英语四级阅读理解训练和答案
living expenses. She has a scholarship from Columbia that covers just $4,000 a year and has
taken out loans to pay for the rest. She worries that she will spend years paying back her student
loans and not have money left over to put away in an IRA. Wheeler is wondering what she can
do to ease the pain of being in debt. Is there anything she can do to handle the debt?
The good news is that in 2007, Congress recognized that there were so many students in
Wheeler's position that it passed the College Cost Reduction and Access Act. There were two
programs established by this act that Wheeler should look into.
The first is the income-based repayment plan, which allows lower-income graduates with a
lot of debt to reduce their monthly payments. Depending on a graduate's income and level of
debt, the program, which goes into effect July 1, could limit his or her annual educational loan
debt repayment to 15 percent of discretionary income(可随意支配的收入),said Peter Mazareas,
vice charman of the College Saving Foundation.
The second is the public service loan forgiveness plan, in which the federal government will
forgive the remaining debt of borrowers who make 10-year loan payment while working full time
in public-service jobs. But the graduate must have a certain loan which is listed in the plan.
Depending on the level of debt Wheeler ends up with and how much she repays over 10 years,
Mazareas said she could end up with about $75,000 of her debt forgiven. " Tipically, it is projected
that a borrower who performs public service under this program will repay only about one-fourth
to one-half as much money as a borrower who does not", he said. He also pointed out that public
service is broadly defined and includes any government and nonprofit organization job.
1. How much debt will Erin Wheeler be probably in when she graduate?
A. $ 8,000
B.$ 50,000
C. $75,000
D. $92,000
2. Which of the following is true about the College Reduction and Access Act?
A. The programs in the act take effect in 2008.
B.The act aims to help college students who are in debt.
C.There are two helpful programs in the act.
D. The graduates who work in public service benefit the most.
3. How can people benefit from the first plan mentioned in the passage?
A. The interest of the debt will be lowered.
B. The total amount of debt could be reduced.
C. The income tax will be cut down.
D.People will have more time to pay back the debt.
4. Why does the author say Erin wheeler should look into the second plan in the act?
A. Because she will be heavily in debt upon graduation.
B.Because she will have a master degree.
C. Because she plans to work in public service.
D. Because she has borrowed money from the federal government.
5. What's the main idea of the passage?
A. The total expense in American universities is too high.
B. There are a lot of different programs to help students pay their tution.
C. The US government encourages students to choose public service jobs.
D.The federal government is trying to relieve graduates from heavy debt.
1-5: DBDCD
1. D推理判断题。由题干中的in debt定位到第一段第三、四句。此处说，她每年连生活费总共的开 销是5万美元，她需要两年的时间拿到硕士学位，也就是说一共需要10万美元。每年她的奖学金 有4千美元，去掉后总共还余9.2方美元。文章说，这部分钱她都是通过贷款还支付的，也就是说 她欠债共达9. 2方臭元。故D为正确答案。
2. B事实细节题。由题干中的the College Cost Reduction and Access Act定位到第二段第一句。本 句说因为国会意识到有很多学生的处境和惠勒一样，才会通过这个法案。由第一段的描述可 知，惠?正处在负债读书的处境。因此B“法案旨在帮助那些负债的学生”为正确答案。第三段提 到法案在7月i曰生效，应该是2007年，M以排除A;文章提到了法案中的两个方案，但并不能说 法案中就只有两个方案，故排除C;同祥，文章说从事公共服务行业的毕业生可以享受很大幅度的 贷款减免，但并不能就下结论说从事公共服务行业的学生受益最大，故排除D。
3. D事实细节题-由题干中的the first plan定位到第三段。本段说:方案允许低收入而且负债高的 学生降低每月还款的额度。并且把每月的还款额降低到个人可支配收入的15%之内。这样，借贷 人每个月的还款额度减小了，但同时也意味着还款时间延长了。因此D为正确答案。文章没有提 到贷款利息和收入税是否降低，故排除A和C;而总数减免是第二个方案的计划，故排除B。
4. C事实细节题。由题干中的the second plan定位到第四段。第二个方案中，政府对从事公共服务 行业的毕业生给予了大幅度的减免，而文章第一段第一句又提到了惠勒打算从事公共服务性行业 的工作。因此C“她打算从事公共服务性行业的工作”正确。A“负债高，，是第一个方案的照顾条件， 故排除;第四段在介绍第二个方案的内容时，没有提到硕士学位这一要求，排除B;文章第一段只说 惠勒借了贷款，没有说贷款是否是政府提供，故排除D。
5. D主旨大意题。文章自第二段起，就在介绍美国国会在2007年通过的《降低大学学费和扩大人学 机会法案》，因此文章的主要内容是D“联邦政府正在努力地减轻大学毕业生的负债压力”。虽然第 一段以惠勒为例说明大学费用很高，但这是为了引出下文中的法案。本文的主要内容不是A“美国 大学学费很高”，故排除;文章只提到了学生通过获取奖学金和贷款来支付学费，与B中的“很多方 案”不符，而且学生支付学费的途径也不是文章的主要内容，故排除在文章中提到了两个方案 中，只有第四段中的第二个方案与公共性服务行业有关，因此不能说c“美国政府鼓励毕业生从事公共性服务行业”为全文的主要内容，故排除。
Questions 56 to 60 are based on the following passage.
Junk food is everywhere. We're eating way too much of it. Most of us know what we're doing andyet we do it anyway.
So here's a suggestion offered by two researchers at the Rand Corporation: Why not take a lessonfrom alcohol control policies and apply them to where food is sold and how it's displayed?
"Many policy measures to control obesity (肥胖症) assume that people consciously and rationallychoose what and how much they eat and therefore focus on providing information and more accessto healthier foods," note the two researchers.
"In contrast," the researchers continue, "many regulations that don't assume people makerational choices have been successfully applied to control alcohol, a substance - like food - ofwhich immoderate consumption leads to serious health problems."
The research references studies of people's behavior with food and alcohol and results of alcoholrestrictions, and then lists five regulations that the researchers think might be promising if applied tojunk foods. Among them:
Density restrictions: licenses to sell alcohol aren't handed out unplanned to all comers but areallotted (分配) based on the number of places in an area that already sell alcohol. These makealcohol less easy to get and reduce the number of psychological cues to drink.
Similarly, the researchers say, being presented with junk food stimulates our desire to eat it. Sowhy not limit the density of food outlets, particularly ones that sell food rich in empty calories? Andwhy not limit sale of food in places that aren't primarily food stores?
Display and sales restrictions: California has a rule prohibiting alcohol displays near the cashregisters in gas stations, and in most places you can't buy alcohol at drive-through facilities. Atsupermarkets, food companies pay to have their wares in places where they're easily seen. Onecould remove junk food to the back of the store and ban them from the shelves at checkout lines.The other measures include restricting portion sizes, taxing and prohibiting special price deals forjunk foods, and placing warning labels on the products.
注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答
56. What is the general guideline the Rand researchers suggest about junk food control?
A) Guiding people to make rational choices about food.
B) Enhancing people's awareness of their own health.
C) Borrowing ideas from alcohol control measures.
D) Resorting to economic, legal and psychological means.
57. What does the author say about junk food?
A) People should be educated not to eat too much.
B) It is widely consumed despite its ill reputation.
C) Its temptation is too strong for people to resist.
D) It causes more harm than is generally realized.
58. What do the Rand researchers think of many of the policy measures to control obesity?
A) They should be implemented effectively.
B) They provide misleading information.
C) They are based on wrong assumptions.
D) They help people make rational choices.
59. Why do policymakers of alcohol control place density restrictions?
A) Few people are able to resist alcohol's temptations.
B) There are already too many stores selling alcohol.
C) Drinking strong alcohol can cause social problems.
D) Easy access leads to customers' over-consumption.
60. What is the purpose of California's rule about alcohol display in gas stations?
A) To effectively limit the density of alcohol outlets.
B) To help drivers to give up the habit of drinking.
C) To prevent possible traffic jams in nearby areas.
D) To get alcohol out of drivers' immediate sight.
56. C. They love what they do and choose not to retire.
57. A. Neither of them is subject to forced retirement.
58. D. Working at an advanced age lengthens people's life.
59. C. It is a compensation for one's life-long hard work.
60. D. They prevent young people from getting ahead.
【点评】
本文出自Newsweek的文章‘Nevertirees’: Elderly Americans Who Refuse to Retire。Newsweek是美国知名媒体，历年四六级考试中，不少阅读文章选自于此。建议考生平时经常浏览这类外国主流网站，熟悉英语国家人士的行文表达习惯，以便做阅读时胸有成竹。
本篇阅读涉及的是美国的新兴社会现象——老年人不愿退休。文章谈论了一群老人，他们年富力强时在事业上成就斐然，甚至到了古稀之年，对工作依旧热情不减。这种现象一方面体现出人们对待退休的态度有所转变; 另一方面，该现象也遭来了批判之声：老年人占着工作岗位，给年轻一代职业生涯设下了障碍。
文章本身话题比较新颖，词汇及语篇理解方面的难度不大。但不少答案定位点都需要考生具有较强的英文理解力。五道题目中，只有第三题考查的是细节推断，其余四题均考查细节归纳。由此可见，该篇阅读重点考查获取目标信息的能力。考生必须在有限的时间内，迅速过滤掉无关信息，定位于目标信息(即考题答案所在位置)，结合上下文，作出正确判断。总的来说，考生须在平时多读英语原版文章，熟悉英语文章的构架、表达，才能在考场游刃有余。