文都：2008年12月英語四級全真預測試卷(三)

　　34.[A]It takes a longer time to melt.

　　[B]It is lighter to carry.

　　[C]It is cleaner to use than ordinary ice.

　　[D]It is not so cold as ordinary ice.

　　35.[A]In the 1920’s.

　　[B]In the 1930’s.

　　[C]In the 1940’s.

　　[D]In the 1950’s.

　　Section C

　　Directions: In this section, you will hear a passage three times. When the passage is read for the first time, you should listen carefully for its general idea. When the passage is read for the second time, you are required to fill in the blanks numbered from 36 to 43 with the exact words you have just heard. For blanks numbered from 44 to 46 you are required to fill in the missing information. For these blanks, you can either use the exact words you have just heard or write down the main points in you own words. Finally, when the passage is read for the third time, you should check what you have written.

　　This (36) ’s Day, many young women were sitting at home waiting for their boyfriends to bring them flowers. Not Linda, though.

　　For the past three weekends, Linda has been on the road. The 32�瞴ear�瞣ld national sales director of a (37) company does not have an adventurous heart: All her weekend (38) were jammed with business meetings. She usually started out on Friday night, met her business (39) on Saturday and Sunday and got back to her (40) office in Beijing early Monday morning.

　　“Do not take me for a workaholic,” smiled Linda, (41) on a comfortable sofa (42) coffee in her nicely decorated apartment. “After a whole week of excitement at work, I just can’t stand a lonely weekend. So recently I have tried to meet my (43) on the weekends to help me knock loneliness out of my mind.”

　　The strategy is a temporary one, she added. “Periodically, I have a burst of fear of being alone. (44) .” Still, Linda said she could not imagine rushing into marriage just because she lacks a weekend companion. “(45). At present I feel I am too occupied with work to cater to a husband.”

　　(46). Well educated, with successful careers and making good money, marriage as a way to financial security is no longer their first choice.

　　Part ⅣReading Comprehension(Reading in Depth)(25 minutes)

　　Section A

　　Directions:In this section, there is a passage with ten blanks. You are required to select one word for each blank from a list of choices given in a word bank following the passage. Read the passage through carefully before making your choices. Each choice in the bank is identified by a letter. Please mark the corresponding letter for each item on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once.

　　Questions 47 to 56 are based on the following passage.

　　If our society ever needed a reading renaissance(復興), it’s now. The National Endowment for the Arts released “Reading at Risk” last year, a study showing that adult reading 47 have dropped 10 percentage points in the past decade, with the steepest drop among those 18 to 24. “Only one half of young people read a book of any kind in 2002. We set the bar almost on the ground. If you read one short story in a teen�瞐ger magazine, that would have 48,” laments a director of research and analysis. He 49 the loss of readers to the booming world of technology, which attracts would�瞓e leisure readers to E�瞞ail, IM chats, and video games and leaves them with no time to cope with a novel.

　　“These new forms of media undoubtedly have some benefits,” says Steven Johnson, author of Everything Bad Is Good for You. Video games 50 problem�瞫olving skills; TV shows promote mental gymnastics by 51 viewers to follow complex story lines. But books offer experience that can’t be gained from these other sources, from 52 vocabulary to stretching the imagination. “If they’re not reading at all,” says Johnson, “that’s a huge problem.”

　　In fact, fewer kids are reading for pleasure. According to data 53 last week from the National Center for Educational Statistic’s long�瞭erm trend assessment, the number of 17�瞴ear�瞣lds who reported never or hardly ever reading for fun 54 from 9 percent in 1984 to 19 percent in 2004. At the same time, the 55 of 17�瞴ear�瞣lds who read daily dropped from 31 to 22.

　　This slow but steady retreat from books has not yet taken a toll on reading ability. Scores for the nation’s youth have 56 constant over the past two decades(with an encouraging upswing among 9�瞴ear�瞣lds). But given the strong apparent correlation between pleasure reading and reading skills, this means poorly for the future.

　　[A] percent[F] counted[K]forcing

　　[B] remained[G] relieved[L]improve

　　[C] rose[H] present[M] Styles

　　[D] rates[I] Believing[N]

　　building

　　[E] percentage[J] released[O] attributes