2020年大学英语四级考试阅读理解训练(一)
2020年12月英语四级试题一仔细阅读真题答案(网友版)
2020年12月英语四级试题一仔细阅读真题答案（网友版）Everybody sleeps—so goes theSesame Street song meant for obstinately awakechildren. That may be true, but what people stay up late tocatch—or wake up early in order not to miss—varies byculture.Around the world, people changed sleep patterns thanks to the startor end of daylight savings time. Russians, for example, began towake up about a half-hour later each day after President VladimirPutin shifted the country permanently to “winter time”star ting on October 26.Russia’s other latenights and early mornings generally coincided with public holidays.One such spike was on New Year’s Eve, which Russians tend to ringin with unusual fervor, as well as on World War II Victory Day.According to another Jawbonefinding,Russians have the world's latest bedtime on December 31, hittingthe hay at around 3：30 a.m.Russians also got upan hour later on International Women’s Day, the day for coddlingand celebrating female relatives.Similarly, Americans’late nights, late mornings, and longest sleeps coincided withthree-day weekends.Canada got the leastsleep of the year the night it beat Sweden in the Olympic hockeyfinal.The World Cup wasalso a major sleep-deprivation culprit. The worst night for sleepin the U.K. was the night of theEngland-Italy match on June 14.Brits stayed up a half-hour later to watch it, and then they wokeup earlier than usualthe next morning thanks to summer nights, thephenomenon in which the sun barely sets in northern countries inthe summertime. That was nothing, though, compared toGermans,Italians, and the French, who stayed up around anhour and a halflater on various days throughout the summer to watch theCup.It should be made clear that not everyone has a device to record their sleep patterns; in some of these nations, it’s likely that only the richest people do. And people who elect to track their sleep may try to get more sleep than the average person. Even if that’s the case, though, the above findings are still striking. If the most healthconscious among us have such deep swings in our shuteye levels throughout the year, how much sleep are the rest of us losing?参考答案及解析61题，定位到第一段最后一句“varies byculture”，所以答案选A——They areculture-related.62题，由题干的大写名词Russian定位到第二段和第三段。
2020年大学英语四级考试真题及答案(第一套)
大学英语四级考试真题（第一套）Part I Writing （30 minutes）Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay on the following question. You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words.Suppose a foreign friend of yours is coming to visit your campus, what is the most interesting place you would like to take him/her to see and why?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 about what was said. Both the conversation and the questions will be spoken only once. After each question there will be a pause. During the pause, you must read the four choices marked A）, B）, C）and D）, and decide which is the best answer. Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre.1. A）They came in five different colors. C）They were a very good design.B）They were good value for money. D）They were sold out very quickly.2. A）Ask her roommate not to speak loudly on the phone.B）Ask her roommate to make her phone calls outside.C）Go and find a quieter place to review her lessons.D）Report her problem to the dorm management.3. A）The washing machine is totally beyond repair.B）He will help Wendy prepare her annual report.C）Wendy should give priority to writing her report.D）The washing machine should be checked annually.4. A）The man fell down when removing the painting.B）The wall will be decorated with a new painting.C）The woman likes the painting on the wall.D）The painting is now being reframed.5. A）It must be missing. C）The man took it to the market.B）It was left in the room. D）She placed it on the dressing table.6. A）Go to a play. C）Book some tickets.B）Meet Janet. D）Have a get-together.7. A）One box of books is found missing. C）Replacements have to be ordered.B）Some of the boxes arrived too late. D）Some of the books are damaged.8. A）The man will pick up Professor Johnson at her office.B）The man did not expect his paper to be graded so soon.C）Professor Johnson has given the man a very high grade.D）Professor Johnson will talk to each student in her office.Questions 9 to 11 are based on the conversation you have just heard.9. A）To buy a present for his friend who is getting married.B）To find out the cost for a complete set of cookware.C）To see what he could ask his friends to buy for him.D）To make inquiries about the price of an electric cooker.10. A）To teach him how to use the kitchenware.B）To discuss cooking experiences with him.C）To tell him how to prepare delicious dishes.D）To recommend suitable kitchenware to him.11. A）There are so many different sorts of knives.B）Cooking devices are such practical presents.C）A mixer can save so much time in making cakes.D）Saucepans and frying pans are a must in the kitchen.Questions 12 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard.12. A）Some new problems in her work. C）Her chance for promotion in the bank.B）Cooperation with an international bank. D）Her intention to leave her present job.13. A）The World Bank. C）A U.S. finance corporation.B）Bank of Washington. D）An investment bank in New York.14. A）Supervising financial transactions.B）Taking charge of public relations.C）Making loans to private companies in developing countries.D）Offering service to international companies in the United States.15. A）It is a first major step to realizing the woman’s dream.B）It is an honor for the woman and her present employer.C）It is a loss for her current company.D）It is really beyond his expectation.Section BDirections: In this section, you will hear 3 short passages. At the end of each passage, you will hear some questions. Both the passage and the questions will be spoken only once. After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A）, B）, C）and D）. Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre.Passage OneQuestions 16 to 18 are based on the passage you have just heard.16. A）Carry out a thorough checkup. C）Keep extra gas in reserve.B）Try to keep the gas tank full. D）Fill up the water tank.17. A）Attempting to leave your car to seek help.B）Opening a window a bit to let in fresh air.C）Running the engine every now and then.D）Keeping the heater on for a long time.18. A）It exhausts you physically. C）It causes you to lose body heat.B）It makes you fall asleep easily. D）It consumes too much oxygen.Passage TwoQuestions 19 to 21 are based on the passage you have just heard.19. A）They are very generous in giving gifts.B）They refuse gifts when doing business.C）They regard gifts as a token of friendship.D）They give gifts only on special occasions.20. A）They enjoy giving gifts to other people.B）They spend a lot of time choosing gifts.C）They have to follow many specific rules.D）They pay attention to the quality of gifts.21. A）Gift-giving plays an important role in human relationships.B）We must be aware of cultural differences in giving gifts.C）We must learn how to give gifts before going abroad.D）Reading extensively makes one a better gift-giver.Passage ThreeQuestions 22 to 25 are based on the passage you have just heard.22. A）It reflects American people’s view of French politics.B）It is first published in Washington and then in Paris.C）It explains American politics to the French public.D）It is popular among French government officials.23. A）Work on her column. C）Entertain her guests.B）Do housework at home. D）Go shopping downtown.24. A）To report to her newspaper. C）To visit her parents.B）To refresh her French. D）To meet her friends.25. A）She might be recalled to France. C）She might close her Monday column.B）She might change her profession. D）She might be assigned to a new post.Section CDirections: In this section, you will hear a passage three times. When the passage is read for the first time, you should listen carefully for its general idea. When the passage is read for the second time, you are required to fill in the blanks with the exact words you have just heard. Finally, when the passage is read for the third time, you should check what you have written.According to American law, if someone is accused of a crime, he is considered （26）__________ until the court proves the person is guilty.To arrest a person, the police have to be reasonably sure that a crime has been （27）__________. The police must give the suspect the reasons why they are arresting him and tell him his rights under the law. Then the police take the suspect to the police station, where the name of the person and the （28）__________ against him are formally listed.The next step is for the suspect to go before a judge. The judge decides whether the suspect should be kept in jail or （29）__________. If the suspect has no previous criminal record and thejudge feels that he will return to court （30）__________ run away, he can go free. Otherwise, the suspect must put up bail （保释金）. At this time, too, the judge will （31）__________ a court lawyer to defend the suspect if he can’t afford one.The suspect returns to court a week or two later. A lawyer from the district attorney’s office presents a case against the suspect. The attorney may present （32）__________ as well as witnesses. The judge then decides whether there is enough reason to （33）__________.The American justice system is very complex and sometimes operates slowly. However, every step is （34）__________ to protect the rights of the people. These individual rights are the （35）__________ of the American government.Part III Reading Comprehension （40 minutes）Section ADirections: In this section, there is a passage with 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 36 to 45 are based on the following passage.Global warming is a trend toward warmer conditions around the world. Part of the warming is natural; we have experienced a 20,000-year-long warming as the last ice age ended and the ice ___36___ away. However, we have already reached temperatures that are in ___37___ with other minimum-ice periods, so continued warming is likely not natural. We are ___38___ to a predicted worldwide increase in temperatures ___39___ between 1℃and 6℃over the next 100 years. The warming will be more ___40___ in some areas, less in others, and some places may even cool off. Likewise, the ___41___ of this warming will be very different depending on where you are—coastal areas must worry about rising sea levels, while Siberia and northern Canada may become more habitable （宜居的）and ___42___ for humans than these areas are now.The fact remains, however, that it will likely get warmer, on ___43___, everywhere. Scientists are in general agreement that the warmer conditions we have been experiencing are at least in part the result of a human-induced global warming trend. Some scientists ___44___ that the changes we are seeing fall within the range of random （无规律的）variation—some years are cold, others warm, and we have just had an unremarkable string of warm years ___45___—but that is becoming an increasingly rare interpretation in the face of continued and increasing warm conditions.A）appealing I）meltedB）average J）persistC）contributing K）rangingD）dramatic L）recentlyE）frequently M）resolvedF）impact N）sensibleG）line O）shockH）maintainSection BDirections: In this section, you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached to it. Each statement contains information given in one of the paragraphs. Identify the paragraph from which the information is derived. You may choose a paragraph more than once. Each paragraph is marked with a letter. Answer the questions by marking the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2.The End of the Book?A） Amazon, by far the largest bookseller in the country, reported on May 19 that it is now selling more books in its electronic Kindle format than in the old paper-and-ink format. That is remarkable, considering that the Kindle has only been around for four years. E-books now account for 14 percent of all book sales in this country and are increasing far faster than overall book sales. E-book sales are up 146 percent over last year, while hardback sales increased 6 percent and paperbacks decreased 8 percent.B） Does this spell the doom of the physical book? Certainly not immediately, and perhaps not at all. What it does mean is that the book business will go through a transformation in the next decade or so more profound than any it has seen since Gutenberg introduced printing from moveable type in the 1450s.C） Physical books will surely become much rarer in the marketplace. Mass market paperbacks, which have been declining for years anyway, will probably disappear, as will hardbacks for mysteries, thrillers, “romance fiction,”etc. Such books, which only rarely end up in permanent collections, either private or public, will probably only be available as e-books within a few years. Hardback and trade paperbacks for “serious”nonfiction and fiction will surely last longer. Perhaps it will become the mark of an author to reckon with that he or she is still published in hard copy.D） As for children’s books, who knows? Children’s books are like dog food in that the purchasers are not the consumers, so the market （and the marketing）is inherently strange. E）For clues to the book’s future, let’s look at some examples of technological change and see what happened to the old technology.F）One technology replaces another only because the new technology is better, cheaper, or both. The greater the difference, the sooner and more thoroughly the new technology replaces the old. Printing with moveable type on paper dramatically reduced the cost of producing a book compared with the old-fashioned ones handwritten on vellum, which comes from sheepskin. A Bible—to be sure, a long book—required vellum made from 300 sheepskins and countless man-hours of labor. Before printing arrived, a Bible cost more than a middle-class house. There were perhaps 50,000 books in all of Europe in 1450. By 1500 there were 10 million.G） But while printing quickly caused the handwritten book to die out, hand writing lingered on （继续存在）well into the 16th century. Very special books are still occasionally produced on vellum, but they are one-of-a-kind show pieces.H） Sometimes a new technology doesn’t drive the old one out, but only parts of it while forcing the rest to evolve. The movies were widely predicted to drive live theater out of the marketplace, but they didn’t, because theater turned out to have qualities movies could not reproduce. Equally,TV was supposed to replace movies but, again, did not.I）Movies did, however, fatally impact some parts of live theater. And while TV didn’t kill movies, it did kill second-rate pictures, shorts, and cartoons.J）Nor did TV kill radio. Comedy and drama shows （”Jack Benny,”“Amos and Andy,”“The Shadow”）all migrated to television. But because you can’t drive a car and watch television at the same time, rush hour became radio’s prime time, while music, talk, and news radio greatly enlarged their audiences. Radio is today a very different business than in the late 1940s and a much larger one.K） Sometimes old technology lingers for centuries because of its symbolic power. Mounted cavalry （骑兵）replaced the chariot （二轮战车）on the battlefield around 1000 BC. But chariots maintained their place in parades and triumphs right up until the end of the Roman Empire 1,500 years later. The sword hasn’t had a military function for a hundred years, but is still part of an officer’s full-dress uniform, precisely because a sword always symbolized “an officer and a gentleman.”L）Sometimes new technology is a little cranky （不稳定的）at first. Television repairman was a common occupation in the 1950s, for instance. And so the old technology remains as a backup. Steamships captured the North Atlantic passenger business from sail in the 1840s because of its much greater speed. But steamships didn’t lose their sails until the 1880s, because early marine engines had a nasty habit of breaking down. Until ships became large enough （and engines small enough）to mount two engines side by side, they needed to keep sails. （The high cost of steam and the lesser need for speed kept the majority of the world’s ocean freight moving by sail until the early years of the 20th century.）M）Then there is the fireplace. Central heating was present in every upper- and middle-class home by the second half of the 19th century. But functioning fireplaces remain to this day a powerful selling point in a house or apartment. I suspect the reason is a deep-rooted love of fire. Fire was one of the earliest major technological advances for humankind, providing heat, protection, and cooked food （which is much easier to eat and digest）. Human control of fire goes back far enough （over a million years）that evolution could have produced a genetic leaning towards fire as a central aspect of human life.N） Books—especially books the average person could afford—haven’t been around long enough to produce evolutionary change in humans. But they have a powerful hold on many people nonetheless, a hold extending far beyond their literary content. At their best, they are works of art and there is a tactile （触觉的）pleasure in books necessarily lost in e-book versions. The ability to quickly thumb through pages is also lost. And a room with books in it induces, at least in some, a feeling not dissimilar to that of a fire in the fireplace on a cold winter’s night.O） For these reasons I think physical books will have a longer existence as a commercial product than some currently predict. Like swords, books have symbolic power. Like fireplaces, they induce a sense of comfort and warmth. And, perhaps, similar to sails, they make a useful backup for when the lights go out.46. Authors still published in printed versions will be considered important ones.47. Some people are still in favor of printed books because of the sense of touch they can provide.48. The radio business has changed greatly and now attracts more listeners.49. Contrary to many people’s prediction of its death, the film industry survived.50. Remarkable changes have taken place in the book business.51. Old technology sometimes continues to exist because of its reliability.52. The increase of e-book sales will force the book business to make changes not seen for centuries.53. A new technology is unlikely to take the place of an old one without a clear advantage.54. Paperbacks of popular literature are more likely to be replaced by e-books.55. A house with a fireplace has a stronger appeal to buyers.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.The question of whether our government should promote science and technology or the liberal arts in higher education isn’t an either/or proposition（命题）, although the current emphasis on preparing young Americans for STEM （science, technology, engineering, maths）-related fields can make it seem that way.The latest congressional report acknowledges the critical importance of technical training, but also asserts that the study of the humanities （人文学科）and social sciences must remain central components of America’s educational system at all levels. Both areas are critical to producing citizens who can participate effectively in our democratic society, become innovative （创新的）leaders, and benefit from the spiritual enrichment that the reflection on the great ideas of mankind over time provides.Parents and students who have invested heavily in higher education worry about graduates’job prospects as technological advances and changes in domestic and global markets transform professions in ways that reduce wages and cut jobs. Under these circumstances, it’s natural to look for what may appear to be the most “practical”way out of the problem: “Major in a subject designed to get you a job”seems the obvious answer to some, though this ignores the fact that many disciplines in the humanities characterized as “soft”often, in fact, lead to employment and success in the long run. Indeed, according to surveys, employers have expressed a preference for students who have received a broadly-based education that has taught them to write well, think critically, research creatively and communicate easily.Moreover, students should be prepared not just for their first job, but for their 4th and 5th jobs, as there’s little reason to doubt that people entering the workforce today will be called upon to play many different roles over the course of their careers. The ones who will do the best in this new environment will be those whose educations have prepared them to be flexible. The ability to draw upon every available tool and insight—picked up from science, arts and technology—to solve the problems of the future, and take advantage of the opportunities that present themselves, will be helpful to them and the United States.56. What does the latest congressional report suggest?A）STEM-related subjects help students find jobs in the information society.B）The humanities and STEM subjects should be given equal importance.C）The liberal arts in higher education help enrich students’ spiritual life.D）Higher education should be adjusted to the practical needs of society.57. What is the main concern of students when they choose a major?A）Their interest in relevant subjects. C）The quality of education to receive.B）The academic value of the courses. D）Their chances of getting a good job.58. What does the author say about the so-called soft subjects?A）They benefit students in their future life.B）They broaden students’ range of interests.C）They improve students’ communication skills.D）They are essential to students’ healthy growth.59. What kind of job applicants do employers look for?A）Those who have a strong sense of responsibility.B）Those who are good at solving practical problems.C）Those who are likely to become innovative leaders.D）Those who have received a well-rounded education.60. What advice does the author give to college students?A）Seize opportunities to tap their potential.B）Try to take a variety of practical courses.C）Prepare themselves for different job options.D）Adopt a flexible approach to solving problems.Passage TwoQuestions 61 to 65 are based on the following passage.Energy independence. It has a nice ring to it, doesn’t it? If you think so, you’re not alone, because energy independence has been the dream of American presidents for decades, and never more so than in the past few years, when the most recent oil price shock has been partly responsible for kicking off the great recession.“Energy independence”and its rhetorical （修辞的）companion “energy security”are, however, slippery concepts that are rarely thought through. What is it we want independence from, exactly?Most people would probably say that they want to be independent from imported oil. But there are reasons that we buy all that oil from elsewhere.The first reason is that we need it to keep our economy running. Yes, there is a trickle （涓涓细流）of biofuel（生物燃料）available, and more may become available, but most biofuels cause economic waste and environmental destruction.Second, Americans have basically decided that they don’t really want to produce all their own oil. They value the environmental quality they preserve over their oil imports from abroad. Vast areas of the United States are off-limits to oil exploration and production in the name of environmental protection. To what extent are Americans really willing to endure the environmental impacts of domestic energy production in order to cut back imports?Third, there are benefits to trade. It allows for economic efficiency, and when we buy thingsfrom places that have lower production costs than we do, we benefit. And although you don’t read about this much, the United States is also a large exporter of oil products, selling about 2 million barrels of petroleum products per day to about 90 countries.There is no question that the United States imports a great deal of energy and, in fact, relies on that steady flow to maintain its economy. When that flow is interrupted, we feel the pain in short supplies and higher prices. At the same time, we derive massive economic benefits when we buy the most affordable energy on the world market and when we engage in energy trade around the world.61. What does the author say about energy independence for America?A）It sounds very attractive. C）It will bring oil prices down.B）It ensures national security. D）It has long been everyone’s dream.62. What does the author think of biofuels?A）They keep America’s economy running healthily.B）They prove to be a good alternative to petroleum.C）They do not provide a sustainable energy supply.D）They cause serious damage to the environment.63. Why does America rely heavily on oil imports?A）It wants to expand its storage of crude oil.B）Its own oil reserves are quickly running out.C）It wants to keep its own environment intact.D）Its own oil production falls short of demand.64. What does the author say about oil trade?A）It proves profitable to both sides.B）It improves economic efficiency.C）It makes for economic prosperity.D）It saves the cost of oil exploration.65. What is the author’s purpose in writing the passage?A）To justify America’s dependence on oil imports.B）To arouse Americans’ awareness of the energy crisis.C）To stress the importance of energy conservation.D）To explain the increase of international oil trade.Part IV Translation （30 minutes）Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to translate a passage from Chinese into English. You should write your answer on Answer Sheet 2.中国应进一步发展核能，因为核电目前只占其总发电量的2%。
2020英语四级阅读理解训练附答案优秀范文三篇
2020英语四级阅读理解训练附答案优秀范文三篇2020英语四级阅读理解训练附答案（1）There are two factors which determine an individual s intelligence. The first is the sort of brain he is born with. Human brains differ considerably, some being more capable than others. But no matter how good a brain he has to begin with, an individual will have a low order of intelligence unless he has opportunities to learn. So the second factor is what happens to the individual the sort of environment in which he is reared. If an individual is handicapped envionmentally ,it is likely that his brain will fail to develop and he will never attain the level of intelligence of which he is capable.The importance of environment in determining an individual s intellingence can be demonstrated by the case history of the identical twins, Peter and Mark X. Being identical, the twins had identical brains at birth, and their growth processes were the same. When the twins were three months old , their parents died, and they were placed in separate foster homes. Peter was reated by parents of low intelligence in an isolatedcommunity with poor educational pooprtunities.Mark was reared inthe home of well-to-do parents who had been to college. He was read to as a child , sent to good schools, and given every opportunity to be stimulated intellectually.This enviromental difference continued until the twins were in their late teens, when they were giben tesets to measure their intelligence. Mark s I.Q. was 125, twenty-five points higher than the average and fully forty points higher than his identical brother.Given equal opportunities , the twins , having identical brains,would have tested at roughly the same level.1.This selection can best be titled_________.a.Measuring Your Intelligenceb.Intelligence and Environmentc.The Case of Peter and Markd.How the brain Influences Intelligence2.The beststatement of the main idea of this passage is that _____.a.human brains differ considerablyb.the brain a person is born with is improtant in determining his intelligencec.environment is crucial in determining a person s intelligenced. persons having identical brains will have roughly the same intelligence3.According to the passage , the average I.Q.is _____.a.85b.100c.110d.1254.The case history of the twins appears to support the conclusion that _______.a.individual with identical brains seldom test at same levelb.an individual s intelligence is determined only by his enviromentck of opportunity blocks the growth of intelligenced.changes of enviroment produce changes in the structure of the brain5.This passage suggests that an individual s I.Q.______.a.can be predicted at birthb.stays the same throuthout his lifec.can be increased by educationd.is determined by his childhood答案：bcbcc2020英语四级阅读理解训练附答案（2）Women are also underrepresented in the administration and this is because there are so few women full professors. In 1985,Regent Beryl Milburn produced a report blasting the University of Texas System adminitration for not encouraging women.The University was rated among the lowest for the system.In a 1987 update ,Milburn commended the progress that was made and called for even more improvement.One of the positive results from her study was a System-wide program to inform women of available administrative jobs.College of Communication Associate Dean Patrica Witherspoon,said it is important that woman be flexible when it comesto relocating if they want to rise in the ranks.Although a woman may face a chilly climate on campus , many times in order for her to succeed , she must rise above the problems around her and concentrate on her work.Until women make up a greater percentage of the senior positions in the University and all academia,inequities will exist.Women need to spend their energies and time doing scholarly activities that are important here at the University. Spirduso said. If they do that will be successful in this system.If they spend their time in little groups mourning the sexual discrimination that they think exists here, they are wasting valuable study time.1.According to Spirduso,women need to ____.a.produce a report on sexual discriminationb.call for further improvement in their working conditionsc.spend their energies and time fighting against sexual discriminationd.spend more time and energy doing scholarly activities2.From this passage ,we know that _____.a.there are many women full professors in the University of Texasb.women play an important part in adminitrating the Universityc.the weather on the campus is chillyd.women make up a small percentage of the senior positions in the University3.Which of the following statements is true?a.the number of women professors in the University in 1987 was greater than that of 1985b.the number of women professors in the University in 1987 was smaller than that of 1985c.the number of women professors was the same as that of 1985d.more and more women professors thought that sexual discrimination did exit in the University4.One of the positive results from Milburn s study was that _____.a.women were told to con centrate on teir workb.women were given information about available administrative jobsc.women were encouraged to take on all the administrative jobs in the Unversityd.women were encouraged to do more scholarly activities5. The title for this passage should be _______.a.The University of Texasburn s Reportc.Women Professorsd.Sexual Discrimination in Academia答案：ddabd2020英语四级阅读理解训练附答案（3）What is your favourite colour? Do you like yellow , orange ,red? If you do ,you must be an optimist, a leader, an active person who enjoys life, people and excitement. Do you prefer greys and blues? Then you are probably quiet,shy, and you would rather follow than lead. You tend to be a pessimist. At least, this is what psychologists tell us, and they should know,because they have been seriously studying the meaning of colours preference, as well as the effect that colours have on human beings. They tells us, among other facts,that we do not choose our favourite clour as we grow up----we are born with our preference.If you happen to love brown, you did so, as soon as you opened your eyes, or at least as soon as you could see clearly.Colours do influence our moods-there is no doubt about it .A yellow room makes most people feel more cheerful and more relaxed than a dark green one; and a red dress brings warmth and cheer to the saddest winter day. On the other hand ,black is depressing. A black bridge over the Thames River, near London, used to be the scene of more suicides than any other bridge in the area ----until it was repainter green.The number of suicide attempts immediately fell sharply ;perhaps it would have fallen even more if the bridge had been done in pink or baby blue.Light and bright colours make people not only hppier but more active. It is an established fact that factory workers work better,harder ,and have fewer accidents when their machines are painted orange rather than black or grey.1. You would rather follow than red means_______.a.you don t like to follow othersb.you would be a member rather than a leaderc.you would be afraid of following othersd.you would like to be a leader rather than a follower2.If one enjoys life, one is sure to prefer________.a.red to yellowb.blue to orangec.red to greyd.blue to yellow3. They tell us, among other facts,that we don t choose our favourite colours as we grow up. Among other facts means______.a.besides other factsb.in regard to other factsc.not considering other factsd.according to other facts4.Which of the following is facts?a.People s preference of one colour to another is instinctb.People s preference of one colour to another is acquired as they grow up.c.More people happen to love brown because they saw something brown when they were bornd.Colours have little influence on our moods5.Those who committed suicide preferred the bridge over the Thames River near london to others because of _______.a.its shapeb.its structurec.its colourd.its building materials答案：bcaac11/ 11。
2020年大学英语四级阅读理解试题及答案
2020年大学英语四级阅读理解试题及答案（1）People become quite illogical when they try to decide what can be eaten and what cannot be eaten. If you lived in the Mediterranean, for instance, you would consider octopus a great delicacy. You would not be able to understand why some people find it repulsive. On the other hand, your stomach would turn at the idea of frying potatoes in animal fat -- the normally accepted practice in many northern countries. The sad truth is that most of us have been brought up to eat certain foods and we stick to them all our lives.No creature has received more praise and abuse than the common garden snail. Cooked in wine, snails are a great luxury in various parts of the world. There are countless people who, ever since their early years, have learned to associate snails with food. My friend, Robert, lives in a country where snails are despised. As his flat is in a large town, he has no garden of his own. For years he has been asking me to collectsnails from my garden and take them to him. The idea never appealed to me very much, but one day, after heavy shower, I happened to be walking in my garden when I noticed a huge number of snails taking a stroll on some of my prize plants. Acting on a sudden impulse, I collected several dozen, put them in a paper bag,and took them to Robert. Robert was delighted to see me and equally pleased with my little gift. I left the bag in the halland Robert and I went into the living room where we talked for a couple of hours. I had forgotten all about the snails when Robert suddenly said that I must stay to dinner. Snails would, of course, be the main dish. I did not fancy the idea and I reluctantly followed Robert out of the room. To our dismay, we saw that there were snails everywhere: they had escaped from the paper bag and had taken complete possession of the hall! I have never been able to look at a snail since then.练习题：Choose correct answers to the question:1.The underlined word “repulsive”in Paragraph 1 most probably means“_____”.A.disgustingB. pleasantC. acceptableD. delicious2.We can infer from Paragraph 3 that when collecting the snails, the author____ .A.was glad that he could share them with his friendB.was angry because they might damage his beloved plantsC.was excited about being able to give his friend a surpriseD.was depressed because it was hard to catch them all3.The author finds that snails _______ .A. are as delicious as octopusB. are disliked in his hometownC.are the most controversial foodD. are as popular as fried potatoes4.The best title for the passage might be “______”?A.One Man’s Meat is Another Man’s PoisonB.Foods and CulturesC.Snail and OctopusD.People Are Illogical in Front of Delicacies5.As indicated in the passage,people love different foods mainly because____A.they live in different places.B.they learn to eat certain foods in their familiesC.they have different understanding of delicacyD.they are too illogical to explain1.[A] 词义推断题。
2020年英语四级阅读理解练习题及解析(1)
2020年英语四级阅读理解练习题及解析(1) Passage 1In the old days,children were familiar with birth and death as part of life. This is perhaps the first generation of American youngsters (年轻人)who have never been close by during the birth of a baby and have never experienced the death of a family member.Nowadays when people grow old, we often send them to nursing homes. When they get sick，we transfer them to a hospital, where children are forbidden to visit terminallyill patients—even when those patients are their parents. This deprives (剥夺)the dying patient of significant family members during the last few days of his life and it deprives the children of an experience of death, which is an important learning experience.Some of my colleagues and I once interviewed and followed approximately 500 terminally ill patients in order to find out what they could teach us and how we could be of more benefit,not just to them but to the members of their families as well. We were most impressed by the fact that even those patients who were not told of their serious illness were quite aware of its potential outcome.It is important for family members, and doctors and nurses to understand these patients’ communications in order to truly understand their needs，fears，and fantasies (幻想). Most of our patients welcomed another human being with whom they could talk openly, honestly，and frankly about their trouble. Many of them shared with us their tremendous need tobe informed, to be kept up-to-date on their medical condition，and to be told when the end was near. We found out that patients who had been dealt with openly and frankly werebetter able to cope with the approach of death and finally to reach a true stage of acceptance prior to death.It may be concluded from the passage that __.A. dying patients are afraid of being told of theapproach of deathB. dying patients should be truthfully informed of their conditionC. most doctors and nurses understand what dying patients needD. most patients are unable to accept death until it is obviously inevitable【讲解答案】B推理题。
2020年英语四级仔细阅读题精选练习20套(1)
2020年英语四级仔细阅读题精选练习20套(1)Part II Reading Comprehension (35 minutes)Directions： There are 4 passages in this part. 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 the Answer Sheet with a singleline through the center.Passage OneQuestions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage.The biggest safety threat facing airlines today may notbe a terrorist with a gun, but the man with the portable computer in business class. In the last 15 years, pilots have reported well over 100 incidents that could have been causedby electromagnetic interference. The source of this interference remains unconfirmed, but increasingly, expertsare pointing the blame at portable electronic device such as portable computers, radio and cassette players and mobile telephones.RTCA, an organization which advises the aviation (航空) industry, has recommended that all airlines ban (禁止) such devices from being used during “critical” st ages of flight, particularly take-off and landing. Some experts have gone further, calling for a total ban during all flights. Currently, rules on using these devices are left up to individual airlines. And although some airlines prohibit passengers from using such equipment during take-off andlanding, most are reluctant to enforce a total ban, giventhat many passengers want to work during flights.The difficulty is predicting how electromagnetic fields might affect an aircraft’s computers. Experts know that portable device emit radiation which affects those wavelengths which aircraft use for navigation and communication. But, because they have not been able to reproduce these effects in a laboratory, they have no way of knowing whether the interference might be dangerous or not.The fact that aircraft may be vulnerable (易受损的) to interference raises the risk that terrorists may use radio systems in order to damage navigation equipment. As worrying, though, is the passenger who can’t hear the instruction s to turn off his radio because the music’s too loud.21. The passage is mainly about ________.A) a new regulation for al airlinesB) the defects of electronic devicesC) a possible cause of aircraft crashesD) effective safety measures for air flight22. What is said about the over 100 aircraft incidents in the past 15 years?A) They may have been caused by the damage to the radio systems.B) They may have taken place during take-off and landing.C) They were proved to have been caused b y the passengers’ portable computers.D) They were suspected to have resulted from electromagnetic interference.23. Few airlines want to impose a total ban on their passengers using electronic devices because ________.A) they don’t believe there is such a danger as radio interferenceB) the harmful effect of electromagnetic interference isyet to be provedC) most passengers refuse to take a plane which bans the use of radio and cassette playersD) they have other effective safety measures to fall back on24. Why is it difficult to predict the possible effectsof electromagnetic fields on an airplane’s computers?A) Because it is extremely dangerous to conduct such research on an airplane.B) Because it remains a mystery what wavelengths areliable to be interfered with.C) Because research scientists have not been able to produce the same effects in labs.D) Because experts lack adequate equipment to do such research.25. It can be inferred from the passage that the author ________.A) is in favor of prohibiting passengers’ use of electronic devices completelyB) has overestimated the danger of electromagnetic interferenceC) hasn’t formed his own opinion on this problemD) regards it as unreasonable to exercise a total ban during flightPassage TwoQuestions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage.The rise of multinational corporations (跨国公司), global marketing, new communications technologies, and shrinking cultural differences have led to an unparalleled increase in global public relations or PR.Surprisingly, since modern PR was largely an American invention, the U.S. leadership in public relations is being threatened by PR efforts in other countries. Ten years ago, for example, the world’s top five public relat ions agencies were American-owned. In 1991, only one was. The British in particular are becoming more sophisticated and creative. A recent survey found that more than half of all British companies include PR as part of their corporate (公司的) planning activities, compared to about one-third of U.S. companies. It may not be long before London replaces New York as the capital of PR.Why is America lagging behind in the global PR race?First, Americans as a whole tend to be fairly provincial and take more of an interest in local affairs. Knowledge of world geography, for example, has never been strong in this country. Secondly, Americans lag behind their European and Asian counterparts (相对应的人) in knowing a second language. Less than 5 percent of Burson—Marshall’s U.S. employees know two languages. Ogilvy and Mather has about the same percentage. Conversely, some European firms have half or more of their employees fluent in a second language. Finally, peopleinvolved in PR abroad tend to keep a closer eye oninternational affairs. In the financial PR area, for instance, most Americans read the Wall Street Journal. Overseas, their counterparts read the Journal as well as the Financial Timesof London and The Economist, publications not often read inthis country.Perhaps the PR industry might take a lesson from Ted Turner of CNN (Cable News Network). Turner recently announced that the word “foreign” would no longer be used on CNN news broadcasts. According to Turner, global communications have made the nations of the world so interdependent that there is no longer any such things as foreign.26. According to the passage, U.S. leadership in public relations is being threatened because of ________.A) an unparalleled increase in the number of public relations companiesB) shrinking cultural differences and new communications technologiesC) the decreasing number of multinational corporations in the U.S.D) increased efforts of other countries in publicrelations27. London could soon replace New York as the center ofPR because ________.A) British companies are more ambitious than U.S. companiesB) British companies place more importance on PR than U.S. companiesC) British companies are heavily involved in planning activitiesD) four of the world’s top public relations agencies are British-owned28. The word “provincial” (Line 2, Para. 3) most probably means “________”.A) limited in outlookB) like people from the provincesC) rigid in thinkingD) interested in world financial affairs29. We learn from the third paragraph that employees inthe American PR industry ________.A) speak at least one foreign language fluentlyB) are ignorant about world geographyC) are not as sophisticated as their European counterpartsD) enjoy reading a great variety of English business publications30. What lesson might the PR industry take from Ted Turner of CNN?A) American PR companies should be more internationally-minded.B) The American PR industry should develop global communications technologies.C) People working in PR should be more fluent in foreign languages.D) People involved in PR should avoid using the word “foreign”.Passage ThreeQuestions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage.Brazil has become one of the developing world’s great successes at reducing population growth-but more by accident than design. While countries such as India have made joint efforts to reduce birth rates, Brazil has had better result without really trying, says George Martine at Harvard.Brazil’s population growth rate has dropped from 2.99% a year between 1951 and 1960 to 1.93% a year between 1981 and 1990, and Brazilian women now have only 2.7 children on average. Martine says this figure may have fallen stillfurther since 1990, an achievement that makes it the envy of many other Third World countries.Martine puts it down to, among other things, soap operas (通俗电视连续剧) and installment (分期付款) plans introduced in the 1970s. Both played an important, although indirect, role in lowering the birth rate. Brazil is one of theworld’s biggest producers of soap operas. Globo, Brazil’s most popular television network, shows three hours of soaps six nights a week, while three others show at least one hour a night. Most soaps are based on wealthy characters living the high life in big cities.“Although they have never really tried to work in a message towards the problems of reproduction, they describe middle and upper class values-not many children, different attitudes towards sex, women working,” says Martine. “They sent this image to all parts of Brazil and made people conscious of other patterns of behavior and other values, which were put into a very attractive packa ge.”Meanwhile, the installment plans tried to encourage the poor to become consumers. “This led to an enormous change in consumption patterns and consumption was incompatible (不相容的) with unlimited reproduction,” says Martine.31. According to the passage, Brazil has cut back its population growth ________.A) by educating its citizensB) by careful family planningC) by developing TV programmesD) by chance32. According to the passage, many Third World countries ________.A) haven’t attach ed much importance to birth controlB) would soon join Brazil in controlling their birth rateC) haven’t yet found an effective measure to control their populationD) neglected the role of TV plays in family planning33. The phrase “puts it down to” (Line 1, Para. 3) is closest in meaning to “________”.A) attributes it toB) finds it a reason forC) sums it up asD) compares it to34. Soap operas have helped in lowering Brazil’s birth rate because ________.A) they keep people sitting long hours watching TVB) they have gradually changed people’s way of lifeC) people are drawn to their attractive packageD) they popularize birth control measures35. What is Martine’s conclusion about Brazil’s population growth?A) The increase in birth rate will promote consumption.B) The desire for consumption helps to reduce birth rate.C) Consumption patterns and reproduction patterns are contradictory.D) A country’s production is limited by its population growth.Passage FourQuestions 36 to 40 are based on the following passage.There seems never to have been a civilization without toys, but when and how they developed is unknown. They probably came about just to give children something to do.In the ancient world, as is today, most boys played with some kinds of toys and most girls with another. In societies where social roles are rigidly determined, boys pattern their play after the activities of their fathers and girls after the tasks of their mothers. This is true because boys and girls are being prepared, even in play, to step into the roles and responsibilities of the adult world.What is remarkable about the history of toys is not so much how they changed over the centuries but how much they have remained are same. The changes have been mostly in terms of craftsmanship, mechanics, and technology. It is the universality of toys with regard to their development in all parts of the world and their persistence to the present that is amazing. In Egypt, the Americas, China, Japan and among the Arctic (北极的) peoples, generally the same kinds of toys appeared. Variations depended on local customs and ways of life because toys imitate their surroundings. Nearly everycivilization had dolls, little weapons, toy soldiers, tiny animals and vehicles.Because toys can be generally regarded as a kind of art form, they have not been subject to technological leaps that characterize inventions for adult use. The progress from the wheel to the oxcart to the automobile is a direct line of ascent (进步). The progress from a rattle (拨浪鼓) used by a baby in 3000 BC to one used by an infant today, however, is not characterized by inventiveness. Each rattle is the product of the artistic tastes of the times and subject to the limitations of available materials.36. The reason why the toys most boys play with are different from those that girls play with is that ________.A) their social roles are rigidly determinedB) most boys would like to follow their fathers’ professionsC) boys like to play with their fathers while girls with their mothersD) they like challenging activities37. One aspect of “the universality of toys” lies in the fact that ________.A) technological advances have greatly improved the durability of toysB) the improvement of craftsmanship in making toys depends on the efforts of universitiesC) the exploration of the universe had led to the creation of new kinds of toysD) the basic characteristics of toys are the same the world over38. Which of the following is the author’s view on the historical development of toys?A) The craftsmanship in toy-making has remained essentially unchanged.B) Toys have remained basically the same all through the centuries.C) The toy industry has witnessed great leaps in technology in recent years.D) Toys are playing an increasingly important role in shaping a child’s character.39. Regarded as a kind of art form, toys ________.A) follow a direct line of ascentB) also appeal greatly to adultsC) are not characterized by technological progressD) reflect the pace of social progress40. The author uses the example of rattle to show that ________.A) in toy-making there is a continuity in the sue of materialsB) even the simplest toys can reflect the progress of technologyC) even the simplest toys can reflect the progress of technologyD) even a simple toy can mirror the artistic tastes of the time答案：21. C 22. D 23. B 24.C 25. A26. D 27. B 28. A 29.C 30. A31. D 32. C 33. A 34.B 35. B36. A 37. D 38. B 39.C 40. D。
2020年上半年英语四级考试阅读理解(3篇)
2020年上半年英语四级考试阅读理解（3篇）【篇一】2020年上半年英语四级考试阅读理解A pile of wood一堆木头An old material may find a new use in batteries一种古老的原材料可能会在电池上发挥它的新用途。
ON A list of cutting-edge materials for high-tech applications, you might not expect to see wood near the top.在一个应用于高科技的尖端材料目录上，看到木材会名列前茅，你可能不会想到。
But an experiment by Teng Li and Liangbing Hu of the University of Maryland may soon put it there.但是，由马里兰大学的李腾和胡良冰所做的一个实验可能会产生这种意外情况。
For Dr Li and Dr Hu, writing in Nano Letters, have just described how wood might be used to make one class of batteries cheaper by permitting the lithium now employed in them to be replaced with sodium.根据纳米快报的报道，李博士和胡博士已经详细说明了，在得到允许的情况下，用钠取代现在制造电池的锂。
再用木材制造某一类电池可能会降低成本。
As any high-school chemist knows, lithium and sodium are chemically similar.任何一个高中的化学家都知道，锂和钠的化学性质很相似。
Sodium ions are, however, five times the size of lithium ions.不过，钠离子—在缺少一个电子的前提下，钠原子带正电—是锂离子的五倍大小。
2020年12月大学英语四级阅读理解真题及答案下载卷一
2020年12月大学英语四级阅读理解真题及答案下载卷一【选词填空】The things people make，and the way they makethem，determine how cities grow and decline，and influence how empires rise and fal.So，anydisruption to the world's factories matters.And that disruption is surely coming.Factoriesare being digitised，filled with new sensors andnew computers to make them quicker，moreflexible，and more efficient.Robots are breaking free from the cages that sur-round them，learning new skills，and new waysof working.And3D printers have long promiseda world where you can make anything，any-where，from a computerised design.That visionis moving closer to reality.These forces will eadto cleaner factories，producing better goods atlower prices，personalised to our individualneeds and desires.Humans will be spared manyof the dirty，repetitive，and dangerous jobs thathave long been a feature of factory life.Greater efficiency inevitably means fewer peoplecan do the same work.Yet factory bosses in many devel aped countries are worried about alack of ski led human workers-and see automa-tion and robots as a solution.But economist Helena Leu rent says this period ofrapid change in manufacturing is a fantastic op-portunity to make the world a betterplace.“Manufacturing is the one system whereyou have got the biggest source of innovation，the biggest source of economic growth，and thebiggest source of great jobs in the past.“Youcan see it changing.That'san opportunity toshape that system differently，and if we can，itwil have enormous sign fi cance.26.K)matters27.G)flexible28.M)promised29.L)moving30.0)spared31.F)feature32.H)inevitably33.A)automation34.D)fantastic35.N)shape信息匹配：36.[E]That comment，say sMothering Justice director Dan-i elle Atkinson，"wasmeanttoshame" po37.[H]But the fact that4in10Americanscan't come upwith$400inan emergency is a commonly cited statistic forgood reason：economic instability str er ches across race，gen-der，andgeography.38.[M]According to the General Social Survey，71percent ofrespondents believe the country is spending too Little on"assistancetothepoor."39.[J]The FrameWorks Institute，aresearchgroupthatfo-c uses on public framing of issues，has studied what sustainsstereotypes and narratives of poverty in the United King-dom40.[D]If these are the central characters of our story aboutpoverty，what layers of perceptions，myths，and realities mustwe unearth to find meaningful solutions and support?41.[F]How many of us are poor in the U.S.?42.[N]"Poverty has been interchangeable with people ofcolor-specificallyblackwomenand”blackmothers，"saysAtkinson of Mothering Justice.43.[L]Negative images remain of whois living in poverty aswell as what is needed to moveoutofit.44.[E]That comment，say sMothering Justice director Dan-ielleAtkinson，"wasmeanttoshame”45.[L]Those external factors include the difficulties accom-panyinglow-wage work or structural discrimination basedonrace，gender，orability.仔细阅读：P146.C They did not become popular until the emergenceof improved batteries.47.BThefaling prices of e bike batteries.48.DIt will profit from e bike sharing49.A Retailers'refusaltodealinebikes.50.D The younger generation’s pursuit of comfortable ridingP251.A Tosway public opinion of the impact of human成activities on Earth52.Cit covers more phenomena53.D Deliberate choice of words o ass54.B For greater precision.55.C Human activities have serious effects on Earth.。
2020年9月四级阅读真题(一)(含详细答案)
2020年9月大学英语四级真题试卷（一）Section AThere're three main types of financial stress people encounter.The first type is apparent in peopledebt-induced financial stress,credit cards and loans will be a central element.Often there'll be a car loan and perhaps a mortgage,but credit cards often seem to be the gateway to debt-related financial difficulties for many.destructive.It is experienced by those who have grown up in households where their parents regularlythey make will be the wrong one.Section BDoctor's orders;Let children just playA)Imagine a drug that could enhance a child's creativity and critical thinking.Imagine that this drug were simple to make,safe to take,and could be had for free.The nation's leading pediatricians(儿科医生)say this miracle compound exists.In a new clinical report,they are urging doctors to prescribe it liberally to the children in their care.B)"This may seem old-fashioned,but there are skills to be learned when kids aren't told what to do," said Dr.Michael Yogman,a Harvard Medical School pediatrician who led the drafting of the call to arms.Whether it's rough physical play,outdoor play or pretend play,kids derive important lessons from the chance to make things up as they go,he said.C)The advice,issued Monday by the American Academy of Pediatrics,may come as a shock to some parents.After spending years fretting(烦恼)over which toys to buy,which apps to download and which skill-building programs to send their kids to after school,letting them simply play—or better yet,playing with them—could seem like a step backward.The pediatricians insist that it's not.The academy's guidance does not include specific recommendations for the dosing of play.Instead,it asks doctors to advise parents before their babies turn two that play is essential to healthy development. D)"Play is not silly behavior,"the academy's report declares.It fosters children's creativity,cooperation, and problem-solving skills—all of which are critical for a21st-century workforce.When parents engage in play with their children,it builds a wall against the harmful effects of all kinds of stress,including poverty,the academy says.In the pediatricians'view,essentially every life skill that's valued in adults can be built up with play."Collaboration,negotiation,decision-making,creativity,leadership,and increased physical activity are just some of the skills and benefits children gain through play,"they wrote.The pediatricians'appeal comes as kids are being squeezed by increasing academic demands at school and the constant invasion of digital media.E)The trends have been a long time coming.Between1981and1997,detailed time-use studies showed that the time children spent at play declined by25percent.Since the adoption of sweeping education reforms in2001,public schools have steadily increased the amount of time devoted to preparing for standardized tests.The focus on academic"skills and drills"has cut deeply into recess (课间休息)and other time for free play.F)By2009,a study of Los Angeles kindergarten classrooms found that five-year-olds were so burdened with academic requirements that they were down to an average of just19minutes per day of "choice time,"when they were permitted to play freely with blocks,toys or other children.One in four Los Angeles teachers reported there was no time at all for"free play."Increased academic pressures have left30percent of U.S.kindergarten classes without any recess.Such findings prompted the American Academy of Pediatrics to issue a policy statement in2013on the"crucial role of recess in school."G)Pediatricians aren't the only ones who have noticed.In a report titled"Crisis in the Kindergarten,"a group of educators,health professionals and child advocates called the loss of play in early childhood "a tragedy,both for the children themselves and for our nation and the world."Kids in play-based kindergartens"end up equally good or better at reading and other intellectual skills,and they are more likely to become well-adjusted healthy people,"the Alliance for Childhood said in2009.Indeed,new research demonstrates why playing with blocks might have been time better spent,Yogman said.The trial assessed the effectiveness of an early mathematics intervention(干预)aimed at preschoolers.The results showed almost no gains in math achievement.H)Another playtime thief:the growing proportion of kids'time spent in front of screens and digital devices,even among st year,Common Sense Media reported that children up through age eight spent an average of two hours and19minutes in front of screens each day,including an average of42minutes a day for those under two.This increase of digital use comes with rising risks of obesity,sleep deprivation and cognitive(认知的),language and social-emotional delays,the American Academy of Pediatrics warned in2016.I)"I respect that parents have busy lives and it's easy to hand a child an iPhone,"Yogman said."But there's a cost to that.For young children,it's much too passive.And kids really learn better when they're actively engaged and have to really discover things."J)The decline of play is a special hazard for the roughly1in5children in the United States who live in poverty.These14million children most urgently need to develop the resilience(韧劲)that is cultivatedwith play.Instead,Yogman said,they are disproportionately affected by some of the trends that are making play scarce:academic pressures at schools that need to improve test scores,outside play areas that are limited or unsafe,and parents who lack the time or energy to share in playtime.K)Yogman also worries about the pressures that squeeze playtime for more affluent kids."The notion that as parents we need to schedule every minute of their time is not doing them a great service,"he said.Even well-meaning parents may be"robbing them of the opportunity to have that joy of discovery and curiosity—the opportunity to find things out on their own."L)Play may not be a hard sell to kids.But UCLA pediatrician Carlos Lerner acknowledged that the pediatricians'new prescription may meet with skepticism(怀疑)from parents,who are anxious for advice on how to give their kids a leg up in the world.They should welcome the simplicity of the message,Lerner said."It's liberating to be able to offer them this advice:that you spending time with your child and letting him play is one of the most valuable things you can do,"he said."It doesn't have to involve spending a lot of money or time,or joining a parenting group.It's something we can offer that's achievable.They just don't recognize it right now as particularly valuable.”36.Increased use of digital devices steals away children's playtime.37.Since the beginning of this century,an increasing amount of time has been shifted in public schools from recess to academic activities.38.It has been acknowledged that while kids may welcome pediatricians'recommendation，their parents may doubt its feasibility.39.According to some professionals,deprivation of young children's playtime will do harm not only to children themselves but to the country and the world.40.By playing with children,parents can prevent them from being harmed by stress.41.Playing with digital devices discourages kds from active discovery,according to pediatrician Dr. Michael Yogman.42.The suggestion of letting children simply play may sound like going backwards to parents who want to help build their children's skills.43.Dr.Michael Yogman believes the idea that parents should carefully schedule children's time may not be helpful to their growth.44.One quarter of teachers in an American city said that children in kindergartens had no time for playing freely.45.According to a pediatrician,no matter what kind of play children engage in,they are leaming how to create things.Section CPassage OneAmericans spend billions of dollars each year trying to change their weight with diets,gym memberships and plastic surgery.Trying to live up to the images of"perfect"models and movie heroes has a dark side:anxiety, depression,as well as unhealthy strategies for weight loss or muscle gain.It also has a financial cost. Having an eating disorder boosts annual health care costs by nearly US$2,000per person.Why is there both external and internal pressure to look"perfect"?One reason is that society rewards people who are thin and healthy-looking.Researchers have shown that body mass index is related to wages and income.Especially for women,there is a clear penalty at work for being overweight or obese. Some studies have also found an impact for men,though a less noticeable one.While the research literature is clear that labor market success is partly based on how employers and customers perceive your body image,no one had explored the other side of the question.Does a person's own perception of body image matter to earnings and other indicators of success in the workplace?Our recently published study answered this question by tracking a large national random sample of Americans over a critical time period when bodies change from teenage shape into adult form and when people build their identities.As in other research,women in our sample tend to over-perceive their weight—they think they're heavier than they are—while men tend to under-perceive theirs.We found no relationship between the average person's self-perception of weight and labor market outcomes,although self-perceived weight can influence self-esteem(自尊心),mental health and health behaviors.While the continued gender penalty in the labor market is frustrating,our finding that misperceived weight does not harm workers is more heartening.Since employers'perception of weight is what matters in the labor market,changing discrimination laws to include body type as a category would help.Michigan is the only state that prohibits discrimination on the basis of weight and height.We believe expanding such protections would make the labor market more fair and efficient.46.What does the author say may have an adverse impact on people?A.Undergoing plastic surgeries in pursuit of beauty.B.Imitating the lifestyles of heroes and role models.C.Striving to achieve perfection regardless of financial cost.D.Attempting to meet society's expectation of appearance.47.What have researchers found out about people’s earnings?A.They are closely related to people's social status.B.They have to do with people's body weight and shape.C.They seem to matter much less to men than to women.D.They may not be equal to people's contributions.48.What does the author’s recent study focus on?A.Previous literature on indicators of competitiveness in the workplace.B.Traits that matter most in one's pursuit of success in the labor market.C.Whether self-perception of body image impacts one's workplace success.D.How bosses'perception of body image impacts employees'advancement.49.What is the finding of the author’s recent research?A.Being overweight actually does not do much harm to the overall well-being of employees.B.People are not adversely affected in the workplace by false self-perception of body weight.C.Self-esteem helps to combat gender inequality in the workplace.D.Gender inequality continues to frustrate a lot of female employees.50.What does the author think would help improve the situation in the labor market?A.Banning discrimination on the basis of employees'body image.B.Expanding protection of women against gender discrimination.C.Helping employees change their own perception of beauty.D.Excluding body shape as a category in the labor contract.Passage twoThe work-life balance is dead.By this,I'm not advocating that you should give up your pursuit of having a fulfilling career and a thriving personal life,and I'm definitely not saying that you have to give up one to have the other.I also acknowledge that we have a work-life problem,but I'm arguing that the concept of balance has never been helpful,because it's too limiting.You see,our language makes a difference,and how we refer to things matters because it affects our thinking and therefore our actions.At the minimum,most of us work because we want to be able to support ourselves,our families,and the people around us.In the ideal world,we're all doing work that we're proud of and that provides meaning and purpose to us.But even if your job doesn't give you shivers of joy each new day,working is a part of what each of us does and the contribution we make to society.When you separate work and life,it's a little bit harder to make that connection.But when you think of work as part of a full life and a complete experience,it becomes easier to see that success in one aspect often supports another. Losing your balance and falling isn't pleasant.A goal to balance suggests that things could quickly get off balance,and that causes terrible outcomes.It's more constructive to think of solutions that continue to evolve over shifts in life and work.Rather than falling or failing,you may have good days or better days or not-so-good days.These variations are normal,and it's more useful to think of life as something that is ever evolving and changing,rather than a high-risk enterprise where things could go wrong with one misstep.How we talk to ourselves matters,and how we talk about issues makes a difference.Let's bury"work-life balance"and think bigger and better about work-life fulfillment to do a little less balancing and a lot more living.51.What does the author suggest by saying"The work-life balance is dead"?A.The hope of achieving a thriving life is impossible to realize.B.The pursuit of a fulfilling career involves personal sacrifice.C.The imbalance between work and life simply doesn't exist anymore.D.The concept of work-life balance contributes little to a fulfilling life.52.What does the author say about our use of language?A、It impacts how we think and behave.B、It changes with the passage of time.C、It reflects how we communicate.D、It differs from person to person.53.What does the author say we do in an ideal world?A.We do work that betters the lives of our families and friends.B.We do work that gives us bursts of joy each new day.C.We do meaningful work that contributes to society.D.We do demanding work that brings our capacity into full play.54.What does the author say about life?A.It is cyclical.B.It is dynamic.C.It is fulfilling.D.It is risky.55.What does the author advise us to do?A.Make life as simple as possible.B.Talk about balance in simpler terms.C.Balance life and work in a new way.D.Strive for a more fulfilling life.26.（I）空格前是定冠词the，后面是名词词组ups and downs，因此空格处应填入形容词。
2020大学英语四级阅读理解训练及答案优秀范文三篇
2020大学英语四级阅读理解训练及答案优秀范文三篇2020大学英语四级阅读理解训练及答案（1）Many people believe the glare from snow causes snowblindnenss. Yet, dark glasses or not , they find themselves suffering from headaches and watering eyes,and even snowblindness,when exposed to several hours of snow light .The United States Army has now determined that glare from snow does not cause snowblindness in troops in a snow-covered country.Rather, a man s eyes frequently find nothing to foucs on in a broad expanse of barren snow-covered terrain. So his gaze continually shifts and jumps back and forth over the entire landscape in search of tsomething to look at. Finding nothing, hour after hour, the eyes never sotp searching and the eyeballs become sore and the eye muscles ache. Nature offsets this irritation by producing more and fluid which covers the eyeball. The fluid coversthe eyeball in increasing quantity until vision blurs, then is obsured,and the result is total, even though temporary,snowblindness.Experiments led the Army to a simple method of overcoming this problem. Scouts ahead of a main body of troops are trained to shake snow from evergreen bushes, creating a dotted line as they cross completely snow-covered landscape,Even the scouts themselves throw lightweight , dark colored objects ahead on which they too can focus . The men following can then see something.Their gaze is arrested. Their eyes focus on a bush and having found something to see,stop scouring the snow-blanketedlanscape. By focusing their attention on one object at a time,the men can cross the snow without becoming hopelessly snowblind or lost. In this way the problem of crossing a solid white terrain is overcome.1.To prevent headaches, watering eyes and blindness caused by the glare from snow, dark glasses are_____.a.indispensibleefulc.ineffectived.available2.When the eyes are sore tears are produced to ________.a.clear the visionb.remedy snowblindnessc.ease the irritationd.loosen the muscles3.Snowblindness may be avoided by_______.a.concentrating to the solid white terrainb.searching for something to look at in snow-covered terrainc.providing the eyes with something to foucs ond.covering the eyeballs with fluid4.The scouts shake snow from evergreen bushes in order to _______.a.bive the men behind something to seeb.beautify the landscapec.warm themselves in the coldd.prevent the men behind from losing their way5.A suitable title for this passage would be _______.a.snowblindness and how to overcome itb.natrue s cure for snowblindnessc.soldiers in the snowd.snow vision答案：CCCAA2020大学英语四级阅读理解训练及答案（2）Newdays,a standard for measuring power has changed.These changes foretell a new standard for measuring power.No longer will a nation s political influence be based solely on the strength of its military forces. Of course, military effectiveness will remain a primary primary measure of power.But political influence is also closely tied to industrial competitiveness. It s often said that without its military the Soviet Union would really be a third-world nation. The new standard of opwer and influence that is evolving now places more emphasis on the ability of a country to compete effectively in the economic markets of the world.America must recognize this new course of events. Our success in shaping world events over the past 40 years has been the direct result of our ability to adapt technology and to take advantage of the capabilities of our people for the purpose of maintaining peace. Our industrial prowess over most of this period was unchallenged. It is ironic that it is just this prowess that has enabled other countries to prosper and in turn to threaten our industrial leadership.The competitiveness of America s industrial base is an issue bigger than the Department of Defense and is going to require the efforts of the major institutional forces in our society-government,industry,and education. That is not to say that the Defense Department will not be a strong force in the process because we will. But we simply cannot be, nor should we be, looked upon by others as the savior of American industry.1. Now a nation s political influence depends on _________.a. the strength of its military forcesb. its ability to compete in industryc. economic marketsd. both a and b2. The Soviet Union was not listed as a third-world nation just because of _________.a. its powerful military forcesb. its vast landc. its industrial competitivenessd. its contributions to world peace3. The author indicates that ______ is threatening American political power.a. other countriesb. the declining U.S. industrial basec. a new standard for measuring powerd. less advanced technology4. America succeeded in shaping world events over past 40 years probably because of ___________.a. its ability to adapt technologyb. its ability to take advantage of the capabilities of its peoplec. its ability to compete in the world marketsd. both a and b5. The purpose of writing this article is __________.a. to draw the readers attention to a new standard for measuring powerb. to demonstrate American political influence in the worldc. to emphasize that efforts must be made to strengthen the declining U.S. industrial based. to show American industrial prowess答案：dabdc2020大学英语四级阅读理解训练及答案（3）Social customs and ways of behaving change. Things which were considered impolite many years ago are now acceptable. Just a few years ago, it was considered impolite behaviour for a man to smoke on street. No man who thought of himself by smoking when a lady was in a room.Customs also differ from country to country. Does a man walk on the left or the right of a woman in your country? Or doesn t it matter? Should you use both hands when you are eating? Should leave one in your lap,or on the table?The Americans and the British not only speak the same language but also share a large number of social customs. For example, in both America and England people shake hands when they meet each other for the first time. Also, most Englishmen will open a door for a wonman or offer their seat to a woman , and so will most Americans. Promptness is important both in England and in America. That is , if a dinner invitation is for 7 o clock , the dinner guest either arrives close to that time or calls up to explain his delay.The important thing to remember about social customs is not to do anything that might make other people feel uncomfortable-----especially if they are your guests. When the food was served , one of the guests strated to eat his peas with a knife . The other guests were amused or shocked , but the host calmly picked up his knife and began eating in the same way. It would have been bad manners to make his guest feel foolish or uncomfortable.1.If one has accepted a dinner invitation ,what should he do if he is tobe late for the dinner?a.He should find an excuseb.He should adk for excuse.c.He should say sorryd.He should telephone to explain his being late.2. It would have been bad manners to make his guests feel foolish or uncomfortable. Bad manners means ________.a.uglyb.dishonestc.impolited.shameful3.which of the following do you think is the best tiltle for this passage?a.Social Customs and Customsb.Social Lifec.American and British Customsd.Promptness Is Important4.According to the text, the best host_______.a.tries his best to make his guests feel comfortableb.makes his guests feel excitedc.tries to avoid being naughty to his guestsd.tries to avoid being foolish5.The author of this article may agree with which of the following?a.The guest who ate his peas with a knifeb.The other guests who were amused or shockedc.The host who picked up his knife and began eating in the same wayd.None of the above答案：dcaac。
2020年大学英语四级《仔细阅读》练习题(1)
2020年大学英语四级《仔细阅读》练习题(1)Newspapers often tell us of floods in some parts of the United States.Nearly every year on the great central drainages heavy rains and melting snow cause the waters to pour out the mountains and plains, to turn brooks into torrents, and to swell quiet streams into wild uncontrolled rivers. From Cairo to New Orleans, and from Pittsburgh to Paducah, the cry "River rising!" is a familiar yet fearful voice. . . When the rivers sometimes become too high or too swift to becontrolled communities are flooded, families flee from their homes, croplands are washed out, and transportation comes to a halt. Hunger, disease, and death follow the wild waters.Although given less publicity, the agricultural damage done by the many smaller, more frequent floods usually far exceeds the losses caused by the very grand ones. In the Central States, ditches and drains cause the flows from spring rains and melting snow to run far more rapidly than in the days before white men settled on the land. Once, excess spring flood waters emptied into lakes and swampy lands, there to be detained for slow release into stream and rivers. Now, systematic drainage has actually eliminated thesenatural reservoirs.In the more rolling sections of the East, spring runoff was formerly absorbed and held temporarily in the poroussoils beneath the unbroken expanse of forest. When large areas were converted to farm use, removal of the forest andthe practice of up-and-down hill plowing deprived the soils of much of their ability to catch and store water.The effects of eliminating the natural forest cover are shown in the gullied farm lands and widened stream channels found in some densely settled areas. Partly because the stream channels are more or less filled with material washed down from the uplands, and partly because storm runoff has increased, the channels are today no longer able to carry all the flow from heavy rains. This explains why the streams overtop banks far more often than in the days before settlement.26. The best title for the selection would be______.A. River Rising! River Rising!B. Forests and FloodsC. Flooding in the U. S.D. The Results of Flooding27. All of the following cause floods EXCEPT______.A. heavy rainB. melting snowC. increasing storm runoffD. porous soil28. The author states that______.A. lakes and swamps once acted like natural reservoirsB. up-and-down hill plowing catches and stores waterC. stream channels are the best carriers of waterD. floods are easily prevented and controlled29. According to the selection, streams overtop their banks partly because______.A. material from higher land is washed into themB. ditches and drains lead into themC. rivers become too swiftD. snow melts more rapidly nowadays30. The floods which are given most publicity______.A. cause no damageB. cause the most damageC. cause less agricultural damage than the many smaller, more frequent floodsD. far exceed the smaller, more frequent floods in agricultural loss答案：26. C 27. D 28. A 29. A 30. C。
2020年12月大学英语四级考试真题(第一套)含答案
Part I Writing ( 30 minutes)Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write on the topic Oulnges in the Way of Education. You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words.Part I Listening Comprehension Section A ( 25 minutes). .Directions: In this section, you will hear three news reports. At the end of each news report, you will hear two or three questions. Both the news report and the questions will be spoken only once. After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A), B), C) and D). Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre.Questions 1 and 2 are based on the news report you have just heanl.1.A) Many people have been attacked by Devil Firefish.B)The Mediterranean is a natural habitat of Devil Firefish.C)Invasive species are driving away certain native species.D)A deadly fish has been spotted in the Mediterranean waters.2.A) It could badly pollute the surrounding waters.B)It could pose a threat to other marine species.C)It could disrupt the food chains there.D)It could add to greenhouse emissions.Questions 3 and 4 are based on the news report you have just heanl.3.A) Cars will not be allowed to enter the city.B)Pedestrians will have free access to the city.C)About half of its city center will be closed to cars.D)Buses will be the only vehicles allowed on its streets.4.A) The unbearable traffic noise.C)The ever-growing cost of petrol.B)The worsening global warming.D)The rising air pollution in Paris.Questions 5 to 7 are based on the news report you have just heard5.A) His house was burnt down in a fire.C)His good luck charm sank into the sea.B)Many of his possessions were stolen.D)His fishing boat got wrecked on a rock.6.A) Change his fishing locations.C)Sell the pearl he had kept for years.B)Find a job in a travel agency.D)Spend a few nights on a small island.7.A) His pearl could be displayed in a museum.B)His monstrous pearl was extremely valuable.C)The largest pearl in the world weighs 14 pounds.Section BDirections: In this section, you will hear two long conversations. At the end of each conversation, you will hear four questions. Both the conversation and the questions will be spoken only once. After you hear a question , you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A) , B) , C) and D) . Then mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre.Questions 8 to 11 are based on the conversation you have just heard.8.A) It boasts a fairly long history.C)It has 75 offices around the world.B)It has over 50 business partners.D)It produces construction materials.9.A) It was started by his father.C)It is over 100 years old.B)It has about 50 employees.D)It is a family business.10.A) Outdated product design.C)Shortage of raw material supply.B)Loss of competitive edge.D)Legal disputes in many countries.11.A) Introducing innovative marketing strategies.B)Seeking new ways .t o increase its exports.C)Providing training for its staff members.D)Conducting a financial analysis for it.Questions 12 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard.12.A) She is a real expert at house decorations.B)She is really impressed by the man's house.C)She is well informed about the design business.D)She is attracted by the color of the sitting room.13.A) From a construction businessman.C)From home design magazines.B)From his younger brother Greg.D)From a prof�ional interior designer.14.A) The cost was affordable.C)The effort was worthwhile.B)The style was fashionable.D)The effect was unexpected.15.A) She'd like him to talk with Jonathan about a new project.B)She'd like to show him around her newly-renovated house.C)She wants to discuss the house decoration budget with him.D)She wants him to share his renovation experience with her.Section CDirections: In this section, you will hear three passages. At the end of each passage, you will hear three or four questions. Both the passage and the questions will be spoken only once. After you hear a question , you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A ) , B ) , C ) and D ) . Then mark the co"esponding letter on Answer Sheet 1 with a single line through the centre.Questions 16 to 18 are based on the passage you have just heard.16.A) Paying hospital bills for emergency cases.B)Doing research on ear, nose and throat diseases.C)Removing objects from patients' noses and ears.D)Providing routine care for small children.17.A) Children aged one to four are often more curious than older children.B)Five-to nine-year-olds are the most likely to put things in their ears.C)Many children like to put foreign objects in their mouths.18.A) They want to attract attention.C) They are unaware of the potential risks.B)They tend to act out of impulse.D)They are curious about these body parts. Questions 19 to 21 are based on the passage you have just heanl.19.A) It gave her a used bicycle.C)It delivered her daily necessities.B)It paid for her English lessons.D)It provided her with physical therapy.20.A) Expanding bike-riding lessons.C) Offering walking tours to visitors.B)Providing free public transport.21.A) It is a sports club.D)Asking local people for donations.C) It is a counseling center.B)It is a language school.D) It is a charity organizadon. Questions 22 to 25 are based on the � you have just heanl.22.A) How animals deal with lack of gravity.B)How mice interact in a new environment.C)How low gravity affects the human body.D)How mice imitate human behavior in space.23.A) They found the space in the cage too small to stay in.B)They found it difficult to figure out where they were.C)They were not used to the low-gravity environment.D)They were not sensitive to the changed environment.24.A) They continued to behave as they did in the beginning.B)They already felt at home in the new environment.C)They had found a lot more activities to engage in.D)They tried everything possible to escape from the cage.25.A) They changed their routines in space.C)They behaved as if they were on Earth.B)They began to eat less after some time.Part I Section A Reading ComprehensionD)They repeated their activities every day.( 40 minutes)Directions: Jn this section, there is a passage with 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 co"esponding 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 .Trust is fundamental to life. If you can't trust anything, life becomes intolerable. You can't have relationships without trust, let alone good ones.In the workplace, too, trust is 26 . An organization without trust will be full of fear and27 . If you work for a boss who doesn't trust their employees to do things right, you'll have a -28-time. They'll be checking up on you all the time, correcting "mistakes" and-29-reminding you to do this or that. Colleagues who don't trust one another will need to spend more time30 their backs than doing any useful work.Organizations are always trying to cut costs. Think of all the additional tasks caused by lack of trust. Audit ('fit) departments only exist because of it. Companies keep large volumes of-31- because they don't trust their suppliers, their contractors or their customers. Probably more than half of alladministrative work is only there because of an ever-existing sense that "you can't trust anyone these days. " If even a small part of such valueless work could be 32 , the savings would run into millions of dollars.All this is extra work we 33 onto ourselves because we don't trust peopl�the checking, following through, doing things ourselves because we don't believe others will do them 34 -or at all. If we took all that away, how much extra time would we suddenly find in our life? How much of otir work 35 would disappear?A)constantlyB)credibleC)essentialD)exploringE)gather Section B F)load K)removedG) miserable L)stacksH) p ressure M) suspicionI)properly N)tracked J)records0)watchingDirections: In this section, you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached to it. Each statement contains information given in one of the paragraphs_.Identify the paragraph from which the information is derived. You may choose a paragraph .more than once. Each paragraph is marked with a letter. Answer the questions by marking the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 _�The Place Where the Poor Once ThrivedA)This is the land of opportunity. If that weren't already implied by the landscape-:---rolling green hills,palm trees, sun-kissed flowers-then it's evident in the many stories of people who grew up poor in these sleepy neighborhoods and rose to enormous success. People like Tri Tran, who fled Vietnam on a boat in 1986, showed up in San Jose with nothing, made it to MIT,.and then founded the food-delivery start-up Munchery, which is valued at $ 300 million.B)Indeed, data suggests that this is one of the best places to grow up poor-in America. A child born in theearly 1980s into a low-income family in San Jose had a 12. 9 percent chance of becoming a high earner as an adult, according to a landmark study released in 2014 by the economist Raj Chetty and his colleagues from Harvard and Berkeley. That number-12. 9 percent-may not seem remarkable, but it was: Kids in San Jose whose families fell in the bottom quintile (1i.�,fi4t,) of income nationally had the best shot in the country at reaching the top quintile.C)By contrast, just 4. 4 percent of poor kids in Charlotte moved up to the top; in Detroit the figure was5.5 percent. San Jose had social mobility comparable to Denmark's and Canada's and higher thanother progressive cities such as Boston and Minneapolis.D)The reasons kids in San_ Jose performed so well might seem obvious. Some of the world's mostinnovative companies are located here, providing opportunities such as the one seized by a 12-year-old Mountain View resident named Steve Jobs when he called William Hewlett to ask for spare parts and subsequently received a summer job. This is a city of immigrants�38 percent of the city's population today is foreign-born-and immigrants and their children have historically experienced significant upward mobility in America. The city has long had a large foreign-born population (26. 5 percent in 1990), leading to broader diversity, which, the Harvard .and Berkeley economists say, is a good predictor of mobility.E)Indeed, the streets of San Jose seem, in some ways, to embody the best of America. It's possible todrive in a matter of minutes from sleek ( �i1t: � ) office towers near the airport where people pitch ideas to investors, to· single-family homes with orange trees in their yards, or to a Vietnamese mall.The libraries here offer programs in 17 languages, and there are areas filled with small businesses owned by Vietnamese immigrants, Me,lican immigrants, Korean immigrants, and Filipino immigrants, to name a few.F)But researchers aren't sure exactly why poor kids in San Jose did so well. The city has a low prevalenceof children growing up in single-parent families, and a low level of concentrated poverty, both factors that usually mean a city allows for good intergenerational mobility. But San Jose also performs poorly on some of the measures correlated with good mobility. It is one of the·most unequal places out of the 741 that the researchers measured, and it has high degrees of racial and economic segregation ( 1\1").Its schools underperform based on how much money there is in the area, said Ben Scuderi, a predoctoral fellow at the Equality of Opportunity Project at Harvard, which uses big data to study how to improve economic opportunities for low-income children. "There's a lot going on here which we don't totally understand," he said. "It's interesting, because it kind of defies our expectations." G)The Chetty data shows that neighborhoods and places mattered for children born in the San Jose areaof the 1980s. Whether the city still allows for upward mobility of poor kids today, though, is up for debate. Some of the indicators such as income inequality; measured by the Equality of Opportunity Project for the year 2000, have only worsened in the past 16 years.H)Some San Jose residents say that as inequality has grown in recent years, upward mobility has becomemuch more difficult to achieve. As Silicon Valley has become home to more successful companies, the flood of people to the area has caused housing prices to skyrocket. By most measures, San Jose is no longer a place where low-income, or even middle-income families, can afford to live. Rents in San Jose grew 42. 6 percent between 2006 and 2014, which was the largest increase in the country during that time period. The city has a growing homelessness problem, which it tried. to address by shutting down "The Jungle," one of the largest homeless encampments ( 1� a-J",{tJt) in the nation, in 2014. Inequality is extreme. The Human Development Index-a measure of life expectancy, education and per capita, (A.��) income-gives East San Jose a score of 4. 85 out of 10, while nearby Cupertino, where Apple's headquarters sits, receives a 9. 26. San Jose used to have _a happy mix of factors-cheap housing, closeness to a rapidly developing industry, tightly-knit immigrant communities-that together opened up the possibility of prosperity for even its poorest residents. But in recent years, housing prices have skyrocketed, the region's rich and poor have segregated, and middle-class jobs have disappeared. Given this, the future for the region's poor doesn't look nearly as bright as it once did.I)Leaders in San Jose are determined to make sure that the city regains its status as a place where evenpoor kids can access the resources to succeed. With Silicon Valley in its backyard, it certainly has the chance to do so. "I think there is a broad consciousness in the Valley that we can do better than to leave thousands of our neighbors behind through a period of extraordinary success," San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo said.J)But in today's America-a land of rising inequality, increasing segregation, and stagnating (�JI*�) middle-class wages-can the San Jose region really once again become a place of opportunity?。
2020年上半年英语四级考试阅读理解精选汇编(1)(最新)
【篇一】2020年上半年英语四级考试阅读理解三篇One of the bitterest and most time-worm debates in student union bars up and down the country is resolved as academic research confirms that in financial terms at least, arts degrees are a complete waste of time.Getting throug h university boosts students’earnings by 25%, on a weighted average, or $220,000 over theirlifetime, according to Professor Ian Walker of Warwick University-but if they study Shakespeare or the peasants’revolt instead of anatomy of contract law, those gain s are likely to be completely wiped out.The government is about to allow universities to charge students up to $3,000 a year for their degrees, arguing that it’s a small price to pay compared with the financial rewards graduates reap later in life. But Prof. Walker’s research shows there are sharp variations in returns according to which subject a student takes.Law, medicine and economics or business are the most lucrative choices, making their average earnings 25% higher, according to the article, published in the office for national statistics’monthly journal. Scientists get 10-15% extra. At the bottom of the list are arts subjects, which make only a “small ”differenceto earnings- a small negative one, in fact. Just ahead are degrees in education-which leave hard pressed teachers anaverage of 5% better off a year than if they had left school at 18.“it’s hard to resist the conclusion that what students learn does matter a lot; and some subject areas givemore modest financial returns than others,”Prof. Walker said. As an economist, he was quick to point outthat students might gain non-financial returns from arts degrees:”Studying economics might be very dull, forexample, and studying post-modernism might be a lot of fun.”练习题：Choose correct answers to the question:1.What is the best title for the passage?A.Professor Walker’s ResearchB.How to Make Big Money.C.Differences Between Science and Arts Degrees.D.Studying Arts Has Negative Financial Outcome.2.Universities charge students a rather high tuition mainly because_____A.they provide the students with very prosperous subjects to learnB.they assume that their graduates can earn much more than they had paidC.they don’t get financial support from the governmen tD.they need much revenue to support the educational expenses3.The word “lucrative”(Line 1, Para. 4) most probably means _____A.sensibleB.creativeC.profitableD.reliablew, medical and business graduates could earn 25% more than ______cation graduatesB.arts graduatesC.those who had not studied at the universityD.the average income5.We can safely conclude that the author ______A.regards arts degrees as meaninglessB.finds this result disappointing and unfairC.wants the students to think twice before they decide what to learn in collegeD.holds that arts degrees are still rewarding despite its scarce financial returns1.[D] 主旨大意题。
2020年9月大学英语四级真题试卷一阅读答案及解析
2020年9月大学英语四级真题试卷一阅读答案及解析Part III Reading ComprehensionSection A26. [I] normal27. [E] definitely28. [D] considerable29. [J] possibly30. [B] argued31. [K] proposition32. [N] tend33. [C] avoid34. [F] extreme35. [G] inaction解析：第26题可能会在[I] normal和[F] extreme之间犹豫，但根据第一段最后一句”… unable or unprepared to endure the long haul.” 可以看出投资领域本就是有涨有落的拉锯战，是再正常不过的行为，没有体现出extreme即剧烈的含义，考试时容易主观代入。
34题根据前面的go to the other可以判断后面要选一个名词，而extreme也可以作名词；再根据前文的一种模式是”put their head in the sand 避而不谈”, 后面走向了另一种极端模式就是micro-analyze everything, 锱铢必较过度分析，也可以得出extreme这个答案。
35题的答案，词汇不太常见，根据词性判断此处要填一个名词，后面写到“whatever decision they make will be the wrong one.” 不管做什么决定最终都没有实际结果，就是一种无所为的状态，排除其他名词可以得出inaction.Section B36. [H] Another playtime thief: the growing proportion of kids’ time spent in front of screens and digital devices.37. [E] The focus on academic “skills and drills” has cut deeply into recess and other time for free play.38. [] 缺失原文和选项39. [G] a consortium of educators, health professionals and child advocates called the loss of play in early childhood “a tragedy, both for the children themselves and for our nation and world.”40. [D] When parents engage in play with their children, it deepens relationships and builds a bulwark against the toxic effects of all kinds of stress.41. [I] And kids really learn better when they’re actively engaged and have to really discover things.42. [C] letting them simply play — or better yet, playing with them — could seem like a step backward.43. [K] Yogman also worries about the pressures that squeeze playtime for more affluent kids.44. [F] By 2009, a study of Los Angeles kindergarten classrooms found that 5-year-olds were so burdened with academic requirements that they were down to an average of just 19 minutes per day of “choice time,” when they were permitted to play freely with blocks, toys or other children.45. [B] This may seem old-fashioned，but there are skills to be leaned when kids aren’t told what to do.解析：36题的选项中出现了steals away, 可以根据H段的首句playtime thief以及digital devices定位得出。
2020年12月英语四级答案：仔细阅读答案部分(试卷一)
2020年12月英语四级答案：仔细阅读答案部分（试卷一）2020年12月英语四级答案：仔细阅读答案部分（试卷一）提示：考试采取"多题多卷"模式，试题顺序不统一，请依据试题实行核对。
Everybody sleeps—so goes theSesame Street song meant for obstinately awakechildren. That may be true, but what people stay up late tocatch—or wake up early in order not to miss—varies byculture.Around the world, people changed sleep patterns thanks to the startor end of daylight savings time. Russians, for example, began towake up about a half-hour later each day after President VladimirPutin shifted the country permanently to “winter time”starting on October 26.Russia’s other latenights and early m ornings generally coincided with public holidays.One such spike was on New Year’s Eve, which Russians tend to ringin with unusual fervor, as well as on World War II Victory Day.According to another Jawbonefinding,Russians have the world's latest bedtime on December 31, hittingthe hay at around 3：30 a.m.Russians also got upan hour later on International Women’s Day, the day for coddlingand celebrating female relatives.Similarly, Americans’late nights, late mornings, and longest sleeps coincided withthree-day weekends.Canada got the leastsleep of the year the night it beat Sweden in the Olympic hockeyfinal.The World Cup wasalso a major sleep-deprivation culprit. The worst night for sleepin the U.K. was the night of the England-Italy match on June 14.Brits stayed up a half-hour later to watch it, and then they wokeup earlier than usualthe next morning thanks to summer nights, thephenomenon in which the sun barely sets in northern countries inthe summertime. That was nothing, though, compared toGermans,Italians, and the French, who stayed up around anhour and a halflater on various days throughout the summer to watch theCup.It should be made clear that not everyone has a device to record their sleep patterns; in some of these nations, it’s likely that only the richest people do. And people who elect to track their sleep may try to get more sleep than the average person. Even if that’s the case, though, the above findings are still striking. If the most healthconscious among us have such deep swings in our shuteye levels throughout the year, how much sleep are the rest of us losing?参考答案及解析61题，定位到第一段最后一句“varies byculture”，所以答案选A——They areculture-related.62题，由题干的大写名词Russian定位到第二段和第三段。
2020年9月大学英语四级考试真题及答案(第1套)
2020年9月大学英语四级考试真题及答案（第1套）听力答案：1.A) Ship traffic in the Atlantic.2.D) They may be affecting the world’s climate.3.C) To call for a permanent security guard.4.A) It had already taken strong action.5.B) The road was blocked.6.D) A track hit a barrier and overturned.7.B) It was a hard task to removing the spilled substance.8.A) She wanted to save for a new phone.9.D) They are less aware of the value of their money.10.B) More non-essential things.11.C) It may lead to excessive spending.12.C) He had a problem with the furniture delivered.13.B) Describe the furniture he received.14.A) Correct their mistake.15. с) She apologized to the man once more.16. B) Tidying up one's home.17. A) Things that make one happy.18. C) It received an incredibly large number of donated books.19. A) Give free meals to the homeless.20. D) Follow his example.21. C) Sending him had-made bags.22. A) To solve word search puzzles.23. B) They could no longer concentrate on their task.24. C) A reduction in the amount of sleep.25. C) Realize the disruptive effects of technology.PART I WritingDirections: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay on online dictionaries. You can start your essay with the sentence "O nline dictionaries are becoming increasingly popular. "You should write at least 120 words but no more than 180 words.参考范文：With the growing popularity of smart phones and the high coverage rate of wireless network, online dictionaries are becoming increasingly popular for students in daily study. It seems to be a trend that online dictionaries would replace paper ones. However, just as the saying goes, “different strokes for different folks.”Some students are more prone to use online dictionaries and have two points to support it. First, online dictionaries are more portable, and make it possible to look up any new words that we met anytime and anywhere only via a small phone in our hands. Second, we can improve both written and oral skills, as online dictionaries allow us to hear the native pronunciation of each word clearly. Whereas others hold differently. They are still in favor of use print ones. For one thing, paper dictionaries can protect our eyesight better than online ones as digital devices may emit radiation if we watch the electronic screen for a long time. For another, using the print dictionary can prevent us from being distracted by reminders of irrelevant information.As far as I’m concerned, although the content of paper dictionaries is authoritative, its lexicon is not updated as quickly as online ones. After all, we live in an informationage and can have access to many hot words on the Internet every day.【选词填空第1套】26. H integrate27. B coincidence28. A associated29. L recognizable30. I maximizes31. N stressful32. K principal33. J natural34. M simply35. O symbolized【信息匹配第1套】Doctor’s orders: Let children just play36. H 段落第一句Another playtime thief37. E 段落第一句The trends have been a long time coming.38. L 段落第一句Play may not be a hard sell to kids.39.G 段落第一句Predictions aren’t the only ones who have noticed.40. D段落第一句“play is not silly behavior,”41. I 段落第一句“I respect that parents have busy lives and it’s easy to hand a child a iPhone”42.C 段落第一句The advice, issued Monday by the American Academy of Pediatrics43. K 段落第一句Yogman also worries about the pressures that squeeze playtime for more affluent kids.44. F 段落第一句By 200945. B 段落第一句“This may seem old-fashioned, but there are skills to be leaned when kids aren’t told what to do”【仔细阅读第1套】Text 1 ：Diets46.What does the author say may have an adverse impact on people?A.Under going plastic surgeries in pursuit of beauty.B.Imitating the life styles of heroes and role models.C.Striving to achieve perfection regardless of financial cost.D.Attempting to meet society’s expectation of appearance47.What have researchers found out about people’ s earnings?A.They are closely related to people’s social status.B.They have to do with people’s body weight and shapeC.They seem to matter much less to men than to womenD.They may not be equal to people’s contributions48.What does the author’ s recent study focus on?A.Previous literature on indicators of competitiveness in the work place.B.Traits that matter most in one’s pursuit of success in the labor market.C.Whether self-perception of body image impacts one’s work place successD.How bosses’ perception of body image impacts employees’ advancement.49.What is the finding of the author’s recent research?A.Being over weight actually does not do much harm to the overall well-being of employees.B.People are not adversely affected in the workplace by false self-perception of body weightC.Self-esteem helps to combat gender in equality in the work place.D.Gender in equality continues to frustrate a lot of female employees.50.What does the author think would help improve the condition in the labor market?A.Banning discrimination on the bass of employees’ body imageB.Expanding protection of women against gender discrimination.C.Helping employees change their own perception of beauty.D.Excluding body shape as a category in the labor contract.答案：46.D 47.B 48.C 49.B 50.AText 2 ：Work-life balance51.What does the author suggest by saying"The work-life balance is dead”?A.the hope of achieving a thriving life is impossible to realize.B.the pursuit of a fulfilling career involves personal sacrificeC.the imbalance between work and life simply doesn’t exist anymore.D.the concept of work-life balance contributes little to a fulfilling life.52. What does the author say about our use of language?A. it impacts how we think and behave.B.it changes with the passage of time..C. it reflects how we communicate.D. it differs from person to person.53.What does the author say we do in an ideal world?A.we do work that betters the lives of our families and friends.B. we do work that gives us bursts of joy each new day.C. we do meaningful work that contributes to society.D. we do demanding work that brings our capacity into full play.54. What does the author say about life?A. it is cyclicalB.it is dynamicC.it is fulfillingD. it is risky.55. what does the author advise us to do?A.make life as simple as possibleB.talk about balance in simpler termsC. balance life and work in a new wayD.strive for a more fulfilling life.答案：51. D 52. A 53. C 54. B 55. D翻译茅台(Moutai)是中国最有名的白酒，在新中国成立前夕，被选为国宴用酒。
2020英语四级阅读理解训练附答案优秀模板三篇
2020英语四级阅读理解训练附答案优秀模板三篇2020英语四级阅读理解训练附答案（1）If the population of the earth goes on increasing at its present rate, there will eventually not be enough resources left to sustain life on the planet.By the middle of the 21st century,if present trends continue, we will have used up all the oil that drives our cars,for example.Even if scientists develop new ways of feeding the human race,the crowded conditions on earth will make it necessary for lus to look for open space somewhere else. But none of the other planets in our solar system are capable of supporting life at present. One possible solution to the problem, however,has recently been suggested by American scientist, Professor Carl Sagan.Sagan believes that before the earth s resources are compleetely exhausted it will be possible to change the atmophere of Venus and so create a new world almost as large as earth itself. The difficult is that Venus is much hotter than the earth and there is only a tiny amount of water there.Sagan proposes that algae organisms that can live in extremely hot or cold atmospheres and at the same time produce oxygen,should be bred in condition similar to those on Venus.As soon as this has been done, the algae will be placed in small rockets. Spaceship will then fly to Venus and fire the rockets into the atmosphere .In a fairly short time, the alge will break down the carbon dioxide into oxygen and carbon.When the algae have done theri work, the atmosphere will become cooler,but befor man can set foot on Venus it will be neccessary for the oxygen to produce rain. The surface of the planet will still be too hot for man to land on it but the rain will eventually fall and in a few years something like earth will be reproduced on Venus.1.Inte long run, the most insoluble problem caused by population growth on earth will probably be the lack of ______.a.foodb.oilc.spaced.resources2.Carl Sagan believes that Venus might be colonized from earth because _____a.it might be possible to change its atmosphereb.its atmosphere is the same as the earth sc.there is a good supply of water on Venusd.the days on Venus are long enough3.On Venus there is a lot of ________.a.waterb.carbon dioxidec.carbon monoxided.oxygen4.Algae are plants that can____.a.live in very hot temperaturesb.live in very cold temperaturesc.manufacture oxygend.all of the above5. Man can land on Venus only when_______.a.the algae have done their workb.the atmosphere becomes coolerc.thereis oxygend.it rains there答案：cabdd2020英语四级阅读理解训练附答案（2）The United States is on the verge of losing its leading place in the world s technology. So says more than one study in recent years. One of the reasons for this decline is the parallel decline in the number of U.S. scientists and engineers.Since 1976,employment of scientists and engineers is up 85 percent. This trend is expected to continue. However, the trend shows that the number of 22-year-olds--the near term source of future PH.D.s-is declining. Further adding to the problem is the increased competition for these candidates from other fields-law,medicine,business,etc. While the number of U.S. PH.D.s in science and engineering declines,the award of PH.D.s to foreign nationals is increasing rapidly.Our inability to motivate students to pursue science and engineering careers at the graduate level is compounded because of the intense demand industry has for bright Bachelor s and Master s degree holders. Too often, promising PH.D.candidates, confronting the cost and financial sacrifice of pursuing their education,find the attraction of industry irresistible.1.The U.S.will come to lose its leading place in technology probably because ________.a. the number of PH.D. degree holders is decliningb. the number of scientists and engineers is decreasingc. the number of 22-year-ilds is decliningd. scientists and engineers are not employed2.The field of science and engineering is facing a competition from ________ .a. technologyb. foreign nationalsc. such fields as law, medicine and businessd. postgraduatesrge-scale enterprises now need _______.a. bright graduates and postgraduatesb. new inventionsc. advanced technologyd. engineers4.Many promising postgraduates are unwilling to pursue a PH.D. degree because _________.a. they are not encouraged to be engaged in scienceb. industry does not require PH.D. holdersc. they have financial difficultiesd. they will spend much time and energy completing PH.D.5.PH.D. candidates find the attraction of industry irresistible means that _________.a. they find industry is attracting more and more college studentsb. they don t think they can prevent themselves from working for industryc. they cannot resist any attraction from all sidesd. they cannot work for industry any longer答案：bcadb2020英语四级阅读理解训练附答案（3）There are three kinds of goals: short-term,medium-range and long-term goals.Short-range goals are those that usually deal with current activities,which we can apply on a daily basis.Such goals can be achieved in a week or less,or two weeks,or possible months.It should be remembered that just as a building is no stronger than its foundation ,out long-term goals cannot amount to very munch without the achievement of solid short-term goals.Upon completing our short-term goals,we should date the occasion and then add new short-term goals that will build on those that have been completed.The intermediate goals bukld on the foundation of the short-range goals.They might deal with just one term of school or the entire school year,or they could even extend for several years.Any time you move a step at a time,you should never allow yourself to become discouraged or overwhelmed. As you complete each step,you will enforce the belief in yourability to grow adn succeed.And as your list of completion dates grow,your motivation and desire will increase.Long-range goals may be related to our dreams of the future. They might cover five years or more. Life is not a static thing.We should never allow a long-term goal to limit us or our course of action.1.Our long-term goals mean a lot__.a.if we complete our short-range goalsb.if we cannot reach solid short-term goalsc.if we write down the datesd.if we put forward some plans2.New short-term goals are bulid upon__.a.two yearsb.long-term goalsc.current activitiesd.the goals that have been completed3.When we complete each step of our goals ,__.a.we will win final successb.we are overwhelmedc.we should build up confidence of successd.we should strong desire for setting new goals4.Once our goals are drawn up,__.a.we should stick to them until we complete themb.we may change our goals as we have new ideas and opportunitiesc.we had better wait for the exciting news of successd.we have made great decision5.It is implied but not stated in the passage that ___.a.those who habe long-term goals will succeedb.writing down the dates may discourage youc.the goal is only a guide for us to reach our desinationd.every should have a goal答案：adcbc。
大学英语英语四级练习卷(及答案) (1)
大学英语四级试练习卷一、阅读理解阅读理解（一）The earliest controversies about the relationship between photography and art centered on whether photograph’s fidelity to appearances and dependence on a machine allowed it to be a fine art as distinct from merely a practical art. Throughout the nineteenth century, the defence of photography was identical with the struggle to establish it as a fine art. Against the charge that photography was a soulless, mechanical copying of reality, photographers asserted that it was instead a privileged way of seeing, a revolt against commonplace vision, and no less worthy an art than painting.Ironically, now that photography is securely established as a fine art, many photographers find it pretentious or irrelevant to label it as such. Serious photographers variously claim to be finding, recording, impartially observing, witnessing events, exploring themselves—anything but making works of art. They are no longer willing to debate whether photography is or is not a fine art, except to proclaim that their own work is not involved with art. It shows the extent to which they simply take for granted the concept of art imposed by the triumph of Modernism: the better the art, the more subversive it is of the traditional aimsof art.Photographers’ disclaimers of any interest in making art tell us more about the harried status of the contemporary notion of art than about whether photography is or is not art. For example, those photographers who suppose that, by taking pictures, they are getting away from the pretensions of art as exemplified by painting remind us of those Abstract Expressionist painters who imagined they were getting away from the intellectual austerity of classical Modernist painting by concentrating on the physical act of painting. Much of photography’s prestige today derives from the convergence of its aims with those of recent art, particularly with the dismissal of abstract art implicit in the phenomenon of Pop painting during the 1960’s. Appreciating photographs is a relief to sensibilities tired of the mental exertions demanded by abstract art. Classical Modernist painting—that is, abstract art as developed in different ways by Picasso, Kandinsky, and Matisse—presupposes highly developed skills of looking and a familiarity with other paintings and the history of art. Photography, like Pop painting, reassures viewers that art is not hard; photography seems to be more about its subjects than about art.Photography, however, has developed all the anxieties andself-consciousness of a classic Modernist art. Many professionals privately have begun to worry that the promotion of photography as anactivity subversive of the traditional pretensions of art has gone so far that the public will forget that photography is a distinctive and exalted activity—in short, an art.1. What is the author mainly concerned with? The author is concerned with[A]. defining the Modernist attitude toward art.[B]. explaining how photography emerged as a fine art.[C]. explaining the attitude of serious contemporary photographers toward photography as art and placing those attitudes in their historical context.[D]. defining the various approaches that serious contemporary photographers take toward their art and assessing the value of each of those approaches.2. Which of the following adjectives best describes “the concept of art imposed by the triumph of Modernism” as the author represents it in lines 12—13?[A]. Objective [B]. Mechanical. [C]. Superficial. [D]. Paradoxical.3. Why does the author introduce Abstract Expressionist painter?[A]. He wants to provide an example of artists who, like serious contemporary photographers, disavowed traditionally accepted aims of modern art.[B]. He wants to set forth an analogy between the Abstract Expressionist painters and classical Modernist painters.[C]. He wants to provide a contrast to Pop artist and others.[D]. He wants to provide an explanation of why serious photography, like other contemporary visual forms, is not and should not pretend to be an art.4. How did the nineteenth-century defenders of photography stress the photography?[A]. They stressed photography was a means of making people happy.[B]. It was art for recording the world.[C]. It was a device for observing the world impartially.[D]. It was an art comparable to painting.阅读理解（二）Nearly two thousand years have passed since a census decreed by Caesar Augustus become part of the greatest story ever told. Many things have changed in the intervening years. The hotel industry worries more about overbuilding than overcrowding, and if they had to meet an unexpected influx, few inns would have a manager to accommodate the weary guests. Now it is the census taker that does the traveling in the fond hope that a highly mobile population will stay long enough to get a good sampling. Methods of gathering, recording, and evaluating information have presumably been improved a great deal. And where then it was the modest purpose of Rome to obtain a simple head count as an adequate basis for levying taxes, now batteries of complicated statistical series furnishedby governmental agencies and private organizations are eagerly scanned and interpreted by sages and seers to get a clue to future events. The Bible does not tell us how the Roman census takers made out, and as regards our more immediate concern, the reliability of present day economic forecasting, there are considerable differences of opinion. They were aired at the celebration of the 125th anniversary of the American Statistical Association. There was the thought that business forecasting might well be on its way from an art to a science, and some speakers talked about newfangled computers and high-falutin mathematical system in terms of excitement and endearment which we, at least in our younger years when these things mattered, would have associated more readily with the description of a fair maiden. But others pointed to the deplorable record of highly esteemed forecasts and forecasters with a batting average below that of the Mets, and the President-elect of the Association cautioned that “high powered statistical methods are usually in order where the facts are crude and inadequate, the exact contrary of what crude and inadequate statisticians assume.” We left his birthday party somewhere between hope and despair and with the conviction, not really newly acquired, that proper statistical methods applied to ascertainable facts have their merits in economic forecasting as long as neither forecaster nor public is deluded into mistaking the delineation of probabilities and trends for a prediction of certainties of mathematical exactitude.1. Taxation in Roman days apparently was based on[A]. wealth. [B]. mobility. [C]. population. [D]. census takers.2. The American Statistical Association[A]. is converting statistical study from an art to a science.[B]. has an excellent record in business forecasting.[C]. is neither hopeful nor pessimistic.[D]. speaks with mathematical exactitude.3. The message the author wishes the reader to get is[A]. statisticians have not advanced since the days of the Roman.[B]. statistics is not as yet a science.[C]. statisticians love their machine.[D].computer is hopeful.4. The “greatest story ever told” referred to in the passage is the story of[A]. Christmas. [B]. The Mets.[C]. Moses. [D]. Roman Census Takers.二、完型填空完型填空（一）Most parents, I suppose, have had the experience of reading a bedtime story to their children.And they must have 1 how difficult it is to write a 2 children’s book.Either the author has aimed too 3 , so that the children can’t follow what is in his (or more often, her) story, 4 thestory seems to be talking tothe readers. The best children’s books are 5 very difficult nor very simple, and satisfy both the 6 who hears thestory and the adult who 7 it.Unfortunately, there are in fact 8 books like this, 9 the problem of findingthe right bedtime story is not 10 to solve. This may be why many of books regarded as 11 of children’s literature were in fact written for 12 .“Alice’s Adventure in Wonderland”is perhaps the most 13 of this.Children, left for themselves, often 14 the worst possible interest in literature.Just leave a child inbookshop o 15 and he will 16 willingly choose the books written in an imaginative way, or have a look at most children’s comics, full of the stories and jokes which are the 17 of teachers and right-thinkingparents.Perhaps we parents should stop trying to brainwash childrensintos 18 our taste in literature.After allchildren and adults are so 19 that we parents should not expect that they will enjoy the 20 books.So I suppose we’ll just have to compromise over that bedtime story.1.A.hoped B.realized C.told D.said2.A.short B.long C.bad D.good3.A.easy B.short C.high D.difficult4.A.and B.but C.or D.so5.A.both B.neither C.either D.very6.A.child B.father C.mother D.teacher.7.A.hears B.buys C.understands D.reads8.A.few B.many C.a great deal of D.a great number of9.A.but B.however C.so D.because10A.hard B.easy C.enoughD.fast11.A.articles B.work C.arts D.works12.A.grown ups B.girls C.boys D.children13.A.difficult B.hidden C.obvious D.easy14.A.are B.show C.find D.add15.A.school B.home C.office D.library16.A.more B.less C.able D.be17.A.lovingness B.interests C.objections D.readings18.A.receiving B.accepting C.having D.refusing19.A.same B.friendly C.different monmon B.avarage C.different D.Same完型填空（二）A great deal of attention is being paid today to the so-called digital divide--the division of the world into theinfo(information) rich and the info poor. And that __1__ does exist today. My wife and I lectured about this loomingdanger twenty years ago. What was less __2__ then, however, were the new, positive __3__ that work against thedigital divide.__4__,there are reasons to be __5__.There are technological reasons to hope the digital divide will narrow. As the Internet becomes more and more __6__, it is in the interest of business to universalizeaccess-after all, the more people online, the more potential __7__ there are. More and more __8__, afraid their countries will be left __9__, want to spread Internet access. Within the next decade or two, one to two billion people on the planet will be __10__ together. As a result, I now believe the digital divide will __11__ rather than widen in the years ahea D. And that is very good news because the Internet may well be the most powerful tool for __12__ world poverty that we've ever ha D.Of course, the use of the Internet isn't the only way to __13__ poverty. And the Internet is not the only tool we have. But it has __14__ potential.To __15__ advantage of this tool, some poor countries will have to get over their outdated anti-colonial prejudices __16__ respect to foreign investment. Countries that still think foreign investment is a/an __17__ of their sovereignty might well study the history of __18__ (the basic structural foundations of a society) in the United States. When the United States built its industrial infrastructure, it didn't have the capital to do so. And that is __19__ America's Second Wave infrastructure-__20__ roads, harbors, highways, ports and so on-were built with foreign investment.1. A) divide B) information C) world D) lecture2. A) obscure B) visible C) invisible D) indistinct3. A) forces B) obstacles C) events D) surprises4. A) Seriously B) Entirely C) Actually D) Continuously5. A) negative B) optimistic C) pleasant D) disappointed6. A) developed B) centralized C) realized D) commercialized7. A) users B) producers C) customers D) citizens8. A) enterprises B) governments C) officials D) customers9. A) away B) for C) aside D) behind10. A) netted B) worked C) put D) organized11. A) decrease B) narrow C) neglect D) low12. A) containing B) preventing C) keeping D) combating13. A) win B) detail C) defeat D) fear14. A) enormous B) countless C) numerical D) big15. A) bring B) keep C) hold D) take16. A) at B) with C) of D) for17. A) offence B) investment C) invasion D) insult18. A) construction B) facility C) infrastructure D) institution19. A) why B) where C) when D) how20. A) concerning B) concluding C) according D) including三、翻译1、 The train was delayed on account of snow.翻译：__________________________________________________.2. You need to check in on hour before the flight.翻译：___________________________________________________3. Thoughts can also be expressed by means of musiC.翻译：________________________________________________________4、The shop is now licensed to sell cigarettes.翻译：__________________________________________________.5、You mustn’t let the body temperature drop too low.翻译：________________________________________________________参考答案：一、阅读理解：阅读理解（一）答案祥解1. C. 说明当代严肃的摄影家对摄影作为艺术的态度，并把他们这些态度放在历史的进程来观察。
2020年大学英语四级考试阅读理解真题及答案详解（全套）
2020年大学英语四级考试阅读理解真题及答案详解（全套）大学英语四级考试阅读理解真题及答案（全套）大学英语四级考试阅读理解真题【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 previousmeal 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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2020年大学英语四级考试阅读理解训练(一)
The standardized educational or psychological tests, which are widely used to aid in selecting, assigning or promoting students, employees and military personnel, have been the target of recent attacks in books, magazines, the daily press, and even in Congress. The target is wrong, for, in attacking the tests, critics divert attention from the fault that lies with ill-informed or incompetent users. The tests themselves are merely tools. Whether the results will be valuable, meaningless, or even misleading depends partly upon the tool itself but largely upon the user.
All informed predictions of future performance are based upon some knowledge of relevant past performance. How well the predictions will be validated by later performance depends upon the amount, reliability and appropriateness of the information used and on the skill and wisdom with which
it is interpreted. Anyone who keeps careful score knows that the information available is always incomplete and that the predictions are always subject to error.
Standardized tests should be considered in this context：they provide a quick, objective method of getting some kind of information about what a person has learned, the skills he has developed, or the kind of person he is. The information so obtained has, qualitatively, the same advantages and shortcomings as other kinds of information. Whether to use tests, other kinds of information, or both in a particular situation depends, therefore, upon the empirical evidence concerning comparative validity and upon such factors as cost and availability.
In general, the tests work most effectively when the traits or qualities to be measured can be most precisely defined ( for example, ability to do well in a particular course of training program ) and least effectively when what is to be measured or predicted cannot be well defined, for example, personality or creativity. Properly used, they provide a rapid means of getting comparable information about many people. Sometimes they identify students whose high potential has not been previously recognized.
1. In this passage, the author is primarily concerned with _________.
A. the necessity of standardized tests
B. the validity of standardized tests
C. the method used in interpreting the results of standardized tests.
D. the theoretical grounds of standardized tests.
2. We can infer from the passage that _______.
A. standardized tests should no longer be used.
B. results of standardized tests accurately reflect the abilities of the testees
C. the value of standardized tests lies in their proper interpretation
D. special methods must be applied to the result of standardized tests.。