大学英语四级阅读理解练习七
Directions: There are 4 passages in this part. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the centre.
Questions 1 to 5 are based on the following passage:
Anybody over 70 who was brought up in a country village or town finds the social customs of young people today strangely familiar. In the 1800's or 1890's, it was normal to have boys and girls pair off in a more or less stable fashion, and such pairing often ended in marriage.
Why have the younger people reverted so sharply to the ways of an earlier era and simpler society? There seems to be no clear-cut answer. The cause of the change has often been considered to be the Second World War, but this reversion was well under way before 1939. The new social customs may be related to the Great Depression(经济大萧条)when a boy putting out money for a girl on dance, movies, or the like wanted to be sure of some return on his investment. It is also true that the fiercely competitive social life of the twenties meant that a popular girl had a very good time indeed.
But the majority of girls were not popular. They dreaded being neglected in parties. It may be that the less popular girls were the ones who slowly created the present democratic system, under which any girl with a steady(情侣)is just as well off as any other girl with a steady. Since each boy wants a steady, too, and since the number of boys and girls are about equal, everybody seems better off (较自在，较幸福)at present. On the other hand, girls would insist that the new system was created by the boys who are aggressive, possessive, and jealous of all rivals.
1. The practice of going steady (仅与同一异性经常约会)is similar to a custom first popular ________.
A) after the Second World War
B) before 1900
C) in the 1920's
D) during the Depression
2. According to the article, the question "Why have our young people reverted so sharply to the ways of an earlier era and simpler society?"
A) can not be answered definitely
B) can be answered definitely
C) cannot be answered
D) is definitely answered in the article
3. The Second World War cannot be regarded as the cause of the change because ________.
A) the Second World War began before 1939
B) the custom of going steady started before 1939
C) the Second World War changed American customs
D) during the War, going steady was difficult
4. According to the author, going steady may have been revived during the Great Depression because ________.
A) social life became more competitive
B) boys could not afford to take girls to dances
C) girls became more independent
D) the practice was regarded by young men as a wise investment
5.According to the author, the custom of going steady is better for ________.
A) boys
B) the majority
C) girls
D) both boys and girls
Questions 6 to 10 are based on the following passage:
It remains to be seen whether the reserves of raw materials would be sufficient to supply a world economy which would have grown by 500%. South-East Asia alone would have an energy consumption five times greater than that of Westen Europe in 1970. Incidentally, if the underdeveloped countries started using up petrol at the same rate as the industrialised areas, then world reserves would already be exhausted by 1985.
All this only goes to show just how important it is to set up a plan to conserve and divide up fairly natural resources on a world-wide scale.
This is a matter of life and death because world population is exploding at an incredible rate. By the middle of the next century population will expand every year by as much as it did in the first 1500 years after Christ. In the southern, poor, parts of the globe, the figures are enough to make your hair stand on end. Even supposing that steps are taken to stabilise(稳定) world population in the next 50 years, the number of inhabitants per square kilometre will increase by from 4 in the United States to 140 in South-East Asia. What can we do about it?
In the first hypothesis(假设)we do nothing. By the year 2000, the southern parts of the world then have a population greater than the total world population today. Calcutta would have 60 million inhabitants. It is unthinkable.
Alternatively(或), we could start acting right now to bring births under control within 15 years so that population levels off. Even then the population in the southern areas would not stop growing for 75 years.
6.World petrol reserves will be used up by 1985 if _________.
A) Western European consumption continues to expand
B) South-East Asia does not limit its consumption
C) underdeveloped countries start to use petrol at the same rate as Western Europe
D) world population continues to expand
7.The author thinks that we should ________.
A) do nothing
B) act now
C) wait 10 years
D) wait 20 years
8.Should we take the effective measures immediately, the world's population _________.
A) would not stop growing for 75 years
B) would stop growing in about 15 years' time from now
C) could stabilise in about 75 years' time
D) could stabilise in 35 years' time
9.The author suggests in the passage that _________.
A) there will certainly not be enough raw materials for the world economy in the year 2000
B) world petrol supplies will have been exhausted by 1985
C) we need to use natural resources carefully and divide them up equally
D) to slow down the economic growth in developed countries might be a possible solution to the problem
10.The purpose of the author in writing this piece is to _________.
A) urge people to start taking action right away
B) tell people about the surprising rate of population growth
C) describe the problem the world will be faced with
D) give an account of the relationship between population growth and industry
Questions 11 to 15 are based on the following passage:
One of the most interesting paradoxes(逆说)in America today is that Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States, is now engaged in serious debate about what a university should be, and whether it is measuring up.
Like the Roman Catholic(天主教的)Church and other ancient institutions, it is asking-still in private rather than in public-whether its past assumptions about faculty, authority, admissions, courses of study, are really relevant to the problems of the 1980's.
Should Harvard-or any other university-be an intellectual sanctuary(圣坛), apart from the political and social revolution of the age, or should it be a laboratory for experimentation with these political and social revolutions, or even an engine of the revolution? This is what is being discussed privately in the big houses of faculty members around the Harvard Yard.
The issue was defined by Walter lippmann, a distinguished Harvard graduate, several years ago.
"If the universities are to do their work, " he said, "they must be independent and they must be disinterested--- They are places to which men can turn for judgements which are unbiased by special interest. Obviously, the moment the universities fall under political control, or under the control of private interest, or the moment they themselves take a hand in politics and the leadership of government, their value as independent and disinterested sources of judgement is weakened --- "
This is part of the argument that is going on at Harvard today. Another part is the argument among the students that a university is the keeper of our ideals and morals, and should not be "disinterested" but activist in bringing the nation's ideals and actions together.
Harvard's men of today seem more troubled and less sure about personal, political and acadimic purpose than they did at the beginning. They are not even clear about how they should debate and resolve their problems, but they are struggling with them privately, and how they come out is bound to influence American university and political life in the 1980's.
11.The issues in the debates on Harvard's goals are whether the universities should remain independent of society and its problems, and whether they should ________.
A) fight for freedom
B) overcome the widespread drug dependency(依赖)
C) take an active part in solving society's problems
D) support our old and established institutions
12.In regard to their goals and purposes in life, the author believes that Harvard men are becoming _______.
A) more sure about them
B) less sure about them
C) more hopeful of reaching a satisfactory answer
D) completely disappointed at ever reaching a satisfactory answer
13.A "paradox" is ________.
A) an unusual situation
B) a parenthetical(插入成分的)expression
C) an abnormal condition
D) a self-contradiction
14.In the author's judgement, the argument going on at Havard ________.
A) is a sad symbol of our general bewilderment(迷惑)
B) will soon be over, because times are bound to change
C) is of interest mostly to Harvard men and their friends
D) will influence future life in America
15.As used in the passage, the expression "is bound to" means________.
A) is certain to
B) is sure of
C) is necessary to
D) is essential to
Questions 16 to 20 are based on the following passage:
American's genius with high technology may have put men on the moon, but there is growing skepticism(怀疑态度)about its ability to solve human problems closer to home.
In fact, a subtle but significant shift from purely technological solutions is already under way as scientists argue openly for new directions in research.
A growing number of scientists insist that answers to the world's problems will not come from a flahier array(大量)of electronics and machines. Instead, as they see it, solutions must evolve from a better understanding of the humans that drive the system and from a fuller appreciation of the limits and potential of the earth's resources.
What this means is an increased emphasis on the life and earth sciences, on sociology, psychology, economics and even philosophy.
More and more of the best minds in science, particularly young researchers, are being drawn into these developing fields.
All this is not to say that technological creativity will not play a critical role in solving energy and food shortages, or that answers to environmental difficulties will not come from further advances in the same technologies that may have helped cause the problems.
Where the real challenge lies, in the view of the new type of scientists, is in finding ways to produce goods to meet the world's needs, using less of the raw materials that are becoming scarce.
16.Which of the following best expresses the main idea?
A) A growing number of Americans are doubtful about what high technology can do in
solving the world's problems.
B) Many scientists are beginning to believe that the better understanding of human beings
will pay a more decisive role in solving the world's problems.
C) More and more young scientists are trying their best to find new ways to solve the world's
problems.
D) Technological creativity will still play a very important part in solving the world's
problems.
17.In the passage "environmental difficulties"refers mainly to ________.
A) global food shortage
B) resources depletion(枯竭)
C) environmental pollution
D) population problems
18.From the passage we know that ________.
A) the development of present technologies can not provide any answers to today's problems
B) an increasing number of young scientists are taking a great interest in biological and social sciences
C) many people as well as scientists pay little attention to the limits of natural resources
D) many scientists argue that high technology is everything
19.Young scientists demand that in order to satisfy human needs ________.
A) existing products be improved
B) more complex machines and electronic equipment be designed
C) ways be found to produce better goods using fewer raw materials
D) any new invention and innovation be encouraged in technology
20.The author would probably agree with which of the following?
A) The environment crisis will not be solved unless we stop using all materials.
B) In scientific research, a higher priority should be given to understanding all living systems.
C) Exploration of outer space will finally lead to an improvement on human living conditions.
D) US high-technology companies are applauding this new turning point in scientific research.