2016年6月大学英语四级考前冲刺预测题(七)

　　Part II Reading Comprehension (35 minutes)

　　Directions: There are 4 reading passages in this part. Each passage 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 the Answer Sheet with a single line through the center. Passage One

　　Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage.

　　There is a difference between science and technology. Science is a method of answering theoretical questions; technology is a method of solving practical problems. Science has to do with discovering the facts and relationships between observable phenomena in nature and with establishing theories that serve to organize these facts and relationships; technology has to do with tools, techniques, and procedures for implementing the finding of science.

　　Another distinction between science and technology has to do with the progress in each.

　　Progress in science excludes the human factor. Scientists, who seek to comprehend the universe and know the truth within the highest degree of accuracy and certainty, cannot pay attention to their own or other people's likes or dislikes or to popular ideas about the fitness of things. What scientists discover may shock or anger people-as did Darwin's theory of evolution. But even an unpleasant truth is more than likely to be useful; besides, we have the choice of refusing to believe it! But hardly so with technology; we do not have the choice of refusing to hear the sonic boom produced by a supersonic aircraft flying overhead; we do not have the option of refusing to breathe polluted air; and we do not have the option of living in a non-atomic age. Unlike science progress, technology must be measured in terms of the human factor. The legitimate purpose of technology is to serve people in general, not merely some people; and future generations, not merely those who presently wish to gain advantage for themselves. Technology must be humanistic if it is to lead to a better world.

　　21. The difference between science and technology lies in that _____.

　　A) the former provides answers to theoretical questions while the latter to practical problems

　　B) the former seeks to comprehend the universe while the latter helps change the material world

　　C) the former aims to discover the inter-connections of facts and the rules that explain them while the latter, to discover new designs and ways of making the things we use in our daily life

　　D) all of the above

　　22. Which of the following may be representative of science

　　A) The improvement of people's life.

　　B) The theory of people's life.

　　C) Farming tools.

　　D) Mass production.

　　23. According to the author, scientific theories _____.

　　A) must be strictly objective

　　B) usually take into consideration people's likes and dislikes

　　C) should conform to popular opinions

　　D) always appear in perfect and finished forms

　　24. The author states that technology itself _____.

　　A) is responsible for widespread pollution and resource exhaustion

　　B) should serve those who wish to gain advantage for themselves

　　C) will lead to a better world if put to wise use

　　D) will inevitably be for bad purpose

　　25. The tone of the author in this passage is _____.

　　A) positive B) negative C) factual D) critical Passage Two

　　Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage.

　　Americans have always been ambivalent in their attitudes toward education. On the one hand, free and universal public education was seen as necessary in a democracy, for how else would citizens learn how to govern themselves in a responsible way On the other hand, America was always a country that offered financial opportunities for which education was not needed: on the road from rags to riches, schooling-beyond the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic-was an unnecessary detour.

　　Even today, it is still possible for people to achieve financial success without much education, but the number of situations in which this is possible is decreasing. In today's more complex world, the opportunities for financial success is closely related to the need for education, especially higher education.

　　Our society is rapidly becoming one whose chief product is information, and dealing with this information requires more and more specialized education. In other words, we grow up learning more and more about fewer and fewer subjects.

　　In the future, this trend is likely to continue. Tomorrow's world will be even more complex than today's world, and, to manage this complexity, even more specialized education will be needed.

　　26. The topic treated in this passage is _____.

　　A) education in general B) Americans' attitudes

　　C) higher education D) American education

　　27. Americans' attitudes toward education have always been _____.

　　A) certain B) contradictory C) ambitious D) unclear

　　28. Today, financial success is closely related to the need for _____.

　　A) higher education B) public education C) responsible citizens D) learning the basics

　　29. It can be inferred from the third paragraph that _____.

　　A) information is our only product

　　B) education in the future will be specialized

　　C) we are entering an age of information

　　D) we are living in an age of information

　　30. Which of the following is the best title for the passage

　　A) The History of American Education.

　　B) The Need for Specialized Education.

　　C) The Future of the American Educational System.

　　D) Attitudes toward American Education. Passage Three

　　Questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage.

　　A growing world population and the discoveries of science may alter this pattern of distribution in the future. As men slowly learn to master diseases, control floods, prevent famines, and stop wars, fewer people die every year; and in consequence the population of the world is steadily increasing. In 1925 there were about 2,000 million people in the world; by the end of the century there may well be over 4,000 million.

　　When numbers rise the extra mouths must be fed. New lands must be brought under cultivation, or land already farmed made to yield larger crops. In some areas the accessible land is so intensively cultivated that it will be difficult to make it provide more food. In some areas the population is so dense that the land is parceled out in units too tiny to allow for much improvement in farming methods. Were a large part of this farming population drawn off into industrial occupations, the land might be farmed much more productively by modern methods. There is now a race for science, technology, and industry to keep the output of food rising faster than the number of people to be fed. New strains of crops are being developed which will thrive in unfavorable climates: there are now farms beyond the Arctic Circle in Siberia and North America; irrigation and dry-farming methods bring arid lands under the plough, dams hold back the waters of great rivers to ensure water for the fields in all seasons and to provide electric power for new industries; industrial chemistry provides fertilizers to suit particular soils; aeroplanes spray crops to destroy locusts and many plant diseases. Every year some new means is devised to increase or to protect the food of the world.

　　31. The author says that the world population is growing because _____.

　　A) there are many rich valleys and fertile plains

　　B) the pattern of distribution is being altered

　　C) people are living longer

　　D) new land is being brought under cultivation

　　32. The author says that in densely populated areas the land might be more productively farmed if _____.

　　A) the plots were subdivided

　　B) a large part of the people moved to a different part of the country

　　C) industrial methods were used in farming

　　D) the units of land were made much larger

　　33. We are told that there are now farms beyond the Arctic Circle. This has been made possible by _____.

　　A) producing new strains of crops

　　B) irrigation and dry-farming methods

　　C) providing fertilizers

　　D) destroying pests and disease

　　34. Which of these words is nearest in meaning to the word "strains"

　　A) types B) sizes C) seeds D) harvests

　　35. The author's main purpose is to _____.

　　A) argue for a belief B) describe a phenomenon

　　C) entertain D) propose a conclusion Passage Four

　　Questions 36 to 40 are based on the following passage.

　　For some time past it has been widely accepted that babies-and other creatures-learn to do things because certain acts lead to "rewards"; and there is no reason to doubt that this is true. But it used also to be widely believed that effective rewards, at least in the early stages, had to be directly related to such basic physiological(生理的) "drives" as thirst or hunger. In other words, a baby would learn if he got food or drink or some sort of physical comfort, not otherwise.

　　It is now clear that this is not so. Babies will learn to behave in ways that produce results in the world with no reward except the successful outcome.

　　Papousek began his studies by using milk in the normal way to "reward" the babies and so teach them to carry out some simple movements, such as turning the head to one side or the other. Then he noticed that a baby who had had enough to drink would refuse the milk but would still go on making the learned response with clear signs of pleasure. So he began to study the children's responses in situations where no milk was provided. He quickly found that children as young as four months would learn to turn their heads to right or left if the movement "switched on" a display of lights-and indeed that they were capable of learning quite complex turns to bring about this result, for instance, two left or two right, or even to make as many as three turns to one side.

　　Papousek's light display was placed directly in front of the babies and he made the interesting observation that sometimes they would not turn back to watch the lights closely although they would "smile and bubble" when the display came on. Papousek concluded that it was not primarily the sight of the lights which pleased them, it was the success they were achieving in solving the problem, in mastering the skill, and that there exists a fundamental human urge to make sense of the world and bring it under intentional control.

　　36. According to the author, babies learn to do things which . A) are directly related to pleasure B) will meet their physical needs

　　C) will bring them a feeling of success D) will satisfy their curiosity

　　37. Papousek noticed in his studies that a baby .

　　A) would make learned responses when it saw the milk

　　B) would carry out learned movements when it had enough to drink

　　C) would continue the simple movements without being given milk

　　D) would turn its head to right or left when it had enough to drink

　　38. In Papousek's experiment babies make learned movements of the head in order to .

　　A) have the lights turned on

　　B) be rewarded with milk

　　C) please their parents

　　D) be praised

　　39. The babies would "smile and bubble" at the lights because .

　　A) the lights were directly related to some basic "drives"

　　B) the sight of the lights was interesting

　　C) they need not turn back to watch the lights

　　D) they succeeded in "switching on" the lights

　　40. According to Papousek, the pleasure babies get in achieving something is a reflection of .

　　A) a basic human desire to understand and control the world

　　B) the satisfaction of certain physiological needs

　　C) their strong desire to solve complex problems

　　D) a fundamental human urge to display their learned skills