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2011-2009专四阅读详解

TEXT A

1 We have a crisis on our hands. You mean global warning? 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.

The first paragraph the author puts forward a question and provides an answer. Internet is responsible for the decline of reading. The topic:

Background knowledge：Facebook，twitter 脸谱网，推特网，类似微博

2 There?s been a warning about the imminent death of literate civilization for a long time. 91 In

the 20th century, first it was the movies, 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 literate adj. 受过教育的；精通文学的than ever before —there are more and more readers, and more and more books.

imminent danger （法）迫在眉睫的危险imminent threat 紧迫的威胁；逼近的威胁spell our inevitable doom引来灭顶之灾

81. Which of the following paragraphs briefly reviews the historical challenges for reading?

A. Paragraph One.

B. Paragraph Two.

C. Paragraph Three.

D. Paragraph Four.

3 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 82B environmentally friendly than the traditional paper book.

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

A. multimodal content.

B. environmental friendliness.

C. convenience for readers.

D. imaginative design.

electronic commerce 电子商务electronic equipment 电子设备electronic product 电子产品；电子设备制造业electronic industry 电子工业

e-book reader电子阅读器

Almost every other e-reader supports this open standard, but Amazon has balked, preferring to push its own format - which, of course, no other e-book reader can utilize.

几乎所有其它的电子阅读器都支持这种开放的标准，但是亚马逊却将其拒之门外，因为亚马逊更喜欢自己的格式，当然，此举是为了其他的电子阅读器不能使用他自己的格式。

Kindle kindle电子书可以识别原生pdf，屏幕大小如同真实32开书籍，采用的是最新E-ink 技术，保护视力，可以在阳光下阅读。其电池可在无线网络关闭下持续十天，这是笔记本无法做到的。最重要的是，它有很多专门为电子书设计的功能，朗读，查字典，在美国还可以在线购买书籍，免费查维基百科。

4 As technology makes new ways of writing possible, new ways of reading are possible. Interconnectivity allows for the possibility of a 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.

make way1. 让路，让开，让…过去；让位(for)2. 取得进展，起作用：(特指风俗习惯、观点等)深入人心，为人们所接受

make do with设法应付；勉强对付make do with something将就过去, 凑和

5 On the other hand, there is the danger of trivialization. One Twitter group is offering its followers 83 single-sentence-long “digests” of the great novels. War and Peace in a sentence? You must be joking. 83We 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.

trivialize ['trivi?laiz] vt., vi.使琐碎；使似乎不重要；轻视；使平凡

83. Which of the following can best describe how the author feels toward single-sentence-long

novels?

A. Ironic.

B. Worried.

C. Sarcastic.

D. Doubtful.

6 In such a fast-changing world, in which reality 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.84Our society needs to be able to imagine the possibility of someone utterly in tune with modern technology but able to make sense of a dynamic, confusing world.

in tune with（与...）一致；（与...）协调

84. 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

7 In the 15th century, Johannes Guttenberg’s invention 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 traditional culture.

约翰内斯·谷登堡（Johannes Gensfleisch zur Laden zum Gutenberg，又译作谷登堡、古登堡、古滕贝格）[1]，约1398年出生于德国美因茨，1468年2月3日逝世于美因茨，是第一位发明活字印刷术的欧洲人[2]，他的发明引发了一次媒介革命，并被广泛认为是现代史上的最重要的事件之一。[3]其印刷术在欧洲迅速传播，并被视为在随后兴起的欧洲文艺复兴、宗教改革、启蒙时代和科学革命等运动中都扮演了重要角色，为现代的知识经济和知识传播给大众（英语：Democratization of knowledge）奠定了物质基础。[4]他的主要成就——《谷登堡圣经》，享有极高的美学及技术价值之美名。

除了其在欧洲发明的活字印刷术对印刷术的发展有着巨大贡献之外，他还合成了一种十分实用的含锌、铅和锑的合金和一种含油墨水。

85. 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

1 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.

2 Spring cleaning.

3 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. 86-87 Asking the family to spend the weekend collecting winter dog piles from the melting snow in the backyard is like announcing there will be no more Wi-Fi. It interrupts the natural order.

abbr. 无线保真技术（wireless fidelity）；无线上网技术

86. According to the passage, “…spring cleaning is difficult notion for 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 life.

C. requires more family members to be involved.

D. calls for more complicated skills and knowledge.

87. 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.

4 “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.

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

? 6 But I tell my family, spring cleaning can’t wait. 88The temperature has risen just enough to melt snow but not enough for Little League（美）少年棒球联合会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 windows to the first fresh air floating on the breeze and all of the natural world demanding “Awake and be clean!”

?sun peeking from behind a building vi. 过冬；（动物）冬眠；（人等）避寒

?hibernate vi. 过冬；（动物）冬眠；（人等）避寒

88. Why does the author say “spring cleaning can’t wait”?

A. Because there will be more activities when it gets warmer.

B. Because the air is fresher and the breeze is lighter.

C. Because the whole family is full of energy at spring time.

D. Because the snow is melting and the ground is thawing.

7 Biologists offer a theory about this primal impulse to clean out every drawer and closet 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. 89 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.

89. Which of the following interpretations of the biologists?theory about melatonin is

INCORRECT?

A. The production of melatonin in our bodies varies at different times.

B. Melatonin is more likely to cause sleepiness in our bodies.

C. The reduction of melatonin will cause wakefulness in our bodies.

D. The amount of melatonin remains constant in our bodies.

8 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皂垢from the bathtub, which hasn?t been properly cleaned since the first snowfall.

Mix it with salt as a great soap scum cleaner. 和盐混合可以制成很好的泡沫清洁剂。

9 “I?ll do it,” says the eldest child, a 21-year-old college student who lives at home.

10 “You will? Wow!” I exclaim.

11 Maybe after all these years, he?s finally grasped the concept. Maybe he?s expressing his

rightful position as eldest child and role model榜样. 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. 财务援助总监

12 No matter. Seeing my adult son willingly cleaning that dirty bathtub 90 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.

13 “Awake and be clean!” I say.

90. Which of the following can best sum up the author?s overall reaction to her adult son?s positive

response to spring cleaning?

A. Surprised and skeptical.

B. Elated and hesitant.

C. Relieved and optimistic.

D. Optimistic and hesitant.

TEXT C

[a] omiaiお见合

1 These days lots of young Japanese do omiai, literally, “meet and look.”Many of them do so willingly. In today?s prosperous and increasingly conservative Japan, the traditiona l omiai kekkon, or 91arranged marriage, is thriving.

2 But there is a difference. In the original omiai, the young Japanese couldn?t reject the partner chosen by his parents and their middleman. After World War II, many Japanese abandoned the arranged marriage as part of their rush to adopt the more democratic ways of their American conquerors. The Western ren’ai kekkon, or love marriage, became popular; Japanese began picking their own mates by dating and falling in love.

923 But the Western way was often found wanting in an important respect: it didn?t necessarily produce a partner of the right economic, social, and educational qualifications. “Today?s young people are quite calculating,” says Chieko Akiyama, a social commentator时事评论员.

Wanting adj. 欠缺的；不足的；不够格的prep. 无；缺v. 需要（want的现在分词）；欠缺Calculating：adj. 1. 计算的2. 谨慎的，审慎的3. 精明的，狡猾的4. 专为自己打算的；工于心计的

91. According to the passage, today?s young Japanese prefer

A. a traditional arranged marriage.

B. a new type of arranged marriage.

C. a Western love marriage.

D. a more Westernized love marriage.

92. Which of the following statements is CORRECT?

A. A Western love marriage tends to miss some Japanese values.

B. Less attention is paid to the partner?s qualification in arranged marriages.

C. Young Japanese would often calculate their partner?s wealth.

D. A new arranged marriage is a repetition of the older type.

4 What seems to be happening now is a repetition of a familiar process in the country?s history, the “Japanization” of an adopted foreign practice. The Western ideal of marrying for love is accommodated使适应in a new omiai in which both parties are free to reject the match. “Omiai is evolving into a sort of stylized程式化的，风格化的introduction,”Mrs. Akiyama says.

5 Many young Japanese now date in their early twenties, but with no thought of marriage. When they reach the age —in the middle twenties for women, the late twenties for men —they increasingly turn to omiai. Some studies suggest that as many as 40% of marriages each year are omiai kekkon. 93 It?s hard to be sure, say those who study the matter, because many Japanese couples, when polled, describe their marriage as a love match(出自真正的爱情的)恋爱婚姻even if it was arranged.

93. According to the passage, the figure 40% (Paragraph Five) is uncertain because

A. there has been a big increase in the number of arranged marriages.

B. Western love marriage still remains popular among young Japanese.

C. young Japanese start dating very early in their life in a Western tradition.

D. the tendency for arranged marriages could be stronger than is indicated.

6 These days, doing omiai often means going to a computer matching service rather than to a nakodo. The nakodo of tradition was an old woman who knew all the kids in the neighbourhood and went around trying to pair them off by speaking to their parents; a successful match would bring her a wedding invitation and a gift of money. 94 But Japanese today find it?s less awkward to reject a proposed partner if the nakodo is a computer.

94. One of the big differences between a traditional nakodo and its contemporary version lies in

the way

A. wedding gifts are presented.

B. a proposed partner is refused.

C. formalities are arranged. n. 手续；礼节（formality的复数）；

D. the middleman/woman is chosen.

Eg 7 Japan has about five hundred computer matching services. Some big companies, including Mitsubishi三菱, run one for their employees. At a typical commercial service, an applicant pays $80 to $125 to have his or her personal data stored in the computer for two years and $200 or so more if a marriage results. The stored information includes some obvious items, like education and hobbies, and some not-so-obvious ones, like whether a person is the oldest child. (First sons, and to some extent first daughter, face an obligation of caring for elderly parents.)

Provide details about the price and the content of the computer matching services.

95. What is the purpose of the last paragraph?

A. To tell the differences between an old and modern nakodo.

B. To provide some examples for the traditional nakodo.

C. To offer more details of the computerized nakodo.

D. To sum up the main ideas and provide a conclusion.

TEXT D

1 Cordia Harrington was tired of standing up all day and smelling like French fries炸薯条at night. She owned and operated three McDonald?s shops in Illinois, but as a divorced mother of three boys, she yearned for渴望a business that would provide for her children and let her spend more time with them.

2 Her lucky moment came, strangely enough, after she was nominated in 1992 to be on the McDonald?s bun committee. “The company picked me up in a corporate jet to see bakeries around the world,” she recalls. “Every time I went to a meeting, I love it. This was global!”

96. According to the passage, which of the following was most significant in her early career?

A. Her nomination on the McDonald?s bun committee.

B. Her travel and the visits to bakeries around the world.

C. A business contract with local bun suppliers.

D. The interviews and experience in running a bakery.

3 The experience opened her eyes to business possibilities. When McDonald?s decided it wanted a new bun supplier, Harrington became determined to win the contract, even though she had no experience running a bakery.

4 Harrington studied the bakery business and97made sure she was never off executives’radar. “If you have a dream, you can?t wait for people to call you,” she says. “So I?d visit a mill and send them photos of myself in a baker?s hat and jacket, holding a sign that say …I want to be your baker面包师.?” After four years and 32 interviews, her persistence paid off.

●Be off the radar: 雷达，无线电探测器

●And sometimes a ship just vanished, like a plane off a radar screen. 有时船只在海上

消失了，就像飞机从雷达系统中消失得无影无踪一样。

●Those numbers are small enough that issues relating to pollution and greenhouse

gas emissions have remained largely off the radar.

●这个数字十分微不足道，以致污染、温室气体排放问题一直都不是关注的焦点。

●Before that, he was off the radar for a couple of weeks. 在那之前，他有几个星期不

知所踪。

97. “Harrington…made sure she was never off executives’ radar” (Paragraph Four) means that she

A. herself wanted to be a company executive.

B. meant to hire executives to run the business.

C. meant to keep her management knowledge and skills.

D. focused on the management of the bakery business.

5 Harrington sealed the deal搞定，签署协议with a handshake握手, sold her shops, and

borrowed $13.5 million. She was ready to build the fastest, most automated bakery面包店in the world.

6 The Tennessee Bun小圆面包Company opened ahead of schedule in 1997, in time for a

slump衰退in U.S. fast-food sales for McDonald?s. Before Harrington knew it, she was down to her last $20,000, not enough to cover payroll工资单. And her agreement with McDonald?s required that she sell exclusively to the company. “I cried myself to sleep many nights,”she recalls. “I really did think, I am going to go bankrupt.”

7 But Harrington 98worked out an agreement to supply Pepperidge Farm as well.

“McDonald?s could see a benefit if our production went up and prices went down, and no benefit if we went out of business,” she says. “98That deal saved us.”

98. How did she survive the crisis at the start of her bakery business?

A. By supplying buns for another company.

B. By opening her bun company ahead of schedule.

C. By keeping supplies up for McDonald?s.

D. By making a new agreement with McDonald?s.

?As the prices plunged, leading citizens found themselves bankrupt. 由于价格下跌，导致市民发现自己破产。

弯下腰；弯着腰坐着(或行走等)：Sit up straight. Don't slump ! 坐直了，别垂头丧气的。

8 Over the next eight years, Harrington branched out长出枝条，扩大范围even more: She

started her own trucking business货车运输, added a cold-storage冷藏company, and now has three bakeries producing fresh buns and frozen dough —all now known as the Bun Companies.

Speed is still a priority: It takes 11 people at the main bakery to turn out生产60,000 buns an hour for 99 clients across 40 states, South America南美洲, and the Caribbean加勒比海，拉丁美洲.

99. Which of the following statements is INCORRECT in describing her current business?

A. It is fast growing.

B. It is diversified.

C. Its clients are all local.

D. It is more efficient.

9 Grateful for the breaks she?s had, Harrington is passionate about providing opportunities to

all 230 employees. “Financial success is the most fun when you can give it away放手，停止,” she says.

10 The current economy is challenging. Some of her clients? sales have declined, but she?s

found new clients and improved efficiencies to help sustain the company’s double-digit growth 两位数增长.

?11 Cordia Harrington doesn?t have to stand on her feet all day anymore. Two of her three sons now work for her. And she?s remarried —her husband, Tom, is now her CFO. abbr. 首席财务官（Chief Finance Officer）

12 “This is more than a job,” says Harrington. “It?s a mission. I?m always thinking. How can

we best serve our employees? If we support them, they?ll do their best to look after our clients.

That?s how it works here.”

100. According to the passage, which of the following is fundamental to Harrington?s success?

A. Efficiency and love for the family.

B. Perseverance and concern for employees.

C. Business expansion and family support.

D. Opportunities and speed.

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