专四阅读+详解(2)

星期2 TuesdayDon't make a mountain out of a molehill.不要小题大做。

Text ABecket not only traveled light, he lived light. In the entire world he owned just the clothes he stood up in, a full suitcase and a bank account. Arriving anywhere with these possessions, he might just as easily put up for a month or a year as for a single night. For long stays, not less than a month, he might take a furnished flat, sometimes even a house. But whatever the length, he rarely needed anything he did not have with him. He was, he liked to think, a self-contained person.Becket had one occasional anxiety: the suspicion that he owned more than would fit comfortably into the case. The feeling, when it comes, was the signal for him to throw something away or just leave it lying about. This was automatic fate of his worn-out clothes, for example. Having no use for choice or variety, he kept just a raincoat, a suit, a pair of shoes and a few shirts, socks and so on; no more in the clothing line. He bought and read many books and left them where he happened to be sitting when he finished them. They quickly found new owners.Becket was a professional traveler, interested and interesting. He was not one to do a country in a week or a city in three days. He liked to get a feel of a place by living in it, reading its newspapers, watching its TV; discussing its affairs. He always tried to make a few friends —if necessary even by stopping a suitable-looking person in the street and talking to him. It worked well almost in nine cases out of ten. Though Beck et’s health gave him no cause for alarm, he made a point of seeing a doctor as soon as he arrived anywhere. “A doctor knows a place and its people better than anyone,” he used to say. He never went to see a doctor; he always sent for one; that, he found, was the quickest way to confidences, which came out freely as soon as he mentioned that he was a writer.Becket was an artist as well. He painted pictures of his places and, when he had gathered enough information, he wrote about them. He sold his work, through an agent, to newspapers and magazines. It was an agreeable sort of life for a good social mixer, and as Becket never stayed anywhere for long, he enjoyed the satisfying advantages of paying little in taxes.1. What do we know about Be cket’s possessions?[A] He had enough baggage to stay for only one night.[B] He carried all of them around with him.[C] He often threw or gave them away.[D] He left most of his things at home when he traveled.2. Becket took over a flat when[A] there were no suitable hotels.[B] he meant to stay somewhere for several nights.[C] he was sure of staying a year or more.[D] he expected not to move on for a month at least.3. If anything worried Becket, it was[A] the thought of having too much baggage.[B] his habit of leaving things lying about.[C] the fact that he owned so little.[D] the poor state of his clothes.4. What was the usual result when Becket talked to strangers in the street?[A] He made many new friends in that way.[B] People thought he was ill and sent for a doctor.[C] The people he spoke to felt annoyed with him.[D] He usually turned out to be disappointed at the talking.5. Which of the following about Becket is NOT true?[A] He never stayed anywhere for too long a time.[B] He was good at dealing with people.[C] He was satisfied with his mobile life.[D] He never forgot to visit a doctor wherever he went.6. How did Becket feel about taxation?[A] It worried him, so he kept moving from place to place.[B] He hated it, so he broke the tax laws.[C] He was pleased he could honestly avoid it.[D] He felt ashamed of not paying taxes.Text BAmerica’s city dwellers are a mobile people. The decennial censuses provided documentation in their redundant accounts of rapid changes and growth in most of our great cities. But statistical evidence is hardly needed. The changes in our cities have occurred so rapidly that the perception of mobility is an integral part of every urban dweller’s experience. Hometowns are transformed in the intervals between visits. The neighborhoods of our childhood present alien appearances and the landmarks that anchored our memories have disappeared.How do these dramatic changes in residential areas come about? In part, industry and commerce in their expansion encroach upon land used for residences. But, in larger part, the changes are mass movements of families — the end results of countless thousands of residence shifts made by the urban Americans every year. Compounded in the mass, the residence shifts of urban households produce most of the change and flux of urban population structures.Some of the mobility is an expression of the growth of our population. Every new family started ordinarily means another household formed. But the mobility that occurs is much greater than can be accounted for only by the addition of new households to our population. The high level of mobility implies that established households are involved in a large-scale game of “musical chairs” in which housing is exchanged from time to time.Residential shifts often accompany the dissolution of households, although not as consistently as in the case of the formations of new household. A divorce or separation forces at least one to move, and often both husband and wife shift residence. Mortality sometimes precipitates a move on the part of the remaining members of the household. But, neither divorcenor mortality, when added to new household formation, can account for more than a very small part of the American mobility rate.Another part of the high residential mobility rate might be traced to change occurring in the labor force. American workers change jobs frequently and some of the residential mobility might be viewed as a consequence of job shifts. But most residential shifts do not involve long-distance movements. About three fourths of such shifts do not cross country boundaries and many of them take place within smaller areas. Neither can job shifts account for the overall picture of mobility, much of which is kind of “milling about” within small areas of the city.7. At the end of Para. 1 the author implies that[A] Americans forget the landmarks of their hometowns easily.[B] Americans don’t usually notice the rapid changes around them.[C] On returning to their hometowns, Americans may not recognize their childhood friends.[D] Upon visiting their hometowns, Americans may feel unfamiliar about the new appearances.8. The addition of new households can’t account for the mobility because[A] they are expressions of population growth.[B] new families are unstable and therefore unreliable.[C] new households are exchanging houses from time to time.[D] the previously established households also keep changing houses.9. Americans who change their jobs usually[A] like to live near their working places.[B] prefer small towns to big cities.[C] dislike moving to far away places.[D] think it worthwhile to move to a foreign country.10. Which of the following can account for a larger part of the high American mobility rate?[A] Expansion of industry and commerce.[B] Not mentioned in the passage.[C] Divorce and mortality.[D] Changes occurring in the labor force.Text CThere’s a dark little joke exchanged by educators with a dissident streak: Rip Van Winkle awakens in the 21st century after a hundred-year snooze and is, of course, utterly bewildered by what he sees. Men and women dash about, talking to small metal devices pinned to their ears. Young people sit at home on sofas, moving miniature athletes around on electronic screens. Older folk defy death and disability with metronomes (节拍器) in their chests and with hips made of metal and plastic. Airports, hospitals, shopping malls — every place Rip goes just puzzles him. But when he finally walks into a schoolroom, the old man knows exactly where he is. “This is a school,” he declares. “We used to have these black in 1906. Only now the blackboards are green.”American school s aren’t exactly frozen in time, but considering the pace of change in other areas of life, our public schools tend to feel like throwbacks. Kids spend much of the day as their great-grandparents once did: sitting in rows, listening to teachers lecture, scribbling notes by hand, reading from textbooks that are out of date by the time they are printed. A yawning chasm (with an emphasis on yawning) separates the world inside the schoolhouse from the world outside.For the past five years, the national conversation on education has focused on reading scores, mathtests and closing the “achievement gap” between social classes. This is not a story about that conversation. This is a story about the big public conversation the nation is not having about education, the one that will ultimately determine not merely whether some fraction of our children get “left behind” but also whether an entire generation of kids will fail to make the grade in the global economy because they can’t think their way through abstract problems, work in teams, distinguish good information from bad or speak a language other than English.This week the conversation will burst onto the front page, when the New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce, a high-powered, bipartisan(代表两党的)assembly of Education Secretaries, government and other education leaders releases a blueprint for rethinking American education from pre-K to 12 and beyond to better prepare students to thrive in the global economy. While that report includes some controversial proposals, there is nonetheless a remarkable consensus among educators and business and policy leaders on one key conclusion: we need to bring what we teach and how we teach into the 21st century.Right now w e’re aiming too low. Competency in reading and math —the focus of so much No Child Left Behind testing —is the meager minimum. Scientific and technical skills are, likewise, utterly necessary but insufficient. Today’s economy demands not only a high-level competence in the traditional academic disciplines but also what might be called 21st century skills. Here’s w hat they are: knowing more about the world, thinking outside the box, becoming smarter about new sources of information, developing good people skills.Can our public schools, originally designed to educate workers for agrarian(土地的)life and industrial-age factories, make the necessary shifts? The state of Michigan, admitting that it can no longer count on the unwell auto industry to absorb its poorly educated and low-skilled workers, is retooling its high schools, instituting what are among the most rigorous graduation requirements in the nation. Elsewhere, organizations like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching and the Asia Society are pouring money and expertise into model programs to show the way.11. The purpose of the dark little joke in the first paragraph was[A] to describe the modern life.[B] to introduce the present situation of American schools.[C] to introduce Rip Van Winkle.[D] to explain how the old man knows where he is.12. What is the aut hor’s i mpression of today’s American school children?[A] Their school life is definitely isolated from the outside.[B] They can hand in their homework by internet.[C] They no longer use the textbook in the class.[D] Their school life seems the same as their great-grandparents.13. In the aut hor’s op inion, the big public conversation will[A] focus on closing the achievement gap between social classes.[B] focus on the teaching method and educational curriculum.[C] determine whether the children will lose in the world economic development.[D] determine whether the children can speak a second language other than English.14. What has been agreed on in the report of the New Commission?[A] A conversation between the bipartisan representative members.[B] The release of a blueprint for rethinking American education.[C] Proposals on better the student to thrive in the world economy.[D] The necessity to change the present teaching content and method.15. According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?[A] American school is developing to some degree.[B] No Child Left Behind testing focuses on the reading and math capability of children.[C] The graduation requirement of Michigan is very liberal.[D] Our public schools designed to culture workers for farms and industrial factories at first.Text DMom always said milk was good for you. But Mom hasn’t been heeding her own advice. For decades, milk consumption has trickled downward while that of cola has nearly tripled. Among beverages, milk ranks fourth in popularity after soft drinks, coffee and beer.Pepsi is trying to raise milk’s profile by applying the marketing tactics that have spread cola to all parts of the globe. The company is starting smaller, test marketing a beverage called Smooth Moos Smoothies in Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas. It is a 2% fat dairy shake package in old-fashioned milk bottles, and it comes in such flavors as double chocolate and banana. The product gives consumers 25% of their daily calcium requirement and keeps retailers happy with a shelf life(保质期) of nine months. “Here was an opportunity to take something traditionally thought of as a commonplace and make it fun and dynamic,” says April Thornton, director of new products at Pep si. Don’t look for Cindy Crawford endorsement: at about 250 calories, Smooth Moos tops a can of Pepsi by 100 calories.Italy’s milk giant Parmalat also has cola on its mind. The company makes boxed, ultra-heated milk, popular in Italy that has a shelf life of up to six months. In the U.S. market, Parmalat has introduced boxed and fresh varieties and is spending $25 million on advertising in an effort to make itself “the Coca-Cola of milk”.The milk mustache campaign, with such notables as Christie Brinkley, Jennifer Aniston and Lauren Becall sporting white upper lips and exclaiming, “Milk, what a surprise!” has been running since last January. The National Fluid Milk Processor Board has also joined forces with its California counterpart to license a series o f TV spots called “Got Milk?” The theme is that people only think about milk when they haven’t got it. “For the first time the industry is focusing on milk as a beverage,” says Gordon McDonald, senior vice president at the American Dairy Association. “Usin g beverage-marketing tactics can work for milk. Milk products, packaging and advertising haven’t changed in 25 years, but now we are taking a look at all these things to make milk more competitive.”Is it? The answer may well be yes. Boosted by the campaigns, milk sales have increased for the first time in decades, up 9% over last year. That’s not enough to strain the dairy herd, and milk’s not going to be replacing Chardonnay at Hollywood parties. But for a product that’s been in a 30-year funk (怯懦), it’s not a bad start to a comeback.16. At the beginning of the passage, it is implied that[A] milk is good for children.[B] milk is a household necessity.[C] milk consumption has declined because of cola.[D] milk consumption has fallen behind that of soft drinks.17. What is NOT true about Smooth Moos Smoothies?[A] It was developed by Pepsi.[B] It was a new kind of cola.[C] It has a longer self life than traditional milk products.[D] Some people won’t like its high calor ies.18. By “For the first time…as a beverage”, Gordon McDonald implies that[A] milk used to be thought of as non-beverage.[B] milk used to be consumed by drinkers only.[C] the industry intends to reformulate milk’s image.[D] the industry is bringing out a cartful of new milk beverages.19. From the last paragraph we know that[A] Milk has little possibility to become more competitive.[B] Milk sales have been increasing for decades.[C] Milk will someday take the place of other beverages.[D] Milk products have seen depression for 30 years.20. What’s the author’s attitude towards the milk campaign?[A] Objective and actual.[B] Cynical and indifferent.[C] Serious and pessimistic.[D] Argumentative and optimistic.语境词汇Text A1. light ad.轻装地n.光v.点燃2. self-contained a.独立的；沉默寡言的3. automatic a.必然的；自动的；无意识的4. confidence n.知心话；信任；信心5. agreeable a.惬意的；易相处的；适宜的6. mixer n.善于或者不善于交际的人；搅拌机Text B1. census n.人口调查2. interval n.间隔，空隙；幕间休息；中断3. anchor v.使固定；抛锚泊船n.铁锚4. dissolution n.解散，解除；溶解，液化5. mortality n.死亡率，死亡数目6. precipitate v.突然地发生；使陷入Text C1. dissident n.&a.持异议的（人），持不同政见的（人）2. pin vt.使固定；（用别针）别住n.别针；胸针3. scribble v.潦草地书写；乱涂n.乱涂乱写的东西4. yawn vi.裂开，豁开；打哈欠，欠身n.呵欠；裂口5. chasm n.分歧，隔阂；（地壳的）裂隙，断层6. meager a.贫乏的；少量的；瘦的Text D1. heed vt.听某人的劝告，听从2. beverage n.饮料3. shake n.奶昔4. package vt.将…加以包装n.包装5. endorsement n.赞同，支持6. notable n.名人，要人a.显著的，著名的7. sport vt.＆vi.炫耀；嬉戏n.运动8. exclaim vt.＆vi.呼喊，惊叫，大声说9. boost vt.推动；提高n.帮助；提高难句突破Text A1. Becket had one occasional anxiety: the suspicion that he owned more than would fit comfortably into the case.【分析】复合句。