大学英语四级-阅读6及答案解析.doc

1、大学英语四级-阅读 6及答案解析(总分：100.00，做题时间：90 分钟)一、Reading Comprehensio(总题数：0，分数：0.00)三、Passage(总题数：5，分数：100.00)The recession of 2008 -2009 was remarkable in rich countries for its intensity, the subsequent recovery for its weakness. The labor market has also broken the rules, as new research from the OECD sho

2、ws in its annual Employment Outlook. Young people always suffer in recessions. Employers stop hiring them; and they often get rid of new recruits because they are easier to fire. But in previous episodes, such as the recessions of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, older workers were also booted out. This

3、time is different. During the financial crisis in 2008, and since, they have done better than other age groups. The researchers focus on movements in “non-employment“ as a share of the total population in three age groups between the final quarters of 2007 and 2012. This measure has the advantage of

4、 including not just unemployment, where people are looking for work, but also inactivity, where people are not seeking jobs. Whereas the average non-employment rate in the OECD has risen by four percentage points among young people and by one-and-a-half points among 25-to-54-year-olds, it has fallen

5、 by two points among the 55-64 age group. Why have older employees done so well? In some southern European countries they benefit from job protection not afforded to younger workers, but that did not really help them in past recessions. What has changed, says StefanoScarpetta, head of the OECD“s emp

6、loyment directorate, is that firms now bear the full costs of getting rid of older staff. In the past early-retirement schemes provided by governments (in the mistaken belief that these would help young people) made it cheaper to push grey-haired workers out of the door. These have largely stopped.

7、Job losses among older workers have also been more than offset by falls in inactivity, reflecting forces that were already apparent before the crisis. Older workers are healthier than they used to be and work is less physically demanding. They are also more attractive to employers than prior generat

8、ions. Older workers now have a sharper incentive to stay in employment because of the impact of the crisis on wealth. In Britain, for example, workers who rely on private pensions have been adversely affected by lower returns on their investments and by poor annuity rates when they convert their sav

9、ings into regular income.（分数：20.00）(1).Why were young people always in a dilemma in recessions?（分数：4.00）A.They were lack of experience.B.They were inactive in their work.C.They were reluctant to find jobs.D.They could be discharged easily.(2).What is the meaning of the expression “booted out“?（分数：4.

10、00）A.Walked out.B.Kicked out.C.Run out.D.Gotten out.(3).What is the merit of the measure in the research focusing on movement in “non-employment“?（分数：4.00）A.The researchers divide the whole population into three groups.B.The researchers compare the results between the final quarters of 2007 and 2012

11、C.The unemployed people concerned in the measure include those who are finding jobs or reluctant to find jobs.D.The unemployed people concerned in the measure include those who are finding jobs but reluctant to do jobs.(4).Why did the average non-employment rate decrease among older people?（分数：4.00

12、A.Some countries made policies to protect the older people.B.Some countries didn“t provide young people with job protection.C.The companies preferred older staffs as they are experienced.D.The companies had to assume all the cost of firing the older employees.(5).Why did the old people want to keep

13、 working?（分数：4.00）A.The financial crisis made their property depreciate.B.It was hard for the old people to invest their money.C.The old people had to earn their living.D.The old people played important roles in their work.Shiny things absorb less heat when left in the sun. This means that if the Ea

14、rth could be made a little shinier it would be less susceptible to global warming. Ways to brighten it, such as adding nanoscale specks (斑点) of salt to low clouds, making them whiter, or putting a thin haze of particles into the stratosphere, are the province of “geoengineering“. The small band of s

15、cientists who have been studying this subject over the past decade or so have mostly been using computer models. Some of them are now proposing outdoor experimentsusing seawater-fed sprayers to churn out particles of the exact size needed to brighten clouds, or spewing sulphur particles from underne

16、ath a large balloon 20km up in the sky. The aims are modest. The scientists hope to understand some of the processes on which these technologies depend, as a way of both gauging their feasibility (can you reliably make tiny puffs of sea salt brighten clouds?) and assessing their risks (how much dama

17、ge to the ozone layer might a stratospheric haze do, and how might such damage be minimized?). The experiments would be far too small to have any climatic effects. The amount of sulphur put into the stratosphere by the experimental balloon would be 2% of what a passenger jet crossing the Atlantic em

18、its in an hour. Nonetheless, these experimentsand this whole line of researchare hugely controversial. Many scientists are skeptical about geoengineering and most greens are outraged. Opponents object to them for a range of reasons. Some are against the very idea of geoengineering and any experiment

19、s in the area, even those which pose no immediate risk to the environment. They abhor the hubris involved in trying to affect the mechanics of the climate and despair at the potential diversion of attention from controlling carbon emissions as the route to countering climate change. They find the id

20、ea of some-possibly manycountries having the power to change the climate for the whole planet a geopolitical nightmare. Even modest experiments in geoengineering, according to this logic, are the beginnings of a slippery slope, one that will engender a false sense of security and domesticate an idea

21、 that should have always remained outrageous. Yet caving in to this opposition would raise, rather than reduce, the dangers to the planet. Geoengineering is not an alternative to mitigating climate change by cutting carbon emissions, but it may be needed as a complement to it.（分数：20.00）(1).What is t

22、he main idea of Paragraph 1?（分数：4.00）A.It shows the reason why shiny things absorb less heat.B.It reflects the relationship between shiny things and global warming.C.It is about how to make the planet shinier from theoretical and experimental aspects.D.It talks about the difference between the compu

23、ter models and the outdoor experiment.(2).What is the meaning of “susceptible“?（分数：4.00）A.Helpful.B.Acceptable.C.Vulnerable.D.Suspicious.(3).What is the aim of outdoor experiments?（分数：4.00）A.The outdoor experiments can stimulate the process of restraining global warming.B.The outdoor experiments can

24、 help the scientists to make clear the results of the technology.C.The outdoor experiments can let the scientists estimate the availability and the negative impact of the technology.D.The outdoor experiments can help the scientists learn the relationship between the technology and the damage of the

25、ozone.(4).Why are the experiments mentioned in the passage hugely controversial?（分数：4.00）A.The experiments will pollute the air.B.The experiments will lead to chaos all around the word.C.The experiment will make people neglect the function of carbon emission.D.The experiments will be the beginning o

26、f catastrophe.(5).Why will the compromise to the opposition increase the risks to the planet?（分数：4.00）A.The geoengineering will increase the danger to the planet.B.The geoengineering will play an important role in reducing the carbon emission.C.The geoengineering is an alternative to smooth the clim

27、ate change.D.The geoengineering will alleviate the climate change as a complementary way to reducing carbon emission.Longevity risk, the chance that people will live longer than expected, is potentially very expensive. Never mind the dramatic impact of a cure for cancer: adding an extra year to the

28、average lifespan increases the world“s pension bill by 4%, or around 1 trillion, according to the IMF. Firms that have sold annuities are the most obvious victims of living longer, as they keep on writing cheques to oldies they expected would have passed on by now. But the most severe risk lies with

29、 defined-benefit pension schemes, in which participants are promised an annual payment throughout their retirement, however long it may last. Globally private defined-benefit schemes already have 23 trillion of liabilitiesthe amount they owe current and future pensioners. Many are grossly underfunde

30、d as it is. Such statistics are enough to send a pension trustee to an early grave. Yet there is an apparent cure, in the form of “longevity swaps“, which pension schemes can use to insure against the risk that their members will live longer than expected. In July, the pension scheme of BT, Britain“

31、s former telecoms monopoly, which is wrestling with a deficit of 7 billion, offloaded the longevity risk on over a quarter of its liabilities to Prudential Financial, an American insurer. BT will pay Prudential a monthly fee and it in turn will pay the extra pension costs if the shuffle boarders in

32、question live longer than forecast. Such arrangements have become increasingly common, with 2014 already setting a record for liabilities offloaded in Britain, the centre of the market. BT“s deal, which covered pension debt worth 16 billion, was the biggest yet. Most of the 20-odd deals so far have

33、been between big pension schemes and insurers such as Prudential and Swiss Re. The deals should help them hedge a risk they already have through their other businesses, which pay out if clients die unexpectedly early. But the potential liabilities that need to beneutralised far exceed what insurers

34、might want to take on. So new investors are being sought to take on risks associated with ever-older clients through “longevity“ bonds, whereby outsiders take on the unwanted risks.（分数：20.00）(1).What can we learn from the report of IMF?（分数：4.00）A.The cure for cancer has a dramatic impact on longevit

35、y risk.B.Longevity does good to the development of economy.C.Longevity brings great burden to our society.D.More and more people are living longer.(2).Which is wrong concerning the defined-benefit pension schemes?（分数：4.00）A.The schemes guarantee the annual pension of the old people after their retir

36、ement.B.The schemes can afford the liabilities that they owe the pensioners.C.The schemes keep paying more money to their customers than expected.D.The schemes don“t pay any money to their customers if they don“t retire.(3).What is “longevity swaps“?（分数：4.00）A.It is a pension scheme to eliminate the

37、 unexpected pension.B.It frees the firms from the risk that their members live long.C.It makes the pensioners become very poor when they live longer than expected.D.It transfers the longevity risk to other insurer.(4).Why does the arrangement of “longevity swaps“ become increasingly common?（分数：4.00）

38、A.Because many companies have found the merits of the arrangement.B.Because BT believes that the insurers can handle the pension scheme well.C.Because the insurers have confidence in handling the pension scheme properly.D.Because the arrangement can prevent them from the risk caused by unexpectedly

39、early death in other business.(5).What is the author“s attitude in the text?（分数：4.00）A.Positive.B.Negative.C.Indifferent.D.Neutral.In the North Star tattoo parlour in downtown Manhattan, Brittany shows off her ink: a Banksy-inspired tableau covering both feet. Now a student at New York University, s

40、he hopes to be a lawyer one day. “That“s why I got the tattoo on my feet,“ she says. “It“s easy to hide. “ Once the preserve of prisoners, sailors and circus freaks, tattoos have become a benign rite of passage for many Americans. One in five adults has one, and two in five thirty-somethings. These

41、days women with tattoos outnumber men. But what happens when these people look for work? Alas, not everyone is as savvy as Brittany. Though increasingly mainstream, tattoos still signal a certain rebelliousness that works against jobseekers, says Andrew Timming of the University of St Andrews in Sco

42、tland. In a forthcoming study, Mr. Timming and colleagues asked participants to assess job candidates based on their pictures, some of which were altered to add a neck tattoo. Inked candidates consistently ranked lower, Despite being equally qualified. In a separate study Mr. Timming found that many

43、 service-sector managers were squeamish about conspicuous ink, particularly when filling jobs that involve dealing with customers. Designs of flowers or butterflies were deemed comparatively acceptable. And some workplaces are more open-minded: a prison-services manager explained that having tattoos

44、 made it easier to bond with inmates. Firms with a younger clientele are also more tattoo-friendly. But by and large the more visible the tattoo, the more “unsavoury“ (令人讨厌的) a candidate seemedeven if the boss had one. Such prejudice may seem anachronistic, but it is not unfounded. Empirical studies

45、 have long linked tattoos with deviant behaviour. People with inked skin are more likely to carry weapons, use illegal drugs and get arrested. The association is stronger for bigger tattoos, or when there are several, says Jerome Koch, a sociologist at Texas Tech University. This may help explain th

46、e army“s recent decision to reinstate old grooming standards. These restrict the size and number of tattoos, ban ink from the neck, head and hands, and bar body art that might be seen as racist, sexist or otherwise inappropriate. The change is intended to promote discipline and professionalism. But

47、it is making it harder to recruit to the army, says Major Tyler Stewart, who handles recruitment in Arizona. His battalion is turning away 50 tattooed people a week.（分数：20.00）(1).What is the finding of the forthcoming study conducted by Mr. Timming?（分数：4.00）A.Candidates are evaluated through their a

48、ppearance.B.Candidates with tattoos are discriminated.C.Candidates should hide their tattoos to find good jobs.D.Candidates with tattoos are rebellious.(2).Why are tattoos acceptable in some workplace?（分数：4.00）A.Because the tattoos are so beautiful that people likes them.B.Because some people are op

49、en-minded.C.Because people with tattoos seem more accessible in their work.D.Because the tattoos reflects the workers“ characteristics.(3).What can we learn from empirical studies?（分数：4.00）A.People with tattoos are more likely to commit a crime.B.People with tattoos always do some illegal things.C.People with bigger tattoos are likely the leaders of illegal organizations.D.People with tattoos always hurt other people.(4).Which tattoo can be accepted according to the old grooming standards?（分数：4.00）A.The tattoo showing discrimination against other races.B.The little tattoo from one“s hand