英语四级真题阅读题

　　2012年英语四级真题阅读题 Section A

英语四级真题阅读题

　　Directions: In this section, there is a passage with ten blanks. You are required to select one word for each blank from a list of choices given in a ward bank Read the passage through carefully before making your choices Each choice in the bank is identified by a letter. Please mark the corresponding letter for each them on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once.

　　Questions 47 to 56 are based on the following passage,

　　One in six. Believe it or not, that’s the number of Americans who struggle with hanger To make tomorrow a little better, Feeding Action Month. As part of its 30 Ways in 30 Days program, It’s asking 48 across the country to help the more than 200 food banks and 61,000 agencies in its network provide low-income individuals and families with the fuel they need to 49 .

　　It’s the kind of work that’s done every day at St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in San Antonio, People who 50 at its front door on the first and third Thursdays of each month aren’t looking for God-they’re there for something to eat, St. Andrew’s runs a food pantry(食品堂)that 51 the city and several of the 52 towns. Janet Drane is its manager.

　　In the wake of the 53 .the number of families in need of food assistance began to grow. It is 54 that 49 million Americans are unsure of where they will find their next meal What’s most surprising is that 36% of them live in 55 where at least one adult is working.“It used to be that one job was all you needed.” says St. Andrew’s Drane.“The people we see now have three or four part-time jobs and they’re still right on the edge 56 .”

　　注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。

　 A)survive I)formally

　　B) surrounding J)financially

　　C)serves K)domestic

　　D)reviewed L)competition

　　E)reported M)communities

　　F)recession N)circling

　　G)households O)accumulate

　　H)gather

　　Section B

　　Directions: there are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements For each of them there are four choices marked A),B),C) and D).You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheer 2 with a single line through the centre.

　　Passage One

　　Questions 57 to 61 are based on the following passage.

　　In times of economic crisis. Americans turn to their families for support. If the Great Depression is any guide, we may see a drop in our skyhigh divorce rate. But this won’t necessarily represent. an increase in happy marriages. In the long run, the Depression weakened American families, and the current crisis will probably do the same.

　　We tend to think of the Depression as a time when families pulled together to survive huge job losses, By 1932. when nearly one-quarter of the workforce was unemployed, the divorce rate had declined by around 25% from 1929 But this doesn’t mean people were suddenly happier with their marriages. Rather, with incomes decreasing and insecure jobs, unhappy couples often couldn’t afford to divorce. They feared neither spouse could manage alone.

　　Today, given the job losses of the past year, fewer unhappy couples will risk starting separate households, Furthermore, the housing market meltdown will make it more difficult for them to finance their separations by selling their homes.

　　After financial disasters family members also tend to do whatever they can to help each other and their communities, A 1940 book. The Unemployed Man and His Family, described a family in which the husband initially reacted to losing his job “with tireless search for work.”He was always active, looking for odd jobs to do.

　　The problem is that such an impulse is hard to sustain Across the country, many similar families were unable to maintain the initial boost in morale(士气). For some, the hardships of life without steady work eventually overwhelmed their attempts to keep their families together. The divorce rate rose again during the rest of the decade as the recovery took hold.

　　Millions of American families may now be in the initial stage of their responses to the current crisis, working together and supporting one another through the early months of unemployment.

　　Today’s economic crisis could well generate a similar number of couples whose relationships have been irreparably(无法弥补地)ruined. So it’s only when the economy is healthy again that we’ll begin to see just how many broken families have been created.

　　注意：此部分试题请在答题卡2上作答。

　　57.In the initial stage, the current economic crisis is likely to __________.

　　A)tear many troubled families apart

　　B)contribute to enduring family ties

　　C)bring about a drop in the divorce rate

　　D)cause a lot of conflicts in the family

　　58.In the Great Depression many unhappy couples close to stick together because

　　A)starting a new family would be hard

　　B)they expected things would turn better

　　C)they wanted to better protect their kids

　　D)living separately would be too costly

　　59.In addition to job losses. What stands in the way of unhappy couples getting a divorce?