2006年12月23日英语四级最新预测卷（一）

Passage Three
Questions 33 to 35 are based on the passage you have just heard.
33. A)  To find out how clever monkeys were.
B)  To test intelligence of different animals.
C)  To tell the difference between man and the monkeys.
D)  To find out how monkeys search food.
34. A)  To give the monkey a surprise.
B)  To see how the monkey ate from the box.
C)  To see how soon the monkey could find it.
D)  To find out how the monkey would open the box.
35. A)  By looking through the keyhole.
B)  By looking through the window.
C)  By taking pictures of the monkey.
D)  By hiding himself behind the box.
Section C
Directions:In this section,you will hear a passage three times.When the passage is read for the first time,you should listen carefully for its general idea.When the passage is read for the second time,you are required to fill in the blanks numbered from 36 to 43 with the exact words you have just heard.For blanks numbered from 44 to 46 you are required to fill in the missing information.For these blanks,you can either use the exact words you have just heard or write down the main points in you own words.Finally, when the passage is read for the third time,you should check what you have written.
提示:在实考试卷中，该试题在答题卡2上。
After retiring from 30 years of teaching, Ethbell Pepper could easily have decided to sit back and (36)            and enjoy a peaceful (37)             . But that kind of life is not for Ethbell Pepper. “I just wanted to do something different. If you are going to (38)            in life, do it. Dont just sit down and look out the window.” She says. At 68, she decided to become one of the
(39)            participants in a program at the University of California. The program offers   (40)            housing and classes to people over  (41)            . She   (42)            in a class called Human Relationships and  (43)            Society. (44)            . “But in this course, I found out a lot about other cultures I didnt know then.(45)            .”
Older adults can add to the educational resources of the university by bringing with them a lot of valuable experience. Their presence on campus helps break some long beliefs about aging. Young students may have fears of growing older.(46)            . The younger students can begin to see aging as a natural part of living.
 
Part ⅣReading Comprehension（Reading in Depth）（25 minutes）
Section A
Directions:In this section,there is a passage with ten blanks.You are required to select one word for each blank from a list of choices given in a word bank following the passage.Read the passage through carefully before making your choices.Each choice in the bank is identified by a letter.Please mark the corresponding letter for each item on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once.
Questions 47 to 56 are based on the following passage.
There’s no question that the Earth is getting hotter. The real questions are: How much of the warming is our fault, and are we47            to slow the devastation by controlling our insatiable48            for fossil fuels?
Global warming can seem too49            to worry about, or too uncertain—something projected by the same computer50            that often can’t get next week’s weather right. On a raw winter day you might think that a few degrees of warming wouldn’t be such a bad thing anyway. And no doubt about it: Warnings about51            change can sound like an environmentalist scare tactic, meant to force us out of our cars and restrict our lifestyles.
Comforting thoughts, perhaps. Unfortunately, however, the Earth has some discomforting news.
From Alaska to the snowy peaks of the Andes the world is heating up right now, and fast. Globally, the52            is up 1°F over the past century, but some of the coldest, most remote spots have warmed much more. The results aren’t pretty. Ice is53            , rivers are running dry, and coasts are54            , threatening communities.
The55            are happening largely out of sight. But they shouldn’t be out of mind, because they are omens of what’s in store for the56            of the planet. 
 
A. remote       B. techniques      C. consisting       D. restE. willing
F. climate       G. skill    H. appetite    I. melting  J. vanishing
K. eroding     L. temperature    M. curiosity    N. changes   O. skillful

Section B
Directions:There are 2 passages in this section.Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements.For each of them there are four choices marked A),B),C)  and D) .You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre.
Passage One
Questions 57 to 61 are based on the following passage.
My father’s reaction to the bank building at 43rd Street and Fifth Avenue in New York city was immediate and definite: “You wont catch me putting my money in there!” he declared, “Not in that glass box!”
Of course, my father is a gentleman of the old school, a member of the generation to whom a good deal of modern architecture is upsetting, but I am convinced that his negative response was not so much to the architecture as to a violation of his concept of the nature of money.
In his generation money was thought of as a  real commodity(实物) that could be carried, or stolen. Consequently, to attract the custom of a sensible man, a bank had to have heavy walls, barred windows, and bronze doors, to affirm the fact, however untrue, that money would be safe inside. If a buildings design made it appear impenetrable, the institution was necessarily reliable, and the meaning of the heavy wall as an architecture symbol dwelt in the prevailing attitude toward money.
But the attitude toward money has, of course, changed. Excepting pocket money, cash of any kind is now rarely used; money as a tangible commodity has largely been replaced by credit. A deficit(赤字) economy, accompanied by huge expansion, has led us to think of money as product of the creative imagination. The banker no longer offers us a safe: he offers us a service in which the most valuable element is the creativity for the invention of large numbers. It is in no way surprising, in view of this change in attitude, that we are witnessing the disappearance of the heavywalled bank.
Just as the older bank emphasized its strength, this bank by its architecture boasts of imaginative powers. From this point of view it is hard to say where architecture ends and human assertion(人们的说法) begins.
57. The main idea of this passage is that             .
A)  money is not as valuable as it was in the past
B)  changes have taken place in both the appearance and the concept of banks
C)  the architectural style of the older bank is superior to that of the modern bank
D)  prejudice makes the older generation think that the modern bank is unreliable
58. How do the older generation and the younger one think about money?
A)  The former thinks more of money  than the latter.  
B)  The younger generation values money more than the older generation.
C)  Both generations rely on the imaginative power of bankers to make money.
D)  To the former money is a real commodity but to  the latter  the means of producing more money.
59. The word “tangible” (Line 2, Para. 4 ) refers to something .
A)  that is preciousB)  that is usable
C)  that can be touchedD)  that can be reproduced
60. According to this passage, a modern banker should be             .
A)  ambitious and friendlyB)  reliable and powerful
C)  sensible and impenetrableD)  imaginative and creative
61. It can be inferred from the passage that the author’s attitude towards the new trend in   banking is             .
A)  cautiousB)  regretfulC)  positiveD)  hostile