1、公共英语四级考试试题（三）一、ReadingComprehension（共20小题,共20.0分）Read the following three textsAnswer the questions on each text by choosing A, B, C or D第1题Material culture refers to what can be seen, held, felt, usedwhat a cultureproduces. Examining a cultures tools and technology can tell us about the groups hist
2、ory and way oflife. Similarly, research into the material culture of music can help us to understand the musicculture. The most vivid body of material culture in it, of course, is musicalinstruments. We cannot hear for ourselves the actual sound of any musical performance before the 1870s when the p
3、honograph was invented, so we rely on instruments for important information about music cultures in the remote past and theirdevelopment. Here we have two kinds ofevidence: instruments well preserved and instruments pictured inart. Through the study of instruments, as well as paintings, written docu
4、ments, and so on, we can explore the movement of music from the Near East to China over a thousand years ago, or we can outline the spread of Near Eastern influence to Europe that resulted in the development of most of the instruments in the symphonyorchestra. Sheet music or printed music, too, is m
5、aterialculture. Scholars once defined folk music cultures as those in which people learn and sing music by ear rather than from print, but research shows mutual influence among oral and written sources during the past few centuries in Europe, Britain, andAmerica. Printed versions limit variety becau
6、se they tend to standardize any song, yet they stimulate people to create new and differentsongs. Besides, the ability to read music notation has a far-reaching effect on music and, when it becomes widespread, on the music culture as awhole. One more important part of musics material culture should
7、be singledout: the influence of the electronic mediaradio, record player, tape recorder, television, and videocassette, with the future promising talking and singing computers and otherdevelopments. This is all part of the information revolution, a twentieth-century phenomenon as important as the in
8、dustrial revolution was in thenineteenth. These electronic media are not just limited to modern nations;they have affected music cultures all over theglobe. Research into the material culture of a nation is of great importance because_. A it helps produce new cultural tools and technologyB it can re
9、flect the development of the nation C it helps understand the nations past and present D it can demonstrate the nations civilization【正确答案】 ：C 【本题分数】：1.0分【答案解析】解析 细节题。根据文章第一段第二句“Examining a cultures tools and technology can tell us about the nations history and way oflife.”可知C选项符合原文和题目要求。A、B、D三项文中都未提
10、及，故都不正确。所以应选C。第2题It can be learned from this passage that_. A the existence of the symphony was attributed to the spread of Near Eastern and Chinese music B Near Eastern music had an influence on the development of the instruments in the symphony Orchestra C the development of the symphony shows the
11、 mutual influence of Eastern and Western music D the musical instruments in the symphony orchestra were developed on the basis of Near Eastern music【正确答案】 ：B 【本题分数】：1.0分【答案解析】解析 细节题。B项与第一段最后牛句话意思一致，符合原文和题目要求。其他三项与文章中的论述都不相符，故都不正确。所以应选B。第3题According to the author, music notation is important because_
12、. A it has a great effect on the music culture as more and more people are able to read itB it tends to standardize folk songs when it is used by folk musicians C it is the printed version of standardized folk music D it encourages people to popularize printed versions of songs【正确答案】 ：A 【本题分数】：1.0分【
13、答案解析】解析 细节题。A项符合文章第二段最后一句话的意思，且符合题目要求。其他三项都与原文和题目要求不符，故都不正确。所以应选A。第4题It can be concluded from the passage that the introduction of electronic media into the world of music_. A has brought about an information revolution B has speeded up the appearance of a new generation of computers C has given ris
14、e to new forms of music culture D has led to the transformation of traditional musical instruments【正确答案】 ：C 【本题分数】：1.0分【答案解析】解析 推断题。C符合原文以及题目要求。其他选项都与原文不符。故应选C。第5题Which of the following best summarizes the main idea of the passage?A Musical instruments developed through the years will sooner or late
15、r be replaced bycomputers. B Music cannot be passed on to future generations unless it isrecorded. C Folk songs cannot be spread far unless they are printed on musicsheets.D The development of music culture is highly dependent on its materialaspect.【正确答案】 ：D 【本题分数】：1.0分【答案解析】解析 主旨题。文章是讲音乐文化的发展相当依靠它的
16、物质层面的发展，这与D项的意思一致。A、B、C三项都比较片面。所以应选D。第6题We all know that DNA has the ability to identify individuals but, because it is inherited, there are also regions of the DNA strand which can relate an individual to his or her family （immediate and extended）, tribal group and even an entirepopulation. Molecul
17、ar Genealogy （宗谱学） can use this unique identification provided by the genetic markers to link people together into familytrees. Pedigrees （家谱） based on such genetic markers can mean a break-through for family trees where information is incomplete or missing due to adoption, illegitimacy or lack ofre
18、cords. There are many communities and populations which have lost precious records due to tragic events such as the fire in the Irish courts during Civil War in 1921 or American slaves for whom many records were never kept in the firstplace. The main objective of the Molecular Genealogy Research Gro
19、up is to build a database containing over 100,000 DNA samples from individuals all over theworld. These individuals will have provided a pedigree chart of at least four generations and a small bloodsample. Once the database has enough samples to represent the world genetic make-up, it will eventuall
20、y help in solving many issues regarding genealogies that could not be done by relying only on traditional writtenrecords. Theoretically, any individual will someday be able to trace his or her family origins through thisdatabase. In the meantime, as the database is being created, molecular genealogy
21、 can already verify possible or suspected relationships betweenindividuals. For example, if two men sharing the same last name believe that they are related, but no written record proves this relationship, we can verify this possibility by collecting a sample of DNA from both and looking for common
22、markers （in this case we can look primarily at the Y chromosome （染色体）,explains George Green, a member of the BYU Molecular Genealogy researchteam. People in a large area may possess the same DNA thread because_.A DNA is characteristic of a region B they are beyond doubt of common ancestry C DNA stra
23、nd has the ability to identify individuals D their unique identification can be provided via DNA【正确答案】 ：B 【本题分数】：1.0分【答案解析】解析 理解题。题干是对第一句中的“there are also regions of the DNA strand”的改写。前面提到“DNA具有遗传性”，既然是遗传，那么可以推断出具有同样DNA特征的人必定有同样的祖先。所以应选B。第7题The possible research of family trees is based on the fact
24、 that_. A genetics has achieved a breakthrough B genetic information contained in DNA can be revealed now C each individual carries a unique record of who he is and how he is related to others D we can use DNA to prove how distant an individual is to a family, a group or a population【正确答案】 ：C 【本题分数】
25、：1.0分【答案解析】解析 语义题。基于第一段第二、三句，我们知道遗传标记提供独有的识别特征把人们连接在一起，形成家族树。换句话说，能对家族树进行研究，是因为遗传标记的独有特征可以用来判断一个人的基因身份以及这个人与他人之间的关系。所以正确答案为C。第8题The Molecular Genealogy Research Group is building a database for the purpose of_.A offering assistance in working out genealogy-related problems B solving many issues with
26、out relying on traditional written records C providing a pedigree chart of at least four generations in the world D confirming the assumption that all individuals are of the same origin【正确答案】 ：A 【本题分数】：1.0分【答案解析】解析 细节题。根据第二段中的“help in solving many issues regarding genealogies that could not be done
27、by relying only”可知，建立数据库有助于解决仅靠其他方法不能解决的与宗谱有关的许多问题。所以应选A。第9题If two men suspected for some reason they have a common ancestor, _. A we can decide according to their family tree B we can find the truth from their genetic markers C we can compare the differences in their Y chromosome D we can look for
28、written records to prove their relationship【正确答案】 ：B 【本题分数】：1.0分【答案解析】解析 细节题。根据文章最后一段可知通过采集两个人的DNA样本我们可以证实两个人是否有同样的祖先。因此正确答案为B。第10题Which of the following CANNOT be inferred from the passage?A We are a walking, living, breathing record of ourancestors. B Many American slaves did not know who their an
29、cestorswere.C An adopted child generally lacks enough information to prove hisidentity. D Molecular genealogy can be used to prove a relationship betweenindividuals.【正确答案】 ：C 【本题分数】：1.0分【答案解析】解析 推断题。文章说他们与家族树的关系是基因特征而不是其他因素决定的，可见C与原文不符。故应选C。第11题It was 3:12a.m. when nine-year-old Glenn Kreamer awoke
30、to the smell ofburning. Except for the crackling of flames somewhere below there was not a sound in the two-storey house at Baldwin, LongIsland. With his father away on night duty at a local factory, Glenn was worried about the safety of his mother, his sister Karen, 14 and his 12-year-old brotherTo
31、dd. He ran downstairs through the smoke filled house to push and pull at Karen and Todd until they satup. Then he helped each one through the house to the safety of thegarden. There, his sister and brother, taking short and quick breaths and coughing, collapsed on thelawn. The nine-year-old raced back into the house and upstairs to his mothersroom. He found it impossible to wake herup.Mrs. Kreamer, a victim of the smoke, was unconscious, and there was nobody to help Glenn carry
