新题型：英语四级真题及详解精讲版(2006年6月)

　　Section C

　　Directions: In this section, you will hear a passage three times. When the passage is read for the first time, you should listen carefully for its general idea. When the passage is read for the second time, you are required to fill in the blanks numbered from 36 to 43 with the exact words you have just heard. For blanks numbered from 44 to 46 you are required to fill in the missing information. For these blanks, you can either use the exact words you have just heard or write down the main points in your own words. Finally, when the passage is read for the third time, you should check what you have written.

　　注意：此部分试题在答题卡2上作答。

　　For Americans, time is money. They say, “You only get so much time in this life, you’d better use it wisely.” The 36 will not be better than the past or present, as Americans are 37 to see things unless people use their time for constructive activities. Thus, Americans 38 a “well-organized” person, one who has a written list of things to do and a 39 for doing them. The ideal person is punctual and is 40 of other people’s time. They do not 41 people’s time with conversation or other activity that has no 42 beneficial outcome.

　　The American attitude toward time is not 43 shared by others, especially non-Europeans. They are more likely to regard time as 44 . One of the more difficult things many students must adjust to in the States is the notion that time must be saved whenever possible and used wisely every day.

　　In this context 45 . McDonald’s, KFC, and other fast food establishments are successful in a country where many people want to spend the least amount of time preparing and eating meals. As McDonald’s restaurants 46 , bringing not just hamburgers but an emphasis on speed, efficiency, and shiny cleanliness.

　　Part Ⅳ Reading Comprehension (Reading in Depth) (25 minutes)

　　Section A

　　Direction: In this section, there is a passage with ten blanks. You are required to select one word for each blank from a list of choices given in a word bank following the passage. Read the passage through carefully before making your choices. Each choice in the bank is identified by a letter. Please mark the corresponding letter for each item on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the center. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once.

　　Questions 47 to 56 are based on the following passage.

　　El Nino is the name given to the mysterious and often unpredictable change in the climate of the world. This strange 47 happens every five to eight years. It starts in the Pacific Ocean and is thought to be caused by a failure in the trade winds (信风), which affects the ocean currents driven by these winds. As the trade winds lessen in 48 , the ocean temperatures rise, causing the Peru current flowing in from the east to warm up by as much as 5℃.

　　The warming of the ocean has far-reaching effects. The hot, humid (潮湿的) air over the ocean causes severe 49 thunderstorms. The rainfall is increased across South America, 50 floods to Peru. In the West Pacific, there are droughts affecting Australia and Indonesia. So while some parts of the world prepare for heavy rains and floods, other parts face drought, poor crops and 51 .

　　El Nino usually lasts for about 18 months. The 1982-83 El Nino brought the most 52 weather in modern history. Its effect was worldwide and it left more than 2,000 people dead and caused over eight billion pounds 53 of damage. The 1990 El Nino lasted until June 1995. Scientists 54 this to be the longest El Nino for 2,000 years.

　　Nowadays, weather experts are able to forecast when an El Nino will 55 but they are still not 56 sure what leads to it or what affects how strong it will be.

　　注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。

　　A) estimate B) strength C) deliberately D) notify E) tropical

　　F) phenomenon G) stable H) attraction I) completely J) destructive

　　K) starvation L) bringing M) exhaustion N) worth O) strike

　　Section B

　　Directions: There are 2 passages in this section. 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 Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.

　　Passage One

　　Questions 57 to 61 are based on the following passage.

　　Communications technologies are far from equal when it comes to conveying the truth. The first study to compare honesty across a range of communication media has found that people are twice as likely to tell lies in phone conversations as they are in emails. The fact that emails are automatically recorded—and can come back to haunt (困扰) you—appears to be the key to the finding.

　　Jeff Hancock of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, asked 30 students to keep a communications diary for a week. In it they noted the number of conversations or email exchanges they had lasting more than 10 minutes, and confessed to how many lies they told. Hancock then worked out the number of lies per conversation for each medium. He found that lies made up 14 per cent of emails, 21 per cent of instant messages, 27 percent of face-to-face interactions and an astonishing 37 percent of phone calls.

　　His results, to be presented at the conference on human computer interaction in Vienna, Austria, in April, have surprised psychologists. Some expected e-mailers to be the biggest liars, reasoning that because deception makes people uncomfortable, the detachment (非直接接触) of e-mailing would make it easier to lie. Others expected people to lie more in face-to-face exchanges because we are most practiced at that form of communication.

　　But Hancock says it is also crucial whether a conversation is being recorded and could be reread, and whether occurs in real time. People appear to be afraid to lie when they know the communication could later be used to hold them to account, he says. This is why fewer lies appear in email than on the phone.