2020年四级改革模拟题：长篇阅读(2)
2020上半年公共英语四级模拟试题及答案(阅读)
2020上半年公共英语四级模拟试题及答案(阅读)2020上半年公共英语四级模拟试题及答案(阅读)Early in the age of affluence (富裕) that followed World War Ⅱ，an American retailing analyst named Victor Lebow proclaimed, “Our enormously productive economy...demandsthat we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek ourspiritual satisfaction, our ego satisfaction, in consumption. We need things consumed, burned up, worn out, replaced and discarded at an ever increasing rate." Americans have responded to Lebow's call, and much of the world has followed. Consumption has become a central pillar of life in industrial lands and is even embedded in social values. Opinion surveysin the world's two largest economics-Japan and the United States-show consumerist definitions of success becoming ever more prevalent. Overconsumption by the world's fortunate is an environmental problem unmatched in severity by anythingbut perhaps population growth. Their surging exploitation of resources threatens to exhaust or unalterably spoil forests, soils, water, air and climate. Ironically, high consumption may be a mixed blessing in human terms, too. The time-honored values of integrity of character, good work, friendship,family and community have often been sacrificed in the rushto riches. Thus many in the industrial lands have a sense that their world of plenty is somehow hollow, that misled bya consumerist culture, they have been fruitlessly attemptingto satisfy what are essentially social, psychological and spiritual needs with material things. Of course, theopposite of overconsumption, poverty, is no solution toeither environmental or human problems. It is infinitely worse for people and bad for the natural world too. Dispossessed (被剥夺得一无所有的) peasants slash, and burn their way into the rain forests of Latin America, and hungry nomads (游牧民族) turn their herds out onto fragile African grassland, reducing it to desert. If environmental destruction results when people have either too little or too much, we are left to wonder how much is enough .What level of consumption can the earth support ?When dose having more cease to add noticeably to human satisfaction?1. The emergence of the affluent society after World War II .A) led to the reform of the retailing systemB) resulted in the worship of consumerismC )ve rise to the dominance of the new egoismD) gave birth to a new generation of upper class consumers2. Apart from enormous productivity, another important impetus to high consumption isA) the people's desire for a rise in their living standardsB) the concept that one's success is measured by how much they consumeC) the imbalance that has existed between production and consumptionD) the conversion of the sale of goods into rituals3. Why does the author say high consumption is a mixed blessing?A) Because poverty still exists in an affluent society.B) Because overconsumption won't last long due to unrestricted population growth.C) Because traditional rituals are often neglected in the process of modernization.D) Because moral values are sacrificed in pursuit of material satisfaction.4. According to the passage, consumerist culture .A) will not alleviate poverty in wealthy countriesB) will not aggravate environmental problemsC) cannot thrive on a fragile economyD) cannot satisfy human spiritual needs5. It can be inferred from the passage that .A) human spiritual needs should match material affluenceB) whether high consumption should be encouraged is still an issueC) how to keep consumption at a reasonable level remains a problemD) there is never an end to satisfying people's material needs参考答案：。
2020年四级考试阅读习题及答案解析(2)
2020年四级考试阅读习题及答案解析(2)篇章词汇题型的特点篇章词汇 ( Banked Cloze )考一篇长度为 220 个单词左右的文章，在文章当中去除了 10 个单词，后面由 15 个单词选项，要求考生选择准确的单词填入文章。
这种题型的测试重点在于把握文章的结构，主要考查考生对诸如连贯性，一致性，逻辑联系等语篇，语段整体特征以及单词在实际语境中的理解，即要求考生在理解全文的基础上弄清文章的宏观结构和具体细化到每个单词的微观理解。
篇章词汇 VS 完形填空应该说，篇章词汇是完形填空的一种形式。
完形填空的测试面更宽泛，涉及连词，介词等更多的语法知识，而篇章词汇的考查项都是实词(动词，名词，形容词，副词)。
篇章词汇更侧重于从篇章层面考查对单词的理解和应用。
另外一个较为明显的区别就是，篇章词汇是集合式选项，所有的选项都集中在一起;而完形填空是分组式选项，各道题目的选项互不干扰。
篇章词汇 VS 词汇题篇章词汇与原来的老题型词汇题相比，更注重对词汇的实际使用的考查，从单一的一句话考查上升到篇章的理解。
Passage 2Psychologists take opposing views of how external rewards, from warm praise to cold cash, affect motivation and creativity. Behaviorists, who study the relation between actions and their consequences, argue that rewards can __1__ performance at work and school. Cognitive( 理解派的 ) researchers, who study various aspects of mental life,maintain that rewards often destroy creativity by encouraging dependence on __2__ and gifts from others.The latter view has gained many supporters, __3__ among educators. But the careful use of small __4__ rewards speaks creativity in grade school children, suggesting that properly presented inducements( 刺激 ) indeed __5__inventiveness, according to a study in the June Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.“If kids know they’re working for a reward and can focus on a relatively __6__ task, they show the most creativity,” says Robert Eisenberger of the University of Delaware in Newark. “But it’s easy to __7__ creativity by giving rewards for poor performance or creating too much anticipation for rewards.A teacher who continually draws attention to rewards or who hands our high grades for __8__ achievement ends up with uninspired students, Eisenberger holds. As an example of the latter point, he notes growing efforts at major universities to tighten grading standards and __9__ failing grades.In early grades, the use of so-called token economies, in which students handle challenging problems and receive performance-based points to ward valued rewards, shows __10__ in raising efforts and creativity, the Delaware psychologist claims.A)mental B)promise C)kill D)avoidE)hope F)especially G)aid H)ordinaryI)approval J)monetary K)generally L)improveM)challenging N)restore O)excellent参考答案及解析：1. 选 L )。
2020下半年公共英语四级模拟试题：阅读
2020下半年公共英语四级模拟试题：阅读2020下半年公共英语四级模拟试题：阅读Culture is one of the most challenging elements of the international marketplace. 『This system of learned behavior patterns characteristic of the members of a given society is constantly shaped by a set of dynamic variables： language, religion, values and attitudes, manners and customs, aesthetics, technology, education, and social institutions.』① To cope with this system, an international manager needs both factual and interpretive knowledge of culture. To some extent, the factual knowledge can be learned; its interpretation comes only through experience.The most complicated problems in dealing with thecultural environment stem from the fact that one cannot learn culture—one has to live it. Two schools of thought exist in the business world on how to deal with cultural diversity. One is that business is business the world around, following the model of Pepsi and McDonald’s. In some cases, globalization is a fact of life; however, cultural differences are still far from converging.The other school proposes that companies must tailor business approaches to individual cultures. Setting up policies and procedures in each country has been compared to an organ transplant; the critical question centers around acceptance or rejection. The major challenge to the international manager is to make sure that rejection is not a result of cultural myopia or even blindness.Fortune examined the international performance of a dozen large companies that earn 20 percent or more of their revenue overseas. The internationally successful companies all share an important quality： patience. They have not rushed into situations but rather built their operations carefully by following the most basic business principles. Theseprinciples are to know your adversary, know your audience, and know your customer.1. According to the passage, which of the following is true?A. All international managers can learn culture.B. Business diversity is not necessary.C. Views differ on how to treat culture in business world.D. Most people do not know foreign culture well.2. According to the author, the model of Pepsi .A. is in line with the theories of the school advocating the business is business the world aroundB. is different from the model of McDonald’sC. shows the reverse of globalizationD. has converged cultural differences3. The two schools of thought .A. both propose that companies should tailor business approaches to individual culturesB. both advocate that different policies be set up in different countriesC. admit the existence of cultural diversity in business worldD. Both A and B4. This article is supposed to be most useful for those .A. who are interested in researching the topic of cultural diversityB. who have connections to more than one type of cultureC. who want to travel abroadD. who want to run business on International Scale5. According to Fortune, successful international companies .A. earn 20 percent or more of their revenue overseasB. all have the quality of patienceC. will follow the overseas local culturesD. adopt the policy of internationalizationVocabulary1. dynamic adj. 动态的2. variable n. 变量3. aesthetics n. 美学4. factual adj. 事实的。
2020年9月英语四级模拟题及答案解析(二)
2020年9月英语四级模拟题及答案解析（二）2020年9月四级考试在即，松鼠哥今天为大家整理了2020年9月英语四级阅读理解和写作的模拟题及答案解析。
同学们在做完试题后，一定要认真对答案并找出自己做错的原因。
大家加油呀，冲冲冲！祝大家都能高分通过考试！Part ⅢReading Comprehension (35 minutes)Directions: There are 4 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.Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage:Some radio singals were heard in 1967.They were coming from a point in the sky where there was unknown star.They were coming very regularly,too:about once a second,if they were controlled by clock.The scientists who heard the signals did not tell anybody else.They were rather afraid to tell in case they frightened people.The signals were coming from a very small body—no bigger,perhaps than the earth.Wasthat why no light could be seen from it?Or were the signals coming from a planet that belonged to some other star? There was no end to the questions,but the scientists kept the news secret.“Perhaps there are intelligent beings out there.”they thought,“who are trying to send messages to other planets,or to us?So the news was not given to the newspaper.Instead,the scientists studied the signals and searched for others like them...Well,all that happened in 1967 and 1968.Since then scientists have learnt more about those strange,regular,radio signals.And they have told the story,of course.The signals do not come from a planet;they come from a new kind of star called a “pulsar””.About a hundred other pulsars have now been found,and most of them are very like the first one.Pulsars are strong radio stars.They are the smallest but the heaviest stars we know at present.A handful of pulsar would weigh a few thousand tons.Their light—if they give much light—is too small for us to see.But we can be sure of this,no intelligent beings are living on them.21. The radio signals discussed in this passage____.A.were regularB.were controlled by a clockC.were heard in 1967 onlyD.were secret messages22. The radio singals were sent by____.A.a satelliteB.a planetC.a sky body which was unknown at that timeD.intelligent beings who were unknown at that time23. The scientists did not tell people about the signals because____.A.the singals stood for secret messagesB.people would ask them too many questionsC.they did not want to frighten peopleD.they stood for unimportant messages24. A pulsar is____.A. a small heavy star which sends out strong radio signals and cannot be seenB. a small heavy planet which sends out strong radio signals and cannot be seenC. a small heavy satellite which sends out strong radio signals and cannot be seenD. a small intelligent being who sends out strong radio signals and cannot be seen25. Which of the following is true?A.One of the pulsars found by scientists sends radio signals.B.Pulsar began to send radio singals in 1967.C.Scientists have searched for pulsars for many years but found none.D.Scientists have found many pulsars since 1967. rn life and ancient life.27. “one out of seven”refers to____.A.more than a third of the lands' earthB.the percentage of the earth's land that is desert-likeC.the number of people who live in dry regionsD.a day of a week28. In paragraph 2,“they are taken to the greener lands in the south.”They refers to____.A.the Sahel farm landB.the farmersC.the cattlesD.the trees29. How many ideas for saving the land are described?A.Five.B.Two.C.Four.D.Three.30. Which of the following statements is true, according to the passage?A.The earth's desert are slowly spreading.B.One out of 10 people lives in dry regions.C.Their life in the desert is threatened now by traditional problems.D.New water wells can solve the problem in Africa's desert.Questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage:Telephone, television, radio, and telegraph all help people communicate with each other. Because of these devices, ideas and news of events spread quickly all over the world. For example, within seconds, people can know the results of an election in another country. An international football match comes into the homes of everyone with a television set.News of a disaster such as an earthquake or a flood can bring help from distant countries within hours, help is on the way. Because of modern technology like the satellites that travel around the world, information travels fast.How has this speed of communication changed the world? To many people,the world has become smaller. Of course this does not mean that the world is actually physically smaller. It means that the world seems smaller. Two hundred years ago,communication between the continents took a long time. All news was carried on ships that took weeks or even months to cross the ocean. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries,it took six weeks for news from Europe to reach America.This time difference influenced people's actions. For example, one battle, orfight, in the War of 1812 between England and the United States could have been avoided. A peace agreement had already been signed. Peace was made in England, but the news of peace took six weeks to reach America. During these six weeks, the large and serious Battle of New Orleans was fought. Many people lost their lives after a peace treaty had been signed.They would not have died if news had come in time.In the past,communication took much time than it does now.There was a good reason why the world seemed so much larger than it does today.31. News spreads fast because of____.A.modern transportationB.new technologyC.the change of the worldD.a peace agreement32. According to this passage,____is very important to people in a disaster area.A.fast communicationB.modern technologytest newsD.new ideas33. Which of the following statements is true?A.The world now seems smaller because of faster communication.B.The world is actually smaller today.C.The world is changing its size.D. The distance between England and America has changed since the War of 181234. Two hundred years ago,news between the continents was carried____.A.by telephone and telegraphB.by landC.by airD.by sea35. The New Orleans Battle could have been avoided if the peace agreement had been signed____.A.by both sidesB.in timeC.in AmericaD.in EnglandQuestions 36 to 40 are based on the following passage:The concept of personal choice in relation to health behaviors is an important one.An estimated 90 percent of all illnesses may be preventable if individuals would make sound personal health choices based upon current medical knowledge.We all enjoy our freedom of choice and do not like to see it restricted when it is within the legal and moral boundaries of society.[ZZ)]The structure of American society allows us to make almost all our own personal decisions that may concern our health.If we so desire,we can smoke,drink excessively, refuse to wear seat belts,eatwhatever foods we want,and live a completely sedentary life-style without any excuse.The freedom to make such personal decisions is a fundamental aspect of our society,although the wisdom of these decisions can be questioned.Personal choices relative to health often cause a difficulty.As one example,a teenager may know the facts relative to smoking cigarettes and health but may be pressured by friends into believing it is the socially accepted thing to do. A multitude of factors,both inherited and environmental,influence the development of health related behaviors,and it is beyond the scope of this text to discuss all these factors as they may affect any given individual.However,the decision to adopt a particular health-related behavior is usually one of personal choices.There are healthy choices and there are unhealthy choices.In discussing the moral of personal choice,Fries and Crapo drew a comparison.[ZZ(Z]They suggest that to knowingly give oneself over to a behavior that has a statistical probability of shortening life is similar to attempting suicide.[ZZ)]Thus,for those individuals who are interested in preserving both the quality and quantity of life,personal health choices should reflect those behaviors that are associated with statistical probability of increased vitality and longevity.36. The concept of personal choice concerning health is important because____.A.personal health choices help cure most illnessesB.it helps raise the level of our medical knowledgeC.it is essential to personal freedom in American societyD.wrong decisions could head to poor health37. To “live a completely sedentary life style”(Para. 1) in the passage means____.”A.to live an inactive lifeB.to live a decent lifeC.to live a life with complete freedomD.to live a life of vice38. Sound personal health choice is often difficult to make because____.A.current medical knowledge is still insufficientB.there are many factors influencing our decisionsC.few people are willing to trade the quality of life for longevityD.people are usually influenced by the behavior of their friends39. To knowingly allow oneself to pursue unhealthy habits is compared by Fries and Crapo to____.A.improving the quality of one's lifeB.limiting one's personal health choiceC.deliberately ending one's lifeD.breaking the rules of social behavior40. According to Fries and Crapo sound health choices should be based on____.A.personal decisionsws of societyC.statistical evidenceD.opinions of friendsPart ⅤWriting (30 minutes)Directions:For this part,you are allowed 30 minutes to write a composition with the title ON Friendship.Your composition should be no less than 120 words.Remember to write your composition neatly.You should also base your composition on the outline below.1.The need for friends2.True friendship3.My principle in making friends答案1短文大意1967年人类收到了一些太空信号。
2020年大学英语四级阅读题文章精读(2)
2020年大学英语四级阅读题文章精读(2) Passage TwoEurope's Gypsies, Are They a Nation?The striving of countries in Central Europe to enter the European Union may offer an unprecedented chance to the continent's Gypsies （or Roman） to be recognized as a nation, albeit one without a defined territory. And if they were to achieve that they might even seek some kind of formal place—at least a total population outnumbers that of many of the Union's present and future countries. Some experts put the figure at 4m-plus; some proponents of Gypsy rights go as high as 15m.Unlike Jews, Gypsies have had no known ancestral land to hark back to. Though their language is related to Hindi,their territorial origins are misty. Romanian peasants held them to be born on the moon. Other Europeans （wrongly）thought them migrant Egyptians, hence the derivative Gypsy. Most probably they were itinerant metal workers and entertainers who drifted west from India in the 7th century.However, since communism in Central Europe collapsed a decade ago, the notion of Romanestan as a landless nation founded on Gypsy culture has gained ground. The International Romany Union, which says it stands for 10m Gypsies in morethan 30 countries, is fostering the idea of “self-rallying”. It is trying to promote a standard and written form of the language; it waves a Gypsy flag （green with a wheel） whenit lobbies in such places as the United Bations; and in Julyit held a congress in Prague, The Czech capital. WherePresident Vaclav Havel said that Gypsies in his own country and elsewhere should have a better deal.At the congress a Slovak-born lawyer, Emil Scuka, was elected president of the International Tomany Union. Laterthis month a group of elected Gypsy politicians, including members of parliament, mayors and local councilors from all over Europe （OSCE）, to discuss how to persuade more Gypsies to get involved in politics.The International Romany Union is probably the most representative of the outfits that speak for Gypsies, butthat is not saying a lot. Of the several hundred delegateswho gathered at its congress, few were democratically elected; oddly, none came from Hungary, whose Gypsies are perhaps the world's best organized, with some 450 Gypsy bodies advising local councils there. The union did, however, announce its ambition to set up a parliament, but how it would actually be elected was left undecided.So far, the European Commission is wary of encouraging Gypsies to present themselves as a nation. The might, it is feared, open a Pandora's box already containing Basques, Corsicans and other awkward peoples. Besides, acknowledging Gypsies as a nation might backfire, just when several countries, particularly Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, are beginning to treat them better, in order to qualify for EU membership. “The EU's whole premise is to overcome di fferences, not to highlight them,” says a nervous Eurocrat.But the idea that the Gypsies should win some kind of special recognition as Europe's largest continent wideminority, and one with a terrible history of persecution, is catching on . Gypsies have suffered many pogroms over the centuries. In Romania, the country that still has the largest number of them （more than 1m）, in the 19th century theywere actually enslaved. Hitler tried to wipe them out, along with the Jews.“Gypsies deserve some space within European structures,” says Jan Marinus Wiersma, a Dutchman in the EuropeanParliament who suggests that one of the current commissioners should be responsible for Gypsy affairs. Some prominentGypsies say they should be more directly represented, perhaps with a quota in the European Parliament. That, they argue,might give them a boost. There are moves afoot to help themto get money for, among other things, a Gypsy university.One big snag is that Europe's Gypsies are, in fact, extremely heterogeneous. They belong to many different, and often antagonistic, clans and tribes, with no common languageor religion, Their self-proclaimed leaders have often proved quarrelsome and corrupt. Still, says, Dimitrina Petrova, headof the European Roma Rights Center in Budapest, Gypsies'shared experience of suffering entitles them to talk of one nation; their potential unity, she says, stems from “being regarded as sub-human by most majorities in Europe.”And they have begun to be a bit more pragmatic. InSlovakia and Bulgaria, for instance, Gypsy political partiesare trying to form electoral blocks that could win seats in parliament. In Macedonia, a Gypsy party already has some—and even runs a municipality. Nicholas Gheorge, an expert onGypsy affairs at the OSCE, reckons that, spread over CentralEurope, there are now about 20 Gypsy MPS and mayors, 400-odd local councilors, and a growing number of businessmen and intellectuals.That is far from saying that they have the people or the cash to forge a nation. But, with the Gypsy question on the EU's agenda in Central Europe, they are making ground.1. The Best Title of this passage is[A]. Gypsies Want to Form a Nation. [B]. Are They a Nation.[C]. EU Is Afraid of Their Growth. [C]. They Are a Tribe2. Where are the most probable Gypsy territory origins?[A]. Most probably they drifted west from India in the7th century.[B]. They are scattered everywhere in the world.[C]. Probably, they stemmed from Central Europe.[D]. They probably came from the International Romany Union.3. What does the International Romany lobby for?[A]. It lobbies for a demand to be accepted by such international organizations as EU and UN.[B]. It lobbies for a post in any international Romany Union.[C]. It lobbies for the right as a nation.[D]. It lobbies for a place in such international organizations as the EU or UN.4. Why is the Europe Commission wary of encouraging Gypsies to present themselves as a nation?[A]. It may open a Pandora's Box.[B]. Encouragement may lead to some unexpected results.[C]. It fears that the Basgnes, Corsicans and other nations seeking separation may raise the same demand.[D]. Gyspsies' demand may highlight the difference in the EU.5. The big problem lies in the fact that[A]. Gypsies belong to different and antagonistic clans and tribes without a common language or religion.[B]. Their leaders prove corrupt.[C]. Their potential unity stems from “being regarded as sub-human”.[D]. They are a bit more pragmatic.Vocabulary1. albeit 即使，虽然2. outnumber 数字上超过3. ethnic 少数民族的成员，种族集团的成员4. Hindi 印地语5. misty 模糊不清的，朦胧的6. derivative 衍生的，派生的7. itinerant 逻辑的8. Romanesten 说吉普塞语的地方Romanes 吉普塞语Stan 地方9. outfit （口）组织，（协同工作）的集体10. local 地方（市，镇，县）政务委员会11. wary 谨慎的，机警的12. backfire 产生出乎意料或事与愿违的结果13. highlight 强调14. persecution 迫害15. catch on 了解，风行=to become popular16. pogrom 大屠杀，集体迫害17. commissioner 委员，调查团团员18. quota 定量，配额，限额19. snag （尖利突出物，抽丝）潜在的困难20. heterogeneous 由不同种类组成的21. antagonistic 有效对抗性的，对抗性的22. clan 氏族23. tribe 部落24. pragmatic 务实的，讲究实效的25. municipality 城市，镇，区属政府，自治区26. Rom 罗姆，即吉普塞人难句译注1. Central Europe 中欧，如本文提及捷克，匈牙利，罗马尼亚等。
2020年下半年大学英语四级长篇阅读3篇
2020年下半年大学英语四级长篇阅读3篇【导语】你想有拥有你没有过的能力，就要去做自己没有做过的努力。
以下为“2020年下半年大学英语四级长篇阅读3篇”，欢迎阅读参考！更多相关讯息请关注无忧考网！【篇一】2020年下半年大学英语四级长篇阅读Directions: In this section, you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached to it. Each statement contains information given in one of the paragraphs. Identify the paragraph from which the information is derived.You may choose a paragraph more than once. Each paragraph is marked with a letter. Answer the questions by marking the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2.A University Degree No Longer Confers Financial Securitylions of school-leavers in the rich world are about to bid a tearful goodbye to their parents and start a new life at university. Some are inspired by a pure love of learning. But most also believe that spending three or four years at university--and accumulating huge debts in the process--will boost their chances of landing a well-paid and secure job.B.Their elders have always told them that education is the best way to equip themselves to thrive in a globalised world. Blue-collar workers will see their jobs outsourced and automated, the familiar argument goes. School dropouts will have to cope with a life of cash-strapped (资金紧张的) insecurity. But the graduate elite will have the world at its feet. There is some evidence to support this view. A recent study from Georgetown University's Centre on Education and the Workforce argues that"obtaining a post-secondary credential ( 证书) is almost always worth it." Educational qualifications are tightly correlated with earnings: an American with a professional degree can expect to pocket $3.6m over a lifetime; one with merely a high- school diploma can expect only $1.3m. The gap between more- and less-educated earners may be widening. A study in 2020 found that someone with a bachelor's degree could expect to earn 75% more over a lifetime than someone with only a high-school diploma. Today the disparity is even greater.C.But is the past a reliable guide to the future? Or are we at the beginning of a new phase inthe relationship between jobs and education? There are good reasons for thinking that old patterns are about to change--and that the current recession-driven downturn (衰退) in the demand for Western graduates will morph (改变) into something structural. The strong wind of creative destruction that has shaken so many blue-collar workers over the past few decades is beginning to shake the cognitive elite as well.D.The supply of university graduates is increasing rapidly. The Chronicle of Higher Education calculates that between 1990 and 2020 the number of students going to university increased by 22% in North America, 74% in Europe, 144% in Latin America and 203% in Asia. In 2020 150m people attended university around the world, including 70m in Asia. Emerging economies―specially China--are pouring resources into building universities that can compete with the elite of America and Europe. They are also producing professional- services firms snch as Tata Consulting Services and Infosys that take fresh graduates and turn them into world-class computer programmers and consultants. The best and the brightest of the rich world must increasingly compete with the best and the brightest from poorer countries who are willing to work harder for less money.E. At the same time, the demand for educated labor is being reconfigured (重新配置) by technology, in much the same way that the demand for agricultural labor was reconfigured in the 19th century and that for factory labor in the 20th. Computers can not only perform repetitive mental tasks much faster than human beings. They can also empower amateurs to do what professionals once did: why hire a flesh-and-blood accountant to complete your tax return when Turbotax (a software package ) will do the job at a fraction of the cost? And the variety of jobs that computers can do is multiplying as programmers teach them to deal with tone and linguistic ambiguity.F.Several economists, including Paul Krugman, have begun to argue that post-industrial societies will be characterized not by a relentless rise in demand for the educated but by a great "hollowing out", as mid-level jobs are destroyed by smart machines and high-level job growth slows. David Autor, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), points out that the main effect of automation in the computer era is not that it destroys blue-collar jobs but that it destroysany job that can be reduced to a routine. Alan Blinder of Princeton University, argues that the jobs graduates have traditionally performed are if anything more "offshorable" than low-wage ones. A plumber or lorry-driver's job cannot be outsourced to India. A computer programmer's can.G. A university education is still a prerequisite for entering some of the great industries, such as medicine, law and academia (学术界), that provide secure and well-paying jobs. Over the 20th century these industries did a wonderful job of raising barriers to entry--sometimes for good reasons (nobody wants to be operated on by a barber) and sometimes for self-interested ones. But these industries are beginning to bend the roles. Newspapers are fighting a losing battle with the blogosphere. Universities are replacing tenure-track professors with non-tenured staff. Law firms are contracting out routine work such as"discovery" (digging up documents relevantto a lawsuit) to computerized-search specialists such as Blackstone Discovery. Even doctors are threatened, as patients find advice online and treatment in Walmart's new health centers.H.Thomas Malone of MIT argues that these changes--automation, globalizafion and deregulation--may be part of a bigger change: the application of the division of labor tobrain-work. Adam Smith's factory managers broke the production of pins into 18 components. In the same way, companies are increasingly breaking the production of brain-work into ever tinier slices. TopCoder chops up IT projects into bite-sized chunks and then serves them up to a worldwide workforce of freelance coders.I.These changes will undoubtedly improve the productivity of brain-workers. They will allow consumers to sidestep (规避) the professional industries that have extracted high rents for their services. And they will empower many brain-workers to focus on what they are best at and contract out more tedious tasks to others. But the reconfiguration of brain-work will also make life far less cozy and predictable for the next generation of graduates.【篇二】2020年下半年大学英语四级长篇阅读Directions: In this section, you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached to it. Each statement contains information given in one of the paragraphs. Identify the paragraph from which the information is derived.You may choose a paragraph more than once. Each paragraph is marked with a letter. Answer the questions by marking the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2.How Your Language Affects Your Wealth and HealthA. Does the language we speak determine how healthy and rich we will be? New research by Keith Chen of Yale Business School suggests so. The structure of languages affects our judgments and decisions about the future and this might have dramatic long-term consequences.B. There has been a lot of research into how we deal with the future. For example, the famous marshmallow ( 棉花糖)studies of Walter Mischel and colleagues showed that being able to resist temptation is predictive of future success. Four-year-old kids were given a marshmallow and were told that if they do not eat that marshmallow and wait for the experimenter to come back, they will get two marshmallows instead of one. Follow-up studies showed that the kids who were able to wait for the bigger future reward became more successful young adults.C. Resisting our impulses for immediate pleasure is often the only way to attain the outcomes that are important to us. We want to keep a slim figure but we also want that last slice of pizza. We want a comfortable retirement, but we also want to drive that dazzling car, go on that dream vacation, or get those gorgeous shoes.Some people are better at delaying gratification ( 满足) than others. Those people have a better chance of accumulating wealth and keeping a healthy life style. They are less likely to be impulse buyers or smokers, or to engage in unsafe sex.D. Chen's recent findings suggest that an unlikely factor, language, strongly affects our future-oriented behavior. Some languages strongly distinguish the present and the future. Other languages only weakly distinguish the present and the future. Chen's recent research suggests that people who speak languages that weakly distinguish the present and the future are better prepared for the future. They accumulate more wealth and they are better able to maintain their health. The way these people conceptualize the future is similar to the way they conceptualize the present. As a result, the future does not feel very distant and it is easier for them to act in accordance with their future interestS.E. Different languages have different ways of talking about the future. Some languages, such as English, Korean, and Russian, require their speakers to refer to the future explicitly ( 明确地). Every time English-speakers tall about the future, they have to use future markers such as "will" or "going to." In other languages, such as Mandarin, Japanese, and German, future markers are not obligatory (强制性的). The future is often talked about similar to the way present is talked about and the meaning is understood from the context. A Mandarin speaker who is going to go to a seminar might say "Wo qu ting jiangzuo," which translates to "I go listen seminar." Languages such as English constantly remind their speakers that future events are distant. For speakers of languages such as Mandarin future feels closer. As a consequence, resisting immediate impulses and investing for the future is easier for Mandarin speakers.F.Chert analyzed individual-level data from 76 developed and developing countries. This data includes people's economic decisions, such as whether they saved any money last year, the languages they speak at home, demographics (人口统计资料), and cultural factors such as "saving is an important cultural value for me."He also analyzed individual-level data on people's retirement assets, smoking and exercising habits, and general health in older age. Lastly, he analyzed national-level data that inchides national savings rates, country GDP and GDP growth rates, country demographics, and proportions of people speaking different languages.G. People's savings rates are affected by various factors such as their income, education level, age, religious connection, their countries' legal systems, and their cultural values. After those factors were accounted for, the effect of language on people's savings rates turned out to be big. Speaking a language that has obligatory future markers, such as English, makes people 30 percent less likely to save money for the future. This effect is as large as the effect of unemployment. Being unemployed decreases the likelihood of saving by about 30 percent as well.H. Similar analyses showed that speaking a language that does not have obligatory future markers, such as Mandarin, makes people accumulate more retirement assets, smoke less, exercise more, and generally be healthier in older age. Countries' national savings rates are alsoaffected by language. Having a larger proportion of people speaking languages that does not have obligatory future markers makes national savings rates higher.I.At a more practical level, researchers have been looking for ways to help people act in accordance with their long-term interests. Recent, findings suggest that making the future feel closer to the present might improve future-oriented behavior. For instance, researchers recently presented people with renderings of their future selves made using age-progression algorithms (算法) that forecast how physical appearances would change over time. One group of participants saw a digital representation of their current selves in a virtual mirror, and the other group saw an age-morphed version of their future selves. Those participants who saw the age- morphed version of their future selves allocated more money toward a hypothetical savings account. The intervention brought people's future to the present and as a result they saved more for the future.J.Chen's research shows that language structures our future-related thoughts. Language has been used before to alter time perception with surprising effects. Ellen Langer and colleagues famously improved older people's physical health by simple interventions including asking them to talk about the events of twenty years ago as if it they were happening now. Talking about the past as if it were the present changed people's mindsets and their mindsets affected their physical states. Chen's research points at the possibility that the way we talk about the future can shape our mindsets. Language can move the future back and forth in our mental space and this might have dramatic influences on our judgments and decisions.【篇三】2020年下半年大学英语四级长篇阅读Directions: In this section, you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached to it. Each statement contains information given in one of the paragraphs. Identify the paragraph from which the information is derived.You may choose a paragraph more than once. Each paragraph is marked with a letter. Answer the questions by marking the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2.World Must Adapt to Unknown Climate FutureA.There is still great uncertainty about the impacts of climate change，according to the latestreport from the Intefgovernmental Panel on Climate Change，released today.So if we are to survive and prosper, rather than trying to fend off specific threats like cyclones，we must build flexible and resilient(有弹性的)societies.B.Today’s report is the second of three instalments(分期连载)of the IPCC’s fifth assessment of climate change.The first instalment，released last year,covered the physical science of climate change.It stated with increased certainty that climate change is happenin9，and that it is the result of humanity’s greenhouse gas emissions.The new report focuses on the impacts of climate change and how to adapt to them.The third instalment，on how to cut greenhouse gas emissions，comes out in April.C.The latest report backs off from some of the predictions made in the previous IPCC report，in 2020.During the final editing process.the authors also retreated from many of the more confident projections from the final draft，leaked last year.The IPCC now says it often cannot predict which specific impacts of climate change―such as droughts，storms or floods――will hit particular places.D.Instead，the IPCC focuses on how people call adapt in the face of uncertainty,arguing that we must become resilient against diverse changes in the climate.“The natural human tendency is to want things to be clear and simple.”says the report’s co-chair Chris Field of the Carnegie Institution for Science in Stanford，Califomia.“And one of the messages that doesn’t just come from the IPCC，it comes from history,is that the future doesn’t ever turn out the way you think it will be.”That means，Field adds，that‘'being prepared for a wide range of possible futures is iust always smart”.E.Here New Scientist breaks down what is new in the report，and what it means for humanity’s efforts to cope with a changing climate.A companion article，“How climate change will affect where you live”，highlights some of the key impacts that different regions are facing.What has changed in the new IPCC report?F.In essence，the predictions are intentionally vaguer.Much of the firlner language from the 2020 report about exactly what kind of weather to expect，and how changes witl affect people，has been replaced with more cautious statements.The scale and timing of many regionalimpacts，and even the form of some，now appear uncertain.G.For example，the 2020 report predicted that the intensity of cyclones over Asia would increase by 10to 20 per cent.The new report makes no such claim.Similarly,the last report estimated that climate change would force up to a quarter of a billion Africans into water shortage by the end of this decade.The new report avoids using such firm numbers.H.The report has even watered down many of the more confident predictions that appeared in the lcaked drafts.References to“hundreds of millions”of people being affected by rising sea levels have been removed from the summary,as have statements about the impact of warmer temperatures on cr ops.“I think it's gone back a bit，”says Jean Palutikof of Griffith University in Brisbane，Queensland，Australia，who worked on the 2020 report.“That may be a good thing.In the fourth [climate assessment]we tried to do things that weren’t really possible and the fifth has sort of rebalanced the whole thing.”So do we know less than we did before?I.Not really,says Andy Pitman of the University of New South Wales in Sydney,Australia.It is just more rigorous language.“Pointing to the sign of the change，rather than the precise magnitude of the change，is scientifically more defensible，”he says.J.We also know more about what we don’t know,says David Karoly at the University of Melbourne.“There is now a better understanding of uncertainties in regional c limate proj ections at decadal timescales(时标).”Are we less confident about all the impacts of climate change?K.Not quite.There are still plenty of confident predictions of impacts in the reponv―at least in the draft chapters that were lcaked last year,and which are expected to be roughly the same when they are released later this week.These include more rain in parts ofAfrica，more heatwaves in southem Europe，and more frequent droughts in Australia(see“How climate change will affect where you live”).It also remains clear that the seas are rising.How do we prepare in cases in which there is low confidence about the effects of climate change?L.That’s exactly what this report deals with.In many cases，the uncertainty is a matter of magnitude，so the choices are not hard.“It doesn’t really matter if the car hits the wall at 70 or 80kilometres an hour,”says Karoly.“You should still wear your seat belt.”So when it comes to sea.1evel rise or heatwaves，the uncertainty does not change what we need to do：build sea walls，use efficient cooling and so forth.M.But in some cases――such as African rainfall，which could go up or down――the models are not giving us great advice.so all we know is that things will change.“We are not certain about the precise nature of regional change，but we are absolutely certain there are going to be profound changes in many regions，”says Pitman.Even then，there are things we can do that will always help.A big one is getting people out of poverty.The report says poverty makes other impacts worse and many suggested adaptations are about alleviating it.The IPCC suggests giving disadvantaged groups more of a voice，helping them move when they need to and strengthening social safety nets.N.What’s more，all countries should diversify their economies，rather than relying on a few main sources of income that could flood or blow ovel Countries should also find ways to become less vulnerable to the current climate variability.That means improving the way they govem resources like water,the report says.O.In short，we must become more resilient.That would be wise even if the climate was stable.Our current infrastructure often cannot deal with the current climate，says Karoly,pointing to events like the recent UK floods.“We don’t have a resil ient system now,even in extremely well developed countries.”。
英语四级考试阅读模拟题及答案-英语四级考试阅读模拟题及答案
英语四级考试阅读模拟题及答案|英语四级考试阅读模拟题及答案在备考时间加强英语阅读的模拟练习，对于考好英语四级考试非常重要。
下面我为大家带来英语四级考试阅读模拟题，欢迎考生模拟阅读。
英语四级考试阅读模拟题(一)Where do pesticides fit into the picture of environmental disease? We have seen that they now pollute soil,water and food, that they have the power to make our streams fishless and our gardens and woodlands silent and birdless. Man, however much he may like to pretend the contrary, is part of nature. Can he escape a pollution that is now so thoroughly distributed throughout our world: We know that even single exposures to these chemicals, if the amount is large enough, can cause extremely severe poisoning. But this is not the major problem. The sudden illness or death of farmers, farmworkers, and others exposed to sufficient quantities of pesticides is very sad and should not occur. For the population as a whole, we must be more concerned with the delayed effects of absorbing small amounts of the pesticides that invisibly pollute our world.Responsible public health officials have pointed out that the biological effects of chemicals are cumulative over long periods of time, and that the danger to individual may depend on the sum of the exposures received throughout his lifetime. For these veryreasons the danger is easily ignored. It is human nature to shake off what may seem to us a threat of future disaster. Men are naturally most impressed by diseases which have obvious signs, says a wise physician, Dr Rene Dubos, yet some of their worst enemies slowly approach them unnoticed.练习题：Choose correct answers to the question:1.Which of the following is closest in meaning to the sentence Manis part of nature (Para. 1, Lines 3-4)?A. Man appears indifferent to what happens in nature.B. Man acts as if he does not belong to nature.C. Man can avoid the effects of environmental pollution.D. Man can escape his responsibilities for environmental effects of pesticides?2. What is the authors attitude toward the environmental effects of pesticides?A. PessimisticB. IndifferentC. DefensiveD. Concerned3. In the authors view, the sudden death caused by exposure to large amounts of pesticides _____.A. is not the worst of the negative consequences resulting from the use of pesticidesB. now occurs most frequently among all accidental deathsC. has sharply increased so as to become the center of public attentionD. is unavoidable because people cant do without pesticides in farming4. People tend to ignore the delayed effects of exposure to chemical because _____.A. limited exposure to them does little harm to peoples healthB. the present is more important for them than the futureC. the danger does not become apparent immediatelyD. humans are capable of withstanding small amounts of poisoning5. It can be concluded from Dr. Dubos remarks that _____.A. people find invisible diseases difficult to deal withB. attacks by hidden enemies tend to be fatalC. diseases with obvious signs are easy to cureD. people tend to overlook hidden dangers caused by pesticides英语四级考试阅读模拟题答案1.[B] 题干的句子是文章第1段第3句，这是一个带有插入语的简洁句，contrary在此表示跟part of nature相反，因此答案为B。
2020公共英语四级模拟试题：阅读
2020公共英语四级模拟试题：阅读2020公共英语四级模拟试题：阅读If you intend using humor in your talk to make people smile, you must know how to identify shared experiences and problems. Your humor must be relevant to the audience and should help to show them that you are one of them or that you understand their situation and are in sympathy with theirpoint of view. Depending on whom you are addressing, the problems will be different. If you are talking to a group of managers, you may refer to the disorganized methods of their secretaries; alternatively if you are addressing secretaries, you may want to comment on their disorganized bosses.Here is an example, which I heard at a nurses' convention, of a story which works well because the audience all sharedthe same view of doctors. A man arrives in heaven and isbeing shown around by St. Peter. He sees wonderful accommodations, beautiful gardens, sunny weather, and so on. Everyone is very peaceful, polite and friendly until, waiting in a line for lunch, the new arrival is suddenly pushed aside by a man in a white coat, who rushes to the head of the line, grabs his food and stomps over to a table by himself. “Whois that?" the new arrival asked St. Peter. “On, that's God," came the reply, “but sometimes he thinks he's a doctor."If you are part of the group which you are addressing,you will be in a position to know the experiences andproblems which are common to all of you and it'll be appropriate for you to make a passing remark about theinedible canteen food or the chairman's notorious bad tastein ties. With other audiences you mustn't attempt to cut in with humor as they will resent an outsider making disparaging remarks about their canteen or their chairman. You will be on safer ground if you stick to scapegoats like the Post Office or the telephone system.If you feel awkward being humorous, you must practice so that it becomes more natural. Include a few casual and apparently off-the-cuff remarks which you can deliver in a relaxed and unforced manner. Often it's the delivery which causes the audience to smile, so speak slowly and remember that a raised eyebrow or an unbelieving look may help to show that you are making a light-hearted remark.Look for the humor. It often comes from the unexpected. A twist on a familiar quote “If at first you don't succeed, give up" or a play on words or on a situation. Search for exaggeration and understatements. Look at your talk and pick out a few words or sentences which you can turn about and inject with humor.41. To make your humor work, you should__________[A] take advantage of different kinds of audience.[B] make fun of the disorganized people.[C] address different problems to different people.[D] show sympathy for your listeners.42. The joke about doctors implies that, in the eyes of nurses, they are ___________[A] impolite to new arrivals.[B] very conscious of their godlike role.[C] entitled to some privileges.[D] very busy even during lunch hours.43. It can be inferred from the text that public services __________[A] have benefited many people.[B] are the focus of public attention.[C] are an inappropriate subject for humor.[D] have often been the laughing stock.44. To achieve the desired result, humorous stories should be delivered _________[A] in well-worded language.[B] as awkwardly as possible.[C] in exaggerated statements.[D] as casually as possible.45. The best title for the text may be__________[A] Use Humor Effectively.[B] Various Kinds of Humor.[C] Add Humor to Speech.[D] Different Humor Strategies.参考答案CBDDA。
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2020年四级改革模拟题：长篇阅读(2) Hate Your Job? Here’s How to Reshape ItA) Once upon a time, if you hated your job, you either quit or bit your lip. These days, a group of researchers is trumpeting a third option： shape your job so ifs morefruitful than futile.B) "We often get trapped into thinking about our job as a list of things to do and a list of responsibilities," says Amy Wrzesniewski, an associate professor at the Yale School of Management. "But what if you set aside that mind-set?" If you could adjust what you do, she says, "who would you start talking to, what other tasks would you take on, and who would you work with?"C) To make livelihoods more lively, Wrzesniewski and her colleagues Jane Dutton and Justin Berg have developed a methodology they call job-crafting. They’re working with Fortune 500 companies, smaller firms and business schools to change the way Americans think about work. The idea is to make all jobs--even mundane (平凡的) ones---more meaningful by empowering employees to brainstorm and implement subtle but significant workplace adjustments.Step 1： Rethink Your Job--CreativelyD) "The default some people wake up to is dragging themselves to work and facing a list of things they have to do," says Wrzesniewski. So in the job-crafting process, the first step is to think about your job holistically. You first analyze how much time, energy and attention you devote toyour various tasks. Then you reflect on that allocation( 分配). See I0 perfect jobs for the recession--and after.E) Take, for example, a maintenance technician at Burt’s Bees, which makes personal-care products. He was interestedin process engineering, though that wasn’t part of his job description. To alter the scope of his day-to-day activities, the technician asked a supervisor if he could spend some time studying an idea he had for making the firm’s manufacturing procedures more energy-efficient. His ideas proved helpful, and now process engineering is part of the scope of his work.F) Barbara Fredrickson, author of Positivity and a professor of psychology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, says it’s crucial for people to payattention to their workday emotions. "Doing so," she says, "will help you discover which aspects of your work are most life-giving-and most life-draining."G) Many of us get stuck in ruts (惯例 ). Berg, a Ph.D. student at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania who helped develop the job-crafting methodology, says we all benefit from periodically rethinking what we do. "Even in the most constraining jobs, people have a certain amount of wiggle room," he says. "Small changes can have a real impact on life at work."Step 2： Diagram Your DayH) To lay the groundwork for change, job-crafting participants assemble diagrams detailing their workday activities. The first objective is to develop new insights about what you actually do at work. Then you can dream upfresh ways to integrate what the job-crafting exercise calls your "strengths, motives and passions" into your daily routine. You convert task lists into flexible building blocks. The end result is an "after" diagram that can serve as a map for specific changes.I) lna Lockau-Vogel, a management consultant who participated in a recent job-crafting workshop, says the exercise helped her adjust her priorities. "Before, 1 would spend so much time reacting to requests and focusing onurgent tasks that I never had time to address the real important issues." As part of the job-crafting process, she decided on a strategy for delegating and outsourcing (外包) more of her administrative responsibilities.J) In contrast to business books that counsel, managersto influence workers through incentives, job-crafting focuses on what employees themselves can do to re-envision and adjust what they do every day. Given that according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, it now takes the average job seeker morethan six months to find a new position, it’s crucial to make the most of the job you’ve got.Step 3： Identify Job Loves and HatesK) By reorienting (使适合 ) how you think about your job, you free yourself up for new ideas about how to restructure your workday time and energy. Take an IT worker who hates dealing with technologically incompetent callers. He might enjoy teaching more than customer service. By spending more time instructing colleagues--and treating help-line callersas curious students of tech--the disgruntled IT person can make the most of his 9-to-5 position.。