英语四级仔细阅读练习题4
An industrial society, especially one as centralized and concentrated as that of Britain, is heavily dependent on certain essential services: for instance, electricity supply, water, rail and road transport, the harbors. The area of dependency has widened to include removing rubbish, hospital and ambulance services, and, as the economy develops, central computer and information services as well. If any of these services ceases to operate, the whole economic system is in danger.
It is this economic interdependency of the economic system which makes the power of trade unions (工会)such an important issue. Single trade unions have the ability to cut off many countries' economic blood supply.
This can happen more easily in Britain than in some other countries, in part because the labor force is highly organized. About 55 percent of British workers belong to unions, compared to under a quarter in the United States.
For historical reasons, Britain's unions have tended to develop along trade (行业) and occupational lines, rather than on an industry-by-industry basis, which makes a wages policy, democracy in industry and the improvement of procedures for fixing wage levels difficult to achieve.
There are considerable strains and tensions in the trade union movement, some of them arising from their outdated and inefficient structure. Some unions have lost many members because of their industrial changes.
Others are involved in arguments about who should represent workers in new trades. Unions for skilled trades are separate from general unions, which means that different levels of wages for certain jobs are often a source of bad feelings between unions. In traditional trades which are being pushed out of existence by advancing technologies,unions can fight for their members' disappointing jobs to the point where the jobs of other union members are threatened or destroyed. The printing of newspapers both in the United States and in Britain has frequently been halted by the efforts of printers to hold on to their traditional highly-paid jobs.
Trade unions have problems of internal communication just as managers in companies do, problems which multiply in very large unions or in those which bring workers in very different industries together into a single general union. Some trade union officials have to be re-elected regularly; others are elected, or even appointed, for life. Trade union officials have to work with a system of "shop stewards" (工厂工人代表) in many unions, "shop stewards" being workers elected by other workers as their representatives at factory or work level.
56. Why is the trade union power crucial in Britain?
A. Because the economy is very interdependent.
B. Because the unions have been established a long time.
C. Because there are more unions in Britain than elsewhere.
D. Because there are many essential services offered by the unions.
57. Because of their out-of-date organization, some unions find it difficult to __________.
A. bargain for high enough wages
B. get new members to join
C. learn new technologies
D. change as industries change
58. Disagreements arise between unions because some of them__________.
A. try to win over members of other unions
B. ignore agreements
C. protect their own members at the expense of others
D. take over other unions' jobs
59. Why does the author compare the trade unions with managers in companies?
A. They are both influential in company affairs.
B. They both face problems of internal communication.
C. They both work with a system of "shop stewards".
D. They both work efficiently.
60. The title which best expresses the idea of the text would be __________.
A. British Trade Unions and Their Drawbacks
B. A Centralized and Concentrated Society
C. The Power of Trade Unions in Britain
D. The Structure of British Trade Unions
Passage Two
Questions 61 to 65 are based on the following passage.
One of the most interesting paradoxes in America today is that Harvard University, the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States, is now engaged in a serious debate about what a university should be, and whether it is measuring up (符合标准).
Like the Roman Catholic Church and other ancient institutions, it is asking--still in private rather than in public--whether its past assumptions about faculty, authority, admissions, courses of study, are really relevant to the problems of our society.
Should Harvard--or any other university--be an intellectual sanctuary, apart from the political and social revolution of the age, or should it be a laboratory for experimentation with these political and social revolutions; or even an engine of the revolution? This is what is being discussed privately in the big clapboard ( 楔形板) houses of faculty members around the Harvard Yard.
The issue was defined by Walter Lippmann, a distinguished Harvard graduate, many years ago.
"If the universities are to do their work," he said, "they must be independent and they must be disinterested... They are places to which men can turn for unbiased judgments. Obviously, the moment the universities fall under political control, or under the control of private interests, or the moment they themselves take a hand in politics and the leadership of government, their value as independent and disinterested sources of judgment is impaired..."
This is part of the argument that is going on at Harvard today. Another part is the argument of the militant and even many moderated students: that a university is the keeper of our ideals and morals, and should not be "disinterested" but activist in bringing the Nation's ideals and actions together.
Harvard's men of today seem more troubled and less sure about personal, political and academic purpose than they did at the beginning. They are not even clear about how they should debate and resolve their problems, but they are struggling with them privately, and how they come out is bound to influence American university and political life in the 21st century.
61. A "paradox"(Line 1, Paragraph 1 ) is__________.
A. an unusual situation
B. a parenthetical expression
C. a difficult puzzle
D. a self-contradiction
62. The word "sanctuary", in paragraph 3 refers to __________.
A. a holy place dedicated to a certain god
B. a temple or nnnnery of the middle age
C. a certain place you can hide in and avoid mishaps
D. an academy for intelligent people
63. The issues in the debate on Harvard's goals are whether the universities should remain independent of our society and its problems, and whether they should __________.
A. fight off militarism
B. exert greater influence upon the young generation
C. take an active part in solving the society's ills
D. reconsider the structure of institutes and departments
64. In regard to their goals and purposes in life, the author believes that Harward men are becoming __________.
A. more sure about them
B. less sure about them
C. more hopeful of reaching a satisfactory answer
D. less interested in them
65. In the author's judgment, the ferment going on at Harvard__________.
A. will influence the future of America
B. will soon be over, because times are bound to change
C. is of interest mostly to Harvard men and their friends
D. is a sad symbol of our general bewilderment
【答案解析】
56.A
定位：根据题干信息thetrade union power和crucial可将答案定位到第二段第一句。
解析：该句提到：“正是由于经济体系内各种经济因素相互依赖(this economic interdependency of the economic system)，才使得工会权力成为如此重要的问题。”选项A符合题意。
57.D
定位：根据题干信息out-of-date organization可将答案定位到第三段第一句。
解析：第三段开头处提到：“工会运动面临许多限制和压力，其中一些源于工会本身落后而低效的结构。由于产业调整，一些工会已经失去了很多成员。另外一些工会则面临一系列争论：新的行业中究竟由谁来代表工人?”可见由于其落后的结构，工会适应不了产业的变化和调整。故D为正确答案。
58.C
定位：根据题干信息disagreements arise between unions可将答案定位到第三段第四句。
解析：该句提到：“技术性行业的工会跟一般意义上的工会是分离的，这意味着，某些工作薪金水平的不同通常会在各工会之间引发摩擦。”可见differentlevels ofwagesfor certainjobs是引发矛盾的一大原因，但在四个选项中找不到意思相近的表述。我们继续向下寻读即可发现下一句中提到：“传统的行业正逐渐被先进的技术所替代，在这些行业里，工会会为其成员渺无前景的工作努力抗争，使其他工会成员的工作也受到威胁或者破坏。”也就是说，一些工会会为了保护自己成员的利益而牺牲其他工会成员的利益。故选项C为正确答案。
59.B
定位：根据题干信息managersin companies可将答案定位到最后一段第一句。
解析：该句提到：“和公司中的经理们一样，工会内部也同样面，临着交流问题二在那些大型工会或者聚集了不同行业工人的工会里，这些问题成倍增加。”可见，工会和经理们的共同点就是在其内部存在着沟通不畅的问题，故选B。
60.A
定位：根据题干信息词tire可知解答本题需通现全文。
解析：本题问选项中最适合做文章题目的是哪一项，考查的是全文的主旨。从全文的内容看，文章主要阐述了英国工会的状况及其存在的问题。故应选A。最具迷惑性的是D项The Structure ofBritishTrade Unions，但其只提到英国工会的结构，而没有概括其存在的问题，故不够全面。
【答案解析】
61.D
定位：根据题干信息词paradox可将答案定位到第一段第一句。
解析：paradox意为“person，thingor situationdisplaying contradictoryfeatures(有矛盾特点的人、事物或情况)”。文章第一段提到：“美国现今最有趣的一个——是，作为美国高等教育历史最悠久的大学，哈佛大学正在进行一场严峻的争论，争论围绕的中心问题是大学究竟应该是什么样的，而哈佛大学又是否符合条件。”作为大学却对自身的合理性、存在的意义产生了疑问，不能不说是一种自相矛盾。故答案选D。
62.C
定位：根据题干信息“sanctuary”in paragraph 3可将答案定位到第三段第一行。
解析：sanctuary本意是“圣殿”，在中世纪一般是指某些教堂或者修道院，可以充当躲避任何政府惩罚’和迫害的避难所。引申义即是：一个人们可以躲进去以避过灾祸的地方。文中使用的就是这个意思。
从该词后面的apartfromthepolitical and social revolution ofthe age我们也能得出一些线索。故选C。
63.C
定位：根据题干信息issuesinthedebateonHarvard’sgoals，andwhetllermeyshould可将答案定位到第三段。
解析：关于哈佛大学办学的宗旨，第三段提出了三种可能：“哈佛大学(或者其他大学)是否应该也是知识分子的避难所;或者，它是否应该成为一个进行政治和社会变革实验的实验室;或者，它是否甚至应该成为改革的动力?”三者在大学参与社会问题的程度问题上逐渐深入。其实，大学是应该独立于社会问题之外，保持其公平性，还是应该在解决社会问题中起积极作用才是文中人们探讨的核心问题，也是贯穿文章始终的主旨。故选C。
64.B
定位：根据题干信息goals and purposes in life，Harvard men are becoming可将答案定位到文章最后一段。
解析：文章最后提到：“如今，哈佛人似乎今非昔比，他们面临更多困惑，对自身的定位、政治的和学术的目标也没有当初那么明确了。”不难发现答案为B。
65.A
定位：根据题于信息me author’s judgment可将答案定位到文章最后一段。
解析：文章大部分都在转述他人的观点，作者只在最后对所探讨的问题表述了自己的观点：无论最终的结果怎样，都注定将影响21世纪美国的大学和政治生活。故选A。