1996英语专四阅读理解 真题.docx

1、1996英语专四阅读理解 真题1996年TEXT AIn the past thirty years many social changes bare taken place in Britain. The greatest of these have probably been in the economic lives of women.The changes have been significant, but because tradition and prejudice can still handicap women in their working careers and per

2、sonal lives, major legislation to help promote equality of opportunity and pay was passed during the 1970s.At the heart of womens changed role in society has been the rise in the number of women at work, particularly married women. As technology and society permit highly effective and generally acce

3、ptable methods of family planning there has been a decline in family size. Women as a result are involved in child-rearing for a much shorter time and related to this, there has been a rapid increase in the number of women with young children who return to work when the children are old enough not t

4、o need constant care and attention.Since 1951 the proportion of married women who work has grown from just over a fifth to a haft. Compared with their counterparts elsewhere on the Continent, British women comprise a relatively high proportion of the work force, about two-fifths, but on average they

5、 work fewer hours, about 31 a week There is still a significant difference between womens average earnings and mens, but the equal pay legislation which came into force at the end of 1975 appears to have helped to narrow the gap between womens and mens basic rates.As more and more women joined the w

6、ork force in the 1960s and early 1970s there was an increase in the collective incomes of women as a whole and a major change in the economic role of large numbers of housewives. Families have come to rely on married womens earnings as an essential part of their income rather than as pocket money. A

7、t the same time social roles within the family are more likely to be shared, exchanged or altered.66. The general idea of the passage is about _.A. social trends in contemporary BritainB. changes in womens economic staresC. equal opportunity and pay in BritainD. womens roles within the family67. Acc

8、ording to the author, an increasing number of married women are able to work because _.A. their children no longer require their careB. there are more jobs available nowadaysC. technology has enabled them to find acceptable jobsD. they spend far less time on child care than beforeTEXT BNATURES GIGAN

9、TIC SNOWPLOUGHOn January 10, 1962, an enormous piece of glacier broke away and tumbled down the side of a mountain in Peru. A mere seven minutes later, when cascading ice finally came to a stop ten miles down the mountain, it had taken the lives of 4,000 people.This disaster is one of the most devas

10、tating examples of a very common event: an avalanche of snow or ice. Because it is extremely cold at very high altitudes, snow rarely melts. It just keeps piling up higher and higher. Glaciers are eventually created when the weight of the snow is so great that the lower layers are pressed into solid

11、 ice. But most avalanches occur long before this happens. As snow accumulates on a steep slope, it reaches a critical point at which the slightest vibration will send it sliding into the valley below.Even an avalanche of light power can be dangerous, but the Peruvian catastrophe was particularly ter

12、rible because it was caused by a heavy layer of ice. It is estimated that the ice that broke off weighed three million tons. As it crashed down the steep mountainside like a gigantic snow plough, it swept up trees, boulders and tons of topsoil, and completely crushed and destroyed the six villages t

13、hat lay in its path.At present there is no way to predict or avoid such enormous avalanches, but, lucidly, they are very rare. Scientists are constantly studying the smaller, more common avalanches, to try to understand what causes them. In the future, perhaps dangerous masses of snow and ice can be

14、 found and removed before they take human lives.68. The first paragraph catches the readers attention with a _.A. first-hand reportB. dramatic descriptionC. tall taleD. vivid word picture69. In this passage devastating means _.A. violently ruinousB. spectaculary interestingC. stunningD. unpleasant70

15、. The passage is mostly about _.A. avalanchesB. glaciersC. PeruD. mountainsTEXT CI was born in Tuckahoe, Talbot County, Maryland. I have no accurate knowledge of my age, never having seen any authentic record containing it. By far the larger part of the slaves know as little of their age as horses k

16、now of their, and it is the wish of most masters within my knowledge to keep their slaves thus ignorant. I do not remember having ever met a slave who could tell of his birthday. They seldom come nearer to it than planting-time, harvesting, springtime, or fall time. A lack of information concerning

17、my own was a source of unhappiness to me even during childhood. The white children could tell their ages, I could not tell why I ought to be deprived of the same privilege. I was not allowed to make any inquires of my master concerning it. He considered all such inquiries on the part of a slave impr

18、oper and impertinent. The nearest estimate I can give makes me now between twenty-seven and twenty-eight years of age. I come to this, from heating my master say, some time during 1835, I was about seventeen years old.My mother was named Harriet Bailey. She was the daughter of Issac and Betsey Baile

19、y, both colored, and quite dark. My mother was of a darker complexion than either my grandmother or grandfather.My father was a white man. He was admitted to be such by all I ever heard speak of my parentage. The opinion was also whispered that my maser was my father, but of the correctness of this

20、opinion, I know nothing; the means of knowing was withheld from me. My mother and I were separated when I was an infant before I knew her as my mother. It is a common custom, in the part of Maryland from which I ran away, to part children from their mothers at a very early age. Frequently, before th

21、e child has reached its twelfth month, its mother is taken from it, and hired out on some faint a considerable distance off, and the child is placed under the care of an older woman, too old for field labor. For what this separation is done, I do not know, unless it be to hinder the development of t

22、he childs affection towards its mother.71. The author did not know exactly when he was born because _.A. he did not know who his mother wasB. there was no written evidence of itC. his master did not tell his fatherD. nobody on his farm knew anything about it72. In the mid-nineteenth century, slaves

23、often _.A. marked their birthdays by the seasonB. did not really care how old they wereC. forgot the exact time when they were bornD. pretended not to know each others birthdays73. The authors mother told him _.A. his father was blackB. his father was whiteC. nothing about his fatherD. his master wa

24、s his father74. According to the passage, when the author was very young his mother _.A. run awayB. was light skinnedC. had several childrenD. was sent to work elsewhere75. The author bad not spent much time with his _.A. motherB. masterC. grandfatherD. grandmother76. The author was most probably ra

25、ised _.A. by his grandparentsB. by an old woman slaveC. with his masters supportD. together with other childrenTEXT DPLEASE RECYCLE THAT BOBSLED RUN (大雪橇滑道)For the 1992 Winter Games, French organizers constructed a new motorway, parking lots and runs for skiing in the Alps. Environmentalists screame

26、d Disaster!. Thus warned, the Norwegians have adopted green advice and avoided great blots on the landscape. The speed-skating was built to look like an overturned ship, and placed so as not to disturb a bird sanctuary. Dug into a mountainside, the hockey arena is well concealed and energy efficient

27、. The bobsled run is built out of wood not metal and hidden among trees. No wonder the president of the International Olympic Committee has called these the first Green Games.Lillehammers opening ceremonies featured a giant Olympic Torch burning biogas produced by rotting vegetation. During construc

28、tion, builders were threatened with $ 7,500 fines for felling trees unnecessarily. Rate trees were carefully transplanted from hillsides. Food is being served on potato-based plates that will be fed, in turn, to pigs. Smoking has been banned outdoors as well as in, with enforcement by polite request

29、s.Environmentalists have declared partial victory, though Coca-Colas plan to decorate the town with Banners has been scaled back, there are still too many billboards for strict green tastes. Perhaps, but after the Games, athlete housing will be converted into vacation home or shipped to the northlan

30、ds for student dormitories. Bullets will be plucked from biathlon targets and recycled to keep the lead from poisoning ground water. And these tricks wont be forgotten. Embarrassed by environmental protests, the I. O. C. claims that green awareness is now entrenched along with sport and culture as a

31、 permanent dimension of the Olympic Charter.Indeed, Sydney was successful in becoming host for the 2000 Summer Games in part on the strength of its endorsement from Greenpeace. Aspiring host cities are picking up the code. Salt Lake City, bidding for the 2002 Games, may opt to use the bobsled run th

32、at Calgary built for the 88 Games. After that, who could deny that recycling is an Olympic movement?77. Which of the following countries has not paid enough attention to the green issues?A. Norway.B. France.C. Arnica.D. Australia.78. In which area did the environmentalists fail in Lillehammer?A. Energy.B. Smoking.B. Housing.D. Advertising.79. Which of the following describes the I. O. C.s attitude towards the