【篇一】2021年12月英語四級考試閱讀理解范文
For centuries, in the countries of south and Southeast Asia the elephant has been an intimate part of the culture, economy and religion, and nowhere more so than in Thailand. Unlike its African cousin, the Asian elephant is easily domesticated (馴化). The rare so-called white elephants have actually lent the authority of kingship to its rulers and until the 1920s the national flag was a white elephant on a red background.To the early Western visitors the country's romantic name was “Land of the White Elephant”.Today, however, the story is very different. Out of work and out of land, the Thai elephant struggles for survival in a nation that no longer needs it. The elephant has found itself more or less abandoned by previous owners who have moved on to a different economic world and a westernized society. And while the elephant's problems began many years ago, now it rates a very low national priority.
How this reversal from national icon (圣像) to neglected animal came about is a tale of worsening environmental and the changing lives of the Thais themselves. According to Richard Lair, Thailand’s experts on the Asian elephant and author of the report Gone Astray, at the turn of the century there may well have beenas many as 100,000 domestic elephants in the country. In the north of Thailand alone it was estimated that more than 20,000 elephants were employed in transport, 1,000 of them alone on the road between the cities of Chiang Mai and Chiang Saen. This was at a time when 90 per cent of Thailand was still forest—a habitat (棲息地) that not only supported the animals but also made them necessary to carry goods and people. Nothing ploughs through dense forest better than a massive but sure-footed elephant.
By 1950 the elephant population had dropped to a still substantial 13,397, but today there are probably nomore than 3,800, with another 1,350 roaming free in the national parks. But now, Thailand’s forest coversonly 20 per cent of the land. This deforestation (采伐森林) is the central point of the elephant's difficult situation, for it has effectively put the animals out of work. This century, as the road network grew, so the elephant's role as a beast of burden declined.
練習(xí)題：
Choose correct answers to the question:
1. What can we know about African elephants from the passage?
A. It is easy to tame them.
B. It is hard to tame them.
C. They are living a better life than Asian elephants.
D. Their fate is quite similar to that of Asian elephants.
2. Thailand was once called “Land of the White Elephant” because_______.
A. white elephant is rarely seen and thus very special
B. white elephant was a national symbol until the 1920s
C. white elephant has helped kings to gain the ruling authority
D. this name was so romantic that it was popular among visitors
3. Why is the Thai elephant “out of work”, according to the author?
A. Because the elephants are no longer useful to their owners.
B. Because their owners are westernized and neglect them.
C. Because the government pays little attention to the problem.
D. Because there are too many elephants and too few jobs.
4. Which of the following statements is true about the elephant population at various times?
A. There were 100,000 tamed elephants at the turn of the century.
B. 20,000 elephants were employed in transport in Thailand at the turn of the century.
C. By 1950 the elephant population in Thailand has been quite small.
D. Today the elephant population is estimated at 5,150.
5. The passage is most probably from_______.
A. a travel magazine
B. a history book
C. a research report
D. an official announcement
1.[B] 事實(shí)細(xì)節(jié)題。本題考查對比處。根據(jù)文章第l段第3句：和非洲象不同，亞洲象容易馴養(yǎng)，言下之意就是：非洲象不易馴養(yǎng)。答案中用tame替代原文的domesticate，意思相同。選項(xiàng)A與原文意思正好相反;選項(xiàng)C，D原文根本未提到。
2.[B] 推理判斷題。根據(jù)文章第l段第4句中的“until the 1920s the national flag was a white elephant on a red background.”可知當(dāng)時(shí)白象是泰國的國家象征，因此B為正確選項(xiàng)。本題干擾性的是選項(xiàng)D，在形式上，選項(xiàng)D與第1段最后一句極為相似，但是，游客這樣稱呼泰國，原因也是因?yàn)榘紫笫翘﹪南笳鳎恢皇且驗(yàn)檫@個(gè)名字浪漫，因此，選項(xiàng)D是對原文的曲解;選項(xiàng)A和選項(xiàng)C雖然也來自文章，但不是原因，不能回答所提問題。
3.[A] 推理判斷題。文章有幾處解釋了大象失業(yè)的原因，如第2段的第2句“a nation that no longer needs it (Thai elephant)”及最后一段的最后一句“the elephant’s role as a beast of burden declined”等。選項(xiàng)A是對這些解釋的一個(gè)基本概括。選項(xiàng)B中westernized和neglect雖在文章中出現(xiàn)，但選項(xiàng)B只是對想像的描述，不能解釋大象“失業(yè)”的原因。選項(xiàng)C來自第2段最后一句話，但這句話只能說明大象不再受重視，不能作為大象“失業(yè)”的理由。選項(xiàng)D原文未提及，而且，從第3、4段可以看出：大象的數(shù)量急劇下降，談不上“太多”。
4.[D] 事實(shí)細(xì)節(jié)題。此題考查的是大象數(shù)量變化的情況。四個(gè)選項(xiàng)中的數(shù)字惟有選項(xiàng)D沒有直接出現(xiàn)，但根據(jù)第4段第l句很容易推算出來。選項(xiàng)A和B雖用了原文的數(shù)據(jù)，但選項(xiàng)A忽略了may這個(gè)詞，而且未點(diǎn)明泰國，故不妥。B則忽略了in the north of Thailand及more than這兩處。選項(xiàng)C中的small與原文substantial(大量的)沖突，也不對。
5.[C] 主旨大意題。從本文所用的大量客觀的數(shù)據(jù)和數(shù)字可以推斷這是一篇研究報(bào)告。本文趣味性不足，因此不能選A。選項(xiàng)B不能選，是因?yàn)闅v史書不可能如此大篇幅的描述大象的問題。選項(xiàng)D也不是正確答案，因?yàn)檎嫱ǔＪ且恍┮?guī)定，而不是客觀的陳述。
【篇二】2021年12月英語四級考試閱讀理解范文
Japan is getting tough about recycling—and not in the paper and plastic kind of way. Recently, the country requires that all electronic goods—TVs, VCRs, stereos, and more—be recycled. But recycling will not beleft to consumers, instead, the devices will be sent to the original manufacturer for proper disposal.The new law poses a few challenges to manufacturers who are now rushing to set up collection networks and perfecting techniques to disassemble and recycle older products.With an eye toward the future, they are also integrating easily recycled materials into new products. Plastics, a major component of most electronicproducts,pose a particular obstacle because their quality becomes worse and worse with age,losing strengthand flexibility even if reprocessed.NEC Corp. overcomes this problem by creating a plastics sandwich, in which the filling is 100 percent recycled plastic and the outer layers a mixture of 14 percent recycled material.The resulting plastic has sufficient strength and toughness for use as a case for desktop PCs. The company, in cooperation with plastic maker Sumitomo Dow, has also developed a new plastic, which engineers claim retains its mechanical properties through repeated recycling. NEC uses the plastic, which is also flame-retardant (阻燃的) in battery cases for notebook PCs.
Meanwhile, Matsushita Electric, maker of the Panasonic brand, is avoiding plastic in favor of magnesium (鎂). Magnesium, says the company, is ideal for re cycling because it retains its original strength throughrepeated reprocessing. Matsushita has developed molding techniques to form magnesium into the case for a 21-inch TV. Unfortunately, the magnesium case and energy-saving features make the TV about twice as expensive as an ordinary model.The company hopes, however, that increased use of magnesium will eventually bring prices down.
練習(xí)題：
Choose correct answers to the question:
1. According to the present regulations of Japan, the recycling of paper and plastic will be the responsibility of______.
A.. the government
B. the manufacturers
C. the consumers
D. the sellers
2. Which of the following is NOT the character of plastics?
A. Most electronic products contain plastics.
B. It retains its original strength through reprocessing.
C. Recycled plastics can be integrated into new products.
D. Plastics will lose flexibility after a certain period of time.
3.According to the passage, the term “plastic sandwich” refers to_____.
A. a kind of sandwich-shaped toy made of plastics
B. a kind of plastics with different integration in each layer
C. a kind of plastics with maximum strength and flexibility
D. a kind of plastics made of 100% recycled materials
4.In the passage, it is implied but NOT stated that_____.
A. disposing the plastics is one of NEC Corp’s businesses
B. magnesium is an ideal material for the case of TV
C.21-inch TV with magnesium case isn’t very popular so far
D. magnesium must be better than the plastics
5.The author writes this passage in order to_____.
A. inform
B. instruct
C. predict
D. persuade
1.[C] 推理判斷題。文章首段提到了電子產(chǎn)品的回收利用與紙張和塑料不同;本段最后一句中的but表明了以上不同點(diǎn)在于電子產(chǎn)品的回收不依靠消費(fèi)者，而依靠生產(chǎn)者。結(jié)合以上兩點(diǎn)，可以推斷紙張和塑料的回收利用主要靠消費(fèi)者，因此選項(xiàng)C為正確答案。
2.[B] 事實(shí)細(xì)節(jié)題。本題考査列舉處。第2段第3句列舉了塑料的特性，對照選項(xiàng)和該句，就能發(fā)現(xiàn)文中明確提到選項(xiàng)A、C、D,而選項(xiàng)B顯然與原文意思相反。
3.[B] 事實(shí)細(xì)節(jié)題。本題考査復(fù)合句的理解。第2段第4句是一個(gè)非限制性定語從句，是plastics sandwich 的定義，選項(xiàng)B是對該定語從句所述亊實(shí)的總結(jié)，因此選項(xiàng)B正確。選項(xiàng)A在文中沒有提及;選項(xiàng)C中的maximum是對原文sufficient的曲解;選項(xiàng)D中的100%這一數(shù)據(jù)不準(zhǔn)確，文中只提到plastics sandwich里層是100%的再生塑料。
4.[C] 推理判斷題。本題考査轉(zhuǎn)折處。最后一段倒數(shù)第2句中的Unfortunately一詞指出了用鎂作機(jī)殼的電視機(jī)很貴，從而暗示它們并不受消費(fèi)者歡迎，所以選項(xiàng)C正確。選項(xiàng)A屬原文明確表達(dá)的意思。本段第2句只指出鎂是一種理想的再生材料(ideal for recycling),因此選項(xiàng)B不對;全文并未比較塑料和鎂哪個(gè)更好，因此選項(xiàng)D不對。
5.[A] 主旨大意題。文中作者只是客觀地描述亊實(shí)，吿知讀者日本的電子產(chǎn)品再循環(huán)使用的一些新變化和新技術(shù)，抓住這個(gè)主旨就能選出正確答案A。作者并未發(fā)表任何個(gè)人觀點(diǎn)，也未做出任何指示或預(yù)測。
【篇三】2021年12月英語四級考試閱讀理解范文
A subject which seems to have been insufficiently studied by doctors and psychologists is the influence ofgeography and climate on the psychological and physical health of mankind.There seems no doubt that the general character of the landscape, the relative length of day and night, and the climate must all play a big part in determining what kind of people we are.It is true that a few studies have been made. Where all the inhabitants of a particular area enjoy exceptionally good or bad health, scientists have identified .contributory factors such as the presence or absence of substances like iodine, fluoride, calcium, or iron in the water supply, or perhaps types of land thatprovide breeding places for pests like mosquitoes or rats.
Moreover, we can all generalize about types of people we have met. Those living in countries .with long dark winters are apt to be less talkative and less vivacious than inhabitants of countries where the climateis more equable(穩(wěn)定的). And where the olive and the orange grow, there the inhabitants are cheerful, talkative, and spontaneous.
But these commonplace generalizations are inadequate: the influence: of climate and geography should be studied in depth. Do all mountain dwellers live to a ripe old age? Does the drinking of wine, rather than beer, result in a sunny and open temperament? Is the strength and height of one of the Kenyan tribes due to their habitual drinking of the blood of cows?
We are not yet sure of the answers to such .questions, but let us hope that something of benefit to mankind may eventually result from such studies.
練習(xí)題：
Choose correct answers to the question:
1.The author's purpose of writing this passage is to______.
A.alert readers to the scarcity of natural resources
B.call for more research on the influence of geographical environment
C.introduce different elements in character cultivation
D.draw more attention to the health condition of mankind
2.It can be inferred that proper amounts of iodine, fluoride and calcium can_____.
A.benefit people’s physical health
B. influence the quality of water supply
C.help provide breeding places for pests.
D. strengthen a person's character
3.How does the author evaluate the generalizations of people's types in Para. 3?
A.Such generalizations help us judge the different characters of people we meet
B.Such generalizations are not inclusive enough to draw a convincing conclusion.
C.Such generalizations prove that nature plays an important role in determining social habits.
D.Such generalizations show that there are mainly two different types of people on the planet.
4.According to the passage, research into the influence of climate and geography should ____.
A. focus on unknown aspects
B. be pursued on a larger scale
C. be carried out among remote tribes
D. go ahead in depth
5.What do we know about the generalizations of people’s type?
A.People who like drinking wine tend to be optimistic.
B.People who live in mountain areas tend to have a long life.
C.People who live in areas with stable climate tend to be talkative and lively.
D.People who like drinking cow blood tend to be strong and tall.
1.[B] 主旨大意題。本文一開頭就提出：關(guān)于地理環(huán)境對人的影響，研究得還不充分。接下來的每段開頭句也都進(jìn)一步闡述這個(gè)觀點(diǎn)，如第2段首句和第4段首句，結(jié)尾句又提出希望，所以正確答案為B.選項(xiàng)C和D沒有全面概括環(huán)境和人兩方面的因素。選項(xiàng)A完全與文章無關(guān)。
2.[A] 推理判斷題。句中的good health與后面的contributory factors告訴讀者選項(xiàng)A是正確的。選項(xiàng)B中的the quality是無中生有。選項(xiàng)C中的provide breeding places for pests在文中的主語是land。選項(xiàng)D中的character跟水中的礦物質(zhì)無關(guān)。
3.[B] 觀點(diǎn)態(tài)度題。緊接第2段論證環(huán)境和健康的關(guān)系之后，第3段看似論述環(huán)境和個(gè)性的關(guān)系，舉了兩種比較典型的環(huán)境和性格特征的例子,但是,第4段第1句就把前面的表面現(xiàn)象給否定了，所以此題答案為B。其他三個(gè)選項(xiàng)立場都錯(cuò)了。
4.[D] 事實(shí)細(xì)節(jié)題。作者在第4段第1句破折號后指出應(yīng)對地理和氣候的影響進(jìn)行更深人的研究，故選項(xiàng)D正確。
5.[C] 事實(shí)細(xì)節(jié)題。第3段第2句表明選項(xiàng)C正確。這兩段都提到了人的類型的歸納,第3段中的歸納是正確的，而第4段中的歸納是有待考證的，因此,本題要依據(jù)第3段描述的類型做出選擇。
