1、大学英语四级改革适用（长篇阅读）模拟试卷 1及答案与解析 Section B 0 When Mom and Dad Grow Old A)The prospect of talking to increasingly fragile parents about their future can be “one of the most difficult challenges adult children will ever face,“ says Clarissa Green, a Vancouver therapist. “People often tell me they dont wan
2、t to raise sensitive issues with their parents about bringing in caregivers or moving,“ she says. “Theyll say, 1 dont want to see dad cry.“ But Green usually responds, “Whats wrong with that?“ Adult children, she says, need to try to join their parents in grieving their decline, acknowledge their li
3、ving arrangements may no longer work and, if necessary, help them say goodbye to their beloved home. “Its sad. And its supposed to be. Its about death itself.“ B)There are almost four million men and women over age 65 in Canada. Nearly two thirds of them manage to patch together enough support from
4、family, friends, private and government services to live independently until virtually the day they die, according to Statistics Canada. C)Of the Canadian seniors who live to 85 and over, almost one in three end up being moved sometimes kicking to group living for the last years of their lives. Even
5、 in the best-case scenarios(可能出现的情况 ), such dislocations can bring sorrow. “Often the family feels guilty, and the senior feels abandoned,“ says Charmaine Spencer, a professor in the gerontology department of Simon Fraser University. Harassed with their own careers and children, adult children may p
6、ush their parents too fast to make a major transition. D)Val MacDonald, executive director of the B. C. Seniors Services Society, cautions adult children against imposing their views on aging parents. “Many baby boomers can be quite patronizing(高人一等的 ),“ she says. Like many who work with seniors, Ma
7、cDonald suggests adult children devote many conversations over a long period of time to collaborating on their parents future, raising feelings, questions and options gently, but frankly. However, many middle-aged adults, according to the specialists, just muddle(应 付 )through with their aging parent
8、s. E)When the parents of Nancy Woods of Mulmur Hills, Ont., were in their mid-80s, they made the decision to downsize from their large family home to an apartment in Toronto. As Woods parents, George and Bernice, became frailer, she believed they knew she had their best interests at heart. They agre
9、ed to her suggestion to have Meals on Wheels start delivering lunches and dinners. However, years later, after a crisis, Woods discovered her parents had taken to throwing out the prepared meals. Her dad had appreciated them, but Bernice had come to believe they were poisoned. “My father was so loya
10、l,“ says Woods, “he had hid that my mother was overwhelmed by paranoia(偏执狂 ).“ To her horror, Woods discovered her dad and mom were “living on crackers and oatmeal porridge“ and were weakening from the impoverished diet. Her dad was also falling apart with the stress of providing for Bernice a commo
11、n problem when one spouse tries to do everything for an ailing partner. “The spouse whos being cared for might be doing well at home,“ says Spencer, “but often the other spouse is burned out and ends up being hospitalized.“ F)Fortunately, outside help is often available to people struggling through
12、the often-distressing process of helping their parents explore an important shift. Sons and daughters can bring in brochures or books on seniors issues, as well as introduce government health-care workers or staff at various agencies, to help raise issues and open up discussions, says Val MacDonald,
13、 whose nonprofit organization responds to thousands of calls a year from British Columbians desperate for information about how to weave through the dizzying array of seniors services and housing options. The long list of things to do, says MacDonald, includes assessing their ability to live indepen
14、dently; determining your comfort level with such things as bathing a parent; discussing with all household members whether it would be healthy for an elderly relative to move in; monitoring whether, out of pure duty, youre overcommitting yourself to providing a level of care that could threaten your
15、 own well-being. G)The shock phone call that flung Nancy Woods and her parents into action came from her desperate dad. “I got this call from my father that he couldnt cope anymore. My mother was setting fires in the apartment,“ she says. “He didnt want to see it for what it was. Up to then hed been
16、 in denial.“ Without knowing she was following the advice of experts who recommend using outside sources to stimulate frank discussion with parents, Woods grabbed a copy of The 36-Hour Day: A Family Guide to Caring for Persons With Alzheimer Disease, Related Dementing Illness, and Memory Loss in Lat
17、er Life. She read sections of the book to her dad and asked him, “Who does that sound like?“ Her father replied, “Its mother. Its dementia(痴呆 ).“ At that point, Woods said, her dad finally recognized their tragic plight(困境 ). She told her father she would help them move out of their apartment. “He n
18、odded. He didnt yell or roar. He took it on the chin(忍受痛苦 ).“ H)Woods regrets that she “had not noticed small details signaling moms dementia.“ But shes satisfied her dad accepted his passage into a group residence, where he and his wife could stay together in a secure unit where staff were trained
19、to deal with patients with dementia. “From the moment they moved into the Toronto nursing home, their physical health improved. On the other hand, it was the beginning of the end in terms of their mental abilities. Perhaps they couldnt get enough stimulation. Perhaps it was inevitable.“ I)After my f
20、ather died in 2002, the grim reality of my mothers sharply declining memory set in starkly. With her expanding dementia, mom insisted on staying in her large North Shore house, even though she was confused about how to cook, organize her day or take care of herself. For the next three years we effec
21、tively imposed decisions on her, most of them involving bringing in caregivers, including family members. In 2005 mom finally agreed, although she barely knew what was happening, to move to a nearby nursing home, where, despite great confusion, she is happier. As Spencer says, the sense of dislocati
22、on that comes with making an important passage can be “a very hard adjustment for a senior at the best of times. But its worse if its not planned out.“ 1 Under the pressure and stress from their own careers and children, adult children tend to push their parents to group living. 2 When Nancy Woods f
23、ather got to know their tragic plight, he finally agreed to move out of their apartment. 3 When Nancy Woods parents reached their mid-80s, they moved into an apartment. 4 Clarissa Green suggests that adult children should try to share their fragile parents grieving feelings. 5 Val MacDonalds organiz
24、ation is non-profit and helps adult children with their aging parent issues through phone calls. 6 Since Nancy Woods parents moved into the Toronto nursing home, they became physically healthier, but had new problems with their mental abilities. 7 When her mother set fires in the apartment, Nancy Wo
25、ods father was desperate and turned to her for help. 8 According to Statistics Canada, most Canadian seniors older than 65 live independently until they die. 9 Val MacDonald warns baby boomers not to force their parents to accept their views. 10 Despite knowing little about what was happening, the a
26、uthors mother lived more happily in a nearby nursing home. 10 Americans and Their Cars A)It has been one of the worlds most enduring and passionate love affairs: Americans and their cars. Its no secret that America is a nation of cars. A recent survey of the number of cars on Americas roads counted
27、some 204 million vehicles in the U.S. There is an average of 1.9 motor vehicles for every household in America, and just to illustrate how many cars this is, consider that the average American household has only 1.8 drivers; America has more vehicles than it has drivers to drive them. By the time a
28、middle-class American reaches 35 years of age, he or she has likely owned 3 cars in his or her life. B)The Unites States lawmakers have done little to undermine the romance between their citizens and their automobiles. Taxes on gasoline have been kept low, while massive highway building projects all
29、ow more and more cars to take to the road. Public transportation, on the other hand, has traditionally suffered from neglect. From the 1970s, since Americans have more than doubled their reliance on cars for long-distance rides, train and bus usage has largely stopped developing. Inner city transit
30、systems in most cities were either deteriorating or crime-ridden, as in New York, or dysfunctional(机能不良的 ), as in Los Angeles. C)There are, however, signs that U.S. drivers are quietly looking for alternatives to car usage with growing backing from legislators. Throughout the country a record number
31、 of commuters are taking buses and transit to work. In Washington DC, city officials say this summer has been the busiest in the history of the Metro rail system, with trains often carrying more than 600,000 passengers a day. In Cincinnati, transit authorities say there have been up to 50 percent mo
32、re users this summer on some commuter routes. The Atlanta and Portland transit systems are also recording heavy usage. Nationwide, public transportation systems have recorded a 4.8 percent increase for the first quarter of 2003 over the same period in 2002, according to the American Public Transport
33、ation Association(APTA). D)Transit officials say the main reason is the recent rise in gasoline prices. Feeling the impact of cuts in production by oil-exporting countries, gasoline prices in the US shot up from a national average of $1.30 dollars a gallon(nearly 3.8 litres)late last year to high of
34、 $1.68 a gallon in June this year. In parts of the country, prices even reached $2 a gallon for the first time. E)While the price rise angered car drivers, many transportation experts feel it has turned attention to Americas meager(不景气的 )public transport. “The public transport system has been better
35、 now than in the past decades,“ says Delon Lowas, an urban planning analyst at the Sierra Club, the environmental group. According to APTA, a person commuting 10 miles to work every day by train instead of by car could save as much as 314 gallons(1193 liters)of gasoline annually thus reducing emissi
36、ons of hydrocarbon gases and other pollutants. F)The oil price rise might just have been the induction to result in a new revolution in the travel habits of US commuters, say environmentalists. As evidence, they point to the popularity of new light-rail systems in cities such as Portland. Even Los A
37、ngeles, whose residents are famous for their infatuation(迷恋 )with cars, recently installed 17 miles of subway tracks. Now, US politicians are also warming to public transport. Federal and state governments are toying with some initiatives, such as tax breaks for people who use trains or buses. G)But
38、 public transportation continues to have its ideological critics. “It shouldnt be encouraged at the expense of private ownership of vehicles,“ says Ben Lieberman of the Competitive Enterprise Institute(CEI). He asserts that the governments priority should be to make owning and driving a car more aff
39、ordable by reducing environmental restrictions that push up the price of gasoline. H)The expansion of public transportation systems also draws opposition from those who are worried about the immense costs involved. They cite Los Angeles subway expansion, which cost a record $4.7 billion, as an insta
40、nce of how expensive public transport can be. I)Citing costs of construction, Tome DeLay,the powerful Republican Whip of the House of Representatives, have moved to block funds for a proposed light-rail system in Houston. Mr. DeLay argues that the city should conduct a referendum(公民投票 )before invest
41、ing taxpayers money. The result: the Houston authorities might well have to manage without federal funds or scrap the light-rail project entirely. Given the strong political pressure against it, some observers think the flirtation(对 的一时兴趣 )with public transport will pass, not least because there are
42、 signs already that gas prices have started to fall. Mr. Lovaas, however, thinks that there has been “genuine grass-roots change“ as people understand the environmental and social need for cutting down on automobile use. But he admitted that political opposition could take a long time to overcome. “
43、The people at the top will be the last to get it.“ 11 One factor for the sharp rising price of gasoline in the US this year was oil production cuts by oil-exporting countries. 12 People who are concerned about the immense costs involved oppose the expansion of public transit. 13 From the 1970s, trai
44、n and bus usage in America has stopped developing to a great extent in that people have relied on cars more for their long-distance travel. 14 Mr. Lovaas thinks that the change of travel habits can benefit the environment and society. 15 According to environmentalists, the change of American commute
45、rs travel habits might have been caused by the rise of oil price. 16 A survey revealed recently that there are more than 200 million cars on Americas roads. 17 According to APTA, if a person commutes 10 miles a day taking a train instead of a car to work, he will save about 1193 liters of gasoline a
46、 year. 18 CEIs Ben Lieberman is in favor of allowing people to have the right of owning private cars. 19 Tax breaks are one of the initiatives federal and state governments are taking into consideration for people using buses. 20 According to city officials, the underground railway system in Washing
47、ton DC has been very busy this summer. 20 Why DIY? A)The reasons why people engage in DIY have always been numerous and complex. For some, DIY has provided a rare opportunity for creativity and self-expression. For others it has been an unwelcome necessity, driven purely by economic considerations.
48、Then there has been a group which feels that a building can never be a home unless it has been altered and modified to reflect a change of occupancy. A final group has traditionally taken the line that if you want a job done well, you must do it yourself. B)The same four basic species of DIYers exis
49、t today, although these various motives may now overlap very substantially. The perfectionist in search of the good job done well is often also driven by a desire for creativity. There are also two new categories of motive the pursuit of DIY as a leisure activity and DIY as a form of occupational therapy. These, again, overlap with other reasons. DIY as necessity C)There is a significant number of young homemakers(38% of our informants)for whom there is no option but DIY. Their new home, whethe
