2011四级考试仔细阅读

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2011年英语四级考试仔细阅读练习(1)
　　Part II Reading Comprehension
　　(35 minutes)
　　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 center.
　　Passage One
　　Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage.
　　The biggest safety threat facing airlines today may not be a terrorist with a gun, but the man with the portable computer in business class. In the last 15 years, pilots have reported well over 100 incidents that could have been caused by electromagnetic interference. The source of this interference remains unconfirmed, but increasingly, experts are pointing the blame at portable electronic device such as portable computers, radio and cassette players and mobile telephones.
　　RTCA, an organization which advises the aviation (航空) industry, has recommended that all airlines ban (禁止) such devices from being used during “critical” stages of flight, particularly take-off and landing. Some experts have gone further, calling for a total ban during all flights. Currently, rules on using these devices are left up to individual airlines. And although some airlines prohibit passengers from using such equipment during take-off and landing, most are reluctant to enforce a total ban, given that many passengers want to work during flights.
　　The difficulty is predicting how electromagnetic fields might affect an aircraft’s computers. Experts know that portable device emit radiation which affects those wavelengths which aircraft use for navigation and communication. But, because they have not been able to reproduce these effects in a laboratory, they have no way of knowing whether the interference might be dangerous or not.
　　The fact that aircraft may be vulnerable (易受损的) to interference raises the risk that terrorists may use radio systems in order to damage navigation equipment. As worrying, though, is the passenger who can’t hear the instructions to turn off his radio because the music’s too loud.
　　21. The passage is mainly about ________.
　　A) a new regulation for al airlines
　　B) the defects of electronic devices
　　C) a possible cause of aircraft crashes
　　D) effective safety measures for air flight
　　22. What is said about the over 100 aircraft incidents in the past 15 years?
　　A) They may have been caused by the damage to the radio systems.
　　B) They may have taken place during take-off and landing.
　　C) They were proved to have been caused by the passengers’ portable computers.
　　D) They were suspected to have resulted from electromagnetic interference.
　　23. Few airlines want to impose a total ban on their passengers using electronic devices because ________.
            
            

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　　A) they don’t believe there is such a danger as radio interference
　　B) the harmful effect of electromagnetic interference is yet to be proved
　　C) most passengers refuse to take a plane which bans the use of radio and cassette players
　　D) they have other effective safety measures to fall back on
　　24. Why is it difficult to predict the possible effects of electromagnetic fields on an airplane’s computers?
　　A) Because it is extremely dangerous to conduct such research on an airplane.
　　B) Because it remains a mystery what wavelengths are liable to be interfered with.
　　C) Because research scientists have not been able to produce the same effects in labs.
　　D) Because experts lack adequate equipment to do such research.
　　25. It can be inferred from the passage that the author ________.
　　A) is in favor of prohibiting passengers’ use of electronic devices completely
　　B) has overestimated the danger of electromagnetic interference
　　C) hasn’t formed his own opinion on this problem
　　D) regards it as unreasonable to exercise a total ban during flight
　　Passage Two
　　Questions 26 to 30 are based on the following passage.
　　The rise of multinational corporations (跨国公司), global marketing, new communications technologies, and shrinking cultural differences have led to an unparalleled increase in global public relations or PR.
　　Surprisingly, since modern PR was largely an American invention, the U.S. leadership in public relations is being threatened by PR efforts in other countries. Ten years ago, for example, the world’s top five public relations agencies were American-owned. In 1991, only one was. The British in particular are becoming more sophisticated and creative. A recent survey found that more than half of all British companies include PR as part of their corporate (公司的) planning activities, compared to about one-third of U.S. companies. It may
　　not be long before London replaces New York as the capital of PR.
　　Why is America lagging behind in the global PR race? First, Americans as a whole tend to be fairly provincial and take more of an interest in local affairs. Knowledge of world geography, for example, has never been strong in this country. Secondly, Americans lag behind their European and Asian counterparts (相对应的人) in knowing a second language. Less than 5 percent of Burson—Marshall’s U.S. employees know two languages. Ogilvy and Mather has about the same percentage. Conversely, some European firms have half or more of their employees fluent in a second language. Finally, people involved in PR abroad tend to keep a closer eye on international affairs. In the financial PR area, for instance, most Americans read the Wall Street Journal. Overseas, their counterparts read the Journal as well as the Financial Times of London and The Economist, publications not often read in this country.
            
            

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　　Perhaps the PR industry might take a lesson from Ted Turner of CNN (Cable News Network). Turner recently announced that the word “foreign” would no longer be used on CNN news broadcasts. According to Turner, global communications have made the nations of the world so interdependent that there is no longer any such things as foreign.
　　26. According to the passage, U.S.leadership in publicrelations is being threatened because of ________.
　　A) an unparalleled increase in the number of public relations companies
　　B) shrinking cultural differences and new communications technologies
　　C) the decreasing number of multinational corporations in the U.S.
　　D) increased efforts of other countries in public relations
　　27. London could soon replace New York as the center of PR because ________.
　　A) British companies are more ambitious than U.S. companies
　　B) British companies place more importance on PR than U.S. companies
　　C) British companies are heavily involved in planning activities
　　D) four of the world’s top public relations agencies are British-owned
　　28. The word “provincial” (Line 2, Para. 3) most probably means “________”.
　　A) limited in outlook
　　B) like people from the provinces
　　C) rigid in thinking
　　D) interested in world financial affairs
　　29. We learn from the third paragraph that employees in the American PR industry ________.
　　A) speak at least one foreign language fluently
　　B) are ignorant about world geography
　　C) are not as sophisticated as their European counterparts
　　D) enjoy reading a great variety of English business publications
　　30. What lesson might the PR industry take from Ted Turner of CNN?
　　A) American PR companies should be more internationally-minded.
　　B) The American PR industry should develop global communications technologies.
　　C) People working in PR should be more fluent in foreign languages.
　　D) People involved in PR should avoid using the word “foreign”.
　　Passage Three
　　Questions 31 to 35 are based on the following passage.
　　Brazil has become one of the developing world’s great successes at reducing population growth-but more by accident than design. While countries such as India have made joint efforts to reduce birth rates, Brazil has had better result without really trying, says George Martine at Harvard.
　　Brazil’s population growth rate has dropped from 2.99% a year between 1951 and 1960 to 1.93% a year between 1981 and 1990, and Brazilian women now have only 2.7 children on average. Martine says this figure may have fallen still further since 1990, an achievement that makes it the envy of many other Third World countries.
　　Martine puts it down to, among other things, soap operas (通俗电视连续剧) and installment (分期付款) plans introduced in the 1970s. Both played an important, although indirect, role in lowering the birth rate. Brazil is one of the world’s biggest producers of soap operas. Globo, Brazil’s most popular television network, shows three hours of soaps six nights a week, while three others show at least one hour a night. Most soaps are based on wealthy characters living the high life in big cities.
            
            

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　　“Although they have never really tried to work in a message towards the problems of reproduction, they describe middle and upper class values-not many children, different attitudes towards sex, women working,” says Martine. “They sent this image to all parts of Brazil and made people conscious of other patterns of behavior and other values, which were put into a very attractive package.”
　　Meanwhile, the installment plans tried to encourage the poor to become consumers. “This led to an enormous change in consumption patterns and consumption was incompatible (不相容的) with unlimited reproduction,” says Martine.