历年英语四级考试阅读理解部分9

　　Passage One

　　Questions 11 to 15 are based on the following passage:

　　In bringing up children, every parent watches eagerly the child’s acquisition(学会)of each new skill-the first spoken words, the first independent steps, or the beginning of reading and writing. It is often tempting to hurry the child beyond his natural learning rate, but this can set up dangerous feelings of failure and states of worry in the child: This might happen at any stage. A baby might be forced to use a toilet too early, a young child might be encouraged to learn to read before he knows the meaning of the words he reads. On the other hand, though, if a child is left alone too much, or without any learning opportunities, he loses his natural enthusiasm for life and his desire to find out new things for himself.

　　Patents vary greatly in their degree of strictness towards their children. Some may be especially strict in money matters. Others are sever over times of coming home at night or punctuality for meals. In general, the controls imposed represent the needs of the parents and the values of the community as much as the child’s own happiness.

　　As regards the development of moral standards in the growing child, consistency is very important in parental teaching. To forbid a thing one day and excuse it the next is no foundation for morality(道德). Also, parents should realize that “example is better than precept”. If they are not sincere and do not practise what they preach(说教), their children may grow confused, and emotionally insecure when they grow old enough to think for themselves, and realize they have been to some extent fooled.

　　A sudden awareness of a marked difference between their parents’ principles and their morals can be a dangerous disappointment.

　　11. Eagerly watching the child’s acquisition of new skills _________.

　　A) should be avoided

　　B) is universal among parents

　　C) sets up dangerous states of worry in the child

　　D) will make him lose interest in learning new things

　　12. In the process of children’s learning new skills parents ______.

　　A) should encourage them to read before they know the meaning of the words they read

　　B) should not expect too much of them

　　C) should achieve a balance between pushing them too hard and leaving them on their own

　　D) should create as many learning opportunities as possible

　　13. The second paragraph mainly tells us that __________.

　　A) parents should be strict with their children

　　B) parental controls reflect only the needs of the parents and the values of the community

　　C) parental restrictions vary, and are not always enforced for the benefit of the children alone

　　D) parents vary in their strictness towards their children according to the situation

　　14. The word “precept” (Line 3, Para.3) probably means “_________”.

　　A) idea

　　B) punishment

　　C) behavior

　　D) instruction

　　15. In moral matters, parents should __________.

　　A) observe the rules themselves

　　B) be aware of the marked difference between adults and children

　　C) forbid things which have no foundation in morality

　　D) consistently ensure the security of their children

　　Passage Two

　　Questions 16 to 20 are based on the following passage:

　　A good modern newspaper is an extraordinary piece of reading. It is remarkable first for what it contains: the range of news from local crime to international politics, from sport to business to fashion to science, and the range of comment and special features(特写)as well, from editorial page to feature articles and interviews to criticism of books, art, theatre and music. A newspaper is even more remarkable for the way one reads it: never completely, never straight through, but always by jumping from here to there, in and not glancing at one piece, reading another article all the way through, reading just a few paragraphs of the next. A good modern newspaper offers variety to attract many different readers, but far more than nay one reader is interested in. What brings this variety together in one place is its topicality(时事性), its immediate relation to what is happening in your world and your locality now. but immediacy and the speed of production that goes with it mean also that much of what papers in a newspaper has no more than transient(短暂的)value. For all these reasons, no two people really read the same paper: what each person does is to put together out of the pages of that day’s paper, his own selection and sequence, his own newspaper. For all these reasons, reading newspapers efficiently, which means getting what you want from them without missing things you need but without wasting time, demands skill and self-awareness as you modify and apply the techniques of reading.

　　16. A modern newspaper is remarkable for all the following except its _________.

　　A) wide coverage

　　B) uniform style

　　C) speed in reporting news

　　D) popularity

　　17. According to the passage, the reason why no two people really read the “same” newspaper is that ________.

　　A) people scan for the news they are interested in

　　B) different people prefer different newspapers

　　C) people are rarely interested in the same kind of news

　　D) people have different views about what a good newspaper is

　　18. It can be conclude from the passage that newspaper readers ________.

　　A) apply reading techniques skillfully

　　B) jump from one newspaper to another

　　C) appreciate the variety of a newspaper

　　D) usually read a newspaper selectively

　　19. A good newspaper offers “a variety” to readers because _________.

　　A) it tries to serve different readers

　　B) it has to cover things that happen in a certain locality

　　C) readers are difficult to please

　　D) readers like to read different newspapers

　　20. The best title for this passage would be “__________”.

　　A) The Importance of Newspaper Topicality

　　B) The Characteristics of a Good Newspaper

　　C) The Variety of a Good Newspaper

　　D) Some Suggestions on How to Read a Newspaper

　　Passage Three

　　Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage:

　　American society is not nap(午睡)friendly. In fact, says David Dinges, a sleep specialist at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. “There’s even a prohibition against admitting we need sleep.” Nobody wants to be caught napping or found asleep at work. To quote proverb: “Some sleep five hours, nature requires seven, laziness nine and wickedness eleven.”

　　Wrong. The way not to fall asleep at work is to take naps when you need them. “We have to totally change our attitude toward napping”, says Dr. William Dement of Stanford University, the godfather of sleep research.

　　Last year a national commission led by Dement identified an “American sleep debt” which one member said was as important as the national debt, the commission was concerned about the dangers of sleepiness: people causing industrial accidents or falling asleep while driving. This may be why we have a new sleep policy in the White House. According to recent reports, president Clinton is trying to take a half-hour snooze(打瞌睡)every afternoon.

　　About 60 percent of American adults nap when given the opportunity. We seem to have “a midafternoon quiet phase” also called “a secondary sleep gate.” Sleeping 15 minutes to two hours in the early afternoon can reduce stress and make us refreshed. Clearly, we were born to nap.

　　We Superstars of Snooze don’t nap to replace lost shut-eye or to prepare for a night shift. Rather, we “snack” on sleep, whenever, wherever and at whatever time we feel like it. I myself have napped in buses, cars, planes and on boats; on floors and beds; and in libraries, offices and museums.

　　21. It is commonly accepted in American society that too much sleep is _______.

　　A) unreasonable

　　B) criminal

　　C) harmful

　　D) costly

　　22. The research done by the Dement commission shows that Americans ________.

　　A) don’t like to take naps

　　B) are terribly worried about their national debt

　　C) sleep less than is good for them

　　D) have caused many industrial and traffic accidents

　　23. The purpose of this article is to ___________.

　　A) warn us of the wickedness of napping

　　B) explain the danger of sleepiness

　　C) discuss the side effects of napping

　　D) convince the reader of the necessity of napping

　　24. The “American sleep debt” (Line 1, Para.3) is the result of _________.

　　A) the traditional misconception the Americans have about sleep

　　B) the new sleep policy of the Clinton Administration

　　C) the rapid development of American industry

　　D) the Americans’ worry about the danger of sleepiness

　　25. The second sentence of the last paragraph tells us that it is __________.

　　A) preferable to have a sound sleep before a night shift

　　B) good practice to eat something light before we go to bed

　　C) essential to make up for cost sleep

　　D) natural to take a nap whenever we feel the need for it

　　Passage Four

　　Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage:

　　Violin prodigies(神童), I learned, have come in distinct waves from distinct regions. Most of the great performers if the late 19th and early 20th centuries were born and brought up in Russia and Eastern Europe. I asked Isaac Stern, one of the world’s greatest violinists the reason for this phenomenon. “It is very clear,” he told me. “They were all Jews(犹太人)and Jews at the time were severely oppressed and ill-treated in that part of the world. They were not allowed into the professional fields, but they were allowed to achieve excellence on a concert stage.” As a result, every Jewish parent’s dream was to have a child in the music school because it was a passport to the West.

　　Another element in the emergence of prodigies, I found, is a society that values excellence in a certain field to nurture(培育)talent. Nowadays, the most nurturing societies seem to be in the Far East. “In Japan, a most competitive society, with stronger discipline than ours,” says Isaac Stem, children are ready to test their limits every day in many fields, including music. When Western music came to Japan after World War II, that music not only became part of their daily lives, but it became a discipline as well. The Koreans and Chinese as we know, are just as highly motivated as the Japanese.

　　That’s a good thing, because even prodigies must work hard. Next to hard work, biological inheritance plays an important role in the making of a prodigy .J. S. Bach, for example, was the top of several generations of musicians, and four of his sons had significant careers in music.

　　26. Jewish parents in Eastern Europe longed for their children to attend music school because _________.

　　A) it would allow them access to a better life in the West

　　B) Jewish children are born with excellent musical talent

　　C) they wanted their children to enter into the professional field

　　D) it would enable the family to get better treatment in their own country

　　27. Nurturing societies as mentioned in the passage refer to societies that, _________.

　　A) enforce strong discipline on students who want to achieve excellence

　　B) treasure talent and provide opportunities for its full development

　　C) encourage people to compete with each other

　　D) promise talented children high positions

　　28. Japan is described in the passage as a country that attaches importance to _________.

　　A) all-round development

　　B) the learning of Western music

　　C) strict training of children

　　D) variety in academic studies

　　29. Which of the following contributes to the emergence of musical prodigies according to the passage?

　　A) A natural gift.

　　B) Extensive knowledge of music.

　　C) Very early training.

　　D) A prejudice-free society.

　　30. Which of the following titles best summarises the main idea of the passage?

　　A) Jewish Contribution to Music.

　　B) Training of Musicians in the World

　　C) Music and Society

　　D) The Making of Prodigies

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