1、大学英语四级-阅读 8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)三、Passage(总题数：5，分数：100.00)Do you give your children money or rewards when they perform well at school? According to a study, such actions could be detrimental to their development, and cause them to be more materialistic as a
2、dults. The study suggests that those who were rewarded and spoiled as children were more likely to think possessions define who we are. “Using material possessions to express love or reward children for their achievements can backfire (事与愿违),“ wrote the authors in the paper called Material Parenting
3、. “Loving and supportive parents can unintentionally foster materialism in their children despite their best efforts to steer them away from relying on material possessions to find happiness or to judge others.“ The authors surveyed 701 adults to measure the long-term impact of material parenting. T
4、hey were asked to describe their current life situation and Values, and also reported on a variety of childhood circumstances, their relationship with their parents, and the rewards and punishments they received during three critical ages of childhood. Results showed adults who had received more mat
5、erial rewards and punishments as children were more likely than others to use possessions to define and express who they are. And adults who received many material rewards as children were likely to continue rewarding themselves with material goods and defining themselves through their possessions.
6、Parents should therefore be cautious about using material goods to express their love and reward their children for good behavior, warn the researchers. They say an overemphasis on material possessions during childhood can have long-lasting effects. It can pave “the way for their children to grow up
7、 to be more likely than others to admire people with expensive possessions and judge success by the kinds of things people own,“ the authors conclude. Where you live could affect how big your shopping habit is, according to new research. US scientists have found that people who live in wealthy neigh
8、borhoods are more likely to have materialistic values and poor spending habits. And they think that young people living in particularly rich urban areas are the worst offenders. Dr Ryan Howell believes the reason for the link is because of “relative deprivation,“ which is the feeling someone gets wh
9、en they believe they are less well-off than those around them.（分数：20.00）(1).What is the meaning of the word “detrimental“ (line 2, Para. 1) ?（分数：4.00）A.Decisive.B.Damaging.C.Crucial.D.Harmful.(2).What is the implied meaning of the remarks made by the authors of Material Parenting?（分数：4.00）A.Loving a
10、nd supportive parents can keep their children away from materialism.B.Loving and supportive parents rely on material possessions to find happiness or to judge others.C.Loving and supportive parents try but fail in making their children not materialistic.D.Material possession can help the children fi
11、nd happiness or judge others.(3).Which of the following is the result of the survey?（分数：4.00）A.701 adults were asked to describe their past and current life situation.B.Those who received many material rewards and punishments as children would use possessions to define themselves when they grew up.C
12、.Adults who received many material rewards as children might give themselves materials as rewards when they grew up.D.Parents should be careful to use material goods to reward their children.(4).Which of the following is NOT the warning made according to the survey?（分数：4.00）A.Material possession may
13、 make children grow up to be more likely than others to admire wealthy people.B.Too much rely on materials in childhood may have future influence.C.Parents should not reward children by material goods.D.Overemphasis on material possessions during childhood will make one judge success by the kinds of
14、 things people own.(5).Which factor may have the most negative influence on one“s development?（分数：4.00）A.Loving and supportive parents.B.Living in particularly rich urban areas.C.Overemphasis on material possession.D.Relative deprivation.Emerging research looks at the relationship between money and
15、well-being and finds conflicting evidence on the link between money and happiness. Research published in the journal Psychological Science has shown that experiential purchasesmoney spent on doingmay provide more enduring happiness than material purchases (money spent on having). Investigators found
16、 that waiting for an experience was linked to significantly more happiness, pleasantness, and excitement than waiting for a material good. “The anticipatory period for experiential purchases tends to be more pleasant.less tinged with impatience relative to future material purchases we“re planning on
17、 making,“ said lead researcher Amit Kumar. Given the results, the researchers suggest that it may make sense to delay consumption of some purchases, and shift spending away from material goods to more experiences. In shortstart planning for vacations, dinner parties, and concerts ahead of time to re
18、ap more benefits from anticipation. Another research effort found that sometimes, less is more. As published in the Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin , researchers found that both material and experiential wealth tends to reduce people“s ability to savor (尽情享受) simple joys and experiences.
19、That is, wealth and abundance may undermine appreciation and reduce the positive emotions associated with everyday experiences. Researchers found that in contrast to abundance, experiencing adversity in the past or scarcity in the present increases individual“s ability to savor everyday moments. “Si
20、mply reminding individuals that the future can be unpredictable drives people to stop and smell the roses,“ says lead researcher Jordi Quoidbach. Finally, many people believe that becoming rich is the path to happiness, but pursuing wealth may be an ineffective means of pursuing well-being. Accordin
21、g to a study from researchers at Harvard Business School, the University of Mannheim, and Yale University, wealthy individuals report that having three to four times as much money would give them a perfect “10“ score on happinessregardless of how much wealth they already have. “Wealthy individualswh
22、ether worth $1 million or $10 millionare not happier as their wealth increases,“ says lead researcher Michael Norton. The research shows that current happiness is not related to wealth and may even be negatively related to income. The study is expected to be published in the coming year.（分数：20.00）(1
23、).According to the research published in Psychological Science, which of the following may produce most happiness?（分数：4.00）A.Saving money for the thing you“ve longed for quite a long time.B.Purchasing the thing you“ve longed for quite a long time.C.Making a schedule for your dream trip.D.Donating mo
24、ney to those in need.(2).What does the first research in Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin show?（分数：4.00）A.Uncertainty in the future helps one seize the day.B.Scarcity helps one cherish everyday moments.C.Abundance hinders one from simple joy and happiness.D.Wealthy people are less willing
25、to appreciate others.(3).What does the word “adversity“ (Line 5, Para. 3) mean?（分数：4.00）A.Advantage.B.Wealth.C.Poverty.D.Unhappiness.(4).What does the last study imply?（分数：4.00）A.Many people don“t believe that being rich equals happiness.B.Owing money produces no happiness.C.Three to four times as m
26、uch money produces most happiness in wealthy people.D.The more money one has, the less happy one may be.(5).Which of the following can be a proper title for the article?（分数：4.00）A.Owning Money Makes No HappinessB.Does Money Equal Happiness?C.Better Giving Than ReceivingD.Money: a Path to Well-beingC
27、ontrary to what many would think, having an “everyone“s a winner“ mentality in my daughter“s youth softball league did not come as good news to me. In order to level the playing field, rules were altered to prevent children from striking out. When I heard about these changes, I insisted that my daug
28、hter not be held to such standards because I believed it would deprive her of valuable lessons. It is becoming commonplace to change the rules of the game to avoid any sort of failure, but this goes against the fundamentals on which sports were built. Beyond the scope of sports, however, these chang
29、es are disadvantageous to children in the long term. It deprives children of valuable learning lessons and coping skills that will extend into other facets (方面) of their lives. If they are not taught how to work harder in order to accomplish their goals, and instead expect that success will be hande
30、d to them, then what is the point of hard work and dedication? Children will not be able to apply those same valuable principles to other aspects of their lives, such as achieving good grades, securing a scholarship, or working toward a better job. Children are being increasingly coddled in a cultur
31、e of false confidence and reinforcement. If they do not learn how to deal with disappointment and failure early on, children will be more distraught (心神错乱) when they inevitably face them later in life. In fact, a Stanford psychology study found “kids respond positively to praise; they enjoy hearing
32、that they“re talented, smart and so on. But, after such praise of their innate (天生的) abilities, they collapse at the first experience of difficulty. Discouraged by their failure, they say they“d rather cheat than risk failing again.“ This evidence supports the claim that we are doing a true injustic
33、e to children psychologically by not allowing them to experience failure. It is in a child“s best interest to learn how to adjust and alter their approach if what they“re doing is not working, and we“re not providing them with the proper tools for success. Failure is a necessary part of learning and
34、 growth, and sports are an ideal place to implement these important lessons. Although I believe that advocates for the “everyone“s a winner“ approach have good intentions, I do not agree with the way that they are trying to accomplish it. We need to empower children and instill confidence while allo
35、wing them to experience a valuable lesson in life: failure.（分数：20.00）(1).Why does the author disapprove of what her daughter“s youth softball team did?（分数：4.00）A.Because it makes her daughter lose the softball lesson.B.Because it will be fair for every child in the playing field.C.Because rules are
36、changed to let children stay.D.Because children should learn from their failures.(2).Why are the changes of rules harmful to children if taking their whole life into consideration?（分数：4.00）A.Because they go against the fundamentals on which sports were built.B.Because children will lose the chance t
37、o learn lessons.C.Because children don“t know how to work harder to accomplish their goals.D.Because children will not apply the same principles to other aspects of theft lives.(3).What does the word “coddle“ (Line 1, Para. 3) mean?（分数：4.00）A.Cover.B.Protect.C.Spoil.D.Surround.(4).What does the Stan
38、ford Psychological study imply?（分数：4.00）A.Children enjoy praise of their innate abilities.B.Children who get used to praise tend to cheat.C.Children who get used to praise fear to face failures.D.Praise of children“s innate abilities makes them collapse.(5).Why does the author say “we are doing a tr
39、ue injustice to children psychologically“?（分数：4.00）A.Because children have interest in learning how to adjust and alter their approach.B.Because children should learn from their failures without the adults“ interference.C.Because sports are an ideal place to let children learn from their failures.D.
40、Because adults provide children with the proper tools for success.When the candidates for the Republican presidential nomination (提名) line up on stage for their first debate in August, there may be three whose fathers also ran for president. Whoever wins may face the wife of a former president next
41、year. It is odd that a country founded on the principle of hostility to inherited status should be so tolerant of dynasties. Obviously, today“s rich increasingly pass on to their children an asset that cannot be frittered (浪费) away in a few nights at a casino. It is far more useful than wealth, and
42、invulnerable to inheritance tax. It is brains. Intellectual capital drives the knowledge economy, so those who have lots of it get a fat slice of the pie. And it is increasingly heritable. Far more than in previous generations, clever, successful men marry clever, successful women. Such “assortative
43、 mating“ increases inequality by 25%, by one estimate, since two-degree households typically enjoy two large incomes. Power couples conceive bright children and bring them up in stable homesonly 9% of college-educated mothers who give birth each year are unmarried, compared with 61% of high-school d
44、ropouts. They stimulate them relentlessly: children of professionals hear 32m more words by the age of four than those of parents on welfare. They move to pricey neighborhoods with good schools, spend a packet on piano lessons and manage to get junior into a top college. The solution is not to disco
45、urage rich people from investing in their children, but to do a lot more to help clever kids who failed to pick rich parents. The moment to start is in early childhood, when the brain is most malleable and the fight kind of stimulation has the largest effect. There is no substitute for parents who t
46、alk and read to their babies, but good nurseries can help, especially for the most struggling families; and America scores poorly by international standards. Improving early child care in the poorest American neighborhoods yields returns of ten to one or more; few other government investments pay of
47、f so handsomely. Loosening the link between birth and success would make America richerfar too much talent is currently wasted. It might also make the nation more cohesive.（分数：20.00）(1).What does it imply when mentioning candidates for the Republican presidential nomination?（分数：4.00）A.America, a cou
48、ntry founded on the principle of hostility to inherited status, should be so tolerant of dynasties.B.America should not be tolerant of dynasties.C.In America, men and women are equal even in political field.D.In America, some people enjoy privileges due to their family background.(2).Which of the fo
49、llowing does NOT exemplify “intellectual capital drives the knowledge economy“?（分数：4.00）A.9% of college-educated mothers who give birth each year are unmarried.B.Power couples conceive bright children and bring them up in stable homes.C.Children of professionals hear 32m more words by the age of four than those of parents on welfare.D.Clever and power people get more resources of knowledge economy.(3).Which of the following is NOT the feature of “assortative mating“?（分数：4.00）A.Smart couples with career respectively.B.It is unfair to the balance of the society.C.The couple possess hou
