想要提高四级阅读的水平，首先要提高阅读理解的速度，这方面能力至关重要。毕竟在四级考试的有限时间里逐字逐句的阅读不切实际，只能养成快速阅读的习惯。在大量的文字资料或英语文章中找到核心或者相关信息。在培养阅读能力的同事，也要提高做题的准确率。不理解的可以先尝试一下下面的真题部分，看看四级阅读部分真题的难易程度。
Section A
Signs barring cell-phone use are a familiar sight to anyone who has ever sat in a hospital waiting room. But the_____(26)popularity of electronic medical records has forced hospital-based doctors to become_____(27)on computers throughout the day, and desktops-which keep doctors from besides-are_____(28)giving way to wireless devices.
As clerical loads increased, something had to_____(29), and that was always face time with patients, says Dr.Bhakti Patel, a former chief resident in the University of Chicago's internal-medicine program. In fall 2010, she helped_____(30)a pilot project in Chicago to see if the iPad could improve working conditions and patient care. The experiment was so_____(31)that all internal-medicine program adopted the same_____(32)in 2011. Medical schools at Yale and Stanford now have paperless, iPad-based curriculums. You'll want an iPad just so you can wear this is the slogan for one of the new lab coats_____(33)with large pockets to accommodate tablet computers.
A study of the University of Chicago iPad project found that patients got tests and_____(34) faster if they were cared for by iPad-equipped residents.Many patients also_____(35) a better understanding of the illnesses that landed them in the hospital in the first place.
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Section B
Ancient Greek Wisdom Inspires Guidelines to Good Life
[A] Is it possible to enjoy a peaceful life in a world that is increasingly challenged by threats and uncertainties from wars, terrorism, economic crises and a widespread outbreak of infectious diseases? The answer is yes, according to a new book The 10 Golden Rules: Ancient Wisdom from the Greek Philosophers on Living a Good Life. The book is co-authored by Long Island University's philosophy professor Michael Soupios and economics professor Panos Mourdoukoutas.
[B] The wisdom of the ancient Greek philosophers is timeless, says Soupios. The philosophy professor says it is as relevant today as when it was first written many centuries ago. There is no expiration(失效)date on wisdom, he says There is no shelf life on intelligence. I think that things have become very gloomy these day, lots of misunderstanding, misleading cues, a lot of what the ancients would have called sophistry(诡辩). The nice thing about ancient philosophy as offered by the Greeks is that they tended to see life clear and whole, in a way that we tend not to see life today.
Examine your life
[C] Soupies, along with his co-author Panos Mourdoukoutas, developed their 10 golden rules by turning to the men behind that philosophy-Aristotle, Socrates, Epictetus and Pythagoras, among others. The first rule-examine your life-is the common thread that runs through the entire book. Soupios says that it is based on Plato's observation that the unexamined life is not worth living. The Greek are always concerned about boxing themselves in, in terms of convictions(信念), he says. So take a step back, switch off the automatic pilot and actually stop and reflect about things like our priorities, our values, and our relationships.
Stop worrying about what you can not control
[D] As we begin to examine our life, Soupios says, we come to Rule No.2: Worry only about things that you can control. The individual who promoted this idea was a Stoic philosopher His name is Epictetus, he says. And what the Stoics say in general is simply this. There is a larger plan in life. You are not really going to be able to understand all of the dimerisions of this plan. You are not going to be able to control the dimensions of this plan.
[E]So, Soupios explains, it is not worth it to waste our physical, intellectual and spiritual energy worrying about things that are beyond our control. I can not control whether or not I wind up getting the disease swine flu, for example. He says. I mean, there are some cautious steps. I can take, but ultimately I can not guarantee myself that. So what Epictetus would say is sitting at home worrying about that would be wrong and wasterful and irrational. You should live your life attempting to identify and control those things which you can genuinely control.
Seek true pleasure
[F]To have a meaningful, happy life we need friends. But according to Aristotle-a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great-most relationships don't qualify as true friendships. Just because I have a business relationship with an individual and I can profit from that relationship, it does not necessarily mean that this person is my friend. Soupios says. Real friendship is when two individuals share the same soul. It is a beautiful and uncharacteristically poctic image that Aristotle offers.
[G]In our pursuit of the good life, he says, it is important to seek out true pleasures-advice which was originally offered by Epicurus. But unlike the modern definition of Epicureanism as a life of indulgence(放纵)and luxury, for the ancient Greeks, it meant finding a state of calm, peace and mental case.
[H] This was the highest and most desirable form of pleasure and happiness for the ancient Epicureans. Soupios says. This is something that is very much well worth considering here in the modern era. I do not think that we spend nearly enough time trying to concentrate on achieving a sort of calmness, a sort of contentment in mental and spiritual, which was identified by these people as the gighest form of happiness and pleasure.
Do good to others
[I]Other golden rules counsel us to master ourselves, to avoid excess and not to be a prosperous(发迹的)fool. There are also rules dealing with interpersonal relationships. Be a responsible human being and do not do evil things to others.
[J] This is Hesiod, of course, a younger contemporary poet, we believe, with Homer, Soupios says. Hesiod offers an idea-which you very often find in some of the word's great religions, in the Judeo-Christian tradition and in Islam an others-that in some sense, when you hurt another human being, you hurt yourself. That damaging other people in your community and in your life, trashing relationships, results in a kind of self-inflicted(自己招致的)spiritual wound.
[K]Instead, Soupios says,ancient wisdom urges us to do good. Golden Rule No.10 for a good life is that kindness toward others tends to be rewarded.
[L] This is Aesop, the fabulist(寓言家), the man of these charming little tales, often told in terms of animals and animal relationships. He says. I think what Aesop was suggesting is that when you offer a good turn to another human being. One can hope that that good deed will come back and sort of pay a profit to you, the doer of the good deed. Even if there is no concrete benefit paid in response to you good deed. At the very least, the doer of the good deed has the opportunity to enjoy a kind of spiritually enlightened moment.
[M]Soupios say following the 10 Golden Rules based on ancient wisdom can guide us to the path of the good life where we stop living as onlookers and become engaged and happier human beings. And that, he notes, is a life worth living.
36.According to an ancient Greek philosopher, it is impossible for us to understand every aspect of our life.
37.Ancient Philosophers saw life in a different light from people of today.
38.Not all your business partners are your soul mates.
49.We can live a peaceful life despite the various challenges of the modern world.
40.The doer of a good deed can feel spiritually rewarded even when they gain no concrete benefits.
41.How to achieve meatal calmness and contentment is well worth our consideration today.
42.Michael Soupios suggests that we should stop and think carefully about our priorities in life.
43.Ancient philosophers strongly advise that we do good.
44.The wise teachings of ancient Greek thinkers are timeless, and are applicable to contemporary life.
45.Do harm to others and you do harm to yourself.
Section C
Passage One
Attitudes toward new technologies often along generational lines. That is, generally, younger people tend to outnumber older people on the front end of a technological shift.
It is not always the case, though. When you look at attitudes toward driverless cars, there doesn't seem to be a clear generational divide. The public overall is split on whether they'd like to use a driverless car. In a study last year, of all people surveyed, 48 percent said they wanted to ride in one, while 50 percent did not.
The face that attitudes toward self-driving cars appear to be so steady across generations suggests how transformative the shift to driverless cars could be. Not everyone wants a driverless car now-and no one can get one yet-but among those who are open to them, every age group is similarly engaged.
Actually, this isn't surprising. Whereas older generations are sometime reluctant to adopt new technologies, driverless cars promise real value to these age groups in particular. Older adults, especially those with limited mobility or difficulty driving on their own, are one of the classic useeases for driverless cars.
This is especially interesting when you consider that younger people are generally more interested in travel-related technologies than older ones.
When it comes to driverless cars, differences in attitude are more pronounced based on factors not related to age. College graduates, for example, are particularly interested in driverless cars compared with those who have less education, 59 percent of college graduates said they would like to use a driverless car compared with 38 percent of those with a high-school diploma or less.
Where a person lives matters, too. More people who lives in cities and suburbs said they wanted to try driverless cars than those who lived in rural areas.
While there's reason to believe that interest in self-driving cars is going up across the board, a person's age will have little to do with how self-driving cars can be becoming mainstream. Once driverless cares are actually available for safe, the early adopters will be the people who can afford to buy them.
46.What happens when a new technology emerges?
A.It further widens the gap between the old and the young.
B.It often leads to innovations in other related fields.
C.It contribute greatly to the advance of society as a whole.
D.It usually draws different reactions from different age groups.
47.What does the author say about the driverless car?
A.It does not seem to create a generational divide.
B.It will not necessarily reduce road accidents.
C.It may start a revolution in the car industry.
D.It has given rise to unrealistic expectations.
48.Why does the driverless car appeal to some old people?
A.It saves their energy.
B.It helps with their mobility.
C.It adds to the safety of their travel.
D.It stirs up their interest in life.
49.What is likely to affect one's attitude toward the driverless car?
A.The location of their residence.
B.The amount of their special interest
C.The amount of training they received.
D.The length of their driving experience.
50.Who are likely to be the first to buy the driverless car?
A.The senior.
B.The educated.
C.The weaIthy.
D.The tech fans.
Passage Two
In agrarian(农业的),pre-industrial Europe, you'd want to wake up early, start working with the sunrise, have a break to have the largest meal, and then you'd go back to work, says Ken Albala, a professor of history at the University of the Pacific, Later, at 5 or 6, you'd have a smaller supper.
This comfortable cycle, in which the rhythms of the day helped shape the rhythms of the meals, gave rise to the custom of the large midday meal, eaten with the extended family, Meal are the foundation of the family,' says Carole Couniban. a professor at Millersville University in
Peensylvania, so there was a very important interconnection between eating together and strength-eating family ties.
Since industrialization, maintaining such a slow cultural metabolism has been much harder. With the long midday meal shrinking to whatever could be stuffed into a lunch bucket or bought at a food stand. Certainly, there were benefits. Modern techniques for producing and shipping food led to greater variety and quantity, including a tremendous, increase in the amount of animal protein and dairy products available, making us more vigorous than our ancestors.
Yet plenty has been lost too, even in cultures that still live to eat. Take Italy. It's no secret that the Mediterranean diet is healthy, but it was also a joy to prepare and cat. Italians, says Counihan, traditionally began the day with a small meal. The big meal came at around 1 p.m. In between the midday meal and a late, smaller dinner came a small snack. Today, when time zones have less and less meaning, there is little tolerance for offices' closing for lunch, and worsening traffic in cities means workers can't make it home and back fast enough anyway. So the formerly small supper after sundown becomes the big meal of the day. the only one at which the family has a chance to get together. The evening meal carries the full burden that used to be spread over two meals says Counihan.
51.What do we learn from the passage about people in pre-industrial Europe?
A.They had to work from early morning till late at night.
B.They were so busy working that they only ate simple meals.
C.Their daily routine followed the rhythm of the natural cycle.
D.Their life was much more comfortable than that of today.
52.What does Professor Carole Counihan say about. pre-industrial European families eating meals together?
A.It was helpful to maintaining a nation's tradition.
B.It brought family members closers to each other.
C.It was characteristic of the agrarian culture.
D.It enabled families to save a lot of money.
53.What does cultural metabolism (Line 1 ,Para. 3) refer to?
A.Evolutionary adaptation.
B.Changes in lifestyle.
C.Social progress.
D.Pace of life.
54.What does the author think of the food people eat today?
A.Its quality is usually guaranteed.
B.It is varied, abundant and nutritious.
C.It is more costly than what our ancestors ate.
D.Its production depends too much on technology.
55.What does the author say about Italians of the old days.
A.They enjoyed cooking as well as eating.
B.They ate a big dinner late in the evening.
C.They ate three meals regularly every day.
D.They were expert at cooking meals.
参考答案
选词填空
26. 正确选项 G growing
27. 正确选项 A dependent
28. 正确选项 C fast
29. 正确选项 F give
30. 正确选项 H launch
31. 正确选项 N successful
32. 正确选项 I policy
33. 正确选项 B designed
34. 正确选项 O treatments
35. 正确选项 E gained
段落匹配
36. 正确选项 D
37. 正确选项 B
38. 正确选项 F
39. 正确选项 A
40. 正确选项 L
41. 正确选项 H
42. 正确选项 C
43. 正确选项 K
44. 正确选项 B
45. 正确选项 J
仔细阅读
Passage One
46. 正确选项 D。 It usually draws different reactions
47. 正确选项A。 It does not seem to create a generational divide.
48. 正确选项B。 It helps with their mobility.
49. 正确选项A。 The location of their residence.
50. 正确选项C。 The wealthy.
Passage Two
51. 正确选项 C。Their daily routine followed the rhythm of natural cycles.
52. 正确选项B。It brought family members closer to each other.
53. 正确选项D。Pace of life.
54. 正确选项B。It is varied, abundant and nutritious.
55. 正确选项A。They enjoyed cooking as well as eating.
在做这套四级阅读理解题的时候，可以先看看问题，带着问题去看全文。也要快速浏览全文，找到文章的核心以及问题所在的关键。这就要求我们在平时做题时，有意识的练习阅读的能力，速度慢会耽误考试，也会让自己脑子中所记忆的东西慢慢消失。快速浏览能力的形成，我们在做阅读理解就可以抢占先机。