2016年公共英语四级专项试题及答案

　　阅读理解

　　part A

Hawaii's native minority is demanding a greater degree of sovereignty over its own affairs. But much of the archipelago's political establishment, which includes the White Americans who dominated until the second world war and people of Japanese, Chinese and Filipino origins, is opposed to the idea.

The islands were annexed by the US in 1898 and since then Hawaii's native peoples have fared worse than any of its other ethnic groups. They make up over 60 percent of the state's homeless, suffer higher levels of unemployment and their life span is five years less than the average Hawaiians. They are the only major US native group without some degree of autonomy.

But a sovereignty advisory committee set up by Hawaii's first native governor, Joahn Waihee, has given the natives' cause a major boost by recommending that the Hawaiian natives decide by themselves whether to reestablish a sovereign Hawaiian nation.

However, the Hawaiian natives are not united in their demands. Some just want greater autonomy within the state -- as enjoyed by many American Indian natives over matters such as education. This is a position supported by the Office of Hawaiian Affairs (OHA), a state agency set up in 1978 to represent the natives' interests and which has now become the moderate face of the native sovereignty movement. More ambitious is the Ka Lahui group, which declared itself a new nation in 1987 and wants full, official independence from the US.

But if Hawaiian natives are given greater autonomy, it is far from clear how many people this will apply to. The state authorities only count as native those people with more than 50 percent Hawaiian blood.

Native demands are not just based on political grievances, though. They also want their claim on 660,000 hectares of Hawaiian crown land to be accepted. It is on this issue that native groups are facing most opposition from the state authorities. In 1933, the state government paid the OHA US 136 million in back rent on the crown land and many officials say that by accepting this payment the agency has given up its claims to legally own the land. The OHA has vigorously disputed this.

1. Hawaii's native minority refers to _________________.

A. Hawaii's ethnic groups

B. people of Filipino origin

C. the Ka Lahui group

D. people with more than 50% Hawaiian blood

2. Which of the following statements is true of the Hawaiian natives?

A. Sixty percent of them are homeless or unemployed.

B. their life span is 5 years shorter than average Americans.

C. Their life is worse than that of other ethnic groups in Hawaii.

D. They are the only native group without sovereignty.

3. Which of the following is NOT true of John Waihee?

A. He is Hawaii's first native governor.

B. He has set up a sovereignty advisory committee.

C. He suggested the native people decide for themselves.

D. He is leading the local independence movement.

4. Which of the following groups holds a less radical attitude on the matter of sovereignty?

A. American Indian natives.

B. Office of Hawaiian Affairs.

C. The Ka Lahui group.

D. The Hawaiian natives.

5. Various native Hawaiians demand all the following EXCEPT ____________.

A. a greater autonomy within the state

B. more back rent on the crown land

C. a claim on the Hawaiian crown land

D. full independence from the US

参考答案：CDABD

　　part B

Early in the age of affluence (富裕) that followed World War Ⅱ，an American retailing analyst named Victor Lebow proclaimed, “Our enormously productive nds that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfaction, our ego satisfaction, in consumption. We need things consumed, burned up, worn out, replaced and discarded at an ever increasing rate." ? Americans have responded to Lebow's call, and much of the world has followed. Consumption has become a central pillar of life in industrial lands and is even embedded in social values. Opinion surveys in the world's two largest economics-Japan and the United States-show consumerist definitions of success becoming ever more prevalent.? Overconsumption by the world's fortunate is an environmental problem unmatched in severity by anything but perhaps population growth. Their surging exploitation of resources threatens to exhaust or unalterably spoil forests, soils, water, air and climate.? Ironically, high consumption may be a mixed blessing in human terms, too. The time-honored values of integrity of character, good work, friendship, family and community have often been sacrificed in the rush to riches.? Thus many in the industrial lands have a sense that their world of plenty is somehow hollow, that misled by a consumerist culture, they have been fruitlessly attempting to satisfy what are essentially social, psychological and spiritual needs with material things.? Of course, the opposite of overconsumption, poverty, is no solution to either environmental or human problems. It is infinitely worse for people and bad for the natural world too. Dispossessed (被剥夺得一无所有的) peasants slash, and burn their way into the rain forests of Latin America, and hungry nomads (游牧民族) turn their herds out onto fragile African grassland, reducing it to desert.? If environmental destruction results when people have either too little or too much, we are left to wonder how much is enough level of consumption can the earth support ?When dose having more cease to add noticeably to human satisfaction?

1. The emergence of the affluent society after World War II .

A) led to the reform of the retailing system

B) resulted in the worship of consumerism

C )ve rise to the dominance of the new egoism

D) gave birth to a new generation of upper class consumers

2. Apart from enormous productivity, another important impetus to high consumption is

A) the people's desire for a rise in their living standards

B) the concept that one's success is measured by how much they consume

C) the imbalance that has existed between production and consumption

D) the conversion of the sale of goods into rituals

3. Why does the author say high consumption is a mixed blessing?

A) Because poverty still exists in an affluent society.

B) Because overconsumption won't last long due to unrestricted population growth.

C) Because traditional rituals are often neglected in the process of modernization.

D) Because moral values are sacrificed in pursuit of material satisfaction.

4. According to the passage, consumerist culture .

A) will not alleviate poverty in wealthy countries

B) will not aggravate environmental problems

C) cannot thrive on a fragile economy

D) cannot satisfy human spiritual needs

5. It can be inferred from the passage that .

A) human spiritual needs should match material affluence

B) whether high consumption should be encouraged is still an issue

C) how to keep consumption at a reasonable level remains a problem

D) there is never an end to satisfying people's material needs

参考答案：BBDDC