专业四级考前恶补--阅读完型.doc

专业四级考前恶补--阅读完型
完形填空(一)
 宏观上处理好篇章与空格之间的关系完形填空的测试目的是测试学生运用语言的综合能力。完形填空的考试重点是上下文的联系和短语结构的搭配关系。由于考试时间紧，许多考生在回答这部分题的时候，往往不顾整个篇章的结构、大意或文体，一开始就把注意力放在空格选项上，孤立地研究单个选项，这就脱离了文章整体，答题的准确率也会大受影响。因此，要做好这部分试题考生首先必须大体理解篇章的主要内容、逻辑关系，从而判断出作者的意图及归纳或演绎的思路；另外，考生在答题之前，还要对文章的文体有所了解，这有利于考生根据不同的文体对不同的或相近的选项做出正确的选择。如文学材料科普文章、新闻报道等由于文体上的不同，它们在用词和句子结构上都有所不同。请看下面例子：

Vitamins are organic compounds necessary in small amounts in the diet for the normal growth and maintenance of life of animals, including man. They do not provide energy, ___1___ do they construct or build any part of the body. They are needed for ___2___ foods into energy and body maintenance. There are thirteen or more of them, and if  ___3___ is missing, a deficiency disease becomes ___4___.

1. A. either  B. so      C. nor      D. never

2.  A. shifting B. transferringC. altering D. transforming 

3.  A. any  B. someC. anything D. something 

4. A. serious  B. apparent  C. severe  D. fatal

通读全文后可知，这是一篇有关科普知识的短文，一般来说科普知识文章以客观陈述为突出特点，用词比较正式，句子结构比较严密，因此在选择时要在宏观上考虑到这些因素。比如第四空，从科学常识可知，缺乏任何一种维生素都不至于使疾病严重(serious)、致命(fatal)，故应排除选项A和D。severe（严厉的）不能用来修饰疾病。因此，选B apparent既合乎句意，搭配又得当。另外，完形填空的空格没有任何一个是孤立地存在的，必须把它们放在文章的语言环境中进行逐个推敲同时利用自己对各种材料描写、陈述内容的了解，作出正确选择。

PART  Ⅰ

Decide which of the choices given below would correctly complete the passage if inserted in the corresponding blanks. Mark the correct choice for each blank on your ANSWER SHEET. The United States is well-known for its network of major highways designed to help a driver get from one place to another in the shortest possible time. ___1___ these wide modern roads are generally ___2___  and well maintained, with___3___  sharp curves and straight sections, a direct route is not always the most ___4___  one. Large highways often pass ___5___  scenic areas and interesting small towns. Furthermore, these highways generally ___6___  large urban centers, which means that they become crowded with ___7___  traffic during rush hours, ___8___  the “fast, direct” route becomes a very slow route. However, there is almost always another route to take ___9___  you are not in a hurry. Not far from the ___10___  new “superhighways”, there are often older, ___11___  heavily traveled roads which go through the countryside. ___12___  of these are good two-lane roads; others are uneven roads curving through the country. These secondary routes may go up steep slopes, along high ___13___ , or down frightening hillside to towns ___14___  in deep valleys. Through these less direct routes, longer and slower, they generally go to places ___15___  the air is clean and scenery is beautiful, and the driver may have a chance to get a fresh, clean view of the world.

1. A. Although    B. Since  C. Because    D. Therefore

2. A. stable  B. splendid    C. smooth  D. complicated

3. A. little  B. few  C. much  D. many

4. A. terrible B. possible    C. enjoyable D. profitable

5. A. to  B. into  C. over  D. by

6. A. lead  B. connect C. collect  D. communicate

7. A. large  B. fast  C. high  D. heavy

8. A. when  B. for  C. but  D. that

9. A. unless  B. if  C. as  D. since

10. A. relatively    B. regularly C. respectively D. reasonably

11. A. and  B. less  C. more  D. or

12. A. All  B. Several C. Lots  D. Some

13 A. rocks  B. cliffs    C. roads D. paths

14. A. lying  B. laying  C. laid  D. lied

15. A. there B. when  C. which D. where

PART  Ⅱ

SECTION  A  READING COMPREHENSION［25 MIN.］

In this section there are four passages followed by fifteen questions or unfinished statements, each with four suggested answers marked A, B, C and D. Choose the one that you think is the correct answer.

Mark your choice on your ANSWER SHEET.

TEXT A

   Before the mid1860’s, the impact of the railroads in the United States was limited, in the sense that the tracks ended at this Missouri River, approximately the center of the country. At the point the trains turned their freight, mail, and passengers over to steamboats, wagons, and stagecoaches. This meant that wagon freighting, stage coaching, and steam boating did not come to an end when the first train appeared; rather they became supplements or feeders. Each new “endoftrack” became a center for animal drawn or waterborne transportation. The major effect of the railroad was to shorten the distance that had to be covered by the older, slower, and more costly means. Wagon freighters continued operating throughout the 1870’s and 1880’s and into the 1890’s. Although over constantly shrinking routes, and coaches and wagons continued to crisscross the West wherever the rails had not yet been laid. The beginning of a major change was foreshadowed in the later 1860’s, when the Union Pacific Railroad at last began to build westward from the Central Plains city of Omaha to meet the Central Pacific Railroad advancing eastward from California through the formidable barrier of the Sierra Nevada. Although President Abraham Lincoln signed the original Pacific Railroad bill in 1862 and a revised, financially much more generous version in 1864, little construction was completed until 1865 on the Central Pacific and 1866 on the Union Pacific. The primary reason was skepticism that a Railroad built through so challenging and thinly settled a stretch of desert, mountain, and semiarid plain could pay a profit. In the words of an economist, this was a case of “premature enterprise”, where not only the cost of construction but also the very high risk deterred private investment. In discussing the Pacific Railroad bill, the chair of the congressional committee bluntly stated that without government subsidy no one would undertake so unpromising a venture; yet it was a national necessity to link East and West together. 

16.  The author refers to the impact of railroads before the late 1860’s as “limited” because ____. 

A.  the track did not take the direct route from one city to the next

B. passengers and freight had to transfer to other modes of transportation to reach western destinations

C. passengers preferred stagecoaches

D. railroad travel was quite expensive  

17.  What can be inferred about coaches and wagon freighters as the railroad expanded?  

A.    They developed competing routes.

B. Their drivers refused to work for the railroads.

C. They began to specialize in private investment.

D. There were insufficient numbers of trained people to operate them.  

18.  Why does the author mention the Sierra Nevada in line 17? 

A.  To argue that a more direct route to the West could have been taken.

B. To identify a historically significant mountain range in the West.

C. To point out the location of a serious train accident.

D. To give an example of an obstacle faced by the central pacific.   

19.  The word “subsidy” in line 27 is closest in meaning to  _____.

A. persuasion B. financing C. explanation D. penalty 

TEXT B

   Certainly no creature in the sea is odder than the common sea cucumber. All living creature, especially human beings, have their peculiarities, but everything about the little sea cucumber seems unusual. What else can be said about a bizarre animal that, among other eccentricities, eats mud, feeds almost continuously day and night but can live without eating for long periods, and can be poisonous but is considered supremely edible by gourmets? For some fifty million years, despite all its eccentricities, the sea cucumber has subsisted on its diet of mud. It is adaptable enough to live attached to rocks by its tube feet, under rocks in shallow water, or on the surface of mud flats. Common in cool water on both Atlantic and Pacific shores, it has the ability to suck up mud or sand and digest whatever nutrients are present. Sea cucumbers come in a variety of colors, ranging from black to reddish brown to sand color and nearly white. One form even has vivid purple tentacles. Usually the creatures are cucumber shaped—hence their name—and because they are typically rock inhabitants this shape, combined with flexibility, enables them to squeeze into crevices where they are safe from predators and ocean currents. Although they have voracious appetites, eating day and night, sea cucumbers have the capacity to become quiescent and live at a low metabolic rate—feeding sparingly or not at all for long periods, so that the marine organisms that provide their food have a chance to multiply. If it were not for this faculty, they would devour all the food available in a short time and would probably starve themselves out of existence. But the most spectacular thing about the sea cucumber is the way it defends itself. Its major enemies are fish and crabs, when attacked, it squirts all its internal organs into water. It also casts off attached structures such as tentacles. The sea cucumber will eviscerate and regenerate itself if it is attacked or even touched; it will do the same if the surrounding water temperature is too high or if the water becomes too polluted.

20.  According to the passage, why is the shape of sea cucumbers important?

A. It helps them to digest their food.

B. It helps them to protect themselves from danger.

C. It makes it easier for them to move through the mud.

D. It makes them attractive to fish. 

21.  The fourth paragraph of the passage primarily discusses ____.

A. the reproduction of sea cucumbers

B. the food sources of sea cucumbers

C. the eating habits of sea cucumbers

D. threats to sea cucumbers’ existence 

22.  What can be inferred about the defence mechanisms of the sea cucumber?

A. They are very sensitive to surrounding stimuli.

B. They are almost useless.

C. They require group cooperation.

D. They are similar to those of most sea creatures. 

23.  Which of the following would NOT cause a sea cucumber to release its

internal    organs into the water?

A. A touch.  B. Food.

C. Unusually warm water.  D. Pollution.  

TEXT C

   Human beings have used tools for a very long time. In some parts of the world you can still find tools that people used more than two million years ago. They made these tools by hitting one stone against another. In this way, they broke off pieces from one of the stones. These chips of stone were usually sharp on one side. People used them for cutting meat and skin from dead animals, and also for making other tools out of wood. Human beings needed to use tools because they did not have sharp teeth like other meat eating animals, such as lions and tigers. Tools helped people to get food more easily. Working with tools also helped to develop human intelligence. The human brain grew bigger, and human beings began to invent more and more tools and machines. The stone chip was one of the first tools that people used, and perhaps it is the most important. Some scientists say that it was the key to success of mankind. Since 1960 a new kind of tool has appeared. This is the silicon chip—a little chip of silicon crystal. It is smaller than a fingernail, but it can store more than a million “bits” of information. It is an electronic brain. Every year these chips get cleverer, but their size gets smaller, and their cost gets less. They are used in watches, calculators and intelligent machines that we can use in many ways. In the future we will not need to work with tools in the old way. Machines will do everything for us. They will even talk and play games with us. People will have plenty of spare time. But what will they do with it? Human beings used stone chips for more than two million years but human life changed very little in that time. We have used silicon chips for only a few years, but life is changing faster every day. What will life be like twenty years from now? What will the world be like two million years from now?

24.  The stone chip is thought to be the most important tool because it ______.

A. was one of the first tools

B. developed human capabilities

C. led to the invention of machines

D. was crucial to the development of mankind 

25.  At the end of the passage the author seems to suggest that life in future is ______.

A. disastrous  B unpredictableC. exciting  D. colorful 

TEXT D

   California is a land of variety and contrast. Almost every type of physical land feature, sort of arctic ice fields and tropical jungles can be found within its borders. Sharply contrasting types of land often lie very close to one another. People living in Bakersfield, for instance, can visit the Pacific Ocean and the coastal plain, the fertile San Joaquin Valley, the arid Mojave Desert, and the high Sierra Nevada, all within a radius of about 100 miles. In other areas it is possible to go snow skiing in the morning and surfing in the evening of the same day, without having to travel long distance. Contrast abounds in California. The highest point in the United States (outside Alaska) is in California, and so is the lowest point (including Alaska). Mount Whitney, 14,494 feet above sea level, is separated from Death Valley, 282 feet below sea level, by a distance of only 100 miles. The two areas have a difference in altitude of almost three miles. California has deep, clear mountain lakes like Lake Tahoe, the deepest in the country, but it also has shallow, salty desert lakes. It has Lake Tulainyo, 12,020 feet above sea level, and the lowest lake in the country, the Salton Sea, 236 feet below sea level. Some of its lakes, like Owens Lake in Death Valley, are not lakes at all: they are dried-up lake beds. In addition to mountains, lakes, valleys, deserts, and plateaus, California has its Pacific coastline, stretching longer than the coastlines of Oregon and Washington combined.

26.  Which of the following is the lowest point in the United States?

A. Lake Tulainyo.B. Mojave desert.

C. Death Valley.D. The Salton Sea. 

27.  Where is the highest point in the United States located?

A. Lake Tahoe.B. Sierra Nevada.

C. Mount Whitney.D. Alaska. 

28.  How far away is Death Valley from Mount Whitney?

A. About 3 miles.B. Only 100 miles.

C. 282 feet.D. 14,494 feet. 

29.  Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage as being within a radius of about 100 miles of Bakersfield?

A. The Pacific Ocean.

B. San Joaquin Valley.

C. Mojave Desert.

D. Oregon and Washington. 

30.  Which statement best demonstrates that California is a land of variety and contrast?

A. The highest lake in California is Lake Tulainyo.

B.  It is possible to go surfing and snow skiing in some parts of California without having to travel long distance. 

C.  Sierra Nevada, San Joaquin Valley, Mojave Desert and the Pacific Ocean all lie within a radius of about 100 miles. 

D. Owens Lake, in Death Valley, is not really a lake at all. 

SKIMMI