1、大学英语四级改革适用（阅读）模拟试卷 197及答案与解析 Section A 0 Searching for love is no longer just a favorite subject for songs. It has also become a huge industry. Experts say that the industry has grown because traditional social ties in the United States have【 C1】 _. Many young people leave behind a close community o
2、f friends and family to find work in bigger cities. People work longer hours, so they have less time to meet new people. So they depend【 C2】 _on technology. This helps explain the【 C3】 _of online dating. Some estimates say 120,000 marriages a year result from【 C4】 _made on the Internet. The dating i
3、ndustry has also been expanding in new and interesting ways. Many companies around the country offer【 C5】 _services for finding the perfect mate. These companies are answering a large demand by single people. They are willing to【 C6】 _their time and money to find love with【 C7】 _planned methods, ins
4、tead of leaving love to chance. For example, in Virginia, the company True Life Partners provides a【 C8】 _but detailed dating service. The companys owner, Stephanie Rockey, says her customers are busy professionals who do not have time to search for their life partner. Customers hire Miz Rockeys tea
5、m of【 C9】 _experts to help them find people they will like based on detailed information they provide about themselves. The company says it is a team of professional personal【 C10】 _who help couples meet. But this level of attention comes at a high price. Men pay thousands of dollars for the service
6、. But women get to take part at no cost. A. carefully B. inquire C. personalized D. invest E. notified F. recruiters G. matches H. increasingly I. desperate J. costly K. restraint L. popularity M. weakened N. shortly O. trained 1 【 C1】 2 【 C2】 3 【 C3】 4 【 C4】 5 【 C5】 6 【 C6】 7 【 C7】 8 【 C8】 9 【 C9】
7、10 【 C10】 Section B 10 Questions on the Origins of Christmas 1. Why do we celebrate on December 25th? A)The Bible makes no mention of Jesus being born on December 25th and, as more than one historian has pointed out, why would shepherds be tending to their flock in the middle of winter? So why is th
8、at the day we celebrate? Well, either Christian holidays miraculously fall on the same days as pagan ones or the Christians have been crafty in converting pagan populations to religion by placing important Christian holidays on the same days as pagan ones. And people had been celebrating on December
9、 25th(and the surrounding weeks)for centuries by the time Jesus showed up. B)The Winter Solstice, falling on or around December 21st, was and is celebrated around the world as the beginning of the end of winter. It is the shortest day and longest night and its passing signifies that spring is on the
10、 way. In Scandinavian countries, they celebrated the solstice with a holiday called Yule last from the 21st until January and burned a Yule log the whole time. In Rome, Saturnalia a celebration of Saturn, the God of agriculture lasted the entire end of the year and was marked by mass intoxication. I
11、n the middle of this, the Romans celebrated the birth of another God, Mithra(a child God), whose holiday celebrated the children of Rome. C)When the Christianity became the official religion of Rome, there was no Christmas. It was not until the 4th century that Pope Julius I declared the birth of Je
12、sus to be a holiday and picked December 25th as the celebration day. By the middle ages, most people celebrated the holiday we know as Christmas. 2. How did Americans come to love the holiday? D)The American Christmas is, like most American holidays, a mishmash of Old World customs mixed with Americ
13、an inventions. While Christmas was celebrated in America from the time of the Jamestown settlement, our modem idea of the holiday didnt take root until the 19th century. The History Channel credits Washington Irving with getting the ball rolling. In 1819 he published The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayo
14、n, gent, an account of a Christmas celebration in which a rich family invites poor folk into their house to celebrate the holiday. E)The problem was that many of the activities described in Irvings work, such as Crowning a Lord of Misrule, were entirely fictional. Nonetheless, Irving began to steer
15、Christmas celebrations away from drunken debauchery(放荡 )and towards wholesome, charitable fun Throughout the rest of the 19th century, Christmas gained popularity and Americans adopted old customs or invented new ones, such as Christmas trees, greeting cards, giving gifts and eating a whole roasted
16、Pig. 3. Who popularized Christmas trees? F)Since time immortal, humans have been fascinated with the color green and plants that stay green through winter. Many ancient societies from Romans to Vikingswould decorate their Homes and temples with evergreens in the winter as a symbol of the returning g
17、rowing season. But the Christmas tree didnt get going until some intrepid(无畏的 )German dragged home and decorated a tree in the 16th century. Legend has it that Martin Luther himself added lighted candles to his familys tree, starting the trend(and leading to countless fires through the years). In Am
18、erica, the Christmas tree didnt catch on until 1846 when the British royals, Queen Victoria and the German Prince Albert, were shown with a Christmas tree in a newspaper. Fashionable people in America mimicked the Royals and the tree thing spread outside of German enclaves(被围领土 )in America Ornaments
19、, courtesy of Germany, and electric lights, courtesy of Thomas Edisons assistants, were added over the years and we havent changed much since. 4. Whats the deal with Santa Clans? G)The jolly, red-suited man who sneaks into your home every year to leave you gifts hasnt always been so jolly. The real
20、Saint Nick was a Turkish monk who lived in the 3rd century. According to legend, he was a rich man thanks to an inheritance from his parents, but he gave it all away in the form of gifts to the less-fortunate. He eventually became the most popular saint in Europe and, through his alter ego, Santa Cl
21、aus, remains so to this day. But how did a long-dead Turkish monk become a big, fat, reindeer-riding pole dweller? The Dutch got the ball rolling by celebrating the saint called Sinter Klaas in New York in the late-18th century. Our old friend, Washington Irving, included the legend of Saint Nick in
22、 his seminal History of New York as well, but at the turn of the 18th century, Saint Nick was still a rather obscure figure in America. H)On December 23, 1823, though, a man named Clement Clarke Moore published a poem he had written for his daughters called “An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas,“
23、 better known now as “Twas the Night Before Christmas.“ Nobody knows how much of the poem Moore invented, but we do know that it was the spark that eventually lit the Santa fire. Many of the things we associate with Santa a sleigh, reindeer, Christmas Eve visits came from Moores poem. From 1863 to 1
24、886, Thomas Nasts illustrations of Santa Claus appeared in Harpers Weekly including a scene with Santa giving gifts to Union soldiers. Not much has changed since the second half of the 19th century: Santa still gets pulled in a sleigh by flying reindeer, he still wears the big red suit and he still
25、sneaks down chimneys to drop off presents. 5. Who invented Rudolph? I)Santa did get one more friend in 1939. Robert May, a copywriter for the Montgomery Ward department store chain, wrote a little story about a 9th reindeer with a disturbing red nose for a booklet to give customers during the holida
26、y season. Ten years later, Mays brother would put the story to music, writing the lyrics and melody. 11 Drunken debauchery was regarded as old Christmas practice in America in the 19th century. 12 Rudolph appeared in Robert Mays story as a reindeer with a disturbing red nose. 13 The celebration of J
27、esus birth on Dec. 25th has much to do with Pope Julius I. 14 What Santa Claus does nowadays can be traced back to one of Clement Clarke Moores poems. 15 Santa Claus was based on a monk named Saint Nick, who was from Turkey. 16 Thanks to American writer Washington Irving, Christmas began to take roo
28、t in America in the 19th century. 17 Evergreens were used to decorate home as a symbol of the returning growing season in many ancient societies. 18 People begin to celebrate Dec. 25th before the birth of Jesus. 19 The Winter Solstice that comes around Dec 21st means spring is coming. 20 The trend o
29、f Christmas tree tradition in German was said to be related to Martin Luther. Section C 20 Some Americans are a little nervous about the nations future, but others feel secure, knowing that the man they consider the most powerful person in the world isnt going anywhere. Just who is this behind-the-s
30、cenes guy they think has more power than George W. Bush ever will? Hes Alan Greenspan, a 74-year-old expert economist who heads the Federal Reserve, commonly known as the Fed. Unlike the president, who has to please the voters and compromise with Congress, Greenspan doesnt have to answer to anyone.
31、But that doesnt mean his job is easy. Basically, Greenspan is in charge of keeping the nations economy stable. The economy is sort of like a balloon: blow in too much air, and it pops. But with too little air, it falls to the floor. Greenspan helps decide when to blow more air into the economy. In t
32、his case, the air in a balloon is the amount of money in the economy. Greenspan can make the economy grow by increasing the money supply, or keep the economy from inflating too much by decreasing the money supply. His goal is for the economy to grow and contract gradually. Rapid changes can harm bus
33、inesses and consumers. After years of very high growth, the American economy is starting to slow down. Recently, corporations have been making less money and people are starting to have a harder time finding jobs. Greenspan is hoping to ease the economy into a soft landing. Its just like to make the
34、 car come to a gentle stop instead of hitting a brick wall. If he succeeds, the country will avoid two possible problems: rising prices and high unemployment. At the Feds meeting, Greenspan and the other members decided that the economy was growing at an OK rate, but that there is a possibility of a
35、 serious slowdown, and in order to solve that, they could lower interest rates at the next meeting in an attempt to encourage people to borrow and spend. While theres no way to know what they will decide, one thing is certain: the decisions that Greenspan and the Federal Reserve Board make will affe
36、ct everyone who earns, borrows or spends money. 21 It is certain that Greenspan _. （ A） is more powerful than George W. Bush （ B） has to answer to someone in the government （ C） is an expert economist directing the Federal Reserve （ D） has to please the voters and compromise with Congress 22 Greensp
37、an keeps the economy stable by _. （ A） blowing sufficient air into it （ B） controlling the money supply （ C） raising prices of commodity （ D） reducing unemployment rate 23 According to the fourth paragraph, decreasing the money supply can keep the economy from_. （ A） developing too fast （ B） growing
38、 too slowly （ C） changing too rapidly （ D） remaining too stable 24 Greenspan may help the country to avoid the problems EXCEPT _. （ A） rising prices （ B） high unemployment （ C） economic slowdown （ D） bank loans 25 The passage mainly discusses _. （ A） why Greenspan is respected by many people in the
39、United States （ B） what Greenspan does to affect everybodys life （ C） what Greenspan does to balance the economy in the United States （ D） how Greenspan became the director of the Fed 25 There seems never to have been a civilization without toys, but when and how they developed is unknown. They prob
40、ably came about just to give children something to do. In the ancient world, as is today, most boys played with some kinds of toys and most girls with another. In societies where social roles are rigidly determined, boys pattern their play after the activities of their fathers and girls after the ta
41、sks of their mothers. This is true because boys and girls are being prepared, even in play, to step into the roles and responsibilities of the adult world. What is remarkable about the history of toys is not so much how they changed over the centuries but how much they have remained the same. The ch
42、anges have been mostly in terms of craftsmanship, mechanics, and technology. It is the universality of toys with regard to their development in all parts of the world and their persistence to the present that is amazing. In Egypt, the Americas, China, Japan and among the Arctic(北极的 )peoples, general
43、ly the same kinds of toys appeared. Variations depended on local customs and ways of life because toys imitate their surroundings. Nearly every civilization had dolls, little weapons, toy soldiers, tiny animals and vehicles. Because toys can be generally regarded as a kind of art form, they have not
44、 been subject to technological leaps that characterize inventions for adult use. The progress from the wheel to the oxcart to the automobile is a direct line of ascent(进步 ). The progress from a rattle(拨浪鼓 )used by a baby in 3000 BC to one used by an infant today, however, is not characterized by inv
45、entiveness. Each rattle is the product of the artistic tastes of the times and subject to the limitations of available materials. 26 The reason why the toys most boys play with are different from those that girls play with is that_. （ A） their social roles are rigidly determined （ B） most boys would
46、 like to follow their fathers professions （ C） boys like to play with their fathers while girls with their mothers （ D） they like challenging activities 27 One aspect of “the universality of toys“ lies in the fact that _. （ A） technological advances have greatly improved the durability of toys （ B）
47、the improvement of craftsmanship in making toys depends on the efforts of universities （ C） the exploration of the universe has led to the creation of new kinds of toys （ D） the basic characteristics of toys are the same the world over 28 Which of the following is the authors view on the historical
48、development of toys? （ A） The craftsmanship in toy-making has remained essentially unchanged. （ B） Toys have remained basically the same all through the centuries. （ C） The toy industry has witnessed great leaps in technology in recent years. （ D） Toys are playing an increasingly important role in s
49、haping a childs character. 29 Regarded as a kind of art form, toys _. （ A） follow a direct line of ascent （ B） also appeal greatly to adults （ C） are not characterized by technological progress （ D） reflect the pace of social progress 30 The author uses the example of a rattle to show that _. （ A） in toy-making there is a continuity in the use of materials （ B） even the simplest toys can reflect the progress of technology （ C） it often takes a long time to intr
