1、大学英语四级-101 及答案解析(总分：100.00，做题时间：90 分钟)一、Reading Comprehensio(总题数：0，分数：0.00)二、Section A(总题数：1，分数：30.00)Looking back on my childhood, I am convinced that naturalists are born and not made. Although we were all brought up in the same way, my brothers and sisters soon 1 their pressed flowers and insects
2、. Unlike them, I had no ear for music and languages. I was not an 2 reader and I could not do mental arithmetic. Before World War I we spent our summer holidays in Hungary. I have only the 3 memory of the house we lived in and of my room and my toys. But I do have a crystal-clear memory of the dogs,
3、 the farm animals, the local birds, and above all, the insects. I am a naturalist, not a scientist. I have a strong love of the natural world and my 4 had led me into varied investigations. I love discussing my 5 topics and enjoy burning the midnight oil while reading about other people“s observatio
4、ns and 6 Then something happens that brings these observations together in my conscious mind. Suddenly you fancy you see the answer to the riddle, because it all seems to fit 7 together. This has resulted in my publishing 300 papers and books, which some might 8 with the title of scientific research
5、. But curiosity, a keen eye, a good memory and enjoyment of the animal and plant world do not make a scientist. A scientist requires not only 9 but hard training, determination and a goal. A scientist, up to a point, can be made. A naturalist is born. If you can 10 the two, you get the best of both
6、worlds. A. combine B. connect C. serf-discipline D. enthusiasm E. regulations F. discoveries G. dim H. eventually I. abandoned J. honor K. disposed L. modest M. favorite N. early O. perfectly（分数：30.00）三、Section B(总题数：1，分数：30.00)Questions on the Origins of Christmas1. Why do we celebrate on December
7、25th? A The Bible makes no mention of Jesus being born on December 25th and, as more than one historian has pointed out, why would shepherds be tending to their flock in the middle of winter? So why is that the day we celebrate? Well, either Christian holidays miraculously fall on the same days as p
8、agan ones or the Christians have been crafty in converting pagan populations to religion by placing important Christian holidays on the same days as pagan ones. And people had been celebrating on December 25th (and the surrounding weeks) for centuries by the time Jesus showed up. B The Winter Solsti
9、ce, falling on or around December 21st, was and is celebrated around the world as the beginning of the end of winter. It is the shortest day and longest night and its passing signifies that spring is on the way. In Scandinavian countries, they celebrated the solstice with a holiday called Yule last
10、from the 21st until January and burned a Yule log the whole time. In Rome, Saturnaliaa celebration of Saturn, the God of agriculturelasted the entire end of the year and was marked by mass intoxication. In the middle of this, the Romans celebrated the birth of another God, Mithra (a child God), whos
11、e holiday celebrated the children of Rome. C When the Christianity became the official religion of Rome, there was no Christmas. It was not until the 4th century that Pope Julius I declared the birth of Jesus to be a holiday and picked December 25th as the celebration day. By the middle ages, most p
12、eople celebrated the holiday we know as Christmas. 2. How did Americans come to love the holiday? D The American Christmas is, like most American holidays, a mishmash of Old World customs mixed with American inventions. While Christmas was celebrated in America from the time of the Jamestown settlem
13、ent, our modem idea of the holiday didn“t take root until the 19th century. The History Channel credits Washington Irving with getting the ball rolling. In 1819 he published The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, gent. , an account of a Christmas celebration in which a rich family invites poor folk into
14、 their house to celebrate the holiday. E The problem was that many of the activities described in Irving“s work, such as Crowning a Lord of Misrule , were entirely fictional. Nonetheless, Irving began to steer Christmas celebrations away from drunken debauchery (放荡) and towards wholesome, charitable
15、 fun. Throughout the rest of the 19th century, Christmas gained popularity and Americans adopted old customs or invented new ones, such as Christmas trees, greeting cards, giving gifts and eating a whole roasted pig. 3. Who popularized Christmas trees? F Since time immortal, humans have been fascina
16、ted with the color green and plants that stay green through winter. Many ancient societiesfrom Romans to Vikingswould decorate their Homes and temples with evergreens in the winter as a symbol of the returning growing season. But the Christmas tree didn“t get going until some intrepid (无畏的) German d
17、ragged home and decorated a tree in the 16th century. Legend has it that Martin Luther himself added lighted candles to his family“s tree, starting the trend (and leading to countless fires through the years). In America, the Christmas tree didn“t catch on until 1846 when the British royals, Queen V
18、ictoria and the German Prince Albert, were shown with a Christmas tree in a newspaper. Fashionable people in America mimicked the Royals and the tree thing spread outside of German enclaves (被为领土) in America. Ornaments, courtesy of Germany, and electric lights, courtesy of Thomas Edison“s assistants
19、, were added over the years and we haven“t changed much since. 4. What“s the deal with Santa Claus? G The jolly, red-suited man who sneaks into your home every year to leave you gifts hasn“t always been so jolly. The real Saint Nick was a Turkish monk who lived in the 3rd century. According to legen
20、d, he was a rich man thanks to an inheritance from his parents, but he gave it all away in the form of gifts to the less-fortunate. He eventually became the most popular saint in Europe and, through his alter ego, Santa Claus, remains so to this day. But how did a long-dead Turkish monk become a big
21、, fat, reindeer-riding pole dweller? The Dutch got the ball rolling by celebrating the saintcalled Sinter Klaasin New York in the late-18th century. Our old friend, Washington Irving, included the legend of Saint Nick in his seminal History of New-York as well, but at the turn of the 18th century, S
22、aint Nick was still a rather obscure figure in America. H On December 23, 1823, though, a man named Clement Clarke Moore published a poem he had written for his daughters called “An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas,“ better known now as “T“ was the Night Before Christmas.“ Nobody knows how much
23、of the poem Moore invented, but we do know that it was the spark that eventually lit the Santa fire. Many of the things we associate with Santaa sleigh, reindeer, Christmas Eve visitscame from Moore“s poem. From 1863 to 1886, Thomas Nast“s illustrations of Santa Claus appeared in Harper“s Weeklyincl
24、uding a scene with Santa giving gifts to Union soldiers. Not much has changed since the second half of the 19th century: Santa still gets pulled in a sleigh by flying reindeer, he Still wears the big red suit and he still sneaks down chimneys to drop off presents. 5. Who invented Rudolph? I Santa di
25、d get one more friend in 1939. Robert May, a copywriter for the Montgomery Ward department store chain, wrote a little story about a 9th reindeer with a disturbing red nose for a booklet to give customers during the holiday season. Ten years later, May“s brother would put the story to music, writing
26、 the lyrics and melody.（分数：30.00）(1).Drunken debauchery was regarded as old Christmas practice in America in the 19th century.（分数：3.00）(2).Rudolph appeared in Robert May“s story as a reindeer with a disturbing red nose.（分数：3.00）(3).The celebration of Jesus“ birth on Dec. 25th has much to do with Pop
27、e Julius I.（分数：3.00）(4).What Santa Claus does nowadays can be traced back to one of Clement Clarke Moore“s poems.（分数：3.00）(5).Santa Claus was based on a monk named Saint Nick, who was from Turkey.（分数：3.00）(6).Thanks to American writer Washington Irving, Christmas began to take root in America in the
28、 19th century.（分数：3.00）(7).Evergreens were used to decorate home as a symbol of the returning growing season in many ancient societies.（分数：3.00）(8).People begin to celebrate Dec. 25th before the birth of Jesus.（分数：3.00）(9).The Winter Solstice that comes around Dec. 21st means spring is coming.（分数：3.
29、00）(10).The trend of Christmas tree tradition in German was said to be related to Martin Luther.（分数：3.00）四、Section C(总题数：0，分数：0.00)五、Passage One(总题数：1，分数：20.00)Some Americans are a little nervous about the nation“s future, but others feel secure, knowing that the man they consider the most powerful
30、person in the world isn“t going anywhere. Just who is this behind-the-scenes guy they think has more power than George W. Bush ever will? He“s Alan Greenspan, a 74-year-old expert economist who heads the Federal Reserve, commonly known as the Fed. Unlike the president, who has to please the voters a
31、nd compromise with Congress, Greenspan doesn“t have to answer to anyone. But that doesn“t mean his job is easy. Basically, Greenspan is in charge of keeping the nation“s economy stable. The economy is sort of like a balloon: blow in too much air, and it pops. But with too little air, it falls to the
32、 floor. Greenspan helps decide when to blow more air into the economy, In this case, the air in a balloon is the amount of money in the economy. Greenspan can make the economy grow by increasing the money supply, or keep the economy from inflating too much by decreasing the money supply. His goal is
33、 for the economy to grow and contract gradually. Rapid changes can harm businesses and consumers. After years of very high growth, the American economy is starting to slow down. Recently, corporations have been making less money and people are starting to have a harder time finding jobs. Greenspan i
34、s hoping to ease the economy into a soft landing. It“s just like to make the car come to a gentle stop instead of hitting a brick wall. If he succeeds, the country will avoid two possible problems: rising prices and high unemployment. At the Fed“s meeting, Greenspan and the other members decided tha
35、t the economy was growing at an OK rate, but that there is a possibility of a serious slowdown, and in order to solve that, they could lower interest rates at the next meeting in an attempt to encourage people to borrow and spend, While there“s no way to know what they will decide, one thing is cert
36、ain: the decisions that Greenspan and the Federal Reserve Board make will affect everyone who earns, borrows or spends money.（分数：20.00）(1).It Is certain that Greenspan _.（分数：4.00）A.is more powerful than George W. BushB.has to answer to someone in the governmentC.is an expert economist directing the
37、Federal ReserveD.has to please the voters and compromise with Congress(2).Greenspan keeps the economy stable by _.（分数：4.00）A.blowing sufficient air into itB.controlling the money supplyC.raising prices of commodityD.reducing unemployment rate(3).According to the fourth paragraph, decreasing the mone
38、y supply can keep the economy from _.（分数：4.00）A.developing too fastB.growing too slowlyC.changing too rapidlyD.remaining too stable(4).Greenspan may help the country to avoid the problems EXCEPT _.（分数：4.00）A.rising pricesB.high unemploymentC.economic slowdownD.bank loans(5).The passage mainly discus
39、ses _.（分数：4.00）A.why Greenspan is respected by many people in the United StatesB.what Greenspan does to affect everybody“s lifeC.what Greenspan does to balance the economy in the United StatesD.how Greenspan became the director of the Fed六、Passage Two(总题数：1，分数：20.00)There seems never to have been a
40、civilization without toys, but when and how they developed is unknown, They probably came about just to give children something to do, In the ancient world, as is today, most boys played with some kinds of toys and most girls with another, In societies where social roles are rigidly determined, boys
41、 pattern their play after the activities of their fathers and girls after the tasks of their mothers, This is true because boys and girls are being prepared, even in play, to step into the roles and responsibilities of the adult world, What is remarkable about the history of toys is not so much how
42、they changed over the centuries but how much they have remained the same, The changes have been mostly in terms of craftsmanship, mechanics, and technology, It is the universality of toys with regard to their development in all parts of the world and their persistence to the present that is amazing.
43、 In Egypt, the Americas, China, Japan and among the Arctic (北极的) peoples, generally the same kinds of toys appeared. Variations depended on local customs and ways of life because toys imitate their surroundings. Nearly every civilization had dolls, little weapons, toy soldiers, tiny animals and vehi
44、cles. Because toys can be generally regarded as a kind of art form, they have not been subject to technological leaps that characterize inventions for adult use. The progress from the wheel to the oxcart to the automobile is a direct line of ascent (进步). The progress from a rattle (拨浪鼓) used by a ba
45、by in 3000 BC to one used by an infant today, however, is not characterized by inventiveness. Each rattle is the product of the artistic tastes of the times and subject to the limitations of available materials.（分数：20.00）(1).The reason why the toys most boys play with are different from those that g
46、irls play with is that _.（分数：4.00）A.their social roles are rigidly determinedB.most boys would like to follow their fathers“ professionsC.boys like to play with their fathers while girls with their mothersD.they like challenging activities(2).One aspect of “the universality of toys“ lies in the fact
47、 that _.（分数：4.00）A.technological advances have greatly improved the durability of toysB.the improvement of craftsmanship in making toys depends on the efforts of universitiesC.the exploration of the universe has led to the creation of new kinds of toysD.the basic characteristics of toys are the same
48、 the world over(3).Which of the following is the author“s view on the historical development of toys?（分数：4.00）A.The craftsmanship in toy-making has remained essentially unchanged.B.Toys have remained basically the same all through the centuries.C.The toy industry has witnessed great leaps in technol
49、ogy in recent years.D.Toys are playing an increasingly important role in shaping a child“s character.(4).Regarded as a kind of art form, toys _.（分数：4.00）A.follow a direct line of ascentB.also appeal greatly to adultsC.are not characterized by technological progressD.reflect the pace of social progress(5).The author uses the example of a rattle to show that _.（分数：4.00）A.in toy-making there is a continuity in the use of materialsB.even the simplest toys can reflect the progress of technologyC.it often takes a long time to introduce new techno
