四级考试阅读答案(3)

2020-04-26其他类

　　A. “It’s no use crying over spilt milk” B. “More haste, less speed”

　　C. “Look before you leap” D. “He who laughs last laughs best”

　　参考答案：CDDC

　　公共英语四级阅读练习题【二】

　　If ambition is to be well regarded, the rewards of ambition — wealth, distinction, control over one’s destiny — must be deemed worthy of the sacrifices made on ambition’s behalf. If the tradition of ambition is to have vitality, it must be widely shared; and it especially must be highly regarded by people who are themselves admired, the educated not least among them. In an odd way, however, it is the educated who have claimed to have given up on ambition as an ideal. What is odd is that they have perhaps most benefited from ambition — if not always their own then that of their parents and grandparents. There is a heavy note of hypocrisy in this, a case of closing the barn door after the horses have escaped — with the educated themselves riding on them.

　　Certainly people do not seem less interested in success and its signs now than formerly. Summer homes, European travel, BMWs — the locations, place names and name brands may change, but such items do not seem less in demand today than a decade or two years ago. What has happened is that people cannot confess fully to their dreams, as easily and openly as once they could, lest they be thought pushing, acquisitive and vulgar. Instead, we are treated to fine hypocritical spectacles, which now more than ever seem in ample supply: the critic of American materialism with a Southampton summer home; the publisher of radical books who takes his meals in three-star restaurants; the journalist advocating participatory democracy in all phases of life, whose own children are enrolled in private schools. For such people and many more perhaps not so exceptional, the proper formulation is, “Succeed at all costs but avoid appearing ambitious.”

　　The attacks on ambition are many and come from various angles; its public defenders are few and unimpressive, where they are not extremely unattractive. As a result, the support for ambition as a healthy impulse, a quality to be admired and fixed in the mind of the young, is probably lower than it has ever been in the United States. This does not mean that ambition is at an end, that people no longer feel its stirrings and promptings, but only that, no longer openly honored, it is less openly professed. Consequences follow from this, of course, some of which are that ambition is driven underground, or made sly. Such, then, is the way things stand: on the left angry critics, on the right stupid supporters, and in the middle, as usual, the majority of earnest people trying to get on in life.

　　1. It is generally believed that ambition may be well regarded if ____.

　　A. its returns well compensate for the sacrifices

　　B. it is rewarded with money, fame and power

　　C. its goals are spiritual rather than material

　　D. it is shared by the rich and the famous

　　2. The last sentence of the first paragraph most probably implies that it is ____.

　　A. customary of the educated to discard ambition in words

　　B. too late to check ambition once it has been let out

　　C. dishonest to deny ambition after the fulfillment of the goal

　　D. impractical for the educated to enjoy benefits from ambition

　　3. Some people do not openly admit they have ambition because ____.

　　A. they think of it as immoral

　　B. their pursuits are not fame or wealth

　　C. ambition is not closely related to material benefits

　　D. they do not want to appear greedy and contemptible

　　4. From the last paragraph the conclusion can be drawn that ambition should be maintained ____.

　　A. secretly and vigorously B. openly and enthusiastically

　　C. easily and momentarily D. verbally and spiritually

　　参考答案：ACDB

　　公共英语四级阅读练习题【三】

　　People living on parts of the south coast of England face a serious problem. In 1993, the owners of a large hotel and of several houses discovered, to their horror, that their gardens had disappeared overnight. The sea had eaten into the soft limestone cliffs on which they had been built. While experts were studying the problem, the hotel and several houses disappeared altogether, sliding down the cliff and into the sea.

　　Erosion (侵蚀) of the white cliffs along the south coast of England has always been a problem but it has become more serious in recent years. Dozens of homes have had to be abandoned as the sea has crept farther and farther inland. Experts have studied the areas most affected and have drawn up a map for local people, forecasting the year in which their homes will be swallowed up by the hungry sea.

　　Angry owners have called on the Government to erect sea defenses to protect their homes. Government surveyors have pointed out that in most cases, this is impossible. New sea walls would cost hundreds of millions of pounds and would merely make the waves and currents go further along the coast, shifting the problem from one area to another. The danger is likely to continue, they say, until the waves reach an inland area of hard rock which will not be eaten as limestone is. Meanwhile, if you want to buy a cheap house with an uncertain future, apply to a house agent in one of the threatened areas on the south coast of England. You can get a house for a knockdown price but it may turn out to be a knockdown home.

　　1. What is the cause of the problem that people living on parts of the south coast of England face?

　　A) The disappearance of hotels, houses and gardens.

　　B) The experts’ lack of knowledge.

　　C) The rising of the sea level.

　　D) The washing-away of limestone cliffs.

　　2. The erosion of the white cliffs in the south of England ________.

　　A) will soon become a problem for people living in central England

　　B) has now become a threat to the local residents

　　C) is quickly changing the map of England

　　D) can be stopped if proper measures are taken

　　3. The experts’study on the problem of erosion can ________.

　　A) lead to its eventual solution