2011年英语专业四级考试:考前冲刺每日练习(3)
In this section there are several reading passages followed by twenty questions or unfinished statements, each with four suggested answers marked A, B, C and D. Choose the one that you think is the best answer.
Mark your answers on Answer Sheet Two.
TEXT A
When I was a child in Bra in Italy, hardly any mothers had a job, grandmothers lived with their children and grandchildren, and lunch and dinner were rites (仪式) you couldn’t miss. Even if the world was collapsing around you, you would go home at a set time, sit down at the table and eat a full meal fondly prepared by the women of the house. Most ingredients came from local markets, though a lot of the vegetables were grown directly in our allotments, and meat came from animals raised by friends or acquaintances. The most "exotic" foods were bought at the neighborhood grocer’s shop.
This typically Italian family scene has changed radically. In the 1960s and 1970s, the advent of supermarkets and cheap, mass-produced food swathed community-based economies. The boom years brought new freedom and money to spend, on food but also on leisure. Women were emancipated at last and started to go out to work. Convenience foods were all the rage. Home-baked cakes and handmade pasta were out; factory-produced replicas were in. In the late 1980s, food processing became an out-and-out revolution. In the subsequent loss of domestic and artisanal (手工制作的 ) savoir-faire, traditional produce and biodiversity were threatened.
The food production revolution that transformed Europe and North America meant more and cheaper food for all. But there were negative effects, too: environmental harm and a loss of cultural identity. Now that emerging nations are following in our footsteps, the downside is evident. If we can’t force those countries who are starting to glimpse emancipation from poverty to avoid our bad examples, we can at least propose more sustainable models of producing food.
It is important to trigger the virtuous processes that lead to food that tastes great, is ecologically benign, and is produced and consumed in a way that is fair to all. We must look to the past. We need to learn from what we have forgotten or set aside in the name of modernity. The values of rural societies are the values we have to restore to our food, and hence to our culture.
These values teach us that food is better when it is fresh and seasonal, when it is produced close to home, and when it is eaten with the people we love. I’m not advocating a return to the family scene of my childhood; such environments were often indicative of poverty and social backwardness. And going back to the old days would force women back into the kitchen. But we can find ideas in the past that we might apply in our increasingly complex society, and so ensure a serene future for ourselves and the earth.
Food is central to our lives. It would be wrong to turn it into nothing more than a fuel enabling us to move faster, hence accelerating the consumption of the earth and its resources. In fact, it would be the worst mistake we could ever make.
81, We can learn from the beginning of the passage
A. women were not willing to go out for work in the past.
B. families ate lunch at a fixed time at home.
C. most of the vegetables people ate were produced by themselves.
D. foods sold in the grocer’s shop were rare and fresh.
82. "out-and-out" in Paragraph Two means
A. complete.
B. successful.
C. controversial.
D. futile.
83. Which of the following statements about changes that took place after 1960s is INCORRECT?
A. There were more supermarkets and food was cheap.
B. Women were freed from house chores and began to work.
C. Home-baked cakes and handmade pasta disappeared.
D. Traditional produce was threatened due to environmental pollution.
84. We can learn from Paragraph 5 thatwww.ExamW.CoM
A. the author felt disappointed at the food production revolution.
B. food is most delicious when it is fresh and homemade.
C. the author would rather go back to his childhood.
D. applying ideas in the past to modern society would do us good.
85. The main purpose of the passage is
A. to describe the Italian tradition.
B. to explain the needs of modern food processing.
C. to raise concern about sustainable food-producing.
D. to persuade parents to make more homemade food.
答案及解析:
【文章概要】
本文探讨了吃维生素片对身体健康的影响。首段描述维生素片神话的破灭:一直认为吃维生素片有益身体健康的观念被最近的研究所推翻;第2段用研究数据证明吃维生素片不能带给人们健康的体魄;第3段分析过去吃维生素片风靡一时的原因以及吃维生素片不能替代在日常饮食中摄取的营养;第4段介绍并分析维生素C是否能防治感冒:第5—6段阐释大多数人对维生素片的观点:对健康无益也无害;末段提出专家们的见解:食物中含有的维生素有利于身体健康,而维生素片却像毒品一样对身体有害。
【答案解析】
81.[D]细节判断题。定位到第1段。根据第l段最后一句可知,最近的研究表明每天服用维生素片无疑是浪费金钱。甚至有害健康。故选项D符合题意。而选项A“银行是可靠的”、B“房价是稳定的”、C“维他命是有益健康的”只不过是大多数人认为而已,因此排除。
82.[B]细节判断题。考查维生素缺乏的原因,定位到第3段。根据第3段首句可知,补充维生素在20世纪早期开始流行,因为这个时候很多人都无法摄人多样化的水果和蔬菜,故选项8符合题意。
83.[B]词义理解题。第4段指出很多人认为维生素C能预防感冒,但各种研究得出的结果令人失望:维生素片不能预防感冒。因此文中ward off与B选项的意义最接近,故选B。
84.[C]观点态度题。考查专家们对食用维生素片的看法,定位到最后一段。文章末段指出专家们认为食用食物中维生素是安全的,但是维生素片就有可能有害身体健康。因此C选项正确。
85.[D]细节判断题。从全文的描述来看,作者试图告诉我们,吃维生素片不是通常人们所想象的那样对身体有益,而会造成不良后果。因此选项D符合题意。文章第2段末句提到,吃维生素片的人并没有比不吃维生素片的人健康。因此B错误。第6段末句提到,大剂量吃某种维生素可能引发心脏病,选项C误读了该句。