专业英语四级(阅读)模拟试卷205(题后含答案及解析)

专业英语四级（阅读）模拟试卷205 (题后含答案及解析)

题型有： 5. READING COMPREHENSION

PART V READING COMPREHENSION

SECTION AIn this section there are several passages followed by ten multiple-choice questions. For each question, there are four suggested answers marked [A], [B], [C] and [D]. Choose the one that you think is the best answer.

(1) In walks these three girls in nothing but bathing suits. I’m in the third check-out slot, with my back to the door, so I don’t see them until they’re over by the bread. The one that caught my eye first was the one in the plaid green two-piece. She was a chunky kid, with a good tan and a sweet broad soft-looking can with those two crescents of white just under it, where the sun never seems to hit, at the top of the backs of her legs. I stood there with my hand on a box of HiHo crackers trying to remember if I rang it up or not. I ring it up again and the customer starts giving me hell. She’s one of these cash-register-watchers, a witch about fifty with rouge on her cheekbones and no eyebrows, and I know it made her day to trip me up. She’d been watching cash registers forty years and probably never seen a mistake before. (2) By the time I got her feathers smoothed and her goodies into a bag—she gives me a little snort in passing, if she’d been born at the right time they would have burned her over in Salem—by the time I get her on her way the girls had circled around the bread and were coming back, without a pushcart, back my way along the counters, in the aisle between the check-outs and the Special bins. They didn’t even have shoes on. There was this chunky one, with the two-piece—it was bright green and the seams on the bra were still sharp and her belly was still pretty pale so I guessed she just got it (the suit) —there was this one, with one of those chubby berry-faces, the lips all bunched together under her nose, this one, and a tall one, with black hair that hadn’t quite frizzed right, and one of these sunburns right across under the eyes, and a chin that was too long—you know, the kind of girl other girls think is very “striking” and “attractive” but never quite makes it, as they very well know, which is why they like her so much—and then the third one, that wasn’t quite so tall. She was the queen. She kind of led them, the other two peeking around and making their shoulders round. She didn’t look around, not this queen, she just walked straight on slowly, on these long white prima donna legs. She came down a little hard on her heels, as if she didn’t walk in her bare feet that much, putting down her heels and then letting the weight move along to her toes as if she was testing the floor with every step, putting a little deliberate extra action into it. You never know for sure how girls’ minds work (do you really think it’s a mind in there or just a little buzz like a bee in a glass jar? ) but you got the idea she had talked the other two into coming in here with her, and now she was showing them how to do it, walk slow and hold yourself straight. (3) She had on a kind of dirty-pink—beige maybe, I don’t know—bathing suit with a little nubble

all over it and, what got me, the straps were down. They were off her shoulders looped loose around the cool tops of her arms, and I guess as a result the suit had slipped a little on her, so all around the top of the cloth there was this shining rim. If it hadn’t been there you wouldn’t have known there could have been anything whiter than those shoulders. With the straps pushed off, there was nothing between the top of the suit and the top of her head except just her, this clean bare plane of the top of her chest down from the shoulder bones like a dented sheet of metal tilted in the light. I mean, it was more than pretty. (4) She had sort of oaky hair that the sun and salt had bleached, done up in a bun that was unraveling, and a kind of prim face. Walking into the A&P with your straps down, I suppose it’s the only kind of face you can have. She held her head so high her neck, coming up out of those white shoulders, looked kind of stretched, but I didn’t mind. The longer her neck was, the more of her there was.

1． It can be inferred from Para.1 that “I” probably is ______. A．a cash register

B．a government official C．a professional athlete D．a college student

正确答案：A

解析：原文第一段提及当“我”把已经扫码结账的饼干又扫码一次时，那位50岁左右的妇人责难了“我”，“我”认为她就是那种盯住收银员不放的人，可知“我”就是收银员，故A项“收银员”为答案。因此排除B项、C项、D项。

2． The phrase “rang it up” in Para.1 probably means ______. A．checked up the box of crackers B．checked off the box of crackers C．checked in the box of crackers D．checked out the box of crackers

正确答案：D

解析：原文第一段第五句和第六句提到作者将饼干rang it up两次，受到了那位50岁左右的妇人的责难，那位妇人看起来就是那种紧盯收银员不放的人，可以推测，作者作为收银员将饼干结账两次，才受到责难的，因此D项“将HiHo饼干结账”为答案。check up意为“检查”，check off意为“核对”，check in意为“登记”，都不符合题意，因此排除其他各项。

3． It can be inferred from “You never know for sure how girls’ minds work (do you really think it’s a mind in there or just a little buzz like a bee in a glass jar?)” (Para.2) that “I” am ______.

A．ignorant B．humble

C．arrogant D．sensitive

正确答案：C

解析：原文第二段最后一句提及“谁也说不清女人的头脑是怎么活动的（你真认为那是头脑吗？还是只是一点儿嗡嗡的响声，像被关在玻璃罐里的一只蜜蜂呢？）......”，可见，作者的态度是傲慢的，故C项“傲慢自大的”为答案。因此排除A项、B项、D项。

(1) Whoever wishes to collect from the mouth of the people should hurry; folk songs are disappearing one after another. Thus wrote Ludolf Parisius, a German song collector, nearly two centuries ago. Others have since said the same, for just as spoken languages can die, so too can musical ones. (2) A century ago song-collection was an important part of the study of musical languages. There were archives of “field recordings” in Berlin, London and Washington DC, which could express deep social truth; they were the heartbeat of humanity. They served other purposes, too. Like many of their contemporaries, Zoltan Kodaly and Bela Bartok, two Hungarians who visited Magyar villages in the early 1900s, used the folk music they hoovered up to enrich their own compositions. (3) Meanwhile, the nascent record companies were also getting in on the act. But the British Gramophone Company and its German and American rivals had little interest in musicology. The songs and dances they recorded in Central and South-East Asia were for sale back to the people of those regions, who would, it was hoped, buy the expensive equipment needed to play them. It is a sweet historical irony that their shellac discs are now musicological treasures: some antique Balinese pieces are known solely because in the early 1930s a Canadian composer bought some of those records in a shop in Bali. The warehouse manager, angry that his wares were not selling, smashed the rest in a rage. (4) It was only in 1933, when John Lomax, an American folklorist, began making his marathon collection of recordings from the American South for the Library of Congress, that the significance of field recordings became generally realised. By the mid-1900s the world was being scoured by musicologists seeking to document and preserve, with ethnographic labels giving them altruistic support: Folkways in America, Topic in Britain and Ocora, set up by the French government initially to record the music of the French West African colonies as they moved towards independence. It was a measure of the prestige attached to field-recordings that, in 1977, one of the Nonesuch label’s recordings of traditional Balinese gamelan music was sent into outer space as part of the Voyager Golden Record. (5) The world music boom of the 1990s was galvanised by a best-selling Cuban album, “Buena Vista Social Club”. Who could not be fired by the spectacle of some very old men and women (and their label) striking gold with forgotten music of irresistible charm? Record companies rushed to join the bonanza, but it lasted only a few years. The growth of digital media and the decline in the market for specialist CDs (and record shops’ increasing reluctance to stock them) turned boom into bust. This slump hit the ethnographic companies hard. Some closed down, and others abandoned CDs

in favour of digital distribution. The long-awaited release of Dust-to-Digital’s box of Moroccan field recordings, made in the 1950s by Paul Bowles, author of “The Sheltering Sky”, highlights another marketing ploy: with Bowles’s notes handsomely presented in a leather-bound book, the box is an art-object in itself. But Topic now survives on its backlist, and is no longer able to finance new field recordings; Ocora still bravely continues to produce them, though its director Serge Noel-Ranaivo admits the label’s future is “not assured”. (6) Smithsonian Folkways is in fine fettle, in large part because of its unparalleled resources. The not-for-profit label of the American museum follows the policy of Moses Asch, whose company, Folkways, it acquired in 1987: every release should be kept available to the public, whether profitable or not. Smithsonian’s distribution is increasingly digital and it is expanding its collection by acquiring others, including 127 unreleased albums of traditional music that were made by UNESCO in over 70 countries. It still releases new field recordings, but its splendid ten-CD survey of the music of Central Asia was only possible thanks to a subsidy from the Aga Khan Trust for Culture. A projected African series will not happen without similar help. (7) Professor Theodore Levin, producer of that Central Asian series, is a rare optimist. “Ethnographic recordings have never been easier to make and disseminate,” he says. “Anyone with a Zoom recorder and a laptop can make digital field recordings and put them online. “ He also points to the proliferation of cross-cultural fusions now being recorded. (8) But there are more reasons to be pessimistic. YouTube recordings are no substitute for the scrupulously curated products of Smithsonian and Ocora, and although some inspired fusions are being created in Central Asia, most come and go without a trace. Traditional music typically evolves slowly, and in a stable environment. If its ecosystem is destroyed, it can wither and die. New musical forms, rap included, continue emerging. But, as sound archives now recognise, local music is fading away. Parisius, the German collector of early song, was spot-on.

4． It can be inferred from Para.1 that ______.

A．some spoken languages are in danger of disappearing B．Ludolf Parisius knew German folk songs the best C．folk songs can die out like some spoken languages

D．German folk songs began to disappear two centuries ago

正确答案：C

解析：原文第一段最后一句提到正如一些语言会消失一样，音乐也会失传，故C项为正确答案。第一段提到了语言会消失，但并没有表示一些语言正在面临消失，因此排除A项；第一段只是提及卢多尔夫·帕里西奥是一位德国的民乐收集者，不能推理得出他是最了解民乐之人，因此排除B项；D项“德国的民乐于两个世纪前就开始消失了”在第一段并没有提及，因此排除。

5． Why have some antique Balinese pieces become sole? A．Because people just don’t like those Balinese pieces.

B．Because the rest of them were destroyed back in the 1930s. C．Because they were all sold out to overseas customers. D．Because they need expensive equipment to be played.

正确答案：B 解析：由原文第三段最后一句可知，warehouse manager损毁了其余的antique Balinese pieces，使得之前由一位加拿大作曲家购买的录音成品成了当世孤品，因此选B项。

6． Which of the following can best summarize Para.4? A．Efforts had been made to save folk music. B．Some folk music were sent into outer space. C．Folk music of French West African colonies. D．John Lomax and his auto-biography.

正确答案：A

解析：原文第四段提及英国、美国、法国的唱片公司、音乐人等致力于收集民乐并制作录音，故A项“为保留民乐而做出的努力”为答案。B项、C项、D项都是段落中提及的个别事实，不能概括全段内容，因此排除。

7． Why did record companies start to abandon CDs? A．Because they are in favour of specialist albums. B．Because they are in favour of the best-selling album. C．Because they are in favour of Bowles’s notes. D．Because they are in favour of digital distribution.

正确答案：D

解析：原文第五段提到由于数码技术的出现，音乐发行方式发生变化，磁带和光碟被代替，因此D项为答案。A项、B项、C项都不符合题意，因此排除。

(1) The cement industry is one of the world’s most polluting: it accounts for 5% of man-made carbon-dioxide emissions each year. Making this most useful of glues requires vast quantities of energy and water. Calcium carbonate (generally in the form of limestone), silica, iron oxide and alumina are partially melted by heating them to 1450°C in a special kiln. The result, clinker, is mixed with gypsum and ground to make cement, a basic ingredient of concrete. Breaking down the limestone produces about half of the emissions; almost all the rest come from the burning of fossil fuels to heat the kiln. (2) About 4. 3 billion tonnes of cement were consumed in 2014. The industry brings in about $250 billion a year. Cement firms have not attracted the ire of environmental campaigners in the way that oil firms have. But that could change if they shirk efforts to cut emissions in a manner consistent with keeping the world less than 2°C warmer than it was in pre-industrial times (as agreed at U.N. climate talks last year). For now, few cement companies are setting environmental targets that are tough enough. (3) The main reason is a lack so far of strong enough financial

imperatives, but that is changing. And as is the case for many industries, going green could save firms money. Around a third of cement’s production costs come from energy bills. Retrofitting old kilns to improve thermal efficiency can lower the industry’s energy needs by two-fifths, according to the Carbon Disclosure Project, a research body. Another way to go green is to reduce the amount of clinker in cement by using waste substitutes such as fly ash from coal plants or slag from steel blast furnaces, but these are becoming scarcer and more expensive. (4) Capturing carbon and then sequestering it, often underground, is another method for cutting emissions. But the bother and expense of such schemes makes them a rarity. There are variations that can cut costs in rich countries. Rather than stuffing the CO2 spewed out of cement and other plants underground, Blue Planet, a carbon-capture company based in California, creates building materials from it in the form of aggregates. These can be recycled into making new concrete, avoiding the need for more limestone. (5) As almost all big cement firms also produce building materials such as concrete and asphalt, capturing emissions to create such products is worthwhile. It could also reduce open-pit mining for limestone, which is especially destructive. Blue Planet is providing materials for San Francisco’s new airport and has other projects across North America. Concrete is the “900-pound gorilla in the carbon footprint of any building”, says its CEO, Brent Constanz. (6) The group of cement bosses that environmentalists need to win round is small. Just six firms— LafargeHolcim, Anhui Conch, CNBM, Cemex, Heidelberg and Italcementi—dominate the global market. The last two are set to merge this year, leaving just five behemoths. The nature of the industry helps explain its propensity for consolidation. The great weight of cement and its ingredients makes the materials tough to transport, creating localised markets. Companies prefer to serve distant markets by buying firms that are already there. Deals have multiplied as firms from the rich world have splurged on those in developing countries, and, occasionally, vice versa. (7) Further consolidation, bringing economies of scale, ought to help the industry to clean up. One industrial country in Asia is to introduce a national carbon-trading scheme in 2017, and the EU’s own scheme will reduce its emissions cap by 2.2% every year after 2020. The industry is becoming more vulnerable to emissions-curbing legislation, says Phil Roseberg of Sanford C. Bernstein, a research firm. Some cement giants are at last taking action. LafargeHolcim already uses an internal carbon price of $32 per tonne; Heidelberg works with one of $23. In a changing regulatory and political environment, investors may start to see nasty cracks in the business model of any firm still stuck in the industry’s old, polluting ways.

8． Which of the following draw(s) more fury than the others to environmental campaigners?

A．The oil firms.

B．The cement companies. C．The clinker production. D．The burning of fossil fuels.

正确答案：A

解析：原文第二段第三句提到“Cement firms have not attracted the ire of environmental campaigners in the way that on firms have.”，水泥制造业还未像石油公司那样使环境爱护者如此愤慨，因此A项为正确答案。

9． The following are all possible ways” to go green” EXCEPT ______. A．cutting energy bills by improving thermal efficiency

B．using substitutes to reduce the amount of clinker in cement C．capturing carbon and then sequestering it underground

D．investing on environmental research bodies all over the world

正确答案：D 解析：原文第三段提及采取措施减少能源耗费的成本和运用废物来代替生产水泥需要的clinker，故排除A项和B项；第四段首句提到将碳隔离处理，因此排除C项；文章第三段虽然提及了research body，但并没有提到对这种机构的投资是促进环保的手段，故D项为正确答案。

10． What does Brent Constanz mean by saying concrete is the “900-pound gorilla in the carbon footprint of any building”?

A．Almost all big cement firms produce concrete.

B．Capturing emissions to create concrete is worthwhile. C．Concrete is polluting but an essential part of construction. D．Concrete is being provided for San Francisco’s new airport.

正确答案：C

解析：原文第五段提及limestone作为生产水泥的原料之一，其开采对环境有毁灭性的影响，由此可知，建筑行业必需的水泥是具有污染性的，故C项为答案。A项、B项和D项都是在第五段提及的具体内容，故排除。

SECTION BIn this section there are five short answer questions based on the passages in Section A. Answer the questions with No more than TEN words in the space provided.

Passage One

11． Why didn’t “I” see the three girls in bathing suits at first?

正确答案：Because“I”was standing with my back to the door. 解析：原文第一段提到，“我”当时在第三个收银台，背对着门口，直到她们走近时“我”才注意到她们。故答案为“Because‘I’was standing with my back to the door.”。

12． In Para.2, what do “I” think about the third girl dubbed as “queen”?

正确答案：She has a natural grace and confidence.

解析：原文第二段中作者用了很大篇幅描述第三个女孩，并把她命名为queen，从词义和作者的描述可见，作者认为第三个女孩很端庄，从她走路的姿势也可以看出这个女孩优雅、自信。故答案为“She has a natural grace and confidence.”

Passage Two

13． How does Smithsonian Folkways expand its folk music collections?

正确答案：By acquiring resources from world organizations． 解析：原文第六段提到，从UNESCO获得音源，从Aga Khan Trust for Culture获得资金，两者都是世界性组织。故答案为“By acquiring resources from world organizations.”。

Passage Three

14． What is the word used to refer to the residue of calcium carbonate, silica, iron oxide and alumina that partially melted in a special kiln?

正确答案：Clinker

解析：原文第一段第三句提到将几种原料进行高温熔合，下一句为：“The result，clinker，is mixed with gypsum and ground to make cement, a basic ingredient of concrete.”，即熔合后得到的物质为clinker，故答案为“Clinker.”。

15． How do concrete companies manage to serve distant markets?

正确答案：By buying local concrete firms. 解析：原文第六段倒数第二句提到：“Companies prefer to serve distant markets by buying firms that are already there.”，企业倾向于通过收购海外的当地公司的方式来服务海外市场，故答案为“By buying local concrete firms.”。