2017公共英语五级阅读检测题

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　　SECTION III Reading Comprehension

( 50 minutes)

Read tile following texts and answer the questions which accompany them by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1Austerity is a word often found on the lips of politicians and economists at the moment, but it

is seldom heard from technologists. And although the idea that "less is more" has many adherents in architecture, design and fashion, the technology industry has historically espoused the opposite view. Products should have as many features as possible; and next year's version should have even more. As prices fall, what starts off as a fancy new feature quickly becomes commonplace--try buying a phone without a camera, or a car without electric windows--prompting companies to add new features in an effort to outdo their rivals. Never mind if nobody uses most of these new fea-tures. In an arms race, more is always more.

But now there are signs that technologists are waking up to the benefits of minimalism, thanks to two things: feature fatigue among consumers who simply want things to work, and strong de- mand from less affluent consumers in the developing world. It is telling that the market value of Apple, the company most closely associated with simple, elegant high-tech products, recently overtook that of Microsoft, the company with the most notorious case of new-features. True, Apple's products contain lots of features under the hood, but the company has a knack for concea- ling such complexities by using elegant designs. Other companies have also prospered by providing easy-to-use products: think of the Nintendo Wii video-game console or the Flip video camera. Gadgets are no longer just for geeks, and if technology is to appeal to a broad audience, simplicity trumps fancy specificatiorns.

Another strand of techno-austerity can be found in software that keeps things simple in order to reduce distractions and ensure that computer-users remain focused and productive. Many word pro- cessors now have special full-screen modes, so that all unnecessary and distracting menus, palettes and so on are disabled or hidden; rather than fiddling with font sizes or checking e-mail, you are encouraged to get on with your writing. If the temptation to have a quick look at Facebook proves too much, there are programs that will disable access to particular websites at specified times of day; and if that is not draconian enough, there are even some programs that can block internet ac- cess altogether. A computer on which some features are not present, or have been deliberately disa- bled, may in fact be more useful if you are trying to get things done. There are no distracting hy- perlinks on a typewriter. Then there is the phenomenon of "frugal" innovation. Low-cost laptops were inspired to be produced for children in poor countries, but have since proved popular with consumers around the world.

All this offers grounds for hope. If the feature-obsessed technology industry can change its tune, perhaps there is a chance that governments--which have also tended to be inveterate believers in the idea that more is more--might also come to appreciate the merits of minimalism.

51. What does "less is more" mean?

A. The less expensive a product is, the more popular it will be.

B. The simpler a product is, the better the design is.

C. The less fancy a product looks, the more competitive it becomes.

D. The fewer features a product has, the more difficult to sell it.

52. Who used to believe in the concept tl)at "more is more"?

A. Politicians and economists.

B. Technologists.

C. Architectural designers.

D. Fashion designers.

53. The importance of minimalism has been realized for the following reasons EXCEPT that

A. consumer preference has changed and frugality has been highly valued.

B. consumers want to buy new products regardless of their features.

C. Apple's products show a smart combination of features and design.

D. high-tech products with an elegant appearance are getting popular.

54. What type of computers will probably represent the trend?

A. Computers with hypedinks.

B. Computers with new functions.

C. Computers with fairly comprehensive programs.

D. Computers with hidden features used at users' disposal.

55. What is the most suitable title for the text?

A. In Praise of Techno-austerity

B. Frugality Is the Mother of Invention

C. Simplicity vs. Complexity

D. Obsession with Features

　　Text 2

Miserabilists' fear of change; idealists' hope for a better world; an all-purpose adult nostalgia for lost youth: all these things ensure a ready hearing for claims that childhood is in crisis. Britons are especially worried. They fear that the young today are sadder than previous generations-- stressed, and turned off learning by too much testing. Children may be nastier as well: bullying is an "epidemic" in schools, according to one recent survey. They seem in danger like never wonder a report published on February 2nd by the Children's Society, entitled "A Good Childhood", claiming that far too few British children have one, has received widespread notice. Children suffer because adults put their own needs first, the panel concluded, and only a wholesale shift away from competitiveness and individualism can save them. Right-wing commentators agreed with its criticism of single parents and working mothers, left-wing ones with its call for more redis- tribution of income and less-advertising to children. Both overlooked one striking finding: that most children are doing just fine.

Amid the statistics on teenage pregnancy rates ( higher than elsewhere in Europe, lower than in America), mental illness (a tenth of 5-16-year-olds are sufferers) and drunkenness (a third of 13-15-year-olds have been drunk at least twice, a share three times higher than the European aver- age), came some more heartening figures: 70% of ll-16-year-olds say they are very, or com- pletely, happy, and only 4% say that they are at all unhappy. The report rolls the latter in with the9% of children who describe themselves as neither happy nor unhappy to claim that 13% are "less than happy". But clearly, very few children agree with adults that they are in deep trouble.

In "Reclaiming Childhood", Helene Guldberg, a child psychologist at the Open University, examines the same facts and draws different conclusions. Rising rates of mental illness among the young, she argues, reflect readier diagnosis, and bullying has increased because the word is now used to mean the infliction of even the slightest emotional bruise. She thinks many attempts to im- prove children's lives, such as anti-bullying campaigns, and the parenting lessons proposed by the Children's Society, are likely to be counterproductive. "Suggesting that all parents need to be taught how to do their job risks creating a self-fulfilling belief in parents' incompetence and children's lack of resilience," she says.

Britain is no Utopia, of course. As in other rich countries, children find it too easy to sit in- doors, staring at screens and overeating. They lack the protection afforded by the Nordic belief in the sacredness of outdoor play, or the shared family meals of Mediterranean countries. A large mi- nority ape their elders' drinking habits and a few, but still too many, become parents while still children themselves.

56. Britons are worried about the following EXCEPT that

A. children's learning is crammed with too much testing.

B. they are confronted with a lot of hardships in their life.

C. there is more and more school violence in Britain today.

D. young Britons today are sadder than previous generations.

57. The report published by the Children's Society

A. was criticized by right-wing commentators.

B. has aroused the attention of the general public.

C. concluded that most children in Britain are doing fine.

D. argued that single-parents should put children's needs first.

58. According to statistics, teenagers in Britain

A. have a higher pregnancy rate than those in America.

B. agree with adults that childhood in Briton is in crisis.

C. describe themselves, in great numbers, as neither happy nor unhappy.

D. suffer more serious drinking problems than those in Europe.

59. In "Reclaiming Childhood", the author argues that

A. mental problems among the young should be diagnosed carefully.

B. campaigns aimed at improving children's lives are very effective.

C. more bullying occurs because its definition has been extended.

D. parents should be taught how to fulfill their parental duties.

60. It can be inferred from the last paragraph that

A. britons should revive the tradition of shared family meals.

B. teenage parents evade responsibility of raising their children.

C. drinking habits pass down from generation to generation.

D. there isrich variety of indoor activities for British children.

　　Text 3

Daffodils bloom and chocolate eggs melt as the long Easter weekend draws near. Alongside such pleasures is another, equally seasonal: the annual outpouring from the teaching unions' con- ferences, whose massed pedagogues can always be relied on to provide a few news stories to de- light the headline writers.

Guaranteed are lamentations about parents and pupils, both inferior to those of yesteryear in various, not always consistent, ways. Fairly standard attempts to blame the raw materials rather than inadequate workmen, but these moans are given a ready hearing because they confirm the fears of many readers ( and not a few editors) that the nation's moral fibre is in shreds.

Also lapped up are the crazy conference motions, such as the proposal in 2007 for a curricu- lum based on fancy "skills" rather than fusty "knowledge". Union activists in most walks of life are well to the left of those they represent, and teaching-union loyalists are no exception. But such stories resonate because they fit the widespread stereotype of teachers as sandal-wearing, Guardian- reading lefties. It is one that has little evidence to back it up. The Guardian is indeed the profession's favourite newspaper, but not by miles. And teachers, tendency to vote Labour is of recent origin, and may not last.

In the run-up to the 1979 election that brought Margaret Thatcher to victory, most teachers told pollsters they intended to vote Conservative. When in 1987 they defected, disillusioned by low spending on schools, they turned first to the Liberal-Social Democratic Party Alliance, the third party, before coming round to the charms of Tony Blair. In 1997, fifty-nine percent intended to vote Labour, nearly four times more than fancied the Tories. But fewer have voted Labour in each subsequent election. In 2008, the Times Education Supplement found overwhelming disapproval among teachers of Labour's school policies and a shift in voting intentions.

Teaching is in some ways a natural job for the conservatively inclined. Like the police, teach- ers see too much of human nature to remain starry-eyed. And even the dogged idealists privately admit that traditional fight-wing policies, such as physical punishment and academic selection, would make their jobs easier.

But teachers' politics are also shaped by those who train them and by the nature of the work. Both are changing. Who, ile teachers were voting Tory in 1979, education academics were intoxicated with child-centred education and discovery learning, and were turning out new teachers in that mould. The academics are still pretty left-leaning, but nearly a quarter of new teachers now train in schools rather than universities, up from a handful ten years ago. All are coming to grips with a very different profession: one shaped by a national curriculum with tests and targets.

61. The teaching unions' conferences hold the attention of the media because

A. they produce delightful news stories about teachers and students.

B. they coincide with the coming of the spring and Easter holiday.

C. teachers' quality has become a consistent public concern.

D. teachers' complaints are in agreement with the public fear of moral decline.

D. suffer more serious drinking problems than those in Europe.

59. In "Reclaiming Childhood", the author argues that

A. mental problems among the young should be diagnosed carefully.

B. campaigns aimed at improving children's lives are very effective.

C. more bullying occurs because its definition has been extended.

D. parents should be taught how to fulfill their parental duties.

60. It can be inferred from the last paragraph that

A. britons should revive the tradition of shared family meals.

B. teenage parents evade responsibility of raising their children.

C. drinking habits pass down from generation to generation.

D. there isrich variety of indoor activities for British children.

61. The teaching unions' conferences hold the attention of the media because

A. they produce delightful news stories about teachers and students.

B. they coincide with the coming of the spring and Easter holiday.

C. teachers' quality has become a consistent public concern.

D. teachers' complaints are in agreement with the public fear of moral decline.

62. Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A. Teaching-union activists are more left-leaning than teachers they represent.

B. Teaching-union activists disagree on what should be included in curriculum.

C. Teachers are perceived by the public as a conservative group.

D. Teachers view themselves as liberal and left-leaning Guardian readers.

63. It can be inferred from Paragraph 4 that

A. Tony Blair's charms tipped the balance in Labour's favor.

ur's policies are not favorable towards teachers.

C. teachers' voting intentions have been shifting to Labour.

D. the Tories have gained the favor of teachers because of their policies.

64. The word "starry-eyed" ( line 2, para. 5) probably means

A. liberal.

B. individualistic.

C. idealistic.

D. pragmatic.

65. It can be concluded from the last paragraph that

A. teachers' training has been improved in the past ten years.

B. teachers are politically inclined towards left-wing policies.

C. child-centered education and discovery learning tend to be out of date.

D. influence of academic training on new teachers has been lessened.

　　答案与解析：

SECXION III Reading Comprehension

　　PartA

　　Text l

政治家和经济学家经常会提到“节俭”这个词，但科技专家却少有使用。在建筑，设计和时尚等领域，很多人都会支持“少即是多”的观点，但在科技领域，人们历来都持反对意见。产品的功能自然是越多越好;而其明年的新版本拥有的功能则应该更多。随着价格的下跌，一开始惹人眼球的新特性很快变得平凡无奇——不信的话你可以买部没有摄像功能的手机或是一辆没电动车窗的车子——这使得各个公司为了胜过它们的竞争对手，竞相为自己的产品增加新的特色。不管有没有人会用这些新功能，在军备竞赛中，多多益善二有迹象表明，现在科技人员已经意识到了简约的好处，它得益于两点：消费者只需要正常工作的产品从而对产品的新特性产生疲倦，以及发展中国家中不十分富裕的消费者的强烈要求。最近，据说苹果公司的市场价值超过了微软。苹果公司以简单巧妙的高科技产品而闻名，而微软则闻名于其层出不穷，繁复的新特性。诚然，苹果的产品也包含许多新特性，但这个公司有本事能使这些繁复的东西藏身于其巧妙的产品设计中。其他公司同样也成功地推出了简单易用的产品：想想任天堂的 wii游戏机或是翻转式摄像机。精巧玩意儿不再只是电脑怪才们的专属，如果技术是为了吸引广大的观众，比起华丽，简单的设计会更胜一筹。

在软件方面，我们亦可发现：简单的设计可以减少干扰，确保计算机用户在使用过程中能够集中精力，提高工作效率。许多文字处理软件现在都有特殊的全屏模式，所有不必要和分散注意力的菜单、调色板等部件都被关掉或者隐藏了。与其花时间去调整字体大小或检查电子邮件，还不如继续写作。如果驱使用户快速浏览脸书的诱惑太多，那么在某个特定时间，用户将被禁止继续访问;如果这还不够严厉，甚至有软件能完全将网络连接断掉。在工作的时候，一部功能不完整，或被人为关闭的电脑实际上更有利于工作。在打字机上可没有什么让人分心的超链接。考虑到那些贫困国家的孩子，人们被鼓励去生产那些“节俭”创新低成本的笔记本电脑，但事实证明它们却受到了世界各地消费者的青睐。

这一切让人们有理由满怀希望。如果致力于特性开发的那些科技产业可以改变其发展方向，或许连政府也会抛弃那些根深蒂固的“多就是多”的想法，转而欣赏简约主义。

51.C【精析】推理题。题目问的是…less is more’的意思是什么?”。文章第一段提到“As prices fall，what starts off as a fancy new fea—ture quickly becomes commonplace--try buying a phone without acamera，or a car without electric windows--prompting companies to add new features in an effort to outdo their rivals.”，可知，随着商品价格的下降，消费者更愿意去购买那些外观很简单的商品，而这种趋势无形中也增加了公司的竞争力。故选C。

52.B【精析】细节题。题目问的是“过去谁一直相信‘more is more’这种观点?”根据第一段第二句“And although the idea that”lessis more“has many adherents in architecture，design and fashion，the technology industry has historically espoused the oppositeview.”可知，建筑、设计以及时尚等领域认为“少就是多”，可是技术产业的人却持有相反的观点，敌选B。

53.D【精析】推理题。题目问的是“简约的重要性得以实现不是因为下面哪项原因?”。根据第二段第二句“It is telling that the marketvalue of Apple，the company most closely associated with simple，elegant high—tech products，recently overtook that of Microsoft，thecompany with the most notorious case of new—features.”可知苹果公司的产品以简约优雅著称，后文也提到了其产品中也包含很多新特性，但是通过巧妙的设计，那些特性就显得不那么明显，特性与设计的'结合让苹果产品受欢迎，同时也使简约的概念深入人心，故排除C项。根据第二段第一句“But now there aresigns that technologists are waking up to the benefits of minimal—ism，thanks to two things：feamre fatigue among consumers whosimply want things to work，and strong demand from less affluentconsumers in the developing world.”可知，消费者的心理对简约主义是有影响的，只要商品有助于他们完成工作，特性就显得不那么重要了，故排除A，B项。文中并没有提到那些外观设计优雅的产品的受欢迎对人们意识到简约主义重要性产生影响，故选D。

54.D【精析】细节题。题目问的是“以下列举的具备哪种特性的电脑将成为潮流?”。根据第三段的倒数第三句“A computer on whichsome features are not present，or have been deliberately disabled，may in fact be more useful if you are trying to get things done.”可知，人们需要把注意力集中在工作上，那些会分散注意力的特性就必须隐藏起来，所以那些功能被隐藏起来的电脑应该会更受到青睐，故选D。

55.A【精析】主旨题。题目问的是“最适合文章的题目是哪个?”。文章以“节俭”开头，引出话题，不仅是建筑设计以及时尚领域的人意识到简约的重要性，就连一向支持“多即是多”观点的科技产业者们也逐渐的认识到这一点，作者带着积极的态度肯定科技简约的重要性，故选A。

　　Text 2

悲观主义者害怕改变，理想主义者期望有更好的世界，功成名就者怀念逝去的青春。所有这些动人们有理由声称童年时期正处于危机之中。英国人尤为担心，他们害怕现在的高压力以及沉重的课业会让年轻一代比上一代人更悲观。最新调查显示，恃强凌弱在学校已经成为一种“热潮”，孩子的情况可能会更糟糕：他们似乎面临着前所未有的危险。这也就难怪儿童协会在2月2日发布了一份题为“一个美好的童年”的报告，这份得到广泛重视的报告声称极少数英国儿童有一个美好的童年。孩子受苦是因为成年人把自己的需要放在第一位。协会指出，只有远离了竞争力和个人主义，他们才能够得以拯救。右翼评论家批评离异的父母和工作的母亲，而左翼势力则呼吁收入再分配，减少跟儿童有关的广告。他们都忽略了很重要的一点：实际上大多数孩子都表现很好。

在统计了青少年怀孕率(高于欧洲其他地方，低于美国)，精神疾病(5至16年龄阶段的青少年有十分之一是患者)和酗酒(在l3至l5岁之间，三分之一的青少年至少喝过两次酒，每个年龄阶段都高于欧洲平均水平的3倍)等项后，该协会得出了令人振奋的数据：ll至l6岁的青少年中，有70%说他们很快乐，只有4%说他们根本不开心。报告结果后来有了摆动，与9%的描述自己既不开心又不痛苦的孩子沟通，结果显示，13%是不快乐的。但显然，成年人认为他们深陷困境，但很少孩子会同意这个看法。

在“找回童年”中，开放大学儿童心理学家海琳·哥尔柏格，在做了相同的测试后却得到了不同的结论。她认为，年轻人精神疾病率上升反映出稳定可靠的诊断和欺凌增加了，因为“bully”这个词现在用来指施加的痛苦，哪怕是最轻微的情感上的伤害。许多改善孩子们生活的尝试，如反欺凌活动，以及被儿童协会提出的育儿经验的活动，结果可能会适得其反。她说，“这表明所有的父母需要被教导如何做他们的工作，在对父母无能和儿童缺乏适应力上要有自己的信念。”

当然，英国不是乌托邦。在其他发达国家，很容易看到孩子坐在室内，盯着屏幕，暴饮暴食。他们缺乏北欧神圣信仰所提供的关于户外玩耍的保护，也不像地中海国家人民那样共享家庭聚餐。很多人去模仿长辈，养成了酗酒的习惯，同时也还有很多人，在他们自己都还是孩子的时候就已为人父为人母了。

56.A【精析】细节题。题目问的是“英国人不关心下面的哪一项?”。根据第一段中“They fear that the young today are sadder than pre—vious generations--stressed，and turned off learning by too dren may be nastier as well：bullying is atl‘epidemic’in schools，according to one recent seem in dangerlike never before.”可看出英国的孩子面临着一些困难，暴力是其中之一，故排除B，C项。英国人担心年轻的一代会更悲观，故排除D项。他们担心的不是对孩子进行的填鸭式的教育，而是害怕孩子压力太大，拒绝学习，故选A。

57.C【精析】细节题。题目问的是“关于儿童协会中一篇报告的问题。”根据第二段最后一句“Both overlooked one striking finding：that most children are doing lust fine.”可知，右翼和左翼势力都忽视了报告中的这一点，即大多数孩子都表现很好。故选C。

58.D【精析】细节题。题目问的是“根据文中提供的数据，我们可以得到的关于英国青少年的什么信息?”。由“Amid the statistics oil teenage pregnancy rates(higher than elsewhere in Europe，lowerthan in America)，”可看出英国青少年的怀孕率低于美国，故排除A项。由“But clearly，very few children agree with adults thatthey are in deep trouble.”可知，很少有孩子说他们陷入到麻烦中，故排除B项。由“the 9%of children who describe themselvesas neither happy nor unhappy”可知，只有9%的孩子说他们既不开心也不痛苦，“9%”跟“in great numbers”不是一个概念，故排除C项。根据第三段第一句“…drurkkenness(a third of l3—-olds have been drunk at least twice，a share three times higherthan the European average)”可知，在英国的l3岁至l5岁的青少年中，每个年龄段酗酒率都是高于欧洲国家平均水平的，故选D。

59.D【精析】细节题

题目问的是“在找回童年的测试中，作者主张了什么?”。文中第四段“Suggesting that all parents need to be taughthow to do their job risks creating a self-fulfilling belief in parents’incompetence and children’s lack of resilience.”，父母应该学些关于父母的责任的知识，故选D。

60.B【精析】推理题。题目问的是“从最后一段我们可以推测出什么?”。英国的孩子不能像别的国家的孩子那样享受童年的乐趣，文中有“A large minodty ape their elders’drinking habits and afew，but still toO many，become parents while still children them—selves.”，可以看出，作为父母，他们逃避责任，甚至有些父母自己还是孩子，就做了父母，没有做好表率作用，故选B。