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英语四级真题及答案解析第二套
2016年6月英语四级真题第二套(文字版整理)
PartIWriting(30minutes)
Directions:
Forthispart,youareallowed30minutestowritealettertoexpressyourthankstooneofyourschoolteachersuponenteringcollege.Youshouldwriteatleast120wordsbutnomorethan180words.
PartIIIReadingComprehension(40minutes)
SectionA
Directions:
Inthissection,thereisapassagewithtenblanks.Youarerequiredtoselectonewordforeachblankfromalistofchoicesgiveninawordbankfollowingthepassage.
Contrarytopopularbelief,olderpeoplegenerallydonotwanttolivewiththeirchildren.Moreover,mostadultchildren_____(26)everybitasmuchcareandsupporttotheiragingparentsaswasthecaseinthe"goodolddays",androostolderpeopledonotfeel_____(27).
About80%ofpeople65yearsandolderhavelivingchildren,andabout90%ofthemhave_____(28)contactwiththeirchildren.About75%ofelderlyparentswhodon'tgotonursinghomeslivewithin30minutesofatleastoneoftheirchildren.
However,_____(29)havingcontactwithchildrendoesnotguaranteehappinessinoldage.Infact,someresearchhasfoundthatpeoplewhoaremostinvolvedwiththeirfamilieshavethelowestspirits.Thisresearchmaybe_____(30),however,asillhealthoftenmakesolderpeoplemore_____(31)andtherebyincreasescontactwithfamilymembers.Soitismorelikelythatpoorhealth,notjustfamilyinvolvement,_____(32)spirits.
Increasingly,researchershavebeguntolookatthequalityofrelationships,ratherthanatthefrequencyofcontact,betweentheelderlyandtheirchildren.Ifparentsandchildrenshareinterestsandvaluesandagreeonchildrearingpracticesandreligious_____(33)theyarelikelytoenjoyeachother'scompany.Disagreementsonsuchmatterscan_____(34)causeproblems.Ifparentsareangeredbytheirdaughter'sdivorce,dislikehernewhusband,anddisapproveofhowsheisraisingtheirgrandchildren,_____(35)arethattheyarenotgoingtoenjoyhervisits.
SectionB
Directions:
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-shrinkingheatinthe.CornBelt.Andtheriseswereshort-lived:
pricestypicallyreturnedtonormalwiththenextharvest.
[F]Incontrast,recentsurgeinworldgrainpricesistrend-driven,makingitunlikelytoreversewithoutareversalinthetrendsthemselves.Onthedemandside,thosetrendsincludetheongoingadditionofmorethan70millionpeopleayear,agrowingnumberofpeoplewantingtomoveupthefoodchaintoconsumehighlygrain-intensivemeatproducts,andthemassivediversion(转向)of.graintotheproductionofbio-fuel.
[G]Asincomesriseamonglow-incomeconsumers,thepotentialforfurthergrainconsumptionishuge.Butthatpotentialpalesbesidethenever-endingdemandforcrop-basedfuels.Afourthofthisyear'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,Indiaandthe.
[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.orderisbreakingdowninmanycountriesbecauseoffoodshortages.
38.thansuperpowerconflict,countriesunabletocopewithfoodshortagesnowconstitutethemainthreattoworldsecurity.
39.partsoftheworldhaveseensuccessfulimplementationoffamilyplanning.
40.authorhascometoagreethatfoodshortagescouldultimatelyleadtothecollapseofworldcivilization.
41.watershortagesprovetobethebiggestobstantetoboostingtheworld'sgrainproduction.
42.costforsavingourcivilizationwouldbeconsiderablylessthantheworld'scurrentmilitaryspending.
43.lowerdomesticfoodprices,somecountrieslimitedorstoppedtheirgrainexports.
44.problemsmustbesolvedtocasethecurrentglobalfoodshortage.
45.quarterofthisyear'sAmericangrainharvestwillbeusedtoproducebio-fuelforcars.
SectionC
PassageOne
Questions46to50arebasedonthefollowingpassage.
Decliningmentalfunctionisoftenseenasaproblemofoldage,butcertainaspectsofbrainfunctionactuallybegintheirdeclineinyoungadulthood,anew