專四閱讀常考類型
引導語：為了幫助大家更好的備考專業英語四級考試，應屆畢業培訓網整理了一些專四閱讀常考題型，以供大家參考學習。
一、主旨類
實考真題
In an article some Chinese scholars are described as being “tantalized by the mysterious dragon bone hieroglyphics.” Tantalized is one of many English words that have their origins in myths and legends of the past (in this case, Greek and Roman ones). The meaning of the verb tantalize is a very particular one: “to promise or show something desirable to a person and then take it away; to tease by arousing hope.” Many (but not all) English dictionaries give you a brief indication of a word’s origins in brackets before or after the explanation of the meaning. For tantalize the following explanation is given: [> Tantalus]. This means that you should look up the name Tantalus to fi nd out the word’s origins, and if you do, you will find out that in Greek mythology, Tantalus was a king who was punished in the lower world with eternal hunger and thirst; he was put up to his chin in water that always moved away when he tried to drink it and with fruit on branches above him placed just a little bit out of his reach.
Can you see why his name was changed into a verb meaning “to tease or torment by arousing desire”?
Another example is the word siren, familiar to us as the mechanical device that makes such an alarming sound when police cars, ambulances, or fi re engines approach. This word also has its origins in Greek mythology. The traveler Odysseus (Ulysses to the Romans) made his men plug their ears so that they wouldn’t hear the dangerous voices of the sirens, creatures who were half bird and half woman and who lured sailors to their deaths on sharp rocks. So the word came to be associated both with a loud sound and with danger!
When someone speaks of a “jovial mood” or a “herculean effort”, he or she is using words with origins in mythology. Look these words up to fi nd their meaning and relationship to myths.
Many common words, such as the names for the days of the week and the months of the year, also come from mythology. Wednesday derives from the ancient Norse king of the gods, Woden, and Thursday was originally Thor’s day, in honour of Thor, the god of thunder.
As a matter of fact, all the planets, except the one we live on, bear names that come from Roman mythology, including the planet that is farthest away from the sun and for that reason was called after the Roman god of the dead. This god has also given his name to one of the chemical elements. Several other elements have names that come from mythology, too.
It seems that myths and legends live on in the English language.
89. Which of the following can best serve as the title of the passage?
A. Greek and Roman Mythology in Language.
B. Mythological Origins of English Words.
C. Historical Changes in Word Meanings.
D. Mythology and Common Words.
解析：答案B。主旨類。作者以“tantalize”，“siren”，“jovial mood”，“herculean effort”等詞或短語為例，闡述了英語里的許多單詞都來源于神話和傳說這一事實。
實考真題
The kids are hanging out. I pass small bands of students, in my way to work these mornings. They have become a familiar part of the summer landscape.
These kids are not old enough for jobs. Nor are they rich enough for camp. They are school children without school. The calendar called the school year ran out on them a few weeks ago. Once supervised by teachers and principals, they now appear to be “self care”.
Passing them is like passing through a time zone. For much of our history, after all, Americans arranged the school year around the needs of work and family. In 19th-century cities, schools were open seven or eight hours a day, 11 months a year. In rural America, the year was arranged around the growing season. Now, only 3 percent of families follow the
agricultural model, but nearly all schools are scheduled as if our children went home early to milk the cows and took months off to work the crops. Now, three-quarters of the mothers of school-age children work, but the calendar is written as if they were home waiting for the school bus.
The six-hour day, the 180-day school year is regarded as something holy. But when parents work an eight-hour day and a 240-day year, it means something different. It means that many kids go home to empty houses. It means that, in the summer, they hang out.
“We have a huge mismatch between the school calendar and realities of family life,” says Dr. Ernest Boyer, head of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.
Dr. Boyer is one of many who believe that a radical revision of the school calendar is inevitable. “School, whether we like it or not, is educational. It always has been.”
His is not popular idea. School are routinely burdened with the job of solving all our social problems. Can they be asked to meet the needs of our work and family lives?
It may be easier to promote a longer school year on its educational merits and, indeed, the educational case is compelling. Despite the complaints and studies about our kids’ lack of learning, the United States still has a shorter school year than any industrial nation. In most of Europe, the school year is 220 days. In Japan, it is 240 days long. While classroom time alone doesn’t produce a well-educated child, learning takes time and more learning takes more
time. The long summers of forgetting take a toll.
The opposition to a longer school year comes from families that want to and can provide other experiences for their children. It comes from teachers. It comes from tradition. And surely from kids. But the most important part of the confl ict has been over the money.
95. Which of the following is an opinion of the author’s?
A. “The kids are hanging out.”
B. “They are school children without school.”
C. “These kids are not old enough for jobs.”
D. “The calendar called the school year ran out on them a few weeks ago.”
解析：答案A。主旨類。第一段的第一句：“The kids are hanging out.”作者的觀點是現在的孩子上學的時間太短，很多時間都在外閑逛，無所事事。B、C、D是客觀事實陳述，并不是作者觀點。
二、細節類
實考真題
What is the nature of the scientific attitude, the attitude of the man or woman who studies and applies physics, chemistry, geology, engineering, medical or any other science? We all know that science plays an important role in the societies in which we live. Many people believe, however, that our progress depends on two different aspects of science. The first of these is the application of the machines and products that scientists and technologists develop. New drugs, faster and safer means of transport, new systems of applied knowledge are some examples of this aspect of science.
81. Many people believe that science helps society to progress through ______.
A. applied knowledge
B. more than one aspect
C. technology only
D. the use of machines
解析：答案B。細節類。第一段第四行“Many people believe, however, that our progress depends on
two different aspects of science.”社會的進步依靠于科學的兩個不同方面。所以選B。
實考真題
For many, the enjoyment of music does not remain at a standstill. We feel that we can get more satisfaction from the musical experience. We want to make closer contact with music in order to learn more of its nature; thus we can range more broadly and freely in the areas of musical style , form, and expression. This book explores ways of achieving these objectives.
It deals, of course, with the techniques of music, but only in order to show how technique is directed toward expressive aims in music and toward the listener’s musical experience. In this way, we may get an idea of the composer’s intentions, for indeed, the composer uses every musical device for its power to communicate and for its contribution to the musical experience.
91. We can infer from the second paragraph that the book from which this excerpt is taken is mainly meant for ______.
A. listeners. B. composers. C. musicians. D. directors.
解析：答案A。細節類。第五行 “This book explores ways of achieving these objectives.” these objectives 所指為the enjoyment of music。這是音樂聽眾(listeners)的做法，而不是composers, musicians或者directors。
三、推理類
實考真題
With a start, I realized that perhaps the reason for the 4 a.m. wake-up noise was not ordinary rudeness but carefully executed spite: I had not tipped Raoul in Christmases past. I honestly hadn’t realized I was supposed to. This was the fi rst time he’d used the card tactic. So I got out my checkbook. Somewhere along the line, holiday tipping went from an optional thank-you for a year of services to a Mafi a-style protection racket (收取保護費的黑社會組織).
98. According to the passage, the author felt ______ to give Raoul a holiday tip.
A. excited B.delighted C. embarrassed D. forced
解析：答案D。推理類。最后一句“Somewhere along the line, holiday tipping went from an optional thank-you for a year of services to a Mafia-style protection racket.”，這種節假日收取小費的行為已經從自愿表示感激的行為，變成強迫收取保護費的行為了。
實考真題
In an article some Chinese scholars are described as being “tantalized by the mysterious dragon bone hieroglyphics.” Tantalized is one of many English words that have their origins in myths and legends of the past (in this case, Greek and Roman ones). The meaning of the verb tantalize is a very particular one: “to promise or show something desirable to a person and then take it away; to tease by arousing hope.” Many (but not all) English dictionaries give you a brief indication of a word’s origins in brackets before or after the explanation of the meaning.
For tantalize the following explanation is given: [> Tantalus]. This means that you should look up the name Tantalus to fi nd out the word’s origins, and if you do, you will fi nd out that in Greek mythology, Tantalus was a king who was punished in the lower world with eternal hunger and thirst; he was put up to his chin in water that always moved away when he tried to drink it and with fruit on branches above him placed just a little bit out of his reach. Can you see why his name was changed into a verb meaning “to tease or torment by arousing desire”?
85. The purpose of the fi rst sentence in Paragraph One is .
A. to describe the work of some Chinese scholars.
B. to arouse readers’ interest in hieroglyphics.
C. to lead readers onto the main theme.
D. to link the preceding part to the present one.
解析：答案C。推理類。第二句話“...Tantalized is one of many English words that have their origins in myths and legends of the past (in this case, Greek and Roman ones).”Tantalized(逗弄)是來源于過去的神話和傳說(如希臘和羅馬神話)的英語單詞之一，這恰與文章的主題相符。
四、詞匯和指代類
實考真題
This typifies the way in which engineers work to help people and create a better quality of life. The fact that this country has the most efficient agricultural industry in the world is another good example. Mechanical engineers have worked with farmers and biologists to produce fertilizers, machinery and harvesting systems. This team effort has now produced crops uniformly waist high or less so that they are better suited to mechanical harvesting.
Similar advances with other crops have released people from hard and boring jobs for more creative work, whilst machines harvest crops more effi ciently with less waste. Providing more food for the rapidly increasing population is yet another role for the mechanical engineer.
84. According to the context, “This team effort” in Paragraph Two refers to ______
A. mechanical engineers.
B. doctors and engineers.
C. biologists, doctors and farmers.
D. farmers, biologists and engineers.
解析：答案D。指代類。“Mechanical engineers have worked with farmers and biologists to produce fertilizers, machinery and harvesting systems.”這個團隊的成員包括農場主、生物學家和工程師。
實考真題
“Of course, you’d lose all your e-mail, your documents, your photos.” It was like offering to drop a safe on my head to cure my headache. “You might be able to recover them, but it would be expensive.” He sounded delighted. “And it’s not covered by the warranty (產品保證書)!” The safe began to seem like a good idea, provided it was full.
94. “It was like offering to drop a safe on my head to cure my headache” in the last but one paragraph
means that ______.
A. the technician’s proposal would make things even worse.
B. the technician’s proposal could eventually solve the problem.
C. files stored on her computer were like a safe.
D. erasing the entire system was like curing a headache.
解析：答案A。詞匯類。
實考真題
During this time, all my knowledge of him was limited to occasional meetings about the house, when he would sometimes pass me coldly, and sometimes bow and smile. His changes of manner did not offend me, because I saw that I had nothing to do with the cause of them.
92. In “...and all my knowledge of him was limited to occasional meetings about the house,…” the word “about” means ______
A. around B. on C. outside D. concerning
解析：答案A。詞匯類。我對他所有的了解就是在房子附近的幾次偶遇。根據專四閱讀理解題型的特點，考生平時應該掌握一定的閱讀技巧，采用相應的閱讀策略，了解常見的閱讀理解題型，多多練習。
五、態度類
實考真題
Nowadays, a cellphone service is available to everyone, everywhere. Probably thousands of people have already been using it, but I just discovered it, so I’m going to claim it and also name it: Fake Foning.
The technology has been working well for me at the office, but there are infinite applications. Virtually in any public space.
Say you work at a big university with lots of talky faculty members buzzing about.
Now, say you need to use the restroom. The trip down the hall will take approximately one hour, because a person can’t walk into those talky people without getting pulled aside for a question, a bit of gossip, a new read on a certain line of Paradise Lost.
So, a cellphone. Any cellphone. Just pick it up. Don’t dial. Just hold that phone to your face and start talking. Walk confi dently down the hall engaged in fake conversation, making sure to tailor both the topic and content to the person standing before you whom you are trying to evade.
For standard colleague avoidance, I suggest fake chatting about fake business:
“Yes, I’m glad you called, because we really need to hammer out the details. What’s that? Yes, I read Page 12, but if you look at the bottom of 4, I think you can see the problem begins right there.”
Be animated. Be engaged in your fake fone conversation. Make eye contact with the people passing, nod to them, gesture keen interest in talking to them at a later time, point to your phone, shrug and move on.
Shoppers should consider fake foning anytime they spot a talky neighbor in the produce department pinching unripe peaches. Without your phone at your face, you’d be in for a 20-minute speech on how terrible the world is.
One important caution about fake foning. The other day I was fake foning my way past a colleague, and he was actually following me to get my attention. I knew he wanted to ask about a project I had not yet fi nished. I was trying to buy myself some time, so I continued fake foning with my doctor. “So I don’t need the operation? Oh, doctor, that is the best news.”
And then: Brrrrrrng! Brrrrrmg! Brrrrrmg! My phone started ringing, right there while it was planted on my face. My colleague looked at me, and I at him, and naturally I gasped.
“What is the matter with this thing?” I said, pulling the phone away to look at it, and then putting it back to my ear.
“Hello? Are you still there?”
Oops.
90. What is the tone of the passage?
A. Critical. B. Humorous. C. Serious. D. Unclear.
解析：答案B。態度類。文章中作者是用非常幽默的口吻來介紹假裝接手機來躲避不愿與之交談的人。
實考真題
Surely this is a good idea for society. Hitchhiking would increase respect by breaking down barriers between strangers. It would help fi ght global warming by cutting down on fuel consumption as hitchhikers would be using existing fuels. It would also improve educational standards by delivering instant lessons in geography, history, politics and sociology.
A century before Douglas Adams wrote his “Hitchhiker’s Guide”, another adventure story writer, Robert Louis Stevenson, gave us that what should be the hitchhiker’s motto:
“To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive.” What better time than putting a holiday weekend into practice. Either put it to the test yourself, or help out someone who is trying to travel hopefully with thumb outstretched.
86. What is the writer’s attitude towards the practice in Poland?
A. Critical. B. Unclear.
C. Somewhat favorable. D. Strongly favorable.
解析：答案D。態度類。第一句“Surely this is a good idea for society.” 作者在這兩段里闡述了搭便車的好處。
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