1、公共英语四级-147 及答案解析(总分：65.00，做题时间：90 分钟)一、Section Use of Eng(总题数：1，分数：20.00)The population of the United States is only 6% of the world“s population, but Americans 1 one third of all the energy 2 in the world. This fact alone says that Americans need to use less energy. And because the price of energy
2、had been rising very rapidly 3 the limited supplies of oil in particular, Americans are becoming aware to the need to 4 energy. In California we have a California Energy Commission which has set up in the past five years to 5 plan for our future energy use. We have 6 laws in California to help us co
3、nserve energy. First of all, our houses in California have been very 7 of energy in the past. They were not 8 very carefully and so the heat would go out of the house very rapidly. Now we require that the homes have a 9 level of insulation, and so the homes built now are much more 10 . 11 , in trans
4、portation 12 a large percentage of oil energy is used, we need to develop more public transportation. In China, of course you have a very good public transportation system. And it is a (n) 13 for the kind of thing we need to develop more in the United States. Automobiles are also becoming more 14 .
5、The smaller automobile with efficient engine can help to conserve a large amount of energy along with planning our 15 more carefully. Many different studies have shown that we could 16 our energy consumption by 17 half or two thirds and still have the 18 quality of life. And many different types of
6、technologies are currently being researched as to 19 they can be built to use 20 energy and still supply the same service.（分数：20.00）A.conserveB.consumeC.produceD.supplyA.preservesB.sourcesC.deservesD.reservesA.owing toB.resulting inC.in spite ofD.in the cause ofA.consumeB.conserveC.exhaustD.retainA.
7、generateB.helpC.conceiveD.originateA.stagedB.composedC.developedD.devisedA.frugalB.economicalC.wastefulD.savingA.insulatedB.insultedC.resultedD.separatedA.largestB.smallestC.maximumD.minimumA.effectiveB.sufficientC.efficientD.deficientA.HoweverB.AlsoC.ThereforeD.For exampleA.whyB.whereC.whoD.whichA.
8、exampleB.responsibilityC.opportunityD.obligationA.fashionableB.luxuriousC.efficientD.effectiveA.transportationB.travelC.energyD.automobileA.condenseB.reduceC.crushD.swellA.at leastB.at mostC.at fullD.at lengthA.bottomB.sameC.meanD.adequateA.whereB.whyC.whenD.howA.lessB.sufficientC.adequateD.lacking二
9、、Section Reading Co(总题数：0，分数：0.00)四、Passage 1(总题数：1，分数：5.00)The big identity-theft bust last week was just a taste of what“s to come. Here“s how to protect your good name. HERE“S THE SCARY THING about the identity-theft ring that the Feds cracked last week: there was nothing any of its estimated 400
10、00 victims could have done to prevent it from happening. This was an inside job, according to court documents. A lowly help-desk worker at Teledata Communications, a software firm that helps banks access credit reports online, allegedly stole passwords for those reports and sold them to a group of 2
11、0 thieves at $60 a pop. That allowed the gang to cherry-pick consumers with good credit and apply for all kinds of accounts in their names. Cost to the victims: $3 million and rising. Even scarier is that this, the largest identity-theft bust to date, is just a drop in the bit bucket. More than 7000
12、00 Americans have their credit hijacked every year. It“s one of crime“s biggest growth markets. A name, address and Social Security numberwhich can often be found on the Webis all anybody needs to apply for a bogus line of credit. Credit companies make $1.3 trillion annually and lose less than 2% of
13、 that revenue to fraud, so there“s little financial incentive for them to make the application process more secure. As it stands now, it“s up to you to protect your identity. The good news is that there are plenty of steps you can take. Most credit thieves are opportunists, not well-organized gangs.
14、 A lot of them go Dumpster diving for those millions of “pre-approved“ credit-card mailings that go out every day. Others steal wallets and return them, taking only a Social Security number. Shredding your junk mail and leaving your Social Security card at home can save a lot of agony later. But the
15、 most effective way to keep your identity clean is to check your credit reports once or twice a year. There are three major credit-report outfits: Equifax (at equifax. com), Trans-Union (www. transunion. come) and Experian (experian. com). All allow you to order reports online, which is a lot better
16、 than wading through voice-mail hell on their 800 lines. Of the three, I found Trans-Union“s website to be the cheapest and most comprehensivelaying out state-by-state prices, rights and tips for consumers in easy-to-read fashion. If you“re lucky enough to live in Colorado, Georgia, Maryland, Massac
17、husetts, New Jersey or Vermont, you are entitled to one free report a year by law. Otherwise it“s going to cost $ 8 to $14 each time. Avoid services that offer to monitor your reports year-round for about $70; that“s $10 more than the going rate among thieves. If you think you“re a victim of identit
18、y theft, you can ask for fraud alerts to be put on file at each of the three credit-report companies. You can also download a theft-report form at www. consumer. gov/idtheft, which, along with a local police re- port, should help when irate creditors come knocking. Just don“t expect justice. That au
19、dacious help-desk worker was one of the fewer than 2% of identity thieves who are ever caught.（分数：5.00）(1).What is the trend of credit-theft crime?（分数：1.00）A.Tightly suppressed.B.More frightening.C.Rapidly increasing.D.loosely controlled.(2).The expression “inside job“ (Line 3, Paragraph 2) most pro
20、bably means “_“.（分数：1.00）A.a crime that is committed by a person working for the victimB.a crime that should be punished severelyC.a crime that does great harm to the victimD.a crime that poses a great threat to the society(3).The creditors can protect their identity in the following ways except _.（
21、分数：1.00）A.destroying your junk mailB.leaving your Social Security card at homeC.visiting the credit-report website regularlyD.obtaining the free report from the government(4).Why is it easy to have credit-theft?（分数：1.00）A.More people are using credit service.B.The application program is not safe eno
22、ugh.C.Creditors usually disclose their identity.D.Creditors are not careful about their identity.(5).What is the best title of the text?（分数：1.00）A.The danger of credit-theftB.The loss of the creditorsC.How to protect your good nameD.Why the creditors lose their identity五、Passage 2(总题数：1，分数：5.00)The
23、Nile made Egypt“s civilization possible. The river is more than 400 miles long. In its fertile valley crops are grown for food and cotton for clothing. Mud from the river bottom makes good bricks for houses. Thus ways of getting food, clothing and shelter were close for the Egyptians. The Nile is a
24、highway for the people of Egypt. Flat bottomed boats and large narrow barges carry products from one city to another. There are also passenger boats on the Nile, carrying people up and down the river. In ancient times huge blocks of stones were floated down the river on barges. These stones are used
25、 in making buildings and monuments. For thousands of years the Egyptians have depended on the Nile for their crops. The land on both sides of the Nile is desert, where crops cannot be raised. But crops grow well in the Nile Valley. In fact, several different crops are often grown on the same land du
26、ring the same year. Once the Nile flooded each year, overflowed its banks, and carried rich soil in land every summer. These floods were caused by early summer rains. At present there is a series of dams on the Nile. Water raised high in the river each summer as usual. The people do not let the Nile
27、 flood, however. They store the water behind dams. It is now possible to use the water as needed, not just at flood time.（分数：5.00）(1).In the past_.（分数：1.00）A.there was rain all the year longB.the Nile flooded every yearC.the Nile became deeper and deeper after each rainfallD.the Nile was not a long
28、river(2).Egyptians have grown crops well_.（分数：1.00）A.on both sides of the NileB.on the land near the desert areaC.on the Nile valleyD.far away from the desert area(3).In the fertile valley of the Nile_.（分数：1.00）A.bricks for houses are madeB.different crops are raised on the same landC.only cotton ca
29、n grow wellD.people grow all crops except cotton(4).“The Nile is a highway for the people of Egypt“ means_.（分数：1.00）A.cars and trucks can move as fast as possible along itB.the river bottom can serve as a road in dry seasonC.the river is an important water transportation line in EgyptD.on the river
30、there are a lot of boats and people(5).Which of the following can best summarize the passage?（分数：1.00）A.The Nile is the source of flood.B.The Nile is a highway for the people in Egypt.C.The flat bottomed boats have been used.D.The Nile made Egypt“s civilization possible.六、Passage 3(总题数：1，分数：5.00)For
31、 more than two decades, U. S. courts have been limiting affirmative-action programs in universities and other areas. The legal rationale is that racial preferences are unconstitutional, even those intended to compensate for racism or intolerance. For many colleges, this means students can be admitte
32、d only on merit, not on their race or ethnicity. It has been a divisive issue across the U. S., as educators blame the prolonged reaction to affirmative-action for declines in minority admissions. Meanwhile, activists continue to battle race preferences in courts from Michigan to North Carolina. Now
33、, chief executives of about two dozen companies have decided to plunge headfirst into this politically unsettled debate. They, together with 36 universities and 7 nonprofitable organizations, formed a forum that set forth an action plan essentially designed to help colleges circumvent court-imposed
34、restrictions on affirmative action. The CEOs“ motive. “Our audience is growing more diverse, so the communities we serve benefit if our employees are racially and ethnically diverse as well“, says one CEO of a company that owns nine television stations. Among the steps the forum is pushing, finding
35、creative yet legal ways to boost minority enrollment through new admissions policies; promoting admissions decisions that look at more than test scores; and encouraging universities to step up their minority outreach and financial aid. And to counter accusations by critics to challenge these tactics
36、 in court, the group says it will give legal assistance to colleges sued for trying them. “Diversity diminished by the court must be made up for in other legitimate, legal ways, “ says, a forum member. One of the more controversial methods advocated is the so-called 10% rule. The idea is for public
37、universitieswhich educate three-quarters of all U. S. undergraduatesto admit students who are in the top 10% of their high school graduating class. Doing so allows colleges to take minorities who excel in average urban schools, even if they wouldn“t have made the cut under the current statewide rank
38、ing many universities use.（分数：5.00）(1).U.S. court restrictions on affirmative-action signifies that _.（分数：1.00）A.minorities no longer hold the once favored statusB.the quality of American colleges has improvedC.racial preferences have replaced racial prejudiceD.the minority is on an equal footing wi
39、th the majority(2).What has been a divisive issue across the United States?（分数：1.00）A.Whether affirmative action should continue to exist.B.Whether this law is helping minorities or the white majority.C.Whether racism exists in American college admissions.D.Whether racial intolerance should be punis
40、hed.(3).CEOs of big companies decided to help colleges enroll more minority students because they _.（分数：1.00）A.think it wrong to deprive the minorities of their rights to receive educationB.want to conserve the fine characteristics of American nationC.want a workforce that reflects the diversity of
41、their customersD.think it their duty to help develop education of the country(4).The major tactic the forum uses is to _.（分数：1.00）A.battle the racial preferences in courtB.support colleges involved in lawsuits of racismC.strive to settle this political debate nationwideD.find legally viable ways to
42、ensure minority admissions(5).If the 10% rule is applied, _.（分数：1.00）A.the best white high school students can get into collegesB.public universities can get excellent studentsC.students from poor rural families can go to collegesD.good minority students can get into public universities七、Passage 4(总
43、题数：1，分数：5.00)Emily Dickinson was a nineteenth-century American woman who lived her life completely unknown to anyone except her family and a few friends. Less than a dozen of her poems were published during her lifetime. In spite of this, she is regarded today as a great poet, perhaps the greatest p
44、oet the United States has produced. Along with the Greek poet Sappho, she may be one of the two greatest women poets who have ever lived. Dickinson was born on December 10,1830, in a small Massachusetts town called Amherst. Hers was an old family, and her ancestors had come to the United States 200
45、years before“ Her parents were not really rich, but they were certainly not poor. She had an older brother, Austin, and a younger sister, Lavinia. Her parents seem to have been rather withdrawn people, and the members of the family spent a good deal of time by themselves. She doesnt seem to have lik
46、ed her mother very much. She spoke once of never really having a mother. She was educated at the local Amherst Academy and Mount Holyoke Womens Seminary. Although she was sometimes described as pretty, she never married. In all outward respects, her life appeared to be rather boring. The time and pl
47、ace in which she lived was not a good one for a woman artist to succeed. Women are expected to be obedient to men and to remain in their place at home. Rather than waste her life in the meaningless round of social events that were open to women, she decided at some point to retreat from the world in
48、 order to write her poetry. From then on, she spent a great deal of time in her bedroom writing. In later years when she was standing in front of her bedroom door, she looked at her niece and said, “Its just a turn -and freedom, Mary !“ It was when she closed the door of her room and turned the key
49、that locked the door that the most important and creative hours of her life were spent, the hours when she wrote her poetry. She was regarded as a recluse by many of her neighbors, that is, as a person who spent a good deal of time by herself.（分数：5.00）(1).According to the writer, who is the greatest woman writer in America?（分数：1.00）A.Sappho.B.Emily Dickinson.C.Both Sappho and Emily Dickinson.D.Not mentioned in the passage.(2).Emily Dickinsons ancestors came to the United States in around _.（分数：1.00）A.1530B.1630C.1730D.1830(3)
