英语四级阅读练习题

英语四级阅读练习 题 快递公司问题件快递公司问题件货款处理关于圆的周长面积重点题型关于解方程组的题及答案关于南海问题 英语四级阅读四 Washington now covers the entire District Columbia. It was first known as National City, and it remains the capital of the USA. The authority to establish a federal district was embodied in the Constitution but the city's location resulted from an early political compromise. Originally ten miles square, the District's lands were taken from Virginia and Maryland. In the 1840s, congress returned Virginia's land and now many governmental buildings are outside the federal district. Until 50 years ago, Washington's population was small--as was the nation's concept of government. Now there are 3 million inhabitants. George Washington was deeply involved in creating this city. His home, Mount Vernon, was only 25 miles away but during his presidency, the national capital was in New York City. The American government occupied its new capital in 1800 and the city was then named in honor of George Washington who had recently died. Few cities are as impressive or beautiful as Washington. It has a great mall with the Capital at one end the Lincoln Memorial at the other. In mid-point is the Washington Monument. The white house is just off the mall. Washington attracts millions of tourists annually---people who come to see their government in action and to examine the dozens of museums, galleries, parks and buildings. The heaviest tourist invasion is in the spring when the weather is best and when hundreds of cherry trees, a gift from Japan, are in bloom. 1. Washington is beautiful city because_______. a. its flat terrain allows for easy arrangement of buildings b. its location is in the center of the nation 1 c. it has many museums d. it was carefully planned and has a graceful mall 2. The District of Columbia and the city of Washington________. a. occupy the same real estate b. hold all of the buildings of the national capital c. provide homes for all the federal government employees d. are in lands once belonging to Virginia 3. A springtime visit to Washington would be good except for one of these reasons:______. a. good weather b. cherry trees in bloom c. all of the facilities are open d. too many tourists 4. The land which comprises the present District of Columbia _____ . a. always belonged to the national government b. until very recently covered land ceded by two states c. is in area which once belonged entirely to Maryland d. is strictly limited to governmental operations 5. The location of Washington was selected because _________ . a. of a political compromise between two political parties b. George Washington did not wish to commute far from Mount Vernon c. a tidal river nearby made for easy ocean access d. Virginia wanted to get rid of some land 2 Not all long-distance phone calls are made over phone wires. Today, phone wires are being replaced by fiber optics. Fiber optics makes telephoning faster and easier than ever before. In the past, telephone calls were made mostly over copper wires. Copper wires are heavy and bulky. Fiber optics is flexible, glass fibers. They are no thicker than a human hair. A wire cable is as thick as a man's arm. An optical fiber cable is as thick as a thumb. Fiber optics transfers sound into light. First, a person speaks into a phone. The sound is changed into electrical impulses. A small laser changes the electrical impulses into coded bursts of light. The light is decoded back into electrical impulses at the telephone receiving station. Finally, the electrical impulses are changed into sounds again at the receiving telephone. Optical fibers transmit calls much faster than copper wires can. The laser pulses with light can go as fast as 90 million times a second. At that speed, every word in a dictionary can be sent through a single fiber in a few seconds. Optical fibers also save space. A few fibers can carry more calls than thousands of strands of copper cable. Optical fibers will be used for video as well as voice communications. And they will prove useful in computer-to-computer hookups (connection). However, it will take years to replace existing wires. 1. Which of the following best expresses the main point of the passage? a. Fiber optics is flexible, glass fibers. b. Copper wires have been used in most phone systems. c. Fiber optics is an improvement in communication systems. 3 d. A few optical fibers can carry thousands of phone calls. 2. As it is used in the passage, the phrase "fiber optics" (paragraph 1) means _____. a. transmission of information by means of infra-red light signals along a thin glass fiber. b. material or substance formed from a mass of fibers. c. a flexible fiber-optic instrument that is used to view objects d. a composite material consisting of glass fibers in resin 3. Which of the following can not be inferred about fiber cables from the passage? a. They carry light waves. b. They can be used in many forms of communication. c. They are better than copper wires. d. They are shorter than copper wires. 4. You can infer from the passage that a "cable" is _____. a. a group of wires that strands or are bundled together b. a copper wire that is used to carry phone calls c. a glass fiber that carries coded bursts of light d. a laser that changers electrical impulses into light 5. You can infer from the passage that the word "transmit"(paragraph 4) most nearly means _____. a. carry from one place to another b. pulse with light c. operate quickly d. speak 4 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 quality of education available to all children in the United States. Teachers are committed to students and their learning. They must act on the belief that all students can learn. They must recognize individual differences in their students and adjust their practice accordingly. They must know that their mission extends beyond developing the cognitive capacity of their students. They must be concerned with their students' self-concept, with their motivation, and with the development of character. Teacher must know the subjects they teach and how to teach them. They must command specialized knowledge of how to convey a subject to students. Teachers are responsible for managing and monitoring student learning. They must call on multiple methods to meet their goals, knowing and being able to employ a variety of instructional skills. Teachers must think systematically about their practice and learn from experience, seeking the advice 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 advantage of community resources, cultivation knowledge of their school's community as a powerful resource for learning. 1. "Teachers are committed to students and their learning." The sentence means that _____. a. teachers should meet all the demands of students 5 b. teachers should set very high demands on students c. teachers should be very kind to students d. teachers must be responsible for students and their leaning 2. According to the author, if a student performs poorly at school, it may be the duty of _____. a. society b. teachers c. parents d. other students 3. Teachers' task should go beyond developing the learning ability of students and they should _____. a. know he subjects they teach b. transmit valued knowledge c. respect their students, know about their interests and develop their character d. seek the advice of others 4. School effectiveness mainly depends on _____. a. teachers who work together b. Students c. teaching materials d. school leaders 5. The best title for this passage is _____. a. How to Manage Student Learning b. Learning from Experience c. Relations Between Teachers and Students d. Toward High Standards for Teachers Very old people do raise moral problems for almost everyone who comes in contact with them. Their values-this can't be repeated too often-are not necessarily our 6 values. Physical comfort, cleanness and order are necessarily the most important things. The social services from time to time find themselves faced with a flat with decaying food covered by small worms, and an old person lying alone in bed, taking no notice of the worms. But is it interfering with personal freedom to insist that they go to live with some of their relatives so that they might be taken better care of? Some social workers, the ones who clear up the worms, think we are in danger of carrying this concept of personal freedom to the point where serious risks are being taken with the health and safety of the old. Indeed, the old can be easily hurt or harmed. The body is like a car, it needs more mechanical maintenance as it gets older. You can carry this comparison right through to the provision of spare parts. But never forget that such operations are painful experiences, however good the results. And at what point should you cease to treat the old body? Is it morally right to try to push off death by pursuing the development of drugs to excite the forgetful old mind and to activate the old body, knowing that it is designed to die? You cannot ask doctors or scientists to decide, because so long as they can see the technical opportunities, they will feel bound to give them a try, on the principle that while there's life, there's hope. When you talk to the old people, however, you are forced to the conclusion that whether age is happy or unpleasant depends less on money or on health than it does on your ability to have fun. 1. It is implied in Paragraph 1 that __________ . a. very old people enjoy living with their relatives b. social services have nothing to do with very old people 7 c. very old people would like to live alone so that they can have more personal freedom d. very old people are able to keep their rooms very clean 2. Some social workers think that _______________ . a. health and safety are more important than personal freedom b. personal freedom is more important than health and safety c. old people should keep their rooms clean d. one should not take the risk of dealing with old people 3. The word "it" in the last paragraph refers to _________ . a. the conclusion you have come to b. your talk to the old people c. whether age is happy or unpleasant d. one's money or one's health 4. The author thinks that _____________ . a. medical decisions for old people should be left to the doctors b. old people can enjoy a happy life only if they are very rich c. the opinion that we should try every means possible to save old people is doubtful d. it is always morally right to treat old people and push off death The world has become a world of cities. With the present rate of urban growth (3.8% in the Third World), the majority of the population of the world will be living in cities by the year 2000. This will transform the rural-urban equation which has 8 marked the history of mankind up to now and will call for new paradigms and a great deal of innovation to face this phenomenon. This being so, one must accept the fact that for some years to come, no policy will be capable of stopping or reversing the present migratory trends from the rural areas to the cities in the Third World. In Africa, the urban population will reach 330 million people by the end of the century as against 150 million in 1985. The mummer of people living in shanty towns (棚户区) will inevitably increase in spite of the efforts to improve housing conditions. Africa alone needs to build 12 million housing units between now and the year 2000 to meet its most basic needs. In an ILO (international labor organization) study, M.S.V.Sethuraman estimates that in 70 Third World cities the proportion of people living in shanty towns varies from 15% to 70% and that about US $ 116 billion are required to give minimum comfort to these people by the turn of the century--less than US $ 10 billion per year. The world population is growing at a rate of about 90 million people per year, with the Third World accounting for 80 million of them. The pressure on cities can only go on increasing. The urban population of the developing countries will exceed 2 billion people by the year 2000 and since the main reason for the high demographic growth is poverty, the additional population will be mostly made of people of very limited means. 1. If the urban population of the developing countries exceeds 2 billion people by the year 2000, the additional people will face the problem of _____. a. housing b. food c. poverty d. limited land 9 2. According to the passage "about US $ 116 billion are required to give minimum comfort to these people by the turn of the century--less than US $ 10 billion per year." Do you think which year was the article written by saying "less than $ 10 billion per year" by the turn of the century? a.1985 b.1990 c.1988 d.1987 3. The mankind should face the phenomenon that the world has become a world of cities with _____. a. a lot of difficulties b. efforts to improve housing condition c. pressure of the basic needs d. new nodels and a great deal of transformation of ideas and methods 4. In Africa,people in cities will be _____ by the end of the century. a. almost twice as much as in 1985 b. doubled than that in 1985 c. over twice as much as in 1985 d.300 million 5. In spite of the efforts to improve housing condition, the number of people living in shanty towns will increase because _____. a. houses in shanty towns are cheap b. shanty towns could provide people with minimum comfort c. no policy will be capable of stopping or changing the prsent immigrant tendency from the rural areas to the cities in the Third World d. the Third World population is grow 10 At some time in your life you may have a strong desire to do something strange or terrible. However, chances are that you don't act on your impulse, but let it pass instead. You know that to commit the action is wrong in some way and that other people will not accept your behavior. Perhaps the most interesting thing about the phenomenon of taboo behavior is how certain change over the years within the same society, how certain behavior and attitudes once considered taboo can become perfectly acceptable and natural at another point in time .Topics such as death, for example, were once considered so upsetting and unpleasant that it was a taboo to even talk about them. Now with the publication of important books such as On Death and Dying and Learning to Say Goodbye, people have become more aware of the importance of expressing feelings about death and, as a result, are more willing to talk about this taboo subject. One of the newest taboos in American society is the topic of fat. Unlike many other taboos, fat is a topic that Americans talk about constantly. It's not taboo to talk about fat; it’s taboo to be fat. The "in” look is thin ,not fat .In the work world ,most companies prefer youthful-looking ,trim executives to sell their image as well as their products to the public. The thin look is associated with youth, vigor, and success. The fat person, on the other hand, is thought of as lazy and lacking in energy, self-discipline, and self-respect. After all, people think, how can people who care about themselves, and therefore the way they look, permit themselves to become fat? In an image-conscious society like the U.S., thin is "in", fat is "out". It's not surprising, then, that millions of Americans have become obsessed with staying slim and "in shape ". The pursuit of a youthful physical appearance in 11 not ,however ,the sole reason for American’s obsession with diet and exercise .Recent research has shown the critical importance of diet and exercise for personal health .As in most technologically developed nations, the life-style of north Americans has changed dramatically during the course of the last century. Modern machines do all the physical labor that people were once forced to do by hand. Cars and buses transport us quickly from point to point. As a result of inactivity and disuse, people’s bodies can easily become weak and vulnerable to disease. In an effort to avoid such a fate, millions of Americans are spending more of their time exercising. The effect of this new appreciation of the importance of exercise is evident: parks are filled with joggers and bicyclists, physical education programs are enjoying a newly found prestige, and many companies are providing special exercise facilities for their employees to use during the work day. 1. Form the passage we can infer taboo is _____. a. a strong desire to do something strange or terrible b. a crime committed on impulse c. behavior considered unacceptable in society 's eyes d. an unfavorable impression left on other society's people 2. Based on the ideas presented in the passage we can concluded "being fat" _____ in American society. a. will always remain a taboo b. is not considered a taboo by most people c. has long been a taboo d. may no longer be a taboo some day 12 3. The topic of fat is _____ many other taboo subjects. a. the same as b. different form c. more popular than d. less often talked about than 4. In the U. S. ,thin is "in " ,fat is "out ",this means ______. a. thin si inside ,fat is outside b. thin is diligent ,fat is lazy c. thin is youthful ,fat is spiritless d. thin is fashionable ,fat is unfashionable 5. Apart from this new understanding of the correlation between health and exercise, the main reason the passage gives for why so many Americans are exercising regularly is _____. a. their changed life-style b. their eagerness to stay thin and youthful c. their appreciation of the importance of exercise d. the encouragement they have received from their companies 13