1、专业英语四级（阅读）模拟试卷 35及答案与解析 0 Video games have become increasingly popular in bom arcades and the average American home. People of all ages and from all walks of life are enjoying hours of entertainment by feeding their time and quarters into these flashing, beeping machines. Many skeptics as well as pr
2、ospective arcade owners have asked what it is that gives Pac Man, Centipede, and a multitude of other popular games their magnetic appeal to millions of players. As a video player myself, I believe there are many answers to that question but three are outstanding. Before a full-scale attack is launc
3、hed against young video players for “throwing away“ their quarters, one should first consider the rising costs of more traditional forms of entertainment. For instance, eighteen holes of miniature golf or ten frames of bowling will cost the player at least two dollars, and one movie costs four bucks
4、. For just two dollars, a video player can get at least eight games, and the better he gets, the longer he can play. Compare that record with the game of miniature golf, where the better one becomes, the shorter amount of time he gets to play. Not only are the games less expensive than other forms o
5、f entertainment, but they are also more in tune with the important issues of the day. Even those people who have never been interested in science are beginning to appreciate how much science influences our lives today. Video games, which are the products of advanced technology and uncontrolled imagi
6、nation, have brought todays youth closer than ever to the exciting world of science by games. In fact, there are even cartridges which teach gamers how to program computers. It is exciting to be involved with the most up-to-date ideas of the day, and video games help provide people with the opportun
7、ity to be involved. Besides the fact that they help people to get involved in technology, video games also provide an outlet for the emotions and the ego. If a man gets frustrated with his boss, for example, he can go to the arcade after work to destroy enemy cruisers rather than drown his anxieties
8、 in liquor. Also, for those who feel they are not capable of excelling at anything, the games provide challenges which are easily mastered with patience and practice. It gives a person a good feeling to know that he has broken his own record or that of someone else. 1 It can be inferred that Pac Man
9、 and Centipede are （ A） traditional video games. （ B） home video games. （ C） popular game machines. （ D） prevalent video games. 2 What can we learn about miniature golf from the second paragraph? （ A） The more advanced me game is, the longer time the player can play. （ B） The more advanced the game
10、is, the more holes the player can play. （ C） The better the player plays, the shorter time the game lasts. （ D） The better the player plays, me less he pays for the game. 3 It is implied in the third paragraph that video games are appealing because （ A） they expand the gamers horizon of imagination.
11、 （ B） they help the players to keep up with the scientific world. （ C） they are me most convenient way of learning about science. （ D） they teach the players to write computer programs by themselves. 4 The last paragraph points out that playing video games can help people （ A） fulfill themselves. （
12、B） relieve psychological hardship. （ C） develop patience. （ D） confront any challenges in life. 5 What is the authors purpose of writing the passage? （ A） To justify the advantages of video games. （ B） To promote the popularity of video games. （ C） To contrast video games and traditional entertainme
13、nt. （ D） To list interesting facts in the research of video games. 5 The idea of a vacuum cleaner originates from the 19th century. The first vacuum cleaners had to be operated manually. Two persons were needed for this: one to operate the bellows and the other to move the mouthpiece over the floor.
14、 The dust was blown into the air. On August 30th 1901 Hubert Cecil Booth, a British engineer, received a British patent for a vacuum cleaner. It took the form of a large, horse-drawn, petrol-driven unit which was parked outside the building to be cleaned with long hoses being fed through the windows
15、. Until then vacuum cleaners blew the dust away, but Booth came up with the idea of sucking away dust, instead of blowing. Furthermore Booth equipped his cleaner with a filter, which kept the dust in the machine. All modern vacuum cleaners are based on Booths principle. As Hubert Booth, demonstrated
16、 his vacuuming device in a restaurant in 1901, two Americans introduced variations on the same theme. Corinne Dufour invented a device that sucked dust into a wet sponge. David E. Kenneys huge machine was installed in the cellar and connected to a network of pipes leading to each room in the house.
17、A corps of cleaners moved the machine from house to house. In 1903 wealthy society ladies threw “vacuum cleaner parties“. Guests sipped their tea and lifted their feet for Booths uniformed attendants to vacuum the carpet. After giving a vacuum demonstration at the Royal Mint, Booth, on leaving, was
18、promptly stopped by the police. He had forgotten to empty the dust bag, which contained a large quantity of gold dust from the Mint. In 1910 Professor Stanley Kent of University College, Bristol found 355,500,000 living organisms in just one gramme of dust extracted from Marlborough House, the home
19、of HRH The Princess of Wales. In 1907, James Murray Spangler, a janitor in a Canton, Ohio department store, deduced that the carpet sweeper he used was the source of his cough. He tinkered with an old fan motor and attached it to a soap box stapled to a broom handle. Using a pillow case as a dust co
20、llector on the contraption, Spangler invented a portable electric vacuum cleaner. He then improved his basic model the first to use both a cloth filter bag and cleaning attachments, and received a patent in 1908, and formed the Electric Suction Sweeper Company. One of the first buyers was a cousin,
21、whose husband, William H. Hoover, later became the president of the Hoover Company, with Spangler as superintendent. Hoovers improvements resembled a bagpipe attached to a cake box, but they worked. Sluggish sales were given a kick by Hoovers 10 day, free home trial, and eventually there was a Hoove
22、r vacuum cleaner in nearly every home. John Thurman started a horse drawn(door to door service)vacuum system in St. Louis, similar to Booths. His vacuuming services were priced at $4 per visit in 1903. He invented his gasoline powered vacuum cleaner, in 1899 and some historians consider it the first
23、 motorized vacuum cleaner. Thurmans machine was patented on October 3, 1899(patent #634,042). 6 Long hoses were needed because Booths vacuum cleaner （ A） was manually-operated. （ B） was drawn by horse. （ C） stayed outdoors. （ D） sucked away dust. 7 According to the passage, it involved the most manp
24、ower to put _ to work. （ A） the first vacuum cleaner （ B） Booths vacuum cleaner （ C） Dufours vacuum cleaner （ D） Kenneys vacuum cleaner 8 The author mentions the demonstration at the Royal Mint in order to illustrate that Booths vacuum cleaner （ A） amazed the upper class. （ B） could work efficiently
25、. （ C） was once very popular. （ D） needed improvement. 9 What was found by Stanley Kent is most similar to that was discovered by （ A） Booth. （ B） Spangler. （ C） Hoover. （ D） Thurman. 10 The Hoover Company began to prosper after （ A） it used the free-home-trial strategy. （ B） it hired Spangler as su
26、perintendent. （ C） a vacuum cleaner suitable for every family was made. （ D） Hoover improved Spanglers electric vacuum cleaner. 10 Depending on which player you ask, the “Fevernova“ ball that sports equipment maker Adidas says provides the ultimate soccer experience is uncontrollable, too big or jus
27、t simply “stupid“. The ball also has its fans, like Englands David Beckham, but so far they seem to have been outnumbered by critics. Adidas says the ball, splashed with gold coloring, is quite simply the best around 25 percent more accurate than the ball used at France 98 thanks to meticulous testi
28、ng by scientists in Germany. The tongue-twisting nature of its contents confirms that the World Cup ball has come a long way from the leather-and-laces variety that was common as recently as the 1960s. The Fevernovas secret, Adidas says, is its radically improved Syntactic foam and unique knitted Ra
29、schel fabric. Given that this is supposed to make the ball faster and provide the free-kick specialists like Beckham with more power, it may not be surprising that goalkeepers like Buffon are unhappy. Spain goalkeeper Pedro Contr-eras said the ball acts “strangely“, while Danish keeper Thomas Sorens
30、en admitted gloomily mat it would probably result in more spectacular goals. “As a goalkeeper, you have to live with the fact that the makers create balls for the benefit of strikers,“ he said before leaving Copenhagen for South Korea. But outfield players have also weighed in with criticism, many s
31、aying the ball is too light and therefore hard to control. “Its big and its too light,“ Japans Jiji news agency quoted Brazilian forward Edilson as saying earlier this month, while striker Rivaldo said it soared too far when kicked. Journalists at the main press centre in Yokohama have been given th
32、e chance to try out the Fevernova from the penalty spot, with the aim of hitting special targets in the goal. So far, few have been able to score more than five out of ten, although this may have little to do with the quality of the ball. Putz admits that the ball is on the light side of FIFAs 420 t
33、o 445 gram weight requirement, but says it is no bigger than previous balls. The controversy over the ball also has an off-pitch dimension. Industry insiders say it may be no coincidence that players from Brazil, sponsored by Adidas rival Nike, have been among the balls most vociferous critics. The
34、same might go for the praise dished out for the ball by Beckham, one of the main players used to promote Adidas equipment. 11 How does Adidas describe the “Fevernova“ ball? （ A） The experience provided by the ball is the best so far. （ B） The ball is almost impossible to control because of its large
35、 size. （ C） The ball has gone through a long way of development. （ D） The experience provided by the ball is most welcome by strikers. 12 What does the author think about the Syntactic foam and unique Raschel fabric that are used to make the ball? （ A） The materials have long been used in history. （
36、 B） The materials do not sound familiar. （ C） The materials are new and advanced. （ D） The materials improve the precision of the ball. 13 The goalkeepers tend to admit reluctantly that （ A） the ball is too strange to control. （ B） the ball is so light that it goes too fast. （ C） the ball may make t
37、he game more thrilling. （ D） the ball may help to enhance the strikers skills. 14 Which of the following is true according to Putz? （ A） The ball is lighter than but of the same size as the previous ones. （ B） The ball should have been heavier to meet the required weight. （ C） The ball should have b
38、een bigger than the previous ones. （ D） The ball is light but still meets the weight requirement. 15 According to industry insiders, Beckhams comment on the ball （ A） is justified in his daily training. （ B） is out of commercial purpose. （ C） goes as radical as the Brazilian players. （ D） is similar
39、 to that by the Brazilian players. 15 Denise Simmons received a burst of national attention when she became mayor of Cambridge in January, but says her 25 years of political involvement have taught her that change comes slowly. “I was looking at a document that goes back to 1945, where the city was
40、grappling with issues of employment, housing, police-community relations, education,“ said Simmons, who is believed to be the nations first black and openly lesbian mayor. “Were in 2008. What are the issues? Employment, housing, police-community relations, education.“ In an interview last week, Simm
41、ons said the purpose of her swearing in ceremony last month was partly to provide historical perspective on her tenure as mayor. In Cambridge, “women and politics go back to 1880,“ she said. “Unfortunately, it was 100 years later before a woman of color would be elected to be in public service, but
42、even to say that, for people to know it and understand it is important.“ Boston, she said, “which is an extraordinarily progressive city like Cambridge, has never elected a woman of color to the Boston City Council.“ Those who have worked with Simmons say that she has been effective behind the scene
43、s for years. “We did a lot of work a couple of years ago to get a trash ordinance passed because of the problems with the rats,“ said Marian Darlington-Hope, former chairwoman of the Area IV Neighborhood Coalition. “As many groups, we sort of get loud and nasty, and while thats good. she paid attent
44、ion to the concerns people had in ways that were helpful and effective. “Theres something about being the first that people sometimes have higher expectations than is sometimes reasonable,“ Darlington-Hope added. “As the first anything, woman, African-American, in her case first black woman, theres
45、a sense of, Oh, we want to see all these things happen.“ Simmons political experience, including four terms on the City Council and a decade on the School Committee, points to the potential for change. “Probably as mayor now she has the most school experience weve had in a long time,“ said Darling-t
46、on-Hope, a professor of human services at Lesley University. “I think shes the one who really brings both pieces together in recognizing the importance of both school and city and can bring education back to the forefront for the entire city.“ As mayor, Simmons chairs the School Committee, a body sp
47、lit over the suitability of Superintendent Thomas Fowler-Finn. Just after Simmons became mayor, the committee voted, 4 to 3, to extend Fowler-Finns contract, with Simmons casting the swing vote. Some critics have suggested that her vote for the superintendent, despite her previous criticism of the p
48、ersistent achievement gap in Cambridge public schools, was meant to gain support from supporters of Fowler-Finn on the City Council. 16 Denise Simmons received a burst of national attention at the election because （ A） of her comments on government work. （ B） of her high efficiency in work. （ C） she
49、 would be the first woman mayor of color. （ D） she had been involved in politics for twenty five years. 17 According to Denise Simmons, what the city government had done was （ A） ineffective. （ B） unreasonable. （ C） unfair. （ D） irrational. 18 Simmons thinks it important for people to know and understand （ A） the history of womens involvement in politics. （ B） the perspective of woman politicians of color. （ C） the importance of womens role in politics. （ D） the delayed election of a woman of color. 19 “the potential for change“(Para. 8)mos
