英语四级阅读理解冲刺

一、阅读冲刺材料选用

　　以往年真题为主，做过的题目，按照后面的真伪选项的特征检查自己做错的原因。总结自己经常出现错误的地方（如常识干扰问题、偷梁换柱问题最容易犯错）

　　二、阅读冲刺要点一览

　　1．四级阅读选材：

　　冲刺阶段要特别关注科普类文章，其比重近几年有所提高，但都为常见学科，如交通、生物、医疗等。

　　2．再谈文体特点：

　　从历次考试来看，四级阅读文章绝大多数为说明文和议论文。

　　说明文通常为对某事物的特点、功能作用、发展等分别进行说明，根本目的在于让读者了解这些信息，重视信息的客观陈述。说明文考查细节题最多，难度相对较低。（参考05年1月的《感冒与流感》，03年12月的《海边建房》等文章）

　　议论文通常对某个问题进行剖析，或支持，或批驳，其根本目的在于说服读者接受自己的观点。文章的总体结构通常为：提出问题，分析问题，提出解决方案/建议。议论文会考查到推理、结论题和主旨态度类题，难度相对较大。（参考04年6月《办公室政治》，03年9月的《儿童早熟问题》等文章）。

　　两类文章在各段落的行文模式很相似。比较典型的段落是“主题句＋支持细节”，也就是说都以“总分”的模式来拓展段落的。掌握这个规律有助于迅速把握作者的整体思路。

　　3. 几个认识上的问题

　　1. 最难的题目每次不会超过4个。其余的按现有语言知识/理解能力完全应付的来。

　　2. 四级阅读细节题最多，难度最小，必须保证准确率。

　　3. 速度的提高：平时的训练的时候按照推荐的解题方法就可以实现。如通读重点句，减少视觉干扰，利用数字专有名词定位，直接排除干扰选项等等。

　　4. 解题步骤和各题型解题思路

　　确定文章的顺序后，每一篇文章的解题步骤可以概括为：通读文章，看问题，按照题目类型看题、做题，不能简单按序号从头做到尾。

　　完整的步骤概括如下：

　　第一步：通读文章。先看一下带有汉语注释的单词。

　　Example 1

　　The notion that all stress makes you sick also ignores a lot of what we know about people. It assumes we’re all vulnerable （脆弱的） and passive in the face of adversity （逆境）. But what about human initiative and creativity? Many come through periods of stress with more physical and mental vigor than they had before. We also know that a long time without change or challenge can lead to boredom, and physical and mental strain.

　　5. According to the passage people who have experienced ups and downs may become_____.

　　A) nervous when faced with difficulties

　　B) physically and mentally strained

　　C) more capable of coping with adversity

　　D) indifferent toward what happens to them

　　Example 2

　　For an increasing number of students at American universities, Old is suddenly in. The reason is obvious: the graying of America means jobs. Coupled with the aging of the baby-boom ( 生育高峰) generation, a longer life span means that the nation's elderly population is bound to expand significantly over the next 50 years. By 2050, 25 percent of all Americans will be older than 65, up from 14 percent in 1995. The change poses profound questions for government and society, of course. But it also creates career opportunities in medicine and health professions, and in law and business as well. "In addition to the doctors, we're going to need more sociologists, biologists, urban planners and specialized lawyers," says Professor Edward Schneider of the University of Southern California's (USC) School of Gerontology (老年学).

　　1. "… Old is suddenly in" (Line 1, Para. 1) most probably means "______".

　　A) America has suddenly become a nation of old people

　　B) gerontology has suddenly become popular

　　C) more elderly professors are found on American campuses

　　D) American colleges have realized the need of enrolling older students

　　Example 3

　　It is estimated that up to 100,000 people watch or take part in fox hunting. But over the last couple of decades the number of people opposed to fox hunting, because they think it is brutal (残酷的), has risen sharply. Nowadays it is rare for a hunt to pass off without some kind of confrontation (冲突) between hunters and hunt saboteurs (阻拦者). Sometimes these incidents lead to violence, but mostly saboteurs interfere with the hunt by misleading riders and disturbing the trail of the fox's smell, which the dogs follow.

　　3. Fox hunting opponents often interfere in the game ________.

　　A) by resorting to violence

　　B) by confusing the fox hunters

　　C) by taking legal action

　　D) by demonstrating on the scene

　　第二步：浏览问题，决定做题顺序。

　　第三步：读、做细节类题，顺序为：细节题、单词、单句题、多项细节题。

　　第四步：读、做推理类题：推论、结论题。

　　第五步：读、做主旨类题：主旨题、态度语气题。

　　这样的步骤是根据信息的复杂程度和问题的难度安排的。第三步里的细节类题型牵扯到的信息比较单一，属于局部问题，往往原文一句话就解决，难度最低。第四步推理类题经常需要结合前面提到的其它细节进行逻辑判断。第五步主旨类题目既需要通读所得到的大致路线，又需要做细节题时获得的信息来充实、具体化该路线。

　　三、真伪选项特征大盘点

　　该部分旨在使大家对各种选项的认识更清晰，全面提高抗干扰能力，提高辨别假冒伪劣的能力，提高选择的成活率。该部分要重点掌握基本思路。

　　关于正确选项，这里要强调的点是：

　　（1）所有题型的正确选项的根本特征是要符合原文的主旨。

　　(一)、正确选项特征

　　1．细节类题目

　　正确选项一般为直接答案，此类答案可以在文章中直接找到相关的事实细节支持。常用方法就是同义替换或释义（如词汇题），即把文中语言（词汇和结构）改头换面，来表达相同的意思。常见表现形式有下列几种：

　　（1）正确选项在文字表述上和原文相关句相似度很高。如2002年1月《道德滑坡》中第3题。这种直接选项较少。

　　In a 1996 poll of Americans, loss of morality topped the list of the biggest problems facing the U.S. And Elshtain says the public is correct to sense that: Data show that Americans are struggling with problems unheard of in the 1950s, such as classroom violence and a high rate of births to unmarried mothers.

　　3. In the 1950s, classroom violence _______.

　　A) was something unheard of

　　B) was by no means a rare occurrence

　　C) attracted a lot of public attention

　　D) began to appear in analysts' data

　　（2）正确选项和原文相关句的句式基本一致，关键信息换用原文的同义词语。此类方法使用较多。

　　Example: 2004年6月真题

　　It came as something of a surprise when Diana, Princess of Wales, made a trip to Angola in 1997, to support the Red Cross’s campaign for a total ban on all anti-personnel landmines. Within hours of arriving in Angola, television screens around the world were filled with images of her comforting victims injured in explosions caused by landmines. “I knew the statistics,” she said. “But putting a face to those figures brought the reality home to me; like when I met Sandra, a 13-year-old girl who had lost her leg, and people like her.”

　　The Princess concluded with a simple message: “We must stop landmines”. And she used every opportunity during her visit to repeat this message.

　　But, back in London, her views were not shared by some members of the British government, which refused to support a ban on these weapons. Angry politicians launched an attack on the Princess in the press. They described her as “very ill-informed” and a “loose cannon（乱放炮的人）.”

　　The Princess responded by brushing aside the criticisms: “This is a distraction（干扰）we do not need. All I’m trying to do is help.”

　　Opposition parties, the media and the public immediately voiced their support for the Princess. To make matters worse for the government, it soon emerged that the Princess’s trip had been approved by the Foreign Office, and that she was in fact very well-informed about both the situation in Angola and the British government’s policy regarding landmines. The result was a severe embarrassment for the government.

　　To try and limit the damage, the Foreign Secretary, Malcolm Rifkind, claimed that the Princess’s views on landmines were not very different from government policy, and that it was “working towards” a worldwide ban. The Defence Secretary, Michael Portillo, claimed the matter was “a misinterpretation or misunderstanding.”

　　For the Princess, the trip to this war-torn country was an excellent opportunity to use her popularity to show the world how much destruction and suffering landmines can cause. She said that the experience had also given her the chance to get closer to people and their problems.

　　21. Princess Diana paid a visit to Angola in 1997 .

　　 A) to clarify the British government’s stand on landmines

　　 B) to establish her image as a friend of landmine victims

　　 C) to investigate the sufferings of landmine victims there

　　 D) to voice her support for a total ban of landmines

　　22. What did Diana mean when she said “... putting a face to those figures brought the reality home to me” (Line 5, Para. 1)?

　　 A) Meeting the landmine victims in person made her believe the statistics.

　　 B) She just couldn’t bear to meet the landmine victims face to face.

　　 C) The actual situation in Angola made her feel like going back home.

　　 D) Seeing the pain of the victims made her realize the seriousness of the situation.

　　23. Some members of the British government criticized Diana because .

　　 A) she had not consulted the government before the visit

　　 B) she was ill-informed of the government’s policy

　　 C) they were actually opposed to banning landmines

　　 D) they believed that she had misinterpreted the situation in Angola

　　24. How did Diana respond to the criticisms?

　　 A) She made more appearances on TV.

　　 B) She paid no attention to them.

　　 C) She rose to argue with her opponents.

　　 D) She met the 13-year-old girl as planned.

　　25. What did Princess Diana think of her visit to Angola?

　　 A) It had caused embarrassment to the British government.

　　 B) It had greatly promoted her popularity.

　　 C) It had brought her closer to the ordinary people.

　　 D) It had affected her relations with the British government.

　　（3）正确选项使用原文的反义词语，通过不同的结构表达相同的意思。如1998年6月《吸烟者实验》一文第4题（第三节多项细节题的例题）。

　　（4）正确选项使用与原文相反的句式结构，但表达的语义相同。如2002年1月《道德滑坡》一文第5题。

　　特别提示：

　　细节题中，如果选项是从原文一字不差抄来的，不管看上去多么有道理，都要排除。而正确答案都会在原文基础上进行改造。只要是正确选项，其各个部分在原文都有直接、间接的事实细节支持。

　　2．推理类题目

　　正确选项特征比较统一，除符合文章主旨外，还是从原文细节出发推导出来的，符合逻辑，恰到好处，符合客观事实。如98年6月《吸烟者实验》一文第5题。

　　“As our tests became more complex,” sums up Spilich, “non-smokers performed better than smokers by wider and wider margins”. He predicts, “smokers might perform adequately at many jobs―until they got complicated. A smoking airline pilot could fly adequately if no problems arose, but if something went wrong, smoking might damage his mental capacity.”

　　Question:

　　We can infer from the last paragraph that _______.

　　A) smokers should not expect to become airline pilots

　　B) smoking in emergency cases causes mental illness

　　C) no airline pilots smoke during flights

　　D) smokers may prove unequal to handling emergency cases

　　3．主旨类题目

　　（1）主旨题正确选项概括归纳的范围大小恰到好处。如2000年6月《制服》一文和1998年6月一文中的主旨题。

　　（2）语气态度题正确选项表达的尺度恰当。参考2003年6月《收养儿童监护权》一文。

　　(二)、炼就一双火眼金睛，提高抗干扰能力

　　干扰选项特征

　　顾名思义，干扰项的目的就是扰乱考生思维，将思路引入歧途。细节题中的干扰项较容易排除，只要发现选项有一处缺乏原文事实的支持就可以排除。推理类题目和主旨类题目的干扰项迷惑性更强一些。

　　一些选项可以根据主题直接排除。说法绝对的，违反客观事实/常识的。

　　1．细节类题目

　　（1）无中生有：凭空捏造原文不存在的细节，以迷惑和干扰考生，制造的假象让考生怀疑自己是否漏读了原文的相关信息。破解方法仍然是准确定位。

　　（2）常识错位：干扰项是一些基本常识和我们对社会、生活等方面一些问题的一般看法和认识，虽然符合客观现实，但并非文章所提及的。参考2002年12月的《英雄》一文第1题B选项，第3题C选项和第4题B选项。

　　此类干扰项很容易导致粗心错误，因为选项的说法符合我们的一般认识，使得干扰项先入为主，误导了判断，忽略了要从原文验证。

　　！！！谨防喧宾夺主，越俎代庖！！！

　　症状将一些常识带入思考，放松、甚至忘记了一切答案要以原文为依据。

　　特别提示：留意不需看原文就能自圆其说的选项，这些选项通常为高度疑似错误答案，需要提高警惕。

　　Example 1

　　Like many of my generation, I have a weakness for hero worship. At some point, however, we all begin to question our heroes and our need for them. This leads us to ask: What is a hero?

　　Despite immense differences in cultures, heroes around the world generally share a number of characteristics that instruct and inspire people.

　　A hero does something worth talking about. A hero has a story of adventure to tell and community who will listen. But a hero goes beyond mere fame.

　　Heroes serve powers or principles larger than themselves. Like high-voltage transformers, heroes take the energy of higher powers and step it down so that it can be used by ordinary people.

　　The hero lives a life worthy of imitation. Those who imitate a genuine hero experience life with new depth, enthusiasm, and meaning. A sure test for would-be heroes is what or whom do they serve? What are they willing to live and die for? If the answer or evidence suggests they serve only their own fame, they may be famous persons but not heroes. Madonna and Michael Jackson are famous, but who would claim that their fans find life more abundant?

　　Heroes are catalysts (催化剂) for change. They have a vision from the mountaintop. They have the skill and the charm to move the masses. They create new possibilities. Without Gandhi, India might still be part of the British Empire. Without Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr., we might still have segregated (隔离的) buses, restaurants, and parks. It may be possible for large-scale change to occur without leaders with magnetic personalities, but the pace of change would be slow, the vision uncertain, and the committee meetings endless.

　　2. According to the passage, heroes are compared to high-voltage transformers in that ____.

　　A) they have a vision from the mountaintop

　　B) they have warm feelings and emotions

　　C) they can serve as concrete examples of noble principles

　　D) they can make people feel stronger and more confident

　　3. Madonna and Michael Jackson are not considered heroes because __________.

　　A) they are popular only among certain groups of people

　　B) their performances do not improve their fans morally

　　C) their primary concern is their own financial interests

　　D) they are not clear about the principles they should follow

　　4. Gandhi and Martin Luther King are typical examples of outstanding leaders who ______.

　　A) are good at demonstrating their charming characters

　　B) can move the masses with their forceful speeches

　　C) are capable of meeting all challenges and hardships

　　D) can provide an answer to the problems of their people

　　Example 2

　　People living on part of the south coast of England face a serious problem. In 1993,the owners of a large hotel and of several houses discovered, to their horror, that their gardens had disappeared overnight. The sea had eaten into the soft limestone cliffs on which they had been built. While experts were studying the problem. the hotel and several houses disappeared altogether, sliding down the cliff and into the sea.

　　1.What is the cause of the problem that people living on parts of the south coast of England face?

　　A) The rising of the sea level.

　　B) The experts' lack of knowledge.

　　C) The washing-away of limestone cliffs.

　　D) The disappearance of hotels, houses and gardens.

　　(3) 偷梁换柱：

　　这是细节题干扰项最常见的方法，是大多数同学由于粗心失分的地方。干扰项利用了原文的一部分结构和词汇，但在一些位置换掉个别词，造成了语义的变化。

　　特别提示：要留意选项各个句子成分是否与原文表述的意义一致。地点，时间，方式，程度 (副词)，性质 (如形容词)，甚至是主语和谓语（如2000年12月《狗的驯化》一文第5题）都可能被偷换掉。根本解决方法是细心求证选中的答案是否经得起原文的考验。

　　细节题不要跟着感觉走！不能只凭一个单词的印象就选择答案！必须去原文核实选项的每一个成分！

　　Example 1：

　　Farmers can also call on the services of their local hunt to control the fox population. Hunting consists of pursuing a fox across the countryside, with a group of specially trained dogs, followed by men and women riding horses. When the dogs eventually catch the fox they kill it or a hunter shoots it.

　　People who take part in hunting think of it as a sport; they wear a special uniform of red coats and white trousers, and follow strict codes of behavior. But owning a horse and hunting regularly is expensive, so most hunters are wealthy.

　　2. What is special about fox hunting in Britain?

　　A) It involves the use of a deadly poison.

　　B) It is a costly event which rarely occurs.

　　C) The hunters have set rules to follow.

　　D) The hunters have to go through strict training.

　　Example 2：

　　Noisy confrontations between hunters and saboteurs have become so common that they are almost as much a part of hunting as the pursuit of foxes itself. But this year supporters of fox hunting face a much bigger threat to their sport. A Labour Party Member of the Parliament, Mike Foster, is trying to get Parliament to approve a new law which will make the hunting of wild animals with dogs illegal. If the law is passed, wild animals like foxes will be protected under the ban in Britain.

　　4. A new law may be passed by the British Parliament to ________.

　　A) prohibit farmers from hunting foxes

　　B) forbid hunting foxes with dogs

　　C) stop hunting wild animals in the countryside

　　D) prevent large-scale fox hunting

　　Example 3:

　　Training should be fun and rewarding for you and your dog. It can enrich your relationship and make living together more enjoyable. A well-trained dog is more confident and can more safely be allowed a greater amount of freedom than an untrained animal. （2000年12月）

　　5. When a dog has received effective obedience training, its owner ___________.

　　A) can give the dog more rewards

　　B) will enjoy a better family life

　　C) can give the dog more freedom

　　D) will have more confidence in himself

　　Example 4:

　　Now the American Association Foundation for Traffic Safety in Washington D.C. is planning to repeat Japan's success. Starting next year, the foundation will paint chevrons and other patterns of stripes on selected roads around the country to test how well the patterns reduce highway crashes.

　　4. The American Association Foundation for Traffic Safety plans to __________.

　　A) try out the Japanese method in certain areas

　　B) change the road signs across the country

　　C) replace straight，horizontal bars with chevrons

　　D) repeat the Japanese road patterns

　　Example 5:

　　By the early 1970s, hundreds of similar studies had followed Holmes and Rahe. And millions of Americans who work and live under stress worried over the reports. Somehow, the research got boiled down to a memorable message. Women’s magazines ran headlines like “Stress causes illness!” If you want to stay physically and mentally healthy, the articles said, avoid stressful events.

　　2. The studies on stress in the early 1970's led to ____ .

　　A) widespread concern over its harmful effects

　　B) great panic over the mental disorder it could cause

　　C) an intensive research into stress-related illnesses

　　D) popular avoidance of stressful jobs

　　Example 6

　　Professor Smith recently persuaded 35 people, 23 of them women, to keep a diary of all their absent-minded actions for a fortnight. When he came to analyse their embarrassing lapses (差错) in a scientific report, he was surprised to find that nearly all of them fell into a few groupings. Nor did the lapses appear to be entirely random (随机的).

　　1. In his study Professor Smith asked the subjects _______.

　　A) to keep track of people who tend to forget things

　　B) to report their embarrassing lapses at random

　　C) to analyse their awkward experiences scientifically

　　D) to keep a record of what they did unintentionally

　　（4）推理题和细节题里的推理类选项

　　（1）夸大后果：对于原文中的细节或论断的某方面程度（比如后果）进行了夸大处理。

　　Example 1:

　　Erosion (侵蚀) of the white cliffs along the south coast of England has always been a problem but it has become more serious in recent years. Dozens of homes have had to be abandoned as the sea has crept farther and farther inland. Experts have studied the areas most affected and have drawn up a map for local people, forecasting the year in which their homes will be swallowed up by the hungry sea.

　　2.The erosion of the white cliffs in the south of England ________.

　　A) will soon become a problem for people living in central England

　　B) has now become a threat to the local residents

　　C) can be stopped if proper measures are taken

　　D) is quickly changing the map of England

　　Example 2:

　　“As our tests became more complex,” sums up Spilich, “non-smokers performed better than smokers by wider and wider margins”. He predicts, “smokers might perform adequately at many jobs―until they got complicated. A smoking airline pilot could fly adequately if no problems arose, but if something went wrong, smoking might damage his mental capacity.”

　　We can infer from the last paragraph that _______.

　　A) smokers should not expect to become airline pilots

　　B) smoking in emergency cases causes mental illness

　　C) no airline pilots smoke during flights

　　D) smokers may prove unequal to handling emergency cases

　　3．主旨类题目：

　　主旨归纳题

　　（1）以偏概全：在概括文章或段落大意时，用某一个段落的观点或细节冒充全文主要观点、中心思想的选项。也就是归纳概括的范围不足。如2000年6月《制服》一文主旨题的B和C选项。

　　Americans are proud of their variety and individuality, yet they love and respect few things more than a uniform,XXXXXXXXXX.

　　Among the arguments for uniforms, one of the first is that in the eyes of most people they look more professional than civilian (百姓的) clothes. XXXXXXXXXX

　　Uniforms also have many practical benefits. XXXXXXXXXX

　　Primary among the arguments against uniforms is their lack of variety and the consequent loss of individuality experienced by people who must wear them. XXXXXXXXXX

　　Uniforms also give rise to some practical problems. XXXXXXXXXX

　　5. The best title for this passage would be _______.

　　A) Uniforms and Society

　　B) The Importance of Wearing a Uniform

　　C) Practical Benefits of Wearing a Uniform

　　D) Advantages and Disadvantages of Uniforms

　　（2）主题扩大：归纳概括的范围过大，超过了文章讨论的东西，与主旨大意是包含关系。如1998年6月《如何操作电脑》一文主旨题C选项。上题中的A。

　　态度语气题

　　干扰选项通常说法片面或偏激。四级阅读所选文章通常是理性的说明和论证，具有较强逻辑性，作者对于所讨论专题的态度不会是极其偏激的。如目前只作为干扰项出现过的有arbitrary（武断的），subjective（主观的），prejudiced（有偏见的）等。

　　四、基本技能再应用 （以上各种干扰项的特征牢记在心）

　　要求：

　　1。一定要控制自己不看原文直接选择答案的冲动！

　　2。写出每一个题目里面的错误类型，。

　　下面的题目是对我们以上讲过的干扰选项的所有情形包含在内了。要小心应付。

　　Passage 1

　　It is easier to negotiate initial salary requirement because once you are inside, the organizational constraints ( 约束 ) influence wage increases. One thing, however, is certain: your chances of getting the raise you feel you deserve are less if you don't at least ask for it. Men tend to ask for more, and they get more, and this holds true with other resources, not just pay increases. Consider Beth's story:

　　I did not get what I wanted when I did not ask for it. We had cubicle ( 小隔间 ) offices and window offices. I sat in the cubicles with several male colleagues. One by one they were moved into window offices, while I remained in the cubicles, several males who were hired after me also went to offices. One in particular told me he was next in line for an office and that it had been part of his negotiations for the job. I guess they thought me content to stay in the cubicles since I did not voice my opinion either way.

　　It would be nice if we all received automatic pay increases equal to our merit, but "nice" isn't a quality attributed to most organizations. If you feel you deserve a significant raise in pay, you'll probably have to ask for it.

　　Performance is your best bargaining chip ( 筹码 ) when you are seeking a raise. You must be able to demonstrate that you deserve a raise. Timing is also a good bargaining chip. If you can give your boss something he or she needs (a new client or a sizable contract, for example) just before merit pay decisions are being made, you are more likely to get the raise you want.

　　Use information as a bargaining chip too. Find out what you are worth on the open market.

　　What will someone else pay for your services?

　　Go into the negotiations prepared to place your chips on the table at the appropriate time and prepared to use communication style to guide the direction of the interaction.

　　26. According to the passage, before taking a job, a person should _____.

　　A) demonstrate his capability B) give his boss a good impression

　　C) ask for as much money as he can D) ask for the salary he hopes to get

　　27. What can be inferred from Beth's story?

　　A) Prejudice against women still exists in some organizations.

　　B) If people want what they deserve, they have to ask for it.

　　C) People should not be content with what they have got.

　　D) People should be careful when negotiating for a job.

　　28. We can learn from the passage that ____.

　　A) unfairness exists in salary increases

　　B) most people are overworked and underpaid

　　C) one should avoid overstating one's performance

　　D) most organizations give their staff automatic pay raises

　　29. To get a pay raise, a person should______.

　　A) advertise himself on the job market

　　B) persuade his boss to sign a long-term contract

　　C) try to get inside information about the organization

　　D) do something to impress his boss just before merit pay decisions

　　30. To be successful in negotiations, one must_____.

　　A) meet his boss at the appropriate time

　　B) arrive at the negotiation table punctually

　　C) be good at influencing the outcome of the interaction

　　D) be familiar with what the boss likes and dislikes

　　Passage 2

　　Identity theft has been a hot subject in the news recently. It is considered one of the top crimes in the United States. The Federal Trade Commission estimates that ten million Americans become victims of identity theft each year.

　　Identity thieves steal personal information. They collect Social Security numbers, banking records and telephone numbers, which they use to request loans or get credit cards in the name of the victims.

　　Identity thieves spend a lot on goods or services without actually paying for them. F.T.C. officials estimate more than 52,000 million dollars in goods and services were purchased last year through identity theft.

　　Victims of identity theft can spend years attempting to reestablish their financial history and reputation. Some have been denied jobs or arrested for crimes in which they were not involved.

　　Identity thieves employ several methods to get what they need. They may trick people into giving personal information over the telephone or steal documents containing such information.

　　Activist groups have called for new laws to protect the public from such thefts. Recently, a committee of the United States Senate said it would hold hearings on this issue, working towards a feasible (可行的) solution.

　　Two cases of identity theft helped the committee to call the hearings. Last month, Bank of America said it lost some computer tapes containing personal information for more than one million federal employees, including some Senators and members of the Defense Department. Bank of America says it deeply regrets the incident.

　　Earlier, the Los Angeles Times newspaper reported that thieves stole about 150,000 personal records from ChoicePoint Incorporated. The company sells Social Security numbers and credit information to other businesses. In 2002, a similar security violation reportedly affected about seven thousand people.

　　American lawmakers will conceive of workable measures to increase supervision of companies that collect personal information. Several plans have been proposed to help individuals whose information was stolen. Another proposal would let Americans bring to an end to any investigation into their financial history without their permission.

　　1. What is the passage mainly about?

　　A. identity theft and society

　　B. the influence of identity theft on US people

　　C. the situation of identity theft in the US

　　D. personal security problems in the US

　　2. What can we learn from the passage?

　　A. Identity thieves usually steal personal information from banks.

　　B. Victims of identity theft may be arrested for losing their financial records

　　C. American lawmakers proposed to bring an end to any investigation into their financial history.

　　D. Some American companies sell customers’ personal information to other companies.

　　3. What does author mean by the phrase “conceive of” (line 1, the last paragraph)?

　　A. consider B. criticize C. believe in D. result in

　　4. ChoicePoint is mentioned in the passage to______

　　A. show how serious the theft problems are in US.

　　B. persuade people not to tell their information to companies.

　　C. explain why a senate committee made up its mind to call the hearing.

　　D. criticize US government for its ignorance of this serious issue.

　　5. What’s the author’s attitude towards the issue of identity theft in this passage?

　　A. arbitrary B. concerned C. ironical D. indifferent

　　Passage 3

　　Crying is hardly an activity encouraged by society. Tears, be they of sorrow, anger, or joy, typically make Americans feel uncomfortable and embarrassed. The shedder of tears is likely to apologize, even when a disastrous tragedy was the cause. The observer of tears is likely to do everything possible to put an end to the emotional tears. But judging from recent studies of crying behavior, both those responses to tears are often inappropriate and may even be counterproductive.

　　Humans are the only animals clearly known to shed emotional tears. Since evolution has given rise to few purposeless physiological responses, it is logical to assume that crying has one or more functions that enhance survival.

　　Although some observers have suggested that crying is a way to ask for assistance form others (as a crying baby might from its mother), the shedding of tears is hardly necessary to get help. Vocal (出声的) cries would have been quite enough, more likely than tears to gain attention. So, it appears, there must be something special about tears themselves.

　　Indeed, the new studies suggest that emotional tears may play a direct role in alleviating stress, University of Minnesota researchers who are studying the chemical composition of tears have recently isolated two important chemicals from emotional tears. Both chemicals are found only in tears that are shed in response to emotion. Tears shed because of exposure to cut onion would contain no such substance.

　　Other researchers are investigating the usefulness of tears as a means of diagnosing human ills and monitoring drugs. At Tulane University’s Teat Analysis Laboratory Dr. Peter Kastl and his colleagues report that they can use tears to detect drug abuse, to study the causes of “dry eye” syndrome（综合症）and the effects of eye surgery, and perhaps even to measure exposure to environmental pollutants.

　　1. It is known from the first paragraph that ________.

　　A) shedding tears gives unpleasant feelings to American

　　B) crying may often irritate people or even result in tragedy

　　C) crying usually wins sympathy from other people

　　D) one who sheds tears in public will be blamed

　　2. What does “both those responses to tears”(Line 6, Para, 1) refer to?

　　A) Crying out of sorrow and shedding tears for happiness.

　　B) The embarrassment and unpleasant sensation of the observers.

　　C) The tear shedder’s apology and the observer’s effort to stop the crying.

　　D) Linking illness with crying and finding the chemical composition of tears.

　　3. “Counterproductive”(Para,1) very probably means”________”.

　　A) having no effect at all B) leading to tension

　　C) producing disastrous impact D) harmful to health

　　4. What does the author say about crying?

　　A) It is a pointless physiological response to the environment.

　　B) It must have a role to play in man’s survival.

　　C) It is meant to get attention and assistance.

　　D) It usually produces the desired effect.

　　5. What can be inferred from the new studies of tears?

　　A) Emotional tears have the function of reducing stress.

　　B) Exposure to excessive medication may increase emotional tears.

　　C) Emotional tears can give rise to “dry eye” syndrome in some cases.

　　D) Environmental pollutants can induce the shedding of emotional tears.

　　Passage 4

　　It is hard to track the blue whale, the ocean’s largest creature, which has almost been killed off by commercial whaling and is now listed as an endangered species. Attaching radio devices to it is difficult, and visual sightings are too unreliable to give real insight into its behavior.

　　So biologists were delighted early this year when, with the help of the Navy, they were able to track a particular blue whale for 43 days, monitoring its sounds. This was possible because of the Navy’s formerly top-secret system of underwater listening devices spanning the oceans.

　　Tracking whales is but one example of an exciting new world just opening to civilian scientists after the cold war as the Navy starts to share and partly uncover its global network of underwater listening system built over the decades to track the ships of potential enemies.

　　Earth scientists announced at a news conference recently that they had used the system for closely monitoring a deep-sea volcanic eruption （爆发） for the first time and that they plan similar studies.

　　Other scientists have proposed to use the network for tracking ocean currents and measuring changes in ocean and global temperatures.

　　The speed of sound in water is roughly one mile a second―slower than through land but faster than through air. What is most important, different layers of ocean water can act as channels for sounds, focusing them in the same way a stethoscope （听诊器） does when it carries faint noises from a patient’s chest to a doctor’s ear. This focusing is the main reason that even relatively weak sounds in the ocean, especially low-frequency ones, can often travel thousands of miles.

　　1. The passage is chiefly about ____ .

　　A) an effort to protect an endangered marine species

　　B) the civilian use of a military detection system

　　C) the exposure of a U.S. Navy top-secret weapon

　　D) a new way to look into the behavior of blue whales

　　2. The underwater listening system was originally designed ____ .

　　A) to trace and locate enemy vessels

　　B) to monitor deep-sea volcanic eruptions

　　C) to study the movement of ocean currents

　　D) to replace the global radio communications network

　　3. The deep-sea listening system makes use of ____ .

　　A) the sophisticated technology of focusing sounds under water

　　B) the capability of sound to travel at high speed

　　C) the unique property of layers of ocean water in transmitting sound

　　D) low-frequency sounds travelling across different layers of water____

　　4. It can be inferred from the passage that____.

　　A) new radio devices should be developed for tracking the endangered blue whales

　　B) blue whales are no longer endangered with the use of the new listening system

　　C) opinions differ as to whether civilian scientists should be allowed to use military technology

　　D) military technology has great potential in civilian use

　　5. Which of the following is true about the U.S. Navy underwater listening network?

　　A) It is now partly accessible to civilian scientists.

　　B) It has been replaced by a more advanced system.

　　C) It became useless to the military after the cold war.

　　D) It is indispensable in protecting endangered species.

　　Passage 5

　　No woman can be too rich or too thin. This saying, often attributed to the late Duchess (公爵夫人) of Windsor, represents the odd spirit of our times. Being thin is considered as such a virtue.

　　The problem with such a view is that some people actually try to live by it. I myself have dreams of slipping into narrow fashionable clothes. Consequently, I have been on a diet for the good part of my life. Being rich wouldn't be bad either, but that won't happen unless an unknown relative dies suddenly in some distant land, leaving me millions of dollars.

　　When did eating butter become a sin, and a little bit of extra flesh ugly, if not disgusting? All religions have certain days when people refrain from eating, and excessive eating is one of Christianity's seven deadly sins. However, until quite recently, most people had a problem getting enough to eat. In some religious groups, wealth was symbol of probable salvation (拯救) and high morals and fatness was a sign of wealth.

　　Today, we have shifted to thinness as our new mark of virtue. The result is that being fat ―or even only somewhat overweight ― is bad because it implies a lack of moral strength.

　　Our passion with thinness is also the result of health concerns. It is true that in this country we have more overweight people than ever, and that in many cases, being overweight is connected with an increased risk of heart and blood vessel disease. These diseases, however, may have as much to do with our way of life and our high-fat diets as with excess weight. And the related risk of cancer may be of a diet problem rather than just a weight problem.

　　The real concern, then, is not that we weigh too much, but that we neither exercise enough nor eat well. Exercise is necessary for strong bones and both heart and lung health. A balanced diet without a lot of fat can also help the body avoid many diseases. We should surely stop paying so much attention to weight. Simply being thin is not enough. It is actually risky if those who get thin think they are automatically healthy and thus free from paying attention to their overall life-style.

　　1. In the eyes of the author, a strange phenomenon nowadays is that___________.

　　A) the Duchess of Windsor is regarded as a woman of virtue

　　B) looking slim is a symbol of having a large fortune

　　C) being thin is viewed as a much desired quality

　　D) religious people are not virtuous

　　2. Influenced by the popular trend, the author____________.

　　A) had to wear highly fashionable clothes

　　B) could still prevent herself from going off the track

　　C) had to seek help from rich distant relatives

　　D) had to go on a diet for quite a long time in her life

　　3. In human history, people's views on body weight___________.

　　A) were closely related to their religious beliefs

　　B) changed from time to time

　　C) varied between the poor and the rich

　　D) led to different moral standards

　　4. The author criticizes women's passion with thinness__________.

　　A) from an economic and educational perspective

　　B) from sociological and medical points of view

　　C) from a historical and religious standpoint

　　D) from the aspect of moral principles

　　5. What's the author's advice to women who are absorbed in the idea of thinness?

　　A) They should be more concerned with their overall lifestyle.

　　B) They should be more watchful for fatal diseases.

　　C) They should gain weight to look healthy.

　　D) They should rid themselves of dreams about famous clothes.