大學英語四級仔細閱讀理解訓練題

　　下面是小編整理的，希望對大家有幫助。

　　Among the more colorful characters of Leadville’s golden age were H.A.W.Tabor and his second wife, Elizabeth McCourt, better known as “Baby Doe”. Their history is fast becoming one of the legends of the Old West. Horace Austin Warner Tabor was a school teacher in Vermont. With his first wife and two children he left Vermont by covered wagon in 1855 to homestead in Kansas. Perhaps he did not find farming to his liking, or perhaps he was lured by rumors of fortunes to be made in Colorado mines. At any rate, a few years later he moved west to the small Colorado mining camp known as California Gulch, which he later renamed Leadville when he became its leading citizen. “Great deposits of lead are sure to be found here.” he said.

　　As it turned out, it was silver, not lead, that was to make Leadville’s fortune and wealth. Tabor knew little about mining himself, so he opened a general store, which sold everything from boots to salt, flour, and tobacco.『It was his custom to “grubstake” prospective miners, in other words, to supply them with food and supplies, or“grub”, while they looked for ore, in return for which he would get a share in the mine if one was discovered.』①He did this for a number of years, but no one that he aided ever found anything of value.

　　Finally one day in the year 1878, so the story goes, two miners came in and asked for “grub”. Tabor had decided to quit supplying it because he had lost too much money that way. These were persistent, however, and Tabor was too busy to argue with them. “Oh help yourself. One more time won’t make any difference,” He said and went on selling shoes and hats to other customers. The two miners took $17 worth of supplies, in return for which they gave Tabor a one-third interest in their findings. They picked a barren place on the mountain side and began to dig. After nine days they struck a rich vein of silver. Tabor bought the shares of the other two men, and so the mine belonged to him alone. This mine, known as the “Pittsburgh Mine,” made 1 300 000 for Tabor in return for his $17 investment.

　　Later Tabor bought the Matchless Mine on another barren hillside just outside the town for $117 000. This turned out to be even more fabulous than the Pittsburgh, yielding $35 000 worth of silver per day at one time. Leadville grew. Tabor became its first mayor, and later became lieutenant governor of the state.

　　1.Leadville got its name for the following reasons EXCEPT.

　　A.because Tabor became its leading citizen

　　B.because great deposits of lead is expected to be found there

　　C.because it could bring good fortune to Tabor

　　D.because it was renamed

　　2.The word “grubstake” in paragraph 2 means.

　　A.to supply miners with food and supplies

　　B.to open a general store

　　C.to do one’s contribution to the development of the mine

　　D.to supply miners with food and supplies and in return get a share in the mine, if one was discovered

　　3.Tabor made his first fortune.

　　A.by supplying two prospective miners and getting in return a one-third interest in the findings

　　B.because he was persuaded by the two miners to quit supplying

　　C.by buying the shares of the other

　　D.as a land speculator

　　4. The underlying reason for Tabor’s life career is.

　　A. purely accidental

　　B. based on the analysis of miner’s being very poor and their possibility of discovering profitable mining site

　　C. through the help from his second wife

　　D. he planned well and accomplished targets step by step

　　5.If this passage is the first part of an article,who might be introduced in the following part?

　　A.Tabor’s life.

　　B.Tabor’s second wife, Elizabeth McCourt.

　　C.Other colorful characters.

　　D.Tabor’s other careers.


 

　　Vocabulary

　　1.barren adj. 貧瘠的

　　2.fabulous adj. 神話般的，難以置信的

　　3.lure vt.誘惑，引誘

　　4.deposit n.沉澱，儲蓄

　　5.grubstake v.下注

　　1. C細節題。因為Leadville可以為Tabor帶來鉅富。這一點不是Leadville得名的原因，因為在文章第二段中，講到這一點時，提及三個原因：A.因為Tabor成為當地的居民代表人物，B.因為在Leadville有豐富的鉛的儲藏量。D.因為Leadville是因為Tabor重要而起的名，唯獨C沒有，因為到後來發現是銀礦才給他帶來鉅富。

　　2. D詞彙題。第二段中grubstake的詞義與D所述內容是相同的，即“供給探礦者資金，衣物，食品以及其他物品”。***可參閱英華大辭典修訂第二版64頁***但此處還補充地講，作為回報，供給者可以獲得礦中資源一定份額。***見文章第二段第4行***

　　3. A細節題。Tabor第一次真正發財是他為兩名礦工提供資助，為此他獲得他們礦資源三分之一的股份。見文章第三段4-9行內容：兩名開礦者從Tabor那兒借走價值17美元的物品，作為回報，Tabor獲得他們礦資源三分之一股份。於是兩位開礦者在一座山旁的不毛之地開始挖掘，九天之後，發現了銀的富礦，於是Tabor又將兩人的股份全買下，這樣，銀礦屬於Tabor一個人所有，這個礦就是後來著名的“匹茲堡”礦。Tabor用17美元的投資換來了130萬美元的收穫。

　　4. B推斷題。由原文可知泰勃的財產來源是有一定偶然性的，但是畢竟也是基於他開創的“grubstake”模式，因為A、D都不對，C更是沒有根據，因為他還沒有娶第二位夫人這一切就發生了。分析泰勃的做法，會得出B選項所示的結論。

　　5. B推斷題。如果本文是一篇文章的第一部分，那麼在文章的第二部分將介紹誰呢?key可以從文章第一句分析出來，在Leadville的黃金年代，其多彩的特點當中，Tabor及其第二任妻子Elizabeth McCourt是值得大書特書的，接著，文章都在講述有關H.A.W.Tabor發家致富的歷史，如先買下匹茲堡礦，後又買下Matchless礦，最後成為，代理州長，等等，所以涉及到的全是男主人公，因此下邊再講的話，應成為女主人公即Elizabeth McCourt的天地了，她是Tabor的第二任妻子。這是順理成章的事。



 

　　Statuses are marvelous human inventions that enable us to get along with one another and to determine where we "fit" in society. As we go about our everyday lives, we mentally attempt to place people in terms of their statuses. For example, we must judge whether the person in the library is a reader or a librarian, whether the telephone caller is a friend or a salesman, whether the unfamiliar person on our property is a thier or a meter reader, and so on.

　　The statuses we assume often vary with the people we encounter, and change throughout life. Most of us can, at very high speed, assume the statuses that various situations require. Much of social interaction consists of identifying and selecting among appropriate statuses and allowing other people to assume their statuses in relation to us. This means that we fit our actions to those of other people based on a constant mental process of appraisal and interpretation. Although some of us find the task more difficult than others, most of us perform it rather effortlessly.

　　A status has been compared to ready-made clothes. Within certain limits, the buyer can choose style and fabric. But an American is not free to choose the costume ***服裝*** of a Chinese peasant or that of a Hindu prince. We must choose from among the clothing presented by our society. Furthermore, our choice is limited to a size that will fit, as well as by our pocketbook ***錢包***. Having made a choice within these limits we can have certain alterations made, but apart from minor adjustments, we tend to be limited to what the stores have on their racks. Statuses too come ready made, and the range of choice among them is limited.
 

　　這是一篇說明文，講的是人們的Status***身份、地位***這一問題。

　　51. In the first paragraph, the writer tells us that statuses can help us _______.

　　A*** determine whether a person is fit for a certain job

　　B*** behave appropriately in relation to other people

　　C*** protect ourselves in unfamiliar situations

　　D*** make friends with other people

　　[答案及分析]：[B]事實辨認題。問在第一段作者告訴我們人的身份對我們有下列哪種幫助。第一段第一句說得很明白：“身份有助於我們和別人相處，決定我們在社會中所處的地位、扮演的角色”，[B]項意為“正確地與人交往”，正是上述意思。

　　52. According to the writer, people often assume different statuses ______.

　　A*** in order to identify themselves with others

　　B*** in order to better identify others

　　C*** as their mental processes change

　　D*** as the situation changes

　　[答案及分析]：[D]事實辨認題。問作者認為，在什麼情況下人們經常具有不同的身份。[A]項意為“為了將自己預其他人區別開”，[B]項為“為了更好地識別他人”，[C]項為“當心理髮生變化時”，[D]項意為“隨著環境的變化”。[A]、[B]、[C]三項都不合文章原意，並且根據第二段第一、二句話可知[D]項正確。

　　53. The word "appraisal" ***Line5, Para.2*** most probably means "_______".

　　A*** involvement B*** appreciation C*** assessment D*** presentation

　　[答案及分析]：[C]詞義理解題。問第二段第六行中的appraisal一詞的意思是什麼。根據該詞所在的句子，可知該詞含義和mental process***思想過程***有關，並且可能與和其並列的詞interpretation***解釋，說明，理解***有一定相似之處。involvement意為“陷入，捲入;牽涉，包含”，assessment意為“估計，評估;所估計之數額”，appreciation表示“感謝，感激;欣賞，評價，賞識”，presentation意為“贈送;提出;引見，介紹;出席，呈現;演出”。比較起來，[B]項符合上述兩點，而且意思上說得通。appraisal的準確意思是“估計，估價，評價”，在此句中“評價”講。

　　54. In the last sentence of the second paragraph, the pronoun "it" refers to "______".

　　A*** fitting our actions to those of other people appropriately

　　B*** identification of other people's statuses

　　C*** selecting one's own statuses D*** constant mental process

　　[答案及分析]：[A]事實辨認題。問第二段最後一句中“it”指代什麼。根據句意及其結構可知：it指代the task，即前一句“we fit out actions to those of people based on a constant mental process of appraisal and interpretation”，不難看出[A]項正確。