《2016年专四英语阅读练习》由会员分享，可在线阅读，更多相关《2016年专四英语阅读练习（12页珍藏版）》请在金锄头文库上搜索。
1、 （一）Peoplehavebeenpaintingpicturesforatleast30,000years.Theearliestpictureswerepaintedbypeoplewhohuntedanimals.Theyusedtopaintpicturesoftheanimalstheywantedtocatchandkill.PicturesofthiskindhavebeenfoundonthewallsofcavesinFranceandSpain.Nooneknowswhytheywerepaintedthere.Perhapsthepaintersthoughtthatt
2、heirpictureswouldhelpthemtocatchtheseanimals.Orperhapshumanbeingshavealwayswantedtotellstoriesinpictures.About5,000yearsago,theEgyptiansandotherpeopleintheNearEastbegantousepicturesaskindofwriting.Theydrewsimplepicturesorsignstorepresentthingsandideas,andalsotorepresentthesoundsoftheirlanguage.Thesi
3、gnsthesepeopleusedbecameakindofalphabet.TheEgyptiansusedtorecordinformationandtotellstoriesbyputtingpicturewritingandpicturestogether.Whenanimportantpersondied,scenesandstoriesfromhislifewerepaintedandcarvedonthewallsoftheplacewherehewasburied.Someofthesepicturesarelikemoderncomicstripstories.Ithasb
4、eensaidthatEgyptisthehomeofthecomicstrip.But,fortheEgyptians,picturesstillhadmagicpower.Sotheydidnottrytomaketheirwayofwritingsimple.Theordinarypeoplecouldnotunderstandit.Bytheyear1,000BC,peoplewholivedintheareaaroundtheMediterraneanSeahaddevelopedasimplersystemofwriting.Thesignstheyusedwereveryeasy
5、towrite,andtherewerefewerofthemthanintheEgyptiansystem.Thiswasbecauseeachsign,orletter,representedonlyonesoundintheirlanguage.TheGreeksdevelopedthissystemandformedthelettersoftheGreekalphabet.TheRomanscopiedtheidea,andtheRomanalphabetisnowusedallovertheworld.Thesedays,wecanwritedownastory,orrecordin
6、formation,withoutusingpictures.Butwestillneedpicturesofallkinds:drawing,photographs,signsanddiagrams.Wefindthemeverywhere:inbooksandnewspapers,inthestreet,andonthewallsoftheplaceswhereweliveandwork.Pictureshelpustounderstandandrememberthingsmoreeasily,andtheycanmakeastorymuchmoreinteresting.?1.Pictu
7、resofanimalswerepaintedonthewallsofcavesinFranceandSpainbecause?_ _?.?A.thehunterswantedtoseethepictures?B.thepainterswereanimallovers?C.thepainterswantedtoshowimagination?D.thepictureswerethoughttobehelpful?2.TheGreekalphabetwassimplerthantheEgyptiansystemforallthefollowingreasonsEXCEPTthat?_.A.the
8、formerwaseasytowrite?B.therewerefewersignsintheformer?C.theformerwaseasytopronounce?D.eachsignstoodforonlyonesound?3.WhichofthefollowingstatementsisTRUE?A.TheEgyptiansignslaterbecameaparticularalphabet.?B.TheEgyptianslikedtowritecomic?stripstories.?C.TheRomanalphabetwasdevelopedfromtheEgyptianone.?D
9、.TheGreekscopiedtheirwritingsystemfromtheEgyptians.?4.Inthelastparagraph,theauthorthinksthatpictures?_?.?A.shouldbemadecomprehensible?B.shouldbemadeinteresting?C.areofmuchuseinourlife?D.havedisappearedfromourlife参考答案：1.D) 根据文章第一段第五行“Perhapsthepaintersthoughtthattheirpictureswouldhelpthemtocatchthese
10、animals.”可知古代人以为在墙上画画会对他们有所帮助，故选项D为正确答案。?2.C) 在做此类题时要注意题干的要求。通过阅读文章第四段很清楚就知道选项C“前者容易发音”在文中没有提及，故为正确答案。?3.A) 可用排除法来做本题。通过阅读文章很清楚选项B和D为错误陈述。选项C“罗马字母是从埃及字母发展而来的”根据文章第四段第四，五句可知为错误论述，因此只有选项A为正确答案。4.C) 文章最后一段讲述了图画在今天的用途，故选项C为正确答案。 （二）Asthemerchantclassexpandedintheeighteenth?centuryNorthAmericanColonies,t
11、hesilversmithandthecoppersmithbusinessesrosetoserveit.OnlyafewsilversmithswereavailableinNewYorkorBostoninthelateseventeenthcentury,butintheeighteenthcenturytheycouldbefoundinallmajorcolonialcities.Noothercolonialartisansrivaledthesilversmithsprestige.Theyhandledthemostexpensivematerialsandpossessed
12、directconnectionstoprosperouscolonialmerchants.Theirproducts,primarilysilverplatesandbowls,reflectedtheirexaltedstatusandtestifiedtotheircustomersprominence.Silverstoodasoneofthesurestwaystostorewealthatatimebeforeneighborhoodbanksexisted.Unlikethesilvercoinsfromwhichtheyweremade,silverarticleswerer
13、eadilyidentifiable.Oftenformedtoindividualspecifications,theyalwayscarriedthesilversmithsdistinctivemarkingsandconsequentlycouldbetracedandretrieved.Customersgenerallysecurethesilverforthesilverobjecttheyordered.Theysavedcoins,tookthemtosmiths,anddiscussedthetypeofpiecestheydesired.Silversmithscompliedwiththeserequestsbymeltingthemoneyinasmallfurnace,addingabitofcoppertoformastrongeralloy,andcastingthealloyinrectangularblocks.Theyhammeredtheseingotstotheappropriatethicknessbyhand,shapedthemandpresseddesignsintothemforadornment.Engravingwasalsodonebyha
