2010年12月大学英语四级真题阅读部分

Part II Reading Comprehension(Skimming and Scanning) (15 minutes)
　　Directions: In this part, you will have 15 minutes to go over the passage quickly and answer the questions on Answer Sheet 1. For questions 1-7, choose the best answer from the four choices marked [A], [B], [C] and [D]. For questions 8-10, complete the sentences with the information given in the passage.
A Grassroots Remedy
　　Most of us spend our lives seeking the natural world. To this end, we walk the dog, play golf, go fishing, sit in the garden, drink outside rather than inside the pub, have a picnic, live in the suburbs, go to the seaside, buy a weekend place in the country. The most popular leisure activity in Britain is going for a walk. And when joggers (慢跑者) jog, they don’t run the streets. Every one of them instinctively heads to the park or the river. It is my profound belief that not only do we all need nature, but we all seek nature, whether we know we are doing so or not.
　　But despite this, our children are growing up nature-deprived (丧失). I spent my boyhood climbing trees on Streatham Common, South London. These days, children are robbed of these ancient freedoms, due to problems like crime, traffic, the loss of the open spaces and odd new perceptions about what is best for children, that is to say, things that can be bought, rather than things that can be found.
　　The truth is to be found elsewhere. A study in the US: families had moved to better housing and the children were assessed for ADHD—attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (多动症). Those whose accommodation had more natural views showed an improvement of 19%; those who had the same improvement in material surroundings but no nice view improved just 4%.
　　A study in Sweden indicated that kindergarten children who could play in a natural environment had less illness and greater physical ability than children used only to a normal playground. A US study suggested that when a school gave children access to a natural environment, academic levels were raised across the entire school.
　　Another study found that children play differently in a natural environment. In playgrounds, children create a hierarchy (等级) based on physical abilities, with the tough ones taking the lead. But when a grassy area was planted with bushes, the children got much more into fantasy play, and the social hierarchy was now based on imagination and creativity.
　　Most bullying (恃强凌弱) is found in schools where there is a tarmac (柏油碎石) playground; the least bullying is in a natural area that the children are encouraged to explore. This reminds me unpleasantly of Sunnyhill School in Streatham, with its harsh tarmac, where I used to hang about in corners fantasising about wildlife.
　　But children are frequently discouraged from involvement with natural spaces, for health and safety reasons, for fear that they might get dirty or that they might cause damage. So, instead, the damage is done to the children themselves: not to their bodies but to their souls.
　　One of the great problems of modern childhood is ADHD, now increasingly and expensively treated with drugs. Yet one study after another indicates that contact with nature gives huge benefits to ADHD children. However, we spend money on drugs rather than on green places.
　　The life of old people is measurably better when they have access to nature. The increasing emphasis for the growing population of old people is in quality rather than quantity of years. And study after study finds that a garden is the single most important thing in finding that quality.
　　In wider and more difficult areas of life, there is evidence to indicate that natural surroundings improve all kinds of things. Even problems with crime and aggressive behaviour are reduced when there is contact with the natural world.
　　Dr William Bird, researcher from the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, states in his study, “A natural environment can reduce violent behaviour because its restorative process helps reduce anger and impulsive behaviour.” Wild places need encouraging for this reason, no matter how small their contribution.
　　We tend to look on nature conservation as some kind of favour that human beings are granting to the natural world. The error here is far too deep: not only do humans need nature for themselves, but the very idea that humanity and the natural world are separable things is profoundly damaging.
　　Human beings are a species of mammals (哺乳动物). For seven million years they lived on the planet as part of nature. Our ancestral selves miss the natural world and long for contact with non-human life. Anyone who has patted a dog, stroked a cat, sat under a tree with a pint of beer, given or received a bunch of flowers or chosen to walk through the park on a nice day, understands that.
　　We need the wild world. It is essential to our well-being, our health, our happiness. Without the wild world we are not more but less civilised. Without other living things around us we are less than human.
　　Five ways to find harmony with the natural world
　　Walk: Break the rhythm of permanently being under a roof. Get off a stop earlier, make a circuit of the park at lunchtime, walk the child to and from school, get a dog, feel yourself moving in moving air, look, listen, absorb.
　　Sit: Take a moment, every now and then, to be still in an open space. In the garden, anywhere that’s not in the office, anywhere out of the house, away from the routine. Sit under a tree, look at water, feel refreshed, ever so slightly renewed.
　　Drink: The best way to enjoy the natural world is by yourself; the second best way is in company. Take a drink outside with a good person, a good gathering: talk with the sun and the wind with birdsong for background.
　　Learn: Expand your boundaries. Learn five species of bird, five butterflies, five trees, five bird songs. That way, you see and hear more: and your mind responds gratefully to the greater amount of wildness in your life.
　　Travel: The places you always wanted to visit: by the seaside, in the country, in the hills. Take a weekend break, a day-trip, get out there and do it: for the scenery, for the way through the woods, for the birds, for the bees. Go somewhere special and bring specialness home. It lasts forever, after all.
　　注意：此部分试题请在答题卡1上作答。
　　1. What is the author’s profound belief?
　　[A] People instinctively seek nature in different ways.
　　[B] People should spend most of their lives in the wild.
　　[C] People have quite different perceptions of nature.
　　[D] People must make more efforts to study nature.
　　2. What does the author say people prefer for their children nowadays?
　　[A] Personal freedom.
　　[B] Things that are natural.
　　[C] Urban surroundings.
　　[D] Things that are purchased.
　　3. What does a study in Sweden show?
　　[A] The natural environment can help children learn better.
　　[B] More access to nature makes children less likely to fall ill.
　　[C] A good playground helps kids develop their physical abilities.
　　[D] Natural views can prevent children from developing ADHD.
　　4. Children who have chances to explore natural areas ________.
　　[A] tend to develop a strong love for science
　　[B] are more likely to fantasise about wildlife
　　[C] tend to be physically tougher in adulthood
　　[D] are less likely to be involved in bullying
　　5. What does the author suggest we do to help children with ADHD?
　　[A] Find more effective drugs for them.
　　[B] Provide more green spaces for them.
　　[C] Place them under more personal care.
　　[D] Engage them in more meaningful activities.
　　6. In what way do elderly people benefit from their contact with nature?
　　[A] They look on life optimistically. [C] They are able to live longer.
　　[B] They enjoy a life of better quality. [D] They become good-humoured.
　　7. Dr William Bird suggests in his study that ________.
　　[A] humanity and nature are complementary to each other
　　[B] wild places may induce impulsive behaviour in people
　　[C] access to nature contributes to the reduction of violence
　　[D] it takes a long time to restore nature once damaged
　　8. It is extremely harmful to think that humanity and the natural world can be________________________.
　　9. The author believes that we would not be so civilised without ________________________.
　　10. The five suggestions the author gives at the end of the passage are meant to encourage people to seek _________________ with the natural world.

Part Ⅳ Reading Comprehension (Reading in Depth) (25 minutes)
　　Section A
　　Directions: In this section, there is a passage with ten blanks. You are required to select one word for each blank from a list of choices given in a word bank following the passage. Read the passage through carefully before making your choices. Each choice in the bank is identified by a letter. Please mark the corresponding letter for each item on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once.
　　Questions 47 to 56 are based on the following passage.
　　What determines the kind of person you are? What factors make you more or less bold, intelligent, or able to read a map? All of these are influenced by the interaction of your genes and the environment in which you were 47 . The study of how genes and environment interact to influence 48 activity is known as behavioral genetics. Behavioral genetics has made important 49 to the biological revolution, providing information about the extent to which biology influences mind, brain and behavior.
　　Any research that suggests that 50 to perform certain behaviors are based in biology is controversial. Who wants to be told that there are limitations to what you can 51 based on something that is beyond your control, such as your genes? It is easy to accept that genes control physical characteristics such as sex, race and eye color. But can genes also determine whether people will get divorced, how 52 they are, or what career they are likely to choose? A concern of psychological scientists is the 53 to which all of these characteristics are influenced by nature and nurture(养育), by genetic makeup and the environment. Increasingly, science 54 that genes lay the groundwork for many human traits. From this perspective, people are born 55 like undeveloped photographs: The image is already captured, but the way it 56 appears can vary based on the development process. However, the basic picture is there from the beginning.
　　注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。
　　[A] abilities [I] extent
　　[B] achieve [J] indicates
　　[C] appeal [K] proceeds
　　[D] complaints [L] psychological
　　[E] contributions [M] raised
　　[F] displayed [N] smart
　　[G] essentially [O] standard
　　[H] eventually

Section B
　　Directions: There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked [A], [B], [C] and [D]. You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.
　　Passage One
　　Questions 57 to 61 are based on the following passage.
　　It is pretty much a one-way street. While it may be common for university researchers to try their luck in the commercial world, there is very little traffic in the opposite direction. Pay has always been the biggest deterrent, as people with families often feel they cannot afford the drop in salary when moving to a university job. For some industrial scientists, however, the attractions of academia (学术界) outweigh any financial considerations.
　　Helen Lee took a 70% cut in salary when she moved from a senior post in Abbott Laboratories to a medical department at the University of Cambridge. Her main reason for returning to academia mid-career was to take advantage of the greater freedom to choose research questions. Some areas of inquiry have few prospects of a commercial return, and Lee’s is one of them.
　　The impact of a salary cut is probably less severe for a scientist in the early stages of a career. Guy Grant, now a research associate at the Unilever Centre for Molecular Informatics at the University of Cambridge, spent two years working for a pharmaceutical (制药的) company before returning to university as a post-doctoral researcher. He took a 30% salary cut but felt it worthwhile for the greater intellectual opportunities.
　　Higher up the ladder, where a pay cut is usually more significant, the demand for scientists with a wealth of experience in industry is forcing universities to make the transition (转换) to academia more attractive, according to Lee. Industrial scientists tend to receive training that academics do not, such as how to build a multidisciplinary team, manage budgets and negotiate contracts. They are also well placed to bring something extra to the teaching side of an academic role that will help students get a job when they graduate, says Lee, perhaps experience in manufacturing practice or product development. “Only a small number of undergraduates will continue in an academic career. So someone leaving university who already has the skills needed to work in an industrial lab has far more potential in the job market than someone who has spent all their time on a narrow research project.”
　　注意： 此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。
　　57. By “a one-way street” (Line 1, Para. 1), the author means ________.
　　[A] university researchers know little about the commercial world
　　[B] there is little exchange between industry and academia
　　[C] few industrial scientists would quit to work in a university
　　[D] few university professors are willing to do industrial research
　　58. The word “deterrent” (Line 2, Para. 1) most probably refers to something that ________.
　　[A] keeps someone from taking action [C] attracts people’s attention
　　[B] helps to move the traffic [D] brings someone a financial burden
　　59. What was Helen Lee’s major consideration when she changed her job in the middle of her career?
　　[A] Flexible work hours. [C] Her preference for the lifestyle on campus.
　　[B] Her research interests. [D] Prospects of academic accomplishments.
　　60. Guy Grant chose to work as a researcher at Cambridge in order to ________.
　　[A] do financially more rewarding work
　　[B] raise his status in the academic world
　　[C] enrich his experience in medical research
　　[D] exploit better intellectual opportunities
　　61. What contribution can industrial scientists make when they come to teach in a university?
　　[A] Increase its graduates’ competitiveness in the job market.
　　[B] Develop its students’ potential in research.
　　[C] Help it to obtain financial support from industry.
　　[D] Gear its research towards practical applications.
Passage Two
　　Questions 62 to 66 are based on the following passage.
　　Being sociable looks like a good way to add years to your life. Relationships with family, friends, neighbours, even pets, will all do the trick, but the biggest longevity (长寿) boost seems to come from marriage or an equivalent relationship. The effect was first noted in 1858 by William Farr, who wrote that widows and widowers (鳏夫) were at a much higher risk of dying than their married peers. Studies since then suggest that marriage could add as much as seven years to a man’s life and two to a woman’s. The effect holds for all causes of death, whether illness, accident or self-harm.
　　Even if the odds are stacked against you, marriage can more than compensate. Linda Waite of the University of Chicago has found that a married older man with heart disease can expect to live nearly four years longer than an unmarried man with a healthy heart. Likewise, a married man who smokes more than a pack a day is likely to live as long as a divorced man who doesn’t smoke. There’s a flip side, however, as partners are more likely to become ill or die in the couple of years following their spouse’s death, and caring for a spouse with mental disorder can leave you with some of the same severe problems. Even so, the odds favour marriage. In a 30-year study of more than 10,000 people, Nicholas Christakis of Harvard Medical School describes how all kinds of social networks have similar effects.
　　So how does it work? The effects are complex, affected by socio-economic factors, health-service provision, emotional support and other more physiological (生理的) mechanisms. For example, social contact can boost development of the brain and immune system, leading to better health and less chance of depression later in life. People in supportive relationships may handle stress better. Then there are the psychological benefits of a supportive partner.
　　A life partner, children and good friends are all recommended if you aim to live to 100. The ultimate social network is still being mapped out, but Christakis says: “People are interconnected, so their health is interconnected.”
　　注意： 此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。
　　62. William Farr’s study and other studies show that _________.
　　[A] social life provides an effective cure for illness
　　[B] being sociable helps improve one’s quality of life
　　[C] women benefit more than men from marriage
　　[D] marriage contributes a great deal to longevity
　　63. Linda Waite’s studies support the idea that _________.
　　[A] older men should quit smoking to stay healthy
　　[B] marriage can help make up for ill health
　　[C] the married are happier than the unmarried
　　[D] unmarried people are likely to suffer in later life
　　64. It can be inferred from the context that the “flip side” (Line 4, Para. 2) refers to _________.
　　[A] the disadvantages of being married
　　[B] the emotional problems arising from marriage
　　[C] the responsibility of taking care of one’s family
　　[D] the consequence of a broken marriage
　　65. What does the author say about social networks?
　　[A] They have effects similar to those of a marriage.
　　[B] They help develop people’s community spirit.
　　[C] They provide timely support for those in need.
　　[D] They help relieve people of their life’s burdens.
　　66. What can be inferred from the last paragraph?
　　[A] It’s important that we develop a social network when young.
　　[B] To stay healthy, one should have a proper social network.
　　[C] Getting a divorce means risking a reduced life span.
　　[D] We should share our social networks with each other.
参考答案及详解（仅供参考）

Reading Comprehension（Skimming and Scanning）
　　1．A) People instinctively seek nature in different ways.
　　解析：第一段最后一句直接给出关键字profound belief, whether 引导的从句对应答案中的instinctively
　　2．D) Things that are purchased.
　　解析：第二段最后一句，what is best对应题目中的prefer, that is to say作为暗示直接引出之后的things that can be bought,选择D
　　3．B) More access to nature makes children less likely to fall ill.
　　解析：题干中有关瑞典研究，定位到第四段第一句，结合语义，不难得出B的正确答案
　　4．D) are less likely to be involved in bullying
　　解析：A选项具有干扰性，第三段结尾给出自然熏陶能够提高学生学科水平的线索，但考虑到快速阅读题的传统，即题目顺序对应文章顺序，所以应该定位到第四段之后的内容，即大段有关bullying的段落，得出答案D。
　　5．B) Provide more green spaces for them.
　　解析：对应第八段内容，作者通过否定患儿对药物的依赖性来给出自己的建议，结合全文主旨自然环境的重要性，得出B答案
　　6．B) They enjoy a life of better quality.
　　解析：第九段第二句点出老龄人口增长的侧重点是在高质量的生活水平上，紧接着又指出绿色的生活方式是达到该种高质量生活水平的最重要因素。
　　7．C) access to nature contributes to the reduction of violence
　　解析：十一段引文中can reduce violent behavior，直接对应C选项
　　8．separated
　　解析：题干是有关人们错误观念的问题，找到倒数第三段的关键段error引导的内容，再对应到humanity and the natural world，得出separated(照抄原文separable与can重复，separable本身词义即能够分离的)
　　9．the wild world
　　解析：最后一段第二句直接命中题干，照抄the wild world即可。
　　10. harmony
　　解析：最后几段内容的小标题直接给出harmony

Part Ⅳ
　　Reading Comprehension（Reading in Depth）
　　Section A
　　47. M) raised
　　48. L) psychological
　　49. E) contributions
　　50. A) abilities
　　51. B) achieve
　　52. N) smart
　　53. I) extent
　　54. J) indicates
　　55. G) essentially
　　56. H) eventually
　　47. raise在这里的意思是“养育”，the environment in which you were raised 意思是“你成长的环境”。
　　48. "psychological activity"意思是“心理活动”，全句意思是“研究基因和外部环境如何相互作用影响人心理活动的学科被称为行为遗传学”。
　　49. “make contributions to”为固定搭配，意为“为……做贡献”。
　　50. “ability to …”意思是“做某事的能力”，在此处，全句意思是“任何一篇宣称人类做出某种行为的能力是基于生物学的研究都是有争议的”。
　　51. "limitations to what you can achieve"意思是“对你所能达到的水平的限制”。
　　52. 此处需填一个形容词，而且用来形容人，根据题意，smart符合题意，表示“机灵，可爱”。
　　53. 此处填extent，主要是因为后面有to，“to the extent …”译为“……的程度”。
　　54. indicate 意思是“表明，显示”。全句意为“越来越多的科学（现象）表明基因对人类很多特征有基础作用”。
　　55. essentially 的意思是“实际上，本质上”。全句意为“从这个角度来讲，人一出生，本质上就像是还没洗出来的照片：相已经照了，但是最终会呈现多少就在于显影的过程了”。
　　56. eventually 副词，意思是“最终，最后”。

Section B
　　Passage One
　　57. C) few industrial scientists would quit to work in a university
　　推理题。“one-way street” 字面意思是“单行道”，含有只能从一个方向前进却很难往相反方向前进的意思，用了比喻用法。文章第二句就解释说明了这个“one-way street”在文中的含义。大学里的学者去商界创业的现象不算稀奇，但是反过来就不怎么常见。所以选择C选项。
　　58. A) keeps someone from taking action
　　推理题。“deterrent”有妨碍物的意思。在文中需要通过上下文来理解。单词前的意思是“薪水永远是最大的…因为很多人觉得到大学里工作就会减少工资，从而无法养家糊口。”从后面半句，我们可以推断出deterrent的意思，所以选A选项。
　　59. B) Her research interests.
　　细节题。答案在Para3Line3可以找到。“Her main reason for… to take advantage of the great freedom to choose research questions.”表明Helen Lee换行主要考虑到的是自己可以比较自由地选择研究领域，即个人的研究兴趣。所以选择B选项。
　　60. D) exploit better intellectual opportunities
　　细节题。本题比较简单，在Para3最后一句“felt it worthwhile for the great intellectual opportunities”就可以找到答案。
　　61. A) Increase its graduates’ competitiveness in job market.
　　推理题。本着一题对应一段的一般原则，我们应该在最后一段里找答案。“the demand for scientists with a wealth of experience in industry in…“that will help students get a job when they graduate”段落主要是在讲industrial scientists到大学教学后的主要贡献。所以选择A项。
　　Passage Two
　　62. D) marriage contributes to a great deal of longevity
　　解析：第一段提到“but the biggest longevity boost seems to come from marriage or an equivalent relationship.”紧接着就说到“The effect was first noted in 1958 by William Farr,…”。句中的boost和选项D中的contribute有相近的意思，故选择D。
　　63. B) marriage can help make up for ill heath
　　解析：Linda Waite举例子说到一个有心脏病的已婚男人可以比未婚但是健康的男人多活4年。因此，婚姻可以弥补身体不健康带来的不利因素，故选B。
　　64. A) the disadvantages of being married
　　解析：flip side的愿意是唱片的另一面，在这里前面已经分析过婚姻的好处，这里指的就是婚姻的反面，故选A。
　　65. A) They have effects similar to those a marriage.
　　解析：第二段最后一句…how all kinds of social networks have similar effects. 故选择A。
　　66. B) To stay healthy, one should have a proper social network.
　　解析：最后一段提到如果想生活的更长久到100岁，就要发展自己的社交网络，故选B。