2015年6月大学英语四级临考提分卷（六）_第3页

　　Part HI Reading Comprehension(40 minutes)

　　Section A

　　Directions: In this section, there is a passage with ten blanks. You are required to select one word for each blank from a list of choices given in a word bank following the passage. Read the passage through carefully before making your choices. Each choice in the bank is identified by a letter. Please mark the corresponding letter for each item on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once.

　　Questions 36 to 45 are based on the following passage.

　　The festive break is fast becoming a distant memory and for many, New Year fitness regimes are too. Despite2.6m people starting diets on New Year's Day, research suggests that by the end of the week 92 percent of dieters gave up,36exercise and gorging on comfort food.

　　Findings37 by weightloss firm XLS-Medical, suggest that the 38 majority are unsuccessful at sticking to their diets for more than five days a week. Two out of l0 dieters 39 they have their first diet relapse (退步) just four to five days in, with hunger cited as the main cause. Boredom and alcohol were40 blamed for people failing to keep their health kick on track.

　　Dr. Matt Capehorn, Clinical Director of the National Obesity Forum, 41 that just one day off from dieting can undo a week's worth of hard work. He told Female First: "A healthy diet, aimed at losing llb per week, relies on saving 3500 calories a week by having 500 calories less each day." "A day off the diet should mean that you eat the correct amount, but many dieters see it as an excuse to binge (大吃大喝 ) and have thousands of calories more than they need. "

　　The results suggest that a 42590,000 could already have43to stick to New Year diet resolutions.

　　And a vast majority are unaware of the negative impact a single day off can have on their weight loss efforts.

　　Yet44it was found only 5 percent of women stick to their diets until they've45their target weight.

　　A.massive

　　B.reached

　　C.highlighted

　　D.blamed

　　E.shunning

　　F.still

　　G.released

　　H.lost

　　I.also

　　J.admitted

　　K.treated

　　L.dieted

　　M.overall

　　N .vast

　　O.failed

　　Section B

　　Directions: In this section, you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached to it. Each statement contains information given in one of the paragraphs. Identify the paragraph from which the information is derived.

　　You may choose a paragraph more than once. Each paragraph is marked with a letter. Answer the questions by marking the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2.

　　A University Degree No Longer Confers Financial Security

　　A.Millions of school-leavers in the rich world are about to bid a tearful goodbye to their parents and start a new life at university. Some are inspired by a pure love of learning. But most also believe that spending three or four years at university--and accumulating huge debts in the process--will boost their chances of landing a well-paid and secure job.

　　B.Their elders have always told them that education is the best way to equip themselves to thrive in a globalised world. Blue-collar workers will see their jobs outsourced and automated, the familiar argument goes. School dropouts will have to cope with a life of cash-strapped (资金紧张的) insecurity. But the graduate elite will have the world at its feet. There is some evidence to support this view. A recent study from Georgetown University's Centre on Education and the Workforce argues that"obtaining a post-secondary credential ( 证书) is almost always worth it." Educational qualifications are tightly correlated with earnings: an American with a professional degree can expect to pocket $3.6m over a lifetime; one with merely a high- school diploma can expect only $1.3m. The gap between more- and less-educated earners may be widening. A study in 2002 found that someone with a bachelor's degree could expect to earn 75% more over a lifetime than someone with only a high-school diploma. Today the disparity is even greater.

　　C.But is the past a reliable guide to the future? Or are we at the beginning of a new phase in the relationship between jobs and education? There are good reasons for thinking that old patterns are about to change--and that the current recession-driven downturn (衰退) in the demand for Western graduates will morph (改变) into something structural. The strong wind of creative destruction that has shaken so many blue-collar workers over the past few decades is beginning to shake the cognitive elite as well.

　　D.The supply of university graduates is increasing rapidly. The Chronicle of Higher Education calculates that between 1990 and 2007 the number of students going to university increased by 22% in North America, 74% in Europe, 144% in Latin America and 203% in Asia. In 2007 150m people attended university around the world, including 70m in Asia. Emerging economies—specially China--are pouring resources into building universities that can compete with the elite of America and Europe. They are also producing professional- services firms snch as Tata Consulting Services and Infosys that take fresh graduates and turn them into world-class computer programmers and consultants. The best and the brightest of the rich world must increasingly compete with the best and the brightest from poorer countries who are willing to work harder for less money.

　　E. At the same time, the demand for educated labor is being reconfigured (重新配置) by technology, in much the same way that the demand for agricultural labor was reconfigured in the 19th century and that for factory labor in the 20th. Computers can not only perform repetitive mental tasks much faster than human beings. They can also empower amateurs to do what professionals once did: why hire a flesh-and-blood accountant to complete your tax return when Turbotax (a software package ) will do the job at a fraction of the cost? And the variety of jobs that computers can do is multiplying as programmers teach them to deal with tone and linguistic ambiguity.

　　F.Several economists, including Paul Krugman, have begun to argue that post-industrial societies will be characterized not by a relentless rise in demand for the educated but by a great "hollowing out", as mid-level jobs are destroyed by smart machines and high-level job growth slows. David Autor, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), points out that the main effect of automation in the computer era is not that it destroys blue-collar jobs but that it destroys any job that can be reduced to a routine. Alan Blinder of Princeton University, argues that the jobs graduates have traditionally performed are if anything more "offshorable" than low-wage ones. A plumber or lorry-driver's job cannot be outsourced to India. A computer programmer's can.

　　G. A university education is still a prerequisite for entering some of the great industries, such as medicine, law and academia (学术界), that provide secure and well-paying jobs. Over the 20th century these industries did a wonderful job of raising barriers to entry--sometimes for good reasons (nobody wants to be operated on by a barber) and sometimes for self-interested ones. But these industries are beginning to bend the roles. Newspapers are fighting a losing battle with the blogosphere. Universities are replacing tenure-track professors with non-tenured staff. Law firms are contracting out routine work such as"discovery" (digging up documents relevant to a lawsuit) to computerized-search specialists such as Blackstone Discovery. Even doctors are threatened, as patients find advice online and treatment in Walmart's new health centers.

　　H.Thomas Malone of MIT argues that these changes--automation, globalizafion and deregulation--may be part of a bigger change: the application of the division of labor to brain-work. Adam Smith's factory managers broke the production of pins into 18 components. In the same way, companies are increasingly breaking the production of brain-work into ever tinier slices. TopCoder chops up IT projects into bite-sized chunks and then serves them up to a worldwide workforce of freelance coders.

　　I.These changes will undoubtedly improve the productivity of brain-workers. They will allow consumers to sidestep (规避 ) the professional industries that have extracted high rents for their services. And they will empower many brain-workers to focus on what they are best at and contract out more tedious tasks to others. But the reconfiguration of brain-work will also make life far less cozy and predictable for the next generation of graduates.

　　46. The creative destruction that has happened to blue-collar workers in the past also starts to affect the cognitive elite.

　　47. For the next generation of graduates, life will be far less comfortable and predictable with brain-work reconfigured.

　　48. After computers are taught by programmers to deal with tone and linguistic ambiguity, the variety of jobs they can do will increase dramatically.

　　49. Most school-leavers believe that, despite the huge debts they owe, going to university will increase their chances of getting secure jobs with high salaries.

　　50. Modern companies are more likely to break the production of intellectual work into ever tinier slices.

　　51. A scholar of Princeton University claims that the jobs traditionally taken by graduates are more likely to be offshored than low-wage ones.

　　52. The income gap between an American professional degree holder and an American high-school graduate shows income is closely related to educational qualifications.

　　53. The changes in the division of brain-work will save consumers some high service fees the professional organizations charge.

　　54. Some students have always been told that. to achieve success in a globalised world, it is most advisable to equip themselves with education.

　　55. Emerging economies are providing a lot of resources to build universities to compete with the elite of America and Europe.

　　Section C

　　Directions: There are 2 passages in this section. Each is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A ),B., C.and D ). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.

　　Passage One

　　Questions 56 to 60 are based on the following passage.

　　People's tastes in recreation differ widely. At a recent festival of pop-music in the Isle of Wight, crowds of teenagers flocked to listen to their favorite singers and musicians. They went with single railway tickets and slept in the open, a very risky thing to do in the climate of Britain, even in August. They were packed together like sardines for four days. There were innumerable thieves, a gang of roughs tried several times to break things up, and police were everywhere. At the end of the festival many young fans found themselves broke, with no money left,and they had difficulty in getting back home. Most people would consider these conditions a nightmare of discomfort; the fans appeared to enjoy it all enormously.

　　Even in the overcrowded United Kingdom there are large tracts of open un-spoilt country, where people with more traditional tastes can go for quiet, and for the sense of freedom they derive from contact with nature. In the national parks especially, modern development of housing and industry is strictly controlled. Visitors may walk for miles through landscape of the greatest beauty and wildness, and often of considerable historic or scientific interest. Along the coasts of some of the maritime counties, public pathways have been created; these paths stretch for many miles along cliffs that look out on the Atlantic Ocean or the English Channel. Another path,lying inland, goes along the range of mountains in the north of England. It is called the Pennine Way. Here, the long-distance waller and the nature-lover can find much to enjoy, without feeling disturbed by large numbers of their fellows.

　　Yet few people make full use of the national parks established for everyone's benefit. The commonest thing nowadays is for family groups to motor out to a beautiful spot and park their cars in a lay-by ( 英国的路旁停车带 ). A picnic basket is produced, along with a folding table and chairs, a kettle and a portable stove. They then settle down to a picnic in the lay-by beside the car. Apparently their idea of enjoyment is to get into the fresh air and amongst the country sights and sounds without having to wall a yard. They seem almost to like to hear and to smell the traffic.

　　56. In Britain it is very risky to __________.

　　A.go with a single railway ticket

　　B.listen to pop-music at the festival

　　C. sleep in the open

　　D.pack together in crowds

　　57. At the end of the festival, many young fans__________.

　　A.were arrested by the police

　　B.had spent most of their money

　　C.were sleeping out

　　D.became quite penniless

　　58. Even in the overcrowded United Kingdom there are large__________.

　　A.tracks through the open country

　　B.areas of country without soil

　　C.areas of countryside not developed

　　D.expanses of land where nobody works

　　59. Public pathways are created for people to__________.

　　A.commute to work

　　B.enjoy long-distance walking

　　C. wall to maritime counties

　　D.visit the historic or scenic sites

　　60. Family groups nowadays like to__________.

　　A.have meals out of doors by the road-side

　　B.go for a walk away from home

　　C.drive out past the beautiful places

　　D.hear and smell the animals

　　Passage Two

　　Questions 61 to 65 are based on the following passage.

　　Shopping for clothes is not the same experience for a man as it is for a woman. A man goes shopping because he needs something. His purpose is settled and decided in advance. He knows what he wants, and his objective is to find it and buy it; the price is a secondary consideration. All men simply walk into a shop and ask the assistant for what they want. If the shop has it in stock, the salesman promptly produces it, and the business of trying it on proceeds at once. All being well, the deal can be and often is completed in less than five minutes, with hardly any chat and to everyone's satisfaction.

　　For a man, slight problems may begin when the shop does not have what he wants, or does not have eactly what he wants. In that case the salesman, as the name implies, tries to sell the customer something else--he offers the nearest he can to the article required. No good salesman brings out such a substitute bluntly; he does so with skill and polish. "I know this jacket is not the style you want, sir, but would you like to try it for size? It happens to be the color you mentioned. " Few men have patience with this treatment, and the usual response is: "This is the right color and may be the right size, but I should be wasting my time and yours by trying it on. "

　　Now how does a woman go about buying clothes? In almost every respect she does so in the opposite way.

　　Her shopping is not often based on need. She has never fully made up her mind what she wants, and she is only"having a look around". She is always open to persuasion; indeed she sets great store by what the saleswoman tells her, even by what companions tell her. She will try on any number of things. Uppermost in her mind is the thought of finding something that everyone thinks suits her. Contrary to a lot of jokes, most women have an excellent sense of value when they buy clothes. They are always on the look-out for the unexpected bargain. Faced with a roomful of dresses, a woman may easily spend an hour going from one rail to another, to and fro, often retracing her steps,before selecting the dresses she wants to try on. It is a laborious process, but apparently an enjoyable one. So most dress shops provide chairs for the waiting husbands.

　　61. When a man is buying clothes, __________.

　　A.he chooses things that others recormnend

　　B.he buys cheap things, regardless of quality

　　C.he buys good things, so long as they are not too expensive

　　D. he does not mind how much he has to pay for the right things

　　62. In commerce a good salesman is one who__________.

　　A.sells something a customer does not particularly want

　　B.always has in stock the thing the customer wants

　　C.can find out quickly the goods required

　　D.does not waste his time on difficult customers

　　63. What does a man do when he cannot get exactly what he wants?

　　A.He buys something that is similar enough to the ideal one.

　　B.He usually does not buy anything.

　　C.At least two of his reqnirements must be met before he buys.

　　D.So long as the style is right, he buys the thing.

　　64. According to this passage, when shopping for clothes, women__________.

　　A.often buy things without thinking

　　B.seldom buy cheap clothes

　　C.welcome suggestions from anyone

　　D.never take any advice

　　65. What is the most obvious difference between men and women shoppers'?

　　A.The fact that men do not try clothes on in a shop.

　　B.Women bargain for their clothes, but men do not.

　　C.Women stand up while shopping, but men sit down.

　　D. The time they take over buying clothes.

　　Part IV Translation(30 minutes)

　　Directions: Far this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to translate a passage from Chinese into English. You should write your answer on Answer Sheet 2.

　　笔、墨、纸、砚(inkstone).就是人们所说的“文房四宝(fourtreasures cf the study)”，为书写五千年文明史作出了重要贡献。作为传承、弘扬文化和艺术的工具和载体，文房四宝铸就了汉字特有的书法(calligraphy)艺术和中国国画的独特风格。文房四宝本身也是供人观赏的艺术品，并逐渐成为收藏品。文房四宝品类繁多，制作工艺不断趋于完善，历代都有名匠、名品产生，形成了深厚的文化积淀。