1、大学英语四级-263 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)There Is Nothing Wrong with Being SingleA. “You“re so greatwhy don“t you have a boyfriend?“ This misguided praise, often made to young successful women, has given birth to a new thought experiment: If a woman is great and no
2、romantic partner is there to appreciate her, can she still lead a happy and fulfilling life? B. Since 2000, the most common American household has been a person living alone. Statistics showed that 53.6 percent of American women over the age of 18 were unmarried in 2012. So why do singles often feel
3、 like the odd woman out? C. Over the last 15 years, we“ve watched pop culture heroines put their professional accomplishments on the back burner when things go south in the romance department. It“s not hard to see where these television writers are getting their material: Women often feel bad about
4、being single, despite how satisfying their lives are otherwise. D. The Harvard Grant Study, one of the most comprehensive longitudinal (纵向的) studies on happiness, followed 268 male Harvard undergraduates for 75 years to see just what brought them joy. After nearly a lifetime of tracking, researchers
5、 discovered that fulfillment was overwhelmingly found in one thing: relationshipsbut not necessarily romantic relationships. E. “Joy is connection,“ George Vaillant, who directed the study from 1972 to 2004, told The Huffington Post in 2013. “The more areas in your life you can make connection, the
6、better.“ F. Great news, right? Unfortunately, this concept isn“t exactly common knowledge, and single women often feel that their many loving, although nonsexual, relationships are discounted. Ann Friedman, a freelance journalist who pens a column for NYM about gender and has shared her adventures i
7、n being “deep single“. She spoke of her attitude about partnershipsone that avoid the “marriage o“clock“ concept instead of a more laissez-faire (自由放任的) approach to life and relationshipshas gained such responses as: “You“ve given up on the idea of love“ or even worse, “You“ve grown so depressed wit
8、h the state of the American male that you“ve opted out completely.“ G. “I was like, “Honestly, I“m really, really cool with what I have going on right now,“ Friedman said. Her outlook is obviously not one-size-fits-all, but it“s never a bad idea to stop and appreciate the wonderful relationships we
9、do have in our lives, whether or not they fit neatly into a romantic box. Just ask Dr. Bella DePaulo, author of Singled Out and a permanent Visiting Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. H. “What people sometimes overlook when they say “If you“re single, you“re alon
10、e“ is the possibility that if you“re single, you may have friendships that you pay a lot of attention to,“ DePaulo told HuffPost Women. “In fact, you might have more support than someone who gets married and only pays attention to their spouse and puts all of their friends on the back burner.“ Or yo
11、u may not be prioritizing what you really want. I. Allowing what other people want for you to cloud your judgment can also send you down that dark, “I“m dying alone“ spiral (漩涡). Global surveys have found that cultural norms and expectations are what determine our self-esteem, even if we claim we“re
12、 above the pressure. When it comes to single women, this dual (双重的) mentality can get tricky. The (obvious) truth is that marriageor even long-term couplehoodwon“t make everyone happier. J. “I think that we are in a society that just so celebrates marriage,“ DePaulo said. This “matrimania“, DePaulo“
13、s term for the over-the-top claims of marriage and weddings, can be especially problematic when you factor in all of the complexities of romantic relationships that can come before marriage. “The cohabitation (同居) gap“, a term coined by researchers in 2011, describes the phenomenon of married couple
14、s being happier than non-married couples who live together. Why? Here“s how the researchers put it: K. “We can speculate that in such societies, people tend to believe that a woman lives together with her partner without being married not because she doesn“t want to marry him but because he doesn“t
15、want to marry her. The society“s doubts in the commitment of her partner make a cohabiting woman pitied and looked down upon, which could be damaging for her self-esteem and psychological well-being regardless of her own perception of her partner“s commitment.“ L. Friedman has experienced this conde
16、scending (显得高人一等的) attitude towards single or unmarried women. “Really great things happened to me in my life during this period when most people were kind of pitying me,“ she said of a being singlea period during which her career took off, she took her dream vacation and her social life became more
17、 dynamic than ever. “But people always ask me “Don“t you want to meet someone?“ M. This specific breed of condescension led freelance writer Sara Eckel to pen a Modern Love column for the New Fork Times in 2011 (and eventually a fantastic book) on the topic, to explain to women what she says we esse
18、ntially already know: that there“s nothing to “fix“single women are fine as they are. N. Yes, you“re still “great“ and more than capable of living a happy, fulfilling life, whether or not you“re involved with someone romantically. O. With barely half of US adults married as of 2011 and delayed marri
19、age on the rise, the conversation about singles is shifting. Considering the ever-growing population of women living abundantly happy lives without a partner, how could it not? Of course, downplaying (对轻描淡写) the special role that marriage plays in many people“s lives isn“t the answer, either. Rather
20、, it“s important to recognize that some people find happiness with a partner later in life or in a more unconventional form of coupledom. P. According to Pew“s 2010 statistics, 84 percent of unmarried people cite “love“rather than “making a lifelong commitment,“ “companionship,“ “having children“ or
21、 “financial stability“as the reason to get married. Perhaps women are starting to feel they should get married on their terms, rather than relying on perceived cultural norms. Take a look at Hannah Horvath on “Girls“ or Liz Lemon on “30 Rock,“ and you“ll see that pop culture is already helping to re
22、define what it means to be single in contemporary society. Q. All of this awareness, however, won“t always relieve all of your fears and insecurities, and that“s OK. As Eckel points out in her book, “If you feel sad sometimes, it“s not because you“re singleit“s because you“re alive.“ After all, pain
23、 is part of life. R. Obviously, not every single woman feels bad about her relationship status, so this statement merely applies to those who do.（分数：25.00）(1).Sara Eckel once wrote in her column that there is nothing wrong with women“s being single.（分数：2.50）(2).According to George Vaillant, people w
24、ill feel more satisfied when they are more connected to others.（分数：2.50）(3).People“s attitude toward singles starts to change as a result of the low marriage rate and rising marriage age in the US.（分数：2.50）(4).A person living alone has been the most common American household since 2000.（分数：2.50）(5).
25、DePaulo thinks single people might actually have more support than those married people who just care about their spouse.（分数：2.50）(6).Researchers learned that fulfillment was mainly found in relationships, which do not have to be romantic.（分数：2.50）(7).People in the present society are likely to look
26、 down upon a woman who lives with a man before they get married.（分数：2.50）(8).Television writers tend to describe women who feel bad about being single.（分数：2.50）(9).“The cohabitation gap“ refers to the phenomenon of married couples live happier than non-married couples who live together.（分数：2.50）(10)
27、.Pew“s 2010 statistics showed an overwhelming majority of unmarried people choose to marry for love.（分数：2.50）Is College Worth It?Too many degrees are a waste of money. The return on higher education would be much better if college were cheaper. A. When LaTisha Styles graduated from Kennesaw State Un
28、iversity in Georgia in 2006 she had $35,000 of student debt. This obligation would have been easy to discharge if her Spanish degree had helped her land a well-paid job. But there is no shortage of Spanish-speakers in a nation that borders Latin America. So Ms Styles found herself working in a cloth
29、es shop and a fast-food restaurant for no more than $11 an hour. B. Frustrated, she took the brave decision to go back to the same college and study something more pragmatic (务实的). She majored in finance, and now has a good job at an investment consulting firm. Her debt has increased to $65,000, but
30、 she will have little trouble paying it off. C. As Ms Styles“s story shows, there is no simple answer to the question “Is college worth it?“ Some degrees pay for themselves; others don“t. American school-kids considering whether to take on huge student loans are constantly told that college is the g
31、ateway (大门入口；途径) to the middle class. The truth is more subtle, as Barack Obama hinted when he said in January 2014 that “folks can make a lot more“ by learning a trade “than they might with an art history degree“. An angry art history professor forced him to apologise, but he was right. D. College
32、graduates aged 25 to 32 who are working full time earn about $17,500 more annually than their peers who have only a high school diploma, according to the Pew Research Centre. But not all degrees are equally useful. And given how much they cost, many students end up worse off than if they had started
33、 working at 18. E. PayScale, a research firm, has gathered data on the graduates of more than 900 universities and colleges, asking them what they studied and how much they now earn. The company then factors in the cost of a degree, after financial aid. From this, PayScale estimates the financial re
34、turns of many different types of degree. F. Unsurprisingly, engineering is a good choice wherever you study it. An engineering graduate from the University of California, Berkeley can expect to be nearly $1.1 million better off after 20 years than someone who never went to college. Even the least pr
35、ofitable engineering courses generated a 20-year return of almost $500,000. G. Arts and humanities courses are much more varied. All doubtless nourish the soul, but not all fatten the wallet. An arts degree from a rigorous school such as Columbia or the University of California, San Diego pays off h
36、andsomely. But an arts graduate from Murray State University in Kentucky can expect to make $147,000 less over 20 years than a high school graduate, after paying for his education. H. Colleges that score badly will no doubt complain that PayScale“s study are based on relatively small numbers of grad
37、uates from each institution. Some schools are unfairly affected by the local job market. And poor colleges will look worse than rich ones that offer lots of financial aid, since reducing the cost of a degree raises its return. I. But overall, the PayScale study surely overstates the financial value
38、of a college education. It does not compare graduates“ earnings to what they would have earned, had they skipped college. It compares their earnings to those of people who did not go to collegemany of whom did not go because they were not clever enough to get in. Thus, some of the premium (额外的报酬) th
39、at graduates earn simply reflects the fact that they are, on average, more intelligent than non-graduates. J. What is not in doubt is that the cost of university per student has risen by almost five times the rate of inflation since 1983, and graduate salaries have been flat for much of the past dec
40、ade. Student debt has grown so large that it stops many young people from buying houses, starting businesses or having children. Those who borrowed for a bachelor“s degree granted in 2012 owe an average of $29,400. The Project on Student Debt, a non-profit, says that 15% of borrowers default within
41、three years of entering repayment (偿还). At for-profit colleges the rate is 22%. K. The burden is still heavy for many. It does not help that nearly a third of those who take out such loans eventually drop out of college; they must still repay their debts. A third transfer to different schools. Many
42、four-year degrees drag on longer, and so cost more. L. The current bad national job market does not help, either. A report by McKinsey, a consultancy, found that 42% of recent graduates are in jobs that require less than a four-year college education. Some 41% of graduates from the nation“s top coll
43、eges could not find jobs in their chosen field; and half of all graduates said they would choose a different major or school. M. Chegg, a company that provides online help to students, collaborated (合作) with the study. Dan, its boss, says that only half of graduates feel prepared for a job in their
44、field, and only 39% of managers feel that students are ready for the workforce. Students often cannot write clearly or organise their time sensibly. Four million jobs are unfilled because jobseekers lack the skills employers need. N. For all their flaws, studies like PayScale“s help would-be student
45、s (and their parents) make more informed choices. As Americans start to realise how much a bad choice can hurt them, they will demand more transparency (明度). Some colleges are providing it, urged by the federal government. For example, the University of Texas recently launched a website showing how
46、much its graduates earn and owe after five years. O. “Opportunity“, said Mr Obama on April 2nd 2014, “means making college more affordable.“ In time, transparency and technology will force many colleges to cut costs and raise quality. Online education will accelerate the trend. In 2012, 6.7m student
47、s were taking at least one online course. Such courses allow students to listen to fine lecturers without having to pay for luxurious dormitories or armies of college officials. They will not replace traditional collegesface-to-face classes are still valuablebut they will force them to adapt. Those
48、that offer poor value for money will have to shape up, or disappear.（分数：25.00）(1).Arts and humanities courses are surely beneficial to the soul, but not all of them can bring fortune.（分数：2.50）(2).Online courses will force colleges to cut costs and raise quality more quickly.（分数：2.50）(3).After gettin
49、g a finance degree, Ms Styles now has a good job which makes it easy to pay off her student debt.（分数：2.50）(4).Four million jobs are still unfilled because the employers cannot find jobseekers with the skills they need.（分数：2.50）(5).Engineering is always a good choice for students no matter where they leam it.（分数：2.50）(6).Generally, the PayScale study exaggerates the financial value of going to college.（分数：2.50）(7).Many students cannot afford to buy houses, start business or have children because of largely grown student debt.（分数：2.50）(8).When taking the cost of the colle
