1、专业英语四级-149及答案解析 (总分：99.90，做题时间：90分钟)一、READING COMPREHENSIO(总题数：2，分数：100.00)Section A Multiple-Choice Questions Passage 1 Sometimes you have to travel very far to gain perspective on things in your own country. Recently, I taught a UNICEF-sponsored course in Malang, Indonesia, on educational innovati
2、on. My audience consisted of teachers, administrators, teacher trainers, and high-ranking officials from the Indonesian Ministry of Education. Unlike in the United States, the public school system in Indonesia, as in many other countries, is run by a centralized ministry. Not only does this governme
3、nt department develop the curriculum for schools, it also employs curriculum officers who write the textbooks for the curriculum areas. Thus, the powerful Indonesian Ministry of Education controls essentially all aspects of education in the country. During my presentation about schools that have sus
4、tained meaningful innovation in the United States, I noticed a rising buzz coming from the audience. The peoples expressions of concern and the emotion in their voices was clear, but it wasnt until their questions were translated that I understood the reason for this agitation. Their comments went s
5、omething like this: Tell us, Steve, why your country is moving in the direction of more and more tests for your children? Our system has been doing that for years and we have decided to move to a freer, more creative process. We invite people like you to help us untangle ourselves from all of that t
6、esting and the centralized control that goes with it. What is going on in America anyway? Maybe it was the heat of the equatorial climate; maybe it was my own temperature rising from anxiety. Whatever the source, I started to feel quite feverish, and it was at this point that the metaphor of the flu
7、 popped into my mind. I told my Indonesian colleagues that in the United States, we periodically fall victim to a kind of educational flu. When we are overtaken in the international education arena (in the recent Programme for International Student Assessment, the United States ranked 15th out of 32
8、 countries surveyed), our politicians and educational administrators get feverish. They start to manufacture lots of standardized tests and devise very severe consequences for students and teachers when test results do not meet expectations. Like a rising fever, these steps are a clear indication th
9、at we are coming down with our educational flu. Brilliant or not, this analogy was enough to get me through that difficult point in my lecture. The next day, things got worse. Again, like one falling victim to the flu, I began to feel out of step with the rest of the world. I picked up a regional ne
10、wspaper and found that Thailand was also moving away from a hierarchical system and standardized tests and toward a more creative education program for children. When I came home, I read that a similar move is taking shape in China where inventiveness, not the traditional national test, is moving to
11、 center stage. Thus, I was confronted with a real paradox: Some of the Asian societies well known for rigid bureaucracies are looking for ways to break free, while my country, renowned for its creativity and supposedly child-centered approach to education, is busily sewing itself into a thick hide o
12、f conformity and control. Why are the different cultures moving in such opposite directions? Passage 2 There has been a fair amount in the news lately about apologies, particularly whether the chief executives of financial institutions have been contrite enough about the role they played in bringing
13、 about this recession. But whether it be an apology from a public figure to an anonymous mass of people or a private one between you and your spouse, a good apology has the same essentials. These include an acknowledgment of the fault or offense, regret for it and responsibility for itand, if possib
14、le, a way to fix the problem, said Holly Weeks, a communications consultant and author of Failure to Communicate: How Conversations Go Wrong and What You Can Do to Right Them (Harvard Business Press, 2008). Were taught when were very young to say, Im sorry, when we steal someones pail in the sandbox
15、 or lock our sister in a closet (hypothetically speaking). But somehow, as we grow up, our apologies often become more abstract, more defensive and less an acceptance of responsibility than a demand that the wronged person forgive us. The act of contrition sometimes comes wrapped in self-congratulat
16、ion. For example, Ms. Weeks said that she analyzed the speech by former Gov. Eliot Spitzer of New York when he publicly admitted wrongdoing and resigned. Only 17 percent of that speech was apology. The rest was about how great he was, she said. In my opinion, the apology sent by e-mail or text messa
17、ge is also a cowardly way out, except for the most minor of incidents. Do it in person, or at least over the phone. An apology should not be thought of in terms of an expression of regret or getting something off your chest, which is more like a monologue, Ms. Weeks said. Rather, it has to be though
18、t of as a communication between people. Take the focus off yourself and keep it on your counterpart, she said. Apologizing has been complicated over the years by the threat of liability. This has led to apologies that have been carefully parsed to remove any real regret or accountability. So many ap
19、ologies are constructed by legal or P.R. people as a defensive mechanism, not as a sincere expression of remorse, Ms. Weeks said. This can be true for politicians, doctors and business executives, but also for you or me if were, say, involved in a traffic accident. Should we say were sorry? Is that
20、admitting fault? Passage 3 Preschoolseducational programs for children who are under the age of fivediffer significantly from one country to another according to the views that different societies hold regarding the purpose of the early childhood education. For instance, in a cross-country compariso
21、n of preschools in China, Japan, and the United States, researchers found that parents in these three countries view the purpose of preschools very differently. Whereas parents in China tend to see preschools primarily as a way of giving children a good start academically. Japanese parents view pres
22、chool educational program primarily as a way of giving children the opportunity to be members of a group. And in the United States, in comparison, parents regard the primary purpose of preschools as making children more independent and self-reliant, although obtaining a good academic start and havin
23、g group experience are also important. While a lot of programs designed for preschoolers focus primarily on those social and emotional factors, some are geared mainly toward promoting cognitive gains and preparing preschoolers for the formal instruction they will experience when they start kindergar
24、ten. In the United Stated, the best-known program designed to promote future academic success is Head Start. Head Start was established in the 1960s when the United States declared the War on Poverty. This program has served over thirteen million children and their families. The program, which puts
25、emphasis on parental involvement, was designed to serve the whole child, which includes childrens physical health, self-confidence, social responsibility, and social and emotional development. Whether Head Start is seen as successful or not depends on the lens through which one is looking. If, for i
26、nstance, the program is expected to provide long-term increases in IQ (intelligence quotient) scores, it is a disappointment. Although graduates of Head Start program tend to show immediate IQ gains, these increases do lot last. On the other hand, it is clear that Head Start is meeting its goal of g
27、etting preschoolers ready for school. Preschoolers who take part in Head Start are better prepared for future schooling than those who do not. Furthermore, graduates of Head Start program have better future school grade. Finally, some research suggests that ultimately Head Start graduates show highe
28、r academic performance at the end of high school, although the gains are modest. In addition, results from other types of preschool readiness programs indicate that those who participate and graduate are less likely to repeat grades, and they are more likely to complete school than readiness program
29、, for every dollar spent on the program, taxpayers saved seven dollars by the time the graduated reached the age of 27. The most recent comprehensive evaluation of early intervention programs suggests that, taken as a group, preschool programs can provide significant benefits, and that government fu
30、nds invested early in life may ultimately lead to a reduction in future costs. For instance, compared with children who did not participate in early intervention programs, participants in various programs showed gains in emotional or cognitive development, better educational outcomes, increased econ
31、omic self-sufficiency, reduced levels of criminal activity, and improved health-related behaviors. Of course, it is clear that not every program produced all these benefits, and not every child benefited to the same extent. Furthermore, some researchers argue that less-expensive programs are just as
32、 good as relatively expensive ones, such as Head Start. And still, the results of the evaluation were promising, which suggests that the potential benefits of early intervention can be very substantial. However, not everyone agrees that programs that seek to enhance academic skills during the presch
33、ool years are a good thing. In fact, according to developmental psychologist David Elkind, United States society tends to push children so rapidly that they begin to feel heavy stress and pressure at a very young age. According to Elkind, not only does this cause the child emotional distress, it als
34、o fails to bring the intended cognitive gains. Elkind argues that academic success is largely dependent upon some factors out of parents control, such as inherited abilities and a childs rate of maturation. Consequently, children of a particular age cannot be expected to master educational material
35、without taking into account their current level of cognitive development. In short, children require appropriate educational practice when they grow up, which is education that is based on both typical development and the unique characteristics of a given child.（分数：49.95）(1).It can be inferred from
36、the passage that _. (Passage 1)（分数：3.33）A.the author did not know much about the schools in the U.S.B.the author does not speak IndonesianC.the author likes the Indonesian school systemD.the author teaches in universities only(2).Why did the Indonesian become agitated during the lecture? (Passage 1)
37、（分数：3.33）A.They were not interested in the content.B.They were surprised by the fact that American schools were using more tests.C.They did not like the authors way of teaching.D.It was too hot in the classroom because of the equatorial climate.(3).The word analogy in Paragraph 3 can be best replace
38、d by _. (Passage 1)（分数：3.33）A.sayingB.fluC.feverD.metaphor(4).According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE? (Passage 1)（分数：3.33）A.The author caught a flu and had a fever during his teaching in Indonesia.B.American schools are giving more and more standard tests.C.Indonesia, Thailand and
39、China are looking for more test-centered educational practices.D.The Indonesian students did not understand the authors teaching.(5).A good apology normally includes all the followings EXCEPT _. (Passage 2)（分数：3.33）A.awareness of the issueB.regretC.sense of responsibilityD.offer of compensation(6).I
40、n Paragraph 4, the word contrition can be replaced by _. (Passage 2)（分数：3.33）A.apologyB.sadnessC.remorseD.forgiving(7).Whats Ms. Weeks opinion about the art of apology? (Passage 2)（分数：3.33）A.She likes the ways of apology that lawyers and public relation practitioners have taught their clients.B.She
41、thinks that the custom to apologize properly and sincerely of the past should be kept.C.She encourages people to use any means to apology, such as letters, emails and phone calls.D.She is indifferent about whether people can apologize well or not.(8).According to Paragraph 1, parents in Japan tend t
42、o think of preschool primarily as a place where children can _. (Passage 3) A. get a good academic start B. expand their emotional development C .become more independent D. experience being part of a group（分数：3.33）A.B.C.D.(9).According to Paragraph 3, the Head Start program had NOT been successful a
43、t which of the following? (Passage 3)（分数：3.33）A.Helping children adjust to school.B.Providing long-term increase in IQ scores.C.Improving school performance throughout high school.D.Preventing children from being placed in special-education classes.(10).According to Paragraph 5, which of the followi
44、ng is true about the benefits of early intervention programs? (Passage 3)（分数：3.33）A.These programs produce good short-term benefits but few long-term benefits.B.Only the most expensive programs provides substantial benefits.C.The Head Start program provides a range of benefits that no other programs
45、 can provide.D.Some children benefit more than others do from these programs.(11).Section B Short Answer Questions Whats the authors attitude toward current American education? (Passage 1)（分数：3.33）_(12).According to Holly Weeks, when we grow up, what do our apologies often become? (Passage 2)（分数：3.3
46、3）_(13).Whats the meaning of the threat of liability? (Passage 2)（分数：3.33）_(14).According to Paragraph 2, which group of children received the help of Head Start program? (Passage 3)（分数：3.33）_(15).In Paragraph 4, why does the author mention results from other types of readiness programs? (Passage 3)
47、（分数：3.33）_Section A Multiple-Choice Questions Passage 1 An extreme cold spell might be unwelcome to much of the Northern Hemisphere, but it is warmly welcomed by one groupthe oil exporters. They have enjoyed a steady rise in the price of a barrel of crude and their satisfaction at the state of affairs is evidenced by the lack of any comment from OPEC nations in recent weeks. Demand for heating oil, a lead indicator from December to February, is high in Europe,
