星火英语2008年12月英语四级考试预测试卷

　　Section A
　　随着全球能源紧张和环境污染日益严重，绿色建筑逐渐成为全世界共同关注的话题。其特点为减少能源和资源消耗，并尽可能采用新技术和新材料。
　　47. nearly 50%
　　[定位]根据题干中的Swiss Re Tower可以定位到第一段第二句：Thanks to its artful design and some fancy technology, it is expected to consume up to 50% less energy than a comparable conventional office building.
　　[精解]题目问的是得益于其精良的设计、先进的技术，Swiss Re Tower比传统办公大楼能节省多少能源。该句意为“由于其设计精良，技术先进，Swiss Re Tower有望比传统建筑节能近50%”。题干中的owing to与原文中thanks to的同义，traditional与conventional同义。by在此句中为介词，表程度相差多少的意思，后面应接数字。故答案为nearly 50%。
　　48. the energy crisis of the 1970s
　　[定位]根据题干中的green architecture可以定位到第二段Green architecture, …has its origins in the energy crisis of the 1970s….
　　[精解]由该段可知：绿色建筑的来源要追溯到20世纪70年代的能源危机。题目中的could date back to是对has its origins in the energy crisis of the 1970s的同义转述，故答案为the energy crisis of the 1970s。
　　49. widely taken into consideration in the developed world
　　[定位]根据题干中提到的assessing and rating可以定位到第三段第二句：This approach has since been formalized in a number of assessment and rating systems, such as the BREEAM standard introduced in Britain in 1990, and the LEED standard developed by the United States Green Building Council starting in 2000.
　　[精解]本题考查在一系列建筑评估体系中，建筑的维修和保养对环境的长期影响也在评估之列。根据This approach has since been formalized in a number of assessment and rating systems可知，这一原则已被成文化，而且下文举例提到了英国的BREEAM和美国的LEED standard，据此可知，这一规则已被发达国家引起重视。空格处缺少谓语动词，且位于has been之后，故答案应为widely taken into consideration in the developed world。
　　50. cutting long term energy costs
　　[定位]由题干中的green, reduce将答案定位到原文第四段第一句：Going green saves money by reducing longterm energy costs;…
　　[精解]题目问的是绿色建筑怎样降低了成本。题干中的reduce expenditure是对saves money的同义转述，by在句中作原因状语，后应接动词的现在分词形式，即cutting longterm energy costs。
　　51. economic benefits
　　[定位]根据benefit可以定位到第五段第二句：The use of natural daylight in office buildings, for example, as well as reducing energy costs, also seems to make workers more productive.
　　[精解]题目问的是除了节省成本，绿色建筑还有哪些优势。根据下面提到的make workers more productive可知，它还可以为企业带来经济效益，故答案为economic benefits。