星火：2008年12月英语四级阅读理解预测试卷

1、星火：2008 年 12 月英语四级阅读理解预测Part IV Reading Comprehension (Reading in Depth) (25 minutes)Section ADirections: In this section, there is a short passage with 5 questions or incomplete statements. Read the passage carefully. Then answer the questions or complete the statements in the fewest possible words

2、 on Answer Sheet 2.Questions 47 to 51 are based on the following passage.Swiss Re Tower is a typical example of green architecture in London, and what is most remarkable about this building is its energy efficiency. Thanks to its artful design and some fancy technology, it is expected to consume up

3、to 50% less energy than a comparable conventional office building. Green architecture is changing the way building are designed, built and run.Green architecture, a term which only came into use in the 1990s, has its origins in the energy crisis of the 1970s, when architects began to question the wi

4、sdom of building enclosed glass and steel boxes that required massive heating and cooling systems.The forward looking architects began to explore designs that focused on the long term environmental impact of maintaining and operating a building. This approach has since been formalized in a number of

5、 assessment and rating systems, such as the BREEAM standard introduced in Britain in 1990, and the LEED standard developed by the United States Green Building Council starting in 2000.Going green saves money by reducing long term energy costs; a survey of 99 green buildings in America found that on

6、average, they use 30% less energy than comparably conventional buildings.Green buildings can also have other benefits. The use of natural daylight in office buildings, for example, as well as reducing energy costs, also seems to make workers more productive. Lockheed Martin, an aerospace（航空宇宙 ） firm

7、,found that absenteeism（ 旷工） fell by 15% after it moved 2 500 employees into a new green building in Sunnyvale, California.47. Owing to its delicate design and advanced technology, Swiss Re Tower in London uses less energy than those traditional office buildings by .48. Green architecture could date

8、 back to .49. Today, when assessing and rating architecture, the long term environmental effect in the maintenance of the building has been .50. Green architectures can reduce expenditure on the maintenance by .51. Besides the benefit of saving money, green buildings can also bring .Section BDirecti

9、ons: There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A),B) , C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the ce

10、ntre.Passage OneQuestions 52 to 56 are based on the following passage.Television is often viewed as an anti intellectual medium. But truly clever people know how to use even themost unpromising material, and that is what Val Curtis and her colleagues at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medi

11、cine have done. They employed the mass market appeal of TV to test a long held, but unproven, hypothesis（假设）: thatthe emotion of disgust evolved to protect people from disease.They set up their experiment in October 2007, by publicizing it on a BBC program called Human Instincts. Viewers were invite

12、d to visit a website and, after giving a few biographical（ 个人介绍的 ）details, to view a series of 20 pictures and rate each of them for disgustingness on a scale of one to five. They were also asked to choose, from a list of possible candidates, with whom they would least like to share a toothbrush.The

13、 results showed that in all seven pairs, the disease distinct pictures were more disgusting than their counterparts. For things like the apparent depiction of bodily fluids, or of a face that had been enhanced with spots, that may come as no surprise. But a crowded railway carriage was more distingu

14、ishing than an empty one, and a louse more disgusting than a wasp.These last results confirmed Dr Curtiss suspicion that disgust is not, as many disgust researchers believe, just a way of avoiding eating disease bearing materials. Rather, it extends to threats that might be contagious( 传染性的 ). Indee

15、d, one result of the study was to show that the young are easier to disgust than the old. Another result was that women are more easily disgusted than men. Both of these make evolutionary sense. The young have more reproductive potential than the old, so should be more careful about what they touch

16、and eat. And women are usually burdened with bringing up the children, so have to be disgusted on their offsprings behalf, as well as their own.The results of the toothbrush study made similar sense. Strangers are more likely to carry new bacteria than acquaintances. Hence, of the available choices

17、of toothbrush partner, a postman came off worst, and a lover best. A brush notionally belonging to a weatherman was, however, preferred to the bosss. Clearly the British feel more intimacy with the former than the later. Perhaps it might have been instructive to include a famous television personali

18、ty among the choices?52. In the first paragraph television is mentioned to .A) prove that what some intellectuals had claimed iswrongB) show that TV is an essential part of British peoplesdaily lifeC) demonstrate that mass media is a very profitableindustryD) introduce the media through which the su

19、rvey was advertised53. The experiment is chiefly done by .A) watching the TV program called Human Instincts and filling out feedback formsB) visiting different websites and making matches between pictures and numbersC) rating various photos with numbers and selecting from a choice listD) filling in

20、biographical details and choosing a toothbrush54. Which of the following is true about the result of the experiment?A) A spotted face is more disgusting than a picture of bodily fluids.B) A full packed subway is more disgusting than a louse.C) A bleeding face is the most disgusting one.D) A wasp mak

21、es people feel better than a louse.55. The results of the experiment make evolutionary sense in that .A) old people are less likely to produce goods for the society than the youngB) peoples emotion of disgust is often related to the safety of their childrenC) women are more likely to bring up childr

22、en independent of mens helpD) old people are more likely to be disgusted than women56. The results of the toothbrush experiment show that .A) a boss is normally less clean and healthy than a weathermanB) a postman is often dirtier than a loverC) a public figure is often more popular than a boss in B

23、ritainD) a famous television personality is the best toothbrush partnerPassage TwoQuestions 57 to 61 are based on the following passage.When it comes to health, the poor are doubly cursed.Not only are they more prone to deadly infectious diseases than the rich, but they have far less access to the m

24、eans of improvement. Twenty years ago, Paul Farmer, an American doctor and anthropologist（ 人类学者 ）, set out to do something about this. Amid the political turmoil（混舌 L ）and poverty of ruralHaiti, he created a community based health care system called Zanmi Lasante, or Partners in Health. It not only

25、delivers appropriate, affordable medical treatment to thousands of poor people, but goes beyond the clinic to address the social causes making them sick and keeping them from gettingbetter.As Dr. Farmer argues, improving the health of the poor is not just a medical challenge, but a question of human

26、 rights. Tackling the inequality, racism, sexism and other forms of structural violence which oppress the poor is as critical as extending the drugs. Or as his Haiti patients put it, medicine without food is like washing ones hands and drying them in the dirt.Unfortunately, Dr. Farmers powerful mess

27、age is often weakened by his books academic tone. It does, however, scream out in passages describing the human face ofstructural violence. It is these personal stories that make Dr. Farmers anger at such stupid deaths so compelling.The good doctors motives and methods are better described in Mounta

28、ins Beyond Mountains. This biography by Tracy Kidder traces Dr. Farmer from his unconventional upbringing and unusual education, shuttling （来回穿梭于 ）between the shacks of central Haiti and the halls of Harvard Medical School, to his later work around the world. Though well written, Mr. Kidders book al

29、so makes for uncomfortable reading. The author is clearly close to his subject, having traveled with Dr. Farmer from the green poverty of Haiti to the tubercular whiteness of Russia. Too close, perhaps. The biographer seems to be seeking his subjects approval, rather than the other way round. Mr. Ki

30、dder writes, rather disturbingly, about his fear of disappointing Dr. Farmer, his own pain at wounding him with a critical remark and his relief at the doctors forgiveness.When Mr. Kidders health falls, this dependence becomes all the more intense. But rather than compromise the books equity（ 公正 ）,

31、this intimacy serves to highlight Dr. Farmers admirable, yet ultimately irritating, character. As Mr. Kidder observes, Farmer wasnt put on earth to make anyone feel comfortable, except those lucky enough to be his patients or those unlucky enough to need him.57. What makes the Partners in Health sys

32、tem unique compared with traditional hospitals?A) It makes attempts to help the poor on a social level.B) It is aimed at treating poor people for free.C) It is designed to help the poor rise from poverty.D) It offers community help to those who are poor.58. What can be inferred from the last sentenc

33、e of the second paragraph?A) Hands should not be dried in the dirt after washing.B) Medicine is also needed for cleaning hands.C) Medicine is not a long term cure to their poor health.D) Food can cure their disease better than any medicine.59. The disadvantage of Dr. Farmers book seems to be that.A)

34、 the plots in the book are not attractive enoughB) the way he tells the stories is not compellingenoughC) the anger he expresses at stupid deaths is toostrongD) the tone is not strong enough to arouse peoples attention60. Mr. Kidders book also makes for uncomfortable reading because .A) Mr. Kidder h

35、imself has never been involved in Dr. Farmers lifeB) Mr. Kidder is afraid of making true comments on Dr. FarmerC) Mr. Kidders emotions prevent him from independent writingD) Mr. Kidder is always waiting for Dr. Farmers forgiveness61. It can be inferred from the last paragraph that .A) Dr. Farmer onl

36、y helped those who are lucky enoughB) Dr. Farmer may have severely criticized the societyC) Dr. Farmer was not actually making his patients comfortableD) Dr. Farmers job is not to make people comfortablePart IV Reading Comprehension (Reading in Depth) Section A随着全球能源紧张和环境污染日益严重，绿色建筑逐渐成为 全世界共同关注的话题。其

37、特点为减少能源和资源消耗，并尽可能采 用新技术和新材料。47. nearly 50%定位 根据题干中的 Swiss Re Tower 可以定位到第一段第二 句： Thanks to its artful design and some fancy technology, it is expected to consume up to 50% less energy than a comparable conventional office building.精解 题目问的是得益于其精良的设计、先进的技术， Swiss Re Tower 比传统办公大楼能节省多少能源。该句意为 由于其设计精 良，

38、技术先进， Swiss Re Tower 有望比传统建筑节能近 50% 。题干 中的 owing to 与原文中 thanks to 的同义， traditional 与 conventional 同义。 by 在此句中为介词，表程度相差多少的意思， 后面应接数字。故答案为 nearly 50% 。48. the energy crisis of the 1970s定位 根据题干中的 green architecture 可以定位到第二段 Green architecture, .has its origins in the energy crisis of the 1970s精解 由该段可知

39、：绿色建筑的来源要追溯到 20 世纪 70 年 代的能源危机。 题目中的 could date back to 是对 has its origins in the energy crisis of the 1970s 的同义转述，故答案为 the energy crisis of the 1970s 。49. widely taken into consideration in the developedworld定位根据题干中提到的assessing and rating可以定位到第三段第二句： This approach has si nee bee n formalized in a n

40、u mber of assessme nt and rat ing systems, such as the BREEAM sta ndard in troduced in Brita in in 1990, and the LEED sta ndard developed by the Un ited States Gree n Buildi ng Coun cil start ing in 2000.精解本题考查在一系列建筑评估体系中，建筑的维修和保 养对环境的长期影响也在评估之列。根据This approach has sincebee n formalized in a nu mber

41、 of assessme nt and rat ing systems 可知，这一原则已被成文化，而且下文举例提到了英国的 BREEAM和 美国的LEED standard，据此可知，这一规则已被发达国家引起重视。 空格处缺少谓语动词，且位于 has been之后，故答案应为 widely take n into con siderati on in the developed world。50. cutt ing long term en ergy costs定位由题干中的green, reduce 将答案定位到原文第四段第一句： Going green saves money by red

42、ucing longtermen ergy costs;.精解题目问的是绿色建筑怎样降低了成本。题干中的reduce expenditure是对 saves money 的同义转述，by 在句中作原因状语，后应接动词的现在分词形式，即cutt ing long termenergy costs 。51. economic benefits定位 根据 benefit 可以定位到第五段第二句： The use of natural daylight in office buildings, for example, as well as reducing energy costs, also se

43、ems to make workers more productive.精解题目问的是除了节省成本，绿色建筑还有哪些优势。 根据下面提到的 make workers more productive可知，它还可以为企业带来经济效益，故答案为 economic benefitsSection BPassage One(52) 电视通常被认为是不利于智力的媒介。但是真正聪明的 人知道怎样利用最没有价值的东西，而这就是在伦敦卫生和热带医药 学校的 Val Curtis 和她的同事们所做的事。 (52)她们借助具有大众市 场吸引力的电视来测试一个提出已久却没有被证实的假设：恶心的感 觉是人们为了预防疾病

44、而产生的。(52)(53) 他们的试验在 2007 年 10 月通过 BBC 一个被叫做 人类本能 的专栏节目上进行公布。 他们邀请观众访问一个网站， 在给 出一系列个人细节信息后， (53)观众要看 20 张图片，并且用 1-5 分 按照令人恶心的程度给照片打分。他们还要从一系列可能的候选人名 单中选出他们最不愿意与谁共用牙刷。测试结果显示，在所有七组图片中，疾病迹象很明显的图片比无疾病迹象的图片更令人恶心。 对明显的体液外流或是有着被 放大了的斑点的人脸的恶心就没有什么令人吃惊的了。只是一个拥挤的火车车厢比空着的要更令人恶心，而且(54)虱子比马蜂更令人恶心。这些最终的结果证实了 Curt

45、is大夫的怀疑，即恶心不像很多 研究恶心的学者认为的只是一种避免吃带有疾病的物质的方式。其实,恶心可以延伸到可能造成传染的威胁上。实际上，该研究的一个结果 证实了年轻人比老年人更容易恶心。另外一个结果是女性比男性更容 易恶心。这两点都有着进化方面的意义。(55)年轻人比老年人更具有 繁殖能力，所以应该更注意他们接触什么和吃些什么。而妇女通常是 负有养育孩子的担子，所以也必须为了后代和自身的利益去恶心。牙刷试验的结果也有同样的道理。陌生人比熟人更容易携带 新的病菌。因此，在与之共用牙刷的可选择项中，邮递员是最令人恶 心的，而爱人则是最不令人恶心的。然而人们好像宁肯和天气预报员 共用牙刷也不愿意和

46、老板共用。(56)很明显，英国人对天气预报员比 对老板感到亲近。或许在选项中放上一个电视节目主持人会更有启发 意义？52. D)。定位由题干定位到首段首句 Television is often viewed as an anti in tellectual medium.精析从原文首段最后一句她们借助具有大众市场吸引力 的电视来测试一个提出已久却没有被证实的假设可推知，研究人员只不过是利用电视作为宣传他们的测试的媒体。第2段首句说他们在BBC的节目上公布这个测试也进一步证明了提到电视只不过是为了 引出宣传该测试的媒介。故 D)介绍借以宣传测试的媒介为正确答排除干扰 A) 证明一些学者的声明错

47、误 在原文没有涉及 ;B) 证明电视是英国人日常生活的重要部分 并不是文章的中心所在，排 除;C)展示大众媒体是一个非常赢利的行业在原文中没有提及；故均 排除。53. C)。定位由题干中的The experiment 定位到第二段首 句 They set up their experiment in October 2007, by publicizing it on a BBC programme called Human Instincts.精析原文第二段一直在叙述试验进行的方式，主要是两件 事，一是给图片定 1-5 的等级，二是选择你最不愿意与之共用牙刷的 人。C)为各种照片评级和进行一

48、个选择”是对文意的概括，为正确答 案。排除干扰A)观看名叫人类本能的电视节目，并填写反馈表 格没涉及试验，而且试验里并没有填反馈表格，排除；B)访问不同的 网站然后给图片和数字配对不是试验内容，排除；D)填写个人信息虽 然正确，但是后面说 要选出一个牙刷 不是试验的内容，排除。54. D)。定位由题干中的 the result of the experiment定位到第三段首句 The results showed that in all seven pairs.精析由原文虱子比马蜂更令人恶心可以推知D)马蜂会 比虱子让人感觉好些 符合文意。排除干扰原文只是说对于明显的体液外流或是有着被 放大

49、了的斑点的人脸的恶心就没有什么令人惊奇的了， 并没有在体液外流 的人体和长满了斑点的脸之间进行比较，排除 A）; 原文并没有对拥挤 的火车车厢和虱子进行比较，排除 B）；原文并没有指明什么最令人恶 心，且没有提及 流血的脸 也排除 C）。55. B） 。定位由题干中的 The results of the experiment make evolutionary sense 可以定位到第四段第五句 Both of these make evolutionary sense.精析联系定位句下文 年轻人比老年人更具有繁殖能力，所 以应该更注意他们接触什么和吃些什么。而妇女通常是负有养育孩子 的担子

50、，所以也必须为了后代和自身的利益去恶心。 可以推知人们恶 心其实都是和后代的安全相联系的。故 B） 人们的恶心通常与孩子的 安危相联系 为正确答案。排除干扰原文 reproductive potential 指的是繁殖后代的能力，而非生产食物的能力，排除 A）；原文虽提及女性养育后代，但并 未提及她们更倾向于独立于男性的帮助之外， 排除C）；原文并没有将老年人和女性进行对比，排除 D）。56. C） 。定位 由题干定位到末段首句 The results of the toothbrush study made similar sense.精析联系原文可知，牙刷测试的结果也是 为了证明人们认 为

51、陌生人更容易携带新的病菌 。下文提到 很明显，英国人对天气预 报员比对老板感到亲近，由此推测C）公众人物通常比老板更受英国 人欢迎 正确。排除干扰A）和B）的错误在于它们都说老板和邮递员本身是否干净，而试验只是说给人们的感觉，故都排除；D)的错误在于电视节目主持人其实根本不是测试选项之一，只是一个假设，无法判断其情 况，也排除。核心词汇及短语acquaintance ?kweint?ns n. 熟人 disgusting disg?sti? adj. 令人恶心的 depiction dipik ?n n. 描写unpromising ?npr?misi? adj.没希望的candidate k

52、?ndidit n.候选人evolutionary i:v?lu:?n?ri adj.进化的reproductive ri:pr?d?ktiv adj.生殖的intimacy intim?si n. 亲密 instructive instr?ktiv adj. 有启发性的 bring up 养育 Passage Two 提起健康问题，穷人的处境可谓雪上加霜。他们不但比富人 更容易患上致命的传染病，而且他们远远没有能力去改善这一状况。 二十年以前， 美国的医生和人类学家 Paul Farmer 开始了解决这一问 题的历程。在政治动荡、贫困严重的海地郊区，他创建了以社区为基 础的医疗保健体系，被称

53、作 Zanmi Lasante 或健康之友 。它不仅 给数以千计的穷人提供适当的可以支付得起的治疗， (57)而且还越过 医疗层面，想要解决让穷人得病或很难康复的社会原因。正如 Farmer 大夫所说，改善穷人的健康不是单纯的医学挑 战，而是人权问题。它与不平等、种族主义、性别歧视和其他形式的 结构型暴力 等压迫穷人的现象作斗争和发放药品一样紧迫。 或者就像 他的海地病人的描述， (58) 提供了药品而没有食品， 就像洗完了手 在灰尘中晾干 。(59)遗憾的是，Farmer大夫的强有力的信息通常被他所写的 书中的学术口吻给减弱了。 然而该书确实在一些描写人类面临 结构型 暴力的篇章中高声呐喊。

54、但是还是那些他亲身经历的故事让他对愚蠢的死亡 的愤怒表达得铿锵有力。这位善良的医生的动机和方法在山外有山一书中得到了 更好的描述。这本由 Tracy Kidder 撰写的传记，追溯了 Farmer 大 夫非同寻常的成长和教育背景，文字穿梭于海地中部的棚屋、哈佛大 学医学院的礼堂和他后来在全世界所做的工作之间。尽管写得不错， 但是 Kidder 先生的书读起来并不舒服。作者本人很明显和他所写的 人物关系紧密，他和 Farmer 大夫一起到过温暖而贫困的海地，也到 过寒冷而易得结核病的俄罗斯。 (60)可能是因为关系太亲密了，作者 好像一直在寻求被描写对象的赞同。他非常苦恼地描述了他害怕让 Far

55、mer 大夫失望的恐惧和用批评的字眼伤害大夫的痛苦，以及对大 夫的谅解所感到的欣慰。当 Kidder 先生的健康每况愈下时，对大夫的这种依赖性就 更加严重。但是，这不但没有使这本书有失公正，这种亲密倒突出了 Farmer 大夫那令人钦佩而又令人愤怒的性格。 正如 Kidder 先生所写：(61)Farmer 不是到这个世界上让任何人都感到舒适的，除了那些幸 运地成为他的病人的人，或者那些完全不幸地需要他的人。 57. A) 。定位由题干中的 the Partners in Health system 定位到原文首段第四句 he created a community based health

56、care system called Zanmi Lasante, or Partners in Health 。精析 原文首段末尾说 它不仅给大量穷人提供适当的可以 支付得起的治疗，还越过医疗层面，想要解决让穷人得病或很难康复 的社会原因 。由此可推测此医疗系统与传统医院相比的独特之处在于 It makes attempts to help the poor on a social level.(它试图在社会层面上帮助穷人 )，故 A) 为正确答案。排除干扰原文并没有说免费， 而是 提供恰当的可以支付得起 的治疗，排除B)；联系原文，可知其目的主要是为穷人治病，进而解 决让穷人得病或很难康复

57、的社会原因，并不是为了穷人脱贫，排除 C)；D) 中 community help( 社区救助 )太过笼统和泛化，文中仅指有 关治病的方面，也排除。58. C) 。 定位由题干中的 the last sentence of the second paragraph 定位到原文第二段末句 Or as his Haiti patients aptly put it, medicine without food is like washing ones hands and drying them in the dirt.精析原文第二段强调了一个概念，即 穷人的健康问题其实 不是简单的医疗问题， 还有

58、人权问题 。药物只能治愈穷人的疾病， 没 有食物，即没有消灭贫穷就像把手放在灰尘中晾干，手还会脏的，即还是会生病的。据此可以推知， C）Medici ne is not a longtermcure to their poor health（ 药物无法使他们长期保持健康）与文意相 符，为正确答案。排除干扰原文只是一个打比方的说法，并非真的说在那里晾 手，排除A）；原文并非指洗手也需要药物，这是对原文比喻的误解， 排除B）;联系原文可推知，食物是保持健康的保证，原文并没有对药物 和食品的治疗功效进行比较，也排除D）。59. D）。定位由题干中的 The disadvantage of Dr.Farmers book 定位到原文第三段首句 Unfortun ately, Dr. F