英语四级考试第三套阅读理解部分真题及参考答案文档格式.docx

英语四级考试第三套阅读理解部分真题及参考答案文档格式.docx

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Inthissection,thereisapassagewithtenblanks.Youarerequiredtoselectonewordforeachblankfromalistofchoicesgiveninawordbankfollowingthepassage.Readthepassagethroughcarefullybeforemakingyourchoices.Eachchoiceinthebankisidentifiedbyaletter.PleasemarkthecorrespondingletteronAnswerSheet2withasinglelinethroughthecentre.Youmaynotuseanyofthewordsinthebankmorethanonce.

Questions26to35arebasedonthefollowingpassage.

Contrarytopopularbelief,olderpeoplegenerallydonotwanttolivewiththeirchildren.Moreover,mostadultchildren__26__everybitasmuchcareandsupporttotheiragingparentsaswasthecaseinthe"

goodolddays"

andmostolderpeopledonotfeel__27__.

About80%ofpeople65yearsandolderhavelivingchildren,andabout90%ofthemhave__28__contactwiththeirchildren.About75%ofelderlyparentswhodon'

tgotonursinghomeslivewithin30minutesofatleastoneoftheirchildren.

However,__29__havingcontactwithchildrendoesnotguaranteehappinessinoldage.Infact,someresearchhasfoundthatpeoplewhoaremostinvolvedwiththeirfamilieshavethelowestspirits.Thisresearchmaybe__30__,however,asillhealthoftenmakesolderpeoplemore__31__andtherebyincreasescontactwithfamilymembers.Soitismorelikelythatpoorhealth,notjustfamilyinvolvement,__32__spirits.

Increasingly,researchershavebeguntolookatthequalityofrelationships,ratherthanatthefrequencyofcontact,betweentheelderlyandtheirchildren.Ifparentsandchildrenshareinterestsandvaluesandagreeonchildrearingpracticesandreligious__33__,theyarelikelytoenjoyeachother'

scompany.Disagreementsonsuchmatterscan__34__causeproblems.Ifparentsareangeredbytheirdaughter'

sdivorce,dislikehernewhusband,anddisapproveofhowsheisraisingtheirgrandchildren,__35__arethattheyarenotgoingtoenjoyhervisits.

A.abandonedB.advancedC.biasedD.chancesE.commitmentF.dampensG.dependentH.distantI.frequentJ.fulfillmentK.grantL.merelyM.provideN.understandablyO.unrealistically

SectionB

Inthissection,youaregoingtoreadapassagewithtenstatementsattachedtoit.EachstatementcontainsinformationgiveninoneoftheparagraphsIdentifytheparagraphfromwhichtheinformationisderived.Youmaychooseaparagraphmorethanonce.Eachparagraphismarkedwithaletter.AnswerthequestionsbymarkingthecorrespondingletteronAnswerSheet2.

CouldFoodShortagesBringDownCivilization?

[A]FormanyyearsIhavestudiedglobalagricultural,population,environmentalandeconomictrendsandtheirinteractions.Thecombinedeffectsofthosetrendsandthepoliticaltensionstheygeneratepointtothebreakdownofgovernmentsandsocieties.YetI,too,haveresistedtheideathatfoodshortagescouldbringdownnotonlyindividualgovernmentsbutalsoourglobalcivilization.

[B]Icannolongerignorethatrisk.Ourcontinuingfailuretodealwiththeenvironmentaldeclinesthatareunderminingtheworldfoodeconomyforcesmetoconcludethatsuchacollapseispossible.

[C]Asdemandforfoodrisesfasterthansuppliesaregrowing,theresultingfood-priceinflationputsseverestressonthegovernmentsofmanycountries.Unabletobuygrainorgrowtheirown,hungrypeopletaketothestreets.Indeed,evenbeforethesteepclimbingrainpricesin2020,thenumberoffailingstateswasexpanding.Ifthefoodsituationcontinuestoworsen,entirenationswillbreakdownataneverincreasingrate.Inthe20thcenturythemainthreattointernationalsecuritywassuperpowerconflict;

todayitisfailingstates.

[D]Statesfailwhennationalgovernmentscannolongerprovidepersonalsecurity,foodsecurityandbasicsocialservicessuchaseducationandhealthcare.Whengovernmentslosetheircontrolonpower,lawandorderbegintodisintegrate.Afterapoint,countriescanbecomesodangerousthatfoodreliefworkersarenolongersafeandtheirprogramsarehalted.Failingstatesareofinternationalconcernbecausetheyareasourceofterrorists,drugs,weaponsandrefugees（难民）,threateningpoliticalstabilityeverywhere.

[E]Thesurgeinworldgrainpricesin2007and2020—andthethreattheyposetofoodsecurity—hasadifferent,moretroublingqualitythantheincreasesofthepast.Duringthesecondhalfofthe20thcentury,grainpricesrosedramaticallyseveraltimes.In1972,forinstance,theSoviets,recognizingtheirpoorharvestearly,quietlycorneredtheworldwheatmarket.Asaresult,wheatpriceselsewheremorethandoubled,pullingriceandcornpricesupwiththem.Butthisandotherpriceshockswereevent-driven—droughtintheSovietUnion,crop-shrinkingheatintheU.S.CornBelt.Andtheriseswereshort-lived:

pricestypicallyreturnedtonormalwiththenextharvest.

[F]Incontrast,therecentsurgeinworldgrainpricesistrend-driven,makingitunlikelytoreversewithoutareversalinthetrendsthemselves.Onthedemandside,thosetrendsincludetheongoingadditionofmorethan70millionpeopleayear,agrowingnumberofpeoplewantingtomoveupthefoodchaintoconsumehighlygrain-intensivemeatproducts,andthemassivediversion（转向）ofU.S.graintotheproductionofbio-fuel.

[G]Asincomesriseamonglow-incomeconsumers,thepotentialforfurthergrainconsumptionishuge.Butthatpotentialpalesbesidethenever-endingdemandforcrop-basedfuels.Afourthofthisyear'

sU.S.grainharvestwillgotofuelcars.

[H]Whataboutsupply?

Thethreeenvironmentaltrends—theshortageoffreshwater,thelossoftopsoilandtherisingtemperatures—aremakingitincreasinglyhardtoexpandtheworld'

sgrainsupplyfastenoughtokeepupwithdemand.Ofallthosetrends,however,thespreadofwatershortagesposesthemostimmediatethreat.Thebiggestchallengehereisirrigation,whichconsumes70%oftheworld'

sfreshwater.Millionsofirrigationwellsinmanycountriesarenowpumpingwateroutofundergroundsourcesfasterthanrainfallcanrefillthem.Theresultisfallingwatertables（地下水位）incountrieswithhalftheworld'

speople,includingthethreebiggrainproducers—China,IndiaandtheU.S.

[I]Aswatertableshavefallenandirrigationwellshavegonedry,China'

swheatcrop,theworld'

slargest,hasdeclinedby8%sinceitpeakedat123milliontonsin1997.ButwatershortagesareevenmoreworryinginIndia.Millionsofirrigationwellshavesignificantlyloweredwatertablesinalmosteverystate.

[J]Astheworld'

sfoodsecurityfallstopieces,individualcountriesactingintheirownself-interestareactuallyworseningthetroublesofmany.Thetrendbeganin2007,whenleadingwheat-exportingcountriessuchasRussiaandArgentinalimitedorbannedtheirexports,inhopesofincreasinglocalfoodsuppliesandtherebybringingdowndomesticfoodprices.Vietnambanneditsexportsforseveralmonthsforthesamereason.Suchmovesmayeliminatethefearsofthoselivingintheexportingcountries,buttheyarecreatingpanicinimportingcountriesthatmustrelyonwhatisthenleftforexport.

[K]Inresponsetothoserestrictions,grain-importingcountriesaretryingtonaildownlong-termtradeagreementsthatwouldlockupfuturegrainsupplies.Food-importanxietyisevenleadingtoneweffortsbyfood-importingcountriestobuyorleasefarmlandinothercountries.Inspiteofsuchtemporarymeasures,soaringfoodpricesandspreadinghungerinmanyothercountriesarebeginningtobreakdownthesocialorder.

[L]Sincethecurrentworldfoodshortageistrend-driven,theenvironmentaltrendsthatcauseitmustbereversed.Wemustcutcarbonemissionsby80%fromtheir2006levelsby2020,stabilizetheworld'

spopulationateightbillionby2040,completelyremovepoverty,andrestoreforestsandsoils.Thereisnothingnewaboutthefourobjectives.Indeed,wehavemadesubstantialprogressinsomepartsoftheworldonatleastoneofthese—thedistributionoffamily-planningservicesandtheassociatedshifttosmallerfamilies.

[M]Formanyinthedevelopmentcommunity,thefourobjectiveswereseenaspositive,promotingdevelopmentaslongastheydidnotcosttoomuch.Otherssawthemaspoliticallycorrectandmorallyappropriate.Nowathirdandfarmoresignificantmotivationpresentsitself:

meetingthesegoalsmaybenecessarytopreventthecollapseofourcivilization.Yetthecostweprojectforsavingcivilizationwouldamounttolessthan$200billionayear,1/6ofcurrentglobalmilitaryspending.Ineffect,ourplanisthenewsecuritybudget.

36.Themorerecentsteepclimbingrainpricespartlyresultsfromthefactthatmoreandmorepeoplewanttoconsumemeatproducts.

37.Socialorderisbreakingdowninmanycountriesbecauseoffoodshortages.

38.Ratherthansuperpowerconflict,countriesunabletocopewithfoodshortagesnowconstitutethemainthreattoworldsecurity.

39.Somepartsoftheworldhaveseensuccessfulimplementationoffamilyplanning.

40.Theauthorhascometoagreethatfoodshortagescouldultimatelyleadtothecollapseofworldcivilization.

41.Increasingwatershortagesprovetobethebiggestobstacletoboostingtheworld'

sgrainproduction.

42.Thecostforsavingourcivilizationwouldbeconsiderablylessthantheworld’scurrentmilitaryspending.

43.Tolowerdomesticfoodprices,somecountrieslimitedorstoppedtheirgrainexports.

44.Environmentalproblemsmustbesolvedtoeasethecurrentglobalfoodshortage.

45.Aquarterofthisyear'

sAmericangrainharvestwillbeusedtoproducebio-fuelforcars.

SectionC

Inthisse