2011专四阅读真题及答案

READING COMPREHENSION

[25 MIN]

In this section there are four passages followed by questions or unfinished

statements, each with

four suggested answers marked A, B, C and D. Choose

the one that you think is the best answer.

Mark your answers on Answer Sheet Two.

TEXT A

We

have

a

crisis

on

our

hands.

You

mean

global

warming?

The

world

economy?

No,

the

decline

of

reading.

People

are

just

not

doing

it

anymore,

especially

the

young.

Who’s

responsible?

Actually,

it’s

more

like

,

what

is

responsible?

The

Internet,

of

course,

and

everything

that

comes

with

it

—

Facebook, Twitter(

微博

). You can write your own list.

There’s been a warning about the imminent death of literate civilization for

a long time. In the 20

th

century, first it was the movie, then radio, then television

that seemed to spell doom for the written world. None did. Reading survived; in

fact it not only survived, it has flourished. The world is more than literate than

ever before

—

there are more and more readers, and more and more books.

The fact that we often get our reading material online today is not something

we

should

worry

over.

The

electronic

and

digital

revolution

of

the

last

two

decades has arguably shown the way forward for reading and for writing. Take

the arrival of e-book readers as an example. Devices like Kindle make reading

more convenient and are a lot more environmentally friendly than the traditional

paper book.

As technology makes

new

ways of writing possible, new

ways of reading

are possible.

Interconnectivity

allows for the possibility of reading

experience

that was barely imaginable before. Where traditional books had to make do with

photographs and illustrations, an e-book can provide readers with an unlimited

number

of

links:

to

texts,

pictures,

and

videos.

In

the

future,

the

way

people

write novels, history, and philosophy will resemble nothing seen in the past.

On the other hand, there is the danger of trivialization. One Titter group is

offering its follows single-sentence-

long “digests” of the great novels. War and

Peace in a sentence? You must be joking. We should fear the fragmentation of

reading. There is the danger that the high-speed connectivity of the Internet will

reduce our attention span

—

that we will be incapable of reading

anything of

length or which requires deep concentration.

In such a fast-changing world, in which really seems to be remade each day,

we need the ability to focus and understand what is happening to us. This has

always

been

the

function

of

literature

and

we

should

be

careful

not

to

let

it

disappear. Our society needs to

be able to

imagine the possibility of someone

utterly in

tone with

modern technology

but

able

to

make sense of

a dynamic,

confusing world.

In the 15

th

century, Johannes Guttenberg’s inv

ention of the printing press in

Europe had a huge impact on civilization. Once upon a time the physical book

was

a

challenging

thing.

We

should

remember

this

before

we

assume

that

technology is out to destroy traditionally culture.

1.

Which of the following paragraph briefly reviews the historical challenges

for reading?

A.

Paragraph One

B.

Paragraph Two

C.

Paragraph Three

D.

Paragraph Four

2.

The following are all cited as advantages of e-books EXCEPT?

A.

multimodal content

B.

environmental friendliness

C.

conveniences for readers

D.

imaginative design

3.

Which

of

the

following

can

best

describe

how

the

author

feels

toward

single-sentence-long novels?

A.

Ironic

B.

Worried

C.

Sarcastic

D.

Doubtful

4.

According

to

the

passage,

people

need

knowledge

of

modern

technology

and ______to survive in the fast- changing society.

A.

good judgment

B.

high sensitivity

C.

good imagination

D.

the ability to focus

5.

What is the main idea of the passage?

A.

Technology pushes the way forward for reading and writing.

B.

Interconnectivity is a feature of new reading experience

C.

Technology is an opportunity and a challenge for traditional reading

D.

Technology offers a greater variety of reading practice.

TEXT B

I know when the snow melts and the first robins(

知更鸟

) come to call , when

the laughter of children returns to the parks and playgrounds, something wonderful

is about to happen.

Spring cleaning.

I’ll

admit

spring

cleaning

is

a

difficult

notion

for

modern

families

to

grasp.

Today‘s busy families hardly have time to load the dishwasher, much less clean the

doormat. Asking the family to spend the weekend collecting winter dog piles from

the melting snow in the

backyard is like announcing there will no more Wi-Fi.

It

interrupts the natural order.

“Honey, what say we spend the weekend beating the rugs, sorting through the

boxes in the basement and painting our bedroom a nice lemony yellow?

”

I say.

“Can we at least wait until the NBA matches are over?” my husband answers.

But I tell my family,

spring cleaning can’t wait

. The temperature has risen just

enough

to

melt

snow

but

not

enough

for

Little

League

practice

to

start.

Some

flowers

are

peeking

out

of

the

thawing

ground,

but

there

is

no

lawn

to

seed,

nor

garden

to

tend,

newly

wakened

from

our

winter’s

hibernation(

冬眠

),

yet

still

needing extra blankets at night, we open our window to the first fresh air floating on

the breeze and all of the natural world demanding “Awake and be clean!”

Biologists

offer

a

theory

about

this

primal

impulse

to

clean

out

every

drawer

a

nd closer in the house at spring’s first light, which has to do with melatonin, the

sleepytime hormone(

激素

) our bodies produce when it’s dark. When spring’s light

comes,

the

melatonin

diminishes,

and

suddenly

we

are

awakened

to

the

dusty,

virus- filled house

we’ve been hibernating in for four months.

I tell my family about the science and psychology of a good healthy cleaning at

spring’s arrival. I speak to them about life’s greatest rewards waiting in the removal

of soap scum from the bathtub, which hasn

’t been properly cleaned since the first

snowfall.

“I’ll

do

it,”

says

the

eldest

child,

a

21

-year

old

college

student

who

lives

at

home.

“You will? Wow!” I exclaim.

Maybe

after

all

these

years,

he’s

finally

grasped

the

concept.

Maybe

he’s

expressi

ng his rightful position as eldest child and role model. Or maybe he’s going

to Florida for a break in a couple of weeks

and he’s being nice to me who is the

financial-aid officer.

No matter. Seeing my adult son willingly cleaning that dirty bathtub gives me

hope for the future of his 12-year-old brother who, instead of working, is found to

be sleeping in the seat of the window he is supposed to be cleaning.

“Awake and be clean!” I say.

6.

According to the passage, “spring cleaning is a difficult notion f

or modern

families to grasp” means that spring cleaning

A.

is no longer an easy practice to understand.

B.

is no longer part of modern family in life.

C.

requires more family members to be involved.

D.

calls for more complicated skills and knowledge.

7.

Which

of

the

following

is

LEAST

likely

to

be

included

in

family

spring

cleaning?

A.

Beating the rugs.

B.

Cleaning the window.

C.

Restoring Wi-Fi services.

D.

Cleaning the backyard.

8.

Why does the author say “

spring cleaning can’t wait

”?