英语四级真题及答案解析第二套Word下载.docx

英语四级真题及答案解析第二套Word下载.docx

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　　PartIIIReadingComprehension（40minutes）

　　SectionA

　　Directions:

Inthissection,thereisapassagewithtenblanks.Youarerequiredtoselectonewordforeachblankfromalistofchoicesgiveninawordbankfollowingthepassage.

　　Contrarytopopularbelief,olderpeoplegenerallydonotwanttolivewith

　　Increasingly,researchershavebeguntolookatthequalityofrelationships,ratherthanatthefrequencyofcontact,betweentheelderlyandtheirchildren.Ifparentsandchildrenshareinterestsandvaluesandagreeonchildrearingpracticesandreligious_____（33）theyarelikelytoenjoyeachother'

scompany.Disagreementsonsuchmatterscan_____（34）causeproblems.Ifparentsareangeredbytheirdaughter'

sdivorce,dislikehernewhusband,anddisapproveofhowsheisraisingtheirgrandchildren,_____（35）arethattheyarenotgoingtoenjoyhervisits.

A.abandoned

B.advanced

C.biased

D.chances

E.commitment

F.dampens

G.dependent

H.distant

I.frequent

J.fulfillment

K.grant

L.merely

M.provide

N.understandably

O.unrealistically

　　SectionB

Inthissection,youaregoingtoreadapassagewithtenstatementsattachedtoit.Eachstatementcontainsinformationgiveninoneoftheparagraphs.Identifytheparagraphfromwhichtheinformationisderived.Youmaychooseaparagraphmorethanonce.Eachparagraphismarkedwithaletter.AnswerthequestionsbymarkingthecorrespondingletteronAnswerSheet2.

CouldFoodShortagesBringDownCivilization?

　　[A]FormanyyearsIhavestudiedglobalagricultural,population,environmentalandeconomictrendsandtheirinteractions.Thecombinedeffectsofthosetrendsandthepoliticaltensionstheygeneratepointtothebreakdownofgovernmentsandsocieties.YetI,too,haveresistedtheideathatfoodshortagescouldbringdownnotonlyindividualgovernmentsbutalsoourglobalcivilization.

　　[B]Icannolongerignorethatrisk.Ourcontinuingfailuretodealwiththeenvironmentaldeclinesthatareunderminingtheworldfoodeconomyforcesmetoconcludethatsuchacollapseispossible.

　　[C]Asdemandforfoodrisesfasterthansuppliesaregrowing,theresultingfood-priceinflationputsseverestressonthegovernmentsofmanycountries.Unabletobuygrainorgrowtheirown,hungrypeopletaketothestreets.Indeed,evenbeforethesteepclimbingrainpricesin2008,thenumberoffailingstateswasexpanding.Ifthefoodsituationcontinuestoworsen,entirenationswillbreakdownataneverincreasingrate.Inthe20thcenturythemainthreattointernationalsecuritywassuperpowerconflict;

todayitisfailingstates.

　　[D]Statesfailwhennationalgovernmentscannolongerprovidepersonalsecurity,foodsecurityandbasicsocialservicessuchaseducationandhealthcare.Whengovernmentslosetheircontrolonpower,lawandorderbegintodisintegrate.Afterapoint,countriescanbecomesodangerousthatfoodreliefworkersarenolongersafeandtheirprogramsarehalted.Failingstatesareofinternationalconcernbecausetheyareasourceofterrorists,drugs,weaponsandrefugees（难民）,threateningpoliticalstabilityeverywhere.

　　[E]Thesurgeinworldgrainpricesin2007and2008—andthethreattheyposetofoodsecurity——hasadifferent,moretroublingqualitythantheincreasesofthepast.Duringthesecondofthe20thcentury,grainpricesrosedramaticallyseveraltimes.In1972,forinstance,theSoviets.Irecognizingtheirpoorharvestearly,quietlycorneredtheworldwheatmarket.Asaresult,wheatpriceselsewheremorethandoubled,pullingriceandcompricesupwiththem.Butthisandotherpriceshockswereevent-driven——droughtintheSovietUnion,crop-shrinkingheatintheU.S.CornBelt.Andtheriseswereshort-lived:

pricestypicallyreturnedtonormalwiththenextharvest.

　　[F]Incontrast,recentsurgeinworldgrainpricesistrend-driven,makingitunlikelytoreversewithoutareversalinthetrendsthemselves.Onthedemandside,thosetrendsincludetheongoingadditionofmorethan70millionpeopleayear,agrowingnumberofpeoplewantingtomoveupthefoodchaintoconsumehighlygrain-intensivemeatproducts,andthemassivediversion（转向）ofU.S.graintotheproductionofbio-fuel.

　　[G]Asincomesriseamonglow-incomeconsumers,thepotentialforfurthergrainconsumptionishuge.Butthatpotentialpalesbesidethenever-endingdemandforcrop-basedfuels.Afourthofthisyear'

sU.S.grainharvestwillgotofuelcars.

　　[H]Whataboutsupply?

Thethreeenvironmentaltrends——theshortageoffreshwater,thelossoftopsoilandtherisingtemperatures——aremakingitincreasinglyhardtoexpandtheworld'

sgrainsupplyfastenoughtokeepupwithdemand.Ofallthosetrends,however,thespreadofwatershortagesposesthemostimmediatethreat.Thebiggestchallengehereisirrigation,whichconsumes70%theworld'

sfreshwater.Millionsofirrigationwellsinmanycountriesarenowpumpingwateroutofundergroundsourcesfasterthanrainfallcanrefillthem.Theresultisfallingwatertables（地下水位）incountrieswithhalftheworld'

speople,includingthethreebiggrainproducers——China,IndiaandtheU.S.

　　[I]Aswatertableshavefallenandirrigationwellshavegonedry,China'

swheatcrop,theworld'

slargest,hasdeclinedby8%sinceitpeakedat123milliontonsin1997.ButwatershortagesareevenmoreworryinginIndia.Millionsofirrigationwellshavesignificantlyloweredwatertablesinalmosteverystate.

　　[J]Astheworld'

sfoodsecurityfallstopieces,individualcountriesactingintheirownself-interestareactuallyworseningthetroublesofmany.Thetrendbeganin2007,whenleadingwheat-exportingcountriessuchasRussiaandArgentinalimitedorbannedtheirexports,inhopesofincreasinglocalfoodsuppliesandtherebybringingdowndomesticfoodprices.Vietnambanneditsexportsforseveralmonthsforthesamereason.Suchmovesmayeliminatethefearsofthoselivingintheexportingcountries,buttheyarecreatingpanicinimportingcountriesthatmustrelyonwhatisthenleftforexport.

　　[K]Inresponsetothoserestrictions,grain-importingcountriesaretryingtonaildownlong-termtradeagreementsthatwouldlockupfuturegrainsupplies.Food-importanxietyisevenleadingtoneweffortsbyfood-importingcountriestobuyorleasefarmlandinothercountries.Inspiteofsuchtemporarymeasures,soaringfoodpricesandspreadinghungerinmanyothercountriesarebeginningtobreakdownthesocialorder.

　　[L]Sincethecurrentworldfoodshortageistrend-driven,theenvironmentaltrendsthatcauseitmustbereversed.Wemustcutcarbonemissionsby80%fromtheir2006levelsby2020,stabilizetheworld'

spopulationateightbillionby2040,completelyremovepoverty,andrestoreforestsandsoils.Thereisnothingnewaboutthefourobjectives.Indeed,wehavemadesubstantialprogressinsomepartsoftheworldonatleastoneofthese——thedistributionoffamily-planningservicesandtheassociatedshifttosmallerfamilies.

　　[M]Formanyinthedevelopmentcommunity,thefourobjectiveswereseenaspositive,promotingdevelopmentaslongastheydidnotcosttoomuch.Otherssawthemaspoliticallycorrectandmorallyappropriate.Nowathirdandfarmoresignificantmotivationpresentsitself:

meetingthesegoalsmaynecessarytopreventthecollapseofourcivilization.Yetthecostweprojectforsavingcivilizationwouldamounttolessthan$200billionayear,1/6ofcurrentglobalmilitaryspending.Ineffect,ourplanisthenewsecuritybudget.

36.Themorerecentsteepclimbingrainpricespartlyresultsfromthefactthatmoreandmorepeoplewanttoconsumemeatproducts.

37.Socialorderisbreakingdowninmanycountriesbecauseoffoodshortages.

38.Ratherthansuperpowerconflict,countriesunabletocopewithfoodshortagesnowconstitutethemainthreattoworldsecurity.

39.Somepartsoftheworldhaveseensuccessfulimplementationoffamilyplanning.

40.Theauthorhascometoagreethatfoodshortagescouldultimatelyleadtothecollapseofworldcivilization.

41.Increasingwatershortagesprovetobethebiggestobstantetoboostingtheworld'

sgrainproduction.

42.Thecostforsavingourcivilizationwouldbeconsiderablylessthantheworld'

scurrentmilitaryspending.

43.Tolowerdomesticfoodprices,somecountrieslimitedorstoppedtheirgrainexports.

44.Environmentalproblemsmustbesolvedtocasethecurrentglobalfoodshortage.

45.Aquarterofthisyear'

sAmericangrainharvestwillbeusedtoproducebio-fuelforcars.

　　SectionC

　　PassageOne

　　Questions46to50arebasedonthefollowingpassage.

　　Decliningmentalfunctionisoftenseenasaproblemofoldage，butcertainaspectsofbrainfunctionactuallybegintheirdeclineinyoungadulthood,anewstudysuggests.

　　Thestudy,whichfollowedmorethan2,000healthyadultsbetweentheagesof18and60,foundthatcertainmentalfunctions—includingmeasuresofabstractreasoning,mentalspeedandpuzzle-solving—startedtodullasearlyasage27.

　　Dipsinmemory,meanwhile,generallybecameapparentaroundage37.

　　Ontheotherhand,indicatorsofaperson’saccumulatedknowledge—likeperformanceontestsofvocabularyandgeneralknowledge—keptimprovingwithage,accordingtofindingspublishedinthejournal　　NeurobiologyofAging.

　　Theresultsdonotmeanthatyoungadultsneedtostartworryingabouttheir