1、大学英语四级-131 及答案解析(总分：100.00，做题时间：90 分钟)一、Reading Comprehensio(总题数：5，分数：100.00)Henry Ford, the famous U.S. inventor and car manufacturer, once said, “The business of America is business.“ By this he meant that the U.S. way of life is based on the values of the business world. Few would argue with Ford
2、“s statement. A brief glimpse at a daily newspaper vividly shows how much people in the United States think about business. For example, nearly every newspaper has a business section, in which the deals and projects, finances and management, stock prices and labor problems of corporations are report
3、ed daily. In addition, business news can appear in every other section. Most national news has an important financial aspect to it. Welfare, foreign aid, the federal budget, and the policies of the Federal Reserve Bank are all heavily affected by business. Moreover, business news appears in some of
4、the unlikeliest places. The world of arts and entertainment is often referred to as “the entertainment industry“ or “show business.“ The positive side of Henry Ford“s statement can be seen in the prosperity that business has brought to U.S. life. One of the most important reasons so many people from
5、 all over the world come to live in the United States is the dream of a better job. Jobs are produced in abundance (大量) because the U.S. economic system is driven by competition. People believe that this system creates more wealth, more jobs, and a materially better way of life. The negative side of
6、 Henry Ford“s statement, however, can be seen when the word business is taken to mean big business. And the term big businessreferring to the biggest companies, is seen in opposition to labor. Throughout U.S. history working people have had to fight hard for higher wages, better working conditions,
7、and the right to form unions. Today, many of the old labor disputes are over, but there is still some employee anxiety. Downsizingthe laying off of thousands of workers to keep expenses low and profits highcreates feelings of insecurity for many.（分数：20.00）(1).The United States is a typical country _
8、.（分数：4.00）A.which encourages free trade at home and abroadB.where people“s chief concern is how to make moneyC.where all businesses are managed scientificallyD.which normally works according to the federal budget(2).The influence of business in the U.S. is evidenced by the fact that _.（分数：4.00）A.mos
9、t newspapers are run by big businessesB.even public organizations concentrate on working for profitsC.Americans of all professions know how to do businessD.even arts and entertainment are regarded as business(3).According to the passage, immigrants choose to settle in the U.S., dreaming that _.（分数：4
10、.00）A.they can start profitable businesses thereB.they can be more competitive in businessC.they will make a fortune overnight thereD.they will find better chances of employment(4).Henry Ford“s statement can be taken negatively because _.（分数：4.00）A.working people are discouraged to fight for their r
11、ightsB.there are many industries controlled by a few big capitalistsC.there is a conflicting relationship between big corporations and laborD.public services are not run by the federal government(5).A company“s efforts to keep expenses low and profits high may result in _.（分数：4.00）A.reduction in the
12、 number of employeesB.improvement of working conditionsC.fewer disputes between labor and managementD.a rise in workers“ wagesEvery so often, late at night, David Woodland steals away to the den of his home in Aberdeen, Washington, so that he can check stock prices on the Internet. Mr. Woodland, a 7
13、8-year-old retired insurance salesman, delights at how with the click of a mouse, he can tap into the facts and fortunes of Wall Street. “If I get a bright idea late at night,“ Mr. Woodland said, “I go into the office, fire up the computer and put a buy or sell order in.“ While online trading is pop
14、ularly regarded as the province of any traders in their 20s and 30s, jumping in and out of the market to make quick profits, it is now being invaded by millions of people like Mr. Woodlandsenior investors who bring much larger accounts and more stability to this fast-growing corner of the markets. T
15、he low cost of doing business onlinenow as little as $7 a tradeand the excitement of riding a bull market are the lures (诱惑) for many older investorsjust as they are for the young. They are dismissing their full-service brokers, who offer research and advice but often charge more than $100 a trade,
16、and instead are picking their own stocks, after downloading companies“ annual reports and other research basics. “These things are incredible tools, now in the hands of an individual investor,“ said Carol Potts, 56, a retired crafts designer in Santa Barbara, California. “There“s no reason for me to
17、 have financial advisers. I am very analytical, and I like to get involved in research.“ According to a survey this fall of 630 people over 50 by Charles Schwab and the profit motive, operating under competitive pressures, largely determines how these goods and services are produced. Thus, in the Am
18、erican economic system it is the demand of individual consumers, coupled with the desire of businessmen to maximize profits and the desire of individuals to maximize their incomes, that together determine what shall be produced and how resources are used to produce it. An important factor in a marke
19、t-oriented economy is the mechanism by which consumer demands can be expressed and responded to by producers. In the American economy, this mechanism is provided by a price system, a process in which prices rise and fall in response to relative demands of consumers and supplies offered by seller-pro
20、ducers. If the product is in short supply relative to the demand, the price will be bid up and some consumers will be eliminated from the market. If, on the other hand, producing more of a commodity results in reducing its cost, this will tend to increase the supply offered by seller-producers, whic
21、h in turn will lower the price and permit more consumers to buy the product. Thus, price is the regulating mechanism in the American economic system. The important factor in a private-enterprise economy is that individuals are allowed to own productive resources (private property), and they are perm
22、itted to hire labor, gain control over natural resources, and produce goods and services for sale at a profit. In the American economy, the concept of private property embraces not only the ownership of productive resources but also certain fights, including the right to determine the price of a pro
23、duct or to make a free contract with another private individual.（分数：20.00）(1).According to the first paragraph, in America, individuals _.（分数：4.00）A.are never satisfied with their incomesB.tend to overstate their incomesC.want to have their incomes increasedD.want to increase the purchasing power of
24、 their incomes(2).It is implied in the first two sentences in the second paragraph that _.（分数：4.00）A.consumers can be satisfied by mechanized productionB.producers are the means through which consumers express their demandsC.the price of products are decided by producersD.prices are regulated by sup
25、ply and demand(3).According to the passage, a private-enterprise economy is featured by _.（分数：4.00）A.private property and rights concernedB.manpower and natural resources controlC.ownership of productive resourcesD.free contracts and prices(4).We can learn from the passage that in market-oriented ec
26、onomy _.（分数：4.00）A.consumers are the only factor to determine what shall be producedB.how goods and services are produced is mainly conducted by the profit motiveC.the American economic system is exactly a market-oriented economyD.businessmen can produce more goods in order to earn more profits(5).W
27、hich of the following can be the BEST title of the passage?（分数：4.00）A.How Are American Goods Produced?B.How do American Consumers Buy Their Goods?C.How does American Economic System Work?D.How do American Businessmen Make Their Profits?大学英语四级-131 答案解析(总分：100.00，做题时间：90 分钟)一、Reading Comprehensio(总题数：
28、5，分数：100.00)Henry Ford, the famous U.S. inventor and car manufacturer, once said, “The business of America is business.“ By this he meant that the U.S. way of life is based on the values of the business world. Few would argue with Ford“s statement. A brief glimpse at a daily newspaper vividly shows
29、how much people in the United States think about business. For example, nearly every newspaper has a business section, in which the deals and projects, finances and management, stock prices and labor problems of corporations are reported daily. In addition, business news can appear in every other se
30、ction. Most national news has an important financial aspect to it. Welfare, foreign aid, the federal budget, and the policies of the Federal Reserve Bank are all heavily affected by business. Moreover, business news appears in some of the unlikeliest places. The world of arts and entertainment is of
31、ten referred to as “the entertainment industry“ or “show business.“ The positive side of Henry Ford“s statement can be seen in the prosperity that business has brought to U.S. life. One of the most important reasons so many people from all over the world come to live in the United States is the drea
32、m of a better job. Jobs are produced in abundance (大量) because the U.S. economic system is driven by competition. People believe that this system creates more wealth, more jobs, and a materially better way of life. The negative side of Henry Ford“s statement, however, can be seen when the word busin
33、ess is taken to mean big business. And the term big businessreferring to the biggest companies, is seen in opposition to labor. Throughout U.S. history working people have had to fight hard for higher wages, better working conditions, and the right to form unions. Today, many of the old labor disput
34、es are over, but there is still some employee anxiety. Downsizingthe laying off of thousands of workers to keep expenses low and profits highcreates feelings of insecurity for many.（分数：20.00）(1).The United States is a typical country _.（分数：4.00）A.which encourages free trade at home and abroadB.where
35、 people“s chief concern is how to make money C.where all businesses are managed scientificallyD.which normally works according to the federal budget解析：解析 推理判断题。根据第 2 段第 2 句“随便翻下一家日报就可美国人有多么重视商业”可推断出 B 符合题意。(2).The influence of business in the U.S. is evidenced by the fact that _.（分数：4.00）A.most news
36、papers are run by big businessesB.even public organizations concentrate on working for profitsC.Americans of all professions know how to do businessD.even arts and entertainment are regarded as business 解析：解析 事实细节题。第 2 段大量列举了 business 的影响的例子，特别是根据最后一句“艺术和娱乐界就常被称为娱乐业或展览业”可知 D 正确，而 A、B、C 均与原文信息不符。(3).
37、According to the passage, immigrants choose to settle in the U.S., dreaming that _.（分数：4.00）A.they can start profitable businesses thereB.they can be more competitive in businessC.they will make a fortune overnight thereD.they will find better chances of employment 解析：解析 事实细节题。第 3 段第 2 句谈到“如此多的人从世界各
38、地来美国生活，其最重要的原因之一就是梦想找到一份更好的工作”，故选 D。(4).Henry Ford“s statement can be taken negatively because _.（分数：4.00）A.working people are discouraged to fight for their rightsB.there are many industries controlled by a few big capitalistsC.there is a conflicting relationship between big corporations and labor
39、D.public services are not run by the federal government解析：解析 推理判断题。本文第 4 段是在讲 Henry Ford 的言论的消极面，根据该段中的 the biggest companies. in opposition to labor 可看出 C 与之相符，故选 C。(5).A company“s efforts to keep expenses low and profits high may result in _.（分数：4.00）A.reduction in the number of employees B.improv
40、ement of working conditionsC.fewer disputes between labor and managementD.a rise in workers“ wages解析：解析 事实细节题。根据文章的最后一句，可知 downsizingthe laying off of thousands of workers 正是一些公司节约成本提高利润的手段，A 为原文该句的同义改写，故选 A。Every so often, late at night, David Woodland steals away to the den of his home in Aberdeen
41、, Washington, so that he can check stock prices on the Internet. Mr. Woodland, a 78-year-old retired insurance salesman, delights at how with the click of a mouse, he can tap into the facts and fortunes of Wall Street. “If I get a bright idea late at night,“ Mr. Woodland said, “I go into the office,
42、 fire up the computer and put a buy or sell order in.“ While online trading is popularly regarded as the province of any traders in their 20s and 30s, jumping in and out of the market to make quick profits, it is now being invaded by millions of people like Mr. Woodlandsenior investors who bring muc
43、h larger accounts and more stability to this fast-growing corner of the markets. The low cost of doing business onlinenow as little as $7 a tradeand the excitement of riding a bull market are the lures (诱惑) for many older investorsjust as they are for the young. They are dismissing their full-servic
44、e brokers, who offer research and advice but often charge more than $100 a trade, and instead are picking their own stocks, after downloading companies“ annual reports and other research basics. “These things are incredible tools, now in the hands of an individual investor,“ said Carol Potts, 56, a
45、retired crafts designer in Santa Barbara, California. “There“s no reason for me to have financial advisers. I am very analytical, and I like to get involved in research.“ According to a survey this fall of 630 people over 50 by Charles Schwab and the profit motive, operating under competitive pressu
46、res, largely determines how these goods and services are produced. Thus, in the American economic system it is the demand of individual consumers, coupled with the desire of businessmen to maximize profits and the desire of individuals to maximize their incomes, that together determine what shall be
47、 produced and how resources are used to produce it. An important factor in a market-oriented economy is the mechanism by which consumer demands can be expressed and responded to by producers. In the American economy, this mechanism is provided by a price system, a process in which prices rise and fa
48、ll in response to relative demands of consumers and supplies offered by seller-producers. If the product is in short supply relative to the demand, the price will be bid up and some consumers will be eliminated from the market. If, on the other hand, producing more of a commodity results in reducing
49、 its cost, this will tend to increase the supply offered by seller-producers, which in turn will lower the price and permit more consumers to buy the product. Thus, price is the regulating mechanism in the American economic system. The important factor in a private-enterprise economy is that individuals are allowed to own productive resources (private property), and they are permitted to hire labor, gain control over natural resources, and produce goods and services for sale at a profit. In
