1、专业英语四级（阅读）模拟试卷 174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 (1) It seemed to him, by the end of the week, that he
2、 had lived centuries, so far behind were the old life and outlook. But he was baffled by lack of preparation. He attempted to read books that required years of preliminary specialization. One day he would read a book of antiquated philosophy, and the next day one that was ultra-modern, so that his h
3、ead would be whirling with the conflict and contradiction of ideas. It was the same with the economists. On the one shelf at the library he found Karl Marx, Ricardo, Adam Smith, and Mill, and the abstruse formulas of the one gave no clew that the ideas of another were obsolete. He was bewildered, an
4、d yet he wanted to know. He had become interested, in a day, in economics, industry, and politics. Passing through the City Hall Park, he had noticed a group of men, in the center of which were half a dozen, with flushed faces and raised voices, earnestly carrying on a discussion. He joined the list
5、eners, and heard a new, alien tongue in the mouths of the philosophers of the people. One was a tramp, another was a labor agitator, a third was a law school student, and the remainder was composed of wordy workingmen. For the first time he heard of socialism, anarchism, and single tax, and learned
6、that there were warring social philosophies. He heard hundreds of technical words that were new to him, belonging to fields of thought that his meagre reading had never touched upon. Because of this he could not follow the arguments closely, and he could only guess at and surmise the ideas wrapped u
7、p in such strange expressions. Then there was a black-eyed restaurant waiter who was a theosophist, a union baker who was an agnostic, an old man who baffled all of them with the strange philosophy that WHAT IS RIGHT, and another old man who discoursed interminably about the cosmos and the father-at
8、om and the mother-atom. (2) Martin Edens head was in a state of addlement when he went away after several hours, and he hurried to the library to look up the definitions of a dozen unusual words. And when he left the library, he carried under his arm four volumes: Madam Blavatskys Secret Doctrine, P
9、rogress and Poverty, The Quintessence of Socialism, and, Warfare of Religion and Science. Unfortunately, he began on the Secret Doctrine. Every line bristled with many-syllabled words he did not understand. He sat up in bed, and the dictionary was in front of him more often than the book. He looked
10、up so many new words that when they recurred, he had forgotten their meaning and had to look them up again. He devised the plan of writing the definitions in a note-book, and filled page after page with them. And still he could not understand. He read until three in the morning, and his brain was in
11、 a turmoil, but not one essential thought in the text had he grasped. He looked up, and it seemed that the room was lifting, heeling, and plunging like a ship upon the sea. Then he hurled the “ Secret Doctrine“ and many curses across the room, turned off the gas, and composed himself to sleep. Nor d
12、id he have much better luck with the other three books. It was not that his brain was weak or incapable; it could think these thoughts were it not for lack of training in thinking and lack of the thought-tools with which to think. He guessed this, and for a while entertained the idea of reading noth
13、ing but the dictionary until he had mastered every word in it. (3) Poetry, however, was his solace, and he read much of it, finding his greatest joy in the simpler poets, who were more understandable. He loved beauty, and there he found beauty. Poetry, like music, stirred him profoundly, and, though
14、 he did not know it, he was preparing his mind for the heavier work that was to come. The pages of his mind were blank, and, without effort, much he read and liked, stanza by stanza, was impressed upon those pages, so that he was soon able to extract great joy from chanting aloud or under his breath
15、 the music and the beauty of the printed words he had read. Then he stumbled upon Gayleys Classic Myths and Bulfinchs Age of Fable, side by side on a library shelf. It was illumination, a great light in the darkness of his ignorance, and he read poetry more avidly than ever. 1 It is suggested that t
16、he City Hall Park was where_. （ A） philosophers gathered and argued （ B） Eden got indulged in reading （ C） various ideas met and collided （ D） new political theories were created 2 It can be inferred from Para. 2 that Eden_. （ A） had not grasped the usage of a dictionary （ B） was not ready for such
17、profound books （ C） was incapable of probing into philosophy （ D） gradually lost his interest in reading 3 In his reading, Eden experienced all the following feelings EXCEPT_. （ A） exhausted but inspired （ B） bewildered but feverish （ C） contented and joyful （ D） defeated and gloomy 3 (1) History is
18、 riddled with science denial. From Newtons law of gravitation to Hanaoka Seinshus use of anesthesia (麻醉 ), theres no shortage of discoveries that have been scoffed at, ridiculed, and wholly rejected by prominent thinkers before eventually settling into the human narrative. But too often, significant
19、 damage is done and sometimes lives are lost while these debates play out. After centuries of dismissing scientific discoveries, only to be proven wrong time and again, youd think wed learn to have a little more faith in the experts. (2) In the era of social media, around-the-clock cable news, and D
20、onald Trump, preventing the spread of misinformation has become one of the greatest challenges facing the scientific community. Thats especially true when it comes to politics. On this weeks episode of me Inquiring Minds podcast, science journalist and author Dave Levitan calls out some of Washingto
21、ns worst offenders. (3) Levitan has spent countless hours pouring over statements made by politicians about science. Sometimes our leaders get me facts right. But frequently, says Levitan, they distort, misrepresent, or flat-out fabricate me data in order to pander to their audience or push an agend
22、a. Thats the subject of Levitans forthcoming book, Not a Scientist; How Politicians Mistake, Misrepresent, and Utterly Mangle Science. (4) While misleading rhetoric is nothing new in politics, the danger it poses to environmental and public health may be at an all-time high. In a country where scien
23、tific literacy is already in decline, misinformation about topics as significant as climate change or infectious diseases can have devastating consequences. Yet many politicians, purposely or not, continue to get the science wrong. Levitan points to Sen. James Inhofe as an example of the perfect “de
24、nier-in-chief. “ Last year, Inhofe brought a snowball to the Senate floor to dispute the science of global warming. His implication: Because there was snow on the ground, the Earth couldnt possibly be getting warmer. It was a classic display of a cherry-picking politician using a single data point t
25、o obscure an indisputable trend; (5) Two years ago, as Sen. Rand Paul was gearing up to run for president, he slammed the National Institutes of Health for funding research on fruit flies. “Have you seen what the NIH spends money on?“ Paul said, according to the Washington Post. “ Nine hundred and t
26、hirty-nine thousand dollars spent to discover whether or not male fruit flies would like to consort with younger female fruit flies. “ When you put it like that, the NIH sounds ridiculous. But Paul missed the mark completely. As Levitan wrote at the time: (6) The characterization of the project as s
27、imply testing “ whether male fruit flies like younger female fruit flies“ is misleading. The study was in fact part of ongoing work looking into olfaction and other sensory perception, the aging process and how it relates to sexual and social activity. A paper that came out of the same line of inqui
28、ry appeared in the prestigious journal Science in 2013, showing that exposure to female pheromones without the opportunity to mate actually decreased male flies life spans. In short, sexual reward “specifically promoted healthy aging,“ according toScottPletcherthe scientist whose research Paul was c
29、riticizing. “His labs work could yield insights both into how humans age and into aging-related diseases. Paul is entitled to his opinions on where government funds are best spent, but the study of flies has yielded important benefits to human health. “ (7) Misrepresenting research is “ a way to get
30、 people to not want the government to spend money,“ Levitan says. “The effect, though, is that people dont understand the importance of basic science research. “ (8) Of course, scientists share the burden of communicating their findings clearly, but most of them dont have the public megaphones that
31、elected officials do. “ Politicians have a lot of responsibility,“ Levitan says. “Theyre the ones legislating and governing where money goes and what science actually can get done. Some random scientist cant just decide hes going to give a speech and everyone will watch. “ (9)In the end, Levitan off
32、ers voters a simple way to sift through the BS: Have a healthy degree of skepticism when politicians talk about science. “If theyre making fun of basic research,“ he says, “theyre probably wrong. “ And his advice to the politicians: Let the scientific consensus be your talking point. 4 The most obvi
33、ous outcome of misinformation about science may be_. （ A） environmental decay （ B） cost of lives （ C） public crisis （ D） human destruction 5 The author cited the content from Levitans book to_. （ A） demonstrate how seriously mistaken Sen. Paul is （ B） explain the science behind the mentioned study （
34、 C） improve the scientific literacy of the readers （ D） confirm the significance of scientific research 6 It can be inferred from the last two paragraphs that_. （ A） scientists are sometimes forbidden to tell the truth （ B） politicians have more control over public propaganda （ C） time has come for
35、scientists to educate their audience （ D） it is immoral for politicians to attack basic science 7 What does the passage mainly reveal? （ A） Politicians sometimes lie about science. （ B） Distorting science can cause severe damage. （ C） Why people misunderstand basic science. （ D） The media can accele
36、rate the spread of misinformation. 7 (1) Council leaders are calling on the government to give them greater powers to check on the growing number of children who are apparently being home-educated a trend that is thought to be linked to a rise in the number of illegal schools across England. (2) The
37、 schools watchdog Ofsted has previously said unregistered schools are exploiting the rules on home education. The Local Government Association (LGA), which represents more than 370 councils in England and Wales, wants local authorities to be given powers to enter homes and premises to check on the s
38、uitability of education being offered. It also wants to be able to compel parents to register home-educated children to help councils monitor their education and prevent children from disappearing under the radar. The LGA raised concerns that some illegal schools had been linked to the teaching of e
39、xtremist views. (3) In recent months Ofsted inspectors have launched a crackdown on what they say is a growing number of illegal or unregistered schools, some of which have been found operating in unsafe and unhygienic premises, run by staff who have not been vetted. (4) The chief inspector of schoo
40、ls, Sir Michael Wilshaw, has claimed that some unregistered schools are “using the freedoms that parents have to home-educate their children as a cover for their activities“ and are exploiting weaknesses in the current legislation to “operate on the cusp of the law“. (5) Any parent has the right to
41、withdraw their child from mainstream education, and they do not have to give a reason for doing so. Other children remain hidden from the authorities because they have never been to school. Council officials can enter premises to check up on the education of a child only if they have specific concer
42、ns about a childs safety. (6) Colin Diamond, the executive director for education in Birmingham, said a number of illegal schools in the city had been closed down in the last year after joint inspections by Ofsted and the council. He said he was particularly concerned about the regulation of electiv
43、e home education (EHE) where parents decide to provide education for their child at home rather than sending them to school which he believes is inadequate. (7) “ We feel that any EHE learning situation potentially puts a child in a very vulnerable position,“ said Diamond. “ We recognise that parent
44、s elect to educate their children at home for a very wide range of reasons, and in many cases they do a great job. But because the child is isolated, they are not visible to their peer group and professionals dont keep an eye on them, we would like more powers to be able to make sure every child who
45、 is EHE is safe, well and learning well. “ (8) At the moment 900 children are registered as EHE in Birmingham. “Those numbers have been growing in the last couple of years. We are very interested in finding out the deeper reasons why,“ said Diamond. (9) Wilshaw said in May that more than 100 suspect
46、ed unregistered schools had been uncovered by inspectors in a five-month period. “ Evidence inspectors have gathered over recent weeks has reaffirmed my belief that there is a clear link between the growth of unregistered schools and the steep rise in the number of children recorded as being home-ed
47、ucated in England over the past few years,“ he wrote. (10) Diamond said one of the reasons families were choosing not to use state schools was that they wanted their daughters taught separately from boys. Other reasons included concerns about bullying in schools or special educational needs not bein
48、g adequately met. (11) He called for local authorities to be given more powers to oversee supplementary schools, which typically hold classes in the evening and are not required to be inspected. “ As education gets more complex and fragmented, local authorities are in that unique position of being a
49、ble to hold it together locally on the ground,“ he said. (12) A Department for Education spokesperson said, “ It is unacceptable for any child of compulsory school age not to be receiving a suitable education. We recognize parents may choose to home school their children and many do a good job, but it must be of a suitable quality. Thats why we have taken steps to ensure the system is as robust as it can be when it comes to protecting young people, while at the same time safeguarding the rights of parents to deter
