一年级第二学期阅读资料50篇-四级.doc

大学英语四级阅读理解题Passage 1Eye contact is a nonverbal technique that helps the speaker sell his or her ideas to an audience. Beside its persuasive powers, eye contact helps hold 1tstener interest. A successful speaker must maintain eye contact with an audience. To have good rapport (关系 ) with 1isteners, a speaker should maintain direct eye contact for at least 75 percent of the time. some speakers focus exclusively on their notes. Others gaze over the heads of the1r listeners. Both are likely to lose audience interest and esteem People who maintain eye contact while speaking, whether from a podium (演讲台) or from across the table, are regarded not only as exceptionally well-disposed by their target but also as more believable and earnest.To show the potency of ey6 contact in daily life, we have only to consider how passers-by behave when their glances happen to meet on the street. At one extreme are those people who feel obliged to smile when they make eye contact. At the other extreme are for who feel awkward and immediately look away. To make eye contact, it seems, is to make a certain 1ink with someone.- Eye contact with an audience also 1ets a speaker. know and monitor the listeners. It is, in fact, essential for analyzing an audience during a speech. Visual cues(暗示)from audience members can indicate that a speech is dragging, that the speaker is dwelling on a particular point for too long, or that a particular point requires further explanation. As we have pointed out, visual feed-back form listeners should play an important role in shaping a speech as it is delivered.l. This passage is mainly concerned with_a. the importance of eye contact b. the potency of nonverbal techniquesd. successful speech delivery d. an effective way to gain visual feedbacks2. According to the passage a good speaker must _.a. “sell” his or her ideas to an audience b. maintain direct eye contact with listenersc. be very persuasive and believable d. be exceptionally well-disposed3. The word “target” in the last sentence of the first paragraph can best be replaced by _. a. destination b. goal c. audience d. followers4. In daily life, when the glances of two passers-by happen to meet, these persons will inevitably _. a. smile to each other b. feel awkward and look away immediately c. try to make a conversation with each other d. none of the above5. Eye contact with an audience, according to the author, has all the following benefits for the speaker EXCEPT that it doesnt help the speaker_. a. to control the audience b. to gain audience interest and esteem c. to know whether he is talking too much about a certain point d. to analyze his audience when he is beginning his speechPassage 2 After the very active and successful tenure (任职)of office by the Senegalese president as the head of the Organization of African Unit, it was highly logical to think that the successor, whoever might be, would have a difficult task in doing a better job. The Congolese president set to work as soon as he was elected. His first step was to suggest to the dean of heads of state present in the Ethiopia capital, President Kenneth Kaunda of Zambia, to summon a meeting of the leaders of countries that lies close to South Africa. Its aim: to define a strategy in order to overcome the reprisals(报复行为) that the racist regime of Pretoria is likely to take against its neighbors in case sanctions(制裁)are imposed by the international community. President Sassou Nguesso has already undertaken a number of trips abroad. He thus went to Harare (Zimbabwe) where he delivered a speech, on September 1, on behalf of Africa before the summit meeting of non-aligned (不结盟)nations. At the end of September, he was in New York, for a statement before the General Assembly of the United Nations, and then in Washington, for talks with high-ranking members of the Reagan Administration. He then went to Ottawa, for consultations with leading members of the Canadian government. The Congolese presidents aim, in all these endeavors, is to convince still reluctant countries of the imperious (紧迫的) necessity of imposing sanctions against the racist regime of Pretoria.1. In the first paragraph, the word “successor” refers to _.a. a person who enjoyed a successful career in politicsb. a person who was very popular in the political arenac. the person who was to lead the organizationd. the president head of the organization2. According to the passage, Sassou Nguesso _.a. is Congolese b. knew that is was very difficult for him to be electedc. was elected without any opposition d. has held a meeting in the Ethiopian capital3. Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage?a. President Saasou Nguesso has decided to visit as many American countries as possibleb. President Saasou Nguesso made a suggestion to President Kenneth Kaunda that a meeting be held of the leaders of countries that lies close to South Africa.c. President Saasou Nguesso went to Harare and delivered a speech thered. If sanctions are imposed against South Africa by the international community, the racist regime of Pretoria will probably revenge on its neighbors.4. We may draw the conclusion that President Saasou Nguesso has been working really hard to _.a. prove himself a truth-worthy president b. convince some reluctant countries that it is highly necessary to impose sanctions against the racist regime of Pretoria.c. show to the whole world the strength and power of the Organization of Africa Unityd. seek financial support from some advanced countries to promote African economy5. This piece is most probably taken from _.a. a newspaper report b. a biology c. a history book d. a Whos Who Passage 3 Another common type of reasoning is the search for causes and results. We want to know whether cigarettes really do cause lung cancer, what causes malnutrition, the decay of cities, or the decay of teeth. We are equally interested in effects: what is the effect of sulphur or lead in the atmosphere, of oil spills and raw sewage in rivers and the sea, of staying up late on the night before an examination? Causal reasoning may go from cause to effect or from effect to cause. Either way, we reason from what we know to what we want to find out. Sometimes we reason from an effect to a cause and then on to another effect. Thus, if we reason that because the lights have gone out, the refrigerator wont work, we first relate the effect (light out ) to the cause(power off) and then relate that cause to another effect (refrigerator not working). This kind of reasoning is called, for short, effect to effect. It is quite common to reason through an extensive chain of causal relations. When the lights go out we might reason in the following chain: lights out-power offrefrigerator not working-temperature will rise- milk will sour. In other words, we diagnose a succession of effects from the power failure, each becoming the cause of the next. Causes are classified as necessary, sufficient or contributory. A necessary cause is one which must be present for the effect to occur, as combustion is necessary to drive a gasoline engine. A sufficient cause is one which can produce an effect unaided, though there may be more than one sufficient cause: a dead battery is enough to keep a car from starting, but faulty spark plugs or an empty gas tank will have the same effect. A contributory cause is one which helps to produce an effect but cannot do so by itself, as running through a red light ,may help cause an accident, though other factors -pedestrians or other cars in the interaction-must also be present. In establishing or refuting a casual relation it is usually necessary to show the process by which the alleged（所谓的）cause produces the effect. Such an explanation is called a causal process.1. What the author discussed in the previous section is most probably about _.a. relationship between causes and effect b. classification of reasoning c. some other common types of reasoning d. some special type of reasoning2. According to the passage, to do the “effect to effect” reasoning is to reason _.a. from cause to effect b. from effect to cause c. from effect to effect and on to cause d. from effect to cause and on to another effect3. A necessary cause is _.a. one without which it is impossible for the effect to occurb. one of the causes that can produce the effectc. one that is enough to make the effect occurd. none of them4. Your refrigerator is not working and you have found that the electric power has been cut off. The power failure is a _.a. necessary cause b. sufficient cause c. contributory cause d. none of them5. This passage mainly discusses _.a. causal reasoning b. various types of reasoning c. classification of causesd. the causal processPassage 4 I hear many parents complaining that their teenage children are rebelling. I wish it were so. At your age, you ought to be growing away from your parents. You should be learning to stand on your own two feet. But take a good look at the present rebellion. It seems that teenagers are all taking the same way of showing that they disagree with their parents. Instead of striking out boldly on their own, most of them are clutching at one anothers hands for reassurance. They claim they want to dress as they please. But they all wear the same clothes. They set off in new directions in music. But somehow they all end up huddled round listening to the same record. Their reason for thinking or acting in thus-and-such a way is that the crowd is doing it. They have come out of their cocoon(蚕茧)-into a large cocoon. It has become harder and harder for a teenager to stand up against the popularity wave and to go his or her own way. Industry has firmly carved out a teenage market. These days every teenager can learn from the advertisements what a teenager should have and be. And many of todays parents have come to award high marks for the popularity of their children. All this adds up to a great barrier for the teenager who wants to find his or her own path. But the barrier is worth climbing over. The path is worth following. You may want to listen to classical music instead of going to a party. You may want to collect rocks when everyone else is collecting records. You may have some thoughts that you dont care to share at once with your classmates. Well, got to it. Find yourself. By yourself. Popularity will comewith the people who respect you for who you are. Thats the only kind of popularity that really counts.1. The authors purpose in writing this passage is to tell _.a. readers how to be popular with people around b. teenagers how to learn to decide things for themselvesc. parents how to control and guide their childrend. people how to understand and respect each other 2. According to the author, many teenagers think they are brave enough to act on their own, but, in fact, most of them_.a. have much difficulty understanding each other b. lack confidencec. dare not cope with problems single-handed d. are very much afraid of getting lost3. Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?a. there is no popularity that really countsb. What many parents care doing is in fact hindering their children from finding their own pathsc. It is not necessarily bad for a teenager to disagree with his or her classmatesd. Most teenagers claim that they want to do what they like to, but they are actually doing the same4. the author thinks of advertisements as _. a. convincing b. influential c. instructive d. authoritative 5. During the teenager years, one should learn to _.a. differ from others in an many ways as possible b. get into the right season and become popularc. find ones real self d. rebel against parents and popularity wavePassage 5 It has been shown that children who smoke have certain characteristics. Compared with nonsmokers they are more rebellious, their work deteriorate as they mover up school. They are more likely to leave school early, and are more often delinquent(犯法) sexually precocious(早熟). Many of these features can be summarized as anticipation of adulthood. There are a number of factors which determine the onset of smoking, and these are largely psychological and social. They include availability of cigarettes, curiosity, rebelliousness, appearing tough, anticipation of adulthood, social confidence, the example of parents and teachers, and smoking by friends and older brothers and sisters.It should be much easier to prevent children from starting to smoke that to persuade adults to give up the habit once established, but in fact this has proved very difficult. The example set by people in authority, especially parents, health care workers, an teachers, is of prime importance. School rules should forbid smoking by children on the premises(大楼及附属建筑物). This rule has been introduced at Summerhill School where I spent my schooldays. There is, however, a risk of children smoking just to rebel against the rules, and even in those schools which have tried to enforce no smoking by corporal (肉体的) punishment there is as much smoking as in other schools. Nevertheless, banning smoking is probably on balance beneficial. Teachers too should not smoke on school premises, at least not in front of children.a. In this passage the author puts an emphasis on _.a. the effect of smoking among children b. the difficulty in preventing children from smokingc. the reasons why children start smoking d. the measures to ban smoking among children2. Which of the following is a common characteristic of young smokers?a. disobedience b. laziness c. lack of intelligence d. vanity3. Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?a. some children start to smoke out of curiosity b. many children start to smoke because they want to appear maturec. in order to have fewer children smokers, parents, teachers and health care workers should not smoked. it is not as so difficult to prevent children from starting to smoke as to dissuade adults from smoking3. The writer concludes that school rules to forbid smoking _.a. should be introduced, for it really works at the school where he once studied b. should not be introduced, for it may cause disturbancec. should be introduced though it may not work effectivelyd. neednt be introduced as long as teachers dont smoke in front of children4. The authors attitude towards his writing is _.a. objective b. emotional c. critical d. indifferent Passage 6. When astronaut Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon for the first time, on July 20, 1969, it represented one of the most inspiring achievements in mans history to millions of people throughout the world. But to a small organization called the International Flat Earth Research Society, it was nothing more than a piece of cleverly-stage-managed science-fiction trickery.And Armstrongs historic words when stepping down from the Eager module(宇宙飞船船创)onto the dusty lunar surface about 240,000 miles from earth- “ one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind”- was a phrase that could have come only from the pen of a scriptwriter. As for the pictures reputedly (一般被认为) taken in space showing the earth to be a rotating sphere, well, these were just too ludicrous (可笑的) for words . The sun, say the Flat Earthers, circuits the earth instead of revolving around the sun- a notion that most people take for granted. The society, whose membership is currently estimated to be about 1,400, dismissed much of accepted modern thinking about the shape of the earth as sheer nonsense and is convinced that the entire human race is being subjected to the greatest hoax (骗局) in history. From its headquarters in Lancaster, California, the society wages a war of words through newsletters and pamphlets against the evils of science. The society was founded about 1800 in Great Britain and the United States and, says its American president Charles Johnson, was descended from the Zetetic society, which took its name from an ancient Greek philosophical school of skeptics. It survived under this name until 1956, when its general secretary, Samule Shenton, of Kent, England, changed the name to the present title. The societys belief is this : that the earth is flat, with the land masses grouped around the center point of the North Pole. The Antarctic region is not the compact island mass it is commonly believed to be but an impenetrable ice-cold girdle(环形物) around the earth. The Flat Earthers argue that trans-antarctic Expeditions have never happened. Explorers, misled by instrument faults, merely traveled an icy arc within the girdle.1. To the International Flat Earth Research Society, mans first landing on the moon was _.a. one of the most inspiring events in mans historyb. only a well-conducted experiment c. just a smartly-performed trickd. a science-fiction piece produced by a certain scriptwriter2. Which of the following is NOT true about the society?a. it now has about 1,400 membersb. its headquarters are in both Great Britain and the United statesc. After its foundation in 1800, it was called the Zetetic Societyd. In 1956, Samuel Shenton Johnson changed its name to the president title3. According to the societys belief, _.a. the earth is flat and the Artctic is an impenetrable ice-cold girdle around the earthb. the Antarctic region is a compact island massc. some explorer