英语四级阅读理解考试题及答案

在日常学习、工作生活中，我们总免不了要接触或使用试题，借助试题可以检验考试者是否已经具备获得某种资格的基本能力。一份好的试题都是什么样子的呢？下面是小编为大家收集的英语四级阅读理解考试题及答案，希望能够帮助到大家。

Trees should only be pruned when there is a good and clear reason for doing so and , fortunately,the number of such reasons is small. Pruning involves the cutting away of obergrown and unwanted branches, and the inexperienced gardener can be encouraged by the thought that more damage results from doing it unnecessarily than from leaving the tree to grow in its own way.

First, pruning may be done to make sure that trees have a desired shape or size. The object may be to get a tree of the right height, and at the same time to help the growth of small side branches which will thicken its appearance or give it a special shape. Secondly, pruning may be done to make the tree healthier. You may cut diseaed or dead wood, or branches that are rubbing against each other and thus cause wounds. The health of a tree may be encouraged by removing branches that are blocking up the centre and so preventing the free movement of air.

One result of pruning is that an open wound is left on the tree and this provides an easy entry for disease, but itis a wound that will heal. Often there is a race between the healing and the desease as to whether the tree will live or die, so that there is a period when the tree is at risk. It should be the aim of every gardener to reduce which has been pruned smooth and clean, for healing will be slowed down by roughness. You should allow the cut surface to dry for a few hurs and then paint it with one of the substances available from garden shops produced especially for this purpose. Pruning is usually without interference from the leaves and also it is very unlikely that the cuts yu make will bleed. If this does happen,it is, of course,impossible to paint them properly.

1.．Why should pruning be done?

A．To make the tree grow taller. B．To improve the shape of the tree.

C．to get rid of the small ranches . D．To make the small branches thicker.

2.．Trees become unhealthy if the gardener__________.

A. giving a tree a special shape and adefinite height

B. removing small side branches and making atree look less thick

C. allowing too many branches to grow in themiddle

D. having a tree surrounded by many othertrees

3.．Why is a special material painted on the tree?

A．To help a wound to dry. B．to cover a rough surface.

C．To make a wound smooth. D．To prevent disease entering a wound.

4.．A good gardener prunes a tree _________ .

A．several times throughout the year B．as quickly as possible

C．occasionally when necessary D．regularly every winter

5.．What was the author’s purpose when writingthis passage?

A．To discuss different methods of pruning.

B．To introduce some common knowledge of pruning.

C．To explain how trees developdisease.

D．To give practical instruction for pruning atree.

Baekeland and Hartmann report that the “short sleepers” had been more or less average in their sleep needs until the men were in their teens. But at about age 15 or so, the men voluntarily began cutting down their nightly sleep time because of pressures from school, work, and other activities. These men tended to view their nightly periods of unconsciousness as bothersome interruptions in their daily routines. In general, these “short sleeps” appeared ambitious, active, energetic, cheerful, conformist(不动摇) in their opinions, and very sure about their career choices. They often held several jobs at once, or workers full-or part-time while going to school. And many of them had a strong urge to appear “normal” or “acceptable” to their friends and associates. When asked to recall their dreams, the “short sleepers” did poorly. More than this, they seemed to prefer not remembering. In similar fashion, their usual way of dealing with psychological problems was to deny that the problem existed, and then to keep busy in the hope that the trouble would go away. The sleep patterns of the “short sleepers” were similar to, but less extreme than, sleep patterns shown by many mental patients categorized as manic(疯人). The “long sleepers” were quite different indeed. Baekeland and Hartmann report that these young men had been lengthy sleeps since childhood. They seemed to enjoy their sleep, protected it, and were quite concerned when they were occasionally deprived of their desired 9 hours of nightly bed rest. They tended to recall their dreams much better than did the “short sleepers.” Many of the “long sleepers” were shy, anxious, introverted (内向), inhibited (压抑), passive, mildly depressed, and unsure of themselves (particularly in social situations). Several openly states that sleep was an escape from their daily problems.

1. According to the report,______. A) many short sleepers need less sleep by nature B) many short sleepers are obliged to reduce their nightly sleep time because they are busy with their work C) long sleepers sleep a longer period of time during the day D) many long sleepers preserve their sleeping habit formed during their childhood

2. Many “short sleepers” are likely to hold the view that _____. A) sleep is a withdrawal from the reality B) sleep interferes with their sound judgement C) sleep is the least expensive item on their routine program D) sleep is the best way to deal with psychological troubles

3. It is stated in the third paragraph that short sleepers _____. A) are ideally vigorous even under the pressures of life B) often neglect the consequences of inadequate sleep C) do not know how to relax properly D) are more unlikely to run into mental problems

4. When sometimes they cannot enjoy adequate sleep, the long sleepers might ____. A) appear disturbed B) become energetic C) feel dissatisfied D) be extremely depressed

5. Which of the following is Not included in the passage? A) If one sleeps inadequately, his performance suffers and his memory is weakened B) The sleep patterns of short sleepers are exactly the sane as those shown by many mental patients C) Long and short sleepers differ in their attitudes towards sleep D) Short sleepers would be better off with more rest

【答案及详解】 答案：DCBAB 贝克尔和哈特曼报道说，“睡眠少的人”在未进入少年期之前，其正常睡眠时间大致与所需要的时间差不多。但到了15岁左右，由于学校、工作或其它活动的地压力，他们就故意地减少了夜间睡眠的时间。这些人持有这样的观点：夜间睡眠是一件令人讨厌的事情，打断了日常事务。 总的说来，这些“睡眠少的人”表现得雄心勃勃、积极活跃、精力充沛、无意识乐观豁达、立场坚定，对自己职业的选择胸有成竹。他们往往同时从事几项工作，或者一边上学读书，一边从事专职或兼职工作。其中许多人有强烈愿望，想在朋友和熟人面前表现得“正常”或“合群”。 当让他们回忆梦境时，“睡眠少的人”回忆不起什么来。更有甚者，他们似乎情愿什么都记不住。类似的情况是他们通常处理心理问题的方式：不承认问题的存在，希望只要忙忙碌碌，麻烦总会过去的。 “睡眠少的人”的睡眠模式与被划入疯子之类精神病患者的睡眠模式十分相似，只不过没有那么严重而已。 “睡眠多的人”情形则大不相同。贝克尔和哈特曼报道说，这些年轻人从小的，有抱负的睡眠就一直很长。他们好像注重睡眠，不让睡眠受打搅。偶尔没有所需的9个小时夜间卧床休息，他们便会十分不安。他们比“睡眠少的人”要更能回忆得起梦的内容。许多“睡眠多的人”腼腆、焦躁、内向、压抑、消极和稍微有点儿沮丧，尤其在社交场合缺乏自信。好几个人坦言，睡眠是摆脱每天烦恼的一种方式。

Passage Three

Method of Scientific Inquiry

Why the inductive and mathematical sciences, after their first rapid development at the culmination of Greek civilization, advanced so slowly for two thousand years—and why in the following two hundred years a knowledge of natural and mathematical science has accumulated, which so vastly exceeds all that was previously known that these sciences may be justly regarded as the products of our own times—are questions which have interested the modern philosopher not less than the objects with which these sciences are more immediately conversant. Was it the employment of a new method of research, or in the exercise of greater virtue in the use of the old methods, that this singular modern phenomenon had its origin? Was the long period one of arrested development, and is the modern era one of normal growth? Or should we ascribe the characteristics of both periods to so-called historical accidents—to the influence of conjunctions in circumstances of which no explanation is possible, save in the omnipotence and wisdom of a guiding Providence?

The explanation which has become commonplace, that the ancients employed deduction chiefly in their scientific inquiries, while the moderns employ induction, proves to be too narrow, and fails upon close examination to point with sufficient distinctness the contrast that is evident between ancient and modern scientific doctrines and inquiries. For all knowledge is founded on observation, and proceeds from this by analysis, by synthesis and analysis, by induction and deduction, and if possible by verification, or by new appeals to observation under the guidance of deduction—by steps which are indeed correlative parts of one method; and the ancient sciences afford examples of every one of these methods, or parts of one method, which have been generalized from the examples of science.

A failure to employ or to employ adequately any one of these partial methods, an imperfection in the arts and resources of observation and experiment, carelessness in observation, neglect of relevant facts, by appeal to experiment and observation—these are the faults which cause all failures to ascertain truth, whether among the ancients or the moderns; but this statement does not explain why the modern is possessed of a greater virtue, and by what means he attained his superiority. Much less does it explain the sudden growth of science in recent times.

The attempt to discover the explanation of this phenomenon in the antithesis of “facts” and “theories” or “facts” and “ideas”—in the neglect among the ancients of the former, and their too exclusive attention to the latter—proves also to be too narrow, as well as open to the charge of vagueness. For in the first place, the antithesis is not complete. Facts and theories are not coordinate species. Theories, if true, are facts—a particular class of facts indeed, generally complex, and if a logical connection subsists between their constituents, have all the positive attributes of theories.

Nevertheless, this distinction, however inadequate it may be to explain the source of true method in science, is well founded, and connotes an important character in true method. A fact is a proposition of simple. A theory, on the other hand, if true has all the characteristics of a fact, except that its verification is possible only by indirect, remote, and difficult means. To convert theories into facts is to add simple verification, and the theory thus acquires the full characteristics of a fact.

1. The title that best expresses the ideas of this passage is

[A]. Philosophy of mathematics. [B]. The Recent Growth in Science.

[C]. The Verification of Facts. [C]. Methods of Scientific Inquiry.

2. According to the author, one possible reason for the growth of science during the days of the ancient Greeks and in modern times is

[A]. the similarity between the two periods.

[B]. that it was an act of God.

[C]. that both tried to develop the inductive method.

[D]. due to the decline of the deductive method.

3. The difference between “fact” and “theory”

[A]. is that the latter needs confirmation.

[B]. rests on the simplicity of the former.

[C]. is the difference between the modern scientists and the ancient Greeks.

[D]. helps us to understand the deductive method.

4. According to the author, mathematics is

[A]. an inductive science. [B]. in need of simple verification.

[C]. a deductive science. [D]. based on fact and theory.

5. The statement “Theories are facts” may be called.

[A]. a metaphor. [B]. a paradox.

[C]. an appraisal of the inductive and deductive methods.

[D]. a pun.

Vocabulary

1. inductive 归纳法

induction n.归纳法

2. deductive 演绎法

deduction n.演绎法

3. culmination 到达顶/极点

4. conversant （with） 熟悉的，精通的

5. exercise 运用，实行，执行仪式

singular 卓越的，非凡的，独一无二的

6. conjunction 结合，同时发生

7. omnipotence 全能，无限权/威力

8. Providence （大写）指上帝，天道，天令

9. commonplace 平凡的，陈腐的

10. inquiry 调查，探究（真理，知识等）

11. doctrine 教义，学说，讲义

12. correlative 相互关联的

13. antithesis 对立面，对偶（修辞学中），对句

14. coordinate 同等的，并列的

15. subsist 生存，维持生活

16. attribute 特征，属性

17. connote 意味着，含蓄（指词内涵）

难句译注

1. Why the inductive and mathematical sciences, after their first rapid development at the culmination of Greek civilization, advanced so slowly for two thousand years are questions which have interested the modern philosopher not less than the objects with which these sciences are more immediately conversant.

[结构简析] 破折号后面的内容（见难句译注2）先撇开。这样便于理解，整个句子是主谓表结构，前面一个问题句作主语，question后跟一个定语从句，和not less than连接的表语。

[参考译文] 为什么归纳发和数学科学，在希腊文明达到顶点时首先快速发展后，两千年内进展缓慢，现在哲学家对这个问题的兴趣不亚于对这些科学很熟悉研究的对象。

2. …—and why in the following two hundred years a knowledge of natural and mathematical science has accumulated, which so vastly exceeds all that was previously known that these sciences may be justly regarded as the products of our own times—…

[参考译文] 问什么在后来的二百年中自然科学数理科学积累起来，它们广泛的超越了过去已知的一切，所以就把这些科学视为我们时代的产品。

3. arrested development 停滞发展（被制止了的发展）。

4. Or should we ascribe the characteristics of both periods to so-called historical accidents—to the influence of conjunctions in circumstances of which no explanation is possible, save in the omnipotence and wisdom of a guiding Providence?

[参考译文] 或者我们是否应当把两个阶段的特点归因于所谓的历史的偶然性（意外事件）——归因于客观环境中相似（结合）的影响。这一点除非以指导一切的上帝的智慧和无限权利来解释，否则难以解说清楚。

写作方法与文章大意

这是篇议论文，论及科学探索的方法，总体是因果写法，具体分析又是对比写法。作者采用问答方式探究为什么希腊文明顶峰之后两千年，科技发展缓慢，而最近两百年又迅速发展超越前人，其原因在哪里?是采用新，旧方法所致，历史之偶然性，还是上天安排。

然后以现代用归纳法，古代用演绎法太狭隘说明科学总是在观察，实验，检验，证实中前进。但事实难以解释慢和快的现象。最后以“对立”——事实和理论对立古代重视事实来解释。然这两者是对立的统一。真正的理论就是事实。事实，构成之间具逻辑联系，就具有理论的一切正面特性。这种区分虽不足以解释科学研究中真正方法，但奠定了良好的基础，含有真正方法中的重要特性。

答案详解

1. D. 科学研究/探索的方法。文章一开始就提出问题，为什么从希腊文化顶峰时期后两千年来归纳法和数学科学发展如此缓慢，而后的两百年又超越了前人，是应用新，旧方法关系还是其它（见难句译注1，2）。第二段讲埃及古代在科学探索中运用了演绎推理法，而现在应用了归纳法。这种解释太狭隘，经仔细审核，难以很清晰地点明古代和现代科学教义和探究上明显的`差别。因为一切知识都基于观察，通过分析，综合，或综合分析，归纳演绎推理，有可能的话，经过校正或经由演绎指导下再观察而向前推进。第三段进一步阐明不用这些方法观察，实验;忽略相关事实，推理不慎;不能答出理论的结论，再用实验或观察来检验等或用得不全，不论在古代还是现代都会失败。但这不能说明为什么现代科学具有较高的功效，通过什么方式方法，超越了前人，更不用说说明最近科学突飞猛进的原因。第四，五段涉及事实和理论的关系。

A. 数学的哲学，文内没有提。 B. 近来科学的发展。 C. 事实的验证，只是最后两段提及验证方法之作用。

2. B. 是上天的安排，这是作家在用方法论等失败后得出的结论。见难句译注4，第一段最后一句话。

A. 两个阶段的相似性。 . 两者都试图应用归纳法。 D. 由于演绎法的衰落。

3. A. 后者需要证实。答案在第四，五段，死段试图在事实的对立面和理论，或事实和思想中发现上述现象的解释看起来有饿太狭隘，也会因模糊不清遭批评。因为，对立面不全面，事实和理论不是同类的事物。理论，如果是真正的理论，就是事实——一种特殊类别的事实，一般复杂，但仍是事实。而事实，从词的狭义来说，如果很复杂，如果各成分中存在着逻辑的联系，就具有理论的一切主要特征。第五段第二句，事实是一个提议，通过运用知识的源泉和经验而证实的提议直接而又简单。而理论，若是真理论，就有事实的一切特性（除非其证实只能通过非直接的，遥远的和困难的方式方法），把理论转成事实必须用简单的核实，理论因此具有事实的一切特性。

B. 前者简单。 C. 是现代科学家和古希腊的差异。 D. 帮助我们了解演绎法，三项都不对。

4. C. 是推理演绎科学，这个问题常识就能回答。

A. 归纳法科学。 B. 需要简单证实。 D. 基于事实和理论。

5. B. 是一个悖论，见第四，五段注释。

A. 比喻。 C. 对归纳法和演绎法的赞扬。 D. 双关语。

【英语四级阅读理解考试题及答案】