2016全国英语等级考试四级阅读模拟预测题

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2016全国英语等级考试四级阅读模拟预测题公共英语等级考试
Section IIIReading Comprehension

  (60 minutes)

  Part A

  Directions:

  Read thefollowing four texts.Answer the questions below each text by choosing[A],[B],[C]or[D].

  Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET l.

  Text l

  No man has been more harshly judged than Machiavelli,especially in the two centuries following his death.But he has since found many able champions and the tide has turned.The Prince has been termed a manual for tyrants,the effect of which has been most harmful.But were Machiavelli’s doctrines really new? Did he discover them?He merely had the frankness and courage to write down what everybody was thinking and what everybody knew.He merely gives us the impressions he had received from a long and intimate inter— course with princes and the affairs of state.It was Lord Bacon who said that Machiavelli tells us what princes如。not what they ought to d0.When Machiavelli takes Caesar Borgia as a model,he does not praise him as a hero at all,but merely as a prince who was capable of attaining the end in view.The life of the state was the primary object.It must be maintained.And Machiavelli has laid down the principles,based upon his study andwide experience,by which this may be accomplished.He wrote from the viewpoint of the politician—— not llot of the moralist.What is good politics may be bad morals,and in fact,by a strange fatality,where morals and politics clash,the latter generally gets the upper hand.And will anyone contend that the principles set brth by Machiavelli in his Prince or his Discourses have entirely perished from the earth?Has diplomacy been entirely stripped of fraud and duplicity?Let anyone read the famous eighteenth chapter of the Prince:“In what Manner Princes should Keep their Faith.”and he will be convinced that what was true nearly four hundred years ago,is quite as true today.

  Of the remaining works of Machiavelli the most important is the History of Florence written between1521 and l525,and dedicated to ClementⅦ.This book is merely a rapid review of the Middle Ages,and as part of it the history of Florence.Machiavelli’s method has been criticized for adhering at times too closely to the chroniclers of his time,and at others rejecting their testimony without apparent reason,while in its details the authority of his History is often questionable.It is the straightforward,logical narrative,which always holds the interest of the reader。that is the greatest charm of the History.

  41.It can be inferred from the beginning of the text that__________.

  [A]many people used to think highly of Machiavelli

  [B]Machiavelli had been very influential among the rulers

  [C]Machiavelli was widely read among his contemporaries

  [D]Machiavelli has been a target of criticism throughout history

  42.Lord Bacon’s remarks on Machiavelli is quoted as__________.

  [A]a support for the author’s viewpoint

  [B]one of the mainstream views on him

  [C]a judgment in support of most critics

  [D]a modification of the author’s previous stand

  43.In the case of Caesar Borgia,the author holds that__________.

  rA]Machiavelli has been objective

  [B]Machiavelli revealed his personality

  [C]Caesar Borgia was a deserved model

  [D]Machiavelli overvalued Caesar Borgia

  44.According to the author,a politician’s morality__________.

  [A]is no match for his political ambition

  [B]has been undIervalued by Machiavelli and his likes

  [C]is usually of secondary importance

  [D]should be taken as a yardstick of his capability

  45.The author’s opinion on Machiavelli’s History of Florence is that

  [A]history has much to do with the person who records it

  [B]the charm lies in the style rather than in the content

  [C]most people failed to read Machiavelli’s intention in it

  [D]any history of this kind should be written in this way

  Text 2

  There are a great many careers in which the increasing emphasis is on specializatiorL You find these careers in engineering,in production,in statistical work,and in teaching.But there is an increasing demand for people who are able to take in a great area at a glance,people who perhaps do not know too much about any one field.There is,in other words,a demand for people who are capable of seeing the forest rather than the trees,of making general judgraents.We can call these people“generalists”.And they are particularly needed for positions in administration,where it is their job to see that other people do their work,where they have to plan for other people,to organize other people’s work,to begin it and judge it.

  The specialist understands one field;his concern is with technique and tools.He is a“trained”man;and his edueational background is properly technical or professional.The generalists and especially theadministrators deal with people;his concern is with leadership,with planning,and with direction giving.He is an“educated”man;and the humanities are his strongest foundation.Very rarely is a specialist capable of being an administrator.And very rarely is a good generalist also a good specialist in a particular field.Any organization needs both kinds of people,though different organizations need them in different proportions.It is your task to find out,during your training period,into which of the two kinds of jobs you fit,and to plan your career accordingly.

  Your first job may turn out to be the right job for you but this is pure accident.Certainly you should not change iobs constantly or people wiU become suspicious of your ability to hold any job.At the same time,you must not look upon the first job as the final job.It is primarily a training job,a chance to understand yourself and your fitness for being an employee.

  46.There is all increasing demand for__________.

  [A]all round people in their own fields

  [B]generalists who are capable of making general judgments

  [C]people whose educational background is either technical or professional

  [D3specialists whose chief concern is to provide administrative guidance to others

  47.The specialist is__________.

  [A]a man whose job is to train other people

  [B]a man who has been trained in more than one field

  [C]a man who can see the forest rather than the trees

  [D]a man whose concern is mainly with technique and tools

  48.The administrator is__________.

  [A]a“trained”man who is more a specialist than a generalist

  [B]a man who sees the trees as well as the forest

  [C]a man who is very strong in the humanities

  [D]a man who is an“educated”specialist

  49.During your training period,it is important__________

  [A]to try to be a generalist

  [B]to choose a profitable job

  [C]to find an organization which fits you

  [D]to decide whether you are fit to be a specialist or a generalist

  50.A man’s first job__________.

  [A]is never the right job for him

  [B3should not be regarded as his final job

  [C]should not be changed or people will become suspicious of his ability to hold any job

  [D]is primarily an opportunity to fit himself for his final job

  Text 3

  On Tuesday August llth,1911,a young artist,Louis Beraud,arrived at the Louvre in Paris to complete a painting of the Salon Carre.This was the room where the world’s most famous painting,the Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci,was on display.To his surprise there was an empty space where the painting should have been.At ll 0’clock the museum authorities realized that the painting had been stolen.The next day headlines all over the world announced the theft.

  Actually the Leonardo had been gone for more than twenty-four hours before anyone noticed it was missing.The museum was always closed on Mondays for maintenance.Just before closing time on Sunday three men had entered the museum,where they had hidden themselves in a storeroom.The actual theft was quick and simple.Early the next morning Perrugia removed the painting from the wall while the others kept watch.Then they went out a back exit.

  Nothing was seen or heard of the painting for two years when Perrugia tried to sell it to a dealer for half a million lire.Perrugia was arrested on December l3th.Perrugia claimed he had stolen it as an act of Datriotism,because,he said,the painting had been looted from the Italian nation by Napoleon.Perrugia was imprisoned for 7 months.It seemed that the crime of the century had been solved.

  But had it?Perrugia was keen to claim all responsibility for the theft,and it was twenty years before the whole storv came out.In fact Perrugia had been working for two master criminals,Valfierno and Chaudron, who went unpunished for their crime.They would offer to steal a famous painting from a gallery for a crooked dealer or an unscrupulous private collector.They would then make a copy of the picture and,with the help of bribed gallery attendants,tape the copy to the back of the original painting.The dealer would then be taken to the gallerv and would be invited to make a secret mark on the back of the painting.Of course the dealer would actually be marking the copy.Valfierno would later produce forged newspaper cuttings announcing the theft of the original,and then produce the copy,complete with secret marking.If the dealer were to see the painting still in the gallery,he would be persuaded that it was a copy,and that he possessed the genuine one.

  Chaudron then painted not one,but six copies of the Mona Lisa,using 400一year-old wood panels from antique Italian furniture.The forgeries were carefully aged,so that the varnish was cracked and dirty. Valfierno commissioned Perrugia to steal the original,and told him to hide it until Valfierno contacted him. Perrugia waited in vain in a tiny room in Paris with the painting,but heard nothing from his partners in crime.They had gone to New York,where the six copies were already in store.They had sent them there before the original was stolen.At that time it was quite common for artists to copy old masters,which would be sold quite honestly as imitations,so there had been no problems with US Customs.Valfierno went on to sell all six copies for$300000 each.Valfiern0.told the story to a journalist in l914,on condition that it would not be published until his death.

  Does the story end there?Collectors have claimed that Perrugia returned a copy.It is also possible that Leonardo may have painted several versions of the Mona Lisa,or they might be copies made by Leonardo’s pupils.There has been a lot of controversy and argument about the 450一year-old painting,but after all,maybe that’s what She’s smiling about.

  51.The painting was probably stolen__________.

  [A]on the morning of August llth,1911

  [B]on the afternoon of August llth,1911

  [C]on August lOth,1911

  [D]on August 9th,1911

  52.It was __________that Perrugia was arrested.

  [A]only when Louis Beraud arrived at the Louvre

  [B] after the theft as announced all over the world

  [C]after Valfierno had contacted hkn

  [D]about two years later

  53.Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?

  [A]Perrugia stole the painting for the sake of his country.

  [B]The painting was once taken away by Napoleon.

  [C]All the criminals who had stolen the painting were put into prison.

  [D]It was reported soon on the newspaper that the original painting had been found.

  54.The forgeries were produced by the following methods EXCEPT__________.

  [A]making the copy as old as the original one

  [B]using very old wood panels

  [C]making the copy appear cracked and dirty

  [D]signing the date on the back of the original painting

  55.It is implied in the passage that__________.

  [A]the original painting is still on display at the Louvre

  [B]the original painting is now in the United States

  [C]the original painting has been destroyed

  [D]no one could possibly tell which is the original painting公共英语等级考试