大学英语4复习.doc

2013春大学英语4综合复习资料I. Reading Comprehension Passage 1 For ages, sailors have said that it is good luck to see dolphins swimming alongside boats. Their presence meant that land was near, which would be vital information if a boat and her crew were in danger. Some dolphins have even protected shipwrecked sailors from sharks. It is no wonder that these unique and fascinating creatures have long been known as our friends. You may think dolphins are fish, but they are actually mammals. They are related to whales and porpoises, and they evolved around 10 million years ago. Dolphins breathe air, give birth to live young, and feed them milk. They are social animals, living together in groups ranging in size of up to 12.In places rich in food, many schools can combine together to form schools of up to 1,000 dolphins. Dolphins are thought to be intelligent animals because of their playfulness, curiosity, and quick ability to learn. They seem to communicate with each other through a combination of squeaks, whistles, and clicks. While scientists dont know what they are going on about, it is thought that dolphins are telling each other that food is nearby, or warning each other of approaching danger. Dolphins use sonar to discover an objects size, shape, and location. By sending out a series of clicks and receiving the echo that bounces off the object, they can differentiate between a shark and a boat. Unfortunately, dolphins have faced increasing danger in recent years. Fishermen in pursuit of profitable tuna may accidentally trap dolphins in their nets, killing them in the process. These intelligent mammals of the sea deserve our protection and respect. 1. Dolphins have been humans friends because of _D_. A. sailors may know that the land is not far away B. some dolphins protect sailors from shark attacks C. sailors can communicate with them D. both A and B 2. Which of the following statement about dolphin is not true? A A. Dolphins lay eggs under the sea. B. Dolphins can communicate with each other by sending out sounds. C. Dolphins have abilities to learn. D. Dolphins prefer to live in groups up to hundreds. 3. How do dolphins communicate with one another? D A. Through radio waves.B. By sending out gases. C. By clapping their fins together.D. Through various noises. 4. According to the article, what makes a threat to dolphins? D A. Whales.B. Tuna.C. Sailors.D. Fishermen. 5. What is the main idea of the last paragraph? B A. Fishermen accidentally trap dolphins. B. We should take some actions to stop killing dolphins. C. Dolphins often live with tunas. D. More and more dolphins are in danger in the recent years. Passage 2 The city has always been an engine of intellectual life, from the 18th-century cafes of London, where citizens gathered to discuss chemistry and politics, to the Left Bank bars of modern Paris, where Picasso talked about modem art. Without the metropolis, we might not have had the great art of Shakespeare.And yet, city life isnt easy. Now scientists have begun to examine how the city affects the brain, and the results are depressing. Just being in an urban environment, they have found, impairs (损害) our basic mental processes. After spending a few minutes on a crowded city street, the brain is less able to hold things in memory, and suffers from reduced self-control. While its long been recognized that city life is exhausting, this new research suggests that cities actually dull our thinking, sometimes dramatically so.One of the main forces at work is a complete lack of nature, which is surprisingly beneficial for the brain. Studies have demonstrated, for instance, that hospital patients recover more quickly when they can see trees from their windows, and that women living in public housing are better able to focus when their apartments overlook a lawn. Even these glimpses of nature improve brain performance, it seems, because they provide a mental break from the urban life.This research arrives just as humans cross an important milestone (里程碑). For the first time in history, the majority of people live in cities. Instead of inhabiting wide-open spaces, were crowded into concrete jungles, surrounded by traffic and millions of strangers. In recent years, its become clear that such unnatural surroundings have important implications for our mental and physical health, and can powerfully alter how we think.6. Which of the following is the main idea of this passage? B A. The city inspires talented people.B. The city hurts your brain.C. The city has many pleasures and benefits.D. The city seriously affects the natural balance.7. The word “metropolis” in the first paragraph is closest in meaning to_C_.A. citizen B. nature C. city D. stress8. People have just come to realize that_D_.A. human attention is a scarce resourceB. city life can make people very tiredC. the city is an engine of intellectual lifeD. an urban environment is damaging to the brain9. What is the factor mentioned in the third paragraph that helps the hospital patients recover more quickly? A A. Nature. B. Better treatment.C. Experienced doctors. D. Good medicine.10. According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE? C A. Different aspects (方面) of an urban environment, such as the crowded streets, can lead to an increase in self-control.B. Small changes in urban design cannot reduce the negative side effects of city life.C. For the first time in history, the earths population is more urban than rural.D. A walk down a busy city street will improve brain performance.Passage 3 Your success in your studies will also depend upon your motivation（动机）. This need or desire to achieve a certain goal can make the difference between success and failure. Motivation can come from two sources: from inside of you or from outside of you. In the first case, motivation comes from your hopes and expectations, from your desire to do something or to be someone. Study purposes that result from personal inner desires are individual, and various. If you have not already done so, you should think carefully about what you hope to gain from your studies, and why. You should set a goal and direct all your study efforts toward reaching it. A goal of this kind is important because it will determine the direction and degree of your motivation for study. Not everyone is highly motivated from within and no one is continuously motivated from within. Fortunately there is another source of motivation：from outside. In education the most obvious kind of outside motivation is grades. For many students, course grades are an immediate, short-range motivation for study. This is one of the reasons for examinations and grades, but they must not become a goal in themselves. Grades help to motivate you from day to day, but they are only small, artificial steps to your ultimate goal. It would be wrong to set grades as your only ambition.A textbook like this cannot provide you with motivation；that must come from yourself. But as an encouragement, it is useful to know that good study habits depend upon good motivation. And good study habits are important because they help you get more done in less time. It is not a matter of how much you study；more important is how well you study. 11. Inside motivation comes from_D_. A. your need and desireB. your hopes and expectationsC. your desire to do something or to be someoneD. both B and C 12. Study purposes_A_. A. are different from person to personB. are personal inner desires C. share some common pointsD. should be carefully made 13. If you havent set a goal in your studies,_C_. A. you will most probably become a failureB. you will never be a good student C. you may lose direction and lack motivationD. you wont have good study habits 14. According to the passage, why are examinations and grades necessary in education? B A. Because they can make the difference between success and failure. B. Because they can motivate many students to study harder. C. Because they can check what you have gained from your studies. D. Because they are small, artificial steps to an ultimate goal. 15. If you want to be an efficient learner, you must_D_. A. have clear study purposes B. be always motivated from both inside and outside C. set grades as your ambition D. have good study habits Passage 4 Ask three people to look out the same window at a busy street corner and tell you what they see. Chances are that you will receive three different answers. Each person sees the same scene, but each perceives something different about it.Perceiving goes on in our minds. Of the three people who look out the window, one may say that he sees a policeman giving a motorist a ticket. Another may say that he sees a rush-hour traffic jam at the intersection. The third may say that he sees a woman trying to cross the street with four children in tow. For perception is the minds interpretation of what the senses in this case our eyes tell us.Many psychologists today are working to try to determine just how a person experiences or perceives the world around him. Using a scientific approach, these psychologists set up experiments in which they can control all of the factors. By measuring and charting the results of many experiments, they are trying to find out what makes different people perceive totally different things about the same scene. 16. What does the passage mainly tell us? B A. Perceiving has nothing to do with seeing.B. Perceiving differs from seeing. C. Seeing is closely connected to perceiving.D. Seeing has much to do with perceiving. 17. The phrase with four children in tow in the second paragraph is closest in meaning to _A_. A. with four children following closely behind her B. with four children tied to each other with a rope C. with four children dragging a rope held by her D. with four children dragged in a small cart 18. According to the passage, perceiving is an action _C_. A. that tells us information through our eyes B. that gives us senses in the mind C. that explains what our senses tell usD. that makes our mind different 19. The psychologists are trying to draw their conclusion_D_. A. by asking different people to tell how they perceive the same scene B. by using a scientific approach in setting up their experiments C. by determining how a person experiences the world around him D. by measuring and charting the results of many experiments 20. Which of the following statements is NOT true? C A. Different people may perceive the same scene in a different way.B. That a policeman gives a motorist a ticket means the motorist is fined.C. No people share the same perception when they are asked to see the same scene.D. The psychologists can control all of the factors in their experiments. Passage 5 To understand how Americans think about things, it is necessary to understand the point. Americans mention it often：Lets get right to the point, My point is .,Whats the point of all this?The point is the idea or piece of information that Americans suppose is, or should be, at the center of peoples thinking, writing, and spoken comments. Speakers and writers are supposed to make their points clear, meaning that they are supposed to write clearly the idea or piece of information they wish to express.People from many other cultures have different ideas about the point. Africans traditionally tell stories that express the thoughts they have in mind, rather than stating the point clearly. Japanese traditionally speak indirectly, leaving the listener to figure out what the point is. Thus, while an American might say to a friend, I dont think that coat goes very well with the rest of your outfit, a Japanese might say, Maybe this other coat would look even better than the one you have on. Americans value a person who gets right to the point. Japanese are likely to consider such a person insensitive if not rude.The Chinese and Japanese languages are characterized by vagueness and ambiguity（模糊）. The precision（精确）and directness Americans associate with the point cannot be achieved, at least not with any grace, in Chinese and Japanese. Speakers of those languages thus have to learn a new way of reasoning and expressing their ideas if they are going to communicate satisfactorily with Americans. 21. By “the point”,Americans mean_B_. A. the idea or information in their mindB. the most important idea or information C. what they think, write and speakD. what they wish to express 22. Compared with people from many other cultures, Americans are_A_. A. direct and honestB. clear and talkativeC. impolite and rudeD. traditional and silent 23. A typical American seems to be _D_to a typical Japanese. A. sensitive and rudeB. insensitive but not rude C. sensitive instead of rudeD. insensitive and even rude 24. Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage? D A. You are expected to state your idea clearly when speaking to an American. B. Telling stories to express their ideas is a traditional way of Africans. C. Japanese often imply their disapproval with polite words. D. Chinese and Japanese languages are hard to understand because they are not clear. 25. A conclusion can be made that_C_. A. Americans and Africans cannot communicate satisfactorilyB. Africans and Japanese cannot communicate satisfactorilyC. Misunderstanding may arise when Americans communicate with ChineseD. Chinese and Japanese will certainly get on well with each other Passage 6The only certainties Ive found in life are death and change. One is an end, the other a beginning. Change is life. Without change there would be no growth, no understanding, no relating and no surprises. We are by nature changing beings. Still, we seem to fear and resist it more than any other aspect of life. Healthy human beings welcome the opportunity to adapt to new experiences. In fact they are quite comfortable in a constant state of change. They know about the possibility of becoming someone new each moment. Only habit and indifference prevent the rest of us from having the same outlook. When we dont care, or submit ourselves to patterns and routines, we begin to stagnate. We are inclined to accept the comfortable illusion that life is a series of habits and conditioned responses. In reality this is a comfort more like a disease, which leads to a kind of intellectual and emotional death. We can allow ourselves and dynamic world to go to waste. Ellen Glasgow, an American novelist, said, “The only differences between a rut（车辙）and a grave are their dimensions.” To accept new ideas and give up old values and habits is not always comfortable. It is often easier for us to deny that there may be more appropriate, more creative possibilities for our lives. We fail to understand that when we resist potentialities, life becomes at best a continual struggle; at worst, it passes us by and we are left alone and lonely. 26. Which of the following best expresses the main idea of the first paragraph? C A. Change is as inevitable as death. B. Some of us fear change because it leads to death. C. Change is characteristic of the life of human beings. D. Death is the inevitable result of change. 27. Which of the following is NOT true? A A. All human beings want to be healthy by adapting to new experiences. B. Some people do not welcome change as a result of habit and indifference. C. Constant change results in comfort for some people. D. Healthy human beings are not subjected to habit and indifference, and keep on trying to become someone new. 28. According to the passage, “The only differences between a rut and a grave are their dimensions” suggests that _A_. A. if we regard life as a series of habits and conditioned responses, our life actually ends B. some people die a kind of intellectual and emotional death C. death is inevitable D. too much comfort often results in death29. The word “stagnate” in paragraph 3 means _B_. A. stop working hardB. stop developing C. become weakD. fall ill30. The authors main purpose in writing the last paragraph is _C_. A. to tell us that if we resist change, well suffer from loneliness in life B. to show the reason why some people do not accept new ideas or give up old values and habits C. to come to the conclusion that if we go against the law of change, it will be impossible for us to enjoy life D. to show that it is because of our desire to seek comfort that we tend to deny our livesPassage 7Many of us believe that a persons mind becomes less active as he grows older. But this is not true, according to Dr. Lissy F. Jarvik, professor of psychiatry (精神病学) at the university of California, Los Angeles, and a board member of the New Center for Aging at the Veterans Hospital. She has studied the mental functioning of aging persons for several years. For example, one of her studies concern 136 pairs of identical twins, who were first examined when they were already 60 years old. As Dr. Jarvik continued the study of the twins into their 70s and 80s, their minds did not generally decline as was expected.However, there was some decline in their psycho-motor speed. This means that it took them longer to complete mental tasks than it used to. But when speed was not a factor, they lost very little intellectual ability over the years. In general, Dr. Jarviks studies have shown that there is no decline in knowledge or reasoning ability. This is true not only into the 30s and 40s, but into the 60s and 70s as well.As for learning new things, and ability to remember, studies by Dr. Jarvik and others show that the old are equal to the young. It is true that older people themselves often complain that their memory is not as good as it once was. However, much of what we call “loss of memory” is not that at all. There usually was incomplete learning in the first place. For example, the older person perhaps had trouble hearing, or poor vision, or inattention, or was trying to learn the new thing at too fast a pace.In the cases where the older persons mind really seems to decay (衰退), it is not necessarily a sign of a decay due to old age. Often it is simply a sign of a depressed emotional state. This depression usually can be counteracted by counseling, a medical treatment with a psychologist, which fights depression. In American society, when an older person loses something, we tend to call him or her “senile”. But notice that when a younger person loses something, he does not blame it on senility or loss of memory. He finds some other excuse!31. According to Dr. Jarviks studies, middle-aged and older persons should expect to _D_. A. remember lessB. reason betterC. learn fewer new thingsD. lose little ability to remember, reason or learn 32. A long term study of 136 pairs of twins showed that the only factor that declined over the years was _B_. A. the reasoning abilityB. the psycho-motor speedC. the decline in knowledgeD. the loss of intellectual ability 33. Both younger and older persons should realize that _D_. A. a sign of a decay due to old age is a natural lawB. mental decay due to aging is closely r