2000年英语专业四级考试全真试卷(阅读A）
Part Ⅵ READING COMPREHENSION ［30 MIN.］ SECTION A READING COMPREHENSION［25 MIN.］In this section there are four passages followed by questions or unfinished stat ements, each with four suggested answers marked A, B, C and D. Choose the one th at you think is the best answer. Mark your answers on your answer sheet.
TEXT A
Clearly if we are to participate in the society in which we live we must communi cate with other people. A great deal of communicating is performed on a person-t o-person basis by the simple means of speech. If we travel in buses, buy things in shops, or eat in restaurants, we are likely to have conversations where we gi ve information or opinions, receive news or comment, and very likely have our vi ews challenged by other members of society.
Face-to-face contact is by no means the only form of communication and during th e last two hundred years the art of mass communication has become one of the dom inating factors of contemporary society. Two things, above others, have caused t he enormous growth of the communication industry. Firstly, inventiveness has led to advances in printing, telecommunications, photography, radio and television. secondly, speed has revolutionised the transmission and reception of communicat ions so that local news often takes a back seat to national news, which itself i s often almost eclipsed by international news.
No longer is the possession of information confined to a privileged minority. In the last century the wealthy man with his own library was indeed fortunate, but today there are public libraries. Forty years ago people used to flock to the c inema, but now far more people sit at home and turn on the TV to watch a program me that is being channelled into millions of homes. Communication is no longer merely concerned with the transmission of information . The modem communication industry influences the way people live in society and broadens their horizons by allowing access to information, education and entert ainment. The printing, broadcasting and advertising industries are all involved with informing, educating and entertaining.
Although a great deal of the material communicated by the mass media is very val uable to the individual and to the society of which he is a part, the vast modem network of communications is open to abuse. However, the mass media are with us for better, for worse, and there is no turning back.
66. In the first paragraph the writer emphasizes the___ of face-t o-face contact in social settings. A. nature B. limitation C. usefulness D. creativity
67. It is implied in the passage that___. A. local news used to be the only source of information. B. local news still takes a significant place. C. national news is becoming more popular. D. international news is the fastest transmitted news.
68. Which of the following statements is INCORRECT? A. To possess information used to be a privilege. B. Public libraries have replaced private libraries. C. Communication means more than transmission. D. Information influences ways of life and thinking.
69. From the last paragraph we can infer that the writer is___. A. indifferent to the harmful influence of the mass media B. happy about the drastic changes in the mass media C. pessimistic about the future of the mass media D. concerned about the wrong use of the mass media
TEXT B
The men and women of Anglo-Saxon England normally bore one name only. Distinguis hing epithets were rarely added. These might be patronymic, descriptive or occup ational. They were, however, hardly surnames. Heritable names gradually became g eneral in the three centuries following the Norman Conquest in 1066. It was not until the 13th and 14th centuries that surnames became fixed, although for many years after that, the degree of stability in family names varied considerably in different parts of the country.
British surnames fall mainly into four broad categories: patronymic, occupationa l, descriptive and local. A few names, it is true, will remain puzzling: foreign names, perhaps, crudely translated, adapted or abbreviated; or artificial names . In fact, over fifty per cent of genuine British surnames derive from place names of different kinds, and so they belong to the last of our four main categories. Even such a name as Simpson may belong to this last group, and not to the first , had the family once had its home in the ancient village of that name. Otherwis e, Simpson means “the son of Simon”, as might be expected.
Hundreds of occupational surnames are at once familiar to us, or at least r ecognisable after a little thought: Archer, Carter, Fisher, Mason, Thatcher, Tay lor, to name but a few. Hundreds of others are more obscure in their meanings an d testify to the amazing specialisation in medieval arts, crafts and functions. Such are “Day”, (Old English for breadmaker) and “Walker” (a fuller whose job it was to clean and thicken newly made cloth).
All these vocational names carry with them a certain gravity and dignity, w hich descriptive names often lack. Some, it is true, like “Long”, “Short” or “Li ttle”, are simple. They may be taken quite literally. Others require more thinki ng: their meanings are slightly different from the modem ones. “Black” and “White ” implied dark and fair respectively. “Sharp” meant genuinely discerning, alert, acute rather than quick-witted or clever. Place-names have a lasting interest since there is hardly a town or village in a ll England that has not at some time given its name to a family. They may be pic turesque, even poetical; or they may be pedestrian, even trivial. Among the comm oner names which survive with relatively little change from old-English times ar e “Milton”(middle enclosure) and “Hilton”(enclosure on a hill).
70. Surnames are said to be ___ in Anglo-Saxon England. A. common B. vocational C. unusual D. descriptiv e
71. We learn from the first paragraph ___ for many years after the 13th and 14th centuries. A. family names became descriptive and occupational B. people in some areas still had no surnames C. some people kept changing their surnames D. all family names became fixed in England
72. “Patronymic” in the second paragraph is closest in meaning to “forme d from ___. A. the name of one’s father” B. the family occupation” C. one’s family home” D. one’s family history”
73. Which of the following sentences is an opinion rather than a fact? A. hundreds of occupational names are at once familiar to us. B. “Black” and “White” implied “dark” and “fair” respectively. C. Vocational names carry with them a certain gravity and dignity. D. Every place in England has given its name to a family.
TEXT C
Since the early 1930s, Swiss banks had prided themselves on their system of banking secrecy and numbered accounts. Over the years, they had successfully w ithstood every challenge to this system by their own government who, in turn, ha d been frequently urged by foreign governments to reveal information about the f inancial affairs to certain account holders. The result of this policy of secre cy was that a kind of mystique had grown up around Swiss banking. There was a w idely-held belief that Switzerland was irresistible to wealthy foreigners, mainl y because of its numbered accounts and bankers’ reluctance to ask awkward questi ons of depositors. Contributing to the mystique was the view, carefully propagat ed by the banks themselves, that if this secrecy was ever given up, foreigners w ould fall over themselves in the rush to withdraw money, and the Swiss banking s ystem would virtually collapse overnight.
To many, therefore, it came like a bolt out of the blue, when, in 1977, the Swiss banks announced they had signed a pact with the Swiss National Bank (the Central Bank). The aim of the agreement was to prevent to improper use of the c ountry’s bank secrecy laws, and its effect was to curb severely the system of se crecy.
The rules which the banks had agreed to observe made the opening of numbere d accounts subject to much closer scrutiny than before. The banks would be requ ired, if necessary, to identify the origin of foreign funds going into numbered and other accounts. The idea was to stop such accounts being used for dubious p urposes. Also they agreed not to accept funds resulting from tax evasion or from crime.
The pact represented essentially a tightening up of banking rules. Although the banks agreed to end relations with clients whose identities were unclear or who were performing improper acts, they were still not obliged to inform on a client to anyone, including the Swiss government. To some extent, therefore, the princ iple of secrecy had been maintained.
74. Swiss banks took pride in___. A. the number of their accounts B. withholding client information C. being mysterious to the outsiders D. attracting wealthy foreign clients
75. According to the passage, the widely-held belief that Switzerland w as irresistible to wealthy foreigners was ___ by banks themselves. A. denied B. criticized C. reviewed D. defended
76. In the last paragraph, the writer thinks that___. A. complete changes had been introduced into Swiss banks B. Swiss banks could no longer keep client information C. changes in the bank policies had been somewhat superficial D. more changes need to be considered and made
TEXT D
Coketown was a town of red brick, or of brick that would have been red if the sm oke and the ashes had allowed it; but as matters stood it was a town of unnatura l red and black like the painted face of a savage. It was a town of machinery an d tall chimneys, out of which smoke trailed themselves for ever and ever. It had a black canal in it, and a river that ran purple with ill-smelling dye, and vas t piles of buildings full of windows where there was a rattling and a trembling all day long, and where the piston of the steam-engine worked monotonously up an d down like the head of an elephant in a state of madness. The town contained se veral large streets all very like one another, and many small streets still more like one another, inhabited by people equally like one another.
A sunny midsummer day. There was such a thing sometimes, even in Coketown. Seen from a distance in such weather, Coketown lay covered in a haze of its own. You only knew the town was there, because you knew there could have been no such blo tch upon the view without a town.
The streets were hot and dusty on the summer day, and the sun was so bright that it even shone through the haze over Coketown, and could not be looked at steadi ly. Workers emerged from low underground doorways into factory yards, and sat on posts and steps, wiping their faces and contemplating coals. The whole town see med to be frying in oil. There was a stifling smell of hot oil everywhere. The a tmosphere of those places was like the breath of hell, and their inhabitants was ting with heat, toiled languidly in the desert. But no temperature made the mad elephants more mad or more sane. Their wearisome heads went up and down at the s ame rate, in hot weather and in cold, wet weather and dry fair weather and foul. The measured motion of their shadows on the walls, was the substitute Coketown had to show for the shadows of rustling woods; while for the summer hum of insec ts, it could offer all the year round, from the dawn of Monday to the night of S aturday, the whirr of shafts and wheels. 77. Which of the following adjectives is NOT appropriate to describe Co ketown? A. dull B. dirty C. noisy D. savage
78. From the passage we know that Coketown was mainly a(n) ___town . A. industrial B. agricultural C. residential D. commercial
79. Only ___ were not affected by weather. A. the workmen B. the inhabitants C. the steam-engines D. the rustling woods
80. Which is the author’s opinion of Coketown? A. Coketown should be replaced by woods. B. The town was seriously polluted. C. The town had too much oil in it. D. The town’s atmosphere was traditional.
答案部分 TEXT A 短文大意：本文讲述的是人类现代大众传媒的方式和内容的变化。 66．答案：C【参考译文】作者在第一段中强调的是面对面交流的什么？【试题分析】本题为细节理解题。【详细解答】短文第一段指出我们若要参与社会，如乘车、购物、下饭馆，我们就必须与别人进行面对面的接触，而且很多交流都是通过面对面的口头交流实现的。因此作者在第一段中强调的是面对面交流的特征，而不是其“性质”，“局限性”或“创造性”。故选项C 为正确答案。
67. 答案：D【参考译文】文中暗示了什么？【试题分析】本题为推理题。【详细解答】短文第二段讲到“speed has revolutionized the transmission and reception of communications so that local news often takes a back seat to national news，which itself is often almost eclipsed by international news．”即“现代传播发送和接收的速度起了革命性的变化，因此往往使地方新闻落后于全国新闻，而国际新闻往往又几乎超过全国新闻。”由此可知，国际新闻传播得最快。
68. 答案：B【参考译文】下列哪种说法是不正确的？【试题分析】本题为细节推理题，可用排除法解答。【详细解答】根据短文的第三段第一句“No longer is the possession of information confined to a privileged minority”可排除选项A；根据第四段第一句“Communication is no longer merely concerned with the transmission of information.”，可排除选项C。根据第四段第二句“The modem communication industry influences the way people live in society and broadens their horizons by allowing access to information, education and entertainment.”，可排除选项D。根据第三段第二句“In the last century the wealthy man with his own library was fortunate，but today there are publiclibraries．”意思是说“上个世纪富人拥有私人图书馆是幸运的，但是今天已经有公共图书馆了。”我们知道过去富人拥有自己的图书馆，而今天人们也有了大众图书馆，这并不等于私人图书馆就不存在了，故选项B的说法是不正确的。
69．答案：D【参考译文】从文中最后一段，我们可以推知作者什么？【试题分析】本题为推理题。【详细解答】作者在最后一段说“Although a great deal of the material communicated by the mass media is very valuable to the individual ... . However, the mass media are with us for better, for worse, and there is no turning back.” 作者指出，尽管媒体所传播的相当多的东西对个人和社会都是十分有益的，但偌大的现代通讯网络还是遭到人们的滥用。但尽管如此，不管是更好还是更糟，大众媒介总会伴随我们，而不会走回头路。可见，作者并没有表示大众媒介所发生的剧烈变化让他感到高兴，也没有对大众媒介的未来表示悲观，同样也没有对大众媒介的滥用表示担心，故选项D为正确答案。
TEXT B
短文大意：本文介绍的是盎格鲁—撒克逊人的姓氏特征。
70．答案：C【参考译文】盎格鲁—撒克逊英国人的姓氏如何？【试题分析】本题为细节题。【详细解答】短文第一段第二句说“Distinguishing epithets were rarely added．These might be patronymic，descriptive or occupational．They were，however，hardly surname．”即“用以区别的称号不多，这些称号可能是源自先辈名的、描述性的或职业的，但很少是姓氏。”由此可知，盎格鲁—撒克逊英国人的姓氏是“不常见的”。
71．答案：C【参考译文】从第一段我们可以知道在13和14世纪之后的许多年里的什么？【试题分析】本题为细节题。【详细解答】第一段最后一句说“for many years after that the degree of stability in family names varied considerably in different parts of the country”，即13和14世纪后的许多年里，姓氏的稳定程度在英国不同地区有很大的差异，也就是说，仍有人在不停地更改自己的姓氏，所以选项C为正确答案。
72．答案：A【参考译文】第二段中的patronymic一词的意思与下列哪一项最接近？【试题分析】本题为细节题。【详细解答】短文第三段第二句说“Even such a name as Simpson may belong to this last group, and not to the first, had the family once had its home in the ancient village of that name. Otherwise, Simpson means the son of Simon, as might be expected.”由Simpson这一姓氏的来历可知， patronymic一词意为“源于父名的姓”，因此选项A正确。
73．答案：D【参考译文】下列哪一选项是一种观点而不是事实？【试题分析】本题为细节题。【详细解答】短文第四、五段分别提到“All these vocational names carry with them acertain gravity and dignity…”，“Hundreds of occupational surnames are at once familiar to us, or at least recognisable after a little thought …” ，“‘Black’ and ‘White’ implied ‘dark’and ‘fair’…， ”，它们都是事实。短文最后一段说“there is hardly a town or village in all England that has not at sometime given its name to a family．”意思是“英格兰几乎每个村镇都在某个时期把它的名字赋予给一个家庭”，这里说“几乎”而不是“全都这样”，所以D项不是事实。
TEXT C
短文大意：本文介绍的是瑞士银行业的策略及其变化。
74．答案：B【参考译文】瑞士银行引以为豪的是什么？【试题分析】本题为细节题。【详细解答】短文第一段首句说“…Swiss banks had prided themselves on their system of banking secrecy and numbered accounts…．”即“瑞士的银行以它们的银行保密和编码账户系统而自豪”，也就是说瑞士的银行在“维护客户的信息”方面的做法值得自豪。
75．答案：D【参考译文】根据该短文，瑞士银行对外国富人来说是不可抗拒的，银行方面对这一观点是什么态度？【试题分析】本题为细节推理题。【详细解答】短文第一段最后两句说“There was a widely-held belief that Switzerland was irresistible to wealthy foreigners, mainly because of its numbered accounts and bankers’ reluctance to ask awkward questions of depositors. Contributing to the mystique was the view, carefully propagated by the banks themselves, that if this secrecy was ever given up, foreigners would fall over themselves in the rush to withdraw money, and the Swiss banking system would virtually collapse over night.”。这两句的意思是，有一个普遍认同的观点，那就是瑞士银行对外国富人来说是不可抗拒的，因为他们用编码账户，银行不过问任何储蓄者难以回答的问题。银行方面的解释是，如果放弃了保密性，外国人将会蜂拥而至撤回资金，瑞士银行系统将会一夜之间垮台。由此可知，选项D“defend”（为某观点辩护）”最合题意。
76．答案：C【参考译文】在短文最后一段，作者认为什么？【试题分析】本题为细节题。【详细解答】在此段中作者说“Although the banks agreed to end relations with clients whose identities were unclear or who were performing improper acts, they were still not obliged to inform on a client to anyone, including the Swiss government. To some extent, therefore, the principle of secrecy had been maintained.”此句说明契约虽然签订了，但银行的保密性原则还是一如继往。所以作者认为“银行政策方面的变革流于形式”。
TEXT D 短文大意：这篇短文描述的是Coketown城镇的喧嚣、脏乱景象。 77．答案：D【参考译文】不能用下列哪个形容词来形容Coketown？【试题分析】本题为细节题。【详细解答】由“smoke trailed themselves for ever and ever”，“steam-engine worked monotonously up and down”等句子可知，Coketown是“单调的”（dull）；由句子“river that ran purple with ill-smelling dye”，“there could have been no such blotch可知，Coketown是“肮脏的”（ dirty）；由“there was a rattling and a trembling all day long”可知Coketown 是“喧闹的” noisy。只在文中没有提及有关Coketown是“野蛮的”（savage）的文字，故选项D为正确答案。
78．答案：A【参考译文】从该短文可知，Coketown是一个什么样的城镇？【试题分析】本题为细节推理题。【详细解答】由短文第二句“It was a town of machinery and tall chimneys, out of which smoke trailed themselves for ever and ever.”可知，Coketown应该是一个工业小城。
79．答案：C【参考译文】只有下列哪一项不受天气影响？【试题分析】本题为细节题。【详细解答】短文最后一段说“But no temperature made the mad elephants more mad or more sane. Their wearisome heads went up and down at the same rate, in hot weather and in cold, wet weather and dry fair weather and foul.”由此可知，无论什么天气，蒸汽机都以相同的速度运转，也就是说，蒸汽机不受天气的影响。
80．答案：B【参考译文】下列哪一项是作者对Coketown城的看法？【试题分析】本题为主旨题。【详细解答】在这篇短文中，作者大量描述了Coketown城的喧嚣、脏乱等景象，由此可知，这是一个受到严重污染的城市。 这个也顶上去。
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