1、专业英语四级（阅读）模拟试卷 169及答案与解析 SECTION A In 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 that you think is the best answer. 0 Whats the first step to getting a job interview? Gett
2、ing past the recruiter. Recruiters are usually your first contact with a potential employer. And they often decide whether your resume lands on the hiring managers desk or in a far-off filing cabinet. While its important to know the basics of what recruiters do, you also need to know what they DONT
3、do. After all, you dont want an inappropriate request to ruin your chances for an interview. Here are four things you shouldnt ask of a recruiter. Dont Be Overly Friendly Sure, recruiters are usually warm, friendly and helpful. After all, its their job to put you at ease and guide you through the hi
4、ring process. But theyre professional colleagues, and its crucial that you never forget it. Think of the recruiter as a respected coworker and treat them accordingly. Be friendly, but not overly casual or familiar. Its wise to keep personal conversations, jokes and physical contact to a minimum. Aft
5、er a tough interview with a hiring manager, you may be relived to see a recruiters smiling face. Dont be tempted to let your guard down though; youre still “on“, even if the interview has ended. A useful rule of thumb: Dont say or do anything in front of a recruiter that you wouldnt say or do in fro
6、nt of your boss(or your mother). Dont Expect Career Coaching The recruiters goal is not to help you get a job. Its to help you navigate the hiring process at one specific company. Recruiters arent career coaches. Its not appropriate to ask them to help you craft your cover letter, edit your resume o
7、r plan your career path. You can ask questions about the company or industry in general, but try to relate your questions to the job youre being considered for. And save your best, most thoughtful questions for the hiring manager thats who you need to impress most. Dont Ask for Insider Information T
8、heres only one job candidate you really need to worry about: You. Though it may be hard to resist, dont ask about who youre up against for a job. Recruiters generally wont share information about other candidates. And asking for specific details about the competition makes you look insecure in your
9、own skills. However, questions about the hiring process or the position itself are fair game. For example, Are you still interviewing candidates? How large is the current pool of candidates? Dont Request Special Treatment Although you may wish you were, youre probably not the only candidate for the
10、job. And, while recruiters are often happy to help, their aim is not to be your advocate to the hiring manager. Their aim is to fill a position. Never ask a recruiter to put in a good word for you with the hiring manager. If they think youre a strong candidate, theyll probably sing your praises anyw
11、ay. Taking the initiative and speaking for yourself shows the hiring manager that youre capable, confident and conscientious. Remember, if you treat the recruiter well, chances are theyll treat you the same way. 1 Whats the central topic of the passage? （ A） The recruiters and the interviewers. （ B）
12、 Four donts when dealing with recruiters. （ C） Dont request special treatment. （ D） Dont ask for insider information. 2 What kind of questions can you ask according to the passage? （ A） If the recruiter will put in a good word for you with the hiring manager. （ B） If the recruiter can give you some
13、instructions on the job. （ C） The information of other applicants. （ D） Questions about the company or industry in general. 3 All of the following are true EXCEPT that_. （ A） questions about the hiring process can be asked （ B） you should not let your guard down until interview has ended （ C） you sh
14、ould try to impress the hiring manager that youre capable, confident and conscientious （ D） recruiters aim is to advocate you to the hiring manager 3 Some believe that in the age of identikit computer games, mass entertainment and conformity on the supermarket shelves, truly inspired thinking has go
15、ne out of the window. But, there are others who hold the view that there is still plenty of scope for innovation, lateral thought and creative solutions. Despite the standardisation of modern life, there is an unabated appetite for great ideas, visionary thinking and inspired debate. In the first of
16、 a series of monthly debates on contemporary issues, we ask two original thinkers to discuss the nature of creativity. Here is the first one. Yes. Absolutely. Since I started working as an inventor 10 or 12 years ago, Ive seen a big change in attitudes to creativity and invention. Back then, there w
17、as hardly any support for inventors, apart from the national organisation the Institute of Patentees and Inventors. Today, there are lots of little inventors clubs popping up all over the place, my last count was 19 nationally and growing. These non-profit clubs, run by inventors for inventors, are
18、an indication that people are once again interested in invention. Ive been a project leader, a croupier, an IT consultant and Ive written a motor manual. I spent my teens under a 1950s two-tone Riley RME car, learning to put it together. Back in the Sixties, kids like me were always out doing things
19、, making go-karts, riding bicycles or exploring. We learned to overcome challenges and solve problems. We werent just sitting at a PlayStation, like many kids do today. But I think, and hope, things are shifting back. Theres a lot more interest in design and creativity and such talents are getting a
20、 much higher profile in the media. Its evident with TV programmes such as Channel 4s Scrapheap Challenge or BBC 2s The Apprentice and Dragons Den, where people are given a task to solve or face the challenge of selling their idea to a panel. And, thankfully, the image of the mad scientist with elect
21、rified hair working in the garden shed is long gone although, there are still a few exceptions! Thats not to say there arent problems. With the decline in manufacturing we are losing the ability to know how to make things. Theres a real skills gap developing. In my opinion, the government does littl
22、e or nothing to help innovation at the lone-inventor or small or medium enterprise level. I would love to see more money spent on teaching our school kids how to be inventive. But, despite everything, if you have a good idea and real determination, you can still do very well. My own specialist area
23、is packaging closures almost every product needs it. I got the idea for Squeezeopen after looking at an old tin of boot polish when my mother complained she couldnt get the lid off. If you can do something cheaper, better, and you are 100 per-cent committed, there is a chance it will be a success. I
24、 see a fantastic amount of innovation and opportunities out there. People dont realise how much is going on. New materials are coming out all the lime and the space programme and scientific research are producing a variety of spin-offs. Innovation doesnt have to be high-tech: creativity and inventin
25、g is about finding the right solution to a problem, whatever it is. Theres a lot of talent out there and, thankfully, some of the more progressive companies are suddenly realising they dont want to miss out its an exciting time. 4 What is the debate concerned with? （ A） What should we do to inspire
26、peoples creativity? （ B） Will peoples invention and inspiration be exhausted in the future? （ C） Is there still a future for invention and inspiration? （ D） Who will be the winner of the future technology? 5 According to the opinion of the interviewer, _. （ A） the future for invention depends （ B） t
27、here is still a future for invention and inspiration （ C） there is no future for invention and inspiration in modern society （ D） the future for invention and inspiration is unclear 6 Which of the following is the suggestion of the interviewer to the problem? （ A） The government should spend more mo
28、ney helping innovation. （ B） The kids should cultivate their love of science and invention. （ C） More inventors clubs should be set up. （ D） Invention courses are necessary to children. 6 Real innovation is a dying art. Its true that creativity the business of thinking up new ideas is far from dead,
29、 but its getting harder and harder to get new concepts applied in design, manufacturing or business. It costs thousands of pounds to get a new idea into the marketplace, and there is very little support for anything from most companies or government. A lot of people dont want to know. Ive always bee
30、n interested in new ideas. I was trained as an engineer and went to work for an automotive components company, and almost from the first day I was asking why things were done in this way and not that. I thought up my first invention at 19 then I discovered someone else had got there first. Ive been
31、inventive all my life. Ive got 14 patents to my name. Invention is what happens when you come across a problem, and look for a solution. It could be at work or at home in the garden like a better way of mowing the lawn, say. But these days creativity is being stifled because there are so many hoops
32、to go through. You have a brilliant idea for a left-handed widget but you still have to ask yourself; Is it new? Has it already been protected? Is there a market for it? Is the investment worth it? Only 4 percent of granted patents reach the market place. Part of the problem is that manufacturing in
33、dustry and government are obsessed with complex technology like bioengineering. There is no interest in low technology or simple ideas that are equivalent to the invention of the paperclip. Inventors still come up with simple devices, but its difficult to get anyone interested. But its also a very B
34、ritish problem. Inventions from Britain are often taken up overseas, because most British companies tend not to look outside their own factory gates. My own personal theory is that its a legacy of the Empire, when Britain had a captive audience and little competition, so industries didnt need to mar
35、ket their products. Nowadays, companies from other leading economies have to make what the consumer wants in order to ensure their profits, so they are always ready to innovate. And many British manufacturers have never caught up. Plus, British schoolchildren arent embracing vocational training subj
36、ects such as metalwork, woodwork, or design and technology. As a result university engineering departments are closing. Tomorrows World used to be on the TV, but where is that now? The whole lack of interest in creativity and invention is a symptom of the class system, too theres a kind of snobbishn
37、ess in Britain about cleverness and originality. The only inventors you see in the media are people like Sir Clive Sinclair and Trevor Bayliss who come across like mad scientists. 7 Which of the following is NOT the problem that hinders the real invention? （ A） Theres a kind of snobbishness in Brita
38、in about cleverness and originality. （ B） Most British companies tend not to look outside their own factory gates. （ C） There is no interest in low technology or simple ideas. （ D） New inventions can be put into use. 8 What does the phrase “caught up“ in Paragraph 5 mean? （ A） Come from behind and r
39、each someone in front of you by going faster. （ B） Get involved in something. （ C） Do what needs to be done because you have not been able to do it until now. （ D） Try to take hold of something. 8 An Australian research group may ease humanitys collective conscience over a spate of prehistoric extin
40、ctions on the southern continent. The die-off, they say, was not the rapacious work of newly arrived humans, but was due rather to changing climate. Australias large prehistoric animals, called megafauna, were as bizarre as anything that lives there today. King of them all was the marsupial lion, a
41、130-kilogram meat-eater who lived alongside giant kangaroos, huge lizards called goannas, and Diprotodon, which resembled a three-tonne wombat. After the arrival of humans on the continent, at least 45, 000 years ago, these weird and wonderful creatures began to die out. Experts blamed the colonizer
42、s, arguing that they launched a hunting blitzkrieg that wiped out the megafauna(巨型动物 )within a few generations. But the animals may have survived for a lot longer than people thought, argues Judith Field of the University of Sydney, who has analyzed fossil remains. Her excavations seem to show that
43、man and beast lived side by side for as long as 15, 000 years. She suspects that as Australia approached the most recent ice age, the growing cold and aridity turned much of the continent into a place where these large animals simply could not survive. Although man probably did hunt the large animal
44、s, the fact that they survived for so long argues against the blitzkrieg(闪电战 )model, she adds. Field and her colleagues collected animal bones from a ten-metre-deep section of earth at Cuddie Springs, New South Wales. They focused on bones from four layers: two with evidence of human settlement, suc
45、h as stone tools, and two deeper ones with no evidence of tools. They dated the bones by measuring the amounts of radioactive elements, such as uranium and thorium, that remained in the bones. They found that the various animal carcasses in each level would indeed have lived cheek by jowl with human
46、s as recently as 30, 000 years ago. The team report their research in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Proponents of the blitzkrieg model had previously argued that the dating of the Cuddie Springs material was not certain, but Field says their research clears up the matter. Well-pre
47、served bones at other sites have been very hard to find, probably because they are too dry, whereas Cuddie Springs is the site of an old lake bed. A second group, reporting in the journal Memoirs of the Queensland Museum, has also unveiled evidence that climate change may have killed off many of Aus
48、tralias animals. By looking at smaller animal bones from the Darling Downs in Queensland, they show that their disappearance seems to have coincided with increasing dryness. But the matter is not settled yet, particularly as the timing of humans first foray into Australia has still not been agreed.
49、Fossil evidence from Lake Mungo in New South Wales suggests that they may have arrived 60, 000 years ago. And it is possible that they hastened the megafaunas demise by burning habitats to make way for primitive agriculture. Field remains convinced, however, that it was climate that drove the animals to their death. “The arid zone grew to encompass 70% of the continent by 30, 000 years ago, “ she says. “There would have been very few opportunities once it got dryer.“ 9 What
