四级阅读讲义 Reading For Band 4 Unit 6 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 Question 1 to 5 are based on the following: If it were only necessary to decide whether to teach elementary science to everyone on a mass basis or to find the gifted few and take them as far as they can go, our task would be fairly simple. The public school system, however, has no such choice, for the jobs must be carried on at the same time. Because we depend so heavily upon science and technology for our progress, we must produce specialists in many fields. Because we live in a democratic nation, whose citizens make the policies for the nation, large numbers of us must be educated to understand, to support, and when necessary , to judge the work of experts. The public school must educate both producers and users of scientific services. In education, there should be a good balance among the branches of knowledge that contribute to effective thinking and wise judgment. Such balance is defeated by too much emphasis on any one field. The question of balance involves not only the relation of the natural sciences, the social sciences, and the arts but also relative emphases among the natural sciences themselves. Similarly, we must have a balance between current and classical knowledge. The attention of the public is continually drawn to new possibilities in scientific fields and the discovery of new knowledge; these should not be allowed to turn our attention away from the sound, established materials that from the basis of courses for beginners. 1. According to the first paragraph, the task of education is fairly complicated because ____. A) the current public school system is too complicated to be understood B) the public school system has no choice of what to teach C) it is difficult to decide whether elementary science should be taught in public schools D) the educators have to take care of both ordinary and gifted students 2. The word "defeated" (Line 3, Para. 2) most probably means _____________. A) broken B) beaten C) destroyed D)damaged 3. Which of the following points is NOT included in the passage? A) One of the major tasks of education is to discover the most promising students. B) In order to teach effectively, educators are requested to lay emphasis on one particular field. C) Some subjects have been over-emphasized in public schools. D) The progress of the society cannot merely rely on inventors. 4. It can be inferred from the passage that ______________. A) students should learn more up-to-date knowledge B) lack of scientific knowledge will lead to poor relations between producers and users of scientific services C) students are getting to know the importance of a good balance among the branches of knowledge D) sufficient attention should be given to basic knowledge 5. The best tide for this passage might be ____. A) Balance in Education B) Educational System in Public School C) Current Situation in Education D) Importance of Teaching Science and Technology Passage Two Questions 1 to 5 are based on the following: "Family" is of course an elastic word. But when British people say that their society is based on family life, they are thinking of "family" in its narrow, peculiarly European sense of mother, father and children living together alone in their own house as an economic and social unit. Thus, every British marriage indicates the beginning of a new and independent family---hence the tremendous importance of marriage in British life. For both the man and the woman, marriage means leaving one's parents and starting one's own life. The man's first duty will then be to his wife, and the wife's to her husband. He will be entirely responsible for her financial support, and she for the running of the new home. Their children will be their common responsibility and theirs alone. Neither the wife's parents nor the husband's, nor their brothers or sisters, aunts or uncles, have any right to interfere with them---that are their own masters. Readers of novels like Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice will know that in former time marriage among wealthy families were arranged by the girl's parents, that is, it was the parents' duty to find a suitable husband for their daughter, preferably a rich one, and by skillful encouragement to lead him eventually to ask their permission to marry her. Until that time, the girl was protected and maintained in the parents' home and the financial relief of getting rid of her could be seen in their giving the newly married pair a sum of money called a dowry. It is very different today. Most girls of today get a job when they leave school and become financially independent before their marriage. This has had two results. A girl chooses her own husband, and she gets no dowry. 1. What does the author mean by "Family is of course an elastic word"? A) Different families have different ways of life. B) Different definitions could be given to the word. C) Different nations have different families. D) Different times produce different families. 2. For an English family, the husband's duty is ____. A) supporting the family while the wife's is financial B) defending the family while the wife's is running the home C) financial while the wife's is running the home D) independent while the wife's is dependent 3. Everything is decided in a family _____________. A) by the couple B) with the help of their parents C) by brothers and sisters D) with the help of aunts and uncles 4. What is true concerning the book Pride and prejudice? A) It is the best book on marriage. B) It is a handbook of marriage. C) It gives quite some idea of English social life in the past. D) It provides a lot of information of former-time wealthy families. 5.With regard to marriage in Britain, present-day girls differ from former-time girls in _____________. A) the right family B) more parental support C) choosing husbands D) social position Passage Three Questions 1 to 5 are based on the following passage: Prices determine how resources are to be used. They are also the means by which products and services that are in limited supply are rationed among buyers. The price system of the United States is a very complex net work composed of the prices of all the products bought and sold in the economy as well as those of a great number of services, including labor, professions, transportation, and public-utility services. The interrelationship of all these prices makes the "system" of prices. The price of any particular product or service is linked to a broad, complicated system of prices in which everything seems to depend more or less upon everything else. s If one were to ask a group of randomly selected individuals to define "price", many would reply that price is an amount of money paid by the buyer to the seller of a product or service, or the money value of a product or service as agreed upon in market transaction. This definition is, of course, valid as for it goes. For a complete understanding of a price in any particular transaction, much more than the money involved must be known. Both the buyer and seller should be familiar with not only the money amount, but with the amount and quality of the product or service to be exchanged, the time and place at which the exchange will take place and payment will be made, the form of money to be used, the credit terms and discounts that apply to the transaction, guarantees on the product or service, delivery terms, return privilege, and other factors. In other words, both the buyers and sellers should be fully aware of all the factors that compose the total "package" being exchanged for the asked-for amount of money in order that they may evaluate a given price. 1. What is the best title for the passage? A) The Inherent Weaknesses of the Price System B) The Complexities of the Price System C) Credit Terms in Transactions D) Resource Allocation and the Public Sector 2. According to the passage, the price system is related primarily to __________. A) labor and education B) transportation and insurance C) utilities and repairs D) products and services 3. According to the passage, which of the following is NOT a factor in the complete understanding of price? A) Instructions that come with a product. B) The quantity of a product. C) The quality of a product. D) Warranties that rover a product. 4. In the last sentence, the word "they" refers to ______________. A) return privileges B) cash and credits C) buyers and sellers D) all the factors 5. The paragraph following this passage most likely discusses ____________. A) unusual ways to advertise products B) types of payment plans for service C) theories about how products affect different levels of society D) how certain elements of a price "package" influence its market value