1、大学英语四级改革适用（阅读）模拟试卷 249及答案与解析 Section C 0 In times of economic crisis, Americans turn to their families for support. If the Great Depression is any guide, we may see a drop in our skyhigh divorce rate. But this wont necessarily represent an increase in happy marriages. In the long run, the Depression
2、 weakened American families, and the current crisis will probably do the same. We tend to think of the Depression as a time when families pulled together to survive huge job losses. By 1932, when nearly one-quarter of the workforce was unemployed, the divorce rate had declined by around 25% from 192
3、9. But this doesnt mean people were suddenly happier with their marriages. Rather, with incomes decreasing and insecure jobs, unhappy couples often couldnt afford to divorce. They feared neither spouse could manage alone. Today, given the job losses of the past year, fewer unhappy couples will risk
4、starting separate households. Furthermore, the housing market meltdown will make it more difficult for them to finance their separations by selling their homes. After financial disasters family members also tend to do whatever they can to help each other and their communities. A 1940 book, The Unemp
5、loyed Man and His Family, described a family in which the husband initially reacted to losing his job “with tireless search for work. “ He was always active, looking for odd jobs to do. The problem is that such an impulse is hard to sustain. Across the country, many similar families were unable to m
6、aintain die initial boost in morale (士气 ). For some, the hardships of life without steady work eventually overwhelmed their attempts to keep their families together. The divorce rate rose again during the rest of the decade as the recovery took hold. Millions of American families may now be in the i
7、nitial stage of their responses to the current crisis, working together and supporting one another through the early months of unemployment. Todays economic crisis could well generate a similar number of couples whose relationships have been irreparably (无法弥补地 ) ruined. So its only when the economy
8、is healthy again that well begin to see just how many broken families have been created. 1 In the initial stage, the current economic crisis is likely to_. （ A） tear many, troubled families apart （ B） contribute to enduring family ties （ C） bring about a drop in the divorce rate （ D） cause a lot of
9、conflicts in the family 2 In the Great Depression many unhappy couples chose to stick together because_. （ A） starting a new family would be hard （ B） they expected things would turn better （ C） they wanted to better protect their kids （ D） living separately would be too costly 3 In addition to job
10、losses, what stands in the way of unhappy couples getting a divorce? （ A） Mounting family debts. （ B） A sense of insecurity. （ C） Difficulty in getting a loan. （ D） Falling housing prices. 4 What will the current economic crisis eventually do to some married couples? （ A） It will force them to pull
11、their efforts together. （ B） It will undermine their mutual understanding. （ C） It will help strengthen their emotional bonds. （ D） It will irreparably damage their relationship. 5 What can be inferred from the last paragraph? （ A） The economic recovery will see a higher divorce rate. （ B） Few coupl
12、es can stand the test of economic hardships. （ C） A stable family is the best protection against poverty. （ D） Money is the foundation of many a happy marriage. 5 People are being lured (引诱 ) onto Facebook with the promise of a fun, free service without realizing theyre paying for it by giving up lo
13、ads of personal information. Facebook then attempts to make money by selling their data to advertisers that want to send targeted messages. Most Facebook users dont realize this is happening. Even if they know what the company is up to, they still have no idea what theyre paying for Facebook, becaus
14、e people dont really know what their personal data is worth. The biggest problem, however, is that the company keeps changing the rules. Early on, you could keep everything private. That was the great thing about Facebook you could create your own little private network. Last year, the company chang
15、ed its privacy rules so that many things your city, your photo, your friends names were set, by default (默认 ) ,to be shared with every one on the Internet. According to Facebooks vice-president Elliot Schrage, the company is simply making changes to improve its service, and if people dont share info
16、rmation, they have a “less satisfying experience“. Some critics think this is more about Facebook looking to make more money. Its original business model, which involved selling ads and putting them at the side of the pages, totally failed. Who wants to look at ads when theyre online connecting with
17、 their friends? The privacy issue has already landed Facebook in hot water in Washington. In April, Senator Charles Schumer called on Facebook to change its privacy policy. He also urged the Federal Trade Commission to set guidelines for social-networking sites. “I think the senator rightly communic
18、ated that we had not been clear about what the new products were and how people could choose to use them or not to use them,“ Schrage admits. I suspect that whatever Facebook has done so far to invade our privacy, its only the beginning. Which is why Im considering deactivating (撤销 )my account. Face
19、book is a handy site, but Im upset by the idea that my information is in the hands of people I dont trust. Thats too high a price to pay. 6 What do we learn about Facebook from the first paragraph? （ A） It is a website that sends messages to targeted users. （ B） It makes money by putting on advertis
20、ements. （ C） It profits by selling its users personal data. （ D） It provides loads of information to its users. 7 What does the author say about most Facebook users? （ A） They are reluctant to give up their personal information. （ B） They dont know their personal data enriches Facebook. （ C） They do
21、nt identify themselves when using the website. （ D） They care very little about their personal information. 8 Why does Facebook make changes to its rules according to Elliot Schrage? （ A） To render better service to its users. （ B） To conform to the Federal guidelines. （ C） To improve its users conn
22、ectivity. （ D） To expand its scope of business. 9 What does Senator Charles Schumer advocate? （ A） Setting guidelines for advertising on websites. （ B） Banning the sharing of users personal information. （ C） Formulating regulations for social-networking sites. （ D） Removing ads from all social-netwo
23、rking sites. 10 Why does the author plan to cancel his Facebook account? （ A） He is dissatisfied with its current service. （ B） He finds many of its users untrustworthy. （ C） He doesnt want his personal data abused. （ D） He is upset by its frequent rule changes. 10 A recent global survey of 2,000 hi
24、gh-net-worth individuals found that 60% were not planning on a traditional retirement. Among US participants. 75% expected to continue working in some capacity even after stepping away from full time jobs. “Many of these people made their wealth by doing something theyre passionate( 有激情的 )about,“ sa
25、ys Daniel Egan, head of behavioral finance for Barclays Wealth Americas. “Given the choice, they prefer to continue working. “Barclays calls these people “nevertirees“. Unlike many Americans compelled into early retirement by company restrictions, the average nevertiree often has no one forcing his
26、hand. If 106-year-old investor Irving Kahn, head of his own family firm, wants to keep coming to work every day, whos going to stop him? Seventy-eight-year-old Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Cinsburgs job security is guaranteed in the Constitution. It may seem that these elderly people are trying
27、to cheat death. In fact, they are. And its working. Howard Friedman, a professor at UC Riverside, found in his research that those who work hardest and are successful in their careers often live the longest lives. “ People are generally being given bad advice to slow down, take it easy, stop worryin
28、g, and retire to Florida,“ he says. He described one study participant, still working at the age of 100, who was recently disappointed to see his son retire. “Were beginning to see a change in how people view retirement,“ says George Leeson, co-director of the Institute of Population Ageing at Oxfor
29、d. Where once retirement was seen as a brief reward after a long struggle through some miserable job, it is now akin(近似 ) to being cast aside. What Leeson terms “the Warren Buffett effect“ is becoming more broadly appealing as individuals come to “view retirement as not simply being linked to econom
30、ic productivity but also about contribution.“ Observers are split on whether this is a wholly good thing. On the one hand, companies and financial firms can benefit from the wisdom of a resilient (坚韧的 ) chief. On the other, the new generation can find it more difficult to advance an argument that ty
31、pically holds little sway to a nevertiree. 11 What do we learn about the so-called “nevertirees“? （ A） They are passionate about making a fortune. （ B） They have no choice but to continue working. （ C） They love what they do and choose not to retire. （ D） They will not retire unless they are compell
32、ed to. 12 What do Irving Kahn and Ruth Bader Ginsburg have in common? （ A） Neither of them is subject to forced retirement. （ B） Neither of them desires reward for their work. （ C） Both cling to their positions despite opposition. （ D） Both are capable of coping with heavy workloads. 13 What is the
33、finding of Howard Friedmans research? （ A） The harder you work, the bigger your fortune will be. （ B） The earlier you retire, the healthier you will be. （ C） Elderly people have to slow down to live longer. （ D） Working at an advanced age lengthens peoples life. 14 What is the traditional view of re
34、tirement according to the passage? （ A） It means a burden to the younger generation. （ B） It is a symbol of a mature and civilized society. （ C） It is a compensation for ones life-long hard work. （ D） It helps increase a nations economic productivity. 15 What do critics say about “nevertirees“? （ A）
35、 They are an obstacle to a companys development. （ B） They lack the creativity of the younger generation. （ C） They cannot work as efficiently as they used to. （ D） They prevent young people from getting ahead. 15 When we talk about Americans barely into adulthood who are saddled with unbearable lev
36、els of debt, the conversation is almost always about student loan debt. But theres a growing body of evidence suggesting that todays young adults are also drowning in credit card debt and that many of them will take this debt to their graves. More than 20% overspent their income by more than $ 100 e
37、very single month. Since they havent built up their credit histories yet, its a safe bet that these young adults are paying relatively high interest rates on the resulting credit card debt. Although many young people blame “socializing“ as a barrier to saving money, most of them arent knocking back
38、$ 20 drinks in trendy (时尚的 ) lounges. Theyre struggling with much more daily financial demands. To a disturbingly large extent, the young and the broke are relying on credit cards to make it until their next payday. This obviously isnt sustainable in the long run, and its going to put a huge drag on
39、 their spending power even after they reach their peak earning years, because theyll still be paying interest on that bottle of orange juice or box of spaghetti(意式面条 )they bought a decade earlier. A new study out of Ohio State University found that young adults are accumulating credit card debt at a
40、 more rapid rate than other age groups, and that theyre slower at paying it off. “ If what we found continues to hold true, we may have more elderly people with substantial financial problems in the future,“ warns Lucia Dunn, professor of economics at Ohio State. “If Our findings persist, we may be
41、faced with a financial crisis among elderly people who cant pay off their credit cards.“ Dunn says a lot of these young people are never going to get out from under their credit card debt. “Many people are borrowing on credit cards so heavily that payoff rates at these levels are not sufficient to r
42、ecover their credit card debt by the end of their life, which could have loss implications for the credit card issuing banks.“ 16 What is the main idea of the first paragraph? （ A） Many young Americans will never be able to pay off their debts. （ B） Credit cards play an increasingly important role i
43、n college life. （ C） Credit cards are doing more harm than student loans. （ D） The American credit card system is under criticism. 17 Why do young people have to pay a higher interest on their credit card debt? （ A） They tend to forget about the deadlines. （ B） They havent developed a credit history
44、. （ C） They are often unable to pay back in time. （ D） They are inexperienced in managing money. 18 What is said to be the consequence of young adults relying on credit cards to make ends meet? （ A） It will place an unnecessary burden on society. （ B） It will give them no motivation to work hard. （
45、C） It will exert psychological pressure on them. （ D） It will affect their future spending power. 19 What will happen to young adults if their credit card debt keeps accumulating according to Lucia Dunn? （ A） They will have to pay all increasingly higher interest rate. （ B） They may experience a fin
46、ancial crisis in their old age. （ C） Their quality of life will be affected. （ D） Their credit cards may be cancelled. 20 What does Lucia Dunn think might be a risk for the credit card issuing banks? （ A） They go bankrupt as a result of over-lending. （ B） They lose large numbers of their regular cli
47、ents. （ C） Their clients leave their debts unpaid upon death. （ D） Their interest rates have to be reduced now and then. 大学英语四级改革适用（阅读）模拟试卷 249答案与解析 Section C 【知识模块】 仔细阅读 1 【正确答案 】 C 【知识模块】 仔细阅读 2 【正确答案】 D 【知识模块】 仔细阅读 3 【正确答案】 D 【知识模块】 仔细阅读 4 【正确答案】 D 【知识模块】 仔细阅读 5 【正确答案】 A 【知识模块】 仔细阅读 【知识模块】 仔细阅读 6
48、 【正确答案】 C 【知识模块】 仔细阅读 7 【正确答案】 B 【知识模块】 仔细阅读 8 【正确答案】 A 【知识模块】 仔细阅读 9 【正确答案】 C 【知识模块】 仔细阅 读 10 【正确答案】 C 【知识模块】 仔细阅读 【知识模块】 仔细阅读 11 【正确答案】 C 【知识模块】 仔细阅读 12 【正确答案】 A 【知识模块】 仔细阅读 13 【正确答案】 D 【知识模块】 仔细阅读 14 【正确答案】 C 【知识模块】 仔细阅读 15 【正确答案】 D 【知识模块】 仔细阅读 【知识模块】 仔细阅读 16 【正确答案】 A 【知识模块】 仔细阅读 17 【正确答案】 B 【知识模 块】 仔细阅读 18 【正确答案】 D 【知识模块】 仔细阅读 19 【正确答案】 B 【知识模块】 仔细阅读 20 【正确答案】 C 【知识模块】 仔细阅读
