【篇一】2021年上半年英語四級考試閱讀理解
The Norwegian Government is doing its best to keepthe oil industry under control. A new law limitsexploration to an area south of the southern end ofthe long coastline; production limits have been laiddown (though these have already been raised); andoil companies have not been allowed to employmore than a limited number of foreign workers. Butthe oil industry has a way of getting over suchproblems, and few people believe that theGovernment will be able to hold things back for long. As on Norwegian politician said last week: “We willsoon be changed beyond all recognition.”
Ever since the war, the Government has been carrying out a programme of development inthe area north of the Arctic Circle. During the past few years this programme has had a greatdeal of success: Tromso has been built up into a local capital with a university, a large hospitaland a healthy industry. But the oil industry has already started to draw people south, andwithin a few years the whole northern policy could be in ruins.
The effects of the oil industry would not be limited to the north, however. With nearly 100 percent employment, everyone can see a situation developing in which the service industriesand the tourist industry will lose more of their workers to the oil industry. Some smallerindustries might even disappear altogether when it becomes cheaper to buy goods from abroad.
The real argument over oil is its threat to the Norwegian way of life. Farmers andfishermen do not make up most of the population, but they are an important part of it, because Norwegians see in them many of the qualities that they regard with pride asessentially Norwegian. And it is the farmers and the fishermen who are most critical of the oilindustry because of the damage that it might cause to the countryside and to the sea.
1. The Norwegian Government would prefer the oil industry to
[A] provide more jobs for foreign workers.
[B] slow down the rate of its development.
[C] sell the oil it is producing abroad.
[D] develop more quickly than at present.
2. The Norwegian Government has tried to
[A] encourage the oil companies to discover new oil sources.
[B] prevent oil companies employing people from northern Norway.
[C] help the oil companies solve many of their problems.
[D] keep the oil industry to something near its present size.
3. According to the passage, the oil industry might lead northern Norway to
[A] the development of industry.
[B] a growth in population.
[C] the failure of the development programme.
[D] the development of new towns.
4. In the south, one effect to the development of the oil industry might be
[A] a large reduction on unemployment.
[B] a growth in the tourist industry.
[C] a reduction in the number of existing industries.
[D] the development of a number of service industries.
5. Norwegian farmers and fishermen have an important influence because
[A] they form such a large part of Norwegian ideal.
[B] their lives and values represent the Norwegian ideal.
[C] their work is so useful to the rest of Norwegian society.
[D] they regard oil as a threat to the Norwegian way of life.
Vocabulary
1. Norwegian 挪威的;挪威人
2. coastline 海岸線
3. recognition 承認(rèn);認(rèn)識;贊賞
4. countryside 鄉(xiāng)下;鄉(xiāng)民
難句譯注
1. A new law limits exploration to an area southof the southern end of the long coastline; production limits have been laid down (though these have already been raised); and oilcompanies have not been allowed to employ more than a limited number of foreign workers.
【結(jié)構(gòu)簡析】用兩個分號連接三句句子。
【參考譯文】一條新的法律限制人們僅在長長的海岸線南端以南地區(qū)進(jìn)行勘探考察;規(guī)定了石油生產(chǎn)限量(雖然已提高);石油公司雇傭外國工人不許超出限定額。
2. With nearly 100 percent employment, everyone can see a situation developing in whichthe service industries and the tourist industry will lose more of their workers to the oil industry.
【參考譯文】由于將近百分之一百就業(yè)率，每個人都能看出形式發(fā)展中服務(wù)行業(yè)和旅游 行業(yè)的大部分工人會跑到石油工業(yè)方面去。
3. Farmers and fishermen do not make up most of the population, but they are animportant part of it, because Norwegians see in them many of the qualities that they regardwith pride as essentially Norwegian.
【結(jié)構(gòu)簡析】復(fù)合句。在because狀語從句中that是定語從句修飾qualities。
【參考譯文】雖然農(nóng)民和漁民并不占人口的絕大多數(shù)，可是他們都是人口的重要組成不分，因為挪威人在他們身上看到許多他們自豪地認(rèn)為是挪威人的基本品質(zhì)。
寫作方法與文章大意
文章論述“挪威政府意欲控制石油工業(yè)”。采用對比寫法。先提出政府新政策的種種限制。但石油工業(yè)有辦法對付。人們都認(rèn)為限制難以長久。其次講述，從戰(zhàn)時起，挪威政府一直執(zhí)行開發(fā)北極圈北部地區(qū)的發(fā)展規(guī)劃，也取得成功。但石油工業(yè)已經(jīng)開始向南方進(jìn)軍，北方政策可能會失敗。石油工業(yè)之影響超出北方，有些企業(yè)縮小，減少。最后一段是講爭論的焦點：石油對挪威生活方式構(gòu)成了威脅，具體表現(xiàn)在對挪威理想的代表――漁民和農(nóng)民的威脅。
答案詳解
1. B 減慢發(fā)展速率。文章開始就闡明挪威政府正竭盡全力把石油工業(yè)控制起來，制定新法律來限制勘探開采，限制產(chǎn)量，限制雇傭外國工人人數(shù)。A. 為外國工人提供更多的工作。C.賣掉正在國外生產(chǎn)的石油。D.比現(xiàn)在發(fā)展更快。
2. D 使石油工業(yè)保持在接近現(xiàn)在的規(guī)模。A. 鼓勵石油公司去發(fā)現(xiàn)新石油資源。B.制止石油公司雇傭來自挪威北方的人。C.幫助石油公司解決許多問題。
3. C 發(fā)展規(guī)劃的失敗。這在第二段最后一句：“可是石油工業(yè)已經(jīng)開始把人們吸引到南方去，所以不出幾年，整個北方政策可能成泡影�！盇.工業(yè)發(fā)展。B.人口增長。D.新城市的發(fā)展。文內(nèi)沒有涉及。
4. C 現(xiàn)存工業(yè)數(shù)的減少。第三段開始“可是石油工業(yè)的影響并不僅僅限于北方。近百分之一百的就業(yè)率，使每個人都見到發(fā)展的勢頭，服務(wù)業(yè)和旅游業(yè)的好多工人轉(zhuǎn)向石油工業(yè)。某些較小的工業(yè)，在從國外購進(jìn)貨物更便宜的情況下，很可能會全部消失�！边@說明工業(yè)數(shù)減少。A.大大減少失業(yè)。B.旅游 行業(yè)增長。D.許多服務(wù)公司發(fā)展。文內(nèi)沒有提。
5. B 他們的生活和價值代表了挪威人的理想。A.他們組成了那么大一部分挪威理想。C.他們的工作對挪威社會的其他方面非常有用。D.他們認(rèn)為石油是對挪威生活方式的威脅。最后一段第一句話：“對石油真正的爭論點是它對挪威生活方式的一種威脅。”并不是他們認(rèn)為威脅。
【篇二】2021年上半年英語四級考試閱讀理解
Yes, but what did we use to do before there wastelevision? How often we hear statements like this! Television hasn't been with us all that long, but weare already beginning to forget what the world was like without it. Before we admitted the one-eyed monster into our homes, we never fond it difficult to occupy our spare time. We used toenjoy civilized pleasures. For instance, we used to have hobbies, we used to entertain ourfriends and be entertained by them, we used to go outside for our amusements to theatres, cinemas, restaurants and sporting events. We even used to read books and listen to music andbroadcast talks occasionally. All that belongs to the past. Now all our free time is regulatedby the goggle box. We rush home or gulp down our meals to be in time for this or thatprogramme. We have even given up sitting at table and having a leisurely evening meal, exchanging the news of the day. A sandwich and a glass of beer will do anything, providing itdoesn't interfere with the programme. The monster demands and obtains absolute silenceand attention. If any member of the family dares to open his mouth during a programme, he isquickly silenced.
Whole generations are growing up addicted to the telly. Food is left uneaten, homeworkundone and sleep is lost. The telly is a universal pacifier. It is now standard practice formother to keep the children quiet by putting them in the living-room and turning on the set. Itdoesn't matter that the children will watch rubbishy commercials or spectacles of sadism andviolence so long as they are quiet.
There is a limit to the amount of creative talent available in the world. Every day, television consumes vast quantities of creative work. That is why most of the programmes areso bad: it is impossible to keep pace with the demand and maintain high standards as well. When millions watch the same programmes, the whole world becomes a village, and society isreduced to the conditions which obtain in preliterate communities. We become utterlydependent on the two most primitive media of communication: pictures and the spokenword.
Television encourages passive enjoyment. We become content with second-handexperiences. It is so easy to sit in our armchairs watching others working. Little by little, television cuts us off from the real world. We get so lazy, we choose to spend a fine day insemi-darkness, glued to our sets, rather than go out into the world itself. Television may be ssplendid medium of communication, but it prevents us from communicating with each other. We only become aware how totally irrelevant television is to real living when we spend aholiday by the sea or in the mountains, far away from civilization. In quiet, naturalsurroundings, we quickly discover how little we miss the hypnotic tyranny of King Telly.
1. What is the biggest harm of TV?
[A] It deprives people of communication with the real world.
[B] People become lazy.
[C] People become dependent on second-hand experience.
[D] TV consumes a large part of one's life.
2. In what way can people forget TV?
[A] Far away from civilization.
[B] To a mountain.
[C] By the sea.
[D] In quiet natural surroundings.
3. What does a mother usually do to keep her children quiet?
[A] Let them watch the set.
[B] Put them in the living room.
[C] Let them watch the rubbish.
[D] Let them alone.
4. What does the first sentence in the first paragraph mean?
[A] We found it difficult to occupy our spare time.
[B] We become addicted to TV.
[C] What we used to do is different from now.
[D] We used to enjoy civilized pleasures.
Vocabulary
1. goggle 轉(zhuǎn)動眼珠，瞪眼
goggle box (英俚)電視機(jī)
2. gulp 狼吞虎咽
3. telly 電視機(jī)
4. pacifier 平息者，撫慰者。這里指平靜人，使人不吱聲的東西。
5. rubbishy 垃圾的，無價值的
6. sadism 施*虐
7. glue 膠(水);粘牢
glue to the sets 和電視機(jī)粘在一起，指成了電視迷
8. hypnotic 催眠的
難句譯注
1. There is a limit to the amount of creative talent available in the world.
【參考譯文】
寫作方法與文章大意
這是一篇論說“電視有害”的文章。采用對比分析手法。先提出問題，對比過去和現(xiàn)在“過去在業(yè)余時間，我們享受文明的歡樂，有各種嗜好，招待朋友，訪友，外出娛樂，在家讀書聽音樂……現(xiàn)在一切受電視支配。匆忙趕回家，狼吞虎咽地吃完飯為的是準(zhǔn)時看某個電視節(jié)目。只要不干擾節(jié)目，吃什么都可以!一塊三明治，一杯啤酒就行�？磿r，誰都不許說話，完全沒有了過去的那種悠閑，坐在一起吃晚飯，相互交談白天的一切。”
然后列出電視種種惡果：整個幾代人成了電視迷，連孩子也不能幸免，電視消耗了大量的創(chuàng)造性工作，人們成為以來電視生存的人，被動娛樂，制止我們和真實世界交流。
最后結(jié)論：到大自然去，忘掉電視。
答案詳解
1. A 它剝奪了人們和真實世界的聯(lián)系。文章多次提到現(xiàn)在我們不能探親訪友，一家人互不交流，而一旦離開電視就進(jìn)入了真是世界。B. 人變懶。C. 人們變得依賴二手經(jīng)驗。D. 電視浪費(fèi)了人生的大量時間。這三項只是危害重具體一個組成部分。
2. D 在安寧的大自然的懷抱中。答案在最后一段最后一句“在安詳寧靜的大自然環(huán)境中，我們很快發(fā)現(xiàn)我們對催眠的電視暴君連想都不怎么想!”A. 遠(yuǎn)離文明。B.去山上。C.在海邊。
3. A 叫他們看電視。這在第二段第三句起“電視是一個萬能安靜器。母親為使孩子們安靜，就把他們放在起居室內(nèi)，打開電視看。這是現(xiàn)在最權(quán)威的一招。至于孩子們看的使垃圾般的商業(yè)廣告，還是施*虐或暴力片都無關(guān)緊要，只要他們安靜不鬧�！盉.把他們擱在起居室。C.讓他們看垃圾片。都是其中的具體一部分。D.讓他們呆著。沒有提到。
4. B 我們都成了電視迷。第一句“是的，可是沒有電視之前，我們常干些什么?”這說明人們已經(jīng)習(xí)慣于電視，以來電視，到了沒有電視怎么辦的境地。不知道沒有電視前的情況。第二段“整個幾代人越來越迷上了電視，飯不吃，家務(wù)不干，不睡覺�！笨梢哉f整篇文章都描寫了人們對電視迷戀，依賴。第一句話是引言。所以B對。A. 難以消遣。只是人們的一種感受。C.過去和現(xiàn)在不同。是一種對比，并沒有點出這句話的真正內(nèi)涵。D.享受文明歡樂。是過去所作的一個具體例子。
【篇三】2021年上半年英語四級考試閱讀理解
If you smoke and you still don't believe that there's a definite link between smoking andbronchial troubles, heart disease and lung cancer, then you are certainly deceiving yourself. Noone will accuse you of hypocrisy. Let us just say that you are suffering from a bad case ofwishful thinking. This needn't make you too uncomfortable because you are in goodcompany. Whenever the subject of smoking and health is raised, the governments of mostcountries hear no evil, see no evil and smell no evil. Admittedly, a few governments have takentimid measures. In Britain for instance, cigarette advertising has been banned on television. The conscience of the nation is appeased, while the population continues to puff its way tosmoky, cancerous death.
You don't have to look very far to find out why the official reactions to medical findingshave been so lukewarm. The answer is simply money. Tobacco is a wonderful commodity totax. It's almost like a tax on our daily bread. In tax revenue alone, the government of Britaincollects enough from smokers to pay for its entire educational facilities. So while the authoritiespoint out ever so discreetly that smoking may, conceivable, be harmful, it doesn't do to shouttoo loudly about it.
This is surely the most short-sighted policy you could imagine. While money is eagerlycollected in vast sums with one hand, it is paid out in increasingly vaster sums with the other. Enormous amounts are spent on cancer research and on efforts to cure people suffering fromthe disease. Countless valuable lives are lost. In the long run, there is no doubt thateverybody would be much better-off if smoking were banned altogether.
Of course, we are not ready for such a drastic action. But if the governments of the worldwere honestly concerned bout the welfare of their peoples, you’d think they'd conductaggressive anti-smoking campaigns. Far from it! The tobacco industry is allowed to spendstaggering sums on advertising. Its advertising is as insidious as it is dishonest. We are nevershown pictures of real smokers coughing up their lungs early in the morning. That would neverdo. The advertisement always depict virile, clean-shaven young men. They suggest it is manlyto smoke, even positively healthy! Smoking is associated with the great open-air life, withbeautiful girls, true love and togetherness. What utter nonsense!
For a start, governments could begin by banning all cigarette and tobacco advertising andshould then conduct anti-smoking advertising campaigns of their own. Smoking should bebanned in all public places like theatres, cinemas and restaurants. Great efforts should be madeto inform young people especially of the dire consequences of taking up the habit. A horrificwarning – say, a picture of a death’s head should be included in every packet of cigarettes thatis sold. As individuals, we are certainly weak, but if governments acted honestly andcourageously, they could protect us from ourselves.
1. Why do a few governments take timid measures toward smoking?
[A] because they are afraid of people.
[B] Because diseases cost a lot.
[C] Because they are afraid of the cutting down of their revenue.
[D] Because they are afraid of manufacturers.
2. The tone of this passage is
[A] critical.
[B] ironical.
[C] distaste.
[D] amusing.
3. What does the sentence "because you are in good company" mean?
[A] you are backed by the government.
[B] You are not alone.
[C] You have good colleagues.
[D] Governments are blind to evils of smoking too.
4. What is the best title of this passage?
[A] World Governments should conduct serious campaigns against smoking.
[B] World governments take timid measures against smoking.
[C] smoking is the most important source of income to many countries.
[D] tobacco industry spends a large sum of money on medical research.
Vocabulary
1. a wishful thinking 根據(jù)愿望的想法，不顧事實的想法
2. puff 噴
puff its way to 一路吞云吐霧走向(指抽煙抽到死)
3. lukewarm 冷淡/漠然
4. insidious 陰險的，狡猾的
5. virile 年富力強(qiáng)的
寫作方法與文章大意
這是一篇“要求政府禁煙”的論說文，采用因果對比手法。先以諷刺口吻指出政府對禁煙的態(tài)度――軟弱無力。然后點明軟弱的原因――大量稅收。再以抽煙大嚴(yán)重后果，機(jī)器所花去的錢說明得不償失。而煙草工業(yè)廣告泛濫，毒化人們。從而提出政府應(yīng)從禁止煙廣告作起。
答案詳解
1. C 因為他們害怕收入減少。答案見第二段�！澳悴挥每吹煤苓h(yuǎn)就能發(fā)現(xiàn)為什么官方對醫(yī)學(xué)成果的反應(yīng)如此冷淡，答案就是錢。煙草是征稅的最奇妙的商品，幾乎就像日用面包的稅收。光煙草稅收一項，英國政府就從抽煙人身上征到足以支付整個教育措施的費(fèi)用。所以在*那么謹(jǐn)慎地指出吸煙有害時，可以想象，喊叫得太響時不行的。”A.他們害怕人民。D.他們害怕廠商。文中沒有。B.疾病花費(fèi)很大和軟弱無力的禁煙措施有關(guān)。不是花費(fèi)大而采取弱政策。
2. B 諷刺語氣。特別表現(xiàn)在第一段、第四段。A.批評語氣，整篇文章都在批評，這不是什么語氣問題。這里時以諷刺的口吻加以批評政府軟弱的禁煙政策。C.厭惡。D.有趣。
3. D 政府對吸煙的惡果也是視而不見。A.政府支持。太明朗化。B.你不是單獨一人。和C.你有好同事，都是似是而非的答案。這可以上下文說明，第一段：“假如你吸煙，依然認(rèn)為吸煙和支氣管炎、心臟病、肺癌等毫無關(guān)系，那你是自欺欺人�？蓻]有人會說你虛偽。我們可以說你是患有一廂情愿病。這你無需太難受，因為你有好伙伴。每當(dāng)提出吸煙和健康有關(guān)的問題時，大多數(shù)國家的政府對其惡果視而不見、聽而不聞、嗅而不覺。”
4. A 世界各國政府應(yīng)該開展眼里的禁煙運(yùn)動。因為前面四段都是現(xiàn)象：⑴政策軟弱。如英國政府只在電視上禁止煙草廣告以高位人們的良知。另一方面人民繼續(xù)一路吞云吐霧走到癌癥死亡。⑵講煙草的稅收高，所以不嚴(yán)禁。⑶這項政策的后果是疾病花費(fèi)大于煙草稅收。⑷煙草廣告泛濫毒害人。解救的辦法就是禁煙。最后一段是結(jié)論，也是畫龍點睛的主題和標(biāo)題�！白鳛槠鸩�，政府可以從禁止煙草廣告開始，然后應(yīng)開展抵制吸煙的廣告運(yùn)動。一切公共場合，如戲院、電*、返點等應(yīng)禁止吸煙。應(yīng)竭盡全力告誡青年，尤其是告誡他們?nèi)旧蠍毫?xí)的嚴(yán)重后果。在零賣的每包煙盒上應(yīng)有一令人膽戰(zhàn)心驚的警告：例如，一幅骷髏頭畫像。作為個人，我們力量薄弱，可是如果政府真誠地鼓舞人心的行動起來，他們可以保護(hù)我們�！盉.世界各國政府采取禁煙政策軟弱無力。C.吸煙是許多國家重要收入。這兩項是不分具體內(nèi)容。D.煙草工廠在醫(yī)療研究上花了大筆費(fèi)用。
