1、专业英语四级（阅读）-试卷153及答案解析 (总分：30.00，做题时间：90分钟)一、READING COMPREHENSIO(总题数：11，分数：30.00)1.PART V READING COMPREHENSION_2.SECTION AIn this section there are several passages followed by ten multiple-choice questions. For each question, there are four suggested answers marked A, B, C and D. Choose the one th
2、at you think is the best answer._Google has an ambitious vision for spectacles. On June 27th Sergey Brin, one of the companys co-founders, revealed the next stage of Project Glass, its effort to create wireless-connected glasses that allow their wearers to do a host of things, including receiving an
3、d responding to messages, and taking and sharing photos and videos. The goal is to get prototypes in the hands of software developers early next year and then to sell a more polished set of specs to consumers in late 2013 or early the following year. A product of Googles secretive X Lab, whose missi
4、on is to push the boundaries of computing, the glasses were on show at the companys developer conference in San Francisco along with several other gadgets, including a cheap tablet computer and a new wireless media player for the home. These gadgets attracted plenty of attention, but the longest que
5、ues at the event were at booths where folk were trying on Googles spectacles. That is hardly surprising because the glasses seem like something out of a science-fiction novel. A tiny transparent display towards the top of one lens allows wearers to see text and images by glancing upwards. And the sp
6、ectacles can be controlled using either voice commands or a somewhat bulky touchpad integrated into one of the arms. Mr. Brin says the goal is to get technology out of the way so people can, say, take videos without having to pull out a camera or smartphone each time they do so. Googles glasses refl
7、ect a growing interest in wearable computing, which many experts think could be the next big thing in personal technology after smartphones and tablets. But some tech veterans give warning that designing novel devices people feel comfortable wearing is an especially tricky task. In general, the firs
8、t attempt at producing new computing paradigms rarely sticks, notes Sumeet Jain of CMEA Capital, a venture-capital firm. If Googles glasses are to prove an exception to that rule, the firm will have to meet several challenges. One is to refine their design so that wearers dont look like nerds from a
9、 laboratory. Another is to relieve inevitable concerns around privacy that the glasses will raise. The firm will also need to reassure people their eyeballs wont be blitzed with advertising, which is Googles preferred way to mint money. Mr. Brin stresses the aim is to make a profit on the glasses th
10、emselves, whose mass-market price will be well below the $1, 500 developers are paying for a pair. That should make them worth a close look.（分数：6.00）(1).The most popular product(s)at Googles developer conference in San Francisco was/were_.（分数：2.00）A.a tablet computerB.a wireless media playerC.the sp
11、ectaclesD.smartphones(2).Some experts believe it is a difficult task to_.（分数：2.00）A.design new and comfortable devicesB.increase customers interests in the spectaclesC.push the boundaries of wearable computingD.invent new wearable computing devices(3).Which of the following is NOT among the challeng
12、es to be met by Google?（分数：2.00）A.To improve the design of the glasses.B.To ease peoples concerns about privacy.C.To make people stop worrying about advertising.D.To earn a profit by increasing the mass-market price.Because I married a photographer, once we had children, our holiday cards of course
13、became vehicles for their cuteness and his creativity. In 2000, baby number ones chubby smiling face in a Santa hat was the cover image. In 2004, our now-four faces were ornaments on a tree. By 2006, we wore stocking caps and lay down in bed together with a thought bubble over our sleeping heads fil
14、led with cherries. Our best card was our last, in 2010. We dressed in extravagant holiday finery, gowns, jackets and bow-ties. We titled it:Don We Now Our Gay Apparel. That was two years ago. We mailed it out in envelopes, signed, sealed and delivered by the U.S. Postal Service and its analogues in
15、distant lands. Good cheer and laughs in mailboxes all around! Its been downhill ever since. By last year, wed let our mailing list go to seed. We communicated with most of our friends online and no longer had street addresses for them. I didnt know it then but my world, my social world, was changing
16、. Today, my 1, 500 Facebook friends1, 300 of whom I have never actually methave already seen the best of the years haul of pictures of my kids. They also know where Ive gone on vacation and sometimes, what I cooked for dinner or what I thought of a movie on a Saturday night in May. Theres little poi
17、nt to writing a Christmas update now, with boasts about grades and athletic skill, hospitalizations and holidays, and the dogs accidents, when we have already posted these events and so much more of our trifles all year long. The urge to share has already been well satisfied. Likewise, as receivers,
18、 we already have real-time windows into the lives of people thousands of miles away. We already know exactly how theyve fared in the past year, much more than could possibly be conveyed by any single Christmas card. If a child or grandchild has been born to a former colleague or high school friend l
19、iving across the continent, not only did I see it within hours on Shutterfly or Instagram or Facebook, I might have seen him or her take his or her first steps on YouTube. Still, the demise of the Christmas photo card saddens me. It predicts the end of the U.S. Postal Service. It signals the day is
20、near when writing on paper is non-existent. Finally, it is part of a decline of a certain quality of communication, one that involved delay and anticipation, forethought and reflection. Opening these cards, the satisfaction wasnt just in the Peace on Earth greeting, but in the recognition that a dis
21、tant friend or relative you hadnt heard from in a year was still thinking about you, and maybe sharing news about major events of the past 12 months. We know each other so well now, perhaps too well. And yet, all the time logged into our computers has also taken us away from our nearest and dearest.
22、 Who can say they spent as much time looking into the eyes of family, friends and neighbors as into the colorful phone or laptop screen last year? This season, instead of sending cards, my winter holiday greeting at the end of 2012 will be this: after posting the obligatory seasonal wishes online on
23、 Christmas Eve, I will be clicking off the electronic messaging services, and trying to connect in person with my friends, neighbors and family members for a change.（分数：6.00）(1).What is NOT mentioned as the things my Facebook friends know about me?（分数：2.00）A.My friends in real life.B.The place where
24、 I spent my holiday.C.The dishes I cooked.D.My idea about a movie.(2).It can be inferred from Paragraphs 4 and 5 that_.（分数：2.00）A.we can see other peoples life through windowsB.its easy to learn about distant friends over the networkC.writing on paper doesnt exist any longerD.opening photo cards giv
25、es us the satisfaction of peace(3).Which of the following is the best title for the passage?（分数：2.00）A.How Did I Make the Holiday Photo Cards?B.What Is the Best Way to Connect with Friends?C.Why Did I Stop Sending Holiday Photo Cards?D.What Is the Disadvantage of Online Contact?In The Art of Choosin
26、g, Sheena Iyengar, a business professor at Columbia University and a leading expert on decision making, tells us that making sounc choices is even more difficult than we think. To learn how to make better decisions, we first need to become aware of the pitfalls(陷阱)we typically encounter. Iyengar rev
27、eals, for example, that having many options to choose from does not lead to better outcomes, despite popular assumptions to the contrary. For instance, she found that consumers were far more likely to buy jam when given fewer flavor choices, not more. We frequently pay a mental and emotional tax for
28、 freedom of choice, she writes. To become better choosers, Iyengar proposes that when confronted with an abundance of options, people should focus first on the easiest elements of the decision and work up to the more complex parts. She illustrates this point using one study in which Audi buyers had
29、to choose among 144 total car features. One group started with the features that required fewer options, such as whether they wanted leather or upholstered interiors, and worked up to features with many options, such as choosing among 56 colors for the cars interior and exterior. The other group sta
30、rted with the hardest choices and moved toward the easier ones. In the end, those in the group that went from the hardest to easiest spent an average of 1, 500 euros more on their cars than the other group and reported they were less happy with their decisions. Iyengar also explains that we often ma
31、ke decisions not based on our tastes but on how we think our decisions will be perceived. In 2000 a team of psychologists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Columbia University showed that people receiving a free sample of beer chose against their tastes to avoid looking like copycats
32、to their peers. Individuals who picked their beers in private, however, chose what they enjoyed and said they were happy with their decisions. Iyengar points out that the people who chose against their tastes were often unconscious of what motivated their decisions. Thus, she proposes that one way t
33、o avoid strong and sometimes silent influences is to try to become more aware of them in the first place. Ultimately, Iyengar wants us to recognize that our decisionsboth the mundane(普通的)and momentousare influenced by many factors and that the more we recognize those factors, the more satisfied we w
34、ill be.（分数：4.00）(1).Compared with the other group, those Audi buyers who started from the hardest choices to the easiest ones_.（分数：2.00）A.spent less money and were happierB.spent less money and were less happyC.spent more money and were happierD.spent more money and were less happy(2).According to P
35、aragraph 4, which of the following statements is INCORRECT?（分数：2.00）A.People chose the beer against their tastes so that they wouldnt be thought to imitate others.B.People could realize what caused them to choose against their own tastes in public.C.People enjoyed the beer that they chose in private
36、 and were satisfied with the choice.D.People often chose the beer based on their tastes in private but against them in public.Executive coaching is primarily concerned with confidential one-to-one discussions between the coach and the executive. It is aimed at performance improvement. Primary needs
37、are diagnosed and agreed upon, a developmental-action plan is drawn up, the skill base of the executive is broadened by coaching, and then the new skill sets are tested in the workplace under the guidance of the coach. Sometimes, these needs involve team coaching, but individual coaching is the norm
38、al starting point. The coach needs to guide the executive outside his or her comfort zone in order to improve performance. A coaching assignment normally focuses on two or three developmental needs of the individual, and lasts for 6 to 12 months. However, it sometimes involves multiple assignments a
39、imed at bringing about cultural change in an organization. For example, a new chief executive may want to change the culture of his organization. He could then hire a coach, and brief him or her to change the mindset of his direct subordinates on a one-to-one basis. Compared with traditional managem
40、ent training, which is typically related to broadbased organizational change, sometimes of a technical nature, executive coaching is targeted to individual and small-group change. The primary focus of coaching is often behavioural and leadership change, and is rarely of a technical nature. The diffe
41、rence between coaching and training is that coaching is one-to-one, highly confidential and over 6-12 months, whereas training is typically of a short-term, group-work-shop nature. Referring to the key ingredients for enhanced performance and team success, business coaching has a lot to learn from s
42、ports. According to sports coaches, a coach is a catalyst for change, and is not paid to preserve the status quo, but to lift people out of their comfort zone, so that they grow and develop. The coach must stay in touch with the state of the art and extract from it what is relevant. All sports coach
43、es believe passionately in the power of the team to lift performance not by just a little, but by 100% . Considerable energy is devoted to defining goals, roles, a code of conduct and to fostering group dynamics in order to optimize team productivity. Both success and failure are learning opportunit
44、ies, and there is a severity in their cold-eyed, weekly analysis, which business has yet to develop. Top athletes scrutinize both success and failure with their coach to extract lessons from them, but they are never distracted from longer-term goals. To be a champion athlete means developing an elit
45、ist attitudenot involving arrogance, but rather an unceasing desire to learn and improve. They never accept second best, but always strive for what has not yet been achieved. There must be a sport/life balance, so that athletes are not obsessed by their goals, and thus lack a sense of perspective to
46、 cope with inevitable failure or occasional success，or the ability to recharge their batteries outside the sporting arena.（分数：4.00）(1).Which of the following statements is INCORRECT according to Paragraph 5?（分数：2.00）A.Executive coaches update their minds constantly.B.Coaches are aimed to broaden peo
47、ples horizon.C.Its difficult to evaluate the performance of a coach.D.If a coach can not make the executive get touch with something unfamiliar, he will probably be fired.(2).With the passage, the author intends to_.（分数：2.00）A.introduce the job of executive coachingB.compare executive coaching with sports coachingC.explain the tasks of executive coachingD.tell the aims of executive coaching3.SECTION BIn this section there are five short answer questions based on the passages in Section A. Answer the questions with No more than TEN words in the space provided._4.PASSAGE ONE（分数：2.00）_5.P
