专四阅读真题及答案

　　在学习和工作的日常里，我们经常跟试题打交道，借助试题可以对一个人进行全方位的考核。什么样的.试题才是科学规范的试题呢？下面是小编整理的专四阅读真题及答案，供大家参考借鉴，希望可以帮助到有需要的朋友。

　　In this section there are three passages folloed by ten multiple choice questions. For each multiple choice question, there are four suggested ansers marked A, B, C and D. Choose the one that you think is the best anser and mark your ansers on ANSWER SHEET TWO. PASSAGE ONE

　　When I as tenty-seven years old, I as a mining-broker's clerk in San Francisco, and an expert in all the details of stock traffic. I as alone in the orld, and had nothing to depend upon but my its and a clean reputation; but these ere setting my feet in the road to eventual fortune, and I as content ith the prospect. My time as my on after the afternoon board, Saturdays, and I as accustomed to putting it in on a little sail-boat on the bay. One day I ventured too far, and as carried out to sea. Just at nightfall, hen hope as about gone, I as picked up by a small ship hich as bound for London. It as a long and stormy voyage, and they made me ork my passage ithout pay, as a common sailor. When I stepped ashore in London my clothes ere ragged and shabby, and I had only a dollar in my pocket. This money fed and sheltered me tenty-four hours. During the next tenty-four I ent ithout food and shelter.

　　About ten o'clock on the folloing morning, dirty and hungry, I as dragging myself along Portland Place, hen a child that as passing, toed by a nurse-maid, tossed a big pear -minus one bite - into the gutter. I stopped, of course, and fastened my desiring eye on that muddy treasure. My mouth atered for it, my stomach craved it, my hole being, begged for it. But every time I made a move to get it some passing eye detected my purpose, and of course I straightened up then, and looked indifferent and pretended that I hadn't been thinking about the pear at all. This same thing kept happening and happening, and I couldn't get the pear.

　　I as just getting desperate enough to brave all the shame, and to seize it, hen a indo behind me as raised, and a gentleman spoke out of it, saying: Step in here, please.

　　I as admitted by a man servant, and shon into a sumptuous room here a couple of elderly gentlemen ere sitting. They sent aay the servant, and made me sit don. They had just finished their breakfast, and the sight of the remains of it almost overpoered me. I could hardly keep my its together in the presence of that food, but as I as not asked to sample it, I had to bear my trouble as best as I could.

　　No, something had been happening there a little before, hich I did not kno anything about until a good many days afterards, but I ill tell you about it no. Those to old brothers had been having a pretty hot argument a couple of days before, and had ended by agreeing to decide it by a bet, hich is the English ay of settling everything.

　　You ill remember that the Bank of England once issued to notes of a million pounds each, to be used for a special purpose connected ith some public transaction ith a foreign country. For some reason or other only one of these had been used and canceled; the other still lay in the vaults of the Bank. Well, the brothers, chatting along, happened to get to ondering hat might be the fate of a perfectly honest and intelligent stranger ho should be turned adrift in London ithout a friend, and ith no money but that million-pound bank-note, and no ay to account for his being in possession of it. Brother A said he ould starve to death; Brother B said he ouldn't. Brother A said he couldn't offer it at a bank or anyhere else, because he ould be arrested on the spot. So they ent on disputing till Brother B said he ould bet tenty thousand pounds that the man ould live thirty days, anyay, on that million, and keep out of jail, too. Brother A took him up. Brother B ent don to the Bank and bought that note. Then he dictated a letter, hich one of his clerks rote out in a beautiful round hand, and then the to brothers sat at the indo a hole day atching for the right man to give it to. I finally became the pick of them.

　　41. In Para. 1, the phrase set my feet probably means___________. A. put me aside B. start my journey C. prepare me D. let me alk

　　42. It can be concluded from Para. 2 that___________.

　　A. the man anted to maintain dignity though starved B. the man could not get a proper chance to eat the pear C. the man did not really ant the pear since it as dirty D. it as very difficult for the man to get the pear

　　43. Compared ith Brother A, Brother B as more ___________ toards the effect of the one-million-pound bank-note on a total stranger. A. neutral B. negative C. reserved D. positive

　　PASSAGE TWO

　　The concept of peace is a very important one in cultures all over the orld. Think about ho e greet people. In some languages, the phrases for greetings contain the ord for peace. In some cultures e greet people by shaking hands or ith another gesture to sho that e are not carrying eapons—that e come in peace. And there are certain symbols hich people in very different cultures recognize as representing peace. Let's look at a fe of them.

　　The dove

　　The dove has been a symbol of peace and innocence for thousands of years in many different cultures. In ancient Greek mythology it as a symbol of love and the reneal of life. In ancient Japan a dove carrying a sord symbolized the end of ar.

　　There as a tradition in Europe that if a dove fle around a house here someone as dying then their soul ould be at peace. And there are legends hich say that the devil can turn himself into any bird except for a dove. In Christian art, the dove as used to symbolize the Holy Ghost and as often painted above Christ's head.

　　But it as Pablo Picasso ho made the dove a modern symbol of peace hen he used it on a poster for the World Peace Congress in 1949.

　　The rainbo

　　The rainbo is another ancient and universal symbol, often representing the connection beteen human beings and their gods. In Greek mythology it as associated ith Iris, the goddess ho brought messages from the gods on Mount Olympus. In Scandinavian mythology the rainbo as a bridge beteen the gods and the earth. In the Bible a rainbo shoed Noah that the Biblical flood as finally over, and that God had forgiven his people. In the Chinese tradition, the rainbo is a common symbol for marriage because the colours represent the union of yin and yang. Noadays the rainbo is used by many popular movements for peace and the environment, representing the possibility of a better orld in the future and promising sunshine after the rain.

　　Mistletoe

　　This plant as sacred in many cultures, generally representing peace and love. Most people kno of the tradition of kissing under the mistletoe at Christmas time, hich probably comes from Scandinavian mythology. The goddess Freya's son as killed by an arro made of mistletoe, so, in honour of him, she declared that it ould alays be a symbol of peace. It as often hung in doorays as a sign of friendship.

　　The ancient Druids believed that hanging mistletoe in your dooray protected you from evil spirits. Tribes ould stop fighting for a period of time if they found a tree ith mistletoe. But you ill never see mistletoe in a Christian church - it is banned because of its associations ith pagan religion and superstition.

　　The olive branch

　　The olive tree has alays been a valuable source of food and oil. In Greek mythology, the goddess Athena gave the olive tree to the people of Athens, ho shoed their gratitude by naming the city after her. But no one knos for sure hen or hy it began to symbolize peace. There is probably a connection ith ancient Greece. Wars beteen states ere suspended during the Olympic Games, and the inners ere given crons of olive branches. The symbolism may come from the fact that the olive tree takes a long time to produce fruit, so olives could only be cultivated successfully in long periods of peace. Whatever the history, the olive branch is a part of many modern flags symbolizing peace and unity. One ell-knon example is the United Nations symbol.

　　The ankh

　　The ankh is an ancient symbol hich as adopted by the hippie movement in the 1960s to represent peace and love. It as found in many Asian cultures, but is generally associated ith ancient Egypt. It represented life and immortality. Egyptians ere buried ith an ankh, so that they could continue to live in the afterorld. The symbol as also found along the sides of the Nile, hich gave life to the people. They believed that the ankh could control the flo of the river and make sure that there as alays enough ater.

　　44. Which of the folloing is the best title for the passage? A. Concept of Peace. B. Origin of Peace Symbols. C. Popular Peace Symbols. D. Cultural Difference of Peace.

　　45. The rainbo represents the connection beteen human beings and their gods in all the folloing countries

　　EXCEPT___________. A. Seden B. Greece C. Finland D. China

　　46. In North Europe mistletoe as often hung in doorays to indicate___________. A. friendship B. love C. kinship D. honour

　　47. The origin of the ankh can date back to___________. A. the Nile B. the afterorld C. the hippie movement D. ancient Egypt

　　PASSAGE THREE

　　To sides almost never change: That you can manipulate people into self-sufficiency and that you can punish them into good citizenship.

　　The first manifests itself in our tireless search for the magical level at hich elfare grants are big enough to meet basic needs but small enough to make lo-paid ork attractive. The second has us looking to the criminal justice system to cure behavior that is as much as anything the result of despair.

　　Not only can e never find the perfect punishment, our search for optimum penalties is complicated by our desire for fairness: to let the punishment fit the crime. The problem is that almost any punishment - even the disgrace of being charged ith a crime - is sufficient to deter the middle class, hile for members of the underclass, probation may be translated as I beat it.

　　So ho can you use the system - elfare or criminal justice - to produce the behavior e ant? The anser, I suspect is: You can't.

　　We keep trying to use elfare and prison to change people - to make them think and behave the ay e do - hen the truth is the incentives ork only for those ho already think the ay e do: ho vie today's action ith an eye on the future.

　　We ill take loly ork because e believe e can make bad jobs ork for us. We avoid crime not because e are better people but because e see getting caught as a future-recking disaster. We are guided by a belief that good things ill happen for us in the future if e take proper care of the present. Even under the orst of circumstances, e believe e are in control of our lives.

　　And e have trouble understanding that not everybody believes as e believe. The elfare rolls, the prisons and the mean streets of our cities are full of people ho have given up on their

　　The elfare example is ell knon. We don't ant poor people to live in squalor or their children to be malnourished. But e also don't ant to subsidize the indolence of people ho are too lazy to ork. The first impulse leads us to provide housing, food stamps, medical care and a cash stipend for families in need. The second gets us to think about orkforce.

　　We've been thinking about it for to reasons: the nanny problems of to high-ranking government officials and President Clinton's proposal to put a to-year limit on elfare.

　　Maybe something useful ill come of Clinton's idea, but I'm not all that hopeful. It looks to me like one more example of trying to manipulate people into taking care of themselves.

　　On the criminal justice side, e hope to make punishment tough enough to discourage crime but not so tough as to clog our prisons ith relatively minor offenders. Too short a sentence, e fear, ill create contempt for the la. Too long a sentence ill take up costly space better used for the violent and unremorseful.

　　Not only can e never find the perfect punishment, our search for optimum penalties is complicated by our desire for fairness: to let the punishment fit the crime. The problem is that almost any punishment - even the disgrace of being charged ith a crime - is sufficient to deter the middle class, hile for members of the underclass, probation may be translated as I beat it.

　　So ho can you use the system - elfare or criminal justice - to produce the behavior e ant? The anser, I suspect is: You can't.

　　We keep trying to use elfare and prison to change people - to make them think and behave the ay e do - hen the truth is the incentives ork only for those ho already think the ay e do: ho vie today's action ith an eye on the future.

　　We ill take loly ork because e believe e can make bad jobs ork for us. We avoid crime not because e are better people but because e see getting caught as a future-recking disaster. We are guided by a belief that good things ill happen for us in the future if e take proper care of the present. Even under the orst of circumstances, e believe e are in control of our lives.

　　And e have trouble understanding that not everybody believes as e believe. The elfare rolls, the prisons and the mean streets of our cities are full of people ho have given up on their future. Without hope for the future, hard ork at a lo-paid job makes no sense. Working hard in school, or pleasing a boss, or avoiding pregnancy makes no sense. The deadly disease is hopelessness. The lalessness and poverty are only the obvious symptoms.

　　I'm not advocating that e stop looking for incentives to move poor people toard self-sufficiency or that e stop punishing people for criminal behavior. There ill alays be some people ho need help and some ho deserve to be in jail.

　　All I'm saying is that the long-term anser both to elfare and the crime that plagues our communities is not to fine tune the elfare and criminal justice systems but to prevent our children from getting the disease of despair.

　　If e encourage our young people to believe in the future, and give them solid evidence for believing, e'll find both crime and poverty shrinking to manageable proportions.

　　48. What is the author's attitude toards Clinton's proposal to elfare? A. Pessimistic. B. Optimistic. C. Suspicious. D. Sarcastic.

　　49. It can be inferred from Para. 7 that optimum penalties are___________to the underclass. A. useless B. hopeless C. frightening D. humiliating

　　50. Which of the folloing is the most appropriate title for the passage?

　　A. Lalessness and Poverty. B. Criminal Justice System. C. Welfare Grants. D. Disease of Despair.

　　SECTION B SHORT ANSWER QUESTIONS

　　In this section there are five short anser questions based on the passages in Section A. Anser the questions ith NO more than TEN ords in the space provided on ANSWER SHEET TWO. PASSAGE ONE

　　51. In Para. 4, hat does the man mean by saying I had to bear my trouble?

　　52. What can be inferred from the last sentence of the passage?

　　PASSAGE TWO

　　53. Why does the UN use the olive branch in its symbol?

　　PASSAGE THREE

　　54. According to the author, hat balance should e keep in elfare?

　　55. What does the author mean by saying Even under the orst of circumstances, e believe e are in control of our lives ?

　　参考答案

　　PART V READING COMPREHENSION

　　41-50: BADBD ADCBD

　　51.Keep its together in the presence of that food.

　　52.The author as given the million-pound bank-note.

　　53.It symbolizes peace and unity.

　　54.Meeting basic needs and making lo-paid ork.

　　55.Good things ill happen by taking care of the present.