1、专业英语四级（阅读）-试卷156及答案解析 (总分：30.00，做题时间：90分钟)一、READING COMPREHENSIO(总题数：11，分数：30.00)1.PART V READING COMPREHENSION_2.SECTION AIn this section there are several passages followed by ten multiple-choice questions. For each question, there are four suggested answers marked A, B, C and D. Choose the one th
2、at you think is the best answer._Americans often say that there are only two things a person can be sure of in life: death and taxes. Americans do not have a corner on the death market, but many people feel that the United States leads the world with the most taxes. Taxes consist of the money which
3、people pay to support their government. There are generally three levels of government in the United States: federal, state, and city; therefore, there are three types of taxes. Salaried people who earn more than a few thousand dollars must pay a certain percen-tage of their salaries to the federal
4、government. The percentage varies from person to person. It depends on their salaries. The federal government has a graduated income tax, that is, the percentage of the tax(14 to 70 percent)increases as a persons income increases. With the high cost of taxes, people are not very happy on April 15, w
5、hen the federal taxes are due. The second tax is for the state government; New York, California, North Dakota, or any of the other forty-seven states. Some states have an income tax similar to that of the federal government. Of course, the percentage for the state tax is lower. Other states have a s
6、ales tax, which is a percentage charged to any item which you buy in that state. For example, a person might want to buy a packet of cigarettes for twenty-five cents. If there is a sales tax of eight percent in that state, then the cost of the cigarettes is twenty-seven cents. This figure includes t
7、he sales tax. Some states use income tax in addition to sales tax to raise their revenues. The state tax laws are diverse and confusing. The third tax is for the city. This tax comes in two forms: property tax(people who own a home have to pay taxes on it)and excise tax, which is charged on cars in
8、a city. The cities use these funds for education, police and fire departments, public works and municipal buildings. Since Americans pay such high taxes, they often feel that they are working one day each week just to pay their taxes. People always complain about taxes. They often protest that the g
9、overnment uses their tax dollars in the wrong way. They say that it spends too much on useless and impractical programs. Although Americans have different views on many issues, they tend to agree on one subject; taxes are too high.（分数：6.00）(1).What does the sentence Americans do not have a corner on
10、 the death market in Paragraph 1 mean?（分数：2.00）A.Americans cannot monopolize the death market.B.Americans do not have a secret place to keep from death in their life.C.Americans are not good at doing business in the death market.D.There is no such a place as a death market in the U. S.(2).Which of t
11、he following is CORRECT about the percentage of the federal tax and the state tax?（分数：2.00）A.They have the same percentage.B.The percentage of the state tax is higher than that of the federal tax.C.The percentage of the federal tax is higher than that of the state tax.D.It is not mentioned in the pa
12、ssage.(3).Which of the following usages of the taxes is NOT mentioned in the passage?（分数：2.00）A.For raising their revenues.B.For public works and municipal buildings.C.For police and fire departments.D.For sustaining development.According to the American College Health Associations most recent annua
13、l national survey, 30 percent of college students reported feeling so depressed that it was difficult to function at some time over the past year. Nearly three fourths of respondents in a 2011 National Alliance on Mental Illness study of college students diagnosed with mental health conditions said
14、they experienced a mental health crisis while in school. The Americans with Disabilities Act(ADA)and other federal disability laws prohibit discrimination against students whose psychiatric(精神病的)disabilities substantially limit a major life activity and mandates that colleges and universities provid
15、e them with reasonable accommodationssuch as lower course loads and extended deadlines. Despite that very clearly stated law, dozens of current students across the country told Newsweek they were punished for seeking help: kicked out of campus housing with nowhere else to go, abruptly forced to with
16、draw from school and even involuntarily committed to psychiatric wards. Colleges are very accustomed to accommodating learning and physical disabilities, but they dont understand simple ways of accommodating mental health disabilities, says Professor Peter Lake, an expert on higher education law and
17、 policy who sees widespread fear and reluctance across the board to promote diversity that encompasses mental disabilities and mood disorders. Lake often tells skeptics about a man who suffered from clinical depression and constantly talked about suicide: His name was Abraham Lincoln. We dont want t
18、o remove these people, Lake says. We want to expand the definition of diversity to make sure theyre included. Most lifetime cases of mental health conditions begin by the age of 24, and thanks to a variety of factors, including rising antidepressant(抗抑郁药)prescription rates and stigma reduction effor
19、ts, college students are more and more likely to ask campus counselors for assistance. The number of students seeking counseling for severe psychological problems jumped from 16 percent in 2000 to 39 percent in 2012; the percentage of students who report suicidal thoughts has risen along with it. Sc
20、hools should encourage students to seek treatment. But a lot of policies I see involve excessive use of discipline and involuntary leaves of absence, and they discourage students from asking for the help they need, says Karen Bower, a private attorney who specializes in disability discrimination cas
21、es in higher education. Ultimately, that makes the campus less safe. Two large-scale studies found that around 10 percent of college student respondents had thought about suicide in the past year, but only 1. 5 percent admitted to having made a suicide attempt. Combined with data from other studies,
22、 that suggests that the odds that a student with suicidal thoughts will actually commit suicide are 1 , 000 to 1. Thus, policies that impose restrictions on students who manifest suicidal thought will sweep in 999 students who would not commit suicide for every student who will end his or her life,
23、Paul S. Appelbaum writes in Law & Psychiatry: Depressed? Get Out! Colleges dont want people who are suicidal around, so whats supposed to happen to them? says Ira Burnim, legal director of the DC Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law. Were going to lock them in a bomb shelter? Kicking students off ca
24、mpus for mental health issues typically does more harm than good by isolating them from their support systems when what they really need is stability and empathy, he says. Moreover, its often a completely unnecessary overreaction.（分数：6.00）(1).Students with mental disabilities might be punished in th
25、e following ways EXCEPT_.（分数：2.00）A.getting out of campus dormsB.dropping out of schoolsC.staying in psychiatric wardsD.prolonging academic years(2).Increasing college students turn to professional counselors for help because_.（分数：2.00）A.great efforts have been made to weaken the feeling of disgrace
26、B.it is encouraged to decrease the dose of medicineC.it is more economical for students without incomeD.mental health conditions become more severe than before(3).According to Paragraph 5, it can be concluded that_.（分数：2.00）A.suicide should be taken as the most serious issueB.10% of the students hav
27、e made a suicide attemptC.most of the students with suicidal thought will never do itD.schools should impose severe restrictions on the suicide issueConservative commentator Charles Krauthammers new book is flying off the shelvesand nobody knows exactly why. Sitting atop the New York Times nonfictio
28、n bestseller list for two months now, the conservative Washington Post columnists Things That Matter: Three Decades of Passions, Pastimes and Politics, a collection of his writings, is not the kind of fiery, rash conservative commentary that generally climbs to the top of the bestsellers lists. And
29、yet, the collection has sold enough to make publicists and pundits(时事评论员，)alike scratch their heads. It is, as conservative publisher Adam Bellow told Newsweek, a phenomenon. Published October 22 by Crown Forum, a Random House imprint that specializes in conservative authors, it first hit the Times
30、bestseller list in November. Within two weeks, it had surpassed the latest works of conservatives Glenn Beck and Fox Newss Bill OReilly and Brian Kilmeade to climb to No. 1. And there it remains. It ranks No. 8 on Amazons list of best-selling books of 2013. According Nielsen, the book has sold 601,
31、000 hardcover copies in the United States alone. Crown says Things That Matter is in its 18th printing, with 970, 000 copies in print. Was I surprised? I was surprised, said Bellow, who runs HarperCollinss conservative imprint Broadside Books. The collective wisdom in publishing is that anthology(选集
32、)collections dont sell. The Krauthammer compendium(概略)appears to be surfing a particularly vicious wave. The conservative publishing industry has flourished in recent years and books by conservative authors routinely make the bestsellers lists. But few books sell as many as Krauthammers, particularl
33、y anthologies of previously published work. Anything at that level is largely serendipitous, Bellow said. Success, it seems, begets even more success. Once a book becomes number one on the best seller list, it functions as a form of advertising, Bellow explained. More copies are stocked at Barnes &
34、Noble. When consumers walk into the store, they see big piles of them and, like in some experiment created by B. F. Skinner(the American psychologist who argued that free will is an illusion), they reach out and buy it. But when you get to the heady level Krauthammer has reached, it begins to look a
35、s if it is far more than just the marketing machine at work. And there are almost as many theories about Krauthammers success as books sold. How you feel about the books popularity largely depends on how you view the author. To many, Krauthammer is a thinking conservative, in contrast to the bluster
36、 of the modern-day Tea Party and quick-fire figures like Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck. To those who are trying to make sense of the rise of the conservative movement, Krauthammers success is a triumph for temperate, smart conservatism. Americans thirsty for a subtle, intellectual debate are buying h
37、is book in droves.（分数：4.00）(1).Adam Bellow believes all of the following statements EXCEPT_.（分数：2.00）A.the success of Things That Matter is a phenomenonB.the success of Things That Matter is surprisingC.anthology collections dont sell usuallyD.conservative authors rarely make the bestsellers lists(2
38、).It can be inferred from Paragraph 9 that_.（分数：2.00）A.success is closely related to advertisingB.being the bestseller itself can draw public attentionC.Barnes & Noble is a publishing houseD.consumers buy books according to B. F. Skinners adviceThe cold is bad enough, but winters shorter days make t
39、he season a downer, to say the least. But how real is seasonal affective disorder(known as SAD)? SAD is often a catch-all term to describe the winter dumps, but experts say its often misused and the condition is actually less common than people think. There are a lot of myths. SAD is not a myth. It
40、is a mental disorder that is incompletely understood and also something that is complicated by questions about the role of evolutionary biology, says Dr. Jeffrey Lieberman, the president of the American Psychiatric Association. That diagnosis is different from the lows that many feel during the wint
41、er months. In fact, research shows many people overestimate the impact of seasons on their moods in general. Where is the line between SAD and the simple doldrums? How much winter sadness is the product of a mood-based disorder, and how much is a natural outcome of being cooped up indoors? SAD is co
42、nsidered a subtype of a mood disorder like depression or bipolar disorder(躁郁症), so a very small percentage are actually diagnosed with it. In order to meet the qualifications for a SAD diagnosis, according to the Mayo Clinic, an individual must be show the following: depression and other symptoms fo
43、r a minimum of two consecutive years during the same season; depression-free periods following episodes of depression; unexplained behavior and mood changes. For most other cases of seasonal mood changes, Lieberman says making some lifestyle changes such as exercising or keeping good sleeping habits
44、 can help. Its important to realize that just like people on Mondays have physical and emotional symptoms, you deal with it. You dont take a treatment for Mondays. It only warrants treatment when it starts to interfere with daily life, he says. What about the bright light lamps that claim to relieve
45、 depression during the darker months? Theyre based on the idea that light therapy can boost melatonin(褪黑激素)levels, and also serotonin(血清素)in the brainhigher levels of serotonin between nerve connections can have anti-depressive effects. But as appealing as that sounds, Lieberman says there isnt soli
46、d evidence behind it. Light therapy is not a fake, but the evidence is not that strong, he says. But since its not invasive, it also isnt harmfulexcept perhaps to your budget. So if youre not feeling your usual cheerful self this winter, see your doctor. If he doesnt diagnose you with SAD, try addin
47、g some physical activity to your day and getting regular sleep. And remember that spring is just a few months away.（分数：4.00）(1).We can learn from the passage that SAD is_.（分数：2.00）A.a common condition among peopleB.a term referring to the winter dumpsC.a term not being totally understoodD.a term of
48、evolutionary biology(2).According to Paragraph 5, which of the following is CORRECT?（分数：2.00）A.It is necessary to look for treatment when mood changes.B.Exercising is beneficial to ease seasonal mood changes.C.People should keep a good mood on Mondays.D.Seasonal mood changes will not interfere with daily life.3.SECTION BIn this section there are five short answer questions based on the passages in Sectio
