2016下半年英語四級考試閲讀理解衝刺練習

2016年12月英語四級考試將在12月17日舉行，對於英語四級考試閲讀分數佔比還是不小的，以下是yjbys網小編整理的關於英語四級考試閲讀理解衝刺練習，供大家備考。

No one knows when the first calendar was developed. But it seems possible that it was based on lunar months. When people started farming, the sages of the tribes became very important, they studied the sky and gathered enough information to be able to predict when the seasons would change, and were able to announce when it was time to plant crops.

The divisions of time we use today were developed in ancient Babylonia 4,000 years lonian astronomers believed the sun moved around the Earth every 365 divided the trip into 12 equal parts, each with 30 days. Then they divided each day into 24 equal parts, or hours, and divided each hour into 60 minutes, each minute into 60 seconds.

Humans have used many devices to measure time; the sundial (日晷) was one of the earliest and simplest. However, the sundial worked well only when the weather was fine, so other ways of measuring the passing of time were invented. One device was the hourglass(沙漏). By the eighteenth century, people had developed mechanical clocks and watches. So we have devices to mark the passing of time, but what time is it now? Clocks in different parts of the world do not show the same time at the same time, because time on Earth is set by the sun’s positions in the sky above us. As international communications and travel grew, it became clear that a way to establish a common time for all parts of the world was needed. In 1884, an international conference divided the world into 24 time zones, each zone represents one hour. The astronomical observatory in Greenwich, England, was chosen as the starting point for the time zones. Twelve zones are west of Greenwich. Twelve are east. The time at Greenwich measured by the sun is considered by astronomers to be Universal Time, also known as Greenwich Mean Time.

57. Which of the following is the best title for this passage?

A) The Development of Universal Time.

B) Different Ways to Measure Time.

C) Why We Measure Time the Way We do.

D) How the Calendar Came into being.

58. What does the example of Babylonia astronomers reveal?

A) It reveals Babylonians’wisdom that was absent elsewhere.

B) It reveals the origin of our time measurements.

C) It reveals the limits of sometime measurements.

D) It reveals the stability of time measurements.

59. The author mentions all of the following ways to measure time EXCEPT .

A) sundial B) hourglass C) electric clock D) mechanical clock

60. According to the passage, Greenwich Mean Time .

A) provides a common time for all parts of the world

B) is calculated from the sun

C) is the 12th of the 24 time zones

D) was named after an international conference

61. With which of the following statements would the author be most likely to agree?

A) Time measurements have changed in response to need and technological development.

B) In ancient Babylonia, 12 was the basic division of time.

C) The first calendar was developed because the sages of tribes were intelligent.

D) Universal Time is so named because it is applicable throughout the universe.

Passage Two

Questions 62 to 66 are based on the following passage.

For many years, scientists couldn’t figure out how atoms and molecules on the Earth combined to make living things. Plants, fish, dinosaurs, and people are made of atoms and molecules, but they are put together in a more complicated way than the molecules in the primitive ocean. What’s more, living things have energy and can reproduce, while the chemicals on the Earth 4 billion years ago were lifeless.

After years of study, scientists figured out that living things, including human bodies, are basically made of amino acids and nucleotide bases. These are molecules with millions of hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen atoms. How could such complicated molecules have been formed in the primitive soup? Scientists were stumped.

Then, in 1953, two scientists named Harold Urey and Stanley L. Miller did a very simple experiment to find out what had happened on the Primitive Earth. They set up some tubes and bottles in a closed loop, and put in some of the same gases that were present in the atmosphere 4 billion years ago: water vapor, ammonia, carbon dioxide, methane, and hydrogen.

Then they shot an electric spark through the gases to simulate bolts of lightning on the ancient Earth, circulated the gases through some water, sent them back for more sparks, and so on. After seven days, the water that the gases had been bubbling through had turned brown. Some new chemicals were dissolved in it. When Miller and Urey analyzed the liquid, they found that it contained amino acids—the very kind of molecules found in all living things.

62. When did scientists come to realize how the atoms and molecules on the Earth combined to make living thing?

A) 4 billion years ago. B) In 1953.

C) After seven days. D) Many years later.

63. Scientists figured out that human bodies are basically made of .

A) amino acids

B) molecules

C) hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen and oxygen atoms

D) water vapor, ammonia, carbon dioxide, methane and hydrogen

64. Harold Urey and Stanley er did their experiment in order to .

A) find out what had happened on the Earth 4 billion years ago

B) simulate bolts of lightning on the ancient Earth

C) dissolve some new chemicals

D) analyze a liquid

65. At the end of the last paragraph, the word “it” refers to .

A) a closed loop B) an electric spark C) water D) the liquid

　　答案與解析：

Passage One

57. C 主旨題本文共三段。第一段講日曆起源之因;第二段講作為現代時間概念的基礎，古巴比倫如何劃分年月日時分秒;第三段提及先後出現的測量時間的各種工具，並講述“世界時”如何順應時代發展而產生。A)，B)和D)項都只概括了本文的部分內容，只有C)項是對全文的總結。

58. B 綜合判斷題C)項在文章中沒有提及,D)項不正確。本文的主題是計時方式的發展，並未強調某個民族智慧過人，A)項也不正確。

59. C 細節題根據題幹可定位於第三段前半部分，答案是C。

60. B 細節題解題依據是“The time at Greenwich measured by the sun is…”。不過考生不一定留意了這個後置定語。相反，受“Twelve zones are west of Greenwich. Twelve are east.”的影響，可能會誤選C)項。其實，這裏是24個時區的“the starting point”,也就是第一個時區。

61. A 綜合判斷題C)項提到的日曆出現就是其中一個例證，第三段還提到sundial, hourglass, mechanical clocks and watches和Greenwich Mean Time的出現，這都是隨着人類社會發展的需要出現的`。C)項錯在將日曆出現歸因於一小部分人的高智商，真正的原因其實是“When people started farming…”。此外，Universal Time並非全宇宙通用，它只適用於全球24個時區，故D)項也不正確。

Passage Two

62. B 細節題從文中第三段可知：“Then, in 1953, two scientists…did a very simple experiment to find out what had happened on the Primitive Earth.”這説明從1953年起，人類才開始弄明白地球上的生物是怎樣由原子和分子結合而產生的。因此B)是正確選項。

63. A 細節題答案從第二段開頭可直接找到：“…， scientists figured out that living things, including human bodies, are basically made of amino acids and nucleotide bases.”

64. A 細節題答案第三段中直接給出：“…， Harold. Urey and Stanley L. Miller did a very simple experiment to find out what had happened on the Primitive Earth.” 緊接着作者又指出是在“…4 billion years ago…”。

65. D 語義辨析題見原文最後一句話：“When Miller and Urey analyzed the liquid, they found that it contained…”。“當米勒和尤里對液體進行分析時，他們發現它包含有……”。很明顯it指的就是從句裏的liquid。