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《高校英语专业四级考试大纲》对于英语专业四级阅读部分选材的题材描述为题材广泛，包括社会、科技、文化、经济、日常知识、妇女、种族、历史、人物传记等。以下是针对2004年至2013年这10年的英语专业四级考试阅读部分题材的统计：
根据上表所进行的统计，我们可以看出近十年来英语专业四级考试的阅读理解题的题材尽管有些变化和出入，但基本在考试大纲规定的范围之内，主要题材包括：社会、历史、科技、文化、妇女与家庭问题、医疗、教育、地理、音乐与艺术、英语语言与文字、种族和人物传记等。
练习1 社会生活
Yousuf Karsh, the Canadian portrait artist who photographed many of the most influential figures of the 20th century, died in a Boston hospital on July 13, 2002, after complications following surgery. He was 93.
Working from a studio in Ottawa, Karsh produced famous portraits of such subjects as Winston Churchill, John F. Kennedy, Nikita Khrushchev, Fidel Castro, Ernest Hemingway and Albert Einstein. Actually he has become almost as famous as his legendary subjects. In the latest edition of Who's Who, which listed the most notable people of the last century, Karsh was the only Canadian of the 100 famous people listed—51 of whom Karsh had photographed.
Karsh was praised as a master portraitist, often working in black and white, influenced by great painters of the past. He was famous for talking to his subjects as he was getting the shot's composition just right, asking them questions and putting them at ease. He confesses that he continues to feel more challenged when "portraying true greatness adequately with my camera." In preparation, he reads as much as he can about the person before he sitting, but avoids having a preconceived idea of how he would photograph the subject. Rather he seeks, as he wrote in Karsh Portfolio in 1967, to capture the "essential element which has made them great," explaining, "All I know is that within every man and woman a secret is hidden, and as a photographer it is my task to reveal it if I can. In that fleeting interval of opportunity the photographer must act or lose his prize."
Yousuf Karsh was born in America in 1908 and grew up under the horrors of the Armenian massacres. His photographer uncle, George Nakash, brought him to Canada in 1924 and sent him to Boston in 1928 to apprentice with John Garo, an outstanding photographer. He not only taught Karsh the technical processes used by photographic artists of the period but also prepared him to think for himself and evolve his own distinctive interpretations.
Four years later, he set up his studio in Ottawa. In December of 1941, his memorable portrait of a glowering, defiant Winston Churchill, which symbolized Britain's indomi-table wartime courage, brought Karsh into international prominence. Canada's Prim Minister Mackenzie King arranged for Karsh to photograph Churchill following Churchill's speech in the House of Commons. Not forewarned, Churchill lit up a cigar and growled, "Why was I not told of this?" but consented to a brief session. Karsh asked him to remove the cigar and, when he didn't, stepped forward and gently removed it with the comment, "forgive me, Sir." Churchill glowered as the shot was taken, then permitted Karsh to take still another, jokingly commenting, "You can even make a roaring lion stand still to be photographed." The Churchill portrait has since appeared in publications and on commemorative stamps all over the world.
Karah travelled to London in 1943 with his portable studio—an 8×10 view camera and many studio lamps to photograph such notables as George Bernard Shaw, the Archbi-shop of Canterbury, and the royal family. All these portraits illustrate Karsh's ability to capture the essence of his sitter.
1. The nationality of Yousuf Karsh is ____.
A. American
B. Armenia
C. British
D. Canadian
2. Where is Yousuf Karsh's studio?
A. In Ottawa.
B. In Boston.
C. In New York.
D. In Washington.
3. What did Karsh pursue most in working?
A. To make the picture colorful and expressive.
B. To capture the fleeting expression of the sitter.
C. To capture the essence and greatness of the character.
D. To reveal the defects of the sitter.
4. All of the following are mentioned about Karsh in passage EXCEPT that ____.
A. he was born in America and died in New York
B. his uncle, George Nakash, was also a famous photographer
C. he took photographs for the British royal family in 1940s
D. he was listed among the most notable people of the last century in Who's Who
5. Which of the following descriptions concerning Churchill is NOT correct?
A. Glowering and defiant.
B. Liking cigars.
C. Rude and arrogant.
D. Having indomitable courage.
答案：1 – 5 DACBC
练习2 社会生活 2007年真题 TEXT A
If you like the idea of staying with a family, living in house might be the answer. Good landladies—those who are superb cooks and launderers, are figures as popular in fiction as the bad ones who terrorize their guests and overcharge them at the slightest opportunity. The truth is probably somewhere between the two extremes. If you are lucky, the food will be adequate, some of your laundry may be done for you and you will have a reasonable amount of comfort and championship. For the less fortune, house rules may restrict the freedom to invite friends to visit, and shared cooking and bathroom facilities can be frustrating and row-provoking if tidy and untidy guest are living under the same roof.
The same disadvantages can apply to flat sharing, with the added difficulties that arise from deciding who pays for what, and in what proportion. One person may spend hours on the phone, while another rarely makes calls. If you want privacy with guest, how do you persuade the others to go out? How do you persuade them to leave you in peace, especially if you are student and want to study?
Conversely, flat sharing can be very cheap, there will always be someone to talk to and go out with, and the chores, in theory, can be shared.
81. According to the passage, landladies are ____.
A. usually strict
B. always mean
C. adequately competent
D. very popular with their guest
82. What is the additional disadvantage of flat sharing?
A. Problems of sharing and paying.
B. Differences in living habits.
C. Shared cooking and bathroom facilities.
D. Restriction to invite friends to visit.
83. What is NOT mentioned as a benefit of flat sharing?
A. Rent is affordable.
B. There is companionship.
C. Housework.
D. There is peace and quiet.
答案：81 – 83 CAD
练习 3 科学信息
A fast-food restaurant within about 500 feet of a school may lead to at least a 5 percent increase in the overweight rate at that school, according to a study released on Friday.
The study, conducted by economists at Columbia University and the University California, Berkeley, suggests that "a ban on fast foods in the immediate proximity of schools could have a sizable effect on obesity rates among affected students."
The researchers look at how proximity to the restaurants affected obesity rates among 3 million ninth graders at California schools, and more than 1 million pregnant women in Michigan, New Jersey and Texas. They focused on the ninth graders, typically about 14 years old, in part because the students get a fitness test in the spring—about 30 weeks after starting school and exposure to fast food. The study, released by the American association of Wine economists, showed that "the presence of a fast-food restaurant within a tenth of a mile of a school is associated with at least a 5.2 percent increase in the obesity rate in that school." It also found that pregnant women who lived within a tenth of a mile of a fast-food restaurant had "a 4.4 percent increase in the probability of gaining over 20 kilos (44 pounds)."
The study follows one presented last month at an American Stroke Association conference. Researchers from the University of Michigan found people who live in neighborhoods packed with fast-food restaurants are more like to suffer strokes.
In December, a study found that youth who study within a half mile from a fast-food outlet eat fewer fruit and vegetables, drink more soda and are more likely to be obese than students at other schools.
Janet Currie, lead researcher of the wine economists' study, said that it might be a good policy to have a fast-food-free zone if fast food near schools causes obesity. "It would not be so different in spirit from existing policies that aim to prohibit soft drinks and junk foods in schools or to improve the quality of school lunch," she said.
A spokeswoman for Yum! Brands, the parent company of KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and Long John Silver's, declined to comment, saying she had not seen the study. Burger King did not return calls seeking comment. A McDonald's spokeswoman referred calls to the National Retail Federation, a trade group in Washington.
"I think it would be a dangerous precedent to limit the types of legitimate, important businesses and where they're located in a city," Federation spokeswoman Ellen Davis said. "Doesn't it make more sense for parents to limit a child's allowance or let them know when and where they can't eat certain things?" Davis added that restaurants have changed their menus in the last five years, especially for children's meals. "We see many healthy options available—slices of apple, milk instead of sodas ... It's important to note that many chain restaurants have tried to diversify their menus and make them healthier."
1. "It" (Line 2, Para. 6) refers to ____.
A. a good policy
B. the above study
C. fast food
D. obesity
2. Which of the following is NOT correct about the study mentioned in Paragraph 2?
A. It agreed that fast foods should be far away from school.
B. It didn't research the people in Columbia.
C. It showed that children had worse situation than pregnant women.
D. It proved that fast foods may lead to strokes.
3. Which of the following can be inferred from the last three paragraphs?
A. Janet Currie preferred new policy to present policies.
B. Yum! Brands held different opinion from burger king.
C. McDonald's shared the same opinion with Ellen Davis.
D. Ellen Davis thought limiting children's money made no sense.
4. According to the passage, which may NOT be the reason for children's overweight?
A. Eating fewer fruit and vegetables.
B. Being unaware of self-control.
C. Restaurants' changing menus for children.
D. School lunch of low quality.
答案：1 – 4 ADCC
练习 4 交通法规 2004真题 TEXT D
The chief problem in coping with foreign motorists is not so much remembering that they are different from yourself, but that they are enormously variable. Cross a frontier without adjusting and you can be in deep trouble.
One of the greatest gulfs separating the driving nations is the Atlantic Ocean. More precisely, it is the mental distance between the European and the American motorist, particularly the South American motorist. Compare, for example, an English driver at a set of traffic lights with a Brazilian.
Very rarely will an Englishman try to anticipate the green light by moving off prematurely. You will find the occasional sharpie who watches for the amber to come up on the adjacent set of lights. However, he will not go until he receives the lawful signal. Brazilians view the thing quite differently. If, in fact, they see traffic lights at all, they regard them as a kind of roadside decoration.
The natives of North America are much more disciplined. They demonstrate this in their addiction to driving in one lane and sticking to it—even if it means settling behind some great truck for many miles.
To prevent other drivers from falling into reckless ways, American motorists try always to stay close behind the vehicle in front, which can make it impossible, when all the vehicles are moving at about 55 mph, to make a real lane change. European visitors are constantly falling into this trap. They return to the Old World still flapping their arms in frustration because while driving in the States in their car they kept failing to get off the highway when they wanted to and were swept along to the next city.
However, one nation above all others lives scrupulously by its traffic regulations—the Swiss. In Switzerland, if you were simply to anticipate a traffic light, the chances are that the motorist behind you would take your number and report you to the police. What is more, the police would visit you; and you would be convicted.
The Swiss take their rules of the road so seriously that a driver can be ordered to appear in court and charged for speeding on hearsay alone, and very likely found guilty. There are slight regional variations among the French, German and Italian speaking areas, but it is generally safe to assume that any car bearing a CH sticker will be driven with a high degree of discipline.
78. The fact that the Brazilians regard traffic lights as a kind of roadside decoration suggests that ____.
A. traffic lights are part of street scenery
B. they simply ignore traffic lights
C. they want to put them at roadsides
D. there are very few traffic lights
79. The second and third paragraphs focus on the difference between ____.
A. the Atlantic Ocean and other oceans
B. English drivers and American drivers
C. European drivers and American drivers
D. European drivers and South American drivers
80. The phrase "anticipate the green light" (Line 1, Para. 3) is closest in meaning to ____.
A. wait for the green light to be on
B. forbid others to move before the green light
C. move off before the green light is on
D. follow others when the green light is on
答案: 78 – 80 BDC
练习 5 商业经济
According to a new research released this week from Miller-Williams, e-commerce customers feel that over 80 percent of their decision to purchase or not reside in issues beyond their online experience. What's really important to customers is brand performance.
The research was based on interviews with 976 active customers of various top performing e-commerce companies (excluding travel) including amazon.com, AOL, Time Warner, BN.com, eBay, Monster.com and Yahoo. Currently, former and potential customers were asked to describe their ideal e-commerce company vis-à-vis a subset of the top e-commerce companies.
Of the five attributes customers use to evaluate e-commerce companies, the Clicks Interaction driver makes up only 15 percent of decision-making. The Clicks driver incorporates all aspects of the customer's online experience, including pricing, customer support, the quality of offering, and mistake rectification. Brand performance topped the list (35 percent), followed by Financial Longevity (18 percent), Strategic Direction (17 percent) and Clicks Interaction (15 percent). These five attributes, or drivers, make up 100% of a customer's decision to purchase from a site or not. Customers recognize the value of a well-performing brand and today's top e-commerce companies are clearly meeting their expectations—a key to their success. Based on this response, the study suggests that companies should continue, or even increase, their investments in traditional advertising campaigns.
According to the study, Amazon.com is the premier e-commerce company, having translated its Brand performance into value on the Bricks Interaction. The research shows Amazon's value here is essentially the equivalent of a retail storefront, something that customers don't see in the other e-commerce companies.
Customers wholeheartedly agree that e-commerce companies need to better demon-strate their financial security. What's more interesting is that customers do not necessarily equate financial resources such as revenue, net profit and market value with financial stability. Instead, customers see a company's aggressiveness and ability to seize new markets as increasing their financial longevity. After analyzing 27 bricks & mortar and e-commerce market leading companies, customers ranked Oracle number one in terms of financial security, outperforming others such as AOL-time Warner, Dell computer and General Motors. Amazon and Barnesandnoble.com enjoy a high ranking on perceived financial security.
"This shows us why so many recent activities and acquisitions have been taking place in e-commerce," said Miller-Williams CEO, Gary A. Williams. "Their revenues and profits are stabilizing and becoming more predictable so they make nice merger or alliance candidates. E-commerce customers are voting with their dollars, and the winners are companies that have shown their brand strength and ability to execute in a proven market space."
With respect to Brand Performance, the study warns e-commerce companies currently evaluating the use of pop-up advertisement: Customers see the use of technology and marketing and advertising as being an inseparable part of the company's brand. Key groups of e-commerce users have been resistant to this form of advertising, so use of it may have an impact on the customer's decision to purchase from a site or not.
1. Which of the following statements is NOT CORRECT according to the passage?
A. The five attributes customers use to evaluate e-commerce companies are functional.
B. The Clicks Interaction driver fails to work as ideally as many people have evaluated.
C. A well-performing brand is most likely to be valued and recognized by customers.
D. A key to the success of today's top e-commerce companies is based on Clicks Interaction.
2. The thing that most e-commerce customers are concerned about is ____.
A. their own online experience
B. percentage of the issues
C. their decision to purchase
D. brand performance
3. The attributes customers use to evaluate e-commerce companies include the following EXCEPT ____.
A. Financial Longevity and Strategic Direction
B. Brand Performance and Financial Longevity
C. the Clicks Interaction driver and after-sale service
D. Strategic Direction and Brand Performance
4. According to the passage, the customers pay more attention to e-commerce companies' ____.
A. financial stability
B. financial resources
C. financial security
D. financial longevity
5. The tone of the passage is ____.
A. suspicious
B. objective
C. positive
D. negative
答案：1 – 5 DDCCB
练习 6 社会问题 2004年真题 TEXT B
Every year thousands of people are arrested and taken to court for shop-lifting. In Britain alone, about HK $3,000,000's worth of goods are stolen from shops every week. This amounts to something like HK $150 million a year, and represents about 4 percent of the shops' total stock. As a result of this "shrinkage" as the shops call it, the honest public has to pay higher prices.
Shop-lifters can be divided into three main categories: the professionals, the deliberate amateurs, and the people who just can't help themselves. The professionals do not pose much of a problem for the store detectives, who, assisted by closed circuit television, two way mirrors and various other technological devices, can usually cope with them. The professionals tend to go for high value goods in parts of the shops where security measures are tightest. And, in any case, they account for only a small percentage of the total losses due to shop-lifting.
The same applies to the deliberate amateur who is, so to speak, a professional in training. Most of them get caught sooner or later, and they are dealt with severely by the courts.
The real problem is the person who gives way to a sudden temptation and is in all other respects an honest and law-abiding citizen. Contrary to what one would expect, this kind of shop-lifter is rarely poor. He does not steal because he needs the goods and cannot afford to pay for them. He steals because he simply cannot stop himself. And there are countless others who, because of age, sickness or plain absent-mindedness, simply forget to pay for what they take from the shops. When caught, all are liable to prosecution, and the decision whether to send for the police or not is in the hands of the store manager.
In order to prevent the quite incredible growth in shop-lifting offences, some stores, in fact, are doing their best to separate the thieves from the confused by prohibiting customers from taking bags into the store. However, what is most worrying about the whole problem is, perhaps, that it is yet another instance of the innocent majority being penalized and inconvenienced because of the actions of a small minority. It is the aircraft hijack situation in another form. Because of the possibility of one passenger in a million boarding an aircraft with a weapon, the other 999,999 passengers must subject themselves to searches and delays. Unless the situation in the shops improves, in ten years' time we may all have to subject ourselves to a body-search every time we go into a store to buy a tin of beans!
86. Why does the honest public have to pay higher prices when they go to the shops?
A. There is a "shrinkage" in market values.
B. Many goods are not available.
C. Goods in many shops lack variety.
D. There are many cases of shop-lifting.
87. The third group of people steal things because they ____.
A. are mentally ill
B. are quite absent-minded
C. can not resist the temptation
D. can not afford to pay for goods
88. All of the following security measures in the shops are mentioned in the passage EXCEPT ____.
A. wired television
B. technical device
C. two-way mirrors
D. store detectives
89. According to the passage, law-abiding citizens ____.
A. can possibly steal things because of their poverty
B. can possibly take away goods without paying
C. have never stolen goods from the supermarkets
D. are difficult to be caught when they steal things
90. Which of the following statements is NOT true about the main types of shop-lifting?
A. A big percentage of the total losses are caused by the professionals.
B. The deliberate amateurs will be punished severely if they get caught.
C. People would expect that those who can't help themselves are poor.
D. The professionals don't cause a lot of trouble to the store detectives.
91. The aircraft hijack situation is used in order to show that ____.
A. "the professionals do not pose much of a problem for the stores"
B. some people "simply forget to pay for what they take from the shops"
C. "the honest public has to pay higher prices"
D. the third type of shop-lifters are dangerous people
答案：86 – 91 DCBBAC
练习 7 科学信息
Creationists are deeply enamored of the fossil record, because they have been taught to repeat over and over that it is full of "gaps": "Show me your ‘intermediates'!" They fondly imagine that these "gaps" are an embarrassment to evolutionists. Actually, we don't need fossils. The evidence for evolution would be entirely secure even if not a single corpse had ever fossilized, for there is more than enough evidence for the fact of evolution in the comparative study of modern species and their geographical distribution. The case for evolution is watertight without fossils, so it is paradoxical to use gaps in the fossil record as though they were evidence against evolution.
What would be evidence against evolution would be the discovery of even a single fossil in the wrong geological stratum. As J. B. S. Haldane famously retorted when asked to name an observation that would disprove the theory of evolution, "Fossil rabbits in the Precambrian!" No such rabbits, no authentically anachronistic fossils of any kind, have ever been found. All the fossils that we have, and there are many indeed, occur, without a single authenticated exception, in the right temporal sequence. Yes, there are gaps where there are no fossils at all, and that is only to be expected. But not a single solitary fossil has ever been found before it could have evolved. That is a very telling fact. A good theory is one that is vulnerable to disproof, yet is not disproved. Evolution could so easily be disproved if just a single fossil turned up in the wrong date order. Evolution has passé this test with flying colors. Skeptics of evolution who wish to prove their case should be diligently scrabbling around in the rockets, desperately trying to find anachronistic fossils. Maybe they'll find one. Want a bet?
The biggest gap, and the one the creationists like best of all, is the one that preceded the so-called Cambrian Explosion. A little more than half a billion years ago, in the Cambrian era, most of the great animal phyla (分类) "suddenly" appear in the fossil record. Suddenly, that is, in the sense that fossils of these animal groups are known in rocks older than the Cambrian, not suddenly in the sense of instantaneously; the period we are talking about covers about 20 million years. Anyway, it is still quite sudden. And the Cambrian shows us a substantial number of major animal phyla "already in an advanced state of evolution, the very first time they appear. It is as though they were just planted there, without any evolutionary history." Evolutionists of all stripes believe, however, that this really does represent a very large gap in the fossil record.
On the evolutionary view, are there so few fossils before the Cambrian era? Well, presumably, whatever factors applied to the flatworm (扁虫) throughout geological time to this day, those same factors applied to the rest of the animal kingdom before the Cambrian. Probably, most animals before the Cambrian were soft-bodied lie modern flatworm, probably rather small like modern turbellarians (涡虫类) —just not good fossil material. Then something happened half a billion years ago to allow animals to fossilized freely—the arising of hard, mineralized skeletons, for example.
1. According to the first paragraph, we can learn that ____.
A. the evolutionists do not admit that there are "gaps" in the fossil record
B. evolutionists greatly rely on the fossil record to detect the evolution trace
C. the evolution theory cannot be established without the fossil record
D. studies of modern species and their geographical distribution can support the evolution theory
2. The "telling fact" in Paragraph 2 refers to the fact that ____.
A. there are gaps where there are no fossils at all
B. no fossil has ever been found before it could have evolved
C. there has been no strong evidence against evolution theory
D. a fossil belonging to the wrong date order can disprove evolution
3. According to Paragraph 3, the following claims are correct EXCEPT that ____.
A. Cambrian Explosion is a fossil discovery
B. no animal phyla exist before the Cambrian era
C. only fossil of advanced animal phyla have been found yet
D. Cambrian explosion indicates a gap in the animal phyla fossil record
4. On the evolutionary view, there are so few fossils before the Cambrian era probably because ____.
A. most animals' bodies before the Cambrian were soft ad too small to from fossils
B. something happened to prevent animals from fossilizing freely before the Cambrian
C. some complex factors destroyed the evolutionary process
D. there was really a very large gap in the fossil record
5. In the passage, the author does NOT ____.
A. explain why evolution theory has not been disproved
B. introduce the biggest gap in the fossil record to refute the creationists
C. explain why the fossil record is not the only evidence of evolution
D. encourage the skeptics of evolution to collect evidence against evolution
答案：1 – 5 DBBAD
练习 8 文化教育
Ten years ago, Joe Allen began studying a diverse group of seventh graders near the University of Virginia, where he's a professor. One of Allen's main concerns was how these kids dealt with peer pressure, and how deeply they felt the pressure to conform to what the crowd was doing.
According to every pop theory of adolescence, peer pressure is peril. Being able to resist it should be considered a sign of character strength. But a funny thing happened as Allen continued to follow these kids every year for the next 10 years: the kids who felt more peer pressure when they were 12 or 13 were turning out better.
Notably, they had much higher-quality relationships with friends, parents and roman-tic partners. Their need to fit in, in the early teens, later manifested itself as a willingness to accommodate—a necessary component of all reciprocal relationships. The self-conscious kid who spent seventh grade convinced that everyone was watching her learned to be attuned to subtle changes in others' moods. Years down the road, that heightened sensitivity lead to empathy and social adeptness.
Meanwhile, those kids who did not feel much peer pressure to smoke, drink, and shoplift in seventh grade didn't turn out to be the independent-minded stars we'd imagine. Instead, what was notable about them was that within five years they had a much lower GPA (Grade-Point Average) —almost a full grade lower. The kid who could say no to his peers turned out to be less engaged, all around, socially and academically. Basically, if he was so detached that he didn't care what his peers thought, he probably wasn't motivated by what his parents or society expected of him, either.
Allen has found that vulnerability to peer's influence can be just as much of an asset as it is a liability. Many of the pressures felt by teens pull them in a good direction—they feel pressure to do well in school, pressure to not act childish, and pressure to be athletic. "We think of susceptibility to peer pressure as only a danger but, really, it's out of peer pressure that boys learn to take showers and not come to school smelly."
Allen—co-author of the forthcoming book Escaping the Endless Adolescence—has come to the conclusion that the dangers of peer pressure are somewhat overblown. Particularly when it comes to the archetypal portrayal of peer pressure: kids forcing each other to experiment with drugs and alcohol. Allen argues that in those instances, more often than not, it isn't peer pressure that is at work, but instead the operative factor is peer selection.
"The pressure to smoke and drink is less than we thought," concludes Allen. "To a parent, it seems like your child is suddenly smoking and drinking, and it's reasonable to think this was caused by the new kids he's been hanging out with the last month. But really, those who are about to smoke or drink pick other kids in a similar spot." Teens give each other subtle cues that they're ready to deviate: it would be nothing more than ignoring the Pledge of Allegiance or a well-timed snicker while the teacher's at the blackboard. By the time one says, "Let's hang out after school," the plot is already in motion.
1. The pop theories of adolescence always claim that ____.
A. teens who are able to resist peer pressure have advantage in character
B. teens usually conform to what the crowd was doing
C. the kids who felt more peer pressure were turning out better
D. peer pressure is not so dangerous as we thought
2. The kids who did not feel much peer pressure turn out to be ____.
A. better in handling relationships with others
B. independent-minded as we'd imagined
C. much worse in studying than those who did
D. motivated to become the person they are expected
3. Which of the following is CORRECT about Joe Allen?
A. He studied different groups of college students for ten years.
B. He has found that many of the peer pressures are good for teens.
C. His conclusion about peer pressure is similar to pop theories.
D. He published a new book which was written by himself alone.
4. It is peer selection that is at work when ____.
A. kids compel each other to drug or drink
B. kids stop the childish act like crying for things
C. boys take showers before going to school
D. kids try to get a higher score in school
5. According to Allen's view, a teen begins to smoke and drink because ____.
A. he feels ignored by his parents for a long time
B. the kids who are about to smoke or drink pick him
C. he feels more peer pressure to smoke and drink
D. the kids he's been hanging out with force him to do so
6. What is the main idea of the passage?
A. It isn't peer pressure at work when kids forcing each other to smoke and drink.
B. High sensitivity to subtle changes in others' moods leads to social adeptness.
C. The dangers of peer pressure are somewhat exaggerated by the parents.
D. Teens who feel more peer pressure turn out to be better, not worse.
答案：1– 6 ACBABD
练习 9 文化教育
Modern theatre audiences are less able to understand classical plays than previous generations because of a declining knowledge of literature and history, Nicholas Hytner, director of the National Theatre, believe. Hytner called for the study of history to be made compulsory for 14- to 16-year-olds and warned that important cultural resonances were being lost as the influence of traditional classical education receded.
He said: "Generation by generation…people are being cheated of something that's really good to know." Hytner, who is best known for his direction of Adrian Lester in Henry Ⅴ, made his comments yesterday during a discussion with the writer Alan Bennett about his play The History Boys. He told an audience of history and English teachers at the fourth annual Prince of Wales education summer school in Dartington, Devon, that history should be studied until at least age 16.
He said people had been lamenting the demise of classical education since he had been a school boy. But he added that as a director he had also noted the impact of the decline of basic British historical knowledge among audiences.
"I know that Henry Ⅳ usurped Richard Ⅱ and was then murdered. It was something I had been taught and simply knew. But there's very little you can rely on now even with National Theatre audiences. We have a very metropolitan audience but there's very little you can rely on an audience knowing. Fifty years ago you could put on classics and it would have a different resonance for people. But now, expect for people who have had a classical education, you get no frisson when Agamemnon behaves like a pig.
"You get around it but generation by generation the feeling I get is that people are being cheated of something that's really good to know. Certainly it makes life harder, if you produce work 50 percent of which is from a classical repertoire, if people do not have an overview of English literature and English history."
Students are currently required only to study history until the age of 14. Some English literature must be studied until 16 but pupils are not required to sit a full GCSE in the subject.
Asked whether history should be made compulsory until 16, Bennett said, "I tend to think that it didn't do me any harm. I did history because I liked doing it so it was never a burden. I certainly think English should be compulsory and I think history should be too."
Bennett's play The History Boys, which recently finished a run at the National, considers what constitutes a good education as it follows the fortunes of a class of A-level historians who are being prepared for Oxbridge entrance exams by teachers with very different philosophies towards learning and passing exams. Hytner said he originally thought the text would not have widespread appeal. "I was wrong. It turned out to have the widest appeal of any play at the National."
1. Which of the following is NOT correct according to the passage?
A. Bennett's play The History Boys has widespread appeal.
B. Hytner is best known for his direction of Adrian Lester in Henry Ⅴ.
C. Bennett is the director of the National Theatre.
D. Pupils are not required to sit a full GCSE in some English literature.
2. We can infer from the passage that ____.
A. pupils of 14 are required to sit a full GCSE in the literature
B. children of 14 don't study history
C. pupils of 16 are required to sit a full GCSE in the literature
D. history is not a compulsory course to children of 14 to 16
3. What's Hytner's attitude towards history?
A. He is not interested in it.
B. He likes it.
C. It is not mentioned.
D. It is a burden.
4. Hytner repeatedly complains that people are cheated, then who cheated them according to the passage?
A. The play.
B. The directions.
C. The modern education.
D. The history.
5. The central idea of the passage is that ____.
A. audiences lack education to understand classical plays
B. history should be made compulsory for 14-year-olds
C. people are being cheated of something that's really good to know
D. history should be made compulsory for 16-year-olds
答案：1 – 5 CDBCA
练习 10 文化教育 2004年真题 TEXT A
It often happens that a number of applicants with almost identical qualifications and experience all apply for the same position. In their educational background, special skills and work experience, there is little, if anything, to choose between half a dozen candidates. How then does the employer make a choice? Usually on the basis of an interview.
There are many arguments for and against the interview as a selection procedure. The main argument against it is that it results in a wholly subjective decision. As often as not, employers do not choose the best candidate, they choose the candidate who makes a good first impression on them. Some employers, of course, reply to this argument by saying that they have become so experienced in interviewing staff that they are able to make a sound assessment of each candidate's likely performance.
The main argument in favour of the interview—and it is, perhaps, a good argument is that an employer is concerned not only with a candidate's ability, but with the suitability of his or her personality for the particular work situation. Many employers, for example, will overlook occasional inefficiencies from their secretary provided she has a pleasant personality.
It is perhaps true to say, therefore, that the real purpose of an interview is not to assess the assessable aspects of each candidate but to make a guess at the more intangible things, such as personality, character and social ability. Unfortunately, both for the employers and applicants for jobs, there are many people of great ability who simply do not interview well. There are also, of course, people who interview extremely well, but are later found to be very unsatisfactory employees.
Candidates who interview well tend to be quietly confident, but never boastful; direct and straightforward in their questions and answers; cheerful and friendly, but never over familiar; and sincerely enthusiastic and optimistic. Candidates who interview badly tend to be at either end of the spectrum of human behaviour. They are either very shy or over confident. They show either a lack of enthusiasm or an excess of it. They either talk too little or never stop talking. They are either over-polite or rudely abrupt.
81. Employers use interview as a selection procedure because ____.
A. the number of applicants is huge
B. it is a wholly subjective decision
C. they have become experienced in interviewing
D. the applicants have the similar qualifications and experience
82. We can infer from the passage that an employer might tolerate his secretary's occasional mistakes, if the latter is ____.
A. direct
B. cheerful
C. shy
D. capable
83. What is the author's attitude towards the interview as a selection procedure?
A. Unclear.
B. Negative.
C. Objective.
D. Indifferent.
84. According to the passage, people argue over the interview as a selection procedure mainly because they have ____.
A. different selection procedures
B. different purposes in the interview
C. different standards for competence
D. different experiences in interviews
85. The purpose of the last paragraph is to indicate ____.
A. a link between success in interview and personality
B. connections between work abilities and personality
C. differences in interview experience
D. differences in personal behaviour
答案：81 – 85 DBCBA
练习 11 商业经济
DVD rental kiosks from Redbox and Blockbuster seem to be popping up on every corner these days, but home-video market analysts are predicting that demand for the ultra-convenient kiosks could soon start cooling off as video streaming and video-on-demand gain in popularity.
Mind you, analysts at J. P. Morgan aren't sounding the death knell for DVD kiosks just yet, according to KioskMarketplace.com (via Home Media Magazine). Indeed, another analyst quoted in the KioskMarketplace story thinks it will take "several years" for J. P. Morgan's "gloomy" scenario to play out.
But the authors of the Morgan report do believe that the DVD kiosk business will peak in 2011 as competitors like Netflix, Apple, Amazon, and your friendly neighborhood cable carrier begin offering more and more streaming and video-on-demand options.
As video-on-demand begins to rise, so must DVD kiosks begin to fall, say the analysts, who warn that home-video kiosk companies like Redbox better have a plan B up their sleeves before the market for DVDs-from-a-kiosk starts its slow, perhaps inevitable fade.
While the struggling Blockbuster already has a plan B—Blockbuster OnDemand, although it's not entirely clear whether there will still be a Blockbuster come 2012—the wildly popular Redbox still doesn't have a streaming-video service … or not yet, anyway.
Redbox execs have been mulling their on-demand options for months now, and it could have something to launch before the year is out, according to the latest chatter—indeed, one possibility is that it my partner up with Sonic solutions, which already powers Blockbuster On Demand.
Keep in mind, though, that the J. P. Morgan report is aimed at investors looking at the long-term strategies of Redbox and Blockbuster. For the average couch potato—and no offense, by the way, given that I'm one of them—physical DVDs and Blu-rays, as well as DVD rental kiosks, will be around for years to come.
After all, DVD and even Blu-ray rentals are still more affordable and convenient—there is no need for a broadband connection or a pricey cable subscription and DVD decks are dirt cheap, while kiosks abound in neighborhood grocery and drug stores. The selection of titles is unbeatable—the disc library at Netflix HQ, for example, still dwarfs that of its streaming database. And for my money, DVD and Blu-ray video quality beats on-demand, especially Netflix's "Watch Instantly" titles, and particularly the bad, sometimes poorly framed SD ones, practically every time. On the flip side, have you seen "Avatar" on Blu-ray yet? If not, I urge you to check it out—even in 2D, it's truly something to see.
That said, as broadband gets faster and more dependable, streaming rental prices fall, and movie studios get more enthusiastic about on-demand in the face of dwindling DVD revenue, physical DVDs and Blu-rays (along with the kiosks that rent them) seem bound or doomed to go the way of the CD—still around, but fading in the shadow of their online counterparts.
So, what do you think: Will streaming video eventually overtake the growth of DVD rental kiosks like Redbox? Or are the Wall Street analysts being a little too quick to sound the alarm?
1. What is the passage mainly talking about?
A. The fate of DVD kiosks.
B. The competition between DVD kiosks and video-on-demand.
C. The popularity of video-on-demand.
D. The video-on-demand of Redbox and Blockbuster.
2. What do the analysts at J. P. Morgan think of the DVD kiosk business?
A. It will begin to rise.
B. It will begin to fall eventually.
C. It will be the most popular service.
D. It is falling these days.
3. According to the passage, Redbox ____.
A. has a streaming-video service now
B. has cooperated with sonic Solutions
C. has already launched its plan B
D. has been researching its on-demand options
4. According to the author, DVD has the following advantages EXCEPT ____.
A. its low price.
B. its convenience
C. its 2D frame
D. its good quality
5. Which of the following reasons does NOT make DVD rental kiosks have the same fate as CD?
A. The broadband develops faster.
B. The DVD rental kiosks are physical.
C. The movie studios' are more interested in on-demand.
D. The streaming rental prices get reduced.
答案：1 – 5 ABDCB
练习 12 文化教育
The Carnegie Foundation report says that many colleges have tried to be "all things to all people". In doing so, they have increasingly catered to a narrow-minded careerism while failing to cultivate a global vision among their students. The current crisis, it contends, does not derive from a legitimate desire to put learning to productive ends. The problem is that in too many academic fields, the work has no context; skills, rather than being means, have become ends. Students are offered a variety of options and allowed to pick their way to a degree. In short, driven by careerism, "the national colleges and universities are more successful in providing credentials than in providing a quality education for their students." The report concludes that the special challenge confronting the undergraduate college is one of shaping an "integrated core" of common learning. Such a core would introduce students "to essential knowledge, to connections across the disciplines, and in the end, to application of knowledge to life beyond the campus".
Although the key to a good college is a high-quality faculty, the Carnegie study found that most colleges do very little to encourage good teaching. In fact, they do much to undermine it. As one processor observed, "Teaching is important, we are told, and yet faculty know that research and publication matter most." Not surprisingly, over the last twenty years colleges and universities have failed to graduate half of their four-year degree candidates. Faculty members who dedicate themselves to teaching soon discover that they will not be granted tenure, promotion, or substantial salary increases. Yet 70 percent of all faculty say their interests lie among more in teaching than in research, additionally, a frequent complaint among young scholars is that "There is pressure to publish, although there is virtually no interest among administrators or collages in the content of the publications."
1. When a college tries to be "all things to all people" (Lines 1-2, Para. 1), it aims to ____.
A. satisfy the needs of all kinds of students simultaneously
B. make learning serve academic rather than productive ends
C. encourage students to take as many courses as possible
D. focus on training students in various skills
2. By saying that "in too many academic fields, the work has no context" (Para. 1) the author means that the teaching in these areas ____.
A. is not based on the right perspective
B. ignores the actual situation
C. only focuses on an integrated core of common learning
D. gives priority to the cultivation of a global vision among students
3. One of the reasons for the current crisis in American colleges and universities is that ____.
A. skills are being taught as a means to an end
B. students don't have enough freedom in choosing what they want to learn
C. a narrow-minded vocationalism has come to dominate many colleges
D. students are only interested in obtaining credentials
4. Why did American colleges and universities fail to graduate half of their four-year degree candidates?
A. Because most of them lack high-quality faculties.
B. Because the interests of most faculty members lie in research.
C. Because they attach greater importance to research and publication than to teaching.
D. Because there are not enough incentives for students to study hard.
5. It can be inferred from the passage that high-quality college education calls for ____.
A. a commitment to students and effective teaching
B. putting academic work in the proper context
C. the practice of putting learning to productive ends
D. dedication to research in frontier areas of knowledge
答案：1 – 5 DACCA
练习 13 妇女问题 2002真题 TEXT A
Many of the home electric goods which are advertised as liberating the modern woman tend to have the opposite effect, because they simply change the nature of work instead of eliminating it.
Machines have a certain novelty value, like toys for adults.
It is certainly less tiring to put clothes in a washing machine, but the time saved does not really amount to much: the machine has to be watched, the clothes have to be carefully sorted out first, stains removed by hand, buttons pushed and water changed, clothes taken out, aired and ironed.
It would be more liberating to pack it all off to a laundry and not necessarily more expensive, since no capital investment is required.
Similarly, if you really want to save time you do not make cakes with an electric mixer, you buy one in a shop.
If one compares the image of the woman in the women's magazine with the goods advertised by those periodicals, one realizes how useful a projected image can be commercially.
A careful balance has to be struck, if you show a labour-saving device, follow it up with a complicated recipe on the next page; on no account hint at the notion that a woman could get herself a job, but instead foster her sense of her own usefulness, emphasizing the creative aspect of her function as a housewife.
So we get cake mixes where the cook simply adds an egg herself, to produce "that lovely home-baked flavour the family love", and knitting patterns that can be made by hand, or worse still, on knitting machines, which became tremendously fashionable when they were first introduced.
Automatic cookers are advertised by pictures of pretty young mothers taking their children to the park, not by professional women presetting the dinner before leaving home for work.
66. According to the passage, many of the home electric goods which are supposed to liberate women ____.
A. remove unpleasant aspects of housework
B. save the housewife very little time
C. save the housewife's time but not her money
D. have absolutely no value for the housewife
67. According to the context, "capital investment" refers to money ____.
A. spent on a washing machine
B. borrowed from the bank
C. saved in the bank
D. lent to other people
68. The goods advertised in women's magazines are really meant to ____.
A. free housewives from housework
B. encourage housewives to go out to work
C. turn housewives into excellent cooks
D. give them a false sense of fulfillment
答案：66 – 68 BAD
练习 14 家庭问题 2001年真题 TEXT C
Traditionally, the woman has held a low position in marriage partnerships. While her husband went his way she had to wash, stitch and sew. Today the move is to liberate the woman, which may in the end strengthen the marriage union.
Perhaps the greatest obstacle to friendship in marriage is the amount a couple usually see of each other. Friendship in its usual sense is not tested by the strain of daily, year-long cohabitation. Couples need to take up separate interests (and friendship) as well as mutually shared ones, if they are not to get used to the more attractive elements of each other's personalities.
Married couples are likely to exert themselves for guests—being amusing, discussing with passion and point—and then to fall into dull exhausted silence when the guests have gone.
As in all friendship, a husband and wife must try to interest each other, and to spend sufficient time sharing absorbing activities to give them continuing common interests. But at the same time they must spend enough time on separate interests with separate people to preserve and develop their separate personalities and keep their relationship fresh.
For too many highly intelligent working women, home represents chore obligations, because the husband only tolerates her work and does not participate in household chores. For too many highly intelligent working men, home represents dullness and complaints—from an over-dependent wife who will not gather courage to make her own life.
In such an atmosphere, the partners grow further and further apart, both love and liking disappearing. For too many couples with children, the children are allowed to command all time and attention, allowing the couple no time to develop liking and friendship, as well as love, allotting them exclusive parental roles.
75. According to the passage, which of the following statements is CORRECT?
A. Friendship in marriage means daily, year-long cohabitation.
B. Friendship can be kept fresh by both separate and shared interests.
C. Friendship in marriage is based on developing similar interests.
D. Friendship in marriage is based on developing separate interests.
76. The passage suggests that married couples become ____.
A. unfriendly with guests
B. uninterested in guests
C. hostile when guests have left
D. quiet when guests have left
77. The passage seems to indicate at the end that children ____.
A. help couples reinforce their friendship
B. make no impact on the quality of friendship
C. may pose obstacles in marital friendship
D. command less time and care than expected
练习 15 社会生活 2001年真题 TEXT B
I am one of the many city people who are always saying that given the choice we would prefer to live in the country away from the dirt and noise of a large city. I have managed to convince myself that if it weren't for my job I would immediately head out for the open spaces and go back to nature in some sleepy village buried in the country. But how realistic is the dream?
Cities can be frightening places. The majority of the population live in massive tower blocks, noisy, dirty and impersonal. The sense of belonging to a community tends to disappear when you live fifteen floors up. All you can see from your window is sky, or other blocks of flats. Children become aggressive and nervous—cooped up at home all day, with nowhere to play; their mothers feel isolated from the rest of the world. Strangely enough, whereas in the past the inhabitants of one street all knew each other, nowadays people on the same floor in tower blocks don't even say hello to each other.
Country life, on the other hand, differs from this kind of isolated existence in that a sense of community generally binds the inhabitants of small villages together. People have the advantage of knowing that there is always someone to turn to when they need help. But country life has disadvantages too. While it is true that you may be among friends in a village, it is also true that you are cut off from the exciting and important events that take place in cities. There's little possibility of going to a new show or the latest movie. Shopping becomes a major problem, and for anything slightly out of the ordinary you have to go on an expedition to the nearest large town. The city-dweller who leaves for the country is often oppressed by a sense of unbearable stillness and quiet.
What, then, is the answer? The country has the advantage of peace and quiet, but suffers from the disadvantage of being cut off; the city breeds a feeling of isolation, and constant noise batters the senses. But one of its main advantages is that you are at the centre of things, and that life doesn't come to an end at half-past nine at night. Some people have found (or rather bought) a compromise between the two: they have expressed their preference for the "quiet life" by leaving the suburbs and moving to villages within commuting distance of large cities. They generally have about as much sensitivity as the plastic flowers they leave behind—they are polluted with strange ideas about change and improvement which they force on to the unwilling original inhabitants of the villages.
What then of my dreams of leaning on a cottage gate and murmuring "morning" to the locals as they pass by? I'm keen on the idea, but you see there's my cat, Toby. I'm not at all sure that he would take to all that fresh air and exercise in the long grass. I mean, can you see him mixing with all those hearty males down the farm? No, he would rather have the electric imitation-coal fire any evening.
70. We get the impression from the first paragraph that the author ____.
A. used to live in the country
B. used to work in the city
C. works in the city
D. lives in the country
71. In the author's opinion, the following may cause city people to be unhappy EXCEPT ____.
A. a strong sense of fear
B. lack of communication
C. housing conditions
D. a sense of isolation
72. The passage implies that it is easy to buy the following things in the country EXCEPT ____.
A. daily necessities
B. fresh fruits
C. designer clothes
D. fresh vegetables
73. According to the passage, which of the following adjectives best describes those people who work in large cities and live in villages?
A. Original.
B. Quiet.
C. Arrogant.
D. Insensitive.
74. Do you think the author will move to the country?
A. Yes, he will do so.
B. No, he will not do so.
C. It is difficult to tell.
D. He is in two minds.
答案：70 – 74 CACDB