大學(xué)英語四級閱讀

1、among the more colorful characters of leadville s golden age were h.a.w.tabor and his second wife, elizabeth mccourt, better known as “ baby doe” . their history is fast becoming one of the legends of the old west. horace austin warner tabor was a school teacher in vermont. with his first wife and t

2、wo children he left vermont by covered wagon in 1855 to homestead in kansas. perhaps he did not find farming to his liking, or perhaps he was lured by rumors of fortunes to be made in colorado mines. at any rate, a few years later he moved west to the small colorado mining camp known as california g

3、ulch, which he later renamed leadville when he became its leading citizen. “ great deposits of lead are sure to be found here.” he said. as it turned out, it was silver, not lead, that was to make leadville s fortune and wealth. tabor knew little about mining himself, so he opened a general store, w

4、hich sold everything from boots to salt, flour, and tobacco. it was his custom to “ grubstake ”prospective miners, in other words, to supply them with food and supplies, or“ grub ” , while they looked for ore, in return for which he would get a share in the mine if one was discovered. he did this fo

5、r a number of years, but no one that he aided ever found anything of value. finally one day in the year 1878, so the story goes, two miners came in and asked for “ grub ” . tabor had decided to quit supplying it because he had lost too much money that way. these were persistent, however, and tabor w

6、as too busy to argue with them. “ oh help yourself. one more time won t make any difference,” he said and went on selling shoes and hats to other customers. the two miners took $17 worth of supplies, in return for which they gave tabor a one-third interest in their findings. they picked a barren pla

7、ce on the mountain side and began to dig. after nine days they struck a rich vein of silver. tabor bought the shares of the other two men, and so the mine belonged to him alone. this mine, known as the “ pittsburgh mine,” made 1 300 000 for tabor in return for his $17 investment. later tabor bought

8、the matchless mine on another barren hillside just outside the town for $117 000. this turned out to be even more fabulous than the pittsburgh, yielding $35 000 worth of silver per day at one time. leadville grew. tabor became its first mayor, and later became lieutenant governor of the state. 1.lea

9、dville got its name for the following reasons except. a.because tabor became its leading citizen b.because great deposits of lead is expected to be found there c.because it could bring good fortune to tabor d.because it was renamed 2.the word “ grubstake ” in paragraph 2 means. a.to supply miners wi

10、th food and supplies b.to open a general store c.to do one s contribution to the development of the mine d.to supply miners with food and supplies and in return get a share in the mine, if one was discovered 3.tabor made his first fortune. a.by supplying two prospective miners and getting in return

11、a one-third interest in the findings b.because he was persuaded by the two miners to quit supplyingc.by buying the shares of the other d.as a land speculator 4. the underlying reason for tabor s life career is. a. purely accidental b. based on the analysis of miner s being very poor and their possib

12、ility of discovering profitable mining site c. through the help from his second wife d. he planned well and accomplished targets step by step 5.if this passage is the first part of an article,who might be introduced in the following part? a.tabor s life. b.tabor s second wife, elizabeth mccourt. c.o

13、ther colorful characters. d.tabor s other careers. vocabulary 1.barren adj. 貧瘠的2.fabulous adj. 神話般的，難以置信的3.lure vt. 誘惑，引誘4.deposit n. 沉淀，儲蓄5.grubstake v. 下注長難句解析【解析】 “ it ” 是形式主語，真正的主語是“ to” 后面的句子， “ while ” 引導(dǎo)時間狀語從句?！咀g文】 他的通常做法是對來采礦的人“ 下注 ” ，說得更明確一點就是泰勃供給這些人食品、用品等物品，作為回報，當他們采到礦后就會分給他一部分股份。答案與詳解【短文大

14、意】本文主要講述霍塞斯 奧斯汀 沃納 泰勃發(fā)家的故事。1. c 細節(jié)題。因為leadville 可以為 tabor 帶來巨富。這一點不是leadville 得名的原因，因為在文章第二段中，講到這一點時， 提及三個原因： a.因為 tabor 成為當?shù)氐木用翊砣宋?，b.因為在 leadville 有豐富的鉛的儲藏量。d.因為 leadville 是因為 tabor 重要而起的名，唯獨 c 沒有，因為到后來發(fā)現(xiàn)是銀礦才給他帶來巨富。2. d 詞匯題。第二段中g(shù)rubstake的詞義與d 所述內(nèi)容是相同的，即“ 供給探礦者資金，衣物，食品以及其他物品” 。 (可參閱英華大辭典修訂第二版64頁) 但

15、此處還補充地講，作為回報，供給者可以獲得礦中資源一定份額。(見文章第二段第4行) 3. a 細節(jié)題。 tabor 第一次真正發(fā)財是他為兩名礦工提供資助，為此他獲得他們礦資源三分之一的股份。見文章第三段4-9 行內(nèi)容：兩名開礦者從tabor 那兒借走價值17美元的物品，作為回報， tabor 獲得他們礦資源三分之一股份。于是兩位開礦者在一座山旁的不毛之地開始挖掘，九天之后，發(fā)現(xiàn)了銀的富礦，于是tabor 又將兩人的股份全買下，這樣，銀礦屬于tabor 一個人所有，這個礦就是后來著名的“ 匹茲堡 ” 礦。 tabor 用17美元的投資換來了130萬美元的收獲。4. b 推斷題。由原文可知泰勃的財產(chǎn)

16、來源是有一定偶然性的，但是畢竟也是基于他開創(chuàng)的“ grubstake ” 模式，因為a、d 都不對， c更是沒有根據(jù)，因為他還沒有娶第二位夫人這一切就發(fā)生了。分析泰勃的做法，會得出b 選項所示的結(jié)論。5. b 推斷題。如果本文是一篇文章的第一部分，那么在文章的第二部分將介紹誰呢?key 可以從文章第一句分析出來，在 leadville 的黃金年代， 其多彩的特點當中，tabor 及其第二任妻子 elizabeth mccourt 是值得大書特書的，接著，文章都在講述有關(guān)h.a.w.tabor 發(fā)家致富的歷史，如先買下匹茲堡礦，后又買下matchless 礦，最后成為市長，代理州長，等等，所以涉

17、及到的全是男主人公，因此下邊再講的話，應(yīng)成為女主人公即elizabeth mccourt 的天地了，她是tabor 的第二任妻子。這是順理成章的事。there are people in italy who can t stand soccer. not all canadians love hockey. a similar situation exists in america, where there are those individuals you may be one of them who yawn or even frown when somebody mentions bas

18、eball. baseball to them means boring hours watching grown men in funny tight outfits standing around in a field staring away while very little of anything happens. they tell you it s a game better suited to the 19th century, slow, quiet, gentlemanly. these are the same people you may be one of them

19、who love football because there s the sport that glorifies “ the hit ” . by contrast, baseball seems abstract, cool, silent, still. on tv the game is fractured into a dozen perspectives, replays, closeups. the geometry of the game, however, is essential to understanding it. you will contemplate the

20、game from one point as a painter does his subject; you may, of course, project yourself into the game. it is in this projection that the game affords so much space and time for involvement. the tv won t do it for you. take, for example, the third baseman. you sit behind the third base dugout and you

21、 watch him watching home plate. his legs are apart, knees flexed. his arms hang loose. he does a lot of this. the skeptic still cannot think of any other sports so still, so passive. but watch what happens every time the pitcher throws: the third baseman goes up on his toes, flexes his arms or bring

22、 the glove to a point in front of him, takes a step right or left, backward or forward, perhaps he glances across the field to check his first baseman s position. suppose the pitch is a ball. “ nothing happened,” you say. “ i could have had my eyes closed. ”the skeptic and the innocent must play the

23、 game. and this involvement in the stands is no more intellectual than listening to music is. watch the third baseman. smooth the dirt in front of you with one foot; smooth the pocket in your glove; watch the eyes of the batter, the speed of the bat, the sound of horsehide on wood. if football is a

24、symphony of movement and theatre, baseball is chamber music, a spacious interlocking of notes, chores and responses. 1. the passage is mainly concerned with . a. the different tastes of people for sports b. the different characteristics of sports c. the attraction of football d. the attraction of ba

25、seball 2. those who don t like baseball may complain that . a. it is only to the taste of the old b. it involves fewer players than football c. it is not exciting enough d. it is pretentious and looks funny 3. the author admits that . a. baseball is too peaceful for the young b. baseball may seem bo

26、ring when watched on tv c. football is more attracting than baseball d. baseball is more interesting than football 4. by stating “ i could have had my eyes closed. ” the author means (4th paragraph last sentence): a. the third baseman would rather sleep than play the game. b. even if the third basem

27、an closed his eyes a moment ago, it could make no different to the result. c. the third baseman is so good at baseball that he could finish the game with eyes closed all the time and do his work well. d. the consequent was too bad he could not bear to see it. 5. we can safely conclude that the autho

28、r. a. likes football b. hates football c. hates baseball d. likes baseball vocabulary 1. dugout n.棒球場邊供球員休息的地方2. pitcher n.投手3. symphony n.交響樂4. chamber n.室內(nèi)5. contemplate vt.沉思，注視長難句解析【解析】此句的主干是“ baseball means watching ” ，其中 “ in funny tight outfits ” 用來修飾 “ grown men ” ,“ standing ” 和“ staring ”

29、用來做 “ grown men ” 的定語?！咀g文】對于他們來說， 棒球就是在無聊的幾個小時中幾個身著緊身衣的大人佇立在場地周圍沒事可做地東張西望?！窘馕觥窟@是一個復(fù)合句，“ goes up ” ， “ flexes ”“takes ” ， “ glances ” 做 “ the third baseman ” 的并列謂語?！咀g文】但每當投球手擲出球的那一瞬間，你再看吧，三壘運動員腳尖點地，屈臂或把接球手套直指前方，左右移動步伐，或前或后，或許他還要越過場地盯著一壘球手的動作。答案與詳解【短文大意】本文主要講述壘球的特征及欣賞。1. d 主旨題。文章第一段簡述了人們對壘球所持的偏見 認為它毫無

30、活力、從容和緩，不像橄欖球那樣(禁止 )迭起、令人激動。文章的第二、三、四、五段探討了壘球的根本特征及欣賞角度，文章的最后一句話用一個比喻概括了壘球的魅力：“ 如果橄欖球是一曲交響樂的話，那么，壘球中所表現(xiàn)出來的運動恰似一曲優(yōu)美的室內(nèi)樂?！?可見，本文主要探討的是壘球的特點及其欣賞。a 不對，第一段也確實提到了不同觀眾對不同運動形式的偏好，但這只是用以引出對壘球的特征及欣賞的討論。2. c 細節(jié)題。 文章第一段指出： 許多人不喜歡壘球，一提起壘球這些人就打哈欠甚至皺眉頭。對他們來說，看壘球意味著眼巴巴地觀望著身著運動裝(outfit) 的人呆立在球場上，東瞧瞧西望望，很少有什么(激動人心的 )

31、事發(fā)生 沒意思透了。他們認為這樣的運動更適合上個世紀的人的口味，不像橄欖球那樣充滿活力。a 意為： “ 它只適合老年人的口味?！?注意：原文說的是適合上個世紀的人的口味，二者意味不一樣。d 意為：“ 它矯揉造作、 滑稽可笑。 ”這與說它 gentlemanly(具有紳士風度，矜持，即：沒有沖撞或拼搶)不一樣。3. b 推斷題。第三段指出，在電視上，壘球運動被切換成不同角度的畫面，而且不斷地使用重放、特寫等電視制作技術(shù)，這破壞了該運動的整體運動感，使觀眾無法將自己投入(project)到運動中去， 以體會到這種寓動于靜的運動之美。電視做不到這一點(the tv won t do it for y

32、ou) ，因此，電視上的壘球比賽看上去(seems) 孤孤單單、冷冷清清、沉沉靜靜、慢慢騰騰。c、d 不對，作者僅指出了不同運動有不同運動的特征，并未說哪種運動優(yōu)于哪種。參閱文章最后一句。4. b 推斷題。 第四段整個都在描述壘球場上的一個場景：拿三壘的運動員假設(shè)對方全投出好球，作好了一切準備，但是對方投出的并不是好球。所以在那時候他的準備做不做都不會影響比賽結(jié)果。他說本來可以閉上眼睛，意思就是b 項所寫的。 a、c、d 都不符合作者的意圖。這道題需要完整地了解第四段內(nèi)容才能作好選擇。5. d 推斷題。在本文中，作者主要探討了壘球的特征及欣賞，作者著重指出的是：只有根據(jù)壘球的特征來欣賞它，才能

33、體會到它的魅力。在他看來， 觀察到壘球比賽中運動員的各種動作、壘球位之間的關(guān)系等是欣賞它的關(guān)鍵(第三段第二句 )。只有從整體來把握它，才能看到每一個小的動作、每一個眼神乃至于“ 靜止 ” 的意義，也只有這樣，才能全身心地投入比賽中，欣賞到它的魅力?？梢?，作者對壘球有很深的理解而且非常喜愛壘球。主要參考第三、四、五段。as regards social conventions, we must say a word about the well-known english class system. this is an embarrassing subject for english peop

34、le, and one they tend to be ashamed of, though during the present century class-consciousness has grown less and less, and the class system less rigid. but it still exists below the surface. broadly speaking, it means there are two classes, the “ middle class ” and the “ working class ” . (we shall

35、ignore for a moment the old “ upper class ” , including the hereditary aristocracy, since it is extremely small in numbers; but some of its members have the right to sit in the house of lords, and some newspapers take a surprising interest in their private life.) the middle class consists chiefly of

36、 well-to-do businessmen and professional people of all kinds. the working class consists chiefly of manual and unskilled workers. the most obvious difference between them is in their accent. middle-class people use slightly varying kinds of “ received pronunciation” which is the kind of english spok

37、en by bbc announcers and taught to overseas pupils. typical working-class people speak in many different local accents which are generally felt to be rather ugly and uneducated. one of the biggest barriers of social equality in england is the two-class education system. to have been to a so-called “

38、 public school ”immediately marks you out as one of the middle class. the middle classes tend to live a more formal life than working-class people, and are usually more cultured. their midday meal is “ lunch ” and they have a rather formal evening meal called “ dinner ” , whereas the working man s d

39、inner , if his working hours permit, is at midday, and his smaller, late-evening meal is called supper. as we have said, however, the class system is much less rigid than it was, and for a long time it has been government policy to reduce class distinctions. working-class students very commonly rece

40、ive a university education and enter the professions, and working-class incomes have grown so much recently that the distinctions between the two classes are becoming less and less clear. however, regardless of one s social status, certain standards of politeness are expected of everybody, and a wel

41、l-bred person is polite to everyone he meets, and treats a labourer with the same respect he gives an important businessman. servility inspires both embarrassment and dislike. even the word “ sir” , except in school and in certain occupations (e.g. commerce, the army etc.) sounds too servile to be c

42、ommonly used. 1. the middle class mainly refers to people . a. who were born as aristocrat b. who have the right to sit in the house of lords c. who speak in many different local accents d. who are prosperous businessmen or who work in some professions 2. the most obvious difference between the work

43、ing class and the middle class in english is their . a. dress b. work c. accent d. meal 3. why isn t the word “ sir” commonly used in britain? a. because it sounds too servile and is likely to cause embarrassment. b. because it can only be used in some certain occupations. c. because it is an impoli

44、te word. d. because it shows that the speaker is not a well-bred person. 4. the “ upper class ” in england today . a. are extremely small in number so that media pays no attention to them b. still uses old words like “ sir” in their everyday life c. includes the hereditary aristocracy d. refers only

45、 to the royal family 5. which of the following is not true about the english class system? a. it is an embarrassing subject for english people.b. working-class students cannot receive a university education.c. the class system is much less rigid than it was. d. the class system still exists below th

46、e surface. vocabulary 1. convention n. 習俗2. embarrass v. 使困窘3. rigid adj. 嚴格4. hereditary adj. 世襲的5. manual adj. 體力的6. accent n. 口音7. received pronunciation adj. ( 英語的 )標準發(fā)音8. well-bred adj. 有教養(yǎng)的9. servility n. 卑屈10. occupation n. 職業(yè)長難句解析【解析】這是一個復(fù)合句，主句由“ and” 引導(dǎo)的兩個并列句組成，“ though ” 引導(dǎo)的讓步狀語從句，也是由兩個并列的

47、句子組成?！咀g文】 盡管本世紀等級意識越來越淡，等級制度也越來越不嚴格，但對于英國人來說它仍是一個尷尬的話題，仍舊引以為恥。 【解析】 這是一個復(fù)合句，由“ and” 引導(dǎo)的兩個并列句組成，“ sothat ” 作“ grown ” 的狀語?！咀g文】 勞工家庭中的孩子上大學(xué)成為非常平常的事情，此后他們也加入各種專業(yè)行當。勞工階層的工資近來也快速增長，使得兩個階層間的界線越來越模糊。答案與詳解【短文大意】 本文主要講述英國等級意識雖然越來越淡，但在表層下， 等級仍然存在。 而“ 階層” 的最大區(qū)別是他們的口音。1. d 細節(jié)題。意為“ 那些比較富裕的生意人或有一定的職業(yè)的人” 。見第一段的倒數(shù)第

48、二句：中產(chǎn)階級主要包括富裕的生意人和有一定的職業(yè)的人。所以正確答案應(yīng)該是d。2. c 細節(jié)題。意為 “ 口音 ” 。見第二段的第一句：他們之間最明顯的區(qū)別是他們的口音。所以正確答案應(yīng)該是c。3. 推斷題。意為“ 因為它聽起來太過謙卑，很可能會引起尷尬” 。見文章的最后兩句：謙卑會引起尷尬和不悅。甚至像“ 先生 ” 這樣的詞，除了在特定的職業(yè)中（如商業(yè)、軍隊）外，也不太常用，因為它聽起來太過謙卑。所以正確答案應(yīng)該是a。4. c 細節(jié)題。 a 選項前半是對的。上流社會人數(shù)很少，后半是錯的，媒體還在關(guān)注他們，注意一定要看清楚再選。b 選項相關(guān)內(nèi)容在文末。d 沒有提到。 b 在第一段中間出現(xiàn)，是正確答

49、案。5. b 細節(jié)題。意為 “ 來自工人階級家庭的學(xué)生不能接受大學(xué)教育” 。 見第三段第二句的前半句：來自工人階級家庭的學(xué)生接受大學(xué)教育并且某種職業(yè)的情況已十分普遍。所以選項b 的答案與文章不相符，是正確答案。culture is one of the most challenging elements of the international marketplace. this system of learned behavior patterns characteristic of the members of a given society is constantly shaped by

50、 a set of dynamic variables: language, religion, values and attitudes, manners and customs, aesthetics, technology, education, and social institutions. to cope with this system, an international manager needs both factual and interpretive knowledge of culture. to some extent, the factual knowledge c

51、an be learned; its interpretation comes only through experience. the most complicated problems in dealing with the cultural environment stem from the fact that one cannot learn culture one has to live it. two schools of thought exist in the business world on how to deal with cultural diversity. one

52、is that business is business the world around, following the model of pepsi and mcdonald s. in some cases, globalization is a fact of life; however, cultural differences are still far from converging. the other school proposes that companies must tailor business approaches to individual cultures. se

53、tting up policies and procedures in each country has been compared to an organ transplant; the critical question centers around acceptance or rejection. the major challenge to the international manager is to make sure that rejection is not a result of cultural myopia or even blindness. fortune exami

54、ned the international performance of a dozen large companies that earn 20 percent or more of their revenue overseas. the internationally successful companies all share an important quality: patience. they have not rushed into situations but rather built their operations carefully by following the mo

55、st basic business principles. these principles are to know your adversary, know your audience, and know your customer. 1. according to the passage, which of the following is true? a. all international managers can learn culture. b. business diversity is not necessary. c. views differ on how to treat

56、 culture in business world. . most people do not know foreign culture well.2. according to the author, the model of pepsi . . is in line with the theories of the school advocating the business is business the world around . is different from the model of mcdonald s . shows the reverse of globalizati

57、on . has converged cultural differences 3. the two schools of thought . . both propose that companies should tailor business approaches to individual cultures . both advocate that different policies be set up in different countries . admit the existence of cultural diversity in business world . both

58、 and 4. this article is supposed to be most useful for those . a. who are interested in researching the topic of cultural diversityb. who have connections to more than one type of culture c. who want to travel abroad d. who want to run business on international scale 5. according to fortune, success

59、ful international companies . . earn 20 percent or more of their revenue overseas . all have the quality of patience . will follow the overseas local cultures . adopt the policy of internationalization vocabulary 1. dynamic adj. 動態(tài)的2. variable n. 變量3. aesthetics n. 美學(xué)4. factual adj. 事實的5. interpreta

60、tive adj. 解釋的6. converge v. 聚合7. transplant v. 移植8. myopia n. 近視9. adversary n. 對手長難句解析【解析】此句雖然很長，但考生只要認清它的主干，就很容易了解本句的意思。這個句子為一個簡單句，主語為：“ this system ” ，謂語為 “ is shaped ” ?！咀g文】 特定社會成員特點構(gòu)成的行為方式體系不斷地被一系列動態(tài)變量所左右：如語言、信仰、價值與態(tài)度、禮儀與風俗、審美、技術(shù)、教育及社會體制。答案與詳解【短文大意】 本文主要講述文化背景對商業(yè)運作的影響，文中列舉了商界中存在的對于文化多樣性的兩種觀點。1.