专业英语四级(阅读)模拟试卷48(题后含答案及解析)

专业英语四级（阅读）模拟试卷48 (题后含答案及解析)

题型有： 5. READING COMPREHENSION

PART V READING COMPREHENSION (25 MIN)Directions: In this section there are four passages followed by questions or unfinished statements, each with four suggested answers marked A, B, C and D. Choose the one that you think is the best answer.

Sky-high gasoline prices aren’t just raising the cost of Eugene Marino’s 120-mile(193-kilometer)round-trip to his job in the Washington area. They’re reducing his wealth, too. House prices in his rural subdivision beyond the Blue Ridge Mountains in Charles Town, West Virginia, have plunged as commuting expenses have soared. A four-bedroom home down the street from his is listed for $239,000, after selling new for $360,000 five years ago. Homeowners in the exurbs aren’t the only ones whose assets have taken a hit because of the surge in energy costs. Companies such as General Motors Corp. are writing off billions of dollars in plants and equipment that are no longer viable in an age of dearer oil. The destruction of wealth and capital will weigh on U.S. growth for years to come. “Our whole economy reflects the relative costs of energy: the cars we drive, the houses we occupy, the kinds of factories we have and the equipment in them,” says Dana Johnson, chief economist at Comerica Bank in Dallas. “I’m expecting relatively large changes in all of these things.” The loss of wealth could be a double whammy for the U.S. economy. In the short run, it depresses demand as homeowners save more and spend less, and companies fire workers. Longer run, it curbs productivity growth, as firms shift their focus from increasing worker efficiency to reducing energy costs. “At $4 per gallon gas, $125 per barrel oil and $10 per million Btu natural gas, a lot of activity becomes uneconomical,” says Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com in West Chester, Pennsylvania. The lifestyle of the exurban commuter may be one casualty. Emerging suburbs and exurbs—commuter towns that lie beyond cities and their traditional suburbs—grew about 15 percent from 2000 to 2006, nearly three times as fast as the U.S. population, as Americans moved further out in search of more affordable houses or the bigger ones that are sometimes derided as McMansions. “It was drive until you qualify for a mortgage,” says Robert Lang, director of the Metropolitan Institute at Virginia Tech in Alexandria, Virginia. “You can’t do that anymore. Your cost of transportation will spike too much.”

1． What change has been brought to Marino’s life? A．He had to go to work by bus instead of by car. B．He had to move to a poorer neighborhood.

C．His apartment can be sold at a higher price now. D．His assets have been reduced much in value.

正确答案：D

解析：前两段以Marino的经历为例说明第3段首句提到的住在远郊的私房业主资产受损严重，因此D正确。原文只是说通勤费增加，但没有提及Marino因此而坐公交车上班，所以A不正确；第2段提到Marino所住的街区的房价暴跌，但这不意味着Marino从富有的住处“搬到”较穷的住处，因此B不正确；C与第2段最后一句的内容刚好相反。 知识模块：阅读

2． Because the sharp increase in energy cost, General Motors Corp. has to A．sell some plants and equipment in the red. B．cancel some valuable plants and equipment. C．seek for more advanced plants and equipment. D．set aside higher budget for plants and equipment.

正确答案：B

解析：第3段第2句中的定语从句that are no longer viable表明通用汽车公司难以“养活”一些价值昂贵的工厂和设备，既然不能“养活”，就只好write off，由此我们可以推断write off的意思与“停止使用”最相近，B的cancel就含有“停止”的意思，因此本题应选B。原文中的no longer viable很重要，是推断writeoff的意思的关键。 知识模块：阅读

3． Compared with the present, the loss of wealth will bring about A．a shrinking market. B．shortage of labor force. C．weakening productivity. D．a lower working efficiency.

正确答案：A

解析：第5段第2句中的depresses demand，spend less等表明需求减少，购买力降低，这些都暗示市场萎缩，由此可见，本题应选A。C、D很具干扰性，C中的productivity和D中的efficiency在第5段第3句提及，要注意的是，it curbs productivity growth表明生产力的发展速度会减缓，这并不意味着生产力会下降，因此C是不正确的；同样道理，即使“公司关注的焦点不再是如何提高员工工作效率”，也不意味着工作效率会降低，D也不正确。 知识模块：阅读

4． “Exurbs” most probably refers to

A．regions situated farther away from city than suburbs. B．rural areas where residents have to commute to work. C．suburbs with high-end facilities. D．intelligent residential districts.

正确答案：A

解析：原文倒数第2段中的破折号内的内容是exurbs的定义，A是这个内容的近义改写，为本题答案。B最具干扰性，其中的rural一词在第2段第1句提及，关于commute(通勤)的内容在第2段、倒数第2段都有提及，但根据倒数第2段对exurbs的定义可以知道rural和commute都不是exurbs的重点特征。 知识模块：阅读

5． According to Robert Lang, driving is considered A．unaffordable by mortgagers. B．unpopular by mortgagers. C．wasteful by commuters. D．economical by commuters.

正确答案：C

解析：最后一段Robert Lang的话暗示通勤者以前觉得从远郊驾车上下班比较经济，而现在油价飙升，驾车上下班的费用太高、不经济了，C中的wasteful意思与“不经济”最相近，因此C为本题答案。 知识模块：阅读

People who work in the theatre are very superstitious, and there are a number of unusual superstitions connected with the theatre. Many actors carry a lucky charm—a coin, perhaps a doll. This charm is usually one which brought the actor success early in his career, and he always puts it on his dressing-table among his make-up and “good-luck” messages. Other actors choose articles of clothing for their mascot. Many dancers have a ballet shoe which belonged to another dancer whom they admire. The American actor Glenn Ford always wore as his mascot a blue and red neck tie bought with his very first pay packet when he was employed as a juvenile lead. The singer Frankie Vaughan will never travel without his lucky silver-topped cane. The dressing-room has a set of superstitions all of its own. Many actors have a very precise way of setting out their make-up, and will not alter the position of one single object. Shoes must never be placed on the dressing-table, as this will certainly bring bad luck to the player and the production. It is most unlucky for one actor to look over the shoulder of another who is looking into the mirror, as a double reflection is linked to the old fear of being watched by the “evil eye”. You must never whistle in the dressing-room. If by mistake you do, the bad luck can be avoided if you immediately leave the room, turn around three times in an anticlockwise direction, swear vilely, and knock on the door. People in the room may then give you permission to re-enter. This superstition dates back to the seventeenth-century belief about evil witches, who could “whistle up” an unfavourable wind, i.e. the failure of the play! There is a common belief among the actors that a bad dress rehearsal means a good first night. This comes from an ancient idea that it is unwise to complete any progress as it might cause a reaction from the gods. For this same reason, the very last line of a play is never spoken during the rehearsal. Certain plays have always had bad luck, and it is quite true that misfortunes have often followed such productions. Shakespeare’s Macbeth is always considered to be a dangerously unlucky play. In Shakespeare’s time, the witches’ song was seen as having the power of a real curse.

Even today, many actors are reluctant to take part in the production of Macbeth as they, are afraid that it will bring danger and will not even call the play by its name. Usually actors call Macbeth “that Scottish play”. On stage the colour green is considered unlucky, and so are real flowers. Knitting is also unlucky, since it is supposed to “knot” the production and cause problems. This list is endless, and of course nobody can ever prove or disprove whether these superstitions have any justification. Actors are not scientists, however, but artists, and they do not require scientific proof for what they “feel” to be true. Instead of wishing a fellow actor “good luck” as he goes on stage, he is told “break a leg!”—it seems pointless to look to facts or logic for explanations. So long as actors and the theatre live—superstitions will live!

6． The silver-topped cane is most probably

A．one of Frankie Vaughan’s clothing accessories.

B．a mascot that brought Frankie Vaughan early success. C．given to Frankie Vaughan by some singer he admired. D．Frankie Vaughan’s first award-winning record.

正确答案：A

解析：第2段最后3句分别以舞蹈家、演员格伦·福特和歌手弗兰基·沃恩为例说明第3句的观点：一些演员选择服饰物品做吉祥物，由此可见，最后一句提到silver-topped cane是弗兰基·沃恩的一件服饰物品，因此本题应选A。第2段前两句与第3句至末句为并列的两部分，分别描述了两种不同的幸运符，B的early success在第2段第2句提到，而Frankie Vaughan在最后一句提到，两者不属于同一点内容，因此B不正确；C将有关舞蹈家的内容套到Frankie Vaughan的身上，也不正确；D没有原文依据。 知识模块：阅读

7． Many actors believe that ______ will result in successful performances. A．wearing the same make-up for all time

B．maintaining the position of their make-up all along C．make-up done by the same beauty expert D．sitting still for their make-up

正确答案：B

解析：定位到第3段第2、3句。make-up可以理解为“化妆”或“化妆品”，在原文中，第2句指出了许多演员有准确摆放他们东西的方式，从不轻易改变。从第3句可知这有助于他们演出的成功，故选C。 知识模块：阅读

8． It is commonly believed that a perfect dress rehearsal is most likely to arouse ______ in the gods.

A．enthusiasm B．sentiment C．curiosity

D．resentment

正确答案：D

解析：第4段第2句中的reaction不能理解为中性的“反应”，根据上下文可以推断众神会对完美的彩排产生不好的反应，从而使首场演出失败，可见，reaction应理解为“反作用”，而完美的彩排会使众神产生反情绪，这样看来，在4个选项中，只有D是贬义词，为本题答案。 知识模块：阅读

9． Shakespeare’s Macbeth has been considered unlucky because A．it has been cursed by witches. B．Macbeth was a witch’s name. C．there are roles of witches in it.

D．it is involved with a Scottish witch.

正确答案：C

解析：根据题干中的Shakespeare’s Macbeth定位到第5段第2、3句。原文中的the witches’song was seenas having the power of a real curse表明女巫唱的歌只是“被认为”好像有真的魔力，也就是说，她们并非真的女巫，结合Macbeth是一部戏剧可以推断句中提到的女巫应该是Macbeth里面的角色，因此，本题应选C。 知识模块：阅读

10． The author thinks that the theatre superstitions A．deserve further study. B．vary from actor to actor. C．are pointless but fun. D．are hard to justify.

正确答案：D

解析：倒数第2段第1句表明这些迷信难以证实其对错，因此D为本题答案。原文该段第2句指出这些迷信不需要科学的证明，A与此相反，因此不正确；本文只是单纯地列举多种迷信而已，并没有要说明每种迷信都“因演员而异”，因此B是没有原文依据的，也与原文的主题无关；C中的pointless来自该段最后一句，在该句中，作者认为去追究这些迷信的合理性是pointless的，可见他并没有认为这些迷信本身是pointless的且fun没有原文依据。因此C不正确。 知识模块：阅读

Throughout the years, music has been a common thread that unites generations and had provided social commentary, individual expression, and a soundtrack for life. Music has evolved and changed as time has moved forward, and become, in some cases more of an art, and in other cases, less than one. Today music has nearly universal appeal—though there are more styles and types of music than ever before, mere are also wider gaps in ever between groups who listen to certain types of music. This said, however there are still millions of Americans who consider themselves to have “global musical tastes” meaning that they listen” to

numerous genres of music on a regular basis instead of focusing their time and attention on only rap, country, or rock and roll. In Utah, as in most other parts of the country, mere are many people who listen to a broad range of music: from Oldies to Emo and from Blues to Hip Hop. These varying tastes in music are reflected by the concerts in Utah during any given year. Utah’s concerts range from me biggest names in Hip Hop and Country music to Rock and Roll acts that you might have thought had been dissolved in the 80’s. There seems to be just as much excitement for a Cyndi Lauper or Pretenders reunion tour as for a tour from Snoop Dog or The Foo Fighters. The sheer dynamism of Utah concert goers—in age and musical taste makes Utah a “must stop” for most any musical act. Utah’s conceit scene consists of many small venues such as bars and private clubs that host touring acts year round, as well as a few large venues, both indoor and outdoor that host only the larger acts and are only open during certain times of the year—as dictated by sports team schedules and weather. The varying degrees of concert venues in Utah makes for an additional plus for great musical acts to stop in Utah. There are obviously some acts, while very well received in bars and small venues, that just would not be able to fill a 20,000 seat amphitheater. Thus, the various small venues are perfect for lesser known or up-and-coming rock and country acts that are not quite able to fill the bigger venues. All things considered, Utah has a lot going for it in terms of creating a solid environment for musical acts as well as fans of music from a myriad of genres. As the state continues to grow and become a more mainstream culture, concerts in Utah will continue to be growing attractions.

11． Compared with music in the past, music at present becomes more A．sensuous. B．artistic. C．disputable. D．diverse.

正确答案：D

解析：第2段第1句中的more styles and types表明现在的音乐比以往任何时候都多样化，因此本题应选D。A“具有美感的”无原文依据，文章没有讨论这一内容；B与第1段最后一句的art有关。但根据原文，作者对音乐是否属于艺术的范畴仍然不能确定，因此B不能选；第2段第1句中的wider gaps表明听音乐的人之间的区别很大，但这并不意味着他们对音乐有争议，这种wider gaps也可能表现为他们的“性格相差很远”，因此C不正确。 知识模块：阅读

12． The author tends to agree that the Americans A．are restrained to rap, country and rock and roll. B．are restrained to the same genre of music. C．have developed global musical tastes. D．have developed their local music.

正确答案：C

解析：第3段首句中的a broad range of music表明作者认为美国人听音乐的兴趣很广泛，这一点就是上一段第2句提到的global musical tastes，因此，本题应选C。第2段第2句中的still似乎表示作者认为美国人不愿承认他们只喜欢听rap，country，and Rock and Roll，但下一段的内容就可以推翻这一点，也就可以将A排除。其他两个选项更没有原文依据。 知识模块：阅读

13． What has most probably happened to Pretenders? A．It broke up once for some reason. B．It is the biggest name in Hip Hop. C．It has become famous since 80s’. D．It is the most popular Rock band.

正确答案：A

解析：第4段第2句提到的reunion tour暗示Pretenders曾经解散(虽然文章没有提及因为什么原因解散)，因此本题应选A。 知识模块：阅读

14． It can be inferred from the 6th paragraph that A．various musical acts are attracted to Utah. B．small venues in Utah are perfectly equipped. C．great musical acts have to give up Utah. D．large venues in Utah are difficult to fill up.

正确答案：A

解析：第6段第1句中的stop不是“停止”的意思，而是“停留，留下来”的意思，stop一词在第4段最后一句中也有提及(must stop)，该段第1、2句为stop的意思提供了解释，两段的stop是相同的，由此可见，A的说法是正确的。 知识模块：阅读

15． The best title for the passage may be “______”. A．Americans’ Global Musical Taste B．Diverse Tastes for Music in Utah C．Various Concert Venues in Utah D．Mainstream Culture of America

正确答案：B 解析：本文开头两段先提及美国人对音乐的品味，从第3段开始详细描述犹他州欢迎各种不同的音乐会，最后一段总结音乐会成为犹他州主流文化的原因，由此看来，全文的主题应该是“犹他州的各种音乐会”，B与此内容最相近，为本题答案。 知识模块：阅读

If our solar system has a Hell, it’s Venus. The air is choked with foul and corrosive sulfur, heaved from ancient volcanoes and feeding acid clouds above. Although the second planet is a step farther from the sun than Mercury, a runaway

greenhouse effect makes it hotter indeed. It’s the hottest of the nine plants, a toasty 900 degrees Fahrenheit of baking rocky flats from equator to poles. All this under a crushing atmospheric pressure 90 times that of where you’re sitting now. From the earthly perspective, a dead end. It must be lifeless. “Venus has nothing,” is the blunt word from planetologist Kevin Zahnle of NASA Ames Research Center in California’s Silicon Valley. “We’ve written it off.” Yet a small group of advanced life-forms on Earth begs to differ, and theorizes that bizarre microbial ecosystems might have once populated Venus and, in fact, may be there still. Members of this loose band of researchers suggest that their colleagues have water too much on the brain, and are, in a sense, H2O chauvinists. “Astrobiologists are neglecting Venus due more to narrow thinking than actual knowledge of the environment, or environments, where life can thrive,” says Dirk Schulze-Makuch, a geobiologist at the University of Texas at El Paso who recently co-authored a Venus-boosting paper in Astrobiology with colleague Louis Irwin. The bias against life on Venus is partly rooted in our own biology. Human experience instructs that liquid water, preferably lot of it, is essential for life. In search for extraterrestrial life, we obsess over small rivers in Mars’ surface apparently carved by ancient gushes of water, and delight in hints of permafrost just underneath its surface.(By comparison, Venus isn’t even that interesting to look at: A boring cue ball for backyard astronomers, its clouds reflects 75% of visible light.)Attention and then funding follow the water: Three more landers will depart for Mars this spring, and serious plans for sample-return missions hover in the midterm future. “If you have limited resources, you base exploration on what you know,” says Arizona State University planetary geologist Ronal Greeley. It’s like losing your keys on the way home at night: The first place you look is under the streetlights not because they’re more likely to be there, but because if they are, you’ll spot them. For astrobiologists, the streetlights are the spectral lines for water, and they’ve spotted that potential on Mars, Jupiter’s moon Europa, even Neptune’s moon Triton. Not on the baking rocky flats of Venus.

16． Venus is the hottest of all the nine planets in the solar system because A．it is not so close to the Sun as Mercury. B．many volcanoes spread the whole planet. C．it is covered by a thick layer of cloud. D．greenhouse effect is uncontrollable on it.

正确答案：D

解析：从第1段第3、4句所述可以推断，金星比其他行星都热，是因为温室效应肆虐(runaway)，因此正确答案应为D。A关于金星离太阳的距离，B关于金星上的火山，C关于覆盖金星的云层，都在同一段中提到，虽然按照常理，这些因素都可能使某个地方的温度上升，但文中没有说明它们是导致金星温度比别的行星高的原因，因此，回答问题时一定要紧扣文章。 知识模块：阅读

17． Some planetologists believed there had never been lives on Venus because

A．they couldn’t find any trace of water on it. B．they found Venus is too hot for any lives.

C．Venus is covered by dirty and poisonous cloud. D．the atmospheric pressure on Venus is too much.

正确答案：A

解析：文中多处从正面和反面表明，一些科学家相信Venus上没有生命是因为那里没有水。正面的依据如第5段开头两句及最后一段；反面的依据如第3段中的那个研究地球高级生命形式的小团体对认为Venus上没有生命的看法的驳斥；由此可见，本题答案应为A。 知识模块：阅读

18． It can be inferred from the passage that the small group of advanced life-forms on Earth believed that

A．life could exist in hot environment. B．life could exist without water. C．there are still lives on Venus. D．there used to be lives on Mars.

正确答案：B

解析：第3段末句表明，这一个小团体的研究人员认为那些宣称Venus上没有生命的科学家“are，in asense，H2O chauvinists”(某种意义上，他们太盲目认为水是生命存在的基本条件。)也就是说，这个团体相信生命的存在不一定需要水，因此B为本题答案。 知识模块：阅读

19． What do we learn from the passage about Venus and Mars? A．The atmospheric pressure of Venus is stronger than Mars. B．Venus attracts more attention and funding than Mars. C．Venus is closer to the Sun than Mars. D．Venus looks more beautiful than Mars.

正确答案：C 解析：从第1段第3句可以知道水星是离太阳最近的行星，而金星只比它离太阳远一点，也就是说金星比其他七颗行星离太阳都要近，当然也就比火星离太阳较近了，因此C为本题答案。文章没有就A中的atmospheric pressure对比火星和金星，而倒数第2段末句暗示了火星因有水的遗迹而吸引了更多的关注和研究资金，故A、B都不对；文中在第5段括号里的内容对比了两个行星，但D与文意相反，故也不对。 知识模块：阅读

20． The purpose of the co-authored paper by Dirk Schulze-Makuch and Louis Irwin was to

A．introduce their findings about Venus. B．promote the exploration of Venus.

C．convince others that there used to be lives on Venus. D．criticize other scientists that they are narrow-minded.

正确答案：B

解析：第4段中的“a Venus—boosting paper”，说明这篇文章的目的是推动金星研究或探索，因此B为本题答案。从“a Venus-boosting paper”可知这篇文章的目的是“boost”(推动)而不是“introduce”(介绍)，因此A不对。C、D的干扰性很强，这两项与Dirk Schulze-Makuch所说的话有关，但是Dirk所说的其实并不是文章的观点，他所说的这段话与后面提到的paper是互不相关的两回事，事实上，后面提到了Dirk与别人合作写了一篇文章，只是为了向读者提供有关Dirk的背景。因此他说的并不是文章的观点或目的，故C、D都不对。 知识模块：阅读