大学英语4级考试2.docx

大学英语4级考试2.docx

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大学英语4级考试2

大学英语4级考试

PartⅠWriting（30minutes）

1.每年，高校许多大学生受到鼓舞去贫困地区支教。

2.支教活动的意义。

3.我的看法。

Aid--EducationinChina

PartⅡReadingComprehension（SkimmingandScanning）（15minutes）

WillWeRunOutofWater?

Picturea“ghostship”sinkingintothesand,lefttorotondrylandbyarecedingsea.Thenimagineduststormssweepinguptoxicpesticidesandchemicalfertilizersfromthedryseabedandspewingthemacrosstownsandvillages.

Seemlikeascenefromamovieabouttheendoftheworld?

ForpeoplelivingneartheAralsea（咸海）inCentralAsia,it’salltooreal.Thirtyyearsago,governmentplannersdivertedtheriversthatflowintotheseainordertoirrigate（providewaterfor）farmland.Asaresult,theseahasshrunktohalfitsoriginalsize,stranding（使搁浅）shipsondryland.Theseawaterhastripledinsaltcontentandbecomepolluted,killingall24nativespeciesoffish.

Similarlarge--scaleeffortstoredirectwaterinotherpartsoftheworldhavealsoendedinecologicalcrisis,accordingtonumerousenvironmentalgroups.Butmanycountriescontinuetobuildmassivedamsandirrigationsystems,eventhoughsuchprojectscancreatemoreproblemsthantheyfix.Why?

Peopleinmanypartsoftheworldaredesperateforwater,andmorepeoplewillneedmorewaterinthenextcentury.

“Growingpopulationswillworsenproblemswithwater,”saysPeterH.Gleick,anenvironmentalscientistatthePacificInstituteforstudiesinDevelopment,Environment,andSecurity,aresearchorganizationinCalifornia.Hefearsthatbytheyear2025,asmanyasone--thirdoftheworld’sprojected（预测的）8.3billionpeoplewillsufferfromwatershortages.

WHEREWATERGOES

Only2.5percentofallwateronEarthisfreshwater,watersuitablefordrinkingandgrowingfood,saysSandraPostel,directoroftheGlobalWaterPolicyProjectinAmherst,Mass.Two--thirdsofthisfreshwaterislockedinglaciers（冰山）andicecaps（冰盖）.Infact,onlyatinypercentageoffreshwaterispartofthewatercycle,inwhichwaterevaporatesandrisesintotheatmosphere,thencondensesandfallsbacktoEarthasprecipitation（rainorsnow）.

Someprecipitationrunsofflandtolakesandoceans,andsomebecomesgroundwater,waterthatseepsintotheearth.MuchofthisrenewablefreshwaterendsupinremoteplacesliketheAmazonRiverbasininBrazil,wherefewpeoplelive.Infact,theworld’spopulationhasaccesstoonly12,500cubickilometersoffreshwater—abouttheamountofwaterinLakeSuperior（苏必利尔湖）.Andpeopleusehalfofthisamountalready.“Ifwaterdemandcontinuestoclimbrapidly,”saysPostel,“therewillbesevereshortagesanddamagetotheaquatic（水的）environment.”

CLOSETOHOME

Waterwoes（灾难）mayseemremotetopeoplelivinginrichcountriesliketheUnitedStates.ButAmericanscouldfaceseriouswatershortages,tooespeciallyinareasthatrelyongroundwater.Groundwateraccumulatesinaquifers（地下蓄水层），layersofsandandgravelthatliebetweensoilandbedrock.（Foreveryliterofsurfacewater,morethan90litersarehiddenunderground.）AlthoughtheUnitedStateshaslargeaquifers,farmers,ranchers,andcitiesaretappingmanyofthemforwaterfasterthannaturecanreplenish（补充）it.InnorthwestTexas,forexample,over-pumpinghasshrunkgroundwatersuppliesby25percent,accordingtoPostel.

Americansmayfaceevenmoreurgentproblemsfrompollution.DrinkingwaterintheUnitedStatesisgenerallysafeandmeetshighstandards.Nevertheless,oneinfiveAmericanseverydayunknowinglydrinkstapwatercontaminatedwithbacteriaandchemicalwastes,accordingtotheEnvironmentalProtectionAgency.InMilwaukee,400,000peoplefellillin1993afterdrinkingtapwatertaintedwithcryptosporidium（隐孢子虫），amicrobe（微生物）thatcausesfever,diarrhea（腹泻）andvomiting.

THESOURCE

Wheresocontaminantscomefrom?

Indevelopingcountries,peopledumpraw（未经处理的）sewage（污水）intothesamestreamsandriversfromwhichtheydrawwaterfordrinkingandcooking;about250millionpeopleayeargetsickfromwaterborne（饮水传染的）diseases.

Indevelopedcountries,manufacturersuse100,000chemicalcompoundstomakeawiderangeofproducts.Toxicchemicalspollutewaterwhenreleaseduntreatedintoriversandlakes.（Certaincompounds,suchaspolychlorinatedbiphenyls（多氯化联二苯），orPCBs,havebeenbannedintheUnitedStates.）

Butalmosteveryonecontributestowaterpollution.Peopleoftenpourhouseholdcleaners,carantifreeze,andpaintthinners（稀释剂）downthedrain;allofthesecontainhazardouschemicals.ScientistsstudyingwaterintheSanFranciscoBayreportedin1996that70percentofthepollutantscouldbetracedtohouseholdwaste.

Farmershavebeencriticizedforoverusingherbicidesandpesticides,chemicalsthatkillweedsandinsectsbutinsectsbutthatpollutewateraswell.Farmersalsousenitrates,nitrogen--richfertilizerthathelpsplantsgrowbutthatcanwreakhavoc（大破坏）ontheenvironment.Nitratesaresweptawaybysurfacerunofftolakesandseas.Toomanynitrates“overenrich”thesebodiesofwater,encouragingthebuildupofalgae,ormicroscopicplantsthatliveonthesurfaceofthewater.Algaedeprivethewaterofoxygenthatfishneedtosurvive,attimeschokingofflifeinanentirebodyofwater.

WHAT’STHESOLUTION?

WaterexpertGleickadvocatesconservationandlocalsolutionstowater--relatedproblems;governments,forinstance,wouldbebetteroffbuildingsmall--scaledamsratherthanhugeanddisruptiveprojectsliketheonethatruinedtheAralSea.

“Morethan1billionpeopleworldwidedon’thaveaccesstobasiccleandrinkingwater,”saysGleick.“Therehastobeastrongpushonthepartofeveryone—governmentsandordinarypeople—tomakesurewehavearesourcesofundamentaltolife.”

1.ThatthehugewaterprojectshavedivertedtheriverscausestheAralSeatoshrink.

2.Theconstructionofmassivedamsandirrigationprojectsdoesmoregoodthanharm.

3.Thechiefcausesofwatershortagearepopulationgrowthandwaterpollution.

4.TheproblemsAmericansfaceconcerningwateraregroundwatershrinkageandtapwaterpollution.

5.Accordingtothepassageallwaterpollutantscomefromhouseholdwaste.

6.ThepeoplelivingintheUnitedStateswillnotbefacedwithwatershortages.

7.WaterexpertGleickhascomeupwiththebestsolutiontowater—relatedproblems.

8.AccordingtoPeterH.Gleick,bytheyear2025,asmanyasoftheworld’speoplewillsufferfromwatershortages.

9.TwothirdsofthefreshwateronEarthislockedin.

10.Indevelopedcountries,beforetoxicchemicalsarereleasedintoriversandlakes,theyshouldbetreatedinordertoavoid.

PartⅣReadingComprehension（ReadinginDepth）（25minutes）

Ifoursocietyeverneededareadingrenaissance（复兴）,it’snow.TheNationalEndowmentfortheArtsreleased“ReadingatRisk”lastyear,astudyshowingthatadultreading47havedropped10percentagepointsinthepastdecade,withthesteepestdropamongthose18to24.“Onlyonehalfofyoungpeoplereadabookofanykindin2002.Wesetthebaralmostontheground.Ifyoureadoneshortstoryinateenagermagazine,thatwouldhave48,”lamentsadirectorofresearchandanalysis.He49thelossofreaderstotheboomingworldoftechnology,whichattractswould—beleisurereaderstoE—mail,IMchats,andvideogamesandleavesthemwithnotimetocopewithanovel.

“Thesenewformsofmediaundoubtedlyhavesomebenefits,”saysStevenJohnson,authorofEverythingBadIsGoodforYou.Videogames50problem—solvingskills;TVshowspromotementalgymnasticsby51viewerstofollowcomplexstorylines.Butbooksofferexperiencethatcan’tbegainedfromtheseothersources,from52vocabularytostretchingtheimagination.“Ifthey’renotreadingatall,”saysJohnson,“that’sahugeproblem.”

Infact,fewerkidsarereadingforpleasure.Accordingtodata53lastweekfromtheNationalCenterforEducationalStatistic’slong—termtrendassessment,thenumberof17—year—oldswhoreportedneverorhardlyeverreadingforfun54from9percentin1984to19percentin2004.Atthesametime,the55of17—year—oldswhoreaddailydroppedfrom31to22.

Thisslowbutsteadyretreatfrombookshasnotyettakenatollonreadingability.Scoresforthenation’syouthhave56constantoverthepasttwodecades（withanencouragingupswingamong9—year—olds）.Butgiventhestrongapparentcorrelationbetweenpleasurereadingandreadingskills,thismeanspoorlyforthefuture.

A.percentB.roseC.roseD.ratesE.percentage

F.countedG.relievedH.presentI.BelievingJ.released

K.forcingL.improveM.StylesN.buildingO.attributes

PassageOne

Thereisanewtypeofsmalladvertisementbecomingincreasinglycommoninnewspaperclassifiedcolumns.Itissometimesplacedamong“situationsvacant”,althoughitdoesnotofferanyoneajob,andsometimesitappearsamong“situationswanted”,althoughitisnotplacedbysomeonelookingforajob,either.Whatitdoesistoofferhelpinapplyingforajob.

“Contactusbeforewritingyourapplication”,or“Makeuseofourlongexperienceinpreparingyourcurriculumvitaeorjobhistory”,ishowitisusuallyexpressed.Thegrowthandapparentsuccessofsuchaspecializedserviceis,ofcourse,areflectiononthecurrenthighlevelsofunemployment.Itisalsoanindicationofthegrowingimportanceofthecurriculumvitae（orjobhistory）,withthesuggestionthatitmaynowqualifyasanartforminitsownright.

Therewasatimewhenjobseekerssimplywrotelettersofapplication.“Justputdownyourname,address,ageandwhetheryouhavepassedanyexams”,wasabouttheaveragelevelofadviceofferedtoyoungpeopleapplyingfortheirfirstjobswhenIleftschool.Theletterwasreallyju