公共英语考试四级试题及答案:阅读1

　　公共英语PETS四级考试由笔试和口试组成。笔试试卷(140分钟)分四部分：听力、英语知识运用、阅读理解和写作。口试试卷(12分钟)分三节考查考生的口语交际能力。笔试和口试都使用英文指导语。

　　Text 1 　　No one should be forced to wear a uniform under any circumstance. Uniforms are demeaning to the human spirit and totally unnecessary in a democratic society. Uniforms tell the world that the person who wears one has no value as an individual but only lives to function as a part of the whole. The individual in a uniform loses all self-worth. There are those who say that wearing a uniform gives a person a sense of identification with a large, more important concept. What could be more important than the individual oneself? If an organization is so weak that it must rely on cloth and buttons to inspire its members, that organization has no right to continue its existence.

　　Others say that the practice of making persons wear uniforms, say in school, eliminates all envy and competition in a matter of dress, such that a poor person who cannot afford good-quality clothing, why would anyone strive to be better? It is only a short step from forcing everyone to wear the same clothing to forcing everyone to drive the same car, have the same type of house, eat the same type of food. When this happens, all incentive to improve one’s life is removed. Why would parents bother to work hard so that their children could have a better life than they had when they know that their children are going to be forced to have exactly the same life that they had? Uniforms also hurt the economy. Right now, billions of dollars are spent on the fashion industry yearly.

　　Thousands of persons are employed in designing, creating, and marketing different types of clothing. If everyone were forced to wear uniforms, artistic personnel would be unnecessary. Salespersons would be superfluous as well: why bother to sell the only items that are available? The wearing of uniforms would destroy the fashion industry which in turn would have a ripple effect on such industries as advertising and promotion. Without advertising, newspapers, magazines, and television would not be able to remain in business. Our entire information and entertainment industries would founder.

　　41、The author’s viewpoint on uniforms can best be described as __________.

　　A. practical

　　B. hysterical

　　C. radical

　　D. critical

　　(本题分值：1.5分)【答案】C

　　42、Judged from its style, this passage might be found in __________.

　　A. a children’s comics book

　　B. an editorial in a paper

　　C. a sociology textbook

　　D. a political platform

　　(本题分值：1.5分)【答案】B

　　43、It can be inferred that the author believes that __________.

　　A. individuals have no self-worth when they become part of an organization

　　B. individuals are more important than organizations

　　C. individuals are not so important as organizations

　　D. individuals are the same important as organizations

　　(本题分值：1.5分)【答案】B

　　44、The author brings in the example of a parent striving to make life better for his children to make the point that __________.

　　A. parents have responsibilities for their children

　　B. uniforms would be less expensive than clothing for children

　　C. uniforms cause dissension between parents and children

　　D. individual motivation would be destroyed by uniforms

　　(本题分值：1.5分)【答案】D

　　45、The last word of the passage "founder" probably means __________.

　　A. collapse

　　B. shrink

　　C. disappear

　　D. establish

　　(本题分值：1.5分)【答案】A