1、公共英语四级-111 及答案解析(总分：100.00，做题时间：90 分钟)一、Reading Comprehensio(总题数：7，分数：100.00)If you intend using humor in your talk to make people smile, you must know how to identify shared experiences and problems. Your humor must be relevant to the audience and should help to show them that you are one of them o
2、r that you understand their situation and are in sympathy with their point of view. Depending on whom you are addressing, the problems will be different. If you are talking to a group of managers, you may refer to the disorganized methods of their secretaries; alternatively if you are addressing sec
3、retaries, you may want to comment on their disorganized bosses. Here is an example, which I heard at a nurses“ convention, of a story which works well because the audience all shared the same view of doctors. A man arrives in heaven and is being shown around by St. Peter. He sees wonderful accommoda
4、tions, beautiful gardens, sunny weather, and so on. Everyone is very peaceful, polite and friendly until, waiting in a line for lunch, the new arrival is suddenly pushed aside by a man in a white coat, who rushes to the head of the line, grabs his food and stomps over to a table by himself. “Who is
5、that?“ the new arrival asked St. Peter. “On, that“s God,“ came the reply, “but sometimes he thinks he“s a doctor.“ If you are part of the group which you are addressing, you will be in a position to know the experiences and problems which are common to all of you and it“ll be appropriate for you to
6、make a passing remark about the inedible canteen food or the chairman“s notorious bad taste in ties. With other audiences you mustn“t attempt to cut in with humor as they will resent an outsider making disparaging remarks about their canteen or their chairman. You will be on safer ground if you stic
7、k to scapegoats like the Post Office or the telephone system. If you feel awkward being humorous, you must practice so that it becomes more natural. Include a few casual and apparently off-the-cuff remarks which you can deliver in a relaxed and unforced manner. Often it“s the delivery which causes t
8、he audience to smile, so speak slowly and remember that a raised eyebrow or an unbelieving look may help to show that you are making a light-hearted remark. Look for the humor. It often comes from the unexpected. A twist on a familiar quote “If at first you don“t succeed, give up“ or a play on words
9、 or on a situation. Search for exaggeration and understatements. Look at your talk and pick out a few words or sentences which you can turn about and inject with humor.（分数：15.00）(1).To make your humor work, you should _（分数：3.00）A.take advantage of different kinds of audience.B.make fun of the disorg
10、anized people.C.address different problems to different people.D.show sympathy for your listeners.(2).The joke about doctors implies that, in the eyes of nurses, they are _（分数：3.00）A.impolite to new arrivals.B.very conscious of their godlike role.C.entitled to some privileges.D.very busy even during
11、 lunch hours.(3).It can be inferred from the text that public services _（分数：3.00）A.have benefited many people.B.are the focus of public attention.C.are an inappropriate subject for humor.D.have often been the laughing stock.(4).To achieve the desired result, humorous stories should be delivered _（分数
12、：3.00）A.in well-worded language.B.as awkwardly as possible.C.in exaggerated statements.D.as casually as possible.(5).The best title for the text may be_（分数：3.00）A.Use Humor Effectively.B.Various Kinds of Humor.C.Add Humor to Speech.D.Different Humor Strategies.Imagine waking up and finding the value
13、 of your assets has been halved. No, you“re not an investor in one of those hedge funds that failed completely. With the dollar slumping to a 26-year low against the pound, already-expensive London has become quite unaffordable. A coffee at Starbucks, just as unavoidable in England as it is in the U
14、nited States, runs about $8. The once all-powerful dollar isn“t doing a Titanic against just the pound. It is sitting at a record low against the euro and at a 30-year low against the Canadian dollar. Even the Argentine peso and Brazilian real are thriving against the dollar. The weak dollar is a so
15、urce of humiliation, for a nation“s self-esteem rests in part on the strength of its currency. It“s also a potential economic problem, since a declining dollar makes imported food more expensive and exerts upward pressure on interest rates. And yet there are substantial sectors of the vast U.S. econ
16、omy-from giant companies like Coca-Cola to mom-and-pop restaurant operators in Miami-for which the weak dollar is most excellent news. Many Europeans may view the U.S. as an arrogant superpower that has become hostile to foreigners. But nothing makes people think more warmly of the U.S. than a weak
17、dollar. Through April, the total number of visitors from abroad was up 6.8 percent from last year. Should the trend continue, the number of tourists this year will finally top the 2000 peak? Many Europeans now apparently view the U.S. the way many Americans view Mexico-as a cheap place to vacation,
18、shop and party, all while ignoring the fact that the poorer locals can“t afford to join the merrymaking. The money tourists spend helps decrease our chronic trade deficit. So do exports, which thanks in part to the weak dollar, soared 11 percent between May 2006 and May 2007. For first five months o
19、f 2007, the trade deficit actually fell 7 percent from 2006. If you own shares in large American corporations, you“re a winner in the weak-dollar gamble. Last week Coca-Cola“s stick bubbled to a five-year high after it reported a fantastic quarter. Foreign sales accounted for 65 percent of Coke“s be
20、verage business. Other American companies profiting from this trend include McDonald“s and IBM. American tourists, however, shouldn“t expect any relief soon. The dollar lost strength the way many marriages break up- slowly, and then all at once. And currencies don“t turn on a dime. So if you want to
21、 avoid the pain inflicted by the increasingly pathetic dollar, cancel that summer vacation to England and look to New England. There, the dollar is still treated with a little respect. （分数：15.00）(1).Why do Americans feel humiliated?（分数：3.00）A.Their economy is plungingB.They can“t afford trips to Eur
22、opeC.Their currency has slumpedD.They have lost half of their assets.(2).How does the current dollar affect the life of ordinary Americans?（分数：3.00）A.They have to cancel their vacations in New England.B.They find it unaffordable to dine in mom-and-pop restaurants.C.They have to spend more money when
23、 buying imported goods.D.They might lose their jobs due to potential economic problems.(3).How do many Europeans feel about the U.S with the devalued dollar?（分数：3.00）A.They feel contemptuous of itB.They are sympathetic with it.C.They regard it as a superpower on the decline.D.They think of it as a g
24、ood tourist destination.(4).what is the author“s advice to Americans?（分数：3.00）A.They treat the dollar with a little respectB.They try to win in the weak-dollar gambleC.They vacation at home rather than abroadD.They treasure their marriages all the more.(5).What does the author imply by saying “curre
25、ncies don“t turn on a dime“ (Line 2, Para 7)?（分数：3.00）A.The dollar“s value will not increase in the short term.B.The value of a dollar will not be reduced to a dimeC.The dollar“s value will drop, but within a small margin.D.Few Americans will change dollars into other currencies.If ambition is to be
26、 well regarded， the rewards of ambition wealth, distinction, control over one“s destiny must be deemed worthy of the sacrifices made on ambition“s behalf. If the tradition of ambition is to have vitality, it must be widely shared; and it especially must be highly regarded by people who are themselve
27、s admired, the educated not least among them. In an odd way, however, it is the educated who have claimed to have given up on ambition as an ideal. What is odd is that they have perhaps most benefited from ambition if not always their own then that of their parents and grandparents. There is a heavy
28、 note of hypocrisy in this, a case of closing the barn door after the horses have escaped with the educated themselves riding on them. Certainly people do not seem less interested in success and its signs now than formerly. Summer homes, European travel, BMWs the locations, place names and name bran
29、ds may change, but such items do not seem less in demand today than a decade or two years ago. What has happened is that people cannot confess fully to their dreams, as easily and openly as once they could, lest they be thought pushing, acquisitive and vulgar. Instead, we are treated to fine hypocri
30、tical spectacles, which now more than ever seem in ample supply: the critic of American materialism with a Southampton summer home; the publisher of radical books who takes his meals in three-star restaurants; the journalist advocating participatory democracy in all phases of life, whose own childre
31、n are enrolled in private schools. For such people and many more perhaps not so exceptional, the proper formulation is, “Succeed at all costs but avoid appearing ambitious.“ The attacks on ambition are many and come from various angles; its public defenders are few and unimpressive, where they are n
32、ot extremely unattractive. As a result, the support for ambition as a healthy impulse, a quality to be admired and fixed in the mind of the young, is probably lower than it has ever been in the United States. This does not mean that ambition is at an end, that people no longer feel its stirrings and
33、 promptings, but only that, no longer openly honored, it is less openly professed. Consequences follow from this, of course, some of which are that ambition is driven underground, or made sly. Such, then, is the way things stand: on the left angry critics, on the right stupid supporters, and in the
34、middle, as usual, the majority of earnest people trying to get on in life. （分数：12.00）(1).It is generally believed that ambition may be well regarded if _.（分数：3.00）A.its returns well compensate for the sacrificesB.it is rewarded with money, fame and powerC.its goals are spiritual rather than material
35、D.it is shared by the rich and the famous(2).The last sentence of the first paragraph most probably implies that it is _.（分数：3.00）A.customary of the educated to discard ambition in wordsB.too late to check ambition once it has been let outC.dishonest to deny ambition after the fulfillment of the goa
36、lD.impractical for the educated to enjoy benefits from ambition(3).Some people do not openly admit they have ambition because _.（分数：3.00）A.they think of it as immoralB.their pursuits are not fame or wealthC.ambition is not closely related to material benefitsD.they do not want to appear greedy and c
37、ontemptible(4).From the last paragraph the conclusion can be drawn that ambition should be maintained _. （分数：3.00）A.secretly and vigorouslyB.openly and enthusiasticallyC.easily and momentarilyD.verbally and spirituallyHawaii“s native minority is demanding a greater degree of sovereignty over its own
38、 affairs. But much of the archipelago“s political establishment, which includes the White Americans who dominated until the second world war and people of Japanese, Chinese and Filipino origins, is opposed to the idea. The islands were annexed by the US in 1898 and since then Hawaii“s native peoples
39、 have fared worse than any of its other ethnic groups. They make up over 60 percent of the state“s homeless, suffer higher levels of unemployment and their life span is five years less than the average Hawaiians. They are the only major US native group without some degree of autonomy. But a sovereig
40、nty advisory committee set up by Hawaii“s first native governor, Joahn Waihee, has given the natives“ cause a major boost by recommending that the Hawaiian natives decide by themselves whether to reestablish a sovereign Hawaiian nation. However, the Hawaiian natives are not united in their demands.
41、Some just want greater autonomy within the state - as enjoyed by many American Indian natives over matters such as education. This is a position supported by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA. , a state agency set up in 1978 to represent the natives“ interests and which has now become the moderate
42、 face of the native sovereignty movement. More ambitious is the Ka Lahui group, which declared itself a new nation in 1987 and wants full, official independence from the US. But if Hawaiian natives are given greater autonomy, it is far from clear how many people this will apply to. The state authori
43、ties only count as native those people with more than 50 percent Hawaiian blood. Native demands are not just based on political grievances, though. They also want their claim on 660,000 hectares of Hawaiian crown land to be accepted. It is on this issue that native groups are facing most opposition
44、from the state authorities. In 1933, the state government paid the OHA US 136 million in back rent on the crown land and many officials say that by accepting this payment the agency has given up its claims to legally own the land. The OHA has vigorously disputed this. （分数：15.00）(1).Hawaii“s native m
45、inority refers to _.（分数：3.00）A.Hawaii“s ethnic groupsB.people of Filipino originC.the Ka Lahui groupD.people with more than 50% Hawaiian blood(2).Which of the following statements is true of the Hawaiian natives?（分数：3.00）A.Sixty percent of them are homeless or unemployed.B.their life span is 5 years
46、 shorter than average Americans.C.Their life is worse than that of other ethnic groups in Hawaii.D.They are the only native group without sovereignty.(3).Which of the following is NOT true of John Waihee?（分数：3.00）A.He is Hawaii“s first native governor.B.He has set up a sovereignty advisory committee
47、.C.He suggested the native people decide for themselves.D.He is leading the local independence movement.(4).Which of the following groups holds a less radical attitude on the matter of sovereignty?（分数：3.00）A.American Indian natives.B.Office of Hawaiian Affairs.C.The Ka Lahui group.D.The Hawaiian nat
48、ives.(5).Various native Hawaiians demand all the following EXCEPT _.（分数：3.00）A.a greater autonomy within the stateB.more back rent on the crown landC.a claim on the Hawaiian crown landD.full independence from the USEarly in the age of affluence (富裕) that followed World War ，an American retailing ana
49、lyst named Victor Lebow proclaimed, “Our enormously productive economy.demands that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfaction, our ego satisfaction, in consumption. We need things consumed, burned up, worn out, replaced and discarded at an ever increasing rate.“ Americans have responded to Lebow“s call, and much of the world has followed. Consumption has become a central pillar of life in industrial lands and is even embedded in socia
