2017年大学英语四级阅读题
Part II Reading Comprehension (35 minutes)
Directions: There are 4 reading passages in this part. 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 choice and mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the center.
Passage One
Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage.
Acculturation, which begins at birth, is the process of teaching new generations of children the customs and values of the parents' culture. How people treat newborns, for example, can be indicative of cultural values. In the United States it is not uncommon for parents to put a newborn in a separate room that belongs only to the child. This helps to preserve parents' privacy and allows the child to get used to having his or her own room, which is seen as a first step toward personal independence. Americans traditionally have held independence and a closely related value, individualism, in high esteem. Parents try to instill these prevailing values in their children. American English expresses these value preferences: children should "cut the (umbilical) cord" and are encouraged not to be "tied to their mothers' apron strings." In the process of their socialization children learn to "look out for number one" and to "stand on their own two feet".
Many children are taught at a very early age to make decisions and be responsible for their actions. Often children work for money outside the home as a first step to establishing autonomy. Nine-or ten-year-old children may deliver newspapers in their neighborhoods and save or spend their earnings. Teenagers (13 to 18 years) may baby-sit neighbors' homes in order to earn a few dollar a week. Receiving a weekly allowance at an early age teaches children to budget their money, preparing them for future financial independence. Many parents believe that managing money helps children learn responsibility as well as appreciate the value of money.
21. According to this passage, the way people treat newborns _____.
A) is a sign of their customs
B) is an indication of their level of knowledge
C) symbolizes their social system
D) varies from culture to culture
22. The expression, "to cut the cord", is used to show that _____.
A) children don't like their parents
B) parents don't feel close to their children
C) parents would not like to live together with their children
D) independence from one's family is an important personal goal in USA
23. Children who are "tied to the apron strings" _____.
A) are caught in their mothers' aprons
B) must always wear an apron when they eat
C) are very dependent on their mothers
D) are independent from their parents
24. American people often let their children work for money outside the home at a very early age because _____.
A) children have to earn money to help the family
B) they need more money
C) they want them to begin establishing autonomy
D) children have to save money for future use
25. It can be inferred from this passage that _____.
A) Americans are money lovers
B) Americans admire independence
C) Americans are good at decision-making
D) Americans are all responsible
Passage Two
Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage.
Many people believe that the glare from snow causes snowblindness. Yet, dark glasses or not, they find themselves suffering from headaches and watering eyes, and even snowblindness, when exposed to several hours of "snow light".
The United States Army has now determined that glare from snow does not cause snowblindness in troops in a snow-covered country. Rather, a man's eyes frequently find nothing to focus on in a broad expanse of barren snow-covered terrain. So his gaze continually shifts and jumps back and forth over the entire landscape in search of something to look at. Finding nothing, hour after hour, the eyes never stop searching and the eyeballs become sore and the eye muscles ache. Nature offsets this irritation by producing more and more fluid which covers the eyeballs. The fluid covers the eyeball in increasing quantity until vision blurs, then is obscured, and the result is total, even though temporary, snowblindness.
Experiments led to the Army to a simple method of overcoming this problem. Scouts ahead of a main body of troops are trained to shake snow from evergreen bushes, creating a dotted line as they cross completely snow-covered landscape. Even the scouts themselves throw lightweight, dark colored objects ahead on which they too can focus. The men following can then see something. Their gaze is arrested. Their eyes focus on a bush and having found something to see, stop scouring the snow-blanketed landscape. By focusing their attention on one object at a time, the men can cross the snow without becoming hopelessly snowblind or lost. In this way the problem of crossing a solid white terrain is overcome.
26. To prevent headache, watering eyes and blindness caused by the glare from snow, dark glasses are _____.
A) indispensable
B) useful
C) ineffective
D) available
27. When the eyes are sore tears are produced to _____.
A) clear the vision
B) remedy snowblindness
C) ease the irritation
D) loosen the muscles
28. Snowblindness may be avoided by _____.
A) concentrating on the solid white terrain
B) searching for something to look at in snow-covered terrain
C) providing the eyes with something to focus on
D) covering the eyeballs with fluid
29. The eyeballs become sore and the eye muscles ache because _____.
A) tears cover the eyeballs
B) the eyes are irritated by blinding sunlight
C) the eyes are irritated by blinding snow
D) there is nothing to focus on
30. A suitable title for the passage would be _____.
A) Snowblindness and How to Overcome It
B) Nature's Cure for Snowblindness
C) Soldiers in the Snow
D) Snow Vision
Passage Three
Questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage.
Until the 1980s, the American homeless population comprised mainly older males. Today, homelessness strikes much younger part of society. In fact, a 25-city survey by the U.S. Conference of Mayors in 1987 found that families with children make up the fastest growing part of the homeless population. Many homeless children gather in inner cities; this transient and frequently frightened student population creates additional problems-both legal and educational-for already overburdened urban school administrators and teachers.
Estimates of the number of homeless Americans range from 350,000 to three million. Likewise, estimates of the number of homeless school children vary radically. A U.S. Department of Education report, based on state estimates, states that there are 220,000 homeless school-age children, about a third of whom do not attend school on a regular basis. But the National Coalition for the Homeless estimates that there are at least two times as many homeless children, and that less than half of them attend school regularly.
One part of the homeless population that is particularly difficult to count consists of the "throwaway" youths who have been cast off their homes. The Elementary School Center in New York City estimates that there are 1.5 million of them, many of whom are not counted as children because they do not stay in family shelters and tend to live by themselves on the streets.
Federal law, the Stewart McKinney Homeless Assistance Act of 1987, includes a section that addresses the educational needs of homeless children. The educational provisions of the McKinney Act are based on the belief that all homeless children have the right to a free, appropriate education.
31. In 1987, the American homeless population was made up of _____.
A) older males B) school children
C) adults D) both A and B
32. The author implies in the first paragraph that _____.
A) the homeless population is growing rapidly
B) there is serious shortage of school administrators and teachers
C) homeless children often move from place to place
D) homeless children usually stay outside schools
33. The National Coalition for the Homeless estimates that there are _____ homeless children.
A) 7000,000 B) 350,000
C) 440,000 D) 70,000
34. One part of the homeless population is difficult to count. The reason might be that _____.
A) homeless children live on the streets
B) homeless children have no parents
C) the homeless are too young to be counted as children
D) the homeless children are not taken as members of their families
35. The aim of the McKinney Act is to _____.
A) offer education for homeless children
B) provide family shelters for homeless children
C) reduce the number of homeless children
D) estimate the number of homeless population
Passage Four
Questions 36 to 40 are based on the following passage.
If women are mercilessly exploited year after year, they have only themselves to blame. Because they tremble at the thought of being seen in public in clothes that are out of fashion, they are always taken advantage of by the designers and the big stores. Clothes which have been worn only a few times have to be put aside because of the change of fashion. When you come to think of it, only a woman is capable of standing in front of a wardrobe(衣柜) packed full of clothes and announcing sadly that she has nothing to wear.
Changing fashions are nothing more than the intentional creation of waste. Many women spend vast sums of money each year to replace clothes that have hardly been worn. Women who cannot afford to throw away clothing in this way, waste hours of their time altering the dresses they have. Skirts are lengthened or shortened; necklines are lowered or raised, and so on.
No one can claim that the fashion industry contributes anything really important to society. Fashion designers are rarely concerned with vital things like warmth, comfort and durability(耐用). They are only interested in outward appearance and they take advantage of the fact that women will put up with any amount of discomfort, as long as they look right. There can hardly be a man who hasn't at some time in his life smiled at the sight of a woman shaking in a thin dress on a winter day, or delicately picking her way through deep snow in high-heeled shoes.
When comparing men and women in the matter of fashion, the conclusions to be drawn are obvious. Do the constantly changing fashions of women's clothes, one wonders, reflect basic qualities of inconstancy and instability? Men are too clever to let themselves be cheated by fashion designers. Do their unchanging styles of dress reflect basic qualities of stability and reliability? That is for you to decide.
36. Designers and big stores always make money .
A) by mercilessly exploiting women workers in the clothing industry
B) because they are capable of predicting new fashions
C) by constantly changing the fashions in women's clothing
D) because they attach great importance to quality in women's clothing
37. To the writer, the fact that women alter their old-fashioned dresses is seen as .
A) a waste of money B) a waste of time
C) an expression of taste D) an expression of creativity
38. The writer would be less critical if fashion designers placed more stress on the of clothing.
A) cost B) appearance
C) comfort D) suitability
39. According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?
A) New fashions in clothing are created for the commercial exploitation of women.
B) The constant changes in women's clothing reflect their strength of character.
C) The fashion industry makes an important contribution to society.
D) Fashion designs should not be encouraged since they are only welcomed by women.
40. By saying "the conclusions to be drawn are obvious" (Lines 1-2, Para. 4) the writer means that .
A) women's inconstancy in their choice of clothing is often laughed at
B) women are better able to put up with discomfort
C) men are also exploited greatly by fashion designers
D) men are more stable and reliable in character
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