英语四级新题型(阅读)冲刺讲义【新东方】

考试易犯的五大错误 翻译高分攻略 新四级冲刺方略

第七课时

Passage Four
Questions 36 to 40 are based on the following passage.
    The decline in moral standards — which has long concerned social analysts—has at last captured the attention of average Americans. And Jean Bethke Elshtain, for one, is glad.
    The fact that ordinary citizens are now starting to think seriously about the nation's moral climate, says this ethics（伦理学）professor at the University of Chicago, is reason to hope that new ideas will come forward to improve it.
    But the challenge is not to be underestimated. Materialism and individualism in American society are the biggest obstacles. "The thought that" 'I'm in it for me' has become deeply rooted in the national consciousness," Ms. Elshtain says.
    Some of this can be attributed to the disintegration of traditional communities, in which neighbors looked out for one another, she says. With today's greater mobility and with so many couples working, those bonds have been weakened, replaced by a greater emphasis on self.
    In a 1996 poll of Americans, loss of morality topped the list of the biggest problems facing the U.S. And Elshtain says the public is correct to sense that: Data show that Americans are struggling with problems unheard of in the 1950s, such as classroom violence and high rate of births to unmarried mothers.
    The desire for a higher moral standard is not a lament（挽歌）for some nonexistent "golden age", Elshtain says, nor is it a wishful（一厢情愿的）longing for a time that denied opportunities to women and minorities. Most people, in fact, favor the lessening of prejudice.
    Moral decline will not be reversed until people find ways to counter the materialism in society, she says. "Slowly, you recognize that the things that matter are those that can't be bought."

36. Professor Elshtain is pleased to see that Americans ________.
   A) have adapted to a new set of moral standards
   B) are longing for the return of the good old days
   C) have realized the importance of material things
   D) are awakening to the lowering of their moral standards
37. The moral decline of American society is caused main by ________.
   A) its growing wealth
   B) the self-centeredness of individuals
   C) underestimating the impact of social changes
   D) the prejudice against women and minorities
38. Which of the following characterizes the traditional communities?
   A) Great mobility
   B) Concern for one's neighbors.
   C) Emphasis on individual effort.
   D) Ever-weakening social bonds.
39. In the 1950s, classroom violence ________.
   A) was something unheard of
   B) was by no means a rare occurrence
   C) attracted a lot of public attention
   D) began to appear in analysts' data
40. According to Elshtain, the current moral decline may be reversed ________.
   A) if people can return to the "golden age"
   B) when women and men enjoy equal rights
   C) when people rid themselves of prejudice
   D) if less emphasis is laid on material things

Unit 2
Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage:

    For some time past it has been widely accepted that babies—and other creatures—learn to do things because certain acts lead to "rewards"; and there is no reason to doubt that this is true. But it used also to be widely believed that effective rewards, at least in the early stages, had to be directly related to such basic physiological（生理的）"drives" as thirst or hunger. In other words, a baby would learn if he got food or drink or some sort of physical comfort, not otherwise.
    It is now clear that this is not so. Babies will learn to behave in ways that produce results in the world with no reward except the successful outcome.
    Papousek began his studies by using milk in the normal way to "reward" the babies and so teach them to carry out some simple movements, such as turning the head to one side or the other. Then he noticed that a baby who had had enough to drink would refuse the milk but would still go on making the learned response with clear signs of pleasure. So he began to study the children's responses in situations where no milk was provided. He quickly found that children as young as four months would learn to turn their heads to right or left if the movement "switched on" a display of lights—and indeed that they were capable of learning quite complex turns to bring about this result, for instance, two left or two right, or even to make as many as three turns to one side.
    Papousek's light display was placed directly in front of the babies and he made the interesting observation that sometimes they would not turn back to watch the lights closely although they would "smile and bubble" when the display came on. Papousek concluded that it was not primarily the sight of the lights which pleased them, it was the success they were achieving in solving the problem, in mastering the skill, and that there exists a fundamental human urge to make sense of the world and bring it under intentional control.

26. According to the author, babies learn to do things which ________.
   A) are directly related to pleasure      C) will bring them a feeling of success
   B) will meet their physical needs       D) will satisfy their curiosity
27. Papousek noticed in his studies that a baby ________.
   A) would make learned responses when it saw the milk
   B) would carry out learned movements when it had enough to drink
   C) would continue the simple movements without being given milk
   D) would turn its head to right or left when it had enough to drink
28. In Papousek's experiment babies make learned movements of the head in order to ________.
   A) have the lights turned on          C) please their parents
   B) be rewarded with milk            D) be praised
29. The babies would "smile and bubble" at the lights because ________.
   A) the lights were directly related to some basic "drives"
   B) the sight of the lights was interesting
   C) they need not turn back to watch the lights
   D) they succeeded in "switching on" the lights
30. According to Papousek, the pleasure babies get in achieving something is a reflection of ________.
   A) a basic human desire to understand and control the world
   B) the satisfaction of certain physiological needs
   C) their strong desire to solve complex problems
   D) a fundamental human urge to display their learned skills

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