英语专四模拟题听写答案解析.docx

1、英语专四模拟题听写答案解析269TV Ratings Children in the United States watch from one to five hours of television every day. / Thats a lot of television! / Teachers and parents dont like a lot of the childrens television programs. / They think a lot of these programs are not suitable for children. / For this reas

2、on, every television program in America has a rating. / The ratings tell parents about the program. / Parents can check the ratings in the newspaper and this gives parents a choice. / TV-G programs are suitable for all ages, and families watch them together. / TV-Y programs are suit- able for childr

3、en 2-6, and they dont frighten children. / TV-PG programs are suitable for some children, but they can frighten children. / Some parents watch these programs with their children. / Then, they can answer their childrens questions. / TV-14 programs are suitable for children 14 and older. / TV-MA progr

4、ams are for adults, 17 and older. / They are not suitable for children. /268 The Functions of the Family The family fulfills a number of roles, / such as providing education and recreational activities. / Yet there are several major functions performed by the family. / First, unlike the young of ani

5、mals, / human infants need constant care and economic security. / In all cultures, the family assumes ultimate responsibility for the protection of children. / Second, parents monitor a childs behavior / and transmit the values and language of a Culture to the child. / Third, ideally, the family pro

6、vides members with warm and intimate relationships / and helps them to feel satisfied and secure. / Unlike other institutions, the family is obliged to serve the emotional needs of its members. / Finally, family resources affect childrens ability to pursue certain opportunities / such as higher educ

7、ation and specialized study. / It is apparent, then, that the family has been assigned / at least four vital functions within human societies. /267 Stress As the pace of life continues to increase, / we are fast losing the art of relaxation. / Once you are in the habit of rushing through life, / it

8、is hard to slow down. / But relaxation is essential for a healthy mind and body. / Stress is a natural part of everyday life. / In fact, it is not the bad thing it is often supposed to be. / A certain amount of stress is vital to provide motivation. / It is only when the stress gets out of control /

9、 that it can lead to poor performance. / The amount of stress a person can withstand depends very much on the individ- ual. / Some people are not afraid of stress, / others lose heart at the first signs of unusual difficulties. / Since we cannot remove stress from our lives, / we need to find ways t

10、o deal with it. /266Laws Before laws were written, there was no sure way / of knowing what was permitted and what was forbid- den. / One judge might apply one set of rules to a case / while another judge might apply completely different rules to a similar case. / It all depended on the personal judg

11、ment of one person. / Today we follow the custom of recording our laws. / Rules passed by our lawmakers are printed and avail- able for everyone to see. / Unless laws are publicly available, / we do not regard them as binding. / Each of us is subject to many different sets of laws. / Some laws say w

12、hat is permitted, such as how fast you may drive. / Other laws say what is required, such as paying a federal income tax. / Still other laws say what is prohibited, such as smoking in elevators. / In the United States, federal laws apply to everyone / and state laws apply to activities within each s

13、tate. /265Thanksgiving Day Thanksgiving Day is one of the most truly American holidays in the United States/and is most closely connected with the earliest history of the country. / In 1620, the settlers, or Pilgrims, sailed to America on the May Flower, /seeking a place where they could have freedo

14、m of worship. /After a two-month tempestuous voyage they landed at Plymouth, Massachusetts in the icy November. / During their first winter, over half of the settlers died of starvation or epidemics. / Those who survived began sowing in the first spring. / All summer long they waited for the harvest

15、s with great anxiety, /knowing that their lives and the future existence of the colony/depended on the coming harvest. / Finally the fields produced a rich yield beyond expectations. /And therefore it was decided/that a day of thanksgiving to the Lord be fixed. / Years later, a President of the Unit

16、ed States proclaimed the fourth Thursday of November as Thanksgiving Day every year. / The celebration of Thanksgiving Day has been observed on that date until today.264The Father and His Sons A father had a family of sons who were perpetually quarreling among themselves. / When he failed to heal th

17、eir disputes, / he determined to give them a practical illustration of disunion; /and for this purpose he told them to bring him a bundle of sticks. /When they had done so, he placed the faggot into the hands of each of them in succession, /and ordered them to break it in pieces. /They tried with al

18、l their strength, and were not able to do it. /He next opened the faggot,/took the sticks separately, one by one,/and again put them into his sons hands, upon which they broke them easily. /He then addressed them in these words: /My sons, if you are of one mind, and unite to assist each other,/you w

19、ill be as this faggot, uninjured by all the attempts of your enemies; / but if you are divided among yourselves,/you will be broken as easily as these sticks.263Sleep Sleep is part of a persons daily activity cycle. / There are several different stages of sleep, and they too occur in cycles. / If yo

20、u are an average sleeper, your sleep cycle is as follows. /When you first drift off into sleep, your eyes will roll about a bit, your temperature will drop slightly, / your muscles will relax, and your breathing will slow and become quite regular. / Your brain waves slow down a bit, too, /with a rhy

21、thm of rather fast waves predominating for the first few minutes. / This is called Stage 1 sleep. / For the next half hour or so, as you relax more and more, / you will drift down through Stage 2 and Stage 3 sleep. / The lower your stage of sleep, the slower your brain waves will be. / Then about 40

22、 to 69 minutes after you lose consciousness / you will have reached the deepest sleep of all. / Your brain will show the large slow waves. / This is Stage 4 sleep.262Social and Physical Distance Social distance may affect how openly employees speak about their work. /People of the same rank may talk

23、 frankly to one another about how things are going. / However, they may be less honest with someone higher up in the hierarchy / for fear of prejudicing their position in the company. / For this reason employees often alter the facts to tell the boss what he or she wants to hear. / One way of reduci

24、ng social distance is to cut clown the ways / in which employees can indicate higher status. / Physical distance can affect how well people communicate. / The farther away one person is from another, the less often they communicate. / Some research has shown that when the distance is more than 10 me

25、ters, / the probability of communicating at least once a week is only 8%. / The most important thing for all managers to remember / is that communication is a two-way process. / They should encourage their employees to ask questions/and to react to what the managers are saying.261The Historical Sign

26、ificance of American Revolution The American Revolution represents the link between the seventeenth century, / in which modern England became conscious of itself, / and the awakening of modern Europe at the end of the eighteenth century. / It may seem strange that the march of history should have ha

27、d to cross the Atlantic Ocean, / but only in the North American colonies could a straggle for civic liberty/lead also to the foundation of a new nation. / Here, in the popular rising against a tyrannical government, / the fruits were more than the securing of a freer constitution. /They included the

28、 growth of a nation horn in liberty by the will of the people, / not from the roots of common descent, / a geographic entity, or the ambitions of king or dynasty. / With the American nation, /for the first time, a nation was born, /not in the dim past of history/but before the eyes of the whole worl

29、d.260Salt We do not know when man first began to use salt, /but we do know that it has been used in many different ways. / Historical evidence shows that people who lived over 3,000 years ago ate salted fish. / Thousands of years ago in Egypt, / salt was used to embalm the dead. / Stealing salt was

30、considered a major crime during some eras of history. / In the 18th century, if a person was caught stealing salt, / he could be put in jail. / Salt was an important item on the table of royalty. / It was traditionally placed in front of the King when he sat down to eat. / In the early days in the U

31、. S., salt was very scarce. / So the storekeeper of pioneer days was very careful with his salt. / in the modern world salt has many uses beyond the dining table. / It is used in making glass and airplane parts, /growing crops and killing weeds.259There are very often strong opinions expressed about

32、 what makes a good wine. /At a simple level, a good wine is one that you enjoy drinking. /But why do you prefer one wine to another? /To judge a wine there are three basic senses that have to be employed: /the sense of sight, the sense of smell, and the sense of taste. /Of these three, taste is by far the most complex, but sight and smell are powerful. /The wrong colour or the wrong smell enables a wine to be discarded /without taste even being involved. /Having examined the wine, /you can now get on and drink it. /But try and remember your con