英语四级阅读.doc

Passage 1

Making Friends in Family

WHEN Joan gave birth to the first boy in her family in three generations, she and her husband were ecstatic. So were her parents. Joan expected her older sister, Sally, to be just as delighted. Joan had always worshiped Sally—the beauty and the star of the family—and rejoiced in her achievements.

But since the baby's arrival, the sisters have become distant. Joan feels hurt that Sally seems completely uninterested in little Andrew. Sally, who had no children, claims that her younger sister "acts as if no one ever had a baby before".

Neither Sally nor Joan understands that the sudden reversal in their family roles is the real cause of the current chill. Joan has finally outdone her dominant older sister—and Sally doesn't like it! Their distance may be temporary, but it shows that childhood rivalry (竞争) isn't always outgrown. It can remain a strong ingredient in sibling(兄弟姐妹) relationships throughout life.

In a study at the University of Cincinnati, 65 men and women between ages 25 and 93 were asked how they felt about their brothers and sisters. Nearly 75 percent admitted harboring rivalrous feelings. In a few cases, these emotions were sufficiently intense to have affected their entire lives.

Many adult brothers and sisters are close, supportive and affectionate—yet still need to compete. Two brothers I know turn into killers when on opposite sides of a tennis net. Off the court, they are the best of friends. My own younger sister never fails to tell me when I've put on weight.. However, she's a terrible cook and that pleases me; I outdo myself when she comes to dinner. Happily, despite these small failings, we have been an important resource for one another.

In between the intensely rivalrous and the generally supportive siblings lie those who relate in an irritable manner that no friendship should survive. Some brothers and sisters stay at arm's length, but always stop short ot ending ties completely. Why do these puzzling, unproductive, often painful relationships persist?

In part because the bonds forged in childhood remain powerful even after siblings have grown up and gone their separate ways. These relationships are so intimate that the participants share a closeness unlike any other. But along with the affection contributing to that closeness, there is room for anger, jealousy and resentment.

Stephen Bank, a family therapist and co-author with Michael D. Kahn of The Sibling Bond, explains why: "There are few adults who don't believe deep down that a sibling got more of something than they did—parental love, advantages, brains, looks. It could be true, but it really doesn't matter. If as adults, they're successful enough to feel on an equal footing, siblings can give each other a great deal. If not, unresolved feelings can distort their relationships. "

The need for parental love is as instinctive as breathing, and the struggle to keep it all for yourself begins with the birth of a younger sister or brother. According to Bank, when the rivalry between adult siblings achieves neurotic(精神病的) proportions, it can usually be traced back either to marked parental favoritism or to one sibling's conviction that the other is superior.

A study of adult sisters, described in the book Sisters by Elizabeth Fishel, points up how important it is for parents to treat their children even-handedly. Those sisters who reported the best relationships were the ones who said there had been no favoritism, no parental comparisons and no pitting of one child against another.

Social scientists who have studied adult sibling relationships say it is common for them to blow hot and cold. Situations that might be expected to bring them together—the birth of a child, the illness or death of a parent—are well known for reviving old rivalries.

Instead of uniting in their concern for an ill parent, siblings often quarrel bitterly over who provides the most care, financial support or affection, according to Victor Cicirelli, a Purdue University Psychologist. And probate (遗嘱检验) lawyers say the bitterest quarrels erupt when siblings have to divide a parent's personal property.

The break between Jill and Patty might have been closed by now if Jill's husband hadn't been so quick to take his wife's side. "If spouses want to be constructive when siblings quarrel, they need to remain emotionally neutral," Bank advises. "It's a line to be supportive, provided they remember the goal is to help their mates be more objective and not inflame feelings further. "

As they get older, many adults say they wish they were on better terms with brothers or sisters. In the next breath, however, they add that it's probably impossible. "We always get hung up on the same old sore points" is a familiar lament (悲伤).

"That needn't be true," says Bank. "Almost any relationship can be improved if people are willing to put energy into making it more satisfying.

People must recognize that their childhood rivalries are left over from a struggle that was very likely the fault of neither. If they can see that, it will help them to stop feeling guilty or blaming each other the way they did at age twelve. "

Siblings often hesitate to disclose long-concealed feelings of anger or jealousy, inferiority or guilt. But after these feelings are brought out, there's a much better chance to improve the relationship.

" Speaking out honestly about rivalrous feelings is the first step," says Bank. "But it's essential to get beyond accusations and talk positively about what each might do to improve things. " People often don't let their siblings know how much they care, Bank adds "Don't be afraid to say, 'I really love you,'" he advises. "And show your affection—a hug, a compliment or a thoughtful gift can heal a lot of wounds. "

When siblings can get past their rivalries, they may find they are bound by closer, longer—lasting ties than those with any other person in their lives. I'm deeply thankful that my sister and I are friends, although we've also seen each other through rough times in ways no one else could. Someday, she may be the only person I know who remembers a long-ago Christmas or laughs at the same jokes. I don't think I'll even mind if she tells me I'm putting on weight.

1. According to the passage, competition between siblings plays a powerful role in the sibling relationships in one's entire life.

2. When siblings have grown up, they will easily forget their childhood rivalries and be on better terms with each other.

3. The way parents treat their children affects, to a great extent, sibling relationships.

4. The author and her sister are friendly with each other because their parents always treat them even-handedly.

5. There are little rivalries between the siblings who are close, supportive and affectionate.

6. Parental favoritism and a belief that the other is superior may trigger childhood competition which may last even at adulthood.

7. It is beneficial to sibling relationships if a husband shows support to his wife when she quarrels with her sister.

8. Sally's attitude when Joan had a baby is______.

9. Self-disclosure brings the opportunities to better the______.

10. The more you put on the relationship, the more satisfying it will be.

Passage 2

No one knows exactly how many disabled people there are in the world, but 11 suggest the figure is over 450 million. The number of disabled people in India 12 is probably more than double the total population of Canada.

In the United Kingdom, about one in ten people have some disability. Disability is not just something that happens to other people: as we get older, many of us will become less 13 , hard of hearing or have failing eyesight.

Disablement can take many forms and occur at any time of life. Some people are born with disabilities. Many others become disabled as they get older. There are many 14 disabling diseases. The longer time goes on, the worse they become. Some people are disabled in accidents. Many others may have a period of disability in the form of a mental illness. All are affected by people's attitude towards them.

Disabled people face many 15 barriers. Next time you go shopping or to work or to visit friends, imagine how you would 16 if you could not get up steps, or on to buses and trains How would you cope if you could not see where you were going or could not hear the traffic? But there are other barriers; 17 can be even harder to break down and ignorance 18 represents by far the greatest barrier of all. It is almost impossible for the able-bodied to fully appreciate what the severely disabled go through, so it is important to 19 attention to these barriers and show that it is the individual person and their ability, not their disability, which 20

A. inevitablyB.evaluationsC.estimatesD.manage

E. aloneF.countsG.prejudiceH.physical

I. mobileJ.indifferentlyK.withdrawLprogressive

M. regularN.accountsO.draw

Passage 3

The greatest recent social changes have been in the lives of women. During the twentieth century there has been a remarkable shortening of the proportion of a woman's life spent in caring for the children. A woman marrying at the end of the nineteenth century would probably have been in her middle twenties ? and would be likely to have seven or eight children, of whom four or five lived till they were five years old. By the time the youngest was fifteen, the mother would have been in her early fifties and would expect to live a further twenty years, during which custom, opportunity and health made it unusual for her to get paid work. Today women marry younger and have fewer children. Usually a woman's youngest child will be fifteen when she is forty-five years and is likely to take paid work until retirement at sixty. Even while she has the care of children, her work is lightened by household appliances and convenience foods.

This important change in women's life-pattern has only recently begun to have its full effect on women's economic position. Even a few years ago most girls left school at the first opportunity, and most of them took a full-time job. However, when they married, they usually left work at once and never returned to it. Today the school leaving age is sixteen, many girls stay at school after that age, and though women tend to marry younger, more married women stay at work at least until shortly before their first child is born. Very many more afterwards return to full-or-part-time work. Such changes have led to a new relationship in marriage, with the husband accepting a greater share of the duties and satisfactions of family life, and with both husband and wife sharing more equally in providing the money, and running the home, according to the abilities and interests of each of them.

21. According to the passage, it is now quite usual for women to_______.

A. stay at home after leaving school B. marry men younger than themselves

C. start working again later in life D. marry while still at school

22. We are told that in an average family about 1900_______.

A. many children died before they lived to more than five

B. seven or eight children lived to be more than five

C. the youngest child would be fifteen

D. four or five children died when they were five

23. Many girls, the passage claims, are now likely to_______.

A. give up their jobs for good after they are married

B. leave school as soon as they can

C. marry so that they can get a job

D. continue working until they are going to have a baby

24. One reason why a woman today may take a job is that she_______.

A. is younger when her children are old enough to look after .themselves

B. does not like children herself

C. need not worry about food for her children

D. can retire from family responsibilities when she reaches sixty

25. Nowadays, a husband tends to_______.

A. play a greater part in looking after the children

B. help his wife by doing much of the housework

C. feel dissatisfied with his role in the family

D. take a part-time job so that he can help in the home

Passage 4

When blood is sent to the lungs by the heart, it has come back from the cells in the rest of the body. So the blood that goes into the wall of an air sac (Jl) contains much dissolved carbon dioxide but very little oxygen. At the same time, the air that goes into the air sac contains much oxygen but very little carbon dioxide.

You have learned that dissolved materials always diffuse (扩散) from where there is more of them to where there is less. Oxygen from the air dissolves in the moisture on the lining of the air sac and diffuses through the lining into the blood. Meanwhile, carbon dioxide diffuses from the blood into the air sac. The blood then flows from the lungs back to the heart, which sends it out to all other parts of the body.

Soon after air goes into an air sac, it gives up some of its oxygen and takes in some carbon dioxide from the blood. To keep diffusion going as it should, this carbon dioxide must be gotten rid of. Breathing, which is caused by movements of the chest, forces the used air out of the air sacs in your lungs and brings in fresh air. The breathing muscles are controlled automatically so that you breathe at the proper rate to keep your air sacs supplied with fresh air.

Ordinarily, you breathe about twenty-two times a minute. Of course, you breathe faster when you are exercising and slower when you are resting. Fresh air is brought into your lungs when you breathe in, or inhale, while used air is forced out of your lungs when you breathe out, or exhale.

26. In the respiratory process, only one of the following actions takes place: it is_______.

A. the diffusion of blood through capillary walls into air sacs

B. the diffusion of carbon dioxide through capillary and air sac walls into the blood

C. the diffusion of oxygen through the air sac and capillary walls into the blood

D. the exchange of nitrogen within air sacs

27. The number of times per minute that you breathe is_______.

A. independent of your rate of exercise

B. fixed at twenty-two times per minute

C. influenced by your age and sex

D. controlled automatically by an unspecified body mechanism

28. The process by which carbon dioxide and oxygen are transferred does not depend on

A. the presence of nitrogen in the blood

B. breathing muscles

C. the flow of blood

D. the moisture in the air sac linings

29. The author's style in this passage can best be described as---------.

A informal and matter of fact B. impersonal

C. personal P- matter of fact and formal

30. Which of the following words can replace the word "exhale"?

A. Breathe out. B. Breathe in.

C. Diffuse. D. Exchange.

参考答案：

Unit Seventeen

I. Y 2. N 3