2011年12月大学英语四级考试

Reading Comprehension阅读汇总
答案&解析

Part II Reading Comprehension (Skimming and Scanning)
1. A person of integrity not only sets high moral and ethical standards but also _______.
A) sticks to them in their daily life
B) makes them known to others
C) understands their true values
D)sees that others also follow them
【答案】A) sticks to them in their daily life
【解析】第一题的答案就在全文第一句。关键词是not only…. But also…. ，关键句是The key to integrity is consistency--not only setting high personal standards for oneself (honesty, responsibility, respect for others, fairness) but also living up to those standards each day. 这里的live up to 和 选项里的 stick to 属于同义替换。

2. What role does integrity play in personal and professional relationships?
A) It helps to create team spirit
B) It facilitates communication
C) It is the basis of mutual trust
D) It inspires mutual respect
【答案】C) It is the basis of mutual trust
【解析】关键词是personal and professional，关键句是Trust is essential in any important relationship, whether personal or professional. Who can trust someone who is dishonest or unfair? Thus, integrity must be one of our most important goals.
结合紧接着的问句，我们很容易锁定trust这个选项。

3. why must we learn to identify the risks we are going to take？
A. To ensure we make responsible choices.
B. To avoid being overwhelmed by stress.
C. so that we don’t break any rules.
D. so that we don’t run into trouble.
【答案】A. To ensure we make responsible choices.
【解析】关键词是identify the risks，关键句是Making ethical decisions is a critical part of avoiding future problems. We must learn to recognize risks, because if we can't see the risks we're taking, we can't make responsible choices. 所以答案很明显是A。

4. Violation of a rule is misconduct even if _______?
A. it has caused no harm.
B. it is claimed to be unintentional.
C. it has gone unnoticed.
D. it is committed with good intentions.
【答案】B. it is claimed to be unintentional.
【解析】关键词是misconduct，关键句是But the fact that such a violation is "unintentional" does not excuse the misconduct. 和原文意义高度一致的，就是这个unintentional。因此答案是：B. it is claimed to be unintentional.

5. What should one do if he doesn’t wish to fool himself?
A. Avoid making excuses.
B. Listen to other people’s advice.
C. Make his intensions public.
D. Have others watch over his shoulder.
【答案】A. Avoid making excuses.
【解析】关键词是fool oneself，关键句是To avoid fooling yourself, watch out for excuses and try this test这里的watch out for 和 选项里的avoid属于同义替换。所以答案是A。

6. Those who take risks they regret later on _______.
A. will often become more cautious
B. are usually very aggressive
C. value immediate benefits most.
D. may lose everything in the end
【答案】C. value immediate benefits most.
【解析】关键词是regret later，关键句是Those who take risks they later regret usually focus on immediate benefits ("what's in it for me")。很明显，选项 value immediate benefits most 是正确答案。这里的value 和 focus on 属于同义替换。

7. According to the author, a cheater who doesn’t get caught right away will _______.
A) pay more dearly
B) become more confident
C) be widely admired
D) feel somewhat lucky
【答案】A) pay more dearly
【解析】关键词是get caught，关键句是Those who don't get caught pay an even higher price. 这里的higher price 和选项里的more dearly 属于同义替换。所以答案是A。
8. Cheaters at exam don’t care about their education, all they care about is how to steal a grade.
【答案】steal a grade
【解析】关键词：care about
关键句：I'm not interested in what you're trying to teach; all I care about is stealing a grade, regardless of the effect on others."

9. Integrity matters in that all social activities rely on people’s honesty and good faith.
【答案】honesty and good faith
【解析】关键词是rely on，关键句是We must rely on the honesty and good faith of others every day.

10. Many Americans lost faith in the integrity of their political leaders as a result of the Watergate scandal.
【答案】the Watergate scandal
【解析】关键词是political and economic leaders，关键句是Watergate, have undermined the faith of many Americans in the integrity of political and economic leaders and society as a whole.
Section B
Passage One
57, C encourage boys to express their emotions freely
58, A perform relatively better
59, C It fails to give boys the attention they need
60, A teaching can be tailored to suit the characteristics of boys
61, C They have sharper vision
【解析】这篇文章针对传统的男女生一起上学，一起接受教育提出了质疑。作者从文章一开头就表明了自己的看法：对于男生而言，单性教育，即男生们一起上学会对男生的身心发展更为有利。文中出现一个短语，received wisdom，即是“人们普遍的看法，公认的看法”。也是作者所批判的一种观点。传统观点认为，男生和女生混合教育会对男生发展更有利。
但是作者认为单性教育对男生有以下几个好处：可以让男生们更自由地表达自己的情感，可以学习自己感兴趣的艺术，舞蹈，音乐等学科。不用去遵守人们在传统印象中对男生的期盼。而且单性教育可以针对男生的身心发展特点而制定学习计划。
并且作者觉得，目前英国教育把女生当做关注重点，忽视了对男生的重视。

Passage Two
62. C . It makes all the hard work worthwhile.
63. D. Disputes over money may ruin a relationship.
64. A. conflicts between couples tend to rise
65. D. men and women view money in different ways.
66. C. discuss money matters to maintain a healthy relationship.
【解析】这是一篇关于金钱对夫妻关系的影响的文章。文中第一段主要通过度假这件事来体现不同人对待金钱的不同态度。作者认为人只能活一次，如果不能去度假的话，那么工作再努力也没有意义。第二段主要谈到了大萧条时期，不太良好的经济状况常常会影响夫妻关系，可能会导致争吵，甚至会导致离婚或者分居的成本增加，对夫妻感情造成伤害。第三段讲了Kim Stephenson，一个心理学家的观点，即男人和女人对待金钱的态度是不一样的，男人把金钱看作是得到社会地位的途径，看作向父母展现自己成功的一种方式。第四段，作者建议夫妻可以对金钱持有不同的观点，但是不可以对它采取回避的态度，避而不谈。
相对来说，这篇文章的难度比较大。文章看懂并不难，但是题目中，推理题和大意题比较多，需要在充分理解作者意图，了解文章主旨的基础上，才能选出正确答案。

Section A
47 growth
48 stable
49 challenges
50 certainly
51 role
52 combined
53 significant
54 included
55 comprise
56 solutions
【解析】这是一篇讨论能源资源的说明文，话题是考生比较熟悉的能源问题，不断增长的人口与可再生资源的矛盾该如何解决。文中指出能源的一些可替代形式如生物能源、风能太阳能等可再生资源将在未来发挥越来越重要的作用。但是专家指出，即使这些资源储备量惊人，但是到2050年也只能满足世界30%的需求。文章最后两段探讨了各能源在市场上的需求，以及解决未来能源需求的其他方案。
总体来说，这篇文章理解难度不大，填空难度适中，所选词汇也都是四级考纲的词汇。选项较具有干扰项，多为c和s开头的单词，考生在考试时要特别注意。