1、大学英语四级改革适用（阅读）模拟试卷 182及答案与解析 Section A 0 People who live in heavily industrialized areas do not get as much sunlight as they should. Dust【 C1】 _over a city at altitudes(海拔 )of between 4,000 and 8,000 feet cuts out between 20 and 50 percent of the sunlight and up to 90 percent of the ultraviolet ligh
2、t(紫外线 ). But dust is not the only thing to【 C2】 _about. When fuels are burned, whether in a factory, or in a home, or in the engine of a car, CO2 is given off. CO2 in the atmosphere acts as a kind of【 C3】 _around the earth, keeping warms in and so slowly raising the【 C4】 _of the earth. This could re
3、ally change the climate all over the world. Everybody wants to have a car.【 C5】 _, while they are giving us so much pleasure, cars are also poisoning us. The amount of dangerous substances sent out by a car is quite【 C6】 _. Did you know, for example, that a hundred cars produce on【 C7】 _a third of a
4、 ton of CO, as well as many other【 C8】 _substances every day? Now, more and more people are realizing the importance of clean air. Schools are now teaching about the pollution problems. Scientists and engineers are trying to【 C9】 _new engines for cars. But what about the millions of cars already in
5、use? Must they all be thrown away? It might be very【 C10】 _to change them so that they, too, are pollution-free. A. forge B. screen C. expensive D. floating E. unfortunately F. average G. poisonous H. develop I. temperature J. surprising K. overtaking L. essential M. regulation N. generously O. worr
6、y 1 【 C1】 2 【 C2】 3 【 C3】 4 【 C4】 5 【 C5】 6 【 C6】 7 【 C7】 8 【 C8】 9 【 C9】 10 【 C10】 Section B 10 Big is Back A)Corporate giants were on the defensive for decades. Now they have the advantage again. In 1996, in one of his most celebrated phrases, Bill Clinton declared that “the era of big government
7、is over“. He might have added that the era of big companies was over, too. The organisation that defined capitalism for much of the 20th century was then in retreat, attacked by corporate raiders, annoyed by shareholders and outwitted by entrepreneurs(企业家 ). Great names such as Pan Am had disappeare
8、d. Others had survived only by huge bloodletting: IBM sacked 122,000 people, a quarter of its workforce, between 1990 and 1995. Everyone agreed that the future lay with entrepreneurial start-ups such as Yahoo! which in late 1998 had the same market capitalisation with 637 employees as Boeing with 23
9、0,000. The share of GDP produced by big industrial companies fell by half between 1974 and 1998, from 36% to 17%. B)Today the balance of advantage may be shifting again To a degree, the financial crisis is responsible. It has destroyed the venture-capital market, the lifeblood of many young firms. G
10、overnments have been rescuing companies they consider too big to fail, such as Citigroup and General Motors. Recession is squeezing out smaller and less well-connected firms. But there are other reasons too, which are giving big companies a self-confidence they have not displayed for decades. C)Of c
11、ourse, big companies never went away. There were still plenty of first-rate ones: Unilever and Toyota continued to innovate through thick and thin. And not all start-ups were models of success: Netscape and Enron promised to revolutionise their industries only to crash and burn. Nevertheless, the ba
12、lance had shifted in favour of small organisations. The entrepreneurial boom was supercharged by two developments. Deregulation(撤销管制规定 )opened protected markets. Some national champions, such as AT&T, were broken up. Others saw their markets eaten up by swift-footed newcomers. The arrival of the per
13、sonal computer in the 1970s and the internet in the 1990s created an army of successful start-ups. Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak founded Apple Computer in 1976 in the Jobs familys garage. Microsoft and Dell Computer were both founded by teenagers(in 1975 and 1984 respectively). Larry Page and Sergey
14、Brin started Google in Stanford dorm rooms. D)But deregulation had already begun to go out of fashion before the financial crisis. The Sarbanes-Oxley act, introduced after Enron collapsed in disgrace, increased the regulatory burden on companies of all sizes, but what could be borne by the big could
15、 cripple the small. Many of todays most dynamic industries are much more friendly to big companies than the IT industry. Research in biotechnology is costly and often does not bear fruit for years. Natural-resource companies, whose importance grows as competition for resources intensifies, need to b
16、e big hence the mining industrys consolidation. E)Two further developments are shifting the balance of advantage in favour of size. One is a heightened awareness of the risks of subcontracting(转包合同 ). Toy companies and pet-food firms alike have found that their brands can be hurt if their suppliers
17、turn out goods of poor quality. Big industrial companies have learned that their production cycles can be broken up if contractors are not up to the mark. Boeing, once a champion of subcontracting, has been forced to take over slow suppliers. A second is the emergence of companies that have discover
18、ed how to be entrepreneurial as well as big. These giants are getting better at minimising the costs of size(such as longer, more complex chains of managerial command)while exploiting its advantages(such as presence in several markets and access to a large talent pool). Cisco Systems is pioneering t
19、he use of its own video technology to improve communications between its employees. IBM has carried out several company-wide brainstorming exercises, recently involving more than 150,000 people, that have encouraged it to put more emphasis, for example, on green computing. Disney has successfully ta
20、ken Pixars creative magic. F)You might suppose that the return of the mighty, now better equipped to crush the competition, is something to worry about. Not necessarily. Big is not always ugly just as small is not always beautiful. Most entrepreneurs dream of turning their start-ups into giants(or a
21、t least of selling them to giants for a fortune). There is a symbiosis(互利合作关系 )between large and small. “Cloud computing“ would not provide young firms with access to huge amounts of computer power if big companies had not created giant servers. Biotech start-ups would go bust were they not given wo
22、rk by giants with deep pockets. G)The most successful economic ecosystems contain a variety of big and small companies: Silicon Valley boasts long-established names as well as an ever-changing array of start-ups. Americas e-conomy has been more dynamic than Europes in recent decades not just because
23、 it is better at giving birth to companies but also because it is better at letting them grow. Only 5% of European Union companies born since 1980 have made it into the list of the 1,000 biggest in the EU by market capitalisation. In America, the figure is 22%. H)The return of the giants could well
24、be a blessing for the world economy but only if business people and policymakers avoid certain mistakes Businesses should not admire size blindly, particularly if this means diversifying into a lot of unrelated areas. The model of joint business may be tempting when cash is hard to find. But the mom
25、ent will not last. By and large, the most successful big firms focus on their core businesses. I)Policymakers should both resist an instinctive suspicion of big companies and avoid the old error of embracing national champions. It is bad enough that governments have diverted resources into supportin
26、g failing companies such as General Motors. It would be even more regrettable if they were to return to picking winners. The best use of their energies is to remove the burdens and barriers which prevent entrepreneurs from starting businesses and turning small companies into big ones. 11 Boeing real
27、ized that subcontracting could threaten its production cycle. 12 The policy maker should force on removing the barriers that hinder entrepreneurs from starting businesses instead of supporting the big companies. 13 Silicon Valley is considered to be a successful economic ecosystem in that it contain
28、s both giant and small companies. 14 The deregulation policy and numerous successful start-ups created by personal computer have help boosted the entrepreneurial boom. 15 The end of the venture-capital market has been brought about by the financial crisis. 16 Due to the corporate raiders attack, sha
29、reholders annoyance and new entrepreneurs rise, some household names have collapsed or decayed. 17 By and large, the most successful big companies focus on their core businesses and will give up the model of joint business. 18 It is not necessary to worry about the revival of the big company in that
30、 big company is not always ugly. 19 It usually takes many years for the biotechnology industry to produce fruit. 20 “Cloud computing“ has enabled young firms to substantially enhance their computer power. Section C 20 Divorce doesnt necessarily make adults happy. But toughing it out in an unhappy ma
31、rriage until it turns around just might do, a new study says. The research identified happy and unhappy spouses, culled(选出 )from a national database. Of the unhappy partners who divorced, about half were happy five years later. But unhappy spouses who stuck it out often did better. About two-thirds
32、were happy five years later. Study results contradict what seems to be common sense, says David Blankenhorn of the Institute for American Values, a think-tank on the family. The institute helped sponsor the research team based at the University of Chicago. Findings will be presented in Arlington, Va
33、., at the “Smart Marriage“ conference, sponsored by the Coalition for Marriage, Families and Couples Education. The study looked at data on 5,232 married adults from the National Survey of Families and Households. It included 645 who were unhappy. The adults in the national sample were analyzed thro
34、ugh 13 measures of psychological well-being. Within the five years, 167 of the unhappy were divorced or separated and 478 stayed married. Divorce didnt reduce symptoms of depression, raise self-esteem or increase a sense of mastery compared with those who stayed married, the report says. Results wer
35、e controlled for factors including race, age, gender and income. Staying married did not tend to trap unhappy spouses in violent relationships. What helped the unhappy married turn things around? To supplement the formal study data, the research team asked professional firms to recruit focus groups
36、totaling 55 adults who were “marriage survivors“. All had moved from unhappy to happy marriages. These 55 once-discontented married felt their unions got better via one of three routes, the report says: Marital endurance. “With time, job situations improved, children got older or better, or chronic
37、ongoing problems got put into new perspective.“ Partners did not work on their marriages. Marital work. Spouses actively worked “to solve problems, change behavior or improve communication“. Personal change. Partners found “alternative ways to improve their own happiness and build a good and happy l
38、ife despite a mediocre marriage.“ In effect, the unhappy partner changed. 21 According to David Blankenhorn, people commonly believe that _. （ A） divorce is a better solution to an unhappy marriage than staying together （ B） divorce is not necessarily the only solution to an unhappy marriage （ C） ke
39、eping an unhappy marriage needs much courage and endurance （ D） whether to end an unhappy marriage or not is a tough decision for the spouses 22 Which of the following is true about the research under discussion? （ A） It was conducted by the Institute for the American Values headed by David Blankenh
40、orn. （ B） It was sponsored by the Coalition for Marriage, Families and Couples Education. （ C） Its subjects were chosen from a national database based at the University of Chicago. （ D） Its report will be included in the schedule of the “Smart Marriage“ conference. 23 The 13 measures of psychologica
41、l well-being are used to _. （ A） serve as the standards for choosing the subjects of the research （ B） serve as the ways to help adults to get over their unhappy marriage （ C） examine all the 5,232 married adults （ D） examine all the adults in the database 24 The authors attitude towards divorce may
42、 best be described as “_“. （ A） critical （ B） impersonal （ C） arbitrary （ D） scornful 25 According to the report, those unhappily-wedded may not survive their marriage by _. （ A） waiting for the living conditions to get improved （ B） achieving childrens understanding （ C） changing their own attitude
43、 towards mediocre marriages （ D） working on their problems and strengthening communication 25 A new report released by the American Federation of Teachers(AFT)reminds us of a topic education writers almost never address the indecent side of the recruitment of teachers abroad for U.S. schools. The AF
44、T report, “Importing Educators: Causes and Consequences of International Teacher Recruitment,“ has some shocking disclosures, and deserves a close reading. The report says that one recruiter for overseas-educated teachers in Newark, N.J., forced recruits to sign a contract obligating them to kick ba
45、ck 25 percent of their salaries to the recruiter. Other recruiters claimed that they would help the teachers to get loans at 60 percent interest rate. Some forbade them to own cars. Some placed the newly arrived teachers in overcrowded, unfinished housing, the report said. The AFT was smart to start
46、 their press release on the report with this true statement: “The growing number of overseas-educated teachers in U.S. schools has put many talented educators in classrooms.“ Then it added the concerns that the immoral recruiting has raised. This is something for school boards and citizens to invest
47、igate in cities that have recruited many teachers from abroad. It is another reason why we should celebrate groups like Teach For America that are working hard to persuade more Americans to consider teaching in those districts that have the greatest shortages. The best teacher I ever saw in action,
48、the man who turned me into an education reporter, was educated in Bolivia, and taught there until he moved to the U.S. when he was 34. He was not recruited by anyone. His wife hoped that moving him to America would persuade him to stop teaching, which she thought was beneath him. His name is Jaime E
49、scalante. If anyone had tried any of these recruiter tricks on him, they would have regretted it for the rest of their lives. He was, and still is in retirement, a tough guy, who spent 10 years learning English and redoing his college education so he could teach here. I am sure the AFT will be very happy if we get more like him, and stop this exploitation of people who want to help kids. 26 What issue has long been ignored by education writers? （ A） Many overseas teachers wanted to work in the American sc
