专四阅读 真题

PART V READING COMPREHENSION [35 MIN]

SECTION A MULTIPLE CHOICE QUESTIONS

In

this

section

there

are

three

passages

followed

by

ten

multiple

choice

questions.

For

each

multiple

choice

question,

there

are

four

suggested

answer

marked

A,

B,

C

and

D.

Choose

the

one

that

you

think

is

the

best

answer

and

mark

your

answers

on ANSWER SHEET TWO.

PASSAGE ONE

(1) When I was twenty- seven years old, I was a mining- broker

’

s clerk in San

Francisco, and an expert in all the details of stock traffic. I was alone in the

world,

and

had

nothing

to

depend

upon

but

my

wits

and

a

clean

reputation;

but

these

were setting my feet in the road to eventual fortune, and I was content with the

prospect. My time was my own after the afternoon board, Saturdays, and I was

accustomed to putting it in on a little sail-boat on the bay. One day I ventured

too far, and was carried out to sea. Just at nightfall, when hope was about gone,

I

was

picked

up

by

a

small

ship

which

was

bound

for

London.

It

was

a

long

and

stormy

voyage, and they made me work my passage without pay, as a common sailor. When I

stepped

ashore

in

London

my

clothes

were

ragged

and

shabby,

and

I

had

only

a

dollar

in my pocket. This money fed and sheltered me twenty-four hours. During the next

twenty-four I went without food and shelter.

(2)

About

ten

o

’

clock

on

the

following

morning,

dirty

and

hungry,

I

was

dragging

myself

along Portland Place, when a child

that

was passing,

towed by a

nurse- maid,

tossed a big pear

–

minus one bite

–

into the gutter. I stopped, of course, and

fastened

my

desiring

eye

on

that

muddy

treasure.

My

mouth

watered

for

it,

my

stomach

craved

it,

my

whole

being

begged

for

it.

But

every

time

I

made

a

move

to

get

it

some

passing eye detected my purpose, and of course I straightened up then, and looked

indifferent and

pretended that

I hadn

’

t

been

thinking about the pear at all. This

same think kept happening and happening, and I couldn

’

t get the pear.

(3) I was just getting desperate enough to brave all the shame, and to seize

it, when a window behind me was raised, and a gentleman spoke out of it, saying:

“

Step in here, please.

”

(4) I was admitted by a man servant, and shown into a sumptuous room where a

couple of elderly gentlemen were sitting. They sent away the servant, and made me

sit down. They had just finished their breakfast, and the sight of the remains of

it almost overpowered me. I could hardly keep my wits together in the presence of

that food, but as I was not asked to sample it, I had to bear my trouble as best

as I could.

(5) Now, something had been happening there a little before, which I did not

know anything about until a good many days afterwards, but I will tell you about

it now. Those two old brothers had been having a pretty hot argument a couple of

days before, and had ended by agreeing to decide it by a bet, which is the English

way of settling everything.

(6)

You

will

remember

that

the

Bank

of

England

once

issued

two

notes

of

a

million

pounds

each,

to

be

used

for

a

special

purpose

connected

with

some

public

transaction

with a foreign country. For some reason or other only one of these had been used

and canceled; the other still lay in the vaults of the Bank. Well, the brothers,

chatting along, happened to get to wondering what might be the fate of a perfectly

honest and intelligent stranger who should be turned adrift in London without a

friend, and with no money but that million-pound bank-note, and no way to account

for

his

being

in

possession

of

it.

Brother

A

said

he

would

starve

to

death;

Brother

B

said

he

wouldn

’

t.

Brother

A

said

he

couldn

’

t

offer

it

at

a

bank

or

anywhere

else,

because he would be arrested on the spot. So they went on disputing till Brother

B

said

he

would

bet

twenty

thousand

pounds

that

the

man

would

live

thirty

days,

anyway,

on that million, and keep out of jail, too. Brother A took him up. Brother B went

down to the Bank and bought that note. Then he dictated a letter, which one of his

clerks wrote out in a beautiful round hand, and then the two brothers sat at the

window a whole day watching for the right man to give it to.

(7) I finally became the pick of them.

41. In Para. 1, the phrase

“

set my feet

”

probably means ____.

A. put me aside

B. prepare me

C. let me walk

D. start my journey

42. It can be concluded from Para. 2 that ____.

A. the man wanted to maintain dignity though starved

B. the man could not get a proper chance to eat the pear.

C. the man did not really want the pear since it was dirty

D. it was very difficult for the man to get the pear

43. Compared with Brother A, Brother B was more ____ towards the effect of the

one-million-pound bank-note on a total stranger.

A. neutral

B. negative

C. reserved

D. positive

PASSAGE TWO

(1)

The

concept

of

peace

is

a

very

important

one

in

cultures

all

over

the

world.

Think

about

how

we

greet

people.

In

some

languages,

the

phrases

for

greetings

contain

the

word

for

peace.

In

some

cultures

we

greet

people

by

shaking

hands

or

with

another

gesture

to

show

that

we

are

not

carrying

weapons

–

that

we

come

in

peace.

And

there

are

certain

symbols

which

people

in

very

different

cultures

recognize

as

representing peace. Let

’

s look at a few of them.

The dove

(2) The dove has been a symbol of peace and innocence for thousands of years

in many different cultures. In ancient Greek mythology it was a symbol of love and

the renewal of life. In ancient Japan a dove carrying a sword symbolized the end

of war.

(3) There was a tradition in Europe that if a dove flew around a house where

someone was dying then their soul would be at peace. And there are legends which

say that the devil can turn himself into any bird except for a dove. In Christian

are, the dove was used to symbolize the Holy Ghost and was often painted above

Christ

’

s head.

(4) But it was Pablo Picasso who made the dove a modern symbol of peace when

he used it on a poster for the World Peace Congress in 1949.

The rainbow

(5)

The

rainbow

is

another

ancient

and

universal

symbol,

often

representing

the

connection

between

human

beings

and

their

gods.

In

Greek

mythology

it

was

associated

with Iris, the goddess who brought messages from the gods on Mount Olympus. In

Scandinavian mythology

the rainbow

was a

bridge between the

gods

and the earth. In

the Bible a rainbow showed Noah that the Biblical flood was finally over, and that

God

had

forgiven

his

people.

In

the

Chinese

tradition,

the

rainbow

is

a

common

symbol

for marriage because

the colours represent the union of

yin and yang. Nowadays

the

rainbow

is

used

by

many

popular

movements

for

peace

and

the

environment,

representing

the possibility of a better world in the future and promising sunshine after the

rain.

Mistletoe

(6) This plant was sacred in many cultures, generally representing peace and

love.

Most

people

know

of

the

tradition

of

kissing

under

the

mistletoe

at

Christmas

time, which probably comes from Scandinavian mythology. The goddess Freya

’

s son

was killed by an arrow made of mistletoe, so, in honour of him, she declared that

it would always be a symbol of peace. It was often hung in doorways as a sign of

friendship.

(7)

The

ancient

Druids

believed

that

hanging

mistletoe

in

your

doorway

protected

you

from

evil

spirits.

Tribes

would

stop

fighting

for

a

period

of

time

if

they

found

a tree with mistletoe. But you will never see mistletoe in a Christian church

–

it is banned because of its associations with pagan religion and superstition.

The olive branch

(8) The olive tree has always been a valuable source of food and oil. In Greek

mythology,

the

goddess

Athena

gave

the

olive

tree

to

the

people

of

Athens,

who

showed

their

gratitude

by

naming

the

city

after

her.

But

no

one

knows

for

sure

when

or

why

it began to symbolize peace. There is probably a connection with ancient Greece.

Wars between states were suspended during the Olympic Games, and the winners were

given

crowns

of

olive

branches.

The

symbolism

may

come

from

the

fact

that

the

olive

tree

takes

a

long

time

to

produce

fruit,

so

olives

could

only

be

cultivated

successfully in long periods of peace. Whatever the history, the olive branch is

a part of many modern flags symbolizing

peace and unity. One

well-known

example is

the United Nations symbol.

The ankh

(9) The ankh is an ancient symbol which was adopted by the hippie movement in

the 1960s to represent peace and love. It was found in many Asian cultures, but is

generally associated with ancient Egypt. It represented life and immortality.

Egyptians were buried with an ankh, so that they could continue to live in the

“afterworld”

. The symbol was also found along the sides of the Nile, which gave

life

to

the

people.

They

believed

that

the

ankh

could

control

the

flow

of

the

river