1.2021年下半年英语四级阅读理解
Like fine food, good writing is something we approach with pleasure and enjoy from the first taste to the last. And good writers, like good cooks, do not suddenly appear full-blown. Quite the opposite, just as the cook has to undergo a particular training, mastering the skills of his trade, the writer must sit at hisdesk and devote long hours to achieving a style in his writing, whatever its purpose is—schoolwork, matters of business, or purely social communication.You may be sure that the more painstaking the effort, the more effective the writing, and the more rewarding.
There are still some faraway places in the world where you might find a public scribe to do your business or social writing for you, for money. There are a few managers who are lucky enough to have the service ofthat rare kind of secretary who can take care of all sorts of letter writing with no more than a quick note to work from. But for most of us, if there is any writing to be done, we have to do it ourselves.
We have to write school papers, business papers or home papers. We are constantly called on to put words to papers. It would be difficult to count the number of such words, messages, letters, and reports put intomails or delivered by hand, but the daily figures must be extremely large. What is more, everyone who writes expects, or at least hopes whatever he writes will be read, from first word to last, not just thrown into some “letters-to-be-read” files or into a wastepaper basket. This is the reason we bend our efforts toward learning and practicing the skills of interesting, effective writing.
练习题：
Choose correct answers to the question:
1. In this passage, good writing is compared to fine food in that _______.
A. both writers and cooks have to work a long time every day
B. both are essential to life
C. both are writers and cooks can earn a good living
D. both are enjoyable
2. A public "scribe" (Para 2, Line 1) is _____.
A.a secretary who does your business or social writing
B. a machine that does writing for you
C. a public school where writing is taught
D. a person who ears a living by writing for others
3. According to the passage, some managers don't have to do any letter writing because _____.
A. they rely on quick notes C. they have a computer to do it
B. they have excellent secretaries D. they prefer making phone calls
4. According to the author, if your letter is thrown into some "letter-to-be-read" file, ______.
A. it will receive immediate attention
B. it will be dealt with by the secretary
C. it is likely to be neglected
D. it is meant to be delivered soon
40. The purpose of the author in writing this passage is _____.
A. to explain and persuade
B. to comment and criticize
C. to interest and entertain
D. to argue and demonstrate
2.2021年下半年英语四级阅读理解
On average, American kids ages 3 to 12 spent 29 hours a week in school, eight hours more that they did in 1981. They also did more household work and participated in more of such organized activities as soccer and ballet (芭蕾舞). Involvement in sports, in particular, rose almost 50% from 1981 to 1997: boys now spendan average of four hours a week playing sports; girls log hall that time. All in all, however, children’sleisure time dropped from 40% of the day in 1981 to 25%“Children are affected by the same time crunch (危机) that affects their parents,” says Sandra Hofferth,who headed the recent study of children’s timetable. A chief reason, she says, is that more mothers are working outside the home. (Nevertheless, children in both double-income and “male breadwinner” householdsspent comparable amounts of time interacting with their parents 19 hours and 22 hours respectively. In contrast, children spent only 9 hours with their single mothers.)
All work and no play could make for some very messed-up kids. “Play is the most powerful way a child explores the world and learns about himself,” says T. Berry Brazelton, professor at Harvard Medical School Unstructured play encourages independent thinking and allows the young to negotiate their relationships withtheir peers, but kids ages 3 to 12 spent only 12 hours a week engaged in it.
The children sampled spent a quarter of their rapidly decreasing “free time” watching television. But that, believe it or not, was one of the findings parents might regard as good news. If they’re spending less time in front of the TV set, however, kids aren’t replacing it with reading. Despite efforts to get kids more interested in books, the children spent just over an hour a week reading. Let’s face it, who’s got the time?
练习题：
Choose correct answers to the question:
1. By mentioning “the same time crunch” (Line 1, Para. 2) Sandra Hofferth means ________.
A. children have little time to play with their parents
B. children are not taken good care of by their working parents
C. both parents and children suffer from lack of leisure time
D. both parents and children have trouble managing their time
2. According to the author, the reason given by Sandra Hofferth for the time crunch is ________.
A. quite convincing
B. partially true
C. totally groundless
D. rather confusing
3. According to the author a child develops better if ________.
A. he has plenty of time reading and studying
B. he is left to play with his peers in his own way
C. he has more time participating in school activities
D. he is free to interact with his working parents
4. The author is concerned about the fact that American kids ________.
A. are engaged in more and more structured activities
B. are increasingly neglected by their working mothers
C. are spending more and more time watching TV
D. are involved less and less in household work
5. We can infer from the passage that ________.
A. extracurricular activities promote children’s intelligence
B. most children will turn to reading with TV sets switched off
C. efforts to get kids interested in reading have been fruitful
D. most parents believe reading to be beneficial to children
3.2021年下半年英语四级阅读理解
New technology links the world as never before. Our planet has shrunk. It’s now a “global village” where countries are only seconds away by fax or phone or satellite link. And, of course, our ability to benefit from this high-tech communications equipment is greatly enhanced by foreign language skills.Deeply involved with this new technology is a breed of modern business people who have a growing respect for the economic value of doing business abroad. In modern markets, success overseas often helps support domestic business efforts.
Overseas assignments are becoming increasingly important to advancement within executive ranks. The executive stationed in another country no longer need fear being “out of sight and out of mind.” He or she canbe sure that the overseas effort is central to the company’s plan for success, and that promotions often follow or accompany an assignment abroad. If an employee can succeed in a difficult assignment overseas, superiors will have greater confidence in his or her ability to cope back in the United States where cross-cultural considerations and foreign language issues are becoming more and more prevalent (普遍的).
Thanks to a variety of relatively inexpensive communications devices with business applications, even small businesses in the United States are able to get into international markets.
English is still the international language of business. But there is an ever-growing need for people who can speak another language. A second language isn’t generally required to get a job in business, but having language skills gives a candidate the edge when other qualifications appear to be equal.
The employee posted abroad who speaks the country’s principal language has an opportunity to fast-forwardcertain negotiations, and cam have the cultural insight to know when it is better to move more slowly. Theemployee at the home office who can communicate well with foreign clients over the telephone or by fax machine is an obvious asset to the firm.
练习题：
Choose correct answers to the question:
1. What is the author’s attitude toward high-tech communications equipment?
A. Critical.
B. Prejudiced.
C. Indifferent.
D. Positive.
2. With the increased use of high-tech communications equipment, businesspeople ________.
A. have to get familiar with modern technology
B. are gaining more economic benefits from domestic operations
C. are attaching more importance to their overseas business
D. are eager to work overseas
3. In this passage,“out of sight and out of mind” (Lines 2-3, Para. 3) probably means ________.
A. being unable to think properly for lack of insight
B. being totally out of touch with business at home
C. missing opportunities for promotion when abroad
D. leaving all care and worry behind
4. According to the passage, what is an important consideration of international corporationsin employingpeople today?
A. Connections with businesses overseas.
B. Ability to speak the client’s language.
C. Technical know-how.
D. Business experience.
5. The advantage of employees having foreign language skills is that they can ________.
A. better control the whole negotiation process
B. easily find new approaches to meet market needs
C. fast-forward their proposals to headquarters
D. easily make friends with businesspeople abroad
