2016下半年英语四级考试阅读理解冲刺练习

2016年12月英语四级考试将在12月17日举行，对于英语四级考试阅读分数占比还是不小的，以下是yjbys网小编整理的关于英语四级考试阅读理解冲刺练习，供大家备考。

No one knows when the first calendar was developed. But it seems possible that it was based on lunar months. When people started farming, the sages of the tribes became very important, they studied the sky and gathered enough information to be able to predict when the seasons would change, and were able to announce when it was time to plant crops.

The divisions of time we use today were developed in ancient Babylonia 4,000 years lonian astronomers believed the sun moved around the Earth every 365 divided the trip into 12 equal parts, each with 30 days. Then they divided each day into 24 equal parts, or hours, and divided each hour into 60 minutes, each minute into 60 seconds.

Humans have used many devices to measure time; the sundial (日晷) was one of the earliest and simplest. However, the sundial worked well only when the weather was fine, so other ways of measuring the passing of time were invented. One device was the hourglass(沙漏). By the eighteenth century, people had developed mechanical clocks and watches. So we have devices to mark the passing of time, but what time is it now? Clocks in different parts of the world do not show the same time at the same time, because time on Earth is set by the sun’s positions in the sky above us. As international communications and travel grew, it became clear that a way to establish a common time for all parts of the world was needed. In 1884, an international conference divided the world into 24 time zones, each zone represents one hour. The astronomical observatory in Greenwich, England, was chosen as the starting point for the time zones. Twelve zones are west of Greenwich. Twelve are east. The time at Greenwich measured by the sun is considered by astronomers to be Universal Time, also known as Greenwich Mean Time.

57. Which of the following is the best title for this passage?

A) The Development of Universal Time.

B) Different Ways to Measure Time.

C) Why We Measure Time the Way We do.

D) How the Calendar Came into being.

58. What does the example of Babylonia astronomers reveal?

A) It reveals Babylonians’wisdom that was absent elsewhere.

B) It reveals the origin of our time measurements.

C) It reveals the limits of sometime measurements.

D) It reveals the stability of time measurements.

59. The author mentions all of the following ways to measure time EXCEPT .

A) sundial B) hourglass C) electric clock D) mechanical clock

60. According to the passage, Greenwich Mean Time .

A) provides a common time for all parts of the world

B) is calculated from the sun

C) is the 12th of the 24 time zones

D) was named after an international conference

61. With which of the following statements would the author be most likely to agree?

A) Time measurements have changed in response to need and technological development.

B) In ancient Babylonia, 12 was the basic division of time.

C) The first calendar was developed because the sages of tribes were intelligent.

D) Universal Time is so named because it is applicable throughout the universe.

Passage Two

Questions 62 to 66 are based on the following passage.

For many years, scientists couldn’t figure out how atoms and molecules on the Earth combined to make living things. Plants, fish, dinosaurs, and people are made of atoms and molecules, but they are put together in a more complicated way than the molecules in the primitive ocean. What’s more, living things have energy and can reproduce, while the chemicals on the Earth 4 billion years ago were lifeless.

After years of study, scientists figured out that living things, including human bodies, are basically made of amino acids and nucleotide bases. These are molecules with millions of hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen atoms. How could such complicated molecules have been formed in the primitive soup? Scientists were stumped.

Then, in 1953, two scientists named Harold Urey and Stanley L. Miller did a very simple experiment to find out what had happened on the Primitive Earth. They set up some tubes and bottles in a closed loop, and put in some of the same gases that were present in the atmosphere 4 billion years ago: water vapor, ammonia, carbon dioxide, methane, and hydrogen.

Then they shot an electric spark through the gases to simulate bolts of lightning on the ancient Earth, circulated the gases through some water, sent them back for more sparks, and so on. After seven days, the water that the gases had been bubbling through had turned brown. Some new chemicals were dissolved in it. When Miller and Urey analyzed the liquid, they found that it contained amino acids—the very kind of molecules found in all living things.

62. When did scientists come to realize how the atoms and molecules on the Earth combined to make living thing?

A) 4 billion years ago. B) In 1953.

C) After seven days. D) Many years later.

63. Scientists figured out that human bodies are basically made of .

A) amino acids

B) molecules

C) hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen and oxygen atoms

D) water vapor, ammonia, carbon dioxide, methane and hydrogen

64. Harold Urey and Stanley er did their experiment in order to .

A) find out what had happened on the Earth 4 billion years ago

B) simulate bolts of lightning on the ancient Earth

C) dissolve some new chemicals

D) analyze a liquid

65. At the end of the last paragraph, the word “it” refers to .

A) a closed loop B) an electric spark C) water D) the liquid

　　答案与解析：

Passage One

57. C 主旨题本文共三段。第一段讲日历起源之因;第二段讲作为现代时间概念的基础，古巴比伦如何划分年月日时分秒;第三段提及先后出现的测量时间的各种工具，并讲述“世界时”如何顺应时代发展而产生。A)，B)和D)项都只概括了本文的部分内容，只有C)项是对全文的总结。

58. B 综合判断题C)项在文章中没有提及,D)项不正确。本文的主题是计时方式的发展，并未强调某个民族智慧过人，A)项也不正确。

59. C 细节题根据题干可定位于第三段前半部分，答案是C。

60. B 细节题解题依据是“The time at Greenwich measured by the sun is…”。不过考生不一定留意了这个后置定语。相反，受“Twelve zones are west of Greenwich. Twelve are east.”的影响，可能会误选C)项。其实，这里是24个时区的“the starting point”,也就是第一个时区。

61. A 综合判断题C)项提到的日历出现就是其中一个例证，第三段还提到sundial, hourglass, mechanical clocks and watches和Greenwich Mean Time的出现，这都是随着人类社会发展的需要出现的`。C)项错在将日历出现归因于一小部分人的高智商，真正的原因其实是“When people started farming…”。此外，Universal Time并非全宇宙通用，它只适用于全球24个时区，故D)项也不正确。

Passage Two

62. B 细节题从文中第三段可知：“Then, in 1953, two scientists…did a very simple experiment to find out what had happened on the Primitive Earth.”这说明从1953年起，人类才开始弄明白地球上的生物是怎样由原子和分子结合而产生的。因此B)是正确选项。

63. A 细节题答案从第二段开头可直接找到：“…， scientists figured out that living things, including human bodies, are basically made of amino acids and nucleotide bases.”

64. A 细节题答案第三段中直接给出：“…， Harold. Urey and Stanley L. Miller did a very simple experiment to find out what had happened on the Primitive Earth.” 紧接着作者又指出是在“…4 billion years ago…”。

65. D 语义辨析题见原文最后一句话：“When Miller and Urey analyzed the liquid, they found that it contained…”。“当米勒和尤里对液体进行分析时，他们发现它包含有……”。很明显it指的就是从句里的liquid。