大学英语四级考试15选10

Unit Eight
Passage 2
When a person feels low, blue, or down in the clumps, it usually means he has been hurt, disappointed, or saddened by something that causes a confused and listless feeling. There is 11 a type of music called "the blue", a low, mournful, sad sound to 12 these universal human feelings.
Depression is another name for this mood. Feeling depressed is a normal and natural 13 to experiences of loss, failure, and undeserved bad luck. Indeed, it has been pointed out that without depression, we would 14 much of the world's great tragic literature, music, and art.
In some cases, however, depression becomes something more than just 15 feelings of blues or letdown. A large number of people suffer from what psychiatrists call "depressive illness. " Depressive illness is more 16 and lasts longer than common listless feelings. Sometimes a serious 17 of depression can begin with the loss of a loved one or a change of job. Many times, in very
18 cases, there doesn't seem to be any circumstance serious enough to have caused the depression.
Some psychiatrists suggest that the key feature in depression is change. The person becomes different from the way before the onset of his depression. He may even become the opposite of his usual self. There are many examples: the businessman who becomes a wanderer, the mother who wants to 19 her children and herself. Instead of seeking satisfaction and pleasure, the depressed person 20 it.
A growing world population and the discoveries of science may 11 this pattern of distribution in the future. As men slowly learn to master diseases, control floods, prevent famines, and stop wars, fewer people die every year; and in 12 the population of the world is 13 increasing. In 1925 there were about 2,000 million people in the world; by the end of the century there may well be over 4,000 million.
When numbers rise the 14 mouths must be fed. New lands must be I bought under cultivation, or land already farmed made to 15 larger crops. In some areas the accessible land is largely so intensively 16 that it will be difficult to make it provide more food. In some areas the population is so dense that the land is parceled out in units too 17 to allow for much improvement in farming methods. Were a larger part of this farming population drawn off into industrial occupations, the land might be farmed much more productively by modern methods.
There is now a race for science, technology, and industry to keep the 18 of food rising faster than the number of people to be fed. New strains of crops are being developed which will thrive in 19 climates; irrigation and dry-farming methods bring poor lands under the plough, dams hold back the waters of great rivers to 20 water for the fields in all seasons and to provide electric power for new industries; industrial chemistry
provides fertilizers to suit particular soils; aero planes spray crops to destroy insects and many plant diseases.
A. ensure
B. violently
C. alter
D. harmful
E. cultivated
F. unique
G. transplanted
H. yield
I. consequence
J. output
K. extra
L. steadily
M. tiny
N. unfavorable
O. produce
Unit Ten
Passage 2
In the United States, it is not 11 to telephone someone very early in the morning. If you telephone him early in the day, while he is shaving or having breakfast, the time of the call shows that the matter is very important and requires immediate attention. The same meaning is attached to telephone calls made after 11: 00 p. m. . If someone receives a call during sleeping hours, he 12 it's a matter of life and death. The time chosen for the call 13 its importance.
In 14 life, time plays a very important part. In the U. S. A. , guests tend to feel they are not highly regarded if the 15 to a dinner party is extended only three or four days before the party date. But it is not true in all countries. In other areas of the world, it may be considered foolish to make an appointment too far in 16 because plans which are made for a date more than a week away tend to be forgotten. The meaning of time differs in different parts of the world. Thus, misunderstandings 17 between people from cultures that treat time differently.
Promptness is valued 18 in American life, for example. If people are not prompt, they may be regarded as impolite or not fully responsible. In the U. S. no one would think of keeping a business 19 waiting for an hour, it would be too impolite. A person who is 5 minutes late is 20 to make a short
apology. If he is less than 5 minutes late, he will say a few words of explanation, though perhaps he will not complete the sentence.
A. highly
B. engagement
C. customary
D. social
E. inform
F. invitation
G. advance
H. absence
I. heavily J. associate K. expected L. assumes
M. habitual N. arise O. communicates
Unit Eleven
Passage 2
Personality is, to a large extent, inherent—A-type parents, usually bring about A-type children. But the environment must also have a 11 effect, wince if competition is important to the parents it is likely to become a major 12 in the lives of their children.
One place where children soak up A characteristics is school, which is, by its very nature, a highly competitive institution. Too many schools 13 the " win at all costs" moral standard and measure their success by sporting achievements. The current 14 for making children compete against their classmates or against the clock produces a two-layer system, in which competitive A types seem in some way better than their B-type fellows. Being 15 keen to win can have dangerous consequences: remember that Pheidippides, the first marathon runner, dropped dead seconds after saying; "cheers, we conquer!"
By far the worst form of competition in schools is the extreme 16 on examinations. It is a rare school that allows pupils to 17 on those things they do well. The merits of competition by examination are somewhat 18 , but competition in the certain knowledge of failure is positively harmful.
Obviously, it is neither 19 nor desirable that all A youngsters change into B's. The world needs types, and
schools have an important duty to try to 20 a child's personality to his possible future employment. It is top management.
A. enough
B. fit
C. emphasis
D. practical
E. innumerable
F. concentrate
G. adopt
H. questionable
I. profound J. factor K. too L. substance
M. passion N. emotion O. fix
UNIT 12
Passage 2
As the 11 of life continues to increase, we are fast losing the art of relaxation. Once you are in habit of rushing through life, being on the go from morning till night, it is hard to slow down. But relaxation is essential for a healthy mind and body. Stress is a natural part of everyday life and there is no way to avoid it. In fact, it is not the bad thing it is often 12 to be. A certain amount of stress is 13 to provide motivation and give purpose to life. It is only when the stress gets out of control that it can lead to poor 14 and ill health.
The amount of stress a person can 15 depends very much on the individual. Some people are not afraid of stress, and such characters are 16 prime material for managerial responsibilities. Others lose heart at the first signs of 17 difficulties. When exposed to stress, in whatever form, we react both chemically and physically. In fact we make choice between "fight" or "flight" and in more primitive days the choices made the difference between life or death. The crises we meet today are unlikely to be so 18 , but however little the stress, it involves the same response. It is when such a reaction lasts long, through continued 19 to stress, that health becomes endangered. Such serious conditions as high blood pressure and heart disease have established links with stress. Since we cannot 20 stress from our lives(it would be unwise to do so even if we could) , we need to find ways to deal with it.
A. cancel
B. pace
C. extreme
D. automatically
E. remove
F. vital
G. performance
H. supposed
I. rate J. exposure K. achievement L. unusual
M obviously N withstand O harsh
Unit Thirteen
Passage 2
What is your favorite color? Do you like yellow, orange, red? If you do, you must be an optimist, a leader, an active person who 11 life, people and excitement. Do you prefer greys and blues? Then you are probably quiet, shy, and you would rather follow than lead. You 12 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 color preference, as well as the effect that colors have on human beings. They tell us, among other 13 , that we do not choose our favorite color 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.
Colors do 14 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 15 .A black bridge over the Thames River, near London, used to be the 16 of more suicides than any other bridge in the area—until it was repainted green. The number of suicide attempts immediately fell 17 ; perhaps it would have fallen even more if the bridge had been done in pink or baby blue.
Light and 18 colors make people not only happier but more active. It is
an 19 fact that factory workers work better, harder, and have fewer 20 when their machines are painted orange rather than black or grey.
A. bright
B. scene
C. wholly
D. favor
E. facts
F. depressing
G. accidents
H. interfere
I. established J. incidents K. disgusting L. sharply
M. enjoys N. tend O. influence
Unit Fourteen
Passage 2
Women are also underrepresented in the administration and this is because there are so few women 11 professors. In 1985, Regent Beryl Milburn produced a report blasting the University of Texas System administration for not 12 women. The University was rated among the lowest for the system. In a 1587 update, Milburn 13 and praised the progress that was made and called for even more 14
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, Patricia Witherspoon, said it is important that woman be 15 when it comes to relocating if they want to 16 in the ranks.
Although a woman may face a chilly 17 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 18 of the senior positions in the University and all academia, inequalities 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 they will be 19 in this system. If they spend their time in little groups mourning the sexual discrimination that they think exists here, they are 20 wasting valuable study time. "
A. full
B. recalled
C. improvement
D. rise
E. encouraging
F. flexible
G. recognized
H. idly
I. ratio J. persuading K. movable L. possibly
M. successful N. climate O. percentage
Unit Fifteen
Passage 2
In October 1987, the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards began its work to set new standards
of accomplishment for the teaching profession and to improve the 11 of education available to all children in the United States.
Teachers are 12 to students and their learning. They must act on the belief that all students can learn. They must recognize 13 differences in their students and adjust their practice 14 . They must know that their mission extends beyond developing the cognitive capacity of their students. They must be 15 with their students' self-concept, with their motivation, and with the development of character.
Teachers must know the subjects they teach and how to teach them. They must 16 specialized knowledge of how to convey a subject to students. Teachers are responsible for managing and monitoring student learning. They must call on 17 methods to meet their goals, knowing and being able to 18 a variety of instructional skills. Teachers must think systematically about their practice and learn from experience, seeking the 19 of others and drawing on education research and scholarship to improve their practice.
As members of learning communities, teachers contribute to school effectiveness by collaborating with other professionals. They take ___20 of
community resources, cultivating knowledge of their school's community as a powerful resource for learning.
A. employ
B. advice
C. quantity
D. committed
E. command
F. consulted
G. manual
H. approximately
I. concerned J. advantage K. multiple L. accordingly
M. individual N. embrace O. quality
Unit Sixteen
Passage 2
If you are looking for information, library shelves are a good place to start. But if you need up-to-the-minute data or have specialized needs, you may find a computerized database more useful, less expensive, and less time 11 .A database, a file of information on one subject or family of subjects, can be stored and 12 in a computer's memory. The speed of the computer then 13 you to recall any item in this file almost 14
The three main types of databases are statistical, bibliographic, and full text. Statistical databases store 15 amounts of numerical data, such as wage and price indexes, census information, foreign 16 rates and bond prices. Bibliographic databases store references to and summaries of articles in periodicals and newspapers. Full-text databases offer the complex texts of such 17 as newspaper, magazine, and journal articles.
Thousands of databases exist today, and their numbers are growing. Many companies have their in-house database, which is 18 to employees through computer terminals or microcomputers. In addition, several hundred commercial databases are now available to the 19 , with literally millions of items of information readily obtainable. These databases 20 specific fields, such as law and financial forecasting, or general information, such as sports and weather data.
A. exchange
B. public
C. instantly
D. cover
E. enables
F. consuming
G. remained
H. materials
I. hide J. intensively K. vast L. communication
s
M. exhausting N. accessible 0. maintained
Unit Seventeen
Passage 2
No one knows exactly how many disabled people there are in the world, but 11 suggest the figure is over 450 million.
The number of disabled people in
India 12 is probably more than double the total population of Canada.
In the United Kingdom, about one in ten people have some disability. Disability is not just something that happens to other people: as we get older, many of us will become less 13 , hard of hearing or have failing eyesight. Disablement can take many forms and occur at any time of life. Some people are born with disabilities. Many others become disabled as they get older. There are many 14 disabling diseases. The longer time goes on, the worse they become. Some people are disabled in accidents. Many others may have a period of disability in the form of a mental illness. All are affected by people's attitude towards them.
Disabled people face many 15 barriers. Next time you go shopping or to work or to visit friends, imagine how you would 16 if you could not get up steps, or on to buses and trains. How would you cope if you could not see where you were going or could not hear the traffic? But there are other barriers; 17 can be even harder to break down and ignorance 18 represents by far the greatest barrier of all. It is almost impossible for the able-bodied to fully appreciate what the severely disabled go through, so it is important to 19 attention to these barriers and show that it is the individual person and their ability, not their disability, which 20
A. inevitably
B. evaluations
C. estimates
D. manage
E. alone
F. counts
G. prejudice
H. physical
I. mobile J. indifferently K. withdraw L. progressive
M. regular N. accounts O. draw
Unit Eighteen
Passage 2
Social customs and ways of behaving change. Things which were considered impolite many years ago are now
11 . Just a few years ago, it was 12 impolite behavior for a man to smoke on the street. No man who thought of himself as being a gentleman would make a 13 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 14 ? What about table manners? Should you use both hands when you are eating? Should you leave one in your lap, or on the table?
The Americans and the British not only speak the same language but also 15 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 woman or offer their seat to a woman, and so will most Americans. 16 is important both in England and in America. That is, if a dinner invitation is for 7 o'clock, the dinner guest either arrives 17 to that time or calls up to explain his 18
The important thing to remember about social customs is not to do anything that might make other people feel uncomfortable— 19 if they are your guests. There is an old story about a man who gave a formal dinner party. When the food was served, one of the guests started to eat his peas with a knife. The other guests were amused or shocked, but the
20 calmly picked up his knife
and began eating in the same way.
A. especially
B. attainable
C. close
D. delay
E. considered
F. host
G. delivery
H. Preparation
I. share J. fool K. specifically L. acceptable
M. matter N. Promptness 0. care
Unit Nineteen
Passage 2
The economy of the United States after 1952 was the economy of a well-fed, almost fully employed people. Despite 11 alarms, the country escaped any postwar depression and lived in a 12 of boom. An economic survey of the year 1955, a typical year of the 1950's, may be typical as 13 the rapid economic growth of the decade. The national output was 14 at 10 percent above that of 1954(1955 output was estimated at 392 billion dollars). The production of manufactures was about 40 percent more than it had 15 in the years immediately following World War I . The country's business spent about 30 billion dollars for new factories and machinery. National income 16 for spending was almost a third greater than it had been in 1950. Consumers spent about 256 billion dollars; that is about 700 million dollars a day, or about twenty-five million dollars every hour, all round the 17 . Sixty-five million people held jobs and only a little more than two million wanted jobs but could not find them. Only agriculture 18 that it was not sharing in the boom. To some observers this was a sad reflection of the mid-1920's. As farmers' share of their products 19 , marketing costs rose. But there were, among the observers of the national economy, a few who were not as confident as the majority. Those few seemed to fear that the boom could not last long and would
20 lead to the opposite—depression.
A. eventually
B. averaged
C. gradually
D. state
E. valued
F. form
G. declined
H. occasional
I. casual J. argued K. descended L. complained
M. clock N. available O. illustrating
Unit Twenty
Passage 2
Growth of trade will depend greatly on availability of energy sources. There may still be a trillion barrels of recoverable oil in the Middle East. But the oil crisis of 1974 has 11 to renewed interest in coal and to a search for
12 sources of energy. Solar, geothermal, and nuclear energy will play a large role in the years to come.
Solar energy is available in 13 forms. Buildings can be heated and cooled by direct use of solar radiation, crops and trees, which are the most efficient converters of sunlight into energy, can be grown for their energy potential, wastes can be burned as 14 , sunlight can be converted into DC (direct current) electricity, electric power can be 15 from the sun-warmed surface waters of the ocean, and lastly, solar radiation can be converted into heat that will drive electric power generators. Serious problems still remain as to 16 and storage of solar energy.
Geothermal energy is the energy contained within the earth. Heat is abundantly available deep in the earth's core and is constantly being produced. However, this heat is usually located at too deep a level for 17 exploitation. In short, very little is known on the use of geothermal energy, and it has 18 been exploited.
Nuclear energy is produced in nuclear power plants. At these plants atoms of uranium are split, thus 19
masses of energy. Another source of energy
under development is the nuclear fusion of certain atoms of hydrogen. This could eventually 20 natural gas as a source of energy.
A. rarely
B. transformation
C. fuel
D. replace
E. led
F. alternative
G. commercial
H. briefly
I. derived J. various K. relieving L. releasing
M. transportation N. financial O. described
UNIT 21
Like most parents, geologist Brain Atwater worries about his daughter's safety. But these days, he has an unusual concern; The public school she 11 in Seattle has unreinforced brick walls, a 12 being easy to collapse during earthquakes. The same 13 of walls crushed hundreds of thousands of people during the 1976 Tangshan quake in China.
A decade ago, Atwater would have paid little notice to schoolroom walls. But over the last several years, he and other scientists have found 14 signs that the Pacific Northwest has experienced giant quakes in the distant past and that the area may be headed for a destructive shock in the near future.
At a meeting of the American Geophysical Union in December, researchers discussed the 15 uncovered evidence of quake potential in the Pacific Northwest. While some remain unconvinced that huge earthquakes—with magnitudes of 8 or higher—do indeed 16 this region, a growing number consider such shocks a serious possibility.
What's worrisome, they say, is that northwestern cities such as Portland, Seattle and Vancouver have not prepared for earthquakes of this magnitude, which could shake the region's 17 centers with enough force to make the recent San Francisco area damage seem 18 in comparison.
"I think it's quite true to say that nothing has really been designed with one of these earthquakes in mind," says seismologist Paul Somerville of Woodward. At the meeting, Somerville and his colleagues 19 estimates of the degree of shaking. Portland and Seattle would suffer during such a 20 earthquake.
A. massive
B. recently
C. construction
D. displayed
E. relatively
F. attends
G. type
H. strike
I. structure J. participates K. excessive L. mild
M. disturbing N. population 0. presented
Unit Twenty-Two
Passage 2
During the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, migrations have taken place within 11 countries; the cities with their industries have attracted people away from the country. The possibility of earning a fixed 12 in a factory or office was more attractive than the possibility of staying on the farm and having one's work 13 by frost, storms, or droughts. Furthermore, the
development of agricultural machinery made it possible for fewer people to do the same 14 of work.
Thus, at the same time when the industrial revolution made it possible to produce goods more 15 and more quickly in factories, agricultural revolution also took place. Instead of leaving fields empty every third year, farmers began to plant clover or some other crop that would 16 the soil. Instead of using only animal fertilizer, farmers began to use chemical fertilizers to keep the soil
• 150 •
rich. These methods have enabled French farmers, for example, to get five times as much wheat as was 17 from the same land two centuries ago.
In many countries farmers find it more 18 to raise only one crop or one kind of animal. They choose the kind that gives the best results. Then they sell all that they produce, instead of trying to grow a little of everything and consume what they grow. This is a more feasible type of 19 because modern methods and machinery are adapted to specific animals and specific crops. Therefore, it would be too expensive to do all the work by hand, or to buy the 20 needed for several different kinds of farming.
A. salary E. deserted I. equivalent M. destroyed
B. freely F. operation J. enrich N. certain
C. profitable G.amount K. fruitful O. cheaply
D. obtained H. payment L. equipment
Unit Twenty-Three
Passage 2
The difference between a liquid and a gas is obvious under the conditions of temperature and pressure commonly found at the surface of the Earth. A liquid can be kept in an open container and fill it to the level of a free surface. A gas forms no free surface but tends to diffuse throughout the 11 available; it must therefore be kept in a closed container or held by a gravitational field, as in the 12 of a planet's atmosphere. The distinction was a 13 feature of early theories describing the phases of matter. In the nineteenth century, for example, one theory maintained that a liquid could be "dissolved" in a vapor without losing its identity, and another theory 14 that the two phases are made up of different kinds of molecules. The theories now prevailing take a quite different approach by emphasizing what liquids and gases have in 15 They are both forms of matter that have no 16 structure, and they both flow readily.
The fundamental similarity of liquids and gases becomes clearly apparent when the temperature and pressure are 17 somewhat. Suppose a closed container 18 filled with a liquid is heated. The liquid expands, or in other words becomes less dense; some of it evaporates. In contrast, the vapor above the liquid surface becomes denser as the evaporated molecules are 19 to it. The combination of temperature and pressure at which the densities become 20
is called the critical point.
A. added
B. case
C. prominent
D. held
E. equal
F. partially
G. example
H. previous
' I. space J, lifted K. permanent L. particularly
M. extended N. raised 0. common
Unit Twenty-Four
Passage 2
Scientists at Sussex University appear to be on the way to 11 how the mosquito, carrier of diseases such as malaria and yellow fever, homes in on its target. The problem is that they have found that the best way to avoid being bitten is: stop breathing, stop sweating, and keep down the temperature of your immediate surroundings. 12 the first suggestion is impossible and the others very difficult.
Scientists have found that there are three 13 stages in a mosquito's assault. Stage one is at fifty feet away, when the insect first smells a man or a animal to 14 . Stage two is thought to come into operation about twenty-five feet from the target, when the insect becomes guided by the carbon dioxide breathed out by the intended victim. Stage three is when the mosquito is only a matter of inches from its 15 the warmth and moisture given off by the victim is the final clue.
The researchers then * 16 how repellents interfere with its three-stage attack. They found repellents act more subtly than by just giving off a nasty smell. A Canadian researcher says that repellents appear to 17 mosquitoes first when it is following the carbon dioxide and second during the final approach, where the warmth and moisture are the insect's 18 . Air pervaded by one of the many chemical repellents stops the mosquito reacting to the victim's carbon dioxide, and the repellent seems to affect the tiny hairs with which the insect senses moisture in the air. The sensors are blocked so that the 19 does not know whether it is flying through a moist current, or
the sensors are made to send the 20 signals.。