has helped to save people from illness and fire.B) Thetelephone has helped to prevent wars and conflicts.C) Thetelephone has made the modern city neither better nor worse.D) Thetelephone has had positive as well as negative effects on us.2. According to the passage, it is the telephonethat _______ .A) has madeletter writing an artB) hasprevented wars by avoiding written communicationC) has madethe world different from what it wasD) hascaused wars by magnifying and extending human conflicts3. The telephone hasintensified conflicts among people because ______ .A) itincreases the danger of warB) itprovides services to both the good and the maliciousC) it makesdistant communication easierD) it breaksup the multi-generational household4. The author describes thetelephone as impartial because it _______ .A) saveslives of people in remote placesB) enablespeople to live alone if they want toC) spreadsboth love and ill willD) replacesmuch written communication5. The writer's attitudetowards the use of the telephone is _______A) affectionate B)disapprovingC) approving D)neutralIt is hard to predict howscience is going to turn out, and if it is really good science it is impossibleto predict. If the things to be found are actually new, they are by definitionunknown in advance. You cannot make choices in this matter. You either havescience or you don't, and if you have it you are obliged to accept thesurprising and disturbing pieces of information, along with the neat andpromptly useful bits.The only solid piece ofscientific truth about which I feel totally confident is that we are profoundlyignorant about nature. Indeed, I regard this as the major discovery of the pasthundred years of biology. It is, in its way, an illuminating (启发) piece of news.It would have amazed the brightest minds of the 18th century Enlightenment (启蒙运动) to be told byany of us how little we know and how bewildering (迷惑) seems the wayahead. It is this sudden confrontation (对抗) with the depth and scopeof ignorance that represents the most significant contribution of the 20th centuryscience to the human intellect. In earlier times, weeither pretended tounderstand how things worked or ignored the problem, or simply made up storiesto fill the gaps. Now that we have begun exploring in earnest, we are gettingglimpses of how huge the questions are, and how far from being answered.Because of this, we are depressed. It is not so bad being ignorant if you aretotally ignorant; the hard thing is knowing in some detail the reality ofignorance, the worst spots and here and there the not-so-bad spots, but no truelight at the end of the tunnel nor even any tunnels that can yet be trusted.But we are making abeginning, and there ought to be some satisfaction. There are probably noquestions we can think up that can't be answered, sooner or later, includingeven the matter of consciousness. To be sure, there may well be questions wecan't think up, ever, and therefore limits to the reach of human intellect, butthat is another matter. Within our limits, we should be able to work our waythrough to all our answers, if we keep at it long enough, and pay attention.1. According to the author, really good science_______ .A) wouldsurprise the brightest minds of the 18th century EnlightenmentB) willproduce results which cannot be foreseenC) will helppeople to make the right choice in advanceD) willbring about disturbing results2. It can be inferred from the passage thatscientists of the 18th century .A) thought that they knew a great deal andcould solve most problems of scienceB) wereafraid of facing up to the realities of scientific researchC) knew thatthey were ignorant and wanted to know more about natureD) did moreharm than good in promoting man's understanding of nature3. Which of thefollowing statemcnts is NOT true of scientists in earlier times?A) Theyinvented false theories to explain things they didn't understand.B) Theyfalsely claimed to know all about nature.C) They didnot believe in results from scientific observation.D) They paidlittle attention to the problems they didn't understand.4. What is theauthor's attitude towards science?A) He isdepressed because of the ignorance of scientists.B) He isdoubtful because of the enormous difficulties confronting it.C) He is confidentthough he is aware of the enormous difficulties confronting it.D) He is delighted because of theilluminating scientific findings.5. The authorbelieves that ______ .A) man canfind solutions to whatever questions concerning nature he can think upB) man can not solve all the problems he canthink up because of the limits of human intellectC) sooner or later man canthink up all the questions concerning nature and answer themD) questions concerningconsciousness are outside the scope of scientific research1．B答案见第2段第1句。
2013年12月大学英语四级仔细阅读习题
2013年12月大学英语四级仔细阅读习题（一）Judging from recent surveys,most experts in sleep behavior agree that there is virtually an epidemic (流行病) of sleepiness in the nation. “I can't think of a single study that hasn't found Americans getting less sleep than they ought to,” says Dr. David. Even people who think they are sleeping enough would probably be better off with more rest.The beginning of our sleep-deficit (睡眠不足) crisis can betraced to the invention of the light bulb a century ago. From diary entries and other personal accounts from the 18th and 19th centuries, sleep scientists have reached the conclusion that the average person used to sleep about 9.5 hours anight. “The best sleep habits once were forced on us, when we had nothing to do in the evening down on t he farm, and it was dark.” By the 1950s and 1960s, that sleep schedule had been reduced dramatically, to between 7.5 and eight hours,and most people had to wake to an alarm clock. “People cheat on their sleep,and they don't even realize they're doing it,” says Dr. David. "They think they're okay because they can get by on 6.5hours, when they really need 7.5, eight or even more to feel ideally vigorous."Perhaps the most merciless robber of sleep,researchers say, is the complexity of the day. Whenever pressures from work,family, friends and community mount, many people consider sleep the least expensive item on his programme. 'In our society, you're considered dynamic if you say you only need 5.5 hours' sleep. If you've got to get 8.5 hours, people think you lack drive and ambition."To determine the consequences of sleep deficit,researchers have put subjects through a set of psychological and performance tests requiring them, for instance, to add columns of numbers or recall a passage read to them only minutes earlier. "We've found that if you're in sleep deficit, performance suffers," says Dr. David. “Short-term memory is weakened, as are abilities to make decisions and to concentrate.”1. People in the 18th and 19th centuries used to sleep about 9.5 hoursa night because theyhad _______ .A) no drive and ambition B) noelectric lightingC) the best sleep habits D)nothing to do in the evening2. According to Dr. David, Americans _______ .A) are ideally vigorous even under the pressure of lifeB) of ienneglect the consequences of sleep deficitC) do not know how to relax themselves properlyD) can get by on 6.5 hours of sleep3. Many Americans believe that _______ .A) sleep is the first thing that can be sacrificed when one is busyB) they need more sleep to cope with the complexities of everyday lifeC) to sleep is something one can do at any time of the dayD) enough sleep promotes people's drive and ambition4. The word “subjects” (Line 1, Para. 4) refers to______ .A) the performance tests used in the study of sleep deficitB) special branches of knowledge that are being studiedC) people whose behavior or reactions are being studiedD) the psychological consequences of sleep deficit5. It can be concluded from the passage that one should sleep as many hours as is necessary to ______ .A) improve one's memory dramaticallyB) be considered dynamic by other peopleC) maintain one's daily scheduleD) feel energetic and perform adequately2013年12月大学英语四级仔细阅读习题（二）We find that bright children are rarely held back by mixed-ability teaching. Onthe contrary, both their knowledge and experience are enriched. We feel thatthere are many disadvantages in streaming(把......按能力分班) pupils. It doesnot take into account the fact that children develop at different rates. It canhave a bad effect on both the bright and the not-so-bright child. After all, itcan be quite discouraging to be at the bottom of the top grade!Besides, it is rather unreal tograde people just according to their intellectual ability. This isonly one aspect of their totalpersonality. We are concerned to develop the abilities of all our pupils to thefull, not just their academic ability. We also value personal qualities andsocial skills, and we find that mixed-ability teaching contributes to all theseaspects of learning.In our classrooms, we work invarious ways. The pupils often work in groups: this gives them the opportunityto learn to co-operate, to share, and to develop leadership skills. They alsolearn how to cope with personal problems as well as learning how to think, tomake decisions, to analyse and evaluate, and to communicate effectively. Thepupils learn from each other as well as from the teacher.Sometimes the pupils work inpairs; sometimes they work on individual tasks and assignments, and they can dothis at their own speed. They also have some formal class teaching when this isappropriate. We encourage our pupils to use the library, and we teach them theskills they need in order to do this efficiently. An advanced pupil can doadvanced work: it does not matter what age the child is. We expect our pupilsto do their best, not their least, and we give them every encouragement toattain this goal.1. In the passage the author's attitude towards"mixed-ability teaching" is _______ .A) critical B)questioningC) approving D)objective2. By "held back" (Line I) the authormeans ______ .A) made to remain in the same classesB) forced to study in the lower classesC) drawn to their studiesD) prevented from advancing3. The author argues that a teacher's chief concernshould be the development of thestudent's _______ .A) personal qualities and social skillsB) total personalityC) learning ability and communicative skillsD) intellectual ability4. Which of the following is NOT MENTIONED in thethird paragraph?A) Group work gives pupils the opportunity tolearn to work together with others.B) Pupils also learn to develop their reasoningabilities.C) Group work provides pupils with theopportunity to learn to be capable organizers.D) Pupils also learn how to participate inteaching activities.5. The author's purpose in writing this passage isto _______ .A) argue for teaching bright andnot-so-bright pupils in the same classB) recommend pair work and group work forclassroom activitiesC) offer advice on the proper use of thelibraryD) emphasize the importance of appropriateformal classroom teaching2013年12月大学英语四级仔细阅读习题（三）What has thetelephone done to us, or for us, in the hundred years of its existence? A feweffects suggest themselves at once. It has saved lives by getting rapid word ofillness, injury, or fire from remote places. By joining with the elevator tomake possible the multi-story residence or office building, it has madepossible for better or worse -- the modem city. By bringing about a great leapin the speed and ease with which information moves from place to place, it hasgreatly accelerated the rate of scientific and technological changes and growthin industry. Beyond doubt it has seriously weakened if not killed the ancientart of letter writing. It has made living alone possible for persons withnormal social impulses (冲动) ; by so doing, it has played a role in one of thegreatest social changes of this century, the breakup of the multi-generationalhousehold. It has made the war chillingly more efficient than formerly.Perhaps, though not provably, it has prevented wars that might have arisen outof intemational misunderstanding caused by written communication. Or perhaps―again not provably―by magnifying (扩大) and extendingirrational personal conflicts based on voice contact, it hascaused wars.Certainly it has extended the scope of human conflicts, since it impartially (不偏不倚) disseminates (传播)the useful knowledge of scientists andthe nonsense of the ignorant, the affection of the affectionate and the malice (恶意) of the malicious.1. What is the main idea of this passage?A) Thetelephone has helped to save people from illness and fire.B) Thetelephone has helped to prevent wars and conflicts.C) Thetelephone has made the modern city neither better nor worse.D) Thetelephone has had positive as well as negative effects on us.2. According to the passage, it is the telephonethat _______ .A) has madeletter writing an artB) hasprevented wars by avoiding written communicationC) has madethe world different from what it wasD) hascaused wars by magnifying and extending human conflicts3. The telephone hasintensified conflicts among people because ______ .A) itincreases the danger of warB) itprovides services to both the good and the maliciousC) it makesdistant communication easierD) it breaksup the multi-generational household4. The author describes thetelephone as impartial because it _______ .A) saveslives of people in remote placesB) enablespeople to live alone if they want toC) spreadsboth love and ill willD) replacesmuch written communication5. The writer's attitudetowards the use of the telephone is _______A) affectionate B)disapprovingC) approving D)neutralIt is hard to predict howscience is going to turn out, and if it is really good science it is impossibleto predict. If the things to be found are actually new, they are by definitionunknown in advance. You cannot make choices in this matter. You either havescience or you don't, and if you have it you are obliged to accept thesurprising and disturbing pieces of information, along with the neat andpromptly useful bits.The only solid piece ofscientific truth about which I feel totally confident is that we are profoundlyignorant about nature. Indeed, I regard this as the major discovery of the pasthundred years of biology. It is, in its way, an illuminating (启发) piece of news.It would have amazed the brightest minds of the 18th century Enlightenment (启蒙运动) to be told byany of us how little we know and how bewildering (迷惑) seems the wayahead. It is this sudden confrontation (对抗) with the depth and scopeof ignorance that represents the most significant contribution of the 20th centuryscience to the human intellect. In earlier times, weeither pretended tounderstand how things worked or ignored the problem, or simply made up storiesto fill the gaps. Now that we have begun exploring in earnest, we are gettingglimpses of how huge the questions are, and how far from being answered.Because of this, we are depressed. It is not so bad being ignorant if you aretotally ignorant; the hard thing is knowing in some detail the reality ofignorance, the worst spots and here and there the not-so-bad spots, but no truelight at the end of the tunnel nor even any tunnels that can yet be trusted.But we are making abeginning, and there ought to be some satisfaction. There are probably noquestions we can think up that can't be answered, sooner or later, includingeven the matter of consciousness. To be sure, there may well be questions wecan't think up, ever, and therefore limits to the reach of human intellect, butthat is another matter. Within our limits, we should be able to work our waythrough to all our answers, if we keep at it long enough, and pay attention.1. According to the author, really good science_______ .A) wouldsurprise the brightest minds of the 18th century EnlightenmentB) willproduce results which cannot be foreseenC) will helppeople to make the right choice in advanceD) willbring about disturbing results2. It can be inferred from the passage thatscientists of the 18th century .A) thought that they knew a great deal andcould solve most problems of scienceB) wereafraid of facing up to the realities of scientific researchC) knew thatthey were ignorant and wanted to know more about natureD) did moreharm than good in promoting man's understanding of nature3. Which of thefollowing statemcnts is NOT true of scientists in earlier times?A) Theyinvented false theories to explain things they didn't understand.B) Theyfalsely claimed to know all about nature.C) They didnot believe in results from scientific observation.D) They paidlittle attention to the problems they didn't understand.4. What is theauthor's attitude towards science?A) He isdepressed because of the ignorance of scientists.B) He isdoubtful because of the enormous difficulties confronting it.C) He is confidentthough he is aware of the enormous difficulties confronting it.D) He is delighted because of theilluminating scientific findings.5. The authorbelieves that ______ .A) man canfind solutions to whatever questions concerning nature he can think upB) man can not solve all the problems he canthink up because of the limits of human intellectC) sooner or later man canthink up all the questions concerning nature and answer themD) questions concerningconsciousness are outside the scope of scientific research1．B答案见第2段第1句。
2013年12月大学英语四级阅读理解(附答案解析)
2014年6月大学英语四级阅读理解新题型匹配练习题练习1Part ⅢReading Comprehension （40 minutes)Section B（原快速阅读理解调整为长篇阅读理解，篇章长度和难度不变。
篇章后附有10个句子，每句一题。
每句所含的信息出自篇章的某一段落，要求考生找出与每句所含信息相匹配的段落.)Directions: 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.How to Make Peace with Your Workload[A] Swamped (忙碌的）,under the gun， just struggling to stay above water...; whatever office cliche you employ to depict it，we”ve all been in that situation where we feel like we might be swallowed up by our workload. Nonetheless many a way may be used to manage your to—do list to prevent feeling overwhelmed。
2013大学英语四级样卷
大学英语四级考试样卷自2013年12月考次起，全国大学英语四、六级考试委员会将对四、六级考试的试卷结构和测试题型作局部调整。
调整后，四级和六级的试卷结构和测试题型相同。
一、试卷描述四级和六级的试卷结构、测试内容、测试题型、分值比例和考试时间如下表所示：二、新题型说明1. 单词及词组听写原复合式听写调整为单词及词组听写，短文长度及难度不变。
要求考生在听懂短文的基础上，用所听到的原文填写空缺的单词或词组，共10题。
短文播放三遍。
2. 长篇阅读原快速阅读理解调整为长篇阅读理解，篇章长度和难度不变。
篇章后附有10个句子，每句一题。
每句所含的信息出自篇章的某一段落，要求考生找出与每句所含信息相匹配的段落。
有的段落可能对应两题，有的段落可能不对应任何一题。
3. 翻译原单句汉译英调整为段落汉译英。
翻译内容涉及中国的历史、文化、经济、社会发展等。
四级长度为140-160个汉字；六级长度为180-200个汉字。
三、成绩报道成绩报道分为总分和单项分。
单项分包括：1）听力，2）阅读，3）翻译和写作。
Part I Writing (30 minutes)Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay. You should startyour essay with a brief description of the picture and then express yourviews on the importance of learning basic skills. You should write at least120 words but no more than 180 words. Write your essay on Answer Sheet1.注意：此部分试题请在答题卡1上作答。
Part II Listening Comprehension (30 minutes)Section ADirections: In this section, you will hear 8 short conversations and 2 long conversations.At the end of each conversation, one or more questions will be asked aboutwhat was said. Both the conversation and the questions will be spoken onlyonce. After each question there will be a pause. During the pause, you mustread the four choices marked A), B), C) and D), and decide which is thebest answer. Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1 with asingle line through the centre.注意：此部分试题请在答题卡1上作答。
大学英语四级阅读40篇之九(含答案)
大学英语四级阅读40篇之九（含答案）大学英语四级阅读40篇之九（含答案）大学英语四级阅读40篇之九（含答案）as she walked round the huge department store,edith reflected how difficult it was to choose a suitable christmas present for her father.she wish that he was as easy to please as her mother, who was always delighted with perfumebesides,shoppong at this time of the year was a most disgreeable experience :people trod on your toes,poked you with their elbows and almost knocked you overin their haste to get to a bargain ahead of you.partly to have a rest, edith paused in front of a counter where some attracive ties were on display. "they are real silk," the assistant assured her, trying to tempt her. "worth double the price." but edit knew from past experience that her choice of ties hardly ever pleased her father.she moved on reluctantly and then quite by chance, stopped where a small crowd of man had gathered round acounter. she found some good quality pipes on sale-----and the prices were very reasonable. edith did not hesitate for long : although her father only smoked a pipe occasionally, she knew that this was a present which was bund to please him.when she got home,with her small well-chosen present concealed in her handbag, her parents were already at the supper table. her mother was in an especially cheerful mood, "your father has at last to decided to stop smoking." she informed her daughter.1.edith's father _______.a.did not like presentb.never got presentc.preferred tiesd.was difficult to choose a present for2.the assistant spoke to edith because she seemed_______.a.attractiveb.interested in tiesc.tiredd.in need of comfort3.edith stopped at the next counter_________.a.puroselyb.suddenlyc.unwillinglyd.accidentally4.edith's father smoked a pipe_______.a.when he was obligedb.on social occasionsc.from time to timed.when he was delighted5.shopping was very disagreeable at that time of the year because_______.a.coustomers trod on each other's toesb.coustomers poked each other with their elbowsc.customers knocked each otherd.customers were doing their shopping in a great hurry答案：dbdcd大学英语四级阅读40篇之九（含答案）相关内容:。
大学英语四级阅读理解模拟题(9)
Questions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage.Popping food into the microwave for a couple of minutes may seem utterly harmless, but Europe’s stock of these quick-cooking ovens emit as much carbon as nearly 7 million cars, a new study has found. And the problem is growing. With costs falling and kitchen appliances becoming “status”items, owners are throwing away microwaves after an average of eight years. This is pushing sales of new microwaves which are expected to reach 135 million annually in the EU by the end of the decade.A study by the University of Manchester calculated the emissions of CO2—the main greenhouse gas responsible for climate change—at every stage of microwaves, from manufacture to waste disposal. “It is electricity consumption by microwaves that has the biggest impact on the environment,”say the authors. The authors also calculate that the emissions from using 19 microwaves over a year are the same as those from using a car. According to the same study, efforts to reduce consumption should focus on improving consumer awareness and behaviour. For example, consumers could use appliances in a more efficient way by adjusting the time of cooking to the type of food.However, David Reay, professor of carbon management, argues that, although microwaves use a great deal of energy, their emissions are minor compared to those from cars. In the UK alone, there are around 30 million cars. These cars emit more than all the microwaves in the EU. Backing this up, recent data show that passenger cars in the UK emitted 69 million tons of CO2 in 2015. This is 10 timesthe amount this new microwave oven study estimates for annual emissions for all the microwave ovens in the EU. Further, the energy used by microwaves is lower than any other from of cooking. Among common kitchen appliances used for cooking, microwaves are the most energy efficient, followed by a stove and finally a standard oven. Thus, rising microwave sales could be seen as a positive thing.51. What is the finding of the new study?A) Quick-cooking microwave ovens have become more popular.B) The frequent use of microwaves may do harm to our health.C) CO2 emissions constitute a major threat to the environment.D) The use of microwaves emits more CO2 than people think.52. Why are the sales of microwaves expected to rise?A) They are becoming more affordable.B) They have a shorter life cycle than other appliances.C) They are getting much easier to operate.D) They take less time to cook than other appliances.53. What recommendation does the study by the University of Manchester make?A) Cooking food of different varieties.B) Improving microwave users’habits.C) Eating less to cut energy consumption.D) Using microwave ovens less frequently.54. What does Professor David Reay try to argue?A) There are far more emissions from cars than from microwaves.B) People should be persuaded into using passenger cars less often.C) The UK produces less CO2 than many other countries in the EU.D) More data are needed to show whether microwaves are harmful.55. What does Professor David Reay think of the use of microwaves?A) It will become less popular in the coming decades.B) It makes everyday cooking much more convenient.C) It plays a positive role in environmental protection.D) It consumes more power than conventional cooking.解析：51.【D】The use of microwaves emits more CO2 than people think.答案解析：根据题干中“new study”可以定位到原文第一段第一句话“..., but Europe’s stock of these quick-cooking ovens emit as much carbon as nearly 7 million cars, a new study has found. ”大意为“尽管把食物放到微波炉里几分钟看起来完全无害，但是欧洲已有的微波炉存储可释放的二氧化碳量相当于七百万的汽车”A 选项为“微波炉很流行”，B选项为“频繁使用微波炉有害健康”，C选项为“二氧化碳排放量对环境产生威胁”，D选项为“使用微波炉释放的二氧化碳比人们想的还要多”，结合原文，D选项中含有关键词“microwaves”“CO2”正确。
2013年12月英语四级阅读理解真题及答案
2013年12月英语四级阅读理解真题及答案Part Ⅲ Reading Comprehension (40minutes)Section AQuestions 36 to 45 are based on the following passage.What does it take to be a well-trained nurse? The answer used to be two-year associate’s or four-year bachelor’s degree programs. But as the nursing shortage __36__ . a growing number of schools and hospitals are establishing “fast-track programs” that e nable college graduates with no nursing __37__ to become registered nurses with only a year or so of __38__ training.In 1991. there were only 40 fast-track curricula; now there are more than 200. Typical is Columbia University’s Entry to Practice progra m. Students earn their bachelor of science in nursing in a year. Those who stay on for an __39__ two years can earn a master’s degree that __40__ them as nurse practitioners(执业护士) or clinical nurse specialists.Many students arc recent __41__; others are career switchers. Rudy Guardron, 32, a 2004 graduate of Columbia’s program, was a premedical student in college and then worked for a pharmaceutical (药物的) research company. At Columbia, he was __42__ as a nurse practitioner. “I saw that nurses were in hig h __43__ and it looked like a really good opportunity,” he says. “Also. I didn’t want to be in school for that long. ”The fast-track trend fills a need, but it’s also creating some __44__ between newcomers and veterans. “Nurses that are still at the bedside __45__ these kids with suspicion,” says Linda Pellico, who has taught nursing at Yale University for 18 years. “They wonder, how can they do it quicker?” The answer is they don’t.SectionA选项【参考答案】36-45 OEKAJ GMCLNSection BThe rise of the sharing economyA) Last night 40 000 people rented accommodation from a service that offers 250 000 rooms in 30 000 cities in 192 countries. They chose their rooms and paid for everything online. But their beds were provided by private individuals, rather than a hotel chain. Hosts and guests were matched up by Airbnb, a firm based in San Francisco. Since its launch in2008 more than 4 million people have used it 2.5 million of them in 2012 alone. It is the most prominent example of a huge new “sharing economy”, in which people rent beds, cars, boats and other assets directly from each other, co-ordinated via the internet.B) You might think this is no different from running a bed-and-breakfast (家庭旅店), owning a timeshare (分时度假房) or participating in a car pool. But technology has reduced transaction costs, making sharing assets cheaper and easier than ever-and therefore possible on a much larger scale. The big change is the availability of more data about people and things, which allows physical assets to be divided and consumed as services. Before the internet, renting a surfboard, a power tool or a parking space from someone else was feasible, but was usually more trouble than it was worth. Now websites such as Airbnb, Relay Rides and SnapGoods match up owners and renters; smartphones with GPS let people sec where the nearest rentable car is parked; social networks provide a way to check up on people and build trust; and online payment systems handle the billing.What’s mine is yours, for a feeC) Just as peer-to-peer businesses like eBay allow anyone to become a retailer, sharing sites let individuals act as an ad hoc (临时的) taxi service, car-hire firm or boutique hotel (精品酒店) as and when it suits them. Just go online or download an app. The model works for items that are expensive to buy and are widely owned by people who do not make full use of them. Bedrooms and cars are the most obvious examples, but you can also rent camping spaces in Sweden, fields in Australia and washing machines in France. As advocates of the sharing economy like to put it, access trumps (胜过) ownership.D) Rachel Botsman, the author of a book on the subject, says the consumer peer-to-peer rental market alone is worth $26 billion. Broader definitions of the sharing economy include peer-to-peer lending or putting a solar panel on your roof and selling power back to the grid (电网). And it is not just individuals: the web makes it easier for companies to rent out spare offices and idle machines, too. But the core of the sharing economy is people renting things from each other.E) Such “collaborative (合作的) consumption” is a good thing for several reasons. Owners make money from underused assets. Airbnb says hosts in San Francisco who rent out their homes do so for an average of 58 nights a year, making $9300. Car owners who rent their vehicles to others using RelayRides make an average of $250 a month; some make more than $1000. Renters, meanwhile, pay less than they would if they bought the item themselves, or turned to a traditional provider such as a hotel or car-hire firm. And there are environmental benefits, too: renting a car when you need it, rather than owning one, means fewer cars are required and fewer resources must be devoted to making them.F) For sociable souls, meeting new people by staying in their homes is part of the charm. Curmudgeons (倔脾气的人) who imagine that every renter is a murderer can still stay at conventional hotels. For others, the web fosters trust. As well as the background checks carried out by platform owners, online reviews and ratings are usually posted by both parties to each transaction, which makes it easy to spot bad drivers, bathrobe-thieves and surfboard-wreckers. By using Facebook and other social networks, participants can check each other out and identify friends (or friends of friends) in common. An Airbnb user had her apartment trashed in 2011. But the remarkable thing is how well the system usually works.Peering into the futureG) The sharing economy is a little like online shopping, which started in America 15 years ago. At first, people were worried about security. But having made a successful purchase from, say, Amazon, they felt safe buying elsewhere. Similarly, using Airbnb or a car-hire service for the first time encourages people to try other offerings. Next, consider eBay. Having started out as a peer-to-peer marketplace, it is now dominated by professional “power sellers” (many of whom started out as ordinary eBay users). The same may happen with the sharing economy, which also provides new opportunities for enterprise. Some people have bought cars solely to rent them out, for example.H) Existing rental businesses are getting involved too. Avis, a car-hire firm, has a share in a sharing rival. So do GM and Daimler, two carmakers. In future, companies may develop hybrid (混合的) models, listing excess capacity (whether vehicles, equipment or office space) on peer-to-peer rental sites. In the past, new ways of doing things online have not displaced the old ways entirely. But they have often changed them. Just as internet shopping forced Wal-mart and Tesco to adapt, so online sharing will shake up transport, tourism, equipment-hire and more.I) The main worry is regulatory uncertainty. Will room-renters be subject to hotel taxes, for example? In Amsterdam officials are using Airbnb listings to track down unlicensed hotels. In some American cities, peer-to-peer taxi services have been banned after lobbying by traditional taxi firms. The danger is that although some rules need to be updated to protect consumers from harm, existing rental businesses will try to destroy competition. People who rent out rooms should pay tax, of course, but they should not be regulated like a Ritz-Carlton hotel. The lighter rules that typically govern bed-and-breakfasts are more than adequate.J) The sharing economy is the latest example of the internet’s value to consumers. This emerging model is now big and disruptive (颠覆性的) enough for regulators andcompanies to have woken up to it. That is a sign of its immense potential. It is time to start caring about sharing.注意：此部分请在答题卡2上作答。
2013年9月公共英语四级真题及答案解析
2013年9月公共英语四级真题及答案解析
(1~5/共5题)Section I Listening ComprehensionDirections:This section is designed to test your ability to understand spoken English. you will hear a selection of recorded materials and you must answer the questions that accompany them. There are three parts in this section, Part A, Part B and Part C.
2013年12月英语四级考试阅读真题及答案
2013年12⽉英语四级考试阅读真题及答案 Section A Directions: In this section, there is apassage with ten blanks. You are required to select one word for each blankfrom a list of choices given in a word bank following the passage. Read thepassage through carefully before making your choices. Each choice in the bankis identified by a letter. Please mark the corresponding letter for each itemon Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre. You may not use any ofthe words in the bank more than once. Questions 36 to 45 are based on thefollowing passage.What does it take to be a well-trainednurse? The answer used to be two-year associate’s or four-year bachelor’sdegree programs. But as the nursing shortage 36, a growing number of schoolsand hospitals are establishing “fast-track programs” that enable collegegraduates with no nursing 37 to become registered nurses with only a year or soof 38 training.In 1991, there were only 40 fast-trackcurricula; now there are more than 200. Typical is Columbia University’s Entry to Practice program. Students earn their bachelor of sciencein nursing in a year. Those who stay on for an 39 two years can earn a master’s degree that 40 them as nurse practitioners (执业护⼠) orclinical nurse specialists.Many students are recent 41; others are careerswitchers. Rudy Guardron, 32, a 2004 graduate of Columbia’s program, was a premedical student in college and then worked for apharmaceutical (药物的) research company. At Columbia, he was 42 as a nurse practitioner. “I saw thatnurses were in high 43 and it looked like a really good opportunity,” he says. “Also, I didn’t want to be in school for that long.”The fast-track trend fills a need, but it’s alsocreating some 44 between newcomers and veterans. “Nurses that arestill at the bedside 45 these kids with suspicion,” says LindaPellico, who has taught nursing at Yale University for 18 years. “They wonder,how can they do it quicker?” The answer is they don’t. 注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。
2013年12月大学英语四级考试阅读理解真题及答案详解（全套）
2013年12月大学英语四级考试阅读理解真题及答案详解（全套）2013年12月大学英语四级考试阅读理解真题及答案（全套）——幸福就好我亦安2013年12月大学英语四级考试阅读理解真题（一）【阅读】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 2 with a single line through the centre.Passage OneQuestions 56 to 60 are based on the following passage.In recent years, a growing body of research has shown that our appetite and food intake are influenced by a large number of factors besides our biological need for energy, including our eating environment and our perception of the food in front of us.Studies have shown, for instance, that eating in front of the TV (or a similar distraction) can increase both hunger and the amount of food consumed. Even simple visual cues, like plate size and lighting, have been shown to affect portion size and consumption.A new study suggested that our short-term memory also may play a role in appetite. Several hours after a meal, people's hunger levels were pre dicted not by how much they’d eaten but rather by how much food they'd seen in front of them—in other words, how much they remembered eating.This disparity (盖弃）suggests the memory of our previous meal may have a bigger influence on our appetite than the actual size of the meal, says Jeffrey M. Brunstrom, a professor of experimental psychology at the University of Bristol."Hunger isn't controlled solely by the physical characteristics of a recent meal. We have identified an independent role for memory for that meal，" Brunstrom says."This shows that the relationship between hunger and food intake is more complex than we thought."These findings echo earlier research that suggests our perception of food can sometimes trick our body’s response to the food itself. In a 2011 study, for instance, people who drank the same 3S0-calorie (卡路里）milkshake on two separate occasions produced different levels of hunger-related hormones （荷尔蒙），depending on whether the shake’s label said it contained 620 or 140 calories. Moreover, the participants reported feeling more full when they thought they'd consumed a higher-calorie shake.What does this mean for our eating habits? Although it hardly seems practical to trick ourselves into eating less, the new findings do highlight the benefits of focusing on our food and avoiding TV and multitasking while eating.The so-called mindful-eating strategies can fight distractions and help us control our appetite, Brunstrom says.注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。
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工人阶级的家庭起居室的基本要素
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'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 20
A. happens
B. professions
C. sense
D. nevertheless
E. fashioned
F. distance
G. immediate
H. usually
I. occupations J. preserved K. imitate L. provide
M. 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. I
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