大学英语四级分类模拟题515

大学英语四级分类模拟题515

Part Ⅰ Reading Comprehension

Passage One

A Buffalo charter school, run by a for-profit company, received $7.2 million in taxpayer money last year to educate about 500 elementary and middle school students. But at the end of the year, the audit it submitted to the state listed its expenses only in broad brushstrokes, including $1.3 million in rent for a building the company owned, $976,000 for executive administration and $361,000 in professional fees.

   Officials from the New York State teachers' union, testifying at a crowded State Senate hearing, raised the case of the school, Buffalo United, as an example of what it said was wrong with the oversight of charter schools throughout the state. The union said the case supported its view that no new charter schools should be authorised unless oversight is strengthened.

   "How much is profit?" asked Andrew Pallotta, the executive vice president of New York State United Teachers. "There is truly too much we don't know and can't know."

   The union's concerns fell on mostly friendly ears at the all-day hearing, which had been called by Senator Bill Perkins of Harlem, an outspoken critic of the charter school movement. Teachers' unions have generally opposed charter schools, which tend not to be unionised. On Thursday, the state union listed allegations against charter schools that included conflict of interest and outright theft. Brooklyn Charter School in Bedford-Stuyvesant, it said, had acquired, as a subsidiary, a bridal shop linked to the president of the school's board. A state comptroller's audit of a second Buffalo charter school, Western New York Maritime, found that big-screen televisions and computer equipment had been sent to the personal addresses of employees, the union said.

   "The corruption and the politicisation are the Achilles' heel of the movement," Mr Perkins said.

   Officials responsible for authorising and overseeing charter schools said there was room for more accountability and transparency from charter schools, but they said that the controls were already robust.

   "It is good that the bad actors have come to light," said John B. King Jr, the senior deputy commissioner of the state Education Department. "I actually think that there is a lot of common ground here, and if we create the right conversation, there is room to both improve charters and increase the number."

1、 What can we learn from the first paragraph?

   A．Most charter schools are run by for-profit companies.

   B．A Buffalo charter school seemed to have over-spent last year.

   C．Charter schools should be monitored over education quality.

   D．The expense-list of a charter school was not transparent.

2、 What does New York State teachers' union think of charter schools?

   A．They can regulate themselves well without outside intervention.

   B．They should subject themselves to teachers' union's supervision.

   C．They should be canceled and no new ones should be authorised.

   D．They should get more strict supervision before new ones' being set up.

3、 The term "Achilles' heel" in the fifth paragraph can be replaced by "______".

   A．vulnerable spot  B．characteristic       C．inevitable problem  D．peak

4、 What is said about officials responsible for authorising and overseeing charter schools?

   A．They were determined to supervise charter schools strictly.

   B．Their behaviour on charter schools confirmed to their words.

   C．They thought they had put a good control on charter schools.

   D．Their supervision on charter schools was transparent enough.

5、 What is John B. King Jr's attitude towards authorising more charter schools?

   A．Opposed.       B．Concerned.         C．Approved.         D．Indifferent.

Passage Two

Drink from plastic bottles can raise the body's levels of a controversial "gender-bending" chemical by more than two thirds, according to tests.

   Experts have been concerned about the possible health effects of bisphenol A (BPA.—an everyday chemical used in many plastic food and drink containers and tins as well as clear baby bottles—which is officially classified as toxic in some countries.

   A study found that participants who drank for a week from polycarbonate (聚碳酸酯) bottles showed a 69 percent increase in their urine (尿液) of BPA.

   Researchers did not say how much liquid was drunk per day. Researchers from Harvard School of Public Health studied 77 students, who had first undergone a seven-day "washout" phase in which they drank all cold beverages (饮料) from stainless steel bottles in order to minimise BPA exposure.

   They were then given two polycarbonate bottles and asked to drink all cold beverages from them during the next week. Previous studies have suggested that high levels of BPA consumption are linked to birth defects, growth problems and an increased risk of heart disease. In particular there are fears that heating the bottles, as parents would do when warming their baby's milk, causes the chemical to leak in potentially dangerous quantities into the liquid contained within.

   "If you heat those bottles, as is the case with baby bottles, we would expect the levels to be considerably higher. This would be of concern since infants may be particularly susceptible to BPA's hormone gland- disrupting (扰乱腺体激素分泌) potential." said the senior author of the latest study, Karin B. Michels.

   Most adults carry BPA in their bodies but expert opinion on the risks is divided. The European Food Safety Authority believes that people naturally convert the chemical into less harmful substances in the body.

   Previous studies had found that BPA could leach (渗出) from polycarbonate bottles into their contents, but this study is the first to show the size of the corresponding increase in urinary BPA concentrations in humans.

   Harvard researcher Jenny Carwile said, "While previous studies have demonstrated that BPA is linked to adverse health effects, this study fills in a missing piece of the puzzle—whether or not polycarbonate plastic bottles are an important contributor to the amount of BPA in the body."

6、 What do we know about bisphenol A (BPA. from the passage?

   A. It is a certain substance taken in by human beings every day.

   B. It is a component contained in a number of plastic products.

   C. It is an element that plays a decisive role in people's gender.

   D. It is a kind of chemical that is universally regarded as poison.

7、 According to Paragraph 4, the "washout" phase was designed to ______.

   A. make the research be accomplished with a result as satisfactory as possible

   B. obtain references for the possible health effects of stainless steel bottles

   C. eliminate substances in bodies totally that may affect the result of the research

   D. limit the sort of beverages taken in by participants to the minimum level

8、 What result can be expected if baby bottles containing polycarbonate are heated?

   A. The liquid in the bottles would absorb limited amount of converted BPA.

   B. The infants would be seriously bothered by such disease as heart attack.

   C. Babies would consume more BPA if they drink the liquid in the bottles.

   D. The infants would undoubtedly refuse to drink the liquid in the bottles.

9、 How do experts evaluate the hazard that can be caused by BPA?

   A. They think it is so common in bodies that it isn't hazardous.

   B. Different groups hold different viewpoints on this issue.

   C. They believe it will be transformed into other less harmful materials.

   D. They consider the amount of BPA in bodies decides its level of harmfulness.

10、 What is the significance of the study talked about in this passage?

   A. It proved the assumption on BPA from previous studies.

   B. It clarified the high risks that BPA may pose to people's health.

   C. It confirmed the principal source of the substance BPA.

   D. It showed what's responsible for the amount of BPA in humans.

Part Ⅱ Translation

11、中国扇子

   中国有着悠久的扇子文化。最早的扇子出现在3000年前，由羽毛制成。如今，扇子的制作材料已变得多样化，最常用的是纸和真丝。扇子的用途很广泛，除了能使人凉快之外，还可用于舞蹈、装饰等。在中国文化里。与其说扇子是个工具，不如说它是一个艺术品。扇面上的书法(calligraphy)、绘画和诗歌为扇子增添了艺术价值，使扇子为历代收藏家所珍爱。

答案:

Part Ⅰ Reading Comprehension

Passage One

1、D

[解析] 根据题干中的the first paragraph将本题出处定位于第1段。

   第1段指出一所布法罗特许学校去年收到了来自纳税人720万美元的资金。接着下文又转折指出在今年年底，该校提交给政府的账目只是粗略列出了学校的几项花费，其中包括130万美元的楼房租金(而这栋大楼本就属该公司所有)，97.6万美元的行政管理费和36.1万美元的专业人员费用。从数字和叙述中可一眼看出该校的花费存在问题，费用清单不透明，故D为答案。

2、D

[解析] 根据题干中的New York state teachers' union将本题出处定位于第2段。

   第2段最后一句说，联合会称这起事件有力地支持了他们的观点，即如果不加强监督，政府便不该再批准设立新的特许学校。D符合原文，故为答案。

3、A

[解析] 根据题干中的Achilles' heel将本题出处定位于第5段。

   由corruption和politicization两个词可推知Achilles' heel指的是某种问题，可排除B、D两项。文中说特许学校需要加强监管，说明这种问题是可以通过加强监管解决的，故排除C。A为答案，Achilles' heel意为“致命弱点；薄弱环节”，取自希腊神话。

4、C

[解析] 根据题干中的officials responsible for authorising and overseeing charter schools将本题出处定位于第6段。

   第6段对负责授权和监督特许学校的官员的言论进行了说明，他们一方面称特许学校还应该承担更多责任，其透明度也还需增加，同时又称当前的控制已经很到位了。C是原文的细节再现，故为答案。

5、C

[解析] 根据题干中的John B. King Jr将本题出处定位于最后一段。

   最后一段小约翰·B．金说，“不过事实上我认为我们有很多共识，如果我们展开合适的对话，便有可能改善特许学校的状况，开办更多的特许学校。”由此得知他是赞同授权建立更多的特许学校的，故C为答案。

Passage Two

6、B 　 　 7、A 　 　 8、C 　 　 9、B 　 　 10、D 　 　

Part Ⅱ Translation

11、China has a long history of fan culture. The first fan came into being 3,000 years ago and was made of bird feathers. Nowadays, there are various materials for fan making, among which paper and silk are the most commonly used. Fans are used widely. Apart from cooling people, they can also be used for dance, decoration and so on. In Chinese culture, a fan is a work of art rather than a tool. The calligraphy, paintings or poems on both sides of the fans add artistic values to them, making them the treasures of many collectors.

[解析] 1．第2句讲述的是扇子的历史，是过去的情况，故应该用一般过去时。

   2．第3句中的“最常用的是纸和真丝”实际上指“最常用的材料是纸和真丝”，故该部分处理为用among which引导的非限制性定语从句，修饰前一分句中提到的“材料”(materials)，表达为among which paper and silk are the most commonly used。

   3．第5句中的“与其说扇子是个工具，不如说它是一个艺术品”可采用rather than(与其……不如……)结构来表达。此处是“工具”(a tool)“艺术品”(a work of art)的比较，故表达为fan is a work of art rather than a tool。

   4．最后一句中的“使扇子为历代收藏家所珍爱”表结果，故将其处理为状语，用现在分词短语making them the treasures of many collectors来表达。

大学英语四级分类模拟题515教程文件