星火：2008年12月英语四级模拟试卷样题及解析

　　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.

　　American cities are similar to other cities around the world. In every country, cities reflect the (36)_______ of the culture. Cities contain the very best aspects of a society: (37) _______ for education, employment, and entertainment. They also contain the very worst parts of a society: violent crime, racial conflict, and (38) _______. American cities are changing, just as American society is changing. After World WarⅡ, city residents became wealthier, more prosperous. They had more children. They needed more (39). _______. They moved out of their apartments in the city to buy their own homes. They bought houses in the (40) _______ areas near a city where people live. These are (41) _______ without many offices or factories. During the 1950s the American "dream" was to have a house in the suburbs. Now things are changing. The children of the people who left the cities in the 1950s are now (42). _______. They, unlike their parents, want to live in the cities. Many young professionals, doctors, lawyers, and (43) _______ are moving back to the city. (44) _______. They prefer the city to the suburbs because their jobs are there; they are afraid of the fuel shortage; (45) _______. A new class is moving into the city-a wealthier, more mobile class. (46) _______. Some city residents now see a bright, new future. Others see only problems and conflicts. One thing is sure: Many dying cities are alive again.

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

　　Section A

　　Directions: 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 bank is identified by a letter. Please mark the corresponding letter for each item on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once.

　　Questions 47 to 56 are based on the following passage.

　　More than forty women have been killed in the war in Iraq. Hundreds of others have been ___ 47___.The war began in March of 2003.Two___ 48___published books tell two different stories of women who served in Iraq. One is by Janis Karpinski. She was the Army general who ___ 49___military police at prisons in Iraq. These included the Army Reserve soldiers who ___ 50___ the Abu Ghraib Prison near Baghdad. Some have received prison ___51_for mistreating prisoners at Abu Ghraib. Miz Karpinski became the highest-level officer to be punished in connection with the ___ 52___.She left the service in July after being reduced from a brigadier general(准将) to a colonel(上校).Her book is called "One Woman's Army: The Commanding General of Abu Ghraib Tells Her Story." Miz Karpinski says she was unfairly blamed for conditions beyond her control. She also tells of her difficulties as a rising woman ___ 53___in the Army. Another former member of the Army, Kayla Williams, wrote a book called "Love My Rifle More Than You." The name is taken from a ___ 54___ song. Miz Williams was an Arabic translator in Iraq. She says her book describes what it is like to be young and ___ 55__ in the Army. One famous 56 called it "a frank, hocking and honest look at life in the military."

　　A) abused F) case K) marching

　　B) female G) commanded L) simply

　　C) wounded H) soldier M) guarded

　　D) officer I) reviewer N) beautiful

　　E) treatments J) recently O) sentences

　　Section

　　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 52 to 56 are based on the following passage.

　　Iron production was revolutionized in the early eighteenth century when coke was first used instead of charcoal (木炭) for refining iron ore. Previously the poor quality of the iron had restricted its use in architecture to items such as chains and tie bars for supporting arches, vaults (拱顶),and walls. With the improvement in refining ore, it was now possible to make cast-iron beams and columns. During the nineteenth century further advances were made, notably Bessemer's process for converting iron into steel, which made the material more commercially feasible.

　　Iron was rapidly adopted for the construction of bridges, because its strength was far greater than that of stone or timber, but its use in the architecture of buildings developed more slowly. By 1800 a complete internal iron skeleton for buildings had been developed in industrial architecture replacing traditional timber beams, but it generally remained concealed. Apart from its low cost, the appeal of iron as a building material lay in its strength, its resistance to fire, and its potential to span vast areas. As a result, iron became increasingly popular as a structural material for more traditional styles of architecture during the nineteenth century, but it was invariably concealed.