文档内容
目 录
CONTENTS
第一部分 仔细阅读 ����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������001
、 .............................................................................................................................001
一 题型介绍
、 .............................................................................................................................001
二 考情分析
、 .............................................................................................................................001
三 解题技巧
、 .............................................................................................................................003
四 真题演练
第二部分 长篇阅读 ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������036
、 .............................................................................................................................036
一 题型介绍
、 .............................................................................................................................036
二 考情分析
、 .............................................................................................................................037
三 解题技巧
、 .............................................................................................................................037
四 真题演练
第三部分 选词填空 ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������063
、 .............................................................................................................................063
一 题型介绍
、 .............................................................................................................................063
二 考情分析
、 .............................................................................................................................063
三 解题技巧
、 .............................................................................................................................064
四 真题演练
001第一部分 仔细阅读
一、题型介绍
， ： 、 、 。
大学英语四级试卷由四个部分构成 依次为 写作 听力理解 阅读理解和翻译
、 ：
其中阅读理解部分的测试内容 题型和所占分值比例如下表所示
试卷结构 测试内容 测试题型 题目数量 分值占比 考试时间
10 5%
词汇理解 选词填空
10 10% 40
阅读理解 长篇阅读 匹配 分钟
10 20%
仔细阅读 单选题
30 35% 40
总计 分钟
， 300-350 ， （ ） ，
仔细阅读分值比例最高 每篇长度为 词 采用选择题 单选题 题型 考核
， 、 、
学生在不同层面上的阅读理解能力 包括理解主旨大意和重要细节 综合分析 推测判断
。 ５ ，
以及根据上下文推测词义等 每个篇章后有 个问题 要求考生根据对篇章的理解从每题
。
的四个选项中选择最佳答案
二、考情分析
、 、
虽然大纲里列出的题型包括理解主旨大意和重要细节 综合分析 推测判断以及根据
， ，
上下文推测词义 但在实际考试过程中考察比例最高的是 有时候甚至会
10 ，
出现整张卷子 道题全都是 的情况 所以这种题型应该成为同学们训练的
。
重中之重
三、解题技巧
： 、 、 。
仔细阅读出题原则
、 ， “ 、 ”。
整体原则是 做到
001四级阅读讲义
（一）划题干关键词
， 、 。
划关键词的目的是为了 所以要划那些好找的 不易替换的
： （ 、 ）， ，
专有名词 人名 地名 连字符词组 数字
： ， ，
并列 转折 比较
： ，
简单 替换少
： ，
注意 不能作为关键词 可以一次审 道题
（二）确定题目类型
， 。
根据题目的提问方式确定题目类型 不同题型的解题方法略有不同
1.
主旨大意
： main idea，best title ，
题目特征 题干中出现 等关键词 对段落或全篇文章的主旨大意
。
进行提问
2.
重要细节
： 、 ，
题目特征 通常是对 等细节进行提问 通常只需要看
。
懂 就可以做对题
3.
综合分析
： what can we learn from... ， ，
题目特征 题干中包括 等表达 此类题目题干无法直接定位
， ， 4 。
往往需要用选项来定位 表面上是一道题 其实是 道题
4.
推测判断
： infer，suggest，imply ，
题目特征 题干中往往包括 等关键词 需要对文章的内容进行
， ， 。
一定的推测 这种题目比较难 很容易过度推理导致做错
5.
根据上下文推测词义
： 。
题目特征 对文章中的单词含义进行提问
（三）分题型解题
1.
主旨大意
（1）
段落大意
， 。 ：but，
重点读段落的 以及 的句子 常见转折词
however，in fact，actually 。
等
（2）
全篇大意
， ，
正确答案往往包括全篇重复次数最多的单词或词组 是对全篇文章的概括和提炼 而
。
不是个别细节
2.
重要细节
， 。
频率最高 必须重点训练
（1）
划题干关键词
（2）
用关键词定位
002（3）
锁定
， ， 。
注意 答案句通常包括题干所有关键词 千万不要找错
（4）
精读答案句
（5） ，
对照答案句和选项 选出 的选项
3.
综合分析
， “ ” ，
题干往往只能大致定位到某段落 必须按照 细节题 的解题方法逐个分析每个选项
。
最后选出符合题干要求的选项
4.
推测判断
， ，
定位方式跟 相同 不同之处在于找到答案句之后需要 但
， 。
是注意正确选项是从原文中得出的直接结论 不能过度推理
5.
根据上下文推测词义
， 。
该题型定位非常简单 重点在于根据语境推理出单词的含义
四、真题演练
【2019年6月第1套】
Passage One
According to the majority of Americans, women are every bit as capable of being good
political leaders as men. The same can be said of their ability to dominate the corporate
boardroom. And according to a new Pew Research Center survey on women and leadership, most
Americans find women indistinguishable from men on key leadership traits such as intelligence
and capacity for innovation, with many saying they’re stronger than men in terms of being
passionate and organized leaders.
So why, then, are women in short supply at the top of government and business in the United
States? According to the public, at least, It’s not that they lack toughness, management talent or
proper skill sets.
It’s also not all about work-life balance. Although economic research and previous survey
findings have shown that career interruptions related to motherhood may make it harder for
women to advance in their careers and compete for top executive jobs, relatively few adults in the
recent survey point to this as a key barrier for women seeking leadership roles. Only about one-in-
five say women’s family responsibilities are a major reason why there aren’t more females in top
leadership positions in business and politics.
Instead, topping the list of reasons, about four-in-ten Americans point to a double standard for
003四级阅读讲义
women seeking to climb to the highest levels of either politics or business, where they have to do
more than their male counterparts to prove themselves. Similar shares say the electorate ( )
选民
and corporate America are just not ready to put more women in top leadership positions.
As a result, the public is divided about whether the imbalance in corporate America will
change in the foreseeable future, even though women have made major advances in the workplace.
While 53% believe men will continue to hold more top executive positions in business in the
future, 44% say it’s only a matter of time before as many women are in top executive positions as
men. Americans are less doubtful when it comes to politics: 73% expect to see a female president
in their lifetime.
46．What do most Americans think of women leaders according to a new Pew Research Center
survey?
A) They have to do more to distinguish themselves.
B) They have to strive harder to win their positions.
C) They are stronger than men in terms of willpower.
D) They are just as intelligent and innovative as men.
47．What do we learn from previous survey findings about women seeking leadership roles?
A) They have unconquerable difficulties on their way to success.
B) They are lacking in confidence when competing with men.
C) Their failures may have something to do with family duties.
D) Relatively few are hindered in their career advancement.
48．What is the primary factor keeping women from taking top leadership positions according to
the recent survey?
A) Personality traits. B) Gender bias.
C) Family responsibilities. D) Lack of vacancies.
49．What does the passage say about corporate America in the near future?
A) More and more women will sit in the boardroom.
B) Gender imbalance in leadership is likely to change.
C) The public is undecided about whether women will make good leaders.
D) People have opposing opinions as to whether it will have more women leaders.
50．What do most Americans expect to see soon on America’s political stage?
A) A woman in the highest position of government.
B) More and more women actively engaged in politics.
C) A majority of women voting for a female president.
D) As many women in top government positions as men.
004Passage Two
People have grown taller over the last century, with South Korean women shooting up by
more than 20cm on average, and Iranian men gaining 16.5cm. A global study looked at the average
height of 18-year-old in 200 countries between 1914 and 2014.
The results reveal that while Swedes were the tallest people in the world in 1914, Dutch men
have risen from 12th place to claim top spot with an average height of 182.5cm. Latvian women,
meanwhile, rose from 28th place in 1914 to become the tallest in the world a century later, with an
average height of 169.8cm.
James Bentham, a co-author of the research from Imperial College, London, says that
the global trend is likely to be due primarily to improvements in nutrition and healthcare.“ An
individual’s genetics has a big influence on their height, but once you average over whole
populations, genetics plays a less key role,” he added.
A little extra height brings a number of advantages, says Elio Riboli of Imperial College.
“Being taller is associated with longer life expectancy,” he said.“ This is largely due to a lower
risk of dying of cardiovascular ( ) disease among taller people.”
心血管的
But while height has increased around the world, the trend in many countries of north and
sub-Saharan Africa causes concern, says Riboli. While height increased in Uganda and Niger
during the early 20th century, the trend has reversed in recent years, with height decreasing among
18-year-olds.
“One reason for these decreases in height is the economic situation in the 1980s,” said
Alexander Moradi of the University of Sussex. The nutritional and health crises that followed the
policy of structural adjustment, he says, led to many children and teenagers failing to reach their
full potential in terms of height.
Bentham believes the global trend of increasing height has important implications.“ How
tall we are now is strongly influenced by the environment we grew up in,” he said.“ If we give
children the best possible start in life now, they will be healthier and more productive for decades
to come.”
51．What does the global study tell us about people’s height in the last hundred years?
A) There is a remarkable difference across continents.
B) There has been a marked increase in most countries.
C) The increase in people’s height has been quickening.
D) The increase in women’s height is bigger than in men’s.
52．What does James Bentham say about genetics in the increase of people’s height?
A) It counts less than generally thought.
005四级阅读讲义
B) It outweighs nutrition and healthcare.
C) It impacts more on an individual than on a population.
D) It plays a more significant role in females than in males.
53．What does Elio Riboli say about taller people?
A) They tend to live longer. B) They enjoy an easier life.
C) They generally risk fewer fatal diseases. D) They have greater expectations in life.
54．What do we learn about 18-year-olds in Uganda and Niger?
A) They grow up slower than their peers in other countries.
B) They are actually shorter than their earlier generations.
C) They find it hard to bring their potential into full play.
D) They have experienced many changes of government.
55．What does James Bentham suggest we do?
A) Watch closely the global trend in children’s development.
B) Make sure that our children grow up to their full height.
C) Try every means possible to improve our environment.
D) Ensure our children grow up in an ideal environment.
【2019年6月第2套】
Passage One
In the classic marriage vow ( ), couples promise to stay together in sickness and in health.
誓约
But a new study finds that the risk of divorce among older couples rises when the wife—not the
husband—becomes comes seriously ill.
“Married women diagnosed with a serious health condition may find themselves struggling
with the impact of their disease while also experiencing the stress of divorce,” said researcher
Amelia Karraker.
Karraker and co-author Kenzie Latham analyzed 20 years of data on 2,717 marriages from a
study conducted by Indiana University since 1992. At the time of the first interview, at least one of
the partners was over the age of 50.
The researchers examined how the onset ( ) of four serious physical illnesses affected marriages.
发生
They found that, overall, 31% of marriages ended in divorce over the period studied. The incidence of
new chronic ( ) illness onset increased over time as well, with more husbands than wives
慢性的
developing serious health problems.
“We found that women are doubly vulnerable to marital break-up in the face of illness,”
Karraker said“. They’re more likely to be widowed, and if they’re the ones who become ill, they’re
more likely to get divorced.”
006While the study didn’t assess why divorce is more likely when wives but not husbands
become seriously ill, Karraker offers a few possible reasons.“ Gender norms and social
expectations about caregiving may make it more difficult for men to provide care to sick spouses,”
Karraker said.“ And because of the imbalance in marriage markets, especially in older ages,
divorced men have more choices among prospective partners than divorced women.”
Given the increasing concern about health care costs for the aging population, Karraker
believes policymakers should be aware of the relationship between disease and risk of divorce.
“Offering support services to spouses caring for their other halves may reduce marital stress
and prevent divorce at older ages,” she said.“ But it’s also important to recognize that the pressure
to divorce may be health-related and that sick ex-wives may need additional care and services to
prevent worsening health and increased health costs.”
46．What can we learn about marriage vows from the passage?
A) They may not guarantee a lasting marriage.
B) They are as binding as they used to be.
C) They are not taken seriously any more.
D) They may help couples tide over hard times.
47．What did Karraker and co-author Kenzie Latham find about elderly husbands?
A) They are generally not good at taking care of themselves.
B) They can become increasingly vulnerable to serious illnesses.
C) They can develop different kinds of illnesses just like their wives.
D) They are more likely to contract serious illnesses than their wives.
48．What does Karraker say about women who fall ill?
A) They are more likely to be widowed.
B) They are more likely to get divorced.
C) They are less Likely to receive good care.
D) They are less likely to bother their spouses.
49．Why is it more difficult for men to take care of their sick spouses according to Karraker?
A) They are more accustomed to receiving care.
B) They find it more important to make money for the family.
C) They think it more urgent to fulfill their social obligations.
D) They expect society to do more of the job.
50．What does Karraker think is also important?
A) Reducing marital stress on wives.
B) Stabilizing old couples’ relations.
007四级阅读讲义
C) Providing extra care for divorced women.
D) Making men pay for their wives’ health costs.
Passage Two
If you were like most children, you probably got upset when your mother called you by a
sibling’s ( ) name. How could she not know you? Did it mean she loved you less?
兄弟姐妹的
Probably not. According to the first research to tackle this topic head-on, misnaming the most
familiar people in our life is a common cognitive ( ) error that has to do with how our
认 知 的
memories classify and store familiar names.
The study, published online in April in the journal Memory and Cognition, found that
the“ wrong” name is not random but is invariably fished out from the same relationship pond:
children, siblings, friends. The study did not examine the possibility of deep psychological
significance to the mistake, says psychologist David Rubin,“ but it does tell us who’s in and who’s
out of the group.”
The study also found that within that group, misnamings occurred where the names shared
initial or internal sounds, like Jimmy and Joanie or John and Bob. Physical resemblance between
people was not a factor. Nor was gender.
The researchers conducted five separate surveys of more than l,700 people. Some of the
surveys included only college students; others were done with a mixed-age population. Some
asked subjects about incidents where someone close to them—family or friend—had called them
by another person’s name. The other surveys asked about times when subjects had themselves
called someone close to them by the wrong name. All the surveys found that people mixed up
names within relationship groups such as grandchildren, friends and siblings but hardly ever
crossed these boundaries.
In general, the study found that undergraduates were almost as likely as old people to make
this mistake and men as likely as women. Older people and women made the mistake slightly more
often, but that may be because grandparents have more grandchildren to mix up than parents have
children. Also, mothers may call on their children more often than fathers, given traditional gender
norms. There was no evidence that errors occurred more when the misnamer was frustrated, tired
or angry.
51．How might people often feel when they were misnamed?
A) Unwanted. B) Unhappy. C) Confused. D) Indifferent.
52．What did David Rubin’s research find about misnaming?
A) It is related to the way our memories work.
008B) It is a possible indicator of a faulty memory.
C) It occurs mostly between kids and their friends.
D) It often causes misunderstandings among people.
53．What is most likely the cause of misnaming?
A) Similar personality traits. B) Similar spellings of names.
C) Similar physical appearance. D) Similar pronunciation of names.
54．What did the surveys of more than l,700 subjects find about misnaming?
A) It more often than not hurts relationships.
B) It hardly occurs across gender boundaries.
C) It is most frequently found in extended families.
D) It most often occurs within a relationship group.
55．Why do mothers misname their children more often than fathers?
A) They suffer more frustrations.
B) They become worn out more often.
C) They communicate more with their children.
D) They generally take on more work at home.
【2019年6月第3套】
Passage One
Most kids grow up learning they cannot draw on the walls. But it might be time to unlearn
that training—this summer, a group of culture addicts, artists and community organizers are
inviting New Yorkers to write all over the walls of an old house on Governor’s Island.
The project is called Writing On It All, and it’s a participatory writing project and artistic
experiment that has happened on Governor’s Island every summer since 2013.
“Most of the participants are people who are just walking by or are on the island for other
reasons, or they just kind of happen to be there,” Alexandra Chasin, artistic director of Writing On
It All, tells Smithsonian.com.
The 2016 season runs through June 26 and features sessions facilitated by everyone from
dancers to domestic workers. Each session has a theme, and participants are given a variety of
materials and prompts and asked to cover surfaces with their thoughts and art. This year, the
programs range from one that turns the house into a collaborative essay to one that explores the
meaning of exile.
Governor’s Island is a national historic landmark district long used for military purposes.
Now known as“ New York’s shared space for art and play,” the island, which lies between
Manhattan and Brooklyn in Upper New York Bay, is closed to cars but open to summer tourists
009四级阅读讲义
who flock for festivals, picnics, adventures, as well as these“ legal graffiti ( )” sessions.
涂鸦
The notes and art scribbled ( ) on the walls are an experiment in self-expression. So far,
涂画
participants have ranged in age from 2 to 85. Though Chasin says the focus of the work is on the
activity of writing, rather than the text that ends up getting written, some of the work that comes
out of the sessions has stuck with her.
“One of the sessions that moved me the most was state violence on black women and black
girls,” says Chasin, explaining that in one room, people wrote down the names of those killed
because of it“. People do beautiful work and leave beautiful messages.”
46．What does the project Writing On It All invite people to do?
A) Unlearn their training in drawing.
B) Participate in a state graffiti show.
C) Cover the walls of an old house with graffiti.
D) Exhibit their artistic creations in an old house.
47．What do we learn about the participants in the project?
A) They are just culture addicts. B) They are graffiti enthusiasts.
C) They are writers and artists. D) They are mostly passers-by.
48．What did the project participants do during the 2016 season?
A) They were free to scribble on the walls whatever came to their mind.
B) They expressed their thoughts in graffiti on the theme of each session.
C) They learned the techniques of collaborative writing.
D) They were required to cooperate with other creators.
49．What kind of place is Governor’s Island?
A) It is a historic site that attracts tourists and artists.
B) It is an area now accessible only to tourist vehicles.
C) It is a place in Upper New York Bay formerly used for exiles.
D) It is an open area for tourists to enjoy themselves year round.
50．What does Chasin say about the project?
A) It just focused on the sufferings of black females.
B) It helped expand the influence of graffiti art.
C) It has started the career of many creative artists.
D) It has created some meaningful artistic works.
Passage Two
Online programs to fight depression are already commercially available. While they sound
010efficient and cost-saving, a recent study reports that they are not effective, primarily because
depressed patients are not likely to engage with them or stick with them.
The study looked at computer-assisted cognitive ( ) behavioral therapy (CBT) and
认知的
found that it was no more effective in treating depression than the usual care patients receive from
a primary care doctor.
Traditional CBT is considered an effective form of talk therapy for depression, helping people
challenge negative thoughts and change the way they think in order to change their mood and
behaviors. However, online CBT programs have been gaining popularity, with the attraction of
providing low-cost help wherever someone has access to a computer.
A team of researchers from the University of York conducted a randomized ( ) control
随机的
trial with 691 depressed patients from 83 physician practices across England. The patients were
split into three groups: one group received only usual care from a physician while the other
two groups received usual care from a physician plus one of two computerized CBT programs.
Participants were balanced across the three groups for age, sex, educational background, severity
and duration of depression, and use of antidepressants ( ).
抗抑郁药
After four months, the patients using the computerized CBT programs had no improvement in
depression levels over the patients who were only getting usual care from their doctors.
“It’s an important, cautionary note that we shouldn’t get too carried away with the idea that
a computer system can replace doctors and therapists,” says Christopher Dowrick, a professor of
primary medical care at the University of Liverpool.“ We do still need the human touch or the
human interaction, particularly when people are depressed.”
Being depressed can mean feeling“ lost in your own small, negative, dark world,” Dowrick
says. Having a person, instead of a computer, reach out to you is particularly important in
combating that sense of isolation.“ When you’re emotionally vulnerable, you’re even more in need
of a caring human being,” he says.
51．What does the recent study say about online CBT programs?
A) Patients may not be able to carry them through for effective cure.
B) Patients cannot engage with them without the use of a computer.
C) They can save patients trouble visiting physicians.
D) They have been well received by a lot of patients.
52．What has made online CBT programs increasingly popular?
A) Their effectiveness in combating depression.
B) The low efficiency of traditional talk therapy.
C) Their easy and inexpensive access by patients.
011四级阅读讲义
D) The recommendation by primary care doctors.
53．What is the major finding by researchers at the University of York?
A) Online CBT programs are no more effective than regular care from physicians.
B) The process of treating depression is often more complicated than anticipated.
C) The combination of traditional CBT and computerized CBT is most effective.
D) Depression is a mental condition which is to be treated with extreme caution.
54．What is Professor Dowrick’s advice concerning online CBT programs?
A) They should not be neglected in primary care.
B) Their effectiveness should not be overestimated.
C) They should be used by strictly following instructions.
D) Their use should be encouraged by doctors and therapists.
55．What is more important to an emotionally vulnerable person?
A) A positive state of mind. B) Appropriate medication.
C) Timely encouragement. D) Human interaction.
【2018年12月第1套】
Passage One
California has been facing a drought for many years now, with certain areas even having to
pump freshwater hundreds of miles to their distribution system. The problem is growing as the
population of the state continues to expand. New research has found deep water reserves under the
state which could help solve their drought crisis. Previous drilling of wells could only reach depths
of 1,000 feet, but due to new pumping practices, water deeper than this can now be extracted (
抽
). The team at Stanford investigated the aquifers ( ) below this depth and found
取 地下蓄水层
that reserves may be triple what was previously thought.
It is profitable to drill to depths more than 1,000 feet for oil and gas extraction, but only
recently in California has it become profitable to pump water from this depth. The aquifers range
from 1,000 to 3,000 feet below the ground, which means that pumping will be expensive and there
are other concerns. The biggest concern of pumping out water from this deep is the gradual settling
down of the land surface. As the water is pumped out, the vacant space left is compacted by the
weight of the earth above.
Even though pumping from these depths is expensive, it is still cheaper than desalinating (
脱
) the ocean water in the largely coastal state. Some desalination plants exist where feasible,
盐
but they are costly to run and can need constant repairs. Wells are much more reliable sources of
freshwater, and California is hoping that these deep wells may be the answer to their severe water
shortage.
012One problem with these sources is that the deep water also has a higher level of salt than
shallower aquifers. This means that some wells may even need to undergo desalination after
extraction, thus increasing the cost. Research from the exhaustive study of groundwater from over
950 drilling logs has just been published. New estimates of the water reserves now go up to 2,700
billion cubic meters of freshwater.
46．How could California’s drought crisis be solved according to some researchers?
A) By building more reserves of groundwater.
B) By drawing water from the depths of the earth.
C) By developing more advanced drilling devices.
D) By upgrading its water distribution system.
47．What can be inferred about extracting water from deep aquifers?
A) It was deemed vital to solving the water problem.
B) It was not considered worth the expense.
C) It may not provide quality freshwater.
D) It is bound to gain support from the local people.
48．What is mentioned as a consequence of extracting water from deep underground?
A) The sinking of land surface. B) The harm to the ecosystem.
C) The damage to aquifers. D) The change of the climate.
49．What does the author say about deep wells?
A) They run without any need for repairs.
B) They are entirely free from pollutants.
C) They are the ultimate solution to droughts.
D) They provide a steady supply of freshwater.
50．What may happen when deep aquifers are used as water sources?
A) People’s health may improve with cleaner water.
B) People’s water bills may be lowered considerably.
C) The cost may go up due to desalination.
D) They may be exhausted sooner or later.
Passage Two
The AlphaGo program’s victory is an example of how smart computers have become.
But can artificial intelligence (AI) machines act ethically, meaning can they be honest and
fair?
One example of AI is driverless cars. They are already on California roads, so it is not too
013四级阅读讲义
soon to ask whether we can program a machine to act ethically. As driverless cars improve, they
will save lives. They will make fewer mistakes than human drivers do. Sometimes, however, they
will face a choice between lives. Should the cars be programmed to avoid hitting a child running
across the road, even if that will put their passengers at risk? What about making a sudden turn to
avoid a dog? What if the only risk is damage to the car itself, not to the passengers?
Perhaps there will be lessons to learn from driverless cars, but they are not super-intelligent
beings. Teaching ethics to a machine even more intelligent than we are will be the bigger
challenge.
About the same time as AlphaGo’s triumph, Microsoft’s‘ chatbot’ took a bad turn. The
software, named Taylor, was designed to answer messages from people aged 18-24. Taylor was
supposed to be able to learn from the messages she received. She was designed to slowly improve
her ability to handle conversations, but some people were teaching Taylor racist ideas. When she
started saying nice things about Hitler, Microsoft turned her off and deleted her ugliest messages.
AlphaGo’s victory and Taylor’s defeat happened at about the same time. This should be
a warning to us. It is one thing to use AI within a game with clear rules and clear goals. It is
something very different to use AI in the real world. The unpredictability of the real world may
bring to the surface a troubling software problem.
Eric Schmidt is one of the bosses of Google, which owns AlphaGo. He thinks AI will be
positive for humans. He said people will be the winner, whatever the outcome. Advances in AI will
make human beings smarter, more able and“ just better human beings.”
51．What does the author want to show with the example of AlphaGo’s victory?
A) Computers will prevail over human beings.
B) Computers have unmatched potential.
C) Computers are man’s potential rivals.
D) Computers can become highly intelligent.
52．What does the author mean by AI machines acting ethically?
A) They are capable of predicting possible risks.
B) They weigh the gains and losses before reaching a decision.
C) They make sensible decisions when facing moral dilemmas.
D) They sacrifice everything to save human lives.
53．What is said to be the bigger challenge facing humans in the AI age?
A) How to make super-intelligent AI machines share human feelings.
B) How to ensure that super-intelligent AI machines act ethically.
C) How to prevent AI machines doing harm to humans.
014D) How to avoid being over-dependent on AI machines.
54．What do we learn about Microsoft’s‘ chatbot’ Taylor?
A) She could not distinguish good from bad.
B) She could turn herself off when necessary.
C) She was not made to handle novel situations.
D) She was good at performing routine tasks.
55．What does Eric Schmidt think of artificial intelligence?
A) It will be far superior to human beings.
B) It will keep improving as time goes by.
C) It will prove to be an asset to human beings.
D) It will be here to stay whatever the outcome.
【2018年12月第2套】
Passage One
Roughly the size of a soda can, sitting on a bookshelf, a relatively harmless gadget may be
turning friends away from your home. The elephant in your living room is your Internet-connected
security camera, a device people are increasingly using for peace of mind in their homes. But few
stop to think about the effect these devices may have on house guests. Should you tell your friends,
for instance, that they’re being recorded while you all watch the big game together?
“It’s certainly new territory, especially as home security cameras become easier to install,”
says Lizzie Post, president of the Emily Post Institute, America’s foremost manners advisors.“ I
think it will be very interesting to see what etiquette ( ) emerges in terms of whether you tell
礼仪
people you have a camera or not, and whether guests have a right to ask that it be turned off, if it’s
not a security issue.”
Post wants to make clear that she’s not talking about legal rights, but rather personal
preferences. She also wants to explain that there are no right or wrong answers regarding manners
on this front yet, because the technology is just now becoming mainstream. Besides, the Emily
Post Institute doesn’t dictate manners.
When it comes to security cameras, Post says it’s a host’s responsibility to make sure guests
feel comfortable within their home.“ I’m always a fan of being open and honest.” For instance, if
the host casually acknowledges that there is a camera in the room by telling a story about it, that
may be enough to provide an opening for a guest to say if they are uncomfortable.
However, if a contractor is working in your home, you don’t need to tell them that there are
cameras watching. Then again, the air of accountability that the camera generates can also work
in contractors’ favor.“ If anything does go wrong while they’re in the house, they don’t want to be
015四级阅读讲义
blamed for it,” she says.“ In fact, the camera could be the thing that proves that they didn’t steal
the $20, or knock the vase off the table.”
46．For what reason may your friends feel reluctant to visit your home?
A) The security camera installed may intrude into their privacy.
B) They don’t want their photos to be circulated on the Internet.
C) The security camera may turn out to be harmful to their health.
D) They may not be willing to interact with your family members.
47．What does Lizzie Post say is new territory?
A) The effect of manners advice on the public.
B) Cost of applying new technologies at home.
C) The increasing use of home security devices.
D) Etiquette around home security cameras.
48．What is Lizzie Post mainly discussing with regard to the use of home security cameras?
A) Legal rights. B) Moral issues.
C) Likes and dislikes of individuals. D) The possible impact on manners.
49．What is a host’s responsibility regarding security cameras, according to Lizzie Post?
A) Making their guests feel at ease. B) Indicating where they are.
C) Turning them off in time. D) Ensuring their guests’ privacy.
50．In what way can the home security camera benefit visitors to your home?
A) It can satisfy their curiosity. B) It can prove their innocence.
C) It can help them learn new technology. D) It can make their visit more enjoyable.
Passage Two
PepsiCo is to spend billions of dollars to develop drinks and snacks and reformulate existing
ones with lower sugar, salt and fat, as consumers demand healthier options and regulatory pressure
intensifies amid an obesity epidemic ( ).
流行病
The maker of Mountain Dew and Gatorade has been one of the earlier movers in the industry
to offer products with reduced levels of unhealthy ingredients—PepsiCo claims a packet of its
chips now contains less salt than a slice of white bread. However, its new 10-year plan makes clear
it believes it still has a long way to go.
Shifting eating habits, including a sharp drop in consumption of sparkling drinks, have forced
radical change on the industry. But those shifts have yet to be reflected in record obesity levels,
which stand at 36.5% overall in the US.
Indra Nooyi, PepsiCo chairman, said the plan to make its products healthier was important
016for the company’s growth. But on the subject of obesity, she pointed out that consumers’ lifestyles
have changed significantly, with many people being more sedentary ( ) not least because
久坐不动的
more time is spent in front of computers. She said PepsiCo’s contribution was to produce healthier
snacks that still tasted good.
“Society has to change its habits,” she added.“ We can’t do much to alter sedentary lifestyles,
but we can provide consumers with great-tasting products, low in salt, sugar and fat. In the past we
had to have a taste trade-off. But we’re breaking that trade-off.”
PepsiCo’s plan for its foods and drinks is based on guidelines from the World Health
Organisation, which last week backed using taxes on sparkling drinks to reduce sugar
consumption. Initiatives also include efforts to reduce its environmental impact, water
consumption and materials used in packaging by 2025.
PepsiCo did not say exactly how much it planned to invest to reach its goals. However, Dr
Mehmood Khan, chief scientific officer, said the company had doubled research and development
spending in the past five years and was“ committed to sustaining investment”, adding that
companies cannot cost-cut their way to increasing sales. PepsiCo’s research and development
budget in 2015 was $754 million.
51．Why is PepsiCo making a policy change?
A) To win support from the federal government.
B) To be more competitive in the global market.
C) To satisfy the growing needs for healthy foods.
D) To invest more wisely in the soft drink industry.
52．What does PepsiCo think it will have to do in the future?
A) Invest more to develop new snacks. B) Reduce levels of obesity in the US.
C) Change consumers’ eating habits. D) Keep on improving its products.
53．Why does PepsiCo plan to alter its products, according to Indra Nooyi?
A) To ensure the company’s future development.
B) To adapt to its customers’ changed taste.
C) To help improve its consumers’ lifestyles.
D) To break the trade-off in its product design.
54．What does Indra Nooyi say about the obesity epidemic?
A) It is mainly caused by overconsumption of snacks.
B) It results from high sugar and salt consumption.
C) It is attributable to people’s changed lifestyles.
D) It has a lot to do with longer working hours.
017四级阅读讲义
55．What has PepsiCo been doing to achieve its objective?
A) Studying WHO’s guidelines. B) Increasing its research funding.
C) Expanding its market overseas. D) Cutting its production costs.
【2018年12月第3套】
Passage One
The latest in cat research reveals that the lovely animal seems to have a basic grasp on both
the laws of physics and the ins and outs of cause and effect.
According to a newly published study, cats seem to be able to predict the location of hiding
prey ( ) using both their ears and an inborn ( ) understanding of how the physical
猎物 天生的
world works.
In a recent experiment, Japanese researchers taped 30 domestic cats reacting to a container
that a team member shook. Some containers rattled ( ); others did not. When the container
发出响声
was tipped over, sometimes an object fell out and sometimes it didn’t.
It turns out that the cats were remarkably smart about what would happen when a container
was tipped over. When an object did not drop out of the bottom of a rattling container, they looked
at it for a longer time than they did when the container behaved as expected.
“Cats use a causal-logical understanding of noise or sounds to predict the appearance of
invisible objects,” lead researcher Saho Takagi says in a press release. The researchers conclude
that cats’ hunting style may have developed based on their common-sense abilities to infer where
prey is, using their hearing.
Scientists have explored this idea with other endearing creatures: babies. Like cats, babies
appear to engage in what’s called“ preferential looking”—looking longer at things that are interesting
or unusual than things they perceive as normal.
When babies’ expectations are violated in experiments like the ones performed with the cats,
they react much like their animal friends. Psychologists have shown that babies apparently expect
their world to comply with the laws of physics and cause and effect as early as two months of age.
Does the study mean that cats will soon grasp the ins and outs of cause and effect? Maybe.
Okay, so cats may not be the next physics faculty members at America’s most important research
universities. But by demonstrating their common sense, they’ve shown that the divide between
cats and humans may not be that great after all.
46．What do we learn from a newly published study about cats?
A) They can be trained to understand the physical world.
B) They know what kind of prey might be easier to hunt.
018C) They have a natural ability to locate animals they hunt.
D) They are capable of telling which way their prey flees.
47．What may account for the cats’ response to the noise from the containers?
A) Their inborn sensitivity to noise. B) Their unusual sense of direction.
C) Their special ability to perceive. D) Their mastery of cause and effect.
48．What is characteristic of the way cats hunt, according to the Japanese researchers?
A) They depend on their instincts. B) They rely mainly on their hearing.
C) They wait some time before attack. D) They use both their ears and eyes.
49．In what way do babies behave like cats?
A) They focus on what appears odd. B) They view the world as normal.
C) They do what they prefer to do. D) They are curious about everything.
50．What can we conclude about cats from the passage?
A) They have higher intelligence than many other animals.
B) They interact with the physical world much like humans.
C) They display extraordinarily high intelligence in hunting.
D) They can aid physics professors in their research work.
Passage Two
Imagine you enter a car with no steering wheel, no brake or accelerator pedals ( ). Under
踏板
a voice-activated command, you say an address.“ The fastest route will take us 15.3 minutes.
Should I take it?” You say“ yes” and you are on your way. The car responds and starts moving all
by itself. All you have to do is sit back and relax.
How weird would it be if, one day in the future, everyone had such a car? No crazy driving,
no insults, no cutting in; traffic laws would be respected and driving much safer. On the other
hand, imagine the cost savings for local police enforcement and town budgets without all those
speeding and parking tickets.
A new technology has the potential to change modern society in radical ways. There’s no
question that self-driving vehicles could be an enormous benefit. The potential for safer cars
means accident statistics would drop: some 94% of road accidents in the U.S. involve human error.
Older drivers and visually- or physically-impaired people would gain a new level of freedom.
Maintaining safe speeds and being electric, self-driving cars would drastically reduce pollution levels
and dependency on non-renewable fuels. Roads would be quieter, people safer.
But we must also consider the impact of the new technology on those who now depend on
driving for their livelihoods. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, in May 2015 there were
505,560 registered school bus drivers. The American Trucking Association lists approximately 3.5
019四级阅读讲义
million professional truck drivers in the U.S.
The companies developing self-driving vehicles should be partnering with state and federal
authorities to offer retraining for this massive workforce, many of whom will be displaced by the
new technology. This is similar to what’s happening in the coal and oil industries, a situation that
fuels much of the current political discontent in this country.
New technologies will, and should, be developed. This is how society moves forward.
However, progress can’t be one-sided. It is necessary for the companies and state agencies
involved to consider the ethical consequences of these potential changes to build a better future for
all.
51．What would be the impact of the extensive use of driverless cars?
A) People would be driving in a more civilized way.
B) It would save local governments a lot of money.
C) More policemen would be patrolling the streets.
D) Traffic regulations would be a thing of the past.
52．How would the elderly and the disabled benefit from driverless cars?
A) They could enjoy greater mobility. B) They would suffer no road accidents.
C) They would have no trouble driving. D) They could go anywhere they want.
53．What would be the negative impact of driverless cars?
A) The conflict between labor and management would intensify.
B) The gap between various sectors of society would be widened.
C) Professional drivers would have a hard time adapting to new road conditions.
D) Numerous professional drivers would have to find new ways of earning a living.
54．What is the result of the introduction of new technologies in energy industries?
A) Political dissatisfaction. B) Retraining of employees.
C) Fossil fuel conservation. D) Business restructuring.
55．What does the author suggest businesses and the government do?
A) Keep pace with technological developments.
B) Make new technologies affordable to everyone.
C) Enable everyone to benefit from new technologies.
D) Popularize the use of new technologies and devices.
【2018年6月第1套】
Passage One
Losing your ability to think and remember is pretty scary. We know the risk of dementia (
痴
020) increases with age. But if you have memory slips, you probably needn’t worry. There are
呆症
pretty clear differences between signs of dementia and age-related memory loss.
After age 50, it’s quite common to have trouble remembering the names of people, places and
things quickly, says Dr. Kirk Daffner of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.
The brain ages just like the rest of the body. Certain parts shrink, especially areas in the
brain that are important to learning, memory and planning. Changes in brain cells can affect
communication between different regions of the brain. And blood flow can be reduced as blood
vessels narrow.
Forgetting the name of an actor in a favorite movie, for example, is nothing to worry
about. But if you forget the plot of the movie or don’t remember even seeing it, that’s far more
concerning, Daffner says.
When you forget entire experiences, he says, that’s“ a red flag that something more serious
may be involved.” Forgetting how to operate a familiar object like a microwave oven, or forgetting
how to drive to the house of a friend you’ve visited many times before can also be signs of
something going wrong.
But even then, Daffner says, people shouldn’t panic. There are many things that can
cause confusion and memory loss, including health problems like temporary stoppage of
breathing during sleep, high blood pressure, or depression, as well as medications ( ) like
药 物
antidepressants.
You don’t have to figure this out on your own. Daffner suggests going to your doctor to check
on medications, health problems and other issues that could be affecting memory. And the best
defense against memory loss is to try to prevent it by building up your brain’s cognitive ( )
认知的
reserve, Daffner says.
“Read books, go to movies, take on new hobbies or activities that force one to think in novel
ways,” he says. In other words, keep your brain busy and working. And also get physically active,
because exercise is a known brain booster.
46．Why does the author say that one needn’t be concerned about memory slips?
A) Not all of them are symptoms of dementia.
B) They occur only among certain groups of people.
C) Not all of them are related to one’s age.
D) They are quite common among fifty-year-olds.
47．What happens as we become aged according to the passage?
A) Our interaction skills deteriorate.
B) Some parts of our brain stop functioning.
021四级阅读讲义
C) Communication within our brain weakens.
D) Our whole brain starts shrinking.
48．Which memory-related symptom should people take seriously?
A) Totally forgetting how to do one’s daily routines.
B) Inability to recall details of one’s life experiences.
C) Failure to remember the names of movies or actors.
D) Occasionally confusing the addresses of one’s friends.
49．What should people do when signs of serious memory loss show up?
A) Check the brain’s cognitive reserve. B) Stop medications affecting memory.
C) Turn to a professional for assistance. D) Exercise to improve their well-being.
50．What is Dr. Daffner’s advice for combating memory loss?
A) Having regular physical and mental checkups.
B) Taking medicine that helps boost one’s brain.
C) Engaging in known memory repair activities.
D) Staying active both physically and mentally.
Passage Two
A letter written by Charles Darwin in 1875 has been returned to the Smithsonian Institution
Archives ( ) by the FBI after being stolen twice.
档案馆
“We realized in the mid-1970s that it was missing,” says Effie Kapsalis, head of the
Smithsonian Institution Archives.“ It was noted as missing and likely taken by an intern (
实 习
), from what the FBI is telling us. Word got out that it was missing when someone asked to
生
see the letter for research purposes,” and the intern put the letter back.“ The intern likely took the
letter again once nobody was watching it.”
Decades passed. Finally, the FBI received a tip that the stolen document was located very
close to Washington, D.C. Their art crime team recovered the letter but were unable to press
charges because the time of limitations had ended. The FBI worked closely with the Archives to
determine that the letter was both authentic and definitely Smithsonian’s property.
The letter was written by Darwin to thank an American geologist, Dr. Ferdinand Vandeveer
Hayden, for sending him copies of his research into the geology of the region that would become
Yellowstone National Park.
The letter is in fairly good condition, in spite of being out of the care of trained museum staff
for so long.“ It was luckily in good shape,” says Kapsalis,“ and we just have to do some minor
things in order to be able to unfold it. It has some glue on it that has colored it slightly, but nothing
that will prevent us from using it. After it is repaired, we will take digital photos of it and that will
022be available online. One of our goals is to get items of high research value or interest to the public
online.”
It would now be difficult for an intern, visitor or a thief to steal a document like this.
“Archiving practices have changed greatly since the 1970s,” says Kapsalis,“ and we keep our high
value documents in a safe that I don’t even have access to.”
51．What happened to Darwin’s letter in the 1970s?
A) It was recovered by the FBI.
B) It was stolen more than once.
C) It was put in the archives for research purposes.
D) It was purchased by the Smithsonian Archives.
52．What did the FBI do after the recovery of the letter?
A) They proved its authenticity. B) They kept it in a special safe.
C) They arrested the suspect immediately. D) They pressed criminal charges in vain.
53．What is Darwin’s letter about?
A) The evolution of Yellowstone National Park.
B) His cooperation with an American geologist.
C) Some geological evidence supporting his theory.
D) His acknowledgement of help from a professional.
54．What will the Smithsonian Institution Archives do with the letter according to Kapsalis?
A) Reserve it for research purposes only. B) Turn it into an object of high interest.
C) Keep it a permanent secret. D) Make it available online.
55．What has the past half century witnessed according to Kapsalis?
A) Growing interest in rare art objects.
B) Radical changes in archiving practices.
C) Recovery of various missing documents.
D) Increases in the value of museum exhibits.
【2018年6月第2套】
Passage One
Living in an urban area with green spaces has a long-lasting positive impact on people’s
mental well-being, a study has suggested. UK researchers found moving to a green space had a
sustained positive effect, unlike pay rises or promotions, which only provided a short-term boost.
Co-author Mathew White, from the University of Exeter, UK, explained that the study showed
people living in greener urban areas were displaying fewer signs of depression or anxiety.“ There
023四级阅读讲义
could be a number of reasons,” he said,“ for example, people do many things to make themselves
happier: they strive for promotion or pay rises, or they get married. But the trouble with those
things is that within six months to a year, people are back to their original baseline levels of well-
being. So, these things are not sustainable; they don’t make us happy in the long term. We found
that for some lottery ( ) winners who had won more than ￡500,000 the positive effect was
彩 票
definitely there, but after six months to a year, they were back to the baseline.”
Dr. White said his team wanted to see whether living in greener urban areas had a lasting
positive effect on people’s sense of well-being or whether the effect also disappeared after a period
of time. To do this, the team used data from the British Household Panel Survey compiled by the
University of Essex.
Explaining what the data revealed, he said:“ What you see is that even after three years,
mental health is still better, which is unlike many other things that we think will make us happy.”
He observed that people living in green spaces were less stressed, and less stressed people made
more sensible decisions and communicated better.
With a growing body of evidence establishing a link between urban green spaces and a
positive impact on human well-being, Dr. White said,“ There’s growing interest among public
policy officials, but the trouble is who funds it. What we really need at a policy level is to decide
where the money will come from to help support good quality local green spaces.”
46．According to one study, what do green spaces do to people?
A) Improve their work efficiency.
B) Add to their sustained happiness.
C) Help them build a positive attitude towards life.
D) Lessen their concerns about material well-being.
47．What does Dr. White say people usually do to make themselves happier?
A) Earn more money. B) Settle in an urban area.
C) Gain fame and popularity. D) Live in a green environment.
48．What does Dr. White try to find out about living in a greener urban area?
A) How it affects different people. B) How strong its positive effect is.
C) How long its positive effect lasts. D) How it benefits people physically.
49．What did Dr. White’s research reveal about people living in a green environment?
A) Their stress was more apparent than real.
B) Their decisions required less deliberation.
C) Their memories were greatly strengthened.
D) Their communication with others improved.
02450．According to Dr. White, what should the government do to build more green spaces in cities?
A) Find financial support. B) Improve urban planning.
C) Involve local residents in the effort. D) Raise public awareness of the issue.
Passage Two
You probably know about the Titanic, but it was actually just one of three state-of-the-art (
最
) ocean ships back in the day. The Olympic class ships were built by the Harland & Wolff
先进的
ship makers in Northern Ireland for the White Star Line company. The Olympic class included the
Olympic, the Britannic and the Titanic. What you may not know is that the Titanic wasn’t even the
flagship of this class. All in all, the Olympic class ships were marvels of sea engineering, but they
seemed cursed to suffer disastrous fates.
The Olympic launched first in 1910, followed by the Titanic in 1911, and lastly the Britannic
in 1914. The ships had nine decks, and White Star Line decided to focus on making them the most
luxurious ships on the water.
Stretching 269.13 meters, the Olympic class ships were wonders of naval technology, and
everyone thought that they would continue to be so for quite some time. However, all suffered
terrible accidents on the open seas. The Olympic got wrecked before the Titanic did, but it was
the only one to survive and maintain a successful career of 24 years. The Titanic was the first to
sink after famously hitting a huge iceberg in 1912. Following this disaster, the Britannic hit a naval
mine in 1916 and subsequently sank as well.
Each ship was coal-powered by several boilers constantly kept running by exhausted crews
below deck. Most recognizable of the ship designs are the ship’s smoke stacks, but the fourth stack
was actually just artistic in nature and served no functional purpose. While two of these ships sank,
they were all designed with double hulls ( ) believed to make them“ unsinkable”, perhaps a
船体
mistaken idea that led to the Titanic’s and the Britannic’s tragic end.
The Olympic suffered two crashes with other ships and went on to serve as a hospital ship
and troop transport in World War I. Eventually, she was taken out of service in 1935, ending the era
of the luxurious Olympic class ocean liners.
51．What does the passage say about the three Olympic class ships?
A) They performed marvellously on the sea.
B) They could all break the ice in their way.
C) They all experienced terrible misfortunes.
D) They were models of modern engineering.
52．What did White Star Line have in mind when it purchased the three ships?
025四级阅读讲义
A) Their capacity of sailing across all waters.
B) The utmost comfort passengers could enjoy.
C) Their ability to survive disasters of any kind.
D) The long voyages they were able to undertake.
53．What is said about the fourth stack of the ships?
A) It was a mere piece of decoration. B) It was the work of a famous artist.
C) It was designed to let out extra smoke. D) It was easily identifiable from afar.
54．What might have led to the tragic end of the Titanic and the Britannic?
A) Their unscientific designs.
B) Their captains’ misjudgment.
C) The assumption that they were built with the latest technology.
D) The belief that they could never sink with a double-layer body.
55．What happened to the ship Olympic in the end?
A) She was used to carry troops. B) She was sunk in World War I.
C) She was converted into a hospital ship. D) She was retired after her naval service.
【2018年6月第3套】
Passage One
For thousands of years, people have known that the best way to understand a concept is to
explain it to someone else.“ While we teach, we learn,” said Roman philosopher Seneca. Now
scientists are bringing this ancient wisdom up-to-date. They’re documenting why teaching is such
a fruitful way to learn, and designing innovative ways for young people to engage in instruction.
Researchers have found that students who sign up to tutor others work harder to understand
the material, recall it more accurately and apply it more effectively. Student teachers score higher
on tests than pupils who’re learning only for their own sake. But how can children, still learning
themselves, teach others? One answer: They can tutor younger kids, Some studies have found
that first-born children are more intelligent than their later-born siblings ( ). This
兄弟姐妹
suggests their higher IQs result from the time they spend teaching their siblings. Now educators
are experimenting with ways to apply this model to academic subjects. They engage college
undergraduates to teach computer science to high school students, who in turn instruct middle
school students on the topic.
But the most cutting-edge tool under development is the“ teachable agent”—a computerized
character who learns, tries, makes mistakes and asks questions just like a real-world pupil.
Computer scientists have created an animated ( ) figure called Betty’s Brain, who has been
动画的
“taught” about environmental science by hundreds of middle school students. Student teachers
026are motivated to help Betty master certain materials. While preparing to teach, they organize their
knowledge and improve their own understanding. And as they explain the information to it, they
identify problems in their own thinking.
Feedback from the teachable agents further enhances the tutors’ learning. The agents’
questions compel student tutors to think and explain the materials in different ways, and watching
the agent solve problems allows them to see their knowledge put into action.
Above all, it’s the emotions one experiences in teaching that facilitate learning. Student tutors
feel upset when their teachable agents fail, but happy when these virtual pupils succeed as they
derive pride and satisfaction from someone else’s accomplishment.
46．What are researchers rediscovering through their studies?
A) Seneca’s thinking is still applicable today.
B) Better learners will become better teachers.
C) Human intelligence tends to grow with age.
D) Philosophical thinking improves instruction.
47．What do we learn about Betty’s Brain?
A) It is a character in a popular animation.
B) It is a teaching tool under development.
C) It is a cutting-edge app in digital games.
D) It is a tutor for computer science students.
48．How does teaching others benefit student tutors?
A) It makes them aware of what they are strong at.
B) It motivates them to try novel ways of teaching.
C) It helps them learn their academic subjects better.
D) It enables them to better understand their teachers.
49．What do students do to teach their teachable agents?
A) They motivate them to think independently.
B) They ask them to design their own questions.
C) They encourage them to give prompt feedback.
D) They use various ways to explain the materials.
50．What is the key factor that eases student tutors’ learning?
A) Their sense of responsibility.
B) Their emotional involvement.
C) The learning strategy acquired.
D) The teaching experience gained.
027四级阅读讲义
Passage Two
A new batch of young women—members of the so-called Millennial ( ) generation—
千 禧 的
has been entering the workforce for the past decade. At the starting line of their careers, they
are better educated than their mothers and grandmothers had been—or than their young male
counterparts are now. But when they look ahead, they see roadblocks to their success. They believe
that women are paid less than men for doing the same job. They think it’s easier for men to get top
executive jobs than it is for them. And they assume that if and when they have children, it will be
even harder for them to advance in their careers.
While the public sees greater workplace equality between men and women now than it did
20-30 years ago, most believe more change is needed. Among Millennial women, 75% say this
country needs to continue making changes to achieve gender equality in the workplace, compared
with 57% of Millennial men. Even so, relatively few young women (15%) say they have been
discriminated against at work because of their gender.
As Millennial women come of age they share many of the same views and values about work
as their male counterparts. They want jobs that provide security and flexibility, and they place
relatively little importance on high pay. At the same time, however, young working women are less
likely than men to aim at top management jobs: 34% say they’re not interested in becoming a boss
or top manager; only 24% of young men say the same. The gender gap on this question is even
wider among working adults in their 30s and 40s, when many women face the trade-offs that go
with work and motherhood.
These findings are based on a new Pew Research Center survey of 2,002 adults, including 810
Millennials (ages 18-32), conducted Oct. 7-27, 2013. The survey finds that, in spite of the dramatic
gains women have made in educational attainment and labor force participation in recent decades,
young women view this as a man’s world—just as middle-aged and older women do.
51．What do we learn from the first paragraph about Millennial women starting their careers?
A) They can get ahead only by striving harder.
B) They expect to succeed just like Millennial men.
C) They are generally quite optimistic about their future.
D) They are better educated than their male counterparts.
52．How do most Millennial women feel about their treatment in the workplace?
A) They are the target of discrimination. B) They find it satisfactory on the whole.
C) They think it needs further improving. D) They find their complaints ignored.
53．What do Millennial women value most when coming of age?
A) A sense of accomplishment. B) Job stability and flexibility.
028C) Rewards and promotions. D) Joy derived from work.
54．What are women in their 30s and 40s concerned about?
A) The welfare of their children. B) The narrowing of the gender gap.
C) The fulfillment of their dreams in life. D) The balance between work and family.
55．What conclusion can be drawn about Millennial women from the 2013 survey?
A) They still view this world as one dominated by males.
B) They account for half the workforce in the job market.
C) They see the world differently from older generations.
D) They do better in work than their male counterparts.
【2017年12月第1套】
Passage One
That people often experience trouble sleeping in a different bed in unfamiliar surroundings is
a phenomenon known as the“ first-night” effect. If a person stays in the same room the following
night they tend to sleep more soundly. Yuka Sasaki and her colleagues at Brown University set out
to investigate the origins of this effect.
Dr. Sasaki knew the first-night effect probably has something to do with how humans
evolved. The puzzle was what benefit would be gained from it when performance might be
affected the following day. She also knew from previous work conducted on birds and dolphins
that these animals put half of their brains to sleep at a time so that they can rest while remaining
alert enough to avoid predators ( ). This led her to wonder if people might be doing the
捕食者
same thing. To take a closer look, her team studied 35 healthy people as they slept in the unfamiliar
environment of the university’s Department of Psychological Sciences. The participants each slept
in the department for two nights and were carefully monitored with techniques that looked at the
activity of their brains. Dr. Sasaki found, as expected, the participants slept less well on their first
night than they did on their second, taking more than twice as long to fall asleep and sleeping less
overall. During deep sleep, the participants’ brains behaved in a similar manner seen in birds and
dolphins. On the first night only, the left hemispheres ( ) of their brains did not sleep nearly as
半球
deeply as their right hemispheres did.
Curious if the left hemispheres were indeed remaining awake to process information detected
in the surrounding environment, Dr. Sasaki re-ran the experiment while presenting the sleeping
participants with a mix of regularly timed beeps ( ) of the same tone and irregular beeps
蜂鸣声
of a different tone during the night. She worked out that, if the left hemisphere was staying alert to
keep guard in a strange environment, then it would react to the irregular beeps by stirring people
from sleep and would ignore the regularly timed ones. This is precisely what she found.
029四级阅读讲义
46．What did researchers find puzzling about the first-night effect?
A) To what extent it can trouble people. B) What role it has played in evolution.
C) What circumstances may trigger it. D) In what way it can be beneficial.
47．What do we learn about Dr. Yuka Sasaki doing her research?
A) She found birds and dolphins remain alert while asleep.
B) She found birds and dolphins sleep in much the same way.
C) She got some idea from previous studies on birds and dolphins
D) She conducted studies on birds’ and dolphins’ sleeping patterns.
48．What did Dr. Sasaki do when she first did her experiment?
A) She monitored the brain activity of participants sleeping in a new environment.
B) She recruited 35 participants from her Department of Psychological Sciences.
C) She studied the differences between the two sides of participants’ brains.
D) She tested her findings about birds and dolphins on human subjects.
49．What did Dr. Sasaki do when re-running her experiment?
A) She analyzed the negative effect of irregular tones on brains.
B) She recorded participants’ adaptation to changed environment.
C) She exposed her participants to two different stimuli.
D) She compared the responses of different participants.
50．What did Dr. Sasaki find about the participants in her experiment?
A) They tended to enjoy certain tones more than others.
B) They tended to perceive irregular beeps as a threat.
C) They felt sleepy when exposed to regular beeps.
D) They differed in their tolerance of irregular tones.
Passage Two
It’s time to reevaluate how women handle conflict at work. Being overworked or over-
committed at home and on the job will not get you where you want to be in life. It will only slow
you down and hinder your career goals.
Did you know women are more likely than men to feel exhausted? Nearly twice as many
women than men ages 18-44 reported feeling“ very tired” or“ exhausted”, according to a recent
study.
This may not be surprising given that this is the age range when women have children. It’s
also the age range when many women are trying to balance careers and home. One reason women
may feel exhausted is that they have a hard time saying“ no”. Women want to be able to do it all—
030volunteer for school parties or cook delicious meals—and so their answer to any request is often
“Yes, I can.”
Women struggle to say“ no” in the workplace for similar reasons, including the desire to be
liked by their colleagues. Unfortunately, this inability to say“ no” may be hurting women’s heath
as well as their career.
At the workplace, men use conflict as a way to position themselves, while women often
avoid conflict or strive to be the peacemaker, because they don’t want to be viewed as aggressive
or disruptive at work. For example, there’s a problem that needs to be addressed immediately,
resulting in a dispute over who should be the one to fix it. Men are more likely to face that dispute
from the perspective of what benefits them most, whereas women may approach the same dispute
from the perspective of what’s the easiest and quickest way to resolve the problem—even if that
means doing the boring work themselves.
This difference in handling conflict could be the deciding factor on who gets promoted to a
leadership position and who does not. Leaders have to be able to delegate and manage resources
wisely—including staff expertise. Shouldering more of the workload may not earn you that
promotion. Instead, it may highlight your inability to delegate effectively.
51．What does the author say is the problem with women?
A) They are often unclear about the career goals to reach.
B) They are usually more committed at home than on the job.
C) They tend to be over-optimistic about how far they could go.
D) They tend to push themselves beyond the limits of their ability.
52．Why do working women of child-bearing age tend to feel drained of energy?
A) They struggle to satisfy the demands of both work and home.
B) They are too devoted to work and unable to relax as a result.
C) They do their best to cooperate with their workmates.
D) They are obliged to take up too many responsibilities.
53．What may hinder the future prospects of career women?
A) Their unwillingness to say“ no”. B) Their desire to be considered powerful.
C) An underestimate of their own ability. D) A lack of courage to face challenges.
54．Men and woman differ in their approach to resolving workplace conflicts in that .
A) women tend to be easily satisfied
B) men are generally more persuasive
C) men tend to put their personal interests first
D) women are much more ready to compromise
031四级阅读讲义
55．What is important to a good leader?
A) A dominant personality. B) The ability to delegate.
C) The courage to admit failure. D) A strong sense of responsibility.
【2017年12月第2套】
Passage One
Aging happens to all of us, and is generally thought of as a natural part of life. It would seem
silly to call such a thing a“ disease.”
On the other hand, scientists are increasingly learning that aging and biological age are two
different things, and that the former is a key risk factor for conditions such as heart disease, cancer
and many more. In that light, aging itself might be seen as something treatable, the way you would
treat high blood pressure or a vitamin deficiency.
Biophysicist Alex Zhavoronkov believes that aging should be considered a disease. He said
that describing aging as a disease creates incentives to develop treatments.
“It unties the hands of the pharmaceutical ( ) industry so that they can begin treating
制药的
the disease and not just the side effects,” he said.
“Right now, people think of aging as natural and something you can’t control,” he said.“ In
academic circles, people take aging research as just an interest area where they can try to develop
interventions. The medical community also takes aging for granted, and can do nothing about it
except keep people within a certain health range.”
But if aging were recognized as a disease, he said,“ It would attract funding and change the
way we do health care. What matters is understand that aging is curable.”
“It was always known that the body accumulates damage,” he added.“ The only way to cure
aging is to find ways to repair that damage. I think of it as preventive medicine for age-related
conditions.”
Leonard Hayflick, a professor at the University of California, San Francisco, said the idea that
aging can be cured implies the human lifespan can be increased, which some researchers suggest is
possible. Hayflick is not among them.
“There’re many people who recover from cancer, stroke, or heart disease. But they continue
to age, because aging is separate from their disease,” Hayflick said.“ Even if those causes of death
were eliminated, life expectancy would still not go much beyond 92 years.”
46．What do people generally believe about aging?
A) It should cause no alarm whatsoever.
B) They just cannot do anything about it.
032C) It should be regarded as a kind of disease.
D) They can delay it with advances in science.
47．How do many scientists view aging now?
A) It might be prevented and treated. B) It can be as risky as heart disease.
C) It results from a vitamin deficiency. D) It is an irreversible biological process.
48．What does Alex Zhavoronkov think of“ describing aging as a disease”?
A) It will prompt people to take aging more seriously.
B) It will greatly help reduce the side effects of aging.
C) It will free pharmacists from the conventional beliefs about aging.
D) It will motivate doctors and pharmacists to find ways to treat aging.
49．What do we learn about the medical community?
A) They now have a strong interest in research on aging.
B) They differ from the academic circles in their view on aging.
C) They can contribute to people’s health only to a limited extent.
D) They have ways to intervene in people’s aging process.
50．What does Professor Leonard Hayflick believe?
A) The human lifespan cannot be prolonged.
B) Aging is hardly separable from disease.
C) Few people can live up to the age of 92.
D) Heart disease is the major cause of aging.
Passage Two
Female applicants to postdoctoral positions in geosciences were nearly half as likely to
receive excellent letters of recommendation, compared with their male counterparts. Christopher
Intagliata reports.
As in many other fields, gender bias is widespread in the sciences. Men score higher starting
salaries, have more mentoring ( ), and have better odds of being hired. Studies show they’re
指导
also perceived as more competent than women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and
Mathematics) fields. And new research reveals that men are more likely to receive excellent letters
of recommendation, too.
“Say, you know, this is the best student I’ve ever had,” says Kuheli Dutt, a social scientist and
diversity officer at Columbia University’s Lamont campus“. Compare those excellent letters with a
merely good letter:‘ The candidate was productive, or intelligent, or a solid scientist or something
that’s clearly solid praise,’ but nothing that singles out the candidate as exceptional or one of a
kind.”
033四级阅读讲义
Dutt and her colleagues studied more than 1,200 letters of recommendation for postdoctoral
positions in geoscience. They were all edited for gender and other identifying information, so Dutt
and her team could assign them a score without knowing the gender of the student. They found
that female applicants were only half as likely to get outstanding letters, compared with their male
counterparts. That includes letters of recommendation from all over the world, and written by, yes,
men and women. The findings are in the journal Nature Geoscience.
Dutt says they were not able to evaluate the actual scientific qualifications of the applicants
using the data in the files. But she says the results still suggest women in geoscience are at a
potential disadvantage from the very beginning of their careers starting with those less than
outstanding letters of recommendation.
“We’re not trying to assign blame or criticize anyone or call anyone consciously sexist.
Rather, the point is to use the results of this study to open up meaningful dialogues on implicit
gender bias, be it at a departmental level or an institutional level or even a discipline level.” Which
may lead to some recommendations for the letter writers themselves.
51．What do we learn about applicants to postdoctoral positions in geosciences?
A) There are many more men applying than women.
B) Chances for women to get the positions are scare.
C) More males than females are likely to get outstanding letters of recommendation.
D) Male applicants have more interest in these positions than their female counterparts.
52．What do studies about men and women in scientific research show?
A) Women engaged in postdoctoral work are quickly catching up.
B) Fewer women are applying for postdoctoral positions due to gender bias.
C) Men are believed to be better able to excel in STEM disciplines.
D) Women who are keenly interested in STEM fields are often exceptional.
53．What do the studies find about the recommendation letters for women applicants?
A) They are hardly ever supported by concrete examples.
B) They contain nothing that distinguishes the applicants.
C) They provide objective information without exaggeration.
D) They are often filled with praise for exceptional applicants.
54．What did Dutt and her colleagues do with the more than 1,200 letters of recommendation?
A) They asked unbiased scholars to evaluate them.
B) They invited women professionals to edit them.
C) They assigned them randomly to reviewers.
D) They deleted all information about gender.
03455．What does Dutt aim to do with her study?
A) Raise recommendation writers’ awareness of gender bias in their letters.
B) Open up fresh avenues for women post-doctors to join in research work.
C) Alert women researchers to all types of gender bias in the STEM disciplines.
D) Start a public discussion on how to raise women’s status in academic circles.
035四级阅读讲义
第二部分 长篇阅读
一、题型介绍
， ： 、 、 。
大学英语四级试卷由四个部分构成 依次为 写作 听力理解 阅读理解和翻译
、 ：
其中阅读理解部分的测试内容 题型和所占分值比例如下表所示
试卷结构 测试内容 测试题型 题目数量 分值占比 考试时间
10 5%
词汇理解 选词填空
10 10% 40
阅读理解 长篇阅读 匹配 分钟
10 20%
仔细阅读 单选题
30 35% 40
总计 分钟
1000 ， 10%。
长篇阅读的篇章长度约 词 分值占比为
，
长篇阅读采用段落匹配题型 考核考生运用略读和查读的技能从篇章中获取信息的能
。 ；
力 略读要求学生通过快速阅读获取文章主旨大意或中心思想 查读要求学生快速查找篇
。 10 ， 1 。
章中的特定信息 篇章后附有 个句子 每句 题 每句所含的信息出自篇章中的某一段
， 。
落 要求学生找出与每句所含信息相匹配的段落
， 。
有的段落可能对应两题 有的段落可能不对应任何一题
二、考情分析
， ，
长篇阅读可以说是最耗时间的阅读题型 也是对基本功要求最高的题型 因为文章很
， ， 、
长 句子也很长 对同学们的 和 要求非常
。 ， ， 。
高 同时 这个题型的技巧性也不是很强 必须通过大量的训练来提升
036三、解题技巧
（一）解题原则
第二部分 长篇阅读
文章尽量 把题做完
速战速决不要恋战
参考时间
（二）解题方法
1. ，
预判文章结构
一、题型介绍 ：
常见文章结构
， ： 、 、 。 （1） ： ； ；
大学英语四级试卷由四个部分构成 依次为 写作 听力理解 阅读理解和翻译 提出问题 研究问题 解决问题
、 ： （2） ： ； ；
其中阅读理解部分的测试内容 题型和所占分值比例如下表所示 发展类记叙文 过去 现在 将来
2. （ ）
找出题干 划关键词
3.
试卷结构 测试内容 测试题型 题目数量 分值占比 考试时间 一次多记几道题的关键词
10 5% 4.
词汇理解 选词填空
从头开始迅速扫读找
10 10% 40 5. （ 、 、 ）
阅读理解 长篇阅读 匹配 分钟
优先找好找的 时间 比较 时态
10 20%
仔细阅读 单选题
（三）注意事项
30 35% 40
总计 分钟
；
不要纠结意思 像玩连连看一样
1000 ， 10%。
长篇阅读的篇章长度约 词 分值占比为
，
长篇阅读采用段落匹配题型 考核考生运用略读和查读的技能从篇章中获取信息的能
。 ； 四、真题演练
力 略读要求学生通过快速阅读获取文章主旨大意或中心思想 查读要求学生快速查找篇
。 10 ， 1 。
章中的特定信息 篇章后附有 个句子 每句 题 每句所含的信息出自篇章中的某一段
【2019年6月第1套】
， 。
落 要求学生找出与每句所含信息相匹配的段落
， 。
Living With Parents Edges Out Other Living Arrangements for 18- to 34-Year-Olds
有的段落可能对应两题 有的段落可能不对应任何一题
A) Broad demographic ( ) shifts in marital status, educational attainment and employment
人口的
have transformed the way young adults in the U.S. are living, and a new Pew Research Center
二、考情分析 analysis highlights the implications of these changes for the most basic element of their lives—
， ， where they call home. In 2014, for the first time in more than 130 years, adults ages 18 to 34
长篇阅读可以说是最耗时间的阅读题型 也是对基本功要求最高的题型 因为文章很
， ， 、 were slightly more likely to be living in their parents’ home than they were to be living with a
长 句子也很长 对同学们的 和 要求非常
。 ， ， 。 spouse or partner in their own household.
高 同时 这个题型的技巧性也不是很强 必须通过大量的训练来提升
B) This turn of events is fueled primarily by the dramatic drop in the share of young Americans
who are choosing to settle down romantically before age 35. Dating back to 1880, the most
common living arrangement among young adults has been living with a romantic partner,
whether a spouse or a significant other. This type of arrangement peaked around 1960, when
037四级阅读讲义
62% of the nation’s 18- to 34-year-olds were living with a spouse or partner in their own
household, and only one-in-five were living with their parents.
C) By 2014, 31.6% of young adults were living with a spouse or partner in their own household,
below the share living in the home of their parent(s) (32.1%). Some 14% of young adults lived
alone, were a single parent or lived with one or more roommates. The remaining 22% lived in
the home of another family member (such as a grandparent, in-law or sibling ( ), a
兄弟姐妹
non-relative, or in group quarters like college dormitories.
D) It’s worth noting that the overall share of young adults living with their parents was not at a
record high in 2014. This arrangement peaked around 1940, when about 35% of the nation’s
18- to 34-year-old lived with mom and/or dad (compared with 32% in 2014). What has
changed, instead, is the relative share adopting different ways of living in early adulthood, with
the decline of romantic coupling pushing living at home to the top of a much less uniform list
of living arrangements.
E) Among young adults, living arrangements differ significantly by gender. For men ages 18 to 34,
living at home with mom and/or dad has been the dominant living arrangement since 2009. In
2014, 28% of young men were living with a spouse or partner in their own home, while 35%
were living in the home of their parent(s). Young women, however, are still more likely to be
living with a spouse or romantic partner (35%) than they are to be living with their parent(s)
(29%).
F) In 2014, more young women (16%) than young men (13%) were heading up a household
without a spouse or partner. This is mainly because women are more likely than men to be
single parents living with their children. For their part, young men (25%) are more likely than
young women (19%) to be living in the home of another family member, a non-relative or in
some type of group quarters.
G) A variety of factors contribute to the long-run increase in the share of young adults living with
their parents. The first is the postponement of, if not retreat from, marriage. The average age of
first marriage has risen steadily for decades. In addition, a growing share of young adults may
be avoiding marriage altogether. A previous Pew Research Center analysis projected that as
many as one-in-four of today’s young adults may never marry. While cohabitation ( ) has
同居
been on the rise, the overall share of young adults either married or living with an unmarried
partner has substantially fallen since 1990.
H) In addition, trends in both employment status and wages have likely contributed to the growing
share of young adults who are living in the home of their parent(s), and this is especially true of
young men. Employed young men are much less likely to live at home than young men without
a job, and employment among young men has fallen significantly in recent decades. The share
038of young men with jobs peaked around 1960 at 84%. In 2014, only 71% of 18- to 34-year-old
men were employed. Similarly with earnings, young men’s wages (after adjusting for inflation)
have been on a downward trajectory ( ) since 1970 and fell significantly from 2000 to
轨 迹
2010. As wages have fallen, the share of young men living in the home of their parent(s) has
risen.
I) Economic factors seem to explain less of why young adult women are increasingly likely to
live at home. Generally, young women have had growing success in the paid labor market
since 1960 and hence might increasingly be expected to be able to afford to live independently
of their parents. For women, delayed marriage—which is related, in part, to labor market
outcomes for men—may explain more of the increase in their living in the family home.
J) The Great Recession (and modest recovery) has also been associated with an increase in young
adults living at home. Initially in the wake of the recession, college enrollments expanded,
boosting the ranks of young adults living at home. And given the weak job opportunities facing
young adults, living at home was part of the private safety net helping young adults to weather
the economic storm.
K) Beyond gender, young adults’ living arrangements differ considerably by education—which is
tied to financial means. For young adults without a bachelor’s degree, as of 2008 living at home
with their parents was more prevalent than living with a romantic partner. By 2014, 36% of
18- to 34-year-old who had not completed a bachelor’s degree were living with their parent(s)
while 27% were living with a spouse or partner. Among college graduates, in 2014 46% were
married or living with a partner, and only 19% were living with their parent(s). Young adults
with a college degree have fared much better in the labor market than their less-educated
counterparts, which has in turn made it easier to establish their own households.
36．Unemployed young men are more likely to live with their parents than the employed.
37．In 2014, the percentage of men aged 18 to 34 living with their parents was greater than that of
their female counterparts.
38．The percentage of young people who are married or live with a partner has greatly decreased
in the past three decades or so.
39．Around the mid-20th century, only 20 percent of 18- to 34-year-old lived in their parents’
home.
40．Young adults with a college degree found it easier to live independently of their parents.
41．Young men are less likely to end up as single parents than young women.
42．More young adult women live with their parents than before due to delayed marriage.
43．The percentage of young men who live with their parents has grown due to their decreased
039四级阅读讲义
pay in recent decades.
44．The rise in the number of college students made more young adults live with their parents.
45．One reason for young adults to live with their parents is that they get married late or stay
single all their lives.
【2019年6月第2套】
How Work Will Change When Most of Us Live
A) Today in the United States there are 72,000 centenarians ( ). Worldwide, probably
百岁老人
450,000. If current trends continue, then by 2050 there will be more than a million in the US
alone. According to the work of Professor James Vaupel and his co-researchers, 50% of babies
born in the US in 2007 have a life expectancy of 104 or more. Broadly the same holds for the
UK, Germany, France, Italy and Canada and for Japan 50% of 2007 babies can expect to live to
107.
B) Understandably, there are concerns about what this means for public finances given the
associated health and pension challenges. These challenges are real, and society urgently needs
to address them. But it is also important to look at the wider picture of what happens when so
many people live for 100 years. It is a mistake to simply equate longevity ( ) with issues
长寿
of old age. Longer lives have implications for all of life, not just the end of it.
C) Our view is that if many people are living for longer, and are healthier for longer, then this will
result in an inevitable redesign of work and life. When people live longer, they are not only
older for longer, but also younger for longer. There is some truth in the saying that“ 70 is the
new 60” or“ 40 the new 30.” If you age more slowly over a longer time period, then you are in
some sense younger for longer.
D) But the changes go further than that. Take, for instance, the age at which people make
commitments such as buying a house, getting married, having children, or starting a career.
These are all fundamental commitments that are now occurring later in life. In 1962, 50% of
Americans were married by age 21. By 2014, that milestone ( ) had shifted to age 29.
里程碑
E) While there are numerous factors behind these shifts, one factor is surely a growing realization
for the young that they are going to live longer. Options are more valuable the longer they
can be held. So if you believe you will live longer, then options become more valuable, and
early commitment becomes less attractive. The result is that the commitments that previously
characterized the beginning of adulthood are now being delayed, and new patterns of behavior
and a new stage of life are emerging for those in their twenties.
F) Longevity also pushes back the age of retirement, and not only for financial reasons. Yes, unless
people are prepared to save a lot more, our calculations suggest that if you are now in your mid
04040s, then you are likely to work until your early 70s; and if you are in your early 20s, there
is a real chance you will need to work until your late 70s or possibly even into your 80s. But
even if people are able to economically support a retirement at 65, over thirty years of potential
inactivity is harmful to cognitive ( ) and emotional vitality. Many people may simply
认知的
not want to do it.
G) And yet that does not mean that simply extending our careers is appealing. Just lengthening that
second stage of full-time work may secure the financial assets needed for a 100-year life, but
such persistent work will inevitably exhaust precious intangible assets such as productive skills,
vitality, happiness, and friendship.
H) The same is true for education. It is impossible that a single shot of education, administered in
childhood and early adulthood, will be able to support a sustained, 60-year career. If you factor
in the projected rates of technological change, either your skills will become unnecessary, or
your industry outdated. That means that everyone will, at some point in their life, have to make
a number of major reinvestments in their skills.
I) It seems likely, then, that the traditional three-stage life will evolve into multiple stages
containing two, three, or even more different careers. Each of these stages could potentially be
different. In one the focus could be on building financial success and personal achievement,
in another on creating a better work/life balance, still another on exploring and understanding
options more fully, or becoming an independent producer, yet another on making a social
contribution. These stages will span sectors, take people to different cities, and provide a
foundation for building a wide variety of skills.
J) Transitions between stages could be marked with sabbaticals ( ) as people find time to rest
休假
and recharge their health, re-invest in their relationships, or improve their skills. At times, these
breaks and transitions will be self-determined, at others they will be forced as existing roles,
firms, or industries cease to exist.
K) A multi-stage life will have profound changes not just in how you manage your career, but also
in your approach to life. An increasingly important skill will be your ability to deal with change
and even welcome it. A three-stage life has few transitions, while a multi-stage life has many.
That is why being self-aware, investing in broader networks of friends, and being open to new
ideas will become even more crucial skills.
L) These multi-stage lives will create extraordinary variety across groups of people simply because
there are so many ways of sequencing the stages. More stages mean more possible sequences.
M) With this variety will come the end of the close association of age and stage. In a three-stage
life, people leave university at the same time and the same age, they tend to start their careers
and family at the same age, they proceed through middle management all roughly the same
041四级阅读讲义
time, and then move into retirement within a few years of each other. In a multi-stage life,
you could be an undergraduate at 20, 40, or 60; a manager at 30, 50, or 70; and become an
independent producer at any age.
N) Current life structures, career paths, educational choices, and social norms are out of tune with
the emerging reality of longer lifespans. The three-stage life of full-time education, followed
by continuous work, and then complete retirement may have worked for our parents or even
grandparents, but it is not relevant today. We believe that to focus on longevity as primarily an
issue of aging is to miss its full implications. Longevity is not necessarily about being older for
longer. It is about living longer, being older later, and being younger longer.
36．An extended lifespan in the future will allow people to have more careers than now.
37．Just extending one’s career may have both positive and negative effects.
38．Nowadays, many Americans have on average delayed their marriage by some eight years.
39．Because of their longer lifespan, young people today no longer follow the pattern of life of
their parents or grandparents.
40．Many more people will be expected to live over 100 by the mid-21st century.
41．A longer life will cause radical changes in people’s approach to life.
42．Fast technological change makes it necessary for one to constantly upgrade their skills.
43．Many people may not want to retire early because it would do harm to their mental and
emotional well-being.
44．The close link between age and stage may cease to exist in a multi-stage life.
45．People living a longer and healthier life will have to rearrange their work and life.
【2019年6月第3套】
Make Stuff, Fail, And Learn While You’re At It
A) We’ve always been a hands-on, do-it-yourself kind of nation. Ben Franklin, one of America’s
founding fathers, didn’t just invent the lightning rod. His creations include glasses, innovative
stoves and more.
B) Franklin, who was largely self-taught, may have been a genius, but he wasn’t really an
exception when it comes to American making and creativity.
C) The personal computing revolution and philosophy of disruptive innovation of Silicon Valley
grew, in part, out of the creations of the Homebrew Computer Club, which was founded in a
garage in Menlo Park, California, in the mid-1970s. Members—including guys named Jobs and
Wozniak—started making and inventing things they couldn’t buy.
D) So it’s no surprise that the Maker Movement today is thriving in communities and some schools
042across America. Making is available to ordinary people who aren’t tied to big companies, big
defense labs or research universities. The maker philosophy echoes old ideas advocated by
John Dewey, Montessori, and even ancient Greek philosophers, as we pointed out recently.
E) These maker spaces are often outside of classrooms, and are serving an important educational
function. The Maker Movement is rediscovering learning by doing, which is Dewey’s phrase
from 100 years ago. We are rediscovering Dewey and Montessori and a lot of the practices that
they pioneered that have been forgotten or at least put aside. A maker space is a place which
can be in a school, but it doesn’t look like a classroom. It can be in a library. It can be out in the
community. It has tools and materials. It’s a place where you get to make things based on your
interest and on what you’re learning to do.
F) Ideas about learning by doing have struggled to become mainstream educationally, despite
being old concepts from Dewey and Montessori, Plato and Aristotle, and in the American
context, Ralph Emerson, on the value of experience and self-reliance. It’s not necessarily
an efficient way to learn. We learn, in a sense, by trial and error. Learning from experience
is something that takes time and patience. It’s very individualized. If your goal is to have
standardized approaches to learning, where everybody learns the same thing at the same time in
the same way, then learning by doing doesn’t really fit that mold anymore. It’s not the world of
textbooks. It’s not the world of testing.
G) Learning by doing may not be efficient, but it is effective. Project-based learning has grown in
popularity with teachers and administrators. However, project-based learning is not making.
Although there is a connection, there is also a distinction. The difference lies in whether the
project is in a sense defined and developed by the student or whether it’s assigned by a teacher.
We’ll all get the kids to build a small boat. We are all going to learn about X, Y, and Z. That
tends to be one form of project-based learning.
H) I really believe the core idea of making is to have an idea within your head—or you just borrow
it from someone—and begin to develop it, repeat it and improve it. Then, realize that idea
somehow. That thing that you make is valuable to you and you can share it with others. I’m
interested in how these things are expressions of that person, their ideas, and their interactions
with the world.
I) In some ways, a lot of forms of making in school trivialize ( ) making. The thing
使变得无足轻重
that you make has no value to you. Once you are done demonstrating whatever concept was in
the textbook, you throw away the pipe cleaners, the straws, the cardboard tubes.
J) Making should be student-directed and student-led, otherwise it’s boring. It doesn’t have the
motivation of the student. I’m not saying that students should not learn concepts or not learn
skills. They do. But to really harness their motivation is to build upon their interest. It’s to let
043四级阅读讲义
them be in control and to drive the car.
K) Teachers should aim to build a supportive, creative environment for students to do this work. A
very social environment, where they are learning from each other. When they have a problem,
it isn’t the teacher necessarily coming in to solve it. They are responsible for working through
that problem. It might be they have to talk to other students in the class to help get an answer.
L) The teacher’s role is more of a coach or observer. Sometimes, to people, it sounds like this is
a diminished role for teachers. I think it’s a heightened role. You’re creating this environment,
like a maker space. You have 20 kids doing different things. You are watching them and
really it’s the human behaviors you’re looking at. Are they engaged? Are they developing and
repeating their project? Are they stumbling ( )? Do they need something that they don’t
受挫
have? Can you help them be aware of where they are?
M) My belief is that the goal of making is not to get every kid to be hands-on, but it enables us to
be good learners. It’s not the knowledge that is valuable; It’s the practice of learning new things
and understanding how things work. These are processes that you are developing so that you
are able, over time, to tackle more interesting problems, more challenging problems—problems
that require many people instead of one person, and many skills instead of one.
N) If teachers keep it form-free and student-led, it can still be tied to curriculum and an educational
plan. I think a maker space is more like a library in that there are multiple subjects and multiple
things that you can learn. What seems to be missing in school is how these subjects integrate,
how they fit together in any meaningful way. Rather than saying,“ This is science, over here is
history,” I see schools taking this idea of projects and looking at: How do they support children
in higher level learning?
O) I feel like this is a shift away from a subject matter-based curriculum to a more experiential
curriculum or learning. It’s still in its early stages, but I think it’s shifting around not what kids
learn but how they learn.
36．A maker space is where people make things according to their personal interests.
37．The teachers’ role is enhanced in a maker space as they have to monitor and facilitate during
the process.
38．Coming up with an idea of one’s own or improving one from others is key to the concept of
making.
39．Contrary to structured learning, learning by doing is highly individualized.
40．America is a nation known for the idea of making things by oneself.
41．Making will be boring unless students are able to take charge.
42．Making can be related to a project, but it is created and carried out by students themselves.
04443．The author suggests incorporating the idea of a maker space into a school curriculum.
44．The maker concept is a modern version of some ancient philosophical ideas.
45．Making is not taken seriously in school when students are asked to make something
meaningless to them based on textbooks.
【2018年12月第1套】
Food-as-Medicine Movement Is Witnessing Progress
A) Several times a month, you can find a doctor in the aisles of Ralph’s market in Huntington
Beach, California, wearing a white coat and helping people learn about food. On one recent
day, this doctor was Daniel Nadeau, wandering the cereal aisle with Allison Scott, giving her
some ideas on how to feed kids who persistently avoid anything that is healthy.“ Have you
thought about trying fresh juices in the morning?” he asks her.“ The frozen oranges and apples
are a little cheaper, and fruits are really good for the brain. Juices are quick and easy to prepare,
you can take the frozen fruit out the night before and have it ready the next morning.”
B) Scott is delighted to get food advice from a physician who is program director of the nearby
Mary and Dick Allen Diabetes Center, part of the St. Joseph Hoag Health alliance. The center’s
“Shop with Your Doc” program sends doctors to the grocery store to meet with any patients
who sign up for the service, plus any other shoppers who happen to be around with questions.
C) Nadeau notices the pre-made macaroni ( ) -and-cheese boxes in Scott’s shopping cart and
通心粉
suggests she switch to whole grain macaroni and real cheese.“ So I’d have to make it?” she
asks, her enthusiasm fading at the thought of how long that might take, just to have her kids
reject it“. I’m not sure they’d eat it. They just won’t eat it.”
D) Nadeau says sugar and processed foods are big contributors to the rising diabetes rates among
children.“ In America, over 50 percent of our food is processed food,” Nadeau tells her.“ And
only 5 percent of our food is plant-based food. I think we should try to reverse that.” Scott
agrees to try more fruit juices for the kids and to make real macaroni and cheese. Score one
point for the doctor, zero for diabetes.
E) Nadeau is part of a small revolution developing across California. The food-as-medicine
movement has been around for decades, but it’s making progress as physicians and medical
institutions make food a formal part of treatment, rather than relying solely on medications
( ). By prescribing nutritional changes or launching programs such as“ Shop with Your
药 物
Doc”, they are trying to prevent, limit or even reverse disease by changing what patients eat.
“There’s no question people can take things a long way toward reversing diabetes, reversing
high blood pressure, even preventing cancer by food choices,” Nadeau says.
F) In the big picture, says Dr. Richard Afable, CEO and president of St. Joseph Hoag Health,
045四级阅读讲义
medical institutions across the state are starting to make a philosophical switch to becoming
a health organization, not just a health care organization. That feeling echoes the beliefs of
the Therapeutic Food Pantry program at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, which
completed its pilot phase and is about to expand on an ongoing basis to five clinic sites
throughout the city. The program will offer patients several bags of food prescribed for their
condition, along with intensive training in how to cook it.“ We really want to link food and
medicine, and not just give away food,” says Dr. Rita Nguyen, the hospital’s medical director
of Healthy Food Initiatives.“ We want people to understand what they’re eating, how to prepare it,
the role food plays in their lives.”
G) In Southern California, Loma Linda University School of Medicine is offering specialized
training for its resident physicians in Lifestyle Medicine—that is a formal specialty in using
food to treat disease. Research findings increasingly show the power of food to treat or reverse
diseases, but that does not mean that diet alone is always the solution, or that every illness
can benefit substantially from dietary changes. Nonetheless, physicians say that they look at
the collective data and a clear picture emerges: that the salt, sugar, fat and processed foods in
the American diet contribute to the nation’s high rates of obesity, diabetes and heart disease.
According to the World Health Organization, 80 percent of deaths from heart disease and stroke
are caused by high blood pressure, tobacco use, elevated cholesterol and low consumption of
fruits and vegetables.
H)“ It’s a different paradigm ( ) of how to treat disease,” says Dr. Brenda Rea, who
范式
helps run the family and preventive medicine residency program at Loma Linda University
School of Medicine. The lifestyle medicine specialty is designed to train doctors in how to
prevent and treat disease, in part, by changing patients’ nutritional habits. The medical center
and school at Loma Linda also has a food cupboard and kitchen for patients. This way, patients
not only learn about which foods to buy, but also how to prepare them at home.
I) Many people don’t know how to cook, Rea says, and they only know how to heat things up.
That means depending on packaged food with high salt and sugar content. So teaching people
about which foods are healthy and how to prepare them, she says, can actually transform a
patient’s life. And beyond that, it might transform the health and lives of that patient’s family.
“What people eat can be medicine or poison,” Rea says.“ As a physician, nutrition is one of the
most powerful things you can change to reverse the effects of long-term disease.”
J) Studies have explored evidence that dietary changes can slow inflammation ( ), for
炎 症
example, or make the body inhospitable to cancer cells. In general, many lifestyle medicine
physicians recommend a plant-based diet—particularly for people with diabetes or other
inflammatory conditions.
046K)“ As what happened with tobacco, this will require a cultural shift, but that can happen,” says
Nguyen.“ In the same way physicians used to smoke, and then stopped smoking and were able
to talk to patients about it, I think physicians can have a bigger voice in it.”
36．More than half of the food Americans eat is factory-produced.
37．There is a special program that assigns doctors to give advice to shoppers in food stores.
38．There is growing evidence from research that food helps patients recover from various
illnesses.
39．A healthy breakfast can be prepared quickly and easily.
40．Training a patient to prepare healthy food can change their life.
41．One food-as-medicine program not only prescribes food for treatment but teaches patients
how to cook it.
42．Scott is not keen on cooking food herself, thinking it would simply be a waste of time.
43．Diabetes patients are advised to eat more plant-based food.
44．Using food as medicine is no novel idea, but the movement is making headway these days.
45．Americans’ high rates of various illnesses result from the way they eat.
【2018年12月第2套】
How a Poor, Abandoned Parisian Boy Became a Top Chef
A) The busy streets in Paris were uneven and caked in thick mud, but there was always a
breathtaking sight to see in the shop windows of Patisserie de la Rue de la Paix. By 1814,
people crowded outside the bakery, straining for a glimpse of the latest sweet food created by
the young chef who worked inside.
B) His name was Marie-Antoine Carême, and he had appeared, one day, almost out of nowhere.
But in his short lifetime, which ended exactly 184 years ago today, he would forever
revolutionize French gourmet food ( ), write best-selling cook books and think up magical
美食
dishes for royals and other important people.
C) Carême’s childhood was one part tragedy, equal part mystery. Born the 16th child to poor
parents in Paris in either 1783 or 1784, a young Carême was suddenly abandoned at the height
of the French Revolution. At 8 years old, he worked as a kitchen boy for a restaurant in Paris
in exchange for room and board. By age 15, he had become an apprentice ( ) to Sylvain
学徒
Bailly, a well-known dessert chef with a successful bakery in one of Paris’ most fashionable
neighborhoods.
D) Carême was quick at learning in the kitchen. Bailly encouraged his young apprentice to learn
to read and write. Carême would often spend his free afternoons at the nearby National Library
047四级阅读讲义
reading books on art and architecture. In the back room of the little bakery, his interest in
design and his baking talent combined to work wonders—he shaped delicious masterpieces out
of flour, butter and sugar.
E) In his teenage years, Carême fashioned eatable copies of the late 18th century’s most famous
buildings—cookies in the shape of ruins of ancient Athens and pies in the shape of ancient
Chinese palaces and temples. Sylvain Bailly, his master, displayed these luxuriant creations—
often as large as 4 feet tall—in his bakery windows.
F) Carême’s creations soon captured the discriminating eye of a French diplomat, Charles Maurice
de Talleyrand-Périgord. Around 1804, Talleyrand challenged Carême to produce a full menu for
his personal castle, instructing the young baker to use local, seasonal fruits and vegetables and
to avoid repeating main dishes over the course of an entire year. The experiment was a grand
success and Talleyrand’s association with French nobility would prove a profitable connection
for Carême.
G) French Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte was known to be unimpressed by the declining taste of
early 18th century cooking, but under pressure to entertain Paris’ high society, he too called
Carême to his kitchen at Tuileries Palace. In 1810, Carême designed the extraordinary cake for
the wedding of Napoleon and his second bride, Marie-Louise of Austria. He became one of the
first modern chefs to focus on the appearance of his table, not just the flavor of his dishes.“ I
want order and taste. A well-displayed meal is enhanced one hundred percent in my eyes,” he
later wrote in one of his cook books.
H) In 1816, Carême began a culinary ( ) journey which would forever mark his place as
烹饪的
history’s first top chef. He voyaged to England to cook in the modern Great Kitchen of the
prince regent ( ), George IV, and crossed continents to prepare grand banquets for
摄政王
the tables of Tsar Alexander I of Russia. Never afraid to talk up his own accomplishments, a
boastful Carême made a fortune as wealthy families with social ambitions invited him to their
kitchens. Later, in his cook books, he would often include a sketch of himself, so that people on
the street would be able to recognize—and admire—him.
I) Carême’s cooking displays became the symbol of fine French dining; they were plentiful,
beautiful and imposing. Guests would fall silent in wonder as servants carried Carême’s fancy
creations into the dining hall. For a banquet celebrating the Grand Duke Nicholas of Russia’s
visit to George IV’s Brighton Pavillion on Jan. 18, 1817, the menu featured 120 different
dishes, highlighting eight different soups, 40 main courses, and 32 desserts.
J) As he traveled through the homes of early 19th century nobility, Carême forged the new art of
French gourmet food. Locked in hot kitchens, Carême created his four“ mother sauces.” These
sauces—béchamel, velouté, espagnole and allemande—formed the central building blocks for
048many French main courses. He also perfected the soufflé—a baked egg dish, and introduced
the standard chef’s uniform—the same double-breasted white coat and tall white hat still
worn by many chefs today. The white clothing conveyed an image of cleanliness, according to
Carême—and in his realm, appearance was everything.
K) Between meals, Carême wrote cook books that would be used in European kitchens for the
next century. His manuals including The Royal Parisian Baker and the massive five-volume
Art of French Cooking Series (1833-1847, completed after his death) first systematized many
basic principles of cooking, complete with drawings and step-by-step directions. Long before
television cooking shows, Carême walked readers through common kitchen tasks, instructing
them to“ try this for yourself, at home” as famous American Chef Julia Child might do, many
years later.
L) In the end, however, it was the kitchen that did Carême in. Decades of working over coal fires
in tight, closed spaces with little fresh air (to ensure his dishes would not get cold) had fatally
damaged his lungs. On Jan. 12, 1833, Carême died just before he turned 50.
M) But in his lifetime, Carême, ever confident, could see beyond his short domination in the
kitchen. He wanted to“ set the standard for beauty in classical and modern cooking, and prove
to the distant future that the French chefs of the 19th century were the most famous in the
world,” as he wrote in his papers.
N) Decades later, chef Auguste Escoffier would build upon Carême’s concept of French cuisine
( ). But in the very beginning, there was just Carême, the top chef who elevated dining into
烹饪
art.
36．Carême was among the first chefs who stressed both the appearance and flavor of dishes.
37．Carême wanted to show to later generations that French chefs of his time were most
outstanding in the world.
38．Carême benefited greatly from serving a French diplomat and his connections.
39．Carême learned his trade from a famous desert chef in Paris.
40．Carême’s creative works were exhibited in the shop windows by his master.
41．Carême’s knowledge of art and architecture helped him create extraordinary desserts out of
ordinary ingredients.
42．Many people in Paris were eager to have a look at the latest sweet food made by Carême.
43．Carême became extremely wealthy by cooking for rich and socially ambitious families.
44．Carême’s writing dealt with the fundamental cooking principles in a systematic way.
45．Carême’s contribution to French cooking was revolutionary.
049四级阅读讲义
【2018年12月第3套】
Is it really OK to eat food that’s fallen on the floor?
A) When you drop a piece of food on the floor, is it really OK to eat if you pick it up within five
seconds? An urban food myth contends that if food spends just a few seconds on the floor, dirt
and germs won’t have much of a chance to contaminate it. Research in my lab has focused
on how food becomes contaminated, and we’ve done some work on this particular piece of
wisdom.
B) While the“ five-second rule” might not seem like the most pressing issue for food scientists to
get to the bottom of, It’s still worth investigating food myths like this one because they shape
our beliefs about when food is safe to eat.
C) So is five seconds on the floor the critical threshold ( ) that separates a piece of eatable food
门槛
from a case of food poisoning? It’s a bit more complicated than that. It depends on just how
many bacteria can make it from floor to food in a few seconds and just how dirty the floor is.
D) Wondering if food is still OK to eat after it’s dropped on the floor is a pretty common
experience. And it’s probably not a new one either. A well-known, but inaccurate, story about
Julia Child may have contributed to this food myth. Some viewers of her cooking show, The
French Chef, insist they saw Child drop lamb on the floor and pick it up, with the advice that if
they were alone in the kitchen, their guests would never know.
E) In fact it was a potato pancake, and it fell on the stovetop, not on the floor. Child put it back
in the pan, saying,“ But you can always pick it up and if you’re alone in the kitchen, who’s
going to see it?” But the misremembered story persists. It’s harder to pin down the origins of
the oft-quoted five-second rule, but a 2003 study reported that 70% of women and 56% of men
surveyed were familiar with the five-second rule and that women were more likely than men to
eat food that had dropped on the floor.
F) So what does science tell us about what a few moments on the floor means for the safety of
your food? The earliest research report on the five-second rule is attributed to Jillian Clarke, a
high school student participating in a research project at the University of Illinois. Clarke and
her colleagues introduced bacteria to floor tiles ( ) and then placed cookies on the tiles for
瓷砖
varying times. They reported bacteria were transferred from the tiles to the cookies within five
seconds, but didn’t report the specific amount of bacteria that made it from the tiles to the food.
G) But how many bacteria actually transfer in five seconds? In 2007, my lab at Clemson
University published a study in the Journal of Applied Microbiology. We wanted to know if
the length of time food is in contact with a contaminated surface affected the rate of transfer of
bacteria to the food. To find out, we introduced bacteria to squares of tile, carpet or wood. Five
050minutes after that, we placed either bacon or bread on the surface for 5, 30 or 60 seconds, and
then measured the number of bacteria transferred to the food. We repeated this exact procedure
after the bacteria had been on the surface for 2, 4, 8 and 24 hours.
H) We found that the number of bacteria transferred to either kind of food didn’t depend much on
how long the food was in contact with the contaminated surface—whether for a few seconds
or for a whole minute. The overall number of bacteria on the surface mattered more, and this
decreased over time after the initial introduction. It looks like what’s at issue is less how long
your food stays on the floor and much more how contaminated with bacteria that patch of floor
happens to be.
I) We also found that the kind of surface made a difference as well. Carpets, for instance, seem to
be slightly better places to drop your food than wood or tile. When a carpet was contaminated,
less than 1% of the bacteria were transferred. But when the food was in contact with tile or
wood, 48-70% of bacteria were.
J) Last year, a study from Aston University in the UK used nearly identical parameters ( ) to
参数
our study and found similar results. They also reported that 87% of people asked either would
eat or had eaten food fallen on the floor.
K) Should you eat food fallen on the floor then? From a food safety standpoint, if you have
millions or more bacteria on a surface, 0.1% is still enough to make you sick. Also, certain
types of bacteria are extremely harmful, and it takes only a small number to make you sick. For
example, 10 bacteria or less of an especially deadly strain of bacteria can cause severe illness
and death in people with compromised immune systems. But the chance of these bacteria being
on most surfaces is very low.
L) And it’s not just dropping food on the floor that can lead to bacterial contamination. Bacteria
are carried by various“ media”, which can include raw food, moist surfaces where bacteria
have been left, our hands or skin and from coughing or sneezing ( ). Hands, foods and
打喷嚏
utensils ( ) can carry individual bacteria living in communities contained within a
器皿
protective film. These microscopic layers of deposits containing bacteria are known as biofilms
and they are found on most surfaces and objects. Biofilm communities can harbor bacteria
longer and are very difficult to clean. Bacteria in these communities also have an enhanced
resistance to sanitizers ( ) and antibiotics compared to bacteria living on their own.
清洁剂
M) So the next time you consider eating fallen food, the odds are in your favor that you can eat it
without getting sick. But in the rare chance that there is a micro-organism that can make you
sick on the exact spot where the food dropped, you can be fairly sure that the bug is on the food
you are about to put in your mouth.
N) Research or common sense tells us that the best thing to do is keep your hands, utensils and
051四级阅读讲义
other surfaces clean.
36．A research project found bacteria made their way to the food on the floor in five seconds.
37．Whether food is contaminated depends much on the number of bacteria that get onto it.
38．Food contamination may result from various factors other than food dropping on the floor.
39．Males are less likely than females to eat food that may have been contaminated.
40．The author’s research centers around how food gets contaminated.
41．Keeping everything clean is the best way to stay healthy.
42．Chances are you will not fall sick because of eating food picked up from the floor.
43．For a long time people have had the experience of deciding whether or not to eat food picked
up from the floor.
44．Some strains of bacteria are so harmful that a tiny few can have deadly consequences.
45．Researchers found how many bacteria got onto the food did not have much to do with how
long the food stayed on a contaminated floor.
【2018年6月第1套】
As Tourists Crowd Out Locals, Venice Faces “Endangered” List
A) On a recent fall morning, a large crowd blocked the steps at one of Venice’s main tourist sites,
the Rialto Bridge. The Rialto Bridge is one of the four bridges spanning the Grand Canal. It is
the oldest bridge across the canal, and was the dividing line between the districts of San Marco
and San Polo. But on this day, there was a twist: it was tilled with Venetians, not tourists.
B)“ People are cheering and holding their carts in the air,” says Giovanni Giorgio, who helped
organize the march with a grass-roots organization called Generazione ’90. The carts he refers
to are small shopping carts—the symbol of a true Venetian“. It started as a joke,” he says with a
laugh.“ The idea was to put blades on the wheels! You know? Like Ben Hur. Precisely like that,
you just go around and run people down.”
C) Venice is one of the hottest tourist destinations in the world. But that’s a problem. Up to 90,000
tourists crowd its streets and canals every day—far outnumbering the 55,000 permanent
residents. The tourist increase is one key reason the city’s population is down from 175,000 in
the 1950s. The outnumbered Venetians have been steadily fleeing. And those who stick around
are tired of living in a place where they can’t even get to the market without swimming through
a sea of picture-snapping tourists. Imagine, navigating through 50,000 people while on the way
to school or to work.
D) Laura Chigi, a grandmother at the march, says the local and national governments have failed
to do anything about the crowds for decades, because they’re only interested in tourism—the
052primary industry in Venice, worth more than $3 billion in 2015.“ Venice is a cash cow,” she
says,“ and everyone wants a piece.”
E) Just beyond St. Mark’s Square, a cruise ship passes, one of hundreds every year that appear
over their medieval ( ) surroundings. Their massive wake creates waves at the bottom
中世纪的
of the sea, weakening the foundations of the centuries-old buildings themselves.“ Every time I
see a cruise ship, I feel sad,” Chigi says.“ You see the mud it drags; the destruction it leaves in
its wake? That hurts the ancient wooden poles holding up the city underwater. One day we’ll
see Venice break down.”
F) For a time, UNESCO, the cultural wing of the United Nations, seemed to agree. Two years ago,
it put Italy on notice, saying the government was not protecting Venice. UNESCO considers the
entire city a World Heritage Site, a great honor that means Venice, at the cultural level, belongs
to all of the world’s people. In 2014, UNESCO gave Italy two years to manage Venice’s
flourishing tourism or the city would be placed on another list—World Heritage In Danger,
joining such sites as Aleppo and Palmyra, destroyed by the war in Syria.
G) Venice’s deadline passed with barely a murmur ( ) this summer, just as UNESCO was meeting
嘟哝
in Istanbul. Only one representative, Jad Tabet from Lebanon, tried to raise the issue.“ For
several years, the situation of heritage in Venice has been worsening, and it has now reached
a dramatic situation,” Tabet told UNESCO.“ We have to act quickly, there is not a moment to
waste.”
H) But UNESCO didn’t even hold a vote.“ It’s been postponed until 2017,” says Anna Somers,
the founder and CEO of The Art Newspaper and the former head of Venice in Peril, a group
devoted to restoring Venetian art. She says the main reason the U.N. cultural organization
didn’t vote to declare Venice a World Heritage Site In Danger is because UNESCO has become
“intensely politicized. There would have been some back-room negotiations.”
I) Italy boasts more UNESCO World Heritage Sites than any other country in the world, granting
it considerable power and influence within the organization. The former head of the UNESCO
World Heritage Centre, which oversees heritage sites, is Francesco Bandarin, a Venetian who
now serves as UNESCO’s assistant director-general for culture.
J) Earlier this year, Italy signed an accord with UNESCO to establish a task force of police art
detectives and archaeologists ( ) to protect cultural heritage from natural disasters
考 古学家
and terror groups, such as ISIS. The accord underlined Italy’s global reputation as a good
steward of art and culture.
K) But adding Venice to the UNESCO endangered list—which is dominated by sites in developing
and conflict-ridden countries—would be an international embarrassment, and could even
hurt Italy’s profitable tourism industry. The Italian Culture Ministry says it is unaware of any
053四级阅读讲义
government efforts to pressure UNESCO. As for the organization itself, it declined a request for
an interview.
L) The city’s current mayor, Luigi Brugnaro, has ridiculed UNESCO and told it to mind its own
business, while continuing to support the cruise ship industry, which employs 5,000 Venice
residents.
M) As for Venetians, they’re beyond frustrated and hoping for a solution soon.“ It’s a nightmare
for me. Some situations are really difficult with tourists around,” says Giorgio as he navigates
around a swelling crowd at the Rialto Bridge.“ There are just so many of them. They never
know where they are going, and do not walk in an orderly manner. Navigating the streets can
be exhausting.”
N) Then it hits him: This crowd isn’t made up of tourists. They’re Venetians. Giorgio says he’s
never experienced the Rialto Bridge this way in all his 22 years.“ For once, we are the ones
who are blocking the traffic,” he says delightedly.“ It feels unreal. It feels like we’re some form
of endangered species. It’s just nice. The feeling is just pure.” But, he worries, if tourism isn’t
managed and his fellow locals continue to move to the mainland, his generation might be the
last who can call themselves native Venetians.
36．The passing cruise ships will undermine the foundations of the ancient buildings in Venice.
37．The Italian government has just reached an agreement with UNESCO to take measures to
protect its cultural heritage.
38．The heritage situation in Venice has been deteriorating in the past few years.
39．The decrease in the number of permanent residents in Venice is mainly due to the increase of
tourists.
40．If tourism gets out of control, native Venetians may desert the city altogether one day.
41．UNESCO urged the Italian government to undertake its responsibility to protect Venice.
42．The participants in the Venetian march used shopping carts to show they were 100% local
residents.
43．Ignoring UNESCO’s warning, the mayor of Venice maintains his support of the city’s tourism
industry.
44．One woman says that for decades the Italian government and local authorities have only
focused on the revenues from tourism.
45．UNESCO has not yet decided to put Venice on the list of World Heritage Sites In Danger.
054【2018年6月第2套】
New Jersey School District Eases Pressure on Students, Baring an Ethnic Divide
A) This fall, David Aderhold, the chief of a high-achieving school district near Princeton, New
Jersey, sent parents an alarming 16-page letter. The school district, he said, was facing a
crisis. Its students were overburdened and stressed out, having to cope with too much work
and too many demands. In the previous school year, 120 middle and high school students
were recommended for mental health assessments and 40 were hospitalized. And on a survey
administered by the district, students wrote things like,“ I hate going to school,” and“ Coming
out of 12 years in this district, I have learned one thing: that a grade, a percentage or even a
point is to be valued over anything else.”
B) With his letter, Aderhold inserted West Windsor-Plainsboro Regional School District into a
national discussion about the intense focus on achievement at elite schools, and whether it has
gone too far. At follow-up meetings, he urged parents to join him in advocating a“ whole child”
approach to schooling that respects“ social-emotional development” and“ deep and meaningful
learning” over academics alone. The alternative, he suggested, was to face the prospect of
becoming another Palo Alto, California, where outsize stress on teenage students is believed to
have contributed to a number of suicides in the last six years.
C) But instead of bringing families together, Aderhold’s letter revealed a divide in the district,
which has 9,700 students, and one that broke down roughly along racial lines. On one side
are white parents like Catherine Foley, a former president of the Parent-Teacher-Student
Association at her daughter’s middle school, who has come to see the district’s increasingly
pressured atmosphere as opposed to learning.“ My son was in fourth grade and told me,‘ I’m
not going to amount to anything because I have nothing to put on my résumé,’ ” she said. On
the other side are parents like Mike Jia, one of the thousands of Asian-American professionals
who have moved to the district in the past decade, who said Aderhold’s reforms would amount
to a“ dumbing down” of his children’s education.“ What is happening here reflects a national
anti-intellectual trend that will not prepare our children for the future,” Jia said.
D) About 10 minutes from Princeton and an hour and a half from New York City, West Windsor
and Plainsboro have become popular bedroom communities for technology entrepreneurs,
researchers and engineers, drawn in large part by the public schools. From the last three
graduating classes, 16 seniors were admitted to MIT. It produces Science Olympiad winners,
classically trained musicians and students with perfect SAT scores.
E) The district has become increasingly popular with immigrant families from China, India and
Korea. This year, 65 percent of its students are Asian-American, compared with 44 percent in
055四级阅读讲义
2007. Many of them are the first in their families born in the United States. They have had a
growing influence on the district. Asian-American parents are enthusiastic supporters of the
competitive instrumental music program. They have been huge supporters of the district’s
advanced mathematics program, which once began in the fourth grade but will now start in the
sixth. The change to the program, in which 90 percent of the participating students are Asian-
American, is one of Aderhold’s reforms.
F) Asian-American students have been eager participants in a state program that permits them to
take summer classes off campus for high school credit, allowing them to maximize the number
of honors and Advanced Placement classes they can take, another practice that Aderhold
is limiting this school year. With many Asian-American children attending supplementary
instructional programs, there is a perception among some white families that the elementary
school curriculum is being sped up to accommodate them.
G) Both Asian-American and white families say the tension between the two groups has grown
steadily over the past few years, as the number of Asian families has risen. But the division
has become more obvious in recent months as Aderhold has made changes, including no-
homework nights, an end to high school midterms and finals, and an initiative that made it
easier to participate in the music program.
H) Jennifer Lee, professor of sociology at the University of California, Irvine, and an author of
The Asian American Achievement Paradox, says misunderstandings between first-generation
Asian-American parents and those who have been in this country longer are common. What
white middle-class parents do not always understand, she said, is how much pressure recent
immigrants feel to boost their children into the middle class.“ They don’t have the same
chances to get their children internships ( ) or jobs at law firms,” Lee said.“ So what
实习职位
they believe is that their children must excel and beat their white peers in academic settings so
they have the same chances to excel later.”
I) The issue of the stresses felt by students in elite school districts has gained attention in recent
years as schools in places like Newton, Massachusetts, and Palo Alto have reported a number of
suicides. West Windsor-Plainsboro has not had a teenage suicide in recent years, but Aderhold,
who has worked in the district for seven years and been chief for the last three years, said he
had seen troubling signs. In a recent art assignment, a middle school student depicted ( )
描绘
an overburdened child who was being scolded for earning an A, rather than an A+, on a math
exam. In the image, the mother scolds the student with the words,“ Shame on you!” Further, he
said, the New Jersey Education Department has flagged at least two pieces of writing on state
English language assessments in which students expressed suicidal thoughts.
J) The survey commissioned by the district found that 68 percent of high school honor and
056Advanced Placement students reported feeling stressed about school“ always or most of the
time.”“ We need to bring back some balance,” Aderhold said.“ You don’t want to wait until it’s
too late to do something.”
K) Not all public opinion has fallen along racial lines. Karen Sue, the Chinese-American mother of
a fifth-grader and an eighth-grader, believes the competition within the district has gotten out of
control. Sue, who was born in the United States to immigrant parents, wants her peers to dial it
back.“ It’s become an arms race, an educational arms race,” she said.“ We all want our kids to
achieve and be successful. The question is, at what cost?”
36．Aderhold is limiting the extra classes that students are allowed to take off campus.
37．White and Asian-American parents responded differently to Aderhold’s appeal.
38．Suicidal thoughts have appeared in some students’ writings.
39．Aderhold’s reform of the advanced mathematics program will affect Asian-American students
most.
40．Aderhold appealed for parents’ support in promoting an all-round development of children,
instead of focusing only on their academic performance.
41．One Chinese-American parent thinks the competition in the district has gone too far.
42．Immigrant parents believe that academic excellence will allow their children equal chances to
succeed in the future.
43．Many businessmen and professionals have moved to West Windsor and Plainsboro because of
the public schools there.
44．A number of students in Aderhold’s school district were found to have stress-induced mental
health problems.
45．The tension between Asian-American and white families has increased in recent years.
【2018年6月第3套】
Some College Students Are Angry That They Have to Pay to Do Their Homework
A) Digital learning systems now charge students for access codes needed to complete coursework,
take quizzes, and turn in homework. As universities go digital, students are complaining of a
new hit to their finances that’s replacing—and sometimes joining—expensive textbooks: pricey
online access codes that are required to complete coursework and submit assignments.
B) The codes—which typically range in price from $80 to $155 per course—give students online
access to systems developed by education companies like McGraw Hill and Pearson. These
companies, which long reaped big profits as textbook publishers, have boasted that their new
online offerings, when pushed to students through universities they partner with, represent the
057四级阅读讲义
future of the industry.
C) But critics say the digital access codes represent the same profit-seeking ethos ( ) of
观念
the textbook business, and are even harder for students to opt out of. While they could once
buy second-hand textbooks, or share copies with friends, the digital systems are essentially
impossible to avoid.
D)“ When we talk about the access code we see it as the new face of the textbook monopoly (
垄
), a new way to lock students around this system,” said Ethan Senack, the higher education
断
advocate for the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, to BuzzFeed News.“ Rather than
$250 (for a print textbook) you’re paying $120,” said Senack.“ But because it’s all digital it
eliminates the used book market and eliminates any sharing and because homework and tests
are through an access code, it eliminates any ability to opt out.”
E) Sarina Harper, a 19-year-old student at Virginia Tech, was faced with a tough dilemma when
she first started college in 2015—pay rent or pay to turn in her chemistry homework. She
told BuzzFeed News that her freshman chemistry class required her to use Connect, a system
provided by McGraw Hill where students can submit homework, take exams and track their
grades. But the code to access the program cost $120—a big sum for Harper, who had already
put down $450 for textbooks, and had rent day approaching.
F) She decided to wait for her next work-study paycheck, which was typically $150-$200, to pay
for the code. She knew that her chemistry grade may take a dive as a result.“ It’s a balancing
act,” she said.“ Can I really afford these access codes now?” She didn’t hand in her first two
assignments for chemistry, which started her out in the class with a failing grade.
G) The access codes may be another financial headache for students, but for textbook businesses,
they’re the future. McGraw Hill, which controls 21% of the higher education market,
reported in March that its digital content sales exceeded print sales for the first time in 2015.
The company said that 45% of its $140 million revenue in 2015“ was derived from digital
products.”
H) A Pearson spokesperson told BuzzFeed News that“ digital materials are less expensive and
a good investment” that offer new features, like audio texts, personalized knowledge checks
and expert videos. Its digital course materials save students up to 60% compared to traditional
printed textbooks, the company added. McGraw Hill didn’t respond to a request for comment,
but its CEO David Levin told the Financial Times in August that“ in higher education, the era
of the printed textbook is now over.”
I) The textbook industry insists the online systems represent a better deal for students.“ These
digital products aren’t just mechanisms for students to submit homework, they offer all kinds
of features,” David Anderson, the executive director of higher education with the Association
058of American Publishers, told BuzzFeed News.“ It helps students understand in a way that you
can’t do with print homework assignments.”
J) David Hunt, an associate professor in sociology at Augusta University, which has rolled out
digital textbooks across its math and psychology departments, told BuzzFeed News that he
understands the utility of using systems that require access codes. But he doesn’t require his
students to buy access to a learning program that controls the class assignments.“ I try to make
things as inexpensive as possible,” said Hunt, who uses free digital textbooks for his classes
but designs his own curriculum.“ The online systems may make my life a lot easier but I feel
like I’m giving up control. The discussions are the things where my expertise can benefit the
students most.”
K) A 20-year-old junior at Georgia Southern University told BuzzFeed News that she normally
spends $500-$600 on access codes for class. In one case, the professor didn’t require students
to buy a textbook, just an access code to turn in homework. This year she said she spent $900
on access codes to books and programs.“ That’s two months of rent,” she said.“ You can’t sell
any of it back. With a traditional textbook you can sell it for $30-$50 and that helps to pay for
your new semester’s books. With an access code, you’re out of that money.”
L) Benjamin Wolverton, a 19-year-old student at the University of South Carolina, told BuzzFeed
News that“ It’s ridiculous that after paying tens of thousands in tuition we have to pay for
all these access codes to do our homework.” Many of the access codes he’s purchased have
been required simply to complete homework or quizzes.“ Often it’s only 10% of your grade in
class,” he said.“ You’re paying so much money for something that hardly affects your grade—
but if you didn’t have it, it would affect your grade enough. It would be bad to start out at a
B or C.” Wolverton said he spent $500 on access codes for digital books and programs this
semester.
M) Harper, a poultry ( ) science major, is taking chemistry again this year and had to buy a
家禽
new access code to hand in her homework. She rented her economics and statistics textbooks
for about $20 each. But her access codes for homework, which can’t be rented or bought
second-hand, were her most expensive purchases: $120 and $85.
N) She still remembers the sting of her first experience skipping an assignment due to the high
prices.“ We don’t really have a missed assignment policy,” she said.“ If you miss it, you just
miss it. I just got zeros on a couple of first assignments. I managed to pull everything back up.
But as a scared freshman looking at their grades, it’s not fun.”
36．A student’s yearly expenses on access codes may amount to their rent for two months.
37．The online access codes may be seen as a way to tie the students to the digital system.
059四级阅读讲义
38．If a student takes a course again, they may have to buy a new access code to submit their
assignments.
39．McGraw Hill accounts for over one-fifth of the market share of college textbooks.
40．Many traditional textbook publishers are now offering online digital products, which they
believe will be the future of the publishing business.
41．One student complained that they now had to pay for access codes in addition to the high
tuition.
42．Digital materials can cost students less than half the price of traditional printed books
according to a publisher.
43．One student decided not to buy her access code until she received the pay for her part-time
job.
44．Online systems may deprive teachers of opportunities to make the best use of their expertise
for their students.
45．Digital access codes are criticized because they are profit-driven just like the textbook
business.
【2017年12月第1套】
Do In-Class Exams Make Students Study Harder?
Research suggests they may study more broadly for the unexpected rather than search for
answers.
A) I have always been a poor test-taker. So it may seem rather strange that I have returned to
college to finish the degree I left undone some four decades ago. I am making my way through
Columbia University, surrounded by students who quickly supply the verbal answer while I am
still processing the question.
B) Since there is no way for me to avoid exams, I am currently questioning what kind are the most
taxing and ultimately beneficial. I have already sweated through numerous in-class midterms
and finals, and now I have a professor who issues take-home ones. I was excited when I learned
this, figuring I had a full week to do the research, read the texts, and write it all up. In fact, I
was still rewriting my midterm the morning it was due. To say I had lost the thread is putting it
mildly.
C) As I was suffering through my week of anxiety, overthinking the material and guessing my
grasp of it, I did some of my own polling among students and professors. David Eisenbach,
who teaches a popular class on U.S. presidents at Columbia, prefers the in-class variety. He
believes students ultimately learn more and encourages them to form study groups.“ That way
they socialize over history outside the class, which wouldn’t happen without the pressure of
060an in-class exam,” he explained.“ Furthermore, in-class exams force students to learn how to
perform under pressure, an essential work skill.”
D) He also says there is less chance of cheating with the in-class variety. In 2012, 125 students at
Harvard were caught up in a scandal when it was discovered they had cheated on a take-home
exam for a class entitled“ Introduction To Congress.” Some colleges have what they call an
“honor code,” though if you are smart enough to get into these schools, you are either smart
enough to get around any codes or hopefully, too ethical to consider doing so. As I sat blocked
and clueless for two solid days, I momentarily wondered if I couldn’t just call an expert on
the subject matter which I was tackling, or someone who took the class previously, to get me
going.
E) Following the Harvard scandal, Mary Miller, the former dean of students at Yale, made an
impassioned appeal to her school’s professors to refrain from take-home exams.“ Students
risk health and well being, as well as performance in other end-of-term work, when faculty
offers take-home exams without clear, time-limited boundaries,” she told me.“ Research now
shows that regular quizzes, short essays, and other assignments over the course of a term better
enhance learning and retention.”
F) Most college professors agree the kind of exam they choose largely depends on the subject.
A quantitative-based one, for example, is unlikely to be sent home, where one could ask
their older brothers and sisters to help. Vocational-type classes, such as computer science or
journalism, on the other hand, are often more research-oriented and lend themselves to take-
home testing. Chris Koch, who teaches“ History of Broadcast Journalism” at Montgomery
Community College in Rockville, Maryland, points out that reporting is about investigation
rather than the memorization of minute details.“ In my field, it’s not what you know—it’s what
you know how to find out,” says Koch.“ There is way too much information, and more coming
all the time, for anyone to remember. I want my students to search out the answers to questions
by using all the resources available to them.
G) Students’ test-form preferences vary, too, often depending on the subject and course difficulty.
“I prefer take-home essays because it is then really about the writing, so you have time to
edit and do more research,” says Elizabeth Dresser, a junior at Barnard. Then there is the
stress factor. Francesca Haass, a senior at Middlebury, says,“ I find the in-class ones are more
stressful in the short term, but there is immediate relief as you swallow information like mad,
and then you get to forget it all. Take-homes require thoughtful engagement which can lead
to longer term stress as there is never a moment when the time is up.” Meanwhile, Olivia
Rubin, a sophomore at Emory, says she hardly even considers take-homes true exams.“ If you
understand the material and have the ability to articulate ( ) your thoughts, they should be
说出
061四级阅读讲义
a breeze.”
H) How students ultimately handle tests may depend on their personal test-taking abilities. There
are people who always wait until the last minute, and make it much harder than it needs to
be. And then there those who, not knowing what questions are coming at them, and having
no resources to refer to, can freeze. And then there are we rare folks who fit both those
descriptions.
I) Yes, my advanced age must factor into the equation ( ), in part because of my inability
等 式
to access the information as quickly. As another returning student at Columbia, Kate Marber,
told me,“ We are learning not only all this information, but essentially how to learn again. Our
fellow students have just come out of high school. A lot has changed since we were last in
school.”
J) If nothing else, the situation has given my college son and me something to share, When I asked
his opinion on this matter, he responded,“ I like in-class exams because the time is already
reserved, as opposed to using my free time at home to work on a test,” he responded. It seems
to me that a compromise would be receiving the exam questions a day or two in advance, and
then doing the actual test in class with the ticking clock overhead.
K) Better yet, how about what one Hunter College professor reportedly did recently for her final
exam: She encouraged the class not to stress or even study, promising that,“ It is going to be a
piece of cake.” When the students came in, sharpened pencils in hand, there was not a bluebook
in sight. Rather, they saw a large chocolate cake and they each were given a slice.
36．Elderly students find it hard to keep up with the rapid changes in education.
37．Some believe take-home exams may affect students’ performance in other courses.
38．Certain professors believe in-class exams are ultimately more helpful to students.
39．In-class exams are believed to discourage cheating in exams.
40．The author was happy to learn she could do some exams at home.
41．Students who put off their work until the last moment often find the exams more difficult than
they actually are.
42．Different students may prefer different types of exams.
43．Most professors agree whether to give an in-class or a take-home exam depends on the type
of course being taught.
44．The author dropped out of college some forty years ago.
45．Some students think take-home exams will eat up their free time.
062第三部分 选词填空
一、题型介绍
， ： 、 、 。
大学英语四级试卷由四个部分构成 依次为 写作 听力理解 阅读理解和翻译
、 ：
其中阅读理解部分的测试内容 题型和所占分值比例如下表所示
试卷结构 测试内容 测试题型 题目数量 分值占比 考试时间
10 5%
词汇理解 选词填空
10 10% 40
阅读理解 长篇阅读 匹配 分钟
10 20%
仔细阅读 单选题
30 35% 40
总计 分钟
200-250 ， 5%。
词汇理解的篇章长度约 词 分值占比为
， 。
词汇理解采用选词填空题型 考核学生对篇章语境中词汇的理解和运用能力 篇章中
10 ， 15 。
删去了 个词汇 并在篇章后提供 个词汇选项 要求考生在对篇章理解的基础上从所
， 。
给的词汇选项中选择正确的词汇答题 使篇章复原
二、考情分析
， ，
选 词 填 空 对 于 基 本 功 要 求 很 高 不 仅 对 要 求 高 对 于
， ，
的熟悉程度要求也很高 还有 的能力 这部分正确率不高
， ， ， ；
的同学 一定要多背单词 特别是选项中好多单词不认识的同学 证明词汇量太小了 对
， 。
于拆解句子有问题的同学 注意多回看语法课
三、解题技巧
1. ，
预览选项
2. ，
精读 先确定词性缩小范围
063四级阅读讲义
3.
再根据 选出答案
4. ，
较难的空可以先放着 第二遍再做
四、真题演练
【2019年6月第1套】
Just because they can’t sing opera or ride a bicycle doesn’t mean that animals don’t have
culture. There’s no better example of this than killer whales. As one of the most 26 predators
( ), killer whales may not fit the 27 of a cultured creature. However, these beasts of
食肉动物
the sea do display a vast range of highly 28 behaviors that appear to be driving their genetic
development.
The word“ culture” comes from the Latin“ colere”, which 29 means“ to cultivate.”
In other words, it refers to anything that is 30 or learnt, rather than instinctive or natural.
Among human populations, culture not only affects the way we live, but also writes itself into our
genes, affecting who we are. For instance, having spent many generations hunting the fat marine
mammals of the Arctic, the Eskimos of Greenland have developed certain genetic 31 that help
them digest and utilize this fat-rich diet, thereby allowing them to 32 in their cold climate.
Like humans, killer whales have colonized a range of different 33 across the globe,
occupying every ocean basin on the planet, with an empire that 34 from pole to pole. As such,
different populations of killer whales have had to learn different hunting techniques in order to
gain the upper hand over their local prey ( ). This, in turn, has a major effect on their diet,
猎 物
leading scientists to 35 that the ability to learn population-specific hunting methods could be
driving the animals’ genetic development.
A) acquired I) image
B) adaptations J) literally
C) brutal K) refined
D) deliberately L) revolves
E) expressed M) speculate
F) extends N) structure
G) habitats O) thrive
H) humble
064【2019年6月第2套】
The center of American automobile innovation has in the past decade moved 2,000 miles
away. It has 26 from Detroit to Silicon Valley, where self-driving vehicles are coming into
life.
In a 27 to take production back to Detroit, Michigan lawmakers have introduced
28 that could make their state the best place in the country, if not the world, to develop self-
driving vehicles and put them on the road.
“Michigan’s 29 in auto research and development is under attack from several states and
countries which desire to 30 our leadership in transportation. Mike Kowall, the lead 31 of
four bills recently introduced.
If all four bills pass as written, they would 32 a substantial update of Michigan’s 2013
law that allowed the testing of self-driving vehicles in limited conditions. Manufacturers would
have nearly total freedom to test their self-driving technology on public roads. They would
be allowed to send groups of self-driving cars on cross-state road trips, and even set up on-
demand 33 of self-driving cars, like the one General Motors and Lyft are building.
Lawmakers in Michigan clearly want to make the state ready for the commercial application
of self-driving technology. In 34 , California, home of Silicon Valley, recently proposed far
more 35 rules that would require human driving technology.
A) bid I) replace
B) contrast J) represent
C) deputy K) restrictive
D) dominance L) reward
E) fleets M) significant
F) knots N) sponsor
G) legislation O) transmitted
H) migrated
【2019年6月第3套】
Ships are often sunk in order to create underwater reefs ( ) perfect for scuba diving (
暗礁 水
) and preserving marine 26 . Turkish authorities have just sunk something a little
肺式潜泳
different than a ship, and it wouldn’t normally ever touch water, an Airbus A300. The hollowed-out
A300 was 27 of everything potentially harmful to the environment and sunk off the Aegean
coast today. Not only will the sunken plane 28 the perfect skeleton for artificial reef growth,
but authorities hope this new underwater attraction will bring tourists to the area.
065四级阅读讲义
The plane 29 a total length of 54 meters, where experienced scuba divers will
30 be able to venture through the cabin and around the plane’s 31 . Aydin Municipality
bought the plane from a private company for just under US$100,000, but they hope to see a return
on that 32 through the tourism industry. Tourism throughout Turkey is expected to fall this
year as the country has been the 33 of several deadly terrorist attacks. As far as sunken planes
go, this Airbus A300 is the largest 34 sunk aircraft ever.
Taking a trip underwater and 35 the inside of a sunken A300 would be quite an
adventure, and that is exactly what Turkish authorities are hoping this attraction will make people
think. Drawing in adventure seekers and experienced divers, this new artificial Airbus reef will be
a scuba diver’s paradise ( ).
天堂
A) create I) intentionally
B) depressed J) investment
C) eventually K) revealing
D) experiences L) stretches
E) exploring M) stripped
F) exterior N) territory
G) habitats O) victim
H) innovate
【2018年12月第1套】
Millions die early from air pollution each year. Air pollution costs the global economy more
than $5 trillion annually in welfare costs, with the most serious 26 occurring in the developing
world.
The figures include a number of costs 27 with air pollution. Lost income alone amounts
to $225 billion a year.
The report includes both indoor and outdoor air pollution. Indoor pollution, which
includes 28 like home heating and cooking, has remained 29 over the past several
decades despite advances in the area. Levels of outdoor pollution have grown rapidly along with
rapid growth in industry and transportation.
Director of Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation Chris Murray 30 it as an“ urgent
call to action.”“ One of the risk factors for premature deaths is the air we breathe, over which
individuals have little 31 ,” he said.
The effects of air pollution are worst in the developing world, where in some places lost-labor
income 32 nearly 1% of GDP. Around 9 in 10 people in low- and middle-income countries
066live in places where they 33 experience dangerous levels of outdoor air pollution.
But the problem is not limited 34 to the developing world. Thousands die prematurely in
the U.S. as a result of related illnesses. In many European countries, where diesel ( ) 35 have
柴油
become more common in recent years, that number reaches tens of thousands.
A) ability I) exclusively
B) associated J) innovated
C) consciously K) regularly
D) constant L) relates
E) control M) sources
F) damage N) undermine
G) described O) vehicles
H) equals
【2018年12月第2套】
Have you ever used email to apologize to a colleague? Delivered a 26 to a subordinate
( ) with a voice-mail message? Flown by plane across the country just to deliver important news
下属
in person? The various communication options at our fingertips today can be good for 27 and
productivity—and at the same time very troublesome. With so many ways to communicate,
how should a manager choose the one that’s best— 28 when the message to be delivered is
bad or unwelcome news for the recipient? We’ve 29 business communication consultants
and etiquette ( ) experts to come up with the following guidelines for 30 using the
礼 仪
alternative ways of delivering difficult messages.
First of all, choose how personal you want to be. A face-to-face communication is the
most 31 . Other choices, in descending order of personalization, are: a real-time phone call, a
voice-mail message, a handwritten note, a typewritten letter, and the most 32 is email. Some
of these may change order according to the 33 situation or your own preferences; for example,
a handwritten note might seem more personal than voice-mail. How do you decide on the best
choice for the difficult message you’ve got to deliver?“ My 34 concern is: How can I soften
or civilize this message?” says etiquette expert Dana Casperson.“ So when I apologize, I usually
choose in-person first, or a phone conversation as my top alternative, and maybe a handwritten
note next. Apologizing by email is something I now totally 35 .”
067四级阅读讲义
A) avoid I) reward
B) convenience J) silent
C) effectively K) specific
D) escape L) surveyed
E) intimate M) unfriendly
F) particularly N) warning
G) primary O) witnessed
H) prompt
【2018年12月第3套】
A few months ago, I was down with a terrible cold which ended in a persistent bad cough.
No matter how many different 26 I tried, I still couldn’t get rid of the cough. Not only did
it 27 my teaching but also my life as a whole. Then one day after class, a student came up to
me and 28 traditional Chinese medicine. From her description, Chinese medicine sounded
as if it had magic power that worked wonders. I was 29 because I knew so little about it and
have never tried it before. Eventually, my cough got so much 30 that I couldn’t sleep at night,
so I decided to give it a try. The Chinese doctor took my pulse and asked to see my tongue, both
of which were new 31 to me because they are both non-existent in Western medicine. Then
the doctor gave me a scraping ( ) treatment known as“ Gua Sha”. I was a little 32 at first
刮
because he used a smooth edged tool to scrape the skin on my neck and shoulders. A few minutes
later, the 33 strokes started to produce a relieving effect and my body and mind began to
34 deeper into relaxation. I didn’t feel any improvement in my condition in the first couple of
days, but after a few more regular visits to the doctor, my cough started to 35 . Then, within a
matter of weeks, it was completely gone!
A) deepen I) remedies
B) experiences J) scared
C) hesitant K) sensitive
D) inconvenience L) sink
E) lessen M) temporary
F) licenses N) tremble
G) pressured O) worse
H) recommended
068【2018年6月第1套】
Since the 1940s, southern California has had a reputation for smog. Things are not as bad as
they once were but, according to the American Lung Association, Los Angeles is still the worst
city in the United States for levels of 26 . Gazing down on the city from the Getty Center, an
art museum in the Santa Monica Mountains, one would find the view of the Pacific Ocean blurred
by the haze ( ). Nor is the state’s bad air 27 to its south. Fresno, in the central valley, comes
霾
top of the list in America for year-round pollution. Residents’ hearts and lungs are affected as
a 28 .
All of which, combined with California’s reputation as the home of technological 29 ,
makes the place ideal for developing and testing systems designed to monitor pollution in 30 .
And that is just what Aclima, a new firm in San Francisco, has been doing over the past few
months. It has been trying out monitoring stations that are 31 to yield minute-to-minute maps
of 32 air pollution. Such stations will also be able to keep an eye on what is happening inside
buildings, including offices.
To this end, Aclima has been 33 with Google’s Street View system. Davida Herzl,
Aclima’s boss, says they have revealed pollution highs on days when San Francisco’s transit
workers went on strike and the city’s 34 were forced to use their cars. Conversely,“ cycle to
work” days have done their job by 35 pollution lows.
A) assisted I) inhabitants
B) collaborating J) innovation
C) consequence K) intended
D) consumers L) outdoor
E) creating M) pollutants
F) detail N) restricted
G) domestic O) sum
H) frequently
【2018年6月第2套】
Neon ( ) is to Hong Kong as red phone booths are to London and fog is to San Francisco.
霓虹
When night falls, red and blue and other colors 26 a hazy ( ) glow over a city lit up
雾蒙蒙的
by tens of thousands of neon signs. But many of them are going dark, 27 by more practical,
but less romantic, LEDs ( ).
发光二极管
Changing building codes, evolving tastes, and the high cost of maintaining those wonderful
old signs have businesses embracing LEDs, which are energy 28 , but still carry great cost.
069四级阅读讲义
“To me, neon represents memories of the past,” says photographer Sharon Blance, whose series
Hong Kong Neon celebrates the city’s famous signs.“ Looking at the signs now I get a feeling of
amazement, mixed with sadness.”
Building a neon sign is an art practiced by 29 trained on the job to mold glass tubes
into 30 shapes and letters. They fill these tubes with gases that glow when 31 . Neon
makes orange, while other gases make yellow or blue. It takes many hours to craft a single sign.
Blance spent a week in Hong Kong and 32 more than 60 signs; 22 of them appear in the
series that capture the signs lighting up lonely streets—an 33 that makes it easy to admire
their colors and craftsmanship.“ I love the beautiful, handcrafted, old-fashioned 34 of neon,”
says Blance. The signs do nothing more than 35 a restaurant, theater, or other business, but do
so in the most striking way possible.
A) alternative I) photographed
B) approach J) professionals
C) cast K) quality
D) challenging L) replaced
E) decorative M) stimulate
F) efficient N) symbolizes
G) electrified O) volunteers
H) identify
【2018年6月第3套】
An office tower on Miller Street in Manchester is completely covered in solar panels. They
are used to create some of the energy used by the insurance company inside. When the tower was
first 26 in 1962, it was covered with thin square stones. These small square stones became a
problem for the building and continued to fall off the face for 40 years until a major renovation
was 27 . During this renovation the building’s owners, CIS, 28 the solar panel company,
Solarcentury. They agreed to cover the entire building in solar panels. In 2004, the completed CIS
tower became Europe’s largest 29 of vertical solar panels. A vertical solar project on such a
large 30 has never been repeated since.
Covering a skyscraper with solar panels had never been done before, and the CIS tower was
chosen as one of the“ 10 best green energy projects”. For a long time after this renovation project,
it was the tallest building in the United Kingdom, but it was 31 overtaken by the Millbank
Tower.
Green buildings like this aren’t 32 cost-efficient for the investor, but it does produce
070much less pollution than that caused by energy 33 through fossil fuels. As solar panels
get 34 , the world is likely to see more skyscrapers covered in solar panels, collecting energy
much like trees do. Imagine a world where building the tallest skyscraper wasn’t a race of 35 ,
but rather one to collect the most solar energy.
A) cheaper I) eventually
B) cleaner J) height
C) collection K) necessarily
D) competed L) production
E) constructed M) range
F) consulted N) scale
G) dimension O) undertaken
H) discovered
【2017年12月第1套】
A rat or pigeon might not be the obvious choice to tend to someone who is sick, but these
creatures have some 26 skills that could help the treatment of human diseases.
Pigeons are often seen as dirty birds and an urban 27 , but they are just the latest in a
long line of animals that have been found to have abilities to help humans. Despite having a brain
no bigger than the 28 of your index finger, pigeons have a very impressive 29 memory.
Recently it was shown that they could be trained to be as accurate as humans at detecting breast
cancer in images.
Rats are often 30 with spreading disease rather than 31 it, but this long-tailed animal
is highly 32 . Inside a rat’s nose are up to 1,000 different types of olfactory receptors (
嗅觉感
), whereas humans only have 100 to 200 types. This gives rats the ability to detect 33 smells.
受器
As a result, some rats are being put to work to detect TB ( ). When the rats detect the
肺结 核
smell, they stop and rub their legs to 34 a sample is infected.
Traditionally, a hundred samples would take lab technicians more than two days to 35 ,
but for a rat it takes less than 20 minutes. This rat detection method doesn’t rely on specialist
equipment. It is also more accurate—the rats are able to find more TB infections and, therefore,
save more lives.
071四级阅读讲义
A) associated I) slight
B) examine J) specify
C) indicate K) superior
D) nuisance L) suspicious
E) peak M) tip
F) preventing N) treated
G) prohibiting O) visual
H) sensitive
【2017年12月第2套】
We all know there exists a great void ( ) in the public educational system when it
空 白
comes to 26 to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) courses. One
educator named Dori Roberts decided to do something to change this system. Dori taught high
school engineering for 11 years. She noticed there was a real void in quality STEM education at all
27 of the public educational system. She said“, I started Engineering For Kids (EFK) after noticing
a real lack of math, science and engineering programs to 28 my own kids in.”
She decided to start an afterschool program where children 29 in STEM-based
competitions. The club grew quickly and when it reached 180 members and the kids in the
program won several state 30 , she decided to devote all her time to cultivating and
31 it. The global business EFK was born.
Dori began operating EFK out of her Virginia home, which she then expanded to 32 recreation
centers. Today, the EFK program 33 over 144 branches in 32 states within the United States
and in 21 countries. Sales have doubled from $5 million in 2014 to $10 million in 2015, with
25 new branches planned for 2016. The EFK website states,“ Our nation is not 34 enough
engineers. Our philosophy is to inspire kids at a young age to understand that engineering is a
great 35 .”
A) attracted I) feeding
B) career J) graduating
C) championships K) interest
D) degrees L) levels
E) developing M) local
F) enroll N) operates
G) exposure O) participated
H) feasible
072【2017年12月第3套】
Technological changes brought dramatic new options to Americans living in the 1990s.
During this decade new forms of entertainment, commerce, research, and communication became
commonplace in the U.S. The driving force behind much of this change was a(n) 26 popularly
known as the Internet.
The Internet was developed during the 1970s by the Department of Defense. In the case of an
attack, military advisers suggested the 27 of being able to operate one computer from another
terminal. In the early days, the Internet was used mainly by scientists to communicate with other
scientists. The Internet 28 under government control until 1984.
One early problem faced by Internet users was speed. Phone lines could only transmit
information at a 29 rate. The development of fiber-optic ( ) cables allowed for billions
光纤
of bits of information to be received every minute. Companies like Intel developed faster
microprocessors, so personal computers could process the 30 signals at a more rapid rate.
In the early 1990s, the World Wide Web was developed, in large part, for 31 purposes.
Corporations created home pages where they could place text and graphics to sell products. Soon airline
tickets, hotel 32 , and even cars and homes could be purchased online. Universities 33 research
data on the Internet, so students could find 34 information without leaving their dormitories.
Companies soon discovered that work could be done at home and 35 online, so a whole new
class of telecommuters began to earn a living from home offices unshaven and wearing pajamas
( ).
睡衣
A) advantage I) maintained
B) commercial J) occupations
C) conservation K) posted
D) equipped L) remained
E) incoming M) reservations
F) innovation N) submitted
G) limited O) valuable
H) local
073
