2013年英语四级阅读试题及答案13

　　Passage Three

　　Priscilla Ouchida's “energy-efficient” house turned out to be a horrible dream. When she and her engineer husband married a few years ago, they built a $100,000, three-bedroom home in California. Tightly sealed to prevent air leaks, the house was equipped with small double-paned(双层玻璃的) windows and several other energy-saving features. Problems began as soon as the couple moved in, however. Priscilla's eyes burned. Her throat was constantly dry. She suffer ed from headaches and could hardly sleep. It was as though she had suddenly developed a strange illness.

　　Experts finally traced the cause of her illness. The level of formaldehyde(甲醛) gas in her kitchen was twice the maximum allowed by federal standards for chemical workers. The source of the gas? Her new kitchen cabinets and wall-to-wall carpeting.

　　The Ouchidas are victims of indoor air pollution, which is not given sufficient attention partly because of the nation's drive to save energy. The problem itself isn't new. “The indoor environment was dirty long before energy conservation came along,” says Moschandreas, a pollution scientist at Geomet Technologies in Maryland. “Energy conservation has tended to accentuate the situation in some cases.”

　　The problem appears to be more troublesome in newly constructed homes rather than old ones. Back in the days when energy was cheap, home builders didn't worry much about unsealed cracks. Because of such leaks, the air in an average home was replaced by fresh outdoor air about once an hour. As a result, the pollutants generated in most households seldom built up to dangerous levels.

　　31. It can be learned from the passage that the Ouchidas' house.

　　[A] is well worth the money spent on its construction

　　[B] was designed and constructed in a scientific way

　　[C] failed to meet energy conservation standards

　　[D]is almost faultless from the point of energy conservation

　　[答案与分析]：D 第一段第三句对Ouchida的房子装修作了描述，当然是faultless(完美无缺的)。

　　32. What made the Ouchidas' new house a horrible dream?

　　[A] Because Lack of fresh air.

　　[B] Poor quality of building materials.

　　[C] Gas leakage in the kitchen.

　　[D] The newly painted walls

　　[答案与分析]：A。 此题要从文章最末两句寻找答案，主要需了解此文的结构，它先说Ouchida的房子是个“噩梦”，到最后才说出“噩梦”的原因。

　　33. The word “accentuate”(Line 4, Para. 3) most probably means “”.

　　[A] worsen

　　[B] accelerate

　　[C] relieve

　　[D] improve

　　[答案与分析]：A 。能猜出新词语的意义是阅读必不可少的一项基本技能，猜测不能脱离上下文。此题前面已说在“节能”运动发起之前室内空气就已经龌龊，而现在更为糟糕，可见这一运动是“加剧”或“恶化”(accentuate)了空气污染。

　　34. Why were cracks in old houses not a big concern?

　　[A] Because indoor cleanness was not emphasized.

　　[B] Because they were technically unavoidable.

　　[C] Because environmental protection was given top priority.

　　[D] Because energy used to be inexpensive.

　　[答案与分析]：D. 见最后一段第二句，说得很明白。

　　35. This passage is most probably taken from an article entitled “

　　” . [A] Energy Conservation

　　[B]Air Pollution Indoors

　　[C] House Building Crisis

　　[D] Traps in Building Construction

　　[答案与分析]：B。 此题为主旨题，最有可能的题目是“为节省能源而造成的室内空气污染”，故选B。