大学英语四级阅读练习17题（详细解析）
【1】Personality is , to large extent, inherent --A-type parents usually bring about A-type offspring. But the environment must also have a profound effect, since if competition is important to the parents, it is likely to become a major factor lives of their children.
One place where children soak up A characteristics is school, which is ,by its very nature, a highly competitive institution. Too many schools adopt the "win at all costs" moral standard and measure their success by sporting achievements. The current passion for making children compete against their classmates or against the clock produces a two-layer system, in which competitive A types seem in some way better than thier B-type fellows. Being too keen to win can have dangerous consequences:remember that Pheidippides ,the first marathon runner,dropped dead seconds after saying:"Rejoice,we conquer!".
By far the worst form of competition in school is the disproportionate emphasis on examinations . It is a rare school that allows pupils to concentrate on those things they do well.The merits of competition by examination are somewhat questionable,but competition in
the certain knowledge of failure is positively harmful.
Obviously, it is neither practical nor desirable that all A youngsters change into 'B's. The would needs types,and schools have an important duty to try to fit a child's personality to his possible future employment. It is top management.
1.Acoording to the author,waht factors contribute to the building of personality?
a.inheritance
b.inheritance,competition and environment
cpetition
d.environment
2.Which of the following statements is not ture according to the author of the passage?
a.Schools usually adopt severe competitive policies.
b.Students are often divided by competition results.
c.School is place where children cultivate their characteristics.
d.The stronger desire for winning,the better.
3.The phrase "soak up" is closest in meaning to ____.
a.pull up
b.take up
c.take in
d.pull in
4.What attitude does the author hold toward examinations in schools?
a.positive
b.negative
c.doubtful
d.neutral
5.what suggestion does the author make concerning the management of schools?
a.All students be made into competitive A types.
b.A child's personality be considered in regard to his possible future job.
c.All students be changed into B characteristics.
d.Schools abolish all forms of examinations.
答案：bdccb
【2】Asked to name their favorite city, many Amerians would select San Francisco began as a small Spanish outpost located on a magnificent bay.The town was little more than a village serving ranchers when the United States took possession of it in 1846 during the war with Mexico.
San Francisco sprang into a city overnight because of the nearby discovery of gold in 1848.A great rush to California took place.Wagon trains plodded their dangerous way across 2000 miles of prairie and mountains,while hundreds of sailing vessels made the equally hazardous trip around the Horn.The vessels disgorged thousands of passengers -- then the crews deserted teir ship and hundreds of vessels were left to rot in the bay.Within two years,California had enough population to become a state and San Francisco was for many years the hub of that newly-arrived population.
The city's present popularity is due to an excellent climate, an easy style of living ,good food,and numerous tourist attractions. The city is famous for its cable cars which "clang and bang" up the steep hills,and for its excellent seafood stals along the wharf. Most visitors arriving from nations in the Pacific Basin spend several days getting to know the to
wn.
1.According to this article, who were the first Californians?
a.deserters from sailing ships
b.spanish ranchers
c.gold miners
d.tourists
2.san francisco's appeal includes all of the following factors____.
a.attractive lifestyle,good seafood,desirable weather
b.tourist attactions,extreme seasons,cable cars
c.wagon trains,gold mining,good climate
d.cable cars,pleasent climate,flat terrain
3.san francisco today is a thriving city because of ____.
a.heavy industry
b.governmental headquarters
c.goldmining
d.trade and tourism
4.In waht year did California become an American state?
a.1850
b.1852
c.1846
d.1848 
答案:bada
【3】When one looks back upon the fifteen hundred years that are the life span of the English language, he
should be able to notice a number of significant truths. The history of our language has always been a history of constant change—at times a slow, almost imperceptible change, at other times a violent collision between two languages. Our language has always been a living growing organism, it has never been static. Another significant truth that emerges from such a study is that language at all times has been the possession not of one class or
group but of many. 『At one extreme it has been the property of the common, ignorant folk, who have used it in the daily business of their living, much as they have used their animals or the kitchen pots and pans.』① At the other extreme it has been the treasure of those who have respected it as an instrument and a sign of civilization, and who have struggled by writing it down to give it some permanence, order, dignity, and if possible, a little beauty.   
  As we consider our changing language, we should note here two developments that are of special and immediate importance to us. One is that since the time of the Anglo-Saxons there has been an almost complete reversal of the different devices for showing the relationship of words in a sentence. Anglo-Saxon (old English) was a language of many inflections. Modern English has few inflections. We must now depend largely on word order and function words to convey the meanings that the older language did by means of changes in the forms of words. Function words, you should understand, are words such as prepositions, conjunctions, and a few others that are used primarily to show relationships among other words. A few inflections, however, have survived. And when some word inflect
ions come into conflict with word order, there may be trouble for the users of the language, as we shall see later when we turn our attention to such maters as WHO or WHOM and ME or I. The second fact we must consider is that as language itself changes, our attitudes toward language forms change also. 『The eighteenth century, for example, produced from various sources a tendency to fix the language into patterns not always set in and grew, until at the present time there is a strong tendency to restudy and re-evaluate language practices in terms of the ways in which people speak and write.』②   
1.In contrast to the earlier linguists, modern linguists tend to .   
A. attempt to continue the standardization of the language    　
B. evaluate language practices in terms of current speech rather than standards or proper patterns     
C. be more concerned about the improvement of the language than its analysis or history   
D. be more aware of the rules of the language usage   
2.Choose the appropriate meaning for the word “inflection” used in line 4 of paragraph 2.   
A. Changes in the forms of words.   
B. Changes in sentence structures.   
C. Changes in spelling rules.   
D. Words that have similar meanings.   
3.Which of the following statements is not mentioned in the passage? 
A. It is generally believed that the year 1500 can be set as the beginning of the modern English language.   
B. Some other languages had great influence on the English language at some stages of its development.   
C. The English language has been and still in a state of relatively constant change. 
D. Many classes or groups have contributed to the development of the English language.  　
4. The author of these paragraphs is probably a(an) . 
A. historian  B. philosopher  　C. anthropologist  D. linguist 
5.Which of the following can be best used as the title of the passage? 
A. The history of the English language.   
B. Our changing attitude towards the English language.     
C. Our changing language.  　
D. Some characteristics of modern English. 
 Vocabulary 
1.span n. 跨度，范围，期间    　        2.imperceptible adj. 觉察不到的，极细微的 
3.organism n. 生物体，有机体 　        4.possession n. 拥有，占有，领土 
5.ignorant adj. 无知的  　            6.folk n. 人们，民族  　
7.permanence n. 永久，持久  　 8.Anglo-Saxons n. 盎格鲁—撒克逊语（人），地道的英国人 
9.reversal n. 颠倒，反向，逆转  10.inflection n. 词尾变化 
11.preposition n. 前置词，介词    12.conjunction n. 联合，关联，连接词  　
13.in terms of 根据，按照，用……的话，在……方面 
长难句解析  　
①【解析】“who”types是什么意思引导非限制性定语从句，修饰“the common, ignorant folk”。“much as”引导状语从句。“kitchen pots and pans”意为“锅碗瓢盆”。
　【译文】一方面它是那些普通人甚至无知民众的财产，他们每天都像使唤他们的牲畜和锅碗瓢盆一样用着语言。 
②【解析】 此句为一个复合倒装句。“until”引导一个并列句，前一句的主语是“a tendency”，“to fix the language into patterns not always set in and grew”作“tendency”的定语，第二句的主语也是“a tendency”，“to”后面的句子作“tendency”的定语，“in which”引导的定语从句修饰“ways”。
  【译文】例如在18世纪一种产生于各种来源的趋势把语言固定在一个不常使用和不利于语言发展的模式中，而到了当今，主流是要反复研究、评价人们说话、写作中的语言实践。 

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