2020年英语专四考试阅读练习题附答案解析11

发布时间：2020-09-10

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PEOPLE， like most animals， are naturally lazy. So the ascent of mankind is something of a mystery. Humans who make their livings hunting and gathering in the traditional way do not have to put much effort into it. Farmers who rely on rain to water their crops work significantly harder， and lead shorter and unhealthier lives. But the real back-breaking， health-destroying labour is that carried out by farmers who use irrigation. Yet it was the invention of irrigation， at first sight so detrimental to its practitioners， that actually produced a sufficient surplus to feed the priests， politicians， scholars， artists and so on whose activities are collectively thought of as “civilisation”。

In the past 10，000 yeas， the world‘s climate has become temporarily colder and drier on several occasions. The first of these， known as the Younger Dryads， after a tundra-loving plant that thriced during it， occurred at the same time as the beginning of agriculture in northern Mesopotamis. It is widely believed that this was nor a coincidence. The drying and cooling of the YOUNGER Dryads adversely affected the food supply of hunter-gatherers. That would have created an incentive for agriculture to spread once some bright spark invented it.

Why farmers then moved on to irrigation is， however， far from clear. But Harvey Weiss， of Yale University， think she knows. Dr. Weiss observes that the development of irrigation coincides with a second cool， dry period， some 8，200 years ago. His analysis of rainfall patterns in the area suggests that rainfall in agriculture‘s upper-Mesopotamian heartland would， at this time， have falllen below the level needed to sustain farming reliably. Farmers would thus have been forced out of the area in search of other opportunities.

Once again， an innovative spark was required. But it clearly occurred to some of these displaced farmers that the slow-moving waters of the lower Tigris and Euphrates， near sea level， could be diverted using canals and used to water crops， and the rest， as the clich has it， is history.

So climate change helped to intensify agriculture， and thus start civilization. But an equally intriguing idea is that the spread of agriculture caused climate change. In this case， the presumed criminal is forest clearance. Most of the land cultivated by early farmers in the Middle East would have been forested. When the trees that grew there were cleared， the carbon they contained ended up in the atmosphere as carbon dioxide. Moreover， one form of farming—the cultivation of rice in waterlongged fields—generates methane， in large quantities. Willianm Ruddiman， of the University of Virginia， explained that， in combination， these two phenomena had warmed the atmosphere prior to the start of the industrial era. As environmentalists are wont to observe， mankind is part of nature. These studies show just how intimate the relationship is.

1. The invention of irrigation is meaningful because it could help to

[A] alleviate farmers‘ workload

[B] increase agricultural production.

[C] make planting much easier

[D] get rid of human laziness.

2. According to Dr. Weiss， the second cool and dry period eventually

[A] changed the growing season.

[B] spurred the use of canals.

[C] forced the farmers to desert agriculture.

[D] led to declining populations.

3. From the first four paragraphs， we can infer that the dawn of civilization

[A] was accompanied by hardships of human existence.

[B] is a mystery as yet unknown to mankind.

[C] can be attributed to the innovative sparks of ancestors.

[D] was recorded by history books ending at that time.

4. Which of the following tends to warm the climate?

[A] To develop the irrigation system.

[B] To promote organic agriculture.

[C] To revert to hunting and gathering

[D] To turn farmland back into forest.

5. the text is mainly about

[A] the relationship between climate change and civilization.

[B] the history of global climate change.

[C] the interaction between nature and human society.

[D]the impact of the spread of agriculture.

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下面小编为大家准备了 专四专八考试 的相关考题，供大家学习参考。

According to Charles, people send messages via facsimile because ______.

A．it is cheaper and faster than ordinary mail

B．it can send things that could not be expressed by telex

C．it is faster and not much more expensive than mail

D．the Royal Mail could not reach places abroad

正确答案：B

What is TRUE about the Irish Republic's economy?

A．It was the most successful among the EU countries.

B．It has increased 8% in the last five years.

C．The unemployment rate has reached its lowest level for 5 years.

D．The commodity prices have decreased greatly in the country.

正确答案：A

Telecommunications stand for devices and systems that transmit electronic or optical signals across long distances. Telecommunications enables people around the world to contact one another, to access information instantly, and to communicate from remote areas. Telecommunications usually involves a sender of information and one or more recipients linked by a technology, such as a telephone system, that transmits information from one place to another. Telecommunications enables people to sand and receive personal messages across town, between countries, and to and from outer space. It also provides the key medium for delivering news, data, information, and entertainment.

Telecommunications devices convert different types of information, such as sound and video, into electronic or optical signals. Electronic signals typically travel along a medium such as copper wire or are carried over the air as radio waves. Optical signals typically travel along a medium such as strands of glass fibers. When a signal reaches its destination, the device on the receiving end converts the signal back into an understandable message, such as sound over a telephone, moving images on a television, or words and pictures on a computer screen.

Telecommunications messages can be sent in a variety of ways and by a wide range of devices. The messages can be seat from one sender to a single receiver (point-to-point) or from one sender to many receivers (point-to-multipoint). Personal communications, such as a telephone conversation between two people or a facsimile (fax) message (see Facsimile Transmission), usually involve point-to-point transmission. Point-to-multipoint telecommunications, often called broadcasts, provide the basis for commercial radio and television programming.

Telecommunications begin with messages that are converted into electronic or optical signals. Some signals, such as those that carry voice or music, are created in an analog or wave format, but may be converted into a digital or mathematical format for faster and more efficient transmission. The signals are then sent over a medium to a receiver, where they are decoded back into a form. that the person receiving the message can understand. There are a variety of ways to create and decode signals, and many different ways to transmit signals.

Individual people, businesses, and governments use many different types of telecommunications systems. Some systems, such as the telephone system, use a network of cables, wires, and switching stations for point-to-point communication. Other systems, such as radio and television, broadcast radio signals over the air that can be received by anyone who has a device to receive them. Some systems make use of several types of media to complete a transmission. For example, a telephone call may travel by means of copper wire, fiber-optic cable, and radio waves as the call is sent from sender to receiver. All telecommunications systems are constantly evolving as telecommunications technology improves. Many recent improvements, for example, offer high-speed broadband connections that are needed to send multimedia information over the Internet.

Personal computers have pushed the limits of the telephone system as more and more complex computer messages are being sent over telephone lines, and at rapidly increasing speeds. This need for speed has encouraged the development of digital transmission technology. The growing use of personal computers for telecommunications has increased the need for innovations in fiber-optic technology.

Telecommunications and information technologies are merging and converging. This means that many of the devices now associated with only one function may evolve into more versatile equipment. This convergence is already happening in various fields. Some telephones and pagers are able to store not only phone numbers but also names and personal information abo

A．Current development.

B．Transmission of message.

C．Computer networking.

D．Government regulation.

正确答案：D

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