1、专业英语四级（阅读）模拟试卷 44及答案与解析 0 I was in my third year of teaching creative writing at Ralph McKee Vocational School in Staten Island, New York, when one of my students, 16-year-old Mikey, gave me a note from his mother. It explained his absence from class the day before. I had seen Mikey writing the note
2、 at his desk, using his left hand to disguise his handwriting. I said nothing. Most parental-excuse notes I received back in those days were penned by my students. Theyd been forging excuse notes since they learned to write, and if I were to confront each forger Id be busy 24 hours a day. I threw Mi
3、keys note into a desk drawer along with dozens of other notes. While my classes took a test, I decided to read all the notes Id only glanced at before. I made two piles, one for the genuine ones written by mothers, the other for forgeries. The second was the larger pile, with writing that ranged fro
4、m imaginative to lunatic. I was having an idea. Isnt it remarkable, I thought, how the students complained and said it was hard putting 200 words together on any subject? But when they forged excuse notes, they were brilliant. The notes I had could be turned into a collection of Great American Excus
5、es. They were samples of talent never mentioned in song, story or study. How could I have ignored these gems of fiction and fantasy? Here was American high school writing at its best raw, real, urgent, brief, and lying. I read: “The stove caught fire and the wallpaper went up and the fire department
6、 kept us out of the house all night.“ “Arnold was getting off the train and the door closed on his school bag and the train took it away. He yelled to the conductor who said very vulgar things as the train drove away.“ “His sisters dog ate his homework and I hope it chokes him.“ The writers of these
7、 notes didnt realize that honest excuse notes were usually dull: “Peter was late because the alarm clock didnt go off.“ One day I typed out a dozen excuse notes and distributed them to my senior classes. The students read them silently, intently. “Mr. McCourt, who wrote these?“ asked one boy. “You d
8、id,“ I said. “I omitted names to protect the guilty. Theyre supposed to be written by parents, but you and I know the real authors. Yes, Mikey?“ “So what are we supposed to do?“ “This is the first class to study the art of the excuse note the first class, ever, to practice writing them. Youre so luc
9、ky to have a teacher like me who has taken your best writing and turned it into a subject worthy of study.“ Everyone smiled as I went on, “You didnt settle for the old alarm clock story. You used your imaginations. So try it now. Imagine you have a 15-year-old who needs an excuse for falling behind
10、in English.“ The students produced excuses, ranging from a 16-wheeler crashing into a house to a severe case of food poisoning blamed on the school cafeteria. They said, “More, more. Can we do more?“ So I said, “Id like you to write “ And I finished, “An Excuse Note from Adam to God or An Excuse Not
11、e from Eve to God.“ Heads went down. Pens raced across paper. Before long the bell rang. For the first time ever I saw students so immersed in their writing they had to be urged to go to lunch by their friends. 1 What was the authors attitude towards students forging excuse notes? （ A） He found it q
12、uite understandable. （ B） He was indifferent to this phenomenon. （ C） He was aware of its prevalence. （ D） He regarded it as a minor mistake. 2 By saying that “I was having an idea“(Para. 4), the author means that （ A） he began to realize the students writing talent. （ B） he began to understand the
13、students complaints. （ C） he would read all the excuse notes to the whole class. （ D） he would incorporate the excuse notes into his class. 3 Mikey was mentioned by the author （ A） as an example of those who forged excuse notes. （ B） as a warning to those who forged excuse notes. （ C） because Mikey
14、wasnt good at writing. （ D） because Mikey didnt admit his fault. 4 The author found that compared with the genuine excuse notes, the forged ones were usually （ A） less impressive. （ B） more imaginative. （ C） better-written. （ D） less convincing. 5 The author had the students practice writing excuse
15、notes so that the students could learn （ A） the importance of being honest. （ B） how to write excuse notes skillfully. （ C） the merits of creative writing. （ D） how to be creative in writing. 5 The use of nitrous oxide, or laughing gas during childbirth fell out of favor in the United States decades
16、 ago, and just two hospitals one in San Francisco and one in Seattle still offer it. But interest in returning the dentist office staple to the delivery room is growing: respected hospitals including Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center plan to start offering it, the federal government is reviewing it
17、, and after a long break, the equipment needed to administer it is expected to hit the market soon. Lori Rowell, due to give birth to her second child in June, is interested in the option. “I would definitely think about it, and read about and talk to my doctor about it,“ said Rowell, 36, of Concord
18、. “It is nice to know that it doesnt affect the baby.“ Though laughing gas is commonly used for labor pain relief in Canada, Great Britain and other countries, its been all but abandoned in the United States in favor of other options, said Judith Bishop, a certified nurse midwife at the University o
19、f California San Francisco Medical Center and leader in the effort to reintroduce laughing gas for labor. “In this country, most people when they hear about laughing gas, they think it sounds pretty retro(重新流行的 ), that it sounds very old-fashioned and theyre sure theres something bad or dangerous ab
20、out it and we mustve chosen to eliminate it. But I think we eliminated it because we went for the more specialized, higher-tech options,“ said Bishop, who will be among the speakers Monday at a conference for New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine hospital officials. She and other advocates of reintroduci
21、ng laughing gas emphasize that it is no silver bullet it “takes the edge off“ pain rather than eliminates it. But they say it should be among the options offered to women, particularly those who give birth at small or rural hospitals that lack round-the-clock anesthesiologists(麻醉师 ). Laughing gas is
22、 easy for women to self-administer, takes effect quickly, and can be used late in labor. “Its not right for everybody, but its something that for many women will offer a certain amount of relief,“ Bishop said. 6 Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center is going to （ A） reintroduce nitrous oxide to the den
23、tist office. （ B） remove nitrous oxide from the dentist office to the delivery room. （ C） apply nitrous oxide in the delivery room. （ D） limit the use of nitrous oxide in the dentist office. 7 According to Judith Bishop, laughing gas was abandoned in the United States mainly because other options ar
24、e （ A） less dangerous. （ B） more effective. （ C） less disputable. （ D） more advanced. 8 By saying that “it is no silver bullet“(Para. 6), Judith Bishop means that （ A） laughing gas cannot eliminate pain. （ B） laughing gas cannot relieve much pain. （ C） laughing gas is not as dangerous as most people
25、 imagine. （ D） laughing gas is not as expensive as other options. 9 As it is suggested in the passage, laughing gas can NOT be used properly （ A） without a professional anesthesiologist. （ B） without the administering equipment. （ C） by women in difficult labor. （ D） by women giving birth at home. 9
26、 Allan Metcalf s new book claims that the word “OK“ is Americas greatest invention. This offers a pair of provocations. How can “OK“ be an invention? On a certain day, a certain guy just dreamed up the expression that has become the most frequently spoken word on the planet? And even if it is an inv
27、ention, can one little word really be greater than jazz, baseball, and the telephone? Is it better than The Simpsons? The answer to the first question, implausible as it sounds, is yes. In OK: The Improbable Story of Americas Greatest Word, Metcalf locates the first use of OK in an obscure corner of
28、 a Boston newspaper on March 23, 1839. As for the alleged greatness of the word, Metcalf s slim volume doesnt entirely persuade you that OK is a more valuable invention than, say, electric light. But the fact that he even raises the question is intriguing. If it does nothing else, Metcalf makes you
29、acutely aware of how universal and vital the word has become. True story: the worlds most popular word began as a joke. In the late 1830s, Americas newspapers had great enthusiasm for abbreviations also, to judge by Metcalf s account, a sorry sense of humor. He devotes a chapter to trying to explain
30、 why readers of the Boston Morning Post might have been amused to see “o. k.“ used as a jokey abbreviation for “oll korrect,“ an intentional misspelling of “all correct.“ Apparently you had to be there. But the word soon got an enormous boost from Andrew Jackson or his enemies, anyway. They circulat
31、ed the rumor that the man of the people was barely literate and approved papers with the initials “O. K.“ for “oll korrect.“ It was a joke, Metcalf concludes, “but without it thered be no OK.“ The word didnt remain a joke for long. Telegraph operators began using it as a way to say “all clear.“ It b
32、ecame ubiquitous, turning up in all corners of the world, and beyond. Metcalf points out that OK was technically the first word spoken on the surface of the moon. When you pause to consider what a weird and wonderful little word OK is, the most remarkable thing isnt that its so great or that it was
33、invented but that its American. To foreigners in the 20th century, Metcalf writes, the word embodied “American simplicity, pragmatism, and optimism.“ To us today, the word sums up “a whole two-letter American philosophy of tolerance, even admiration for difference.“ 10 The word “provocations“ in Par
34、agraph One can best be replaced by （ A） contradictions. （ B） challenges. （ C） results. （ D） assumptions. 11 After reading Metcalfs book, the author is convinced that （ A） Metcalf s story was implausible. （ B） OK is an invention of the greatest importance. （ C） OK is a widely-used invention. （ D） OK
35、is a worthless invention. 12 How was “OK“ created? （ A） It was created to shorten a word. （ B） It was created by mistake. （ C） It was created to play a joke on a reporter. （ D） It was created to convey a sense of humor. 13 Which of the following is true about Andrew Jackson? （ A） He was the inventor
36、 of “OK“. （ B） He was poor in writing and reading. （ C） He was a household name in America. （ D） He was the editor of the Boston Morning Post. 14 The passage is intended to （ A） review Metcalf s new book on “OK“. （ B） reveal the unknown facts about “OK“. （ C） convince us of the significance of “OK“.
37、 （ D） answer questions concerned about “OK“. 14 Almost 60% of five-year-olds in some of Britains poorest areas do not reach a “good level“ of behaviour and understanding double that found in wealthier suburban parts of England, a review into Britains widening social and health inequalities says. Ine
38、qualities in childrens development between local authorities are revealed by data published by Sir Michael Marmot, professor of epidemiology(流行病学 )and public health at University College London, who last year produced a landmark government review into how wealth affects health. The key determinants
39、of health, he argues, relate to a host of issues including employment, the welfare state and child development. His new report shows that 44% of all five-year-olds in England are considered by their teachers to be falling behind in their development. However in commuter towns, such as Solihull and R
40、ichmond upon Thames, state schools report this figure to be about 30%. In Haringey, a deprived part of north London, it is almost double. Marmot, a public health specialist and author of Fair Society, Healthy Lives, said: “The evidence is very clear: investing in pre-school years pays most dividends
41、. We already know that by the age of 10 a child from a poorer background will have lost any advantage of intelligence indicated at 22 months, whereas a child from an affluent family will have improved his or her cognitive scores purely because of his/her advantaged background.“ He pointed out that “
42、education and child development are key for health. It is the educated who stop smoking. we know the key driver of teenage pregnancy is not getting early child development. You are not going to get pregnant as a teenager if you develop as a child.“ Only two dozen authorities of the 150 surveyed coul
43、d claim to have more than half their five-year-olds passing the educational standard set by the government. Marmot said he was concerned that the government was just focusing on the “poorest“ in society the middle class of society needed help too. “I have tried to have this conversation with governm
44、ent without much success,“ he said, adding that “cuts to Sure Start and childrens centres wont help“. There was also an alarming health gap opening up within areas. Marmot pointed out that in Westminster the average life expectancy of male residents was 83, five years longer man the English norm, bu
45、t this masked wide differences. The poorest in the London borough could expect to live 17 years less than the richest. Not only is life expectancy linked to social standing, so is the time spent in good health. The review reveals that Wirral, in north-west England, has the biggest difference in “dis
46、ability-free life expectancy“ between those at the top and those at the bottom of the economic ladder, with wealthy people likely to live 20 years longer without physical impairment. The data is meant to inform ministers as the government has proposed taking public health out of the National Health
47、Service and put under the control of local authorities. 15 Marmot intends to stress _ in his new study. （ A） social and health inequalities in children （ B） childrens different behavior and understanding （ C） the relation between wealth and health （ D） the key determinants of childrens health 16 The
48、 commuter towns such as Solihull and Richmond upon Thames are most probably （ A） comparatively poor areas. （ B） comparatively rich areas. （ C） confident of their state schools. （ D） giving priority to their state schools. 17 According to the fourth paragraph, a childs intelligence is most closely re
49、lated to （ A） the social background of his family. （ B） his cognitive scores at 22-month-old. （ C） how much his parents put in his pre-school period. （ D） how much his parents care for him before school. 18 According to Marmot, if a teenager gets pregnant, （ A） her child may lose the key to good health. （ B） her child may miss early child development. （ C） it will result in her loss of proper education. （ D） its due to her lack of early child development. 19 The word “authorities“ in the passage has the closest meaning to
