四级深度阅读讲义

2013

海天教育英语四级深度阅读

（主讲：赵南望）重要

第一部分

外刊精读

........................ .

Text 1

The greatest devastation of old age is the loss of mental faculties, and with the near doubling

of

life

expectancy

in

the

past

century

has

come

the

mixed

blessing

of

living

longer

and

losing

more. A few great thinkers and artists remained productive in their later years

——

Galileo, Monet,

Shaw,

Stravinsky,

Tolstoy

——

but

even

they

were

not

what

they

had

been

in

their

primes.

In

science, the boom falls sooner still: “A person who has not mad

e his great contribution to science

before the age of 30 will never do so,” said Einstein.

Imagine if we could transplant old brains into younger bodies: would our minds stay young,

or would we be senile teenagers, scaling mountains and skateboarding at 120, but forgetting where

we

put

the

car

keys?

Is

the

brain

uniquely

vulnerable

to

the

ravages

of

time?

Can

anything

be

done?

Incontrovertible

evidence

from

many

studies

shows

that

a

higher

level

of

education

and

greater

mental

activity

throughout

life

correlate

with

lower

cognitive

losses

in

old

age.

These

benefits apply to all sorts of cognitive losses, including those associated with Alzheimer’s. Some

researchers believe that mental application in early life produces complex neural connections that

provide a reserve later on; others argue that education merely gives people the means to cope with

and compensate for their losses.

K. Warner Schaie, a professor of human development and psychology at Pennsylvania State

University, has studied age-related change in more than 5,000 people, some for more than 40 years.

Comparing

earlier

with

later

recruits,

Mr.

Schaie

concludes

that

the

rate

of

mental

decline

is

slowing,

a

change

he

attributes

to

better

education,

healthier

diet,

lessened

exposure

to

serious

disease

, and more mental activity. “You’ve got to practice,” Mr. Schaie says, “If you don’t solve

problems,

you

no

longer

can

solve

problems.”

Retirement

can

be

particularly

hard,

he

adds,

because for many people, work is their most challenging activity. “Retirem

ent

is good for people

who’ve had routine jobs——they may find something more stimulating. But it’s disadvantageous

for people in high-level jobs, who are less likely to find something as stimulating as the job they

had.”

K. Anders Ericsson, a psychology p

rofessor at Florida State University, confirms Mr. Schaie’s

emphasis

on

the

virtue

of

practice.

Initially

interested

in

expert

performers

like

musicians,

he

found

that

many

ostensible

geniuses

aren’t

really

so

different

from

everyone

else——

they

just

practice

harder

and

longer,

benefiting

from

sheer

labor,

rather

than

from

some

special

gift.

Professional

musicians

who

continue

to

practice

assiduously

as

they

age

continue

to

play

well,

while amateurs who just play for pleasure show age-related declines.

Mr. E

ricsson’s studies failed to show significant generalized benefits from mental exercise.

“If you play tennis, you improve your general fitness, but the greatest improvement is specific to

tennis, not to other sports. It’s the same with cognitive exercise. Y

ou have to look at your life and

pick what you want to improve.”

Text 2

Americans

are

proud

of

their

economic

system,

believing

it

provides

opportunities

for

all

citizens

to

have

good

lives.

Their

faith

is

clouded,

however,

by

the

fact

that

poverty

persists

in

many parts of the country. Government anti-poverty efforts have made some progress but have not

eradicated the problem. Similarly, periods of strong economic growth, which bring more jobs and

higher wages, have helped reduce poverty but have not eliminated it entirely.

The

federal

government

defines

a

minimum

amount

of

income

necessary

for

basic

maintenance of a family of four. This amount may fluctuate depending on the cost of living and

the location of the family. In 1998, a family of four with an annual income below $$ 16,530 was

classified as living in poverty.

The percentage of people living below the poverty level dropped from 22.4 percent in 1959

to 11.4 percent in 1978. But since then, it has fluctuated in a fairly narrow range. In 1998, it stood

at 12.7 percent.

What is more, the overall figures mask much more severe pockets of poverty. In 1998, more

than

one-quarter

of

all

African- Americans

(26.1

percent)

lived

in

poverty;

though

distressingly

high,

that

figure

did

represent

an

improvement

from

1979,

when

31

percent

of

blacks

were

officially classified as poor, and it was the lowest poverty rate for this group since 1959. Families

headed

by

single

mothers

are

particularly

susceptible

to

poverty.

Partly

as

a

result

of

this

phenomenon, almost one in five children (18.9percent) was poor in 1997. The poverty rate was

36.7 percent among African-American children and 34.4 percent among Hispanic children.

Some

analysts

have

suggested

that

the

official

poverty

figures

overstate

the

real

extent

of

poverty

because

they

measure

only

cash

income

and

exclude

certain

government

assistance

programs such as Food Stamps, health care, and public housing. Others point out, however, that

these programs rarely cover all of a family’s food or health care needs and that

there is a shortage

of public housing. Some argue that even families whose incomes are above the official poverty

level sometimes go hungry, skimping on food to pay for such things as housing, medical care, and

clothing.

Still

others

point

out

that

people

at

the

poverty

level

sometimes

receive

cash

income

from

casual

work

and

in

the

“underground”

sector

of

the

economy,

which

is

never

recorded

in

official statistics.

In any event, it is clear that the American economic system does not apportion its rewards

equally. In 1997, the wealthiest one- fifth of American families accounted for 47.2 percent of the

nation’s

income,

according

to

the

Economic

Policy

Institute,

a

Washington

-based

research

organization. In contrast, the poorest one-fifth earned just 4.2 perce

nt of the nation’s income, and

the poorest 40 percent accounted for only 14 percent of income.

Text 3

One

of

the

most

pressing

challenges

that

the

United

Stated

——

and

indeed,

the

world

——

will

face

in

the

next

few

decades

is

how

to

alleviate

the

growing

stress

that

human

activities are placing on the environment. The consequences are just too great to ignore. Wildlife

habitats are being degraded or disappearing altogether as new developments take up more land.

Plant and animal species are becoming extinct at a

greater rate now than at any time in Earth’s

history. As many as 30 percent of the world’s fish stocks are over

-exploited. And the list goes on.

Yet, there is reason to have hope for the future. Advances in computing power and molecular

biology are among the tremendous increases in scientific capability

that are helping researchers

gain

a

better

understanding

of

these

problems.

Recent

developments

in

science

and

technology

could provide the basis for some major, and timely actions that would improve our understanding

of how human activities affect the environment.

One priority for research is improving hydrological forecasting. It has been estimated that the

world’s water use could triple in the next two decades. Already, widespread water shortages have

occurred in parts of China, India, North Africa, and the Arabian Peninsula. The need for water also

is taking its toll on freshwater ecosystems in the United States. Only two percent of the nation’s

streams are considered in good condition, and close to 40 percent of native fish species are rare to

extinct.

Using

a

variety

of

new

remote

sensing

tools,

scientists

can

learn

more

about

how

precipitation

affects

water

levels,

how

surface

water

is

generated

and

transported,

and

how

changes in the landscape affect water supplies.

To

prevent

outbreaks

of

infectious

diseases

in

plants,

animals,

and

humans,

more

study

is

needed on how pathogens, parasites, and disease-carrying species

——

as well as humans and other

species they infect

——

are affected by changes in the environment. The overuse of antibiotics both

in

humans

and

in

farm

animals

has

contributed

to

the

growth

of

antibiotic-resistant

micro

organisms.

Researchers

can

take

advantage

of

new

technologies

in

genetics

and

computing

to

better monitor and predict the effects that environmental changes might have on disease outbreaks.

Humans have made alterations to Earth’s surface——

such as tropical deforestation, reduction

of

surface

and

ground

water,

and

massive

development

——

so

dramatic

that

they

approach

the

levels

of

transportation

that

occurred

during

glacial

periods.

Such

alterations

cause

changes

in

local and regional climate, and will determine the future of agricultural. Recent advances in data

collection

and

analysis

should

be

used

to

document

and

better

understand

the

causes

and

consequences of changes in land cover and use.

第二部分

2012

年

12

月真题讲解

Reading Comprehension (Reading in Depth)

Section A

Directions:

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 47 to 56 are based on the following passage.

French

fries,

washed

down

with

a

pint

of

soda,

are

a

favorite

part

of

fast-food

lunches

and

dinners for millions of American youngsters. But__47___a cue from health experts, a group of 19

restaurant

companies

are

pledging

to

offer

more-healthful

menu

options

for

children

at

a

time

when__48__is growing over the role of fast food in childhood

obesity

（肥胖症）

.

Burger

King,

the

nation's

second-largest

fast

food

chain,

for

instance,

will__49___automatically including French fries and soda in its kids' meals starting this month,