1、专业英语四级（阅读）模拟试卷 51及答案与解析 0 Testing has replaced teaching in most public schools. My own childrens school week is framed by pretests, drills, tests, and retests. They know that the best way to read a textbook is to look at the questions at the end of the chapter and then skim the text for the answers.
2、 I believe that my daughter Erica, who gets excellent marks, has never read a chapter of any of her school textbooks all the way through. And teachers are often heard to state proudly and openly that they teach to the mandated state test. Teaching to the test is a curious phenomenon. Instead of deci
3、ding what skills students ought to learn, helping students learn them, and then using some sensible methods of assessment to discover whether students have mastered the skills, teachers are encouraged to reverse the process. First one looks at a commercially available test. Then on distills the skil
4、ls needed not to master reading, say, or math, but to do well on the test. Finally, the test skills are taught. The ability to read or write or calculate might imply the ability to do reasonably well on standardized tests. However, neither reading nor writing develops simply through being taught to
5、take tests. We must be careful to avoid mistaking preparation for a test of a skill with the acquisition of that skill. Too many discussions of basic of skills make this fundamental confusion because people are test-obsessed rather than concerned with the nature and quality of what is taught. Recent
6、ly, many schools have faced what could be called the crisis of comprehension or, in simple terms, the phenomenon of students with phonic and grammar skills still being unable to understand what they read. These students are competent at test taking and filling in workbooks and ditto masters. However
7、, they have little or no experience reading or thinking, and talking about what they read. They know the details but cant see or understand the whole. They are taught to be so concerned with grade that they have no time or ease of mind to think about meaning, and reread things if necessary. 1 What d
8、o teachers think about teaching to the mandated state test? （ A） It is commonly recognized. （ B） It is curiously controversial. （ C） It has been exceptionally effective. （ D） It has been inadequately developed. 2 As it is indicated in the second paragraph, the author finds it strange that （ A） skill
9、s are determined before tests are set. （ B） tests are used to assess students skills. （ C） tests restrict the skills necessary for students. （ D） skills are consolidated by taking tests. 3 According to the third paragraph, “this fundamental confusion“ refers to the fact that （ A） the basic of skills
10、 have been discussed too much. （ B） a test of a skill has been equated with acquiring the skill. （ C） the nature and quality of what is taught are rarely concerned. （ D） skills do not develop by being taught to take tests. 4 The crisis of comprehension is most probably resulted from （ A） students in
11、sufficient phonic and grammar skills. （ B） teaching that takes up much of students free time. （ C） teaching that emphasizes details rather than the whole. （ D） students incompetence in thinking about what they read. 4 About forty years ago, I was an instructor in the military academy at Woolwich, wh
12、en young Scoresby was given his first examination. I felt extremely sorry for him. Everybody answered the questions well, intelligently, while he why, dear me he did not know anything, so to speak. He was a nice, pleasant young man. It was painful to see him stand there and give answers that were mi
13、racles of stupidity. I knew of course that when examined again he would fail and be thrown out. So, I said to myself, it would be a simple, harmless act to help him as much as I could. I took him aside and found he knew a little about Julius Ceasars history. But, he did not know anything else. So, I
14、 went to work and tested him and worked him like a slave. I made him work, over and over again, on a few questions about Ceasar, which I knew he would be asked. If you will believe me, he came through very well on the day of the examination. He got high praise too, while others who knew a thousand t
15、imes more than he were sharply criticized. By some strange, lucky accident, he was asked no questions but those I made him study. Such an accident does not happen more than once in a hundred years. Well, all through his studies, I stood by him, with the feeling a mother has for a disabled child. And
16、 he always saved himself by some miracle. I thought that what in the end would destroy him would be the mathematics examination. I decided to make his end as painless as possible. So, I pushed facts into his stupid head for hours. Finally, I let him go to the examination to experience what I was sur
17、e would be his dismissal from school. Well, sir, try to imagine the result. I was shocked out of my mind. He took first prize! And he got the highest praise. I felt guilty day and night what I was doing was not. right. But I only wanted to make his dismissal a little less painful for him. I never dr
18、eamed it would lead to such strange, laughable results. I thought that sooner or later one thing was sure to happen: The first real test once he was through school would ruin him. 5 According to the narrator, Scoresby passed the exams because of （ A） the narrators help. （ B） Scoresbys good luck. （ C
19、） Scoresbys hard work. （ D） the teachers kindness. 6 The narrator decided to help Scoresby （ A） so that Scoresby would not lose all his confidence. （ B） so that Scoresby could stay at school as long as possible. （ C） because the narrator regarded Scoresby as his own child. （ D） because the narrator
20、didnt want to see the students lag behind. 7 What did the narrator think about Scoresby? （ A） Scoresby would never get over his stupidity. （ B） Scoresby would have a promising future. （ C） Scoresbys stupidity would be compensated by hard work. （ D） Scoresbys failure should be attributed to his lazin
21、ess. 8 The narrator felt guilty about （ A） being unable to help Scoresby to be smart. （ B） indulging Scoresbys stupidity. （ C） enabling Scoresby to stay in school. （ D） making Scoresby arrogant. 9 The “first real test“ for Scoresby would most probably be （ A） his first talk with his supervisor. （ B）
22、 his first service to the community. （ C） his first job interview. （ D） his first task as a soldier. 9 We need to reform the European social model, not play round with it. Make it work in the long term to achieve the values it stands for. Thats what we mean by New Labour. New in our means. But Labou
23、r in our aims. Since being elected, the New Labour Government has set its course according to these principles of the third way, the radical centre if you like. First, we have tightened public finances sharply. Next year, we will have one of the lowest levels of deficit of any major world economy. T
24、wo years after we may eliminate it. But we have tightened the deficit without raising income taxes and whilst still getting more cash to poor pensioners and to the unemployed. Second, we have started to squeeze the inflation we inherited back out of the system. But we did it by giving me Bank of Eng
25、land independence over the setting of interest rates. And we have continued that with far-reaching reforms of our financial system, to make it more open and secure. Third, we have made a firm commitment to more investment in our education system, which we have put as the top priority of the new Gove
26、rnment. There is a huge investment going in. But, it is a deal: investment for reform. Schools are going to have to raise standards sharply. There is a strong emphasis on discipline, high quality in teachers, and schools are being encouraged to be more flexible and imaginative in the way they work.
27、Education Authorities are there to help schools, not control them. Teachers unions do not set the agenda. We want partnership with those that work in our public services. But they are run for those that use them. Fourth, we are embarking on reform of our welfare state. It is not simply the size of t
28、he budget. It is that it isnt doing the things it was established to do. We have more workless households, more people dependent on benefit, more socially excluded. We are instituting a Welfare to Work programme, giving young and long-term unemployed people the chance to work or get a skill. But in
29、return there is an obligation to take work. There is a new emphasis on services like childcare and less just on extra cash benefits. Student finance is being reformed. Universities will get more money for investment, students numbers will be increased, but students will be expected when they start t
30、o earn reasonable sums of money after leaving university, to contribute back some of their fees. Our NHS is being reformed, with a new emphasis on better primary health care and more health prevention and less bureaucracy; in return, greater investment. Fifth, there is an attack on crime, not just s
31、erious crime, but vandalism and juvenile offending. Parents are being held responsible for the actions of their children, in certain circumstances. Crime is the scourge of modern-day living. It often affects the poorest in our society. We are determined to bear down on it in all ways possible. But,
32、again, in balance, we are working strongly on rehabilitating and helping offenders to regain responsible lives. Sixth, there is a fundamental change to Britains constitution under way, devolving and decentralising power to the nations and regions of the UK and revitalising local government. We are a
33、lso reforming our system of voting in the European elections, incorporating directly the European Convention on Human Rights and introducing Freedom of Information legislation to open up the old-fashioned and secretive system of Government. And we are reforming the House of Lords. Add to this the se
34、arch for peace in Northern Ireland difficult and fraught though it is and you can see we have a full and ambitious programme. Of course, it will take time to deliver. That is frustrating for us and for the electorate. But the work in progress is there. The course is clear. And we will get to our des
35、tination. I have no doubt of it. 10 By saying “Labor in our aims“, the Labor Party intended to （ A） become the ruling party of Britain. （ B） carry out a social reform in Britain. （ C） attach importance to the labor force. （ D） improve the working peoples welfare. 11 With far-reaching reforms, it is
36、expected that _ will become more open and secure. （ A） the interest rates （ B） the Bank of England （ C） the financial system （ D） the battle against inflation 12 “they“ in the last sentence of the 6th paragraph most probably refers to （ A） Education Authorities. （ B） Teachers unions. （ C） teachers.
37、（ D） schools. 13 What is NOT the purpose of the Welfare to Work programme? （ A） To decrease the number of people on benefit. （ B） To enable the unemployed to get some skill. （ C） To enhance the quality of services like childcare. （ D） To reduce the jobless peoples reliance on welfare. 14 What is the
38、 Labor Party determined to do with crimes? （ A） The government will be more tolerant with certain kinds of crimes. （ B） Offenders rehabilitation will become the governments priority. （ C） Parents will be punished for their childrens juvenile offending. （ D） All possible measures will be taken to fig
39、ht against crimes. 15 In the UK, power will be delegated to （ A） the local governments. （ B） the central government. （ C） the ruling party. （ D） the constitution. 15 Is it any wonder that America is also a country of dangerously overweight people? According to a recent study by the National Center f
40、or Health Statistics, the number of adults characterized as overweight in the United States has jumped to an astonishing one-third of the population. Overweight in this case means being about 20 percent or more above a persons desirable weight. Since the figures for “desirable weight“ have moved upw
41、ard over the last decade or so, total poundage even at 20 percent over may be considerable. So are the attendant health risks. Excess weight has been linked to cardiovascular disease, hypertension, adult-onset diabetes and some forms of cancer, among other diseases. Once, when work and school and th
42、e grocery store were a two-mile hike away, Americans could afford the calories they consume. But not now, not when millions spend four or five hours a day in front of a TV set along with a bag of chips, a bowl of buttered popcorn and a six-pack and theres a car or two in every driveway. “There is no
43、 commitment to obesity as a public health problem,“ said Dr. William Dietz, director of clinical nutrition at the New England Medical Center in Boston. “Weve ignored it, and blamed it on gluttony and sloth.“ If one definition of a public health problem is its cost to the nation, then obesity qualifi
44、es. According to a study done by Dr. Graham A. Colditz, who teaches at Harvard Medical School, it cost America an estimated $68.8 billion in 1990. But whats wrong blaming it on gluttony and sloth? True, some unfortunate overweight people have an underlying physical or genetic problem. But for most A
45、mericans, the problem is with two of the seven deadly sins. Losing weight is a desperately difficult business. Preventing gain, however, is not. Consumer information is everywhere, and there can be few adults who truly believe that hot dogs, fries, a soda and a couple of Twinkies make a good lunch.
46、But they eat them anyway. As more and more Americans became educated to the risks of smoking, more and more Americans gave up the habit. Now it appears that Americans need an intensive education in the risks of stuffing themselves and failing to exercise as well. Given the seductiveness of chocolate
47、 and cheese, the couch and the car, that habit will be hard to break. But if an ounce of prevention can obviate a pound of fat, it is well worth the struggle. 16 The author sets up the standard of overweight people based on the fact that （ A） the number of overweight people has astonishingly increas
48、ed. （ B） people have a different idea about their desirable weight now. （ C） overweight becomes a threat to peoples health. （ D） the overweight problem has long been studied. 17 By saying “So are the attendant health risks“, the author means （ A） America suffers health risks as well as the overweigh
49、t problem. （ B） health risks resulting from overweight are serious too. （ C） overweight is classified as one of the health problems. （ D） people have also paid much attention to the possible health risks. 18 What does William Dietz think of overweight? （ A） Overweight should be treated as a public health problem. （ B） Overweight should be attributed to gluttony and sloth. （ C） Overweight has much to do with nutritional problems. （ D） Overweight has nothing to do with the overuse of cars. 19 Most Americans believe that （ A） the overweight prob
