英語四級考試閱讀精選題(一)

　　At first sight, the house on Sullivan’s Island looks anything but hurricane-proof. Its redwoodshell makes it resemble “a large party lantern (燈籠)” at night, according to one observer. Butlooks can be deceiving. The house’s wooden frame is reinforced with long steel rods to give itextra strength.

　　To further protect the house from hurricane damage, Huff raised it 2.7 meters off the groundon timber pilings—long, slender columns of wood anchored deep in the sand. Pilings mightappear insecure, but they arestrong enough to support the weight of the house. They alsoelevate the house above storm surges. The pilings allow the surges to run under the houseinstead of running into it. “These swells of water come ashore at tremendous speeds and causemost of the damage done to beach-front buildings,” said Huff.

　　Huff designed the timber pilings to be partially concealed by the house’s ground-to-roofshell. “ The shell masks the pilings so that the house doesn’t look like it’s standing with itspant legs pulled up,” said Huff. In the event of a storm surge, the shell should break apart andlet the waves rush under the house, the architect explained.

　　練習題：

　　Choose correct answers to the question:

　　1. After the tragedy caused by Hurricane Hugo, new houses built along SouthCarolina’s shore line are required ________.

　　A. to be easily reinforced

　　B. to look smarter in design

　　C. to meet stricter building standards

　　D. to be designed in the shape of cubes

　　2. The award-winning beach house is quite strong because ________.

　　A. it is strengthened by steel rods

　　B. it is made of redwood

　　C. it is in the shape of a shell

　　D. it is built with timber and concrete

　　3. Huff raised the house 2.7 meters off the ground on timber pilings in order to________.

　　A. withstand peak winds of about 200 km/hr

　　B. anchor stronger pilings deep in the sand

　　C. break huge sea waves into smaller ones

　　D. prevent water from rushing into the house

　　4. The main function of the shell is ________.

　　A. to strengthen the pilings of the house

　　B. to give the house a better appearance

　　C. to protect the wooden frame of the house

　　D. to slow down the speed of the swelling water

　　5. It can be inferred from the passage that the shell should be ________.

　　A. fancy-looking

　　B. waterproof

　　C. easily breakable

　　D. extremely strong

　　英語四級考試閱讀精選題答案

　　1.[C] 根據題目中的專有名詞Hugo查找到文中第3段第2句。句中的In Hugo’s wake相當于題目中的after Hugo,由該句是的stricter，better-enforced codes可知C正確。

　　2.[A] 第4段開始具體介紹the house,根據該段最后一句可知，這幢房子的木制結構用長鋼筋加固了，因而特別結實,故選A。

　　3.[D] 根據題干的數字可迅速定位至第5段首，第2、3句闡述這樣做的目的是“將房屋抬髙到暴風雨巨浪之上,及讓巨浪能在屋下流過。”其中running into it與D中的rushing into the house同義,故D正確。

　　4.[B] 最后一段第2句提出，外殼可以把木樁遮蓋住,所以它主要起“粉飾”作用。

　　5.[C] 根據最后一句可知，如果暴風雨巨浪涌來，外殼就會裂開，讓巨浪在房屋下面奔涌而過，因此外殼應該是“易碎的”。

　　英語四級考試閱讀精選題(二)

　　New technology links the world as never before. Our planet has shrunk. It’s now a “globalvillage” where countries are only seconds away by fax or phone or satellite link. And, of course,our ability to benefit from this high-tech communications equipment is greatly enhanced byforeign language skills.

　　Deeply involved with this new technology is a breed of modern business people who have agrowing respect for the economic value of doing business abroad. In modern markets, successoverseas often helps support domestic business efforts.

　　Overseas assignments are becoming increasingly important to advancement within executiveranks. The executive stationed in another country no longer need fear being “out of sight andout of mind.” He or she canbe sure that the overseas effort is central to the company’s plan forsuccess, and that promotions often follow or accompany an assignment abroad. If anemployee can succeed in a difficult assignment overseas, superiors will have greaterconfidence in his or her ability to cope back in the United States where cross-culturalconsiderations and foreign language issues are becoming more and more prevalent (普遍的).

　　Thanks to a variety of relatively inexpensive communications devices with businessapplications, even small businesses in the United States are able to get into internationalmarkets.

　　English is still the international language of business. But there is an ever-growing need forpeople who can speak another language. A second language isn’t generally required to get a jobin business, but having language skills gives a candidate the edge when other qualificationsappear to be equal.

　　The employee posted abroad who speaks the country’s principal language has an opportunityto fast-forwardcertain negotiations, and cam have the cultural insight to know when it is betterto move more slowly. Theemployee at the home office who can communicate well with foreignclients over the telephone or by fax machine is an obvious asset to the firm.

　　練習題：

　　Choose correct answers to the question:

　　1. What is the author’s attitude toward high-tech communications equipment?

　　A. Critical.

　　B. Prejudiced.

　　C. Indifferent.

　　D. Positive.

　　2. With the increased use of high-tech communications equipment, businesspeople________.

　　A. have to get familiar with modern technology

　　B. are gaining more economic benefits from domestic operations

　　C. are attaching more importance to their overseas business

　　D. are eager to work overseas

　　3. In this passage,“out of sight and out of mind” (Lines 2-3, Para. 3) probably means________.

　　A. being unable to think properly for lack of insight

　　B. being totally out of touch with business at home

　　C. missing opportunities for promotion when abroad

　　D. leaving all care and worry behind

　　4. According to the passage, what is an important consideration of internationalcorporationsin employingpeople today?

　　A. Connections with businesses overseas.

　　B. Ability to speak the client’s language.

　　C. Technical know-how.

　　D. Business experience.

　　5. The advantage of employees having foreign language skills is that they can________.

　　A. better control the whole negotiation process

　　B. easily find new approaches to meet market needs

　　C. fast-forward their proposals to headquarters

　　D. easily make friends with businesspeople abroad

　　英語四級考試閱讀精選題答案

　　1.[D] 事實辨認題。題目詢問的是作者對于髙科技通訊設備的態度是什么。根據文章的第1段特別是最后一句中的benefit,可推斷作者是持肯定態度的，即答案為D。

　　2.[C] 事實辨認題。根據第2段第1句中的who have a growing respect... abroad可看出，隨著髙科技通訊設備的廣泛使用，商人們越來越重視海外商務的經濟價值,C與之一致。"

　　3.[C] 語義推斷題。根據第3段第2、3句中說的“他確信國外的事務對公司的成功計劃至關重要，派往國外時或之 后常能得到升遷。”可知，在海外的管理人員不再會擔心被遺忘而錯過升職機會，因此“眼不見，心不念”即為C“在國外時錯過國內升職機會”。

　　4.[B] 事實辨認題。題目詢問的是根據短文，當今在雇傭雇員時，國際化的公司應該著重考慮什么。這是第5段的話題，其中核心詞是language,只有B“會說顧客的語言”符合。

　　5.[A] 事實辨認題。題目詢問的是具有外語能力的雇員的優勢究竟是什么。根據最后一段第1句可知，“派往國外的雇員若能講該國的主要語言，就有機會加快談判進程,而且能知道什么時候最好放慢節拍。” A“具有外語 能力的雇員的優勢就是他們可以)更好地控制整個談判的過程”與之一致，故為答案。

英語四級考試閱讀精選題及答案講解相關