1、专业英语四级（阅读）-试卷154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._Wearable gadgets like smart watches and Google Glass can seem like a fad that has all the durability of CB radios or Duran Duran, but theyre important early signs of a new era of technology that will drive investment and innovation for years. Tech companies are pushi
3、ng out waves of wearable technology productsall of them clumsy and none of them yet really catching on. Samsung is excitedly hawking its Galaxy Gear smart watch, and Google, Apple, Qualcomm(高通公司), and others are expected to come out with competing versions. Google Glass gets lots of gee-whiz attenti
4、on, and every other day, someone new introduces a fitness tracker, a GPS kid-monitoring bracelet, oryeah, seriouslyinteractive underwear. These are all part of a powerful trend: Over the past 40 years, digital technology has consistently moved from far away to close to us. Go back long enough, and c
5、omputers the size of Buicks stayed in the back rooms of big companies. Most people never touched them. By the late 1970s, technology started moving to office desksfirst as terminals connected to those hidden computers, and then as early personal computers. The next stage: We wanted digital technolog
6、y in our homes, so we bought desktop PCs. A portable computer in the mid-1980s, like the first Compaq, was the size of a carry-on suitcase and about as easy to lug as John Goodman. But by the 1990s, laptops got better and smaller, for the first time liberating digital technology from a place and att
7、aching it more to a person. Now we want our technology with us all the time. This era of the smartphone and tablet began with the iPhone in 2007. The with us era is accelerating even now: IBM announced that its making its powerful Watson computingthe technology that beat humans on Jeopardy! availabl
8、e in the cloud, so it can be accessed by consumers on a smart device. In technologys inexorable march from far away to close to us, and now with us, there are only three places left for it to go: on us, all around us, and then in us. Wearable is the next paradigm shift, says Philippe Kahn, who inven
9、ted the camera phone and today is developing innards for wearable tech. We are going to see a lot of innovation in wearable in the next seven years, by 2020. Hard to know which products will catch on. Glasses are an obvious way to wear a screen, but most people dont want to look like a tech geek(极客)
10、. The masses might get interested if Google Glass can be invisibly built into hot-looking frames. A start-up called Telepathy is developing a slim arm that holds a microprojector that shoots images back to your eye. Another concept is to build a device with a tiny projector that suspends text or ima
11、ges out in front of you, like a heads-up display.（分数：6.00）(1).According to the passage, which of the following statements is INCORRECT?（分数：2.00）A.Wearable products are warmly welcomed by customers.B.Wearable products are signals of a new technology era.C.Samsung has launched its wearable gadget.D.We
12、arable products are clumsy at this stage.(2).Compared with 1980s, what is the biggest development of portable computers in 1990s?（分数：2.00）A.They are easier to carry and closer to their users.B.Their appearances are more elegant.C.They are found on desktops instead of back rooms.D.Computer producers
13、provide more brands for selection.(3).Why is Google Glass not accepted by most people?（分数：2.00）A.Because it is too fashionable for ordinary people.B.Because people wearing it look like geeks.C.Because it is not so powerful to technology fans.D.Because its frame is invisible.Simply walking through an
14、 unfamiliar neighborhood can make you feel more paranoid(疑神疑鬼的)and lower your trust in others. In a study published in the journal PeerJ, student volunteers who spent less than an hour in a more dangerous neighborhood showed significant changes in some of their social perceptions. The researchers go
15、al was to investigate the relationship between lower income neighborhoods and reduced trust and poor mental health. While the association is well known, the scientists, from Newcastle University in the UK, wanted to determine whether the connection was due to people reacting to the environment aroun
16、d them, or because those who are generally less trusting were more likely to live in troubled areas. Prior research showed that kids who grew up in such neighborhoods were less likely to graduate from high school and more likely to develop stress that can lead to depression. The study took 50 studen
17、ts, sent half of them to a low income, high crime neighborhood and the other half to an affluent neighborhood with little crime. Before the students ventured into their respective areas, the researchers interviewed the neighborhood residents and found that residents of the high-crime neighborhood ha
18、rbored more feelings of paranoia(多疑)and lower levels of social trust compared to the residents of the other neighborhood. The students in the study were not from either neighborhood, and did not know what the study was about. They were dropped off by a taxi and told to deliver envelopes containing a
19、 packet of questions to a list of residential addresses. They spent 45 minutes walking around their assigned neighborhood distributing the envelopes. When the students returned, the researchers surveyed them about their experience, their feelings of trust, and their feelings of paranoia. Despite the
20、 short amount of time they spent in the neighborhoods, the students picked up the prevailing social attitudes of the residents living in those environments; those who went to the more dangerous neighborhood scored higher on measures of paranoia and lower on measures of trust compared to the other gr
21、oup, just as the residents had. Not only that, but their levels of reported paranoia and trust were indistinguishable from the residents who spent years living there. That came as an intriguing surprise to other experts. Ingrid Gould Ellen, the director of the Urban Planning Program at New York Univ
22、ersity Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, studies how the make-up of neighborhoods can impact the attitudes and interactions of people who live in them. In her research, she and her colleagues found that kids who live on blocks where violent crimes occurred the week before they took a standar
23、dized test performed worse on those tests than students from similar backgrounds who were not exposed to a violent crime in their neighborhood before their exam. But the fact that the paranoia and lack of trust set in after just a short time in the more troubled neighborhood suggested how powerful t
24、he influence of these environments can be. In the case of this UK study, it seems unlikely that study participants were actually exposed to crime during their brief visits. But somehow the physical cr social cues in the neighborhood suggested to them that these were unsafe areas, says Ellen.（分数：6.00
25、）(1).According to Paragraph 3, which of the following statements is CORRECT?（分数：2.00）A.The research showed relationships between trust and mental health.B.People who are not trustful tend to live in troubled areas.C.Kids from secure areas are more stressful.D.Kids from troubled areas are more likely
26、 poorly-educated.(2).According to the results of UKs experiment, which of the following is INCORRECT?（分数：2.00）A.Volunteers have the same social attitudes with the long-time residents.B.Volunteers from troubled neighborhood have higher level of paranoia.C.Volunteers get better results than the long-t
27、ime residents on level of trust.D.Volunteers from troubled neighborhood have lower level of trust.(3).Which of the following is the most suitable title for this passage?（分数：2.00）A.How to Establish the Feelings of Trust and Get Rid of ParanoiaB.You Are Where You Live: Dangerous Neighborhoods Lead to
28、ParanoiaC.Closely Bonded: Neighborhood Safety and Resident IncomeD.Born to Win: Neighborhood Environment Is the Key to Lead a Good LifeFirst the good news: 9 in 10 people said they were satisfied with their jobs or the work that they doand that remained steady throughout 2008, despite the economy. A
29、nd now the bad, even if its not so surprising: The number of people who said their employer reduced the size of the workforce rose dramatically during the year, from 15% in the first quarter to 23% in the fourth quarter. Thats according to a survey from Gallup and health management company Healthway
30、s. Nearly each day in 2008, about 1, 000 adults were asked about their physical, emotional, economic and workplace well-being. When it came to their work environment, many of the 355, 334 people surveyed by phone were positive. But there were some labor pains. Just 47% of respondents from Hawaii sai
31、d they were satisfied with their jobs, used their strengths at work, were treated by a supervisor as a partner and worked in an open, trusting environment. That was the lowest score of any state on a work environment index that was compiled by calculating positive responses in those four areas. Utah
32、 nabbed top honors, with 59% of its respondents saying those four elements were prevalent in work lives. Among the biggest differences between Utah and Hawaii: 73% of Utah respondents said their supervisor created a trusting environment, while only 58% of folks in Hawaii felt that way. The national
33、average was 65%. The Gallup-Healthways AHIP Congressional Report didnt offer any insights into why Utah ruled and Hawaii ranked so poorly on the workplace front. Hawaiis residents took the No. 1 slot in another two survey areas, emotional health and living conditions. Maybe having a job while youre
34、in paradise may not be all that great, says Jim Harter, a chief scientist of workplace and well-being at Gallup. Utah has done well in separate workplace studies, as well. After considering factors such as unemployment rate, job growth, income growth, median household income and the cost of living,
35、Moodys Economy, com named its capital, Salt Lake City, the best U.S. city to work in for 2007 and 2008. But those glory days have faded, says Gus Faucher, Moodys Economy. com director of macroeconomics. Utahs housing boom turned into a bust later than most states. The national recession began in Dec
36、ember 2007, according to the National Bureau of Economic Research. Salt Lake Citys recession began in November 2008, according to Moodys Economy. com. From a non-economic angle, Faucher says he can see why Utah would earn strong marks on the work front. The state is really Mormon, so there is a sens
37、e of solidarity among many employees, he says. People feel very connected to each other. Also, with its high birth rate, Utah has a robust population of younger employees who often add enthusiasm to the workplace, Faucher says. Thats the case at the Wasatch Music Coaching Academy in Salt Lake City,
38、school owner David Murphy says. Most instructors are between 22 and 35 years old and are extremely passionate and excited about teaching students, he says. Murphy, 52, who says he has a dream job, takes a collaborative approach in managing all staffers, I see myself working side by side with my staf
39、f, not over my staff. （分数：4.00）(1).What can we infer from the first two paragraphs?（分数：2.00）A.The economy of 2008 was still steady.B.More people had to change their jobs.C.From Jan. to Apr. , about 54, 000 people lost their jobs.D.Most of the people surveyed felt hopeless.(2).From Paragraph 4, we ca
40、n infer ail of the following EXCEPT that_.（分数：2.00）A.Hawaiis residents may feel more relaxedB.the word paradise may refer to HawaiiC.people may prefer living in Hawaii to working thereD.Jim Harter may be a scientist in HawaiiChildren as young as four will study Shakespeare in a project being launche
41、d today by the Royal Shakespeare Company. The RSC is holding its first national conference for primary school teachers to encourage them to use the Bards plays imaginatively in the classroom from reception classes onwards. The conference will be told that they should learn how Shakespearian characte
42、rs like Puck in A Midsummer Nights Dream are jolly characters and how to write about them. At present, the national curriculum does not require pupils to approach Shakespeare until secondary school. All it says is that pupils should study texts drawn from a variety of cultures and traditions and myt
43、hs, legends and traditional stories. However, educationists at the RSC believe children will gain a better appreciation of Shakespeare if they are introduced to him at a much younger age. Even very young children can enjoy Shakespeares plays, said Mary Johnson, head of the learning department. It is
44、 just a question of pitching it for the age group. Even reception classes and key stage one pupils(five- to seven-year-olds)can enjoy his stories. For instance, if you build up Puck as a character who skips, children of that age can enjoy the character. They can be inspired by Puck and they could ev
45、en start writing about him at that age. It is the RSCs belief that building the Bard up as a fun playwright in primary school could counter some of the negative images conjured up about teaching Shakespeare in secondary schools. Then, pupils have to concentrate on scenes from the plays to answer que
46、stions for compulsory English national-curriculum tests for 14-year-olds. Critics of the tests have complained that pupils no longer have the time to study or read the whole playand therefore lose interest in Shakespeare. However, Ms. Johnson is encouraging teachers to present 20-minute versions of
47、the playsa classroom version of the Royal Shakespeare Companys Complete Works of Shakespeare(Abridged)which told his 37 plays in 97 minutesto give pupils a flavour of the whole drama. The RSCs venture coincides with a call for schools to allow pupils to be more creative in writing about Shakespeare.
48、 Professor Kate McLuskie, the new director of the University of Birminghams Shakespeare Institutealso based in Stratfordsaid it was time to get away from the idea that there was a right answer to any question about Shakespeare. Her first foray into the world of Shakespeare was to berate him as a misogynist in a 1985 essay but she now insists this should not be interpreted as a criticism of his worksalthough she admits: I probably wouldnt have written it quite the same way if I had been wri
