【篇一】2021年12月英语四级考试阅读理解范文
For centuries, in the countries of south and Southeast Asia the elephant has been an intimate part of the culture, economy and religion, and nowhere more so than in Thailand. Unlike its African cousin, the Asian elephant is easily domesticated (驯化). The rare so-called white elephants have actually lent the authority of kingship to its rulers and until the 1920s the national flag was a white elephant on a red background.To the early Western visitors the country's romantic name was “Land of the White Elephant”.Today, however, the story is very different. Out of work and out of land, the Thai elephant struggles for survival in a nation that no longer needs it. The elephant has found itself more or less abandoned by previous owners who have moved on to a different economic world and a westernized society. And while the elephant's problems began many years ago, now it rates a very low national priority.
How this reversal from national icon (圣像) to neglected animal came about is a tale of worsening environmental and the changing lives of the Thais themselves. According to Richard Lair, Thailand’s experts on the Asian elephant and author of the report Gone Astray, at the turn of the century there may well have beenas many as 100,000 domestic elephants in the country. In the north of Thailand alone it was estimated that more than 20,000 elephants were employed in transport, 1,000 of them alone on the road between the cities of Chiang Mai and Chiang Saen. This was at a time when 90 per cent of Thailand was still forest—a habitat (栖息地) that not only supported the animals but also made them necessary to carry goods and people. Nothing ploughs through dense forest better than a massive but sure-footed elephant.
By 1950 the elephant population had dropped to a still substantial 13,397, but today there are probably nomore than 3,800, with another 1,350 roaming free in the national parks. But now, Thailand’s forest coversonly 20 per cent of the land. This deforestation (采伐森林) is the central point of the elephant's difficult situation, for it has effectively put the animals out of work. This century, as the road network grew, so the elephant's role as a beast of burden declined.
练习题：
Choose correct answers to the question:
1. What can we know about African elephants from the passage?
A. It is easy to tame them.
B. It is hard to tame them.
C. They are living a better life than Asian elephants.
D. Their fate is quite similar to that of Asian elephants.
2. Thailand was once called “Land of the White Elephant” because_______.
A. white elephant is rarely seen and thus very special
B. white elephant was a national symbol until the 1920s
C. white elephant has helped kings to gain the ruling authority
D. this name was so romantic that it was popular among visitors
3. Why is the Thai elephant “out of work”, according to the author?
A. Because the elephants are no longer useful to their owners.
B. Because their owners are westernized and neglect them.
C. Because the government pays little attention to the problem.
D. Because there are too many elephants and too few jobs.
4. Which of the following statements is true about the elephant population at various times?
A. There were 100,000 tamed elephants at the turn of the century.
B. 20,000 elephants were employed in transport in Thailand at the turn of the century.
C. By 1950 the elephant population in Thailand has been quite small.
D. Today the elephant population is estimated at 5,150.
5. The passage is most probably from_______.
A. a travel magazine
B. a history book
C. a research report
D. an official announcement
1.[B] 事实细节题。本题考查对比处。根据文章第l段第3句：和非洲象不同，亚洲象容易驯养，言下之意就是：非洲象不易驯养。答案中用tame替代原文的domesticate，意思相同。选项A与原文意思正好相反;选项C，D原文根本未提到。
2.[B] 推理判断题。根据文章第l段第4句中的“until the 1920s the national flag was a white elephant on a red background.”可知当时白象是泰国的国家象征，因此B为正确选项。本题干扰性的是选项D，在形式上，选项D与第1段最后一句极为相似，但是，游客这样称呼泰国，原因也是因为白象是泰国的象征，而不只是因为这个名字浪漫，因此，选项D是对原文的曲解;选项A和选项C虽然也来自文章，但不是原因，不能回答所提问题。
3.[A] 推理判断题。文章有几处解释了大象失业的原因，如第2段的第2句“a nation that no longer needs it (Thai elephant)”及最后一段的最后一句“the elephant’s role as a beast of burden declined”等。选项A是对这些解释的一个基本概括。选项B中westernized和neglect虽在文章中出现，但选项B只是对想像的描述，不能解释大象“失业”的原因。选项C来自第2段最后一句话，但这句话只能说明大象不再受重视，不能作为大象“失业”的理由。选项D原文未提及，而且，从第3、4段可以看出：大象的数量急剧下降，谈不上“太多”。
4.[D] 事实细节题。此题考查的是大象数量变化的情况。四个选项中的数字惟有选项D没有直接出现，但根据第4段第l句很容易推算出来。选项A和B虽用了原文的数据，但选项A忽略了may这个词，而且未点明泰国，故不妥。B则忽略了in the north of Thailand及more than这两处。选项C中的small与原文substantial(大量的)冲突，也不对。
5.[C] 主旨大意题。从本文所用的大量客观的数据和数字可以推断这是一篇研究报告。本文趣味性不足，因此不能选A。选项B不能选，是因为历史书不可能如此大篇幅的描述大象的问题。选项D也不是正确答案，因为政府公告通常是一些规定，而不是客观的陈述。
【篇二】2021年12月英语四级考试阅读理解范文
Japan is getting tough about recycling—and not in the paper and plastic kind of way. Recently, the country requires that all electronic goods—TVs, VCRs, stereos, and more—be recycled. But recycling will not beleft to consumers, instead, the devices will be sent to the original manufacturer for proper disposal.The new law poses a few challenges to manufacturers who are now rushing to set up collection networks and perfecting techniques to disassemble and recycle older products.With an eye toward the future, they are also integrating easily recycled materials into new products. Plastics, a major component of most electronicproducts,pose a particular obstacle because their quality becomes worse and worse with age,losing strengthand flexibility even if reprocessed.NEC Corp. overcomes this problem by creating a plastics sandwich, in which the filling is 100 percent recycled plastic and the outer layers a mixture of 14 percent recycled material.The resulting plastic has sufficient strength and toughness for use as a case for desktop PCs. The company, in cooperation with plastic maker Sumitomo Dow, has also developed a new plastic, which engineers claim retains its mechanical properties through repeated recycling. NEC uses the plastic, which is also flame-retardant (阻燃的) in battery cases for notebook PCs.
Meanwhile, Matsushita Electric, maker of the Panasonic brand, is avoiding plastic in favor of magnesium (镁). Magnesium, says the company, is ideal for re cycling because it retains its original strength throughrepeated reprocessing. Matsushita has developed molding techniques to form magnesium into the case for a 21-inch TV. Unfortunately, the magnesium case and energy-saving features make the TV about twice as expensive as an ordinary model.The company hopes, however, that increased use of magnesium will eventually bring prices down.
练习题：
Choose correct answers to the question:
1. According to the present regulations of Japan, the recycling of paper and plastic will be the responsibility of______.
A.. the government
B. the manufacturers
C. the consumers
D. the sellers
2. Which of the following is NOT the character of plastics?
A. Most electronic products contain plastics.
B. It retains its original strength through reprocessing.
C. Recycled plastics can be integrated into new products.
D. Plastics will lose flexibility after a certain period of time.
3.According to the passage, the term “plastic sandwich” refers to_____.
A. a kind of sandwich-shaped toy made of plastics
B. a kind of plastics with different integration in each layer
C. a kind of plastics with maximum strength and flexibility
D. a kind of plastics made of 100% recycled materials
4.In the passage, it is implied but NOT stated that_____.
A. disposing the plastics is one of NEC Corp’s businesses
B. magnesium is an ideal material for the case of TV
C.21-inch TV with magnesium case isn’t very popular so far
D. magnesium must be better than the plastics
5.The author writes this passage in order to_____.
A. inform
B. instruct
C. predict
D. persuade
1.[C] 推理判断题。文章首段提到了电子产品的回收利用与纸张和塑料不同;本段最后一句中的but表明了以上不同点在于电子产品的回收不依靠消费者，而依靠生产者。结合以上两点，可以推断纸张和塑料的回收利用主要靠消费者，因此选项C为正确答案。
2.[B] 事实细节題。本题考査列举处。第2段第3句列举了塑料的特性，对照选项和该句，就能发现文中明确提到选项A、C、D,而选项B显然与原文意思相反。
3.[B] 事实细节题。本题考査复合句的理解。第2段第4句是一个非限制性定语从句，是plastics sandwich 的定义，选项B是对该定语从句所述亊实的总结，因此选项B正确。选項A在文中没有提及;选项C中的maximum是对原文sufficient的曲解;选项D中的100%这一数据不准确，文中只提到plastics sandwich里层是100%的再生塑料。
4.[C] 推理判断题。本题考査转折处。最后一段倒数第2句中的Unfortunately一词指出了用镁作机壳的电视机很贵，从而暗示它们并不受消费者欢迎，所以选项C正确。选项A属原文明确表达的意思。本段第2句只指出镁是一种理想的再生材料(ideal for recycling),因此选项B不对;全文并未比较塑料和镁哪个更好，因此选项D不对。
5.[A] 主旨大意题。文中作者只是客观地描述亊实，吿知读者日本的电子产品再循环使用的一些新变化和新技术，抓住这个主旨就能选出正确答案A。作者并未发表任何个人观点，也未做出任何指示或預测。
【篇三】2021年12月英语四级考试阅读理解范文
A subject which seems to have been insufficiently studied by doctors and psychologists is the influence ofgeography and climate on the psychological and physical health of mankind.There seems no doubt that the general character of the landscape, the relative length of day and night, and the climate must all play a big part in determining what kind of people we are.It is true that a few studies have been made. Where all the inhabitants of a particular area enjoy exceptionally good or bad health, scientists have identified .contributory factors such as the presence or absence of substances like iodine, fluoride, calcium, or iron in the water supply, or perhaps types of land thatprovide breeding places for pests like mosquitoes or rats.
Moreover, we can all generalize about types of people we have met. Those living in countries .with long dark winters are apt to be less talkative and less vivacious than inhabitants of countries where the climateis more equable(稳定的). And where the olive and the orange grow, there the inhabitants are cheerful, talkative, and spontaneous.
But these commonplace generalizations are inadequate: the influence: of climate and geography should be studied in depth. Do all mountain dwellers live to a ripe old age? Does the drinking of wine, rather than beer, result in a sunny and open temperament? Is the strength and height of one of the Kenyan tribes due to their habitual drinking of the blood of cows?
We are not yet sure of the answers to such .questions, but let us hope that something of benefit to mankind may eventually result from such studies.
练习题：
Choose correct answers to the question:
1.The author's purpose of writing this passage is to______.
A.alert readers to the scarcity of natural resources
B.call for more research on the influence of geographical environment
C.introduce different elements in character cultivation
D.draw more attention to the health condition of mankind
2.It can be inferred that proper amounts of iodine, fluoride and calcium can_____.
A.benefit people’s physical health
B. influence the quality of water supply
C.help provide breeding places for pests.
D. strengthen a person's character
3.How does the author evaluate the generalizations of people's types in Para. 3?
A.Such generalizations help us judge the different characters of people we meet
B.Such generalizations are not inclusive enough to draw a convincing conclusion.
C.Such generalizations prove that nature plays an important role in determining social habits.
D.Such generalizations show that there are mainly two different types of people on the planet.
4.According to the passage, research into the influence of climate and geography should ____.
A. focus on unknown aspects
B. be pursued on a larger scale
C. be carried out among remote tribes
D. go ahead in depth
5.What do we know about the generalizations of people’s type?
A.People who like drinking wine tend to be optimistic.
B.People who live in mountain areas tend to have a long life.
C.People who live in areas with stable climate tend to be talkative and lively.
D.People who like drinking cow blood tend to be strong and tall.
1.[B] 主旨大意题。本文一开头就提出：关于地理环境对人的影响，研究得还不充分。接下来的每段开头句也都进一步阐述这个观点，如第2段首句和第4段首句，结尾句又提出希望，所以正确答案为B.选项C和D没有全面概括环境和人两方面的因素。选项A完全与文章无关。
2.[A] 推理判断题。句中的good health与后面的contributory factors告诉读者选项A是正确的。选项B中的the quality是无中生有。选项C中的provide breeding places for pests在文中的主语是land。选项D中的character跟水中的矿物质无关。
3.[B] 观点态度题。紧接第2段论证环境和健康的关系之后，第3段看似论述环境和个性的关系，举了两种比较典型的环境和性格特征的例子,但是,第4段第1句就把前面的表面现象给否定了，所以此题答案为B。其他三个选项立场都错了。
4.[D] 事实细节题。作者在第4段第1句破折号后指出应对地理和气候的影响进行更深人的研究，故选项D正确。
5.[C] 事实细节題。第3段第2句表明选项C正确。这两段都提到了人的类型的归纳,第3段中的归纳是正确的，而第4段中的归纳是有待考证的，因此,本题要依据第3段描述的类型做出选择。
