新東方：大學英語四級考試閱讀講義(一)

　　第一部分 閱讀理解全真題

　　Unit 1

　　Part Ⅱ Reading Comprehension

　　(35 minutes)

　　Directions: There are 4 passages in this part. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet with a single line through the centre.

　　Passage One

　　Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage:

　　What has the telephone done to us, or for us, in the hundred years of its existence? A few effects suggest themselves at once. It has saved lives by getting rapid word of illness, injury, or fire from remote places. By joining with the elevator to make possible the multi-story residence or office building, it has made possible — for better or worse — the modern city. By bringing about a great leap in the speed and ease with which information moves from place to place, it has greatly accelerated the rate of scientific and technological changes and growth in industry. Beyond doubt it has seriously weakened if not killed the ancient art of letter writing. It has made living alone possible for persons with normal social impulses; by so doing, it has played a role in one of the greatest social changes of this century, the breakup of the multi-generational household. It has made the war chillingly more efficient than formerly. Perhaps, though not provably (可證實)，it has prevented wars that might have arisen out of international misunderstanding caused by written communication. Or perhaps — again not provably — by magnifying and extending irrational personal conflicts based on voice contact, it has caused wars. Certainly it has extended the scope of human conflicts, since it impartially disseminates (傳播) the useful knowledge of scientists and the nonsense of the ignorant, the affection of the affectionate and the malice (惡意) of the malicious.

　　21. What is the main idea of this passage?

　　A) The telephone has helped to save people from illness and fire.

　　B) The telephone has helped to prevent wars and conflicts.

　　C) The telephone has made the modern city neither better nor worse.

　　D) The telephone has had positive as well as negative effects on us.

　　22. According to the passage, it is the telephone that .

　　A) has made letter writing an art

　　B) has prevented wars by avoiding written communication

　　C) has made the world different from what it was

　　D) has caused wars by magnifying and extending human conflicts

　　23. The telephone has intensified conflicts among people because .

　　A) it increases the danger of war

　　B) it provides services to both the good and the malicious

　　C) it makes distant communication easier

　　D) it breaks up the multi-generational household

　　24. The author describes the telephone as impartial because it .

　　A) saves lives of people in remote places

　　B) enables people to live alone if they want to

　　C) spreads both love and ill will

　　D) replaces much written communication

　　25. The writer's attitude towards the use of the telephone is .

　　A) affectionate C) approving

　　B) disapproving D) neutral