2019年12月大学英语四级阅读仔细阅读真题
SectionC
Directions:Thereare2passagesinthissection.Eachpassageisfollowedbysomequestionsorunfinishedstatements.ForeachofthemtherearefourchoicesmarkedA),B),C)andD).YoushoulddecideonthebestchoiceandmarkthecorrespondingletteronAnswerSheet2withasinglelinethroughthecentre.
PassageOne
Questions46to50arebasedonthefollowingpassage.
ThefifthlargestcityintheUSpassedasignificantsodataxproposalthatwilllevy(征税)1.5
centsperliquidounceondistributors.
Philadelphia’snewmeasurewasapprovedbya13to4citycouncilvote.Itsetsanewbarforsimilarinitiativesacrossthecounty.Itisproofthattaxesonsugarydrinkscanwinsubstantialsupportoutsidesuper-liberalareas.Untilnow,theonlycitytosuccessfullypassandimplementasodataxwasBerkeley,California,in2014.
Thetaxwillapplytoregularanddietsodas,aswellasotherdrinkswithaddedsugar,suchasGatoradeandicedteas.It’sexpectedtoraise$410millionoverthenextfiveyears,mostofwhichwillgotowardfundingauniversalpre-kindergartenprogramforthecity.
Whilethecitycouncilvotewasmetwithapplauseinsidethecouncilroom,opponentstothemeasure,includingsodalobbyistsmadesharpcriticismsandapromisetochallengethetaxincourt.
“Thetaxpassedtodayunfairlysinglesoutbeverages—includinglow-andno-caloriechoices,”saidLaurenKane,spokeswomanfortheAmericanBeverageAssociation.“Butmostimportantly,itisagainstthelaw.SowewillsidewiththemajorityofthepeopleofPhiladelphiawhoopposethistaxandtakelegalactiontostopit.”
Anindustrybackedanti-taxcampaignhasspentatleast$4milliononadvertisements.Theadscriticizedthemeasure.characterizingitasa“grocerytax.”
PublichealthgroupsapplaudedtheapprovedtaxasasteptowardfixingcertainlastinghealthissuesthatplagueAmericans.“Themovetorecaptureasmallpartoftheprofitsfromanindustrythatpushesaproductthatcontributestodiabetes,obesityandheartdiseaseinpoorercommunitiesinordertoreinvestinthosecommunitieswillsurebeinspirationaltomanyotherplaces,”saidJimKrieger,executivedirectorofHealthyFoodAmerica.“Indeed,wearealreadyhearingfromsomeofthem.It’snotjustBerkeley’anymore.”
SimilarmeasuresinCalifornia’sAlbany,Oakland,SanFranciscoandColorado’sBoulderarebecominghot-buttonissuesHealthadvocacygroupshavehintedthatevenmoremightbecoming.
46.Whatdoesthepassagesayaboutthenewly-approvedsodataxinPhiladelphia
A)Itwillchangethelifestyleofmanyconsumers.
B)ItmayencourageotherUScitiestofollowsuit.
C)Itwillcutsodaconsumptionamonglow-incomecommunities.
D)Itmayinfluencethemarketingstrategiesofthesodabusiness.
47.Whatwilltheopponentsprobablydotorespondtothesodataxproposal
A)Bargainwiththecitycouncil.
B)Refusetopayadditionaltax.
C)Takelegalactionagainstit.
D)Trytowinpublicsupport.
48.Whatdidtheindustry-backedanti-taxcampaigndoaboutthesodataxproposal
A)Ittriedtoarousehostilefeelingsamongconsumers.
B)Ittriedtowingrocers’supportagainstthemeasure.
C)Itkeptsendinglettersofprotesttothemedia.
D)Itcriticizedthemeasurethroughadvertising.
49.Whatdidpublichealthgroupsthinkthesodataxwoulddo
A)Alertpeopletotheriskofsugar-induceddiseases.
B)Helppeopletofixcertainlong-timehealthissues.
C)Addtothefundfortheirresearchondiseases.
D)Benefitlow-incomepeopleacrossthecountry.
50.Whatdowelearnaboutsimilarmeasuresconcerningthesodataxinsomeothercities
A)Theyarebecomingrathersensitiveissues.
B)Theyarespreadingpanicinthesodaindustry.
C)Theyarereducingtheincidenceofsugar-induceddiseases.
D)Theyaretakingawaylotofprofitfromthesodaindustry.
【参考答案】
46BItmayencourageotherUScitiestofollowsuit..
47CTakelegalactionagainstit.
48DItcriticizedthemeasurethroughadvertising.
49BHelppeopletofixcertainlong-termhealthissues.
50ATheyarebecomingrathersensitiveissues.
【答案解析】
47.本题问的是“反对者可能会如何回应对汽水征税的提案”，根据题干中的定位词opponents;sodataxproposal定位至第四段：尽管市政府投票在议事厅获得了赞扬支持，但是反对者对此作出尖锐的批评，并承诺在法院质疑这项征税。结合定位信息及四个选项的意思，可以确定选项CTakelegalactionagainstit.为本题的正确答案。选项A、B、D在文中均未提及，属于无中生有选项。
49.根据题干定位词publichealthgroups回文定位该题至文中第7段：PublichealthgroupsapplaudedtheapprovedtaxasasteptowardfixingcertainlastinghealthissuesthatplagueAmericans.文中applaud一词为赞同，称赞的含义，比对该题四个选项，可以确定BHelppeopletofixcertainlong-termhealthissues.为文中信息的同义替换。
50.根据题干信息“similarmeasures”，定位至文中第8段“SimilarmeasuresinCalifornia’sAlbany,Oakland,SanFranciscoandColorado’sBoulderarebecominghot-buttonissues.”根据原文的定位信息可得知在其他城市的类似法案的通过成为敏感(hot-button)话题。结合四个选项可以确定ATheyarebecomingrathersensitiveissues.为原文的同义替换。
PassageTwo
Questions51to55arebasedonthefollowingpassage.
Poppingfoodintothemicrowaveforacoupleofminutesmayseemutterlyharmless,butEurope’sstockofthesequick-cookingovensemitasmuchcarbonasnearly7millioncars,anewstudyhasfound.Andtheproblemisgrowing.Withcostsfallingandkitchenappliancesbecoming“status”items,ownersarethrowingawaymicrowavesafteranaverageofeightyears.Thisispushingsalesofnewmicrowaveswhichareexpectedtoreach135millionannuallyintheEUbytheendofthedecade.
AstudybytheUniversityofManchestercalculatedtheemissionsofCO2—themaingreenhousegasresponsibleforclimatechange—ateverystageofmicrowaves,frommanufacturetowastedisposal.“Itiselectricityconsumptionbymicrowavesthathasthebiggestimpactontheenvironment,”saytheauthors.Theauthorsalsocalculatethattheemissionsfromusing19microwavesoverayeararethesameasthosefromusingacar.Accordingtothesamestudy,effortstoreduceconsumptionshouldfocusonimprovingconsumerawarenessandbehaviour.Forexample,consumerscoulduseappliancesinamoreefficientwaybyadjustingthetimeofcookingtothetypeoffood.
However,DavidReay,professorofcarbonmanagement,arguesthat,althoughmicrowavesuseagreatdealofenergy,theiremissionsareminorcomparedtothosefromcars.IntheUKalone,therearearound30millioncars.ThesecarsemitmorethanallthemicrowavesintheEU.Backingthisup,recentdatashowthatpassengercarsintheUKemitted69milliontonsofCO2in2015.Thisis10timestheamountthisnewmicrowaveovenstudyestimatesforannualemissionsforallthemicrowaveovensintheEU.Further,theenergyusedbymicrowavesislowerthananyotherfromofcooking.Amongcommonkitchenappliancesusedforcooking,microwavesarethemostenergyefficient,followedbyastoveandfinallyastandardoven.Thus,risingmicrowavesalescouldbeseenasapositivething.
51.Whatisthefindingofthenewstudy
A)Quick-cookingmicrowaveovenshavebecomemorepopular.
B)Thefrequentuseofmicrowavesmaydoharmtoourhealth.
C)CO2emissionsconstituteamajorthreattotheenvironment.
D)TheuseofmicrowavesemitsmoreCO2thanpeoplethink.
52.Whyarethesalesofmicrowavesexpectedtorise
A)Theyarebecomingmoreaffordable.
B)Theyhaveashorterlifecyclethanotherappliances.
C)Theyaregettingmucheasiertooperate.
D)Theytakelesstimetocookthanotherappliances.
53.WhatrecommendationdoesthestudybytheUniversityofManchestermake
A)Cookingfoodofdifferentvarieties.
B)Improvingmicrowaveusers’habits.
C)Eatinglesstocutenergyconsumption.
D)Usingmicrowaveovenslessfrequently.
54.WhatdoesProfessorDavidReaytrytoargue
A)Therearefarmoreemissionsfromcarsthanfrommicrowaves.
B)Peopleshouldbepersuadedintousingpassengercarslessoften.
C)TheUKproduceslessCO2thanmanyothercountriesintheEU.
D)Moredataareneededtoshowwhethermicrowavesareharmful.
55.WhatdoesProfessorDavidReaythinkoftheuseofmicrowaves
A)Itwillbecomelesspopularinthecomingdecades.
B)Itmakeseverydaycookingmuchmoreconvenient.
C)Itplaysapositiveroleinenvironmentalprotection.
D)Itconsumesmorepowerthanconventionalcooking.
51.【D】TheuseofmicrowavesemitsmoreCO2thanpeoplethink.
答案解析：根据题干中“newstudy”可以定位到原文段句话“...,butEurope’sstockofthesequick-cookingovensemitasmuchcarbonasnearly7millioncars,anewstudyhasfound.”大意为“尽管把食物放到微波炉里几分钟看起来完全无害，但是欧洲已有的微波炉存储可释放的二氧化碳量相当于七百万的汽车”A选项为“微波炉很流行”，B选项为“频繁使用微波炉有害健康”，C选项为“二氧化碳排放量对环境产生威胁”，D选项为“使用微波炉释放的二氧化碳比人们想的还要多”，结合原文，D选项中含有关键词“microwaves”“CO2”正确。
52.【A】Theyarebecomingmoreaffordable.
答案解析：根据题干中“thesalesofmicrowaves”、“rise”可以定位到原文段最后一句话，但是该句与题干对应只阐述结果，且句首给出提示词“this”,因此真正答案句在上文，答案句为第三句“Withcostsfallingandkitchenappliancesbecoming“status”items,...”提到“成本”，四个选项中只有A选项“affordable”(可支付得起的)与之相符，与钱和成本可替换，因此为正确答案。
53.【B】Improvingmicrowaveusers’habits.
答案解析：根据题干中“recommendation”(推荐)“theUniversityofManchester”可定位到原文第二段句话和倒数第二句话，句主要提出调查结果并未给出建议，因为答案倒数第二句话“...,effortstoreduceconsumptionshouldfocusonimprovingconsumerawarenessandbehaviour.”重点强调改善消费者的意识与行为，B选项中“user”替换了“consumer”，“habits”替换了“behavior”，为正确选项。其他选项均为提及。
54.【A】Therearefarmoreemissionsfromcarsthanfrommicrowaves.
答案解析：根据题干关键词“ProfessorDavidReay”、“argue”可定位到原文第三段句话“...,arguesthat,althoughmicrowavesuseagreatdealofenergy,theiremissionsareminorcomparedtothosefromcars.”大意为：和汽车相比，微波炉的二氧化碳排放量还是比较小的，四个选项中同时提到汽车与微波炉，且存在比较的只有A选项，为正确答案。
55.【C】Itplaysapositiveroleinenvironmentalprotection.