1、专业英语四级（阅读）模拟试卷 42及答案与解析 0 Every April I am troubled by the same concern that spring might not occur this year. The landscape looks dull, with hills, sky and forest forming a single gray color, like the light color an artist paints on a canvas before the masterwork. My spirit ebbs, as it did during a
2、n April snowfall when I first came to Maine 15 years ago. “Just wait,“ a neighbor counseled. “Youll wake up one morning and spring will just be here.“ And look, on May 3 that year, I awoke to a green so startling as to be almost electric, as if spring were simply a matter of moving a switch. Hills,
3、sky and forest revealed their purples, blues and greens. Leaves had unfurled, birds had arrived at the feeder and daffodils were fighting their way towards heaven. Then there was the old apple tree. It sits on an undeveloped land in my neighborhood. It belongs to no one and therefore to everyone. Th
4、e trees dark, twisted branches stretch in unpruned abandon. Each spring it blossoms so freely that the air fills with the fragrance of apple. When I drive by with my windows rolled down, it gives me the feeling of moving in another world, like a kid on a water slide. Until last year, I thought I was
5、 the only one aware of this tree. And then one day, in a fit of spring madness, I set out with a pruner and cut off a few unordered branches. No sooner had I arrived under the tree than neighbors opened their windows and stepped onto their porches. These were people I barely knew and seldom spoke to
6、, but it was as if I had come unbidden into their personal gardens. My mobile-home neighbor was the first to speak. “Youre not going to cut it down, are you?“ she asked anxiously. Another neighbor frowned as I cut off a branch. “Dont kill it, now,“ he cautioned. Soon half the neighborhood had joined
7、 me under the apple tree. It struck me that I had lived there for five years and only now was learning these peoples names, what they did for a living and how they passed the winter. It was as if the old apple tree was gathering us under its branches for the dual purpose of acquaintanceship and shar
8、ed wonder. I couldnt help recalling Robert Frosts words: The trees that have it in their pent-up buds To darken nature and be summer woods. One thaw led to another. Just the other day I saw one of my neighbors at the local store. He said how this recent winter had been especially long and complained
9、 not having seen or spoken to anyone in our neighborhood. And then, he looked at me and said, “We need to prune that apple tree again.“ 1 By saying that “my spirit ebbs“(Para. 1), the author means that （ A） he was relieved. （ B） he was gloomy. （ C） he was surprised. （ D） he was tired. 2 The apple tr
10、ee mentioned in the passage is most likely to （ A） be regarded as a delight in the neighborhood. （ B） have been abandoned by its original owner. （ C） have been neglected by everyone in the community. （ D） be attractive only to the author. 3 In Para. 3, “neighbors opened their windows and stepped ont
11、o their porches“ probably because （ A） they were surprised that someone unknown was pruning the tree. （ B） they wanted to prevented the author from pruning the tree. （ C） they were concerned about the safety of the tree. （ D） they wanted to get to know the author. 4 Not until last year did the autho
12、r （ A） cease to worry about the tree. （ B） become aware of the apple tree. （ C） begin to appreciate the neighborhood. （ D） make acquaintance with the neighbors. 5 The authors neighbor mentioned in the last paragraph most cared about （ A） when spring would arrive. （ B） how to pass the long winter. （
13、C） the neighborhood gathering. （ D） the pruning for the apple tree. 5 Patients and doctors have long understood the power of telling and listening to personal narratives. Whether among patients in peer support groups or between doctors and patients in the exam room or even between doctors during con
14、sultations, stories are an essential part of how we communicate, interpret experiences and incorporate new information into our lives. Despite the existence of storytelling in medicine, research on its effects in the clinical setting has remained relatively thin. While important, a vast majority of
15、studies have been anecdotal, offering up neither data nor statistics but rather stories to back up the authors claims. Now The Annals of Internal Medicine has published the results of a provocative new trial examining the effects of storytelling on patients with high blood pressure. And it appears t
16、hat at least for one group of patients, listening to personal narratives helped control high blood pressure as effectively as the addition of more medications. “Telling and listening to stories is the way we make sense of our lives,“ said Dr. Thomas K. Houston, lead author of the study. “That natura
17、l tendency may have the potential to alter behavior and improve health.“ Experts in this emerging field of narrative communication say that storytelling effectively counteracts the initial denial that can arise when a patient learns of a new diagnosis or is asked to change deeply fixed behaviors. Pa
18、tients may react to this news by thinking, “This is not directly related to me,“ or “My experience is different.“ Stories help break down that denial by engaging the listener, often through some degree of identification with the storyteller or one of the characters. “The magic of stories lies in the
19、 relatedness they foster,“ Dr. Houston said. “Marketers have known this for a long time, which is why you see so many stories in advertisements.“ Dr. Houston is currently involved in several more studies that will examine the broader use of storytelling in patient care and describe ways in which it
20、can best be integrated. Nonetheless, he remains certain of one thing: Sharing narratives can be a powerful tool for doctors and patients. “Storytelling is human,“ Dr. Houston said. “We learn through stories, and we use them to make sense of our lives. Its a natural extension to think that we could u
21、se stories to improve our health.“ 6 Claims in anecdotal studies are supported by （ A） solid evidence. （ B） personal narratives. （ C） systematic data. （ D） scientific statistics. 7 What does the study led by Dr. Thomas K. Houston focus on? （ A） Whether storytelling really exists in medicine. （ B） Ho
22、w we make sense of lives by storytelling. （ C） The effects of storytelling in clinical setting. （ D） Patients and doctors attitudes to storytelling. 8 According to Para. 5, patients may find that the stories are （ A） seldom directly related to them. （ B） completely different from their experiences.
23、（ C） more interesting than diagnoses or doctors advice. （ D） similar to their experiences in one way or another. 9 Marketers have been aware of the importance of （ A） establishing similarities between stories in ads and consumers. （ B） creating adventurous experiences for consumers. （ C） telling and
24、 listening to stories in medicine. （ D） sharing personal narratives between doctors and patients. 9 I still remember my hands and my fingertips still remember what used to lie in store for us on our return to school from the holidays. The trees in the school yard would be in full leaf again and the
25、old leaves would be lying around in scattered heaps like a muddy sea of leaves. “Get that all swept up! “ the headmaster would tell us. “I want the whole place cleaned up, at once! “ There was enough work there, to last for over a week. Especially since the only tools with which we were provided wer
26、e our hands, our fingers, our nails. “Now see that its done properly, and be quick about it,“ the headmaster would say to the older pupils, “or youll have to answer for it! “ So at an order from the older boys we would all line up like peasants about to cut and gather in crops. If the work was not g
27、oing as quickly as the headmaster expected, the big boys, instead of giving us a helping hand, used to find it simpler to whip us with branches pulled from the trees. In order to avoid these blows, we used to bribe our tyrants with the juicy cakes we used to bring for our midday meal. And if we happ
28、ened to have any money on us the coins changed hands at once. If we did not do this, if we were afraid of going home with an empty stomach or an empty purse, the blows were redoubled. They hit us so violently and with such devilish enjoyment that even a deaf and dumb person would have realized that
29、we were being whipped not so much to make us work harder, but rather to beat us into a state of obedience in which we would be only too glad to give up our food and money. Occasionally one of us, worn out by such calculated cruelty, would have the courage to complain to the headmaster. He would of c
30、ourse be very angry, but the punishment he gave the older boys was always very small nothing compared to what they had done to us. And the fact is that however much we complained our situation did not improve in the slightest. Perhaps we should have let our parents know what was going on, but someho
31、w we never dreamed of doing so; I dont know whether it was loyalty or pride that kept us silent, but I can see now that we were foolish to keep quiet about it, for such beatings were completely foreign to our nature. 10 The statement “my hands and my fingertips still remember“(Para. 1)means that （ A
32、） the authors hands were severely injured in the cleaning up. （ B） the author seldom did such hard work as the cleaning up. （ C） the author was bullied by the big boys in the cleaning up. （ D） the authors hands were his only tool for the cleaning up. 11 The headmaster would tell the students to clea
33、n up the school at the beginning of the term because （ A） he was too lazy. （ B） there were many fallen leaves on the ground. （ C） the school were covered with mud. （ D） the students didnt finish their homework. 12 The headmaster asked the older boys to （ A） beat those who worked slowly. （ B） treat t
34、he small boys as peasants. （ C） supervise the process of cleaning. （ D） do the cleaning all by themselves. 13 According to Para. 3, if the author had any money on him, he most probably （ A） gave it to the big boys so as to please them. （ B） gave it as a bride to the headmaster. （ C） spent it all on
35、his midday meal. （ D） spent it buying midday meal for the big boys. 14 When receiving complaints, the headmaster would deal with the big boys by means of （ A） slight punishment. （ B） harsh criticism. （ C） complete indifference. （ D） tedious preaching. 14 There will be no valedictory speech(毕业致辞 )at
36、Jericho High Schools graduation on Sunday. With seven seniors laying claim to the title by compiling A-plus averages, no one wanted to sit through a solid half-hour of inspirational quotations and silly memories. Instead, the seven will perform a 10-minute humorous play titled “2010: A Jericho Odyss
37、ey,“ about their collective experience at this high-achieving Long Island high school, finishing up with 30 seconds each to say a few words to their classmates and families. “When did we start saying that we should limit the honors so only one person gets the glory?“ asked Joe Prisinzano, the Jerich
38、o principal. In top suburban schools across the country, the valedictorian, a beloved tradition, is rapidly losing its singular meaning as administrators dispense the title to every straight-A student rather than try to choose the best among them. Principals say that recognizing multiple valedictori
39、ans reduces pressure and competition among students, and is a more equitable way to honor achievement, particularly when No.l and No.5 may be separated by only the smallest fraction of a grade from sophomore science. But some scholars and parents have criticized the swelling valedictorian ranks as y
40、et another symptom of unstrained grade inflation, with teachers reluctant to lose the best and brightests chances of admission to top-tier colleges. “Its honor inflation,“ said Chris Healy, an associate professor at Furman University, who said that celebrating so many students as the best could leav
41、e them ill prepared for competition in college and beyond. “I think its a bad idea if youre No. 26 and youre valedictorian. In the real world, you do get ranked.“ Not, though, at graduation from Stratford High School in the suburbs of Houston, which accorded its 30 valedictorians about 6.5 percent o
42、f the class gold honor cords. Nor at Cherry Hill High School East in southern New Jersey, which has revised its graduation tradition, picking a speaker among this years nine co-valedictorians by lottery and printing speeches from the others in the program. William R. Fitzsimmons, the dean of admissi
43、ons at Harvard, said he had heard of schools with more than 100 valedictorians, and had seen home-schooled students praised as No.l out of one all of which has helped render the distinction meaningless. Even some principals who have named multiple valedictorians acknowledge that the honor no longer
44、carries the same weight. “If youve got one in a population of 500, it has special significance,“ said John OBreza, the principal of Cherry Hill East. “When you have 9, 10 or 30 in a population of 500, the numbers speak for themselves. The more rare it is, the more distinguished.“ Still, being tapped
45、 as valedictorian resonates(引起共鸣 )deeply. “I feel like as long as you reach that point, it doesnt matter how many you have,“ said Yvette Leung, one of the Jericho seven, who is bound for Harvard. “To be named valedictorian is an honor and a testament to how hard weve tried.“ 15 The traditional meani
46、ng of “valedictorian“ is （ A） the straight-A students in a graduating class. （ B） the best graduate who makes the farewell speech. （ C） students who give a performance in the graduation ceremony. （ D） students who have admitted by the top-tier colleges. 16 What does Joe Prisinzano think about “limit
47、ing the honors so only one person gets the glory“? （ A） He advocates it. （ B） He disapproves of it. （ C） He is not sure of it. （ D） He is skeptical about it. 17 Chris Healy would most probably agree that “honor inflation“ （ A） ensures equality in terms of honor achievement. （ B） impairs students aca
48、demic motivation. （ C） manifests the fierce competition in college. （ D） contradicts the reality of the hierarchical society. 18 Cherry Hill High School is NOT going to （ A） have a valedictory speech. （ B） singularize the number of valedictorians. （ C） hold a graduation ceremony. （ D） name multiple
49、valedictorians. 19 According to John OBreza, to be named as one of the multiple valedictorians is （ A） meaningless. （ B） as significant as before. （ C） still an honor. （ D） not an honor any more. 20 What is Yvette Leungs attitude towards the multiple valedictorians? （ A） Indifferent. （ B） Critical. （ C） Unclear. （ D） Favorable. 专业英语四级（阅读）模拟试卷 42答案与解析 【知识模块】 阅读 1 【正确答案】 B 【试题解析】 从第 1段第 4句中邻居所说的 “再等等吧 ”以及第 1句中的 Every April I am troubled by the sameconcern可知，和 15年前那个四月的下雪天初次来到缅因州时一样，作者现在来到此地时，心情低沉，担心春天不会来了。所以，my spirit ebbs是指 “情绪低落 ”， ebb的意思是 “(潮 )
