四级阅读讲义 Reading For Band 4 Unit 1 Reading Comprehension Directions: There are 3 passages in this unit. 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 the Answer Sheet with a single line through the center. Passage One Questions 1 to 4 are based on the following. Robert Spring, a 19th century forger, was so good at his profession that he was able to make his living for 15 years by selling false signatures of famous Americans. Spring was born in England in 1813 and arrived in Philadelphia in 1858 to open a bookstore. At first he prospered by selling his small but genuine collection of early U.S. autographs. Discovering his ability at copying handwriting, he began imitating signatures of George Washington and Ben Franklin and writing them on the tide pages of old books. To lessen the chance of detection, he set his forgeries to England and Canada for sale and circulation. Forgers have a hard time selling their products. A forger can’t approach a respectable buyer but must deal with people who don't have much knowledge in the field. Forgers have many ways to make their work look real. For example, they buy old books to use the aged paper of the tide page, and they can treat paper and ink with chemicals. In Spring’s time, right after the Civil War, Britain was still fond of the Southern states, so Spring invented a respectable maiden lady known as Miss Fanny Jackson, the only daughter of General “Stonewall” Jackson. For several years Miss Fanny's financial problems forced her to sell a great number of letters and manuscripts belonging to her famous father. Spring had to work very hard to satisfy the demand. All this activity did not prevent Spring from dying in poverty, leaving sharp-eyed experts the difficult task of separating his forgeries from the originals. 1. After the Civil war, there was a great demand in Britain for ______________. A) Southern money B) signatures of George Washington and Ben Franklin C) Southern manuscripts and letters D) Civil War battle plans 2. Which of the following statements is TRUE? A) Spring had a very difficult time selling the false autographs. B) Spring lived a rich life by selling the products. C) Spring could not sell any products to Britain after the Civil War. D) Spring lived his whole life as a forger. 3. According to the passage, forgeries are usually sold to _______________. A) acquaintances B) rich and respectable dealers C) persons who are not experts D) sharp-eyed experts 4. Who was Miss Fanny Jackson? A) A little-known girl who sold her father papers to Spring. B) An imaginary person created by Spring. C) Spring’s partner in selling false autographs. D) The daughter of General “Stonewall” Jackson. Passage Two Questions 1 to 4 are based on the following passage. If you want to stay young, sit down and have a good think. This is the research finding of a team of Japanese doctors, who say that most of our brains are not getting enough exercise and as a result, we are aging unnecessarily soon. Professor Taiju Matsuzawa wanted to find out why otherwise healthy farmers in northern Japan appeared to be losing their ability to think and reason at a reason at a relatively early age, and how the process of aging could be slowed down. With a team of colleagues at Tokyo National University, he set about measuring brain volumes of a thousand people of different ages and varying occupations. Computer technology enabled the researchers to obtain precise measurements of the volume of the front and side sections of the brain, which relate to intellect and emotion, and determine the human character.(The rear section of the brain, which controls functions like eating and breathing, does not contract with age, and one can continue living without intellectual on emotional faculties of functions) Contraction of front and side parts, as cells die off, was observed in some subjects in their thirties, but it was still not evident in some sixty and seventy-year-olds. Matuszaswa concluded from his tests that there is a simple remedy to the contraction normally associated with age-using the head. The findings show in general terms that contraction of the brain begins sooner in people in the country than in the towns. Those least at risk, says Matsuzawa, are lawyers, followed by university professors and doctors. White collar workers doing routine work in government offices are, however, as likely to have shrinking brains as the farm worker, bus driver and shop assistant. Matsozawa's findings show that thinking can prevent the brain from shrinking. Blood must circulate properly in the head to supply the fresh oxygen the brain cells need. “The best way to maintain good blood circulation is through using the brain,” he says, “Think hard and engage in conversation. Don’t rely on pocket calculators.” 1. The team of doctors wanted to find out ____________. A) why certain people are sooner than others B) how to make people live longer C) the size of certain people's brains D) which people are most intelligent 2. On what are their research findings based? A) A survey of farmers in northern Japan. B) Tests performed on a thousand old people. C) Study of brain volumes of different people. D) The latest development of computer technology. 3. The word "subjects" in paragraph 5 means "___________." A) something to be considered B) branches of knowledge studied C) persons chosen to be studied in an experiment D) any member of a state except the supreme ruler 4. According to the passage, which people seem to age slower than the others? A) Lawyers. B) Farmers C) Clerks. D) Shop assistants. Passage Three Questions 1 to 4 are based on the following passage. Unlike the carefully weighed and planned compositions of Dante, Goethe's writings have always the sense of immediacy and enthusiasm. He was a constant experimenter with life, with ideas, and with forms of writing. For the same reason, his works seldom have the qualities of finish of formal beauty which distinguish the masterpieces of Dante and Virgil. He came to love the beauties of classicism, but these were never an essential part of his make-up. Instead the urgency of the moment, the spirit of the thing, guided his pen. As a result, nearly all his words have serious flaws of structure, or other kinds. In the large sense, Goethe represents the fullest development of the romanticist. It has been argued that he should not be so designated because he so clearly matured and outgrew the king of romanticism exhibited by Wordsworth, Shelley, and Keats. Shelley and Keats died young; Wordsworth lived narrowly and abandoned his early attitudes. In contrast, Goethe lived abundantly and developed his faith in the spirit, his understanding of nature and human nature, and his reliance on feelings as man's essential motivating force. The result was an all encompassing vision of reality and a philosophy of life broader and deeper than the partial visions and attitudes of other romanticists. Yet the spirit of youthfulness, the impatience with close reasoning or "logic-chopping", and the continued faith in nature remained his to the end, together with an occasional impulsiveness and a disregard of artistic or logical propriety which savor strongly of romantic individualism. Since so many twentieth-century thoughts and attitudes are similarly based on the stimulus of the Romantic Movement, Goethe stands as particularly the poet of the modern man as Dante stood for medieval man and as Shakespeare for the man of the Renaissance. 1. A characteristic of romanticism not mentioned in this passage is ___________. A) interest in nature B) disregard of form C) modernity of ideas D)youthful attitude 2. Good medieval writing was characterized by _____________. A) careful planning B) lack of beauty C) use of Latin D) avoidance of ideas 3. According to this passage, Goethe_____________. A) stimulated many modern ideas B) disliked Dante and Virgil C) should be called a classicist D) was illogical 4. It can be inferred from the passage that classicism has which of the following characteristics? I. Reliance on the emotions. II. Emphasis on formal beauty. III. Careful planning of artistic structures A) II only B) III only C) I and III D) II and II