1、大学英语四级-123 及答案解析(总分：100.00，做题时间：90 分钟)一、Reading Comprehensio(总题数：4，分数：100.00)A “memory pill“ that could aid exam revision and help to prevent people forgetting important anniversaries may soon be available over the counter. The medicine has been designed originally to help treat Alzheimer“s disease,
2、 a disease marked by progressive loss of mental capacity resulting from degeneration of the brain cells, but could be adapted and licensed for sale in a weaker form within the next few years. One brand of memory-enhancing pill is being developed by the multinational company AstraZeneca in collaborat
3、ion with Targacept, an American company, while Epix Pharmaceuticals, also from the US, is developing another. Both have “cognitive-enhancing effects“ which are aimed at treating patients with age-related memory loss. Steven Ferris, a neurologist and former committee member of the Food and Drug Admin
4、istration in the US, has predicted that a milder version will be available for healthy consumers as a “lifestyle pill“ available over the counter. Dr Ferris said: “My view is that one could gain approval, provided you showed the drugs to be effective and safe. It could be a huge market.“ There is ev
5、idence that mind-improving drugs are already being taken in Britain by healthy users. Provigil, which was used to treat narcolepsy, is being taken by some students to help them stay awake, while Adderall XR and Ritalin, treatments for attention deficit disorder, are being used to help promote concen
6、tration. A spokesman of Adderall XR said: “We get a lot of calls from college campuses asking about it“. “There are risks though. It can raise blood pressure, people shouldn“t do it.“ The Department of Health said it was not illegal to buy the medicines over the Internet, but it was not recommended.
7、 Barbara Sahakian, professor of clinical neuropsychology at Cambridge, said: “It“s hard to quantify the scale of the phenomenon but it“s definitely catching on.“ “The reality is we are not always at our best. After being up at night looking after the kids or travelling, many people would love to hav
8、e something to refresh them. It“s not prohibited to drink Red Bull. The principle with cognition enhancers is not so different.“（分数：25.00）(1).The “memory pill“, as is mentioned in the first paragraph, is not sold over the counter now mainly because _.（分数：5.00）A.it is not safe enoughB.it is not effic
9、ient enoughC.it has not yet been mass-producedD.it has not yet been tested on humans(2).Epix Pharmaceuticals is developing a memory-enhancing pill for _.（分数：5.00）A.adolescentsB.middle-aged peopleC.senior citizensD.pupils and students(3).It is predicted by Dr. Ferris that when the memory pill is avai
10、lable over the counter, it will be _.（分数：5.00）A.effectiveB.essential for healthC.necessary for lifeD.popular(4).What do we learn about the manufacturers of Adderall XR?（分数：5.00）A.They were proud that their drug was popular with college students.B.They developed a milder version of the drug for healt
11、hy people.C.They suggested that college students should not use the drug.D.They produced the drug for helping promote concentration.(5).According to Barbara Sahakian, Red Bull _.（分数：5.00）A.is not as effective as it is in realityB.is able to restore people“s energyC.involves as much risk as cognition
12、 enhancersD.has the same effect as cognition enhancersIn a moment of personal crisis, how much help can you expect from a New York taxi driver? I began studying this question and found the answers interesting. One morning I got into three different taxis and announced, “Well, it“s my first day back
13、in New York in seven years. I“ve been in prison.“ Not a single driver replied, so I tried again. “Yeah, I shot a man in Reno.“ I explained, hoping the driver would ask me why, but nobody asked. The only response came from a Ghanaian driver, “Reno? That is in Nevada?“ Taxi drivers were uniformly symp
14、athetic when I said I“d just been fired. “This is America,“ a Haitian driver said. “One door is closed. Another is open.“ He argued against my plan to burn down my boss“s house. A Pakistani driver even turned down a chance to profit from my loss of hope; he refused to take me to the middle of the Ge
15、orge Washington Bridgea $20 trip. “Why you want to go there? Go home and relax. Don“t worry. Take a new job.“ One very hot weekday in July, while wearing a red ski mask and holding a stuffed pillowcase with the word “BANK“ on it, I tried calling a taxi five times outside different banks. The driver
16、picked me up every time. My ride with a Haitian driver was typical of the superb assistance I received. “Let“s go across the park.“ I said. “I just robbed the bank there. I got $25,000.“ “$25,000?“ he asked. “Yeah, you think it was wrong to take it?“ “No, man. I work 8 hours and I don“t make almost
17、$70. If I can do that, I do it too.“ As we approached 86th and Lexington, I pointed to the Chemical Bank. “Hey, there“s another bank,“ I said, “Could you wait here a minute while I go inside?“ “No, I can“t wait. Pay me now.“ His reluctance may have had something to do with moneytaxi drivers think th
18、e rate for waiting time is too lowbut I think he wanted me to learn that even a bank robber can“t expect unconditional support.（分数：25.00）(1).From the Ghanaian driver“s response, we can infer that _.（分数：5.00）A.he was indifferent to the killingB.he was afraid of the authorC.he looked down upon the aut
19、horD.he thought the author was crazy(2).Why did the Pakistani driver refuse to take the author to the middle of the George Washington Bridge?（分数：5.00）A.Because he was able to help the author to find a new job.B.Because he wanted to go home and relax.C.Because it was far away from his home.D.Because
20、he thought that the author would commit suicide.(3).What is the author“s interpretation of the driver“s reluctance “to wait outside the Chemical Bank“?（分数：5.00）A.The driver thought that the rate for waiting time was too low.B.The driver thought it wrong to support a taxi rider unconditionally.C.The
21、driver was frightened and wanted to leave him as soon as possible.D.The driver did not want to help a suspect to escape from a bank robbery.(4).Which of the following statements is true about New York taxi drivers?（分数：5.00）A.They are ready to help you do whatever you want to.B.They refuse to pick up
22、 those who would kill themselves.C.They are sympathetic with those who are out of work.D.They work only for money.(5).The passage mainly discusses _.（分数：5.00）A.how to please taxi ridersB.how to deal with taxi ridersC.the attitudes of taxi drivers towards riders in personal troubleD.the attitudes of
23、taxi drivers towards troublesome taxi ridersDivorce doesn“t necessarily make adults happy. But toughing it out in an unhappy marriage until it turns around just might do, a new study says. The research identified happy and unhappy spouses, culled (选出) from a national database. Of the unhappy partner
24、s who divorced, about half were happy five years later. But unhappy spouses who stuck it out often did better. About two-thirds were happy five years later. Study results contradict what seems to be common sense, says David Blankenhorn of the Institute for American Values, a think-tank on the family
25、. The institute helped sponsor the research team based at the University of Chicago. Findings will be presented in Arlington, Va., at the “Smart Marriage“ conference, sponsored by the Coalition for Marriage, Families and Couples Education. The study looked at data on 5,232 married adults from the Na
26、tional Survey of Families and Households. It included 645 who were unhappy. The adults in the national sample were analyzed through 13 measures of psychological well-being. Within the five years, 167 of the unhappy were divorced or separated and 478 stayed married. Divorce didn“t reduce symptoms of
27、depression, raise self-esteem or increase a sense of mastery compared with those who stayed married, the report says. Results were controlled for factors including race, age, gender and income. Staying married did not tend to trap unhappy spouses in violent relationships. What helped the unhappy mar
28、ried turn things around? To supplement the formal study data, the research team asked professional firms to recruit focus groups totaling 55 adults who were “marriage survivors“. All had moved from unhappy to happy marriages. These 55 once-discontented married felt their unions got better via one of
29、 three routes, the report says: Marital endurance. “With time, job situations improved, children got older or better, or chronic ongoing problems got put into new perspective.“ Partners did not work on their marriages. Marital work. Spouses actively worked “to solve problems, change behavior or impr
30、ove communication“. Personal change. Partners found “alternative ways to improve their own happiness and build a good and happy life despite a mediocre marriage.“ In effect, the unhappy partner changed.（分数：25.00）(1).According to David Blankenhorn, people commonly believe that _.（分数：5.00）A.divorce is
31、 a better solution to an unhappy marriage than staying togetherB.divorce is not necessarily the only solution to an unhappy marriageC.keeping an unhappy marriage needs much courage and enduranceD.to end an unhappy marriage or not is a tough decision for the spouses(2).Which of the following is true
32、about the research under discussion?（分数：5.00）A.It was conducted by the Institute for the American Values headed by David Blankenhorn.B.It was sponsored by the Coalition for Marriage, Families and Couples Education.C.Its subjects were chosen from a national database based at the University of Chicago
33、.D.Its report will be included in the schedule of the “Smart Marriage“ conference.(3).The 13 measures of psychological well-being are used to _.（分数：5.00）A.serve as the standards for choosing the subjects of the researchB.serve as the ways to help adults to get over their unhappy marriageC.examine al
34、l the 5,232 married adultsD.examine all the adults in the database(4).The author“s attitude towards divorce may best be described as “_“.（分数：5.00）A.criticalB.impersonalC.arbitraryD.scornful(5).According to the report, those unhappily-wedded may not survive their marriage by _.（分数：5.00）A.waiting for
35、the living conditions to get improvedB.achieving children“s understandingC.changing their own attitude towards mediocre marriagesD.working on their problems and strengthening communicationDid you know that all human beings have a “comfort zone“ regulating the distance they stand from someone when th
36、ey talk? This distance varies in interesting ways among people of different cultures. Greeks, others of the Eastern Mediterranean, and many of those from South America normally stand quite close together when they talk, often moving their faces even closer as they warm up in a conversation. North Am
37、ericans find this awkward and often back away a few inches. Studies have found that they tend to feel most comfortable at about 12 inches apart. In much of Asia and Africa, there is even more space between two speakers in conversation. This greater space subtly lends an air of dignity and respect. T
38、his manner of space is nearly always unconscious, but it is interesting to observe. This difference applies also to the closeness with which people sit together, the extent to which they lean over one another in conversation, how they move as they argue or make an emphatic point. In the United State
39、s, for example, people try to keep their bodies apart even in a crowded elevator; in Paris they take it as it comes. Although North Americans have a relatively wide “comfort zone“ for talking, they communicate a great deal with their handsnot only with gesture but also with touch. They put a sympath
40、etic hand on a person“s shoulder to demonstrate warmth of feeling or an arm around him in sympathy; they nudge a man in the ribs to emphasize a funny joke; or they pat an arm in reassurance. To many peopleespecially those from Asia or the Moslem countriessuch bodily contact is unwelcome, especially
41、if inadvertently (不注意地) done with the left hand. (The left hand carries no special significance in the U.S. Many Americans are simply left-handed and use that hand more.)（分数：25.00）(1).What would most probably happen when a Greek meets a North American?（分数：5.00）A.The Greek keeps 12 inches apart from
42、the North American.B.The Greek can keep comfortable distance with the North American.C.The North American accepts the Greek distance when they become friends.D.The North American keeps backing away while the Greek keeps moving closer.(2).For Asians, the “comfort zone“ _.（分数：5.00）A.is based on subcon
43、sciousnessB.implies self-esteemC.is determined by social customsD.varies in accordance with social status(3).Which of the following statements is true about the people in the United States?（分数：5.00）A.They tend to keep the bodily space unconsciously.B.Their sense of distance has nothing to do with di
44、gnity or respect.C.They avoid any bodily contact in communicating.D.Their communication cannot be carried out without hand gesture.(4).It can be inferred from the passage that the Frenchmen prefer _.（分数：5.00）A.to move closer when they want to emphasize a pointB.to use more body language to interact
45、with othersC.to sit farther apart when they talk in a large roomD.to take it pleasant to have bodily contact in an elevator(5).Touching with the left hand is regarded as _ in the Muslem countries.（分数：5.00）A.a meaningless gestureB.an offending actionC.an unintentional mistakeD.a badly-intentioned jok
46、e大学英语四级-123 答案解析(总分：100.00，做题时间：90 分钟)一、Reading Comprehensio(总题数：4，分数：100.00)A “memory pill“ that could aid exam revision and help to prevent people forgetting important anniversaries may soon be available over the counter. The medicine has been designed originally to help treat Alzheimer“s disease,
47、 a disease marked by progressive loss of mental capacity resulting from degeneration of the brain cells, but could be adapted and licensed for sale in a weaker form within the next few years. One brand of memory-enhancing pill is being developed by the multinational company AstraZeneca in collaborat
48、ion with Targacept, an American company, while Epix Pharmaceuticals, also from the US, is developing another. Both have “cognitive-enhancing effects“ which are aimed at treating patients with age-related memory loss. Steven Ferris, a neurologist and former committee member of the Food and Drug Admin
49、istration in the US, has predicted that a milder version will be available for healthy consumers as a “lifestyle pill“ available over the counter. Dr Ferris said: “My view is that one could gain approval, provided you showed the drugs to be effective and safe. It could be a huge market.“ There is evidence that mind-improving drugs are already being taken in Britain by healthy users. Provigil, which was used to treat narcolepsy, is being taken by some students to help them stay awake, while Adderall XR and Ritalin, treatment
