1、大学英语四级-90 及答案解析(总分：100.00，做题时间：90 分钟)一、Reading Comprehensio(总题数：3，分数：100.00)HalloweenA. On October 31st, dozens of children dressed in costumes knock on their neighbors“ doors and yell “Trick or Treat“ when the door opens. Pirates and princesses, ghosts and popular heroes of the day all hold bags op
2、en to catch the candy or other goodies that the neighbors drop in. As they give each child a treat, the neighbors exclaim over the costumes and try to guess who is under the masks. Since the 800“s November 1st is a religions holiday known as All Saints“ Day. The Mass that was said on this day was ca
3、lled Allhallowmas. The evening before became known as All Hakki-we“en, or Halloween. Like some other American celebrations, its origins lie in both pre-Christian and Christian customs. B. October 31st was the eve of the Celtic new year. The Celts were the ancestors of the present-day Irish, Welsh an
4、d Scottish people. On this day ghosts walked and mingled with the living, or so the Celts thought. The townspeople baked food all that day and when night fell they dressed up and tried to resemble the souls of the dead. Hoping that the ghosts would leave peacefully before midnight of the new year. M
5、uch later, when Christianity spread throughout Ireland and October 31st was no longer the last day of the year, Halloween became a celebration mostly for children. “Ghosts“ went from door to door asking for treats, or else a trick would be played on the owners of the house. When millions of Irish pe
6、ople immigrated to the United States in the 1840s the tradition came with them. C. Today school dances and neighborhood parties called “block parties“ are popular among young and old alike. More and more adults celebrate Halloween. They dress up like historical or political figures and go to masquer
7、ade parties (化装舞会). In larger cities, costumed children and their parents gather at shopping malls early in the evening. Stores and businesses give parties with games and treats for the children. Teenagers enjoy costume dances at their schools and the more outrageous the costume the better! Certain
8、pranks (恶作剧) such as soaping car windows and tipping over garbage cans are expected. But partying and pranks are not the only things that Halloweeners enjoy doing. Some collect money to buy food and medicine for needy children around the world. D. Halloween originated as a celebration connected with
9、 evil spirits. Witches flying on broomsticks with black cats, ghosts, goblins (小精灵) and skeletons have all evolved as symbols of Halloween. They are popular trick-or-treat costumes and decorations for greeting cards and windows. Black is one of the traditional Halloween colors, probably because Hall
10、oween festivals and traditions took place at night. In the weeks before October 31st, Americans decorate windows of houses and schools with silhouettes (轮廓) of witches and black cats. E. Pumpkins are also a symbol of Halloween. The pumpkin is an orange-colored squash, and orange has become the other
11、 traditional Halloween color. Carving pumpkins into jack-o“-lanterns is a Halloween custom also dating back to Ireland. A legend grew up about a man named Jack who was so mean that he was not allowed into heaven when he died, because he was a miser (吝啬鬼). He couldn“t enter hell either because he had
12、 played jokes on the devil. As a result, Jack had to walk the earth with his lantern until Judgement Day. The Irish people carved scary faces out of turnips (芜菁根), beets (甜菜根) or potatoes representing “Jack of the Lantern,“ or Jack-o“-lantern. When the Irish brought their customs to the United State
13、s, they carved faces, on pumpkins because in the autumn they were more plentiful than turnips. Today jack-o“-lanterns in the windows of a house on Halloween night let costumed children know that there are goodie (糖果) waiting if they knock and say “Trick or Treat!“ Dried Pumpkin Seeds F. After carvin
14、g your pumpkin, separate the pulp from the seeds. Rinse the seeds and spread them out to dry. The next day, add enough melted butter or margarine (人造黄油) to coat each seed. Spread the seeds onto a cookie sheet (甜酥饼干) and bake for 20 minutes in a 300 degree oven or until they are slightly brown. Caram
15、el (饴糖) Apples G. Take the paper wrapping off about 100 caramels and put them in a saucepan (炖锅). Put the saucepan over a pan of boiling water. Boil the water until the caramels melt. Put a wooden stick into the top of each apple, dip the apple into the caramel. Let them cool on wax paper and enjoy!
16、 Scary stories H. No Halloween party is complete without at least one scary story. Usually one person talks in a low voice while everyone else crowds together on the floor or around a fire. The following is a retelling of a tale told in Britain and in North Carolina and Virginia. I. There was an old
17、 woman who lived all by herself, and she was very lonely. Sitting in the kitchen one night, she said, “Oh, I wish I had some company.“ No sooner had she spoken than down the chimney tumbled two feet from which the flesh had rotted. The old woman“s eyes bulged with terror. Then two legs dropped to th
18、e hearth (壁炉地面) and attached themselves to the feet. Then a body tumbled down, then two arms, and a man“s head. As the old woman watched, the parts came together into a great, tall man. The man danced around and around the room. Faster and faster he went. Then he stopped, and he looked into her eyes
19、. “What do you come for?“ She asked in a small voice that shivered and shook. “What do I come for?“ he said. “I come for YOU!“ The narrator shouts and jumps at the person near him!（分数：30.00）(1).Besides attending parties and playing tricks, people also collect money for the needy children in Hallowee
20、n.（分数：3.00）(2).The windows of a house decorated with jack-o“-lanterns mean children can get candies from the house.（分数：3.00）(3).Halloween was celebrated at night, which made black one traditional Halloween color.（分数：3.00）(4).October 31st was originally celebrated as the eve of the Celtic new year.（分
21、数：3.00）(5).When the neighbors give the child candies, they would try to shout out to guess who is under the masks.（分数：3.00）(6).The storyteller in Halloween party talks in low voice to create the scary atmosphere.（分数：3.00）(7).Before the Irish people moved to America, they celebrated Halloween by carv
22、ing faces on turnips, beets or potatoes.（分数：3.00）(8).The Halloween tradition was brought to the United States by Irish immigrants.（分数：3.00）(9).When making caramel apples, boiling water is used to melt the caramels.（分数：3.00）(10).When adults go to masquerade parties, they wear costumes which make them
23、 look like historical or political figures.（分数：3.00）Secrets of Grade-A ParentsA. When Carey Graham started Grade One, he got a very special teacher. “She recognized my passion for learning,“ says the now 20-year-old. “Every morning we“d sit down with workbooks and do writing and math exercises. And
24、any time during the day, she could always be counted on to read to me. She always encouraged me to learn all I could about everything.“ This extraordinary teacher was his morn, Jeanne Lambert, who homeschooled Graham until high school. He“s now in his second year in the University of Toronto“s Peace
25、 and Conflict Studies program, having received a provincial “Aiming for the Top“ scholarship. Graham is considering a law degree or a master“s in political science down the road. He attributes his academic success to the foundation laid by his parents. B. “You can“t be a parent without being a teach
26、er,“ says Bruce Arai, a professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Wilfrid Laurier University in Waterloo, Ontario. “Perhaps the most important teaching in a child“s life is done by his parents, not by some professional with certificates,“ he says. Homeschooling isn“t about sitting
27、 your kids down in the kitchen and teaching them in the formal sense, says Arai, but about “making sure the resources and opportunities for learning are available to them.“ And that, any parent can do. Here, then, are some methods that parents who would never consider homeschooling can pick up from
28、those who do. Lesson 1 Think Outside the Classroom C. When homeschooler Kerri Paquette, a mother of six, was building a house in Lansdowne, she saw it as a learning opportunity. “They learned math as we measured, about soil as we dug the foundation, about water while we did the plumbing, and about e
29、lectricity when we did the electrical work. My children make the subjects come alive as much I do,“ says Paquette. Her kids, aged three to 13, continue to view the world as their classroom. They study food and plant growth through their organic garden. They learn about cows by talking to the neighbo
30、ring farmers. And they learn math, measuring and science while helping Paquette cook. “The other day my nine-year-old, Maddison, started learning a new educational computer program. The section on fractions was all new, but she knew it from when we bake.“ Every activity, says Paquette, can include a
31、 lesson. Lesson 2 Eliminate Learning Limits D. A teacher with a class of 25 students can“t continue a unit on, say, the body just because one child is still keenbut you can. “We don“t have a time frame that restricts our investigations, and we don“t have a daily schedule,“ says Linda Clement, who ho
32、meschools her two daughters in Victoria. When her 14-year-old showed an interest in the human body, the curious student read dozens of relevant books and surfed web sites. Janet“s curiosity took her in all sorts of directions: a dictionary of poisons and antidotes, an encyclopedia of medicine, books
33、 about human personality and much more. E. The benefit to your child goes beyond a thorough knowledge of a subject. Studying deeply a topic builds independent research skills and a love of learning. “If my children are interested in a subject,“ says Clement, “we can go as far into the subject, answe
34、ring as many questions as they have, for as long as is necessary. This freedom encourages their investigations.“ Lesson 3 Teach Your Kids Their Way F. Some children are visual learners (they absorb best when they see something), some are auditory (they need to hear it), some are kinesthetic (they ne
35、ed hands-on experience) and some are a combination. Uncovering how your child learns best will increase your effectiveness in helping him or her with schoolwork. Unsure of your child“s learning style? Ask his teacher. G. The way Melissa Cowl“s six children, aged three to 15, pick up on math highligh
36、ts the great differences in learning styles. “Our ten-year-old, Matthew, needs everything in black and white: Tell him what to do and how to do it, and it“s done,“ says the mother. “He had a math text that was too colorful, with a layout that was difficult to follow. I switched to a text that was mo
37、re step-by-step, more concrete. Now he does math tests with no trouble. Our eight-year-old, Ryan, however, is very hands-on. For math, he uses a variety of colorful pens to figure out things like addition and fractions. He needs to see it and feel it. Not one of my kids learns the same way as the ot
38、hers.“ Lesson 4 Let Them See You Learn H. One of the best parts of homeschooling is that you can continue your own educationand your kids can see you doing it and pick up on your love of learning. The same principle can be applied by any parent. “Learning never ends,“ says Julia Goforth, a homeschoo
39、ling mother of four. “We try new things all the time, whether I“m reading something new or we“re all tasting foods we“d never normally eat.“ Reversing the roles also has benefits, giving kids a sense of pride in their own newfound knowledge. “Today my 12-year-old daughter, Denise, explained to me ho
40、w she figured out a math problem. She“d wound up with the right answer, but I didn“t understand how she managed it,“ says homeschooler Gina Rozon of La Ronge, Sask. “Our kids are teaching us all the time.“ I. Learning doesn“t always go smoothly, for kids and adults alike, which is why it“s important
41、 for children to see their parents struggle with something new. “My children watched me turn my life around by trying new things,“ says Goforth. “I went from being a fearful, stay-at-home mom to an adventurous artist“s model and public speaker. Learning belly dance and play the violin is on my to-do
42、 list this year.“ Lesson 5 “Own“ Your Children“s Education J. “Helping them isn“t about showing your kids how to do the work. It“s about being genuinely interested and having regular conversations about what they“re learning,“ says J. Gary Knowles, a professor at the Ontario Institute for Studies in
43、 Education. Rozon has many suggestions for how to get more involved. “Get to know the teacher. Discuss ways to design the assignments to your child“s learning style. Spend time in the classroom. Ask for outlines of unit studies so you can find additional materials at the library or through videos. R
44、ead your child“s textbooks: If you work a few pages ahead, you“ll be able to help them with problems they encounter.“ K. Reading is another must, says Rozon. “Even after your children can read themselves, hearing somebody else read aloud is important. We nearly always bring a book wherever we go; we
45、 read for at least a half hour before bedtime.“ The more engaged a parent is, the more the child benefits, adds Bruce Arai. “The evidence is clear. Parental involvement is one of the most important factors in school success. The hours children spend in class are but one element of their education.“（
46、分数：30.00）(1).Children who learn best from hands-on participation can be classified as kinesthetic learners.（分数：3.00）(2).Seeing their parents struggle with something new can make the children understand that learning doesn“t always go smoothly.（分数：3.00）(3).Matthew had difficulty with math when the ma
47、th text was too colorful.（分数：3.00）(4).Graham thinks that his academic success is due to the foundation laid by his parents.（分数：3.00）(5).Parental engagement plays an important role in children“s academic success.（分数：3.00）(6).As for taking up homeschooling, it is suggested that the resources and chanc
48、es for learning should be provided in homeschooling.（分数：3.00）(7).While providing homeschooling for children, parents can also continue their own education.（分数：3.00）(8).According to Rozon“s suggestion, reading a few pages ahead of your children“s textbooks enables you to help them with problems bette
49、r.（分数：3.00）(9).Getting a thorough knowledge of a particular subject can bring a lot of benefits to your child.（分数：3.00）(10).Julia Goforth believes that learning never ends, so she is going to learn belly dance and play the violin this year.（分数：3.00）A Nice Cup of TeaThe Legendary Origins of Tea A. The story of tea began in ancient China over 5,000 years ago. According to legend, Shen Nung, an early emperor was a skilled ruler, creative scientist and lover of the arts. One summer day while visiting a distant region of his realm, he and the court stopped to rest. The servants began to boil wate
