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2012 年 12 月大学英语四级(CET-4)阅读真题试卷（1）
PartⅣ Reading Comprehension (Reading in Depth) (25 minutes)
SectionA
Direction: In this section, thereis a passagewith 10 blanks. You arerequired to select one wordfor eachblank
from alist ofchoicesgiven in a wordblankfollowing the passage. Read the passage through carefully before
making your choices. Each choice in the blank is identified by a letter. Please make the corresponding letter
for each item on Answer sheet 2 with a single line through the center. You may not use any of the
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wordsin thebankmorethanonce.
Questions47to 56are basedonthefollowing passage.
When Carly Fiorina became Hewlett-Packard’s first female chief executive officer, the existence of her
househusband,Frank Fiorina,whohadretired early fromAT&Tto supporthercareer,wasa mini-sensation(小轰
动); now this arrangement isn’t 47 at all. Seven of the 18 women who are 48 CEOs, of Fortune
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500companies—includingXerox’sUrsulaBurnsandPepsiCo’sIndraNooyi—have,oratsomepointhavehad,
a stay-at-home husband. So do scores of 49 CEOs of smaller companies and women in other senior
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executivejobs.
Thisrolechangeis 50 moreandmoreaswomenedgepastmenatwork.Womennow
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51 amajorityofjobsintheU.S.,including51.4percentofmanagerialandprofessional 52 ,according
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to U.S. Census Bureau data. Sme 23 percent of wives now earn more than their husband.And this earnings trend
is more dramatic among younger people. Women 30 and under make more money, on 53 , than their male
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counterparts(年龄相当的人)inmanylargecitiesintheU.S.
During the recent 54 , three men lost their jobs for every woman. Many unemployed fathers have
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endedupcaringfortheirchildrenfull-timewhiletheirwivesarethe 55 wageearners.Thenumberofmenin
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the U.S. who 56 care of children under age five increased to 32 percent in 2010 from 19 percent in 1998,
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accordingtoCensusfigures.
注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。
A)appealing I)occupations
B)average J)occurring
C)conflict K)positions
D)currently L)primary
E)elementary M)recession
F)ensure N)regularly
G)female O)unusual
H)fill
Section B
Directions: There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished
statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A),B),C) and D).You should decide on the best
choiceandmarkthecorrespondingletteronAnswer sheet 2withasinglelinethroughthecenter.
1/4PassageOne
Questions 57to61arebased onthefollowing passage.
I’ve worked in the factories surrounding my hometown every summer since I graduated from high school,
but making the transition (转变) between school and full-time blue-collar work during the break never gets any
easier. For a student like me who considers any class before noon to be uncivilized, getting to a factory by 6
o’clockeachmorningis torture. My friends neverseem tounderstandwhyI’mso relieved tobe backatschoolor
thatmysummervacationhasbeenanythingbutavacation.
There’re few people as self-confidentas a college student who has never beenout in the real world. People
my age always seem to overestimate thevalue of their time andknowledge. In fact,allthe classes didnotprepare
me for my battles with the machine I ran in the plant, which would jam whenever I absent-mindedly put in a part
backwardorupsidedown.
The most stressful thing about blue-collar life is knowing your job could disappear overnight. Issues like
downsizing (裁员) and overseas relocation had always seemed distant to me until my co-workers told me that the
untilI wasworkingin wouldshutdownwithin six monthsandmove toMexico, wherepeoplewouldworkfor 60
centsandhour.
After working 12-hour shifts in a factory,the other options have become only too clear.When I’m back at
the university,skipping classes and turning in lazy re-writes seems too irresponsible after seeing what I would be
doing without school.All the advice and public-service announcements about the value of an education that used
tosoundstalenowringtrue.
These lessons I’m learning, however valuable, are always tinged (带有) with sense of guilt. Many people
passtheir livesin theplacesI brieflywork, spending30years whereI spendonlytwomonthsatatime. “This job
payswell,butit’shellonthebody,”saidoneco-worker.“Studyhardandkeepreading,”sheadded.
My experiences in the factories have inspired me to make the most of my college years before I enter the
realworldforgood.
注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。
57.Howdidtheauthorlookbackonhissummerdayswhileatcollege?
[A]Theybroughthimnothingbuttorture.
[B]Theywerenoholidayforhimatall.
[C]Theywerearelieffromhishardworkatschool.
[D]Theyofferedhimachancetoknowmorepeople.
58.Whatdoestheauthorsayaboutcollegestudents?
[A]Theyexpecttoomuchfromtherealworld.
[B]Theyhavelittleinterestinblue-collarlife.
[C]Theythinktoohighlyofthemselves.
[D]Theyareconfidentoftheirfuture.
59.What,accordingtotheauthor,ismostfrustratingforblue-collarworkers?
[A]Theydonotgetdecentpay. [B]Theydonothavejobsecurity.
[C]Theyhavetowork12-hourshifts. [D]Theyhavetomovefromplacetoplace.
2/460.Inwhatimportantwayhastheauthor’sworkexperiencechangedhim?
[A]Helearnedtobemorepractical.
[B]Heacquiredasenseofurgency.
[C]Hecametorespectblue-collarworkers.
[D]Hecametoappreciatehiscollegeeducation.
61.Whydoestheauthorfeelsomewhatguilty?
[A]Herealizesthereisagreatdividebetweenhislifeandthatofblue-collarworkers.
[B]Helooksdownuponthemechanicalworkattheassemblylife.
[C]Hehasnotdonemuchtohelphisco-workersatthefactory.
[D]Hehasstayedatschooljustforthepurposeofescapingfromtherealworld.
PassageTwo
Questions 62to66arebased onthefollowing passage.
Arepeoplesufferingformgadget(小器具)overload?Aretheyexhaustedbytheconsumerequivalentofthe
brainfatigue—informationoverload—thatiscausedbyconstantupdatesofdevicesandonlinemedia?
Underwriters Laboratories issued a report last week that found 48% of consumers “feel high-tech
manufacturersbringnewproductstomarketfasterthanpeopleneedthem.”
There are two possible explanations. The first, obvious one is that the pace of innovation (创新) is too fast
for consumers. The second, less obvious one is that, innovation is too slow. That is the new offerings companies
are pushing out the door every six months or so are me-too products or ones with just a couple of new features.
Marketing schedules, not product innovation, are driving the corporate (公司的) train. Manufacturers in
Americanvalued“spendtomarket”morethaninothercountries,thereportfound.
Sara Greenstein, Underwriters Laboratories’ chief strategy officer, offered her interpretation of the survey
results,“Innovationistoofastonlyifcornersarecut.”
For the high-tech sector, there are a few other interesting finding. Consumers are less concerned about
safety in high-tech products than categories like fresh and processed food. But their top safety concerns are
emissionsandwirelessradiowaves.Manypeople,itseems,areuneasylivinginathickeningcloudofradiowaves
frommobilephonetowersandthegadgetstheycommunicatewith.
A finding that was a bit surprising is that to consumers, the inner parts of high-tech devices do apparently
matter. Some 55% of consumers, according to the report, said they are “more” concerned about high-tech
componentscomefromthanwheretheproductwasassembled.”
The report doesn’t really say how that information would affect consumer buying decisions. It could be
complicated. Manufacturing companies on average rely on more than 35 contract suppliers around the world to
createasingleproduct.Thatnumberwouldbehigherforasmartphoneorlaptop.
But maybe some sort of supply-chain labeling showing where parts come from in a product? “We’re
workingonit,”Ms.Greensteinsaid.
注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。
62.WhatisthefindinginUnderwritersLaboratories’reportaboutmanyconsumers?
[A]Theyareexhaustedbytheinformationoverload.
[B]Theyaretiredoftheconstantupdatingofdevices.
[C]Theyfeelproductsareupdatedfasterthanneeded.
3/4[D]Theyhavedifficultyfollowinghigh-techinnovations.
63.Whatdoestheauthormeanby“me-tooproducts”?
[A]Productswithonsubstantialdifference. [B]Productstailoredtoindividualusers.
[C]Productseveryoneiseagertopossess. [D]Productscompaniescompeteamake.
64.WhatdoAmericanbusinessesgiveprioritytowhenmarketingtheirproducts?
[A]Theconstantupdatingoftheirtechnology.
[B]Thespeedofputtingthemonthemarket.
[C]Thequalityoftheirnewproducts.
[D]Thepaceofproductinnovation.
65.Whatistheconsumers’chiefconcernabouthigh-techproducts?
[A]User-friendliness. [B]Productquality.
[C]Placeofassembly. [D]Radioemissions.
66.Whydoestheauthorsuggestsupply-chainlabeling?
[A]Itguaranteesthesafeshippingofproducts.
[B]Itpromotesthecompetitivenessofthesupplier.
[C]Consumerscareaboutwherecomponentsaremade.
[D]Consumerstendtobuyproductstheyarefamiliarwith.
4/4
